exalted statesmanship of the President of the United States, his cabinet
and advisers, and the members of the Forty-seventh Congress, who,
without one breath of criticism, or one moment of delay, after they came
to fully understand the subject and comprehend its purposes and object,
granted all that was then asked of them, in the adhesion to the
treaties, in the recognition of the National Association, and the
provisions for printing and disseminating a knowledge of its principles
and practical work.
Perhaps no act of this age or country has reflected more credit abroad
upon those specially active in it, than this simple and beneficent
measure. It must, in its great and humane principles, its far-reaching
philanthropy, its innovations upon the long established and accepted
customs and rules of barbaric cruelty, its wise practical charity, stand
forever next to the immortal proclamation of freedom to the slaves that
crowns the name of Abraham Lincoln.
Special thanks are peculiarly due to those who have been its active,
wise and unwavering friends, who have planned its course so truly, and
set forth its purposes so clearly, that it will hereafter be
misunderstood only by those who are unwilling to learn, or who are
actively hostile to its beneficent aims.
Perhaps at the risk of seeming invidious--for we would by no means
ignore, and have no less gratitude for the legion of generous helpers we
cannot name--we might state that among those who have been foremost to
aid and encourage us have been the Hon. Omar D. Conger, of Michigan,
who, first in the House, and afterward in the Senate, has been
conspicuous for persistent and courageous work; also, Hon. William
Windom, of Minnesota, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, who
was first to investigate and take the matter up as a member of President
Garfield's cabinet; Senator E.P. Lapham, of New York, who has spared
neither time nor thought, patience nor labor, in his legal
investigations of the whole matter; and probably no person has done more
than he to throw light upon obscure parts and point out the true and
proper course to be pursued in the accomplishment of the work, and the
acceptance of the treaty. Senators Morgan, of Alabama; Edmunds, of
Vermont; Hawley, of Connecticut; Anthony, of Rhode Island; Hoar, of
Massachusetts, all accorded to it their willing interest and aid.
Indeed, all sections and parties have seemed eager to help the Red
Cross; a result that might, perhaps, have been anticipated, since it
asks only an opportunity to faithfully work according to methods
approved by thoughtful experience, and toward ends that all humane
persons must approve.
To the American newspaper press, and perhaps to the New York _Herald_
more than to any other newspaper, through its international character,
wonderful enterprise, and far-reaching circulation, the Red Cross is
indebted for timely aid and noble furtherance of its objects and aims.
It has been quick to discern their substantial character, and generous
and full in commending them. Still, the same difficulty confronts us in
regard to publications as persons--where all have been so willing it is
difficult to distinguish. Not less than three hundred periodicals and
papers have, within the last two years, laid upon our desk their
graceful tribute of encouraging and fitly spoken words, and it has been
given as an estimate of an experienced city editor, gathered through his
exchanges, that over five hundred editorial notices were given of our
little Red Cross book of last year, and these, invariably, so far as met
our eyes, kindly approving and encouraging. The capacity of the Red
Cross to carry on most wisely and well its beneficent work must in the
future, as it has done in the past, depend largely upon the active and
cordial co-operation of the newspaper press; and we do not doubt that it
will continue to receive the same prompt and efficient assistance so
long as it shall continue to deserve it.
By the combined assistance of all these powerful friends of the Red
Cross, the country has at last been rescued from the position in which
it had been standing for the last seventeen years--a puzzling wonder to
its admiring friends, a baffling enigma to all, treating its enemies
subdued with romantic generosity, and its enemies taken captive in war
with all the tenderness of friends, and yet, clinging, apparently with
intense fierceness, to an unsocial isolation, to savage rules and
regulations of war that only barbarians would ever wish to practice,
pouring out its beneficence in astonishing prodigality, and in untold
volume, variety and value upon strangers, and yet seemingly hesitating
only when it was proposed by international law and system to use and not
waste its magnificent voluntary offerings, but to entrust them all to
responsible agents, trained in the very torrent and tempest of battle,
to wisely apply this generosity to the great and awful needs of
war--agents held to business rules, with calm accountability amid
distraction and panic, trained to protect material, to give and take
receipts, and at last to account faithfully for everything entrusted to
them, like the officers of a well-regulated bank.
The final adhesion of the United States to the treaty of the Red Cross
has created a lively sense of satisfaction in all its affiliated
societies wherever, throughout the world, its beneficent work is carried
on; particularly, by the International Committee of Geneva, has this
wise and simple act of beneficence and common sense and common humanity
been regarded with sentiments of gratitude and renewed hope. The
American National Association has received the following expression of
the sentiments of the noble and philanthropic president of the
International Committee, written upon the receipt from the United States
of the official documents of recognition:
COMITE INTERNATIONAL DE SECOURS
AUX MILITAIRES BLESSES,
GENEVA, _September 6, 1882_.
MISS CLARA BARTON, _Washington, D.C._:
MADEMOISELLE: I come to thank and congratulate you cordially upon
your new success. I have read your letters of the 11th and 14th with
the most lively interest, and I have also received, through the
medium of the United States consul at Geneva, all the official
documents which you have announced to me.
The position of your society is now entirely (_tout á fait_)
correct, and nothing more opposes itself; so that by a circular we
can now make it known to the societies of other countries. I am
already occupied in the preparation of this document, but I am
obliged to leave for Turin, where I go to attend the reunion of the
International Institute of Law, and it will not be until my return,
say about the twentieth of September, that I can press the printing
of the circular. In any case, it will be ready before the end of the
month.
Accept, mademoiselle, the assurance of my distinguished sentiments.
G. MOYNIER, _President_.
The circular alluded to in this letter of M. Moynier announces the
adhesion of the United States to the great international compact of the
Red Cross, and authenticates and opens the way for the voluntary
action of the people and the government in international humanitarian
action, through the medium of the American Association of the Red
Cross, and is in the following terms:
INTERNATIONAL CIRCULAR.
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE. FOUNDATION OF THE AMERICAN
SOCIETY OF THE RED CROSS.
FIFTIETH CIRCULAR TO THE PRESIDENTS AND MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL
CENTRAL COMMITTEES.
GENEVA, _September 2, 1882_.
GENTLEMEN: When on the twenty-third of August, 1876, we announced to
you by our thirty-fourth circular, that the American society for aid
to the wounded had had only an ephemeral existence, and had finished
by dissolution, we still entertained the hope of seeing it revive,
and we asked the friends of the Red Cross to labor with us for its
resuscitation.
To-day we have the great satisfaction of being able to tell you that
this appeal has been heard, and that the United States is again
linked anew to the chain of our societies.
Nevertheless it is not the old association which has returned to
life. That which we present to you at this time has a special origin
upon which we ought to give you some details.
Its whole history is associated with a name already known to you,
that of Miss Clara Barton. Without the energy and perseverance of
this remarkable woman we should probably not for a long time have
had the pleasure of seeing the Red Cross revived in the United
States. We will not repeat here what we have said elsewhere of the
claims of Miss Barton to our gratitude, and we will confine
ourselves to mentioning what she has done to reconstruct a Red Cross
society in North America.
After having prepared the ground by divers publications, she called
together a great meeting at Washington on the twenty-first of May,
1881; then a second, on the ninth of June, at which the existence of
the society was solemnly set forth. On the same day President
Garfield nominated Miss Barton as president of this institution.
The International Committee would have desired from that time to
have given notice of the event to all the central committees, but
certain scruples restrained it.
Remembering that the first American society had been rendered
powerless by the distinct refusal of the cabinet at Washington to
adhere to the Geneva Convention, it took precaution and declared it
would wait, before recognizing the young society, until the
government should have regularly signed the treaty of 1864. Miss
Barton, understanding the special propriety of this requirement,
redoubled her efforts to attain this end, and we know that on the
first of March she gained a complete victory upon this point.
There remained another question with respect to which the
International Committee did not feel itself sufficiently informed.
Just how far was the American Government disposed to accept the
services of this society? We have often said, and we repeat it, that
a society which would be exposed, for the want of a previous
understanding, to find itself forbidden access to its own army in
case of war, would be at fault fundamentally, and would not be
qualified to take its place in the International concert. Further
upon this point Miss Barton and the members of the American Central
Committee, sought to enter into our views. They conferred with the
competent authorities. The desired recognition was very difficult to
obtain, for it was contrary to American customs and traditions. It
was, nevertheless, accomplished after considerable discussion. On
this point Miss Barton has stated to us that the government, in
acquiescing in the decision which had been expressed, was entering
upon a path altogether new, and that the official recognition of the
Red Cross Society was for the latter a very exceptional honor.
Certain documents resulted therefrom which have been communicated to
us directly by the Secretary of State, at Washington, showing:
1st. That the American Association of the Red Cross has been legally
constituted by an Act of Congress.
2d. That President Arthur has declared himself in full sympathy with
the work, and very willingly has accepted the presidency of the
Board of Consultation.
3d. That the principal members of the cabinet have consented to
become members of a board of trustees, empowered to receive
subscriptions and to hold the funds for the society.
4th. Finally, that Congress unanimously, without discussion or
opposition, has voted a sum of one thousand dollars, to be expended
by the government in printed matter, designed to inform the people
of the United States of the organization of the Red Cross. The
initiation of this last measure was not the work of the society but
of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; consequently it
bears witness to the spontaneous impulse with which the Houses of
Congress came into accord with the views of Miss Barton.
We must add that the International Committee attaches so much the
more importance to the fact that this society took an official
position, because there was created, at nearly the same time in the
United States, two other institutions, claiming to pursue a similar
object, but of which the Committee of Geneva is absolutely ignorant.
One, called "The Woman's National Relief Association," which
concerns itself with all public calamities, among other things with
the calamities of war, but more especially with shipwrecks, and has
for its distinctive emblem a blue anchor; the other has taken the
name of "The Order of the Red Cross." Dr. James Saunders is the
president of it, with the title "Supreme Commander." This order
proposes to organize more or less in a military way and appears
desirous of imitating the orders of chivalry in ancient times.
The American Central Committee of the Red Cross has its seat at
Washington, but has already founded branches in other localities, at
Dansville, Rochester, Syracuse, etc. Soon, doubtless, cities of the
first class will also take their turn.
We will give in our next bulletin the complete text of the
constitution and by-laws of the American society, which, as will be
seen, has not believed it ought to limit its program to assistance
in case of war, but has comprised within it, in conformity with a
suggestion of the conference at Berlin, the other great calamities
which might befall the country and its inhabitants.
As for ourselves, we have greeted with joy the addition of the
United States to the countries already enrolled under the Red Cross;
it is for our work an important and long desired reinforcement, and
we doubt not our impressions in this regard will be shared by the
twenty-eight central committees to which we address these lines.
We also hope that next year some representatives of the American
society will cross the Atlantic in order to fraternize with the
delegates of the other nations, who will certainly be happy to meet
them at the conference at Vienna.
Receive, gentlemen, the assurances of our distinguished
consideration.
For the International Committee of the Red Cross.
President: G. MOYNIER.
Secretary: G. ADOR.
The foregoing pages deal only with the official history of the Red Cross
and its inauguration in this country, closing with the accession of the
United States to the Treaty and its promulgation in 1882. The original
formation of the Red Cross was had previous to the adoption of the
Treaty by the government, and, indeed, primarily for that very purpose.
That was the corner-stone upon which rested the entire structure of the
Red Cross in America at that date, and constituted almost entirely the
work undertaken by it to perform.
During the first ten years of the existence of the organization it had
accomplished all that had been promised, and a great deal more; and had
proved the utility of its work on almost continuous fields of national
calamity of the character defined in the "American Amendment" to the
Treaty. But the American government had not given the Red Cross the
official recognition that it desired and was entitled to; and it could
not take its appropriate place by the government of which it was so
eminently a part. As long as government provides for war, so long must
it recognize its adopted twin sister of peace, the Red Cross; as long as
it finds it necessary to deliberately mutilate men, so long should it
take part in healing them.
In order to strengthen the organization, and make its influence more
widely felt, the members decided to adopt a plan that would enable them
to work on a somewhat broader basis; accordingly, on April 17, 1893, the
Red Cross was reincorporated and has continued its labors up to the
present time under the provisions of the instrument a copy of which
follows:
THE RE-INCORPORATION OF THE AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS.
CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION OF THE AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS.
Know all men by these presents, that we, Clara Barton, Julian B.
Hubbell, Stephen E. Barton, Peter V. DeGraw and George Kennan, all
being persons of full age, citizens of the United States, and a
majority residents of the District of Columbia, being desirous of
forming an association to carry on the benevolent and humane work of
"The Red Cross" in accordance with the Articles of the International
Treaty of Geneva, Switzerland, entered into on the twenty-second day
of August, 1864, and adopted by the Government of the United States
on the first day of March, 1882, and also in accordance with the
broader scope given to the humane work of said treaty by "The
American Association of the Red Cross," and known as "The American
Amendment," whereby the suffering incident to great floods, famines,
epidemics, conflagrations, cyclones, or other disasters of national
magnitude, may be ameliorated by the administering of necessary
relief; and being desirous of continuing the noble work heretofore
performed by "The American Association of the Red Cross,"
incorporated in the District of Columbia for the purpose of securing
the adoption of the said Treaty of Geneva by the United States, for
benevolent and charitable purposes, and to co-operate with the
Comite International de Secours aux Militaires Blesses.
Now, therefore, for the purpose of creating ourselves, our
associates and successors, a body politic and corporate in name and
in fact, we do hereby associate ourselves together under and by
virtue of sections 545, 546, 547, 548, 549 and 550 of the Revised
Statutes of the United States relating to the District of Columbia,
as amended and in force at this time; and do make, sign and
acknowledge this Certificate of Incorporation, as follows, to wit:
_First._--The name by which this association shall be known in law
is: "The American National Red Cross."
_Second._--The principal office of the association shall be in the
City of Washington, District of Columbia.
_Third._--The term of its existence shall be fifty years from the
date of this certificate.
_Fourth._--The objects of this association shall be, in addition to
the purposes set forth in the above preamble, as follows, to wit:
1. To garner the store materials, articles, supplies, moneys, or
property of whatsoever name or nature, and to maintain a system of
national relief and administer the same in the mitigation of human
suffering incident to war, pestilence, famine, flood, or other
calamities.
2. To hold itself in readiness for communicating and co-operating
with the Government of the United States, or any Department thereof,
or with the "Comite International de Secours aux Militaires
Blesses," of Geneva, Switzerland, to the end that the merciful
provisions of the said "International Treaty of Geneva" may be more
wisely and effectually carried out.
3. To collect and diffuse information concerning the progress and
application of mercy, the organization of national relief, the
advancement of sanitary science and the training and preparation of
nurses or others necessary in the application of such work.
4. To carry on and transact any business, consistent with law, that
may be necessary or desirable in the fulfillment of any or all of
the objects and purposes hereinbefore set forth.
5. The affairs and funds of the corporation shall be controlled and
managed by a Board of Directors, and the number of the directors for
the first year of the corporation's existence, and until their
successors are lawfully elected and qualified, is five, and their
names and addresses are as follows, to wit:
Clara Barton, Washington, D.C.; Peter V. DeGraw, Washington, D.C.;
Dr. Julian B. Hubbell, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Joseph Gardner,
Bedford, Ind., and Stephen E. Barton, Newtonville, Mass.
The names and addresses of the full membership of the association,
who shall be designated as charter members, are as follows, to wit:
Clara Barton, Washington, D.C.; Hon. William Lawrence,
Bellefontaine, Ohio; Peter V. DeGraw, Washington, D.C.; George
Kennan, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Julian B. Hubbell, Washington, D.C.;
Colonel Richard J. Hinton, Washington, D.C.; Mrs. Henry V. Boynton,
Washington, D.C.; Rev. Rush R. Shippen, Washington, D.C.; Rev.
Alexander Kent, Washington, D.C.; Rev. William Merritt Ferguson,
Washington, D.C.; General Edward W. Whitaker, Washington, D.C.;
Joseph E. Holmes, Washington, D.C.; Mrs. Peter V. DeGraw,
Washington, D.C.; Mrs. George Kennan, Washington, D.C.; Mrs. R.
Delavan Mussey, Washington, D.C.; Mrs. Omar D. Conger, Washington,
D.C.; A.S. Solomons, Washington, D.C.; Walter P. Phillips; New York,
N.Y.; Joseph Sheldon, New Haven, Conn.; John H. Van Wormer, New
York, N.Y.; Albert C. Phillips, New York, N.Y.; Mrs. Walter P.
Phillips, New York, N.Y.; Mrs. Joseph Gardner, Bedford, Ind.; Dr.
Joseph Gardner, Bedford, Ind.; Miss Mary E. Almon, Newport, R.I.;
Dr. Lucy Hall-Brown, Brooklyn, N.Y.; John H. Morlan, Bedford, Ind.,
and Stephen E. Barton, Newtonville, Mass. But the corporation shall
have power to increase its membership in accordance with by-laws to
be adopted.
In witness whereof, we have hereto subscribed our names and affixed
our seals in triplicate, at the City of Washington, District of
Columbia, this seventeenth day of April, A.D. 1893.
Witness:
STEPHEN E. BARTON, GEORGE KENNAN, }
CLARA BARTON, S.G. HOPKINS, } (Seal.)
JULIAN B. HUBBELL, F.H. SMITH, }
P.V. DEGRAW, }
I, S.G. Hopkins, a Notary Public in and for the said District of
Columbia, do hereby certify that Clara Barton, Julian B. Hubbell,
Stephen E. Barton, P.V. DeGraw and George Kennan, whose names are
signed to the foregoing and annexed "Certificate of Incorporation of
the American National Red Cross" bearing date of April 17, A.D.
1893, personally appeared before me, in the said District of
Columbia, the said Clara Barton, Julian B. Hubbell, Stephen E.
Barton, P.V. DeGraw and George Kennan, being personally well known
to me as the persons who executed the said certificate, and each and
all acknowledged the same to be his, her and their act and deed for
the purpose therein mentioned.
Given under my hand and official seal, this seventeenth day of
April, A.D. 1893.
(Signed.) S.G. HOPKINS, _Notary Public_.
Immediately following our accession to the Treaty of Geneva, March 1,
1882, the president of the Red Cross was asked by the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate, to prepare a history of the Red Cross
for publication by them through the government printing office. This was
done, and a book of two hundred and twenty-seven pages was issued,
giving an account of the origin of the organization, the steps by which
it became a treaty, of our own initiation, and not only the exact text
by which our accession was made, but that of every other nation within
the treaty up to that time, 1882.
A bill for a reprint by Congress of fifty thousand copies of this book
was lost in the session of 1898 through lack of time.
No consecutive book has been published by us since that date, but the
history has been perhaps even more fully told, and that scores of times,
in public addresses which its president and assistants have been called
to make before great assemblies, selections from some of which will
appear in this volume, as the fullest information given in the most
compact manner that we can render in the short space of time allotted
us.
The very title of the organization, viz.: "Relief in War," has been a
misnomer, and through all the early years especially was very generally
misunderstood by the public. I have not unfrequently been invited and
innocently urged to attend peace meetings and large charity gatherings
for the poor and afflicted on the ground of needing instruction myself;
inasmuch as I "was engaged in advocating war, wouldn't it be well to
hear something on the other side?" And I have been invited to become
party to a discussion in which the merits of peace and war should be
compared.
Large organizations of women, the best in the country, and, I believe,
the best in the world, have faithfully labored with me to merge the Red
Cross into their society as a part of woman's work; without the smallest
conception or realization of its scope, its international character, its
treaty obligations, and the official ground it was liable at any time to
be called to occupy.