y
to the fullest development of their war strength, the voluntary offers
of assistance from women and women's organizations, and inquiries about
how best to give it, had been pouring into Hoover's temporary offices in
Washington. And through all of the Food Administration work the women of
America played a conspicuous part, both as heads of divisions in the
Washington and State offices and as uncounted official and unofficial
helpers in county and town organizations and in the households of the
country.

The picturesque details of the great campaign for food conservation and
its results on the intimate habits of the people are too fresh in the
memories of us all to need repeating here. A whole-hearted cooeperation
by the press of the country; an avalanche of public appeal and advice by
placards, posters, motion pictures, and speakers; an active support by
churches, fraternal organizations, colleges and schools; the remodeling
of the service of hotels, restaurants and dining-cars; and a pledging
of twelve out of the twenty million households of the country to follow
the requests and suggestions of the Food Administration, resulting in
wheatless and meatless meals, limited sugar and butter, the "clean
plate," and strict attention to reducing all household waste of
food--all these are the well-remembered happenings of yesterday. The
results gave the answer, Yes, to Hoover's oft-repeated questions to the
nation: Can we not do as a democracy what Germany is doing as an
autocracy? Can we not do it better?

These results are impossible to measure by mere statistics. Figures
cannot express the satisfied consciences, the education in wise and
economical food use, and the feeling of a daily participation by all of
the people in personally helping to win the war, which was a
psychological contribution of great importance to the Government's
efforts to put the whole strength of the nation into the struggle. Nor
can the results to the Allies be measured in figures. But their
significance can be suggested by the contents of a cablegram which Lord
Rhondda, the English Food Controller, sent to Hoover in January, 1918.
This cable, in part, was as follows:

"Unless you are able to send the Allies at least 75,000,000 bushels
of wheat over and above what you have exported up to January first,
and in addition to the total exportable surplus from Canada, I
cannot take the responsibility of assuring our people that ther