The organization of war charities is now in England controlled by the
War Charities Committee appointed by the Government in April, 1916.
The committee controls not only what could be strictly termed War
Charities, but all war agencies of any kind for which appeals for
funds are made to the public. These organizations must be registered
and approved by the committee, and their accounts must be open to
inspection and audit. This was a wise and necessary step, not so much
because of actual fraudulent appeals--there has been practically none
of that, but there was a certain amount of overlapping and of waste of
money, material and energy, and some very few organizations in which
an undue proportion of funds raised was absorbed in expenses. Comforts
for soldiers and prisoners of war parcels are also now co-ordinated
under two national committees.

The first work of registering Belgian refugees and of providing French
and Flemish interpreters was done by a voluntary organization--the
London Society for Women's Suffrage (a branch of N.U.W.S.S.), which
has always been notable for its admirable organization. It provided
150 interpreters for this work in a few days, and work was carried on
at all the London Centres from early morning till midnight. When the
Government took over the charge of Belgian refugees, the system of
registration used by the London Society was adopted without change by
them and the organizer in charge was taken over also and put in a very
responsible position at the War Refugees Committee's Headquarters.

The work of our Government Employment Exchanges (which were
established before the War by the Board of Trade) and are now under
the Ministry of Labour--has been supplemented by various Professional
Women's Bureaus, by the compiling of a Professional Women's Register,
secured through Universities, Colleges, Headmistresses' Association,