New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1922-04-16


2 that the government makes no move
to have it brought down and that it
remains to the end of the day.
Nothing in the history of intern.-
tional charity and statesmanship
equals the task accomplished by
America IN feeding the hungry of Rus
sia while remaining aloof from any
suspicion of political interest or pur-
pose There is reason to know that
the Soviet government itself RESPECTS
the SIMPLE -mindedness and the honesty
OF the American service for the Rus
sian people; and by the Russian people
themselves, from Archangel to Astra-
chan' from the Baltic Sea to the Ash
attic slopes, America is hailed as a de-
liverer and disinterested friend,
rms work has not been done without
inhnlte care. On the part of the So
Wet government itself there has been
natural Willingness to employ the
contacts for relief purposes as me-
dlums for political and economic dis
cussions. On the part of the European
governments there has been a natural
Willingness to create agencies of relief
which might cloak wider designs.
From these the United States agen-
c1es, under the direction of Herbert
Hoover and through the operation of
the American Relief Administration
self aloof. The task of the American
Relief Administration in Russia has
been simple, but not easy. 1t has been
TO feed the hungry, to minister to the
sick, to clothe the naked.
Two stipulations alone have been
laid down by America, both for the
sake of the beneficiary as we'll as Of
the benefactor, and for the success Of
the work in hand
| l. No conversations shall be held on
contentious topics.
2. The physician shall be in complete
charge Of the treatment.
American Relief Extends
Into All Parts of Russia
! Under such simple safeguards as
these, guaranteed by contracts that the
| finest Oriental wit cannot escape, the
work of feeding the hungry and cloth
ing the naked has gone on.
In September American agents esti-
mated the number in need in the
| Volga Valley at fifteen millions; month
| by month the scope of the famine has
broadened. To-day American relief ex-
tends into all parts Of Russia, covering
not only the Volga Valley but the
| Ukraine as we'll and coming into con-
! tact with the lives of hundred mil
| lion people.
When American relief began in Sep
| tember it was limited to the feeding of
one million children for six months
Six months later eight million people
were being fed with American food, in
! cluding adults, refugees and other
| special classes Of sufferers, the sick
in the hospitals and two million chill
| dren
The decision to feed the children of
Russia in the summer of 1921 indicated
Hoover's courage and faith in the Rus
! This courage and this faith have been
| justified. Not the least anxiety when
the work started lay in the question
| of where resources were to come from.
| There we're at this time in the treas
ury of the administration about S6,000,-
| 600, saved from economies in admins
tration and in purchasing, but not
withheld from the hungry of other na-
tions.
original resources for Russian feeding
| have been multiplied almost tenfold
| by free gift of the American people
| and by the assignment of funds by the
Soviet government itself.
| Americas contribution to the sick
and hungry in Russia to- to,day LAY stands:
From Congress, S24,O0O0O0: from
American Relief Association funds.
| $4,000, 900; from Red Cross funds, S3,-
| 100000; from Soviet gold, $4,000, 600;
! from various contributions, $4,OOO,O0O;
making a total of s53,600,o0o.
| All of this money is represented by
food. clothing or medical supplies, de-
| Iivered directly to the Russian people
by American agents.
The story of the delivery OF these
materials to the needy in Russia 's
one of obstacles overcome from the
| moment of purchase to the moment the
food is eaten. Passage was won to
| the borders of Russia through un.
| friendly territories. Grain boats hewed
their way to the ports with ice break
er.. When the gateways to Russia,
long disused, showed signs Of cong,es-
ton arrangements were made to snip
through Finnish and Polish ports..
The delivery Of foodstufs from the
Russian border to the inland ware,
houses required that there be LAID
over the chaos of the interior WIDE
zone of order in which relief could
function expeditiously and in security.
Outside this zone transportation ls
at a atandstill or nearly so; organlza-
tion is deadlocked. Inside this zone
! it is necessary to arrange tor the
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