Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1889-09-07
POVERTY m INDIA.
a Country where Abls- Bodied Men wosk
for stx Neuts a Dny.


for stx aeat. bay.
had always looked upon India a. u
rice-eating country. | find that great
number Of the people here eat wheat
and grain. In Northwestern India
only about ten per cent OF the people
eat rice. and ia the prison at Agra !
found that the prisoners were fed
upon ain. Everywhere the mass of
the people seem 10 be undcrfed and
the leanest. scraggiest specimens Of
humanity ! have ever seen ! find In
this rich valley OF the Ganges Where
nature has done every thing the peo-
pie are starving. and you can have no
idea of the skin and bone men and
boys whom | see daily by the thou
sands. The costume OF the people Is
such that the arms and legs and often
the breasts and waists are bare. There
seems to be nothing but skin. bones
and sinew. aud the average thigh IL
not bigger than muscular American
biceps There are no calves what.
ever. and the joints at the knees ana
ankles are extraordinar lily large.
Nearly every man you meet. II he be
poor, has wrinkles in his belly. and at
every railroad station you find gaunt
dark-faeed. piteous, lean men. who
slap their bare stomnchs To show that
they are hollow and ask Tor backshish
Wages are miserably low Farm
laborers get from six TO eight cents a
day and masons ge; about ten cents
n day. Even travellers who have 10
pay the highest wages. can get good
English-speaking servants who will
avel with them and feed themselves
for thirty-three cents day, and less
than that II taken by the month.
This valley OF the Gangcs has more
people than IL can support. and IL Is
p obably the most dcnsely populated
part Of the world The people live In
villages and the average country town
consists OF one-story mud huts. too
poor and illy-ventilated for American
pig pens. You would not think OF
having such outhouses ms the resi-
dences Of the majority OF this vast
population would mako. and in large
part OF India. and especially in the
best part OF this Ganges country. the
holdings average from two to three
acres apiece. At four to the family
this represents a half acre per person.
az over J. 200 persons per square mile.
I When il is remembered that these peo-
pie live by agriculture IL will be seen
| that this condition il far worse than
that OF China or any part OF Europe.
And still the people are bright They
are brainy. too. and you will find few
sharper business men, better cui
faces and more polite people than
these people OF India Their faces In
this part Of India have much the
same characteristics rs those OF the
Aaglo-Saxon. Those Of the higher
casies are more like those of ths
Greeks. and | see faces every da,
which. II the skin were white. an,
American might be proud To own
They belong TO the same race geru
that we do. and under the same train
ing aud CHRISTIAN influences the,
would be strong competitors with us
But what can mhn do on SIX cents
day. or how can n man learn when h
has to struggle to exist The popu q
tion of India il continually increasing
England eats the lions share of In
products of the country. and thong
the people are perhaps better OF unde
her government than they have bee
In tine past. IL Is the same old story {
her wealth going 10 the rulers an
the people working their flesh OF thei
bones to support them. The Coz
ernor-General OF India. who. by tn
way. Is the rich Marquis OF Ian,
} downe. gets $780, coo year. Qnite
contrast with the wages OF the masse
J at six cents day. isn't ii2 - Frank &
Carpenter. in Bost5rGlobe.