London, June 17.
The newspapers here published lengthy reports yesterday morning on the present situation in Soviet Russ! It'is declared tat a famine of un recedented scale is threatening the Soviet Union this year owing to the extreme shortage of seed resulting {ny insuMelent or delayed cultivation of the fields and also to drought the most important agricultural dis-{iets since May. The threatening famine, it is asserted, is the real rea~ son for the many arrests recently made in agricultural areas. The Situation is said to be particularly. grave in farming areas louud Lenin-{rad where, as even the Soviet press Edmits, an acute "hunger crisis" pre-Valls. "No less than 3,000 ews of seed was distributed among the peasants to assure provisions until the new Rarvest, MI. Stalin Is said to have ordered a reduction of the grain tan.
The Times" reports that numerous peasants have been arrested for alleged sabotage in White Russia, the the Crimea, the Moscow region, South Russid, "Actually, "The Times" points Out, not saboteurs but the state col Iectors are responsible as the peas ants, left with insufficient grain last ultimo, were forced 10 eat the seed
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.