Opinion and Comment
Unless attention is specifically called to the fact, our readers may not notice that with this issue they receive aMagazineinstead of aBulletin. That time-tried query of the cynic, “What’s in a name?” may be flung at us, and our answer will be that the contents and character of this publication are more in keeping with the accepted idea of a magazine than of a bulletin. At any rate, we like the new name better than the old, and we hope our readers will approve our taste. But whatever may be the verdict upon the slight change of name, we feel assured that we shall hear only approval of the heavier and better paper on which the magazine is printed. We hope also that the new department of “Opinion and Comment” may prove acceptable. Furthest from our thought is any idea that theMagazineis perfect, and any concrete suggestions of improvement which readers may offer will be cordially received and given careful consideration.
During the Mississippi River flood in the spring of 1912, Mayor Gaynor, of New York, appointed a committee to collect money for relief purposes. Mr. Robert W. de Forest, head of the New York County Chapter of the Red Cross, was made chairman, and Mr. Robert Adamson, the Mayor’s secretary, became secretary of the committee. Among the prominent members were officers of the New York Southern Society. This committee undertook its duties with such vigor and effectiveness that it became much the largest contributor to the flood relief fund placed in the hands of the Red Cross for expenditure. The committee held its final meeting in Mayor Gaynor’s office on January 21, 1913, when the secretary presented an interesting account of the work accomplished.
Money was received from all parts of the country, although the greater part was contributed by residents of New York City. The New York Southern Society received $14,281.05. From this sum $10,000 was paid to Mr. Jacob H. Schiff, treasurer for the Mayor’s committee. The Southern Society also paid all expenses of the campaign for both itself and the Mayor’s committee, amounting to $1,612.49, and forwarded $600 directly to flood sufferers. This left a balance in the hands of the Southern Society of $2,068.56, which later was turned over to the Red Cross. Including the $10,000 paid in by the Southern Society, the Mayor’s committee received a total of $67,322.39, all of which was transmitted to the Red Cross.
Summarizing the work of both the Southern Society and the Mayor’s committee it appears that the total collections amounted to $71,601.44, of which $600 went direct to the flood district, $1,612.49 was paid for expenses and $69,390.95 was turned over to the Red Cross.
By invitation of the committee thenational director of the Red Cross attended the final meeting and gave an account of the relief operations as carried on in behalf of the quarter of a million persons whose homes were affected in the 15,000 square miles of country inundated.
Good news comes from the Cincinnati Chapter of the Red Cross, where Mr. Julius Fleischman is chairman and Miss Annie Laws secretary. A permanent office has been taken at 220 West Seventh street, and Miss Hilda M. Reinecke, a well known nurse, has been placed in charge. Miss Reinecke will also serve as instructor in home nursing, for which classes are now being organized. During the flood in Cincinnati in January the Chapter participated actively in relief operations in co-operation with the committee appointed by the mayor, who, by the way, is an active member of the executive committee of the Chapter. Plans are in contemplation for other important activities, and no great prophetic power is required to predict a useful career for the Chapter.
It is hoped to devote an increasing amount of space in theRed Cross Magazineto accounts of the work and plans of Chapters. For this reason chairmen and secretaries are invited to send in reports and notes of anything of interest in which the Chapters are engaged or which they are contemplating. In this way the experience of one Chapter will be made available for the help and guidance of others. While establishing policies and strengthening other parts of the national organization the creation and upbuilding of Chapters have been necessarily retarded. It is believed the time has come for a vigorous effort to bring the Chapters into their proper place of importance in the Red Cross scheme of things. Officers of Chapters are invited to study the little handbook recently published with a view to finding suggestions for local activities of an interesting and useful character. It is to be remembered that the handbook is not intended to specify all the activities permissible to a Chapter, but is meant to define in a broad way the legitimate field for Red Cross activities, with a few suggestions of specific lines of work which are consistent with the purposes of the society. The national director will be glad to correspond with Chapters which contemplate embarking in new work. Reports or items of Chapter news intended for theMagazineshould be sent to the national director.
That persons who use the name or emblem of the Red Cross illegally, do so, as a rule, in ignorance of the federal law prohibiting such use, and are quick to discontinue the violation when their attention is called to the statute, is a fact frequently demonstrated. A recent instance in point was that of the William Windhorst Company, of Cincinnati. This company had issued some attractive advertising matter which contained the Red Cross emblem. As soon as it was informed that this was in violation of law, the company took prompt measures to recall and destroy the objectionable printed matter and to inform its customers that it holds the American Red Cross in the highest respect and would, under no circumstances, knowingly infringe upon its rights.
Another striking illustration of the same spirit was that in which Mr. Arthur Letts, proprietor of a large department store in Los Angeles, not only discarded all use of the Red Cross in his own advertising, but issued an order to his buyers that no goods bearing the name or emblem of the Red Cross should be purchased or sold in his store.
Members of the American Red Cross everywhere who observe locally the use of the name or emblem on signs or tags or vehicles or for otheradvertising purposes are urged to call the attention of the users to the federal law which prohibits such use. The secretary of the Red Cross in Washington will always be pleased to learn of such efforts and their results. If a user declines to discontinue the practice, the member of the Red Cross who has called his attention to the law is invited to send the user’s name and address to the secretary in Washington, together with a description of the character of the violation observed. A copy of the law will be sent to any one on request.
Every member of the Red Cross who reads the several short reports from Turkey in this number of theRed Cross Magazinemust be stirred by a deep sense of pride in the great work of humanity which is being carried on by the Constantinople Chapter of the American Red Cross. In the dreadful cholera camp of San-Stefano, in the hospitals filled with sick and wounded soldiers in Constantinople, among the starving refugees, children, women and old men, in Salonica and Asia Minor, the story is the same. Brave men and women giving of their time and strength and skill, disregarding danger and hardship and forgetful of their own personal affairs, are making a record of effective accomplishment under extreme difficulties in that foreign country which should touch the deepest springs of American patriotism. Slight, indeed, as compared to this splendid service is our duty and privilege of giving something of our abundance wherewith to sustain these efforts.
When the Red Cross first knew him he was Major Carroll A. Devol, U. S. A. He was then performing a herculean task in the relief of San Francisco, and was doing the job in such a manner as to arouse general admiration for his executive ability, his promptness and his calmness under extremely trying conditions. Since those days he has proved his mettle in relief work for the Red Cross following the great storm at Hattiesburg and Purvis, Mississippi, and after a great fire of two years ago at Colon, Panama. On the Canal Zone, where he has for some years been United States Quartermaster for the Canal Commission, he was instrumental in establishing a very active and efficient Chapter of the Red Cross.
All this leads up to the announcement that Major Devol, after promotion to the rank of colonel, has now been appointed a brigadier general, and the Red Cross, could it express itself through itsMagazine, would extend to him its hand in hearty congratulation and good wishes. He has been a strong and reliable friend of the Red Cross at all times, and through his unselfish devotion has done much to advance its cause and establish its good name. While his well deserved promotion has come as a result of eminent services in the army, we shall no doubt be pardoned for utilizing this opportunity of recalling his great services to the Red Cross.
In theRed Cross Magazinefor January, 1913, announcement was made of the appointment, by the American Medical Association, of a committee whose duty it was to confer with the American Red Cross with a view to establishing a comprehensive system of co-operation between the Red Cross and the medical profession of the United States. The committee has proved to be prompt and active. Following is a copy of a circular letter which has been sent to all the county medical societies in the country. It will be found to contain a clear outline of the co-operative plan proposed by the committee and approved by the executive committee of the Red Cross:
February 14, 1913.To the Secretary,County Medical Society,Dear Sir:The undersigned have been constituted a committee by the President of the American Medical Association to cooperate with the American Red Cross, in the matter of medical work.The Committee feels that a great deal of substantial good will come to all communities by providing a body of representative physicians of approved qualifications to direct or participate in medical work carried on by the Red Cross in different localities in times of emergencies and to advise with the representatives of that society on questions of medical policy and procedure. Besides its activity in emergency relief work, the Red Cross is engaged in an educational campaign for the mitigation of human suffering and the saving of lives. So far it has extended this movement only to the teaching of prevention of accidents and first aid to the injured, but it is hoped in future that it shall include popular instruction in the prevention of disease. These medical committees are not in any way bound to this educational work of the Red Cross, but members of the committees who may be interested are invited to correspond with the First Aid Department of the Red Cross.In the opinion of this committee, the plan may be properly considered under the following headings:1.Object.Primarily this service is designed to meet local emergencies when conditions of disaster are such as to call for the intervention of the Red Cross. When exigencies come about in any community the Red Cross would be glad to feel that it might call upon carefully selected physicians in that community to lend their aid in the medical work incident to the situation.2.Organization.It is desired to have in every county a central committee of five physicians, two of whom shall be the President and Secretary of the County Medical Society,ex officio. The President of the County Medical Society shall select the other three members, preferably from the list of councilors or of the executive committee. This committee should be designated the “Committee on Red Cross Medical Work.” The names and residences of the members, immediately after organization, should be reported to the chairman of the American Medical Association. In case of disaster, requiring relief action by the Red Cross, these county committees will be called upon to nominate qualified medical men in their respective counties for Red Cross service. The committees will also serve in an advisory medical capacity to the Red Cross in time of disaster and in other lines of Red Cross activity as indicated in a preceding paragraph.3.Qualifications.The certification of physicians by County Committees will be accepted as ample evidence of the physical, moral and professional qualifications of the gentlemen recommended for appointment. It may be pertinent to state that service in time of disaster may entail severe physical effort and physical fitness of appointees to perform hard work is, therefore, important.4.Compensation.In some instances the Red Cross may require the services of physicians at a distance from their places of residence and for varying periods. Under these conditions the Red Cross will be prepared to pay traveling expenses and a moderate honorarium to be agreed upon between the physicians and the National Director of the Red Cross.It will be obvious to you that the arrangement here proposed is primarily intended to provide for emergencies which may suddenly arise in any community or, on the other hand, may happily never occur. Thus it may be that the committee which we are inviting you to create may never be called into action, while, on the other hand, it may have occasion to perform a very great public service. Your cooperation in the completionof this plan at as early a date as convenient will be appreciated.Please address all communications bearing upon the contents of this letter to the Chairman, Doctor George M. Kober, care The American Red Cross, 715 Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C.Very respectfully,George M. Kober, M.D.,Chairman.F. A. Winter,Lt. Colonel, MedicalCorps, U. S. Army.E. M. Blackwell,Surgeon, U. S. Navy.At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the American National Red Cross held in Washington, D. C., February 14, 1913, the foregoing plan of cooperation between the medical profession and the Red Cross was unanimously approved.George W. Davis,Major General, U. S. A., retired,Chairman Central Committee.Charles L. Magee,Secretary.
February 14, 1913.
To the Secretary,County Medical Society,
Dear Sir:
The undersigned have been constituted a committee by the President of the American Medical Association to cooperate with the American Red Cross, in the matter of medical work.
The Committee feels that a great deal of substantial good will come to all communities by providing a body of representative physicians of approved qualifications to direct or participate in medical work carried on by the Red Cross in different localities in times of emergencies and to advise with the representatives of that society on questions of medical policy and procedure. Besides its activity in emergency relief work, the Red Cross is engaged in an educational campaign for the mitigation of human suffering and the saving of lives. So far it has extended this movement only to the teaching of prevention of accidents and first aid to the injured, but it is hoped in future that it shall include popular instruction in the prevention of disease. These medical committees are not in any way bound to this educational work of the Red Cross, but members of the committees who may be interested are invited to correspond with the First Aid Department of the Red Cross.
In the opinion of this committee, the plan may be properly considered under the following headings:
1.Object.Primarily this service is designed to meet local emergencies when conditions of disaster are such as to call for the intervention of the Red Cross. When exigencies come about in any community the Red Cross would be glad to feel that it might call upon carefully selected physicians in that community to lend their aid in the medical work incident to the situation.
2.Organization.It is desired to have in every county a central committee of five physicians, two of whom shall be the President and Secretary of the County Medical Society,ex officio. The President of the County Medical Society shall select the other three members, preferably from the list of councilors or of the executive committee. This committee should be designated the “Committee on Red Cross Medical Work.” The names and residences of the members, immediately after organization, should be reported to the chairman of the American Medical Association. In case of disaster, requiring relief action by the Red Cross, these county committees will be called upon to nominate qualified medical men in their respective counties for Red Cross service. The committees will also serve in an advisory medical capacity to the Red Cross in time of disaster and in other lines of Red Cross activity as indicated in a preceding paragraph.
3.Qualifications.The certification of physicians by County Committees will be accepted as ample evidence of the physical, moral and professional qualifications of the gentlemen recommended for appointment. It may be pertinent to state that service in time of disaster may entail severe physical effort and physical fitness of appointees to perform hard work is, therefore, important.
4.Compensation.In some instances the Red Cross may require the services of physicians at a distance from their places of residence and for varying periods. Under these conditions the Red Cross will be prepared to pay traveling expenses and a moderate honorarium to be agreed upon between the physicians and the National Director of the Red Cross.
It will be obvious to you that the arrangement here proposed is primarily intended to provide for emergencies which may suddenly arise in any community or, on the other hand, may happily never occur. Thus it may be that the committee which we are inviting you to create may never be called into action, while, on the other hand, it may have occasion to perform a very great public service. Your cooperation in the completionof this plan at as early a date as convenient will be appreciated.
Please address all communications bearing upon the contents of this letter to the Chairman, Doctor George M. Kober, care The American Red Cross, 715 Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C.
Very respectfully,
George M. Kober, M.D.,Chairman.
F. A. Winter,Lt. Colonel, MedicalCorps, U. S. Army.
E. M. Blackwell,Surgeon, U. S. Navy.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the American National Red Cross held in Washington, D. C., February 14, 1913, the foregoing plan of cooperation between the medical profession and the Red Cross was unanimously approved.
George W. Davis,Major General, U. S. A., retired,Chairman Central Committee.
Charles L. Magee,Secretary.
Many replies are coming from county medical societies indicating a cordial acceptance of the committee’s plan. It may be said, in this connection, that the medical profession has always been generous and responsive in the highest degree in all its relations with the Red Cross. The purpose of the new plan is to provide a simple system by means of which this cordial relationship may become more effective.
The New Mexico State Board of the American Red Cross was appointed on February 26, 1913, this being the forty-ninth Board organized since the inception of the State Board form of organization.
Immediately the new States of Arizona and New Mexico were admitted to the Union the first steps looking to the organization of Red Cross Boards therein were taken. The cordiality with which Hon. William C. McDonald, Governor of New Mexico, and Hon. George W. P. Hunt, Governor of Arizona, entered into the negotiations was keenly appreciated by the Red Cross officers at Washington, and it is hoped that the announcement of the completion of the Arizona Board will be made in the not distant future. The membership of the New Mexico Board is as follows:
A decision has not as yet been made as to which of the above-named members will be appointed Treasurer of the Board, but no time will be lost in putting the Board into workable shape.
The past election brought changes in the gubernatorial chairs of twenty-three of the States in which the American Red Cross has State Boards. Men elected to such important positions in the governments of the various States must find little time at the beginning for matters other than those pertaining strictly to their new offices, yet out of the twenty-three new Governors fifteen have already accepted the Presidency of the Boards in their respective States. That the Red Cross can make this announcement gives it great satisfaction, and it feels confident that the remaining eight new Governors will also accept the leadership of their State Boards as soon as the first rush of their new administration is over.
During the past year the State Boards of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi again demonstrated, during the relief work incident to the Mississippi flood, as did that of West Virginia in connection with the flood in the Northwestern part of that State, the value of the plan adopted by theRed Cross and which comprehends in each State a group of successful business and professional men to act as its financial representatives and advisers in connection with disaster relief work.
On another page will be found a brief account of the recent great dynamite explosion in Baltimore with the relief measures which followed. The incident offers an excellent illustration of the adaptability of Red Cross methods and of the fact that the organization, though national in scope and policy, is none-the-less local in its relations and an integral part of the community in which its service is needed. When a disaster is of such magnitude or character that local agencies of relief are prostrated or overwhelmed, the Red Cross is prepared to provide the necessary machinery for relief distribution; in smaller disasters the Red Cross simply joins hands with other local agencies and lends its strength and influence to concentration of resources and cooperative effort.
In time it is hoped that at least in our larger cities and towns there will exist Red Cross Chapters in affiliation with all the local agencies that can be utilized in case of disaster, so that relief work at such times will all become Red Cross work.
In theRed Cross Magazinefor January, 1913, appeared an illustration of the beautiful building which the Red Cross hoped to obtain through the combined generosity of the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion and the Congress of the United States. The proposed building was to be a memorial to the loyal women of the Civil War and was to become the permanent headquarters of the American Red Cross.
The Loyal Legion offered to donate $300,000 toward the memorial on condition that Congress would give a suitable site in the City of Washington. A bill was accordingly introduced in Congress to carry the plan into effect by appropriating $300,000 for the purchase of ground. Everybody was favorable and all conditions seemed auspicious.
Those who have had opportunities to observe legislation in the making, are familiar with the fact that the only certain thing about it is its uncertainty. A resume of the career of this particular measure affords a shining example in point. The bill was introduced in both Senate and House in the spring of 1912, and was referred to committees in the usual manner. The Senate committee gave prompt consideration to the bill, and of its own accord increased the amount of the proposed appropriation to $400,000, after which it reported it to the Senate, which passed it without opposition. The Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds of the House, after hearings, submitted a unanimously favorable report to the House on the last day before adjournment for the summer of 1912.
When Congress met in December, 1912, the status of the Red Cross building bill seemed most fortunate. It had passed the Senate without opposition carrying an appropriation of $400,000. The House Committee had unanimously accepted the Senate bill and had recommended it for passage. All that remained was for the House to pass it and the President to attach his signature. The road looked straight and easy and not very long, with a bright blue sky overhead.
And then something interfered slightly with the forward movement. Many other bills with many active congressmen behind them crowded into the foreground. There seemed to be no opening for the Red Cross bill to slip through. Big bills for the support of the vast governmental departments had to be given precedence. Time flew and congressmen began to refer to the fact that it was a short session with much to be done. Also the leaders began to urge economy in appropriations.
It was found impossible to get a definite place or date set for a vote on the Red Cross bill. At one time it was proposed to try to call it up by unanimous consent, but nothing came of that. Then those in charge thought better to abandon it as a distinct measure and insert it as an item in the big Public Buildings and Grounds Bill, which contained appropriations for many buildings. Later the cry of economy became more strident and the plan for the Red Cross bill was again changed. Now it was decided not to bring it forward in the House but instead to pass the Public Buildings and Grounds Bill in the House without it and let it be inserted by the Senate when the big bill reached that body.
It is customary for the Senate to add numerous items to bills of this character after the House has passed them. Then the bills as amended by the Senate must go back to the House for the House to accept the Senate amendments. If the House declines to accept the Senate amendments a committee is appointed from each side to confer and try to agree on the items in dispute. Usually both Senate and House accept the recommendations of the conference committees.
So the House passed the Public Buildings and Grounds Bill without the Red Cross item and the Senate was asked to insert that item. It did so. Then opposition arose because the Red Cross building was a memorial to theloyalwomen of the Civil War. It was argued that the Confederate women were just as brave and devoted and self-sacrificing as the women of the North; that no memorial should perpetuate sectional feeling. The proposition was made that the wordloyalbe eliminated and that the building be a memorial toallthe women of the Civil War. This could not be done, however, because the gift of $300,000 by the Loyal Legion was conditioned upon the retention of the wordloyal. A sharp discussion followed with the result that the Red Cross item was entirely stricken out. A little later the subject was reopened and the Red Cross item was again inserted and remained there when the Senate passed the bill.
The House refused to accept the Senate amendments and a conference committee was appointed. Several important Senate amendments, among them the Red Cross item, became the subject of prolonged discussion. Congress must adjourn on March 4th. It was now March 3rd and it became imperative that an agreement should be reached. Finally the dispute had narrowed down to this:
The House conferees would consent to the passage of the Red Cross item if the Senate would abandon the item for the purchase of the Rock Creek Valley in Washington for park purposes. The Rock Creek Valley purchase was of the utmost importance to Washington. It had been urged for years and there was no question that it was of greater public value at this time than the provision of a Red Cross building. The Senate forced to this hard choice wisely held on to the Rock Creek Valley item and the Red Cross item was lost.
Perhaps this story of high hope, of keen suspense, of alternating optimism and despair is not worth the space here given to its relation. It is, however, a tale of a gallant fight in which the Red Cross won many friends and made no enemies. Shall it fare better in Congress another year? Who so faint hearted as to doubt?