ABSTRACT
Henry Ford, believing that the war was senseless and unnecessary, had from the start shown his colors. By November 14, 1914, Herbert Hoover could report to Brussels that the Commission, with the help of virtually the whole American press, had conducted an "enormous propaganda" on the subject of the Belgian people. By the time local committees established on behalf of the Joint Distribution Committee were granting loans and extending cash relief, particularly to rabbis and scholars, providing aid for religious institutions, giving food to school children, and attempting to solve medical and sanitary problems in Palestine. The commission to Italy, which arrived during the grim winter of 1917-1918, provided hospital supplies, organized soup kitchens for refugees, distributed clothing and other needed material, and set up work shops that offered employment for needy women and children. A Woman's Division of the Commission was organized in New York which enlisted the support of women's clubs all over the country.
