Natchitoches populist., 1898-07-29

berished. It is true that drought af.

perished. It is true that drought af.
flicted large area of the country. As
q consequence there was short crop
in some localities and total failure
in others; yet there were large Sec
tions of the country that produced food
enough for all.
Julian Hawthorne, an American writ
er, was sent by the Cosmopolitan Mag
azine to write up the Indian famine
for that publication. In one OF mis-
communications he made the following
statement Cosmopolitan Magazine for
August, 1870:
"As to sending grain. as | see has
already been done, 1t can only result
In harm to the starving persons, for
there Is at this moment grain enough
in India to feed everybody there. This
grain Is held by native dealers and is
sold at the highest possible price.
Now, If we import grain and sell it at
a low figure or give it away, the course
of trade is disturbed, the dealers with
draw altogether from the market, and
the condition is far worse than ever.
. Unless you are willing to take
upon your shoulders the whole burden
Of supplying S00,0O0,000 people with
grain, you are only doing harm by
sending anv grain at all ="
Mr.. Hawthorne in the foregoing says
there Is plenty of grain in India to
feed the starving millions, and advises
against sending any grain to that coun-
try. In the next quotation be tells how
to arrest the famine.
Send money, and it will enable
those who need grain to buy 1t. The
dealer will be enriched, no doubt, but
the people will be saved. Let
each of us remember that 81, properly
applied, will keep q human being alive
in India month"
The pitiful sum Of 81 was all that
was needed to carry starving wretch
over month, but the poor native did
not have the dollar. Thus you see the
fact is established that the famine was
not caused by want Of grain, but by
want of money. At the time that star
Vation was running riot in India the
British government closed the mints,
added to the dearth Of money, and thus
accelerated the work Of starvation.
We have about exhausted the fertile
resources of the English language in
the denunciation Of General Weyler,
but he stands as white-robed angel
alongside of those who created the
money famine In British India.
We were all witnesses Of strange
scenes In the United States but few
years ago. In 1898, when we repealed
the Sherman law and SO many of the
silver mines closed down, thousands Of
laborers were thrown out of employ.
ment. Whole communities were aban.
! doned, families were forced to separate
while the husband, with roll of blan'
kets on his back, penniless and heart
broken, started out In the world Il
seek employment and to endeavor onc'
more to build up home where b,
could gather his family around him
Too often they sought companionshiI
in the ranks of the "cornranweal ar
N.Y." and in bands and small groups o
ragged, dirty and half-staryed men beg
| ged their way from door to door.
These horrible sights were witnessed
In the United States at time whel
our harvests were SO abundant tina
political theorists found fault with tn
farmers because they had caused al
oVerproduction. Agricultural product
were so cheap that they brought tn
| farmer no adequate return for his Ia
bor. To say that his bins were burst
ing was NO figure of speech, it was a
actual fact. At this time, strange t
say, the land swarmed with men hal
clad and hungry. This is the condition
we came to under the operations Of tn
gold-standard-hungry and ill-fed me
in the midst Of abundance. Like tn
poor wretch in India, a dollar woul
keep him a long time, but he did nc
have the dollar Under the gold stand
ard they were scarce. A dearth c
money worked just the same in tn
United States as 1t did in India.