THE RED TRIANGLE IN THE RECONSTRUCTION
The Y.M.C.A. has a very thorough understanding of
men, and with that sympathy which has
characterised its work throughout has brought to
the National Employment Exchange system an element
which has humanised the movement.
The state of the Labour Market and the condition
of trade after the lapse of the period of
reconstruction following the war will be so
favourable that the physically fit man will
experience little difficulty in securing
employment, but even if that is so we shall, for a
long time, have with us the disabled man, who,
without assistance and guidance, cannot be
suitably placed in industry. We must see an
extension of the good-will and sympathy evinced by
the Y.M.C.A. movement amongst every class in the
community.
The Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Labour
are getting up a special department to deal with
the discharged soldier. What the Y.M.C.A.
contributes to this problem is character.--MR. G.
H. ROBERTS, M.P., MINISTER OF LABOUR.
THE question is often asked 'What is going to be done with the Y.M.C.A.
huts after the war?' It is never easy to prophesy with any degree of
certainty, but there can be little doubt that, properly handled, these
huts will be at least as useful after the war as they are now. Their
furniture, which comprises hundreds of billiard tables, thousands of
chairs, tables, stoves, ranges, and so forth, is well fitted for doing
good service after the war. One of these huts planted down in the centre
of some rural community and staffed by voluntary workers, who have
purchased their experience by downright hard service during the war,
should be an inestimable boon. It would break the monotony of country
life; or, being set down in an industrial district of a big town or
city, would help in congenial ways to relieve the tedium of the drab
life of the workers.
The immediate problem is that of the discharged man. Incidentally his
presence in our midst is even now helping us to gain that practical
acquaintance with his needs that will be invaluable in dealing with the
greater problem of demobilisation. Thousands of men are discharged from
the Navy and Army every week. Many of these for months, it may be for
years to come, will not be able to do a good day's work, no matter how
willing they may be, and it is up to us to help them. No one who has
seen the conditions under which they have been living in Picardy or in
Flanders can wonder at this, and they will need sympathy and
encouragement on the part of their employers. The Y.M.C.A. can supply
the human touch that may be of the greatest possible service to the
Ministries of Labour, Pensions, and Reconstruction, and although the
State itself must take responsibility for the future of those who return
broken from the war and for their dependents, there will still be ample
room for voluntary effort without any taint of charity.
A number of experiments are being tried, all designed to point the way
to future efforts if such experiments prove successful. The Red Triangle
Farm Colony at Kinson in Dorset has been fitted up as a sanatorium for
the benefit of men discharged from the Navy and Army who need sanatorium
treatment because they are suffering from, or threatened with,
consumption, and whilst the men are undergoing treatment they are
trained in poultry-farming, horticulture, and other outdoor pursuits on
plans cordially approved by the authorities.
A Red Triangle Poultry Farm in Surrey is also run entirely for the
benefit of discharged men, and a somewhat larger venture is under way in
Suffolk with a two hundred acre farm and extensive fruit gardens. At
Portsmouth and other centres hostel accommodation is provided for men
who, on leaving the Navy or Army, go through a course of training for
civil life. Experimental workshops in London are proving a great
success, discharged soldiers being trained in carpentry, joinery,
picture-framing, and the repairing of pianos.
A series of exhibitions dealing with the work of ex-soldiers has been
successfully inaugurated, and Red Triangle employment bureaux have
already secured situations for more than twenty thousand discharged men.
The biggest opportunity for the Red Triangle will come with the
declaration of peace. 'After the war' for tens of thousands of men has
commenced already, and not only during the war, but in the
reconstruction we shall need the help of every worker who is prepared
heart and soul to work out the full programme of the Red Triangle for
Britain's sake and for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
Printed in Great Britain by T. and A. CONSTABLE,
Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh
University Press
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Transcriber's Notes:
So that paragraphs could flow uninterrupted, illustrations were
relocated to positions between paragraphs.
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page viii, "BLESSÉS" changed to "BLESSÉES" ('LES PARENTS DES BLESSÉES')
Page xiii, "Schevingen" changed to "Scheveningen" (Abbey hut,
Scheveningen, Holland) This was changed also on the illustration caption
itself.
Page 39, "necesary" changed to "necessary" (it is absolutely necessary)
Page 124, "same" changed to "came" (she came back she)
Page 158, "simpl" changed to "simple" (its simple little song)