Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

a whole trousseau for a bride; and simply loan them out for such occasions. Then it will not be necessary to make exceptions to rules, and yet all will be happy.’ And who does not want to be happy? Friends! There doubt- less were those who at times thought us Americans to be CLOTHING DISTRIBUTION IN RUSSIA 269 hard-hearted. We may have given occasion for such thoughts by insistence on impartiality and observance of contracts and agreements with the Soviet Government, and the rules of the A.M.R. But most of the tears we shed in Russia were shed unseen; and somehow even now, when you are trying to persuade your typewriter to re- hearse those tragic days, you find yourself obliged repeat- edly to blow your nose and to wipe your spectacles! Why should there be so much mass suffering and violent death? There are those who would lodge the blame for it all with the Christian Church, or even with the Almighty Himself. But as of old the wages of sin is death; and we must not look to Heaven for the cause nor to sinful man for the cure. David was right when he chose to fall into the hands of Jehovah rather than into the hands of men. ALLOCATION AND DISTRIBUTION In distributing clothing our rule was, Give to the most needy. Further, no one was allowed to select clothes for himself. All committee members had to fill out blanks. The Americans then selected the quota for each member of our volost committees; the volost com- mittees selected for members of the village committees; and these again distributed to the individuals who had Credit Slips. For all this, uniform regulations had been worked out. Lack of space forbids going into detail, but a few points may be noted. It was important that all clothing be distributed just as quickly as possible. In order that no clothes be left in the volost warehouses the central office sent with each shipment to a county a statement showing the exact per cent of the whole that was to go to each village or group in that volost. Memorandum No. 8 read in part: “For the purpose of 270 FEEDING THE HUNGRY establishing who under the regulations are the most needy, the A.M.R. central office at Alexandrowsk has gone to the trouble of checking over all lists sent in. Most of our committees have honestly striven to prepare these according to instructions. We thank you most heartily. Not all of the things are new; but most of them are good. The A. M. R. can only distribute what was sent. It is a gift. Therefore, please: “Persons who are working in families and _ receive clothes as pay, will receive none from the A.M.R. this time, since those who are able to hire help will certainly not expect the A.M.R. to pay their wage. “The unit values on all goods are fixed by the A.M.R. and under no circumstances is it permitted to deviate from these. “For the sake of all concerned, and especially as an object lesson, we took great pains to show no favoritism. Some local