The Somerset herald and farmers' and mechanics' register. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 183?-1852, 1845-12-02

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him, and has found him unprepared to
face it. Famine-gaunt, horrible, de-
stroying famine-seems impending
Fears have seized the public mind. In
Ireland matters look appaling-in Eng
land gloomy. The granaries of the con-
tinent are exhausted. The corn fields of
the Visnla, the Danube, and the Elbe,
are barely sufficient for the local wants of
the inhabitants. The nation is in corfl-
motion; and the cry of "Open the ports
and let in corn duty free!' is heard, on
all sides, reverberated from every part of
the empire. The "pressure from with
OUT has made itself heard in Downing
street, and faith in the sliding scale
Peel sliding scale-is gone for ever. A
third of the potatoe crop in Ireland is de-
stroyed,
The Government has sent scientficpro-
(essors to the scene of the mischief, and
the awful truth is out that this large por-
ton of lhe Peoples food-the esculent
that Cobbett abhorred--is unfit for use
What is to be done in this terrible, this
unlooked-for emergency! ''Open the
ports.'' is the exclamation, and there
stands the shiyering Premier.like areed IN
the. wind paralysed between affection Tor
his sliding scale, and the horrors OF pub
lie famine. There he Is, balancing the
pros and cons. But necessity is superior
to consistency, superior even to law
The ports must be opened. O'Connell,
who assmes to be the tribune of the Irish
people, goes beyond this. He demands
a grant of public money TO the extent of a
million and half, to be expended in the
purchase of food-he calls for tax of
fifty per cent. on the absentces, and tax
of ten per cent. on the residents-he asks
for the prohibition of corn and provisions
leaving the island-and the prevention of
dslillerics consuming grain. Large de-
mands these-will they be conceded! A
day or two solve the question; and in the
meantime speculation will find 4 wide
margin for the exercise of its agency
TERRIBLE RAILWAY REVUL-
SION.
The railway mania has received It's
quieius. Something like a panic has
overtaken the spectators in iron high
wavs. Now that the reaction has come
il brings in It's train ruin and devastation
and bankruptcy to thousands. But the
end is not yet. A more gigantic system
OF swindling has rarely been seen III these
latter DAYS, and the number OF respecta-
bic persons who have lent their names to
support bubble companies, make us
blush for the cupidity of common hu-
manity. The Times has been foremost
in this work of f''lluttering the Volcians. :"
Ii matters little what motives may have
prompted the potentates OF Prlntlng-hou-
ses Square to sound tocsin; whether
jealousy of their contemporaries, or yex-
ed that they did not participate equally in
the spoil. or determination TO destroy
the game of those who did-all this is
beside the question. 1--WE try the act,
the motive Heaven can Judge" The
only regret is, that it was not done soon
er. But certain it is, that The Times,
true to its character of seiZlng the right
moment for acting upon fears, or control
ling the public mind, kicked the beam
at the critical instant, and to some extent
produced the reyulsiOn which is now
Witnessed. But without desiring to UNI
dervaiue the power and the influence OF
the journal iii question, it would be weak
to attribute the prostratlon III the share
market solely TO It's thunder.
The Bank of England, the critical state
in which the food Of the country has
been placed by the harvest, and the state
of the potato crop, above all, and beyond
all, the ridiculous experiments which the
projectors of the numberless moonshme
companies made upon the common sense
of mankind-those causes, irrespective Of
the diurnal monitor, have forced the de-
clension to its present point. The wreck
of fortune and of character which this
temporary insanity has produced, will be
felt long after the causes that produced II
have passed away. As proof of the
extent to which this huge system OF
swindling has been carried, 1t may be
mentioned that even ladies were not ex-
empt from It's influence. The female
friends and relatives OF those who pulled
the wires of certain imposing puppet
schemes, were in the daily habit of hunt
ing the purIieus and officers OF the share
brokers in the Metropolis, to watch the
market. in order to turn their letters OF
of allotments TO the best account! One
of the railway papers mentions certain
batch of female spectators who con-
trived to realize, by this kind of chlcanery
during the height of the mania, the
astounding sum of g500,00O.
The appropriation of the property IS
others by fraud or misrepresentation, OF
pronounced felony by the law of the
| land; whereas, for system, based for
the most part on falsehood and deceit
there appeals to be no legal restraint
.o,,o;,,l,- ,o laor,l ramndy Now that DeO-