FAMINE IN RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 March 1922, Page 8

FAMINE IN RUSSIA.

TWENTY MILLIONS THREATENED WITH DEATH. Renewing his appeal to the Governments of Europe to grant funds for the relief of distress in Russia, Dr. Nansen stated recently that in an immense area of Russia the land which is usually the richest granary of the whole Russian State, populated by 33,000,000 inhabitants, at least 20,000,000 of these people are threatened with death by starvation before the end of June. It is very probable that as many as 10.000,000 of them will die; the least possible number that will die, whatever may be done, is 6,000,000. Unless steps be taken at once to keep as many as possible of the inhabitants alive and to enable them to carry out their spring sowing, the same situation will be reproduced next year. On the other hand, the world has a surplus quantity of grain many times greater than the amount which is required to keep the population alive and to carry out all the sowing in the spring. Even in the countries of Central Europe there is almost a sufficient quantity of grain to do everything that it is possible to do. All that is required is money. Whatever the cause, such a catastrophe must be dealt with by any means that can be found. But I am satisfied that, although there were other contributing causes to the terrible effect of the famine, the one outstanding cause was the appalling drought which occurred in South-East Russia in the spring and summer of last year. That drought was such that it was alone quite sufficient to cause the almost total loss of the crops of the affected provinces. Such a blow at the economic system of an agricultural country is one which no State in the world will be able to withstand. Certainly Russia, immensely reduced by seven years of war, and civil war, arid by the Interruption of her foreign trade, was in - no position to withstand such a blow. It |s for this reason that I hold, and have always held, that assistance from outside was vital if the innocent Russian people who are victims the drought to perish.