The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1920. POLAND OVERWHELMED

Waikato Times, Volume 93, Issue 14538, 9 December 1920, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1920. POLAND OVERWHELMED

The report of the Typhus Commission, submitted to the Assembly of the League of Nations, lias aroused the representatives of the several countries to the seriousness of the position and urged them to prompt action. M. Paderewski intimated that Poland was confronted with a task of too great a magnitude for tier resources, and if the scourge is to be adequately met and prevented from extending combined action will have to be taken. It has long been known that the menace existed, and last May an appeal was made to the nations in the League for funds to combat the disease, but the response was not very liberal. It was estimated that fully £2,000,000 would be required to effectively deal with the matter, but of this sum only an eighth was forthcoming, and in one or two instances the amounts proffered were conditional. The Commission’s report has had the effect of inducing these donors to waive conditions and to make straight-out contributions, whilst other countries which had refrained from affording relief have intimated that they will not continue to hold aloof. The account given respecting the hold which the infection has obtained is appalling. The difficulty of combating it consists particularly in the lack of isolation hospitals. It may be recalled that in September last Mr Balfour, at the request of the Council of the League qf Nations, when the latter found the response to its representations disappointing, issued an appeal to the various Governments for the immediate provision of £250,000 out of the much larger sum needed. Military events recorded since then have only made the need more urgent. To quote from this appeal; “In Russia the disease seems to be epidemic. An eminent doctor who has just returned from at country says that it has been swept from end to end by typhus; that scarcely a town or village has escaped; and that half the doctors engaged in combating the plague have died. His statement, terrible though it be, is confirmed by other witnesses. From this vast centre of infection the disease is carried westward by an unceasing stream of immigrants. Prisoners returning to their homes, refugees flying for safety, crowd' the railways. Two millions of these unfortunate persons have passed the Polish disinfection stations since' the armistice, and doubtless many more have entered Poland without being subject to medical examination. They are pouring into a country in parts already overcrowded,'"where every circumstance material and moral—combines to favour the spread of infection. So much for the present facts. What forecast can be made about the future? Every competent authority is at one in thinking that the evil is on the increase. Typhus is a disease which normally shows itself more in winter than in summer. If, therefore, conditions were constant, the number of cases at this time of year should be very small. As a matter of fact, they are not; and it is safe to conclude that, unless effective stops are immediately taken, the plague will be far more deadly in the winter of 192021 than in the winter of 1919-20.” This terrible outbreak of disease is another of the destructive aftereffects of war for which Russia is to be thanked. But it is the remedy that ;s now the all-important consideration, h has been impossible to check the spread of typhus, with the accompaniment oi* cholera, into Poland. Unless drastic measures are adopted a similar confession may have to be made ere long respecting a much wider area of central and Southern Europe. The “clean” parts of Europe are greatly menaced. In Mr Balfour’s words: "In Central Europe every circumstancemoral and material—favours the disease. A population weakened by war and famine is living in conditions which, even where it vigorous and fed, would make resistance to infection difficult or impossible. As infection spreads it becomes harder to deal with, and no European country, nor perhaps even an island tike Great Britain, can count itseif wholly safe if Poland be allowed to succumb.” The evil wrought by typhus cannot be measured by statistics of mortality. The disease is one that attacks with particular severity men in the prime of life. The bread-winner of the family is very liable to become its victim. On the grounds of self-interest and humanity the oilier nations are called upon to lend, concerted aid fur tlic stamping out of this plague in Poland. We do not know which consideration will move them most. Poland lias done nothing to bring this misfortune upon herself. She lias done everything within her power to help herself, but is the victim of circumstances for which she is not responsible. Tile urgency of the situation will be rendered the greater by the fact that typhus is essentially a winter disease and occurs most frequently in temperate climates, the obvious explanation being that its development is encouraged by overcrowding, bad ventilation, ami close contact in dwellings. The infection is carried by lice which arc parasitic upon* Human beings. Sir James Allen’s recent statement concerning his communication to the New Zealand Government respecting a cause that is of international importance expresses a hope which the Government and the people of the Dominion will desire to see fulfilled.