One of the most intelligent officers at Camp Sevier has recently written a letter about the soldiers, in which he says:

“The people back home need to be encouraged, particularly the families of those men who are in the service. You have no idea the large number of letters coming in from wives, mothers and fathers, telling their husbands and sons that the crops which they left in the fields are going to waste for the lack of labor to harvest it; that the children are hungry because there is no money with which to buy provisions; that the wife is sick and no one to look after her. That is the place for a great work. The men here do not need Christmas presents or feasts. They are all well cared for, have their friends and acquaintances, but they cannot fully devote themselves to their work because they are thinking continuously of the dependents back home. Many telegrams come each day telling of sickness. The greatest work that the people at home can do is to visit the families of men who are away. If they need the necessities of life or a doctor, see that those things are furnished. They need comforting because in so many instances it is the first time husband and wife have been separated, and also father and mother and son. They can hardly endure this separation. They feel as if they have lost all there is in the world for them to look to in time of trouble. The field is unlimited, and you cannot imagine what joy it would bring to the hearts of the men here if they knew there was a little Christmas in their homes.”

I think it is of the first importance for your County Council to read this letter carefully and take steps at once to look after the families of soldiers, and especially to see to it that where there is poverty and sickness, that these people are extended not only whatever financial aid is necessary, but also given human sympathy. I also call your attention to the allowance made by the Government to families of dependents. Many of these dependents do not know how to make their claims against the Government for these allowances, and I suggest that you get the lawyers of the county to prepare whatever papers are necessary to secure these allowances wherever they are merited. Please give to the extract of the letter above quoted the widest publicity possible in your county.