_To the American National Red Cross_:
Having been fully occupied in looking after all the affairs
relative to the relief work of the late war-victims, some of
whom are still left behind in our hospitals, I could spare
no time otherwise up to this very day, when, nevertheless, I
found a few days to be squeezed out in order to have realized
my earnest desire of inspecting the present conditions of
the famine stricken districts in the Northern Provinces in
Japan and, besides, it was a proper time to be had for that
purpose. Leaving Tokyo on the 13th instant by a night train,
in company with our Mr. Masatake Togo, Honorary Secretary, and
Mr. Kow Isobe, one of our clerks, and arriving at Fukushima at
4 o’clock in the next morning, I started for another journey
escorted by Gov. Arita, President of the Fukushima Red Cross
Branch, and several other officers, and visited as many
counties, towns, and villages as possible meeting, at the same
time, their head men and officials, and dropping, once in a
while, into the huts of suffering peasants and telling them,
upon every opportunity, how generous and sympathetic President
Roosevelt, members of the American National Red Cross Society,
proprietor of _Christian Herald_ and its readers had been in
practically rescuing the famine stricken people from the verge
of starvation.
Before distributing the money, which you sent to us, however,
we had very carefully investigated the best methods, by which
no peasant there should laze away his time simply relying upon
such helps. With this in view, we instructed each Branch of
our Society at those districts to provide the poorest with
foodstuffs.
An official instruction, No. 146, given by the Governor of
Fukushima Ken (Prefecture) on the 10th of March, 1906, to the
head men of counties, towns, and villages may be of interest to
you. It runs as follows:
“The President of the United States has extended his sympathy
to Japan so deeply that he appealed to Americans in behalf of
our famine stricken provinces to raise a Relief Fund. As a
result, we have now received a certain amount of money as a
part of contributions from America which reached here through
the channels of the Red Cross Society of Japan, the Department
of Home Affairs and the American National Red Cross Society.
I wish you would convey to your sufferers the kindness and
sympathy so practically shown to them by Americans. This money
should only be used to provide the sufferers with food....”
The amount of money we sent to Fukushima Prefecture was up to
the 13th of April distributed among counties as follows:
THE AMOUNT OF MONEY DISTRIBUTED AMONG COUNTIES OUT OF
AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS.
NAME OF COUNTY. AMOUNT.
Shinobu Yen 4,943.00
Date 5,244.00
Adachi 5,364.00
Asaka 4,642.00
Iwase 3,315.00
Minamiaidu 1,508.00
Kitaaidu 1,084.00
Yama 2,070.00
Kawanuma 1,265.00
Onuma 1,265.00
Higashishirakawa 2,267.00
Nishishirakawa 4,521.00
Ishikawa 2,268.00
Nakamura 5,847.00
Ishijiro 4,452.00
Futaba 3,375.00
Soma 5,847.00
Wakamatsu 1,000.89
---------
Total Yen 60,277.89
The methods of helping that have been adopted by proper
authorities in co-operation with local officers of the Red
Cross Society of Japan are in general similar with those in
other two Prefectures, and are applied quite scientifically, if
I could use such an expression. In classifying the sufferers,
for instance, the authorities have carefully inspected every
family in order to find to what extent and how its members
should be helped. The following is an example given to me by
the President of Iwate Red Cross Branch:
NAME of the head of the family, Wutaro Rai.
Address, No. 334 Nakamura, Ishikawa Co.
Business, Tenant farming, Age 46.
Health, Suffering at present, Rheumatism.
NAME. AGE. HEALTH.
Grandfather, Nil
Grandmother, “
Father, Taro 75 Unable to work.
Mother, Hana 72 “ “ “
Wife, Chika 40 Able to work in the house.
Two daughters,
Kuni, age 25, married.
Yasa, 18, serving as maid in a remote; sends a little
money to help.
Amount of taxes, Yen, 1.20.
Property, mortgaged.
Beddings, quite insufficient.
House, bad.
Condition of living in the past, lived pretty well
comparatively.
Remarks: Entire help is at present needed.
Thus, persons, men or women, who are quite unable to work,
are fed and clothed with contributions that have been made
at home and abroad towards the sufferers, whilst those who
are able to work outside of the house, are furnished by the
local Governments, for measures of relief, with wage-earning
works such as those in rearranging public roads, paddy
fields, in opening new fields for mulberry trees, and those
in the house with materials for straw-works, bamboo-works,
fishing-net-works, etc., which are bought up afterward by the
authorities dearer than ordinary prices. Besides, to those
sufferers, who own themselves even a little bit of land or
who are tenants, are furnished with seeds of various kinds of
vegetables without charges whatever. The wages they earn in
these ways run from 12 sen (6 cents) to 30 sen (15 cents) per
day in accordance with the degree of their laboring power.
Foodstuffs, which we purchased with the money you sent to us,
consist mostly of imported rice, wheat and flour.
The number of sufferers or paupers in Fukushima Prefecture is
altogether 174,573, out of which 86,196 persons are helped in
such a manner as to be furnished with manual labor and 88,377
directly with foods, which had been partly purchased by the
authorities with the money contributed from individuals to the
amount of Yen 235,322.00 up to the end of March and partly sent
by them in the form of provisions in a good quantity.
In Iwate Prefecture, there are 78,588 sufferers, out of whom
35,211 are altogether helped being totally unable to work. The
total amount of money, which we sent to this district out of
your contributions, is up to the 22d instant, Yen 58,276.37.
Foodstuffs, worth Yen 24,619.08, had already been distributed
among the sufferers and at present some more foods are being
purchased. The total amount of money that has been contributed
by the natives and expended is to the same date Yen 147,933.60.
In Miyagi Prefecture, there are 475,135 persons, who have
needed help either directly or indirectly. Those who have been
furnished with foodstuffs number 51,058 and those with the
manual labor number 424,077. The total amount of money, which
we sent to this district out of your contributions is up to the
15th instant Yen 100,464.78 and that consisting of donations
made at home is Yen 448,892.70.
It may well be to state that, in consequence of the famine,
there have been established several societies in aid of the
sufferers in these three districts. The Ladies’ Relief Society
in Fukushima, for instance, has ever been collecting new and
old clothes and distributed them among the sufferers. The
Society for the Protection of School Children, which was
established under the auspices of the authorities in each
Prefecture of those districts since the number of pupils had
been found to be daily decreasing, has done a great deal of
work in helping and brightening them. At present, as a result,
the number of pupils who every day go to school is figured out,
on the average to be 95 per 100, whereas before the famine, its
percentage was about 85. All the text books, pencils, pens and
other necessities have now been pouring into their hands from
such children as are under different circumstances entirely.
Such articles, being in general second-handed, are disinfected
thoroughly before distributing them.
Thus the authorities have been taking much precaution against
epidemic that may likely spring up in the coming Summer as
often should be the case with famine. As the sufferers’ huts
are apt to become more filthy and unhealthy than used to be,
policemen are frequently sent to such houses for inspection.
Moreover, on those who keep their own houses clean are at
present conferred prizes in the shape of money.
School-children, in addition, get free luncheons at the
school, which are served by the Society for the Protection of
School-children. “I am very hungry. Oh no! I am not hungry”
is a spirit of Bushidoism or Samurai. It may be of interest
to state here that there had been at first some children, who
refused free luncheons notwithstanding they ate nothing for
more than two days and some fathers and mothers who refused
gifts from others.
In order to encourage the education of children in these
districts, the Central Government made allowance of Yen 300,000
for them, Yen 120,000 for Miyagi Ken (Prefecture), Yen 110,000
for Fukushima and Yen 70,000 for Iwate Ken being respectively
assigned.
The following, however, is the other side of society
indispensably resulted from the famine: