The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1898-01-14
PoINrs OF pANaER
Prof. Ghosh, OF IndIa, Gives the Brit-
fish Government a Warning

The National Review OF London IS
lpreminently the representative
monthly Of the conservative party IN
/ Great Britain. It is a staneh advocate
/ Of bimetaIlism and one OF the most viz
ulent critics of the government for its
refusal to accede to the request Of the
/ United States and France for an inter
i national conference upon the financial
question Tt Is recognized as one Of the
ablest Of English periodicals OF its
class, and its contributors number
many Of the most eminent financial au-
thOrities Of the empire
/ Among the many notable articles
which IL has recently published IS one
from the pen Of Prof. A. S. GhOsh, a
/ distinguished native Of India, who deals
with the serious political dangers arts
ling from the closing Of the Indian
minis. Upon this subject he says:
/ At the present moment the artificial
/ shrinking OF the currency Of India IS 50
/ great that the bullion value Of the rupee Is
no more than nine annas.- Let US realize
I what this means The great mass OF silver
/ boards in the hands Of the people were once
/ coined rupees worth Is annas each; in fact,
4 the people paid that price to have the
/ rupees Then, trusting TO the good faith
Of the government, the people converted
| eminent has however SurrepIlIlOusly re-
/ duced the value Of each rupee to nine annas,
and when IL desires to replace part OF the
| currency by coming fresh rupees II win
/ buy back from the people at the rate OF
nine annas the very thing II had formerly
sold to them for 16i Criminals were once
hanged in England for stealing sheep, but
/ the conduct Of the governments has never
/ found a place in our codes Of morals the
/ trustee who wastes trust property is liable
L. nd frT7c IN a
/ without the bar Of limitations, but when
| she authorities sell India bills al Is 21zd,
and buy them again al Is flied at the cost
Of the starving wFetches Of India, no voice
\ is heard to raise the cry Of devastavit
/ Again, in coming fresh rupees, the govern
ment makes a profit from the people Of
! over 20 per cent IL e., by buying at nine and
/ reselIing at 80, but when that people, driven
/ to desperation, take to counterfeit coming
las some have done, with the very silver
! that was once coined rUpees-they receive
/ penal servitude for their crimes
After thus clearly demonstrating
the mOnstrOus wrong of the British
| governments treatment of its Indian
subjects, so far as currency is con
! cerned, Prof. Ghosh proceeds to point
out the grave political danger which
threatens British interests unless there
! is a speedy reversal Of the present pol
/ icy. He says:
/ This, then, is the economic condition Of
/ India; what is the pOlitcal2 Never since
/ 1857 has the political atmosphere Of India
/ been so OminOusly sitting. Scientists tell
| US that just before a great earthquake the
/ air becomes charged with an ineXplicable
/ oppressiveness; so Il is now in India. There
/ is a tremor here and there. which may yet
/ be the fOrerunner Of some general upheavals
| and II may need but single force to weld
/ together the oscillations Of these indepenQ-
| ent units into gigantic movement Of 300,-
/ 900, COO Had I belonged to the Indian ma
| tiOnal congress" (Which never did, and
Il had aimed at an Indian insurrection
i (Which God fOrbidD, j would not have
| wasted my breath in talking OF stimuli
( taneOus examinations trial by jury"
l and the thousand and one minor grievances,
| real or imaginary, which now occupy the
| sole attention Of that congress. I would
\ have struck a heavier blow at the govern
| ment had been 50 eviIIy disposed I would
L have then taken fun advantage Of the
| wide organization which that body has
/ now esta blished throughout India, to teach
/ the masses Of the pecpIe-the country pee
/ pie, who are the great hoarders Of silver,
| and are consequently the greatest sufferers
that the government had, without their
/ knowledge confscated half their savings
Be IL noted that the security Of the gov
| eminent lies in the cOntentment Of the
masses. and in their continued belief in the
! benevOlence OF the government
Prof. Ghosh is of the opinion that the
only reason there has not vet been a
great and formidable revolt against
British injustice and misrule in India
is that no leader has appeared capable
Of intelligently formulating and con-
trolling the opposition. Such a condi-
ton may not be relied upon always,
however, and evidences OF the awaken
ing arc at hand. Upon this point the
writer says:
| The town population OF India, which con-
stitUtes but an infnftesimal drop in the
| ocean Of S00.O00,O 600. and which alone has
| hitherto been lesvened with the doctrines
OF the congress, may indeed be ignored by
/ the government Not 50, however. the
| country population, which forms the back
| bone Of the people. Happily, there has not
| yet arisen IN the congress single mem
/ Der capable CT understanding the intrf-
| CaCfeS Of the currency question. and had
/ not the plague interviewed we might still
| have lived in the hope that no such leader
/ Of men, no such formidable disturber Of
/ the serenity Of the government would have
| arisen for years to come But these are the
| very nlisfOrtunes which have compelled the
| people to bring out their boards, and con-
/ seQuently have revealed to them the IN
/ merited loss imposed o. them by the gov
! eminent The native press has at last
/ awakened, as if from a dream, and begun
/ TO discuss this matter, some moderately
/ and some otherwise
/ That the masses Of India are upon
the eve of a revolt against the fnan-
cial policy of England in closing the
Indian minis to the coinage of silver,
thus enriching herself to the extent Of
hundreds of millions Of pounds at the
| expense Of the impoverished nation Of
India, is pointed out as follows:
Is It, then. unreasonable to fear that II
now a single individual in the congress sue
/ ceeds in Erasping even the fundamental
/ principles CT this great question, the news
| wiz spread from village to village, from
bazar TO bazaar. from hamlet to hamlet, that
/ the government has cheated the people OF
/ their hard-earned savings, even at the mo
ment Of their direst distress2 Whether to
| the fullest extent this allegation be true or
l false. is immateriai. IL is enough that the
danger OF its circulation IS imminent The
/ lessons Of 1851 have, or rather ought TO have
/ taught. England how news spreads in IN
dia- and how IL gathers force from popular
/ INA ginatiOn IN its very currency. The
masses Of the Indian people do not argue.
do not even pause 10 think. but accept on
/ implicit faith what is told to them by those
/ who are deemed 70 be their superiors in In
IteLigence, caste. or social rank. This IS q
danger against which I would venture 70
I warn the government ere II be too late
From these conditions which can