The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-11-11
TIC Census of India.

Details OF the Indian census mtehsn! 1h0
nmazement produced by the original out
line OF results. A population so vassm
The total that the imagination only del'lueS
itself by supposing that IL can comprcnehu
the number has been cataiogued WIN ~
much apparent ease as the population vi
Jersey. The inability OF the enumc-
rators iu one division OF the Ie, nm
sula- with a population OF Il,OOOOOo,
10 classify 1t by sexes only guy
,nerfs the admiration at the success with
which similar and greater dllhculties ilsNc
been overcome in the census OF the olheI
24f, 900, 0C0. India is geographical nahe'
and little more in many respects. III stanus
for huge collection OF different races, ol-
ferent religions, different modes OF gov
eminent. It's peoples are as diverse
as their climates, and the plains ana
mountains, fruitful valleys, ana saw
ace iungles they occupy. None are
moro Jealous OF trespasses beyond the
threshold OF their homes. None are more
snsuicious Of the curiosity OF superiors
ohout their families and resources. Ther
RELIGIONS isolate them. Their history mas
trained them 10 be timid. Yet at the VIII
Of Power seated at the other end OF the
Garth this enormous accumulation OF con-
trasted humanity has in a single day been
brought together to render an account OF
itself. ,.
That the work was believed TO be piacti-
cable. and that il has been accomplished,
creates surprising impression oil the per-
lection Of Indian administrative centrallza-
tion. That it should have been done so
well and so smoothly adds, from another
point OF view, to the perpleXity, bordering
ON DESPAIR, at the gulf, wide and deep,
between peoples Enthusiastically so within
control, i'm every other relation so re-
mote. There are in Asia 252, 100000,
ali I'm some respects, and most in every
one. politically fellow-citizens OF Lon
doners and Yorkshiremen. How many
they are Is known, what they do, ana
where and how they subsist. They pay
taxes, they acknowledge the sovereignty OF
the british Queen and the supremacy OF
the British Parliament. For any true per-
ception OF their nature or insight into
their minds, they are as mere denomlnn-
tion as the inhabitants Of AMMAN or OF New
Guinea. How they became subjects OF
England Is a matter Of history. The school
bow can relate the wars and the treaties,
with their dates, by which the 200,00O,OOO,
more or less-the ancestors OF the present
252. OOO. OOO-fel under British sway.
Every British town comprises residents who
have helped TO subdue those millions, or to
govern them by British authority. All that
has been effected by Englishmen in India
has been to teach Englishmen what they
are. and Of what they arc capable. Only
one now and then has educated himself to
feel with Mahratta, Bengalee, Madrasse, or
Sikh. An Engishman is endued With IN
instinct which tells him the thoughts and
emotions traversing other English breasts.
He comprehends how Ae can awaken
or how lie can sOothe them. After
a fecbler sort, he has an instinct
which can track, though less surely,
the course OF the moods OF other European
nations. The tendencies and susceptible
ties OF these 252, 000,0 900 of English subjects
are as dark and untrodden wilderness for
him as IL they still prayed for the Great
Mogul. Inquirers 60 among them from
these islands, and record their views and
propensities. Englishmeu at home are
taught mechanically what they are, as they
arc taught the anatomy Of an antedeluvian
animal. In time the instructions may be so
complete that 1t will do duty for the species
OF common atmosphere within which brcth-
rem OF the same lineage or usages are Tapped
and coslesce. That day seems ut present
very distant. Members of the same nation,
In reality and not in title alone, act and re-
act upon another in an infinity OF ways.
IL would be an impossible calculation to
compute the influence OF any district in
The United Kingdom upon the rest, or the
change in the whole, which It's separation
would cause. Morally and Intellectually,
and more or less physically, national blood
10
Il gathers as 1t passes, and distributes
10 oil some special element. In that sense
neither these 2j2,000,000 Indians, nor any
part OF them, can be said to have been
fused MS vet with their British fellowship
jects. Materially the reduction OF 1ndi;
under British dominion is sufficiently per
ceptibIe. England materially is different
by reason Of its Indian Empire from wha
Il would else have been. Particular pOr
tons OF England feel its effects con
spicuousiy. Many individual lives arc
altogether transformed by il. OF any
interchange between the TWO toun
-Yries O, spirit aud sentiment Their
l. scarcely more evidence now than whel
Give conquered on the field OF Plassey
The obedience OF all these millions OF hu
man creatures to the British Crown is ra
diant Jewel In it. Indirectly it is sourc
of wealth to the kingdom, and brlllian
arena OF careers. 1t is not depreciatin
what India gives and has given TO Gret
Britain 10 wish it could or would yiel
something higher and greater. An IL
crease of 10, 000, 900 or $4,000, 900 in ten yeal
Is honorable 70 the efficiency OF pt.s,.ls
rule. Lancashire may take note with pie
sure Of addition of possible millions
the consumers OF Its prints. The me-
bristling tables represent multitude
facts and phenomena Astounding in esse
tial interest 10 the provinces in which q
tide OF population has been flowing hig
est. Their importance for uncommerci
and unofficial England is hardly emph
sized at all by tho fact, in appearance
astounding, that since 1871 Englishm
have received Of new fellow-citizens
MANY within $4,000 as their own who
number equalled half a century ago.
The census Of India, with its eattallo
OF gigantic figures, suggests to Englishm
how much those statistics might signi
which they fall TO signify in the relatlo
subsisting between the populations OF I
suzerain and its splendid dependency. L
british people, as an assemblage OF hum
beings, does not seem TO derive its right
degree Of variety and freshness OF yitali
from the incorporation into il OF this Il
mendous total OF life. The $4,000 900
India might with yet more reason retort 7
complaint. Indian humanity contains g
mcnts by which Englishmen might not d
dain To profit. The value OF It's heredita
intuitions OF art Il already recognize
though their secret is ill-apprehended.
grained In the depths OF Indian domes
traditions are delicacy and refinement
which European observers Of the luxury
indolent native mobiles do little justi'
But II o sentiment Of fraternity betwe