The St. Mary banner., 1919-11-01
RED CROSS ROLL CALL
Membership Campaign Opens No.
vember I'd, Closes 18th.
President Wilson, in Message Prepared
Before illness, Makes Appeal
for Generous Response.

Washington, D. C.-In request to
the people of the United States to gen
erously respond to the Third Red
Cross Roll Call the following message
was dictated by President Wilson be-
fore his present illness:
As president Of the United States
and as president of the American Red
Cross l recommend and urge a gen
erous response to the Third Red Cross
Roll Call, which opens on November
the second with the observance Of Red
Cross Sunday and appropriately closes
on November the eleventh; the hrst
anniversary of the signing Of the ar
mistice.
Twenty million adults Joined the
Red Cross during the war, prompted
by a patriotic desire to render service
to their country and to the cause for
which the United States was engaged
in war. Our patriotism should stand
the test of peace as we'll as the test of
war, and it is an intelligently patriotic
program which the Red Cross pro-
poses, a continuance Of service to our
soldiers and sailors, who look to 1t for
many things, and a transference to the
problems Of peace at home Of the ex-
perience and methods which 1t ac-
quired during the war.
Stress on Membership.
It is on membership more than
money contributions that the stress of
the present campaign is laid, for the
Red Cross seeks to associate the
people in welfare work throughout the
land, especially in those communities
where neither official nor unofficial
provision has been made for adequate
public health and social service.
1t is in the spirit of democracy that
the people should undertake their own
welfare activities, and the National
Red Cross wisely intends to exert upon
community action stimulating and
cO-ordinating influence and to place
the energies of the organization be-
hind all sound public health and wei
| fare agencies.
The American Red Cross does not
purpose indefinite prolongation Of Its
relief work abroad, policy which
would lay an unjust burden upon our
| own people and tend to undermine the
self-reliance Of the peoples relieved,
| but there is necessary work Of COM
| pletion to be performed before the
| American Red Cross can honorably
| withdraw from Europe. The congress
| Of the United States has imposed upon
| the Red Cross continuing RESPONSE
| bility abroad by authorizing the Secre-
| tary of war to transfer to the Ameri-
| can Red Cross such surplus army med
ical supplies and supplementary an
dietary foodstuffs now In Europe as
shall not be required by the army, to
| be used by the Red Cross to relieve
the distress which continues in certain
countries Of Europe as a result of the
| war.
Program Deserves Support.
To finance these operations, to con-
| clude work which was begun during
the war, and to carry out some COM
paratively inexpensive constructive
plans for assisting peoples in eastern
| Europe to develop their own welfare
organizations, the American Red Cross
| requires, in addition to membership
fees, sum of money small in compar.
ison with the gifts poured into its
treasury by our generous people dur.
ing the war.
Both the greater enduring domestic
program and the lesser temporary for
eign program Of the Red Cross de-
serve enthusiastic support, and l ven
ture to hope that its peace-time men,
bership will exceed rather than fall
below its impressive war membership.