are
from time to time informed of its bearing.

VII

ARMENIAN RELIEF

1896

Leaving the Port Royal field past midsummer of 1894, after an absence of
nearly a year--at a day's notice--the remainder of the autumn and winter
was scarcely less occupied in the details which had been unavoidably
overlooked. Before spring our correspondence commenced to enlarge with
rumors of Armenian massacres, and so excited and rapid was the increase
that, so far as actual labor, consultation, and thought were concerned,
we might as well have been on a field of relief.

Unfortunately, the suspicions of the Turkish Government had fallen upon
the resident missionaries, both English and American, as favoring the
views and efforts of its anarchistic population, or the "young Turks,"
as they were designated. This had the effect of placing the missionaries
in danger, confining them strictly to their own quarters, preventing
all communication and the receiving of any funds sent them from abroad.

England had a large waiting fund which it could not distribute, and
appealed to the American Missionary Boards of Boston and New York, to
find them equally powerless. The need of funds among the missionaries
throughout Turkey was getting painfully urgent, and as a last resort it
was suggested from Constantinople that the Red Cross be asked to open
the way.

A written request from the Rev. Judson Smith, D.D., of Boston, was
nearly identical with one received by us from Mr. Spencer Trask, of New
York, who with others was about to form a national Armenian relief
committee, to be established in that city.

Following these communications, both of these eminent gentlemen, Mr.
Smith and Mr. Trask, came in person to urge our compliance with their
request that the Red Cross accept the charge and personally undertake
the doubtful and dangerous task of distributing the waiting funds among
the missionaries in Turkey.

As Mr. Trask was to take the lead in the formation of a committee for
the raising of funds, his interest was naturally paramount, and his
arguments in favor of our acceptance were wellnigh irresistible.
Immediate action on the part of some one was imperative. Human beings
were starving, and could not be reached. Thousands of towns and villages
had not been heard from since the massacres, and only the Red Cross
could have any hope of reaching them. No one else was prepared for field
work; it had its force of trained field workers. Tur