Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

nsider the Russian famine situa- 124 FEEDING THE HUNGRY tion. It was deemed important for me to attend this meeting. There were present over a hundred delegates, representing about thirty organizations, from twenty-two different countries. The conference, presided over by Gustav Ador, listened to a description of conditions in Russia. A Russian, one of the former close friends of Lev Tolstoi presented the needs of his country. One of the English representatives, who had been prominent in India famine relief activities, stressed the importance of unified control. It was agreed to ask Dr. Fridtjoff Nan- sen, the Arctic explorer, and Herbert Hoover to serve as High Commissioners of the International Committee for Russian Relief; thus unifying all organizations that might wish to aid Russia. In opposition to this, a delegate pro- tested that it would hardly be fitting to ask Herbert Hoover to be one of the Commissioners, intimating that the United States was practically at war with Soviet Rus- sia. Whereupon Mr. Bicknell, the veteran leader in American Red Cross work, rose and calmly stated that “the United States have never been, are not now, and I hope never will be at war with Russia.” ‘This was greeted by a round of applause. However, Hoover did not ac- cept the position as High Commissioner. While Geneva messages were received from Rev. Hylkema, one of the well known Doopsgesinnte (Mennonite) ministers of Holland, to the effect that they also were interested in carrying on relief work in Russia. From Geneva to Riga there were many borders to cross each with its full share of post-war regulations and red tape delaying the movement of travelers for days at a time. THE OFFICIOUSNESS OF SUBORDINATES AT RIGA Riga, Latvia, was for a number of years after the revolution the gateway to Soviet Russia. The Soviet Em- UNSEALING THE CLOSED DOOR 125 bassy there had a large staff. It was the city where Lyman Brown of the American Relief Administration met Maxim Litvinoff of the Russian Foreign Office to nego- tiate the famous contract under the terms of which the gigantic relief organization was to operate in Russia. It had been signed shortly before my arrival in Riga and the relief organization headquarters were busy with prepara- tions for the movement of personnel and supplies into Russia. It was evident they were extremely occupied and could not have time or interest to discuss plans and pros- pects of our organization. At the American Consulate I again detailed our program including a sketch of the steps previously taken at Constantinople and South Russia. They were very courteous and I learned that the regulation against Amer- icans taking their passports into Russia was still in force. Nevertheless I took my passport to the Soviet embassy and made it a point to call attention to the visa granted by their Mission in London. It was explained at the same time that my passport would