The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-11
THE EMPIRE OF INDIA
VIl.-constitution and Government.
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

Calcutta. Iudia.-There is no more com
pick society in any quarter of the globe
than that Of India. 1t is composed OF a
large number of radically different
classes, races and communities whose d.
vergent interests and antagOniStic sentl-
ments have always prevented common ac-
ton or national unanimity- speaking
more than seven hundred different Ian
guages and dialects. divided into classes
by religious, racial and color lines. further
subdivided by the immutsble tyranny Of
caste; slaves TO hereditary doctrines Of
government;-the people of India have no
notion whatever Of the meaning of ma
tional spirit OF true patriotism.
Broadly speaking. India under British
rule has approached more nearly TO sin
gleness of government than ever before
In its age-lOng history But even under
British rule, each province and commu-
nifty is ruled by q different constitution
and a great part Of the empire is nOt
under the domestic control Of the En-
glsh at all.
India, as officially defined. means all
Of the peninsula bearing that name, north
10 the scientific frontier set by the Him
alaya mountains, and portion Of the
more easterly peninsula which includes
Burma and Assam This vast extent Of
territory is half as large as the United
states in area, and has a population
greater than North and South America
and Africa combined. British India
l-tdlA6 ali LlluL part OF lEQld winch Is d.
rectly under the rule of the British
crown as represented by the king-em-
peror. The balance of the territory is
divided among native states which are
independent in internal administration
but subject to the suzerainty of Great
Britain In all external affairs.
There are no less than III of these ma
tive states, scattered ali over India, from
the south to the north and the east TO
the west They range in size from the
fcudal territory of Hyderbad. which is
about the area Of Kansas and has six
times as much population, to the tiny
principality Of Lava. which has only
nineteen square miles Of territory and
less than 5000 people. In the aggregate
the native states make up one-third Of
the area Of all India, and they have a
population of 65,O00O0o.
One Of the contributing causes Of the
mUtiny Of 1851 was the annexation of the
kingdom of Oudh. When Queen Victoria
assumed the government OF India she de-
clared in her solemn proclamation that
the policy Of annexation had ceased.
Since that time, 1883, no native states in
what was then called India, have been
annexed. Some outlying territories in the
mountains and eastward of Burma have
been added to British India by force but
these are incOnsiderable.
Under the rule of the East India com
pany, the English always pretended TO
govern under the authority Of the deca-
dent Mogul empire. Patents were issued
by the emperor of Delhi giving the com
pany right to rule in sections where the
DEGREES of emperor had no more weight
than would be accorded today to a uka Use
Of the car in Alaska. Yet the British
kept up the show OF submission, and
actually shaped their government along
the lines of the ancient MOgUl pOlity.
Even to this day. Mogul precedents are
examined and consulted in all serious
questions concerning administration. Curl
ously enough, the English adopted ori-
fnN a -Frrf rHvs,H
on occidental law. Therefore the good
old common law of England was i'm
ported and applied, Standardization. to
all the courts of India. Only since the
beginning OF the present unrest has the
English law failed. 1t was found neces-
sary to abolish the right Of trial by jury
in political cases, as otherwise cOnvic-
lions could not be secured.
Thus the already complex society Of In
dla Is made more complex by the Brit
ish rule Two-thirds of the country is
governed by the English; working under
a combination of MOhammedan admin
istrattve procedure enforced by English
law and actually administered, for the
most part, by Hindus who have no sym
PATTY with either the MOgul forms or the
British Jurisprudence. The remaining
third of the country, so far as local al
fairs are concerned, is governed by the
absolute will of III maharajahs, rajahs,
nawabs, begums and other Indian poten-
tates.
In addition to the countless natural
classes and communities which divide In
dia, the libeTality of the British govern
ment in maintaining educational institu-
tons has created an artificial class which
is politically Of more Importance than any
of the others. The native Indian who has
received a degree from the University Of
Calcutta, or other English scholastic in
stitutiOn, commands a higher price in the
marriage market than his more ignorant
fellow; he is protected by his family from
the disgrace of manual labor; he is a lib
eTal in politics and a conservative in re-
ligiOn, and he always wants a government
Job. Even student who has failed to
pass the examinations assumes the de
gree of F. 3. A, meaning failed bach
elor of arts" and his father demands a
higher price from the father Of the girl
who seeks his near-scholarly hand in mar
riage.
The epidemic of anarchy, sedition and
assassination of the recent period of un-
rest has found its origin I'm this English
speaking. highly educated disconnected
class of natives. This same class also has
produced the Indian judges, lawyers,
writer's and statesmen who are now being
given a hand and voice in the remoulding
of the empire. In this educated class.
mum bering about q million in the 100000 600
Of the total population, there is an active
and militant national spirit. But unfOr-