The national whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1847, 1847-06-08
FAMINE THE RESULT OF MANS

ACTS.
ei6 The grand law Of human existence is the
la.v Of hannah. labor. Every hing great and
good, in and out of man, both physical and
spiritual, grows out of It's strict observance. lis
neglect or violation is productive Of every
thing that is evil in man or in his social rela-
tons.
In every society, where the law of labor is
observed, we never hear OF famine. Plenty
crowns the efforts of laboring society In
proportion to The neglect OF this grand law in
any society, there's famine is, The excess
Of consumption over production. That fam
inc is not law Of nature is evident from one
single fact, and that il, the immense increase
10 the production OF all the cereals or bread
substances One grain Of wheat produces
sixty of its own kind One grain Of Indian
corn produces on an average Two thousand Of
lis own species. This law is sequence Of
the law of human labor One man, on an
acre OF ground, with twenty days labor in
y ear. can produce Indian corn enough to sus-
tain five Of his fellow men for the same time
in proiusion. Famine, then, may be always
SET down as The ACT Of man, and not of God.
It's true, when we find ourselves stinted in the
supply Of food, il is the habit Of man 10 Law
the fault at the door of the Creator, but we for
get, while we are guilty of this act Of impiely,
that God is a God Of cause and effect, a God
whose government is government; Of cause
E
and effect, and that human evil arises out Of
the violation by man Of the grand law Of cause
and effect. Man is placed on the earth and The
earth is made 10 yield by the labor Of one mans
hands few short hours in a year, bread enough
for Ave of his fellow men. Can it be said,
then, with any show Of truth or reason, thai
when man neglec,s 10 cultivate the earth those
few hours, it is God who is the cause Of the
consequent fanine2 Surely not.
These brief considerations the truth Of which
the reader will readily acknowledge, will fur
nish q key 10 the present famine in Ireland,
England, Scotland, the Continent of Europe,
and the United States, for it exists in all these
sections of the earih and only differs in degree.
In @. Britain the unnatural state of society ag
gravates the famine. Not only is the law ofhuman
labor violated in that kingdom, but the fruits Of
what humanlabort there is ARE diverted from their
natural channels into The barns Of the rich, who
prey upon the necessities Of the poor, and en-
courage idleness 10 order TO keep up the price
Of food. 1t was recently shown in the House
Of lords, that if the breadsluffs and other pro-
ducts Of the earth, could be released from tn e
grasp Of the enormous wealth Of England, which
always seeks to increase itself by devouring
the labor of the poor, plenty would be in every
Engishman's mouth for the next fourteen
months. Every testimony goes to prove that
the famine in Ireland is an artificial famne--is
consequence Of the act OF man, We have
traced it to its original cause-a violation Of
the law Of human labor Hundreds of thou
sands Of people in the European and American
world have, within the lastfew years, deserted
the labor Of the fields and their all sufficient
other branches of human industry and in this
way, the basis of social prosperity has been
narrowed, and the sleadiness Of the structure
has been endangered. In many regions il has
toppled over, bringing ruin upon all classes
But while the mechanic arts and trades have
attracted to them from agriculture too great a
number Of persons, hundreds Of thousands OF
individuals have escaped from all kinds of labor
and increased the non-producing class beyond
all proportion. Ia the United States this es
cape has been voluntary, and the country feels
il in the lessened production Of the fruits Of the
earth, and consequent high prices and suffer
ing of the poor. In Europe the increase in
the non-producing classes is the result chiefly
of the system Of society, which, itself, is in
utter violation Of the law of human labor, and
consequently Of human rights.
AT home, we shall soon be able to turn the
tide Of production, owing TO the freedom of our
institutions. In Europe, consumption is des-
tined for a long period 10 outrun production,
in consequence OF its unnatural Institutions
We have set her an example of free govern
ment, which sooner or later, she must copy
Until that period shall arrive and release labor
from its present iron yoke, the United States
must grow food enough for themselves and for
the starving millions of the Eastern world too.
But we can never do it, unless we religiously
keep the grand law Of human labor. It's OBJ
servance will be our only source of happiness
and prosperity, Tor the future, as Il has been,
for the past. Our greatest glory will be, as il
has been, to obey the laws Of God. and in no
particular, can we be so much OF a God-servng