The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-07-27
|SHUN RED CROSS,
WARNS MR. EDGAR
REPLIES TO DIR. DEvINE ON FRS
co FLOUR INCIDENT.

L
| Is Guilty of Attempted Breach Of
Trust and Scores Big Charitable Or
ganization.
Warning people to shun the Red I
Cross society; reiterating that the Min |
cisco sufferers was a trust in the hands
Of the Red Cross officials and General
A. w. Greedy, and replying to q letter
from Dr. E. T. Devine, head Of the |
Red Cross work in San Francisco, w. c.
Edgar, in the current issue Of the
Northwestern a. Miller; G returns TO the
a breach Of trust.
1 DR.. Devine, in his letter to Mr.. Ed.
I gar, who was chairman Of the general
California relief committee Of Mime
apolis, stated:
''There was no agreement or under
standing; as you. state, with the giyers
of relief supplies that the articles sent
should be given to the refugees in the
precise form in which they are sent.
i The presumption is, of course, that this
shall be done, unless there is good rea-
son to TIE, contrary. In the case Of the
kinds Of food supplies, there was rea-
son for different action, altho in the
case of the -four, as in the case Of the
other supplies referred to, the change
was made solely for the benefit Of the
people for whom the food was intended
and in their interest ~ t.. &c.. -,
Requested Flour Shipment.
'tIt is true that the undersigned au-
thorized and requested the shipment of
-four from Minneapolis, and If no -four.
had been received except that from
Minneapolis, none would have been sold.
It so happened, however, that enor--
nous quantities of flour were received
from Other, places, and the total quickly
exceeded the amount which, in the opin-
ion Of the military and civilian authori,,
ties who were in charge Of the relief
work, could wisely be distributed There
were no warehouses in which the -four
could be stored. By the courtesy of the
war department it was taken into. trans
ders which required them to be emptied
within few weeks. The great major
ity of tn refugees did not have stoves
or cooking facilities, and it waseneces-
sary to- supply them with cooked food
| Under these circumstances. rather than
| causing the -four to be wasted or ex-
| posed to the hard rains which we had
| in May, it was decided to convert the
| -four into money and hold the sum
| which was realized strictly for the pur-
| chase of other food supplies as might
| be required. This violated no agree
trust.
| Decided to Sell Flour. i.
| "The decision to sell the -four was
made by the finance committee of relief
| and Red Cross funds on the recommen-
dalton Of General Greedy. The, only
part which the representative Of the
L 49, D1I l,oI f1o ffors
was the following: 49, :.
| ''To consent tacitly that such part
Of the flour as had been consigned to
the Red Cross should be included in the
sale. - <-.s~
| "ffTo suggest that in the contract Of
sale there should be stipulation that
: -four In any quantity could be repur-
chased from the buyer at the price at
which that flour was sold. ,&E>fa 80
! "To suggest that, in order to avoid
). any suspicion Of favoritisin or unneces-
t sary sacrifice. the -four should be sold in
9 the open market by the army in the
f same manner in which any other gov
! eminent stores would be sold. III.
d "To recommend to General Greedy
y. that larger quantity than had at first
: been contemplated should be reserved
. for actual free distribution, the amount
. under this recommendation which was
{, reserved being increased to 100000
. pounds (some 100000 pounds having
already previously been distributed.) =
MIR. Edgar's Reply.
- Mr.. Edgar replies in part as follows:
y "The defense is 50 obviously weak
:, that it were better for the Red Cross
= had none been offered. Bereft of Who'll
q " Irrelevant and immaterial details, it
= amounts to this: that the Red Cross
= did not agree to distribute the -four
= given to the San Francisco sufferers by
" Minneapolis; that, while DR.. Devine
himself did authorize and request the
= Minneapolis shipments, other fours, not
! shipped from other places, thus max
ing 1t necessary to sell the -four; that
= anyhow, whatever the Red Cross agent
proposed to do with the Minneapolis
-four, he was wholly justified, because
at a meeting in Washington OF th@
ed by whole lot Of distinguished peo
pie, including several secretaries, {
number of assistant secretaries, ma
jor and an assistant surgeon general
his action was approved and, finally
-. that the charge of breach of trust rests
r" which the Red Cross is not respon
sible.' .... 49, Fl. +.
~ =. Mr.. Edgar suggests that Dr.. Devine
y. tho a person of charitable purpose, ha
=; allowed his love Of scientific research
Q; to turn him from thinking straight.
I'd Mr.. Edgar says the Minneapolis fou
8, was sent to San Francisco for distribu
ton by DR.. Devine or General Greedy
g not for disposal as they saw fit. The1
20 20 Mr.. Edgar says: FIX
g. "Should banker resort to such logi
ID as DR.. Devine g., in defending misap
n, plication Of funds entrusted to him, h
would land behind the bars; bushes
man would be discredited and his stand
ing forever impaired while the privat
II person who excused himself in this man
ner would never again have an oppo1
" tunity to handle the property Of others
-, So loose and careless have become tn
in methods Of some Of those who under
- take to administer public charities tina
II iaxity in observing assumed responsible
- ity to givers and receivers seems t
- have become cardinal principle there
u in and, as DR.. Devine' 3 communicate,
=. shows, expediency may properly be Sc
e. forth as an excuse for non-fulflment Q
DO simple duty.