The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 1892.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 14, 18 January 1892, Page 2

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 1892.

For t_e canoe that lacks _______(_, .or tho *■_<__ t_a_ nos_3 «____._, For the future in tlie diotonoa, _i- th.9 good tliat vo can do.

Public feeling in England with regard to Russian affairs has lately been osccillating between indignation and pity. The wanton outrages inflicted upon the Jews have *been a constant theme of conversation in castle and

cottage. Resentment, however, is fast l ' giving way to pity in. view of the distress that has overtaken the Muscovite Empire. There can no longer be any doubt as to the formidable nature of the famine. In Southern Russia thirty - three millions of human beings are struggling with its j untold horrors. The details as they are circulated throughout the world are calculated to excite a revulsion of feeling in the minds even of those who are most embittered. When we read of families existing on garbage, of whole districts unable to obtain a' supply even of the blackest and coarsest bread, of aged peasants and young children gasping out life in the throes of famine, we do not wonder that the generous English nature rises superior to all minor considerations, and that, so far as money is concerned,. all classes are willing to subscribe liberally to relieve the sufferers.

The best method of affording relief to the famine-stricken Russian peasant is not, however, easy to determine. The Russian Government is peculiarly sensitive to outside interference. There can be little doubt thai they ■will tolerate no distribution of money or food on a large scale except what is made through their own officials. The snub given to the Lord Mayor and the Mansion House Committee when a remonstrance was forwarded to the Czar on the subject of the persecution of the Jews is still fresh in the English mind. Anything like an ostentatious display of charity on the part of the English people would probably only arouse the proud suspicious Russian nature, and the offering would be either peremptorily refused or handicapped by such conditions as would rob it of much of its value. These considerations are strengthened by the fact that the Imperial Treasury has at present a sufficiency of available funds to meet all exigencies. The Russian Government have lately raised a loan of ;; £_o,ooo.oc>o sterling. They are more likely to be embarrassed in their schemes for relieving distress by their cumbrous methods of administration and by the corruption that prevails among .all classes of Russian officials than b,y any lack of finances. , It will require the utmost vigilance on the part of the central Government to prevent the army of pimps and panderers, who constitute a large portion ""of officialdom, from pocketing the funds wholesale'instead of applying them to the relief of the famished peasants. So far as the Executive are concerned, there seems every desire to cope with the difficulty. The Government have already voted large sums for the distressed districts, the Emperor has contributed largely from his privy purse, and the nobles and wealthy classes have followed the sovereign's example. The Government have also prohibited the exportation of all cereals except wheat, and are making vigorous efforts, with the imperfect machinery at their command, to forward supplies of food ; but it is to be feared that the difficulty of transport durjng the winter

months will reader it impossible to save large numbers from perishing of cold and hunger.

We l.am from cable messages just to hand that both Englishmen and Americans, undeterred by past rebuffs, are going to venture on measures of practical sympathy.-.. The President of the United States is forwarding a donation of 500 tons of flour, and should this offering be received in the spirit in which it is presented, wealthy Americans will probably be liberal in their gifts. The English Quakers have also once more given proof of that broad generosity for which they are distinguished, a generosity not bounded by sect or creed. They recently despatched agents to Russia in order to decide for themselves between conflicting reports. From the personal observations made by the delegates, it is evident the worst reports have hardly been exaggerated. No famine of such extent has threatened any European nation in modern times. The Quakers are therefore appealing for funds, and it is to be hoped they have prevailed so far over Russian officialdom as to be allowed to carry out their scheme of personal distribution. We have no doubt there will be a generous response. There is great public confidence in the Society of Friends. They have ever succoured the oppressed, and the spirit that led men to endure fine and imprisonment for assisting the escape of the hunted American slave will not be daunted, even if it meets a few rebuffs from the Russian Bear. It is to be hoped, however, the severity of the crisis will lead the Czar's Government, apart from all national prejudices, to regard the' American and English overtures as an outcome of genuine and heartfelt human sympathy.