FAMINE IN RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1921, Page 5

FAMINE IN RUSSIA.

HOW THE FAMINE CAME. DROUGHT THE FORERUNNER. In a despatch sent from Russia to, thia London Observer at the beginning of Joiy before the full extent of Russia’s cahunity had become known to Western Europe, Mr., Michael Farbman wrote: “Russia is now' threatened with a famine hardly paralleled throughout her whole history. “During the last few years people have often spoken of famine in Russia, but what has so far occurred has been a food shortage merely, not a real famine. Taking the volume of crops produced in Russia as a whole, she has raised an amount sufficient for a fairly reasonable subsistence level. The food shortage in certain areas of the Russian continent was caused chiefly by bad debts in the system, of distiibufion. The north and north-west, which even in Russia’s most prosperous days was never self-supporting, was reduced to such a condition that in many of its towns literal starvation, was the lot of the citirens. But in the more fertile parts, the regiona of the south and south-east of Russia,, in spite of the general decline in agricultural production, enough was raised to fleexnn a reasonable standard of living. Indeed, the peasants of many of the villages found themselves able to enjoy more food than they could in the years of peace. “The agricultural situation in Russia, however, has been steadily growing woksc, and the true situation soon revealed tteelf. It is remarkable that until last year Nature has been kind to the Russian agriculturist, and crops were good. But so weak ftDd disorganised has Russian agricuituro become during the years of war and tion that the comparatively mild of last year was sufficient to betray top speetre of famine. Even in the most frrtile parts of Russia the threat of shortage made itself felt.”

LOCUSTS FOLLOW THE DROUGHT. “The Russian meteorologists wero tla first to sound the alarm. They savi that this mild drought was only the beginning of a considerable period ol drought years, and that the situation next year would most probably be verj grave indeed. These scientific forecasts have proved true, and the drought ii Russia thia year has hod terrible conse<. quences. But what has been tiie gravest feature of the drought is that thfe normally most ferti’e regions have been those most seriously affected. These regions are those of the Middle and Lower Volga, comprising twelve of the latest provinces of Russia, which in normal times were in th'e habit of exporting ten* of millions of poods of grain each year. “How disastrous has been the faihira of grain crops in these normally most, fertile parts of Russia will be seen frany the following details. In Samara, commonly (“ailed the ‘granary of Russia/ where the yield per dessiatine (2.7 English acres) was always considerably higher than the low Russian average of 16cwt. per dessiatine, this year's harvest is down to seven or 2.57 cwt. per dessiatine, or less than the amount of seed 1 actually sown. In other provinces of | the stricken area the yield is a little higher. In Saratoff it is about 3.22 cwt., in Simbirsk slightly over 3.22 cwt., and still higher the further you go north. In the Lower Volga the failure of the harvest is literally complete; the peaa&ntdfl are making no attempt to gather in thS crope. In the Middle and Upper Volgjß the harvest is not yet a complete disasfl ter, but the tragedy is deepened by thel fact that what has been spared by the! drought is rapidly being destroyed vast plagues of locusts. “Let me give another illustration, showing the extent of the disaster to the Russian crops. The provinces of Samara and Sanatoff need for their domestic consumption an amount of 2,464,000 tons ol cereals. This amount is calculated ogi the so-called hunger ration’ of slightly over 7cwt. per hlead, which includes no 6: only the food of the 7,000,000 inhabitants*; of these two provinces, but also seedS grain fpr the next year’s sowing and!* fodder for the cattle. On a liberal eati-‘ mate the utmost they will actually receive this year is 480*000 tons, or aboutj I.2Bcwt. per head. How greatly cattle] have been affected by thle drought is; shown by the fact that meat in these regions is only one-fourth of tjie price of bread! The peasants kill their cattle, because there is nothing withl which to feed them. “The people in the famine-ridden area#< know quite well that it is useless to ex-*< pect Government help. They know thatl this year’s harvest will not yield evead enough - for seed for the next year’s sowing; indeed, they are not even troubling to coHect what has been spared by the drought. Whole villages are being abandoned by their inhabitants. Long caravan processions of peasants with their most necessary belongings are on they march on every road. WTiere to? They say among themselves, in a levity bom of despair, that they are going to ‘tho King of India.’ According to the report#, of the Commissariat of Agriculture, these movements are going on in all the fam-ine-«tricken regions, but the migration is greatest in the provinces of Sanujuu and Saratoff and other parte of thlm Lower Volga. “What was formerly one of the richest parts of Russia may soon be a de* sort. Vast streams of these peasant emigrants are moving eastwards to. Tur- | kestan and Siberia. A lesser stream? travels south-west toward Kuban and the Ukraine. Their sufferings are almost indescribable, and the further they go: the more terrible becomes their plight.’ There i« no food anywhere, no matter 1 how far and how hard they search. Their’ horses can find no grass to eat, everything: is burnt up or destroyed by the plague,! and they weaken and die. The peasants I themselves push further ahead, only toi be disappointed, and many die on th©j roadside. Those who survive and reach! the frontiers of Turkestan find that they! are not permitted to enter. Cholera ha® now broken out among these unfortu-: nate herds of human beings. There islittle hope of any alleviation, and massed' of them will certainly die of starvation.”