The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-15
FOR THE MONSOON,
HOISE or CONMOyS REJOICES OrLR
NEWS FROM INDIA
Danger Of Famine TO England Criticism, of
the Indian Press Complaint. That the
British Government Gives No Aid. bat
ExActs Unremitting Taxation Hard Facts.

w
The British House OF Commons the other
day was 30 far reused from its habitual aIa,.y
when Indian aTairs are under discussion IA
10 receive the information with n ~uccr,,.on
of hearty cheers that the monsoon had broken
on the parobed soil of The famine districts.
Lord George Hamilton, the Secretary Of Stale
for India, j. described NJ having given the
welcome news in u voice Of trenulous uncer-
laiuty, and when the House seized the nm
portance OF the event II gave full expression
10 the sense of relief which overcame IT, "
the reports Of persons quite recently returned
from India are 10 he credited, n successful
monsoon may 20 a long way TO avert serious
trouble in that country. A man associated
with one OF the missionary societies, who left
India a few weeks ago, has ey pressed the opinion
that the maintenance Of English rule out thcrs
depends now on an expenditure Of money or
blood. He gave as his reason tor putting tho
case so strongly the fact that. even il the rains
are all that are hoped for, the loss of plongh-
Ing cattle has been so unprecedented that tie
impoverished and enfeebled peasants will have
no means Of cultivating the land, The cattle
have died literally by hundreds of thousands.
and cannot be replaced, according TO the lowest
estimate. under sj,coO,oH Then the wrctchcd
people will need food and shelter until the crops.
supposing they succeed in getting tho seed
into tho ground, come to maturity. 4 cor-
respondent of the Times oj India depicts their
condition in the following sentences.
These poor people, before they left their
village homes for the far-oT famine works,
had to sell everything TO satisfy the gnau irg
cravings Of hunger; even the fimsy materials
of their huts were disposed Of either for fuel
by constant and unfamiliar work, sustained
only by a scanty diet, Their clothes, il any,
are threadbare and hardly sufficien, TO ensure
decency, much less 70 cover their bodies. In
this condition, If they are exposed 10 the in
Clemency Of the rains when they return 10 their
villages, they will simply die by thousands.
All the cndeavors of the Government arc di-
rected only toward keeping them alive. Cloth
ing for them il urgently required
A large money grant by the British Govcrr-
ment in order TO start the Indian peasant in
the famine area once NOR" IN life il, IN The
opinion of the man referred 10, imparativelv
called for. If for want OF such asSistanc.
the favorable season passes away withou, A
have again 10 face famine with lis attendant
consequences OF plague and pestilence because
the British Government refused the needed
help. then he thinks il viii have to make il.
hold of India good by the expenditure Of blood
Already Indian papers are contrasting the
action Of the Government e "i ahe tEar during
lIt luNN - WV fiAAANh ~ NbFAt 'NAl WV lItN-
ton Of the British Government in this snprems
crisis In India, with nearly sixty millions ~
people in the grip Of hunger. plague and cholera.
The Russian Government spent close on sl2O.-
600, 900 of its spare resources 10 relieve the dis
trers Of It's moujiks, while the scanty relief
below the prison Standard which the British
Indian Government gives its starving ryots
Is taken out of'their own taxation or from bor-
rowings which they will have to make good
out OF their future earnings, the land revenue
being the main source Of the Indian Govern
ment's income.
The Indian press. growing holder as the crisis
increases In gravity, further points out that
while the British Government gives no active
aid to its Indian subjects In their extremity,
it makes no remittances Of taxes, as was GUS
tomary under the native rulers In times Of dis
tress, but vigorously exacts the last fraction
OF taxation due by the Impoverished ryots.
England to pay what are called the home
charges" among them such a charge a. s2s,-
$780, 600 exacted annually to pay the cost Of MAIN
tenance In England Of the depots OF regiments
serving in India. II Is estimated that the total
drain from India to England this year will
amount to not less than sSO, 900. 600. for which
no commercial return or equivalent in any
shape whatever will be made; the total sim
ilarly distracted during the last twenty years
being put at the stupendous figure Of s2.soo,-
100000. 1t Is such hard, incontrovertibie
and protests-for they are nothing more as yet
of the Indian press and Indian public speakers
on Indian affairs. The only Offset TO what
England takes out OF India officially, as de-
scribed, is a private relief fund up to date Il
about l,750,0OQ But that, with cheers for
the monsoon, Is obviously insufficient TO meet
the requirements Of the situation