Delaware Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1843-1874, 1874-01-15
TIE lNpIAN FAMlNE

lnlgiue an area OF country as il:33 - thll
Coveted Gy the states of New-T ork, Peuusyl-
wanna. ani Ohio, within which is crowded
population as numerous as the whole people VI
this Union. Suppose that this district has to
gtow ali tile food which its swarrning population
reau:tes and that about sos out of every 1000
persons are absolutely dependent for tile means
to purchase food on the returns OF agriculture
labor. /
Suppose rurtLer, that there are Nc hleaus
flooding the rice fields save by rain, and that
the rain Is withheld at the only season in which
il ever comes-what are the prospects of .
large proportion oTthese 10000, 900 OF people
for living through psStye Of savings they
have practically mons, for tue l46oring masses
eau oily earn wages enough to keep body aud
soul together, and il they had the chance OF
earning more they would prefer 10 contract
THEN time o work to providing any surplus
! agains, a day OF possible misfortune. One line
of railroad touch es part Of the district, but as
/ a mean, Of bringing food TO mitigate the fam
Inc Thai already staresthe people in The face, it
| Is all but useless. For the country is as la
| mentally destitute of good roads as it - OF
| canals or widely-eXtended water courSes, and
| the comnissariat services oil hall dozen great
armies would utterly break down wers they
| suddenly called upon TO feed the millions who
| W i'll shortly he reduced TO starvation point
Throughout that parched and stricken land.
Outline OF the preliminary conditions Of lhs
Bengal famine. What the state OF things will
| be If the famine fairly gets beyond the reach
| Of the machinery OF relief which is being de-
ysed to arrest it, deias all attempts 10 iinas lie,
| Observers describe the past experience OF such
| \ stations 10 be accompanied by sacriiit' Of
| lie III COMPARISON With which the slaughter of
| a lesuiIiins warts Il tribe. Hundreds OF thou
| sands II rlnacated wretches drop down and
not Ike sh-ep' the highways are strewn with
, coipsrs, aud the river brings them down like
the debris of an inundation. In all its features
| lin the perfect helplessness Of the people, the
| bra2en sun aud tine ironbound earth, tue su-
pelstitlon that compels mutitudes 10 starve
| rather than save their life at the sacrifice OF
caste, aud the horrible eliacing 0t all The de-
| cencies Of life and OF death-an Indian famine
is the most fearful Of all the evils that affect
| mankind.
The latest news from the palched district ia
to the effect that all the old rice will lie con.
sumed by the end ofthe year, and that The mis-
cradle harvest OF the new crop " III last only till
March. After that, all the imports which can
| reach Bengal viii not suffice, "nnless Amer laan
| maize and wheat lie attracted" IL certainly
proves that modern science has not quite sub.
iued space yet when the Western farmer find.
corn the cheapest kind of fitcl, while The fam
lsbeI millions the Valley ofthe ,ianges are
III danger oi dying ior want OF ii. The Indian
| Government has got a task Of enormous maqpi.
tude before II, and qualified judges in Great
| Britain seem to doubt whether they are sutti-
| CT 'ntly prepared 10 meet The adyalcei of the
terrible for that threatens TO Law waste several
Provinces Sir BATTLE FRERR estimates the
difficulties OF the Indian famine to be five
times a. great as those which had to be met In
Ireland in 1867. The Parliamentary grants
alone awarded for Irish relief amour ed 10 $50
100000. The pecuniary magnitude Of the
problem may be partially measured by multiply
Ing this be i've.
Money enough will doubtless lie had, bat all
tue other difficulties exist i'll about the same
added proportion. If the "rele works" of Ire
land broke down, because the starving laborers
had not strength enough TO WELD AK or shovel,
how much more likely Is this 10 be the case in
Bengal, where the mode OF reaching the places
| where WORK can be posecuted is Of the most
tosnlne and tedious description; Then, while
| man Is earning at Government works the paw
" The iIoe with which lie is expected To SUP.
port his family, tue later may s.arve during
| The tune r"Il'!tri - convey to them the need
| ed supplies Altogether the task is che of tue
most colossal AMI Tiff ruli that any adIniristra
ton can BE- called upon ia deal with la tie
past, The tthiha has al" ayi proved ,tluugei
thai all BE ui1anS which yould he employed
to hight It 1t Is t. be T-arai tAat Il N yruy e
so again Y. THtcS.