The Washington herald., 1919-06-20
Hoover Finds 200, 600, 600
In Zone of Starvation
William Allen White Tells of Vast Populations
Living on Rations, Unless They Are
Entirely Without Food Supplies


dire and pitiful. and babies need more
mothers milk than they can get.
So dire indeed is the need for chn-
dren's food In Roumanis and in
parts of Serbia that children Of
are still tugging at the empty
breasts of the underfed mothers.
Children born there weigh on an az
erage of four pounds at birth. and
scarcely increase their weight for SIX
months. Indeed. still-births are the
rule rather than the exception. Moth
ers cannot carry their children the
full time This is true all over tie
famine area. Hence the appalling
drop In the birth rate.
Now we may fairly ask why civiIi-
zation has permitted this famine 20
run unchecked. Never before In the
world has such agony visited the in
nocent as has come TO women and
children I'm the last ten months. Yet
last year America increased its food
export purposes from approximately
10000 tons in 1913 to 100000 tons.
t Politics and Food.
The Russians. for instance. were
] willing 10 pay for food. Lenine had
So.oooooo in gold to pay for food. and
was anxious to buy II on our own
4 f1OONeF Suing MS
Office during March and April was
fretting his head of trying TO get
American food to Russia. The allies
had scheme to sell food to Russia
through commission appointed
among the neutrsls and headed ny
| Nansen. the explorer. Nansen was 60
see that all classes OF Russia were
! treated alike I'm the distribution OF
food; that the Bolsheviki. for instance.
| did not deny food to those who op-
posed them. This plan was ON the
table OF the allies for two weeks wait
ing for the signature Of Clemenceau
after the other heads OF allied govern
| ments had signed IT, Finally when
the signature came il was three
weeks before the reply came from
I Russia. The allies proposed to sci
food to the Bolsheviki only II the Bol-
| shevild would cease hostilities in the
south. where the allies were losing
No promise was made 20 cease hos
tilities against the Bolsheviki in ~.
north. where the Bolsheviki were los
| ing at the time.
Trotsky and Lenine had sent promo
| sails in March to the effect that thov
| willing to cease hostilities II their
! enemies would cease. provided the AZ
lies would raise the blockade Eng
land and America were inclined 20
accept this proposition. France dld
not favor IL. So when the proposition
came to the Bolsheyiki to stop where
they were winning and keep on losing
where they were losing. they refused.
| The food did not go in. The famine
! continues. In the meantime il is quite
4 evident that the Bolsheviki hope 60
profit by the summer. They are max
. ~ hn
Crimes where the great wheat fields
! are. and the oil fields.
4 II is oil as well as wheat that h.
! causing the famine in Central Russia.
! engines on the railroads are rustins
I in shops for want of oil. Motor trucks
/ are burned out by the thousands for
want OF oil. Industry in Russia which
/ would transport food cannot move for
4 want of oil And Trotslxy Is making
| a supreme effort to take the oil fields
] Of the south.
y At this writing il looks as though
Dennekin had turned back the Boz
shevik troops: possibly the three
months Bolshevik victory has been
J., checked but temporarily. But II II
is permanently checked. II the Boil
shevik cannot get to the oil and
wheat OF the Crimea. they cannot go
shevist menace in Russia will end
With it. of course. the famine will
end-if the world sends in food Bur
il the Bolsheviki do get to the Cri-
mea. and hold it: n the Bolsheviki
set wheat and oil. they can hold o.
another winter: but IL must he a
winter Of famine again.
! Another Winter Of Starvation
The wheat Of the Crimea is no,
enough 20 allay the famine 0e oil
OF the Crimea win only keep sNIuE-
gish current Of trade going And
some adjustment must be made with
the Bolsheviki this summer or IN the
autumn to relieve the winters suffer
ing. Civilization cannot play politics
while women and children are siarN-
ing, even though We did play polite
this winter with famine sitting At tn
table while we played.
But then the war was on us aS va
played. Our hearts stiIl were fllr-s
with the blood-lust Of war u VIII
be another world around the tshi
next autumn.
And this brings us un 10 cons =
Grafton OF the German famine The
was our own private famine TIL
allies we're responsible for IL n 10
the penalty We put upon defeat IA
winter.
Count Brockdorf1- Rantzau. sitting
when he should have stood AT o..
council table. drove homo a forr1n'
thrust when he called attention
the fact that the allies had cause1
the deaths Of hundreds Of thousar,'s
OF Germans nv keeping on the biloxi
sde after the armistice. II 50 han-
pers that the Americans have lC-r
blame than certain others Of tho 81
lies. And tho English also hav"
fairly good slilNi
But the bloc ade WAS on 70, throe
months after the armistice And tl'.'
blockade was the Death sentence ~
thousands OF innocent people Her
bert Hoover moved every peg hs
could to get food to the Germans. He
had TO violate the letter and tho
spirit OF the American law to do o.
For the law declared that no Amcr-
lean money was TO be spent for fo"i
for the Germans. So the EnEl'-N
paid for the food America furnish'-l
il. and took English notes TO NV
for IL. thus showing that there are
more ways of killing a cat than chol-
/ ing II to death on buttermilk
1 Moreover. the food was at the gates
Of Germany before the blockade WIS
actually lifted--waiting for the grtc
to go up. Hoover saw 20 that. also
But the blockade was DELAYED. aui
delayed while people starved Ava
| il gave Rantzau a tremendous point
against the allies in his appeal o"
the neutrals for just peace