We have heard of late that very considerable distress prevailed in this province and the neighbouring province of Anhui, but little has been hitherto known of its extent, The fact is that many hundreds of thousands of the inhabitants of these two provinces are in a condition bordering on starvation. So great is the need of the sufferers, that the Chinese authorities have been unable to cope with it alone, and have found themselves under the necessity of appealing to the charitable assistance, not only of their own countrymen, but of foreigners as well. With this object in view BLE. the Shanghai Taot'ai, the Manager of the Shanghai Arsenal, Nich Ch'i-kuei, and Jen Hsi-tin, an official in the service of the Viceroy wi Nanking, with the consent of the Viceroy, addressed a letter to Mr. Drummond asking for his counsel and assis. T tance in obtaining subscriptions from foreigners both in China and in their own countries. It was suggested by Mr. Drummond that a conmittss of eight foreigners and eight Chinese should be formed to consider the matter, and the following gentlemen were invited and kindly consented to serve on the committee:—Messrs. F. C. Bishop, M. B. Bredon, J. J. Buchheister, W. V. Drummond, H. M. Hillier, E. G. Vouillement, W. S. Wetmore, A. G. Wood, Nieh Ch'i-kuei, Jen Hsi-feu, Ho Tang-shu, Tong Mou-chee, Y Ching-chang, Yang Kin: tuck, Hsii Tz'u-ching, and Lo Chen-yi.
A meeting of this committee was held on the 2nd instant at Mr. Drummond's office, at which the Shanghai Taotai was present. Mr. Drummond was elected chairman and Messrs. Hillier and Jen Hsi-fen, foreign and Chinese secretaries of the Committee, A sum of about Shanghai Taels 15,300 was subscribed by the Taotai and the Commitee at the meeting, and it was' resolved to place subscription lists at the banks and other establishments in Shanghai and to send telegrams to Europe and America asking for aid. An account will be opened with the Chartered Mercantile Bank for receipt of the funds subscribed.
There is no doubt that the existing distress amounts to a national calamity for China. The Taotai mentioned that in his own native place, Ho-fei Hsien, audits neighbourhood alone, there are now five
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.