American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief. 70 Fifth Avenue, New York
My dear Sir:
At its meeting held at 70 Fifth Avenue, New York City, on Monday, May 8th, 1916, the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief unanimously resolved to ask the good offices of the State Department and of Ambassador Gerard in transmitting the following communication to the Imperial German Government:
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief desires to express to the Imperial German Government the hope that the way may soon be open for the Committee to co-operate, in alleviating distress, with the diplomatic and consular representatives of the Imperial German Government, and with the agents of German missionary and relief organizations in the allied Empire of Turkey.
American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief counts among its members His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, as well as many leaders of the Protestant and Jewish faiths. The funds which it has distributed in Turkey have been disbursed under the general oversight of the American Embassy to the Sublime Porte and with the co-operation of American consular and missionary representatives and some German missionaries, and with imperial consideration of the needs alike of Gregorian, Roman Catholic, and Protestants.
Independently of the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, but in full sympathy with its work, the American Jewish Relief Committee has made provision for the needs of all the Jewish sufferers in Turkey.
In addition to this, in fulfilment of a suggestion received from official Turkish sources, members and friends of this Committee have recently sent the sum of $60000 for the relief of sufferers in Turkey irrespective of religion. The Committee that disbursed the same was appointed by the Turkish authorities.
Just as the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief desires to alleviate suffering regardless of religious differences, so it desires most earnestly to avoid the imputation of any kind of political partisanship. Though it has not been able to control the utterances of all its friends and supporters, its declared purpose has been to avoid political complications. Just as it has relived distress within the Turkish Empire, so it has, through the proper diplomatic and missionary channels, forwarded funds for the assistance of the Nestorian and Armenian refugees in Persia and in the Caucasus. It desires most emphatically to state that in doing this work of international charity it has no political advice to offer, nor does it advocate any of the so-called solutions of the Armenian Problem.
As the prospects of the return of peace grow brighter, the Committee believes that the way will open for the Imperial German Government, in co-operation with the allied Imperial Turkish Government, to take measures for supplying the sufferers in Turkey with more adequate shelter, clothing, and food and for paving the way for the readjustment of their economic life.
As in previous eras of widespread suffering, so now, an American Committee invites the active co-operation of the Imperial German Government and of the official and missionary circles of the friendly German nation.
We are encouraged to send this communication to the Imperial German Government as we have been reliably informed that both the German Foreign Office and its diplomatic representative in Constantinople are in full sympathy with the movement to render aid to the surviving Armenians.
Thanking you for your aid in this matter, I am
Yours sincerely,
Der Kaiserliche Botschafter in Washington ist seiner Zeit im Sinne von Ew. pp. Telegramm No. 706 beschieden worden.