The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-07-09
THE RIOTS IN INDIA.
From the Times-Herald.

From the mes-Herald
TIE renewed reports OF rioting by Mo-
hammedans in India present sinister
aspect, for the anger of the mobs seems
TO be directed not against the Hindoos
but against the government officials them
selves. Kiplings brilliant story "On the
City Wall" has given American readers
hint of the ordinary rows in the crowded
big cities of India They amount to lit
lie more than the conflicts in Belfast be-
tween Catholic lrishmen and Orangemen
on St. Patricks day or the 18th of July
or perhaps not as much, for an oriental
con spread a great deal Of war talk over
a very small area of actual lighting,
while the feud inherited from Boyne wa
ter IL apt TO be sanguinary wherever two
or three Irishmen are gathered together.
When the Hindoos pelt the Mohamme-
dan procession with brickbats and the
| Mohammedans retort by invading a Hin
| doc temple. the police are called In and
| they soon put an end to the disturbance.
| IL II is too widespread and violent for
| them the soldiers lend hand. But se-
rious less Of life seldom attends these out
| breaks.
But In the present instance the trouble,
| however it began, fas developed into an
angry demonstration on the part OF the
| Mohammedans against the English.
| When, a few weeks ago, two Engishmcn
| -one ar officer of the army, the other a
| civil servant-Nere fired upon from am
| bush as they left the club II was sug-
gested that probably the assault was an
outgrowth of a PERSONAL grievance of
| some native whose domestic privacy had
been invaded by sanitary officers during
| the plague. But now that mob violence
| has succeeded the taking OF reprisals by
| individuals and word has been sent UP
the country to the Mohammedans calling
1 IL. 4 md IA
| outraged brethren, perhaps the English
government will not dismiss the situation
| in the off-hand manner with which all
| Indian news is received lat home.
| o
No doubt the measures taken to abate
| the famine and the p,aguc are near the
| bottom of these disturgances. It is al
most human impossibilty for men OF
western races to understand the peculteF-
tiles of an oriental population, while the
| latter, in their turn, are incapable of un-
| dcrstanding western science More
over, Englishmen are not noted for very
| great delicacy in expressing their opin-
| ions or enforcing their laws. 1t seems
perfectly natural to them to rush into a
plague-stricken neighborhood and apply
| the remedies that experience has ap-
| proved in their own country. They tear
down buildings, burn clothing, remove
and break up families with the finest en-
| thusiasm, but without trace OF tact.
And 1.-The sons of burnt fathers" brood
over their wrongs" and conceive vain
tales of women assaulted and men muir
| dered, and out of sanitary science and
philanthropy grows much work for the
deputy commissioners dog whip.
| %
If this is all there is to the present out
break 1t will soon be disposed of. But
there have been so many stories afioat OF
he nf
nism to the sultan on England's Moham'
medan subjects that the occurrences In
Bombay and Calcutta may well have q
dlsquieting effect. 1t is true these rumors
have not been voiced by men OF unusual
understanding of Indian affairs, but whd,
western natter-cf-fact n historian can tel
when mischief is brewing in the dark
and sullen population of over 5O,OOo'oV
Mohan II edars in British India?
| %
| In case Of trouble England would bC
able TO place little reliance on the cdu'
Gated Europeans. The Hlndoo schcoleo
abroad returns 10 his native land vain
talkative individual, with taste for in
trigue and patent-lcather boots. The Mo
hammedan is Wall Dad of the KiplinG
tale He talks a cynical philosophy
laughs at religion, quotes western poetry
| but is ready to ''gut kline in the HindoS
temples" on the smallest provocatloh
| England Woulu nave 10 rely upoh INC ~
titude and skill of her own brave mel
| should a serious conflict arise. That sh'
would be able to manage the business n'
| one who knows India can doubt. Ther'
is not in history a firer example OF tn
power of the disciplined northern race
than the rule which a handful Of blithel!
ignorant Er rglishmen exercise over IN
hundreds of millions of natives, who d.
not understand them and whom they d.
not understand, but control as the shep
herds dog controls the sheep. The Brit
ish born popula ton of India amounts T.
about 100000 persons. The English Ian
guage is spoken by about 2SS,ooo persons
The native population is nearly 100000,
O0O The figures alone tell an amazing
story of what direction and courage Cal
| do for government