The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-20 00:00:00

THE CORN QUESTION.

The Constitutionnel, speaking of the prevailing scarcity,
observes—" The difference in the harvests from one year to
another are decidedly not so considerable now as formerly.
The progress made in agriculture has done away with a vast
number of those causes which formerly comprised the
harvests. The falling off formerly was one-third, one-half,
and even two-thirds of the quantity requisite for consump- ,
tion, and the last century shows the most afflicting souvenirs
in that respect, but since that period the produce of corn has
never been below the ordinary quantity more than 20 or 25
per cent. We have not in reality for upwards of 40 years
had more than one really bad harvest, and that was in 1817.
The falling off of 20 or 25 per cent., although very con-
siderable, certainly does not bespeak a famine. Was tile
deficiency to be equally divided among the consumers they
would not undergo any very serious deprivation ; but un-
fortunately such is not the case. The high price of
bread does not diminish the consumption of the
higher classes, and scarcely alters that of the middle classes,
so that the deficiency falls almost entirely upon the lower
classes, and the deficiency, instead of being at the rate of
25 per cent., is augmented to at least 40 or 45 per cent. This
difference is enormous for stomachs accustomed to a food, a
large quantity of which contains in reality but little nourish-
ment, and as the misery increases, the physical powers
diminish in a proportionate ratio. The difference in the
consumption of food in different countries, under the same
latitude, is very remarkable. In England the consump-
tion of corn is 220 kilogrammes each person in the year.
In Russia it is 400; in France, 200; in Bavaria, 220; in
Saxony, 160; in Austria, 145. It is somewhat singular
that the consumption of the article salt should follow in
nearly the same progression as that of bread. In Austria,
for instance, the consumption is 5 kilogrammes per head; in
Bavaria it is 9, and in England 11. The quantity is even
more considerable in Thissia. This fact completely de-
stroys the assertion which has frequently been made,
that vegetable nourishment requires more salt to make
it wholesome than animal food. In England, Where the
consumption of meat is 31 kilogrammes per head, three times
the quantity of salt is requisite, as in Austria, where the
consumption is only 14 kilogrammes. The same observa-
tion will apply to Bavaria, where the consumption of meat
is 22 kilogrammes per head per annum. The greatest con-
sumption of meat is in Munich; it is said to be 115 kilo-
grammes per head, and is almost equal to that of bread.
The consumption of beer is also greater there than in any
place else. It is, iiadeed, something extraordinary, being
800 quarts per head per annum, and is consequently four
times greater than that of England. Now that a famine
threatens Bavaria, the deprivations which the people will
have to submit to, and how much the inhabitants of the
capital will have to reduce their wants, real or imaginary,
may be easily conceived. The Austrians are probably the
most sober people of the Continent, yet they are nowise de-
ficient in physical strength. The preceding details prove
that the problem of subsistencies has been, up to the present
period, but very imperfectly studied, notwithstanding that
it. is the question of all others in which the human race is
most interested." _ _

The Emancipation (a Brussels journal) contains the fol-
lowing account of the measures taken to meet the scarcity
in Belgium :—" The Central Board of Relief held a meeting
at the Hotel de Villa on the 11th instant. Upon the propo-
sition of M. Sehuermans, president of the sub-committee,
the following propositions were agreed upon with regard to
that sub-committee The lists of labourers and other
persons who shall be admitted to make purchases in the
depots of-the Board shall be drawn up by the committees of
charity of each parish by the societies of beneficence, by the
manufacturers and shopkeepers. For this purpose set forms
of lists shall be addressed with the least possible delay to
those respective parties. There shall be delivered to the
persons admitted to make purchases in the aforesaid
depots cards numbered, and bearing the name of the
person coming to effect such purchases, the nature
of his calling, his residence, the number of persons com-
posing his family, and the disposition of article 15 of the
organic regulation. They shall moreover be stamped with
the seal of the Board (article 11 of the organic regula-
tion).' The cards shall be withdrawn by the sub-committee
entrusted with their deliverance when it shall be found that
they have become useless, or when they shall be made a
bad use of ; and upon being returned they shall lose their
value. The lists and the number of cards distributed and
withdrawn, shall be communicated to the Central Board
at each of its sittings. The six members of the com-
mittee shall exercise a continual surveillance, visiting and
controlling the office of inscriptions by turns once every
week. They shall assemble at the Hotel de Ville every
Friday at six o'clock in the evening, upon pain of forfeiting
3f., and such as shall arrive beyond the hour shall forfeit If.
The money thus forfeited to be placed at the disposal of the
Board. Upon the proposition of M. Boets d'Hamer, secre-
tary to the second committee entrusted with making the ne-
cessary purchases, the Board decided upon the nature and
quantity of the articles which the bearers of cards might be
allowed to purchase. The following was the decision of the
Board in that respect :--‘Evtry two days for each person
one loaf weighing one kilogramme. Each person weekly
seven kilogrammes of potatoes, or seven tickets for a quart of
soup each (the Board decided that by way of trial it would
cause to be made and offered for sale every day soup made
from meat). Children between the ages of three and twelve
years to be allowed half the above quantity. Weekly for
every family fifty kilogrammes of buck wheat bread.' The
Board, moreover, decided upon the proposition of the sub-
committee-1. That it would apply to Government, in order
to obtain the free transport, or at a very low charge by the
Government railroads, by the canal of Charleroy, or any
other means, the purchases of grain, &c., which it might be
necessary to make. 2. That it would demand of the college
of burgomasters and sheriffs authority to purchase, at the
lowest possible price, the corn, rice, potatoes, &c., in such
quantities as might be deemed necessary by the sub-com-
mittee, the said quantities, however, to be approved of by
the college in conformity with article 6 of the organic regu-
lations. 3. That it would demand permission to have the
supplies of butter and coals, which might be deemed necessary
offered to public adjudication."