Congressional report and NER testimony on a wartime relief-supply debt, 1919–1924
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Location

Washington D.C., United States

Year

1919

Item Detail

The record of Near East Relief's appeal to Congress to clear a $632,669 debt for relief supplies sent to Armenian refugees, including testimony from three NER officers and the 1919 letter from its founders

Context

This 1924 congressional report gathered the full documentary record of Near East Relief's effort to have Congress cancel a $632,669 debt it owed the federal government. The debt originated in 1919, when the organization purchased surplus United States Army provisions and medical supplies — leather, blankets, candles, soap, thread, and more than 71,000 pairs of shoes — from the Liquidation Commission in Paris and shipped them to Constantinople (Istanbul) and Armenia for the relief of destitute Armenian refugees. Because Near East Relief had not yet received its congressional charter at the time of purchase, the transaction was recorded as a straight sale rather than a donation, leaving the organization liable for a sum it had no means to pay from its contribution-funded treasury.

Compiled as House Report No. 638 to accompany bill S. 87, the document assembles the War Department's evidentiary file, a memorandum prepared by Near East Relief, and the full transcript of the Senate Committee on Claims hearing of January 24, 1924, at which three officers testified: Dr. A. M. Brodie, national representative in Washington; Maj. Davis G. Arnold, the former managing director at Constantinople who had made the original purchase; and Col. Willard D. Newbill, special representative from the New York office. Together these records preserve the operational leadership of Near East Relief addressing Congress directly, and embed a November 6, 1919 appeal from its founders.

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  • Holding Institution

    Near East Foundation

  • External Link
    https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/SERIALSET-08231_00_00-115-0638-0000

  • Attribution

    U.S. Congress, House Committee on Claims. Near East Relief (Inc.), H. Rept. No. 638, 68th Cong., 1st sess. (1924). U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo).

  • Rights

    No known copyright restrictions. Based on available information, NERHS is not aware of copyright restrictions on this material. Items are presented for non-commercial research and educational use. Users are responsible for determining rights status and compliance with applicable law.

  • Notes

    Eighteen-page congressional document: House of Representatives Report No. 638, 68th Congress, 1st session, dated May 3, 1924, submitted by Mr. Fredericks from the Committee on Claims to accompany S. 87. Government Publishing Office; carries the authenticated GPO seal. Available through govinfo in the Congressional Serial Set (vol. 8231; package SERIALSET-08231_00_00-115-0638-0000). Bill S. 87 was introduced December 6, 1923 by Senator James W. Wadsworth.

    Structure of the document:

    pp. 1–2: House Committee on Claims report recommending passage, with Senate Report No. 208 (68th Cong., 1st sess.) made a part of it.

    pp. 2–6: letter of Secretary of War John W. Weeks to Chairman Arthur Capper, January 14, 1924, forwarding the War Department file — including the itemized 1919 sales contract (leather, blankets, candles, soap, thread, and shoes totaling $632,669), the 1919–1923 correspondence between the War Department, the Liquidation Commission, and NER, and the July 5, 1919 opinion of the Liquidation Commission chairman that only Congress could cancel the claim; followed by a "Memorandum re bill for relief of the Near East Relief" prepared by NER.

    pp. 7–18: full transcript of the Senate Committee on Claims hearing of January 24, 1924 (chaired by Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas; Senators Brookhart, Stephens, and Magnus Johnson of Minnesota present).

  • Document Contents

    Eighteen-page congressional report on Near East Relief's $632,669 war-supply debt: the committee recommendation, the War Department file with the itemized 1919 purchase, an NER memorandum, and the full January 24, 1924 Senate hearing. Testimony from three NER officers — Dr. A. M. Brodie, Maj. Davis G. Arnold, and Col. Willard D. Newbill — with Arnold's firsthand account of the 1919 Paris purchase, Newbill's reading of the 1924 officer and trustee roster, and the November 6, 1919 founders' letter (Morgenthau, Elkus, Dodge, Hoover, Hemphill) to the Secretary of War.

Congressional report and NER testimony on a wartime relief-supply debt, 1919–1924