ding to Mr. Hoover, on anyone of its
American members for leadership. Anyone of them could at any time take
charge and carry on the work. "Honold, Poland, Gregory, Brown, Kellogg,
Lucey, White, Hunsiker, Connet, and many others who, at various periods,
have given of their great ability and experience in administration could
do it." At the same time it was admitted that the commission would never
have been so successful if Belgium had not already had in existence a
well-developed communal system. The base of the commission's
organization was a committee in every commune or municipality.

"You can have no idea what a great blessing it was in Belgium and
Northern France to have the small and intimate divisions which exist
under the communal system," said Mr. Hoover. "It is the whole unit of
life, and a political entity much more developed than in America. It has
been not only the basis of our relief organization, but the salvation of
the people."

Altogether there were four thousand communal committees linked up in
larger groups under district and provincial committees, which in turn
came under the Belgian National Committee. Contributions were received
from all over the world, but the greater part from the British and
French governments.

When Mr. Hoover began his work he appealed to the people of the United
States, but the American response to the appeal was sadly disappointing.
During his stay in America, in the early part of 1917, Mr. Hoover
expressed himself on the subject of his own country's niggardliness,
pointing out at the same time that the chief profits made out of
providing food for Belgium had gone into American pockets. Out of the
two hundred and fifty millions of dollars spent by the commission at
that time, one hundred and fifty millions had been used in the United
States to purchase supplies and on these orders America had made a war
profit of at least thirty million dollars. Yet in those two years the
American people had contributed only nine million dollars!

Mr. Hoover declared: "Thousands of contributions have come to us from
devoted people all over the United States, but the truth is that, with
the exception of a few large gifts, American contributions have been
little rills of charity of the poor toward the poor. Everywhere abroad
America has been getting the credit for keeping alight the lamp of
humanity, but what are the facts? America's contributions have been
pitifully inadequate and, do not