Il8 THE AMERICAN RED CROSS

Serbia's Problem
The principal relief problem in Serbia during the past year was that
of the war orphans, of whom 90,000 were still unprovided for on July
I, 1920. The child health problem was complicated by the lack of
housing, by the ravages of tuberculosis, and by the low standard to
which living had fallen. Through the establishment of a child welfare
department, the Government provided for 40,000 of the orphan chil
dren, leaving 50,000 still unabsorbed.

Red Cross Liquidation

In June, 1920, it had been decided to liquidate immediately the old

Red Cross Commission to Serbia. Major George F. Lyon was appointed
Commissioner for the period of the liquidation. He was occupied in
this task during July, August and September, completing the liquidation
on October 1, 1920. The general plan was to transfer all Red Cross
supplies and institutions to other operating agencies. In a single final
gift, orphanages and other Serbian relief institutions re
34 hospitals,
ceived supplies valued at 2,250,000 francs, the largest relief donation
ever made in Serbia. The 32 Red Cross hospitals, clinics and dis
pensaries, established at various stages of the Red Cross work since
1915, were mostly transferred to the local authorities, who, in the
greater number of cases, undertook to maintain and continue them.
In connection with the liquidation of the old general relief work,
4,000 families in the Bosnian towns of Serajevo, Foca, Visegrad and
Vlasanitza received supplies of clothing. A similar distribution was
made to 4,500 families in Herzegovina. A station at Ragusa, on the
Dalmatian coast, distributed clothing and other relief supplies to repatri
ated prisoners of war until it was closed, in September. The same
station provided American clothing for more than 1,000 veterans of the
Serbian army, naturalized citizens of the United States, who were wait
ing at Ragusa for transportation back to America.

New Child Health Program

On January 1 a plan was concluded for new work in Serbia along

the strictly child health lines which were laid down by the new Red
Cross program. The greater part of Serbia's destitute war orphans at
that time were being registered in various families, who received a
grant of 50 dinars monthly, or its equivalent in clothes, on condition
that the child should be sent regularly to school. Under the new plan