Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-05-12
CURRENT TOPICS.

is so strict that little is known outside
Of the empire of the terrible famine
that is ravaging and depopulating a
large section Of the country, except
what comes through the correspond
ents who are more or less cognizant Of
the actual condition of affairs. From
these letters it appears that the fam
inc extends over four large provinces,
lying west of the Volga river inhab-
tied by millions Of the peasant popu-
lation of Russia, and that the suffer-
Ing and restitution are fully equal to
that attendant upon the great famine
of 1891 and 1892.
The cause of the present scarcity of
food Is the same as then-a failure of
the crops over very wide area, which
reaches almost to the city of Moscow
as its western limit. Within this
stricken region the people are sup
porting themselves upon weeds, acorns
and chopped straw; but this INSULT
cheney Of food added to the severity of
the winter, and the unsanitary condi-
tions under which the peasantry of
Russia live, has brought on typhus
fever and other similar diseases, which
are depopulating whole provinces. 1t
is reported that frequently the entire
population of children has been swept
off by the hunger, cold and disease
acting in unison. The government has
made some effort to provide for the
people, and has supplied them with
seed corn for spring planting, but this
has all been used for food. The Rus
sian Red Cross society reports that
nearly one-quarter of the people of the
districts are unable to obtain any as
sistance from the government, and
must be supplied by private charity or
starve.
The Russian government does little
for the agricultural interests OF the
country, although IS per cent of ,ne
population is engaged in tilling the
soil. The expenditures for agriculture
amount to only $22,5O0,0OO annually,
while the cost of the army and navy
is $260,0OO,O00. In India $3S 5000, 900 is
expended for irrigation purposes alone,
as the best means for preventing fu-
ture famines. Such is the difference
In methods between the Russian and
British governments.
Col. Alexander S. Bacon in a late
number Of the Forum discusses the
question, is Our Army Degenerate?"
with good deal Of freedom. He says
"the personnel of the rank and file is
superb. The younger and middle-aged
officers positively have no superiors."
This being the case, he proceeds to
tell why Gin the war of 1898 our army
developed little but scandal" This is
his explanation: "In the army, with
the exception Of the engineer and ord
nance corps, which were headed by
West Point graduates, every head of
department at the beginning of the
war with Spain was non-graduate,
all Of the six rigadier-generals were
non-graduates, and of the three major
generals only one was graduate" In
view of these astonishing facts, Col |
Bacon asks: "Why does the govern
ment spend fortune in the education |
Of each Of its military architects, and,
when he offers his services in time of
war, ignore him and take up inexperi
enced fathers sons instead? 1t Is |
politics, not war;"
While the people have understood |
chat many unpleasant complications
arose from the appointment Of mex
perienced men, they are not prepared |
for so positive declaration as Col.
Bacon makes when he says that there
were hundreds of West Point gradu
ates with wide experience in the army