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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
