CORSO IN CHINA

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25551, 20 July 1948, Page 2

CORSO IN CHINA

REPORT FROM SUPPLIES OFFICER A report on CORSO supplies received in China is contained in a letter from Mr J. W. Moorhouse, a CORSO worker, who is supplies officer and representative for the International Relief Committee in West China. The, letter was written to an official of CORSO in Wellington. “Most of the supplies from Chungking are shipped by truck, and involve in some instances a journey of 1500 miles either way, over mountains, desert, and roads which in some cases exist in name only. In order to reach some of the institutions, the supplies, after being unloaded from the trucks, have weeks of further travel by camel, packhorse, or coolie before reaching their final destination. In only a few cases is it possible to send goods by river or mail,” Mr Moorhouse writes. “The value of these supplies in th’e saving of human lives and the amelioration of suffering is incalculable, as the incidence of sickness and disease in China was high before the war. Now, after eleven years of incessant warfare, the hospitals are overcrowded. and the lack of transport and the isolation caused by war have deprived large areas of even the most elementary drugs. Millions are homeless, and the suffering from starvation and malnutrition in many provinces is appalling. Face to face with the suffering of the Chinese people. I am amazed at their courage and cheerfulness, and the tenacitv with which in spite of adversity they carry on. I consider it a great privilege to be here. The davs and weeks are far too short for all that could and should be done, and my only regret is that I cannot make them longer.”