The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-11-12

/ haustcd parent, py whicu burke described inc aiu
which tho American colonies might render to Eng
and, seems now about TO be moro than realized.
The supply Of food for Great Britain must open 4
new era in the prospects Of American agriculture
By our own recent legislation, we have done our
part an the good work Of freeing the interchange
OF commodities between the two countries from
oppressive burdens and hindrances. ..........
| la view Of the present state Of facts, tho res
toration Of the restrictive policy of 1912, for
which the federalists now elamoring seems TO
be little less than suicidal II effected, will surely
do, all that legislation do, to deprive American
agriculture oflhe signal advantages Of its position
In larger point OF yiew and with reference to It's
action upon Europe, it is not too much to say that
the restoration of the tariff Of 1912 would be a
signal calamity to the civilized world.
We subjoin one from among many similar
fully confirming the views upon which we have in
| sisted.
1--WE heard strange tales of lands rich in the
prodigal exuberanee Of spontaneous but useless
produce--of deprecated eorn-feds and dreaded har-
vests. We were taught that PRouDEsoE had laid
in stores Of ruinous abundance the banks Of the
| Ohio and Mississippi on purpose TO oyerwhelm the
trade Of British agriculture, and swamp the industry
Of the British farmer. Men were instructed 10 re-
gard plenty with greater horror than famine; and,
| 10 their reward. The famine has come but
where is the antagonist plenty Famine is on our
shores but what soil is irrigated by the refreshing
streams Of a counteracting abundance Alas the
laws Of man dependant on those Of Con. They
cannot control, neither they thwart, the dispo-
siton of Heaven. Nature will not be defrauded Of
her rights nor, when human folly has provoked
1 la. ~ kaW hsah a1 hafn fha
corn law was dreamed of, survives its extinction.
The original condition Of our being remains I'M
changed and Interchangeable The great struggle is
between man and food-between life and lis sus-
tenance Search the world through and through,
this iron fact stands out in hard prominence to pro.
woke and to defy our energies. From the poorest
! Cingalese subsistng on his rice, to the humblest
Celt starving his ponidge, the multitudes Of the
human race have a scant and rude subsistence.
| Comfort and competence are for the few; contented
| indulgence for the many Earth has yet failed to
satisfy the lodgings the Iabors Of her There
are myriads Of yet untitled miles Of tillage
but rudely and poorly adapted to the cravings OF
their occupants This fact the average condition of
the human race might long ago have brought home
to the sense Of every legislator, even were each
legislator landowner But ii requires the present
| terrors Of an extraordinary calamity to make men
recognise truth often illustrated by the recon-.
ed sufferings Of humanity. Dearth is our ISL
ands, and hunger on our hearths, we confess
the pre-ordained law and struggle Of our being. Six
months ago, men talked with fear Of the bounties
ofGoD; and now they are punished by the fear of
their withdrawal.
1.-THE harvest Of this autumn has been prolific OF
the better sorts Of grain Superficial observation
would have chuckled over the prospect of more
than usual supply Of food. Low prices ruled the
market, and were expected to rule IL for time.
There is plenty Of corn at home il said, and
IL more is imported, il will be dirt cheap In the
| mid If NbAfia afaF nm
mans was at work. The 'mdewed ear blasted its
wholesome brother;' the humble roof though il did
not breathe its fatal faint, yet threw banefu infu-
ence over the nobler and richer food The poor can
never suffer alone. That which supports them is
but taken from the common stock OF human food
And when the very poorest are deprived Of their
usual subsistence, the privaton must spread far be-
yond even their wide circle. Necessity then
| 4 enches-as il is trenching now-on the stores of
the sffluent and the mddling classes. From dearth
Of potatoes TO dearness of bread shorter interval
than men dreamed Of; and the mechanic in London
is stinted of his loaf by the blight which is starving
| the peasant of Limerick and Clare
! "And where now are the lnexhaustibe magazines
| of wheat and meal wherewith our people were to
grow fat and wantoni Alas for the fatuous ignor-
ance of man. They are not. Nature Willnot work
miracles to save theories. Those who shut their
eyes to her laws perish by her laws. Those who
seek to thwar her operations must bend at last be-
| meath their force Now when we crave food for
our poor we find it removed from us. The har-
Of Europe insufficient for the exigencies OF
Europe. France is Strengthened even than our
selves. Austria is bidding against in the mars
of the Mediterranean. Odessa is well-nigh drained
| And America that land Of fabulous redundance,
| answers to the requirements of an ordinary COM
| meIce, but not to the demands of extrordI-
| nary need. Ii has sufhciency for our average,
not for our present wants. She has sent US Gal l2
barrels of -four more than last year; she about
to send us wheat and Indian corn; yet, even
with this prospect, the price of bread has risen
at Glasgow, it has risen in London, and In
dian is becoming dearer every day to the Irish
peasant And this, too in the first quarter of our
provision year. What will the state of things be
| when the American canals frozen, when the
liners have ceased to run, and the passage is alike
blocked up from the far west TO the eastern ports,
| and from those ports to England? Yet in the face
| Of such Crisis, We are maintaining rate Of duty
| which, though it may never become rigidly pre-
lhibitory, must embarrass the speculations Of the
corn trade and complicate great catastrophe with
the evils of delay, uncertainty and irritation Is
| il wise to bolster up such a system, or brave the
odium which it must exctei
| "A1ew words more. When the many starve, the
| food Of the wealthy few must be trenched 1t
matters not in what form. Money and chattels are,
finally but the opponents of primary requisites
| food and clothing. The more, therefore, the pro-
ducng and trading classes have in or other Of
these shapes, the more they will have to bestow on
| those in want"
Douglass Jerrold's weekly newspaper refers to
the general prayers, which have been ordered by
government, to stay the public suffering, in the fol-
lowing manner:
| "When the soldiers Of Charles had sacked
Rome, and imprisoned the Pope, the emperor Or
dered public prayers to be offered up in all the
churches of Madrid, beseeching the nterpostion Of
| Heaven on behalf of his holiness, though his own
sign manual, received by the commander Of his
forces would have restored the Pontif to immediate
liberty. This case has often been cited as Illus
traton of hypocrisy maximzed Perhaps it has a
parallel in the conduct of our own government at
the present day, who, through his grace of Canter-
bury, have directed that prayers should be offered
up ia the l4,490 parish churches of England and
Wales that scarcity Of food may be averted, while
they continue duty on the import of foreign corn
We need not make any comment on this profane
mockery; it will be supplied by the indignation of
| our readers" r. ..".
| The tNew York Sum- Indignantly rebukea the