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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1922)
(EditorUI Rt printed (torn THE LITERARY, DIGEST, Oitobtt list.) ' mw (Dun! TBny SdDPfl' 11 ine Hmpy, aumi si My iffine MIMei" A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: THE WHITE HOUSE Washington Octebtr t, 1922. . Csntlamsn: Not since ths great war hat ths whols civilised world boon so hocked and startled at during the past four weekt. The terrible and appalling tragedy which hat been enacted in the Near Eaet, leaving In Ite wake hundrede of thoutande of ahelterlete, famiehed men, women and children mikes a call to the heart of the American people which can net be Ignored. From East, North, South and West have come to me evidences ef the dsep eeated desire of our people that something be done to give them an opportunity to crystallize thslr widespread sympathy Inte llfesavlng service. I am rejoiced to know that the great machinery of your organliatlene his already been etarted Into action to the end that thle great body ef euf ferlng eoule may be rescued promptly from the threatened. etarvatlen and death which they face this winter. Ae the people of America have given, and given generouely In every great crisis that has occurred In China, Rueela, India, and all perte of the world, eo they must give, and give a great eum now, mllllone of dollars, If the livee of these victims ars to bs savsd. No appsal of real need from whatever part of the world hie ever been made In vain to America. Very truly youre, WAWREN C. HARDING. Judge John Barton Payne, Chairman, American Red Cross. Or, Jamee L. Barton, Chairman, Near Eaet Relief. A LETTER FROM THE NEAR EAST RELIEF: New York, September 26, 1922. Mr. R. J. Cuddihy, , The Literary Digest, Nsw York City. Dear Mr, Cuddihy; In the face of the unprecedented tragedy of Smyrna, we turn te you and the Literary Digest for help. It ie not for the thoueande of 'dead that we plesd; thsy are past our aid. It is for the living, erushsd with despair ef spirit and anguish of body that we turn to you and through you to the benevolent heart of humanity. More than a half million abeolutely foodleee, ehelterleee, helpleee and hopeless refugees ars landed upon the Islands, or huddled along the ehoree of the Aegean Sea In abject despair. Terror etrleken groupe are awaitlnj death In Smyrna and other porte In Asia. Innoesnt, unprotsetsd girls and women and children by tene of thoueande are being carried Into captivity, Peetiltnce stalking among the living adde Ite horror to starvation. Many n the nightmare of their crucifixion eeek' relief In aelf-deetrue-tion, While othere find releaee In Insanity. While baffled by the perplexing political situation we can be true to our divine inetlnct of eympathy. Our sympathy, however, will become poison unless we transmute it into action. The starving ask for bread shall ws respond with a hsart of stone? Sincerely youre, JAMES L. BARTON, Chairman. A LETTER FROM THE AMERICAN RED CROSS: Washington, D. C, October 9, 1922. My Dear Mr. Cuddihy: I have received from the Preeident an earnest appeal to use the rs sources of the American Red Croee In meeting the dletreee and auffarlng resulting from ths rscent disaster in the Near Eaet. I need not aeeure you that the Red Cross, as always, will put its large and Influential membership back of this appeal. Ws, howsvsr, fsel kssnly the need of that type of co-operation which the Literary Digest le peculiarly able to give, and in be half of the American Red Cross I request you to do everything that you can through your pagee in placing the burden of thle appeal before the, American public. Cordially youre, JOHN BARTON PAYNE, Chairman. Mr. R. J. Cuddihy, Ths Literary Digest, 354 Fourth Avenue, New York City. In immediate response the following editorial was published in The Literary Digest, October 21st: DmYKX FROM THKIR HOMES by lire and sword beaten, trampled, robbed more than half a million men, women, and little children are being swept along to starvation, madness, and self-destitu tion in the Near Kast. Herded in the streets, like cattle for the slaughter; huddled tin the brink of the sea, and casting themselves, crazed by hunger and fear, into the dark waters; dragged fit mi the burning hell of Smyrna, only to be thrust by their rescuers into the slowerhell of Mitylene, ami Saloniki, ;uid other havens of "refuge," which now are crowded centers of starvation and breeding grounds of peMileiM-e -thee who are suffering such martyrdom have only one hope of salvation from th'cir nightmare of crucifixion. That hope is YOU Americans! Thousands perished when Smyrna was bathed in torrents of blood. Now the city is a vast sepulchre of ashes. You can do nothing for the dead. Hut the lives of half a million others arc yours today for the pur chase. They are stretching their hands to you now out of the horrible pit. Lift them up to life! The appeal in their behalf which comes to you from the President of the United States is to be heeded, be cause you are one of the great-hearted Americans to whom his letter is written. The appeal from the Near Kast Relief and the American Red Cross through their chairmen is to be heeded, because your ears, are open to such a call for help in this terrible emergency. Rut stronger than the evil of President, or of Relief Com mittees, stronger than any urgent words The Literary Digest can say to you, knowing so well your unfailing tenderness and quick generosity when the hunger, and sorrow, and gaunt suffering of mothers and babes cry out to you to comfort, and to save them alive stronger than all written or spoken appeal is the hot, eager de mand of your own sympathetic heart that can not regard such bitter pain and need without straining to the utmost for their instant relief. The picture is so full of terror and anguish words can not portray it. Mark 0. Prentiss, for the Near Eastlielief, cables: "I have seen terrible sights until my senses are numb, but the sight of 200,000 people, mostly women and children,' being penned up and burn ing, and those escaping being driven to a barren, devas tated country for starvation, is past all comprehension." That was in Smyrna. Hundreds of thousands more, both Christians and Jews, fleeing from persecution and the sword, are crowding the other ports of Asia and the nearby islands of the sea awaiting rescue or death. In Saloniki a hundred thousand are herded in deplor able confusion. The city has been in ruins since the great fire of 1918 and affords little more shelter than Smyrna. In the island of Mitylene another hundred thousand penniless fugitives have sought refuge only to find there a new danger of pestilence and a more con venient harbor of starvation. Panic has seized upon the frightened wanderers. Many have even cast themselves into the flames of their own homes. Food is gone, even water to drink is at a premium. Families are brolcen up, while parents in frenzy of despair seek their lost children. Hun dreds of mothers have given premature birth to infants in the midst of terror aud death. Half-fed babies, cov ered with scurvy, try in vain to draw nourishment from their mothers' empty breasts. Quick compassion is needed; delay means death for scores of thousands who might be saved. Something heroic in giving is needed. You are not there in the midst of the terror and the frantic cries for help. Jf .you were, you would leap into the sea, if need be, or brave the flames, the sword, the plague, to snatch back from death some helpless woman or little child. You would not see them perish in agony before your eyes if you could save them, even at the risk of your life. Here, in this smiling land of comfort, where your home is safe, and your loved ones dwell in peace, that same terror and anguish of helpless women and children come to you across the sea and call to all that is heroic and generous in your heart. '"Whoso hath this world's good and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of com passion from him" ah, but the .Master did not mean you. Your heart is warm with compassion and your hand will be open wide with' Help. Perhaps you . will feel a moment of shuddering pity for those shriveled souls, if there be any such in this land of plenty, who revel in abundance and refuse to share it, to whom the Master said, "Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. "Woe" unto you that laugh now! for ye shall weep." And then you will seize gladly upon that other divine word of the Christ and send it across the sea with your speedy gifts to comfort and save, and your gifts will make good the message: "Blessed are ye that hunger now; for ye shall be filled. Rlessed are ye that weej) now; for ye shall laugh!'' The Literary Digest well knows your good works: it well knows that you are tireless and always ready to save and to comfort. You will now respond instantly to this call. What The Digest has done while waiting to tell you the facts has been done in utter faith in you and in your overwhelming response. The great ship Clontarf has discharged its load of food, and the starv ing fugitives have already eaten the bread baked from the flour in that cargo. It is you who did this, because when, on September 25th, a committee of the Near Kast Relief, the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. called upon The Literary Digest to help in this awful emergency, and no funds were then available, we discounted our faith in you and borrowed the $176,000 and bought the entire food cargo of the Clontarf. sWe told the commit tee to keep on buying other shiploads of food until the pitiful need was satisfied. "He gives twice. who gives quickly," and we arc confidently depending .upon you to make this act your own by a great outpouring of gifts to pay for this first cargo of food and to follow it with others. We appeal to all the churches in America that have been the depositories of the sacred ideals of our nation; we appeal to the thinking and working classes of our broad land, to all the institutions and organiza tions that have for their object the safeguarding of hu man rights and human lives. As God has blessed you, as He has given you happy homes and laughing chil dren, as He 1ms been merciful to you, have mercy upon these, His people. The Literary Digest, standing shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart with you in this urgent task, will start the fund with its own contribution of $10,000 to help feed these starving fugitives. And now we urge all who read these words to send a' perfect storm of checks to provide food, and shelter, and medical care for the half million sufferers in this awful inferno of the Near East. They can never repay you those homeless ones, those tortured women and pitiful children. You will never see them face to face, nor look into their eyes shining with gratitude never? Yes, perhaps you will. Rut now, the blessed Christ bids you give, and He will repay, for it was He who said, "J)o good and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the Children of the Highest.'' President Harding has appointed as a Special Com mittee, with Will H. Hays as chairman, the following representatives of eight national organizations who will co-operate in this great work of relief: Dr. Joint R. Mott, of the Y. M. C. A.; Mrs. John French, of the Y. W. C. A.; .lames A. Flaherty, of the Knights of Co lumbus; Felix Warburg, of the Jewish Joint Distribu tion Committee; Dr. Robert K. Speer, of the f ederal Council of the Churches of Christ in America; Dr. James L. Rartou, of the Near Kast. Relief; Herbert Hoover, of the American Relief Administration; Judge John Raiton Payne, of the American Red Cross; and R. J. Cuddihy, of The Literary Digest. Make all Checks, Money Orders, etc., payable to "Near East Emergency Fund and Mail Them to Either of the Following Treasurers: NEAR EAST RELIEF, Cleveland H. Dodge, Treasurer 151 Fifth Avenut, Ntw York. N. Y. THE AMERICAN RED CROSS, Eliot Wadsworth, Treasurer Washington, D, C. II