Arizona republican., 1898-08-04
..MINlNG SUPPLIES.
SHORT CROPS IN RUSSIA.
ImpoverjShment of inc Soil Causes
 Another Famine.

Consul General Holloway at St. Petersburg has forwarded to the state department tne following article in regard to the famine in Russia:
 t'Tne frequent failure of the cereal crop in the same localities in Russia cannot be accounted for on any other theory than that the soil is being inn poverished. The famine of 1891, as we'll as the present one, was caused by impoverishment. How can it be oth- erwise in region which is over head and ears in debt, and has no means for encouraging rural industry? AS is already known, in the central Chernoziom region all the forests have been cut down. This has had unfavorable consequences for the far mers. Then, the changes in the tar iff on grain and the low price of cer- calls, owing to the conditions of the international market, have destroyed the agriculture of that region.
 'Of course, a poor harvest has all ways sad results; but if a farmer has reserve supplies, a famine may not ensue. But when such a harvest oc- CUTS in region where the farmer has not enough to eat and persecuted by all sorts of payments, when the grain just taken off the field is brought straight to the market and so4d(At a very low price in order t6~pay the taxes, even a medium Harvest may not be sufficient to avert a famine.
 This calaDIty has this year visited the same localities as the famine of 1SSE The whole of the governments oI Voronezsh. Kaluga, Kursh, Ore1, Penza, Riazan, Samara, Saratov, Sim birsk., Tamboy, Tula and Astrakhan and some ports of the governments of Nizhni Novgorod. Kazan, Ufa. Perm. Stavropol and Orenburg are again stricken, not only with the same dis tress, but even with a still greater one, as there is also a deficiency of fodder
 The conditions under which this famine first manifested itself were more favorable than those of 1891. The great disaster of this latter fam inc consisted in the fact that all the public graEaries were nearly emnty. containing only one-fourth of the amount of grain which should have ; been kept there: in consequence of which, as soon as the first symptoms of the coming famine were observed. dreadful panic set in. and was fol- lowed by grain speculation. This les son was very hard, and caused larger quantities of grain to be kept in the granaries so that when. in 1897 if was ascertained that a famine migbf be expected. the granaries contained tbree-fourths of the obligatory SUD- plies-i. e. on January l. 1897. there were in the granaries of the eighteen governments 6S.000,O00 poods G224,- 900 tons) of different cereals. These supplies were very beneficial: Jhev prevented panic during the first peri cd of the famine furnished the seed for sowing the winter fields in all the governments where the crops had failed, and prevented grain specula- tion- Owing to this fact. the famine in the eighteen governments has had no influence on the prices of grain in the Russian market
 -On the other hand tie present famine has occurred under very un- favorable conditions, so far as the public funds are concerned. The local and the general alimentation capitals were spent during the famine of 1891. and the money has been repaid very slowly. Up to the present day. only S,500000 rtIbles (s4.377,5 ,5OO) in grain and money have been distributed to the famished governments from the public fund:
 "The Red Cross society, other be- nevolent institutions and private per sons are doing their utmost to help the needy A reduced railroad tariff was established on May for grain go- ing to the famished governments. This tariff will continue until Sep tember 13 Grain paying this rate has to be accompanied by a certificate from the Russian Red Cross society"