There is evidently much danger of famine in Bengal. On
October 27 the correspondent of the Times telegraphs that there had been no rain, that prices were rising rapidly, and that the Viceroy had organised a Commission of relief. Reuter adds on the same day that the Government of Bengal has formally warned the Viceroy of danger, while two days later the correspondent of the Times declares that the Viceroy left Simla on October 29, a month sooner than he intended ; that rice has risen to 7s. a maund—is it not 7 rupees, 0 Times 7—and that there is "a tem- porary lull in the rise [which had been] caused by speculation and hoarding of stocks." Everybody who knows India knows that these movements mean that Government is alarmed to the utmost, that it is toning down its own information, and that the muhajuns are awake to the crisis, and running up prices to a dangerous point. We have tried to explain the trouble elsewhere, and need only state here that if heavy rain is not reported in the next fortnight, we shall have six Irelands to feed, and nothing available to do it with, for a month at least. Fortunately Lord Northbrook in extremity is absolute, and can seize all the rice in India, though we should not recommend such a course. Still, he can act as if he were Parliament incarnate.
