New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-19
RUSSrA'S SORRY PLIGHT.
OFFICIAL REPORTS OF D1sTRESs--THE LAND
or QUESTIONABLE JEWS.


have been on the wing regarding the years agri-
onI,rral results. There is likely TO be shortage
In thc wheat crop, some said; and others, that
I,I;gbt had stricken the cabbages. There will be
NOT much for export, complained the merchants;
and IL will be hard work to make ends meet
sirhed the farmers. 1t certain that In some
districts the crops were almost failure whiie
nowhere were they up to the standard, ana some
nessimsts began 20 pfophesy that for TINS year
Russia would have to import rather than be aDie
10 export the products Of the soil. There had
been blghtng frosts, and furious storms OF han
that cut the young grain like volleys of rifle bull
lots. Then, drouth had come TO destroy What frost
and storm had spared.
And now the truth Is known, or rather can be
no longer concealed 1t is not light crops, or
| ma rtial failure. 1t Is, in one word, famine Inc
wheat crop is on the whole 20 per cent snoft
only; but the rye crop, much more important Is
60 per cent short. In some parts OF the Empire
| the crops are good. But in some provinces they
are almost an entire failure And as the means
Of Accommodation throughout Inc Umpire
are so poor, and as the people of the
stricken provinces are without money 10
purchase food from elsewhere, they must
starve. Indeed they are already starving, and
what two or three months more will bring is too
dreadful to anticipate The great Irish famine
smote nation of four millions, but this one falls
upon nation of seventy millions, where the want
will be even more severe and the possibilities OF
succor and relief much less. Never in the history
of Russia has so dreadful state of affairs con-
fronted the people, The Government seems to
realize it all, but what can they do to avert the
scourge?
Doubtless there have been some eXaggera-
| tionS in reports Of distress. But nothing could
be much more Ominous than the OIL
cial and Semi-ollicial reports that are coming Ill
| every day. Says the Minister Of Finance who
has sent out commissioners TO ascertain the
exact condition Of the crops: The winter Whea'
in South and East Russia has succumDed to the
frOsts and persisted" And those are the DeSt
portions Of the Empire At kieff prices ara at
the famine mark and still rising. At hherson
winter wheat and spring wh9at are both an utter
| loss. From Tavrida comes word: NO hopes
of harvest no rains continuous frost and cold
don't sell rye for less than one roube H. e., twice
the price paid last year.; everything dry and
parcled keep your corn" From Bessarabia the
| intelligence received is equally doleful: The
corn outlook is hopeless" The Government OF
Bessaraba apprehends great misery. The state
of the crops in Podolya is in tile highest degree
unsatisfactory From the Volga Basin, from Tam
boff, and from the central governments gener-
ally, with the sole exception OF the district OF
Tsaritirin, where things fairly satisfactory,
oil hopes of q harvest have had TO be abandoned.
| These are official statements.
Special commissioners and correspondents in the
! province. of Kostroma give heartrending &C
counting of the present condition of the people,
| who are even now living the bark of trees and
| other equally unwholesOme food "Eyerywhere,
they write, "we were met by men, women and
| nd ND thoir
teshless and drawn, their eyes red though they
were suffering from some peculiar malady of those
organs, which had lately broken out among them.
| their clothing composed Of mere rags and the
| lower parts of their bodies swollen TO enormous
| dimensions. The doctors of the district reported
hunger-typhus and were apprehensive that it would
| spread to the neighboring governments. There
were thousands Of cases of which this is a sample
| The father and mother down with hunger
typhus, and are lying in the hospital, while their
four or five little children left without super
vision without shelter, and without food
Religious considerations play their part in the
| CHASTITY tragedy. The orthodox followers Of the
| Gar agree with His Imperial Majesty in belev-
ing that the famine, like Nihilism and other Ills
| is a Judgment of Heaven, sent TO sconrge Russia
for its tolerance of Jews and other dssenters from
| the Greek faith In their view, the only way to
1
Jews with added ferocity On the other hand
| the Jews are inclined to regard it a Judgment Of
| Heaven sent for just the opposite purpose, and
there are many illusions to the plaques OF ancient
E0vpt Yet the Jews themselves are suffering
| as badly as any; perhaps worse, seeing how they
have been oppressed and robbed, and their goods
confiScated. The members of the Jewish colony
Of Rovnopol, in the Government OF Ekaterinoslav,
are dying of hunger. The Governor of Ekaterino-
slav who lately made o tour Of inspection, visited
the district of Marinpol, and had palpable proofs
of their misery. They were wholly destitute OF
bread or corn; several families were living TO-
gether in one hut for the sake of the warmth
generated by propinquity they kept the children
warm by putting them in pillows ripped up 10f
| the purpose The Governor asked some nelghDor-
| ing Jewish communities to forward some materIal
help If they do so, doubtless the supplies Will
| be intercepted, seized, and appropriated LOT the
| relief of people of the Orthodox faith.
What is the Government doing for the rehef
of the people? Nothing. 1t is collecting the
taxes lust the same as ever making them even
heavier. and refusing to grant any rebate or ex-
tension Of time. Tie tax-gatherer goes his ROUNDS
regularly, demanding money from people who are
literally starving TO DEATH OF course they cannot
| nav What then? The knout So much Hog
| ring has to be done that hand-powcr Is 1nsui-
lcent for the task Accordingly the Govern
ment is having some hundreds Of nogging-
machines made These will be distributed
throughout the Empire, for use in case OF all who
cannot pay their taxes. Each ADMINISTRATOR
peasant will be stretched on sort of rack and
then wheel armed with thongs and. goads Will
be revolved rapidly above his naked back, in a
twinkling reducing to a bleeding and QuiverinS
mass all the poor flesh that starvation has spared
for torture. And the money that is thus wrung
from the dying wretches? 1t goes to swell the
military and naval forces of the Empire. More
than quarter of million new conscriptS are
this summer 10 be added to the army. Two
giant warships are also to be added to the Baltic
feet. costing two or three million dollars each.