The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-03-07
BETTERLETTHEMDIE
.INDlA's DYING MILLIONS THE VICTIMS
OF NATURE.

Argue With Regard to the Plague ard
Famine-New Theory About Great Epi,
demics-Cold Logic With Reason In 1t.
1t was inevitable perhaps that the
double scourge which has turned all
eyes of pity toward India should also
have revived public discussion of that
pitiless topic, 1.-THE survival of the fit
test. " 1t is cold and relentless phi
losophy-but no more so than nature
herself-which is questioning the ulti-
mate wisdom of serious interference
with the natural calamities which are
devastating the most populous sections
of the British empire. The debate which
has begun in the English press has
been suggested by such obvious queries
as these: What part do these great cpl
denies and periodical famines play in
the economy of nature? Are they, after
all, the unmitigated evil which they
appear to be at close quarters? Was Oar
win right or wrong in making these
great natural visitations the basis Of
his theory of natural selection-a the
DRY which holds a most important place
in the evolution of the human race?
Cold logic, softened by any consider
ations of human sympathy, has led some
debaters Of these questions to conclu-
sions which are much more creditable
to their heads than to their hearts 1t
is not, however, in any spirit Of I'M
charitableness that the discussion has
gone on. Now that the popular heart
has been touched the outpouring of
English gold for the benefit of the per-
ishing millions of fellow subjects Of the
queen empress makes one of the sub
limest spectacles in the history Of hui
manitarianism. The English people are
entitled, therefore, to discuss some Of the
deeper social questions involved in the
calamity without exposing themselves
to the charge of Sinking duty of char
ity. The subject has also been forced
upon their attention in another way
The anti British press in Germany
has recently attempted to hold the Brit
ish authorities in India responsible both
for the ravages of the famine i'll the in
terror and for the spread of the plague
in Bombay. These charges have been
denied with good deal Of heat and in
dignation. But the defenders of British
rule have proved too much The Times,
for instance, said a day or two ago up
on this point
cit is due to British rule and to
nothing else that the famine has not
made itself felt until so late period,
and that, Notwithstanding an immense
increase of the population, it is now be-
ing fought with success. 1t needs no in
quiry to tell us that the vast popula-
tions of agricultural India live up very
closely to the limits of subsistence.
That follows from their immemorial
habits, their traditions and their modes
of thought. In fighting as we do the
consequences of these things we are try
ing a gigantic experiment. which our
own success makes more formidable
each time that deficient rainfall stops
the food supply. We are insensibly sub
stituting prudential checks for the nat
ural ones which we have removed This
is proved by the improvement in the
general condition of the population not
withstanding its increase in numbers.
But the process is a slow one, and the
future of our Indian empire cannot be
regarded from an economical standpoint
without grave anxiety.
The population of India, as Lord
George Hamilton remarked in parlia-
ment the other day, has increased dur
ing the past 30 years by no less than
80, 900, 900. A small portion Of this
was by annexation, but by far the
larger part was within the old area. At
that rate Of increase, as The Times OBJ
serves, the day is not far distant when
all the resources of the British empire
will not suffice to cope with a.succes-
sion of bad seasons and a failure Of
rains over an extended area. 1t is ar
| gued further that the excellence of Brit
ish rule-the unprecedented security to
life which it has supplied-has chiefly
contributed to this condition of over
population.
In other words, British government
in India has been far too good. 1t has
brought about an abnormal condition
which only great double cataclysm of
nature can set right And now Great
Britain and the charitable world at
large are doing their utmost to thwart
nature i'll her necessary and inevitable
process.
This cold blooded conclusion is shock
ing to every human sensibility, but how
is it to be escaped from? say the casu-
lists 1t is view which may perhaps
be adopted with equanimity when it in
cludes only the distant and impersonal
millions of India, but how about it
when it is applied to the teeming thou
sands in the east end of London, on the
east side in New York and in the slums
of Chicago?
The plague, although it is far less Sc
rious in the number of victims which it
has thus far claimed than its brother
curse, the famine, just now obtains the
larger share Of public attention. The
reason is obvious-it is a direct menace
to the world at large, and its seat is in
the coast city of Bombay, which is now
suburb of Europe instead of being
hidden in the unknown interior. The
psychologists and other modern enc
mics of this once OmuipOtent DESTROYER