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TheN Commo
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SEPTEMBER, 1914
ner
15'
iiJt
ready to sail'for the other sido Array
officers to the number of twenty-five
or more, headed by the assistant sec
retary of war, were detailed to go
upon those vessels so that they might
personally lend aid wherever neces
sary when- they reached the other
side
band ctfnsuls- wer6 fn constant "com
munication with the government
heron anij were .constantly giving in
formation and receiving directions.
,As a result, -order was brought out of
.chaos, it was ascertained where the
'Amcrjpanq wor,e, in .wjijch dlrectlpns
tney could bo moved, and where
An arrangement was made With transportation would be available and
the' bankers of this-country whbsef .when. Many trans-Atlantic transport
clients were traveling in Europe with ation companies which the first Week
letters of 'credit from them to be 'or so suspended' sailfn.gs, ' resumed
cashed at their agencies in Europe,', operations, among theni the Preiich
to transport some five millions of dol-, liners and the lines running from
lats in. gold to be placed with their
foreign correspondents to meet the
drafts aforesaid. Some of this was
.England, and some of pioso from
southern ports. In consequence, the
problem then immediately , pressing
not oply money of banks, but of e- ,'was to get the Americans from thpse
press .companies -which had issued countries where transportation to
travelers 'checks payable in Europe. ; this country was not available, to
With the same expedition was sent ports where it' was available. This
a million and a half of gold belong- work, 6f course, had to wait upon
ing. to the government, so that if the the re-adjustment of lines of interior
situation then, existing continued, transportation, which had been all
there would be that sum in 'physical'! taken up during the period of mobil
value present wherever needed in J izatlon by the, activities of the gov
Europe. to relieve the situation of the ' ernment itself. Just as soon as op-
Americans there.
The friends in America of those
portunlty offered, the ambassadors
and consuls began to arrange for this
marooned in Europe were naturally ! interior transportation. Since that
b& apprehensive about the financial time there has been. a steady (flow of
condition of the latter that they be- Americans from aft interior congest
gan. depositing money in" the state ed points in the continent' to sea
department almost immediately, with ' ports, where it is a mere matter of
requests that it be transferred In
some .way. More than $315,000 in
actual -currency- was taken in by the
state department ..within the- first
three days, and .almost half a mil
lion of dollars was taken in during
the first week. . The treasury depart-
ment, as soon, as it was possible to do
so, established. . a system by which'
deposits could 'be made directlywith
it, .of -sums to be transferred to the
marooned Americans in Europe, and
more than $1,800-,000 was thus de
posited. To some extent this waB
accomplished by. customary banking
methods and in some instances ex
traordinary ways, had to be devised.'
A, credit of a half million dollars was
obtained at the Bank of England by
sending that sum in gold by our
treasury department to a -designated
English bank in Ottawa, Canada.
When it is realized that these de--posits
in the state and treasury de
partments ranred from a few dollars
a comparatively snort time Detore
they can sedure transportation home.
Wherever It was evident that there
would not be a resumption of regular
sailings sufficient to take care of
the Americans, the consular agen
cies were directed to secure ships for
this purpose, U to the present timfc
ten pr more ships have been thus se
cured at places where the existing
transportation facilities wore insuffi
cient and thousands of Americans
will be brought back on these boats.
Those who were able to pay for their
accomodations did so'; those who
wdre not presently ', able, biit who
would, be when 'they 'reached this
country, had their passage' 'money
guaranteed by the government, and
those who were actually destitute
were taken care of by the govern
ment. It Is not, of course, suggested that
under these extraordinary circum
stances there were not unfortunate
of a clue to their whereabouts. The
forces avallablo to the ambassadors
and consuls for going Put and hunt
ing up Americans was oxtremoly lim
ited, since 'from the beginning their
offices have been literally swamped
by the work cast Upon them by tho
war. They were not only burdened
by the extraordinary conditions af
fecting American interests arid Amer
ican citizens abroad but wore called
upon to represent in the different cap
itals practically all other foreign na
tions who- customarily have their
representatives there. The military
attaches and some forty or more offi
cers attending foreign military- ex
ercises and schools wore utilized in
relief work in addition to thoso who
aocompaniod the assistant secretary
of war on the "Tennessee."
Hundreds of telegrams and ldtters
are received each day, and as many
mon sense can obtain relief from'Ulf
other consoquenccs Of 'tho' war; 'We
feel s tiro that tho 'unavoidable dis
comforts and incohvenfenccs wlfjch
they may have to auffor will bo borne
with the proper patlonco and"courago
which tho occasion demands.
Wo do not feel that thig statement
should cIoho without an expression
of our profound gratitude to the dir-,
fercnt governments, all of which
have shown our government and bur
people in their boundaries every pos
sible courtesy and consideration, and
have thereby aided and facilitated
our labors. ''
NO PANICS UXIfKIl NEW IlKSKKi'JR
ACT
I remember, and all of us renidm
her, a time in this country when , we
had a real panic, not long ago, a 're
publican panic which came after
replieB sent out each day, in addition ' twelve years of uninterrupted rcpli.
to which the telephone inquiries each ' Hcan rule when, on every hand fyaa
day are practically Innumerable. In heard the crash of falling banks. So
each of the departments, the regular strong is the feeling of confidence In
force has been kept at work after spired throughout tho country by (he
hours each. day until midnight many J democratic federal reaorvo law that
days, and-almost always on Sundays; mot many days ago when a great
upwards, some Idea will be given i of t delays mistakes made, and annoying
and disconcerting incidents. A mere
statement of the existing conditions
carries with it the conclusion that
this would be Inevitable; but, on the
other hand, a consideration of the ex
isting conditions demonstrates that
no provision was possible in this
case; that the situation bad to be ac
cepted and dealt with as it was found
and t that all was done that could be
done under the circumstances.
, The situation Is so greatly relieved
at the present time that Americans
anywhere upon tho continent can, by
applying to the nearest embassy or
.legation, get In touch with people in
this country, can get money, if they
need any, and. can get transporta
tion and passage home if they want
it.
While It -Is realized that statistics
are. dry and uninteresting things, it
illumines the situation to know that
at least fifty thousand inquiries have
been received at the state depart
ment concerning thirty thousand
Americans in Europe. With respect
to each one of these thirty thousand
Americans in Europe there has had
to be a separate card prepared and
placed in a card index. Of these
thirty thousand people, about ten
thousand have been communicated
with that is, located in Europe and
their condition ascertained, and the
information conveyed to the Inquir
ers. We were fortunate In being able
to locate so many, because tho Amer
icans were constantly moving from
place to place In their endeavor to
reach, a point of embarkation, and
their friends and relatives here were
able to .give us only the vaguest sort
the tremendous task Involved in this
work. Thousands- of people depos
ited here for thousands of people
upon the other side, and not only
had there to be all of the banking
transaction here involved In the de
posit, but extraordinary means had
to.be taken to identify the payee, to
ascertain .as nearly as possible his
whereabouts, and to determine the
metho.d of gLving him the benefit of
the money- deposited here for him.
The "Tennessee'' and the "North
Carolina," the ships of the navy
above alluded to, landed at Fal
mouth, England,, and the money sent
by the bankers -was so disposed of
that their correspondents Jn Europe
immediately began cashing the drafts
of the Americans through their ac
customed agencies. The express com
panies likewise began, paying travel
ers' checks. As soon as thousands of
names could be cabled, to Europe and
distributed to the various consulates
there, those for whom money had
been deposited in the state depart
ment and in the treasury department
began to receive the sums deposited
for them. The officers, under the di
rection of the assistant secretary of
war, who reached England on the
navy ships, were immediately des
patched tp every capital in Europe
with sufficient sums pf money to take
care of those Americans who could
not otherwise be provided for, those
who had exhausted their ready
money and had no letters of credit
or, travelers' checks. So soon as con
ditions made it possible to do so,
funds for similar uses were placed
with each embassy and consul.
In the meantime, the ambassadors
and in the state department It was
necessary to employ rorty-two tem
porary additional clerks In order to
be able to, handle this additional
work. .
Our most recent Information Is
that there will be at least forty sail
ings from British ports within the
next six weeks, and many from
French, HollanJ, Italian and Spanish
ports. At the time when it appoared
that all
steamers
bank in Chicago failed and a chain
of affiliated smaller banks went down
with it it was a bank conducted by
typical republican politicians for
typical republican purposes there
was not a ripple on the surface, hot
one. 'In connection with the Clafiln
failure recently there comes to ub Ihe
news that throughout the country
from 3,000 to 5,000 banks heid
tho paper of this concern, and there
the customary lines of I18 no caiK a')0Ut a name panic or any
were to suspend saillnr i""b ui buuuiuuh mrougnuui yiu
the board set about providing trans
portation, to bo prepared in this
country rand sent abroad for such
Americans as could not obtain other
country so strong is the confidence
in the present administration and in
the fact that the federal reserve law,
will soon bo In operation. If the iddi
means, of transportation. The facts! that thia law wI11 800n 1)e In opora-
have bePn stated above about tho I uon nas uus e,lect we cail unaor
available ships. It was thought best stand what sort or.,a reeling of DiisI
to utilize the army transports and
the chartered coast-wise boats which
had been utilized between Galveston
and Vera Cruz. It was necessary,
however, to greatly expand their passenger-carrying
capacity and to alter
it for the better to the extent that It
Was possible to do so. It will readilj
be realized that this was no easy
task. Innumerable temporary sleep
ng compartments had to be built; an
electric lighting system had to-be ex
tended throughout the boats; sani
tary arrangements had to be install
ed, and coo'king, serving and dining
capacities had to be enlarged and
practically made anew. Blankets,
sheets, pillow-cases; pillows, napery,
table furniture of all descriptions,
all the enormous quantity and va
rious characters of supplies had to
be ordered and the ships equipped
with them. These ships are now
ready. Coal had to be provided for
the outgoing and incoming trips, as
they could not be coaled abroad, and
the ships had to be manned and pro
vided with attendants, physicians,
matrons to care for the women and
children, and men and officers to look
after the comfort and safety of the
passengers. If occasion requires and
circumstances indicate where trans
portation Is unavailable there trans
ports will be immediately used for
this purpose.
Our present Information Is that the
ordinary avenues of travel from
Great Britain and Europe have open
ed up to such an extent that it Is
only a matter of a few weeks until
all our fellow-countrymen can re
turn home. In the meantime, their
freinds can communicate with them
and send money to them, and they
can be assured of passage to a sea
port and thence home. In cases
where there is either temporary fi
nancial embarrassment or actual des
titution, the government will deal
therewith as the occasion requires,
They are In no danger from the
perils of war and by the use of coin-
ness security will prevail when It' is
in actual operation. On account of
this great piece of constructive legis
lation bank panics belong now to a
period that has gone forever. Thoro
will never be another bank panic.
When the trust bills become laws
there will never be another bank
panic. 'When the trust bills become
laws there will never bo another
period of serious business depresslpn.
Hon. Henry T. Itainey, a member
of Congress from Illinois.
WOMAN'S MEASURE OF HUMAN
MFE
"As property is the product of man,
the child is the product of woman.
As the work of men for centuries
has been with things, that of woman
has been with human life. Wo meas
ure human life in different terms
than men. Man measures human ffe
in terms of production, while woman
measures it by adding to production
its cost. Woman Is particularly in
terested in legislation that protects
humanity. Humanity is not suffici
ently protected In this country and
when women are allowed to express
themselves on equal terras with men
our laws will assume a moro ethical
and more humanitarian tone." Mrs.
Scott Nearing, secretary Pennsyl
vania College Equal Suffrage League.
Stealing the Other Fellows' Thunder
Republican leaders show mighty
poor understanding of the temper of
the American people and of facts
when they give indications of belief
that the route to a return to power
is the crooked road called Calamity.
New York Herald.
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