New-York tribune., 1906-05-12

4
OF the Punjab-a gift the value Of which can
! not be appraised in rupees or pounds and one
which Is likely 70 prove prolific Of more kinds
than corn, horses and camels-is the freedom
to think as they choose and 20 say what they
think" lie cites. by way of illustration, meet
Ing Of natives held in Lahore to protest against
the proposal OF the municipality TO present a
farewell address and a costly cashet 20 Lord
CuFzon There was no objection TO honoring
the late vieeroy as the representative Of the
King Emperor. but there was evidence Of a
strang feeling against honoring him in his In
dlviduai capacity. There had been" Che quotes
one Of the spealzers) "some vIceroys impeFvieus
ana reaetionary-for example. Lords Lytton and
bunerin-but no one. except Lord Curzen, had
ever thought OF insulting or offending the sus-
capabilities OF the people by calling them liars,
| hypoerites and the like He had gone 20 the eN-
tent OF saying that their religious books
did not teach unadulterated truthsl"
MP. Abbott Is careful not 20 appear 20 ObtTude
his own views in regard to questions OF political
policy administration. and his favorite
method of handling such questions as they crop
up In his narrative is to give both sides and 20
leave the reader TO draw his own conclusions
ft is generally not difficult. however, 20 deter
mine his individual attitude He is evidently
| strong believer in encouraging the people OF
India to as great a degree of self-government
that the existence OF a well governed native
state is a real benefit. not only 70 the stability
Of our rule, but because, more than anything
it raises the self-respect OF the natives and
forms an ideal TO which the popular feelings
aspire. Whatever treaties or engagements may
be entered into. I hope that shall not be
looked upon by gentlemen Of the Liberal party
as very revolutionary II I say the welfare OF
the people Of India must overrule them all"-
the author says in comment:
To my inexperienced ear this sounds suspiciOusly
like sense But do not wish 20 dogmatize In the
TUsrs TUHSS Ike R he M9haraa f Of Kashmr whom words
!s ynen they try 70 express tneiT sDd
have eome across rulers who curtly. said: 1T is
as css we gSs SS 0vo ST our b oca and
the lat latter are seoTed at The 1pofca1 s ana .Tye Ta
and the latter self-respecting
II is in this wise that the author pays his re-
spects 10 the Anglo-I Indian official class:
The bureaucratic machine works on, from years
enc 70 Eesgs enG grinding oTqeE out out
OF starvation, twilight out of utter darkness and
yet failing to the love Of the people on whose
REASON for Which the Briton fails to earn the love
s 0 %SFf 2EfE II sSpd Is ans sow ana
self complacent; yet, in the main. an honest and,
" ma e e ~ e Ga n Doubt Su Tumb
on smoothly enough, happy in doing the days work
Word DOUBT their abhorrence, eifadmiTation their
Of genius strays into the Indian government jun
giles that the tragedy arises Fortunately men OF
genius are not very common In india.
An allusion to the honoFs conferred upon the
AGaharaja of Jaipur for his loyalty during the
rnutiny. when he was rewarded with the grant
Of the Pargana Of Kot Kasim, with the privi-
lege Of adoption, and with knighthood, while
later his energy and liberalty during the great
famine earned him two additional guns in sa~
lutte, affords Mr.. Abbott an opportunity OF ex-
pressing his own views Of the Oriental charac-
ter as contrasted with the general British con-
ception Of it He says:
oaeoe thss % o our sRoTy fsnES Se n the
OrientaIs capacity for mistaking the shadow ,toT
INDUCED to excess. fruitful Of many failures both
IN oI6en times m s ana & az ShEs rs pss pe as cbiId he
certainly is quite as shreWd Those among my my
some memory of that golden age, will agree with
me that profound reverence foT the goTeePneess govern s
her weaknesses There is better school for satire
than the schoolroom unless II be an Oriental bazaar
With such and similar reflections does the au-
thor illuminate the princes passage through
the variegated patchwork of the Indian Empire,
pausing now and again 20 dilate upon native
manners and customs. There elaborate
durbar at Indore which possesses in the hospi-
tai within the limits Of the resdency peculiarly
useful institution to the ladies Of that princi-
pality, since it is famed far and wide" accord
ing to Mr. Abbott, for its success in providing
five hundred new noses year to a correspond
ing number of Indian wives. who have had the
misfortune to quarrel with their lords
It Is a curious, eonjugal custom, this Of nose
MRen % believe an ha m prnar
ing initiate his sentimental versatility he
send her decentIy to the bottom of the sea- as the
Turkish peehas are are supposed to & d9 He Is content
toned by immemorial tradition and connived at by
the law. or at most punished a little misde
meanor, has many merits to recommend II. II
regain his seifrespect Without fuss esS or expense
The lady on the other hand. thanks to the Eng.
her less. She repairs straight to the hospital car
lying W agr or &q & up na in c peee
enough to hnd it, II 1t is trretrievably lost. she
is only matter of a few days Repairs over the
wife returns the worse If little the wiser for
nose-until next time.
Exactly how accurate a representation this is
Of the actual functions of the hospital it is not
easy to determine. OF course. If the author
speaks from his own observation and knowledge.
we must accord him unquestioning belief: but If
he speaks only from hearsay, it is possible that
he has been misled in regard TO some at least. of
the details. He has certainly in one instance
fallen victim to the wiles of his mentor the
Old Resident who has passed off on him as
actual and recent occurrence in the life of lady
elephant owned by the Nizam Of Hyderabad. the
we'll known fable of THE Elephant and the
Motherless Quais," evolved out of his fertile
Imagination by the late lamented George 7.
Lanlgan. The elephant, it will be remembered.
having inadvertently stepped upon a parent
quail frightened from her nest by the approach
Of the ponderous pachyderm, was overcome by