The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1920-03-27
"NEAR EAST" MASS MEETING
Will Be Held at Burlington Wednesday
Evening, March 81.

| has made arrangements to hold a mass
meeting in the interest of the suffer.
ing peoples of the countries of the
Near East in city hall, Burlington
Wednesday evening, March 81, at
o'clock. The people of the state are
invited to attend.
Distinguished speakers, both from
outside the state and from different
sections of the state, will be present
They will include Dr. James L. Bar
| ton, national chairman Near East re-
lief. DIR. Barton is a Vermonter. He
was born in Charlotte. He is grad
uate of Middlebury college and now
one of the trustees. John M. Thomas,
president of Middlebury college; Hon.
Mason S. Stone, lieutenant governor !;
Hon. James Hartness, president state
board of education; Hon. Frederick IL.
Babbitt, president Greater Vermont
association; Hon. Curtis s. Emery. CT :
mayor city of Newport, are expected
to be present.
The meeting viii have much of in
terest to all who have rtrthrobs for
suffering humanity.
DR.. Barton win speak on political
and social conditions in the Near East.
He has had exceptional opportunities
to make himself master of his subject.
For seven years he lived in the heart
of Armenia in connection with Eu-
pirates college, one of the Oldest Amer
lean colleges in Turkey. As secretary
af yhn hoo I'd nf i =
ers for foreign missions, he has for 20
years had administrative direction of
all its extensive religious, educational.
medical, sociological, literary and in
dustrial operations from the Adrlatlc
to the Caspian sea and from the Black
sea into Mesopotamia.
When the Near East relief was or
ganized to meet the call for help by
cable sent from Constantinople by Am
bassador Morgenthau in 1918, DR.. Bar
ton was made chairman, which posi-
tion he has since held with untiring
devotion and outstanding organizing
capacity and energy.
This committee set out to raise $780,
900, thinking this amount would meet
the need; but it has already received
and appropriated for relief purposes
some S40,000000 in money and sup
plies, including consignments Of flour
from the government. Some $50 ,000,-
900 has been received in cash. Upon
this relief committee are such men as
Cleveland Dodge, Judge Abram |. Elk
us and Henry Morgenthau, ex-United
States ambassadors to Turkey, Herbert |
Hoover William II. Taft, Elihu Root, |
Hemphill, Edwin NJ. Bulk |
ley, Charles r. Crane, Arthur G. James, |
Howard Helms, Albert Shaw and men
~ that character.
As soon as the armistice was signed,
The committee decided to send into |
Turkey a commission with relief work
srs and supplies, for no supplies had
been sent into the country for five |
years, although some 100 American re-
lief workers had remained at their /
posts during the entire period of the
var, caring for orphans and refugees |
With food purchased in the country |
With funds provided by the committee.
DIR. Barton was made director of
hat commission which had upon it
Arthur c. James and Harold A, Hatch
II New York, President j. II. T. Main
# Grinnell College, Ia, William w. 1
Feet of Constantinople and a graduate
4 the University of Vermont, Profess
or Edward G. Moore of Harvard uni
ersity and Others.
They reached Constantinople in Feb
uary one year ago with $4,000 tons of
medical, food, clothing, transportation
nd other supplies. The director soon
ct out To open up the interior of the
ountry, which was then in state of
var, in order to distribute workers to
scertain the degree of distress and
pen ways of alleyiating it. He started
own the Bagdad railway with train
Dad OF supplies and a corps of Amer
can relief workers. Between March
nd September, DR.. Barton travelled in
nd about Asia Minor, Cilicia, Syria,
'alestine, Mesopotamia, Koordistan,
armenia, Anatolia and the republics
/ Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in
he Caucasus nearly $4,000 miles. Much
+ the time he was quite beyond the
phere of allied influence and control.
Ie opened and got into effective opera
ion some 80 relief stations, a. ho-
itals, more than 230 orphanages and
large number of rescue homes for the
of Christian girls escaped
rom Mohammedan harems. In add
ion, large and extensive industrial OPP
rations were set in motion to supply
'ork for dependents and at the same
me provide them clothing Lines of !.
were opened up, in spite
( the absence of decent roads, to each
elief center, with motor lorries taken
ut with the supplies, and by the use :
native horses and camels.
After finishing this work, DIR. Barton
stunned by way of Paris, where he
as held for three weeks for expert
,rvice in connection with the peace
Inference in dealing with questions
dating TO the Near East. He had re-
orted TO the conference from different
arts of the country under a commits
on given him by the Paris conference J
hen he went out.
Upon his return to the United
tates, the relief office in New York l
as recognized for completing the
lormous task Of caring for the 1000,
10 refugees and the 100000 or more
-phans and homeless children.
Reserved tickets may be procured by
riting or calling on James p. Taylor,
cretsry Chamber of Commerce, Stan
II DL,~oL |