Minister Hicks to the Secretary of State.
Santiago, December 31, 1906.
Sir: Referring to my Nos. 83, 85, and 104, dated September 14, 1906; September 21, 1906, and December 6, 1906,a I now have the [Page 159] pleasure to transmit herewith the accounts and vouchers for the funds sent me for distribution among the earthquake sufferers by the Red Cross societies in the United States. The accounts are up to and include December 5.
They show that the total amount of money received by me through the State Department was $8,943.38 American currency, equal to $30,831.35 in Chilean currency, that $23,480 had been expended, leaving a balance in the bank of $7,351.35. Since that date I have received department’s telegram of December 29, authorizing a draft for $3,410, which was sold to the Bank of Tarapaca for $11,876.90 Chilean money, the proceeds remaining in the bank subject to check. Approximately, therefore, at this date there is on hand about $12,000 Chilean money, which is being drawn against in small sums every day.
It is hardly possible for me to report in detail within the limits of an ordinary dispatch the labor that this legation has performed in the distribution of these funds. Under department’s instructions I was directed to consult with the foreign office and the Chilean Red Cross societies and pay out the money at my discretion. There are no Red Cross societies in Chile, and I was advised by the minister of foreign affairs to disburse the money according to my best judgment.
The easiest and quickest way to do the work would have been to turn the whole amount over to the Government, and thus get rid of the labor and responsibility; or else, in the distribution to private parties, hand it out in large sums so as to make the work shorter.
But I could not reconcile either method with my sense of duty under the circumstances. The Chilean Government has received officially immense sums for the relief of the earthquake sufferers. I have handed over to it $15,000 American money from the city of San Francisco and $5,000 from Los Angeles, Cal. The aggregate sums received by the Government are so vast that the work of distribution is a puzzle to the authorities, and I understand only a small amount has been actually disbursed up to date, and, of course, only a portion of the sufferers have been assisted.
In the face of these conditions, I consulted with a prominent Chilean lady, Señora de Jordan, president of the Woman’s Anti-Tuberculosis League, and with her assistance and cooperation began the distribution.
We decided to try to relieve only cases of actual suffering, and by the payment of small amounts at a time, giving preference always to Americans or descendants of Americans. According to the appearance of the applicant, the amount ranged from $50 to $200 Chilean money, and in each case we required testimonials as to the character of the sufferer. Where there was unmistakable evidence of great hardship, the applicant after having been paid a small sum was told to come again, for to many of these poor people the possession of a large sum of money was unusual and bewildering, and it was deemed best to extend the payments over several weeks.
A majority of the applicants were widows with large families, in many cases six or eight children, quite a number had nine and ten children, and in at least one case there were twelve children to be provided for. Sometimes both parents had been killed in the earthquake, leaving small children helpless and uncared for, with the home and its contents destroyed by the earthquake.
[Page 160]As an illusration, I will mention the case of two girls, aged about 17 and 18. When they entered I was shocked at their appearance, for they were ragged and filthy, their Indian blood showing in its most unpleasant form, with hair uncombed, faces unwashed, and only sufficient dirty clothing to hide their nakedness. I began the usual questions in Spanish, for they spoke no English:
“Where do you live?”
“In Valparaiso.”
“Have you father and mother?”
“Both were killed in the earthquake.”
“How many children in your family?”
“Four now; we are the oldest. There are two more little ones. Two older brothers were killed in the earthquake.”
“Was the house destroyed?”
“Yes; it was burned and all our clothes and furniture.”
With thousands of other refugees they had been sent up to Santiago and were living in a temporary shelter.
It did not need much argument to show that they were entitled to assistance, so I decided to give them $200. Then it occurred to me that they might waste the money if they had so much at once, so I gave them $100 and told them to come back in a week and I would give them some more. At the end of the week they were ushered into the office by the clerk and I did not recognize them. They were neatly dressed, each wearing a manto, with faces clean, hair combed, and a magical transformation generally. They informed me that they had secured rooms in which to live and that one of the sisters had found occupation and was to commence work the next day. I paid them an additional $100, and when the oldest one started to go she addressed me in Spanish:
“May God bless you and when you die take you right straight to glory!”
Cases of the aged and infirm, the blind, the helpless, the lame, sufferers generally, are those relieved, always confining the payment to the sufferers by the earthquake.
Considering the number of cases relieved, the proportion of frauds or persons not entitled to receive help is very small. I investigate each case and require written testimony, and only in a few instances have I found misrepresentation. Another gratifying feature is that these people do not return for more money unless I have told them to do so. I am of the opinion that the average of honesty, integrity, and truthfulness among these people, judging from my experience in the disbursement of this money, is fully as high as it is among any people in the world.
I have paid no money to rebuild houses, no money for steamship fares, and no money for any purpose except the relief of immediate suffering.
Another matter worthy of mention is that no part of the fund has been devoted to the payment of clerk hire, carriages, postage, telegrams, or expenses of any kind. All the work has been done by the legation force, and every dollar has been expended and will be expended for the relief of the earthquake sufferers, and this I understand to be the object of the donors.
[Page 161]It takes considerable time. Often from two to four hours a day are devoted to the “reception” of the applicants, and to listen to the story, examine the applicant, get duplicate receipts, and make the payment is slow and laborious. Yet I am free to confess that the pleasure of relieving real suffering and to feel the psychological wave that starts from the applicant on getting possession of a check, and to see the happiness expressed in the applicant’s eyes is more than sufficient recompense for all the extra labor it involves.
And if the spontaneous expressions of thanks and invocations to the Supreme Being which escape from these poor but grateful sufferers when they get their money could be noted by the material eye, I have no doubt that a general stream would be seen mounting from this legation to the highest heaven, like smoke from a farmer’s chimney on a clear, cold winter morning in Wisconsin.
Shortly before the receipt of department’s last remittance by telegram, the funds had become nearly exhausted, and we had been compelled to suspend payments. The look of disappointment in the faces of the applicants when notified was so lugubrious and pathetic that I was almost tempted to continue the relief out of my own pocket.
I will say further that as the suffering from the earthquake was very light in Santiago, the payments have been made almost entirely to sufferers from Valparaiso and other towns where great damage was done. Probably 30,000 refugees came up here from Valparaiso, and it was among this class that most of this money was distributed.
The balance of the fund will be distributed in the same manner as the foregoing.
Trusting that the work as outlined will meet the approval of the department, I am, etc.,
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