The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1920-05-21
How EUROPE CAN
ESCAPE COLLAPSE
We Must Aid by Extending
Credits, Says Dawson.
GRAVE MENACE TO U. S. A.
European Ruin Would Involve
America-Starvation and
Disease Rampant.


Of the, League Of Red Cross Societies,
said:
AS chairman of the Convention OF
Red Cross Societies, composed of rep
resentatives of twenty-seven nations
that met recently in Geneva, am Gus
todian of authoritative reports record,
ing appalling conditions among mil
lions of people living In eastern Flu.
rope.
One of the most terrible tragedies in
the history of the human race is being
enacted within the broad belt of terri
tory. lying between the BALTIC and the
Black and Auriatic Seas.
! This area includes the new Baltic
States-POand, Czecho-Slovakia, the
Ukraine, Austria, Hungary, ROumania,
Montenegro, Albania and Serbia.
The reports which come to us make
J 1t clear that in these war-ravaged
lands civilization has broken down.
Disease, bereavement and suffering
are present in practically every house
hold. while food and clothing are in
sufficient TO make life tO!erabe.
Men, women and children are diving
by thousands, and over vast once-civ-
lied areas there are to be found nei
Their medicinal appliances nor medical
skill sufficient to cope with the devas
tattng plaques.
Wholesale starvation Is threatened
in Poland this summer unless she can
procure food supplies in large quaint
ties. There are now approximately
25O,OOO cases of lyphus in Poland and
in the area occupied by Polish troops.
Worst Typhus Epidemic in History.
| This Is already one of the worst ty,
phus epidemics IN the worlds history.
In Galicia whole towns are crippled
and business suspended. In some dis
| tricts there is but one doctor to each
10000 people
In the Ukraine, we were told, typhus'
and influenza have affected most of the
population.
| report from Vienna, dated Febru-
airy II. said "There are rations for,
three weeks. Death stalks through the.
streets of Vienna and takes unhnder-
ed toll
! Budapest, according to our informal,
tiOn, is one vast city of misery and
suffering. The number of deaths is
double that of births. OF the 100000
children in the schools, 100000 are de.
pendent or. public charity. There are
10000 workers idle. H.
Typhus and smallpox have invaded
the four countries composing Czecho-
Slovakia, and there is lack of medi-
cnes, soap and physicians.
In Serbia typhus has broken out
again and there are but 200 physicians
to minister to the needs of that entire
country.
In Montenegro, where food is run
ming short, there are but five physi-
clans for a population of 100000.
America Overlooking With Riches.
Returning to the United States
few weeks ago with all these horrors
ringing in my ears, | found myself
once more in a land whose granaries
were overlooking, where health and
plenty ab0unded and where life and
activity and eager enterprise were In
the full flood.
asked myself: what if this plague
and famine were here in the great ter
ritory between the Atlantic seabOard
and the Mississippi valley, which
roughly parallels the extent of these
ravaSed countries and that $4,000. 900
OF our own people condemned to idle.
ness by lack of raw material and
whose fields had been devastated by
invasion and rapine were racked by
starvation and pestilence and if we
mad lifted up our voices and invoked
the attention of our brothers in han.
pier Europe to our own deep miseries
and our cries had fallen on deaf ears,
would we not in our despair exclaim
against their heartlessness
Only Three Ways to Help Europe.
There are only three ways by which
these stricken lands can secure SUD.
plies from the outside world One is
by payment, one by credit. and the
third is by exchange of commodities. ',
IL these peoples tried to buy materials
and supplies in Amrrira NJ the present |
market value of their currencies Aus. |
IRA "ol'd have % pay forty times the
original cost, Germany thirteen times,
Greece just double, Czecho-Slovakia
fourteen times and Poland fifty times
These figures are official and are a
true index of the economic plight of
these countries.
II is clear, therefore, that they can |
not give us gold for the things the,
must have, nor have they either prod
uctS or securities to offer in return for
credit. If only they could obtain raw
material which these idle millions of
theirs could convert into manularlured
products'they would have something 70
tender the world in return for its raw
material, food and medirne. But If
they have neither money nor credit
how are they to take this first grea,
So towards redemption
One-half tie world may MOI eat
while the other half starves. How
long do you believe the plague of ty.
Plus that is taking Il hideous death