The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1845-12-05

New YORK, Nov. p. lSlj.


Quite an excitement has been produc-
ed by the news brought by the Britannia. |
BUYERS are freely offering 1928 for flour,
and sellers are holding it as high as $500 |
A panic has been produced in England, !
and the fear of famine has SO alarmed F..
/ them that thew are seriously debating the
propriely of opening their ports for the
admission of ali breadStuils free Of duty.
Several cabinet councils have been held
to debate upon thl important step, hut,
as yet, they have made Lo public deci-
sion. There seems but lille doubt that
they are much alarmed by failure of
the crop, and really dread something
like a famine. That the danger is exagge-
rated is more than probable; but, that
they must receive large supplies OF
grain from this country to alleviate their
wants. is quite certain. The quantity
taken from this country, for this purpose,
will leave US less than our usual supply,
which will tend to keep up the price un-
Ill after the next harvest. Flour for the
mex, nine months will not be below 81,
think.
As every sensible man expected, the
railroad bubble, in England, has burst.
This crisis was FASTENED by the course
adopted by the Bank of England. For
some time the bank had been in the ha-
bit of loanlng upon railway shares, which
kept up the tide Of speculation. But as
fit had only prolonged the struggle to
bring the game more certainly within lis
grasp. and more eiTec,ually to give the
whole farce its quieius, the bank not on
ly refused to make any mole loans up
on railroad stock, but raised the rate of
interest 10 three per cent. This spread
CONSERVATION among the SPECTATORS, and
railroad stocks at once began TO fall.
Then came the rush 10 sell, but there
, were no longer any buyers, and those
who had borrowed money to inves, in
these stocks, found themselves deprived
of the means OF meeting the demands
that were daily crowding upon them,
instead OF the princely fortunes that had
filled their imagination, they beheld
inevitable ruin and bankruptcy. The
soldiers half pay, the mechanics weekly
savings, the widows feeble piltance, were
swallowed up with the wealth of the
merchant, the banker, and the nobeman.
All classes became Infatuated with this
f rallway-fobia, and all now are alike en-.
guIphed in the general ruin. One nam.
rally pauses after such an event to en-.
+ quire if this is really the nineteenth cen.
Iury--the age Of intelligence, when men
are supposed 10 be governed by reason,
or whether we are sill in the dark ages
when men were swayed by passions,
2 brutal, mercenary, and corrupt.
! The state of Ireland is daily becoming
more critical. With the elements Of dis.
content already so deeply rooted. are now
mingled the horrors of famine. Mad.
! dening despair will nerve the arm of
those who have borne in patience their
lot Of oppression and toll. When the
cries OF hunger reach the parents ear,
and he beholds his family wasting and dy-
| ing from starvation, while he struggles in
vain 10 procure them The means of relief,
he no longer fears to employ violent
! measures that under other circumstances
, a regard for the safety Of his family would
induce him 10 dread and avoid with fear.
If unhappy Ireland has so long borne
her griels wilhou. struggle, it has not
) been from fear of war, but from a tender
regard for their unprotected families, and
a religious abhorance TO bloodshed. But
when famine drives men 10 desperation
these considerations will no longer innu-
ence them, and then woe be to the ly-
rants who, by their cruelty and extortion,
have dried up the fountains of mercy,
and s!eeled their victims against The cries
of humanity. The feeble, when armed
with justice, become a mighty foe, and
their proud oppresser may find that for
bearancc has ceased 10 be virlue-thal
Erin's cries have no, assembled to Heaven
: in vain-tha, the power tina, overthrow
the hosts Of Pharaoh, showered fire and
destruction upon Solom and Gomorrah
and stayed the course Of the sun ill
D Joshua defeated the enemies of Isreal
will break the bands forged by oppres
sion, and destroy The proud presump
,ous power that dare enslave noble
heroic. warmhearted race. "Vcngeanc'
is mine" says Jehovah, and though j
may have seemed to have slept, the hou
: is nigh when lreland's naughty oppres
E sors will feel it, and learn that they can
not, with impun,y, pursue course o
: cruelty, oppression, and tyranny, wilhou
: moving the wrath of Heaven.
! r RnopoLfu.
n The Wheat Crop ofthe Unided States
e for lS45, is estimated at 1876, 200, 600 o