The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1907-02-21
THE CURSE OF INDIA
CASTE, WHICH FIXES THE STATUS
OF EVERY HlNOoO.

no Man Can Rise From the Class,
However Unelean, In Which He
Was Born-Neither 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 "untouchable,"
but from whatsoever class man be
born In he has no escape but death.
Children born in an "unclean" 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 "unclean;" their
descendants will be ''unclean" till the
end of the chapter.
To give few illustrations from
many, weaver Is less "unclean' than
a carpenter, carpenter is above
house cleaner, house cleaner is above
a street cleaner. and a street cleaner Is
above a 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; above
the tradesmen Is the useless and now
almost idle warrior class; above the
warriors Is the Brahman or priestly
class, and with these grand divisions
the structure of the system is COM
plete.
Wealth or material situation or sue
cess has nothing to do with the caste OF
any man. You may hire for your COOK
or valet a Brahman of the purest strain
serene, who for weeks before you en-
gagged him may have been on the verge
of starvation. The meager beggar to
whom YOU toss aims In the road may
be of a very high caste. The well fed
groom, resplendent In gorgeous livery.
flashing by on carriage that covers
the beggar with dust, Is very likely OF
a caste mile below the beggar. Time
no more than effort can break down
these walls of division. One OF the
wealthiest and most distinguished fam
flies In Calcutta, the famous Tagore
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 for
their numerous charities and benefac-
tons. One exerted himself all his life
to further native education. Another
helped to endow Calcutta university.
All are enormously rich, and all bear
envlable regulations for goodness, hon.
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 were 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 Hindoo conf
pared with the loss Of caste. Many a
HIndoo that In the old days would
yield nothing to the most fiendlsh tor
lures quickly surrendered bis secrets
when threatened with something that
would contaminate hlm-a piece or
cowskin, perhaps, or glass OF water
that had been touched by parlah. In.
/ suppose, thousands Of cases persons
that have hopelessly 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 or deliberately starved.
Three Brahman girls who had been
degraded by Mussulman went before
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
man beneath her. AS loss Of caste by
one member of the family degrade'
the others also, her eldest son imme
diately swallowed poison and died
and his remaining brethren fed tn
country.
A husband shares wife's degrada
ton. A wife goes down the steps wit
husband. For more than 100 year
a Brahman family of Santlpur ha
been outcaste because one member fe
In love with the daughter Of a shoe
maker.-Charles Edward Russell ]
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