HELP FOR RUSSIA.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 213, 7 September 1921, Page 5

HELP FOR RUSSIA.

CREDITS FOR £10,000,000 TO PURCHASE FOOD SUPPLIES. METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION. (Ej- Cable.—l'reas -Association.-C.^yrlght., (Received 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, September G. Under an agreement arrived at between Dr. V. Nansun and the Soviet, the Russian Government rt'nuests Dr. Nunsen to ask thu Uovernmcntd of Europe in its name for credits totalling £10,000,000. The Soviet declares that H is ready to n.-sumc the obligations de 0 mandod of it by the Governments to pro vide the credits. The distribution of the help will be carried out through the international executive for Russian help in Moscow, assisted by a limited number of representatives pi the leading (Jovcrnmunts. — (A. and .N.Z. Cable.) GROWING IN HORROR. DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSPORT. LONDON, September 6. Well-informed circles arc not optimistic regarding the nature of the reply of the Russian Soviet Government to a request sent by wireless to permit a commission to proceed to Russia to supervise famine relief work. The International Relief Commission is anxious to begin its labours in South Russia, where the famine ia worst, and gradually work northwards, but the Soviet Government insists on relief being centred in Petrograd. Doubt is expressed whether in the latter case relief would penetrate beyond there. The official Russian trade delegation in London meanwhile declares that the period of worst distress has temporarily passed, but it will recur between the time when the surplus of the September harvest is consumed sind the next crop is gathered, unless help is forthcoming. It is estimated that the peasants in the famine acres will require f>oo.ooo tons of grain to tide over the interval. The Riga correspondent of the "Morning Post" says that the famine crisis is growing in horror. The efforts of the American relief organisations are undoubtedly prompt and energetic, but they resemble an attempt to scoop up the Atlantic with a teaspoon. The Soviet newspaper "Prnvda" candidly reveals what observers have long realised, that supplies are likely to go, in the first instance, to the Red Army. While the Soviet authorities assured Dr. Nansen of their ability to transport enormous quantities of foodstuffs, an expert, writing in the "Pravda," points out that the southern railways hnve 23.000 trucks and 700 locomotives idle owing to lack of fuel. The railways would be unable to transport foodstuffs even if they were immediately available. (A. and N.Z. and Reuter.)