The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-03-18

sufficient quarter million tons OF gram can
mense diScuity Of transporting even that scanty
supply to she places where the people are suffer
fearful responsibility rests IN some quarter. The
situation liz at present. according to the latest
and most reliable reports Is of a most alarming
character and there seems to be no competent
means to save millions OF people rom the horrors
CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE
The Bengalese may be cassed under three
dinerent beads. First, there are the zimanders or
large landed prOprietOrs-men OF wealth and free
from all danger OF want or suffering. The zman.
ders have shown great want OF feeling relative to
the distress that surrounds them. and the VicerOy
has told them in plain terms that he would make
them practical examples that property, having its
rights has also It's daes the un eo fyo5s t Are tue small
count. The third class, the coolies or laoorers,
are by far the most numerous, and depend
When the crop fails there Is no employ
menr Tor them, and, consequently, the scarcity
falls upon them with terrible effect The Benga-
ese are In general a self-cOnained, reticent and
patient people. NO matter what distress exists
among them they make no complaint. They mani
fest in presence OF the most crushing poverty
degree OF resignation entirely unknown among
equally civilized nations. They seldom show sud
den anger but their memory Is very retentive.
Ohcial reports may state that starvation is carry
ing of the Bengalese by thousands, but out
In their domestic affairs that their ideas OF privacy
are carried to q climax No one ventures to make
daughter OF Bengalese, and in the poorest habita-
ton there Is always a separate room to receive
strangers. The STATISTICS OF tie famine in OriSsa,
in 1865, show that numerous females persisted be-
cause they would not see the renewing ofhcers and
they also show that the inmates OF many a rural
| household passed away without making o COM
plant or making any sign.
THE FAMINE IN ITO.
In the cold weather OF 1869 Bengal was visited by
| famine whose ravages two generations failed ia
| repair. The disaster, which from this distance
| noats as iaint speck on the horizon Of English
East Indian rule, stands out In the contemporary
| records in appalling proportions. 1t places in 9
new light those broad tracks OF desoaton which
folds the sufferings entailed on an ancient rural
society by being suddenly placed In position in
longer apply Bengal has three narvests each
| year-a scanty pulse crop in spring, more abun-
dant rice crop IN autumn, and the great rice crop,
the harvest OF the year, IN DeCember---wniCh is q
early part Of 1869 high prices had ruled owing to
the partial failure Of the crops in 1858, but the
! scarcity had not been 80 severe as materially to
affect the governmental rental, which has been
| from the beginning the Chief OBJECT kent in view
by rulers the country In spite OF the complaints
and lorebodings OF local officers the authorizes al
headquarters reported that the land tax
| had Deen vigorously enforced, and the rains
1859, although deficient in the northern districts
| seemed for time to pr omise relief. The Septem-
Council to promise. grain to Madras on large
scale, Notwithstanding the high prices. But In
ceased, and the crop, which depended upon them
Tor existence, withered. The fields OF rice became
| like fields OF dried straw.
CALAMITOUS PREDICTIONS
however, were at mat time so common on the
part OF local officials that the Governor declined to
transmit the alarm. The government had deemed
IL necessary TO lay In a supply Tor the troops-a
piece of foresight at the time common when har-
vest was either very abundant or very scanty. In
the fourth week OF January, l770 one district was
suffering so severely that 1t was proposed some
slight remission Of the land tax should be made.
New hopes had also arisen for the spring crop
cred the fields and promised speedy, though a
TIE PEOPLE SUFFERED INTENSELY
how intensely 1t seemed to be as difficult then as
now for the general government to ascertain until
| too late, ana Notwithstanding alarming reports
from the districts, up to the middle or February the
Council beieved the question TO be chiefly one of
revenue; In April scanty spring harvest was
! at q rate that bafied calculation the marvellous
and infinitely pathetic silence under suffering
| which characterizes the Bengalee was at length
| broken and In the second week OF May the central
government awoke to find itself in the midst of
UNIVERSAL AND IRREMEDIABLE STARVATION.
The mortality the beggary exceeded all descrip-
ton. Above One-third OF the inhabitants persisted
in the once plentiful province Of purneah. and in
other parts the misery was equal. The inability Of
the government to appreciate the character OF the
| calamity is rendered more remarkable by the cir
ton continued In the hands OF the former native
| officers. Every report OF the time Is filled with
apprehensons and highly colored accounts OF the
conviction entered the minds Of the Council that
the question was not go much one OF revenue as OF
| dep0puiation. something Of the same Kind APP
| pears to have marked the conduct OF Indian rulers
at the present juncture, for we ind Lord North
Of India All through the stlning summer OF ITO
THE BENGALEsE WENT ON DYING.
| The husbandmen sold their cattle; they sold
their implements OF agriculture; they devoured
their seed grain; they sold their sons and dsugh-
ters till at length no buyer Of children could be
found; they ate the leaves Of trees and the grass
OF the fields, and IN June. ITO, 1t was ofiically
Ssa ta the g ee 81 the
wretches poured into the great cities: At an
early portion of the year pestilence had broken
| out. The streets were blocked up with promlscu-
Gus heaps OF the dying and the dead lnterment
could not DO Its work quick enough; even the
dogs and ackas, the public scavengers Of the East
became unable to accomplish their revolving work,
| and muitltudes OF
kANGLED AND FOSTERING CoRPsEs
at length threatened the existence Of the citizens
In ITO the rainy season brought relief, and before
the end OF september the province reaped an abun-
rest .depopulation. starving and shelteress
crowds crawed despairngy from one deserted
to ds
were thus spread over the whole country and
until the close OF the year disease continued fear
fully prevalent.
MILLIONS OF FAMfsHED wRErCHEs
venng weeks that Separated them from the har.
On Oe hs
1T is scarcely possible" write the Council at the
beginning OF the September reaping, "that any
months later another bountifu harvest-the great
rice crop oil the year-was gathered in. Abundance
returned TO Bengal as suddenly as famine had
swept down upon it, and 1t Is difficult to realize IN
reading the records Of the time that the scenes
have not been hideous phantasmagoria, or
A LONG, TROUBLED DREAM.
| During the following thirty years Nature failed
! to repair the damage she had done. Plenty
indeed, had returned, but 1t had returned to q
| silent and deserted province Before the end of
May, 177o one.third OF the population was of1l-
cally calculated to have disappeared; In June the
deaths were returned at SIX 10 sixteen Of the
whole Inhabitants and 1t was estimated that one
half the cultivstors and payers OF revenue per-
ished with hunger. But 1t was not until cultiva-
tion commenced in the following year Q77U that
the practical consequences began to be felt. 1t
was then discovered that the remnant Of the popu
lation would not suffice to till the land. The
country continued to fall out OF cultivation ana
the commissioners appointed in 1772 to visit the
various districts found the finest parts OF
abandoned and the revenue falling to decay"
Two years raiter the dearth
WARREN HASTINGS
wrote aborate report on the state OF Bengal He
had made progress through large portion OF the
country, instituting the most searching inquiries
wa ha leliheratplv n q