Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-01
FAMINE GROWS WORSE
THERE Is PRACTICALLY NO FOOD
IN THE voLGA.
Babes Die in Mothers Arms While
Ministry Probes the Grain
Scandal.

ST. PETERSBURG. December las
| result of the Investigation which the press
campaign and public Indignation have
| compelled the ministry to make into the
| Lidval contract for the purchase OF grain
| Intended for famine relief. in which Assist
ant Minister OF the Interior Gurko is alleged
to be involved. the sufrerings of the stricken
population of the Volga provinces have been
greatly augmented.
Controller Schwanebach, head of the in
| terministerih commission appointed to in
| auire into the grain scandal. went TO Tsars-
| koe-Selo tonight to lay the matter before
the emperor and to obtain the latters In
structions
| sary. will hamper the execution of the adj
] mlnistrations agrarian program, he is
| the author of the great mass OF the agra
| rian legislation already promulgated and
| was charged with the preparation of prof.
| ects to be submitted to parliament
| Inc composition OF the Gurko investigat-
| Ing commission has been changed. 1t will
not be composed OF members OF the min
istry, as first announced but the members
will be selected from dignitaries OF high
rank and men I'm public life independent of
| the government This step is made In or
der to minimize the possibility OF n white
washing verdict The members OF the COM
mission are as follows: NJ. Goluboff vice
president of the council of the empire: SEN
Count Gudovltsch. secretary of the ST. Pc
tersburg branch of the marshals OF nobility,
and NJ. ProsurOn. president of the 81. Pc
tersburg bourse committee.
Investigation Without Delay.
The emperor has said that this investiga-
ton must be conducted without delay.
On account of the disappearance of Lid
val, the chief grain buyer. in the face Of
the threatened proceedings. the purchase
and shipment OF the sorely needed grain
| have been suspended. and considerable time
must elapse before new contracts can be
drawn up.
Further disclosures increase the gravity
of M. Gurko's action In awarding the con-
tract to Lidval. Gov. Alexandrovski OF
Penza province. who has been mentioned
as one Of Lidval's sponsors. says he never
heard of the man until he received orders
through NJ. Gurko's department, to pur-
chase grain only through Lidval. 1t has
also become known that the profits on the
deal were even greater than first supposed.
The Zemstvo committee Of the neighboring
province of Tula was able to purchase
grain for 6 1-3 cents bushel below Ldval's
contract price, or an equivalent TO over
100000 on the whole contract.
The Grain Contract.
The grain contract disclosures have also
resulted in great criticism OF the manage
able to move sufficient freight trains to
keep the population from starvation and a
demand is voiced for complete house
cleaning in the ministry Of railroads. The
roads are not moving any grain fuel
from the south. and the coal mines In the
Donetz region have shut down after ac-
cumulatng an enormous quantity of coal
which the railroads have declined to handle.
1t is feared that this may lead to a sus-
pension of work in the factories and great
distress in several of the manufacturing
districts.
Princes G. E. I.voff and Orbeliani repre-
senting the zemstvo bureau for famine re-
lief, who have just returned to Moscow
from trip through the famine stricken
provinces, report that the situation is even
worse than outlined in the earlier reports.
The famine is complete, producing every
where starvation and sickness. In some
localities even the supply of pigweed, with
which the inhabitants mnimiZed the pangs
of hunger is exhausted, and children are
dying at their mothers breasts. Only tho
hardest adults have strength enough to
work. An epidemic of scurvy has broken
out in the Kholfsk district of Saratov prov
ince and in the absence of needed food
and medicine is spreading widely.