a World’s Union was projected, and Mrs. Mary Clement Leavitt, of Boston,
started out to organize all civilized countries. She has now (1890) been
seven years absent, and is reaching a greater variety of nationalities
than any woman who ever lived. She has thus far traveled over fifty
thousand miles; held over a thousand meetings; more than eleven thousand
pages have been written; she has spoken, through interpreters, to people
in twenty-three languages. Other missionaries are constantly being sent
to follow Mrs. Leavitt, and the white ribbon is acclimated in every
country in the world. Its methods are the universal circulation of a
pledge against the legalizing of the sale of brain poisons, including of
course, and chiefly, alcoholics and opium. This is to be presented to
all governments by a deputation of women to which the petition will be
entrusted when the number of signatures reaches two millions, and they
will carry it round the world. The methods of the National W. C. T. U.
have been universally adopted, of which the principal ones are total
abstinence for the individual, and the effort to secure total
prohibition for the State. The noon hour of prayer is everywhere
observed, asking God’s blessing on the work and workers. The white
ribbon—emblem of purity, prohibition, patriotism, and philanthropy—is
the badge worn, and the motto, “For God and Home and Every Land.”
The first president of the World’s W. C. T. U. was Mrs. Margaret Bright
Lucas, sister of John Bright, and president of the Woman’s Temperance
Association of Great Britain. The second and present president is
Frances E. Willard.
Australia is organized, also Japan, China, Ceylon, Madagascar, the
civilized portions of Africa, Scandinavia, Great Britain, Canada, and
the United States. In continental Europe the progress is slow, as
drinking habits are well nigh universal; but much progress has been made
in Switzerland, also in Berlin. In the former country through the
efforts of Miss Charlotte Gray, in the latter city through Mrs. Mary
Bannister Willard, of the Home School for Girls.
A World’s W. C. T. U. convention is to be held in connection with the
World’s Fair in Chicago, in 1893.
Wherever white ribboners are found, will be found friends of woman’s
complete enfranchisement and admission to all professions and trades, on
the ground that no artificial barrier should be thrown in her way, but
that she should be freely permitted and welcomed to enter every place
where she has capacity to succeed. Perhaps no motto of the W. C. T. U.
is more frequently quoted than the following: “Woman will bless and
brighten every place she enters, and she will enter every place.”
XVIII.
THE ORIGIN AND APPLICATION OF THE RED CROSS.
BY
CLARA BARTON.
In no way, perhaps, is more clearly proven the just necessity for some
explanation concerning the subject of the Red Cross than by the fact
that I am asked to make these explanations as a contribution to woman’s
work, when, in fact, every original idea of the humanities sought to be
organized, and the methods of relief ordained, were, like the terrible
and needless cruelties which led to them, the work of men, and have
largely continued to be such.[219]
It would scarcely be conceded that, because many women have found a
place to work, and work well, in the United States Treasury, Patent, and
Pension Bureaus, that these departments themselves should be exclusively
classed as woman’s work.
If, in our rapid march of progress over newly acquired territory, we
should be found appropriating to ourselves some of the old landmarks and
strongholds, a philosophical solution may perhaps be found in the
familiar principles of the angles of incidence and reflection. It might
be added that, presumably, the circumstance of the leadership (if so
presumptuous a term may be allowed) of the Red Cross in this country
having incidentally fallen to a woman’s hands has had a tendency to
mislead in this direction.
Considering how very little has yet been definitely comprehended of the
characteristics of this young child of their adoption, the tones of
parental kindness and good feeling in which it is spoken by the people
of the entire country, is touching to us who watch its course and
destiny. Their very natural endeavors to square its habits and methods
by those of ordinary charitable organizations, are not unfrequently
perplexing to them and embarrassing to us; and their consternation at
times, when this strange duckling suddenly takes to the water, is
suggestive of other scenes.
The mass of correspondence constantly pouring in, asking how one shall
become a member of the “order,” or proposing to organize a “chapter,” or
a “branch,” or “corps,” or “section,” independent, for special use,
calling for copies of the constitution and by-laws of the national to
aid in forming their own, so they can go on by _themselves_, reveals a
vagueness of ideas concerning the subject which a few words might serve
to render more clear and definite. First, the Red Cross is not an
“order,” and has no tendency in that direction any more than the medical
department of an army, which it was instituted to assist, is an “order”;
or the great movement toward the general peace of mankind through
arbitration and kindly fellowship, to which it is both an advance guard
and a stepping-stone, is an “order.” It is not a “secret society” any
more than is the Association of Charities and Correction, Adams Express,
the Western Union Telegraph, a railroad corporation or a fire company,
all of which the nature of its work at times assimilates. While
societies, as usually existing, seek the advancement of ideas and the
general progress of the world intellectually, morally, or religiously,
mainly by expression of thought and opinions analogous to their subject,
the Red Cross, by its relation, must deal in _active_ ways, mentally and
physically, with people direct, and become responsible for their welfare
as for funds and material for their use; and while it may properly have
been designated as the culmination of the best humanities of the warring
agencies of the past, finding possible expression in the latter half of
the nineteenth century, it still needs to be explained that this medium
of expression was the Treaty of Geneva of 1864 for the relief of the
wounded and sick of armies. The Red Cross _means_, then, the people’s
help for suffering through military necessities (a help hitherto mainly
ignored), and it _is_ the result and the direct outgrowth of an
international treaty, entered into by the civilized nations of the world
for the mitigation of the sufferings from war, by first eliminating from
its code all needless cruelties and old-time barbarities; and, secondly,
by rendering neutral and exempt from capture all disabled soldiers
requiring aid, all appliances, all material, and all personnel designed
for them.
It is to be borne in mind, and not for an instant lost sight of, that
while other methods leading up to these points have been always the
outgrowth of the grandest human sentiments of mankind, they still
remained _sentiments_, usually individual, and, beyond this, binding on
no one; or, if organized for the moment, were lost as soon; while the
Red Cross, embodying all these humanities, organizes and pledges the
entire world, through its governments, to the one purpose and effort,
and binds the whole by the stern sacredness of an international treaty,
which no government will ever be found reckless and indecent enough to
violate. The non-fellowship of the world would follow such an act.
Indeed, no nation has a treaty it would hold so sacred in time of need.
Following a preliminary conference of 1863, a convention, composed of
delegates appointed by and representing the heads of all the governments
of the world, was held at Geneva, Switzerland, for the purpose of
considering some method for mitigating the horrors of war, if wars must
be.
And however disdainfully we at the present moment may curl our lips over
the uselessness of such a consideration in the light of better methods,
however scorn every thought of any effort in behalf of the woes of those
who consent to deluge the world in blood, it is to be remembered that we
ourselves at _that_ moment were not altogether exempt from the
perplexing problem of war, and did not, as now, present to the world the
grand and beautiful “Christian example” of arbitration and peace, of
which we are at present the most advisory and conspicuous of advocates.
Indeed, whoever will take down from the shelves one of the volumes of
decisions of our then Minister of State, Mr. Seward, will find there
recorded that the reason given for the United States having declined
official representation in the Convention of Geneva was _not_ on the
ground of high moral elevation, advanced views and consequent
disapproval, but rather in this wise, that we were _ourselves_ in the
midst of a cruel and relentless war, which did not admit of time for
considerations of that kind. This decision was the first block over
which a woman ungracefully stumbled, when, thirteen years later, an
attempt was made to officially call the attention of our government to
the knowledge even of the existence of such a treaty among other
nations.
This convention, which occupied several days, discussed as never before
the great question of an international agreement for the neutralizing of
certain departments of all fields of battle, and the protection of all
the personnel and material designed for them.
The establishment, as it were, of a goal in the midst of the most
relentless field of animosity and strife, where those who could no
longer run could touch and be safe; as if, in the midst of the wildest
storm at sea, a haven could be established in mid-ocean where the
disabled ships might find a harbor and rest.
The councils of this convention resulted in the formulation of a code of
ten articles, which, upon solemn acceptance by the heads of each
government, became the treaty of Geneva. These articles were as follows:
ARTICLE 1. Ambulances (field hospitals) and military hospitals shall
be acknowledged to be neutral, and as such shall be protected and
respected by belligerents so long as any sick or wounded may be
therein. Such neutrality shall cease if the ambulances or hospitals
should be held by a military force.
ARTICLE 2. Persons employed in hospitals and ambulances, comprising
the staff for superintendence, medical service, administration,
transport of wounded, as well as chaplains, shall participate in the
benefit of neutrality while so employed, and so long as there remain
any to bring in or to succor.
ARTICLE 3. The persons designated in the preceding article may, even
after occupation by the enemy, continue to fulfill their duties in the
hospital or ambulance which they may have, or may withdraw in order to
regain the corps to which they belong. Under such circumstances, when
the persons shall cease from their functions, they shall be delivered
by the occupying army to the outposts of the enemy. They shall have
specially the right of sending a representative to the headquarters of
their respective armies.
ARTICLE 4. As the equipment of military hospitals remains subject to
the laws of war, persons attached to such hospitals cannot, on
withdrawing, carry away any articles but such as are their private
property. Under the same circumstances an ambulance shall, on the
contrary, retain its equipment.
ARTICLE 5. Inhabitants of the country who may bring help to the
wounded shall be respected and shall remain free. The generals of the
belligerent powers shall make it their care to inform the inhabitants
of the appeal addressed to their humanity, and of the neutrality which
will be the consequence of it. Any wounded man, entertained and taken
care of in a house, shall be considered as a protection thereto. Any
inhabitant, who shall have entertained wounded men in his house, shall
be exempted from the quartering of troops as well as from a part of
the contributions of war which may be imposed.
ARTICLE 6. Wounded or sick soldiers shall be entertained and taken
care of to whatever nation they may belong. Commanders-in-chief shall
have the power to deliver immediately to the outposts of the enemy
soldiers who have been wounded in an engagement, when circumstances
permit this to be done, and with the consent of both parties. Those
who are recognized, after they are healed, as incapable of serving,
shall be sent back to their country. The others may also be sent back
on condition of not again bearing arms during the continuance of the
war. Evacuations, together with the persons under whose directions
they take place, shall be protected by an absolute neutrality.
ARTICLE 7. A distinctive and uniform flag shall be adopted for
hospitals, ambulances, and evacuations. It must on every occasion be
accompanied by the national flag. An arm badge [_brassard_] shall also
be allowed for individuals neutralized, but the delivery thereof shall
be left to military authority. The flag and arm badge shall bear a red
cross on a white ground.
ARTICLE 8. The details of execution of the present convention shall be
regulated by the commanders-in-chief of belligerent armies, according
to the instructions of their respective government and in conformity
with the general principles laid down in this convention.
ARTICLE 9. The high contracting powers have agreed to communicate the
present convention to those governments which have not found it
convenient to send plenipotentiaries to the international convention
at Geneva, with an invitation to accede thereto; the protocol is, for
that purpose, left open.
ARTICLE 10. The present convention shall be ratified, and the
ratification shall be exchanged at Berne, in four months, or sooner if
possible.
The nations adopting the Treaty are:
France, September 22, 1864.
Belgium, October 14, 1864.
Italy, December 4, 1864.
Sweden and Norway, Dec. 13, 1864.
Baden, December 16, 1864.
Great Britain, February 18, 1865.
Prussia, June 22, 1865.
Wurtemberg, June 2, 1866.
Bavaria, June 30, 1866.
Portugal, August 9, 1866.
Russia, May 22, 1867.
Roumania, November 30, 1874.
San Salvador, December 30, 1874.
Servia, March 24, 1876.
Chili, November 15, 1879
Peru, April 22, 1880.
Bulgaria, March 1, 1884.
Luxembourg, October 5, 1888.
Switzerland, October 1, 1864.
Netherlands, November 29, 1864.
Spain, December 5, 1864.
Denmark, December 15, 1864.
Greece, January 17, 1865.
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mar. 9, 1865.
Turkey, July 5, 1865.
Hesse Darmstadt, June 22, 1866.
Austria, July 21, 1866.
Saxony, October 25, 1866.
Pontifical States, May 9, 1868.
Persia, December 5, 1874.
Montenegro, November 29, 1875.
Bolivia, October 16, 1879.
Argentine Republic, Nov. 25, 1879.
United States, March 1, 1882.
Japan, June 5, 1886.
The United States of America was the thirty-second in order. This treaty
has changed not only the methods of procedure of the medical and
hospital departments of all armies, but their insignia, flags, etc.
There is but one military hospital flag in the world to-day. The
commander who knows his own, knows that of the enemy, and he breaks an
international treaty if he knowingly turns even a gun or a stray shot
upon it. The convoy of prisoners under escort bearing that sign is safe;
no officer can fire upon that unarmed and defenseless body of men by
“mistake”; no “mistake” can be made nor pretend to be made. No captured
men can longer suffer for lack of food; the _world_ is pledged to supply
this want, and the way is opened to do it. No fields nor hospitals can
lack attendance, nursing, nor the necessaries of life; to this relief
the way is opened. No wounded men can lie unattended upon a field, and
no attendant upon them can be captured. No distinction can be made in
the care of the sick and wounded. By the articles of the treaty, all are
non-combatants, all neutrals, and hence one common relation for all.
At the conclusion of the convention, the body of gentlemen of
Switzerland who had convened it were designated by choice of the
governments as the international head by whom all general intercourse
between nations upon the subject of war-relief should be directed, and
through whom all communications should be made. This is the
“International Committee of Geneva.”
The first action of a country after the adoption of the treaty, is to
form a National Society, or committee, through which the International
Committee may communicate with the government of that country. To this
National Society is committed the care of all communications from the
International Committee to the government of a country, whether relating
to the work of war relief in other nations, or to their methods of
advancement, _e.g._ to observe if the provisions of the treaty are duly
regarded by its military departments; if the suitable orders are given
for the spread of such knowledge among the troops at the field; if the
appropriate insignia is worn by them; the arrangement for attendance
upon international conferences in which the government is represented,
and reports to foreign powers on such occasions. Naturally, but one
National Society or body of administration in a country is, or can be,
recognized, either by the government at home, or the international
authorities abroad, on the same principle that but one Department of
War, or State, could be recognized. To this body is submitted the
direction of such aid as shall be rendered by its country for the relief
of suffering from the calamities of war in other countries, such aid
always passing through the neutral hands of the “International
Committee” for application; thus wisely avoiding national jealousies.
The best inventions and most improved machinery and methods for the
convenient handling, nursing, and treatment of disabled persons from
whatever cause, in either military or civil life, for the last
twenty-five years, are directly traceable to the thought and endeavors
of the Red Cross, through its wise encouragement thereof, and the
necessities revealed upon the fields of war which it sought to relieve.
To turn now to the little part taken by our government and people in
this world-wide humanity, we shall find ourselves subjects for the adage
of the “short horse soon curried.” As previously remarked, it was
thirteen years, namely, from 1863 to 1877, before the attention of our
government was awakened to the existence of such a treaty among nations,
and its adhesion seriously recommended. Our great commissions, sanitary
and Christian, had died and passed into history, and it was not realized
that their embalmed memory would not be sufficient for all future
exigencies,—old Egypt, relying upon its catacombs, great, but silent and
past! It required five other years, namely, from 1877 to 1882, to bring
the government to a clear comprehension of the subject, when, by a
unanimous vote of both Houses of Congress, the Treaty of Geneva of 1864
was adopted and became a law, immediately receiving the signature of
President Arthur, fully carrying out the decision of his lamented
predecessor, Garfield, who had recommended it in his first message to
Congress. The treaty was next sent to the Congress of Berne,
Switzerland, which, by consent of all governments, is made the ratifying
power for the treaties of the nations as they adhere. When ratified, it
was proclaimed by the President of the United States, and directions
duly given to the departments of the government to take the necessary
steps for conforming to its provisions.
It is this which has changed all military hospital flags in our country
to a red cross on a white ground; the same for ambulances, supplies, and
attendants, and has instituted this insignia throughout the medical
departments of the regular army, and gives the present impetus to the
movement of the National Guard in that direction as well. Previous to
the actual adoption of the treaty by the United States, but in view of
it, our National Society had been founded at the instance of President
Garfield, and the honor of its presidency unanimously tendered to him.
This courtesy was declined by him in favor of its present president,
who, without change of original officers, and with their concurrence,
has conducted the affairs of the society from that time, July, 1881. In
forming the constitution of the National Society of the United States,
it was decided by the framers, in view of our liability to great
national calamities, and non-liability to the exigencies of war, to ask
of the ratifying powers of the treaty to accept the National Society of
America, with power to extend its scope to the relief of great national
calamities other than war. This was granted, constituting the only
national society under the treaty having such privilege, and known among
other nations as the “American Amendment to the Red Cross.” It is under
this provision, or grant, alone, that the work of the Red Cross in
national calamities in this country during the last nine years has been
done. Within that time it has afforded relief at twelve fields of
national distress. And while these scenes of active labor constitute
mainly all that appears to the public eye as the work of the society,
they are in reality the smaller and by far the less difficult and
painstaking. The over-laden desks, translations from all languages,
international correspondence, advices sought, and decisions to be wisely
and delicately rendered, tell a different tale to the thought-burdened,
weary officers at Red Cross headquarters.