The Portland daily press., 1862-12-16
The Dis tress in Lancashire.

The Dis tresS in Lancashire.
The suffering in the cotton manufacturing
districts of England shows no signs of abate-
ment By this time it is estimated thai 3O0,-
600, representing more than 100000 persons,
are dependent on charity for daily bread
These 30n n,0Q0hands earn, when at work, some
thing near $S15,000 week; these figures
measure approximately the gross sum of want
which appeals to the worlds bounty, but give
no hint of the pain aud shame, pain of hun
ger, and shame of beggary, they represent.
clergyman near Manchester says he found in
one house nine persons, who had been with
out fire for seven days, and whose only food
tor that time had been six pounds of oatmeal;
in another were ten persons, who had lived a
week on eighty cents; in the next were eight
grown persons without food, or the means of
procuring it; the wife had just given birth to
twins, and one of them had died. Close on
the heels of famine creeps pestilence. "The
true spotted typhus fever" says the London
Lancet, ''the famine fever, a dire concomitant
of prolonged dearth, is slowly but surely ex-
tending its ravages in the Lancashire district"
This fever is caused by long exposure to cold
or moisture, and by irregular or deficient diet.
1t can only be subdued by attacking and re-
moving these causes.
Such is faint outline of the bare physical
facts which characterize the Lancanshire FAM
ine. The temper of the operatives is admira-
BILE. For time they were very unwilling to
receive assistance; but since the vast calamity
H.. tho xvbola community thiS not
ural repugnance has given way. To ask aid
Is no longer private and peculiar disgrace
A correspondent of the London Times for
Nov. 27, thus describes the patience and cour-
age Of these poor people:
Many of them were detected, indeed almost
PROSTATE. Many showed in their faces the
terrible struggle through which they had pass
ed before consenting to accept relief. One, a
decent shopkeeper, showed me his books to
prove that his whole profits for week had on
ly been 3d., and asked i'll thought he had done
very wrong to come on the committee. Anoth-
er spoke cheerfully, as he hoped that an Eng
lishinan might feel justified in accepting cbari-
ty to save his family from starving; but while
he spoke he turned pale, spasm crossed his
face, and he rose suddenly and left the room,
while his wife burst into tears. Everywhere
met the marks of terrible mental suffering.
But nowhere did find any complaint against
the upper classes, any sense ofinjustice, or of
having been hardly used. Never was there
seen nobler simplicity Of endurance.
The ordinary legal provision for the main
tenance of paDpers cannot beexpected to meet
the necessities of so great disaster. Lanca-
shire seems to be doing all that could be ex-
pected of her in her corporate capacity. The
raft cnrld M ba adv NM ha, u,ifl
out running the smaller ratepayers. The man.
ufacturers are doing more than any other class
for their worknen. One large firm distributed
food and money among them at the rate of
5000 week; another has spent in provisions,
coal, and soup verynearly $1,000; several have
furnished outdoor labor for a part Of their
hands; one young man just beginning business
land doubtless others not reported,) having
nothing else has given his time and energy
without stint; another is working up cotton,
which he could sell without trouble at a profit
of ten cents pound. "Naw," said small
manufacturer. who had bought yarn Tor his
weavers, and was Offered an advance of $500
on the lot, "Naw, l bowt it to keep em going,
and they shall have it."
1t has been a general opinion that this dis
tress is occasioned by the American war. That
is not the case. Since the visit of NJ. Felix
Fo neon to England, and the publication Of his
article in the Paris Presse, it has become more
and more apparent that nothing could be worse
for England than the raising of the blockade,
and the free importation of more cotton. This
view is adopted by English newspapers. The
Liverpool Courier says:
OF the cause of this lamentable distress we
think that the non-suppy of American cotton
is not the proxmate one, though it is popular
ly assigned TO be such. The closing of many
mills was, we apprehend, necessity laid upon
their owners, in consequence of the diminished
demand for their manufactured goods, all
available markets being glutted by the heed
less energy OF excessive expectation during the
last four years. Under these circumstances,
it cannot be truly alleged that the difficulties
connected with the non-exportaton of cotton
from America have as yet fairly commenced
I'VE don't want cotton" said an eminent
Manchester salesman, 1--WE want markets for
the goods that cucumber our warehouses" and
no spoke out the exact state Of the Manches-
ter case, probably up to the present time.
The misfortune which has befallen the OPP
eratives would equally have reached them
through the ruin of their employers, had this
continent remained at peace during the last
year. The war, which is the financial saliva
tion of the manufacturers, is so far from being
a cause of the suffering of their workmen. that
without it the miowners would no longer be
in a condition to relieve the misery which
would no less have come upon that district.
These people are our friends. they are our
kinsmen. The English hatred of America
is only political; SO far as the hatred of de-
mocracy pervades the English people, there is
little hope of sympathy in our national troub-
les, but the working men as a body do not
share that hatred. They are consistent in
their opposition to slavery, which has never
presented itself in the dangerous guise of an
ally to their political hopes. One employer
called together his hands, told them he could
no longer give them work, and referred to the
American war as the cause. "We don't mind
suffering Bit" was the reply, ''if we can only
set the poor slaves free" We cannot let these
men and women starve. Something however
little compared with their needs, we can do
On Saturday 100000 had been raised in New
York. One firm offered ship of 1900 tons
burden to carry the supplies-an offer equva-
lent to $4,000. A. T. Stewart gave $4,000:
Gerritt Smith, 81 600; gentleman, who did
not communicate his name, 1000 barrels of
Hnfrr and +.