The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-03-13
The Great Bengal Famine and Its
Bearing on America.

Tho Great Bengal Famine and Its
Bearing ON America.
The terrible Bengalese famine instead OF
abating, seems to have just fixed its death
grip on the crowded inhabitants of the upper
Gangetic Valley. Perhaps no section OF the
globe furnishes a richer and easier harvest for
the fell destroyer than the lower and north
west provinces of Bengal. The portions OF
these provinces now menaced with early
starvation, though in the aggregate scarcely
exceeding the State Of Texas in area, have
population of forty-two millions, greater than
that Of the whole United States. 1t appears
almost incredible that land watered by the
vapor-stored monsoons of the Indian Ocean,
which precipitate two hundred inches Of rain,
and on the mountain slopes twice that guam
tity, should ever grow thirsty. But single
fact explains the unwonted drought which fol-
lows scarcity of the monsoon rains in Ben
gal. So great is the evaporative power OF the
sun that its fiery rays take up about thirty
seven inches of rainfall annually and re-
convert it into steaming vapor. At Bombay
the daily evaporation in clear summer weather
is nearly one-ftth Of an inch; on wet and
rainy days it is, or course, greatly less-l e.
from .05 to 10 of an inch. Last year,
in the absence Of the usual rains, the evapora-
ton probably greatly exceeded the average,
and not improbably was over forty-6ve inches,
or as much as We receive from the skies in
whole year.
We have already commented upon the fear
full results likely to follow; but the latest &C
counts from English papers make the aspect
OF affairs far more alarming than had been
anticipated. 1t now appears certain that the
present famine will be far more disastrous
than that Of 1866 in Orissa, when, despite the
most strenuous efforts to succor the starving,
the Bengali proverb, 'It is watering the top
Of tree whose roots are cut" was fear
fully fulfilled. The loss from this visitation
is not so far as We know, numerically given;
but it would doubtless come near to that of
the Bengal famine of 1772 from which Warren
Hastings stated the loss by starvation to be
one-third of the population-amounting to
about ten millions In the famine of 1887, in
the northwest provinces, the population af-
fected was about eight millions, and during its
violence there were twelve hundred deaths a
day in two of the principal towns When
we remember that pestilence in many forms
ever follows close upon the heels of famine
we may gain some faint idea of the mag
nitude Of the calamity that now stalks over
Bengal, and already more than decimates its
hungry and fevered millions.
Though many leagues Of ocean divide US
from the horrible scene experience teaches
that no one member Of the family of nations
suffers alone. The effects of the Bengal DESC
lation have already been felt in England, and
must shortly reach the United States. For
tunately the peculiar climatic and meteorolog-
ical irregularities that conspired against
Bengal last year have not been experienced in
this hemisphere; nor is it likely they will be-
But we may learn lesson now that will be
Of national service. The past winter in the
United States has been extremely favorable to
early agricultural operations, and we learn
that the farmers in some sections are far adj
vanced in their preparations for spring work.
As the duration Of the tremendous famine in
India and the drain it will make on the world
for increased production of breadstuffs cannot
be foreseen, and promise to be very distress
ing, our agriculturists should improve the
opportunity for planting a large crop Of
Indian corn. Whether this grain can be
utilized abroad on scale so extensive as to
meet the Indian drain or not, large corn
cron wOuld iustifv an extraordinary eYDOrta.
ton Of American wheat, and thus serve to
avert the great calamity in the East
BILBAO AND THE CARLIsrs. Bayonns
we have it that the Carlists have entered Irur