REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE FUND FOR THE RELIEF OF EUROPEAN LAWYERS IMPOVERISHED AND RENDERED HOMELESS BY THE WAR. To the American Bar Association: The special committee constituted under the resolution of January 9, 1915, of the Executive Committee to raise funds for the relief of impoverished and homeless European lawyers, reports that following its appointment letters were sent to each member of the Association, and to the Secretary of each state and local Bar Association in the United States, calling attention to the need of immediate help for these professional brethren, and enclosing therein excerpts from letters received by a member of the Association from Edward S. Cox-Sinclair, Esq., of London, England, which cited specific instances of need in that country. The appeal resulted in the receipt by the Treasurer of the Association of the sum of $12,673.67. A sub-committee was duly appointed to attend to the distribution of funds, the sub-committee consisting of the Chairman of the whole committee and Simeon E. Baldwin, of Connecticut, Alton B. Parker, of New York, and Francis Rawle, of Pennsylvania. After due consideration the sub-committee decided to make remittance to England, as advices from that country first directed attention to the distressing condition of Belgian lawyers there in refuge, and of whom there are more than four hundred. Accordingly, the sub-committee designated Lord Justice Phillimore, Lord Justice of Appeal, and J. Arthur Barratt, an American citizen resident in London, as distributing agents, and on March 20, 1915, transmitted to them the sum of £1500 for distribution among the beneficiaries contemplated by the resolution of the Executive Committee of January 9, 1915, and on June 15, 1915, the further sum of £1000 for like purposes. The second remittance was with the express recommendation that applications for aid from France be considered by Lord Justice Phillimore and Mr. Barratt. A letter from Lord Justice Phillimore dated June 14, 1915, is annexed hereto. The funds were welcomed in London with profound gratitude, and some interesting details of the work accomplished have been set forth in the July Journal of the Association, which also contains an itemized account of the Treasurer's receipts and disbursements. Respectfully submitted, JOSEPH H. CHOATE, Chairman. APPENDIX ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE, LONDON, W. C., 14 June, 1915. The Honble. Joseph H. Choate, Wall Street, New York. DEAR MR. CHOATE: It may be convenient that I should report progress in respect of our stewardship. The first thing which Mr. Barratt and I did was to prepare a letter of which I send you a print, and to get it published by such newspapers as we thought would be read by those who should be the objects of your bounty. Thereupon we received, and are still receiving numerous applications. Some few at the beginning were from English solicitors. But though the applicants had apparently suffered heavily through the war, they had not been rendered homeless. So we ruled them out. We have given a small grant to a Russian who had been admitted to the Belgian Bar and had fled to this country. Otherwise all our applications have come from and all our direct grants have been made to Belgian lawyers and their families. But we have in pursuance, as we understood, of your wishes remitted £100 to Mr. Harper for his Paris committee. He will no doubt in due course tell you how that has been expended. Including this £100 we have disposed of £913. The first cases which we considered were those brought before us by Mr. Cox-Sinclair and his committee. We have made grants amounting to £150 to this committee to enable it to make some weekly payments to cases already on its books. As to further cases we have taken Mr. Cox-Sinclair's recommendations, examined the cases for ourselves, and made such grants as we thought We next came into contact with a committee presided over by Mr. Fladgate and formed for the distribution of a sum of £1000, collected through the Pall Mall Gazette. Mr. Morris who has been working under Mr. Fladgate has rendered us great assistance. We have worked with this committee and have found it a convenient arrangement to disburse some of our grants through it. But we have examined every case for ourselves, and I may add that Mr. Barratt has taken infinite trouble in the matter. funds of Mr. Fladgate's committee are now nearly exhausted. The largest grant we have made is a sum of £25. Most have been less. The We find that we have relieved 64 families, comprising 216 persons. The applicants are most reluctant to parade their needs and we find them living on very scanty allowances, and waiting to the last moment to apply to us. It is difficult to find work for them and many are taking the smallest positions. In general we have had to confine ourselves to making grants for temporary support till some salaried position was obtained, or for clothing for the family, or medical expenses, especially those of confinements. We are afraid that in many cases this temporary relief will be insufficient, and if we had sufficient funds, we should like to do what Mr. Cox-Sinclair's committee began doing, that is, make periodical payments, supplementing the scanty means of subsistence of those families. Mr. Harper informs us that there is a prospect of a further remittance of money by your committee. If the American bounty is thus increased there is, we fear, no doubt that there will be objects on which it can be bestowed. We are, however, a little embarrassed by Mr. Harper's letter of the 7th inst., of which I enclose a copy. If you are about to remit further funds you will tell us what you desire us to do with regard to transmitting a portion to the Paris committee. Yours with all respect sincerely, (Signed) WALTER G. F. PHILLIMORE. |