The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-01-03

4 hS" N-Nn ,GNo I-AS IVI
I cENTERED IN CONSTANTINE
PIE AND s-MIssloN
| IN LONDON AND PARIS iMPoR
! TANT-DEscRlBEs HIS EXPERT
ENcEs.
Walter George Smith, Esq, who
went to the Near East as one of the
members OF the American Relief Com,
/ mission in February. has returned to
| Philadelphia. 1t will be remembered
| that the American Commission for the
Relief in the Near East was incorpo-
rated recently by an act of Congress
Among the incorporators was His
Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Mr.
Smith was invited to be commission
| er to represent especially Catholic in
terests. Although the commission is
entirely a secular organization, it num-
bers among it's members representa-
| tives of various denominations of
ProteStantS, as we'll as one Jewish
rabbi, and it seemed proper that there
should be Catholic representative
Mr.. Smiths activities have been
centered in Constantinople and the
Causasus, but in addition he accom-
pllshed vitality important mission in
Paris and London. 1t had been his
intention to spend some time in Syria,
and especially on Mount Lebanon,
where there is large Catholic pop
ulation, but he was DETECTED by rea-
son of the acute situation in the Cau-
casuS. In an interview granted a rep
resentative of the Catholic Standard
and Times he said:
Community of Nuns Massacred.
when the Turkish masascres be-
gan in 1915 the survivors in the north
eastern districts of Turkey, bordering
Russian Armenia, from Trebizond, on
the Black Sea- to Persia, on the East,
! fed over the mountains into Russian
Armenia, while others were deported
South into Mesopotamia and Syria.
The mortality from actual massacres
and from starvation and exhaustion
among the Armenians has been vari-
ously estimated from 100000 to 1,O00,-
| 900 souls. Of these many were Cath
olics, especially in the province of
Trebizond. Of community of thirty
four nuns but two survive, and flour
ishing diocese has been almost wiped
out
s'The region known as the Caucasus
covers Russian Armenia and on into
the Independent Republic of Georgia.
1t is bounded on the west by the Black
Sea. Tifiis is the capital of Georgia
a very modern city of about $1,000
inhabitants. From Tiflis the railroad
runs south into Russian Armenia
| Georgia is an Independent republic,
recognized by the powers. Armenia
has set up provisional government,
not yet recognized. The Georgians
are largely tinged with Bolsheviki doc
trines. They are jealous of the Ar
menians and will not willingly permit
supplies to reach them. To the north
of Georgia the Russian general, Deni
|
sheviki government, while Georgia has
been kept in order and the railroads
guarded by contingent of British
troops.
U. S. Commissions Achievements.
"The American Relief Commission
has established at Tif1is hospitals
schools, orphan asylums and other
works of relief for the refugees who
are there, and also at Erivan anC
Alexandropol and other points in Ar
menia. The refugee population is es
timated by British authorities at 500,
900. They came into country large
lily devastated by the war, between
Turkey and Russia. There has beer
no organized system of relief sufi
ciently comprehensive to cover tht
whole territory excepting that of the
american commission, and owing tt
the difficulties of transportation, the.
have been able to meet the Difficult
tiles only partially. They have ex
Ipended probably ten millions of dol
lars in the endeavor to save thes
wretched people, and they have nov
under their care between forty an,
fifty thousand orphans, in addition t.
the relief given to other refugees.
''The Armenians cannot return t.
their former homes in Turkey becaus
of the hostile attitude of the Kurd
and Turks, who have seized thei
holdings. The Russian Armenian
have a small nucleus of fightin
fierce, which might be increased t
from 10000 to $4,000 men if arms an
other materials of war were obtaiI
able 2 a
f "The reports that have come fror
the Caucasus as to famine condition
have been in no wise exaggerated
Until the spring the wretched people
clothed in rags, sat about in the vi
llages until many Of them died in tn
streets from actual starvation. Th
9 ravages of typhus and other famin
C diseases carried off many other
e When the spring came they gathere
;, grass and endeavored to get som
s Inourishment from that. Meantim
n with the assistance Of Mr.. Herbe
|. Hoover, who furnished 5000 tons
flour per month, the relief commi
# sion has been making every effort
J cope with the situation.
e "The Armenians are a hardy rae
0 who, have borne persecution rath'
a l4bor r;xyo IN fhoir Nhricfiop foitb r.