APPREHENDED FAMINE IN INDIA.

West Coast Times, Issue 101, 13 January 1866, Page 4

APPREHENDED FAMINE IN INDIA.

•••■>•. • ■> ' J-U ' : , " (Pom the Englishman, Oot. .27.) 'jThe' letter" of our correspondent "'Marcus/* regarding the failure of the «rops, and consequent distres |n the district of Cuttack, if it slightly exaggerates the extent of the mischief that has already occurred, in other respects falls short of the whole truth ' . There can, we fear, be no doubt that the scarcity that is imminent, not only in Cuttack, but throughout too Xower Proyincps, Svill not fall short pf " Marcus's" description. We already hear of farnifife prices, and consequent distress, not only it Cuttack, but in Nuddea and Buordwan; and we believe that in Behar, &W^|k "ice crop has been a failure, and^ rospects of tho cold weather cultiv3nton are equally gloomy. The rates now prevailing in the bazaar here arc sufficient proof that the poor must be enduring great privations. It will soon become a serious question^yhat th» authorities can do to aUeviatb the general distress. The Oriental expedient of fixing prices is alike futile and impolitic. It is, o^courso, altogether out of the question. High prices are a natural>pro,lsct4on, through their tendency to eke out the store, which, at ordinary rates, would be more rapidly consumed or exported, leaviug the country to face inevitable starvation. Both the Government and private individuals can do much in the way of charity, and, we have no doubt, will do it, when the necessity becomes obvious* For the present, the best thing tho Government can do is to afford the public as exact information aa the case will admit — of the actual state of the different districts without delay and circumlocution. "When once it is known to what extent aid is required, We are confideut that aid will be forthcoming from a generous public. The same Journal of a subsequent date adds :—lt: — It can, we fear, be no longer conoealed that We are on the eve of genoral scarcity. Throughout the whole of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, the Northeast of Bengal is probably tho only part in v^biich thorp is a' considerable crop, and ttierc ft is , below the average. Had the irrigation works in Behar received the encouragement to which both promise aud^oficy entitled them, much aid might hkve been looked for from that quarter. Aa. it is* we have no Egypt Where, we, can aend for corn. Partly in consequence, .of the nature of her land tenure, and partly in consequence of her being a non-manufacturing country — t#o causes whloh are themselves tautuMjly Conneoted— lndia cannot, even in a time of scarcity, purchase foreign grain. Before she could do so, at least, prices must haye 'reached a point which means, death from starvation to much more, than half her population. Help from without must, in the nature of thjngs. be confined to the form of money to enable the poor to be fed. The rood &r the whole population must be f#na in the country itself; whether the sio^re be great or small, by it they mult live or die, . The natural operation of the law of supply and demand must fcqtialise that store throughout the . country, So 'far as tho state of coinm«n]^aii<m between place and place Willpermit itto be equalised. Tho rise of prices, whiop is the natural consequence of scarcity, ©perates beneficially, by. tending to equalise consumption over ' the period during which the store is required to last. Keeping in view these two important facts, it is not difficult to define the duty of the state in a time of famine. Any pressure put upon grain merchants, by prohibiting sales above a Certain rate, or compelling them to blink their grain to market, must be productive of infinitely more mischief than,, benefit. No such measure can increase, the amount of food in the country ♦ rind, jf that amount is really short of iti'ordinary requirements, such a measure, if it could be beneficially enforced, tfGul4 be not unlikely to bring about, & % #jui, irremediable starvation jn, the place, of mere privation. If, On the other hajid, the amount of food ip ndtihortof the ordinary requirements of tp£ country, high prices niuet soon oontst themselves. The duty of the State, 'therefore, is plainly confine? tp the means of .facilitating the means of communication between place and placo, and assisting ..those to whom the existing prices are absolutely prohibitive. In performing tho latter fune^on, it takes the place of private Sharif and is justified in doing so by its superior Opportunities of organisation* and by its power, as the holder of fche publfo purse, to compel \hose to giVe who might not otherwise ▼plunterilv come forward, thus obYwtfng pc" possible failure of private charity as to both the manner and the amount of the relief afforded. Ignorance alone can excuse the clamour that - is raised on these occasions, for fixing prices, coercing merchants, stopping exports^ and they like intelligence which is coming in from all sides leaves no room for doubt that, while in some districts distress has already commenced, it will aoon be goueral throughout the country. ' On the 3rd of November, the JEngUsmtan wHtcs:— Our correspondent " A«W#" gives a deplorable account of fthc Kuddea distriot, which we fear to bo but too true. No time should be lost in ordering the authorities to take „ steps, , as We have already suggested, for . organising relief. The favorable acoouita. Received of the crop* .in the Bastorn t districts, warrant the hope that the .period during which relief will be needed will be a comparatively short . one i and for this very reason it is the ' more lamentable to hear ' of persons dying, uuaided, of starvation. We have also received melancholy news of drought and famine from Saruu. One village has beon deserted, and our informant,itates that many of the old and sick are being carried to the river b>iik and laid with their faces downward in the mud. From Dinagepore we hear' that the people have Md re'oour«e to the. email seeds|uioh tho wild grasses yield • and that the woodcutters, unable to sell their bundles of

sticks, may be seen mingled with the cattle searching for n wretched subsistence on the plain, No rain has fallen tills week anywhere near Calcutta, and the dews* arc already diminishing in pponsequonco. It is a hard thing to see a greilt oalamity coming on slowly and irresistibly, and not to know that, at the best, very little can be done to meet it. Yet so it is. Any interference on the #arfc of the Government would only make matters worse, and those who are responsible for the welfare of the people can only mitigate the calamity in indirect ways, and to a very partial extent. With a large sea-board, and with Burmah only a few huudred miles off, there is no fear but that thei'e will always be rice in Lower Bengal for those who can afford to pay for it ; and all that Government can do, is to assist the poor by works or alms, to enable them to earn its price. •'

ROYAL.

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