Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1909-06-10
CHARITY WORKERS
MEET At BUFFALO
Progress of National Organization
and Plans for the Future
Are Discussed at
Meeting Held
Today.

Buffalo, n. Y, June 1O.-In his
presidential address to the National
Conference OF Charities and Correc-
ton, which opened its S6th annual
meeting here last evening, Ernest p.
Bicknell, of Washington, ID. c., the
director of the American National
Red Cross, announced the new policy
of that great organization in relation
to the relief problems growing out of
great disasters
In the three years ending April /
1909, the American Red Cross ex-
pended for calamity relief the sum of
$42OI043.70, besides distributing
supplies of very great value. All this
money and these supplies were de-
rived from private sources, and in
this aspect the Red Cross is pri-
vate organization. The amount OF re-
lief given by this single agency in the
past three years is greater than was
given in general relier during the
same period by all the general relief
societies of the ten greatest cities of
the United States.
This relief was occasioned Dy fif-
teen calamities. namely; The cali
fornia earthquake and fire. the VAL
the Chinese famine. the Kingston
earthauske. the Russian famine the
Cslabrian earthquake OF 1907, the
Mississippi cyclone, the south Caro-
lima and Georgia floods the Texas
floods, the Chelsea, Mass. fire the
Canadian forest fires the Mpnogah
mine explosion. the Michigan forest
fires and the Italian earthquake. an
. =. - ~
year.
In the past twenty-five years, with
out complete data, IL is safe to say
that the amount of American con-
tributions raised and expendedtin this
sort of relief work amounted TO not
less than $35,0OO.OOO.
After telling many incidents con-
nected with the relief work of a num-
ber of the greatest of these disasters,
in which the work has personally
been engaged, Mr. Bicknell said:
san Francisco's Case.
"a strong, central directive agency
is one of the first great needs in relief
administration. 1t Is only by the in
strumentaliy Of such an agency that
| it is possible to assure attention to all
the demands of the situation In no
other way is ii possible to avoid CON
| fusion ana friction. and in no other
way is 1t possible to obtain full re-
turn in relief value for the expendi-
ture Of money and effort Some one
person or group must be recognized
as the administrative authority.
Within a week after the san Fran
cisco disaster, all the relief agencies
Of Importance had joined in tie crea-
tiOn of central committee, which
was supreme. The relief work was
laid out according to plan which
left no section Of the city uncovered,
no class of citizens unattended, no
elemental form of relief unprovided.
Imagine a condition I'm which many
different agencies were working ac-
lively, each without regard to what
the others were doing. 1t would
have been impossible TO trace relief
efforts To their results. too much help
would have led to waste and demor-
alization in one quarter, and too little
help in another, would have meant
suffering and a sense OF injustice and
neglect The opportunity TO go from
agency To agency in quest of help
and 10 work all agencies for all that
could be gotten out Of them would
have meant the vicious triumph of
the bold and INSCRIPTIONS.
Confusion ia Italy.
I'm Italy following the recent
earthquake, ther" was an absence of
this all important central administra-
ton. The Italian Red Cross in gem
.eral directed its energies toward the
care Of the sick and wounded. tAe
central national committee creatcu
expressly for the occasion, gave at
tent;0a mainly 10 general relief but
there was ~ Joint effort and each
organization attenusd to The needs
which pressed heaviest upon It IT the
moment The military and navy au-
thoritics We're active the army cspc-
cially, but with little regard to the
central national committee or tho
Red Cross. The Roman Catholic
church, through its parish priests
and other representative was every
where busy, but did not cooperate
with any other agency The various
provinces OF Italy Venice, Lombardy.
Genoa, Rome, Tuscany. etc. raised
large relief funds ana vast quantities
.of supplies and sent their own COM