The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-02-27
THE CURSE OF INDIA
CASTE, WHICH FIXES THE STATUS
OF EVERY HlNOOO.

No Nan Gan Rise From the Class,
However Jncican, IN Which, He
Was Born-Ncithcr Wealth Nor Sue
cess Affects the Caste OF Any One.
In the fixed scale Of descent in India
some classes are merely inferior, While
some are "unclean or suntouchable,"
but from whatsoever class & man be
born in he has no escape but death.
Children born in an 'sunslean" caste
remain 'unclean;' children born in an
inferior caste remain as their fathers
were. Nothing that they can do can
in the slightest degree change their
situation. They were born ''unclean;'
their ancestors were s:unclean;' their
descendants will be ''unclean' till the
end Of the chapter.
To give few illustrations from
many, weaver is less .'unclean' than
g carpenter, carpenter is above 4
house cleaner, house cleaner is above
a street cleaner, and street cleaner is
above q pariah or no caste man. Every
trade or occupation has its exact place,
arbitrarily fixed, in the scale Of degra-
dation.
Above all the men that labor with
their hands in whatsoever way are
the tradesmen and shopkeepers, also
with Subdivisions into classes; aoo'7
the tradesnen is the useless anu 40"
almost idle warrior class; ABOVE eHe
warriors is the Brahman or pr1est'S
class, and s.ith these grand DIVISIONS
49, s+-,,c+,Ira of the system is COM
p!ete.
wealth or material situation or sue
,ass has nothing to do with the caste OF
,nv man. You may hire for your cook
,-yalet a Brahman Of the purest strain
serene, who for weeks before you en-
raced him may have been on the verge
of starvation. The meager beggar 20
whom you toss aims in the roaa may
be Of a very high caste. The Well ieo
groom, resplendent in gorgeous livery
flashing by on carriage that covers
the besgar with dust, is very likely OF
a caste a mile below the beggar. lime
40 more than effort can break down
these walls Of division. One OF the
vealthiest and most distinguished fam-
lilies in Calcutta, the famous Iasore
family, lost caste about two centuries
ago. Members Of this family have re-
ceiyed honor from the government,
have conferred great benefits upon city
and country and have been noted Ior
their numerous charities and benefac-
tons. One exerted himself all MS LIE
to further native education. Another
helped to endow Calcutta university.
All are enormously rich, and all bear
enviable regulations for goodness, non
esty and philanthropy. But the wall OF
caste has never fallen for them. They
are still hated and avoided by their
countrymen exactly as they we-e at
the beginning Of their exclusion. In the
streets Of Calcutta is many a ragged
artisan that would not sit on the same
bench with Tagore or touch the end
Of his robe.
Pain, suffering penury, even death
itself. is nothing to the dindoo COM
pared with the loss Of caste. Many
HinGoo that in the old days would
yield nothing to the most fendish tor
lures quickly surrendered his secrets
when threatened with something that
would contaminate him-a piece Of
cowskin, perhaps, or a glass Of water
that had been touched by pariah. In,
I suppose, thousands Of cases persons
that have hcpelessly lost their caste
have abandoned their homes and wan
dered miserably along the roads until
death overlook them. Thousands OF
others have thrown themselves into the
Ganges OF deliberately starved.
Three Brahnan girls who had been
degraded by a Mussulman went before
o Judge to demand vengeance and
when the judge declined to interfere
killed themselves in the courtroom
At town called Buj Buj widow
lost caste by falling in love with a
man beneath her. AS loss Of caste BY
one uenDeI= VI Oe IaU41y "0eSi "oSS
the others also, her eldest son lmnne-
diately swallowed poison and died,
and his remaining brethren fed the
country.
4 husband shares a wife's degrade
ton. 4 wife goes down the steps with
q husband. For more than 100 years
a Brahman family Of Santipur has
been outcaste because one member Iell
In love with the daughter Of a shoe
maker.-Charles Edward Russell IN
Cosmopolitan Magazine.