University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

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56 THE LINGUIST .Transportption in the interior. The wheelbarrow is the truck of the rural sections of Qhma, and transports more tonnage than any other agency. unless it be the carrying pole. I A Chinese saw mill: Practically all the lumber used in the interior of Chlll21.lS sawed in this manner. , Without.uniform.1x1dus.trl,alHprogress a modern sawmill would create the unemployment problem in China, -

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FAMINES AND THEIR. PREVENTION 55 FAMINES AND THEIR PREVENTION Death by starvation is terribleg famine and pestilence among millions of humans is unspeakable. The word famine causes a shudderg it arouses an instinctive or racial dread. Few appeals to the human heart are more potent than the distress of starving men, women and children. Generous responses have anwered the calls of famine sufferers in China, both by the Chinese and by the sympathetic world at large. In the famine of 1920-1921 which affected six provinces of north China and a population of fifty million, fully thirty seven million dollars were donated for the relief of starving people. Approximately eighteen million dollars C9 million Gold? were contributed by foreigners, either through Govern- ment representatives, the Red Cross or Missionary organizations. The stage was set for as great or a worse famine than that of 1878-1879 in the same general region when between nine and thirteen million people are estimated to have perished. But with the aid of existing means of communication and a knowledge of the approaching famine condition in sufficient time to call on the outside world for relief, such a disaster was mitigated. These catastrophies are appalling, but are all the more lament- able when avoidable. Those who have been most closely connected with the large projects of famine are agreed upon the possible pre- vention of the recurrence of general and devastating famines. The hurried relief of people already in the first stages of starvation, per- mits, if at all, only the most elementary constructive relief. Such relief does not go far toward the prevention of another equally serious famine. A ' Measures, therefore, looking to the permanent prevention of famines are necessary, are obligatoryg are huminatariang are Christ- ian. It is the only Solution to the problem of the heavy loss of life and the enormous wastage of intellectual, economic and spiritual values. The prevention of these losses and wastage furthermore contributes to national and world economy and makes possible pro- gress in the power and experience of millions of people. It is difficult to appraise the multiplying benefits that must flow from the permanent prevention of famine in China. The program of permanent famine prevention in China was set in motion by far sighted men to work out ways and means of putting a stop to these hideous phenomena. Two agencies have undertaken such a program in cooperation, namely. The International Famine Relief Commission and the University of Nankingn Famines have occurred intermittently in China since very ancient time. As early as 1700 B. C, it is recordetl that Emperor Tan prayed for the relief of his people from famine. The list at the end of this article is a striking chronology of disaster recorded of the single county in Anwhei province. 1. The Peking University is also planning to cooperate in the program.

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FAMINES AND TTTEIR PREVENTION 57 Crowded populations have therefore long been at the mercy of recurring cycles of drought and excessive rainfall. And the common belief Knot always exclusively Chinesej that famines were visitations from the displeased gods operated against any very far reaching pre- ventative measures. The granary system--possibly not unlike that of Pharoah's time-was generally in use in China, yet it failed to pre- vent recurring disasters. The fundamental causes of famines were not generally under- stood. They were attributed to the consequence of draught and floods against which the Chinese felt impotent. While droughts in other A home of the all too large numbers of people whose margin between production and consumption is dangerously small. countries may cause hard times, they do not cause famines. So a more fundamental cause must be found. The American Red Cross Report on China Famine Relief 1922 says. A population with ac- cumulated property can withstand an occasional Hood or drought provided it has access to the sources of food supply on the outside. But Chinese farmers have little accumulated property and a very de- ficient access to outside sources of supply. While there are several recognized contributing factors, the fundamental cause is the low economic condition of the rural populations. Fully 80 percent of the population is rural, deriving its livelihood chiefly from the cultivation of the soil. The margin between production and consumption is so small that a short harvest causes sullering and a crop failure produces famine conditions. In the famine of 1920-1921-out of a population of 48,843,000 affected, 19,895,000 were entirely destitute after a year and a half of drought, and those not destitute were unable to give aid to their less fortunate fellow men. Altogether insufficient oc- cupations of gain-exist for the farmer during the winter or idle months. He can expect to accumulate little sttplus, if any, from the normal harvests.