Y.M.C.A.
Young Men’s Christian Association
The YMCA was founded in 1844 during the Industrial Revolution in England, a time of great despair and poverty. George Williams, a drapery merchant, decided that something had to be done. He gathered together a few friends to form a society that met regularly to support each other and gain renewed strength in body, mind and spirit. The group called itself the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA).
The official opening of the YMCA association in Western Australia, based in the Eastern Goldfields was in 1902. Perth soon followed suit with its first association official formed in 1908, after receiving a donation of land on Murray Street in the city. Throughout its history YMCA Perth has held a focus on working with young people through activities such as sports, camps, arts, leadership programs and services such youth work and youth hostels.
From 1914-1918, YMCA Perth provided services in a peacetime military camp and for armed services in Australia and war fronts.
During the depression YMCA Perth helped in the sustenance of workers, held classes for unemployed young people and provided an employment bureau.
From 1940-1945, YMCA Perth staff and volunteers help servicemen and women in war, and from 1946-1961 continued to provide services to peacetime armed services and trainees.
The YMCA Perth was officially established in 1908 following a land donation on Murray Street, after an earlier 19th-century effort had closed around 1900. [1, 2]
Early Beginnings and Wartime Service
- 1902: Western Australia’s first official YMCA association opened in the Eastern Goldfields before spreading to Perth in 1908.
- 1914–1918: Provided vital recreational and support services in peacetime military camps and active war fronts during World War I.
- Great Depression: Assisted local workers with sustenance, ran classes for unemployed youth, and operated an employment bureau.
- 1940–1945: Supported Australian servicemen and women through World War II with morale and welfare activities. [1]
Post-War Growth and Modern Evolution
- Post-War Era: Expanded community programs, youth camps (such as at Rottnest Island), accommodation hostels, and leadership training.
- 1989–2014: Operated StreetsYde, a critical emergency youth accommodation and support program in Perth.
- Present Day: Rebranded as The Y WA, the organization delivers extensive community services, including early childhood education, outside school hours care, and youth advocacy across Western Australia.
Y.M.C.A. AND THE WAR
To the Editor.
Wednesday 26 June 1918
Sir,-Mr. Appleyard’s criticism of the Y.M.C.A., which recently appeared in the “West Australian,” and his expression of doubt as to the benefits accruing to the soldier through the association, fairly represent the views of most returned men. My own experience as a soldier convinced me that the Y.M.C.A. is purely and simply, as far as this war is concerned, a business organisation, and that its activities on the recreative side occupy a secondary place. In Egypt the Y.M.C.A. had tents or huts at all places where camps were established, as well as in Cairo and Alexandria, and in each of these places they ran a canteen, where the soldier could purchase those articles with, which he supplemented the army ration. Frequently one had to pay more at the Y.M.C.A. than he would at the native canteen, and in Cairo I have had to pay for a wash and brush-up to the extent of 2 piastres (Sd.), using soap and towel donated by a generous public. Always in this connection it must be remembered that the association is not using its own funds, but is raising the money for its war, work from the public, as witness the present appeal. That being so, the givers of this money have a right to demand that the money so raised be disbursed to the fullest possible advantage of the troops. It is also to be remembered that all material for tents, huts, etc., as well as stores, were transported by the army transport, and that the tents and huts were erected by fatigue parties of soldiers from the various battalions and regiments, and that consequently no charge was incurred by the Y.M.C.A. for labour. At all these camps the Y.M.C-A. had to compete with native traders, and as the Australian, in the main, disliked the “Gyppo,” the association had a very profitable field to exploit. About the Canal, the country is arid, and water was a precious commodity. After a day on the desert the troops would rush to the canteen, and there drink of lime juice and water; price, 1 piastre (21d.) (the army transport carried, this water to the canteen.) From this is derived the slang term “disaster.” At ‘these canteens one could certainly get a sheet of Red Triangle paper and an envelope by paying for it, though those who would not pay were not inconvenienced, as they were provided with a field-card by the authorities. My stay in France was very brief, as a German, in playful mood, distributed some of Bertha Krupp’s confetti in my direction, with the result that I left France in July, 1916, rather more hurriedly than I had entered it. Therefore, I cannot enter any personal criticism of the Y.M.C.A. in that country. However, I can say that I received a cigarette (1), and absolutely nothing else, from the Y.M.C.A., whilst I was in France. This Red Triangle day in my military life was on or about June 30, 1916. The cigarette was an Abdullea, the place at Fleurbaix, the giver was a Y.M.C.A. official, and the abashed recipient was myself. Since being wounded, of course, I have received nothing from the Y.M.C.A., but I have received a great many things from the Red Cross, which receives its money, like the Y.M.C.A. from the public,.and, unlike the Y.M.C.A., gives practically all the benefits of the money it raises to the soldier, without blatantly advertising itself in the process.
Referring to Sir Walter James’s answer to Mr. Appleyard’s letter, it would seem from Sir Walter’s reference to the criticism of the food supplied by the Y.M.C.A. that he is forgetful of the Napoleonic dictum that “an army marches on its stomach.” As the possessor of a trained legal mind, he should have a proper sense of values, and should know that, in the mud and mire of Flanders, or on the sunparched deserts of Asia Minor, good food and drink are of infinitely greater value, and more essential to the proper preservation of the fighting spirit, than a sheet of Red Triangle paper or a game of ludo. Again, one would think that a protagonist of Sir Walter’s calibre would not endeavour to score off his soldier-opponent by the cheap implication that Mr. Appleyard should financially assist those funds whose activities so favourably impressed him. Does not Sir Walter think a man has done enough who has fought on the bloody slopes of Gallipoli and the still-bloodier fields of France?
Reverting to general criticism of the Y.M.C.A., the chief objection voiced by the men is that, as the organisation is financed by the public with money given on the express condition that the men, and not the Y.M.C.A., should benefit, no attempt should be made to extort profits from them, but the association counters this by saying that all profits derived from canteen sales are returned to the men in the form of extra tent and hut accommodation and amusement facilities, and, above all things else, in Red Triangle writing paper. This pretension is soon exposed when it is re membered that all the hutments are practically the same, and that the soldier never receives any more in one base hut than he does in another. Another factor is the feeling that some of the money raised is diverted to other uses entirely foreign to the welfare of the troops, such as investments in lands, loans, buildings, etc-, which will improve the association’s post-war position. And the lack of official information as to the real financial position of the Y.M.C.A. goes far to confirm this feeling. In this connection Mr. Virgo has stated that none of the money raised by these special appeals goes into the ordinary funds of the association, and that the war work is kept entirely separate from the ordinary activities of the organisation. By the above statement, does Mr. Virgo wish it to be inferred that property acquired since the outbreak of war was bought with the ordinary funds? And if this inference is correct would Mr. Virgo kindly indicate the actual limits of ordinary work as distinguished from war work? For instance, has the ordinary propaganda been charged to the general funds or to war-work money since the out break of war? Still another objection is that the soldiers have no representatives
on the board of the Y.LC.A. to see that money received for them is expended in the right direction.
From the standpoint of the citizen who gives, the Y.M.C.A is not a suitable vehicle for the distribution of war relief. When a citizen donates a sum of money for the express purpose of helping the soldier at the front, he naturally expects his money to reach the soldier at a minimum of cost, and he certainly does not wish it to be put to any use other than the one he intended. If the same citizen goes to any city firm they will put him up a parcel which the soldier, if still in the ranks. will receive, without deductions; consequently the giver will receive full value for the money, and the soldier will benefit to the full extent of the gift.
Summed up, there is a consensus of opinion among returned men that, as a medium for dispensing war relief the Y.M.C.A., is not the best investment, either for the giver or the intended receiver, and that the organisation could very well he eliminated from the field of helpful endeavour without detriment to the fighting man, as the military authorities could carry on the work with better results to the soldier. Finally there is one phase of its activities on which the Y.M.C.A. is to be commended, and that is in its selection of gentlemen to present its side of the case from the viewpoint of the soldier who is suffering the hardships of war at bass camps in England and France. These men are thoroughly qualified to wield the pen, for. after devoting a great deal of earnest consideration to the subject, and upon mature deliberation they have come to the conclusion that the pen is mightier than the sword-and far safer.-Yours, etc.,
ARTHUR G. WRIGHT. Late 51st Battalion Perth June 20.
To the Editor. Sir,-In reply to Private G. N. Garless’s inquiry as to whether the explanation furnished by the Y.M.C.A. regarding canteen prices is not suffcient, rviz., that prices are fied by the military authorites. I say that the answer is neither sufficient nor candid. Is it not a fact the military an, thorities fix a maximum price but themr is nothing to prevent anyone from selling at a lower rate, or from giving goods away for nothing? Does the Y.M.C.A. invariably charge the maximum rate allowable. -Yours, etc., T. B. KELLY. i-illigan-street, Perth. June 25. To the Editor. Sir.-I have followed with some interest the correspondence in connection with the Y.M.C.A.. but have had no opportunity of seeing for myself what the nature of the conveniences afforded by this society (i.r any other is like or the conditions under which they are administered, so can give no definite opinion on them. I thought, however, that the public might like to hear some details of one of its huts by a girl who has been working in it This girl is my youngest daughter Thelma -.nd she has been connected with this hut for over twelve months. I append a few remarks she has made extracted from her letters-June 7, 1917.-This morning and yesterday morning I spent at the Y.31.CO.. hut. It is certainly very trying during the hot weather, but I would not give it up fir anything. July 15, 1917.-I am working nearly every day at the Y.M.C.A. hut. I like the work very nmch. October 18, 1917.–The Y.M.C.A hut is still sailina along. Mrs. Romer, the head of it, is away at present for a month. She has just lost her husband. I have been made head of two shifts-Saturday mornings and Sunday nights. I feel quite honoured because it s a good old responsibit.
November 12, 1917.-I am still working hard at the hut, an. like it very mnnih. We have great diftalties to contend with, easause all kinds of new regulations. come in every day about the food, and no sandwich can weigh more than 2cz. That is the hard part, as every sandwich has to be weighed, and when doing a quantity it takes time. I nearly always make the cofiee and cocoa, and I seem to be a bit of a success qt it, for a wonder. I am called ‘The lightiing coffee maker,” because I make it quicker than anyone else. It is also supposed to be very good. January 11, 1918.-1 am still working at the hut. On Sundays I go from 6 until 10.30, Tuesdays 10 till 2, Wednesdays the same, also Saturdays. Captain Alan Vowles is most interested in my hut work. I am going to take him over it on Sunday. January 28, 1918.-I am still ‘busy at the Y.M.C.A. hut, especially, just now, as our cook has left us, and consequently everything gets a bit muddled, as it is no joke cooking for 80 or 90 men. February 7, 1918.-1 am still keeping on at the hut. It is going strong, end there is always heaps to do there. February 22, 1918.-We have been having numbers of air raids lately, as you have no doubt heard. On Sunday night when one came I was at the hut. Great excitement. because we had to shut up and put away most of the things before we went. I thoroughly enjoyed it personally, as the raids do not worry me in the very least, and the soldiers all did their beae to help us. My eldest daughter has been working at a refreshment buffet in connection with the RIed Cross at Victoria Railway Station, London. I need hardly add that neither daughter received any remuneration. Yours, etc., E. H. WIT’PENOOM. Perth, June 2t. To the Editor. Sir,-As a business men who has been approached by representatives of the above organisation for financial support, I would like to point out one aspect of the matter which needs a little clearing up. The Y.M.C.A. insists that it supplies soldiers with notepaper and envelopes “free.” This is hardly, correct. A well-known Australian business firm-which makes no claim to philenthropy-supplies traders with high. class wrapping paper “free”-that is, it costs nothing, and is delivered free of carriage. a boon at present soaring paper prices. But each sheet carries the firm’s advertisement, thus achieving wide circulation of same without cost of mailing or- dis tribution. Similarly the Y.M.C.A. (which prints its advertisement on every sheet and envelope) is obtaining at the soldiers’ expense, free distribution throughout Australia, of an advertisement which other wise (in mailing and distribution) would cost it thousands of pounds. The plea of “brotherly love” will strike the average business man as a little too thin.-Yours, etc., STRICTLY BUSINESS. Perth, June 25. To the Editor. Sir,-I served in Gallipoli, and had a long stay in Egypt. I visited all the different camps where the Y.M.C.A. was established, and I think that, as a whole, it is run more for the benefit of those in it than for those the money is collected to help. I have never got anything from the Y.M.C.A. that I could not have purchased elsewhere for-the same price or less. J. Thomson states that he paid 4s. 6d. for a meal ‘m a restaurant and got the same at the Y.M.C.A. for Is. Id. All I can say is that he was either dreaming or that they saw him coming. With regard to the beds, the Y.M.C.A. can .well provide the same for 9d.. considering they were given free to the society. Another. correspond. ent states that at the Y.M.C.A. huts you can play billiards, chess, etc., and also see a picture show in many of them. But cannot a soldier do this anywhere by paying the same as the Y.M.C.A. charge? For another thing,’, why cannot the Y.M.C.A. people live the sanne as the soldiers who are fighting for them on 6s. a day,. instead of £g per week’ and expenses? But, no. “Nothihg for nothing” is their motto. To Bill they say, if not mi so many words, “You go and fight and I will sell you something to eat when you come back.” I. isasked what the soldiers would do without the Y.M.C.A.? If it were not about, some other concern would be there.-Yours, etc., J.J.J PARKER. ‘Beverley, June 21. To the ‘Editor. Sir.-Like many others who have hitherto responded to every appeal made by the Y.M.C.A. for funds to help our boys at the front. I em somewhat disappointed with the present condition of affairs. We have read with astonishment the letters written by returned soldiers, and the not alto gether, convincing replies made by various speakers. for . the Y.3M.CG.A. appal. I firmihf elieve that, unless the citizens’ committee state their case more clearly than in their, statement as published in your issue of Saturday, the 22nd inst., they will fail to raise the amount desired. With your permission I would ask the committee to answer the following questions:(I) What will be done with the surplus cash; if any,. when the war ends and our soldiers have returned? (2) If, as their statement reads, “none of the property raised by public subscription is at the disposal of the Y.M.C.A. after the war,” who will receive it? (3) If the Y.M.C.A. funds will not derive any benefit “after the wai’,” why have they spent so much money on postage, circulars, and personal canvass of shareholders in their efforts to obtain possession (for hbuilding purposes) of the War Munitions Company shares. knowing at the time that this mnoney will not be available until after the end of the war? A satisfactory reply to these questions is required by more than-Yours, etc., Clarment, June 21. X.Y.Z. To the Editor. Sir,-Perhaps it will help to stimulate the workers for the present Y.M.C.A. ap-peal if I state that, since I wrote last the
funds obtained in New Zealand for Y.M.C.A. war purposes have been increased to £170,000, a splendid result of the gene-rosity of the people of that Dominion, and an encouragement to our workers here for the cause of our “boys” at the front. Perhaps you will allow me to state, in re-ply to critics, that a properly audited bal-ance sheet of all moneys received by the Y.M.C.A. has been published, and a copy can be obtained on application at the asso-ciation rooms, in Murray-street, Perth.Yours, etc., SAMUEL MACAULAY, President of the Perth Y.M.C.A. June 25. To the Editor. Sir,-I have heard it stated, and seen it also in the letter written to your paper by “Crosscut.” that the Y.M.C.A. is a money-making concern. Anybody but a child I should think, would be ashamed to make such an assertion, when it is well known that the profits made go back to the mates of those soldiers (who pay for the benefits) in the shape of comforts to walking wounded, etc. An objection which nobody seems to realise is an illogical one is, that the Y.M.C.?. huts or marquees, with their concert halls, billiard tables, cinema halls, etc., are not in the firing line, or very near it. How could they be? The Y.M.C.A. originally started to cater for the soldiers in camps. The “walking wounded” work is only a “side line” of theirs. I understand that the Trench Comforts and other societies cater almost exclusively for the refreshment, by eatables and clothing, of the soldiers in the front line and they are necessarily there more then the Y.M.C.A. would be expected to be. Let this society have a “fair show,” as otheis have hadYours. etc., DISSTON. Claremont, June 24. To the Editor. Sir.-I had not intended taking any part in the controversy, raging at present’ as to the merits of the Y.M.C.A. appeal for funds, but when the promoters of the meeting, held at the Town Hall lastnight. adopt such tactics as to introduce an anonymous or fictitious letter, purporting to be sent by an assistant secretary of the Y3L.C.A-, one naturally feels indignant at such methods taken to try and discredit the members of this association. Whatever faults a soldier may have he is generally a believer in “fair play.” However, so certain am I that the letter produced at the meeting never eoanated from an official of the Y.M.C.A., and as equally certain am I as to the source of its origin, that although not overburdened with cach, I am prepared to forfeit the sim of £20 to a fund for blind soldiers if it can be proved by Mr. B. S. Haynes or Mr. Tyrell Williams that the letter was sent by an official of the Y.~.C.A. to Mr. Appleyard (if the R.S. League, on the other hand, will forfeit the same amount to the Y.M.C.A. if unable to do so)-Yours, etc.. B. CURT1S, 12th Batt Fremantle, June 25. To the Editor. Sir,-I am at a loss to understand why, if the Y.M.C.A. is doing such good work, it needs so much “boosting,” which we do not see in any other organsation. Others are quite content to let the public judge them and give accordingly. My son, who has returned invalided, states, when questioned on the subject, that there are many other rgwanisations much more useful than the Y.M.C.A.; that the Y.MC.A. is all right here in Perth, and no doubt does rgood, but that its place is not on the battlefield. He sneaks in great praise of the Salvation Army, Church huts, and also the Red Cross and the Trench Comforts. If these organisations do so much good, and
at a much less expense, why not let them take over the Y.M.CA. work and let the Y.M.C.A. make a point of helping the returned soldiers, such as helping the blind and other permanently injured men? There is a great work to be done in this direotion. Then we could let those bodies which are evidently more liked by the soldiers run the work at the front. I should like the Y.M.C.A. people to tell us what is being paid to their large number of eecretaries. No doubt a few are voluntary workers, but only a few. We could name a few who have gifen up good positions for a trip round the world as secretaries- Do they do it for ntothing? I think not, cnd the feeling is abroad that most of the money goes in that way. A lot has been said about the Y.M.C.A. build’ng at Blackboy; but how much did it cost that organssation? I believe most of the labour was free, and that much material was given. I think the Y.M.C.A. had better call their men in, and carry on their good work at home, as there is plenty to do here.-Yours, etc., SOLDIER’S MOTHER. Claremont, June 2A. To the Editor. Sir–Yor correspondent, Mr. R- Wright, states in his letter that I have “started an agitation against that very useful organisation, the Y.M.C.A.” If Mr. Wright ‘has followed the controversy from the beginning he must know that this is incorrect. I cannot claim to be the originator of the agitation nor can any member of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia. Further, the league does not claim to be the representative of the returned soldiers in Western Australia. I would advise Mr. Wright to get in touch with current events, particularly those affecting his comrades both here and abroad. -Yours, etc. A. TYRRELL WILLIAMS. Perth, June 25. To the Editor. Sir,–There is a certain force in the criticism that the Y.M.C.A. has been ratser over booming its work and lacking, perhaps, in an adequate expression of its appreciation of the good work done by otrer organisations. I am not a member of toe Y.M.C.A.. and express this opinion just as freely as any of your corrcespondents. But what influences me is the work itself more than the manner of those who carry it our; after ail, that does not affect toe value of the result, and it is the latter which should be made the test. Any otner e-. is sniall-minded, and -can only prejumce the work itself. If that work be goon,. we should ignore its merely superficial faults. When troops pass out of the base camps and are doing their turn in the trenches the Y.M.C.A. supplies all articles free, and so. does the Trench Comforts Fund. No charges are made in this work. and that is testified to by thousands of those who had the experience. ‘The instructions to all employed on this work are that no charges are to be made; certainly no proceeds of any sales reach the association. It is to be regretted, however, that two men did make charges in France. and vocketed them, but they were both dismissed directly the association became aware of the facts. When in Melbourne a few months ago I was satisfied by a perusar or aee books that in this work called free ssr.nbution large sums have been expended by the Y.M.C.A. each year of the war. any man engaged in this work has ma.e charges, he has done so against orne.e. has kept the money, and proved himself a mean thief. In base camps charges are fixed by the military authorities, and apply to all organisations, and if they are exorbitant, then the. complaints should beo made to the military. It may be that one orgaiisation gives better value im one ,line than another organisation, just as the Y-M.CA. finds that in one base its huts give better results on certain lines than huts in another base camp. To allege exorbitant charges is not to prove them-they are disproved by the percentage of profit.. To quote prices which prevail in France is meaningless to. those who have no conception of costs in France; to attempst to compare such prices with local ones is grossly misleading. In Egypt there were cornplaints of ;over-charges, and directly the military committee in Melbourne heard of these complaints they had the matter put right. In every other case where complaints have been made to that committee it has taken the same course and removed the causes of such complaints. When one remembers that the t.M.C.A. huts and hut,ments (whether English, Canadian,’ New Zealand or Australian) come. into contact with our men and number about 51000,’ is it to be wondered that faults arise, that some attendants are tactless, ‘some too rigid in observanoe of rules, and some inefficient? On the other hand,. among the :tens .of thousands of Australian men who rise these places are we to expect that every soldier will be helpful and none of them. irritable or,unreasonable? And is no allowance to be made for, the often ovcrwgrked and harassed attendant? If any man is disgruntled about charges made at any Y.M.C.A. hutment at a base camp he could go to any one of several other hutments of other organisations and do better if he could. If there was no other hutment there then that fact is a tribute to the activity of the Y.M.C.A. I want. to repeat that the Y.M.C.A. does work in trenches which is also covered by the Trench Comforts Fund, and that no charges are made by either body. There is co-operation among the officials and each organisation takes up its work as so allotted by the military, authorities. The point to be made clear and repeated time after time is that both organisations do some part of this work, and that if one is cutout then a fgreater burden is thrown on the other, whereas there is ample work I for both. If the Y.1)LC.A. made no profit on its base hutments-and a profit of 6 per ceit. gross is an extremely small net profitthen more public money would be needed for that free distnribution work to which this profit is devoted. Let this also be clearly rnlrirun k. lmnli:- 1·
charges for its camp work and it does good and admirable work in every way, the work of the New Zealand Army being particularly efficient. There is a close sympathy between the Salvation Army and the Y.M.C.A. in their war works, no ill-will or friction, the only rivalry being in their efforts to serve the soldiers. But the Salva.tion Army is not self-supporting and has to reply upon public contributions to aid its war work exactly in the same way as the Y.M.C.A. Please make this dear, and I repeat the statement. It makes public appeals in the old country. In November last it made a public appeal in New Zealand and raised £50,000, and is now holding another big appeal in that Dominion, which I hope will be successful when it hopes to get £100,000. New Zealand this year raised £170,000 for the Y.M.C.A. work. Last year the Salvation Army appealed through the Press of Victoria and New South Wales for public contributions in aid of its war work. The Army deserves and admirably uses all the money it receives. I doubt, however, whether it would care to carry on all the present work of the Y.M.C.A. in addition to its own. I am confident that it realises there is room for both efforts and no saving of expenses by removing either of them. In the base camps are several voluntary organisations which carry on work to assist ..e men, and every one of them-please note the statement which I repeat-every one of them relies upon the generosity of voluntary contributions (public or private) to enable its work to he continued. But if the Y.L.C.A. is criticised because it makes charges notwithstanding it gets money from the general public, why should not the Salvation Army and the other organisations also be criticised and attacked on the same basis? The fact is that such a ground of criticism is a mere cloak; just camouflage to cover hidden and unworthy influences which are at work. It must not be overlooked that in the base camps soldiers are fed by the military: of late they have been better fed than the men and women of the homeland. Whatever meals or refreshments, therefore, are provided in the base camps by voluntary organisations are extra to the food supplied by the military. Some men want more than three meals a day, others are content with three. The former will soon find out the best places in which to feed; the latter the best places in which to rest or amuse themselves. This is natural, and I do not quarrel with it. but why should we judge every or?anisation by the standard of its meals and ignore the tastes of the man whose stomach is more easily satisfied and ihose thoughts turn more to reading or amusement, a social chat or “sing-song.” and thoughts of home-a quiet place to rest and smoke? Even the Returned Soldiers’ Institute in Perth makes charges, and though it is built and furnished out of public and voluntary contributions and in the interests of which many devoted women give their services free day by day (the, paid staff consisting, I believe, ~i four hands only). it still has to rely upon voluntary contributions (annual or otherwise) to keep it going. To enable the institute to carry on its wider work of welcome to and entertainment of soldiers, its sympathisers are on July 4 making an appeal which we all hope will be generously met. But it is strange that returned men do not realise that the very institution which they enjoy in Perth (where peace conditions prevail i and prices are relatively low) makes charges, but, notwithstanding that fact. has to rely upon public contributions and the unselfish effort of a great many fine women workers to carry on its ordinary work. For the Y.M.C.A. organisation tens of thousands of women are working voluntarily and as loyally as are the good ladies who work for the institute. The Y.M.C.A. war work has been in
operation for nearly four years; its burt and hutments are used by tens of thouo sands day by day; the figures which show the sales made alone testify to the extent to which these conveniences are enjoyed. The places are not, as their criti would have us believe, deserted-with things the soldier will not buy and conveniences they will not use. On the contrary, there are always soldiers thereMostly full, an d of an evening even crowded. and when an entertainment is held or,iecture given, the hut cannot hold the number who desire to enter. Most of the returned soldiers in this State who have been in France have cnjoyed to some extent some of the Y.M.C.A. activities, and to some extent used its huts and hutments. To use them and then grumble at charTes does not alter the fact that, although the charges are said to be exorbitant, the places are patronised by those very critics and is itself the best and most striking testimony to their need. Our appeal now is the second made in this State-the first was made in September, 1916, two years after the war began. It is not an appeal for new work, but to continue an existing one. We ask that what was available for the fighting men should be kept alive for those still fighting-that nothing should be taken from them which for four years others have had available to use if they desired to do so. We do not believe that any one returned soldier would sweep away these thousands of centres and provide nothing to replach them, nor can we believe that any other organisation could or even would take oves these centres and give better results fom less money. Midst these complaints enc criticisms, those of us who have not been to the front can only exercise our good sense and act accordingly. On the whole, the criticisms are not so numerous when compared with the wide area of the work and the four years of its duration. Mistakes have been made; some unworthy men have been unwittingly employed, some waste no doubt committed. But such things have marked the course of each and all of our organisations, even our Australian army organisation has suffered. But in such a rush and upheaval as we have witnessed, we pass such things by ‘as unavoidable. Can we not complete our efforts as we have begun and maintained them? With an eager and kaen determination- to do our part without ‘fault finding and minor criticisms. If the result is on the whole good, what more do we need or ask, and in that spirit may I again appeal to those men who. have fought so bravely for us, and have now the good luck to be returned men, to bear in mind, first and last, those who still fight, thousands of whom will leave their bones in France, and never enjoy the good fortune of coming home to us. If we pull together, we shall set all we need; if we bein to wrangle we shall all go short. What has been good enough for four years, and is good enough for America to copy, should be good enough for us to keep going until the end.–Yours. etc., WALTER JAMES. Perth, June 25. (Already this correspondence has made eman assing inroads on our limited space. Except for any statement which may be forthcoming in reply to the specific ques- t tions asked above by Arthur G. Wright and “X.Y.Z..” we cannot, therefore, -for the present at all events. find further room for the controversy.-Ed.1. [1]
[1] West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), Wednesday 26 June 1918, page 8