The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1892-02-26
RussIA's FAMINE.
A Sensible and Business-Ldke View of
the situation.

A Sensible and Bu.insss-Ldke view of
the situation.
There is much foolish sentiment go
ing the rounds about A1aerica's gift to
Russia Fortunately the time has
passed when the people with one &C.
CORD are willing to be gulled by such
schemes There are not as many
sleek. well-fed and prosperous people
in America as there used to be who
are anxiously looking for chance to
give a portion of their abundance to
some object of charity. The ranks of
OF the happy and prosperous are be-
ing decimated by conflict between
the upper milestone of millionaires
and the neither milestone of paupers.
Neither is happy and both refuse to
respond to calls for charity. the one
because they cannot and the other be-
cause they will not Both appeal to
the government one for support and
the other for protection. When. oh
when, will the world learn that char
ity is not benevolence; that while
charity may temporarily relieve the
pain and leave the disease to make
greater inroads upon the constitution
of the body, true benevolence would
remove the cause of the disease and
thereby enable the body to abolish
pain.
There are several views OF this
Russian question. says thes National
Economist A portion of the United
States this year had a fine wheat crop;
scarcity abroad prevented the usual
depression in the price of wheat and a
good price was secured. The cotton
raising portion of the United States
secured fair crop of cotton, but the
price has touched the lowest point re-
ported for fifty years and it is sold by
its producer at an average loss of 333
per cent and, as consequence, great
restitution and distress prevail
throughout the entire Southern states
and thousands of families will not
taste wheat bread in six months
There is yet another portion
of the United States in which re-
side the millionalres and representa-
tives of concentrated wealth that shows
the largest gains in wealth regardless
Of year or season. When this
appeal from Russia comes, the
South cannot help because she
needs help; the West responds by do
mating wheat and the East the Sec
ton most able of all to donate-in-
stead of donating transportation. puts
every one of her congressman at work
to secure a donation from the govern
ment to pay them for the transporta-
ton. They would tax the starving
south to got monty for them to steal
on transportation contracts. It is a
blot and a shame, disgrace to every
state that elected congressman who
voted for the appropriation.
In the spring of 1891, when the
gold exports We're so great that the
country became alarmed, the situation
was explained with great unanimity
by the press, all agreeing that the
cause was Russia compelling England
to pay her great debt in gold. and it
was said that Russia would pay part
of it to France. and that altogether
the foreign scarcity of wheat was sure
to make the gold come back in the
fall. No one has ever shown that if
Russia has starving people the Russian
government is not able to raise the
money to buy food and feed them.
The Russian government is proven
bially stingy, but It should feed its
own starving poor. 1t pays them bet
ter, however to beg. and American
poverty is 50 proud that it will gladly
donate the last copper to the foreign
mendicant millionaire in response to
an appeal for charity, which Ameri-
cans would rather die than make.
The sensible donation for America to
make to Russia is to advise her if she
wants American wheat to buy it. and
if her people have no money, that the
government of the United States will
take the bonds of the Russian govern
ment and at small advance in price
and fair rate Of interest furnish it
all the wheat it wants. This would
be treating Russia right and would
enable American farmers to help one
another. not by charity. but by bust
ness exchanges.