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Otago Daily Times, Issue 18455, 17 January 1922, Page 4

Grim accounts of the severity of the famine in Russia, and of the pitiable straits to which the inhabitants of some of 1 the more, seriously stricken-districts Kave been reduced, continue to reach us. The -pretence that the famine conditions ; have been exaggerated in order that dis- { credit might be thrown on the Soviet administration seems now to have been abandoned. It was a despicable pretence that counted the'lives of the Russian peasants as of less moment than the bolstering up of a system of government, the failure of' which is now virtually admitted. The extent and the gravity of the, distress are aiiko appalling. Addressing >tho Assembly of the League of Nations arid making an urgent appeal for a concerted international relief effort, Dr Nansen mentioned that in a. district containing from 20 to 30 million .people this year's'crop could provide only half [a pound of food per head per day to keep man and beast alive. Refugees were pouring' into Moscow, he added, with pitiful tales of< no crops and of all the leaves eaten off the trees by the starving "population, , while Moscow hospitals reported hundreds of refugee patients as dying with etomaclis full of earth and grass. It is a severe reflection oril the Russian regime that if the stricken provinces had not had to give up their .surplus to feed the Red armies they might have fought the drought with some success. And now we have a story from Samara that is almost sickening in its gruesbme details. In the minds of British people—as well as of Beldans —mention of Ypres may well evoke tragic memories, and reflections not devoid of, national pride. In defence of that last fragment of Belgium a'quarter of a million of British soldiers gave their lives. To perpetuate' the comradeship of the Salient and the gallant deeds that were;' done there, an' Ypres League has recently been formed. It asks, and indeed claims, all the men who served in the Salient for its members, and offers a, record of that service for themselves and their descendants. At Ypres itself a, roll of honour is to be deposited, bearing the name of every soldier who fell in its defence. It is proposed also to establish a hostel where accommodation may be provided for those who wish to visit the graves and battlefields in and where maps and information concerning historic sites and guidance of the kind may be available. It is suggested that _this hostelry should become ay special memorial of the Ypres League, its panelled walls * recording the names in divisions of those who fell in;action thereabouts. In an appeal on behalf of this

project Lord French observes, as* well he may;, that such the grim .ordeal of service demanded in the Salient that exsoldiers who say to each other “I wus at Ypres,’’ have said enough. Authoritative German military testimony has . agreed ■with British evidence that, of all the conflicts, of the wav, that Flanders battle was the most gruesome to the men in the front lines. Philip Gibbs writes: “ There is nothing but fentiment in the idea of ■ the Yprca League. Yet. it is a sentiment in which there is no falsity, no morbid touch, but something which belongs to the best pride of men ; to the gladness they have in the courage that was theirs in frightful hqjirs, or at ' leasts in the mastery they had over the fear that was in them, , and their resistance to i the misery, the beastliness, the 'filth, the terrors that were around them in these grim battlefields where death took a freakish choice of life. .’ . . The Ypres Salient is especially the greatest battleground of the British race. All our divisions passed through the furnace there at s one time or another. Not one of them escaped that ordeal, and ’“by general conisent it wfs the worst place of all." The problfem of how to get people to church is perennial. In a serious article contributed to the Daily Chronicle y “a layman’ boldy throws out the suggestion' that the cnurches should combine to institute'a great national advertising campaign to attract the people to places of worship. - He would . have this scheme operate simply in tire,interests of church,going hv general, not in the interests of any. particular church. -He w'ould have co-operative advertising, something after the planner, for example, of a campaign to convince people of the .advantages of using gas for beating and cooking. By such methods he believes that a ( few shillings from every church in the country ■would finance a' campaign that would revolutionise, church-going. Faith, they jSay, will move mountains, Of course, the thing would have to be done properly, and the modern advertising expert would be called in. His assistance is stipulated for because he is a keen student of , psychology, understanding crowds .'ahd the power of suggestion, and because, in the words of the new evangel, “the advertisement which reads, ‘dome to church on Sunday; a hymn book and a welcome,’ has had its dav, if it ever had, one.” is argued that a well-considered campaign, “if carried out, with imagination and efficiency,’’ would 'fill the churches', within a few weefe. /Her© is optimism indeed! 1 The author ot the proposal anticipates, as well he may,' the objection ■ that it is undignified, for the* churches to advertise. In\hi» counter-argument ho' says: “I tee much of dignity and attractiveness in advertisements that compare not unfavourably with many of ahe devices which the churches use.” Needless to say, the publication of these- Suggestions ha© aroused a great deal of comment. But, so far as we can judge, the idea has not been taken up with rapt enthusiasm... At all events there is much diversity of opinion on-the subject. Q(io commentator inquires whether, supposing an advertising , campaign wfere instituted ind carried through with splendid success in filling ths churches, “would the people stay!’’ i It is a very pertinent question, and touches the crux of the problem. In some parts of the United'States picture shows are combined with church services. Therein; perhaps, , the. practical mind ofthe American'is maniibsted.