Hand Book NEAR EAST RELIEF FROM "UHE ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION Granted hu United States Congress, October 1919 Section 2^ Uhat the object for which said corporation is incorporated shall be to provide relief and to assist in the repa- triation, rehabilitation, and reestablishment of suffering and dependent people of the Near East and adjacent areas; to pro- vide for the care of orphans and widows and to promote the social, economic, and industrial welfare of those who haoe been rendered destitute, or dependent directly or indirectl]), by the vicissitudes of war, the cruelties of men, or other causes beyond their control. (NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS ONE iKCADISON AVENUE, fKEW YORK CITY Statistics of June 30, 1920 Issued October, 1920 Officers of Near East Relief JAMES L. BARTON CHAIRMAN JOHN H. FINLEY H. C. JAQUITH VICE-PRESIDENT ASS't GENERAL SECRETARY CHARLES V. VICKREY CLEVELAND H. DODGE GENERAL SECRETARY TREASURER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Alexander J. Hemphill, C'hn Harold A. Hatch James L. Barton Arthur Curtiss Jame« Edwin M. Bulkley William B. Millar Cleveland H. Dodge Walter George Smith Abram I. Elkus Charles V. Vickrey Stanley White NATIONAL B< William Howard Taft Charles Evans Hughes Abram I. Elkus Myron T. Herrick Henry Morgenthau Elihu Root Oscar S. Straus James L. Barton Charles E. Beury Arthur J. Brown Edwin M. Bulkley John B. Calvert William I. Chamberlain Charles R. Crane Robert J. Cuddihy Cleveland E. Dodge Cleveland H. Dodge Charles W. Eliot John H. Finley James Cardinal Gibbons Harold A. Hatch William I. Haven Howard Heinz Alexander J. Hemphill Hamilton Holt Frank W. Jackson Stephen RD OF TRUSTEES Arthur Curtiss James Harry Pratt Judson Henry Churchill King Frederick Lynch Charles S. MacFarland H. B. F. MacFarland Vance C. McCormick John H. T. Main William B. Millar John R. Mott Frank Mason North George A. Plimpton Wm. Cooper Proctor Philip M. Khinelander William Jay Schieffelin George T. Scott Albert Shaw Edward Lincoln Smith Walter George Smith Robert Eliot Speer James M. Speers Charles V. Vickrey Harry A. Wheeler Stanley White Ray Lyman Wilbur Talcott Williams Wise 2 Index Near East Relief 4 Report to U. S. Congress 4 Historical 4 Field of Operation 5 Organization 5 Work on Field 6 Areas of Relief 7 Character of Armenians 8 Findings of American Mission. ... 8 As Armenia Was 8 How Near East Relief Helped . . 10 The Case for Armenia 11 Armenia and the United States .... 12 President's Message to Congress. 12 Armenia in Political Platforms .... 13 Religions of the Near East 14 Work of Mission Societies 15 Official Statistics 17 Financial Statement 18 Contributions, 1919-1920 18 Present Conditions 20 Constantinople 20 Caucasus 21 Syria- Aleppo 23 Persia 27 Map 24-25 Massacres in 1920 28 Orphans 30 Caucasus Orphan Report 32 Education 35 Industries 37 Rescue Homes 39 Hospitals 41 Food Relief 42 Clothing 44 Reuniting Families 45 Recent Cable 46 Endorsements 47 3 Near East Relief What It Is— Where It Works Report of the Near East Relief to the Congress of the United States of America During the Year 1919 Historical Statement. — Near East Re- lief, incorporated by act of Congress, approved August 6, 1919, continued the work of the American Committee for Ar- menian and Syrian Relief (sometimes known as the American Committee for Relief in the Near East) . This earlier Committee, the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, was organized in October, 1915, in response to an urgent cablegram from Hon. Henry Morgenthau, United States Ambassador in Constantinople, urging contributions from American friends for the immediate relief of the terrible dis- tress resulting from the massacres and de- portations of that year. This unincorporated association issued appeals to the American public and transmitted funds for relief purposes through Ambassador Morgenthau and later Ambassador Elkus and other Amer- 4 ican representatives from October, 1915, to October 14, 1919. The membership of the incorporated association, known as the American Com- mittee for Armenian and Syrian Relief was practically identical with the mem- bership of the Board of Trustees of Near East Relief as incorporated August 6, 1919. The first meeting of the Board of Trustees of Near East Relief was held October 14, 1919, at which time the or- ganization was completed. The Field of Operation. — During the calendar year of 1919 the Near " Elast Relief conducted relief activities in the following areas of the Near East: Con- stantinople and the adjoining territory in European Turkey, Anatolia, Armenia, Cilicia, Kurdistan, Syria, Palestine (for Armenian refugees only), Mesopotamia, Persia, Trans-Caucasia (Russia), includ- ing the Armenian Republic, Georgia and Azerbaidjan. While relief has been given on the basis of greatest need to all suffering and dependent people of the Near East, the greater part of the work has been among the subject races of the Ottoman Empire, including especially the Armenians, Greeks, Nestorians, Syrians, and Assyrians. Organization. — The Near East Re- lief has maintained national headquar- ters in New York (One Madison Avenue) and Washington (Woodward Building). The campaign for relief funds throughout America has been conducted from the 5 New York office by a field department 8ta£F with representatives in each state. The relief work of Near East Relief on the foreign field has been administered by an overseas sta£F of 538 American men and women, organized under the direction of Col. William N. Haskell, U. S. A., Allied High Commissioner for Armenia, with headquarters at Tiflis; Col. J. P. Coombs, with headquarters at Constantinople, and Maj. James H. Nicol, with headquarters at Beirut, and Ameri- can Consular agents in Persia and Bagdad. Work on tlW'Mielek — The immediate object of the Near East Relief has been physical relief, the distribution of food and clothing to save men, women and children from death through starvation and exposure. Coincident with the pro- vision of food and clothing, it has been necessary to engage in related activities, directly due to the atrocities and other tragedies of the war in the Near East — such as the care of dependent children made orphans by massacres and deporta- tions, homes for Christian girls enslaved in Moslem harems, hospitals and medi- cine for the thousands suffering from dis- ease and malnutrition, and industrial workshops to aid a people normally in- dustrious to become again self-supporting. AU-^f-tkese^-various forms of relief work have been carried on under a unified man- .>agementr The areas of relief are: ( 1 ) Constantinople — administered from Constantinople. Director, Colonel J. P. Coombs. Territory, Anatolia (Asia Minor). Principal cities — Constantinople, *Smyrna, Caesarea, Harpoot, Trebi- zond, Brusa, Sivas, Konia, *Hadjin, Marsovan, Samsoun, *l8mid, *Adana, Tarsus, Mersine. (2) Caucasus — administered from Alexandropol. Director, Capt. E. A. Yarrow, A. R. C. Territory, Transcaucasia, chiefly Ar- menian with parts of Georgia. Principal cities — *Baku, *Tiflis, *Batum, Alexandropol, Erivan, Kars, Karak- liss, Ahalkalaki, Etchmiadzin. (3) Syria- Aleppo — administered from Beirut. Director, Major James H. Nicol, A. R. C. Territory, Seacoast of Syria and Pal- estine and area north and east of Aleppo. Principal cities — Beirut, Jerusalem, *Damascu8, Tripoli, Sidon, *Aleppo, *Mardin, *Urfa, Diarbekir, *Aintab, *Marash, Latakia. (4) Persia — administered from Ta- briz. Directed through American Consular agents. Territory, Northern Persia and cities in Mesopotamia. Principal cities — *Tabriz, Hamadan, Kermashah, Urumia, Bagdad, Ba- kuba, Mosul. •Has been captured by enemies or suffered seige in 1920. 7 Character of the Armenians Among all those who dwell in western Asia they (the Armenians) standi first, with a capacity for intellectual and moral progress, as well as with a natural tenac- ity of will and purpose beyond that of all their neighbors — not merely of Turks, Tartars, Kurds, and Persians, but also of Russians. They are a strong race, not only with vigorous nerves and sinews, physically active and energetic, but also of conspicuous brain power. "Armenians are a people of large and honorable capacities. For ages they have maintained their civilization under op- pression that would have 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." — Andreiv D. White, United States Ambassador to German]), and president of Cornell University. Autobiography. "Over 40 per cent of the Armenians admitted into the United States are, ac- cording to the classification of our immi- gration bureau, skilled laborers and edu- cated professional men and women, a record no other class of immigrants from that part of the world equals or even approaches." — Honorable James W. Gerard. Findings of American Mission As Armenia Was "Political conditions which shriek of misery, ruin, starvation, and all the melancholy aftermath not only of honor- able warfare, but of bestial brutality, un- restrained by God or man, but which 8 nevertheless prevail under an existing Government with which the powers of Europe have long been willing to treat on terms of equality. . . . Mutila- tion, violation, torture and death have left their haunting memories in an hun- dred beautiful Armenian valleys, and the traveler in that region is seldom free from the evidence of this most colossal crime of all the ages. . . . " — Major-Ceneral James C. Harhord, Ofidal Report. "We visited several of these institutions, notably one where there are one hundred and fifty 'brides', Armenian girls of an av- erage age of seventeen, who were forcibly married to Moslems at the time of the de- portations and have since been rescued. Many of these are still no more than chil- dren, and the stories of the treatment re- ceived by these little girls of tender years would be beyond belief in any other part of the world. Teachers and students alike of the once flourishing normal school have been scattered throughout the East outraged, starved and murdered. One of the teachers, a gentle, refined Armenian girl, speaking English well and knowing music, a young woman attractive by the standards of any land, was forcibly mar- ried to the Beg of a neighboring Kurdish village — a filthy, lousy, white-bearded Kurd, old enough to be her grandfather. She has since borne him a child and is still held by him. He is the half-civilized under-chief of a nomad tribe and a mur- derer, and efforts to rescue the unhappy girl have so far failed." — Major-General James G. Harhord, "Mustapha Kemal Pasha and His Part^" World's Work, June, 1920, 9 How Near East Relief Helped "Practical American philanthropy has kept alive a large portion of the Arme- nians, Syrians and Greeks and other des- titute peoples of the Near East who cer- tainly would have died of starvation and disease but for contributions from Amer- ica. . . . There are many thousands of children, many of whom have lost both parents and do not even know their own names. The Near East Relief is working with splendid courage and in spite of in- adequate funds to save these little chil- dren. Their work is worthy of and de- mands the support of all Americans." — Major-Ceneral James G. H arbor d, Brooklyn Ciiizen, Januar}) 19, 1920. "It is no exaggeration to say that the Armenians would have disappeared as a nation had it not been for the splendid help given them by the Near East Relief and the American Food Administration. ... The best that sympathetic Ameri- cans can do is to continue and enlarge the present admirable work of the Near East Relief. . . . " — Benjamin Burges Moore, Chief of Tiflis Party, Russian Field Mission, American Commission to Negotiate Peace, "Some Facts About Armenia", Current History^, June, 1920. "The Armenian people appreciate the assist- ance that the American people have given dur- ing the last two years. America literally saved us from starvation. * * * "We ask no charity. Our people are eager to work, and history shows that they excel in pro- ducing laurge returns from a small capital, but first they must have enough food to carry them through the next twelve months. * * * And, second, they should have enough clothing, fuel, tools, agricultural implements, seed, and trans- portation facilities to give them a start in re- claiming their waste land and natural resources in order that they may in time fully and grate- fully repay any aid grranted to them through loans or otherwise." — Statement tp Prime Minister, Reipublic of Armenia, August, 1920. 10 The Case for Armenia The Armenians were our valiant Allies during the war. They sacrificed an even greater pro- portion of their people to our common cause than did France. They are of our own race. They have been a tenacious outpost of Christianity from early Christian times. They are in dire need and imminent danger of complete destruction. One million Armenians were deported, and eight hundred thousand massacred during the early years of the war and those who escaped have been in constant imminent danger of death by starvation. Before the war the Armenians main- tained by taxation, in excess of the Turk- ish government requirements, 803 schools with 2,088 teachers and 81,226 pupils. Armenia has undeveloped mines, lands, and water power and its people are capa- ble under proper protection and leader- ship of developing these resources. Previous to the war 85 per cent of the Armenian population was engaged in ag- riculture, and with the Greeks, formed the economic backbone of western Asia. Turkey and the Transcaucasia is a great gateway between Asia and Europe. The future peace of the world demands for it a stable, strong and just government. Thousands of Armenian girls are still held as Christian slaves in Turkish harems. This reproach to civilization must be removed. In the name of hu- manity America must answer the call of Armenia. Does not the red blood and moral fibre of America demand that we stand by those who have stood by us? 11 Armenia and the United States May 26, 191 8 — Armenian Republic es- tablished. April 23, 1920 — Armenian Republic recognized by the United States. April 25, 1920. San Remo, "The Su- preme Council today decided to send to the American Government a formal offer of the mandate for Armenia. If the United States will not accept the mandate. President Wilson is to be asked to act as arbitrator in the question of the boun- daries of Armenia. "It may be said at once that the Arme- nian mandate is by no means such a plum as the other mandates in Asia Minor which the European nations have assumed, and it is very much for humanity's sake that they have asked America to shoulder it. It has been presumed that it would be for that reason alone that America would ac- cept it. "A significant feature of the Allies' ac- tion is that they have asked President Wil- son to fix the boundaries in case America does not accept the mandate. The offer is being made, perhaps to emphasize the fact that without a mandatory Armenia would be much smaller than Mr. Wilson wished it to be." — Edwin L. James, Neiv York Times, April £6, 1920. President Wilson's Message to Congress: "I received and read this document with great interest and with genuine gratifica- tion, not only because it embodied my own convictions and feelings with regard to Armenia and its people but also and more particularly because it seemed to me the voice of the American people express- ing their genuine convictions and deep 12 Christian sympathies and intimating the line of duty which seemed to them to lie clearly before us. "Early in the conferences at Paris it was agreed that, to those colonies and terri- tories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sover- eignty of the States which formerly gov- erned them and which are inhabited by people not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the mod- ern world, there should be applied the principle that the well being and devel- opment of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization, and that securities for the performance of this trust should be afforded. . . . " — Map 21,, 1920. Senate tons down request for mandate: "By a vote of 1 1 to 4 the Committee adopted a resolution 'respectfully declin- ing* to authorize the mandate. The reso- lution reads: 'Resolved, That the Con- gress hereby respectfully declines to grant to the Executive the power to ac- cept a mandate over Armenia as required in the message of the President, date May 24, 1920.' " — Congressional Record, Map 27, 1920. Armenia in Political Platforms Republican "We deeply sympathize with the peo- ple of Armenia and stand ready to help them in all proper ways, but the Republi- can party will oppose now and hereafter the acceptance of a mandate for any coun- try in Europe and Asia." — Republican Na- tional Platform. 13 Democratic "We express our deep and earnest sym- pathy for the unfortunate people of Ar- menia and we believe that our Govern- ment, consistent with its Constitution and principles, should render every possible and proper aid to them in their efforts to establish and maintain a government of their own." — Democratic National Platform. Prohibition "The serious condition in the Near East menaces the peace and health of the world. The massacre of many thousands of Armenians by the Turks, since the ar- mistice, horrifies America. We believe it our duty and responsibility to save this remnant of a martyred Christian race. As the delay in signing the peace treaty and entering the League of Nations has been a contributing factor, therefore we demand that our government use every proper in- fluence to stop this wholesale slaughter of the Christian people of Bible lands who were our allies in the World War." — Pro- hibition National Platform. Religions of the Near East Mohammed, the Prophet, was born 600 years after Christ, and is considered by the Moslems as the last and greatest of the Prophets. The Prophet claimed that the Koran was transmitted verbatim to him in the Arabic language. The Mos- lems believe in polygamy and in the use of the sword to advance their religion. None but Moslems can enter paradise in the idea of which sensual pleasures have a large place. The Armenian church is the oldest na- tional Christian church, dating back to 301 A. D., when King Tiridates was con- 14 verted by St. Gregory the Illuminator. On the basis of these historical facts the Armenian church is officially known a» the Armenian-Gregorian church. The church of Armenia has been for centuries the fortress of the Armenian people and their rallying point in time of oppression. The Greek Orthodox church is partic- ularly strong among the Greeks and the Russians and the Georgians of the Cau- casus. The history of the Greek church is intimately connected with the rise and fall of Constantinople. Saint Sophia and many other churches were, upon the Mo- hammedan invasion, turned into mosques. The Roman Catholic church renewed its activities in the Near East during the time of the Crusades and is strongest in Syria and some of the other large com- mercial centers of the Near East. Work of Mission Societies In 1831 the American Board of For- eign Missions of the Congregational church commenced its work in Turkey. Resulting from these activities probably 150,000 Armenians are directly affiliated with this branch of the Protestant church. Through the individual efforts of cer- tain missionaries a large number of schools have been founded, such as Rob- ert College and Girls' College in Constan- tinople, colleges at Marsovan, Harpoot, Sivas, Aintab and Beirut, which are now attended to overflowing by Armenians as well as Greeks, Bulgarians, Syrians and other nationalities. They have stimu- lated the Armenians to better their own educational institutions and to introduce modern ideas and reforms within the Armenian church. They have drawn students to American colleges and opened America to Arn>enian immigration. 15 The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in 1822 commenced its work in Syria, and in 1872 its work in Persia. American missionaries established schools at Beirut, Tripoli, Lebanon and Sidon, and a hospital at Beirut in Syria. Major emphasis was placed upon work among the Assyrians dwelling about Lake Urumia, with schools located at Tehe- ran, Hamodan, Resht and Kermanshah, and hospitals at Teheran, Hamodan Meshed, Resht, and FCermanshah, Persia. French, English, Swiss, Italian and German missionaries also have had schools and hospitals in the Near East. The Edinboro Conference of Missions in 1910 authorized the American Board of Foreign Missions of the Congrega- tional Church to represent the Protestant churches of America in all work in Turkish-speaking territory, and the Pres- byterian Board of Foreign Missions to rep- resent the Protestant churches of America in work among the Arabic-speaking peo- ples of Syria and in Persia, thus preventing an overlapping and duplication of efFort in the Near East. The massacres and deportations of the Armenians, Greeks and other subject races of the Turkish Empire had some economic and political background but they occurred largely because of the re- ligious antipathy of the Mohammedans to all Christians. Religious fanaticism was used as a stimulus and an excuse by the political leaders for the propagation of one of the most tragic events in human history. 16 Official Statistics of Near East Relief June 30, 1920 Caucasus Beirut- jA,Icppo Cons' pie Totals /Am. IN. EL. K. Personnel 538 Hospitals 43 11 9 63 Beds 5.681 346 525 6,552 Clinics 85 21 22 128 r\^^?*iif» 1 — Innnf*^ <; J u Orphanages 81 11 121 229 Children 1 . In orphan- age 20,779 8.007 25.814 54,600 2 Partial support outside of orphanage 1,000 Food Relief 551.970 Number In AnatoKa-Alep- po areas vary monthly with changing political condi- tions, for example, 10,000 rehabilitated Armenians be- came refugees again eifter the attack on Marash. Clothing 300,000 g This does i in Near Eas arments sent to Armenia, rot include garments made t industrial shops. 300,000 P ersona 1 Service 1 87 persons In the Near East were put in touch with their relatives in America and transportation was provided for 462 persons from Armenia to America by their relatives through Near East Relief for the month of June. 649 NOTE:— The figures and statistics noted above have been compiled from very carefully prepared reports from all centers ia the Near East at the request of the New York office. 17 Financial Statement Near East Relief is supported gener- ously by the American people. Organi- zations in the several states have charge of the collection of funds. The books of Near East Relief, both in America and in the Near East, are audited by public accountants and an annual re- port rendered to Congress. Near East Relief has the endorsement of the National Information Bureau. It has administered since its organiza- tion in October, 1915, to July 1, 1920, a total of $40,815,226.74. The following sums were raised from July I, 1919, to June 30, 1920: Contributions — 1 91 9-1 920 State Contributions Alabama $106,312.07 Arizona 35.680.33 Arkansas 70,099.74 California (South) 389,386.48 California (North) 342,446.49 Colorado 99,816.67 Connecticut 275,110.57 Delaware 49,487.98 Dist. of Columbia 142,564.27 Florida 85,398.51 Georgia 70,599.25 Idaho 32,453.47 Illinois 305,339.04 Indiana 318,514.67 Iowa 275,961.06 Kansas 152,585.51 Kentucky 118,422.83 Louisiana 69,165.26 Maine 85,765.75 Maryland 169,305.98 Massachusetts 643,138.94 Michigan 464,360.67 Minnesota 381,623.20 Mississippi 59,902.67 Missouri 252,281.80 Montana 17,607.46 18 Nebraska 121,449.59 Nevada 7,738.51 New Hampshire 53,314.53 New Jersey 458,428.90 New Mexico 8,416.73 New York City 820,926.49 New York State 706,883.23 North Carolina 202,356.57 North Dakota 35,788.80 O^io 600,869.19 Oklahoma 146,220.35 Oregon 198,974.36 Pennsylvania 1,142,259.88 Rhode Island 171,703.32 South Carolina 114,952.21 South Dakota 70,734.48 Tennessee 124,640.33 Texas 283,828.29 Utah 5,856.90 Vermont 31,648.32 Virginia 229,841.34 Washington (East) 77,782.94 Washington (West) 91,168.73 West Virginia 156,602.73 Wisconsin 367,558.55 Wyoming 9,984.73 $1 1,253,260.67 Summary of Contributions — July 1, 1919 From States $11,253,260.67 Canadian, Merchandise, Unallo- cated and Anonymous 1,441,597.28 Total for year $12,694,857.95 "I fear if the American people do not give you even greater financial support than they are now doing and our government does not quickly take a strong and decisive political stand in behalf of the Armenians, the latter will gradually disappear as a nation from the face of the earth. Irrespective of the terrible human suffering the character of this disappear- ance will entail, it is an unspeakable pity that such a plucky little nation should finally lose the fight after having so bravely struggled on for centuries." — Letter, John Price Jackson, June I, 1920. 19 Present Conditions Constantinople The Constantinople area not only in- cludes the Turkish capital but a terri- tory larger than the state of Texas, stretching to the eastern limits of Anatolia. At Smyrna and along the Aegean coast and the south shore of the Black Sea, the Greek population had for centuries pre- dominated. As a part of the political and economic and religious program of the Ottoman Empire, many thousands of these Greeks were deported to the in- terior. In 1919 permission was given the Greek Government by the Allied Powers to land in Smyrna. More recently their authority has been extended. The Greek army has advanced to the Bagdad rail- road and is encamped on the Ismid pen- insula. In this territory the Greek Gov- ernment is assuming a large measure of responsibility for its own people and the Near East Relief work will gradually de- crease. The familiar story of the fate of the Armenians during the v/ar was enacted on the Cilician plains centering about Adana, as elsewhere. Here, as in Marash and Aintab, the allied responsibility was given to the French. Recently persistent pressure has been brought to bear upon the French troops in Cilicia by the Turk- ish nationalistic forces and has all but compelled them to withdraw from Lesser Armenia. Thousands of orphan children through the assistance of the British Lord Mayor's committee were sent to Cyprus. The central part of Anatolia, untouched by railroads, has presented one of the 20 most tremendous transportation problems attempted by the relief work, the haul from the nearest debarkation port to Har- poot being over five hundred miles. In spite of these difiiciilties the relief work was opened in all of the larger cen- tres — Samsoun, Trebizond, Marsovan, Konia, Sivas, Caesarea, Harpoot, imme- diately after the armistice and increased in effectiveness and efficiency until in every centre orphanages, hospitals, res- cue homes, industrial work and, where necessary, soup kitchens were put into effective operation and are still main- tained. The Constantinople area maintains nine hospitals of 525 beds, 22 clinics, 6 rescue homes and 1 2 I orphanages. There are 25,814 children in orphanages and 1,000 children receiving partial support outside of orphanages. Food relief, clothing and personal service, such as the locating of relatives in America, are also given in the Constantinople area. Caucasus The Caucasus became an Armenian and a relief situation from two angles. First: The Russian army in the early years of the war, attempted to cross Turkey and in this effort enlisted the Armenians of the north by the thousands in the endeavor to cut the jugular vein of the Ottoman Empire, the Bagdad rail- road. For months this effort seemed about to be crowned with success. The Russian revolution, however, caused a complete collapse of the Russian forces, the disorderly retreat of the Russian army and the flight of the civilian pop- ulation into the Caucasus. Over three hundred thousand refugees, Armenians with homes in Turkey, were precipitated upon the ill-provisioned and unsettled Russian Armenian population. 21 Second: In the early part of the nineteenth century, in 1801, the Russian military forces conquered a portion of Turkish territory and included in its do- main a large section of the Armenian pop- ulation. These Armenians fought loyally on the side of the Russian forces during the world war until the disintegration of the Russian military forces. The Arme- nians, with the Georgians and Azerbaid- jans, formed three independent republics in May, 1 9 1 8, in the Caucasus. This Ar- menian republic was later recognized by the Supreme Council of Paris and is fre- quently in newspaper dispatches called Armenia although it includes in territory only Russian Armenia which is less than half the Armenian problem. During the last year of the world war, two Americans remained in the Caucasus to encourage the young Armenian Repub- lic and to carry on a meagre relief work among the Armenian refugees from Turkey. Early in 1919 a small group of relief workers was sent into the Caucasus. Immediately they saw that they were con- fronted by an almost impossible task. Starvation was rampant; hundreds of emaciated men and women were found daily dying upon the streets of all the principal cities. A population of nearly a million people, mostly Armenians, was without the barest necessities of life, or the means of securing the same. Near East Relief asked for the full as- sistance of the American Red Cross and the American Relief Administration. In response to these calls. Red Cross sup- plies and seven thousand tons of flour per month were sent to the Caucasus. Fifty army officers were detached from regular military service and assigned to the Ar- menian Republic. Political authority was given to Col. William N. Haskell. In spite 22 of unsettled conditions, at the end of twelve months, Col. Haskell was able to render the following report: "Without America, there would be no Armenian problem any more. The Ar- menian territory would remain, but the Armenian people would have ceased to exist. The lives, literally of a whole nation, (the Armenian Republic as con- trasted with Turkish Armenia) have been saved by America. This work must con- tinue. To the twenty-five thousand chil- dren in orphanages in the Caucasus the Near East Relief is the sole hope, and the rest of the population continues to look to it for medical aid, education, and moral support. America may have refused the Armenian mandate but Armenia has per- fect confidence in America." The Caucasus area maintains 43 hos- pitals, totaling 5,681 beds. It has 85 clinics and 81 orphanages, the latter caring for 20,779 children. Beside this, 55,039 children receive partial support outside of the orphanages. Food relief is given to 561,970 people. Clothing and personal service is also given. Syria — Aleppo Syria. During war the Syrians were neither deported or massacred but were hunger-infested, willfully starved by Turk- ish masters. In some of the beautiful mountain villages of Lebanon as high as 50 per cent of the population died from hunger. With the coming of the armi- stice, British protection and American re- lief, industrial activities were established for the women and orphanages provided for the homeless children. 23 PUBLISHED BV NEAR EAST KELiEF (MADISON AV£ fciew YORK The economic recovery of Syria has been encouraging during the last two years. The French have assumed politi- cal control and the relief work has been confined to the care of orphans for whom no other provision has been made. Be- cause of the recent fighting between the French and the Turks in Marash and Aintab, thousands of Armenian orphans have been removed to the Beirut areas, necessitating new equipment and a new start. Aleppo. The vicissitudes of war have visited the Aleppo area with cruel regu- larity. This region extends as far north as Marash and as far to the east as Diarbekir. From this area the Armenians were driven either to massacre or deportation in 1915. The coming of the allied arms into the city of Aleppo encouraged the remnants of these people to return to their former homes and with remarkable vital- ity houses were rebuilt and old lines of commerce re-established. The Near East Relief opened orphanages, installed medi- cal v/ork and provided rescue homes. The recent uprising of the nationalistic forces and the inadequacy of the allied defense resulted in a series of quasi military events. Ten thousand Armenians were killed in Marash, 2,500 perished from ex- posure in a fearful blizzard while leaving the city with the French retreating col- umns. Aintab has been repeatedly besieged and heroically defended. Urfa, Mardin and Diarbekir have been cut off from communication with Aleppo frequently, sometimes for as long as sixty days little is heard of what goes on behind the veil of obscurity. Each new turn in the political wheel of fortune increases the necessity for relief work. 26 The Syria-Aleppo area maintains 1 1 hospitals with a total of 346 beds. It has 2 1 clinics, 5 rescue homes and 2 7 orphan- ages which care for 8,007 children. Food relief, clothing and personal service are also given in this area. Persia In 1918 eighty thousand Assyrians were compelled to rise at midnight and retreat from their homes around Lake Urumia after a long and heroic defense of their home land. Less than half of this number survived and found safety in Tabriz, Hamadan and the refuge camp at Bakuba. These refugees have made repeated efforts to return to their cities and farms where they had lived for cen- turies in economic prosperity and appar- ent security. They are still exiles. Some have found work but still the great rem- nant of these Assyrian Christians, mostly women and children, are dependent in a large measure upon the moral support and physical sustenance from America. From Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol, U. S. Navy, United States High Commissioner. "I have for a long time felt in sympathy with the work that you and those under you have been carrying out; therefore it is a privilege to me to state publicly my feeling toward your work. If I have been able to encourage the workers of the Near East Relief or give them assistance in any way * * * I feel that I am more than repaid in keeping with the suc- cess that has attended the efforts of the Near East Relief Committee in this part of the world in the past. I hope the future will bring you greater success. It will always give me pleasure to render any assistance possible to the commit- tee as a whole, to any of the workers, and to the great work of humanity that the committee rep- resents." — Leiler to Col. James P. Coombs, Con- stantinople, Sept. 23, 1920. 27 Massacres of 1920 The}) count time fcp the "killings" January "The crescent moon, the cold-blooded symbol of Moslem fanaticism, is rising to- night on a city in whose streets today have been enacted tragedies that ought to stag- ger humanity and send a shudder of pro- test to the throne of God. "And yet what I have seen and heard during the last few days is but a small part of the horrors that are registered forever upon the brains of those who es- caped bleeding and wounded to tell their tale upon the operation cable in the hos- pital, or to babble in an incoherent way from their sick beds of the inferno from which they have escaped. "Through our glasses we could see Ar- menians escaping from their homes and fleeing before the Turks, who were shoot- ing them down like jack-rabbits. Other Turks were hiding in the fields behind rocks, trees and manure heaps, and shoot- ing at those who escaped the Turks in the city. It was pitiful to see them throw up their hands and scream while attempt- ing to escape. We watched them fleeing over the hills until they reached our com- pound, some dropping wounded by the way and others staggering into the mis- sion grounds with wild eyes and purple faces telling of an awful massacre just beginning. "News came today that scores of women and children huddled in one house were butchered with knives and hatchets, after the men had been taken out and shot. They surrendered on the promise of protection, but were cruelly betrayed. 28 "Today in one of our orphanages a woman was killed while standing in the doorway and others were shot and wounded in the College compound."— Marash. February "Turks alleged to be friendly say with increasing frequency and urgency that they and Christians can no longer live together, and they advise their Christian friends to get out in anticipation of the time close at hand when not so much as a cat will be left of any Christian vestige in this country." — Marsovan. March "Of these eleven villages, seven have been attacked. Harouniye has been en- tirely destroyed. Kizil-Aghaz was the scene of a niassacre where about sixty- five people were slaughtered ; the rest fled to Bagche and later to Adana; and so we could go on with the catal ogue of suffering and increasing need for relief." — Adana. April "Armenians and other Christians killed at Hachkirs and Gelebek stations. Num- ber unknown. Eybez village and monas- tery burned. People nine hundred in number brought to Adana. Armenian quarter attacked, but defended with cas- ualties both Armenian and Moslem." June "Aintab given up to Turks with order of evacuation to Armenian combatants, who refuse, preferring heroic death. Turks have profited by French armistice. Our compatriots* desolation resulting from prospective French evacuation is inde- scribable," 29 July "For example, this morning a woman came to the door who had been entirely stripped by a band of Moslems. She and five other Christian women had been gathering some gleanings in the fields and were overtaken by this band, who took all they had — even their clothing. We long for the day when the poor shall have a chance again to live in a measure of peace and comfort." — LataJ(ia. August "Massacres in the Geiveh district and south of Kara-Musal (both southeast of Ismid in western Asia Minor) are believed to have destroyed at least 5,000 Chris- tians. The procedure followed the old lines. Villagers were driven out from their villages and marched to a convenient river or lake. The men were separated from the women and shot. Most of the women and children were killed." , Orphans In Orphanages, 54, 600. Partial Sup- port Outside Orphanages, 56,039 When the relief work was undertaken, it at once became evident that a great number of children — innocent sufferers of the deportations and massacres — must be cared for in institutions. Consequent- ly in all centres orphanages were started. Waifs, who had taken shelter in the caves on the mountains and in wretched hovels and fed on refuse heaps in the streets, gradually ventured out to find the help they heard was being given at the relief stations. First they were given a good meal, then scrubbed, heads shaved and first aid administered. Starvation cases 30 and the very ill were sent to the hospi- tals, while the others were supplied with garments, frequently from supplies of second-hand clothing, their filthy rags being immediately destroyed. Each one received a blanket to sleep on, and if very fortunate, occasionally enjoyed the luxury of sharing a bed with anywhere from one to three or four bed-fellows. During the past year the work has been very carefully systematized. In spite of tremendous transportation difficulties and the extent of territory, 800 miles between a town and the nearest re- lief station — in spite of unsettled political conditions, the Near East Relief has established 229 orphanages with proper medical, dietetic and administrative su- pervision. So far as funds have per- mitted, educational work has been car- ried on. The older children have been taught the various arts and crafts that will enable both boys and girls to become self-supporting. The younger children, who have been deprived of the opportu- nity of schooling during five long years, eagerly pick up the broken threads of their education. Inadequacy of buildings and equipment and other essentials, as well as funds, have prevented the Near East Relief commit- tee from enlarging its orphanages to in- clude all homeless children. To save these children, temporary measures of re- lief were necessary. Soup kitchens were opened, where children could have at least one warm meal a day. Supple- mentary grants in aid were given to needy women to care for groups of these chil- dren and a vigorous search was made to locate among the rehabilitated refugees some distant relative. The children in orphanages are de- pending for their happiness upon contin- 31 ued support by the American people. The children in the bread lines and outside of the orphanages are looking to Near East Relief for their means of existence and for the hope of a brighter future. Thou- sands of children who have been able to subsist during the summer months on the gleanings from the fields and streets, and sleeping under the star-lit sky, will be driven by the cold winter blasts to the doors of the Near East Relief. The following quotations from the handbook prepared by the Caucasus branch on organization and distribution of work in that section gives an idea of the precision and method with which the work was carried on: Orphanages The Director of Orphanages is charged with all matters relating to the admission and dis- charge of orphans in the local orphanages; the direction and supervision of the work of the Orphanage Managers; the preparation and su- pervision of the industrial, educational, recrea- tional and religious work in the orphanages; the preparation and forwarding of requisitions for supplies and personnel to the District Com- mander; the rendition of reports as required and the preparation and completion of financial accounts of the orphanage. Director of Education The Director of Orphanages shall have an assistant who is charged with the educational, in- dustrial, recreational and religious work of all the orphanages in the district. This work will be centralized in the office of the Director of Orphanages. This assistant is charged with the prepara- tion of schedules of the courses of education to be followed in the orphanages; the division of the orphans into classes; the designation of hours of attendance; the employment and assign- ment of work to the teachers and the prepara- tion of requisitions for the necessary text-books. The teachers in the various orphanages, fur- nished by the Armenian and other governments, are placed under the direction and supervision of this Assistant. 32 This Assistant is further charged with the in- dustrial work of the orphanages; the supervision of the industrial education in the orphanages; the preparation of plans for the expansion of the industrial training, and the preparation of the necessary requisitions for supplies incident to the training. This Assistant is further charged with th® general supervision of all recreational work. This work will consist primarily of athletics and mass games for the children. Care will be takejt, especially in the case of younger children, that the disciplinary drills are not so frequent and of such length as to destroy their benefit. This Assistant is further charged with the general conduct of all religious work in the or- phanages. Properly accredited ministers and priests will be secured from the local district Bishop to conduct, from time to time, the re- ligious services in the orphanages. As far as possible, the children will be instructed in the religious creeds of their birth. Orphanage Manager The Orphanage Manager will be required to live at the orphanage. The Orphanage Manager is charged with the moral and physical well- being of the orphans; the supervision of the daily life of the orphans; the household management; all accountability for the orphanage property; the preparation of the necessary requisitions and accounts; the allotment and supervision of the work of the orphanage personnel, and the maintenance of discipline within the orphanage. The Orphanage Manager will prepare local rules and regulations for the orphanage and upon approval of the Director of Orphanages exact their complete compliance. The following rec- ords will be kept in the office of the Orphanage manager: A product or supply book. A complete inventory of orphanage property, A record of each orphan which will show the name, age, date of admission of each orphan with a notation of their nearest living relative^ if known, and a record of each orphan's physi- cal condition. Nurses Each orphanage shall have one nurse who i» in charge of the orphanage dispensary and is responsible to the Orphanage Manager for the sanitary condition of the orphanage grounds and buildings, 33 Ward Masters or Matrons For every one hundred orphans there shall be a Ward Master or Ward Matron, who is charged with the conduct of the orphans under his or her care; the proper police by them of their ward; their personal cleanliness, and the observance by them of the orphanage rules and regulations. As far as possible, the older or- phans will be used in this capacity. Orphans An orphan will be admitted to an orphanage only on the approval of the Director of Or- phanages, who will investigate each case, de- termine the condition of destitution in each case and make the necessary assignments of the various orphanages. Upon being admitted, a child will first be sent to the office of the District or sub-district Phy- sician, where the child will be given a complete physical examination, thoroughly washed and deloused, hair will be clipped and the Medical Record entered on a correct form to accompany the child to the orphanage. The record will include the results of the examination and a statement that the child has been washed and deloused and is free from any infectious disease. Upon being admitted to the orphanage the record of the child will be completed; showing classification, sex, age, name of nearest living relative, if known. This record shall be kept in the office of the Orphanage Manager. Each orphan shall have an initial clothing allowance, where supplies are available: 2 Suits Underwear 2 Pairs Stockings 1 Dress or Suit (Blouse and Trousers) 1 Hat or Cap 1 Overcoat Desert Orphans The hardest part of the rescue work is the rescue of desert orphans; because the Nomads have no fixed dwelHng and it is impossible to use any civilized means to force them to give back our children. The only way of attack is on their weakest point — money. They surrender the child when they see the silver. It sounds very demoralizing, and in fact it 34 is so, to bargain for our children, as if we were in an age of slave-trade, but the slave-trade epochs of history have no records that can possibly equal the atroc- ities committed in these lands in the last few years. — Report Armenian Committee. Education Many of the children of exile have been for years deprived of all opportunity for education. Boys and girls of twelve or fourteen years cannot read. Many of the younger children have forgotten their mother tongue. Near East Relief in all its work aims at permanent results and to this end makes education for the orphans in its care one of its primary objects. As soon as the children are physically fit they are allotted to classes, the older ones alternating a half day in the school room with a half day of industrial train- ing. A director of education has been ap- pointed to standardize the educational system, and to further the plan already under way to relate the course of study in the orphanages to that already established by government. Teaching is done in the native languages. In the Caucasus the Armenian Government pays for some of the teachers and provides text books. Difficulty is met in securing school houses, the former ones having been left without glass or even sashes for the Win- dows, and building material is expensive. Teachers are scarce. Thousands of the educated were victims of the deportations. Training schools for teachers are neces- sary. "Some of the details of our educational sys- tem will perhaps be of interest. In the two largest orphanages, one for boys and one for girls, there are in all 816 regular pupils. Of 35 these 230 are in the kindergarten. The others are in seven grades, the highest of which would perhaps correspond to the ninth grade in our grammar schools. The three upper classes are co-educational, the girls and boys both being taught at the boys' orphanage. Their studies are Armenian, arithmetic and elementary science. In the higher classes they also study geography, English, history and bookkeeping. All grades have singing and gymnastics and the boys, when the weather permits, are taught gardening. "All of the older boys, to the number of 150, spend three periods each day in regular trades. Some of the classes are very mixed as to ages, especially in the lower grades. One can see a child of nine reading the same book as a boy of sixteen. The older ones find their action stif- fened through long disuse but are still toiling away, hoping to arrive somewhere. Statistics made several months ago show that out of 659 of our orphans 422 did not know their mother tongue when they entered the orphanage, but all are speaking fluently, reading simple stories and solving problems in arithmetic. Some of the brightest have actually accomplished in one year what our former students used to accom- plish in five." — Sivas Unit, June, 1920. "A girl twelve years of age, destitute, a ref- ugee from Everek, whose father was killed, has just come to us. She is particularly helpless, for she is without arms, yet with her feet she can eat, thread her needle, sew, cut, write, and knit. She had been given underwear, dress, v/ool for stockings, yarn for scarf, shoes and money. Now, clean and clothed, she is begin- ning the new year by going to school, one of the happiest girls one could find." — Caesarea. 36 Industries The Armenians and Greeks were the economic backbone of the former Otto- man Empire. When these people were rudely uprooted, their homes pillaged and their stores plundered, business stopped. The early efforts of the Relief Committee were directed towards the re- establishment of native industries and the encouragement of all forms of self-sup- port. Truly, it was beginning at the beginning. As far as funds permitted, oxen and seed were supplied to the farmers, raw wool and cotton were furnished to the carders, spinners and weavers, material and tools to the carpenters to rebuild de- molished homes, hand sewing machines loaned to the women, and leather was supplied to the cobbler to make shoes for the orphans. Mechanics were employed in the transportation department. Every means that an ingenious American relief director could devise was utilized in find- ing employment for the returned refugees and in inducing merchants and farmers to go back to their former occupations. In the orphanages the older children are trained along industrial lines in prepara- tion for work. The following notes from a typical sta- tion report for one month are suggestive of industrial activity in many relief cen- ters: Spinning and weaving. .. 552 employed Shoe shop 74 employed Carpenter shop 16 employed Blacksmith shop 14 employed Tin shop 5 employed It was impossible to make winter suits in ad- vance because of the late arrival of suitable cloth. Hence, the tailor shop had to be ex- 37 panded hastily in November. The equipment consisted of 24 hand sewing machines, 1 0 foot sewing machines, 2 cutting tables and 5 pairs of scissors. Many difficulties had to be overcome because of shortage of scissors, thread and ma- chine oil. The work record for December is as follows : Complete boys' woolen suits. . . . 665 Dresses 147 Boys* shirts 957 Suits of underwear 66 Total number of pieces 2,465 Average number of garments a day 99 The agricultural department has undertaken the task of providing vegetables and cereals for the orphanages for the coming year. The method pursued is for each orphanage to have charge of one or more gardens where the chil- dren are carefully supervised. The gardens are planned to provide for each orphanage of one hundred children approximately, the supply of vegetables necessary for the coming year. About three acres for each orphanage are being pre- pared to provide crops of beans, squash, pota- toes, muskmelons, watermelons, spinach, toma- toes, cucumbers, okra, onions and other vege- tables. In addition to this the large orphanage farms at Sursuri Vank and Hoolavank are be- ing planted with grain which will supply a con- siderable part of the needs of the orphanages, although it is far from adequate for the entire year's needs. The department raises some stock and has at present 29 cows and 47 sheep. It is very im- portant to introduce improved stock. The milk has been a welcome addition to the dietary, especially in our infirmary. — Harpool. "So far no adequate provision has been made in Samsoun for the girls who are released from captivity in Moslem harems. Some of these little girls have small babies of their own and need special care in the Rescue Homes, where they can be taught to be self-supporting. One of our last letters told of one of these small mothers only 1 3 years of age who was without any home." — April, 1920. 38 Rescue Homes Number of Homes, 11 The enslavement of Christian girls, as it has been practiced in Turkey during the past five years, has no parallel in mod- ern history. Civilization has been tat- tooed with the stigma of impotency. While the Armenians in the north hero- ically defended themselves with the help of the Russians, the Armenians in the south were driven from their homes, the men led off into the mountains and killed, and the women herded together in long deportation lines. The younger and more attractive girls, many of them trained in American schools, and possessing much of the refinement and beauty of Ameri- can young womanhood, were the first to be carried off to suffer worse torture than death in Turkish harems, or to be sold in the marketplace to Kurdish chiefs and Bedouin sheiks. During the armistice period, the mili- tary occupation of certain areas by the British made it possible to enforce the re- lease of many of these innocent girls from the clutch of the Turk. But upon the withdrawal of the Brit- ish from the interior stations, it became impossible either by political or military measures to continue this work, and con- sequently thousands of Armenian girls are still living lives of unspeakable agony. Down in a far-away, obscure cor- ner of the town of Talas, in one of the angles in that great network of narrow, walled streets, stands a little, old stone house. Unobserved by the casual passer- by, and unknown except by the relief workers and a few of the natives, this humble house hides within its heart the 39 souls of tortured young girls — yes, girls who have been the victims of the 'Turk horror', girls who have seen their fathers and brothers murdered, girls who have watched their mothers violated and who have killed their own baby brothers and sisters rather than see them tossed in the air only to fall on the blade of a held sword, girls who themselves have been carried off by Kurd, Circassian, and Turk alike to be used at their will. "Each day this little old gray house opens its doors quietly, to let the girls slip away to their respective labors. One or two girls may have steady work at the Boys' Industrial School, mending clothes, for instance; and another may go into the American kitchen to learn cooking, or hurry calls may come from the wool in- dustry for wool washers, sorters, and thread cleaners. Every day brings calls for house-cleaning, bed-making, and many other kinds of work. Never once has there been any complaint as to the work the 'Garden house girls' have had to do. One always finds them cheerful. The past can never be forgotten; the fu- ture is ever uncertain; but the world is growing more wholesome for these girls." — Caesarea, April, 1920. Quoted from a typical report: "As for the rescuing of the innocent Christian children from the hands of bar- barians, no word of comment is necessary. "Our experience has taught us that every minute that passes and leaves our children and women in the barbarian homes, wipes out part of the national and religious traits of their characters. The children are bred in Moslem manners, are given a thoroughly Islamic religious and superstitious training, and when we go to rescue them, they often deny their nationality and religion for some time." 40 Hospitals Sixty- three Hospitals, 6552 Beds, 128 Clinics The second largest permanent contri- bution that the Committee has made to the Near East has been through its medi- cal and hospital service. The first efforts of both doctors and nurses were directed towards remedying the effects of lack of food in the children who first came into the orphanage and to cure the diseases due to it. Hospitals were opened in the larger centers throughout the Near East in such buildings as were available for this purpose. Thirteen complete Red Cross units which were sent out with the first relief party were set up in the places of greatest need. Essential American equipment supplemented local supplies, varying according to transportation fa- cilities and size of hospitals, and supple- mented by later shipments of medical and hospital supplies. As soon as the hospitals were in opera- tion, clinics were opened, not only in the main centers, but in the outlying districts. Regular visits were made by both doctors and nurses to these medical outposts. In those centers where there was a sem- blance of organized government, the Near East Relief compelled the co-opera- tion of the local officials in an effort to make effective public health measures for the entire community. The doctors multiplied their efficiency by enlisting and directing the efforts of Armenian, Syrian, Russian and Greek doctors who had received training in the medical school at Beirut, or in some of the medical schools in Europe. The nurses instructed their helpers in first aid, and 41 continued the treiming of the most prom- ising of these girls until they were able to assimie major nursing responsibility. Following is a typical monthly medical report: Samsoun Civic Hospital, March, 1920 In Hospital, April 1, 1920: Men 47 Women 25 Children 10 Pay Patients 8 Average number per day in hospital 89 Number "poor" patients 2,565 Number "pay" patients 189 Total number patients 2,754 Samsoun Downtown Clinic Eighteen clinics held in March, consisting of men, 463; of women, 459; of children, 119. Total, 1,041. Average 58 per clinic. This does not include the children seen at hospitals at each of the orphanages. Number of surgical operations, 29; cost per patient per day, 84 piasters. Food Relief Food relief in western Asia is an en- tirely diflFerent problem from food relief in America. The country is naturally rich in agricultural products, and the people are almost entirely dependent upon a few staple grains. There may be a scarcity of food in one area, and a bountiful supply in another, but transport- ation difficulties often make the equal distribution of these grain supplies almost impossible. The armistice found the As- syrians exiled from their farms and homes without food. The Syrians, de- prived of their crops and draft animals and forbidden to import, faced famine for four years. * The Armenians in the south, who sur- vived the deportations, were refugees in 42 a strange land, their property having been appropriated by the conquerors. The Armenians in the north, upon the col- lapse of the Russian army, fled by the hundreds of thousands into the Caucasus, The Greeks had been driven from their accessible food supplies along the coast to an unfriendly country in the interior. Without commerce, without harvests, de- prived of their farm lands, countless As- syrians, Greek and Armenian refugees were without the barest necessities of life. This problem was most acute in the Caucasus, where during the twelve months ending July 1st, 1920, over 550,000 people were fed monthly from American flour, most of which was purchased on credit by the Armenian Government from the United States Government, and from supplies furnished by Near East Relief. Each new outbreak of hostilities in the Near East invariably revives an old ref- ugee problem, and necessitates, at least for a brief time, the distribution of food by the Relief Committee. It is the pur- pose of the Conmiittee to place these people on a self-supporting basis, and thus remove the necessity for the distri- bution of food except through orphanages and hospitals. From the Adana report, April: Soup served to 55,800 persons. Milk served to 4,515 children and babies. From the Harbord report: We estimate a total of perhaps half a million refugee Armenians as available to begin life anew eventually in a region about the size of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, to which would be added those not refugees, who might return from other lands. From Containtinople : Fourteen thousand largo loaves of bread are being baked in the Near East Relief bakeries daily. The millionth loaf was baked May first. 43 Clothing Providing clothing for the tens of thousands of children in the orphanages is no small task confronting Near East Relief. Native cloth is often unobtain- able and it becomes necessary to spin, dye and weave cloth from raw materials. Large shipments of cloth have been sent from America, and this with the native cloth is fashioned into clothing in the tailoring and sewing shops established by the industrial department. But the clothing thus made is not suffi- cient to clothe all the wards of the Com- mittee. There is an almost constant ap- peal from the returned refugees as well as from those still in exile for old clothing. It is not alone for warmth that clothing is imperative. Outbreaks of typhus and other diseases communicated by vermin are lessened when there is a distribution of clothing and old clothing is burned. Two hundred fifty thousand garments of used and worn clothing were shipped from the United States last year. The need for more clothing this year is im- perative lest hundreds more die of cold and disease. "Wee David was found crying in the church yard, filthy and covered with lice and sores. He was perhaps two years old and went about clad in a rather large piece of rag, sleeping in a corner, unloved and uncared for. After his first bath there was a transformation of a very dirty boy into a sweet wholesome lad. We cured the sores and the itch, we dressed him in clean garments and kept him clean, and he began to be a real child and not a little wolf belonging to no one." — Urja. 44 Reuniting Families One feature of Near East Relief work that touches America closely is the re- uniting of families and the transmitting of funds from friends and relatives of the distressed from the United States to the Near East. Constant advertisements for relatives in America are placed in our foreign press and during the past year $100,000 per month has been transmit- ted through Near East Relief to relatives and friends, and such persons have been returned to the care of relatives. The card catalogues of refugees with over 40,000 names is a register of human woe so press- ing that it takes a stout heart to meet it. "We are receiving more and more let- ters from America, both through the Cen- tral Office and directly from Armenians and Greeks, who wish to know the where- abouts of their relatives and to help them if they are in need. In many cases some, at least, of the relatives can be found, and in nearly every case some fellow-villager can give definite information as to the fate of those who lost their lives in the massacre. Surely the best thing that the Relief Committee can do is to con- nect them with friends and relatives in America who will help them." — Caesarea, April, 1920. The bureau for the location of orphans i» charged with the preparation and maintenance of a list of names of all children of the Near East Relief orphanages; the preparation and filing of records of all orphans, including their birth place, names of father and mother, age, sex, religion; the preparation of duplicate list* and cards, to be forwarded from time to time to the New York office; the preparation of all cor- respondence on these matters, and all corre- spondence between the Near East headquarter* and the New York office. 45 Recent Cable "Just returned from thorough inspec- tion of conditions throughout Armenia. The Prime Minister, President, the Gov- ernors, Mayors of cities and all authorities agree that Armenia was saved last year by flour and other food stuffs sent from America. Hundreds of thousands live today who would be dead had it not been for American relief. They are not only devoutly grateful, but they are thrifty, hard working and industrious and consid- ering their handicaps have made remark- able progress towards self support. Hun- dreds of thousands of the population are still refugees from Turkish Armenia, without homes or property rights. With- out modern agricultural implements, with an insufficient number of oxen and an inadequate supply of seed wheat, they have nevertheless succeeded in raising food supplies that will carry them until midwinter. After that time supplementary supplies must be provided until the re- cently signed peace treaty with Turkey can be made effective and security given by which these exiled Armenians can re- turn to the site of their ruined homes and regain full self support. "These orphaned boys and girls con- stitute the hope of the future for the Near East. American philanthropy is render- ing through the Near East Relief an in- estimable service in promoting good will and international friendship. A few mil- lion dollars today in the form of food, education and industrial training for these orphans may save billions of dollars to- morrow in warfare and international strife. Charles V. Vickrey."— Cafe/e, September 7. 1920. 46 Endorsements (Partial List) Governors of States Gov. Thomas E. Campbell, Arizona. Gov. Tames M. Cox, Ohio. Gov. Hugh M. Dorsey, Georgia. Gov. Lynn J. Frazier, North Dakota. Gov. Frederick D. Gardner, Missouri. Gov. Emerson G. Harrington, Maryland. Gov. Marcus H. Holcomb, Connecticut. Gov. Frank O. Lowden, Illinois. Gov. Peter Noebeck, South Dakota. Gov. J. B. A. Robertson, Oklahoma. Gov. Oliver H. Shoug, Colorado. Gov. Alfred E. Smith, New York. Legislative General Assembly of Alabama, Sept., 1920. General Assembly of Tennessee, Sept., 1920. Industrial-Labor Samuel Gompers, Pres. A. F. L., Feb., 1920. Nebraska State Labor Federation, July, 1920. Colorado State Labor Federation, Aug., 1920. New York State Labor Federation, Aug„ 1920. United Mine Workers of America, District 22. Aug., 1920. Fraternal National Lodge, Knights of Pythias, Minneapolis, Minn Aug., 1920. National Fraternal Congress of America, Aug., 192&. Royal Arcanum, Jan., 1920. National Convention of Gideons, St. Louis, M«., July, 1920. Women's Organizations General Federation of Women's Clubs. National Council of Women. National League of Women Voters. National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. National Military Sisterhood. Daughters of the American Revolution. Daughters of 1812. Council of Jewish Women. Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Ladies of the Maccabees. National Rebekah Assembly. Mother and Parent Teachers' Association. National League of Women Workers. Women's Division of Associated Advertising Clubs. Woman's Relief Corps. Ladies of Grand Army of the Republic. Daughters of Veterans. Military Sisterhood of America. Lend a Hand Society. National Delta Sigma Epsilon. Religious Hebrew: New England Convention of Y.M.H.A. and Y.W.H.A. Protestant: Federal Council of Churches. International Order of King's Daughters and Sons. Woman's Board of Missions, Congregational Church. Board of Foreign Missions, Presbyterian Church. General Assembly, Presbyterian Church. General Synod, Reformed Church. 47 General Convention, Northern Baptist Church. General Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church. Annual Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church South. American Baptist Publication Society. Seventh Day Baptist (General Conference, Sabbath Scliool Board. Church of Brethren. ConRregatoinal Kducation Society. Bible School Department, American Christian Mis- sionary Society. General Board of Religious Education, Protestant Episcopal. Methodist Episcopal Board of Sunday Schools. General Sunday School Board, Melhodist Episcopal South. The Metliodist Protestant Church. Moravian Church in America, Provincial Elders' Conference. Board of J'ublication and Sabbath School Work, Presbyterian. Committee of Publication, Presbyterian. Missionary and Efficiency Committee, United I'resbyterian. Board of Publication and Bible School Work, Keformed Church in America. Committee for Sunday Schools of the Keformed Church in the U. S. American Unitarian Association. Sunday School Board United Brethren in Christ. Roman Catholic: James, Cardinal Gibltons. Archbishop Edward J. llauna, San Francisco, Cal. Bishop Jolin J. Cantwell, Los Angeles, Cal. Archbishop John J. Glennon, St. Louis, Mo. Bishop J. H. Conroy, Ogdensburg, N. Y. Bishop I'atrick A. McGovern, Cheyenne, Wyo. Miacellaneo us American Officers of the Great War, Sept., 1920, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Sept., PJ20. Missouri I'ress Association, Sept., 1920.