The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-10-13
AN ENGLlSHMAN ON INDIA.
Social Condition Wheat GrowinS-Man-
ufactures-ShipbuiId
New YORK Tribune.I

ufactures-ShipbuiIdi
New YORK TriIuneI
Admiral " t. Buxton, of the English
navy, was seen by a reporter at the
Victoria hotel recently. ON being
asked about India, where he has served
for many years, he said:
India What shall tell you about
India 1t is a prOdigiOus country, with
II population of about 340, 600, 900, of
which immense number the valley Of
the Ganges alone supports 0,000, 900.
We have about $1,000 British troops
there, rather less than is required to
maintain order in Paris Then there
are about $50, 600 native troops, large
part of whom, however, are used for
police duty
Nv hat is the character of the inhab-
itants2
That is such general question that
it is difficult to answer. The popula-
ton is divided into numerous tribes and
religions. The people range from coal
black in color to a shade about as dark
as the average Spaniard. | think they
are as faithful as can be expected of any
conquered people, but then they are
used to being conquered. From time
immemOrial they have been ruled by u
strong hand; III fact, that is the only
way they can be ruled.
''llow is the climate
"DeteriOrating to the last degree
The English rarely breed after the
third generation. That is to say, an
Englishman and his wife settling there
Will have children, their children in
time will have children, but these latter
will either be childlesS or have at the
most one puny child. The IIindus them
selves have physically but little cndur-
ance, which is not to be wondered at,
when we consider that their diet con
slsts of rice, vegetables, and salt fish
1t is a crime for them to eat meat
Their bullocks and COWS they use en-
tlrely for draft purposes, though when
they die of old age or disease the natives
will skin them and sell the hides
''Do you think that the wheat com
petition of India will affect this country
seriously"
81 think not, unless some unforeseen
circumstance arises. During your civil
war great quantities of cotton We're
raised in India, but at the close of the
war that necessity passed away, and
with it the production of cotton fell off
TO a very large extent. Railroad trans
portatiOn in India is so extremely dear
that it forms great drawback to the
expectation of wheat. There is no rea-
son, however, why manufactures should
not flourish. We have or can produce
the raw material in abundance on the
spot, and for from 10 to II
cents a day we have the best
help in the world. The hands of the
Hindus are twice as supple aud del
icate as the hands of an American or of
an Englishman. Besides that We have
a home market. The product of some
of the hand looms is SO fine and expen-
sive that Europeans cannot afford to
use it, and 1t is consumed exclusively
by the native princes and country gen
tlemen. You overlook the fact that
there is large class of the latter living
on vast estates, with whole villages
tributary to them, men who have never
seen an Englishman and who never
want TO, keeping up great studs of
splendid horses, living, in fact, as rich
men of leisure do the world over. In
my opinion, unless some extraordinary
disturbance arises, India will become a
very serious competitor to England and
to the United States in manufactures"