Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-01
The Red Cross and China.

quite aptly the rev YORK Times de-
scribes the report just issued by the
American Red Cross about famine con-
ditions in China as lone Of the most
depressing documents that has ever
been issued by this organization. which
has done so much to alleviate human
suffering"
The report emanates from the three
special commissioners sent to China
earlier in the year at the instigation OF
President Hoover. They were headed
by Col. Ernest p. Bicknell. the seasoned
Red Cross executive in charge OF for
eisn activities. Conscientious inquiry
into famine conditions led him and his
associates to join in an account OF mall
administration. of callous carelessness.
Of Grass indifference, and OF conduct
generally that depicts China herself. to
an appalling degree, as the architect
of her own miseries, or at least as the
victim of some of her self-seeking. So
called leaders. It is pitiable MARIA
tive. It must have grieved the Red
Cross to feel compelled to sponsor It,
for the inclinations, as well as the ira
ditions Of that world almoner all run
In the direction Of succor, almost under
any circumstances.
But the American Red Cross Is the
trustee of the American people in the
realm Of relief. When Mr.. and Mrs
Average Man intrust their annual sub
scriptions to it, they do so in the con-
seriousness that every dollar Will De
thrice weighed before 1t is spent. and,
II spent. spent wisely. At the outbreak
of the Chinese famine some two years
ago. the Red Cross was asked to help.
It's representatives on the ground, ex-
uerienced in relief work in the Far East,
reported that while distress was I'M
ouestionably widespread, the prevalence
Of civil war throughout China made 1t
wholly impracticable to employ Red
Cross agencies.
With rival war lords scrambling for
power and pelf in the war-torn prov
inces, and devastating as they fought,
the gravest doubt was expressed as to
whether a single dollar Of American
bounty would ever reach a proper des-
tination. The Red Cross determined to
keep hands of China famine relief.
In order to check up on its own in
formation the Bicknell mission was dis
patched as one of the first acts irlsti-
gated by the Hoover administration.
The Presidents heart, because he has
seen so much Of the worlds suffering
during the past fifteen years. is easily
touched by such calamity as Expresses
China, where he himself once lived.
The mission went, 1t saw. it has voted
in the negative. It learned Of food sup
plies allowed to rot or turned over to the
military hordes; of Chinese bonds that
were sold and the proceeds filched by
the war lords: Of famine relief measures
that were allowed to break down be-
cause Of sheer neglect.
BY and large, the Bicknell mission
came to the conclusion that American
Red Cross money sent into China today
would be money thrown away. Pledged
to the Nation, as it is, to husband zeal
ously the great funds with which it is
periodically endowed, the Red Cross
plainly has no other recourse than the
one to which 1t has reluctantly resorted.
American sympathy with the Chinese
peoples troubles remains keen and gen.
uine. 1t is reassuring to learn from the
Red Cross report that Nature is about
to afford a large degree Of famine re-
lief. Rain has fallen copiously in the
afIiicted districts and good harvests are
In ciOhf