IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 36, 12 February 1907, Page 2

I N THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW.

RAVAGES OFsFAMINE IN RUSSIA. A TERRIBLE OUTLOOK. The following description of the awful outlook in the faminc-striclcen provinces of /Russia, by M. Nicholai Shiskkoff, of the Samava Zeimtvo Relief Committee, has licsn rsent \p the London Tribune for publication :—J HISTORY REPEATED. SAMARA, 18th December. Fifteen years ago a scorching blast from the- sandy wilderness of Central Asia swept over the vast fields of southeastern Russia, just as the corn was in the eaT. Iv three days' t'me millions of acres of Tve, wheat, oats, and other cereals, promising a magniSconb harvest, were utterly destroyed. Not only was tho- tender grain dried into woitliless husks, but even the straw was shiivclled to thin and brittle filaments, and the green pastures and meadows transformed into arid tracts of yellow dust. Millions of peasants whose only resources arc the produce of the fields saw famine staring them in their facas. News of this terrible disaster soon spiead over the wtfrld, and international sympathy came tc. the loliof of our unfortunate people. But the clfetrces was too gTeat — all the efforts of 'our Government and our friends abroad could not cope with the magnitude of the disaster. A winter | of unprecedented severity added the suf- | forinjjs of cold to the horrors of hunger. Scurvy and typhoid fever raged amongst the famished 'peasants, and thousands of women, children, and woTking-men did not live to see another winter. That was fifteen years ago ! Now, iv , H3JO6, wo must be ready to witness a repetition of this tragedy, "only on a larger scale. Ones more the cTops have failed completely in all the southeastern provinces of Russia, and in many otheivs the harvest has been far below Ih.? average. The immediato cause was nearly the same — a hot spring and' summer and no Tain. With the exception of | a few — very few — favoured spots, such as sheltered valleys, meadows Hooded in spring fey fivers, or fields over which a passing cloud had showered its treasure of life-giving water just in time to save its perishing vegetation, the boundless plains of Saratov, Samara, Simbirsk, Kazan, Pesza, and other provinces did not often leturn tho seed sown in then- furrows., Tho scorched prairies have given no hay, and hundreds of thousands of oxen, homes, and other cattle have already been sold for the price of thoir hidos or have perished from starvation. In hundreds of villages the distress is already nearly beyond endurance. Thoueands of peasants are eating nothing but bread made of acorn ilouT and grass o^eds mixed with a little rpe flour ; many families eat even that bitter bread only once a day. There ie no work to be had, even if the workman had strength to work ; instead the breadwinners of tho family lie on thefr backs in their dark and miserable huts, experience having taught them that every motion increases tho sharp pang.-, oi hunger. The usual companions of famine, typhus and scurvy, are already at work amongst our poor peasants ; and two months hence we shall certainly see whole villages decimated by thssc diseases, for which there is hut one remedy — fqod. £850,000 WANTED IN ONE PROVINCE. Let us figure up tho expense of maintaining the destitute peasantry of our province of Samara.. The total population of the province is slightly under 3,000,000 souls. Excluding 160,000 town dwellers, and assuming that 10 per cent, of tho peasants can subsist on their savings, we reckon that about 2£ millions will stand in need of assistance. Assuming, further, that' She price of cattle sold during tho autumn, together with a small quantity of gram, vegetables, etc., gathered in some of the villages, will be sufficient to keep part of the people alive for a month or two, we shall be very near the mark if we take, as a minimum, the absolute necessity of feeding 2,000,000 people during eight months. At the rate of twelve roubles (£ss) p9r head, v.c need 24,000,000 roubles (£2,500,000) to keep our people from starvation. To meet this expenditure wo have in hand : First, the Government giant of 13,500,--000 roubles in grain, a further grant of 1,000,000 roubles for public works, and tho sum of 460,000 roubles for supporting school children— say 15,000,--000 roubles given or promised. Second, the Rea cross Society has given about 1 400,000 roubles, and will possibly give as much more during the famine. 1 Third,' all that other private charities have given does not exceed 150,000 roubles, and we do not hope to raise moro' than the same sum during the winter and spring. Say 1,100,000 roublos besides tho Government grant, or 16,100,000 roubles from all sources. This calculation shows that unless we can collect at least 8,000,000 roubles (about £850,000), more during' the next six months nearly 600,000 men, women, and children will be reduced to absolute starvation in our province alone. That these figures are not in any way exaggerated I deduct from the following facts. During the great famine of 18yl-2 22,000,000 roubles were spent in our province for the relief of the sufferers. At the same time, the preceding year (1890) was a fairly good one, whereas in 1905 the crops failed in ono-half of our villages. The total amount of grain harvested in 1906 is from two to three times less than in 1891. My readers can now judge for themselves whether my estimates can be considered too pessimistic. It would take me too far to attempt to give 'anything like a complete analysis of the factors of these terrible famines that have caused^ so much misery in Russia during these Jast years— lB73, 1891, j 1898, and 1906. Tho immediate canst, was, "in all cases, a want of rain, combined with hot winds fnom tho southeast. But* systematic droughts can be corrected by artificial irrigation on a grand scale, forests can be planted to j protect tho trops from tho direct influence of the hot winds, snow can be accumulated during the winter, and the soil prepared by scientific tillage and proper manuring to retain and economise the life-giving moisture. v Why is not all that done? Why is nothing done? Hecause the people are poor and ignorant. Why are they poor and ignorant? For the same reason that other people have been in the samo> condition — .bad government, including a ririnous and unfair systom of taxation, a 'reckless expenditure of tremendous 'siima on useless or worso than useless wars, the enormous oxpense-of a strictly centralised administration, and tha utter incapacity of this administration to develop tho natural resources cf the country. What makes us suffer morally far more than physically is tho consciousness that all the misery wo are compelled to wit* hesa is anything but inevitable. The lan.d is naturally rich, tho people are capable of tho highest civilisation, being quick to learn, patient and enduring to a fault, full of true humanity, and intrinsically honest and open- 1 hearted. SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. 1 For the third timo in my life I am now taking an active part. in famine relief work in Samara. In 1891-8 I was

member of the united relief committee' of tho province and one of the three trustees of the American fund. At the same time, by the kindness of Mr. Knowles, of the Nineteenth Century, I was entrusted with the distribution of nearly £3000 collected by him in England. During the famine of 1898-9 I was in charge of a district of some ten villages in the county of Stavropol, where my estate is situated. This famine was much less severe than in 1891. And now I am the representative of the United Zemstvo Famine Relief Committee for the province of Samara. I only mention these details to show that past experience has qualified me to form a correct estimate of the actual condition of the people. The winter is barely commenced, so that two or three months must elapse before tho famine attains . its .full intensity — and yet we already hear of-sudi terrible facts taking -place -in tho more j remote villages. A fortnight ago the-; newspapers published an account of the I famine-stricken Tartars in the neighbouring province of Kazan selling their children "to dealers from the Caucasus. Eight girls, aged from 12 to 16, had been sold for £8 to £15 each. I have not heard of such cases in our province, but my friends, have heard our poor peasant women praying God to take their j children, as they had no food to give i them, and the cries of the starving ; babies were beyond human endurance, i know that to be true, for I have myself heard such awful prayers ; I have scon with my own eyes strong, healthy men so weakened by hunger that they could [ not stand without support; I have seen i old men unablo to speak from exhaustion, standing silently in the- frozen streets of a famine-stricken village, with the tears slowly falling on their grey beards, patiently waiting for bread — pr death. Worst of all, I remember witnessing those scenes fifteen years ago, when the. famine was considerably less serious, and when wo had £800,000 from private charily alone to alleviate the distress, instead of the £100,000 that we ha\e now. That is what makes me write this letter. I feol it my duty 10-appeal once more to the hinj/anity of tho English people, because T know that we can expect such scan* aid from our own impoverished countrymen. In more that thirty provinces the harvest has been below the average, and as nearly as I can reckon about 20,000,000 of peasants will need assistance during this year. We hero are powerless before the magnitude of the disaster.