Communism-cum-Canniblism

NZ Truth, Issue 851, 11 March 1922, Page 1

Communism-cum-Canniblism

Dr. -Nansen, the famous Arctic cxV plorer, lecturing at the Central ' Hall, ' Westminster, London, on "Starving Russia," said that that night would be his last desperate appeal to the British Government. He could riot understand, he said, 'how other sot called civilised and Christian 1 nations, could stand callously aside and allow 20,000;000 Russians to . die of I starvation. Along the Volga 19,000,000 out of 30,000,000 people are m danger of death by starvation, arid, he declared, ten millions -will die, inevitably, whatever is done noiw. It is too late to save them. The vast audience, we are told, shuddered when 'Dr. Nansen declared: ' I have the names of scores of Russian fathers and mothers "Who have killed theiX; children, not in v order to , end the children's suffering,', but " m order that the parents might eteit and live. And cannibalism is spreading within an area of 1100 miles by 600 miles. - • ' . . . ■ We have read certain sceptical remarks m the plute press regarding the above cabled statement by Dr. Nansen. The paid, pen,- pushers were too 'polite to say straight out that Dr. Nansen was a liar; but they declared that »he had "allowed his sympathy for the sufferers to run away with him." Another scribe said that Dr.' Nansen had a'Uowed his eloquence "to carry him off his feet and ai considerable distance ahrtad of his facts." We have also hea.td /several well-intentioned , and kindly people say that they could not believe that Russian peasants could be capabfp of suph "an awful and horrible lapse. 1 " These people forget that when men/ arad women are dying of hunger, natJonalVty is lost, and only the primitive sav&se remains. Even Britons have bee» known to eat their dead comrades \in like circumstances. Besides, m p«arts of Russia, the people, we are told by the late Prince Kropotkin, are evert of lower mental development thanre^il savages. Speaking off some of ,tne inhabitants of the Urals, Kropotkin says?: They are Permfans, not -yet quite Russified, and ' are still m the stage which so many populations of the Russian Empire are living through nowadays — namely, the early agricultural. Few of them have for more than two months of the ..year, pure rye-bread to eat; the remaining ten months they are compelled to add the bark of frees to their, flour m order to have "bread" at -all. They have not the slightest idea of what Russia is, or of the State, and very seldom do they see a priest. They hardly know haw t<* cultivate the land. They do not kliow' how to make a stove, and periodical starvation during the months 'from January to, July has taken the very heart and soul out of them. Tliey stand on ; a lower level than real savages. .Kropotkin also tells us that few of. them are able to count up to five. Lower than real savages? Ornithologists tell us that the .crow can cdunt up to four-^so that these Permians are little, if anything, higher than the craws, and though we aro also told that crow doos not eat crow, after reading Kropotkin it Is not .so difficult to believe Dr. Nansen.

The sad drowning fatality at Buckland Beach, Auckland, wher.ein two .young men )# TCeith Naylor Laurie (30) andi Charles' Knox Russell (31) lost ' their lives, will be ( regretted by the sporting fraternity m Auckland. The I deceased ; were brothers-in-law, and : were well known m all sport, and particularly racing, m the Queen Cjty. When the great fight was, in full' swing with the Germans, both these young men tripped away with one of the .earliest reinforcements and for three years they did their bit towards trouncing the Huns. They made jmany friend-a m the North and were very popular, and the sympathy of all who knew them will be extended to their ; wives and relatives m the loss they have sustained. s : ; : : : A dark horse m the person of W. McLeod, of Middlesborough, createdsomething of a sensation m the competition for the English amateur billiard championship by defeating the hitherto unassailable Sidney H. Pry, holder of the title, m the first' round the fixture. Fry has on many pcdnsions proved his great ability with the- cue, and jusd twelve months ago ho capped his previous performances by defeating by a close margin of points, J. R. Hooper, the retired champion 'of Australia, when' they met m the semi-final. Without wishing to detract fvom the very flattering performance of McLeo'd, one is forced to observe . that the play and- breaks of Fry were not on a par wi th previous form. Although there have been many surprise's since the initiation ; of the big event, one cannot help expressing amazement at the appearance of an almost unknown aspirant meeting- the "Samson" of the amateur class m his initial try and defeating him by the big margin of 2000 to 1393. A great achievement, for which he deserves hearty congratulations.

it . :: so A great sea record has Captain A. M. Edwin, who has resigned from the" Union Steamship Co.'s employ after 27 years' service. Although Captain Edwin has sailed' stormy and, during the war, mine-infested seas, neither the vessels he has commanded nor the passengers he has carried have ever suffered any casualty. He joined the U.S.S. Co. m 1895 as fourth officer of the Tarawera, and it iwas not long before he worked his way to the top of the ladder. The turbine steamer Wahine was commanded .by Captain Edwin, shortly after it arrived from Home m 1913. When war came and the Wahine was commandeered by the Admiralty, Captain Edwin ran her to the Old Country. He -was retained by the Admiralty as master when the Wahine travelled under the White Ensign" and many a difficult and dangerous journey through the war zones was successfully negotiated by the •captain. Later when the Wahine was converted into a minelayer Captain Edwin returned to New Zealand. He was given charge of the hospital ship Mararna later and has skippered other boats since. His last command v was the R.M.S. Tahiti m the 'Frisco seri vice.: We wish thecap'n many y^ars of peaceful happiness now, that lre^has decided to become- a land lubber once more. • .. • . ■ . ". : ' , .. .-,■„■■.•■..•..