The Express.
London, England, 1866-10-30 00:00:00

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LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 30, 1866.

CTWOPENI

to admit to ourselves that in the meantime t mines
are not preventible. In time we may so improve
and change the face of the country that PleatY aAd
prosperity will reign where death and de lotion now
New ; bat unless gigantic exertiosis are made, unless
pubis' works advance at a more rapid rate than they do
now, it would be wiser to school our minds to the convic-
tion that the Orissa famine is not the last that we shall
have canes to
deplore,
Meanwhile it is
our
duty to take messures which shall
mitigate the distaste which is the tioneemitant of
these fearful scourges. It is not enough to wait, as 151
the present instance did the Bengal authorities, until
the plague has declared itself in all its intensity. We
must anticipate and provide beforehand. We must relieve
from the outset. Money pouring in from all quarters in
munificent sums, weeks after the famine has broken out,
may be the means of saving many, but hundreds must have
succumbed, as in the present instance, before the welcome
relief arrives. Some ready-made organisation, capable of
befog put into working order at • moment's notice, would
seem to be wanted. Would it not be possible to establish
• permanent famine fund ? Some scheme could surely be
devised by which money could be kept in head far the
=of alleviating the ditties, of a famine at the very
. There are hundreds of charitable people who
would regularly subscribe to such a philanthropio predict.
Besides, there is good reason for believing that more money
is actually required to inset the necessities of • Marring
multitude like the people of Orissa when the plague has
reached its height, than would have been wanted had proper
foresight been exercised, and tbs tones of charity methodi-
cally beforehand- The breathless haste with which
my to repair the evil which has already aastimed
tremendous proportions alone produces a 0111illilt amount
of waste and misapplication of means. Finding that the
c has passed almost beyond Mama osentrol. mea
altast"h
e liable eto lose their heads, and their efforts lash that
well-directed aim and that telling effect that • proem-
carted scheme would give them. If • permanent famine
fund were established, under proper supervision and such
regulations as experience would suggest, we should be able
to rumour the distressed from the very first ; and the
neceedty for these sudden spasmodic calls upon public
charity—when the charity comes too late to be of any U.
to the poor wretches who have already fallen victims—
would be reduced, if not altogether done away with. The
interest of the money thus contributed, if the rum were
lar as we should be justified in expecting it to be,
couldge, be spent with advantage upon public work' in the
districts peculiarly liable to scarcity, or in any other way
that those entrusted with its management might consider
advisable. We make these suggestions rather with the
view of directing attention to the consideration of the
feasibility of any scheme, than with a conviction of the
wisdom of this particular project. So far as we can see,
an imperial and discriminating arrangement of this bind
would be free from most or all the objections that are
fatal to an Yadkin poor law. It may deserve some
thought, however, as an outline, and might be
capable of improvement and development. If we
may judge from the experience of other famines,
there will probably be A balance in hand to the
credit of the relief committee when the present die-
trees has pissed away. Why not make this the nucleus of
a permanent fund? Such a balance from the contribution
to the North-West Provinces famine fund was in hand
and served to aid in the present distress ; though for mint
of a standing committee the aid, like all else about the
government action, was tardily given. Whether this plan
be good or not, something must be done, if we care about
the lives of our poorer subjects. It is • terrible thought,
that our offerings, munificent as they are, have been power-
less to save hundreds from a miserable death, and powerless
only because they have been too late.