Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-28

usually attended in person at annual meet.
ings the present large membership fur
nishes fine field for exploiting proxies in
| the future.
| The known misleading effect of Mr.. At
| waters letter on the minds of the members
| who did not attend the meeting. but could
and would have done SO. If they had known
| the facts, the probable effect of the At
! water letter in procuring proxies and the
| conduct of the friends of these bylaws at
| the meeting when. it is claimed, they were
passed are enough we submit, when taken
| altogether. to inva1idate them as a body
| We, therefore, insist that we were acting
| not against but for the best interests of the
| Red Cross Society when we stated to the
| BODY which gave us our charter how that
| charter had been used. Unless present
| methods are abandoned the society cannot
| retain public confidence, which is essential
| to Its success. Bylaws SO extraordinary, SO
| despot1c. and so adopted, in our opinion
should not be submitted to without pro-
| test, nor should they continue in force with
| out being brought to the knowledge of the
| great public for whom this society exists
and by whom it is supported.
| For making such a protest, and for that
| alone, twentythree of us have Been sus-
| pended by committee of which three or,
Il on occasion, two may constitute quorum.
| This Is the contamination up to which these
| new bylaws have led.
From the above plain statements of facts
| the public will judge for itself of the ex-
| tent to which the purpose of resorting to
| expulsion. for the prevention of debate as
| to stricter methods of accounting, con-
trolled in the preparation Of the new by
laws. and in the selection Of the methods by
which these bylaws were put through
Controversy Closed for the Present.
In the opinion of several of the suspended
members the signing of this statement will
close the Red Cross controversy Temporal
| rily. 1t is not the intention of the signers
of the statement to allow the matter to
rest, as they have too much at stake,
now that they have taken the subject up
and publicity has been forced upon them.
They state that they did not court such
wide publicity in the affairs of the society,
as they believed the methods that were pur-
sued and the general laXity would show
such gross mismanagement that the so
cfety would be discredited in the eyes of
those upon whom 1t must depend for sup
port. The investigation Of these methods
was begun by committee of those under
suspension some time before they were Of
hcially suspended. This committee, con-
sisting of Mr.. Simon Wolf. Miss Mabel
Boardman and Mr.. B.. H. Warner, was
charged to make a thorough investigation
of the affairs of the society after the meet
ing held last December. 1t was then that
the twenty-three suspended members found
themselves in the minority on questions
Of administration, ETC., and it was then
that they decided that the organization
was not being run in the proper manner.
While the twenty-three persons who have
been summary dealt with by the So called
executive committee are the only ones who
have so far been "disciplined by the pres
ent officers Of the society. they are not the
only ones who hold these views regarding
the organization. There are few of the
well-known men and women connected with
the Red Cross who are not favorable to the
action of the twenty-three members, and
many OF these persons have given those
suspended every assistance in their power
to prosecute the investigation. This por-
ton of the organization includes Bishop
Potter Of New York and others. 1t will
necessarily require long time to make a
careful investigation of the society. Mr..
Simon Wolf, who Is chairman of the SUBJ
committee, stated this morning that the
committee Is not fighting individuals, but
is to make an investigation of the entire
business department of the society. Owing
to the fact that most Of the members Of
the committee will be out of the city dur
ing the greater part Of the summer, and
will not be able to assist in the investiga-
ton, it is not thought probable, therefore,
that full report can be determined upon
before fall, when the members Of the COM
mittee return to the city for the winter.
According to the suspended members the
next move in the situation should be made
by Mrs. Phillips some of the members of
the so-called executive committee.