New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-06-06
For News from German,
A Proposal to Establish PERSON.,
Communication
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: For humsnity's sake | request Won,
sistance in the following matter, which !, :,
vital interest to many of your readers.
Many families in the United State. l..
had no news from close relatives living !, ,,'
territory Of the Central Powers or vice v,.
since Great Britain interfered with the MAJ
Can you imagine the mental agony Of psr...'
who have had no news whatsoever from n..'
children since the war started or wb,.
daily worry it is for a wife who hs, -.
heard from her husband since 1915, 81
unfortunate parties live in large nunh,.
among us. Some of them are United s,,,..
citizens. but in this case il is entjrelv :
material of what nationality the parties a..
They can easily be delivered OF their /.
tense anxiety, especially as the United Stat,
is not a neutral power any more, and G,.,,
Britain would now accept American eer,,.
ship of family messages to and from par,;,.
living in the territory OF the Central Power,
| therefore suggest that a special as.
should immediately be established in Va,
ington for the assistance OF the free a..
prompt exchange of personal message, v,,.
parties residing in the territory OF the C.,.
trail Powers. This department should NH
lish in the newspapers its purpose and eo,,
several times all messages received and CO...
sored, and forward the copies separste,v !.
embassy bags to our representative, n
Switzerland, Sweden and Holland for trar,.
mission through a neutral embassy 10 r..
embassies of Germany in these countri.,
As the censored messages will take seye,l
weeks for transmittance, spy work will ).
impossible in connection with these m.,.
sages.
A Matter OF Humanity
Such an arrangement will cost none,
The United States has always been generou,
where il is matter of humanity. and wher
untold agony can be stopped no effort
expense should be spared.
When the war broke out, ], United Stats
citizen, offered my services TO the America,
Embassy at Berlin. While working at ,ts
American Embassy We received thousands q
personal messages through our embassy At
London from parties residing in Gres,
Britain for transmission to relatives in Ger.
many. The help which we gave to relatives
living in enemy countries TO communicate
with each other was the finest work Of
charity one can conceive. | shall never for.
get the expression of relief and the tears o!
gratitude of lady when informed her that
her daughter in London was well and had
moved to a respectable and well meaning
family. You can imagine the pleasure Of
families in Great Britain when they heard
through our intermediary that their relative,
in Germany were well taken care Of
have heard that the Red Cross at Geneva
Switzerland, sometimes transmits messages
II the Red Cross at Geneva should under.
take to do this work on large scale think
the United States could assist by accepting
the messages in Washington, censorng and
duplicating them there and forwarding them
equtably in the embassy pouches 20 Geneva,
so that we may be sure they reach their
destination.
have written TO Robert Lansing, See.
rotary OF State, regarding a personal mes
sage which | wish TO have forwarded 10 Ger
many, but so far / have received no reply
BY the Swiss Legation in Washington | wa
informed that same could not accept mes
sages for transmission to Germany
A satisfactory working arrangement fol
the exchange of messages between relatives
no matter 20 what nationality the same msy
belong. can be made and should be made
and if it has been tried and the attemp,
has not been success then the public
should be informed of the results through
the daily newspapers. am sure that it will
do no harm to our country if the public has
full knowledge Of all that has been done in
this matter.
| hope the above will receive your kind
consideration and that your effort 10 rele,
the anxiety of thousands OF inhabitants Of
all countries will meet with full and mme
date success.
OTTO P. SCHwARZSCHTLD.
New York, June 4, 1917.