The Chinese propose to distribute the money they raise through committees of gentry in the twenty hsien in the famine district. Ex~- cept for the committee in Tsinanfu there is no central agency and the local gentry and magistrates will have to be trusted. The Chinese say that no man would be sufficiently contemptible steal this kind of money.
The American Red Cross expects to build a road from Tenchow to Lintsing, about 175 li. The plan is to use 25,000 men to build the road, expending $500,000. The Red Cross does not propose to distribute promiscuous relief. Rather, will it select as many persons as it can handle and see them through to a better harvest. The Tuchun of the province favours the road and is assisting in arranging matters with regard to rights of way. He did not at first quite understand that such a road would be the property of the people of the province of Shantung. He feared that the Americans might want to keep it. But when this point was cleared up, things began to move more rapidly.
Carnese Mistrust or Japan.
The Provincial Assembly approves of the plan. So both the Speaker and Vice-Speaker told-me this afternoon. But they are faced with a difficulty. It might occur to Japan, they say, to offer the same kind of gift, the same form of re-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.