Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-02-03
THE GREAT FAMINE.
RussIHs NEED or EARLY AND CON-
TlNUous ASSISTANCE.
Vast Extent Of the Want 90 He Relieved
Insdsquacy Of Relief Measures
I'm Existence.
IBy telegraph to the Dispssch-l

lBy telegraph to the Dispstch-l
WASHINGTON, February Ain response to
many sympathetic inquiries and profers
Of aid received from friends In the United
States the Department of State has received
from Minister Smith at St. Petersburg an in
teresting report Of the actual conditions of
the stricken districts of Russia prepared
from the evidence Of eye-witnesses and
other most trustworthy sources. of which
the following is an epitome:
The territory affected by the drought
comprises thirteen provinces IN European
Russia, where the famine IL generaI--yiz. !:
Kazan. Einil-Eovgorod. Orenbure, Oufa,
Penso, Riaxan. Ssmara, Saratof, Simbirsk,
Toula. Tambof. Viatks. and Voronege.
In Ave other provinces the famine pre-
walls in part-viz.. Kursk, Glonetz, Orel,
Perm and Tauride. One or two others,
like Kharkov. have suffered to some ex-
tent, but are not included in the official
reports.
THE VAST AREA AFFECTED.
The first thirteen provinces in area are
one third greater than all Germany. They
cover an area equal to the States OF Maine.
New Hampshire. Vermont, Massachusetts,
Rhode island, Connecticut. New YORK.
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia. North
Carolina. South Carolina. Georgia, aud
Kentucky all together. The popula-
ton is about equal, or 27.000.000. The 1--WE
other provinces above named if included in
the comparison, would equal the COM
bined area Of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan.
Wisconsin. Minnesota, Illinois, North and
South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and half
OF Ohio. The total population of these
last fve provinces IS nearly double that OF
the last States named. This vast section
is agricultural, and the richest and ordi-
nerily the most fruitful soil of Russia.
The restitution is not universal. as there
are those whose Accommodations have saved
them from want. and there are some spots,
preserved from blight by irrigation. where
q good harvest was reaped; but at the best
estimate the proportion OF suffering is
enormous.
FOURTEEN MILLIONS NEED AID.
An official estimate OF the number of
those without food or means OF support
who require aid is given at li.0O0.oJ0 per
sons. and this is probably below the true
number.
For three years the crops have fallen
short of the average. the deficiency or
the past season left the store-houses we'll
nigh empty, and through the increased
failure Of this year, il is evident, and,
Minister Smith adds. positive. that I'M
less adequate relief can be supplied the
great present restitution and suffering
will grow worse as the season continues.
I he greater proportion OF the peasantry Is
not provident. The peasants MAKE no
savings generally, but live wholly de-
pendent upon the yearly crops; hence
iong-continued and widespread drought
leaves them subject to outsiderelief.
ADDITIONAL MisEBIEs.
The scarcity of provisions is not the only
misery of this people. The crops are the
foundation Of their whole economic struc-
ture. When their crops fail various evils
follow. The government loses revenue
and the peasants lack all the necessaries
of life. Clothing. hre-wood, farming i'm
plements, subsistence of horses md cattle.
all depend upon this one source. the crops.
The taxes and rental continue, and 1t rs AZ
difficult toget fuel as food IN some Sec
tions.
Cold as well as hunger causes terrible suf-
fering. In some neighborboods large num-
bers of persons huddle together in houses
most conducive 10 warmth. Barns have
been torn down aud the boards used tor
6rewood. Even thatched-roofs are torn OF
and the straw made to feed the dying en-
bers. Clothing is gwen away for bread ;
horses and cattle are sacrificed at 1.-THE
of their value fodder ID as scarce as hu-
man food, aud in some cases horse flesh
has been sacrificed tor sustcnance.
PKsTlLrscg WALKING AT MONDAY
During the winter there is no work. and
frequently fathers have left their wives
and children to fight the battle OF want
and their absence would leave
fewer mouths 10 feed at home.
The bread which many are eating
is composed of wild arrack. potatoes,
chan. and leaves, and these terrible con-
ditions inevitably produce disease. Within
the radius of one mile there are l20 cases
of typhus fever. Pestilence and hunger
are daily gaining ground. and the former
is deoimatlng the people.
Through January. February, and March
the roads will be good, and all energies
should be directed to pouring provisions
into the suffering provinces. The rivers
are frozen. Two or three railroads run
into the famine-stricken region, but there
are no branches of these railroads, and
all provisions must be carried for long
distances on sledges The problem is how
to carry enough during the next three
months, not only for immediate use. bu;
also to tide over the period until the next
harvest snail be realized. which should be
| in July. In the middle of March or the
| lst OF April the winter will break up, and
| the roads will become heavy or difficult.
| The horses now available for transporta.
| ton will be needed for spring farming.
TIME PRECIOUS.
Time is q most important factor in the
work of relief. Every week is vital. One
hundred and eighty million. pounds o.
| food are necessary. Fifty carloads should
arrive every day in these stricken pro
| vinces, but only elven carloads per day
were received Christmas week. The
| emergency pending has not beer
realized, unfortunately, but the spec
| ire of the famine has oyershadow
| ed everything, and every energy must bt
| strained to mitigate the calamity. Thu
| imperial government has, up to the pres
| ent time, appropriated S5.000,000 rouble'
| (S42, 500, 000) from the public treasury FOL
| the work OF relief But the work mus
| still 60 on, and the expenditure mus
amount to a much higher SUN.
| The Russian Emperor has personally
| given enormously and all classes are givins
| according to their means. The loss to the
| government revenue will be at least 5000,
| 0Oo, 900 roublss (about $10O,00O,O00l OF
more, while conservative estimate OF the
| loss to Russia, in view OF all conse
| ouences, is placed at not less thar
1000, 600 900 roubles (S500, 000. 000). Up Il
| the present time there have been few con
| tributions from abroad, but the govern
ment aud the people Of Russia are deepl,
| sensible of the spontaneous offers tina
bava been made in various parts OF the