The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-02-12
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
iNDIHs DYING MILLIONS THE VICTIMS
or NATURE.

% some OF Ensland's Social Phiiosopher.
Argue With Regard to tho Plague and
Fsmine-Ncw Theory About Great Epi
demios-Cold Logic with Reason In 1t
II 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 a cold and Telentless phi
losophy-but no more so than nature
herself-which is questioning the .ulti-
mate wisdom of serious interference
with the natural calamities which arc
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 III
the economy of natureP Are they, after
all, the unmitigated evil ehich 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
ory 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 un-
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 hu-
manitarianism. The English people arc
entitled, therefore, to discuss some Of tho
deeper social questions involved in the
calamity without exposing themselves
to the charge Of shirking 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 in 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 day or two ago up
ON this point:
J,,a 20 d., <,ch ,.,1o onl 70
nothing else that the famine has not
made itself felt until so late a 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 gigantic experiment which our
own success makes more formidable
each time that a 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 20 years by no less thar
5O,000,000 A small portion of thi.
was by annexation, but by far the
larger part was within the old area. A
that rate Of increase, as The Times OBJ
serves, the day is not far distant wheI
all the resources Of the British empir,
will not suffice to cope with a success
sion Of bad seasons and a failure q
rains over an extended area 1t is ar
gued further that the excellence Of Brit
ish rule-the unprecedented security {,
life which it has supplied-has chief,
contributed to this condition of over
population.
In other words, British government
in India has been far too good. 1t Ia!
brought about an abnormal condition
which only great double cataclysm O
nature can set right And now Grea
Britain and the charitable world a
large are doing their utmost to thwar
nature in her necessary and inevitable
process.
This cold blooded conclusion is shock
ing to every human sensibility, but how
IL 1t to be escaped from? say the casu
lists. 1t is view which may perhaps
be adopted with equanimity when il in.
cludes only the distant and impersonal
millions o." India, but how about il
when il 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 80.
rious in the number of victims which i,
has thus far claimed than its brotbe,
curse, the famine, just now obtains tn,
larger share of public attention. Tn,
reason is obvious-it is q direct menac,
to the world at large, and it's seat ia 1,