Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-09-05
Army JUDGED! where is the army?
OUR LONDON LETTER.
Regular Correspondence.

The hope of a revival of commercial
prosperity which has recently been raised,
and which has found expression in several
| quarters, is, so far as the present and the
| immediate future is concerned, doomed to
| disappointment. At any rate a revival of
trade cannot possibly ensue upon a gensr-
| ally deficient European harvest. In Great
| Britain the harvest is now certain to be
one of the worst on record, not only in re-
| spect of corn, but also in the cases of hay,
roots and other feeding crops, hops and
| potatoes. In France, the wheat crop is
| expected to be only two-thirds of an aver
age, and the hay has been spoiled to a
great extent by wet weather. All other
continental countries will produce crop
more or less below average, including Rou-
mania, with respect to which reports, a
few weeks back, were very sanguine. On
| " on the American continent is a good
| crop of wheat expected. In the Austria
| liam colonies the harvest has been one of
the worst ever known, and from India l
| hear no very favorable reports. The loss
/ in great eorn-producing countries alone
/ will amount to hundreds Of millions of
pounds, and it is a dead loss which moth
| ing can compensate for; a commercial
crisis which has resulted from oYer-pro-
| duction, rash speculation, an inflated
credit system, or extravaganza of living,
may be tided over by the reversal of the
conditions which produced it, though
thousands of individuals may be ruined in
| the meantime; but general deficiency in
| the natural productions of the earth is a
loss forever, and nothing can ever partial
ly compensate for it, unless it be a conse-
quent alteration in the conditions under
L IL
in the future be for the worlds benefit.
1t is impossible to estimate with any ap-
proach TO accuracy, the loss which the
world will suffer from deficient harvest.
Even to take the United Kingdom alone,
nothing better than a good guess at the
loss can be given. According to Mr.. Caird,
the average value of agricultural produce,
exclusive of hay, straw, wool, poultry, eggs,
is e230, ,237, 500. Now as the crops which
are consumed by live stock, and 60 to pro-
duce meat and dairy produce, are quite as
far short of the usual yield as the corn
crops are, it is probably very favorable
estimate to state the total agricultural
produce at 20 per cent. below average, al
lowing, then, comparatively small sum
for the commodities not included in Mr..
Cards estimate, and dividing the amount
by five we get at a loss Of e50,0O0,00O. l
think this is much below what the agri-
cultural loss for the current year will be;
but it is easy to see that if other European
countries are losers to anything like pro-
portionate extent, a general revival of
prosperity, is at present out OF the ques-
tion.
In these days CT gigantic manufacture
ing and commercial systems, people are
apt to forget that, after all, the soil is the
fountain head of all wealth, and that if
the spring is low, then general impoYer-
ishment must inevitably result. The gen
erality Of people fail to realize the truth of
abstract doctrines Of political economy,
and it is easier for them to comprehend |
the limited results of general causes in |
their own countries. EYen these are far |
from obvious to people who are absorbed /
in the commercial whirlpool of great mau- |
ufacturing towns and cities; but they are |
clearly and painfully home to country peo-
pie, including tradesmen and professional |
men in ordinary provincial towns. These |
people are. generally, distributors merely |
whether it be of commodities or knowl- |
edge-and they can only deal with each |
other in proportion to the profits which |
they derive from those who either produce
or possess the proceeds Of previous pro-
ductiOn. Landowners, farmers and farm
labOrers, who derive their means of living
from the soil, are the principal supporters
of these middle-men. After bad harvest
these producing classes have comparative
ly little to spend on anything but the nee
essaries Of life, or what have come to be
regarded as such. Thousands Of farmers
are on the verge Of bankruptcy; and as
nothing but a good harvest could have
saved them, and that is not forthcoming,
there is only one result possible with them.
Not only are they in arFear with their