Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1919-02-28
Friday Morning february %. 1913
Chairfnan j. A. Garrett Makes An
Eloquent Appeal To The Charity
OF This County.


The undersigned Chairman Of the Mont
somery County Committee for the Relief
in the Near East armenian and Syrian
Relief through the columns Of your paper
desires to make an appeal to the efforts Of
the County Committee in its attempt to
secure pledges Of contributions to this
cause.
Up to this writing there has been an
utter lack Of cooperation in most OF the
districts of the county. and in some dis
tricts no effort at all has been put forth.
despite every solicitation upon the part Of
the members of the County Committee and
its Chairman. 1t appears now certain that
this county will utterly fail to even half
way meet its quota Of $500. the smallest
amount Of money ever asked for in a cam
paien that was ever made in the county
Of a similar nature.
know Of no reason why the conditions
are thus. and yet everything has been
done to call the attention Of the people to
the dire necessity that prompts this cam
paien. The reports from the State Direc-
tor from every county in the State. except
Montgomery county, are flatterine. and 1t
appears certain that the quota in each
and every other county and Baltimore city
will be oversubcribed. and our county will
not even by half meet its quota. There
fore as a matter Of county pride, and to
uphold its former reputation and traditions,
| am forced to make this public appeal so
that we may not be clsssed among the
delinquents.
The Near East looks to America as the
defender OF liberty-the big brother to
little people. America has given them
their greatest uplift. The great war has
resulted in their liberation. Shall they
lack our support for effectual rehabilita-
toni Shall we fail to save them from i'm
mediate starvationi This county is asked
for SO 500. that amount being its proportion
Of S30.000.000. to sustain the lives OF
3,950,000 Christians and Jews through
the winter and to their return to a new
life free from religious and political perse-
cution. Whyf America entered the great
war that the rights Of small nations may
never again be trampled upon. The noble
little nations OF the Near East have kept
the faith and borne the burden Of massa-
ere which thousands Of miles have kept
from our homes. Victory has come. And
now these bravest and stanchest Of pill
erims. in sight Of the goal. stand for lack
Of your contribution in immediate danger
Of starvation or Of death from the disease
OF war.
Why does not the Red Cross do i'll The
Red Cross found the machinery or relief
already at work in the Near East the mis-
sionary. who knows the people and speaks
their languages. and the Red Cross asked
the committee to carry on all relief work
in the Near East territory in order that
there be neither duplication nor lost mo-
ton. Every dollar you give goes to the
Near East. All expense Of collection and
distribution is met privately.
President Wilson has issued a proclama-
ton in a stirring appeal and with full gov
eminent approval which is given to the
commissions work. OF the 3.950.000
souls, 100000 Of whom are orphans. all
in desperate need, IL cents per person per
day is the estimated expense Of giving
them food.
Catholics. Protestants and Jews alike
have been victims of Turkish oppression.
Refugees from all countries and many de-
ported Armenians are drifting back, their
homes in ruins. lands waste. cattle and
implements gone.
There is no joy Of victory in these dis
traught lands. but only the cries of an
agonized people to whom peace has brought
neither benediction nor blessing neither
rest nor respite; lands where the war has
left an awful human wreckage in its wake
a great Kingdom Of Grief filed with the
cries Of mothers and orphans distressed
people. PROSTATE with dssolation. with suf
fering. having no partnership in the great
joy OF liberated world. There are more
dead than buried in Armenia. Men and
women once in good circumstance and self
respecting. now hungry. helpless. friend
less. crawl away like animals out Of sight,
die unseen and lie unburied.
The scenes in these lands Of grief and
suffering are beyond the power Of imagina.
ton to conceive or words to describe, In
these lands there is no food save bread
no soups. no meats. no vegetables. nc
sugar, and less than pound Of bread tC
each person daily. There are no children
left under the age Of five years. all having
persisted from exposure or disease. Fol
every hundred births there are from two
to three hundred deaths.
The newly-born children die almost im.
mediately. Their mothers have nothing
to give them but tears. Death from dys.
entery. typhus, tuberculosis and famine is
increasing from day to day. A pitiful
stream of women and children wander
aimlessly through the streets of the wrecked
villages All winter long they have slept
in hooks and corners, in alleys and by the
roadside. with no blankets or covering
whatsoever. their clothing the merest rag
The women clasp their wan-faced children
to their breasts, and on their faces is written
the pitiful story Of their utter despair.
No sons, no fathers. no brothers are re-
turning victorious to their homes in Arme-
MIA and Syria. for their villages and their
cities have been RACED and ruined and lie
in dust and ashes and the men by the
thousands and hundred Of thousands have
been murdered or deported.
Deportation means the loss Of home
business. property and every personal
possession. 1t means being driven into
desert places. forced to march at the point
OF bayonet until strength is exhausted.
Il means being refused shelter, food and