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The Cambria Daily Leader

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I I lit LIVES!I

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I I lit LIVES! I The Itcady growth of thei Widows/ and Orphans' Fund from tens to hundreds and from hun- dreds to thousands that we witness j in these ante-Christmas days sym- bolises delightfully a new wonder )11 a world of wonders. For the Fund, though the fact mav not have been generally observed, possesses not merely form, but a potency of spirit, a force and an energy that i* notable. In its generous bosom a great heart palpitates; there is vital and vitalising power. The Fund lives. Xow what dues th.it >iueau; how much does it i That is just- one of those questions I which any child miglit ask, but I which the wisest man on earth ca.i> not answer. What is life? No one knows; whnt we do know ,s that life is the one thing that matters in the liinitlfss universe*. Though the scientists are as inno- cent as babes in the matter of fathoming the secret of life, they are uble to tabulate its operations, and they tell us it is rnan ifested by metabolism, growth, re-produc- tion, internal power of a dapta- bility to environment"; also that metabiosis (changing life) is a form of relationship between two or- ganisms when one of the two can flourish only after the other has pre- ceded it and prepared the environ- ment- for it. But. what has this to do with the } Widow*' an/-] Orphans' Fund? A good deal. Submit the movement to the test of changing life, grmvth, re-production, into rnt-I power cf adaptability to environ- ment," and what, do we find? In JfHo an idea emerge. into philan- thropic  action. The "Gth Welsh Comforts Fund is born. A few thonghtful ou1s agrle that it wcuJd be good to do something for Swan sea boys who are fighting their country's battles; for this money is needed, and a "Fund." There is response, and parcels of cigarettes, sweets, gloves, eocks, etc., are sent out. The Fund is yet a baby, but it is wen born and healthy. That is the day of small things. Soon this picture hdr13 out, and in its place we see 600 orphans celebrat- ing Christmas in the Albert Hall-1 Then the widows are thought of, | and helped. "gnin the picture j fades, and we (in the mind's eye only, so far) a charming Sum- me)' Home for children, not of thej Welsh'* alone, but of all the war heroes that have gone- out of Swansea, never, nla. to return, j The chi'd' has grown out of babvt clofhe?, n('18 to bo trousered ami j f rocked, is hungrier than before. { Thus it bef:ds that when hundred? of pounds were ample, thousands I itro n(-iv llcd f itre now cancd fer, and the call isj magnificently answered. The,, peal is one which cannot be refused, j Why? What other reason except; the subtle domination of Swansea's heart by that nameless and yet omnipotent which we have rêlltul'e,J ¡ —————— t to call life?" j Jf our analysis be sound, tbpn we are in for yet greater things. There j is, and (-,(;tinot halt in ourj forward march. Lifo is resistless. What "Tho Fund" has done we I see, what it is about to do we re- joice in, but while noting what :51\ achieved, we peer into the future, imagining the infinitely greater that is yet to be. One pariictilarly hope- ful element, in the proposed Sum- t mer IJome is the fraternisation with the children and their parents which must ensue. We yhall ga to knew each other better. To know is to love, and love will discover! numerous ways in which children I whom the rude shock of wax has! thrown upon the communal care, can be helped and benefited. rnoDg these boys and girls will doubtless) bo found some of exceptional J natural gifts; if so, this will point 1 the way to new endeavour. Already one of Swansea's most thoughtful I men is suggesting that the ccluca- {Clonal training of the.e youngster,? I would be more beneficial to them and cur country than erenfcn at. ) suranco of annual holiday in health- i rul and congenial surroundings. We shall see to it that the country does j not lose, because "Daddy" h as' gone, the advantages which will ¡ accrue to it by utilising to the fnli every natural aptitude. Money will; II be needed for apprenticeship to-i trades, for study, for professions. This must- not, he stinted. Who. knows but that among these boysj and girls of ours thero may be an-1 I fL J) ''1.1' oth'r Newton. Darwin, Edison, or Harriet Beecher Stowe—seme great reformer, some thinker sent bv kind heaven fo bless the earth with* new ideas, *<■me super-man to tap] unexhausted natural resources and chango the face of the wre-Id ? Thati we cannot. fCÎlY we do know that re-i spom ibilify for the welfare of those .children is now a public concern, Old Kilsbv Jones, a quaint Welsh preacher and philosopher, who was I once well known in Swansea as over all South Wales, had a sermon on I' the text, It is more, blessed t,; gi ve: than to receive. It was a wonder ful sermon, beginning with a | vividly dramatic representation oil I the miser. As be counted his gold- j and rumpled his notes, a voice was! heard behind, repeating the words of the text, startling and scaring thoi mi,.cr! Kilsby 's f.nt question was.j Is it not more blessed to have it j to give?" and he pr-jc- ded to j enumerate a number of tilings that j we could give away with p."rtin_r i with them. Coming, however, to collection, he protested that every shilling and every penny put in the collecting box was gone for ever. But the general effort of the sermon, which was to fill those col- lecting boxes to overflowing, seemed to suggest tllat, like another Bern- ard Shaw, the preacher meant something other than his words ap- peared to convey. And of this wonderful Fund "r—this invest- ment in flesh and blood—this con- tribution to the future of Britain, I what shall we say? Cenotaphs are raised to the memory of the fallen, and this is well. But they are fallen; they do not return, while right here with tis are tbr-se who were, and quite likely are, dearer to them than life, and these will amply repay all wise care. So we contri- bute, even recklessly as wo arc im- i>eib <T. bv the resent-lets force of a 1' (

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