s. How many of them will
deny themselves a meal for martyred Belgium? The mass of the American
people do not need to deny themselves anything to give to Belgium. The
whole standard of living on the American Continent, in the United States
and Canada, is so much higher than the European standard that if they
lowered the scale by one-tenth just for one six months the Belgium
problem would be solved.

I say to the American people that they cannot conceive what this strain
upon the populations of Europe is at this moment, and, in the cruel
grip of Winter, hundreds of thousands will agonize till death or relief
comes. In Australia in drought times vast flocks of sheep go traveling
with shepherds looking for food and water, and no flock ever comes back
as it went forth. Not in flocks guided by shepherds, but lonely,
hopeless units, the Belgian people take flight, looking for food and
shelter, or remain paralyzed by the tragedy fallen upon them in their
own land.

Their sufferings are majestic in simple heroism and uncomplaining
endurance. So majestic in proportion ought the relief to be. The Belgian
people are wards of the world. In the circumstances the Belgian people
are special wards of the one great country that is secure in its peace
and that by its natural instincts of human sympathy and love of freedom
is best suited to do the work that should be done for Belgium. If every
millionaire would give a thousand, if every man with $100 a month would
give $10, the American Committee for the Relief of Belgium, with its
splendid organization, its unrivaled efficiency, through which flows a
tide of human sympathy, would be able to report at the end of the war
that a small nation in misfortune had been saved from famine and despair
by a great people far away, who had responded to the call, "Come over
and help us!"

GILBERT PARKER.

A CORRECTION.

Under the head of "Russia's 'Little Brother,'" on Page 364 of this
magazine history, in its issue of Dec. 26, 1914, appeared a statement
taken from The New York Sun of Oct. 12, 1914, and attributed to George
Bakhmeteff, Russian Ambassador at Washington. Our attention has been
called to the following editorial paragraph printed by The Sun on Oct.
14, embodying the Russian Ambassador's denial of its authenticity:

The Sun on Monday printed in good faith what it believed to be
an authorized statement of the views and sentiments of Mr.
George Bakhmeteff, Russia