chosen and a special department for Belgium appointed
under the direction of the Commission to France.

Moreover, in connection with these, we had not neglected
to build up a Department of Supplies and Transportation
to handle all the millions of dollars' worth of purchases, the
collection of the vast supplies from the Chapters, the pro-
vision of material, rail freights, the procurement of ocean
tonnage, and the delivery of all the Red Cross benefactions
to the points where they were needed. Further in the
background, but indispensable to every day's labors, were
the advisory committees to various departments, legal
advisers who canvassed all our transactions, -- particularly
with regard to international relations, -- a general manager
whose function was to complete the coördination of all
branches, solve problems, and smooth out rough places, a
Bureau of Naval Affairs connecting the Red Cross in all
lines of its service with the Navy and its requirements, while
in the foreground was the Department of Publicity, estab-
lishing more firmly, as the work grew, our link with the
public which stood behind the work.

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