The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1872-10-20
Bad News About the Irish Crops.

There can be no doubt whatever that tho
coming winter will be emphatically hard
one for the people of the country. The duty
of journalist at such crisis Is a simple one.
On the one hand, lie ought not to cause unne-
cessary panic by exaggerating the crrcunstan-
ces of the case. He is equally guilty if, on the
curity, seeks to soften the hard and stern Inca
ments of actual fact. Let us, then, lay before
our readers brief sketch of our actual posi-
tion ,6premising that our statements are based
on q careful comparison of accounts coming
from all parts of the country. In the first
place, to glance at the bright side of the pic
ture, grass and green roots have this year been
abundant. There is plenty of food for the cat
tie, and the yield of milk aud butter is good.
When, however, we turn to regard the cereal
and potato crop, very different condition of
things presents itself. The exceedingly M
seasonable character of the harvest weather Is
INJECTING, and has inflicted, considerable in
jury on the corn crops. But the great calamity
of the year is the appearance in full force Of
our dreaded enemy, the potato blight. OF
course, this visitant does not now wear the aw-
full gnise he wore when our people depended for
their food solely on the potato. That esculent is
STILL however, cultivated in sufficient quaint,
ford sufficiently large to make its failure u
very great calamity. And that it has this
year greatly suffered admits of no doubt. Not
alone have the ravages of "the potato blight"
been severe and widespread, but the crop it.
| self bias been siDgnlarly short and deficient
We have heard the difference between the
present years yield and that OF an average
year valued at many millions of money, and,
in a word, there can be no doubt whatever of
the severity of the blow. To add t. our
troubles, in many districts of the island the
! state OF the weather has made it impossible to
| save turf, and such an event, added to the coal
famine, can scarcely fail to canse many papg
of suffering throughout winter already set
ting in with cruel severity. To sum up the
situation in o few words, we may say-a short
| corn harvest, q diseased potato crop, and fuel
| dear and scarce. Suoh . state of things is, to
| say the very least, serious one. We do not
anticipate q great catastrophe like that which
| more than tw enty years ago filled the ihle with
| woe and lamentatiOn. But in q purely agri-
| cultural country like ours, such o condition OF
| thugs as we have described above must cause
sharp suffering and great want in many locali-
ties There are two words of warning which
may be given with effect at such a crisis. One
is to the poor. Let them weigh we'll the golden
words of advice which recently fell from the
Inns of the Cardinal Archbishop. Let them not
sduander in folly the money which should b,
chung to, to tide over the evil days at hand
Our other word of warning is to the charitable
In past years. efforts to relieve the wants o
the agricultural poor in certain districts II
Ireland have failed, owing to their tardJ
character Thousands of pounds have beer
wasted in epdeayOring to relieve suffering
\ which the iudicious expenditure OF hundred