The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-04-28
THE RYOTs OF INDIA.
why People who Cultivate the Soil
Go Hungry.
From the London Mail.


From the London Mail.
1t is scarce exaggerating to say that
every rich native In India is fat says c.
w. Stevens, wherefrom you infer that
the hundreds of millions of skeletons are
lean because they must-because they live
from harvest to seed time, and through to
harvest again with bellies half empty.
But they are patient people, the vii
layers of India; they have been hungry
these thirty centuries or so, and 1t has
never occurred to them that they have
any claim TO be filled. They grumbled a
little, to DE sure-what tiler of the soil
ever did else? They could not get enough
water from the government canal. and
the Christmas rains had not fallen, and
they were poor men. When, in due course,
we went out TO inspect everythng-from
the fields to HE cakes of COW dung fuel
that were being stacked and covered up
against the rainy season-the landlord OBJ
served a broken well, and offered to pay
one-haif of its repairing if the village
would pay the other They responded
with effusion that If the sahib would find
bricks and mortar and labor, they would
do The rest. Yet, instead of begging from
the landlord, they desired that their lords
would honor them by drinking a cup Of
milk. So two little earthen cups were
brought, of the materia. of flower pots
and into them was poured milk, still hot
from the udder. Their lords drank, and
then the cups were smashed to earth.
They were useless now; the man of mean
est caste would never drink out of a cup
thai had been profaned by white lips
Water was brought, and the man who had
poured out the milk washed his hands
thoroughly, The landlord asked his man.
ager If he would take milk. too; he shook
his head with a smile. For he is
Brahrnan and is as much above drink
ing from a vessel that a lower caste has
touched as the lower caste is above drink
ing after a sahib.
Now, as the bits of potsherd were eth
tumbing on the ground there struck up
a loud, half-rollcking, half-wailing chorus
behind the corner of the wall There APP
peared a little group of women in very fad
ed garments, half-veiling their farces care
fully, half-turning their backs. These were
lcw-caste women, and they were singing a
hymn expressive of the virtues of the land
lord. That also is use and wont. The
subject of their praise called up one grand
dam, and gave her silver and the chorus
stopped amid the approving sa!ams OF the
village. They viii call you Lord" ana
Protector Of the Poor" they win sing
you drink from. What could be more
eloquent of the land of contradictions?
The eultivator. to whom both these for
rnaiites arc religion, is not, you will have
concluded a being OF developed intelli-
gence. He is neither beautiful nor rich,
gifted nor industrious, nor especially vir-
tuous, nor evea amiable. He mas only one
point at interest which is that there are
4e,000 COO of him. He is clothed in calico.
a ~ 49,. 4 "a
puttlcs, and on pulse He has two distrac-
tfons- marriages and funerals. At these
he spends all he has and more; to make
up, he borrows from the village bunnia,
who Is shopkeeper and ShyIock in one The
bunnia charges 37ia per cent. as mini
num- When harvest comes he takes over
the ryot's corn and credits him for it, not
at market price, but on a scale Of his own.
The ryot keeps back enough, perhaps for
few weeks food after that he must
come to the bunpia for seed at sowing
time, and weekly for his chi1I.ns foo |.
The bunnia lends him back his own corn
Il s7iz to rs per cert Presently. it may be-
the bunnia takes one Of the ryots bull
iccks in part payment and the man makes
shift to pillow with on. He &c cs 1t very
badly, though not much worse thar he
would have done with the two Then,
perhaps. the burma takes the other bull
lock, and then-but rarely, for this is kill
ing the goose-the land Or II may be tue
ryot has the luck to live all his life without
having his creditor anything beyond all
mai ne has, less his bare livelihood. Then
he dies hap ~. and f%queaths the remain
der OF MS debt to his son.
Nevertheless, when the landlord offers
10 buy crops at market rate. and advance
seed corn at market rate, charging only
per cent interest, the cultivator smiles
cunningly and declines. He knows that
the landlord will not lend him for we'd
dings and funerals. and il he borrows
seed from the landlord neither will the
bunnia; so he goes back TO his 37lk. He
has only his own ignorance, Incidence and
thriftlessness to thank for his wretched-
ness. He is miserable, and he is content.
Everybody else In India has a grievance;
the cuitivator the backbone OF the coun-
trv ard the worst used man In Il, has
none.
THAT his situation really Is his fault, you
may convince yourself by going on ten
miles or so 10 Jat village. The Jats are
. not very hlustrious tribe, whose center
q hundred years ago was Bhurtpur; at
mat period they rose 10 military eminence.
ana whenever they were short OF cash
looted Agra: also they inflicted ON our
arms one Of the severest defeats we ever
,of m India As cultivators, the Jats are
ezcenentiy good being both expert and
81 an unwearied industry
Even before their village peeps from be-
mind rs Tickets you notice that the road
Il except0nal-not metaicd, OF c0urce. but
s1ili nat and fairly level The bullocks
you meet IN the heayy-~beeled cars are
Bic ana well thnyen. Ia the village ilself
he houses ere mostly Of s1ndriod mud.
a. Is true, but they are stable snd lofty,