Evening star., 1919-11-14
Will Aid Weak Societies.

"In so far as the second object of
the league is concerned, which is the
development of national Red Cross So
cieties which are backward or insuf-
ficiently supported, the services of
Frank Persons, well known hy the
American Red Cross, have been OBJ
/ tanned, and he is already deyotng him
| self to the encouragement of the very
young Red Cross societies of Poland
and Czechoslovakia. At the very be-
! ginning of their existence these So
! cieties are called upon to face situa-
| tion of extreme distress. misery and
! suffering throughout the whole of their
/ countries, and the emergency in these
countries is so great that the first ef-
| forts of the league have naturally been
directed toward them. Great impetus
! has been given to the work of assist
ing these societies, owing to the fact
that at the same time the league, by.
means of assistance offered by some of
its constituent members, has been put
/ in a position to direct actual relief
measures in those countries. 1t is
hoped that the work of organizing and
assisting the Red Cross societies of
Poland and Czechoslovakia may pro-
ceed SO successfully that they will
shortly be able to undertake for their
own countries the relief work which
is so badly needed.
! "The initiation and direction of emer-
gency relief measures in case of dis
aster or of unusual distress. is the
third object. Even before the league
was properly organized it was ap-
pealed to by the allied governments to
come to the assistance of those coun-
tries in eastern Europe which are now
suffering from an epidemic of typhus.
in addition to all the other miseries
left by the war. In response to this
appeal the league asked for assist
ance from the Red Cross societies and
dispatched a medical commission to
Poland, the point of greatest danger.
to Investigate the situation there.
The picture disclosed was such as to
give the impression that the situation
generally in the east of Europe was
entirely beyond the resources of vol
untary agencies. and this even with
out considering the situation of Rus
sla.
for a long time at work in Poland.
The British and Australian societies.
unable at present to work directly,
have made contributions to the league
to enable the fight to be carried on.
and 1t is expected that other national
Red Cross societies will Join with
these in giving assistance. Even with
all this assistance 1T is feared that the
scourge of typhus may extend fur
ther westward into central Europe.
unless the governments of the allied
powers will bring their resources to
the aid of the voluntary efforts Of the
Red Cross.
May Become World Ideal.
"It should interest America to know
that through the medium Of the league
there is reason to hope that the ideals
and principles which have made the
American Red Cross a standard by
which all such organizations might
very well be measured, may be ex-
tended throughout the world. 1t
would be impossible for any national
Red Cross society to be made ac-
c,ainted with the methods used by
and the results obtained by the Amer
lean Red Cross without making an ef-
fort to attain, or at least to approach
to, a similar high level.
There is no doubt that the Ameri-
can Red Cross is the best known VOL
untary organization in Europe. but
Europe has seen only the results. and
the European Red Cross societies do
not yet know the methods which have
been used. If the league could do
nothing more than extend to the ma
tional societies of the world the stand
ards of the American Red Cross, it
would have served its purpose and
justified its existence"