The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-01-07
THE FAMINE ININDIA
THAT COUNTRY NOT ABLE TO COPE
WITH THE CALAMITY.


Russia Il Doing More Than Great Britai.
10 Relieve the Starving Multitudes-The
Plague at Bonbay Adds It's Terrors.
British Asa VIII He Necessary.
The letter Of ex-Judge Goodridge,
published in The Englishman Of Cal.
cutta, points out that the means
adopted by the government Of India TO
check the famine are entirely made
,quats, declares that thousands of per-
SONS are dying from starvation and calls
attention to the general apathy on the
subject thus far displayed in England.
The queen sone time ago sent q tele-
gram to the eroy Of India expressing
sympathy for the sufferers and promis-
ing that tney would be assisted, but
thus FAR rothing of consequence has been
done hv the imperial government to
avert t..e effects of one Of the greatest
cala.-ities that has ever threatened In
d.,
Comparisons are made in the matter
between the attitude of Great Britain
and Russia which do not rebound great
ly to the credit of England. 1t is
known that the czar has several times
expressed himself as being deeply con-
cerned in the outcome of the famine,
and his interest has taken a practical
turn. One of the means adopted by the
czar to secure aid for the sufferers was
grand concert, which produced large
sum of money. All the artists who ap-
thair caryicac MI
all the receipts were devoted to the fund
for the victims. As the affair was under
the direct patronage of the czar and
czarina almost th'bntire court was pres
ent, as were also the civic and military
officials in st. Petersburg.
The newspapers of Moscow and st.
Petersburg continue their earnest ap-
peals for help for the famine sufferers,
and in other directions steps are being
taken to aid the victims. In some Eng
lish quarters the opinion obtains that
this generous action Of the Russians is
only mask hiding some deep laid po-
litical scheme, having for its object the
raising Of disaffection in India against
British rule. Some Of the Tory papers
express their approval of declarations
that have appeared in certain Indian
papers to the effect that aid from such
q source should not be accepted. But
they do not urge the government to ex-
tend aid to the sufferers, and in the
meantime thousands of the natives are
dying.
There is no question in the minds of
those who are not blinded by hatred of
Russia that the Russian movement had
its origin entirely in charitable motives
and that it was intended as q response
to the foreign aid given at the time of
the great Russian famine some five
years ago. The Russian newspapers
point out in their appeals for subscrip-
tions that had it not been for the aid
extended to the Russian sufferers by
Great Britain and the United States the
death roll would have been much larger
than it actually was. Quantities of
grain have been purchased with the
money raised by public subscriptions in
Russia, and the Russian government
has undertaken to forward the grain to
India free of cost.
The Indian government is not able to
cope with the situation, and unless i'm
perial aid is extended the famine will
prove one Of the most calamitous vista.
tions of the kind that has ever affected
India
Advices from Bombay show that the
bubonio plague, which is supposed to
have been imported into that city from
Hongkong. where it ragged with great
violence about year ago, is rapidly ex-
tending among the natives, who thus
far have been the principal sufferers.
Thousands Of the residents have fed
from the city, but their exodus is more
than counterbalanced by the arrival of
large numbers of victims Of the famine
who are pouring into the city in the
hope of either obtaining work or Of at
least finding among the charitable relief
from the pangs Of starvation. These,
weakened by want Of food, quickly fall
victims to the disease, which thus far
has baff1ed the efforts Of the physicians
to control it.
The sanitary condition Of the native
quarters also tends to the spread of the
disease, but the natives, with their
usual fatalism, are not to be taught the
benefits of cleanliness in their habita-
tions and accept the plague as vista.
tion from their gods. It is thought that
unless the sanitary regulations can be
enforced by the civil authorities, il will
be necessary to call upon the military
for assistance in compelling the natives
to observe the health ws.-London
Gable to New York Sun.