Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

THE RUSSIAN FAMINE AND BRITISH
TRADE.
The ubini» JS the tiile uivcn io a leaflet
printed in london arid distributed !> the
I ricndt» Relief Commiiteo which read* JLS
follows -I he first cill for hell) to Russia is
thut of humanity Millions of children and
\ omen im I min are d>mg or will die of
famine "Vour subscription will sa\e home
of them But men are ho closely bound
torcthcr hy the facts of life that the c\ih
suffered 1 y borne react m evil on other And
the condition of Russia ia partly ihescauac of
our troubles at Horn* The wir, and the
hostility of the Allied Powers to the Roi
shewst Go\ernment has almost destroyed
trade between Russin nnd Furope an 1 Ame
nea liut before the war Russia supplied
an important jart of the corn of this coun
try tometimes less sometimes more but in
certain years amounts of crain and flour e\
ccedmr thosT sent by the United States or
the Arpentine Ihe loss of this corn is sen
Gus enough already but if it continues the
result may bo disaster *or the United
State-» hw\c diminished their food produc
lion And also owing to the state oi the
exchanges the price- of Amencnn wheat is
\ery high and to some Luropean countnej
-ilmost prohibitnc Hias, it is of the utmost
importance to the future of Europe- and of
3 noland that Russia shall be as quickly as
possible in a position to export co»*n The
famine means not only the millions of Rus
stans are perishing It menns also that mil
lions of TuropeanB t,et Jess food and dearer
Sir Robert ITorne has said that Russia is
one of the treat producing countries of the
world To cut oif one of the countries on
which wc lepend for the e sentíais of exist
ente waís a shortage and an Incrcnaed cost
of these commodities and unrest among the
masses I nit then is one reason wh>
moie self interest would urge us to assist
the Russians in their trouble For if famine
continues thcic shortage will be felt here
Rut that is not all If Russia befoie the
war sent us food she also in exchange
bought our produits She bent us is well
as corn butter cres timber flax And ¿he
took from us plot« hn reapers tnctors ma
chlnery nails screws saws scythes axes
The unemployment fiom which we are suf
ferme la flue m part to the severing of
our trade relations with RUP ma A repre
ncntati\c of the cotton industry has pointed
out that m 1911 one half of the fine spin
nine; section of the I Incolnshire trade was
M\en UP to Bl Inning >arn for Gcrman> and
Russii But the consequences to even
further than that lor much of our ti ide
with Ruana w*w roundabout We eent
good:» to some other counto and that coun
try sent them to Russin Thus ¿or exam
pie of îçrcnt yca*-n Ru*sln has leen ur alle
to bu> tea from India India has suffered |
Tut so lune wc Fo*- we used to supply the,
tinfoil in -which the tea \ as wrapped There
I<Î no end to this interaction of conditions In
one conntry o» Uio c of another Thui the
other day when the news of the treaty be
tween Germany and Russia was announced
lhere was wo are told a great stir m the
woollen industry of Yorkshire because ns
the result of the ikreement Russ« immedi
ntely 1 egan to demand woollen goo Is nnd
German manufacturers began to gi\ e orders
t» Yorkshire It is tiue tint for some
little time to rome it may be difficult it
the 1 es1 foi Russia to export \ery much
foi her pi eduction is hampered V* lack o'
transport and mathmei> as well ni 1> the
famine That mv be a reason why i erciiit
to RuBRln would be good i nlicy Thi» H
what Mr Kejnes Ina suL.e.ested - I pro
pose le sijp thal Great Britain grant
to the fc>o\iel Go\einment power nj patt of
n ¿.cncial eel lemo it a ucdit of SO millions
fiterling to be spread r\er two jcars the
monej to be expended on British roods to
plomóte agricultural prediction whether tools
and mnchiner> or for the lmnnement of
communications with the purpose of amehor
nting Ru°sinnjj/amine in the first Instance
and enc ¡umging export hereafter Bul
e\rn a-s it is Russia Is buying and selling
Thus during the month of March in this
>ear she «old to Fngland furs timber and
flax to the amount to AlBOOOD and ehe
bought textile fuod tuffs roctals chemicals
coal motor lorne textile machinery tools
and ^eeds to the amount of £600 000 This
Is small enough compared to the past aid
Bull more compared to what may be expected
in the f iture But the point to be made
here is that future depends on the restara
lion of Russia as a food export)ni. countr>
And c*cry' penny contributed b> Individ Jab
or bj Go* ernments bj gifts or by loans
tends to secure and to hasten that result. It
R not onlj chintv that urv.es help It is also
self interest The restoration of Russia
means the part restoration of our own pros
perit> And though we cast our bread upon
the waters it will return to us after man}
day*.
v
$