Evening star., 1921-07-31
The Russian Tragedy.


appalling destitution. Hundreds of
thousands Of people are deprived of
food and are subsisting on grass. roots,
moss, the bark of trees and the ground
bones Of animals. Disease has fol-
lowed as a natural sequence and is
carrying off the sufferers by great
numbers. Hunger marches have been
made by long columns of the people,
clad in rags. gaunt and scarcely sane,
armed with sticks and rude pixies.
storming the cities where food is
stored. In Petrograd the soviet gov
ernment. according to one dispatch.
assembled troops and fired into one of
these swarms Of hunger marchers.
killing many score.
Famine and pestilence are terrible
in any land where government is Or
ganized and functioning. But in Rus
sia there Is no government in the
proper sense. A rule of tyranny by a
small group has been established, with
incompetence and graft prevalent.
Only one principle is observed, that Of
repression. Instituted on the theory
Of equality for all classes of the people.
it has proved the most unequal of
autocracies. And in this emergency it
has failed utterly to provide for the
simplest needs of the population.
The worst effects of the famine are
foIf in, -,
great Volga valley. But the conditions
that are taking toll in lives prevail
almost universally throughout the
range of soviet rule. Transportation
has almost completely broken down.
Relief supplies. if they were available.
could be distributed with the greatest
difficulty.
In these circumstances the fall of
the bolshevists is predicted. But they
have weathered so many storms in the
past four years that hope Of their col
lapse is faint, even though the shock
ing sufferings of the people seem to
compel a change. There is talk Of a
coalition to replace the soviet admin.
istration. A report circulates that
Lenin will surrender Office. The names
of several men well known for their
of revolutionary views
have been mentioned as likely to form
the new ministry. Yet confidence in
the prospect does not brighten as long
as the shrewd schemer who has held
Russia in his ruthless hand since the
overthrow of the Kerensky regime re.
mains in power at Moscow.
The terms laid down by Mr.. Hoover
as the basis for American relief have
been ridiculed by the soviet leaders,
but late dispatch state that they
have been accepted. Meanwhile
the disaster grows in magnitude
and precious time is being lost. The
soviet, it is hinted, believes that the
crop will suffice to relieve the situa-
tion. But there are reports that in
some sections the unripe roots and
grains have been already eaten by the
people.
LII q AC" "CCho IdSi8dliOIi Will oC-
come difficult and by the end Of No
vember relief ships, save by the south
ern waters, cannot reach the Russian
shores. To administer the relief work
will call for a great number of skilled
men, transport specialists, experienced
The breakdown Of the
railroads will make the task Of send
ing the supplies into the interior one
of the greatest magnitude. The para
mount question now, therefore, is
whether, if the conditions are accept
ed, what passes for government in
Russia will be able to assure such CO.
operation to the relief workers as to
enable them to reach the sufferers be-
fore they have perished by the million.
The world has suffered few tragedies
as great as that which is being now
enacted in the land Of misrule.