The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-06-07
Ths Droad Question.

| Ina 3I0e0 00e0Ilo0-
IL yren tho Cincinnati ossstse.
Mr. Jaw. II recer. aiscousse before the
New YoyA @tatie.ical Society, states that
there are four milliOns Of people in France,
Who eat no bread They undoubtedly have
food. some eat chestnut, and some other
kinds Of vegetables Nor are they BY any
means alone. The people Of Ireland. for .
long time, subaisted mainly on potatoes -
These facts prove not inerely that there arc
large numbers in civilised nations. who d.
not raise their own bread, but an equally
important fact, that they have not The sseeas
Of buying Il. II therefore, half Of Europe
I'D not bread, il does not follow that we
(who boast we can eupply Europe with
B, eaI.) would cell any more Before we Gun
cell, they must have the power to Hay. This
power they may have long time on two
c,,nditions first that they can cell artistic
.fobrics in exchange for money. and secondly,
that high state Of commercial prosperity
exists The former is dependent on another
cpndition-that large part. in fact the lar
gest part Of mankind. will consent to romain
il an iyn)rant and inferior condition, and
thus be comp . led to buy the fabrics of art
frOm other countries. This condition seems
not likely to continue. The United States
buy less and less Of fabricated products (in
proportin.) evcrv year, and this is, in fact.
one Of the financial difficulties Of our govern
isent We shallsoon buy very little Of foreign
fabrics. and thus diminish the revenue from
imports. So, also the South American States
are introducing manufactures, and even the
Chinese are increasing in manufacturing in
dustry This world will not cOsent to remain
dependent upon d few countries for their
arts. SO, commercial prosperity cannot al
ways remain. Peace IA one Of its essential
elements blu. We see that peace is already
disturbed, and is not unlikely to be perman
emily 30. In fact, the conditions upon which
Europe can afford to buy bread cannot re
main long In truth, large part of the
people, such as millions in France and Ire
and. cannot afford to buy it now 1t has
been said that war cannot be carried long
for want of money. This is delusion War
will not stop for want of money, (often as
that failacy has been repeatedly for the sim
pie reason-government has the power Of
creating money; first by giving authority t.,
paper money, secondly, by making it legal
tender, and thirdly, by reducing the interest
on che public debt All these modes have
been adopted to carry on war, and will be, as
long as the passions shall demand war; 1t
depends altogether upon how far these pas
sions shall be excited. Our Revolution was
carried on with paper money-not worth ten
cents on the dollar,-and which the Govern
ment never redeemed A large part Of the
wars of Europe were carried on in the sane
manner Austria has just suspended payment
Of the National Bank. and will have money
.v,A
Of the Bank Of England and reduce the
will be no want of money. We have been at
peace 80 long, that men have really deluded
themselves with the idea that capital is su-
prene. 1t lisa delusion-as any one will find,
who consults the history OF human passions
What did the wealth Of Persia do against
Greece +? Where was property in the French
Revolution All that was regarded as right
lawful, and venerable, from Charlcma yne
down, was swept away. The world look
ed ahgast. But could the world help il
self Even after the armies of Wellington
and Butcher entered Paris, things could not
be restored. Entailed estates, lrimnyeniture,
hereditary Prvileyes-all were swept away,
and never restored. Passion is superior to
money, and the only question about money
is whether a war is national Whether it is
popular Whether, in one word, it is found.
ed on passion
The great question is, at last, the bread
question. Can Europe raise bread enough ?
Ii MT, can it afford to buy? This question
has risen with fearful fnrce, in the most
ancient and wealthy empires but, never rose
with half that force it does now in Europe
The famine in Ireland was an advance
courier OF Providence-to startlc Europe.
from the delu ions, which, long continued
peace and commercial prosperity had
produced But if the present tendency
of civilization is to continue there will he a
terrible reaction at no distant day Because
when all men trade and M ,nuf,cture, there
must c,me time when many man must
starve. IL, on the other hand. the progress
of commerce ard the arts is diminished, as
asserted. there will he great .,epreciation
in commercial values In either case, the
present ra, did and excited growth of what is
called civilization, must, at some period, re-
suit in great and severe changes To us, in
America the fact is not so important, be-
cause, we have the advantage of new,
fresh fertile, aud, rs vet. comparatively um-
sertled continent. 1t will take several gem
pr ,tions yet To bring us to the condition of
rope, and in the meanwhile, we shall have
the benefit OF its experience and example
year or two since, We demonstrated, in the
Gazette, the constant increase Of persons en-.
gagged IN the arts and trade, as compared
with those in agriculture, and the consequent
increase Of towns and cities The tendeacy
OF this state Of things is unquestionably to
diminish the relative supply OF food and in
creace prices, to contrast this tendency, we
have steam and agricultural machinery, and
their effect is great especially in the country
But it is evident, that If the tendency we speak
Of exists, it can only be counteracted by ma
chihery for time Machinery cannot do
everything, and does machinery always di.
minish the demand for human labor Gin
cinnati has 100 sewing machines at work,
but there are more women employed sewing
than there were before there was one
10 undertand the condition of the bread
question in Europe, as affected by the ten
dency of which We speak, ret Us look to the
diminished supply of bread, in its leading
nation, Great Britain. The following is a
brief table showing the relation of exported
and imported wheat and -four (rednced to
busheIs) in Great Britain for century past
EXPORTS. IMPORTS.
In 1850, 7,576,OoO bush.
IL 1880, l,76O,OUO
In 1870, s,5n0,0OO BUSH
In 1920, l524o 900
la 1850. $4,000. 900
This brief table shows at a glance, what has
been the progress OF Great Britain in relation to