Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 78, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 December 1918 — HUNGER DRAWS THE MAP [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HUNGER DRAWS THE MAP

A food map of Europe today shows not a single country In which the future does not hold threat of serious difficulties and only a small part which is not rapidly approaching the famine point With the exception of the Ukraine only those countries which have maintained marine commerce have sufficient food supplies to meet actual needs until next harvest, and even in the Ukraine, with stores accumulated on the farms, there is famine In the large centers of population. Belgium and northern France, as well as Serbia, appear on the hunger map distinct from the rest of Europe because they stand in a different relation from the other nations to the people of the United States. America has for four years maintained the small war rations of Belgium and northern France and is already making special efforts to care for their Increased after-the-War needs, which, with those of Serbia, must be Included in this plan, are urgent in the extreme and must have Immediate relief. The gratitude of -the Belgian nation for the help America has extended to her during the war constitutes the strongest appeal for us to continue our work there. The moment the German armies withdrew from her soil and she was established once more in her own

seat of government the little nation’s first thought was to express her gratitude to the Comnfission for Relief in Belgium for preserving the lives of millions of her citizens. Germany, on the other hand, need not figure in such a map for Americans because there is no present indication that we shall be called on at all to take thought for the food needs of Germany. Germany probably can care for her own food problem if she is given access to shipping and is enabled to distribute food to the cities with dense populations, which are the trouble centers. England, France, the Netherlands and Portugal, all of which have been maintained from Ain er lean supplies, have sufficient food to meet Immediate needs, but their fututre’ presents serious difficulties. The same is true of Spain and the northern neutral countries—Norway, Sweden and Denmark —whose ports have been open and who have been able to draw to some degree upon foreign supplies. Most of Russia is already in the throes of famine, and 40,000,000 people there are beyond the possibility of help. Before another spring thousands of them inevitably must die. This applies as well to Poland and practically throughout the Baltic To-

glons, with conditions most serious !■ Finland. Bohemia, Serbia, Roumanla and Montenegro have already reached the famine point and are suffering a heavy toll of death. The Armenian' population if falling each week as hupger takes its toll, and in Greece, Albania and Rouinania so serious arc the food shortages that famine is near. Although starvation is not yet imminent, Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Turkey are In the throes of serious stringencies. In order to fulfill America’s pledge in world relief we will have to export every ton of food which can be handled through our ports. This means at tiie very least a minimum of 20,000,000 tons compared with 0,000,000 tons prewar exports and 11,820,000 tons exported Inst year, when we were bound by the ties of war to the European allies. If we fall to lighten the black spots on the hunger map or if we allow any portions to become darker the very peace for which we fought and bled will be threatened. Revolt and anarchy inevitably follow famine. Should this happen we will see in other parts of Europe a repetition of the Russian debacle and our fight for world peace will have been in vain.