THE FAMINE IN CHINA.

North Otago Times, 11 October 1907, Page 4

THE FAMINE IN CHINA.

v ( OVk, 'liil Uprjj,: '«,> "-sj /' The terrible (aminc which'h'as-raged: fn^^ittuSUy^ove'r.^ >s|jii|^ llifiiifllpitf wi(n^ .'• The eiact number jierishe'd-wlllYicver'be known, ibut'ithe estimate recently mcidd by.a prominint member of the \ I : consider^■judging''; from ctfhycrsations •with nttny;;^ ated.- compui^Jhft.los^jn; ; live? fulfy-into. facts : iye; find ; tliaj- the < famine Jasled less than ,-.eigfit;'.ifi6nihV, anil al : to average 3000 a 'day, so Umt .evgr ' had this figure bcciiniaintaincd for th? fu I -famine: the iota .raoftality would have. been less thai three-quarters of a million.' ■ HALF A MILLION LIVES LOST,' .

Th£sniallcjt'<stlmaie is three times the ; nlaxiraum death rate in. the area affected; and "this, would .give nearly; half a' million deaths', - These.figures, I ■' believe, 1 are a fair estimate; of the''toll' exacted by the terrible scourge.., It <may be,said, ; ia short,-.tluti'tbe (amine has not claimed anything like so many victims .asi" wjs/predj sted; would be the , case.; This is due in a great measure to the prompt way in which funds.were subscribe?!, espjqally in America,, and, the manner in which foreigners*, missionaries,; who'; could:'speak the Chinese language spoken in the central provinces of the Empire, responded to the call for'workers. f ■■-'

7 fighting the' ravages of famine has been a silent >war in which China alone could' have achieved lillle;bccause'of her official • system, her bad financial organisation, an.l the crude, ineffective system of relief which the more honest officials > adopted vwhen left to -themselves. It was reserved for the foreigner to point.out the, necessity .or relief, works, both for Iheir intrinsic worth, and to enable the authorities to distinguish between the really' destitute and the mere loafer, Many, districts in the'famine area point to the t enefils derived from relief works inaugurated aud supervised by foreigners; but there are also some wherc'the Chinese officials have followed to good purpose the example set them.: To quote but one example, many miles of the Grand Canal.north of Chinkiang are now. in good repair, and this will help to prevent a catastrophe in the future similar to, that which occurred last year when, the heavy rains fell.. Much-of the., severity.of the famine could have been prevented by public works, of which the neglect can only be regarded as criminal. The difficulty, too often was that officials were reluctant to spend money on such works, as they feared they might, soon after the inauguration of the work, be" removed to another sphere of labour, and thus lose the large amount of money which it would have been necessary to disburse from the local exchequer, and which would otherwise have gone into their pockets. II order were intrpduced into Chinese finances and an end put to thesale i i positions, the business instincts of the naticn would discover that'it is cheaper to t ndertake such, works in time rather tl an wait until the misery their neglect causes.has tobfi . ■:__- .The two rcljeficprnmitiees collected noless.a sum than i,313,060d015., anJ all lut a small balance has ceen expended in the saving of life, combined in some cases with preventive measures against future lamine. The small bal ancc, unfortunately, will probably be. insufficient for the demands made upon it this autumn,.

I must record the fact- that every foreigner in China, notwithstanding his opinion of missionary effort in the Em (.ire, finds it at this time impossible to withhold a trlpute front the devoted band of missionaries who have borte, the whole burden of carrying relief to the famine sufferers. Old and young, men and women, all those in the districts affected,-and manyifrom other parts, have given a splendid exhibition of the faith that they hold. In three intances—two medical men-lives have 1 een sacrificed to the task of relief; in miny others' health has been t permanently impaired,.'