Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-07-09
INDIA IN A SAD PLIGHT.
CONDITION OF FIFTY MILLION
BRITISH SUBJECTS.


en- Reglon-The Government Can.
not Care for AII-Heart Rending
Tales of Suffering.
Delhi, India, Correspondence.)
The appeal for aid for the famine
stricken people of this country has al
ready borne fruit, but 1t does not be-
gin to meet the pressing needs.
The Queen, or, In other words, the
government. is doing everything pos
sible for the starving people, but even
SO, the government can take care Of
only one-tenth of the people in the
breadless districts. Fifty million are
In peril of death for want of food; Of
these England can feed only five mill
ion. The remaining forty-five mill
ion can be helped by other nations
And other nations in cases of distress
like this, means principally the United
States. The breadless area extends
over 100000 square miles east, north
and south of Bombay. Thus, over
nearly half Of India there is famine.
the sufferers from which number fully
one-slxth of the whole population of
the empire. The chief relief meas
ures which the British Government
have put in force are: First, relief
works, where tens of thousands of
people are employed, such as making
common roads, railroad embankments
and improving the irrigation of the
country. The thousands Of men,
women and children In these relief
camps are paid from two to four
cents day, just enough to keep body
and soul together, but not enough to
tempt any one away from his legiti-
mate work. The second chief relief
measure on the part Of the govern
ment Is providing kitchens, or head
quarters for free supplies Of food for
children and>for adults who are too
weak to work.
Some Of the practical applications
Of the governments principle Of help
ing without pauperizing are as fol-
lows: Opening of grain depots, where
corn Is sold at cost price. This helps
to feed the hungry and at the same
time keeps down the price of grain.
The latter fact Is important, as 1t
serves to check the avarice of the ma
tive grain dealers, bunniahs, as they
are called, who, In time of famine, try
to run up the price Of grain to an ex-
orbitant figure. The government prac-
tees another helpful form of relief in
buying all the products of the toll of
oil who can work, at prices sufficient
to support them, and thus keep them
at their work. Thousands Of hand
looms are In this way kept In opera
ton. Thus. what is known as the
government famine code Is now CIV
ing work to five million people. As
many as possible Of the remaining
forty-five million famine sufferers
must be cared for by other nations
than England.
Not all the sufferers from the pres
ent scarcity of food are recruited
from the lower castles. or from what
would be known In the United States
as the masses. Thousands of those
n
are high caste people who a few
months ago owned their own houses,
lands, cattle and tools or farming i'm
plements, and were comparatively
well-to-do. These people, since the be.
ginning Of the famine, have sold first
one thing, then another. till to-day
everything they owned. is gone and
they are simply farers on the high
way. drifting to the portals of another
land. naked, starving, outraged, dis
eased.
From correspondents in the heart Of
the famine district come heart rend.
Ing tales Of individual sufferers. Two
little girls, between four and five
years Of age. sat together near a cac-
tus hedge. The poor waits were ques-
toned, but were so reduced by hun
ger that they seemed not to compre.
hend what they wanted, where they
were or who left them there. One
old woman. with her four sons, two
daughters-in-law and three grand
children, came a long distance, hop
Ing to get relief; but, failing to find
either work or food, and weakened
by the journey, one after another died,
till all were gone save the poor old
woman and one grandchild. A widow
was found, with two children, a girl
Of two years and bright boy of six.
The woman was trying to sell the
little girl for two rupees. about rs
cents, saying they must all die any
way, and the price of the girl would
keep life in her and the boy for yet
a little while. Thousands of women
are so weak for lack Of food that they
cannot stand, and the children around
them are mere skeletons covered with
skin. A mother 80 situated is help.
less. She would deny herself and
give to the children, but she has food
neither for herself nor for them. A
Mahometan will give her 35 cents for
her daughter. She shudders, but the
girl will be fed at any rate, and her
price will feed the others for several
days. So the bargain Ia made and