Near East Relief

[DominO123]

Here the full version of the April 19, 1922 Near East Relief report. Obviously Bristols claim about the "waste of money" was a compleat lie, like one could remark by reading the report presented here.

 

 

 

 

NEAR EAST RELIEF

INCORPORATED BY AN ACT OF CONGRESS

Help Load the Relief Ship

April 19, 1922.

 

 

 

 

Miss Sarah Newlin,

1824 Pine Street,

Philadelphia, Penna,

 

My dear Miss Newlin:-

 

Because of your intelligent interest in deserving philanthropies, and in view of the fact that you have expressed interest in the fate of the starving children in Bible lands, I wish to submit to you a detailed statement of our work, including photographs of actual conditions taken within the last few months in the Near East. In response to your questions regarding the characteristic's of the Armenians, I am also citing the gifts of eminent Armenians to civilization, including a resume of interesting events in their history.

Results Achieved:

 

1. Reports from Government and other sources indicate that not less than one million people are living today in the Near East, who would have perished of starvation and resultant diseases had it not been for

contributions sent from America administered through the agency of NEAR EAST RELIEF.

 

2. The representatives of the Board of Trustees visiting those regions this summer v;ere met with testimonials from the highest officials of the various races and religions, witnessing to the life saving service that has been accomplished.

 

3. A disproportionately large number of those who have been saved., are orphan children who constitute

the hope of the future so far as the Hear East is concerned. NEAR EAST RELIEF is reaching over 100,000 of

these children. caring for as many as possible in the one hundred and seventy-five orphanages. The majority are not only fatherless, motherless, and homeless, "but many, if not most of them, are without relatives and would probably perish if assistance heretofore given should be withdrawn.

 

4. More important than the mere figures of 1,000,000 lives saved or 100,000 children now fed, is the fact that these lives saved from imminent starvation, are but a part of the three or four million who yet remain of the exiled and persecuted Christian subject races of the Near East, most of whom would probably have disappeared in the massacres and persecutions that have followed since 1915, had it not been for the presence in their midst of American relief workers whom the authori-ties do not care to offend.

 

These Christian subject races kept from annihilation as we believe in a large measure by American relief, in which you have shared, are the chief hope of ushering a new era of education, enlightenment and progress of the war-torn areas of the Near East.

 

The work is being done in the broadest humanitarian spirit, with no sectarian bias. At NEAR EAST RELIEF stations all receive aid according to their need, regardless of religious affiliations, and in this country we have the support of every type of organization secular and religious.

 

II. Present Conditions:

 

The Armenians and most of the subject races of the Near East are still in exile. War in the Near East has not ceased since 1914. Although the Armenians fought bravely for the allied cause both in Palestine and in the Caucasus the armistice has brought them neither peace nor security* Any attempt to return to their lands and ancestral homes, means almost certain death. This was conclusively demonstrated something more than a year ago when 10,000 of them , who had returned as far as Marash, were massacred. Many other similar atrocities have occurred since the Armistice, The French withdrawal from Cilicia has precipitated greater confusion throughout Cilicia and Northern Syria, with countless refugees and children pouring into our relief stations* Tens of thousands of children are safe in our orphanages in Jerusalem, Sidon, Jebail, Constantinople and other sections outside of Turkish control, and the presence of American relief workers insure the safety of other thousands in the Interior. Military and economic conditions make self-support of these orphans at the present time impossible.

 

In the Caucasus a large part of the Armenian area, where the refugees are, was over run and held by the Turks until April of the present year, rendering it impossible after the withdrawal of the Turkish Army and without seed or farm animals to plant the field and secure adequate crops this year. Famine to the north in the Volga Valley, has made it impossible to secure foodstuffs from that area and on the contrary has precipitated south7/ard into this area large numbers of Russian refugees.

 

III. Political Situation:

 

NEAR EAST RELIEF is not indifferent to the fundamental importance of bringing about political changes that will insure stable government and make possible the return of these exiles to their homes and to self-support. We are availing ourselves of every legitimate opportunity to bring about political security and justice for these subject races, but until this is done v/e are faced with a serious humanitarian problem that requires continued attention.

 

IV. Economic Situation:

 

The prolonged exile of the Armenian, Greek and other subject races of the Near East, since 1915: the Turkish occupation of portions of Russian Armenia until late April 1981j the famine in Northern Russia; the Greco-Turkish war in Anatolia and the evacuation of Cillcia "by the French, have all combined to produce an economic situation that added to the political problem makes distress in the Hear East, a far more serious matter than it has been in any previous year.

 

V. No Government Aid:

 

We call attention to the fact that the work for these orphans Is unique in that they are not only fatherless, motherless and homeless, but unlike the children of other lands, they have no friendly or paternal government to give them such aid and protection as even the most impoverished friendly government can, and does give to its subject future citizens. Host of these orphans are under a government that would rejoice in their extermination.

 

Voluntary Armenian benevolent organizations have been exerting themselves for their own people. From the few Armenians left with any substance in Turkey and from the scattered Armenians of the world substantial contributions are being made representing great sacrifice but woefully inadequate, to meet the need,

 

VI. Industrial Work and Self Support:

 

Every possible means is being used to give industrial training and to develop self support in these orphanages. By nature the Armenians, Greeks and other subject races of the Near East, are the most thrifty and industrious of all the peoples in the east. Every opportunity is used to make the orphans self-supporting and to train them for the future usefulness and leadership in industrial, commercial and professional life. The children make their own clothes, in many Instances weaving the cloth as well as making the clothes. Agricultural training is being provided for large numbers in the Caucasus«

 

VII. NEAR EAST RELIEF Activities:

 

1. There are approximately 100,000 bright healthy boys and girls, most of them under 11 years of age, whom, with the assistance of past contributions from the Rockefeller foundation, Red Cross and from the general public, we have gathered within the shelter of our various orphanages or are feeding in so-called homes. They are fatherless and motherless, "but safe so long as we stand by them. They constitute the hope of the future, and rightly trained, as we believe will leaven the whole Near East with higher ideals of citizenship and service.

 

2. There are at least 100,000 other orphans equally needy and worthy outside our orphanages homeless, all

but naked and who will suffer and a large percentage of them perish this winter, if we do not take them in, but for whom we have no provision in prospect.

 

3. Aside from these children there are at least a half million - and more probably a million - of the 2,790,000 remaining Armenians who now, or during the coming winter, will be reduced to the point of starvation if relief is not provided.

 

In addition to the Armenians, Greeks and other Christian subject races of the Ottoman Empire, there are approximately half a million Russians who have fled into the area where NEAR BAST RELIEF is the only humanitarian organization at work. Tens of thousands of these Russian refugees are now reduced to the point of starvation and will perish this winter if relief is not provided.

 

With our present resources, however, we cannot even attempt to help these adult refugees, worthy though they are and innocent of any crime or fault that should reduce thorn to starvation; but innocent children already gathered within our orphanages we feel we must save for the sake of the future.

 

4. Among both orphans and refugees disease has presented one of the gravest problems. Scourges of Asiatic Cholera and Typhus are never absent. Blindness from trachoma is threatening thousands of orphans not to mention the prevalence of contagious eye diseases among adults. In many places 50 percent of all of the children received into the orphanages are found to be suffering from trachoma. Unspeakable living conditions have multiplied the contagious skin diseases of the Orient. Tuberculosis is growingly prevalent among the half-starved populations. Over and against this situation the NEAR EAST RELIEF is at work in 26 hospital centers and 48 clinical stations as well as in the infirmary of every orphanage. Special hospitals for the isolation of children suffering from trachoma and tuberculosis are established. At one Station Alexandropol approximately 3000 cases of trachoma are segregated for treatment in one orphanage. Similiar segregation for trachoma tuberculosis and other contagious diseases are effected as far as resources and facilities permit in each Station.

 

VIII. Future:

 

We feel that in these children we have in a large measure the future of the Near East, and that rightly trained they will help to solve one of the greatest of international problems "by introducing a spirit of good will, thrift and industrial leadership in these lands.

 

IX. Our Present Financial Situation:

 

To maintain the children already in our orphanages requires on an average of $100. per year per child. The cost varies. In certain places in the Caucasus we are able to provide maintenance at an average of $5. per month. Whereas in the better organized and equipped orphanages of Syria and Palestine, where more advanced industrial training is given the cost reached $12.50 per month, the average being about $100. per year.

 

In order to avoid turning these orphans out, we have been obliged to obligate ourselves to the extent of more than $800,000. in excess of our present visible resources.

 

X. Dollars Literally Mean Life:

 

Representatives of the Board of Trustees have this summer personally visited these relief areas: they found that children, during the month of August before the severe winter had begun, were dying of starvation. Each succeeding month makes the situation more serious and the death rate will increase. The testimony of some of these American eye-witnesses is attached herewith as evidence that dollars mean life. We feel that we dare not stand by and allow the children whom we have already gathered in our homes, to perish for lack of the comparatively small sum necessary per month to feed them, but they will perish if there is not a marked increase in present available resources for their support.

 

II. Our Request:

 

If we are to prevent absolute starvation and death on the part of these children and make anything like adequate provision for planting the fields and securing some measure of self-support during the coming year, we must have during the next six months an average income of a million dollars per month. We, of course, are seeking a large portion of this from the general public, but present this report of our work to you, hoping you can include among your benevolences an appreciable gift to this tragically worthy work. After this understanding of the critical conditions in the Near East, could you make a pledge, in addition to your generous contribution? How many orphans of this first Christian Nation, who may otherwise perish, will you save at five dollars a month?

 

In behalf of the Near East Relief, I am, Sincerely yours,

 

G.E. Silloway,

Regional Director.

 

 

 

The Character of the Armenians

 

"The Armenians are a people of large and honorable capacities* For ages they have maintained their civilization under oppression that would hare crushed almost any other people* The Armenian is one of the finest races in the world. If I were asked to name the most desirable race for immigration to the United States, I would name among the very first the Armenian."

 

Andrew D. White, United States Ambassador to Germany and President of Cornell University. Autobiography.

 

 

"They were translators, bankers, scholars, artisans, artists, and traders and even under their tyrannical masters filled posts which called for administrative ability, became ambassadors and ministers* They carried on trades, conducted commerce and designed and constructed palaces ... The Armenian preserved

his religion, his language and his racial purity, persecution bringing cohesion ... Time, temperament, and talent eventually brought most of the industry, finance, commerce and much of the intellectual and administrative work of the Ottoman Empire into Armenian hands."

 

Report of the American Military Mission to Armenian, Maj. Gen. James G. Harbord, United States Army.

 

 

The Armenians, themselves in imminent danger of complete destruction, were our allies in the World War, where they bore the brunt of the heaviest fighting in the Caucasian campaign. Their part in the war is a stirring and heroic story. After the Russian Army's breakdown, the Armenians took over the Caucasian front (over 200 miles long), and thus rendered valuable services to the British Army in Mesopotamia* General Allenby calls the Armenians "The Belgians of the East" and definitely stated; nI am proud to have Armenian contingents under my command. They fought brilliantly." The heart of America which goes out to suffering children everywhere is particularly touched by the plight of this intelligent and oppressed people who have fought so heroically for racial and religious liberty.

 

The birthplace of the Armenians is rich in undeveloped mines, lands and water power, and its people are capable, under proper protection and leadership, of developing these resources. Saltpeter, lead, iron, zinc and copper are found in the mountains. Hock salt is plentiful. Mineral waters abound. In some sections there is oil.

 

The soil generally is productive, but in certain parts requires a careful system of irrigation. Previous to the war 85 per cent of the Armenian population was engaged in agriculture, and with the Greeks, they formed the economic backbone of western Asia.

 

Rev. M. T. Kalaidjian, Secretary of the New Armenian Department of the Young Men's Christian Association in Uew York, advising the 15,000 Armenians in that city, cites the following record of his country-men to show they make good Americans:

 

"There are about 100,000 Armenians In America" said the Rev. Kalaidjian. "They are among the most desirable immigrants who coma to this country because they have a high rate of literacy and rank highest of all in the percentage of naturalization, according to an investigation among foreign-born workers which shows that more than half the Armenians have become citizens.

 

"One of the earliest Armenian contributions to this country was the care and cultivation of the silk worm* The records show that two Armenians came to this country as expert cultivators of the worm, and their work in the Virginia colony was so successful that in December, 1656, the Assembly of Virginia passed a resolution to the effect: That George, the Armenian, for his encouragement in the trade of silk and to stay in the country to follow the same, have 4,000 pounds of tobacco allowed him by the Assembly, " said Mr. Kalaljdian, discussing the place of his countrymen in America.

 

"Dr. Vartan Osigian of New Orleans is Director of the largest silk worm farm in America. After ten years of experiment it has been found possible, by charging the quality and quantity of food, to produce silk in eighteen different colors, a discovery which may revolutionize the silk industry.

 

The green color used in the American dollar bill is another noteworthy contribution by an Armenian, Dr. Seropian, who sold his patent to the United States Government. Armenians have been pioneers in the art of photo-engraving, too, and have made some important inventions in this line. They control a good deal of this trade in the city.

 

"The famous Casaba melon was introduced by Armenians. Arakelyan of Fresno controls the melon business on the Pacific Coast and has won for himself the title of "The Melon King." Armenians in California have helped the agricultural development of the State. Armenian farmers of Fresno County control 40 per cent of the acreage devoted to raisin grapes.

 

"The Armenians In the United States in proportion to their number and as compared to other races, have produced the largest number of professional men, some of whom have attained marked distinction* There are more than twenty Armenian teachers in leading universities.

 

"In the World War same Armenian scientists, serving the Government in research work, rendered noteworthy service. Among them was Major Varsten H. Kazanjian, Professor of Oral Military Surgery and Dental Science at Harvard University, who headed the Harvard Medical Mission which rendered such conspicuous service in the World War. His wonderful facial operations attracted the attention of the medical profession all over the world. England has conferred upon him the order of the Companion of St. George and St. Michael.

 

“There are more than two hundred Armenian practicing physicians and dentists in this country* Notable among them are Dr. Menas Gregory, alienist at Bellevue Hospital; Dr. H. MaiejIan of University of Michigan, who served as a Lieutenant Colonel at Camp Custer, and Dr. A. G. Hejlnian, Chief Surgeon in charge of Mercy Hospital, Animosa, Iowa.

 

"There are more than fifty Armenian clergymen preaching to American congregations of various denominations* Among Armenians who have achieved distinction in art and music here Is Haig Patlgian, sculptor, who was awarded a prise for his monument to commemorate the rebuilding of San Francisco* Armenians especially have distinguished themselves in engineering there being several hundred engineers as well as many chemists and architects here."

 

Sir Henry Norman considers the ancient, mediaeval and modern Armenian literature, including works of imagination, novels, romance and poetry, comparable to any other literature.

 

F, D. Lynch, referring to the architecture of a few of the 1,001 churches and other ruins of Ani, the capital of Armenia in the 9th century, expresses the opinion that the Armenians were the originators of the Gothic style of architecture, and further says: "These monuments of an ancient civilisation leave no doubt that the Armenian people may be included in the small number of races who have shown themselves susceptible of the highest culture."

 

Sir Edwin Pears considers the Armenians as the most artistic and musically talented race in Turkey.

 

During the Russo-Turkish war of 1877, of the dozen or more Armenian generals in the Russian army, Loris Melikoff was the Commander-ln-Chief of the Caucasus forces, who subsequently became the Prime Minister of Russia and drafted her first constitution.

 

According to Lord Cromer, "The Armenians have attained the highest administrative ranks, and have at times exercised a decisive influence upon the conduct of public affairs in Egypt."

The first Prime Minister of Egypt, following British occupation, was an Armenian, Lucasz, who was the Prime Minister of Hungary in 1913, was also an Armenian.

 

Prince Malcolm, one of the first leaders of the Persian reform movement; Aivazovsky, the greatest marine painter of the 19th century; Althen, who introduced to France the cultivation of ruble tinctorum; Manuelian, one of the foremost of the histologists of our time; the late Dr. Kassabian of Philadelphia, who was one of the leading Roentgen ray investigators in the world; the late Governor Thomas Corwin of Ohio, who also at one time became Secretary of the U. S. Treasury, belong to the Armenian race.

 

IN Turkey, the ARMENIANS have been one of the principal constructive forces, despite the oppressive and obstructive Turk rule, and they have, together with the Greek, supplied the Turk with his manifold wants. Even the Turkish printing press, the Turkish grammar and the Turkish theatre owe their origin to the initiative of the Armenian.

 

General Sharif *****, the former Turk Ambassador at Stockholm, made the following statement in October, 1915:

 

"If there is a race which has been closely connected with the Turk by its fidelity, by its services to the country, by the statesmen and functionaries of talent it has furnished, by the intelligence which it has manifested in all domains -commerce, industry, science and the arts - it is certainly the Armenian."

 

Dr, Barton, formed, President of the Euphrates College, Armenia, writes as follows In an Issue of The World Court;-

 

"In the modern Intellectual revival in Turkey the Armenians were the first to respond. They not only eagerly fostered modern education among themselves and in their own country, but thousands of bright Armenian young men and women have studied in the educational centers of the world and have ran distinction by the superiority of their intellect and their unconquerable desire and zeal for education. There is no race on the face of the earth more worthy, by its inheritance, its Intrinsic worth, its intellectual capacity and ability, its traditional industry, its peaceful temper and spirit, its domestic hopes and purposes, of a free and independent existence. In no commercial enterprise, no form of industry, no profession, and in no institution of learning in Turkey or elsewhere do the Armenians take second place."

 

 

ARMENIA AHD THE ARMENIANS

 

The Armenians, a race of the Indo-European stock, about 1300 years B.C., left their original home in Ihrace, Southeastern Europe, crossed the Bosphorus over into Bythinia, pushed Easterly into Gappadocia, and Northern Cilicia, and in about the 8th century B.C. reached the region of the mountain of Ararat, where they founded the State of Armenia.* "Herodotus"; Plonius"; "J, De Morgan".

 

King Herachia of Armenia was an ally of Neubuchednezzar in the capture of Jerusalem 600 B.C. King Tigranes of Armenia was the ally of Cyrus the Great in the conquest of Babylonia and the consequent liberation of the Jews from 70 years1 captivity 538 B.C.

 

Under Tigranes the Great, (fl. 1st Century B.C.) Armenia attained the height of her glory and power, and extended from the Caspian to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, from the Caucasus to the Mesopotamian plains, with an area exceeding 500,000 square miles and a population of 25,000,000. "Langlois"; "Lanormant".

 

Religion - Armenia has the first Christian National Church in the world. Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew preached the Gospel in Armenia. Since, in unbroken succession, the Church has had 137 Pontiffs, whose seat, since 309, (with occasionl transfers elsewhere) has been at Etch-Miadzin, the Great Monastery, in Russian Armenia.

 

Post-Christian Period - Following her conversion to Christianity, Armenia was in continual death-grapple with the Zoroasterian Persia and the ever surging hordes of barbarians from the wilds of Asia. Armenia was the highway upon which crossed and re-crossed the alien enemies of civilization - the Arab, Mongol, Tartar, Turk. The Armenians, isolated and separated from the rest of civilization, represented the West in the East and fought its first battles. And now exhausted by the swelling and pressing tide of the pagan and Moslem forces, they retreated Westerly and set up the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia, along the coast of the Mediterranean, in 1080. Here they became active allies of the Crusaders. But with the collapse of that unfortunate movement, they fell a prey to the wrath and vengeance of the Mameluke Sultan of Egypt. King Leon VI, after eight months1 defense of Sis, his capital, laid down his arms in May, 1375, and thus ended the independence of Armenia. Armenia was eventually divided between Turkey, Russian and Persia. "Dulaureir"; "Stubbs"; "Neumann."

 

Sir Henry Norman considers the ancient, mediaeval and modern Armenian literature, including works of imagination, novels, romance and poetry, comparable to any other literature.

 

* The Illyrians, who are the present Albanians, the phrygians, who have been subsequently merged in the Greeks, and the Greeks were the immediate neighbors of the Armenians in Thrace, and they all belong to the same branch of the Aryan family.

 

 

F. D. Lynch, referring to the architecture of a few of the 1,001 churches and other ruins of Ani, the capital of Armenia in the 9th century, expresses the opinion that the Armenians were the originators of the Gothic style of architecture, and further says: "These monuments of an ancient civilization leave no doubt that the Armenian people may be included in the small number of races who have shown themselves susceptible of the highest culture,"

 

Sir Edwin Pears considers the Armenians as the most artistic and musically talented race in Turkey.

 

Armenians in Foreign Lands and Under Alien Rule -During and after their independence, many Armenians distinguished themselves, almost in every field of the life of the country in which they settled.

 

Nerses, the favorite of Theodora and the Commander-in-Chief of the legions of Justinian; Dadarshis, the renowned general of Darius Hystaspis; Proersios, the teacher of St, Gregory Nazianzen, of St. Basil, and of Julian the Apostate; Isaac, the Exarch of Ravenna, who held sway over Italy (6E5-643) were Armenians. According to Gelzer, it was during the reigns of the twelve Armenian Emperors, such as Maurice, Leo, Basil, Zemisces, and of Empress Theodora Augusta, that Byzantium reached the zenith of her glory and power.

 

In 1410, the Armenian nobility fought with the armies of Poland against the German invaders, and thus contributed to the victory of Grunwaldt, without which "the German deluge would have effaced Poland.

 

In 1683, five thousand Armenian warriors aided Sobieski in beating back the high tide of the Turk invasion from the gate of Vienna, which victory saved Europe from the threatened domination of the Turk.

 

In 1812 it was an Armenian General, Prince Pakraduni, that matched his skill against that of Napoleon at Moscow, and thus struck the mortal blow at the ambition of the Great Emperor.

 

During the Russo-Turkish war of 1877, of the dozen or more Armenian generals in the Russian army, Loris Melikoff was the Commander-in-Chief of the Caucasus forces, who subsequently became the Prime Minister of Russia and drafted her first constitution.

 

According to Lord Cromer, "the Armenians have attained the highest administrative ranks, and have at times exercised a decisive influence upon the conduct of public affairs in Egypt."

 

The first Prime Minister of Egypt, following British occupation, was an Armenian. Lucasz, who was the Prime Minister of Hungary in 1913, was also an Armenian.

 

Prince Malcolm, one of the first leaders of the Persian reform movement; Aivazovsky, the greatest marine painter of the 19th century; Althen, who introduced to France the cultivation of rubic tinctorum; Manuelian, one of the foremost of the his to legists of our time; the late Dr. Kassabian of Philadelphia, who was one of the leading Roentgen ray investigators in the world; the late Governor Thomas Corwin of Ohio, who also at one time became Secretary of the U. S. Treasury, belong to the Armenian race.

 

In Turkey, the Armenians have been one of the principal constructive forces, despite the oppressive and obstructive Turk rule, and they have, together with the Greek, supplied the Turk with his manifold wants. Even the Turkish printing press, the Turkish grammar and the Turkish theatre owe their origin to the initiative of the Armenian.

 

General Sherif *****, the former Turk Ambassador at Stockholm, made the following statement in October, 1915:

 

"If there is a race which has been closely connected with the Turk by its fidelity, by its services to the country, by the. statesmen and functionaries of talent it has furnished, by the intelligence which it has manifested in all domains - commerce, industry, science and the arts - it is certainly the Armenian."

 

"In the modern intellectual revival in Turkey the Armenians were the first to respond. They not only eagerly fostered modern education among themselves and in their own country, but thousands of bright Armenian young men and women have studied in the educational centers of the world and have won distinction by the superiority of their intellect and their unconquerable desire and zeal for education. There is no race on the face of the earth more worthy, by its inheritance, its intrinsic worth, its intellectual capacity and ability, .its traditional industry, its peaceful temper and spirit, its domestic hopes and purposes, of a free and independent existence. In no commercial enterprise, no form of industry, no profession, and in no institution of learning in Turkey or elsewhere do the Armenians take second place.

 

 

WILL AMERICA COMMUTE THE DEATH SENTENCE?

 

One of the greatest tragedies since the World War was enacted in New York City last week.

 

All the train wrecks, shipwrecks, murders and suicides of the year, do not involve as many lives, as much sorrow or as great injustice as was wrapped up in this one act.

 

Thousands of innocent little children were condemned to die within the next ninety days.

 

The Committee or Jury that pronounced the death sentence was composed of big-hearted, warm-hearted, judicious men -themselves fathers of little children - but they have no alternative. Circumstances beyond their control forced from them the death sentence upon children as much entitled to life and happiness as the children in their own homes.

 

Seventy pages of cablegrams and reports from all sections of the Near East lay before the Committee - from Jerusalem. Beirut, Cilicia, Constantinople, Asia Minor and the Russian Caucasus. The following are but a few typical excerpts from a score of cabled appeals;

 

"Hunger spreading over new areas"

"Death from starvation increasing"

"Hasten food"

"Hasten despatch seed and increased help to the starving"

"Never in most harrowing conditions of relief work have

seen such suffering and tragedy"

"Next two months most critical. Death rate appalling

unless additional funds available.

"Alexandropol reports 25,000 destitute starving who cannot

be helped by present hudget"

"Unless seeds secured Armenia finished"

"American seed wheat for Armenians is only hope of

presenting worse conditions next winter"

"impossible to tell of misery in spite of enormous

work of near East Relief"

"Children dying in all corners of Erivan"

"Armenian Government at end of resources"

"Temporary help imperative in interest humanity"

"Two hundred thousand Cilician refugees now scattered

through Bairut-Constantinopls areas"

"Mersine shore crowded with refugees awaiting transportation to Cyprus and Syria"

"Ten thousand Armenian refugees with many children

arrived Beirut; thousand Tripoli, Tyre, Sidon"

"Emergency on account refugees demands immediate action;

thousands camped by roadside"

"Find money somewhere and cable authority to relieve worst

distress".

"Widow refugees begging us to save their children"

 

Every mandate of humanity called upon this Committee (the Executive Committee of Hear East Relief) to double existing appropriations or make at least a 50$ increase to meet these war and famine emergencies.

Bur the Committee faced also the treasury with its decreasing receipts and depleted balances. They were forced to vote, not an increase, but a 25$ cut in the already inadequate appropriations.

 

The cablegram containing the tragic news was quickly sent the same afternoon. It was cleared easily from New York, and the gay, rich, pleasure-loving city little dreamed of the slaughter of the innocents ordered at the other end in Bible, lands. The 25$ cut literally means death to thousands upon thousands of innocent children. Death just as certainly as if those thousands of children were lined up along the Avenue and shot down with machine guns!

 

The Committee is determined to save, and will save, the children already received into the orphanages and under American protection though at present the resources are not in sight. There are approximately a hundred thousand of them. These we have invited to our table, and we will not drive them away to die.

 

But there are at least another hundred thousand orphaned children who eagerly wait to, seize the crumbs that fall from our table. Many of them are now dying in spite of all we can do.

 

In addition to these children there are other hundreds of thousands of equally innocent and helpless adults - women and girls - driven in midwinter from the plains of Cilicia or destitute upon the war-swept, famine-stricken plateaus of the Caucasus. These Christian refugees in Bible Lands now stand under the sentence of death by starvation,,

 

WILL AMERICA COMMUTE THE DEATH SENTENCE FOR THE CHILDREN?

FIVE DCL-LARS A MONTH SAVES TEE LIFE OF AN ORPHANED CHILD.

 

 

NEAR EAST RELIEF TREASURER'S MID-YEAR REPORT December 31, 1921

 

By the Articles of Incorporation end By-Laws of Near East Relief, the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees falls in the month of January whereas the fiscal year of the Board has been fixed from July first to June thirtieth. This report, therefore, is in the form of a mid-year statement submitted with the understanding that a complete audited report will be rendered at the conclusion of the fiscal year, and that full reports as received from the auditors will be incorporated as* a part of the annual report to be submitted to Congress and to the Board of Trustees.

 

AUDITOR'S REPORT

 

There was submitted to the earlier mid-year meeting of the Board of Trustees held October 27th, a full auditor's report for the fiscal year July 1, 1920 to June 30, 1921, and also a complete report of all war and post-war overseas transactions of the Committee,1 in the form of a 386 page bound volume of audited tabulated statistics* These reports have already been reviewed by both the Finance and Executive Committees, and were submitted to an earlier meeting of the Board of Trustees-

 

DOMESTIC ACCOUNTING AMD AUDITS

 

In the domestic field the firm of Hurdman & Crenstouh, Certified Public Accountants, conduct or supervise a continuous audit of the financial transactions of the organization both in New York and in other cities where brancti treasuries are es-r tablished.

 

FOREIGN. ACCOUNTING

 

In the foreign fields, a standardized system of accounts which was devised by Hurdmen & Cranstoun, Certified public Accountants, New York City* about two years ago, has been installed in the Constantinople, Syria, Palestine and Caucasus areas and is- working effectively. The accounts are audited by Russell, Harris 6c Company, Chartered Accountants of London, Cairo and Constantinople* Their cable report dated December 30th is as follows;

 

"WE HAVE BEEN ENGAGED IN A CONTINUOUS AUDIT OF NEAREAST RELIEF ACCOUNTS AND REPORT THAT THE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM FUNCTIONS EFFECTIVELY GIVING A CLOSE CONTROL OVER ALL RELIEF OPERATIONS STOP THE RELIEF FUNDS AND SUPPLIES ARE ECONOMICALLY AND EFFICIENTLY ADMINISTERED BY BOTH HEADQUARTERS AND STATIONS IN FIELD STOP OUR REPRESENTATIVE IS NOW IN THE CAUCASUS ADVISING WITH YOUR DIR* ECTOR AND AUDITING RELIEF ACCOUNTS STOP FULL REPORT FOLLOWS

RUSSELL HARRIS COMPANY CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS"

 

BANKING INVESTMENTS

 

The major portion of our contributions is secured through our State organizations and banked locally in authorized State Depositories« The funds ere carried in the name of "Near East Relief* Cleveland H« Dodge, Treasurer", and earn interest on daily balances- Periodically they are drawn into New York and deposited in our National Depositories where sufficient cash balances are maintained* at interest, to meet our immediate liabilities. Funds in excess of immediate needs are converted as rapidly as practicable into interest bearing government securities. Contributions of government bonds and other securities ere placed with The Farmers' Loan and Trust Company in a Custodian Account at very advantageous arrangements*

 

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

 

The report of the Treasurer which is reviewed each month by the Finance Committee and submitted in bound form to the Executive Committee has been sent month by month with the docket and minutes of the Executive Committee to various members of the Board of Trustees, giving a summarized statement of assets, liabilities, Securities, bank accounts, etc., each month- These statements are presumably in the hands of the members of the Board or are available for examination as desired in connection with tile minutes of the Committee. The statements of assets and liabilities, together with securities, bank accounts, etc., as of December 31st are submitted herewith.

 

 

"By An Eye Witness"

 

What they saw in the Near East

 

NEAST RELIEF orphanages taxed to capacity while thousands of destitute orphans clamor for admittance. Disease, including cholera, spreading through reduced vitality of population owing to insufficient food. Now it is summer with chance for securing food. At best children dying daily for lack of sufficient nourishment. Winter will inevitably mean certain death to thousands unless outside aid is extended."

 

Cable from ALBERT A. JOHNSON, Director of the N. Y. State Institute of Applied Agriculture, in the Boston Transcript, August 30, 1921.

 

 

"IT was a scene that would inspire anyone, even the most hardened, A to their most desperate effort to save the little children of the Near East from starvation that awaits them this winter, a scene of seven thousand little girls and five thousand little boys from our two big orphanages in Alexandropol on their knees, thanking God for America's care and protection.

 

"They were as bright and beautiful as any little children one could find anywhere. There are a hundred thousand more just like these in our other orphanages in the Near East who must be provided for. There are three outside starving for every child we have sheltered."

 

DR. SHERMAN L. DIVINE In the Brewster Herald, November 4, 1921

 

 

"WE went along a barren way, every village telling us that the inhabitants had been driven away and that the invaders had left only destitution. Now and then daring men who had returned to their wasted homes had tilled a little soil and were gathering a meagre crop. It was thrashing time when we were there and in the sparsely covered fields little children gathered up every neglected head of grain, carrying it with almost worshipful care to the little pile of wheat for winter's bread.

 

"In Erivan we saw dead upon the streets and a poverty indescribable. About our train, in the little old park of the city, everywhere, were the refugees. These poor famished human beings, or rather living skeletons, do little more than raise their bony hands and feebly cry for bread. In the cemetery we saw a dying mother with a little child by her side. She had dragged herself to the city of the dead to die.

 

"We were about to leave the city when some of us returned to the orphanages and saw more than one hundred children, who had come from no one knows whither, and were literally knocking at the orphanage door for entrance. Boys' and girls, children who ought to be happy, whose fathers and mothers had been killed, at an orphanage door and there was no room within."

 

E. W. HUELESTER In the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 9, 1921

 

 

"I SAW little children dead and dying on the streets from starva- tion. I saw scores of boys arid girls eating grass by the roadside and even eating wheat and oats. They are starving by the thousand. I literally saw scores of children fall on the streets from starvation."

 

E. Guy TALBOT In the San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 6, 1921

 

 

"IN Russian Armenia I found the dead lying about the streets. A The dead wagon had begun its daily rounds in Alexandropol in August instead of January, February or March as in previous years. In Erivan, the capital of Armenia, I found only hopeless women and children wandering about trying to exchange a second-hand garment or other personal property for food. This was in August. One's imagination recoils before the picture of what conditions will be in February and March.

 

"The total number of orphans in the Near East Relief territory exceeds 100,000."

 

CHARLES V. VICKREY In the New York Times, Sept. 26, 1921

 

 

"BUT amidst all this misery there was one refreshing sight. It JD was that of the children who have been gathered into the various Near East Relief orphanages at Alexandropol, at Karakliss, at Erivan, and elsewhere. Though they were not receiving luxurious care, they are getting everything they need to keep them well and healthy. What a contrast they presented to the miserable little wretches outside the gates! There were thousands of them, eighteen thousand in Alexandropol alone, and vast numbers more in other centers, so many, in fact, that they have taxed the orphanage facilities to the utmost, two children being compelled to sleep in one bed."

 

JOHN R. VORIS

In the Indianapolis News, Oct. 31, 1921

 

 

"THE most horrible sight I ever saw in my life was a group of JL tiny little wretches, most of them under eight years of age, begging at one of the orphanage gates in Erivan, Armenia. They were so thin that their bones protruded through their skins and they were the victims of disease, brought on by their weakened condition, that caused hasty, running sores to break out all over their bodies. Many of them were too weak to brush off the myriad flies that were attracted."

 

FRANK R. CONNES In the Indianapolis Star, October 30, 1921

 

 

"ARMENIA is the land of the living nightmare. We thought we had become pretty well hardened to suffering after seeing the refugee camps in Constantinople and Batoum, but Armenia brought nothing but an uninterrupted series of sights at the memory of which one sickens.

 

"We hastened into the orphanage at Erivan to escape the horror at the gates. But once inside the contrast only made it seem more awful. 'Well-fed, well-cared-for, sturdy youngsters, plainly dressed, were romping on the playground or were busy in the classroom and the shops. They looked as if they wanted for nothing. It was only when we inspected the crowded living quarters that we knew that every cent was being made to do its utmost in providing necessities for those within the gates.

 

"We passed out again, almost falling over the tiny wretches who tried to drag themselves through as the gate was opened to let us out. Never have I seen such expressions of despair and hopeless agony.

 

"Most of the children were naked and we occasionally saw men and women in the same condition. But with clothes or without them, they all presented the same picture of misery and suffering and hopelessness that was written over the face of nearly every one we met in Armenia. Their plight is the result of almost seven years of warfare, which the armistice interrupted for a brief period but did not stop."

 

JOHN W. MACE In The Buffalo (N.Y.) Express, Sept. 25, 1921

 

 

“THE resources of the country are practically exhausted. There JL is now widespread starvation and a prevalence of cholera that will grow worse as the weather gets colder. Prospects for the winter are terrible. Sanitary conditions are frightful. Few of the refugees have any clothes except vermin-infested rags and most of the children are entirely naked.

 

"In the interior the situation is much worse. At Alexandropol, Armenia, the dead lie around the streets for hours before gathered up. Cholera is widespread. Winter can not help but aggravate conditions a hundred fold.

 

"Erivan, capital city of the Armenian Republic, is even worse than Alexandropol, for it is more crowded with refugees. In one of its parks we saw hundreds of women and children sleeping for lack of better place to go. Local workers told us that the smaller towns present a worse picture."

 

DR. WILLIAM E. DOUGHTY In the Brooklyn (N. Y) Citizen, Sept. 23, 1921

 

 

“NEVER was I so proud of being an American as when I saw those huge orphanages with the American flag flying over them. Thousands of Armenian children are getting care and food and clothing, having their lives saved by America. There were 1 2,000 children in our orphanages at Alexandropol and 2,OOO girls are being trained in our industrial plant, half of them in the morning, the other half in the afternoon.

 

"At Erivan, where we have II orphanages, accommodating about 5,000 children, we have better equipment and teach them in addition rug making, knitting and weaving. We are training all of these boys and girls to be self-supporting.

 

"In Tiflis, Georgia, we saw thousands of children dressed from head to foot in clothing sent by Americans and very well dressed they were. And many of them were being cared for by Americans in homes back in the mountains."

 

FLORENCE SPENCER DURYEA In the Christian Science Monitor, Oct 1, 1921

 

 

" WHEN I stepped off the train at Alexandropol, Armenia, I W had to push my way through a crowd of refugees lining the platform of the station. There were among them hundreds of children quite naked, who clawed at my clothes and begged for bread, not in the sing-song of the professional child-beggar of Eastern cities, but with desperate insistence, a sort of sobbing, half-mad chatter, with the words 'hunger' and 'bread' tumbling over one another, with no sense in it all. The grown people were silent, staring ahead of them with vacant eyes. What they wore was not clothing, but rags pieced together with bits of old sacking, distintegrating remnants of sheepskin and odds and ends like the filthy trove of garbage cans and back lots. And with that, they were half naked, barefoot, and with their unkempt hair and incredible emaciation they seemed spectres from some drawing by Gustave Dore.

 

"As I made my way through the crowd of these unmoving, hopeless people, tugged at by children's hands, I could not take my eyes off one figure standing in the station doorway, holding to the jamb with clawing hands and swaying perilously. His face had that unreal waxen consistency of the face of a dead man in a coffin. I had watched him creep up to a standing posture by holding to the door, and now as he seemed about to try to walk I wanted to shout to him that he could not make it.

 

"He only took two steps and fell headlong, slithering down to the platform through the close-packed crowd. When they picked him up he was dead. I asked the Red Guard what had been the matter with the man. He shrugged his shoulders. 'Starvation,' he said."

 

PAXTON HIBEN, F.R.G.S.

In Leslie's Weekly, November 26, 1921

 

 

''WE walked over dead bodies, saw naked children with hor- ribly deformed bodies caused by starvation and disease, saw little boys and girls trying to appease their hunger by eating grass and manure, saw a widowed mother of four children, all under age, making toys, for which she earned 2,000 rubles a day—two cents in our money—living in a garret and only able to buy a pound of bread a day.

 

"We passed a group of fifty women one day. They were so weak from hunger that they could not brush the flies off their bodies. The people are dying on the streets by hundreds.

 

"And, oh, the gratitude of the people for what America is doing. Women kissed my hands and even my clothing when they learned I was from America. The greatest thing in Armenia is the American flag and the song I heard most frequently was 'My Country 'tis of Thee'."

 

JULIAN ZELCHENKO

In the Newark Evening News, Sept. 13, 1921

 

 

THE NEAR EAST COMMISSION

Report of the Commission of Overseas Visitors of the Near East Relief

 

AT the invitation of the Near East Relief we have just completed a careful study of conditions, peoples and relief work in Transcaucasia, Armenia, and the regions in and about Ismid and Constantinople. We have studied the orphanages, hospitals, feeding and clothing stations on the ground as far as Erivan. We have surveyed the .warehouses and the distribution centers. We have become acquainted with the personnel and looked carefully into the management at this end of the line. We have watched the unloading of huge cargoes of American gifts of food and clothing in Near East Relief warehouses at Derindje, Batoum, and Constantinople, and passed long trainloads in transit to distant orphanages. We find the governments sympathetic and ready to cooperate, our personnel alert and efficient, our orphanages crowded and unable to cope with the demands for admission but meeting the great need in a truly remarkable way. Affairs in the Near East will reach a crisis by mid-winter. Owing to prolonged warfare and intermittent fighting until late spring, planting was on a very meager basis. Food is growing scarcer every day. Fuel will be hard to obtain, and the only clothing must come from the outside. Unless the food rations are increased, the death rate in our own orphanages will advance rapidly. Starvation stalks through barren fields and war-ruined villages and the death losses will be appalling this winter unless help is given speedily. The seed of an ancient and honorable nation has been gathered under our flag by the heroic devotion and loving constancy of our own sons and daughters. We urge American hearts to respond and purses to open once more that those committed to our care perish not from the face of the earth. Profound is their gratitude expressed in word and deed. Let us justify their faith in us as their only hope.

 

SHERMAN L. DIVINE, Chairman E. W. HEULSTER, Secretary

 

 

And in addition, Dr. Sherman L. Divine, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Spokane, Washington, says:

 

"I saw the great warehouses at Derindje, where American food and clothes are unloaded and stored for trans-shipment to the orphanages and hospitals of the Near East.

 

"I saw and learned positively, how securely these gifts are handled in warehouse, on boat and train, through to their destination, under the inviolate symbols of the American flag and the White Star of the Near East.

 

"I saw and bear witness to the high character, efficiency and consecration of the American and native personnel who handle our gifts and minister in our name.

 

"I saw dead children, under the shadow of Mt. Ararat, lying in the street, and being carted away by eights and tens, to a hasty burial, because nobody cared enough to feed them.

 

"I saw children turned aged with suffering, the only covering of their gaunt and bloated little bodies, torn gunny sacks.

 

"I saw twelve thousand beautiful kiddies, smiling and singing by day, and at nightfall, on their knees, thanking God for America's care and protection, through the ministry of the Near East.

 

"I saw the splendid efforts being made to train these children for self-support and lives of usefulness, under the direction of our consecrated workers in the orphanages of the Near East.

 

"I saw the need, unmet, and heard, to the depth of my soul, the cry for 'more bread, more clothes.'

 

"I saw the indisputable evidences of fiendish cruelty, in scores of ruined and deserted villages, in bleaching skulls, and human bones.

 

"I ask you to help me answer this hunger cry of the orphaned children of the Near East, and help me to clothe them against the winter's chill and gale.

 

"Five Dollars a month, from your purse, your school, church or club, means the difference between hunger, cold and death, or life and happiness to some little child. I will, won't you?"

 

 

 

NEAR EAST RELIEF 151 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, N. Y.

 

COPY

INCOMING CABLE GRAM

 

Date: January 27th, 1922.

 

EXTRACT FROM MESSAGE JUST RECEIVED FROM DR. ELLIOTT OF AMERICAN WOMEN'S HOSPITAL BRIVAN.

 

IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL OF MISERY IN SPITE OF ENORMOUS WORK OF NEAR EAST RELIEF. WE HAVE EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY TWO CASES IN THE HOSPITAL AND CHILDREN DYING IN ALL CORNERS OF EREVAN. ALL DAY LONG WE CAN HEAR WAILS AND GROANS OF LITTIE CHILDREN OUTSIDE OFFICE BUILDINGS HOPING W3 CAN AND WILL PICK THEM UP. IF SUN SHINES LITTLE WHILS THEY QUIET DOWN; WHEN IT RAINS THEY BEGIN AGAIN. ONE DAY RAIN TURNED TO SNOW IT WAS AWFUL TO LISTEN TO THEM • THE NOTE OF TERROR THAT CAME INTO GENERAL WAIL WAS PLAINLY PERCEPTIBLE UPSTAIRS AND I HAD WINDOWS CLOSED. THEY WELL KNOW WHAT NIGHT IN SNOW WOULD MEAN TO THEM. WE ARE PICKING THEM UP FAST AS POSS-IBE2 BUT FATAL TO CROWD THEM TO SUCH POINT WE WOULD LOSE EVEN THOSE ALREADY IN ORPHANAGE.

Edited July 14, 2003 by Fadix

[gamavor]

Domino, could you post some more from this book?

[DominO123]

Domino, could you post some more from this book?

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It is not a book, but a specific report that I managed to get. I will be having in a few months the rest of the "collection."