It is one of the rightful boasts of America that, although she has been vehemently accused of making the "Almighty Dollar" her one god, she has always been ready with generous response to the call of need. It mattered not whence that call came; Ireland, Russia, India, Cuba were alike recipients of her bounty, full to overflowing, when they raised their voices in anguish. That the answer to the cry for help was so quick, so hearty, so satisfying, was in large degree the work of our womanhood, whose ears were ever attuned to the voice of suffering. This was so almost from the birth of America as a nation; but only of late has the answer from our women to such cries for help been organized and, therefore, really effective. This apart, however, it may be claimed that one of the enduring attributes of American womanhood--more so than of any other race--is its generosity and response to the call of humanity, uncaring for race or creed or any outward circumstance. Many of the organized efforts in this wise of later days have been but the expressions of the national spirit of generosity, first finding congenial direction and resultful methods. It is no new thing that American womanhood should give of its substance to the cause of humanity; the newness lies entirely in the more concentrated methods of such gift, directed along the most effective lines and thus escaping that diffusion and waste which is common to unorganized effort. That this result has been reached we owe chiefly to the leaders among the woman's movement in this direction toward the close of the past century.