The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1901-02-24

Evils Of the Famine Aggravated by
had Roads, Very slow rransporta-
tioa Methods Along the water
Routes and the Inadeauacy of re-
lief Measures.
The two provinces Of China which
The New York Suns dispatches from
fcking the other day described as sur.
fcring from famine are Shnnsi aud
shensi, In the mountain region west u
the coast province of Pe-chili. There IL
only one province. kansu. west Of
them In China proper. and they there
fore form the north central part OF
China
The famlncs that occasionally desc
late parts of China are caused by inun.
dntion and drought Inundntion, tho
most frequent cause OF distress. Is
mainly In the basin Of the yellow river.
IN which wide areas are sometimes
completely devastated. MI buildings
and crops hc.ag swept away aud fer.
tile lands covered several feet deep
with sand The wretched inhabitants
are driven forth without resource.
people starved 20 death.
China as a rule is abundantly bless
ed with rainfall The regular south
west winds ana the periodical mon.
soons give the country a larger average
rainfall than that of west Europe. The
average amount along the coast IL more
than 40 inches year. The interior
usually has abundant precipitation. the
largest factor In the great develop
ment OF agriculture In the basins of the
Yang-tse and Yellow rivers. Hut occa.
slonally In the northern part OF China.
where the conditions begin 20 approach
those that make Mongolia deficient In
rainfall. there are periods Of drought,
and as the regions Of inundation and OF
drought are mainly In the north the
terrible famines are chiefly confined
10 that part OF China. Drought has
caused the present famine.
The evils OF famine are aggravated
by two facts The first is the bad roads
aud the extremely slow methods Of
transportation on the water routes. Re
fore the Mantchoo dynasty came into
power the emperors built imperial high
ways paved with stones between many
OF the cities. But for $50 years moth
ing has been done to repair these roads,
and they are now In such n state OF
ruin that they are an impedlment To
travel and have been abandoned from
sheer necessity. The state also has
failed to keep the canals In repair. so
that they are now partly useless. Pc
king depends for It's supplies largely ON
the Grand canal. and yet parts OF II
are in such disrepair that portages
have been made at the sides where
freight Is hauled overland TO be re-em.
barked farther on. Central north Chit
ma may be suffering from food while
south China has plenty, but II Is Inn
possible to transport food into the fam
Inc stricken districts In time TO avert
disaster.
The other fact that aggravates fam
Inc is the inadequacy OF relief meas
ures. Both the government and private
benevolence establish soup kitchens
anywhere and everywhere, and large
donations of clothing are made 10 those
that are destitute. But there is no sys-
tematic relief. Aid often fails TO reach
thore who most need II, and relief
measures are abandoned II the fund set
apart for that purpose happens to be-
come exhausted. II has been the his
tory OF nearly every great famine In
China that at the very height OF dis
t~nss the helpless are left to their fate
AID perish by tehs of thousands.
At present the government has other
things TO attend to and has probably
neither funds nor machinery with
which to put relief measures In force
The horrors OF Chinese famines are
augmented by the dire poverty of the
masses OF the people. with whom exist
ence is always a question of intense
struggle and who have nothing will
which to tide them over periods Of dis
tress.