“ To you from falling hands we throw the torch .”— jHemortal Bap 1919 We have a debt to those who rest today in Flanders fields * Our debt is to the living in whose behalf they died. Our Debt S MEMORIAL DAY approaches who does not feel the terrible responsibility of being still alive! Within thirty miles of Paris there are three mil¬ lion graves. Sixty thousand American soldiers rest in Franee. Their memory is a sacred heritage to our country. In the heart of each of us it is a spur to high endeavor. We are in their debt for oppor¬ tunity, for freedom, for life itself. How can we honor their memory ? The thin p's that these men did are already a household story. They will become an inspiration to future generations of Americans. Year after year their graves will be tenderly decked with flowers. But our love, our gratitude, our devotion can not be expressed in this manner alone. We are trustees of the Cause for which they died. It is by helping the living that we can most truly honor our dead. The Record of French Protestants Throughout the history of France and during the World War no group of people endured more and fought harder for democracy, for equality of opportunity and for religious free¬ dom than the descendants of the Huguenots. Protestantism received a staggering blow from the German invasion. The 700,000 Protestants of France and Belgium served heroically in the War; but they suffered grievously. Of a thousand pastors, one-half were mobilized in 1914; 316 were officially cited for valor; 100 ministers and theological students and 150 ministers’ sons gave their lives for France. One-eighth of their churches, including many of the richest and most influential, were under fire in the industrial districts of the invaded north. Manv of these were robbed and damaged, and some were totally demolished. Every orife of the Paris Protestant churches, which are much smaller than our own leading churches, had thirty or forty dead. The Stricken Children of France Child life in France has suffered beyond measure during the past five years. War conditions have robbed the children of necessary food, clothing, schooling, housing, medical atten¬ tion and parental love and care, with the awful result that children have died by thousands. A report made by the Surgeon General of the Bordeaux district shows the increasing mortality among very young children as the war continued: 1914, 25 per cent.; 1915, 35 per cent.; 1916, 66 per cent.; 1917, 81 per cent. The slaughter of the innocents was more alarming than the slaughter of the soldiers. Thousands who survived are left with stunted bodies and impoverished vitality. These conditions must be improved at once if France is to regain her population and recover her former strength. Devastation Throughout the invaded areas refugees are returning to their destroyed homes. They need food, clothing, tools and furniture. Their pastors have in many cases not received salaries for years. But the most awful devastation perhaps is in the soul life of the sufferers. Faith, hope and love have received shattering blows. Our wish is to restore these while rebuilding wrecked shops, schools, homes and churches. Dis¬ organized church life must be renewed if spiritual leadership is to keep pace with material reconstruction. How to Pay Our Debt “It is a vital necessity,” says Chaplain Daniel Couve, of the 59th Division of the French Army, who has just returned to France after a two months’ stay in America, “to strengthen the religious forces of France and Belgium at this critical hour, lest demoralization and despair sweep away the precious fruits of victory. The mothers of France say that 1,400,000 of their sons were killed in the war while only 70,000 Americans gave their lives, but that if it had not been for the 70,000 Americans the 1,400,000 would have died in vain. They may still have died in vain if America withholds her invaluable aid from France in these difficult reconstruction days.” Our soldiers gave without stint or limit to make victory secure. We have caught the torch from their falling hands. Let us give in the same measure to restore and to renew. $3,000,000 BUDGET FOR CHRISTIAN RELIEF IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM Committee of Brotherly Aid.$1,350,000 A relief organization for sufferers in the invaded areas. Food and cloth¬ ing is supplied., houses furnished, renewed family life made possible. Restoration of Churches and Manses.$300,000 Thirty-five church buildings were wholly or partially destroyed during the war. Emergency Relief of Pastors.$150,000 Many French pastors lost their homes and all they had during the war. Others are sick and crippled. War prices place an intolerable burden on them. Their impoverished congregations cannot provide sufficient salaries for them during the emergency conditions of reconstruction. The Work of Foreign Missions.$300,000 There are 50,000,000 inhabitants in the French colonies to whom there is no other door of approach than the French Foreign Missions. Home Missions.$300,000 There are 20,000,000 Frenchmen not vitally connected w T ith any religious organization to whom Protestantism has a unique opportunity to appeal through the Societe Centrale Evangelique. Asylums, Orphanages and Re-education Work for Wounded Soldiers.$200,000 There are 2,000,000 wounded and disabled soldiers, who need to be re¬ educated so as to be made self supporting. At Nantes a Protestant school is engaged in this work. Courses in stenography, typewriting, bookkeeping and trades of various kinds should be developed. Anna Hamilton Hospital.$250,000 This is the only school but one of scientific nursing in France. Nurses visit homes and teach parents how to improve conditions and how properly and scientifically to care for the child. These trained nurses for children should be sent into every city, town, village and countryside of France. Educational and Social Work, Schools in Invaded Regions, Seminaries and Sunday Schools. $200,000 Scholarships for French and Belgian Students in American Theological Seminaries. 50,000 Special Support for Belgian Churches. 100,000 Total. $3,200,000 Funds are disbursed by two committees, representing all the French and Belgian Protestant Churches. Dr. Chauncey Goodrich, pastor of the American Church in Paris, and Rev. E. W. Bysshe, of the Methodist Episcopal Board of Foreign Missions, are members. American Campaign Committee Director: George O. Tamblyn Advisor: Charles S. Ward All contributions should be sent to Alfred R. Kimball, Treasurer, 289 Fourth Avenue, New York City.