Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

e American Relief Admin- istration’s Riga Agreement. Miller’s Kharkow and Mos- cow Agreements. The Food Draft (Remittance) Agree- ment. The Agricultural Reconstruction Agreement. The Moscow Agreement of 1924. In keeping with suggestions from Moscow, and on invitation from the A.R.A. officials at New York, the Brethren Kratz, Mumaw, Loucks, and Orie Miller visited the A.R.A. offices at New York to discuss ways and means of cooperating most advantageously. After careful con- sideration they came to the conclusion that the best method would be to affiliate ourselves here with the A.R.A. as a distinct unit to carry on relief work in districts assigned to us, as far as possible of our choice; this arrangement being made without abrogating the agreements that Miller 64 FEEDING THE HUNGRY had been able to make in the name of the American Men- nonite Relief. At first it was considered that the best method would be to send our supplies in the form of community food- drafts, but the objection was raised, that in this way we always lost one-fourth of the food which our money pur- chased, therefore we changed to the public kitchen feeding plan, where all the needy of the district or village received like considerations regardless of race or religion and all the supplies were at the disposal of our representatives. Experience has proved that this was the best possible mode of action that could have been followed under con- ditions. Under this agreement we enjoyed the following privileges from the A.R.A. organization: namely, Upon deposit of our funds at New York, they deliv- ered to the order of our director at Moscow at cost, food, to the amount of the deposit; they transmitted our moneys and orders by cable to Moscow; they assisted us in securing passports for our American personnel; helped in directing our personnel on the trip across, furnishing them at the London office with all necessary information and also securing for them the visas of the countries through which they were to travel; they handled our food remittances without cost, except that one-fourth of the amount thus given was to go to the general child-feeding funds. As a whole we are glad to say, that the treatment that we received from the hands of the A.R.A. officials both at Moscow and the New York office was fair and accommodating. Our relations have invariably been cor- dial, and we could enumerate frequent special courtesies and favors extended to our committee and to the members of our personnel. From their side we have been repeat- edly assured of their satisfaction of our way of handling THE MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE 65 matters. As evidence of their attitude we also have let- ters from several of the officials, especially those of the New York office, that express their appreciation of our attitude and our dealings with them. A considerable part of this good standing with the New York officials must be attrib