Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1919-10-24
THE WORK OF
THE RED CROSS

| washington, OcC. 20, 1J1S-"Re
sponsibilities of the Red Cross hav,
not ceased" said DR.. Livingston Far
rand, Chairman of the Central Com
mittee of that organization, i'm O
statement issued here Simple be.
cause he great war is over.
"In the wake of the war" he said
there have arisen great social dis
turbances affecting the health and
well-being of the nation which re-
quire sympathetic and broad treat
ment. Many American communities
having exected their resources to the
utmost during the war, made many
valuable discoveries as to heir social
strength and weakness and are now
DESTROYS Of turning their efforts, now
that the nation 10 longer dequires
them, to local use"
What the Red Cross proposes to dc.
at home and abroad is clearly out
lined in the following statement by
this official:
81 wish there were some way in
which l could present to you pic
ture of the work the Red Cross has
done in the past, what it is doing to-
day and what it hopes to accomplish
in the future. The record of its part
in the war which has just closed Is
one of the most inspiring and satisfy
ing pages in the story of that great
struggle.
"When the decision was finally
made and the United States entered
the war, the Red Cross, like every
other agency concerned began to pre-
pare itself for the great fash ahead.
One OF its first steps was to send
Commission to France, not with def
mite detailed instructions, bu with
directions to do whatever might b,.
necessary to carry out the Red Cross
responsibility ut the Front and be-
hind the lines in Europe. That little
Commission reached Paris in June,
1917. 1t knew that it would be months
before the American troops could ar
rive, and it looked about to see what
it might to in the meantime to OK
press the will and spirit of the Amer
lean people as Allies in the war.
Frances Back To The Wall
1T will be difficult adequately to
paint for you the atmosphere of dis
enlargement which covered France
at that period. For three years she
had been bearing the brunt of cons
tant attack. She had mobilizcd every
resource Mt her command and much
of the richest and most vital part of
her territory was over-run by the
enemy. Added to her terrible losses
IN battle, she was facing inroads on
disease and loss of vitality in he,
civilian population. Not only was the
Observation-Disclosures low-cut i'm half
since the beginning of hostilities. but
tuberculosis and other epidemic di-
seases were apparently the unavoid-
able result of reduced rations and
general war conditions. Hundreds of
thousands of refugees, driven oul
from the occupied departments of
northeastern France had been thrust
back on population aleady over
burdened.
"Yonr Red Cross representatives
recognized ut once that the great
est immediate contribution which they
could make would be to do what they
could to build up the morale of the
french people, and with character
istic energy they set to work to law
out their program. They faced at
once the problem of the refugee, the
task of helping to save and build M
the child life of France, and attack
ed with vigor the menace of tuber-
culosis. Red Cross ccnters Of relief
sprang up in every department o,
France. In an incredibly short time
the American Red Cross had carried
to every corner of that STRICKEN
country the message that not only
had America become an Ally in war,
but had become helping friend in
time of need. During those dark
months of the summer and autumn
OF 1917 your Red Cross worked
faithfully and successfully to express
your spirit in that country. Bv the
end of the year the atmosphere of
gloom had been transformed into one
of confidence and assurance. l do not
hesitate to say that in that critical
period it was the presence of the
American Red Cross that did more
than any other single factor to save
the day.