Norwich bulletin., 1919-05-26
CHEATING WAR OF
 ITS AFTERMATH.

ITS AFTERMATH.
 Perhaps no barometer holds so sure a sign of our advancing civilization than the success of efforts now being made to avert the hitherto invariable hand maidens of war-pestilence and famine" says a bulletin from the Ma tional Geographic Society.
 "One refutation of the Always has been therefore always must be argu- ment for war is the fact that civilized nations are emerging from the great est war the world has seen and avert ing the two other consequences always deemed inevitable-plague and starya- tion. True, nations which represent ancient civilizations also exhibit the old phenomenon; hence those peoples more highly organized economically not only must withstand the, shock for themselves but must help feed other lands"
 The bulletin quotes from conrnuni- cation to the Society from Ralph A. Graves which gives picture of past fan1ines in England, in striking con trast to her present condition after the terrible strain she has withs tood. The writer states:
 ''The story of fanlines in England has been a gloomy one from earliest times. At the beginning of the eighth century a dearth, which extended to Ireland, drove men to cannibalisn. It was not until the reign of Aethelred the Unready, however, that such a famine prevailed as no man can re- member from 1905 to 1016.
 Those chroniclers who were wont to see bad conditions at their worst declared that half the population of the larger island perished. But it must be remembered that much of the mortality of this period was oc- casioned by the wars between Aethel- red and Sweyn the Dane, the latter ; being forced by the famine to retire from England for 8 time.
 Naturally, the era following the ad- vent of William the Conquerer was one of widespread starvation and pesti- lence among the English peasantry During the last thirty years of the eleventh century, nine were years of dire distress.
 So great was the dearth in 1869 that the peasants of ehe north, unable longer to secure dogs and horses to appease their humber, sold themselves into slavery in order to be fed by their masters.
 There were sporadic periods of suf- fering during the succeeding reigns of William Rufus and Henry l, in the civil wars Of Stephens times. and under Henry II. But the next dearth which especially quickens the sympathy was 1 that which befell the people in the days of Richard Occur de Lion, the Cru sader. There is a brief reference to i the famine of this period in Ivanhoe.' Starvation was followed by d pes 1l I1-I,i1 1 from the corpes of the famished. Ceremonial burial was omitted except , in the cases of the very rich.
 w hile backward seasons were con- tributing factors, the responsibility for the two great famines of Henry HIS reign is to be laid at the door of the government itself In the first of these GeS5) 70, 900 persons are said to ! have died ill London alone. The suf- ferins in 1257-59 was even worse
 1t was during this famine that England for the first time imported from Germany and Holland grain to alleviate the suffering of her poorer classes. The first ordinance in Eng iish history designed to curb the greed of the middleman was passed during this time of shortage in food supplies.
 Few English kings have lived through greater periods of distress than Edward II, who was scarcely able 10 secure food for his own immediate .1usehold when the heavy rains of 1914 spoiled the haryests. Everything imaginable was eaten-dogs horses, -ats, ard even babies.
 |. With the cXceptionsof the world war perhaps no other calamity that ever peleI the human race can be com pared with that Of the Black Death { and the accompanying famine, which afflicted all western civilization dur i ing the middle decade of the four teenth century. Its toll has been var iously estimated at from one-fourth to three fourths of the entire popula- ton of Europe. Certainly it was not less than 2,00O,000 people.
 Out of the situation which re- suited from the impoverishment of the i ta bor resources of the kingdom grew the first great clash in England be- tween capital and labor. The peasants became masters of the situation. In some cases they demanded double wages.
 Parliament hurriedly passed dras- tic laws ill an effort to meet the new which also fixed wages at the scale paid d year before the first appear ance of the plague, were enacted Runaway laborers were to be branded with an +" as a perpetual sign of then ] falsity.'
 Reduction In Imports of Luxuries.
 The arguments in favor of the sim pie fife" which have been impressed upon the people of the United States durins the war period, seem to have lad a marked effect so far as relates to importation of articles of luxury X compilation by The National Cit. Bank of New York indicates that the value of luXuries imported into the United States in the fiscal year whicf ends with next month will be little wore than one-half that of the year preceding the war, although prices il
 all' of the articles in question art
 higher per unit of quantity than in tht pre-War year.
 Of diamonds. for example, and othe
 precious. stones. imports in month:
 c:gGing with February 1919 were o.li! sl7,Q00. .oGo in round 1erms as aeains s22 00AA01 in the corresponding monthl
 sg