The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1909-06-10
National Conference
Hears of Expenditures
of the Great World
Relief Organization
BICkSELL TELLS Or WORK In
ITALIAN EARTHkUAkE REGION
HONESTLY But POORLY DIR
ECTED-CONFUsION AT FAULT

BUFFALO, n. Y, June 9.-In his
presidential address to the Nationai
Conference of Charities and Correc-
ton, which opened its thirty-sixth
annual meeting here this evening
Ernest P. Bicknell, of Washington.
ID. c., the director of the American
National Red Cross announced the
new policy of that great organiza- 4.
ton in relation to the relief problems
growing out of great disasters In
the three years ending April 1st 1909
the American Red Cross expended
for calamity relief the sum of $4,-
207, ,043.70, besides distributing sup
plies of very great value All this
money and these supplies were de-
rived from private sources, and in
this aspect the Red Cross is a pri-
vate organization. The amount of
relief given by this single agency
in the past three years is greater
than was given in general relief dur
ing the same period by all the gen
eral relief societies of the ten great
est cities of the United States. This
relief was occasioned by fifteen
calamities, namely: The California
earthquake and fire, the Valparaiso
earthquake. the Gulf storm, the
Chinese famine, the Kingdom earth
quake. the Kingston earthquake, the
Russian famine. the Calabrian earth
quake of 1907, the Mississippi cy-
clone. the South Carolina and Georgia
floods, the Texas food, the Chelsea.
Mass, fire. the Canadian forest fires,
the Monogah mine explosion, the
Michigan forest fires. and the Italian
earthquake. an average of five great
catastrophes a year. In the past
twenty-five years. without complete
data. 1t IS safe to say the amount of
American contributions raised and
expended in this sort of relief work
amounted to not less than S35,000.-
900.
After telling many incidents con-
nected with the relief work of a num-
Der of the greatest of these disasters.
in which work he has personally been
engaged Mr.. Bieknell said:
"A strong central. directive agency
is one of the first great needs in re
lief administration. 1t is only by the
instrumentality of such an agency
I that it is possible TO secure atten-
ton to all the demands of the situa-
ton. In no other way is it possible
to avoid confusion and friction, and
in no other way is it possible to OBJ
tain full return in relief value for
the expenditure of money and effort.
Some one person or group must be
recognized as the administrative au-
thority. Within week after the San
Francisco disaster. all the relief
agencies of Importance had joined in
the creation of a central committee.
which was supreme. The relief work
was laid out according to plan
which left no section of the city un-
covered. no class of citizens unat-
tended no elemental form OF relief un-
provided. Imagine a condition in
which many different agencies were
working actively. each without re-
gard to what the other was doing.
It would have been impossible TO
trace relief efforts to their results;
too much help would have led to
waste and decentralization in one
quarter, and too little help in an
other. would have meant suffering
aud neglect. The opportunity to go
from agency to agency in quest OF
help and to work" all agencies for
ali that could be gotten out of them
would have meant the vicious tri-
umph OF the bold and INSCRIPTIONS.
In Italy, following the recent
CONTINUED on page four)