The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-08 00:00:00

6----
Slrd consider this question,"
isvaeyssoSfirmAilnliToinll3:7
or" as si rat
to
as connected with the l
our character in their eyes, from the mode in which
we deal with it, either leaving them to perish, or
Elbowing sympathy, wisdom, and energy in endea-
vouring to save them ; whether we look upon it
as a matter of duty or of interest, the terrible
importance of the subject is beyond calculation." It
must be remembered that not only is every famine in
itself a terrible and devastating calamity, but their
periodical return makes them assume a prominent
place in Indian history. In some parts of India
they occur every ten or twelve years, and
consequently, as Sir A. COTTON observes, " they
c tight to occupy a regular position in the cal-
culations of every Indian Government. One dis-
trict, severely visited by famine some 30 years ago
was selected by Sir A. COTTON as a sample of the
devastation effected by it, because there happened
to be fuller statistics concerning it. In 1831 the
population of Guntoor, a district of 4,700 square
miles, the 270th part of India, was 512,000 ; in
1833 it was 255,000—a loss of 257,000 ; and of
these the report states that it appears certain that
200,000 had perished," and this was not an
exceptional case. In Colonel BAIRD SMITH'S report
on the famine in the north-west in 1810, he esti-
mated the mortality at 80,000 or 90,000 in the cen-
tral section of the famine tract alone, or 2 per cent.
of the population ; in another part 8 per cent. In
the accounts now received from India it is stated
that 2,500 are dying weekly in one district, and
that 900 dead bodies were picked up in the streets
of Balasore in one morning. The extent of country
suffering under this visitation is unusually large,
and it is as yet impossible to estimate the
total loss of life. Those who are more sen-
sible to the claims of property may reflect upon
the actual loss sustained by the country in conse-
quence of these famines. Of the loss of property,
Colonel SMITII estimates it, in 1860, at 31 millions
sterling. In 1833, in Guntoor alone, the public
works report estimates the total loss at 2k millions.
'• But," as Sir ARTHUR COTTON says, " how can we
estimate the loss of character to a Christian Go-
vernment which foresees such evils, but lifts no
finger to avert them?" In 1854, when there was a
local famine, he wrote, he tells us, as chief engineer,
to press upon the Government the necessity of pre-
paring for it, but nothing was done ; and when the
local officers found themselves overwhelmed with
100,000 starving men, the Government tried
to employ them, but nothing was ready,
and the poor creatures were too weak to
work. So it has been now. So soon as the failure
of the harvest was known, engineers should have
been sent to plan out works of irrigation, to provide
shelter, to supply tools, and lay in a stock of food
from a distance, so that as soon as the gaunt enemy
showed itself employment and food could be found
for all under proper organisation. Had this, says
Sir A. COTTON, been done in Bellary, that district
would ever since have been secured from famine.
" It is, in fact, only labour and organisation that is
wanted in most cases. When Guntoor lost 200,000
by famine, a river was flowing through it which
never fails, and which in a single day carries to the
sea 4,000 million cubic yards of water ; and as
6,000 cubic yards will secure a crop of rice,
on an acre, water enough was running to waste in
that one river in a day, in that very district, to
secure 700,000 acres of rico, the food of 2i millions
of people for a year. A single day's water would
thus provide food for five times the whole popula-
tion of that district. The sole cause of the famine
was that the water was not diStributed over the
land." What startling facts are these, and how
, greatly must we blame that official supineness which,
from the highest to the lowest, seems to pervade
our Anglo-Indian authorities. Money can scarcely be
the obstacle, since, as Sir A. COTTON observes, if the
Government can afford to lose a million by a famine,
it can surely afford half a million to prevent it. The
works at Godovery, which have produced such
beneficial effects, and which water a million of acres,
were executed at a cost of half a million'of money.
It is not a question which can afford to be longer
trifled with, for we are surely answerable for every
life lost through our neglect of our plain and mani-
fest duties as rulers of the country. British sub-
jects are dying and suffering by the thousand for
want of the common necessaries of life ; while we
in England pause and hesitate and are indifferent,
and our representatives sit with their hands folded,
while famine does its terrible work.

The Prussian Royal Patent taking formal pos
session of Hanover was promulgated on Saturday,
and no disturbances took place on the occasion.
There was nothing new in the terms of the docu-
ment. It demanded, as all such formulas do, that
the sway of the Prussians should be complete,
containing some rigmarole at the cud about the
community of origin, language, and customs of
Hanover and Prussia. Hanover is insulted by
being reminded that the " reorganisation of Ger-
many demands the incorporation of Hanover, and
thus Germany has acquired what Prussia has gained."
Ilow absurd this is, when every one is quite aware
that Prussia fully intends to keep all her possessions
exclusively for her own use. This fact is best
proved by noticing that the Berlin Government go
on precisely the same whether they meet with ac-
quiescence or non-acquiescence to their demands.
The Frankfort Senate has sent the Prussian Com-
missioner a document which protests against the
incorporation of Frankfort with Prussia, and re-
serves the rights of the citizens as based upon the
independence of the city. What regard or attention
is this_likely to meet with? we may very well ask.
Will there not be the same asseverations made
as to the claims of Prussia, and will there not
be a repetition of what has gone before in
other States, resulting in the loss of liberty to the
doomed dominions. From Stutgardt we hear that
the Chamber of Deputies has recorded its opinion
against the union of the southern part of Germany
with the north, declaring very truly that they seek
aConfederationprotection for
guarantees of progress, in vain in the Nortshs
G 1
iebr emr taya,
of right. Even if a union were finally shown to be
desirable, it is urged that important interests re-
quire that the military organisation of the Southern
States be united. This will, no doubt, be a
desirable thing, and,
re being entertained
at any rate, it shows
that already suspicions a
as to the desirability of the changes
so
;
hastily made by Prussia. Austria seems likely
to get into difficulties with her affairs and, indeed,
she has reached that stage where the complications
are so great that as fast as one is arranged another
is sure to spring up. The cession of Venetia seems
to have been conducted in as satisfactory a manner
as possible, and no feelings of enmity appear to be
indulged in by the Austrians. The semi-official
I'ienna Jourilat contains an article that is written
in a very sensible strain respecting the affair. It
declares that it is the wish of the Austrians
that their former adversaries should expel all
bitter feelings from their hearts, and learn
how much they will consider their true interests by
cultivating a friendly feeling towards Austria. It is
also announced that the mission of the latter iu

Europe does not lead her in the direction of the

South. It seems a pity that this conclusion was not
arrived at at an earlier period, for it would have