Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

A. J. Miller, Director, and the All-Russian Mennonite Agricul- tural Union represented by P. F. Froese, F. F. Isaak and C. F. Klaassen, and the authorized representatives of the Slawgoroder and Pavlodar Districts of Siberia, a horse deal was made for the Orenburg and New Samara colo- nies. This agreement provided for the purchase of seed grain for the first named districts, and the acceptance as part payment therefor, immediately after seeding time, of 125 horses in condition for farm-work. ‘These horses were to be delivered to a special representative of the A.M.R. and a representative of the Mennonite settlement in Europe that wanted the horses. By this plan the same capital served to secure horses for the Orenburg Menno- nites and seed-grain for the Siberian Mennonites. This all looked very good. It was decided to drive the horses across the country. But before the drivers reached their destination they said that the trip was too much for the horses, and sent them by rail the remainder of the way. This raised the cost of the horses above their real value, so that some of them had to be auctioned off at a loss. Another great annoyance in this as in all commercial RECONSTRUCTION WORK IN RUSSIA 309 ventures of the kind, was the fluctuation of money values from day to day. Aside from these difficulties our work- ers, especially from the South, report that the horse sup- plying plan was one of the most appreciated forms of relief work. THE SHEEP AND Woot INDUSTRY Another form of relief work consisted in the invest- ment of funds in sheep, which were sold to the villagers on credit, in order that they might obtain wool to spin and weave into clothing. In 1924, 139 sheep valued at $350.00 were thus given to the people. In Siberia this method of relief was later extended very advantageously. Mr. Wittenberg, our representative in Siberia, writes that of seventy-five families that he visited there was not one where each member of the family had a shirt. In sixty families there was no underwear whatever, and no bed-clothing. They had no beds, and a heap of straw served the half naked children as sleeping quarters. At another place, the home of a widow with children, he saw only the woman. When he inquired as to the where- abouts of the children she said, “They are behind the stove.” He found that the children, among them a girl of eighteen, were practically without clothing. Something had to be done in such cases, but since it was very difficult to send clothing, or buy it over there, some other plan had to be found. After considerable reflection and discussion we ar- rived at our spinning and weaving plan, which was brought to the attention of the people by announcing throughout the villages, that the A.M.R. would provide for every needy person an opportunity to get clothing. The plan was this: We would furnish the wool and all who would receive food from the A.M.R. would be required to do