by-laws and regulations not inconsistent with the laws of the United States of America or any State thereof, and generally to do all such acts and things (including the establishment of regulations for the election of associates and successors) as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Act and promote the purposes of said organization; and the corporation hereby created is designated as the organization which is authorized to act in matters of relief under said treaty. In accordance with article seven of the treaty, the delivery of the brassard allowed for individuals neutralized in time of war shall be left to military authority. SEC. 3. That the purposes of this corporation are and shall beFirst. To furnish volunteer aid to the sick and wounded of armies in time of war, in accordance with the spirit and conditions of the conference of Geneva of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and also of the treaty of the Red Cross, or the treaty of Geneva, of August twenty-second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, to which the United States of America gave its adhesion on March first, eighteen hundred and eighty-two. Second. And for said purposes to perform all the duties devolved upon a national society by each nation which has acceded to said treaty. Third. To succeed to all the rights and property which have been hitherto held and to all the duties which have heretofore been performed by the American National Red Cross as a corporation duly incorporated by Act of Congress June sixth, nineteen hundred, which Act is hereby repealed and the organization created thereby is hereby dissolved. Fourth. To act in matters of voluntary relief and in accord with the military and naval authorities as a medium of communication between the people of the United States of America and their Army and Navy, and to act in such matters between similar national societies of other governments through the "Comité International de Secours," and the Government and the people and the Army and Navy of the United States of America. Fifth. And to continue and carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace and apply the same in mitigating the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods, and other great national calamities, and to revise and carry on measures for preventing the same. SEC. 4. That from and after the passage of this Act it shall be unlawful for any person within the jurisdiction of the United States to falsely and fraudulently hold himself out as, or represent or pretend himself to be, a member of, or an agent for, the American National Red Cross, for the purpose of soliciting, collecting, or receiving money or material; or for any person to wear or display the sign of the Red Cross, or any insignia colored in imitation thereof for the fraudulent purpose of inducing the belief that he is a member of, or an agent for, the American National Red Cross. Nor shall it be lawful for any person or corporation, other than the Red Cross of America, not now lawfully entitled to use the sign of the Red Cross, hereafter to use such sign or any insignia colored in imitation thereof for the purposes of trade or as an advertisement to induce the sale of any article whatsoever. If any person violates the provisions of this section, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be liable to a fine of not less than one nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both, for each and every offense. The fine so collected shall be paid to the American National Red Cross. SEC. 5. That the governing body of the said American National Red Cross shall consist, in the first instance, of a central committee numbering eighteen persons, to be appointed in the manner following, namely: Six by the incorporators herein named and twelve by the President of the United States, one of whom shall be designated by the President to act as chairman. It shall be the duty of the central committee to organize with as little delay as possible State and Territorial societies, including the District of Columbia, under such rules as the said committee may prescribe. When six or more State or Territorial societies have been formed, thereafter the central committeee shall be composed as follows: Six to be appointed by the incorporators, six by the representatives of the State and Territorial societies at the annual meeting of the incorporators and societies, and six by the President of the United States, one of whom shall be designated by him as chairman and one each to be named by him from the Departments of State, War, Navy, Treasury, and Justice. The first six members of the central committee elected by the incorporators at the first annual meeting, and the first six members of the central committee elected by the State and Territorial delegates, shall when elected select by lot from their number two members to serve one year, two members to serve two years, and two members to serve three years, and each subsequent election of members shall be for a period of three years or until their successors are duly elected and qualify. The six members of the central committee appointed by the President at the annual meeting shall serve for one year. The President shall fill as soon as may be any vacancy that may occur by death, resignation, or otherwise in the chairmanship or in the membership of the central committee appointed by him. And any vacancy that may occur in the six members of the central committee herein provided to be appointed by the incorporators or in the six to be appointed by the representatives of the State societies shall be filled by temporary appointments to be made by the remaining members of the six in which the vacancy or vacancies may occur, such appointees to serve until the next annual meeting. The central committee shall have power to appoint from its own members an executive committee of seven persons, five of whom shall be a quorum, who, when the central committee is not in session, shall have and exercise all the powers of the central committee. The Secretary of War shall within thirty days after the passage of this Act call a meeting at a time and place to be designated by him in the city of Washington of the incorporators hereunder, giving at least thirty days' notice thereof in one or more newspapers, and the annual meeting of said incorporators, their associates and successors, shall thereafter be held in said city on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in December, the first of said meetings to be held in December, nineteen hundred and five. Fifteen members shall constitute a quorum at any annual or special meeting. Voting by proxy shall not be allowed at any meeting of the incorporators, annual or special, nor at any meeting of State or Territorial societies organized under the provisions of this charter. SEC. 6. That the said American National Red Cross shall on the first day of January of each year make and transmit to the Secretary of War a report of its proceedings for the preceding year, including a full, complete, and itemized report of receipts and expenditures of whatever kind, which report shall be duly audited by the War Department, and a copy of said report shall be transmitted to Congress by the War Department. SEC. 7. That Congress shall have the right to repeal, alter, or amend this Act at any time. Passed the Senate December 14, 1904. Attest: CHARLES G. BENNETT, Secretary. By H. M. ROSE, Chief Clerk. REPORT TO ACCOMPANY S. 5704, FIFTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS THIRD SESSION 58TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3d Session REPORT No. 3146 AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS DECEMBER 16, 1904.-REFERRED TO THE HOUSE CALENDAR AND ORDERED TO BE PRINTED Mr. WILLIAM ALDEN SMITH, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 5704] The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 5704) to incorporate the American National Red Cross, report the same favorably and recommend its passage. Inasmuch as the United States is one of the signatory powers of the Treaty of Geneva, by which in time of war is guaranteed the neutrality of persons caring for the sick and wounded and all supplies for the same, and inasmuch as the American National Red Cross is the official organization existing in the United States under this treaty, and recognized by the International Red Cross Committee of Geneva as the official society of the United States, it becomes important to place this organization under Government supervision, for which the present charter, granted June 6, 1900, does not provide. By reference to Senate Document No. 178, Fifty-eighth Congress, page 11, question 8, it will be seen that in all the well-organized foreign Red Cross Societies governmental supervision is provided for. In Great Britain the society is subordinate to the war department, which is represented on the central committee and on the local branches. In France bylaws and instructions are under government control, and delegates are approved by the war department. In Germany government supervision is carried out by an imperial commission and an inspector under the war medical regulations. In Austria representatives of the war, navy, and interior departments are on the central committee. In Italy the president and representatives of the foreign affairs, war, navy, and interior departments are appointed on the central committee by the King, and the war and navy departments receive and approve all accounts. In Japan the society is under the supervision of the minister of the imperial house, war, and navy. The charter presented in this bill for the reincorporation of the American National Red Cross provides for Government representation on the central committee, and the auditing of all accounts by the War Department before the report is presented to Congress. Both are important factors in the plan for building up a well-organized Red Cross Society in this country. By comparing Senate Document No. 178, Fifty-eighth Congress, second session, above referred to, with the statement in regard to the American National Red Cross thereto appended, it will be shown how far short of all the foreign Red Cross Societies, in all questions, is the one in existence in the United States, and the need of placing the society, by a reincorporation under the charter as proposed in the present bill, under such Government supervision as will arouse and maintain public confidence and support. The bill now reported meets with the approval of the present organization of the American Red Cross and of the friends of that organization, who recognize that a reincorporation is required for its efficiency and more extended usefulness. The following members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs join in the report. R. R. HITT. WM. ALDEN SMITH. D. J. FOSTER. HUGH A. DINSMORE. J. B. PERKINS. C. B. LANDIS. |