STARVATION BY ORDER IN COUNCIL. ITo THE EDITOR or TICE
"SPECTATOR."] Ste,—Map I draw public attention to the very great hardships caused by the unconscionable delays in the release of moneys belonging to neutrals as well as to British subjects under the control of the Public Trustee? As delegate of an English charitable organization formed by Lord Bryce and other lovers of Tyrol, and working in Tyrol, I have come across numerous instances of pitiable misery caused for want of an Order in Council by which the control of funds would be restored to owners or beneficiaries. One such case I may perhaps be permitted to mention as a typical instance. It is that of a Baroness 0., widow of a Dutch gentleman, who has been living in Tyrol for many years, subsisting on an annuity of .2100 p.a. which a friend had left her, and for which a firm of solicitors in Buckingham acted as trustees. Since the outbreak of the war the old lady has, of course, been unable to obtain any of her money, and consequently she has for the last six years been solely dependent upon charity. What such assistance amounted to in a country which itself was on the brink of starvation only those could judge who, like myself, have made it their business to relieve the worst cases of distress, and have therefore penetrated into the inner life of hundreds of families subsisting on incomes or pensions which now represent about one-thirtieth or one-fortieth of pre-war purchasing power. Soon after I reached Tyrol last June with a few carloads of food and clothing for the destitute middle classes, the Baroness O.'S case was brought to my notice, and my wife looked her up. She found her in the most pitiable plight imaginable. In her miserable little room there was not a stick of firewood, not a crumb of bread; rags of clothing hung on her shrunken limbs, and from want of food she was so weak that she could hardly crawl to the door to open it in answer to her visitor's knock. Her gratitude for the supply of food we sent her and the promise of a monthly stipend of a hundred kronen (2s. ed.) was touching in the extreme, and she readily gave us the particulars of her case, which, on inquiry in Buckingham, I found to be true in every particular. I thereupon wrote to the solicitors suggesting an early settlement of the £600 now duo to her, informing them that I held her power of attorney. I have just received their reply to the effect that they "could not fall in with my suggestion until the Order in Council is made, when they will take the further instructions of the Public Trustee." Is that eight 1—I am, Sir, &c., WILLIAM A. Russis-(4
-.HOHMAN
(Hon. Sec. and Delegate, Tyrolese Relief Fund), Schloss Matzen, Brixlegg, Tyrol, September 13th.
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