NEWS OF THE WEEK.
IRELAND is threatened with famine ; not merely that periodical dearth between the potato-crops every year which puts a third part of the people into a state of destitution, but a failure of the potato- crop itself. The cause is the strange disease which has prevailed, this season, both in Europe and America. At first it was thought that Ireland, by a providential singularity, had escaped ; but the sole source of that hope seems to have been the general ignorance in the country as to the nature of the disease. A gentleman, who was told by the people that the roots were all right, found that, on the contrary, they were extensively infected. Suspicions having got abroad, inquiries have been instituted far and near; and the result of the examination is very alarming. Mr. Dillon Croker, who appears to have made a tour of inspection under some official authority, reports that in Tipperary and Cork the disease has made fearful ravages. In Wexford, " the failure in the crops has been awful" : "God alone can tell how all this will end." In Ulster, the state of the crops is reported, by the Northern Whig, to be "very bad ": the disease is spreading.; and in some districts it has destroyed one-fourth or even one-third of the crop. Every day brings to light the ravages of the disease in some dis- trict which had been supposed to be exempt. The consequences of such a failure of the staple food in Ireland are terrible to con- template.
S'ome cast an anxious glance beyond the present season to the next ; reflecting how the tainted potatoes can only furnish an infected seed that will propagate the disease. It is suggested, that perhaps the potato has degenerated in Europe since it was introduced from America by Sir Walter Raleigh, and that it would be well to procure fresh seed from the region where it is indigenous. That region can scarcely be ascertained ; for the precise spot whence the root was brought is not recorded, and we believe that the plant is not now known to be found wild even in its native continent. The disease, too, which has been taken as a sign of degeneracy, is not unknown in America. Neverthe- less, the plant may have degenerated less in the New World ; and the experiment of importing fresh seed-roots is no doubt worth a trial.
Meanwhile, the pressing consideration is the immediate want which is threatened. The political incidents of a famine in Ireland—the turbulence, violence, and rapine—are by no means the worst part of the picture: the direct physical suffering—the starvation, disease, and death, falling on a people at large—are the real horrors. It is scarcely possible, however, that they can fall unmitigated : should the fears respecting a failure of the potato-harvest prove correct, Government will of course take some steps; and one of the plans that most readily suggests itself is a repeal of the Corn-laws so far as they relate to Ireland : the vast extent of railway projects promises to relieve Ireland of some surplus labour ; and the introduction of wheat, flour, and maize, at American prices, might help much to blunt the edge of the famine.
