When the war was over, I went representing the Church, to see the president of the United States. When I called on him, he received me very graciously--I had met him before--and I before--and I said: "I have just come to ascertain from you, Mr. President, what your attitude will be if the Latter-day Saints are prepared to ship food and clothing and bedding to Europe."
He smiled and looked at me, and said: "Well, what do you want to ship it over there for? Their money isn't any good."
I said: "We don't want their money." He looked at me and asked: "You don't mean you are going to give it to them?"
I said: "Of course, we would give it to them. They are our brothers and sisters and are in distress. God has blessed us with a surplus, and we will be glad to send it if we can have the co-operation of the government."
He said: "You are on the right track," and added, "we will be glad to help you in any way we can."
I have thought of that a good many times. After we had sat there a moment or two, he said again: "How long will it take you to get this ready?"
I said: "It's all ready...."
"Mr. President, while the administration at Washington were advising the destroying of food, we were building elevators and filling them with grain, and increasing our flocks and our herds, and now what we need is the cars and the ships in order to send considerable food, clothing and bedding to the people of Europe who are in distress. We have an organization in the Church that has over two thousand homemade quilts ready...."
Now, we couldn't have done that a hundred years ago. We were seeking food ourselves. Our people in this valley then were digging thistle and sego roots for food, and they were utilizing every means possible to get food to keep the soul and body together. In a hundred years the desert has been made to blossom as the rose.
George Albert Smith, Pure Religion: The Story of Church Welfare Since 1930 by Glen L. Rudd. 1995. p.245 Originally found in Conference Report, October 1947, p.6
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