FAMINE IN CHINA

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 44, 16 November 1920, Page 8

FAMINE IN CHINA

CHINESE CONSUL ON THE RECENT CABLE MESSAGE. Mr. Lin Shih Yuan, Chiuese Consul, writes to the Press Association:—"l wns very much grieved to see the, telegram from Peking, dated November 9, giving statistics re]ating to the appalling famine, which is causing so great a loss of life in ttie Chi-li province in China, but T was much hurt at the concluding paragraph, which says the white'element is doing all that is po:*ible to alleviate tho distress, but is practically powerless against the supine attitudo of the Government. "The compiler of the telegram is obviouslv in absohrt: ignorance, for I have received many cable messages from the Ministry o( Foreign Affaire, asking for a.ssistance from all Cbineso abroad, and also intimating that the Government is making a levy on all Government! officials throughout the country to the extent'of one-fifth of their salaries for a period of three months, apart from those who /have alreadv subscribed liberally, in order to help die sufforere. That a few superstition? persons consider a famine is a visitation from Heaven to clear a.n overcrowded land is not remarkable, in view of the ideas held by certain sects among ■ the Western people, who, I nm told, believe that tho doors of Heaven are opon only to those who adhere to a particular belief; but I ca.n assure you that sympathy with fellow-creatures in distress is not an untonimon virilie among tho Chinese. I would be obliged if von could give publicity to this correction, as tho tone of your telegram ia calculated to cause tension between China and the West"