By A. Konovalov of the Russian Duma.
[A Letter to the Russkia Vedomosti, No. 231, P. 2, Oct. 8, 1914.]
The population of Poland has been forced to experience the first
horrible onslaught of the wrathful enemy. All points within the sphere
of the German offensive offer a picture of utter desolation. The people
are fleeing in horror before the advancing enemy, leaving their homes
and their property to sure destruction. An uninterrupted line of arson
fire shines on the sorrowful path of the exiles. Their fields have been
devastated and furrowed by the trenches, their animals have been taken
away, their savings have been wasted, and all their chattels destroyed.
The prosperity of millions has been destroyed and men have been turned
into homeless beggars without a morsel of bread.
The flight of these people is beyond description. One cannot fail to
realize the stupefying horrors of such a deep and overwhelming national
calamity. The strokes of fate have come down upon the people of Poland
with a most merciless cruelty. Shall we gaze upon these horrors with
indifference? Can the Russian people remain neutral witnesses of the
sufferings and privations thrust upon the population of the devastated
country?
The Russians are making heavy sacrifices for the war, but in these
historic days we must speed up our energies still more, we must double
and treble our sacrifices. Let us not forget that despite all our
sacrifices, despite all our sorrow and alarm we are not deprived of
peaceful work, we have not been drawn into destruction as the people of
Poland have been. Without further delay we have to hasten to their aid.
A widely organized social aid must be brought to the fleeing people. We
must provide them with shelter and food. These victims are flocking to
the central provinces of Russia, to Moscow, and they must be assisted up
to the time when they shall be able to return to their country. It is
necessary to ascertain the degree of their distress and to help to
provide them with the necessities of life in places already cleared from
the enemy by the aggressiveness of the Russian Army.
Of course, the main duty in the regaining of the prosperity of Poland
lies with the Government. Only the Government is able to stand the
expense of millions required for this task, only the State through its
legislative organs is capable of creating the social, economic, and
political conditions making possible the reconstruction of the
civilization of Poland. But we also owe a duty of help, a sacred duty of
immediate sympathy to those stricken with disaster.
To carry out our task we need funds. In submitting this problem to the
Russian people, in calling upon it for the solution of this tremendous
and pressing issue, as far as possible, I herewith forward my little
contribution of 10,000 rubles for aid to the people of Poland suffering
from war.