The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-08-02
The Persian Government and the
Famine.

II uuAAAGs
Fr1n the Journal Of Commerce
The horrors Of the Persian famine may
he exaggerated, but there is a painful
probability that they are for the most part
tue. The reports say that about one
halfof the population, or Estimating from
the figures given by the British returns OF
'Gs) 100000 souls have persisted Of
starvation, famine, fever or cholera This
is probably an Oyer-Gstimate OF the actual
deaths, but however much the figures
may be reduced, the fact Of terrible ca
lamiIy remains. The poor creatures had
killed OH all their horses and other do
nestle animals, and were trying TO pro
tract life by consuming grass and roots,
Of which the crop was also scanty, were
selling their children for money or iood,
or killing and dcyouring them, and even
eating the bodies Of the dead, and dig
cling out hOrrid rcpasts from the grave
yards. The story Is terrible beyond the
bounds OF the widest Imagination.
What will bc the end Of this great
atflction Heaven only knows, and only
Heaven can save the bulk Of the Persian
people from being swept out o! existence
their ISOLATED position and the cold.
bloDlcd policy OF their disagreement al.
most ciIeciually cutting them oil from
timely human aid. The prime cause Of
the famine Is the drouIh Of 1870, which
caused partial failure OF the second crop
OF that year, and the nearly total loss Of
the spring crop off, by another drOuIh.
Unfortunately Tor the Persians, portion
OF the agricultural land had recently
been devoted tn cotton (beiHg changed
oil IN that from grain during the Ameri.
can war and also 10 the cultivation Of
the POPPY. But marching par pIs'u with
other CiursIs, II not the underlying eXpla.
RaIiDn II all Mis- misery, is the tyrannical
aud cXlUrliUnltg character OF the Persian
system Of government That should be
held responsible, in whole or part, Tor the
lOss Of these millions Of lives; and it
should bc held up as useful warning To
all governments, even those protesting 10
be the most civilized, which eXtOrt heavy
taxes and Otherwise Cypress the people.
The government Of Persia is an absolute,
hide0us despotism The King, or Shah,
Is the lord lilo and death. lie can kill
his subjects ct pleasure, like the chiefs OF
Central Africa. This Is the very pcriec.
ton Of One.man pOwer-the ideal Of
"strOng government The provinces
are ruled over by monsters OF lesser de-
gree, appointed bythe King, and they 10
turn farm out parts Of the power To still
smaller desp0ts-till Persia swarms with
the dcvOurcrs Of the peoples blOOd and
treasure. The taxes are lrightrul and merci.
lcssly wFung from the subjects, In order
that officials high aud low may live In
splcndOr and righteousness. Salaries
are ON the scale u the greatest European
courts. The Grand NiliCr receives 800.
900 year. But the pcrquisilcs and steal.
ings, ~ in cases easily mralleled on this
side Of the Atlantic, amount to far more
than the nominal pay. Men dare not
show their wealth Tor lear II will be
snatChcd from them. Few people, there.
fore, In Persia save up anything-but live
from hand TO mouth. About 100000 In.
habiLants lead u wandering existence In
the deserts or table lands In preference TO
settling down to agriculture and seeing
their profits every year taken from them
by the taX.gathercrs. This spring, when
tho failure ii the crop had become q Ger.
tainty, the inhuman government raised
the MXes-and were especially severe
upon the agriculturalists, driving them
into the large towns to escape the official
robbers. This diminished the amount Of
the crops still more, and made more hOr.
rible pcst.hOles of the cities. A few fled
to Arabia and CabOOl across the frontier,
but the rest were deferred from this by
fear Of the government, which allows no
one to leave the country without permis.
sion, which Is Mt this time generally de.
MED. Thus VIC see the intimate cOnnec.
ncctlon that n strong government has with
the Indebtedness and death Of people
who are cursed by its presence.