"About 88 per cent. of the relief supplies furnished were sold under contract to the various Governments in the relief areas. For all such sales these Governments gave their special treasury notes in a form approved by the United States Treasury, bearing 5 per cent. interest, due June 30, 1921, to June 30, 1924. It was impossible to obtain reimbursement in cash because the currency in the countries to which these supplies were sent was impossible to convert into foreign exchange, except in comparatively insignificant amounts. POLAND THE BIGGEST DEBTOR "I give herewith approximate list of the notes of each Government, which we expect to turn over to the United States Treasury. Poland $57,000,000 Czechoslovakia 6,750,000 Armenia 10,000,000 Russia. 5,000,000 Esthonia 2,300,000 Latvia 3,000,000 Lithuania 700,000 Finland 4,000,000 Total $88,750,000 "The remaining 12 per cent. of the supplies was donated in assistance to private organizations set up in each country under direction of the American Relief Administration for the purpose of furnishing food on a charitable basis to undernourished children. For such supplies it was, of course, impossible to obtain reimbursement. This service has contributed greatly to stabilizing the situation in those countries, aside from the physical benefits to more than 3,000,000 undernourished children, to whom the war threatened serious and permanent injury. Certainly this service is one for which the name of America will always be held in deepest gratitude." FOOD CONDITIONS AFTER THE ARMISTICE [Illustration: A Map Issued by the Food Administration to Show Food Conditions in Europe After the Signing of the Armistice.] It is impossible in words to show what the food conditions were in Europe after the armistice was signed. The United States Food Administration issued a statement that there were 420,000,000 people in Europe with food supplies sufficient to last only until next harvest for a small proportion of them. Some countries had to be supplied at once; others, it was believed, could help themselves temporarily, provided they could be given guarantees of food for the future. Many countries were devastated, undernourished and stripped bare of food and agricultural equipment because of enemy occupation. A graphic picture of the situation was presented by the Food Administration in the Hunger Map of Europe. NEW FACTORS AFTER NOVEMBER, 1918 An official survey of how cessation of active fighting introduced new factors in the food situation is presented in a publication of the Agricultural Department, July, 1919.