The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, November 13, 1920, Page 3

—= = BISMARCK DAILY TRIBUNE ° SATURDAY, NOV. 13, 1920 7 ieee “Three and a half million children call to the heart and resources of America for these daily sunplies, not available in their own, countries, that are vital to their survival and to the rebuilding of their physical well-being.” “Our \rescurces wilt be exhausted in January. ‘We must not step aside and nermit the spectre of © death, in the form of hunger and cold to haunt these help- less ones this winter, yet we can not continue without help. __ “This is a charge on the American heart! and America can not fail in her. solicitude for these little ones. ee “Twenty-three million dollars must be raised without delay, and remembeying the new heart vou vut into the Commission for Relief in Belgium in the dark hours of 1916, I come to you again.” ae — (Signed) HERBERT HOOVER. ___ From a letter to The Literary Digest. IN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE THE FOLLOWING . EDITORIAL WAS PUBLISHED IN THE LITER- ‘. ARY DIGEST OF OCT. 36TH: Wea JESUS CHRIST. CAME UPON .THE .earth, nearly two\thousand years ago, to ° vs. Save all mankind, his méré coming seemed to interfere with the material interests of a few people of that period, notably King Herod, who promptly decided to dispose of this “interloper,” and sent forth his soldiers with orders to slay all the children / Of two years old and under. - Thus was consummated the most atrocious crime against innocent childhood eyer committed up to that time. It has come down to fas through all the ages in song and story, and master _ painters have pictured it on marvelous canvases. Today passing in review, as we look out through the windows of our comfortable homes in this great v and happy land, are three anda half millions of help- ~~ Jesg children, the innocent-victims of the greatest war that has ever afflicted humanity. It matters not; as we gaze in the direction of these children, that our eyes mustStretch across three thousand miles of ocean, we still carrsee them and we still can hear them, if we wish to do so; and we can not help hearing the tragic appeal in their voices and seeing ...their tiny arnas stretched out to us, and-their search- - ing eyes looking into our, souls, as they say, “Help us, or we perish.” And if we fail to listen to this aleat call of three and a half millions of God’s help- less ‘children; if we close our eyes and ears. to this great ‘demand of duty, we shall be just as guilty of the “slaughter of the innocents” as was Herod, near- ly two thousand years ago. / In these lands, swept by death and filled with tragedies too deep for tears, a sum of human suf- fering is being written greater perhaps than for i \ ' \ all ages gone by. The mind grows numb and the _ heart sick from a constant recital of tales of such ~ ~ tragedy as it is difficult to believe the twentieth cen- tury could hold. / And so, when we received a letter from Mr. Hoover telling us that America must not allow death in the form of hunger and cold to come to these 3,- 500,000 helpless children our soul was stirred and the/hot blood surged up in our heart. We felt it-was our imperative duty to use all the power God has given us to aid this noble-hearted American in con: tinuing the work of saving human lives to which he has devoted unsparingly, and at great personal sac- rifice, his tremendous energy and administrative ‘genius during the past’ six years, in which time he and his American colleagues have administered two billions of dollars of relief funds from all parts of the world with a total overhead expense of only three-eights of one percent, with no remuneration to the American directors. Now he asks:us' all to help save the children who are in imminent danger of starvatior this coming winter. There they are, in the midst of wrecked homes, and farms,.and factorids; in cities crowded with Nmasses of refugees without sustaining food for children, through the destruction of live stock; seeds 'for planting, raw materials, tools, and.machinery, gone; great areas with everything burned, or looted, or smashed; vast unemployment for workers; no means of subsistence; a iand of economic ruin, of mutilated life, and lingering death, and in the midst of it all—the little children. : ; In long lines they are waiting at the American food-kitchens. Will the food be theré for them? ‘Will they be turned away? There are no happy, healthy faces in those long lines—not one. You have 6een rags and barefooted children, but never’so many little boys.and girls litefaily drest in tatters.~ Soon it will be very cold, and for those bare little feet and legs and arms there is nothing at home to put on. Hollow faces and shrunken bodies are so com- “mon that their real condition does not become evi- dent until we inquire more closely, and then we finds i: that most.gf them are from one‘o five years back in their growth. Children of eight years old have not reached the normal size'of two and a half. They are- just, learing to stand alone. Others almost as old can not yet stand on their feet. Their arms, and legs, and spines, and chests are twisted and warped. The flesh and skin are shriveled on their bones. It is surprising that life can still exist there. If they can have food they will gradually regain their health and strength, but with most of them it is a question of now or never. Starvation and tuberculosis will not wait. és In Poland alone a million five hundred thousand ‘ -such children must be cared for. In Latvia and Es- thonia the people are living mostly on a diet made from potato-flour, oat-flour,.‘and. sawdust. In Czecho-Slovakia, in Hungary, in Austria, and: in other countries of 'gentral and southeastern Europe, two millions‘more ie in diré need of food; and who stops to ask regarding creed, or race, or nationality when a little child is starving? . Children are just children the world over, and the great American heart is big enough tq care for them all. : But-the appeal now is not for all. The three and a half millions of children in immediate danger of. starvatiqn, if this organization fails, who must have food at once, are only a fraction of the total number. “The hunrgy children of those destitute countries have been’examined by competent physi- cians, and only those whose wasted little bodies are. reduced to the;minimum weight, and whose endur- ance of hunger has reached the end which merges into actual starvation, are admitted to the American kitchens ayd given one meal a day. It is hard to turn away thousands of huagry boys and‘girls—to hear them ask, pleadingly, “Do I weigh too much?” Am I not thin enough?” “Can’t I come any more?” But this restricting of food to the extreme cases is compulsory, because there isn’t énough for all. And thege neediest ones can not reach the kitch- ens through the cold winds and'the snow: barefooted -and in pitiful rags which form only a partial cover- ing for their bodies. They must have clothes. Each outfit consists of one pair of warm woolen stockings, one pair of bodts, and a little overcoat. This.one . meal a day, and these boots, stockings, and little coats can be supplied only if we give them. If we do not, the slaughter of the innocents by cold and starv- ation will be appalling. ' Among the more ‘than two million men and women who will read this page there is not one— there can not be a single one—whose heart will not respond gladly and eagerly to the challenge of this great deed. We are asked, you with us, td cooperate with Mr. Hoover in raising twenty-three million dol- + lars'to feed and clothe these children and save them from ‘death this winter. It can be done’ It shall be done! THE LITERARY -DIGEST knows its readers and the deep earnestness, the quick sympathy, the great-hearted generosity they always show -when any real human need,calls to them. You haye never’ * been called upon in vain. We are counting on you now with a great confidence. We know, also, how truly you represent the American spirit, which beats in the hearts of a hundred and three millions more in this big land of plenty, a spirit which leaps ready at every such call, and is never weary in well-doing. Weare not a hermit nation, isolated from the world, when suffering and want cry out to us-from any- where under the sun. A. great, a beautiful, and heart-sustaining hope supports: these’ stricken peo- ple—America will come to their relief. For in the far places of the earth, where famine stalks, one name and one alone is synonymous with rescue and hope—and that name is America. \ - The small individual unit of tendollars will pro- vide the coat and boots and stockings and one meal aday for one child this winter. We urge our readers , —we urge every one whose eyes are on these words —to give quickly as many of these units as possible, to buy for themselves that precious and priceless thing} the life of alittle child—as many of them as they:can, and every one will be a shining star in an eternal crown. It was the Divine Love of little child- - ren, who came to earth as a little child, and who reigns now as the King of Glory, who said, “Inas- much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me.”. He does not for- get, nor fail to reward. : So deeply do we ourselves feel the urgency of this great need, knowing all the facts, that we should feel a heavy burden of guilt if we did not go beyond anything we have felt possible heretofore in order to save these innocent children from suffering and death. Therefore, THE LITERARY DIGEST will start this fund with the sum of $25,000 to feed and clothe twenty-five hundred little boys and girls this winter. What an inspiration it will be to all of us— what an inspiration and example to many thousands who may be uncertain how much to give—if in the very first week there shall be a great shower of checks for $1,000, for $5,000, for $10,000, as well as a deluge of smaller amounts, to send the fund rolling on toward the necessary twenty-three millions. Let us all see again what the father’s heart is like in this great rich land of America. Let us have again-a wondrous revelation of the heart of American. moth- erhood. Let-us have a great outpouring of love and helpfulness jn the name of Him who said, “Feed my lambs!” President-Elect Harding, In a Great-Hearted Response, Sets an Example for All Atmericatie . In the midst of the flood of telegrams, telephone calls, and election returns pouring in upon hirh from every part of the United States, Mr. Harding turned fronv‘it all to write and dispatch the following telegram from his home: THE LITERARY DIGEST, NEW YORK CITY;— . I have just now read your splendid appeal A: who are the helpless victims of the people’s part in relieving and restori God’s own children, t will bless us the more abundantly if we share our good fortune in acts of sympathy and human fellowship. at people. Iam forwarding you.my check’ for two thousand five hundred doiiars by mail today. gre Nax ¥ & j Make all checks payabl the Literary Digest will be responsible for every I want to commend, and support your noble undertaking. Child-Feeding, THE LITERARY DIGEST, 354-360 Fourth Avenue, New York. s ‘o the people of America jn behalf of three and a half millions of unfortunate children in Central and Southeastern Europe at War. . Because such a movement for relief reveals the true heart of America, because it bespeaks an American desire to play a great In seeking God’s blessing for ourselves I am’ sure He I wish you a success which will reveal anew the unselfishness of our (Signed) WARREN G. HARDING. le to “The Literary Digest Child-Feeding Fund” and mail them direct to The Literary Digest. Every remittance will be acknowledged, and dollar contributed, to see that it goes, without one penny deducted, to the purpose for which it is given. Address, ae ae