The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-02-25

Bombay-India has long been re-
/ garded as the best example Of colonial
rule in The world II has become the
fashion when speaking Of the govern
ment Of a subject race TO quote from
English experience IN India. The rea-
son why the British have been the &C
Cepted authorities is because there has
Eeen no one To dispute their word. Our
English cousins have S0Dbled up SO
much of the earth's surface that there
IS not much left for the res of US 20
experiment with.
But since other powers began TO ac-
QuiTe territory here and there and to
expand their tTE de. the policy of john
Bull has been more closely scTutinized
than heretofore, often with results that
are anything but soothing to English
pride It has been shown that Great
Britain's grasp upon the worlds COM
merca Is surprisingly insecure, which
discovery tends to raise the plausible
doubt that he fabric of her colonial
system may not be as substantial as It
has been regarded. That the English
themselves are impressed with the ox-
ceIIence of their administration may
be shown from the following utJeranCe
OF one of their authorities
"The Peaceful Husbandman."
British rule in India has been dis
tinguished by the inestima bic blessings
II mas conferred in security, justice and
material development The IawLess
-hordes who once Tavished the land from
end TO end hive been suppressed. The
peaceful husbandman has no longer to
keep his spear and bUckler within reach
while guiding MS plow OF reaping his
crop. The vigil2nt Waterman IN tower
or tree, prepared to give warning of the
distant simmer of lerces. Is no moro
needed. The village walls with bas-
lions and emOTdSuTeS nave become an
anachronism to a generation whose
grandfathers covered behind them for
shelter from their enemies"
II is true that he husbandman is no
longer exposed to 'shimmering lances, -
but there is another worthy that even
the man up a tree cant escape. and
that is the tax collector The native Of
India IS oppressed today as surely As
ever, the only difference being an i'm
provement in the system. The 'lawless
hordes" referred to above were the
Persians. Greek. MOngOl and Afghan
cOpquerOrs who successfully poured
through the passes of the northwest
frontier, and spread over the land on
their hostile incursiOns
Like these early invaders England
possesses India by conquest. the only
difference I'm her plan of procedure De
ing that, after reducing the population
Ie SuD4llASSiDn ug lllt fsDlu- SLfE SUt
about the collection Of toll by more ap-
proved and systematic methods than
were known 10 her predecessors. II is
easy to show that the ''inestfmable
blessings of British rule" have reverted
principally TO the English themselves.
No other conclusion can be drawn when
IT is found that after this supposed be
nevOlent government has been in ef-
feet for a century, IS per cent Of the
vast population are still illiterate and
living in a state Of poverty almost be
yond the comprehension Of G resident
of the western world
Poorest People on Earth.
The Moguls forced their slaves to
work without pay, but gave them their
food. The English are hardly more
generous. for under their regime the
scale of wages for farm labor averages
only 4 cents 4 day, out of which the
man must provide for the wants or his
family This is more significant when
it is understood that 20 per cent of the
population OF India are aEriculturists
The conditions of rural India are below
even the low standard Of comfort ex-
listing IL other Asiatic countries. The
dwellings of the people are mud huts.
containing no beds. chairs or furniture
They use eaTthenware utensils and
their children 60 naked. The only
clothing which the adults can afford
is cotton cloth. The poor quality
and scant allow ance of food IS mo-
Gated by the estimate that whole fam
flies living on the best land are forced
TO exist on an expenditure or cenJs
a day. Is it not difficult TO understand
how conditions could have been worse
in the days when the 'Gawless hordes
ravaged the iard"2
While the state Of the rural Indian IS
deplorable, the circumstances Of the