Sept. 3.
Now that details of the colossal catastrophe inthe Yangtze Valley are rapidly being made clear it would seem that the last dyke built by prejudice and obscurantism to keep back the flood of philanthropic zeal should be utterly breached. To-day the first lists of done-lions received by the National Flood Relief Commission and other organisations are published. They show that a magnificent total of over $1,000,000 has been receive te The "bodies concerned are to be congratulated.—The suggestion that there has been exaggeration in the press has. been stoutly met by Mr. T.
Fisher's poignant comment that "no pen can exaggerate" the immensity of the disaster Jand the suffering inflicted on the Chinese population in. particular, As though Hankow were not enough—the submersion of a whole City for months—the disaster to the Grand Canal last week has brought about yet another tragedy on titanic seal This historic waterway, stretch-{ing some 1,000 miles from Hangchow to "Tientsin and dating back, in some sections to more than' 2,000 years ago, has been breached in Kiangsu in from 13 to 16 places. Standing 15 fect above the surrounding country, this canal has formed a dyke guarding the area between it] ind the sea in Kiangsu rom the waters of the Hungtze and Paoying Lakes, The typhoon of last week whirled the flooded Lakes in relentless vehemence against the western bank of the Canal. The eastern bank, in spite of various changes in' the supervising authority brought about by the new regime at Nanking, waa in good repair. It had been regarded as axiomatic that the western bank would be exposed to no undue strain, This belief has now been confounded. With the numerous breaches occurring in the comparatively short stretch between Yangchow and Tsingkiangpu, the waters have obtained the mastery of a very large area of country estimated to hold 7,000, 000 inhabitants. Even now it not fully known what is the extent of this disaster. Reports already suggest that it is com-lo with that at Banke known that in the City of Kaoyu alone, to: say nothing of the immediately surrounding districts, from 1,000 to 1,500 people have been: drowned.
In the Yellow River valley, where experiences of flood ieissitudes are so frequent to-come within the defini annual routine, the usual tion has been' of considerable} severity. Then there are these stupendous tragedies of Wuhan and Kiangsu. The Government, by establishing. a Flood Relief Commission, have taken a step) which any Government worthy, of the name should take. They have Jet it be known that they welcome financial assistance from private and public sources. They have called for reports from the Provincial authorities and they have instituted surveys on their own account. That {they will be confronted with the dificult task of discriminating between the genuine ery of distress and the opportunist ex-Ploitation of the widespread' notice attracted by the floods goes without saying. It is reported, for example, that in. northern Chekiang, where crops prospgets are good and the rai fall has been about normal, pleas for remissions of taxation and for active assistance are being made on the specious plea that the floods have caused much material damage. No doubt the Government will take atops to discourage fippancies of thi kind. The visit of General Chiang Kai-shek to Hankow was timely. It showed that the head of the Government was alive to the importance of obtaining a first-hand impression magnitude of the disaster. If it leads to a definite termination of the unedifying disagreement between the Legislative and the Finance Ministry, on the Subject of the financing of relief measures, it will have dante real service. The Finance Minister, in the most practical and energeie fashion, has launched the Flood Relief Commission to which, it may be hoped, the power of prudent and accural application of the funds will abundantly given, The detailed account of the Wuhan disaster, given in Tuesday's "North-China Daily News" by Mr. Heady of the Wesleyan Methodist Mission, shows that the establishment of an organisation for Hupeh, in direct relation with the Flood Relief Commission, has been taken in hand by members of the Commission and Jocal volunteers from the various missionary societies. A scheme has been propounded and it is expected to be accepted.
Here in Shanghai there is one voluntary effort to which support has been forthcoming and it is urged that it should be vigorously pressed. The Inter~ national Flood Relief Fund, under the chairmanship Major W. 8, Nathan, has now pledged itself to equip and despatch a medical relist ship to Hankow. This is an eminently practical plan. It presents, to the foreign community. especially, an opportunity of devoting itself to the success of a scheme which is not out of proportion to the potential funds available. Those who appreciate the urgent need of protection against disease in the afflicted area will not require elaboration of the wisdom of this proposal, which has additional attractions owing to its utilization of material and professional resources at foreign disposal in Shanghai. At this stage it is hardly necessary to commend the plight of these thousands and thousands of sufferers to the solicitude of the public. Even in: the midst of their grave preoccupations, foreign Governments, the world over, have managed to mark their sense of acute sympathy with China in a disaster which, in some Chinese minds, is declared to be che most serious flood in the history of their country. Sorrow and suffering on Such a scale must still the voice of the sceptic, the critic or the carping. Perhaps the most moving commentary yet made on the floods has been that;|by the experienced worker, Mr. J. Earle Baker, who, a few days ago, paid a most remarkable ute to the fortitude and restraint of these victims of Nature's unkindness. Is it possible to. withhold admiration rom these almost uncomplaining peasantry who are. now in the grips of a terrible death-dealing monster, with its grim tentacles of famine, and_posti-Tence? The magnitude of their distress creates. admittedly a feeling of helplessness. Whatever can be done seems to be utterly inadequate. Yet this should induce the determination to do that little in the hope that its multiplication, by the wave of a great and gentiine sympathy, may give it power not altogether disproportionate to *he occasion. No one should be placed in the unenviable position of having done nothing to relieve suffering humanity in the face of so remorseless a challenge by the forces of nature.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.