The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-08
GRAVE CRISIS IN INDIA.
ENGLAND AWAKE AT List TO THE
GROWTH OF SEDITION.

Threatened Notwithstanding Tales OF Tor
lures In spanish Prisons-Plnns OF Zionium-
The Humor- or the Turkish Press Censor.
LONDON, July 3O.-It 10 a curious ana grue.
uome budget OF material that confronts me as I
sit down to examine those features OF human
veal and woe which at the moment seem to
command attention. 1t is difficult TO believe
that these strange stories of lnquisition cruel
ties in spain, and these accommodating records OF
tho rapid growth OF sedition with threatened
revolt in India, are actual chronicles of the iubi-
lee year of the Victorian reign instead of re-
vivals Of lead memories. The first are the more
horrible, the second tho more ominous and the
more Important.
1t is IA genuine and terribly serious crisis
which tho British Government has at last
decided to face boldly in its Indian cm-
pire. The warnings have been manifold and.
heaven knows. unmistakahlc. 1t will soon be
made clear whether or no the sharp resistance
to tho i%ncipient mutinecrS has come too late.
Sedition and revolt have been openly preached
in the native press FOR weeks. Political murders
of English officials have been committed and
the murdercrs have been successfully shielded
from discovery by the native population. The
English authorities have condoncd the revo.
lutionist agitation and have failed to punish
the crimes of violence. This week the policy OF
liberation and inactlon was changed to one OF
repression, and the result will be watched with
interest and anxiety, not only by England, but
BY the world at large as well.
1t is impossible to deal decisivcly with the
question OF provocation which the natives Of
India allege they have received, and which has
aroused the rcbollious spirit now rampant
throughout tho empire. Very ugly stories are
told, with wealth Of detail, of alleged outrages
perpetrated upon the people by British soldiers
and other officials in the name of health regula.
tions and plague suppression. Many of these
stories no doubt are false. There may be just
enough truth in them to account for outbreaks
Of native fury in certain instances. But Indian
discomfort is by no means so recent a growth as
tho outbreak of the last plague. The murmur-
ings have been growing louder and louder for
two or three years. The correspondent Of the
London Standard at Poona, the scene of the re-
cent murders of English health officers. puts the
general situation in its true colors when he says:
In the first place, there is a general impress
sion in England that the natives are perfectly
satisfied with our rule, and thoroughly loyal to
the Queen. There can be no greater mistake
made. The great mass of the people. where they
are not against us, are profoundly indifferent.
The whole aim and object of the lower classes is
to get the w~herewithal TO feed themselves and
their families, and they think of little or nothing
else. They have no ambition. and know nothing
Of politics. To them the Queen.Empress
ia at best only an empty name. Our
IulG, 10 Il do tHCy ac hSh, 10
much tho SAINT as that of the Mogul or
the Mahratta. They recognize that, who
ever may be in power, the struggle for life re-
mains much the same. Our boosted justice
does not prevent their being ground down and
prosecuted by native subordinates, and it has
certainly made their position much worse SO
far as our courts of law and the protection given
to usurers are concerned. In none of the great
political commissions which India has passed
-~a-tkfoukif-daSffe-peusant taken any part. In
1857 he was merely IA looker-on for the most
part, and in the few cases where he was not so
he was more often against us than with us. In
q word, the great mass of the agricultural popu.
lation may be looked upon as a negligible
quantity for all intents and purposes.
1T is quite otherwise with the lower classes
OF the towns. In every urban population there
is n rabble running into thousands. who only re
quire opportunity and a leader to take a willing
hand in slaughtcring all Europeans within
reach. In the upper classes some, no doubt, are
really loyal TO us. Others. and probably the
majority, pretend to be SO. but are really nothing
of the sort. There is plenty of lip service al
ways forthcoming. loyal addresses and the like,
but it is very doubtful whether we could coun'
on the help OF more than n quarter of the uppel
classes. should we ever desire it. Bengal il
almost VIGOROUSLY disaffectcd, and so also il
Bombay. The bulk of our friends would prob
ably be found in the north OF India-the Pun
jab. Rajputana, and the northwestern provinces
North Of II line from Bikanir TO Lucknow ou'
friends would probably predominant; south o
1t they would almost certainly be in n minority
But, apart from these considerations, the poin
which should be grasped by the people of Eng
land is this, that we arc not beloved by an.
considerable portion Of the people. and that W
are actively hated by a great many.
1T may be asked, What are the reasons 70
this dislike of ourselves and for its recent in
classification ! For that we are daily CROWN;
more disliked and less feared is a matter admit
ting of very little doubt. Primarily, it is be
cause We are, as Mr.. Dadabhai Naoroji delight
to remind us, an alien race. whose customs
habits, and religion are repulsive to the peopl
whom we rule. The cant about the justice @
our rule passes for nothing out here, how
ever effectively it lncy be brought int
an after.dinner speech. The Oriental doe
not understand, nor does he require. in
partial justice. The methods which hav
been in use with him for centuries, method
which obtain to-day In many a native court an
all over the East. are to him far preferable I
British justice. He knows TO his cost that, whe
once he has been caught within the tolls OF on
cumbrous legal machinery, there is no escap
for him until he shall have paid II far large
sum than he would have disbursed had he settle
the matter in the tiIne.honored fashion of tn
East. A horde of bloodsuckers, in the shape
interruptions rHkiYs, and the facility of a
peal, will probably go far toward ruil
ing him in tho end. Not only haV
We made ourselves unpopular on accOui
of our own customs and institutions, hi
we have immensely aggravated the feeling
our interference with the habits OF the pcopl
We have brought confusion into the marrial
system by preventing child marriages, wo ha'
outraged Hindu feeling by allowing the slaug
ter OF cattle, and we have meddled with II
customs of the people in "A number OF other way
The predatory classes dctest us because the
occupation is Como. Many OF the semi ind
pendent chiefs are by no means friendly TO us
account OF our constantly mixing ourselves
with their affairs. And the educated classe
almost tot man. are actively against us.
ITO begin with, let Ms remember that, dcspi
the vaporings OF n noisy and interested fe