The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-07-03

England continues u 1cuE To the II
dams any form II representative OF
/ Constitutional government.
Tn people u India are taxed bu.
I they have no voice ia the amount t.
be collected or III the use To be mar-
/ Of the revenue. They pay into tn.
government nearly 1928, 600. GOO Il
year. and OF this nearly 800 600 0Ga
is expended upon an army i'm which
| Indians cannot t. officers. Ii is not
necessary % keep such an army t.
hold the teople in subsection If tn
Indians are really satisfied with En-
gtish rule. and # the army is Intended
to keep Russia from taking India. ~
l. sometimes claimed. why should not
the British government bear a part
Of the burden Would ii not be wise.
10 SO attach the Indian people To the
British government that they would
themselves resist annexation to Rus
STA
The home charges, as they are calf
ed, absorb practically one-third Of the
entire revenues. About $1Co, 600. 00o
go out Of India - England every year.
and over Sl5,o00,0O0 are paid to Eu
ropean officials in the civil employ.
What nation could stand such a dram
without impoYerishment?
Taxation is nearly twice as heavy fl
India as in England in proportion 10
the income Of the people. Compared
with the people of other countries, the
Indians income is. on an average one
twentieth Of the average English
income, o~ne-seventh Of the average
Spaniard'S income, one-Sixth Of the
average Italians ICON one-ffth OF
the (European) Russians income and
one-half of the income of the Turk.
Sir Henry Cotton shows that the aver
age per capita deposit in banks I'm
England is 800, while the average PEI
capita deposit in India is 80 cents.
bIt how ear tho Indian he aXpactaJ -,
ave Il large bank account when the
average yearly income is only ten
dollars? | AVE. in another article,
referred to the jeWelry worn by IN
dian women The bracelets ana ank-
lets are silver. except among the
poorest, and this was formerly a form
Of boarding. but the suspension of the
coinage Of silver deprived the people
Of the privilege Of converting this
boarded silver into rupees.
1t Will be remembered that the late
Senator Walcott, q member of the
monetary commission appointed by
President Mckinley in 1897, on his re
turn from Europe declared that the
suspension of the coinage of silver III
India had reduced the value Of the
savings of the people to the amounI
of $500, 600. 900. The suspension Wa.
carried out for the benefit OF Eu-
ropean interests regardless of the Wet
fare of the masses. J
Sc great has been the drain, the IN
justice to the people and the tax upon
the of the country. that fam
ines have increased in frequency ami
severity. Mr.. GOkhale. one of The
ablest of India's public men. presided
over the meeting Of the last Indian ia
tiOnal congress (held in DeCrmberl
and declared in his opening speech
that the death rate had steadily risen
from "A to the 1000 in 1881 to 80
i'm SnD-1 01al ~ , A - thN- r1En -r.r 4
time. | have more thar once within,
the last month heard the plague re-
ferred to as a providential remedy for
over-population. Think of it. British
rule justified because lit keeps the
people from killing each other" and
the plague praised because it removes
those whom the government mas saved
from S~laughteri
The railroads with all their advan-
tages have been charged with addiag
to the weight of famine by carrylna
away the surplus grain in good years,
leaving no residue for the yeas III
drought. While grain can now L. ear
ried back more easily in times of
scarcity, the people are too poor 70
buy it with two freight5 addad. The
storage Of grain by the governments 1T
central points until the new crop Is
safe would bring some relief, but it
has not been attempted.
If it is argued that the railroads
have raised the price of grain i'm the
interior by furnishing a cheaper out
let to the sea, it must be remennbercd1
that the benefit has accrued not to the
people, nearly all of whom are ten
ants, but to the landlords, the govern
ment the largest holder.
Not only are the people being I'M
pOVerished, but the land is being worm
out. Manure which ought to be used
to renew the fields is consumed rs
fuel, and no sight is more common
in India than that Of women and chit
dren gathering manure from the roads
with their hands. This, when mixed
with straw and sun-dried, is used in
the place Of wood. and from the
amount of it carried III baskets it must
be one Of the chief articles of mer-
chandise. There are now large
tracts of useless land that might be
brought under cultivation if the irri-
cation system We're extended.
Proof of this is to be found i'm The
fact that the government of
India has already approved of extern
sions which, when made, will pro-
tect 1000. 900 acres. and irrigate
O0O, 00O acres. The estimated cost Of
these extensions is about $45, 0OO. 600
and the plans are to be carried out las
funds are provided" Ten per cent. Of
the army expenditure. applied to ir-
rigation, would complete the system
within five years, but instead Of mill
being reduced, the army
appropriation was increased mora
than $4,000, 600 betWeen 1904 and
1906.
OF the total amount raised from tay-
alton each year about 40 per cent =
raised from land, and the rate is So
heavy that the people cannot save
enough when the crops are good to
feed themselves when the crops are
bad. More than 10 per cent. of the
total tax is collected on salt, which
now pays about fiVe-eighthS of q cent
per pound. This is not only a heavy
rate, when compared with the oripi-
cost of the salt, but is especia0v
burdensome on the poor. The salt tax
has been as high as one cent ner
pound. and when at that rate materi-
ally reduced the amount of salt con-
sumed by the people
The poverty of the people of India
is distressing in the extreme: millions
live on the verge of starvation all the
time. and one would think that Their