Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

consummated to carry on your re- lief work in Russia. “Would it be possible for you, or one of your repre- sentatives, to meet with me in New York in order to work out the details of the relief? We have, as you probably know, made similar arrangements with one or two other religious organizations or organization of Nationals for their relief.” This was a welcome message, because it solved some problems the Committee had thus far been unable to solve satisfactorily, and it was concrete evidence that the con- tinued efforts of A. J. Miller had at length borne fruit. Plans were made to go to New York as soon as possible, and in a few days a committee of three had a very agree- able conference with the A.R.A. officials there. As a result of this conference we were accorded the same privi- leges as the organizations which had met with the A.R.A. in Washington, D. C., on August 24. Due consideration was given to the fact that A. J. Miller had succeeded in signing an independent agreement with the Soviet authori- ties—something which only the A.R.A. and the American Friends Service Committee had accomplished. The par- ticular advantage of the strategic position was that our organization was permitted to select its own field of op- eration in Russia. This enabled the Committee to make a much stronger appeal for funds. It made possible the building up of a strong organization in Russia, ready to function quickly and effectively and acceptably with the privilege of choosing its own territory. The organization could thus help those in Russia for whom there was a special concern, and at the same time maintain the princi- ple of helping all the needy in a given territory—regard- less of their race or creed. The first official report covering our operations was 376 FEEDING THE HUNGRY submitted to the New York office of the A.R.A. in Feb- ruary, 1923. In commenting on this report, in a letter dated February 13, Mr. Frank C. Page, Secretary of the A.R.A. wrote as follows: Mr. Levi Mumaw, Sec’y-Treas. Mennonite Central Committee. Dear Mr. Mumaw: It is really a remarkable balance sheet which you show, and it is a tribute to the generosity and Christian spirit of your people. My sincere congratulations! You are perfectly correct. Your statement that the Mennonites have sent over a million dollars is extremely conservative. I think if it were worth while to go through the great mass of individual remittances which we have received there would be found an additional sum of well over $200,000.00 in personal remittances from your Menno- nite people. : It has always been and still is a great pleasure to act as agents for you in the purchasing and shipping and trans- portation of supplies, and you may count on the maximum cooperation from the A.R.A. as long as the two organiza- tions are working side by side in any field. On June 15, 1923, we were officially notified by the American Relief Administ