New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-21

from January till October. Hastings. once In
India, had TO make India his home, his career,
his life 1t was worth his while to study the
ways Of the natives and to write Persian verses.
At this time there were none of the conYenlences
the ice. the punkahs, the hill stations-whlch
make life in India tolerable TO white women
most Of the company's servants lived with
native mistresses and some married native
wives 1t was not edifying, but 1t made for
comprehension OF the East. Money was plenty
Europe and retirement were far away; the com,
pany's servants spent their income in India and
lived in style. Old natives will still tell you or
residents and collectors who kept more ele-
phants than now men keep polo-pones. Above
ALI the white man in the cOmpanyS days was
something apart and mysterious and worshipful
in native eyes No man knew whence he came
or pretended to know his ways; he was a
strange and superior being-au but goo
Now London is sixteen days from Calcutta
The modern civilian takes three months leave
every third year and years furlough every ten
or so He is married to a white wlte' ana MS
white children are at home; he looks ior"aiu
TO reuniting his family when ne gets MS pen
sion. and then-he will be but forty-to let
ters or politics-a new career. FOR TINS ana
his periodical flights homcWard ne saves MS
money. that the native is less l,nPiesSeu ~
the white mans magnificence. Inc bIltiSh
merchants and barristers expect an even shoI leI
period Of exie-a competence IN nVe OF Ten yyai -
and then the beginning Of their real "ork al
home Nowadays the great lndlan merchant
lives in London; in Bombay and Calcutta are
only salaried partners and managing clerks
Parsees are far richer and more influential than
these Instead Of a mans life India has be-
come an apprenticeship strins VI S,rior1eb
evil interludes between youth leave, furoush
and maturity You might imagine Dursidi
so regarding the intervals which the e&igeIcles
Of his profession compel him TO spend III Dail-
moor.
THE CURSE OF STATISTICS
The consequences Of the new order are inevi-
table and pernicious. The Anglo-lndian Goes
not shirk his work; to say SO lot nS roar'
would be the grossest SANDER; no class OF men
in the world toll more herOically, more dlslnter-
estedly. more disdainfully under ADVERSE cohui-
tons But while his zeal does not nag nis
knowledge fails TO keep pace with IT, farty
this is due TO the dislocatiOn OF his WorK Dy
frequent returns to England; partly, ana more
TO the fatal tendency Of the indian depart
ments toward red tape ana wrlthS. Inc oOe
knows we'll enough that the more time ne
snends at his writing table the less efhcient
he will be among the men he has to RUE but
he also knows that his future career depends iar
more on his reports than on his personal innu-
anca can YOU wonder that he devotes him
salf 10 what DAYS him best? He would De more
than human If he did not. Being only human s
he has to pay for his Devotion TO lornls anu
r,inutes In loss elsewhere. Tne new genera
ton Of Augio-Indians is deploraDly lghorah.
Of the native languages; after dozen yedIs
service he can hardly talk to cuitivator OF rea9
. village register or the life. character ana
no hits Of thought OF the peasantry-always CON
~eaIod by Orientals from those in authority
over them-the knowledge grows more anu
more extinct year by year Statistics accumu-
late and knowledge decays Inc longer we fu'e
over India the less we know OF It,
Summarily cur knowledge OF the natives
crows less and less as the natives knowledge
Of rs grows more and more. For. while the
very march of civilization seems 10 coiispiIe
With fate against our comprehension OF tne
masses Of the people. on the other side IS the
babu each day more superficialy ntted ana
more greedily willing to serve as middieman De-
+ta rtiifp
In old DAVIS few natives knew English now
there is yearly swarm Of graduates only too
eager to make things easy for the European
official In Madras, where the native tongues
are especially difficult and English education
asnaciallv difused there is hardly official