The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-12-15
+ A NJ l N Il S
BY
j. ID. GILLIAN

In three great areas there are at
present on earth mighty famines
stalking like unsecured giants leaving
crushed and suffering people in the
places where their crunching heels
twisted under them and emaciated
bodies of the starving.
Europe has 100000 of them,
many of them mere babies Juggling
at mothers breasts where there Is
no milk, crying themselves literally
to death while the equally helpless
mothers with all the love of a moth
er, has to look on and see her wee
ones perish.
Armenia has hordes Of the same
sort Of sufferers, the product of the
animal that geographers call the
| Turk. His Unsuitable rapacity leads
him to the desire of annihilating the
Armenian people, and with ruthless
severity he has nearly succeeded in
his Internal attempt. Possibly the
League of Nations will have the
ability to secure some enforceable
tof the land Of Ararat an existence.
But the land of Sinim, China, has
not fewer than 2O,000,000 starving
folk. can tell your readers, Mr..
Editor, something of the conditions
which obtain there. In territory
large as Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Mich
igan and Minnesota there has been
no rainfall for long time. Part of
; that region lies in the provinces
(states) of Honan, Chilli, Shantung,
and one or two others. A portion
of this country has a population of
/ 683 to the square mile and they are
the rice and the mulberry farmers.
This is in north China where the
winters are cold as ours. Yet there
when the wind is whipping every
rag and screaming around every
corner have seen boys ten or twelve
or more unclothed except for the
little piece of rag like a gunny sack,
very small piece about their should
ers, leaving all the remainder of the
emaciated bodies exposed to the ele-
ments, trotting after me and others
calling for something better under
stood by guessing than from literal
Interpretation. Once woman thinly
clad in revealing rags ran swiftly
after my jinricksha till outdistanced
by my man-horse, crying, so my guide
said, ooh, good old man, Oh, good
old man, give me something for my
children who have not had anything
to eat for four days." She looked
the part, am sure; hunger had
pinched ner cheeks, want had bleach
ed her, and the other appendices of
famine had shredded her till she was
spectral.
have seen people in January in
north China sitting on the summed
side of their dilapidated shacks of
straw, bamboo or mud, half clothed
or less than half, trying to get warm;
these are dwellings not houses, abid-
ing places not homes, yet all the
h0me millions-yes, millions Of them
have at all. A fire they cannot have.
A warming fire, mean; they use
leaves and grass to brew their tea.
The wonder is not that they die;
it is rather that SO many of them
continue to exist in any form. In
some places of the Honan and the
Shantung provinces the hunger-craz-
ed people have eaten every blade of
grass, the leaves from the trees and
in some places the bark. But with
$50 population to the square mile,
with no means of rapid transporta-
ton and nothing to transport, what
can the people do but die?
What are we Blackfooters going
to do? Shall we eat, drink and be
merry regardless of these conditions
abroad? Religion tames rebellious
heart and makes a stubborn head
ready to receive best things. This
order is the statement of the process
by which new or heather peoples
come to the knowledge of the truth;
1t is religion before science If trans
formations are effective. Religion
makes us willing and anxious to as
sist others and science shows us how
to do it. 1t apples equally with the
people concerned.
Would 1t not be better for our own
real development if we each this year
would plan to do personally with
little less and feed some one who
must die except he gets what we can
supply him? The farmer gets a Joy
out of watching his hogs eat; the
hunter delights to see his faithful
dog gnaw bone or something bet
ter after hard days hunting trip.
Let us somewhere feed some starv-
ing child who would be glad to delve
into our garbage can for the scraps
we discard.
Father Gresl, President Duck
worth, Rev. Mr.. Butler or the writer
or others can easily tell you where
to bestow any benificence you may
possess.
Help, just little, any way; and
much if you will.