Life, 1926-12-02 · page 76 of 81
Life — December 2, 1926 — page 76: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a charitable advertisement, not political satire. Life magazine donated this page to promote "Golden Rule Sunday" (December 5, 1926), a fundraising campaign for the Near East Relief organization. The appeal uses emotional manipulation: a hypothetical scenario asking wealthy Americans to imagine their own children as orphans in the economically devastated post-WWI Near East (Ottoman territories, now modern Middle East/Turkey). It contrasts American prosperity with regional suffering. The "opinions" section features endorsements from prominent figures—President Calvin Coolidge, Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes, Cardinal O'Connell, and others—lending credibility. The coupon offers sponsorship options ($100/year for full child support; $5/month for food alone), making giving accessible. The underlying message: American affluence creates moral obligation to aid desperate foreign children through systematic charitable giving.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
If your children were orphans . . . and the Near East the world’s richest land! ‘The Near East Relief thanks LIFE for its generous donation of this page OPINIONS of prominent people “I regard International Golden Rule Sunday as a movement of much importance.” —Calvin Coolidge. The Near East Relief serves to “create a more sympathetic understanding between peoples and thus helps us to progress a step further toward world peace.""—Charles E. Hughes. “Its orphanage work is one of the finest pieces of constructive work I have ever seen.” —Cardinal O'Connell. “I can endorse without reservation its wise economic administration and devoted and ably qualified personnel.""—John R. Mott. “Nothing in the history of the American people so becomes them as their attitude toward these persecuted people.""—S. Parkes Cadman. “Easily the leader in the quality of its personnel.""—Felix Warburg. INTERNATIONAL Golden Rule Sunday December 5, 1926 Eat a simple, orphanage type of dinner that day. Think of the orphans of the Near East. Do for them what you would want to have done for your children if they should ever be left destitute. Yue now! ‘OULD it not, then, be the duty of this rich country of the Near East to care for your children, to save their lives and to bring them up and educate them? The practical application of the Golden Rule is the sole purpose of the Near East Relief which has saved more than a million lives. Statesmen, clergymen, business men, prominent citizens in every walk of life indorse the work of this nation-wide organization. But nation-wide approval is not enough. The Near East Relief must have nation-wide support in its stupen- dous task of teaching thousands of helpless children in the chaotic Near East to help themselves, to become factors in the help of others—and the work has just begun. Observe Golden Rule Sunday, December Sth. Make it a day of self-sacrifice, a day of kindly thoughts toward the needy thousands across the sea. Make it an oppor- tunity to help in this great movement of good-will. And above all, give something now to the Near East Relief, whatever you can afford. The need is urgent. Sponsorship of a child for one year, $100, includes clothing, feeding and educating. Food for a child for one month costs but $5. Surely you can afford to keep a little child from starving and suffering for one month. The coupon below is for your convenience. Don't postpone your part in Americe’s treat obligation to the suffering people of the Near East. Act today! To help these children I will for one year pay Near East Relief the sum indicated by my (x) mark. 1$100.00 Spa ship for one year ® ~ $ 25.00 per month _ a $ 2.00 per month _ $10.00 per month $_100 per month $ 5.00 per month ~ $8 per per month *Definite child assigned, photograph and story furnished. Make checks payable to Cleveland E. Dodge Treasurer Near East Relief 151 Pifth Avenue New York City comicbooks.com