The Washington times., 1906-04-15
London SIu111S Not So Bad
As in Days Not Far Gone
Marked Improvement Since Lord ShafteS-
bury Began His Crusade-DeSircd Re-
forms i'm India
By LADY HENRY SOMERSET.

LONDON, April 1--we are apt
sometimes to be pessimistc as to The
social conditions OF our time and when
that mood overtakes us IL is well TO
turn TO the past.
A picture has just come into my
hands, drawn in 1913. of a rookery in
ST. Giles. In the west central part Of
London. IL is perfectly impossible to
conceive of the state OF things that is
there depicted. The pigs are feeding in
the street. men are lying drunk across
the roadway. women and children are
squatting like animals on the dirty
pavement.
The streets are so narrow that hands
could be clasped from the upper win
dcws. and amid all this tumble-down,
dilapidated, degrading life the children
were growing into men and women.
Such was the state OF London when
the great Lord Shaftesbury first COM
menced his work, and. although the
slums of London are still a blot upon
our civilization, the Improvement IS so
extraordinary and the change so mark
&c, that ii must give hope as to what
can be accomplished in the future. II
the persevering work of a few brave
men and women in the past has wrought
such transformation through these
years.
The danger Is lest complacent self
congratulation should stay the progress
which ought still 10 be made. for much
is left TO be desired. although We may
thankfully admit that much has been
accomplished.
Wherein India Differs.
We are apt to be severe with other
nations as 10 the peculiarities either
Of religion or custom which we believe
10 be different from our own; but
human nature is much the same all
the world over. The eyes OF many have
lately been turned eastward and have
watched the progress OF the heir ap-
parent to the imperial throne OF India
making his stately progress through
that magnificent land
The other day on the little white
washed wall of a mission building the
following sentence was painted: Christ
Is our salvation. Caste is our curse"
For centuries the reformers of India
have in vain been endeavoring to i'm
press this upon the Oriental mind The
Brahmo SOmag and the Arya Somag
have preached the equality OF all men
in spiritual things. but little by little
the nonconformists have returned to
orthodoxy and have been reconciled
again to things as they were. The
Catholics have not insisted on caste be-
ing broken by their converts when a
man joins the western church.
The highest of all castles is the Brah-
man. who is the priest. while the Raj
puts are the knights descended from the
northern conquerors of the Aryans, who
came from beyond the great mountain
chains. The Brahnan IS of light brown
skin, small in build. with delicate. clear
ly cut features, and can be easily dis
tinguished from the more swarthy
peasant
The whole OF Indian society is divided
and subdivided by these class distinc-
tions, and the two great barriers which
hedge round the various castles are the
essential functions of eating and marry
ing. The higher the caste of the Hindoo
the more burdensome are the rules of
caution as TO taking his food The
humblest woman who carries home her
little mess OF pOrridge in a bowl could
not eat her frugal meal had the viceroy
so much as happened to brush the brass
vessel which contained her food; but
the difficulties which surround The mar
riage of a daughter are the most intri-
cate which can be met
Why Girl Babies Are Unwelcome.
The negotiations, however, consist
mainly OF an outlay In cash. A lump
L. a. L.