Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-17
THE EMPIRE OF INDIA
XIV-TYRANFQY OF THE CASTE SYSTEM
By Frederic L Haskin

/ hope of a rise in caste to any tribe or
caste which will abandon the remar-
! riage of widows and which viii lnsti-
tute the custom of infant marriage.
Hence whole sections of the country
where the twin enormities were not
known have adopted these terrible
practices within the last few years.
They have been rewarded by the Brah-
mans, who have moved the whole caste
up peg or two In the scale of social
precedence.
There is a reform movement among
the more highly educated followers Of
the Hindu religion which deplores the
existence of caste and all its attendant
evils. But, queerly enough, that re-
form movement has now become q
caste by itself. More than hundred
great castles in India have been formed
in just that way-by a revolt against
the system The reformers were
Stunned by their fellows, were forced
to marry within their own circle, ana
in time became a new caste. Buddhism
was a reform movement in the Hlndu
religion, but 1t refused to accept the
caste system, and hence was banished
entirely from the land which gave 1t
birth.
The present race of Hindu reformers,
although they are already accounted
separate caste, are loud in their denun-
Citations of the evils of the caste sys-
rem, lneN declare llldl II lldS -picAtSNN
disunion and disCord that 1t has made
honest manual labor contemplate ana
therefore retarded industrial progress;
that it has brought on physical degen-
eracy by confining marriage TO mar
row circle; that 1t has suppressed IN
dividuality; and that, by affording op-
portunity of culture to only few Sc
| lected people, 1t has caused the mental
! degeneracy of the masses.
The rules of the caste system are as
numerous as the sands of the seas. But
there is always vein of practieal
| worldly wisdom in their constitution
! which indicates that they are made or
the Rrahman, by the Brahman, for the
Brahman. The noble twice born Is
| nolluted il a mason or carpenter or
! leather worker approaches within
twenty-four feet of his honorable per-
son. A maker of intoxicants pollutes
him at forty-elght feet, while man
who has committed the crowning enor-
mitv of eating beef will pollute at
distance of slxty-four feet. Yet IL any
of these unclean beings has money TO
nav to the twice born" the rule or
poilution is abrogated until after the
settlement. ,.
THE twice born" may not take water
from the hands of any but certain or
the selected castes, and food must
come from one of their own high rank
Rut this rule does not include confec-
TONERS, perfume vendors, BARRIERS ana
betel nut sellers. Then, as crown
ing work OF the practical code maker,
soda water. ice, patent medicines ana
soda crackers are declared to be in
capable of transmitting pollution.
Therefore the hungry and thirsty
"twice born" may permit anybody 10
serve him. But in all India there IS
no barber or laundryman who would
degrade himself by serving an outcast
The preparation of food is a sacred
ceremonial for the "twice born and
for all but the lowest castes. II the
shadow OF a person of lower caste fails
upon it, it must be thrown away ana
not eaten. If the shadow of a person
who eats beef falls upon 1t, not only
the food, but the vessels containing IL,
must be destroyed. 1t is curious that
these strict rules concerning cooked
food are still insisted upon, in spite OF
the great latitude permitted the Brah-
man in the use of cold drinks and ready
made foods, as indicated by the list
of substances which will not transmit
pollution. ,,.,,
All of the castles have traditional.
trade calling, upon which the origin OF
the clan is based. The Brahmans are
all priests in theory. but many of them
are cooks in the kitchens OF the de-
spised Christian. In one section OF In
dia only per cent of the Brahmans
engage in the priestly calling. There
Is a leather working caste, OF which
only 5 per cent work in leather. Among
some of the peculiar occupauonal
castles is that of the hail averters.'
A village which employs one of this
caste will be protected from destruc-
tive hail storms. Naturally, the mem
bers of this caste stick to their calling
More than fifty years ago the prisoners
in the jails of northern India were put
to work weaving carpets. The food
was good the hours easy and there was
no danger of famine. So the sons or
the iail weavers committed offenses
with the express purpose of getting
into 1ail. And now there Is we'll de-
fined "tail caste" which gives the au-
thorities no little trouble.
At the present time the caste system
is the most formidable obstacle in the
path of the patriots, both Anglo Indian
and native Indian, who are striving for
genuine reform in the Indian govern
ment 1t is tyranny more cruel than
any despot could invent, and by dleaV-
ing to it the Hindus cut themselves on
from all hope of liberty.
TOmorrOw-The Empire of India. AN-
Christianity and Its Spread.