Sept. 5. all mind-changing rivers the Hwang or Yellow River is the worst. Back to memory of extant records the river's accusers go to establish the fact that fifteen times in 4,000 years it has shown this hesitation by some marked diverge lence of its course. Once it entered the sea as far north as near Tien. tsin. Lately it broke a lon ing dyke and spread itself over the centre of Shantung, creating a new lake in a vast depression where smiling fields and happy villages fuad stood. General Han Fu-chu, who knows his Shantung, is inclined to estimate the number of homeless people, thus made victims of the Yellow River's whim, at as high @ figure as 2,000,000. Con servative calculations by the China International Famine Relief Com mission which, for so many years: has done splendid humanitarian work in China, adopt 500,000 as the minimum and' suggest that further Investigation may produce twice that appalling total. Over 6,000 villages have been flooded out.
Walled cities on high ground are besieged by the waters. The plight of the unfortunate inhabitants of the afflicted area is pitiable, They face [death by starvation, after escaping drowning. The relief organization actively pursuing the task of [bringing food and employment to these desperately placed folk. General Han Fu-chu has. devised measures for the wholesale transfer of some 200,000 refugees to hist ground in other parts of the prov-Ince. The General's prompt action deserves commendation. It has! been effectively supported by the local railway authorities. Meanwhile the CLF.RC. is devoting its energies to the immediate relief of suffering. The repair to the dyke jean not be attempted until November, so, Tying ahead isan enormous problem involving the drainage of the flooded tracts and, later, the rehabilitation of the countryside for cultivation purposes:
China has long experience of the terrors of the flood evil. Imagination has not therefore to be greatly stimulated to produce sympathy and due appreciation of the significance of this bald recital of facts. In the hands of experienced organizers such as the Commission can mobilize, the task of relief is surely directed. The only limitation arises from the practical issue of the funds available. On that account it is ting to make an earnest appeal to all to shake off the admitted trammels of the present, feeling of depression and to make a real effort in assistance of this great humanitarian enterprise If every resident in Shanghai, for example, could send only one dollar {to the offices of the China International Famine Relief Commission at Room 401, 505 Honan Road, Shanghai, the organizers would be able confidently to tackle their heavy: obligations. It may be suggested that in every office, home or institution here, some effort should be made to provide this money. The more fortunate citizens might reinforce the enterprise by dona tions of greater substance than the single dollar. But, outside the ranks of the completely destitute fand taking into account the other pressing calls on charitable purses, the donation of a dollar a head would be a worthy gesture [Shanghai's readiness to say with} Dido: non ignara mali, miseries suceurrere disco (no stranger to misfortune, I learn to minister to distress).
"It is the poor that helps the poor" has been a modern version. of that Vergilian pledge. Shang-hal, to-day, feels acutely the pressure of economic ills. Yet, in all seriousness, it may be asked whether it is not rich beyond the dreams of avarice in comparison with the miserable condition of these little peasants, farmers, agriculturists uprooted from their fields and villages, by the vagaries of a mighty river, and cast defenceless, destitute and starving, upon the margin of the unleashed floods. For the best part of the coming twelve months, these people, if they are to survive, have to be supported by relief works and direct financial assistance, It is surely not too remote a tragedy to catch the sympathetic eye of Shanghai, to stir the generous sympathies of this great city. The organizers are proud of the opportunity offered to their beneficent experience and administrative ekill, They need nothing more than funds to develop their efforts on a scale commensurate with the exigencies fof the sudden crisis. The Commission's normal activities in ministering to famine, arising from various causes which are part of the routine of China's travail, cannot provide more than a limited immediate measure of relief. This catastrophe jin Shantung demands exceptional resources, It is therefore with full reliance on the intelligent sympathy of the public that these considera~ tions are put on record. The charitable duty is plain. Tt will, no doubt, be worthily discharged,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.