270 THE RELIEF OF THE UNEMPLOYED 



a small rise in price. The value of railways for con- 

 veying grain into famine-stricken districts was clearly 

 established by the famine of 1877, but I will not 

 fatigue the reader by recounting the various stages 

 by which complete protection from starvation was 

 slowly established. The great harvest failure of 

 1896-97 illustrates with fidelity what is meant by 

 1 famine ' at the end of the second epoch, and the 

 conditions in which it has to be combated. The 

 review of the famine which Sir A. P. MacDonnell 

 published at its close (November 27, 1897) gives an 

 admirable picture of the economic conditions which 

 then prevailed, and of the measures taken by Govern- 

 ment to relieve the unemployed.* 



When prices rose to the extreme level which they 

 attained in the autumn of 1896, representations were 

 made to Government to undertake the duty of 

 importing grain. The result of the interference of 

 the State with the course of trade is that the private 

 trader, deprived by Government competition of the 

 prospect of profit, abstains from buying and selling 

 grain, and thus at the very time when the greatest 

 activity in the grain trade is desirable, the myriad 

 small agencies by which food is usually distributed 

 are suspended. For this reason Government in 

 1896-97 steadily adhered to the principle of non- 

 interference. ' In one or two instances in isolated 

 tracts there was some doubt whether the resources 

 of the petty village traders would be equal to the task 

 of importing the grain required for the consumption 



* The reports of Famine Commissioners published at various 

 times by the Indian Government constitute a body of economic 

 literature of the highest value. The five volumes issued by the 

 Famine Commissioners in 1880 are a veritable thesaurus of economic 

 wisdom ; but if I had to select one famine report to place in the 

 hands of students, I should select the ' Narrative of the Measures 

 adopted for the Relief of Famine during the Years 1896 and 1897,' 

 which was published by Sir A. P. MacDonnell in the Allahabad 

 Government Gazelle on November 27, 1897. 



