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The Commoner
VOL.' 21, NO. 1
10
u v.
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The Slaughter of the Innocents
wnon JQ8UB uurist came upon tlio earth, near-
W: ,y two thousand years ago, to savo all mankind,
ins moro coming soomeu to interior witu tno
t matorlal lntorosts of a few people of that period,
, nnfnlilv Vint Unnml iiiIia .n.nllf ,1aaIi1i.1 (a
dispose of this "Interloper," and sent forth hla
soldiers with orders to slay all tho children of
two years old and under Thus was consum
mated tho most atrocious crime against inno
cont childhood over committed up to that time.
It has come down to us through all the ages
. In song and story, and master painters have
Pf T)ICfcurif1 If. fin mnrvnlntiw nnmraaaaa
Today passing In rovlow, as wo 'look out
through tho windows of our comfortable homes
in this groat and happy land, are throe and a
, half millions of holploss children, the Innocent
victims of tho greatest war that has ever af
flicted humanity. It matters not, as wo gaze
in tho direction of those children, that our eyes
, must stretch across three thousands miles of
t, ocoan, wo still can see them and wo still can
hear thorn, if wo wish to do so; and we can not
holp hearing the tragic appeal in their voices
i , uu huciub muir imy arms stretcneu out to
I .us, and their soarching eyes looking into our
f souls, as they say, "Holp us, or wo perish."
throe and a half millions of God's helpless
,iwm uu., n wo. uiuho our eyes anu ears to this
groat demand of duty, we will bo just as guilty
of the "slaughter of tho innocents" as was
Horod nearly two thousand years ago.
In those lands, swept by doath and filled with
tragedies too deep for tears, a sum of human
DuuvuuB "J ubihs wnuen greater pornaps than
V for 'fill ntrna tmnn liv n"Vi, ,;.i .
ana tho heart sick from a constant recital of
taWte of such tragody as it is difficult to believe
i the twontioth century could hold.
, AmI so wllon wo received the letter from Mr.
; Hoover printed on the opposite page, telling us
" that America must not allow hunger and cold
to return to this mass, of 3,500,000 helpless
a " ui duui wua unrrea ana tue not blood
surged up in our hoart. Wo felt it was our
imperative duty to use all tho power God has
given us to aid this noble-hearted American in
COi?. i uJn5 tho work ot savinS human lives to
which ho has devoted unsparingly, and at great
personal sacrifice, his tremendous energy and
administrative genius during tho past six years,
in whjph time he and his American colleagues
haye administered two billions of dollars of re
. lief funds from all parts of tho world with a
total overhead expense of only three-eighths of
one per cent, without anv remnnnroitAn n i,
W Aniftrlrnn HI)ontnn "nt. i. ... . .
--... v...vtUo. 4uw UU U8KS us all to
help savo the children who are in imminent
danger of starvation this cominir wintry
There they aro, in the midst of wrecked
homes, and farms, and factories; In cities
crowded with masses of refugees without sis-
R :?"'" .wuu r oiiuaren, through the destruc
tion ot live stock; seeds for planting, raw ma-
SremhinS " gne; eaatWaSs
wun everything burned, or looted, or smashed
vast unemployment for workers; no rnans of
fufb8jstnce: a land of economic ruin, of muti
lated life and lingering death; and In tho
midst of it allthe little children.
In long linos they are waiting at tm Amw
. no happy, healthy faces in thosel neoTo"
nZT T"ra?,a.rd,bMetoot1 children, hui
drost !n tat ; s" ? "tornlly
for those bare little feet and'anrarrthTre
is nothing at homo to put on.
moH0K S 'r'eallonSftrre? not SUoZ'
t years back in th g""o &
ES yours OlCl Have not rnnohnrl fi , " o-i.
r- wv4wu k.hk-t ii I ii'tiit ri rM .
two and a half. They are just learning to stand
alone. Others almost as old can no? w ll 5
on their feet. Their arm. Hd Wa VStaS?
and chests are twisted and wamnd "pv. ii l
and skin am BiiHviA u-TLaFII01- rJie esh
t ' Prizing that mVcTntniexTst there IM
S can have food thv wn Jf..,;.- r0, .ir they
S:? tt.VSTSM
I ' rubercuTosisl Tot wairVer- Starvatl011 and
I",;' In Poland alone a million live hundred thnn
I ,; sand such children must bo cared for Kv"a
r '
and Esthonia tho people aro living mostly on a
iliet made from potato-flour, oat-flour, and saw
dust. In Czecho-Slovakia, in Hungary, in Aus
tria, and in other countries of central and
southeastern Europe, two millions more are in
diro need of food; and who stops to ask regard
ing creed, or race, or nationality when a little
child is starving? Children aro just children the
world over, and the great American heart is big
enough to oare for them all.
But the appeal now is not for all. The three
and a half millions of children in immediate
danger of starvation, if this organization fails,
who must have food at once a fraction of tho
total number. The hungry children of those
destitute countries have been examined by com
petent physicians, and only those whose wasted
little bodies are reduced to the minimum weight,
and whose endurance of hunger has reached the
end which merges into actual starvation, are
admitted to the American kitchens and given
one meal a day. It is hard to turn away thou-
nntirta nf Yttt nrrytr timm nnl t..1 A t-- il
..Uv, . .uuufc,,? uvjjo nuu. 51110 iu ueur mum
ask, pleadingly, "Do I weigh too much?" "Am
I not thin enough?" "Can't I come any more?"
But this restricting of food to tho extreme cases
is compulsory, because thero isn't enough for all.
And these neediest ones can not reach the
kitchens through the cold winds and the snow
barefooted and in the pitiful rags which form
only a partial covering for their bodies. They
must have clothes. Each outfit consists of one
pair of warm woolen stockings, one pair of
boots, and a little overcoat. This one meal a
day, and these boots, stockings, and little coats
can be supplied only if we give them. If we
do not, the slaughter of the innocents by cold
and starvation will be appalling.
Among the more than two hiflion men and
women who will read this page there is not ono
there can not be a stogie one whose heart
win not respond gladly and eagerly to the chal
lenge of this great need. We are asked, you
with us, to cooperate with Mr. Hoover in raising
thn1?6 millIon dollars to feed d cloth!
ESntL chi?ren alnd save em from death this
winter. It can be done. It shall be done! The
Literary Digest knows its readers and the deep
earnestness, the quick sympathy, the great
hearted generosity they always show when any
WnhU n"2 need c,aIIs t0 them- Yo" have never
been called upon in vain. Wo are counting on
you now with a great confidence. We know
also how truly you represent the American
nritVuWhich ,beata in tb-e hearts of a hundred
and three millions more in this big land 0f
Plenty, a spirit which leaps ready at every such
call, and is nevor weary in well-doing We are
not a hermit nation, isolated .Tom the world
When suffering and want cry out to us from
anywhere under the sun. A great, a bSutttu?
PorPin ?ltTAm7ica wiU c to their relief.
i J ar Places of the earth, Where famine
stak8, one name and one alone is synonymous
with rescue and hope-and that name is Amer-
The small individual unit of ten doll wni
from suffering and death eserr11nnocnt children
mmm$m
three millions. Let us nil , see again ,,wltat tho
father's heart is like in this great,. rich land of
America. " Let us have again a wondrous revela
tion of the heart of American motherhood. Let
us have a great outpouring .of love and helpful
ness in the name of him who said "Feed inv
lambs!" '
Make all checks payable to "The Literary Di
gest Child-Feeding Fund," and mail them direct
to The Literary Digest. Every remittance will
be acknowledged; and The Literary Digest will
bo responsible for every dollar contributed, to
see that it goes, without one penny deducted, to
the purpose for which it Js given. Address
Child-Feeding, The Literary Digest,' 354 360
Fourth Avenue, New York.
TEXAS AND THE PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
More than 27,000,000 votes were cast in the
recent presidential election, which means that
more than 25 per cent of the country's entire
population exorcised, the privilege of citizenship.
Had Texas voted on a parity with tho rest of
tho country, her total would have been, in the
neighborhood of 1,1500,000. '
. As a matter of fact, it was less' than 500,000,
or less than one-halt of what it ought to have
been.'
This is a disgraceful, inexcusable showing.
There is no explanation for it, except monu
mental indifference.
Even compared to certain southern states,
where conditions are supposed to be similar.
Texas gave a fine exhibition of lethargy.
Take North Carolina, for instance, which has
a population but little more than one-half tliat of
Texas. North Carolina actually polled a greater
vote. .
Kentucky polled almost twicers great avote.
Missouri polled more than twice as "great a
vote.,
Oklahoma polled almost as great af: vote,
though her population is less than' one-half rthat
of Texas. ' "f
Maryland, with less than one-third tbTe .popu
lation of Texas, polled more than four-fifths as
many votes. ,
What kind of an alibi can we produce for such
a showing; what possible neology is there to
make? Houston Chronicle.
STRANGE, PASSING STRANGE
'In Hgbt of event& seems passing strange
that there was a time when the Democrats
hoped, if not expected, to win the last election
on the wet issue. More than that, the Repub
HcanSWfeared this. The resonant voice of the
vTlY?lr?Z at sa Francisco
Dark Ageg, 6 Wet' Seems an echo Tom' the
fi JI1iP'UbliJ?ai8 at Chicaso did nt dare be
fish flesh, or fowl or even passable red herring
on this issue. The Democrats wanted to be wet
and ejected Mr. Bryan as almost unclean be
cause bo arid, Yet they took it nMHi
whAlerhef & t0 An
It reads like fiction that in that period New
Sta' andWothrfIllin0i8' anlPMa
in the dSubttni Ii. S WlrQ reckoned a least
JSJLf au?tful column because of unquerichea
thnst. Yet that was fact. It was believed I that
thousands upon thousands of mJ w!!, drown
t llZea in 8l0My wi M6rmo-ralB
Herald admirabl Pession. - Washington
losses in proportion to tfcnal J2r i. takIne ay
the payment of : the surtaxes tfy,to evade
come the way to do S Sf?S . tho.ir IarS' ta
the ma, otUaUerTcome" DM T lTB ou
to the secretary that It would h.!""4 ocenr
aavlsable to search out ., . muea ore
ultra noli from Z& oWonr?' tb9
I'
.$fli attejjKiHK y JMvftaiMWaL.
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