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LORD NAPIER AND ETTRICK rose to call the attention of the House to the despatch from the Secretary of State for India to the Governor General, dated the 10th of January, 1878, on the subject of the recent famine in Western and Southern India, and to ask Her Majesty's Government, Whether they intended to lay upon the Table of the House any estimate of the number of persons who had perished by hunger, or
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its immediate consequences, in the Presidency of Madras or the State of Mysore? The noble Lord said, that before referring to the particular subject to which he had ventured to draw their Lordships' attention, he claimed their indulgence while he spoke very briefly of the recent scarcities which had occurred in India, and of the measures which had been taken to meet them. He would not go further back than the serious failure of crops which occurred in the Province of Orissa in the year 1866. In consequence of the want of timely foresight, partly on account of the want of intelligence, earnestness, and activity in the local authorities, but most of all on account of the exceptional character of the district, which was extremely difficult to get at properly, the pressure of the famine fell with unsparing severity on the population, and eventually swept off about one-third of their number—that was, about 1,000,000 souls. This result excited a feeling of amazement and remorse both in this country and in India; and the mind of the public and of the Government was very highly strung in order to meet any other emergency of the same kind which might arise. Such an emergency was not long of recurring, because in the year 1874 a very serious scarcity occurred in the Northern part of Bengal. That scarcity found the noble Earl who was then at the head of the Government of India (the Earl of Northbrook) not only forewarned but forearmed, not only encouraged by public feeling, but actually stimulated—and he might almost say menaced—by the intensity of public feeling, to use the whole of the administrative and the whole of the financial resources at his command, in order to meet the evil. Under this pressure the noble Earl continued his course with energy, firmness, and courage. Their Lordships would all remember the result. It was the first, the last, and only victory which had ever been gained over famine; and no laurels were ever more justly earned, or with more modesty borne, than those which adorned the victor of the famine of Bengal. But the effort and sacrifice necessary for the management of this great economic danger and calamity were not unattended, alas! with a sense of re-action and discouragement. The expenditure had been so great that thoughtful men not unnaturally asked themselves
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whether such ruinous expedients should be repeated; whether such sacrifices could be made, over and over again, without endangering the financial interests and prosperity of future generations, while providing, he might almost say, for the selfish preservation of existing generations? And thus, when in the year 1876 there came the dawn of a great economic calamity of so grave a nature as India had had no experience of during our reign, the emergency found the Government of India probably affected by very mixed feelings. On the one hand, there was no want of human endeavour to combat the effects of famine, and to save the lives of people committed to their charge; but, on the other hand, there was, no doubt, a resolution on the part of the Government of India to accomplish this with the greatest possible measure of economy, and they were even induced to contemplate a contingency, when an emergency might arise, on such a scale as would make it impossible for the Government of India, while making all the efforts and sacrifices possible, to attain the result of saving every life which might be exposed to the danger of famine. The condition of feeling into which he supposed the Government were thrown might be shortly illustrated from the Correspondence laid on their Lordships' Table. On the 16th of January, 1876, the following instructions were addressed to Sir Richard Temple, for the Famine Commissioners:—
The Government of India is resolved to spare no efforts which may to necessary and practicable with reference to the means at its disposal to save the population of the distressed districts from starvation, or from an extremity of suffering dangerous to life, but it will not sanction a course of action which must tend to demoralize the people themselves, who are passing through a time of temporary trial, and inevitably lead to the imposition of heavy and permanent burdens on the industry of the country. Even for an object of such paramount importance as the preservation of life, it is obvious that there are limits which are imposed upon us by the facts with which we have to deal. If the estimates of the local Government are to be accepted, the relief of the existing scarcity in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies, including loss of revenue, will not cost less than £6,500,000. Considering that the revenues are barely sufficient to meet the ordinary expenditure of the Empire, and that heavy additional taxation is both financially and politically impracticable, we must plainly admit that the task of saving life, irrespective of the cost, is one which it is beyond our power to undertake.
He was quite ready to admit that there
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was a great deal of economic truth in those instructions; but, at the same time, their tenour was, in his opinion, calculated to create a certain amount of hesitation and irresolution in the minds of those charged with the administration of affairs, as to exactly how far they were justified in incurring expenditure for saving human life. In fact, the tenour of those instructions excited a great deal of attention in India; and the instructions themselves, when they reached the ears of the Government of Bombay, became the subject of discussion, which ended, on the 25th January, 1877, in the adoption of a resolution to the following effect:—
The letter in question, addressed to Sir Richard Temple, does not lay down any general principles by which the district officers should be guided in refusing the aid needed to preserve life, and His Excellency would view with satisfaction the issue of supplementary instructions on that point.
The Supreme Government, thus challenged by the Government of Bombay, and having, in the meantime, taken a more careful, and perhaps a more correct, view of the methods of relief that were to be enforced, replied to the Government of Bombay on the 2nd February, 1877, in these words—
In regard to the duties which humanity imposes upon the Government, there has not been, and there will not be, any change of policy. We say that human life shall be saved at any cost and at any effort; no man, woman, or child shall die of starvation. Distress they must often suffer; we cannot save them from this.
Now, whatever their Lordships might think of the prudence of that communication, there was no doubt it was an exceedingly courageous utterance on the part of the Government of India. At any rate, it was a clear, distinct, categoric statement that "no man, woman, or child should die of starvation." And now he wished to ask Her Majesty's Government how that engagement had been fulfilled—how that distinct and emphatic promise had been kept? He admitted that he put the question with some misgiving; because the noble Marquess the late Secretary of State for India (the Marquess of Salisbury) had already, in a despatch to which he (Lord Napier and Ettrick) had alluded, given it a very discouraging reply. The noble Marquess said—
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I am not of opinion that any useful result would be obtained by instituting a special inquiry into this point, even if there was the slightest hope that trustworthy statistics could be collected as to the mortality due to famine alone.
He regretted exceedingly to find himself at issue with the noble Marquess, for whose authority he had the greatest respect, and in whose sentiments with regard to India he had perfect confidence; but, at the same time, whilst differing from the noble Marquess, it was a consolation to him to know that the noble Marquess was also at issue with the Government of India on this point. That would be seen from a despatch addressed by the Secretary of the Government of India to the Secretary of the Government of Madras in October, 1877, in which it used the following language:—
As there must be some doubts about the accuracy of the returns of deaths furnished from the distressed districts during the past season, I am directed to suggest that at the end of the famine steps should be taken to take a census of selected Talooks in different parts of the famine country. It is very desirable to ascertain how far the numbers of the rural population may have been affected by the famine.
Now, as the noble Marquess (the Marquess of Salisbury) had distinctly stated that, to his mind, it was not desirable that any inquisition should be made into the subject, he desired to lay before their Lordships the reasons which induced him to press an inquiry upon Her Majesty's Government. One reason was, that he thought it was necessary for the satisfaction of the Government and the people of Madras. The Government of Madras, in dealing with the famine that had desolated their country, were not left to their own judgment. They were twice corrected and superseded by the Government of India. The first occasion of the supercession was the mission of Sir Richard Temple to Madras. Sir Richard, acting under the Government of India, imposed upon the Government of Madras his own views as to famine relief, alike as to the methods of classifying those in distress, the system of public works, and the scales of diet. To all these demands the Government of Madras—whether willingly or not, he did not know—had to accede. The second occasion on which the Government of Madras was
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superseded was when the Viceroy entirely overturned the civil constitution of the Government of Madras, and established in its place the authority of a dictator, assisted by an adlatus, in the person of General Kennedy, a Bombay officer, and certainly an officer of the highest ability and distinction. Now, considering that the Government of Madras—a very ancient Government, and one that had always shown a high sense of its responsibilities—had been called upon to make a sacrifice of its functions, that would at least be a consolation to that Government to be made aware—as it was certainly due to them they should be made aware—as to what extent the sacrifice had or had not been made in vain. He also asked that some information should be given as to the mortality in Mysore. Mysore was a name that had become rather dimmed in the memory of the present generation—it was receding, so to speak, with the distance; but, nevertheless, it was a name that was not altogether unfamiliar to living man. And if there was any part of India in which no man, woman, or child should die of hunger, he ventured to affirm that it was the Province of Mysore. The Native territory, no doubt from motives both of humanity and policy, had been taken by the British Government, its administration being placed in the hands of an Executive, consisting chiefly of members of the covenanted, but partly of uncovenanted Services—a well-trained and disciplined body. This was done in order that, a few years hence, the administration might be transferred, with confidence and safety, to Native hands. Mysore, moreover, was one of the most perfect and best organized military stations on the Peninsula of India. The station at Bangalore was occupied by troops representing every arm of Her Majesty's Service, and was always commanded by an officer of superior intelligence and ability; so that their Lordships would see that there were no lack of agents ready to spend their best energies in carrying relief to the distressed inhabitants of the Province. Again, the country was in railway communication with Madras; it was traversed in all directions by roads very superior to those in many other parts of India; there was a great number of small
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irrigation and other such works affording peculiar facilities for the employment of unskilled labour; and, above all, there was at least one large work in operation, upon which the labour of a large part of the population might have been concentrated, and by which the intensity of the famine might have been considerably mitigated. Mysore, in short, as he hoped he had shown, was a very favourable site for the employment of famine labour. Mysore was a sacred trust to England; and he wanted to know how that trust had been administered? Now, in the mouth of February, 1877, Sir Richard Temple visited Mysore, and reported to the Government of India that he considered the operation of famine relief there was going on satisfactorily. Two months later he again visited Mysore; and, having inspected and criticized the system of relief, reported as follows to his Government, on the 6th April:—
When the failure of season which is now going on for the third year consecutively is remembered, these numbers—that is, the numbers employed—appear very moderate, and show, firstly, that the people must be in good condition, and must have some self-sustained power; and, secondly, that the authorities are administering relief very carefully and economically. Again, the results of relief administration in Mysore will compare favourably with the neighbouring districts of the Madras Presidency. Again, I am still of the opinion expressed in my Minute, dated the 14th February, that the Government of India and the Chief Commissioner may be satisfied with the progress of relief affairs in the Province of Mysore.
Thus they had it upon record, that the Commissioner of the Government of India, after two visits to Mysore, professed himself perfectly satisfied with the system of relief being conducted in the Province. But about five months after the second of those visits, the Viceroy, in consequence of reports which had reached him, and moved, no doubt, by a humane and intelligent curiosity, personally visited Mysore, and this was the account His Excellency gave of the state of things he found there—
I am forced to the conclusion that matters are even worse than I had anticipated; that the provision of proper relief works has been entirely neglected; that gratuitous relief—which had increased to an inordinate extent—had been administered in a lax and unsystematic manner; that crime had greatly increased; that people were wandering from Mysore into other districts in vast numbers; and that the mortality, both in hospitals and among the wanderers, was terrible.
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Now, it must naturally occur to their Lordships to ask what was the cause of the great discrepancy between the impressions of Sir Richard Temple and the impressions of the Viceroy himself? Was it that the system inaugurated, or, at least, approved, by Sir Richard Temple, contained the seeds of failure and disaster; or was it, that between the last visit of the Commissioner and the visit of the Governor General, the local authority had sunk into culpable indifference and neglect? He did not propose to say anything in regard to that question until it had either been ratified or disputed by the testimony of official persons. All he could say was, that the most terrible accounts had reached him, in common with many others, as to the mortality at Mysore. According to eye-witnesses, scenes the most tragical and afflicting had taken place even in the vicinity of the largest towns. He was assured, from a source in which he placed great reliance, that in the district of Tromkoor, in the State of Mysore, one-third of the population had disappeared, and that the highways and fields were full of human bones. Well, another reason why he asked Her Majesty's Government to give him the most reliable information they could command on the subject was, that the erroneous and exaggerated estimates as to the mortality now in circulation might be corrected. Dr. Cornish, the sanitary Commissioner for the Province—who, from personal knowledge, he could assure their Lordships was a gentleman of great ability, and who, he was sure, wrote under a high sense of his responsibility—estimated, in one of his Reports, that the diminution of population in the Province of Mysore alone would amount to one-fifth or one-sixth of the total number of inhabitants, which would be about 2,500,000. The sanitary Commissioner's Report—made to the Secretary of the Government on the 8th May, 1877—was as follows:—
I have grounds for supposing that the population of the affected districts will be reduced in 18 months' time by one-fifth or one-sixth of the number living before the scarcity commenced. This is an estimate, of course, only based on the current birth and death-rates, and the present generally enfeebled condition of the working classes in the affected districts.
Again, the estimate formed at Madras, at the end of 1877, was that the total
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diminution of population over all the districts of India affected by the late scarcity would amount to about 3,000,000. He was bound to admit that more moderate estimates had been formed by a gentleman of very extensive experience in the affairs of India, and one who in his time had rendered important service to that country—namely, Dr. George Smith. He estimated that the loss of life in Madras, Mysore, and Bombay, might be put down at 1,500,000. On the other hand, the correspondent of The Times, writing, as he supposed, under some sense of responsibility, and with some knowledge of the facts, estimated the diminution in the Presidency of Madras at 3,000,000 souls, and that the total reduction of population in the famine districts would not be much below 6,000,000. He (Lord Napier and Ettrick) had himself estimated the loss in Madras at 600,000. He would not ventures to form any estimate as to Mysore; but if it should turn out that the diminution was less than 400,000 he would be extremely happy. The last estimate he should quote was the estimate of the Viceroy himself. In a Minute written by the Viceroy on the 12th of August, 1877, His Excellency stated—
In regard to the main object of relief operations—namely, the saving of human life, much, but not complete, success has been attained. In some tracts relief operations began too late. At centres of population like Madras and Bangalore, and on some of the roads leading to such centres, starvation deaths have occurred. The death-rate from cholera, dysentery, and suchlike diseases has greatly increased over large areas; but, on the whole, the worst evils of famine have so far been successfully averted over the vast tracts visited by failure of crops. According to the standard of mortality during the Orissa Famine, from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 of people, instead of only 500,000, must have died of famine in Southern India during the year 1871 if the guaranteed railways had not existed, and if Government had incurred no outlay on relief operations.
The estimate of the Governor General of India was, therefore, that about 500,000 people would die of famine in Southern India in the year 1877. In addition to all these estimates, the most painful and alarming of rumours had reached this country at various periods during the present year as to the mortality in other parts of India, which up to recent times had not attracted so much attention or inspired so much sympathy. Another reason which had induced him
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to ask Her Majesty's Government for information was, that the amount of mortality which had occurred during recent famines could not fail to cast a great deal of light upon the various methods of famine relief which had been attempted, upon the various classifications which had been made of the population, upon the various tests of want which had been discovered, upon the amount of wages which could be afforded and offered, upon the different descriptions of diet which had been recommended. The amount of mortality, and the methods adopted to lessen it, could not fail to throw considerable light upon the two capital questions which had been discussed by rival authorities in this country—namely, the nature of the works which afforded the best relief in times of famine to the suffering population; and also the amount of nourishment which the Native in Southern India requires to preserve him in life and working efficiency. Again, he asked the information for the satisfaction of the Government of India. Their Lordships had heard that the Government of India had admitted that it would be desirable to obtain information; and he did not think the Government of India should be disappointed in their evident wish. And, finally, he asked for information for the sake of truth. It was a valuable discipline for Governments to be obliged to tell the truth, and the whole truth, in circumstances of calamity; and it was a valuable lesson for the country also, that the people should have an unsparing and unvarnished report. Two or three nights ago he heard the noble Lord who had lately charge of the Government of India draw a lamentable picture of the condition of the suffering inhabitants of Asia Minor under the tyranny of the Porte; and he thought that his noble Friend, and some other noble Lords who spoke subsequently, contrasted the condition of the population of Asia Minor in its present trials with the state of the population which was subjected to the humane administration of the Government of India under our beloved Sovereign. When he heard that parallel, he felt that natural satisfaction with which any Englishman listened to an eulogy upon the administration of his countrymen. But a certain feeling of chillness and humility stole over
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his mind when he suddenly remembered that, in the fullness of our power in India, and in a district which for the most part had been under very humane and enlightened administration for nearly 100 years, and in the complete enjoyment of peace for nearly that period—with all these advantages, during the last year 1,000,000 people had probably died of famine. He thought it was a reflection which might inspire them with some charity towards other Governments and Administrations far less favourably placed. He also thought Her Majesty's Government was bound to tell the truth, and the whole truth, as far as they possibly could, respecting this calamity, to the people of England, because Her Majesty's Government had recently silenced one of the voices of the people of India. It was far from his intention to vindicate the Native Press of India in all times and in all respects; but, at least, that Press was one channel and agency by which they could occasionally be told the truth about such matters as were connected with the famine, although it was also very frequently employed in the dissemination of error, delusion, and dissension. The House might now think that he had urged valid and substantial reasons for asking Her Majesty's Government to tell the truth, and the whole truth, upon this matter; but his request would certainly be an unreasonable one if the information which he asked for was impossible of being obtained. The noble Marquess, who was recently Secretary of State for India, in a long and ably-worded paragraph in the despatch he had alluded to, argued that it was impracticable to give this information. Now, he (Lord Napier and Ettrick) did not think that an approximation was impracticable, and he would give them his reasons for it. Two methods were in use for estimating the loss of life. One might be called the census method, and the other the death-rate method. The census method might be thus described. The population of a particular district or town was ascertained or estimated by a local authority, and the normal increment was also estimated. The population being thus known on 1st January, 1877, the population enumerated on 1st January, 1878, was compared with it, and the diminution set down to the charge of the
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famine. That was the system on which had been framed some of those very high and, as he thought, exaggerated, estimates to which he had alluded. No account was taken of any emigration, though nothing was more certain than that one of the first results of famine in a district was the desertion of it by those who were in a position to remove elsewhere. There was a period in the history of a famine when all the bonds which united society were suddenly dissolved, and when the population either sat down on the floors of their cottages to die, or were dispersed to the four winds. It was impossible, therefore, to arrive at correct statistics by comparing the population at one time with the population at another. The death-rate method was far more correct. By it they took the number of deaths in a year, or the average number of deaths in a series of years. They compared the number of deaths registered in the previous year with the number of deaths registered in the famine year; and, after deducting the number of deaths from cholera, or any specific disease particularly prevalent, they set down the difference of deaths in the famine year compared with the number of deaths in the previous year to the charge of the famine. The noble Marquess had stated in his despatch that this method was not a fair one, for this reason—that in ordinary years the deaths were not accurately registered—the full number was not registered; whereas in the famine year, the vigilance of the authorities being peculiarly addressed to the task, all the deaths would be registered; and that, therefore, the excess of registered deaths in a famine over an ordinary year did not really mean the number of deaths directly or indirectly caused by the famine. He (Lord Napier and Ettrick) firmly believed that this was an error. He admitted that the registration was not complete; but statisticians in India knew what number it was necessary to add to the normal registration in order to represent the real number. He affirmed that the registration of deaths in a famine year was far less complete than in an ordinary year. First of all, because the Native authorities, who looked after it, were overborne with the quantity of other business they had to perform; secondly, because they were
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in a state of consternation, and were interested, in some degree, not to swell the number of the deaths of the poor people; and, thirdly, because a number of the starving people left, and died in other districts. He, therefore, contended that this method of estimating the number of deaths was more likely to represent a smaller than a larger mortality than the actual one. Such, he knew, was also the conviction of a great number of persons who were versed in these things. He thought, therefore, that by an appeal to the death-rate method a very fair approximate return might be made of the number of persons who had died by famine. In bringing this matter before their Lordships, he had not in the least degree been impelled by a desire to criminate either Her Majesty's Government or the authorities in India. On another occasion he had admitted that all the measures that had been adopted by the Head of the Government, and supported by the noble Marquess who was lately Secretary of State for India, and the measures that had been adopted in India, had been calculated to promote the welfare of the people of India, and to cement the connection of England with India by new and more powerful bonds; and he certainly desired now to do justice to the authorities to whom the destinies of India were committed. He recognized the ability and efforts of the Viceroy, of Sir Richard Temple, of the Duke of Buckingham, and of our many other officials, English and Native; but all the best efforts of men, in either high or subordinate positions, would not save us from calamitous results, due in part to erroneous resolutions and measures conscientiously adopted; due in part to the friction of a complicated system of government; and due in part to the incapacity of some individuals, accidentally intrusted with public functions repugnant to their inclination, or above their strength; but due, above all, to natural forces operating with overwhelming power. If these calamitous results had not occurred, let the Government say so, and no one would rejoice more than he; but if they had occurred, it was not consistent with a policy of morality that a vast number of humble human lives—lives of Her Majesty's subjects—should disappear like drops of rain upon a distant sea, unnoticed, unlamented,
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and unknown. He asked the Question of which he had given Notice.
§ VISCOUNT CRANBROOKsaid, that when the noble Lord gave Notice of the Question he had addressed to the Government he understood that he was going to call attention to the despatch of the former Secretary of State for India, and to ask a Question in relation thereto; but the only part of his Notice to which the noble Lord had given little attention had been the despatch of the noble Marquess who preceded him in the India Office, and he had, therefore, left their Lordships in ignorance of the difficulties which the noble Marquess had pointed out as being in the way of getting at the truth. He (Viscount Cranbrook) positively denied that there had been, on the part of the Government, either a desire or endeavour to conceal anything in respect to these matters. The mere fact, that one of the last acts of his noble Friend, his Predecessor in the India Office, was to appoint a Commission to inquire into everything that had taken place, with the view of preventing any such calamities in future, or mitigating them if they occurred, would show that the noble Marquess had not been in the least insensible to the great catastrophes that had occurred in Southern India. The question to be decided was, was it possible to arrive at any accuracy in this matter; and, if it was not, was it desirable that they should prematurely put before the country inaccurate statistics with respect to these famines? The noble Lord quoted one sentence from the despatch in which it was admitted to be one of the first duties of a Government to save a people under its care from starvation; and this was a duty which was certainly undertaken with great wisdom and energy by men of character and ability fitted for the duties imposed on them, who were spread over the famine districts and who greatly mitigated the distress. There was a failure at Mysore in the early period of the distress, but that remissness was censured by the Governor General of India; and the noble Marquess who was Secretary of State for India concurred in the unfavourable notice taken by His Excellency of the management of some of the officers at Mysore. There was no concealment in what was 2035 said about what happened. The Viceroy himself went into the famine districts there and put a stop to the mismanagement. The noble Lord said the Government were under a greater obligation to tell the truth, because they had silenced the Native Press. But the Press was free to write as it liked about the deaths by famine. If the Native Press could afford the Government accurate information, the Government would be only too glad to get it. It seemed to be supposed that nothing had been done. Statistics, however, were being collected in India, and no time would be lost in placing them, when as complete as they could be made, before the House. A few days ago his hon. Friend the Under Secretary of State for India moved for these Papers in the House of Commons, and on this day he (Viscount Cranbrook) placed them on the Table of this House, and no doubt they would soon be printed and in the hands of their Lordships. He would be deceiving their Lordships if he said they contained a full and accurate record of the facts. While they might have accurate statements in regard to one Province or famine, the information regarding another might be anything but thoroughly reliable. He admitted it with sorrow, and to a certain extent with shame, that the Government should not be in a position to meet distress in such circumstances. But the distress had been unprecedented. There had never been anything like it before. Many of the people lived in remote places, and were spread over a great area, and the very first thing they did in a famine was to emigrate from their villages and wander into the jungles in the hope of finding food; and so they disappeared from the paternal care of the Government. As had been officially pointed out, a comparison of the mortality in Southern India during the famine with that at other times was sufficient to show that the system of registration there was very imperfect, and that the number of deaths had been inaccurately stated. Where the normal mortality was unknown, it was useless to attempt any calculations having reference to the special statistics of the famine. Then there was another difficulty in the way of making any accurate estimate—namely, the extraordinary decrease of births. That, in itself, would 2036 account for a material diminution of population.
§ VISCOUNT CRANBROOKadmitted that it would. There was, in addition to this, the element of emigration to be considered; so that the noble Lord would see that it was quite out of the power of the Government to give him any definite figures on the subject. He was ready, however, to place before the noble Lord—and, indeed, had already placed—all the information and materials which the Government itself possessed; but even then, and after all, any result arrived at must be very much a matter of speculation. He admitted that the famine had been a most sad and terrible calamity for India. The sufferings in Madras and Mysore must have been excessive; but he was rejoiced to learn, from Returns received that very day, that there were greater hopes for those districts and for Bombay than had been entertained during the past few months. The Press referred with certainty to the improved harvest prospects; and the Government were encouraged, therefore, to anticipate that a great relief would be given to the pressure of past years. By that pressure the Governors of the affected Provinces had suffered an anxiety and a strain of mind which it was impossible to exaggerate; and he felt that it was not now the desire of their Lordships to add to that strain and that anxiety. The officials had done their best to mitigate the calamity. In some respects they had been unfortunate—in some cases they had failed—still, there had been great successes and noble exertions; and although he could not say that they had put a complete stop to the famine, yet there was not a man in the country who had not done his best to put a stop to its ravages.