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THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL, PORTLAND. OREGON
FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 155. 19ZU.
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"Three and a half million children call to the heart :
and resources of America for these daily supplies, not j
available in their own countries, that are vital to their .
survival and tb the rebuilding of their physical well-
being" .-iJr
' "Our resources will be exhausted in January. .' ,
"We must not step aside and permit the spectre
of death, in the form of hunger and cold to haunt these
helpless ones this winter, yet we can not continue with
out help - . . f. i . '"'''.'" :
, . "This is ' a ' charge on the American heart, and
. America can not fail in her solicitude for these little .
'Ones.' ' " ' ' ,
. . Twenty-three million dollars must be raised with- T
out delay, and remembering the new heart you put into ' - '
the Commission for Relief in Belgium in the dark hours
of 1916, I come to you again."
(Signed) HERBERT HOOVER
Front a Utter to Ti Literary Digest
In immediate response the following editorial
was published in! The Literary Digest of Oct. 30th:
HEN JESUS CHRIST CAME UPON
the earth, nearly two thousand years ago,
to save all mankind, his mere 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 1 most atrocious crime against
innocent childhood ever committed up to that time.
It has come down to us through all the ages in song
and story, and master painters have pictured it on
marvelous canvases.
Tp-day passing in review, as .we look out
through the windows of our comfortable homes in
this great and happy land, are three and a half mil
lions, of helpless 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 must stretch across three
thousand miles of ocean, we still can see 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 arms stretched out to us, and '
their searching eyes looking into our souls, as they
say, "Help us, or we perish." And if we fail to
listen to this great call of three and a half millions
of tod's helpless 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, nearly two thousand years ago.
. In these lands, swept by death, and filled with
tragediesJoo deep for tears, a sum of human suffer
ing is being written greater perhaps than for 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 century could
hold,;:. : ;;i:jv ' . v..-;,..
'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 tojj'se all the power
God has given us to aid this noble-hearted American
in continuing the work of saving human lives i to
which he has: devoted unsparingly, and at great
personal sacrifice, his tremendous energy and ad
ministratiye 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-eighths of one per cent., with
no remuneration to the; American, directors. Now
he asks us 'all to help save the children who ar.e in
imminent danger of starvation this coming winter.
There they are, in the; midst of wrecked homes,
and farms, and factories in cities crowded with
masses of refugees without sustaining food for chil
dren, 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 fori workers; no "
means of subsistence; a land 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 there for them?
Will they be turned away? There are no happy,
healthy faces' in those long lines riot one. You
have seen rags and barefooted children, but never so
many little boys and girls literally drest in. tatters.
Soon it will be very coldj 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 find
that most of them are from one to 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 learning 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 suf ?
prizing 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. i 'j '
In Poland alone a million five hundred thou
sand such children must be cared for. ' In Latvia arid
Esthonia 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 central and southeastern Europe,
two millions more are in dire 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, j and the great American
heart is big enough to card for them all.
But the appeal now is not for all. The three and
a half' millions of children in immediate danger of
starvation, if this organization fails, who must have
food at once, are only a fraction of the total number.
The hungry children of jthose destitute countries
have been examined by competent physicians, and
only those whose wasted little bodies are reduced tb
the minimum weight, and whose endurance of hun- j
ger has reached the end which merges into actual
starvation, are admitted 'io the American kitchens
and given one meal a day. It is hard to turn away ;
thousands of hungry 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 I the extreme cases is com
pulsory, because there isn't enough for all.
And these neediest ones can not reach the kitch-1
ens through the cold winds and the snow barefooted r
and in the pitiful rags which form only a partial
covering for their bodies. They must have clothes.
Each outfit consists of one pair of warm woolen
stockings, one pair of boots, 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 starvation 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 nof
respond gladly and eagerly to the challenge of this
great need. We are asked, you with us, to cooper
ate with Mr. Hoover in raising twenty-three million"
dollars 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 sym
pathy, the great-hearted generosity theyt always
show when any real human need calls to them. You
have never been called upon in vain. We are count
ing on you now with a great confidence. We know,
also, how truly you represent the American spirit,
hundred and three
L ! . 1 - ' J
or plenty, a spirn
which beats in the hearts of a
millions more in this big land
which leaps ready at every such call, and is never
weary in well-doing. We are not a hermit nation,
isolated from the world, when buffering and want
cry out to us from anywhere under the sun. A great,
a beautiful, and heart-sustaining hope supports these
stricken people -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 ten dollars will pro-"
vide the coat and boots and stockings and one meal
a day 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 a little child as many of them as
they can, and every one will be a shining star in art
eternal crown. It was the Divine Love of little chil
dren, 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 riot go beyond
heretofore in order
frorrj suffering and
anything we have felt possible
to save these innocent children
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 $10,000, as well
as a deluge of smaller amounts, to send the fund
rolling on toward the necessary twenty-three mil
lions. Let us all see again what the father's heart is
like in this great rich land of America. Let us have
again a wondrous revelation of .the heart of Ameri
can motherhood. Let us have a great outpouring of
love and helpfulness in the name of Him who said,
"Feed my lariibs!" i
Presidentelect Harding, in a Great-Hearted Response, Sets an Example for All Americans
In the midst of the flood of, telegrams, telephone calls, the election returns pouring in upon him from every part of the United States, Mr; Harding turned from it all tdl
liic diiu, uuJdiui uic luiiuwing'ieiegram irom nis nome: i
THE LITERARY DIGEST. KEW.YORK CITYj i a Marion, Ohio, November 4. 1920. . '
i Sve Ju$t now read your splendid appeal to the people of America in behalf of three and a half millions of; anfbrtunate children in Central and Southeaster Europe who ire the hlp!ess victims of the Great War. Because
such a movement for relief reveals the true heart of America, because It bespeaks an American desire to play 4 peat people's part in relievine and restorinf God's own children, I want to commend and support your noble
. undertaking.'';-, in seeking God's blessing for ourselves I am sure He will bless us the more abundantly if we share our good fortune in acts of sympathy and human fellowship. I wish you a success which wUl reveal anew the i
unse''$'lne$s f our great people. I am . forwarding you my check for two thousand five hundred dollars by mail today. (Signed) WARREN G. HARDING. : c ;
Make all checks payable to 'The Literary Digest Child-Feeding Fund" and mail them direct to The Literary Digest. Every remittance will be acknowledged, and ,the
Literary Digest will be responsible for every dollar contributed, to see that it goes, without one penny deducted, to the purpose for which it is given. Address,
ChUd-Feeding, THE LITERARY DIGEST, 354-360 Fourth Avenue, New. York.
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