The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1848-09-12
Great Britain.

nent; the immense wealth accumulated by its
people; the dazzling spendor of its royal and arts
tocratc families, he is apt to be lost in amazement
at these apparent evidences of greatness and per-
manent prosperity, and 10 imagine that this state OF
things viii be perpetual. But nearer view serves
to dssipate much of this admiration and to awaken
feelings of anger and sympathy on account of the
present condition of things. and lead fearful fore
bodlngs for the future.
The last steamer tells us that famine had already
harvest, and in country that produces three times
as much its population requires This ct alone
is a whole history 1t tells the tale of bad laws,
bad government, and social organization radi-
cstily defective. This famine it was feared would
extend to England, and the convocation of parIia-
ment in consequence was looked forward to by the
minister. With famine staring them in the face ::
Ireland kept from open and successful revolt only
by military pressure; the masses of the people in
England. camOrous for political reforms only that
they may change the whole social structure OF the
country; Scotland, the Of cilartist conSpira
les. and secret armed associations these with
decay Of trade, thousands of unemployed. and mil
lions half fed laborprs, with all the difficulties
from abroad attending the intimate connection Of
he government with the complicated ana haza rdo,s
system Of continental potics-tlirse are the imme-
date and pressing causes Of insecurity that Great
Britain has to encounter. And, however, eminent
may b. her statesmen however prudent their pol
icy, or however adrot they may be in evadna
what they cannot overcome, no one can say thai
the whole British system is not in danger of being
OverthrOWn.
A famine will cause large demands for food from
abroad which must be paid for in cash, for the
markets of The world already stocked to the full
with English products, and no extraordinary de-
mand can any where be created to supply the means
Of purchasing an extraordinary quantity of food
The drain Of gold and silver rom the country will
cur;ai,ment by the bank, both of its dis
counts and of its supply Of paper currency pro-
ducing renewed commercial distress. and shaking
tie public credit at the very time when that credit
may be most required.
A famine would also set in motion all those ele-
ments of political di,cord from which the worst is to
be apprehended. The political reformer. in Ire
land. Scotland and England, are mostly the poor
Hunger will band them together ana they viii
readily conclude that it is better for them run the
risk OF dying by the sword OF upon the bayonet in
The struggle 10 better their condition, than to see
their wives and little daily sinking around them
10 hear their peous means. TO lock III their pleading
eyes, and gaze upon their decaying forms, without
the power Of relieving their misery or delaying
their death while others. made of the same clay
With themselves, are enjoying all the comforts and
Injuries of life. There no greater incentive to
rebellion than an empty cupboard, and men never
fight SO desperately i when half iamistled.
The distress and want OF the body of the people in
Great Britain can hardly be exaggerated-indeed
their own parliamentary reports OF the condition Of
tie laborny classes in ordinary times, exceed all
the horrors of rOmance-D' isTaelIi himself in his
novel of Syb or the Two Nations in despair of
describing this condition with half the power %
those reports, adopted their words-Nhat :hen must
be when to ordinary suffering is added the pres
sure of a general scarcity OF food Yet these
starving millions the basis of the British power
and dominion Their labor builds and supplies
the navy, their labor subssts and furnishes the
army their labor has produced the wealth of the
lords and gentry, the manufacturers and the mer-
cllants-no, a ship sails the ocean. nor squadron
manGuvres in the field, not palace shields the
mead of the monarch from the storms Of heaven,
not diamond giItters the breast of beauty that
they have not paid for by the sweat Of their brows
yet these people have al best the bare means OF
existence, and now they have the prospect of absO
lutte starvation. The foundation of the political
and social edlice of Great Britain is in state of
decay, aud the superstructure is lettering to It's
laIl. The people have borne all thew can bear |
Yet the present system cannot be maintained with
out heaping new burdens upon them. The Govern
men has ourun its revenues and pledged The labor
of the state for thousand years in advance-the |
landlords have oGIived their incomes. and have |
through the medium OF the money lenders consumed
what they had not yet gathered and further pledged
the products of labor the classes below them have
fallen into this habit Of anticipating their means,
and further hypothecatng the toll of the people
but the people cannot produce enough for daily |
much less to meet the heavy and in
creasng burden of debt with it's annual interest
else why should they starve " lat must be tie !
end Of all this, An end it must have for it has
rived at point where further progress in the
direction is a physical impossibi!ity.
What. in this view of The case. is the real power
Of Great Britain Shall we Judge Of ii by the ex-
Of the Earth any element of It's strength Do they
not rather draw from il for their maintenance and
government part Of that wealth which should 90
And will they not in the end. like the heavy and
vide spread branches Of tree rotten a. the heart
erve to preciptae its fall j. il her army and
navy, These may he mighty for evil in time of
var. useful to suppress the people in time OF peace
jui they only many sources OF weakness in
lie present social condition Of the country-tlley
'onsune largely and produce nothing where there
: not enough for the consumption and support of
Ill. Is it in the MOBILES and gentlemen of the land
These once were potent for the defence Of the
State, useful the patrons and protectors Of the
aborne classes, bat they lave degenerated into
mere pensioners upon the labor Of the people, APP
in the form Of rens the greater pert of
hat shond go TO the sLstenance of the tllers Of
ne soil. The merchants and large manufacturers
i the country, next to the ab0riDg classes, the
rle supports of British power but whether they do
ut 10y Their operations in accommodating large