The latest famine news from India is more cheering. Rain
has fallen all over the North-West, and even in Madras it is thought that four more months will see the end of the severe distress. The need, however, for the present continues as before, and Lord Salisbury, though very hopeful as to the non-recurrence of famines, which he thought not to be expected, warned the people of Bradford in his gravest tones that the north-eastern monsoon bad not come yet, and if it does not come, "which God defend us from," there will be a terrible prolongation of the trial. He still protests, we think wisely, against excessive expenditure on irrigation, but said nothing about cheap railways, and rather looked for safety to the frugality of the people themselves, and an improvement of their condition by rescuing them from the grasp of the money-lenders. The gravest statement in his speech is that the famine will cost eleven millions sterling—a statement, which has been widely circulated, about £2,500,000 as the whole cost only included loss of revenue, not expenses—and the greatest omission is a promise to inquire into the tenure, the root of poverty in Madras.
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