Funds.
It should be distinctly understood by contributors that neither their letters, nor any individual contributions came to us; these were received by the committees or parties raising the funds in America. The letters were doubtless faithfully acknowledged, and the various sums of money placed in the general fund forwarded to us by them. All contributions received by us directly at Constantinople are acknowledged in our report.
INTERIOR OF GREGORIAN CHURCH AT OORFA, WHERE MANY HUNDREDS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE MASSACRED.
Although an account of the disposition of all funds is rendered in the report of the financial secretary, which, after verification, I signed jointly with him, I will, however, at the risk of repetition, take the liberty of adding the following remarks on the subject:
It is to be borne always in mind that the amount of money to be distributed was never made a concern of ours, provided they were actually “funds to distribute.” To the question so frequently and kindly asked of us, “Did you have money enough, or were you embarrassed in your operations by want of funds?” I beg to have this reply intelligently understood: that we had always money enough in hand for the work in hand. We were never embarrassed in our operations by lack of funds, holding, as I always have, that charitable relief in order to be safe and efficient, should be conducted on the same reasonable basis as business, and that a good business man, unless by accident on the part of other persons, or of circumstances, will never find himself embarrassed, as he will never undertake more than he has the means to successfully accomplish. We were never embarrassed in our operations by lack of funds, and our committees will testify that no intimation of that kind ever came to them from us. This would have been both unwise and unjust. According to the universal system of charitable relief, all was being done that could be done; but if asked if we had enough for the needs of the people, enough to relieve the distress through desolated Asia Minor, enough to make those people comfortable again, then a very tender chord has been touched. No hearts in America are more sore than ours; its richest mine might drain in that attempt. Our men in the interior have seen and lived among what others vainly strive to picture; they are men of work, not words, and under heaven have labored to do what they could with what they had. It is their stewardship they are trying to render to a great-hearted, sympathetic and perplexed people, racked by various emotions, seeking light through every channel, and conclusively solving and settling in a score of ways, every day, problems and questions which have unsettled a considerable portion of the world for centuries.
MAP SHOWING THE COUNTRY TRAVERSED BY THE RED CROSS EXPEDITIONS CARRYING AMERICAN RELIEF TO THE VICTIMS OF THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES IN ASIA MINOR IN 1896.
The shaded district indicates the territory in which personal work was done.