Morris tribune., 1917-07-06
Brief History of How the Red Cross
Came to be Organized and the
Work It Does
INTERNATIONAL In SCOPE
Supported by All Civilized Powers It
Does Work Which Medical Corps
Cannot Do

There are some people who do not !
seem to know what the Red Cross is
nor what is it's purpose. For the in
formation of such this paper pub
fishes the following brief historic
sketch of the origin of the society
and it's scope and work:
The Red Cross, now recognized by
all the civilized nations of the world,
is an organization that carries COM
fort and mercy to every battlefield
and every scene of suffering.
Nations that meet with swords in
their hands ground arms before its
stations. The flag with the red cross
on the white field gives it's protection
and swift aid to the wounded of both
sides. 1t does not inquire into the
reason of the quarrel that stretched
the wounded soldier on the field. 1t
knows no foe, no nation, no race in
it's work of mercy. 1t is the emblem
of all people and it ministers to all
alike.
The international character of the
work of the Red Cross dates from the
Geneva convention of 1864. Previ-
GUS to that the ministrations to the
wounded fell separately upon each
nation. Generally such aid as the
wounded received was given by the
medical services of the armies en-
gagged 1t was never equal to the
task.
| In the American civil war the I'm
| tied States Sanitary Commission un-
dertook the work of relief, and, aid
ed by numerous independent organ
izations which raised money and fur
nished supplies it accomplished much.
It was the work of this commission
that largely gave direction to the eff
forts of the Geneva convention and
furnished it with the emblem now
known as the Red Cross. But the
commission was a makeshift and un-
satisfactory 1t was temporary and
something permanent was needed.
The two great European wars i'm
mediateIy preceding the American
struggle-the war in the Crimea and.
the Franco-Austrian conflict first
opened the eyes of the world to the
of the army surgeons in the field.
Florence Nightingale had gone into
the hospitals in Crimea and what she
saw and communicated to the world
there, as we'll as her own heroic
work for the suffering shocked Eng
land and the world into a sense of
rnen0nsihilitv for o''~'>
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This was the first awakening and
humanity thus stirred was kept alive
by the work of Henri Dunant in the
Austrian war that followed.
Dunant was a Swiss traveller in
Italy when, in 1859, the French,
Austrians and Sardinians met in the
terrible battle of Solferino. He came
upon the field where $4,000 dead and
wounded soldiers lay uncared for,
J and the scenes he beheId there led
him to dedicate his life to the work
of bringing about an international
agreement whereby the horrors of
war might be somehow lessened. He
began his work upon that field He
organized the women of the neigh
borhood for service. "a wounded
enemy is an enemy no longer" he
told them.
After that war Dunnant began a
systematic campaign among the gov
ernments of Europe to win them over
to his idea of an international COM
pact whereby the hospital and am
bulance services on the battlefelds
should be neutralized. The Geneva
treaty was the result and from that
seed sprang the world wide organ
ization now know as the Red Cross.
Here we have history of the or
igin of the Red Cross, but each nation
has its own Red Cross Society, usu-.
ally with a degree of governmental
| supervision. In the United States
the President of the Republic is also
the President of the Red Cross. It
is the only organization authorized
by the United States government to
care for the human wastage of the
battlefield, outside of the medical
corps of the military services. Each
nations society is independent, but
there is an international Red Cross
committee with headquarters in Gen
eva which acts as a clearing house
between the societies.
The American organization is
chartered by Congress and it's execu-
tive officers include, members of the
Cabinet and officers of the army and
navy. The American Red Cross, more
(COncIuded on na0n ~