893.5018/46: Airgram
The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 11, 1944—4 p.m.]
A–110. Embassy’s telegram no. 2039, October 29, 2 p.m.14 Following is substance of telegram dated December 24 from Drumright at Loyang: [Page 396]
Famine conditions in Honan remain approximately as described in my telegram of October 27. There is widespread privation but little actual starvation at present. The most difficult period, however, will be from March until the wheat is harvested in late May. The majority of the refugees come from the flooded region in vicinity of Chengchow and from the area north of the Yellow River where the shortage of food is acute and prices are higher. The authorities are apparently doing little relief work at present; foreign relief organizations are doing excellent work but their efforts are limited by scarcity of funds. After trip through Honan it seems clear that the burden of taxation, various official exactions and transportation difficulties have figured largely in the impoverishment of the people of this province.
- Not printed.↩