New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1892-05-04
OUR CHARITY APPRECIATED
0ol. Rave Ra,u-as f,om .. NJ. ion to
Fam = 81 oken Rus IS.
rhirsy Thop,-nd People F.d with the Do
nations Of Minnesota.

/ ( IS Z ]
Col. G. McC. Reeve, one of the COM
m'ssioners appointed by the governor of
Minnesota to distribute the food ssufsss
sent by the Wes.sern farmers and mille1rs
on the Steamship Missouri for relief of
the famine stricken districts of Russia.
a--.-iived in New York on the steamship
Fuerst Bismark, which got in late FIJI
dey night. In speaking OF his tip Col.
Reeve sid:
The distress in the fmine-stficken por-
tons OF Russia is probably gfe.ster than
any one here has conceived. It is imDos-
s1ble to reach at this time of the yeardis-
tncts where the greatest 61,;st .ess pfevai,s
Along the lines OF railwqys the relief
which has been afforded hes mpcb amel-
lorated the condition Of the people. [
found IN Russia that the noh:ii,y and the
landed proprietors were doiao every
thing they could for the relief Of the
starving peasants. Couat Bob .insky is
feeding on his estate alone 1a.CO0 Deo-
pie, another noble family is supporting
$4,000 people, and so on through the LIST.
Among the trsdesmen and wel-to-do
merchants OF the large cities, however.
the greatest apathy Gcems 20 prevail fe
gaTdlng the condition of the starvino
peasants. They are apt TO answer when
appealed to for help, ooh. tho3e people
are always hungry; they wor't work.
This to some extent is tcue. The govern
ment and the railways have offered work
to able-boGied men from the famine dis
tricts who will accept it, but the Russian
peasant Is a great fatalist and many of
them say sit is the will of God" and sit
down to starve to death. We found the
relief committees in Russia fully organ
lied. The government offered US every
possible facility for distributing The food
brought 10y the Missouri, placing all the
machinery OF the government and OF the
government railways at our disposal. [
was Informed that the food which the
Missouri brought to Russia viii support
10000 people until such time as a new
crop can be gathered. With the excep-
ton Of England, the other nations have
done nothing to relieve the distress in
Russia. The worst of the famine IS not
known, and most serious problem is
presented even when temporary relief is
offered the starving peasants. The prob
lem is in regard to next years crops.
The mortality among the horses and cat
tie in the fan1ine-2tricken regions has
been something horrible, and do not see
what they are going TO do in order to get
in their crops for next year. The people
in the famine stricken region are not on
ly without food, but without clothing.
You can fancy what that is in Russian
winter. The peasants make their own
clothing from flax, which they raise, spin
operated to destroy the crops OF last
year also destroyed the fax, so the peas
4 ants could not provide themselves with
new clothing. You have no idea how
/ thoroughly the action of America in send
ing food to the starving peasants is APP
preciated by the Russians.
Everywhere we went, mobiles, govern
. ment officials and army officers would
come to usin the railroad trains or in
the hotels to introduce themselves and
express the gratitude which was felt
toward America for her kindness and
humanity The story which has been
4 published Of Count Tolstoi having been
4 ordered to stop his relief work in the
! famine districts and confine himself to
his own state is entirely apocryphal. The
car investigated the matter, found out
/ just what Count Tolstoi was doino, and
then said ssLet no one disturb him; he is
doing SO much good that whatever doc
rtf .
trines he may teach | cannot afford to
have him interfered with" Ifound that
nearly all those now suffering, are of the
class OF former serfis. They do not seem
as yet to have acquired that quality which
the Yankee calls .sforehandedness.n One
cause OF the failure of the former serfs
to become prosperous farmers is bad
system of landholdings. A peasant can
Eonly occupy holdings for four years.
! Then he has to exchange with some 9TH
er farmer. This is intended to prevent
land from running down. The theory is
that if farm gets bad owner for one
four years, it will be likely to get a good
owner for the next four years. AS u
matter of fact, it destroys in the farmer