Evening star., 1932-07-22

per cent of relief given to the people,
and the landlords took it all. So the
people used to say, Pay us in food, not
in money, so we may keep it
In most parts CT the flood area, par
ticularly in Honan and North Ahnwei,
I do not think we could have managed
without the missionaries. They worked
on committees, and the people trusted
them.
The bandits, Of course, were not all
Of the same kind. 1t is the habit in
China to refer to the Communists as
bandits, but they are not the unor-
ganized gangs which prey on the coun-
try. I can give you good example Of
the contrast. In Ahnwei. village was
burned down by unorganized bandits.
More than 100 were killed. The five
head men of the village were caught,
flayed alive, and their bodies nailed to
the gate.
In Chang -Kwan, where H. S.
Ferguson, Mr.. Kao and ten other of
our men were captured by Communists
when they took the CITY, not person
was harmed. They took all the flour
and grain and divided it among the
poo1. They took S15o,000 from the
banks. And. of course, they did a lot
of propaganda work. When the Com
munists left, the national troops came
in and looted, and the government air
planes went over and bombed the place,
killing people.
Prisoners Treated Well.
Ferguson was taken by the Com
munistS to fairs and exhibited as a
foreign prisoner, and, as he is mis-
l,t~
tunity Of preaching to a crowd. They
treated him very well, gave him
horse to ride, for instance.
was taken, argued with the Communists
in public, told them that he was
Christian and if they wanted to kill
HIM for that to 60 ahead and do so.
Then he told them he had been help
ing the poor. distributing food, and
they cheered him. Now, I believe. he
is being held ss teacher, teaching
economics and English, but treated
quite we'll. That is the difference be-
tween unorganized bandit gangs and
the Communists.
I'VE had an agreement with the COM
munists working on the dikes. The
Soviet had the right of inspection.
which was satisfactory. Women were
to be paid the same as men. All the
sick were to be treated and the Soviet
officials were to say whether they were
sick, although the treatment was to be
by commission doctors. The agreement
worked well on the whole
"Of course there was lot of friction,
particularly on the border line between
the Soviet and Nationalist areas.
You know, they have a sign there
at one place on the north bank OF the
Yangtzc, Here begins the territory Of
the Chinese Soviet Government and
they are jealous of entrance to their
community.
But so far as could learn, the
poor people under that government are
certainly not worse of than the rest of
China. The rich, of course, suffer.
1T was difficult to send food through
the red country up the Han River.
Knowing it was for the Nationalist, the
reds would shoot at the boats, so the
cost of sending what little we did was
high. 1t cost more to get food up there
from Hankow, distance Of 180 miles,
than to bring the wheat from Portland,
Greg, to Hankow.. The only reason we
made the attempt was to keep down
other food prices.
Profiteering Prevented.
"One of the great advantages Of the
use of American wheat was that it
profteering. Before the wheat
arrived the prices Of food in Honan
rose 100 per cent, and after the wheat
came prices fell below the normal level.
That allowed people to buy native food
who otherwise could not have done so.
The wheat also served the double pur-
pose of feeding the people and building
the dikes, as laborers were paid in
wheat or flour. and 1914 per cent of the
dikes were constructed in that way.
We had to pay them some money so
they could buy salt, oil and vegetables,
as they could not live entirely upon
wheat"
Sir John will make another trip back
to China to clean up the last financial
details of the work, but it is practically
at an end Financing the relief work
was one Of the most trying parts of
the job.
There was one time when for SIX
days there was not penny in the
bank and expenses we're running at the
rate of 100000 to 100000 a day Sir
John borrowed ST, SOC, 900 from the Sink
ing Fund Committee and carried on un-
til other funds were available, but de-
spite the generous contributions by