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Show China's Future Mav Be Helned bv 1921 Famine By SYDNEY GREENB1E YESTERDAY we poked fun at 'he 'Heathen rhlnee": 10-daj opinions of American dollars are cro-s ng the Pacific to save the most destitute of these from cold, plague nnd starvation Seventy ears ago wo hrke down the doors of Japanasc exclusion, to-day Jupan on the ground of equality, is ready to challerge our self-assertions; fifty years from now. with America's aid. China may he as free, as progressive, pro-gressive, as self-reliant a nation as either of us We hae done much lo bolster jp China s confidence In herself. There are those who criticise America because much of her help of China has been impractical. There ore Chinese themselves who have told us that our friendship has been of little use because It did not save Manchuria and It did sacrifice sac-rifice Shantung to an ephemeral peace. Even missionaries report that Chinese, accustomed to offlrials who cannot do an net of kindness kind-ness unless It has some material benefit to the doer, discount the efforts of the missionaries mis-sionaries and the foreigners In general who are administering relief to the sufferlt.g millions mill-ions in the famished lands But I am convinced con-vinced that when the history of this period In the life of the Chinese is written nothing noth-ing will stand out as of greater importance than the moral sentimental and financial backing America gave to China The return of the Boxer indemnit for educational purposes was the Snt of the series the present American relief organization organi-zation will doubtless be the second Wh -the furthering of the reorganization of the agricultural and transportation ..".cilitU'S following fol-lowing upon this gigantic life saving project will, we hope, be the final Famine Blasts Five Provinces With Population of 87.000 000 There has been no famine In the blstori of the world that compares In extent and severity with the one now ravishing the greater part of five provinces in t o heart of China, where some 87,000 000 people have been affected; half of them have been stalking stalk-ing gaunt with hunger from 1 -rly in fall Ten thousand are dying ever da) from xtarAation cold and disease. Before the winter is over and tho new harvest can oossibly be counted upon for nltigaUon of This torture of a naUon some :s.000.000, according ac-cording to most estimates, will have succumbed. suc-cumbed. Thousands of people, unable to sey their children starve, arc tying them to trees and leaving them behind, unwilling to watch them succumb; others are selling their girls and women Into something worse than death- still others are committing suicide by hanging poison and drowning. Added to the two yean of drought following the year Of unheard of tloods has come .. visitation of locust .0 great that any Itrho disbelieves the story of the plagues of Egypt should go to some of these pieces and disbelieve no iThe famished region extends from the Tangtso River to Just below Pekin-a Plain f more than 800 miles. The land was rich nd fertile, like our Western I'ralrles and , main vleld was wheat About 00 per 'nt of Its people tilled the soil, which they moi m small sections. Generally, when climatic conditions were favorab'e. two good harvests n vear were th result. But even three vtelds would hae been onl enough lo relieve the farmers from slavery to the sell. What. then, was their consternation consterna-tion to see the first crop fall and slowly watch the second shrivel and die. For two years now there has been no life in tho earth Iese lucky than the Jackdaws and the crows, the Chinese who had energy to flee to more hopeful place have been stopped by guards and told they cannot pass, for the more thriving regions are afraid of the admission of -I.". 000,000 paupers. Wo wouldn't allow a similar invasion of America bv Europeans and the Chinese must do likewise like-wise with their own kin. Profiteers Preying on Victims In Famine Stricken Districts What kind of people arc these, one -vonders, who ore such sticklers at aneestor worship and yet who permit their millions to starve' Worse yet, one reads with amazement of pic.fiteerlng, of men coming from well to do districts to buy up land worth four times as much as they arc faying. Worse yet, thousands of people, admitting that the can take women and glrl6 to districts where their lives would be safe are doing so only on the basis of slavery In exchange for a dollar or so. Worse yet. there is the mlsus: of funds contributed for famine relief by selfish individuals at home and the misuse of acquired rights in Chinese territory by avaricious groups abroad. But there Is another side of the whole scrrow a brighter side. There Is, to begin the attempt on the part of the Government Gov-ernment to force the railroads to carry food--iijffs Into the famine regions for Lilt lo or no fees. But the few railroads there are commandeered by mt'ltarists and profiteers nunc the less. Still there are Ghinese who novo given a'l they could to alieyiate this wholesale suffering. One Chinese living In Singapore has given nearly two million; others In China are giving liberally Tlila Is no appeal for money Whether we give or whether we don't. It Is of 'he utmost Importance for Americans to know vhat the famine in China means to China and Its possible consequences to ns A population of nearly half that of tho entire United Slates cannot be starving without affecting rot only us but every country In the world. The laws cf supply and remand ore subtle and they have far-reaching consequences Sonic say that America has a duty to perform per-form to China That is debatable. But self-interest says that America has a duty to perform toward Itself In the present instance in-stance of the suffering of 45.000.000 Chinese, which It were dangerous to overlook. Self-interest Self-interest Is no shame. TOve your neighbor as yourself does not even imply that you should not love yourself. This Is by no means the first time 'n China's history that flood and drought have wrought destruction in that land. In fact, there has never been a time when China has been free from either. A rebuilt China is Impossible without an understanding or a diagnosis of China's ailment. ail-ment. There aro several doctors standing over the patient, but In many Instances the "doctors" are as Incapahlo of rendering assistance as a cat would bo to a person suffering from bubonic plague. The cat is the carrier of the disease through her alimentary Interest In the rat ; and over China to-day there are standing several breeds of cats telling her how to cure herself. her-self. True that the disease Is already lodged in China, the question Is, How can It be ejected? If It were not for the fuct that the disease tendency and a good deal of weakness either from old age or simple tradition was already the cause of much of China's sufferings slit-would slit-would long ago have set herself to work laying railroads, straightening out rivers, building canals and Otherwise opening up the country for the trade with the western world of which she Is capable. Japan did It. Japan had less to contend with internally because she was a less divided country, a smaller land According to a r port, Japan offered to send some S00.000 bushels of rice Into the famine stricken land, but China would havo to pay for the rice by way of a loan. This, of course the Phlnese would be very unwts In accepting, for already they owe Japan and the other Towers too much money. It Is not merely hearsay that attributes to Japanese machinations interference In the distribution of relief. For the disease with which China Is afflicted is carried by Japan as well as Chinese, who do not seem to see the difference between making hay while the sun shines and taking your neighbor's hay while it rains. Eor Japan's own sako. we wish that she had been first to rush to the aid Of the famished land, as that might have changed the relationship considerably. For no matter how well meaning any other nation n.ay bo In her relations with China, unless Japan shares equally In the blessings resulting from regeneration or degeneration of China no other nation will ever be able to secure lis meed nor. Indeed, will China ever g. the full benefits of outside assistance. There is a report that Japan's Minister to China. Obata has been r.-callcd, and thoso who follow fol-low closely Far Eastern affairs say that this Indicates a change In policy of Japan toward China. No one would welcome this more than the friends c,f China and Japan, for it ecms that almost any hange would be a change for the better I was talking to a Chinese member of the Silk Commission now visiting America the other day and asked him whether ho felt that the present situation in these five Important Im-portant provinces of China was at all attributable at-tributable to the policies of her neighbors. Ho said somewhat emphatically that Indirectly Indi-rectly It woj?, but. fortunately, he also was as emphatic on tho point of China's own militarists and officials. Tho Chinese Government Gov-ernment has done something to help her unfortunate un-fortunate ones. But no amount of "charity" now administered will ever ropay these millions for the perpetual squeezing In which Chinese havo indulged and which has left the vast majority of the people on the verge of starvation. To most of theso a single croy failure Is enough to pauperize thm. so entirely en-tirely do they live a hand to mouth existence. exist-ence. Yet those selfs-amo Chinese, offlclala nnd militarists hove not only squeezed the wheat out of tho months of the people, but have mortgaged their country to aliens and sealed tho Illegal bargain with agreements, military and otherwise, that In tho end will doubtless bring the shackles upon themselves them-selves as much a on their innocent compatriots. com-patriots. It Is the Innocent Chinese who are now suffering so intensely, and although the rest of China Is rich and prospering the greatest amount of aid will have to coma from without. Chinese are giving, and some giving generously, but large numbers of the people are withholding. The outside world Is blaming them for lack of compassion for their own people, but as long as they are uncertain ns to who will actually receive tho benefits of their gifts littlo wonder that well to do Chinese are apathetic. They havo seen their money fall into the hands of Intermediaries long enough The only onej they could trust would be a dlslnterest-l group of foreigners. In consequence, as stated earlier, lh methods of Americans and Western foreigners foreign-ers In organizing the prcseni Chinese famino relief on so gigantic a scale Is bound to bo the second of great benefits to China. It nnv be another lesson to Jupan. and on. which we hope she will follow a lesson !:t friendship. But one thln Is certain tho Chinese are not going tn forft this aid. It gives the Chinese themselves an example of ill-dnt. re.-t.-d c'icperutlon which they -vi'l be certain to make use of. And. further, not being In any sense a charitable undertaking, It Is not going permanently to pauperize the famine sufferers. The work of road building, river straightening, straight-ening, railroad bed laying and land Irrigating Irrigat-ing Is being carried on with the funds se-cured se-cured for relief; The permanent work will he better for the people than any loans which have so far been advanced to a corrupt cor-rupt government. Nothing that has happened hap-pened to China In a long time may make for Us regeneration more than this, for the funds being secured from foreieners are being be-ing handled by foreigners and are pretty sure to go Into the rebuilding of China and not the enrichment of some of Its officials. How the Reaction Will Affect the United States How Is that going to react upon the Cnlterf state ' The Industrial and economic conditions of the world are such that wherever wher-ever possible i he normal economic relations between nations should be maintained. The interruption of normal trade relations with China which this famine of 45.000.000 people entails Is a very serious matter. East year America's share of foreign trade with China was about 1600,000.000. This year. In spite of the famine. It has been even more brisk. Tot we must remember that the flvo provinces affected by the famine are the most accessible accessi-ble to foreign Intercourse They lie In the way. as it Were, to the whole of northern and northwestern China, Tho disorganization of these districts Is bound to throw out of goar the economic life of the whole Chinese Republic. Re-public. It Is bound to weaken hum and make her an easier prey to alien avarice. Self-interest should rush to tho assistance of Chin i liiin.L has already sunk too far under the ..k.- of foreign Powers ever to rise without their assistance, but so far there Is only one nation that, politically peaking, has not worked for the dismemberment dismem-berment of China. All of them are now reat-xl reat-xl ng that they have a common Interest in the rebuilding of China as an independent nation. Instead of each seeking Its own ends. |