TO RELIEVE THE DISTRESSED

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2393, 7 January 1909, Page 4

TO RELIEVE THE DISTRESSED

Although the action of the Government in making a donation towards the relief of the sufferers in- the Italian earthquakes was taken somewhat tardily, it is satisfactory to note that tho amount given is by no means niggardly when the population and resources of New Zealand are taken into consideration. By forwarding the sum ot £SOOO the Government will have shown in a very tangible manner the sympathy of New Zealanders with those who have been so sorely stricken in Sicily and Southern Italy. At the same time there is no reason why the assistance of tliis Dominion should be limited to that officially given by the Government, and it now remains for the communities of the various towns to give according to their means. AYe are glad to note that the Alayors of several New Zealand towns have already opened up subscription lists, and it is to be hoped that Gisborne will not lag behind in such a worthy cause. The full extent of the catastrophe will not be known for some time yet, but tho daily cablegrams supply sufficient to show tlfaT many thousands of people have been dealt as terrible a blow as it is possible for the human mind to conceive. Utterly ruined, having lost all their earthly possessions, homeless, anil even tho sites of their old homes destroyed, in constant peril of starvation so that they eat dogs or other carrion to sustain life, almost, demented with the ever present fear of another disaster, and all the time with that dead feeling of misery, that spirit of utter desolation which comes from tho loss of those nearest and dearest, those survivors of tho terrible holocaust must indeed bo in a fearful plight. The tragic scenes of the present fortnight will remain with them as a horrible nightmare for the rest, of their lives, and the least that can be done by their more fortunate brothers and sisters in other parts of the world is to relieve their immediate distress so far as money can give alleviation.