MANY APPEALS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2854, 19 August 1916, Page 14

MANY APPEALS

-—-*- — ■ I-'OK .REFUGEES OF ALL NATIONS Tho Lord Mayor of London must ordinarily be a bus.y man. What Uis lot-has boon since tho- war- broke out it is difficult to-imagine, as lie is i>iked to make appeals almost daily, at least weekly, for this or that object; appeals, not'only to the citizens of London, but the citizens of thu Empire. In a circular received by tho Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. P. Luke), an appeal is made for. tho Armenian Refugees' Fund established by the Lord. Mayor of London. The circular states: "During tho suinuior of 1915, while war raged in lluropn, umssitcro usimo near to exterminating the Armenian inhabitants of Asia Minor. Methodically the Turkish authorities' proceeded to kill or drivo out a whole race—men, women, and .children. Half a million, perhaps more, woro done to death, and about/another liaJf-.wiUion Hod to Eussia and other lands. Tho facts liavo .been confirmed by Lord Crcvye and Sir YA ward Grey uncnkiug for the Government in Parliament, by American missionaries, by tho Italian Consul at Trebizond, and from many other reliable sources. It is diflicult, if not impossible, to help those who still remain within the Turkish borders, some perhaps, still brively defending themselves in tho mountains. What can be done is to save the lives of the refugees in Kussia ni.«{ elsewhere who arc dying in thousands from hardship, want, and disease. For this object the Lord Mayor of London opened tho above fund in October kst at a Mansion House meeting. In the winter of 191415, about 200,000 Belgian refugees landed on thesa shores. Erai for a rich country like. England it was deemed a considerable tax to organise relief and hospitality for such a number. Since May, 1915, iJSO,OOO Armenians have poured into the Russian Caucasus from Turkey. How to feed, clothe, and house such a number is a problem beyond the power of the Armenians resident in the Caucasus. "Tho .Russian authorities have their hands already overfull, but they aro providing such sanitary precautions against dysentery, cholera, and other sicknesses as are urgent, and are helping in other ways as far as they are able. So are the Armonians who are permanently resident in Russia. We therefore send you this appeal in the confident hope that the desperate condition of these unfortunate people will move you to give them all the help in your power. Since its inauguration tho fund has received the help of the Lord Mayors of Manchester and Liverpool, tho Lord Provosts of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and of many other public men. Altogether about £40,000 has been collected up to March ], 1916. As rapidly as funds have come in they have been telegraphed to the Russian Caucasus, through reliable intermediaries, including H.M. Consul-General at Moscow, the Mayor of Tiflis, the Catho ; icos of the Armenian Church, tho Central-War Victims Relief Committee in Tillis, and tho American missionaries who are engaged in relief work. Money has also been telegraphed to H.M". Consul in Tabriz for tho Syrians and other refugees _ who have fled to Persia. All subscriptions sent to us will bo forwarded in full, the necesary expenses being provided otherwise.—On behalf of tho Committeo (Sianed) Charles Wakefield, Lord Mayor, President; Bryce. Vice-President; Aneurin Williams. Chairman of Committee; Harold Buxton, Hon. Secretary."