The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1921-08-08
VOLCA BASIN IS
VALLEY OF DEATH
Over 12,OOO,OOOActuaIIyS StarV-
ing, Mrs. Harrison Says.
ALL DUE TO SOVIET RULE
Two-Thirds of Russla's Entire Popu-
gation Now on Hunger Rations, She
Declares

Declares
Berlin. Aug S-American relief
| workers who are about to go into ia
nine-Stricken Russia probably will
| find 100000 persons in the Volga
! HiSin actually starving, and two-thirds
! of the entire population of Russia on
| hunger rationS, according to Mrs. Mar
| %uerite K. Harrison, American news
paper woman, recently released from
| prison in Soviet Russia.
This, Mrs. Harrison attributes to in
tcrnal economic and political disinte-
grafton under Soviet rule, and also to
| t;:a ravages of the internecine wars
G%ainSt Admiral Kolchak and General
Wrangel, and to the drought. What
tie drought failed to accomplish, con-
SrriptiOn of farm hands and requiSiiOn
Ct grain for theDRed armies completed.
The result is that the Ukrainian re
public, normally the granary of Rus
sia, barely is able to sustain itself.
Siberia virtually is in the same pred-
C.lment. Neither region is willing 10
surrender grain TO the famine sections,
AID migration of peasants is now pro-
| 'rading. completely halting the autumn
planting, which constitutes a threat
'eainSt next years crops
The food situation, Mrs. Harrison
aid, also will have Il swift and decf-
we bearing on the public health, al
.iough the Russian Sanitar" corps had
he cholera situation in hand when she
# Moscow at the end of July.
Famine conditions have been made
'orse by poor transportation and inef-
t:ciency of local distribution organiza-
"n>. which have been vigorously at
lacked by the newspapers during the
,aSt few weeks For instance, S5Iper
elit of the milk spoiled in the Nos
,'0w government was due to the defec-
live organization of the receiving sta
ions
Pitiful stories of suffering are told
;.n all sides. The peasants of Tambov
ere reported to be eating bread made
of straw, potato parings and. weeds.
In the Novenski prison, where Mrs.
Harrison was detained, the bread was
i.dHlterated with flour which appear
ed "a have been made from cow peas.
kasha, the staple cereal of the peas
ants, has been replaced by fageolet
beans, which are imported. x
MrS.[Harrison visited the VOlga ba-
sin with the British labor delegation
Il year ago, when she observed symp-
TOMS of the approaching food short
age. This, she says is not the result
of the crop failure, but of economic
conditions prevailing since the begin
ming of the revolution. During the
kolchak campaign the Volga provinces
We're Overrun, with the result that the
fields were not cultivated and the popu
Iation scattered. This was one reason
why the official figures for 1920 show
ed that the number of farm workers
i'll Russia had increased 80 per cent
since 1916.
When the Soviet retook the Volga
provinces in 1919 they proceeded Wig
0rously and in the main effectually to
carry out the program of agricultural
reconstruction. They succeeded fairly
well, though lacking in manpower, ma
chinery and fertilizer. The commits
Sariat of agriculture began a campaign
Of education, sending to the provinces
trained propaganda workers and tech
nical literature experts.
Last year the Soviet encouraged
emigration, when 198,68S persons were
transferred to Siberia, realizing the
threat of famine which had been grow
ing for several years. The emigrants
now often are greeted by the natives
with clubs and rifles, but the govern
ment's efforts to stem the tide Of
emigration is without appreciable re-
suit
According to Mrs. Harrison, the
heavy rains spoiled much of the hay
crop. The government is making an
effort to save the live stock by con-
centrating herds on the natural pas
| turage slopes of the Ural Mountains
The peasants, however, are opposing
this plan, fearing they will never get
| back their cattle.
The health situation, Mrs Harrison
says, is distressing, while cholera is I'M
der control, incomplete figures showed
| there had been 81 900 cases to the end
Of July, most of them in the govern
ment of AStrakhan.