The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-06-24
RIJRIED MONEY IN INDIA
HINDOO MISERS DEFY STARVATION.

our Parliaments n teaching cur rulers. By
force when necessary. that they ruled only
by sunerance and from no inherent dfv1he
right, the passive Hindoo lay patiently
grooming under the exactions OF his natrvc
Rajahs. -
Hence II was that the Hindoo converted
all his belongings into useless gold or Sill
yer, and became the miser that ne = TO-
day. For, although the strong rule. OF tins
white man has stayed the grasping
the rajah, the habit of centuries has been
found less easy to grapple with. and fho
Hindooe are, TO a man. misers IN the moge
far reaching sense of the word. -.
The actual figures OF these centuries OF
h~oarding-for 1t must not be forgotten that
probably fifty per cent of the poor wretcnes
delay until too late the secret OF their
boarded riches. which are thus lost. both to
their families. and. indirectly. to India and
the world at large-are astounding
In 1882 the British Government tried to get
this literally buried treasure" into cfrcu-
lation by offering abncrmally high rates OF
interest. but habit was too strong and thu
experiment was a complete failure. A short
time later 1t was reported to the Royal
Commission on Blmetaiism that during ne
previous half century 1889. 10000 In gold ana
fl7D. 90. 1000 in silver. or f3e.0cS,eO In all. he'd
been imported into India
Now. 1t Is a significant fact that while la
dia will greedily swallow any amount ~et
precious metal. she has never been known
to systematically disgorge any. Conse1
quently 1t may fairly be assumed that pracs
tically the whole of this huge store of
wealth was imported in order to replaces
money withdrawn from circulation. -
In passing, it should be noted that the To-
tai amount Of coin circulating in the world
at that time was by Doctor Soek.
beer at fI,0O0, 10000 % Hence. in tho brief
space Of fifty years. India was able to bury
practically one-third Of the worlds money.
Ivet h0- D,,nh ~ hoA DaaEAd 10 IN
way during the countless centuries Of OPP
preston under which her subject races haze
groaned IT is impossible to estimate.
The boards generally take one OF two
formS-tewelry or actual coin. The former
range from the familiar silver bangles OF
the poorer class Hindoo to the massive gold
and Jeweled idols of the ruling classes. This
Is considered by the willy Hindoo TO be the
most satisfactory form OF saving. h
jewels pay no income tax. are pleasant to
the eye. form the daughters dowry and
are treasured in each family every whit as
much as our own heiriooms.
On the other hand. coins get CIT Of date
and have been known TO depreciate IN value
the rupee. for instance. Although their
owners have TO intention of again putting
them into circulation. they are nevertheless
sharp enough to appreciate this diminutioa
in the value of their store. Consequently
these coins are sometimes exchanged foS
more up to date editions. but the latter im-
mediately go into store. SO that no real cir-
c~ulation takes place. Other coins are spe-
cially boarded for local reasons.
As Illustrating these points, II may be
mentioned that shortly before his death sshe
Maharajah Of Burdwan. who died durin.
the eiehties. put no fewer than f230. s63
worth Of Sikka rupees into circulations
None Of these coins was minted after 1861
while the bulk of the treasure from which
they were drawn can be traced to the daya
- $3.50 49, pT,.-, rnorfa II Rnunho 49,
the other hand. British sovereigns Are
largely boarded. The reason is that the
struggle between ST. George and the Dras
gon. depicted upon their backs. Is valued by
the ma tives on religious yrounds! g
1t is the same all over India The WEALTH.
lest merchants are frequently the smallest