MISERY IN RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 August 1921, Page 5

MISERY IN RUSSIA.

A LIFE OF TRAGEDY.

“ATMOSPHERE OF DEATH” THE FIGHT FOR FOOD. By Telegraph.—-Press Assn.—Copyright Received August 30. 5.5 p.m. London, August 29. The. Morning Post states that the following letter has just been received from a famous Moscow actress of international repute:— "The tragedy of life here is that none of us are normal human beings; we are ghosts from the other world, and the standards of normal life cannot be applied. A Russian’s immediate problem is: ‘What am J going to sell today; what can I sell to got half a pound of bread and a. piece of fish, and what am I going to do if I cannot- sell anything*? “We are living in an atmosphere of death and know there is no salvation. We feel w& are lepers condemned to a slow and inevitable death. My life has been narrowed down to a desperate fight for a scrap of food. At present prices the minimum cost of living is two million roubles a month (normally £200,000. but £3O at the present rate of exchange). Nobody is buying anything, except jewellery. I parted with mine long ago. I dread the coming winter, with no heating for water and drainage and practically no clothes left, and now famine and disease.”—Aus.-N.Z, Cable Assn.

GREAT NEED OF FOOD. PLANS TO SUPPLY RUSSIA. . CANNOT PREVENT MISERY. Received August 30, 5.5 p.m. Riga, August 30. Dr. Nansen has concluded an agreement with the Soviet embracing the operations of all the voluntary relief organisations. The feeding of children in the province of Saratoff has begun. Seven million poods of rye for seed, and 1.500,000 tons of wheat rye for food are urgently needed in the Volga district alone. The Soviet declares it is able to transport these quantities. Dr. Nansen points out that the needs are so great that the combined efforts of international charitable organisations will be unable to prevent appalling misery. The Soviet has requested Dr. Nansen to approach the European Governments with a view to securing a credit of £10.000,000 for the purchase of seeds and food, and has given him wide powers of distribution if the money is forthcoming.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

FOOD FOR CHILDREN.

A MILLION TO BE FED.

Received August 30, 10.30 p.m. Paris, August 29.

Mr. Brown, head of the American Relief Committee for Russia, states Americans can undertake to feed a million children throughout the winter. HIDING THE TRUTH. SOVIETS STRANGE ACTION. London, August 29. The Non-political Committee, which was appointed by the Soviet, including Count Leo Tolstoy, to visit the various European countries with a view to giving a true account of the famine conditions and to appeal for relief, has now been refused permission to leave Russia. MILLIONS OF STARVING CHILDREN. Geneva, August 29. A Russian wirelees message states that over 9.000,000 children are now starving, and that the prosperous provinces can receive only 48,000.