The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-12-13
COUNT TOLSTOI'S DEMAND.
mas RUsSIA ENOUGH naElD ron nER
GEARVIA0 PkORLES

HfNss. 0s~sshing wii Hayes. ssAbe Ifsasa
TnrsagAsus shs Wos1a-Xhe RhaaessphsS
Argues Terrible 0usstiee, ssA Throws
Out Hats that Are uspasssaatto the Csas.
Rs~ Ss~ssss ysss-sx
Isthere enough bread IN Russia for the pe0-
I ple to oat until the next harvestf Some say
thore 10. othors say thore 10 moi for surely
nobody knows And yet We must have posi-
tive information on the subject Immediately
before tho wintcr begins Buch positive infor-
matioi, is ns necessary for us as II IL for those
who embark for long journey on the sea to
know whether they have sufficient food and
sweot was.. in thoir vessel to last them until
the eud Of their journey
It is terribio to think Of what may happen
with tho sailors and passengers Of big ves-
col. II. In the middle VI their journey they dis
cover that they have nothing to eat and moth
ing to drink Still more torible II is to think
what may become Of US II We believe those who
assure us that We have bread enough In the
country for the whole people to oat and all at
once their assertion will prove false In mid
winter or early In tho spring. Tho conse-
anenoes Of such u disappointment are awful
60 contsnplate. millions DYING. and thc worst
of ull OWLS. q nation enraged. You may well
warn the deniyens VI St Petersburg with the
1ring ~ cannon that the wntor tof tho Neval Is
rising Nothing else can DO done In such
cuse no one knows and no one can know how
high the water will rise. whether 10 will stop at
ne point II stopped last year. wiethor Il win
rise us high rs IL did in 1894. or whether It will
rise still higher.
Tho fnmins this yenr. although Il is an In.
con,parabiy greater calamity than the inunda-
ZION OF St Petersburg. for It is q general
calamity and threatens tho whole nation-cnn
DO and should be estimated: 1t can and IL
should be worked uRaiDst
"Ch. leave US alcne. There is enough Of
every kind Of grain In Russia. Even II We
don't sec ir, iher" is enough for all to eat"
Thus aomo people wlito and speak. and those
who love their peace bulicye them. But one
should not believe n mere assertion. Q guess in
n matter o. such tenibie Importance. II there
ls doubt about tho eafety OF tho ceiling OF q
bathing h,use. where but o few persons come
during u week. Il man may once risk 1t and 60
there to take his bath. But II there Is such
doubt about tho ceiling Of a thea
tire. where thousands Of people assemble
every night. will a mere assertion that the
ceiling will not fall down tonight reossure
any onap 1t js impossible to believe mere
assertion In such q case: It Is impossible to
feel reassnred: tho threatening danger 10 too
great. The danger which threatens Russia in
casstbero should oe no bread to DO had at any
prlco Is 30 great that tho imagination raeoils
tho mere words Of those who toll US that there
IL sufficient bread In Russia: II would be mad
ness. II would be criminal to believe such void
assertions
But is there such danger In viow7 Is there
Any reason to believe that We may not have
sufficient brondf In answer to these Ques-
lions we must take the following into consid-
GRAFTON. In tho first place the famine extends
over o taird pnrt Of Russia. namely. that
third which always provided for the other two j
thirds Knlooga. Tvor. Moscow. all the gov
ernments which have no black soil and
an tho governments Of the north. never
lived upon the grain they produced. but
they bought their grain Just from those
governments which at present have no
food for themselves. II We should reckon that
there ore but 20 00O. 900 although our statis-
tics show double the number) persona to be
fed In the famished districts. and that We need
for ench person ton pools Of grain. We require
20O0Oo.0O0 poods for those who are already
without bread: their neighbors. whom they
hive hitherto supplied. are not yas taken into
consideration. and those may yat be a. many
IN numbers and as greatly In need.
With the hunger In the most productive
Fagion. the same happens as with a lever the
fulcrum Of which is removed toward the longer
end: not only is the weight at the shorter end
Increased. but tho power ut the longer end is
diminished In proportion. II the one-third Of
Russia which provided food for the other two
thirds IL stricken with hunger. there IL hardly
room to believe that we still have bread
enough to last US until the next harvest The
second consideration is this The countries
Of our naighborhood also had bad crops
last summer. large portion Of our grain
was exported already. and wheat u still being
exported in large quantities.
Finally. we must take into confederation
that the famine this year Ia not like the one
We had In 1S40. At that time we had large
stock Of grain from previous years: but now
We have not and we cannot have any stock Of
oldsratn. Russia suffers at present. the same
% Egypt suffered according to the narrative OF
tho Bible. The only difference with rs Is that |
We have no Joseph who could foresoe our dis
trcss. and with his wise counsel provide |
against It But we have sufficient supply Of
thrashing machines. railroad schemes. banks. |
thS people, For the ast seven ysaFs o. more
have hsa S the PGss or
ss r the Uh
When for the last two or three years the PRICES |
e grain sank exceptionally low. the wealthy
siss again but the pressure 'ff for want q money
70 Of 10 kopscks the entire 'ssosE WIS s sold.
the .graanrles wero eWept clean. Such was |
srs and merchants had large .stocks. but even
Wcll-to-do peasants had their Little heaps Of |
Grain which they had stored In small Quant- |
6se boz two OF three years previous There 70
n0thi9g Of the kind now. and we have oonse-
d face.
This IL not all. There are moreover, unmis-
esl9Sts. xs!!.dsaned signs TINT TIE want Of
fsmtshlnE districts. but even In the district
On IN now-the DHnkoysky ooyezd linear
EAxan. -therc 10 no grain for sale: the peasant
eennoe get amy rye met two peasants Of the
oo1e1d Yesterday who Ind been around In the
DekvhbOrhood. which they know we'll. TO every
0Ulr min ard 10 every storehouys within the
3d!Hs e twenty yss;ss' e purchase sxS p1ods
Nd to Droeure his Aoa! from another ooyzsd:
bQf Of snoti,cr village.
ahls {. 20. ~ is9lated e.s.; suoh ease, Ss -
lers eyerwhelm the communal conneils with
petltions to let them laye sono sraih from tho
communal stos os for Christs sake. for they |
have no grain and no -four and there 10 no.