The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-10-27
WILSON ASKS SUPPORT
OF RED CROSS ROLL CALL
Declares There Is Necessary Work to
Be Performed Before the Amer
lean Red Cross Can Hon
orably Withdraw from

Washington, ID. c., Oct. 2j.--Presi.
dent Wilson to-day addressed the fol-
lowing letter to the people of the coun-
try appealing for support of the third
Red Cross roll call, which is to be held
from Nov. IL to IL;
AS president of the United States
and as president of the American Red
Cross, ! recommend and urge gener
Gus 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 first
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 well 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 ii for
many things, and transference to
the problems Of peace at home of the
experience and methods which it &C.
quired during the war.
1T is on membership more than mon
ey 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, Is.
peciallv 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
eo-ordinating influence and to place the
energies Of the organization behind all
sound public health and welfare agen.
ees.
"The American Red Cross does not
purpose indefinite prolongation of its
relief work abroad, a policy which
would lay an unjust burden upon our
own people and tend to undermine the
selfreIiance Of the peoples relieved,
but there is necessary work Of com
pletion to be performed before the
American Red Cross can honorablv
from Europe. The Congress
of the United STATES has imposed upon
the Red Cross a continuing responsible.
ity abroad by authorizing the secretary
of war to transfer to the American Red
Cross such surplus army medical sup
plies and supplementary and dietary
foodstulfs now in Europe as shall not
be required by the army, to be used
by the Red Cross TO relieve the dis.
tress which continues in certain coun-
tries Of Europe as a result of the war.
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
the American Red Cross
requires, in addition to membership
fees, a sum of money small in com
parison with gifts poured into its treas
nry by our generous people during the
war.
Both the greater enduring domestic
program and the lesser temporary for |
eign program of the Red Cross deserve |
support, and venture to
hope that its peaee-time membership !
will exceed rather than fall below its |
war membership"