Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-09-03
LONDON. Auoust IL Is

, prosperity which has recently been raised
, and which has found expression in severa
, quarters, is, so far rs the present and tn
, Immediate future is concerned, doome
, to disappointment. At any rate reviva
of trade cannot possibly ensue upon
generally deficient European harvest. Il
Great Britain the harvest is now certain
to be one of the worst on record, not onl,
in respect of corn, but also in the cases o
hay, roots and other feeding crops, hop
and potatoes. In France the wheat croI
is expected to be only two thirds of al
average, and the hay has been spoilt to ;
great extent by wet weather. All otheI
continental countries will produce a croI
more or less below average. including
Roumania, with respect to which reports
a few weeks back, were very sangulne
Only on the American continent is gooc
crop of wheat expected. In the Australian
colonies the harvest has been one of thu
worst ever known, and from India | heal
no very favorable reports. The loss il
great corn producing countries alone will
amount to hundreds of millions of pounds
and it is dead loss which nothing can
compensate for. A commercial crisis,
which has resulted from over production,
rash speculation, an inflated credit sys
TEN, or extravaganza of living, may be
tided over by the reversal of the condi-
tons which produced it, though thousands
of individuals may be ruined in the mean
time; but general deficiency in the nat
ural productions of the earth is loss for
ever, and nothing can even partially com.
pensate for it, unless it be consequent
alteration in the conditions under which
agriculture is carried on, which NAV in
the future be for the worlds benefit.
1t is impossible to estimate with any
approach TO accuracy the loss which the
world will suffer from q deficient harvest.
Even to take the United Kingdom alone,
nothing better than 4 good guess at the
loss can be given. According to Mr..
Card, the average value of agricultural
produce, exclusive of hay, straw, wool,
poultry and eggs, is $3.50, 237 800 Now
rs the crops which are consumed by live
stock, and 60 to produce meat and dairy
produce, are quite as far short of the usual
yield as the corn crops are, it is probably
a very favorable estimate to state the total
agricultural produce at twenty per cent
below average. Allowing, then, COM
paratively small sum for the commodities
not included in Mr.. Cards Ultimate, and
dividing the amount by five we get loss
of 950,000,000. l think this is much be-
low what the agricultural loss for the cur.
rent year will be; but it is easy to see
that, if other European countries are
losers to anything like proportionate
extent, Il general revival of prosperity is
at present out of the question.
In these days of gigantic manufacturing
and commercial systems people are apt to
forget that, after all, the soil is the fount-
ain head of all wealth. and that if the
spring is low general poverishment
must inevitably result. The generality 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. Even these are far from obvi-
Gus to people who are absorbed in the
commercial whirlpool of great manufac.
turing towns and cities; but they are
brought clearly and painfully home to
country people. including tradesmen, and
professional men in ordinary provincial
towns. These people are, generally. dis
trbutors undergraduates it be of COM
modities or knowledge-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 production. Land owners, farm
ers and farm laborers, who derive thei,
means of living from the soil, are the
principal supporters of these middle-men.
After bad harvest, these producing class
es have comparatively little to spend on
anything but the necessaries of life, or
what have come to be regarded as such
Thousands of farmers are on the verge of
bankruptcy; and ms nothing but good
harvest could have saved them, and that
is not forthcoming, there is only one result
possible with them. Not only are they in
arrear with their landlords and overdrawn
at their banks, but their dear friends, the
usurers, have been amongst them this
year, and they are as sure indicators of
ruin as vultures are of death. When the
farmers become bankrupt they will be like
the first ninepins that fall, knocking down
others as they roll over; the latter, in their
turn. doing likewise. With a bad harvest
in this country alone winter of disaster
must have been expected; and now that
most other great agricultural countries
are also in for bad harvests it would be
idle to build hopes upon that revival of
prosperity which sanguine people have
lately been promising.
There is, fortunately,a Surplus of II year s
crops in Russia, and the American exports
will be abundant; but there will be so
many competitors for the extra produce of
these countries in the coming winter that
Great Britain will certainly have TO pay
more for bread stuffs than was paid last
year. There will be no scarcity, but
higher prices for food Thus the cost of
production all round will be enhanced, and
the spending fund diminished.
IMPORTANT DECIsIoN.-John Leach Of
Pawlet was few weeks ago placed in Jail
IN n warrant issued nv Judoe Rromlov of