The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-08

| learned to speak English. have learned
| the story of the European struggle LOT
/ free government, have learned the les
/ son Of sacrifice and the truth that the
/ source of all power lies with the people
/ All Of the unrest in India mas louhu 5tS
/ origin among those educated lndlans VINO
/ habitually and constantly SPEAK iedu'
| write and think in English ,
| The secondary cause of the unrest Is the
| new sense of mower which was the POI
/ ton of every Asatic country IN the fruits
/ of Japan's victory over Russia. japan
! adopted western wavs and western meth
1 DDS less than fifty years ago, Inula llas
/ been studying the occident Tor more llld l!
/ o century. The Indians have seen tAst y
/ Is possible for an AsiatlC nation 10 lO-u
/ its own in battle against a power Of Eu-
/ rope, both on land and sea ne tiieui
1 that the orient is in perpetual bondage u
/ Europe has been smashed
! Another contributing cause OF the IN
! rest is the American occupation Of the
/ Philippines. Fifty-One years ago England
/ promised the Indians share N theI,
/ government. That prCmlse is only no"
/ about to be fulfilled in part-a concession
/ on the heels of a period of unrest and
| disturbances. The United States prom
/ ised the Filipinos ultimate set-soFeIh-
/ ment and actually granted them an ei i
I tive legislative assembly before the Illsl
/ ten years of occupation was ended Inc
/ Indian patriotic speakers and writer's
I have made much of this fact.
These are the chief underlying causes
! of the unrest The direct causes, OF
/ course, were the specific complaints MADE
/ against the British government Dotn OF
/ things done and things left undone- ne
! chief Of these specific complaints Is tnat
/ the government has utterly dlSresarU5u
/ the opinion of the Indian public
! The administration of Lord Curzon, re-
/ markable for its strenuOsity, brought TINS
/ issue to a head when it was decided 10
| divide Bengal into two provinces despite
/ the protests of the Bengalese expressed IN
| every possible manner. Lord CurzOn Wor-
| shipped efficiency. He cut G0rdlan KNOTS
/ Of red tape which had fettered the indian
I administration since the era OF SOOoe-
/ quill pens and London company rule lie
| found Englishmen quicker to take hoId
| of radical reforms and more apt 70 IN
/ deTstand his views. Therefore, IN the IN
/ terest of efficiency, native OIficerS We're
/ ousted He told eminent Indians VINO came
/ to see him that he believed that beneV-
| client despotism was the best government
| for India, that One-man rule was the Sc
/ cret of efficiency, and acted upon tnaI
| principle.
He planned several great reforms
| which would have been Of immense Dene-
fit to the agricultural population, but lew
! of them advanced beyond the paper stage
/ Not being willing to divide the hOnors OF
1 ruling with the chief Of the army, ano
/ being utterly unwilling to listen 10 adNlct
from native leaders, Lord Curzon AMEN
ated both Englishmen and educated Nd
/ tives He left India amid the reJoicings
of both classes. and the poor peasant
| whom he honestly endeavOred to helE
| doesn't know his name.
| Lord CurzOn held the famous Durbal
at Delhi to ceie brate the accession OF
/ Edward VII TO the royal and lmperla
throne, spending lakhs and lakhs OF
/ rupees on a magnificent spectacle at tht
| very time thousands and thousands OF
| people were starving to death in the lam
( ine-stricken districts. He organized grea'
/ systems of famine relief, but ne would no.
| consent to listen to petitions which asked
/ him to relieve the Indian agricuituTls1
| from the burden of rigid and OnerOus tax
/ alton.
| The question Of taxation is the prime
factor in the present agitation for home
| rule. When the Indians are given NOlce
in their government, they Will reform tins
land tax system. In a broad sense, al
the southern half Of India is divided into
| small land holdings upon Whlch the IaIIi
/ er pays taxes directly to the government
| In the northern portion Of India the taxes
are paid by landlords, who IN turn colIec1
from their tenants.
| The principle of taxation IS that tbs
! government shall take half of what is
/ left of the product of the soil after tht
! expense Of cultivation has been PAID
/ Whether collected from landlord or small
farmer, this system of taking 80 per cent
of the net produce of the land is adhered
to. In the ancient Indian days the Tar
| was collected in produce. But now, OF
I course il is taken in money A calcu
taElOn IS IOaue anu TIE EctlllldlCl SACAA vi
the land is put down in a book to stand as
/ the measure of taxation for term Of
/ say, thirty years. II the crop is an en-
| tire failure the taxes must be paid just
the same. In some instances IN the las
few years there have been remittances OF
taxtion in famine districts, but as a gen
eral thing this high tax is collected Will
/ rigorous exaCtiIude.
Only in the province Of Bengal are
taxes light. That condition is the result
1 of a permanent settlement made in 1l9'
by Lord CORVALLIS. then governor gen.
eral of India. He fixed rate of taxa
ton by which the government got q
! per cent of the net produce of the farms
This meant terrible oppression at the
I time, but fortunately for Bengal he made
the settlement permanent Now that the
value Of the farm products has increased
greatly, and the tax remains fixed IN
terms of money al nine-tenths OF the cash
/ value Of the produce in 1893, the Benga
I farmers have to pay a comparatively
/ small tax. Therefore Bengal is the mosl
prosperous Indian province. more OF us
I sons have been educated, and II is more
I widely permeated with unrest
! Another cause of complaint is the charge
ated friction between Hindus and Mos
lens. On every hand in India one hears
[ the statement that the English would
I have to leave India tomorrow If the Hin
dus and MOhammedans ceased lighting
I each other and presented a united front
The principle of divide and rule has
been invoked more Jnan once, no uOuDI
in the administration of India by the En-
[ glish, but it is folly to charge the Brlt
ish government with responsibility for the
age-lOng strife between these religions.
The contemptuous treatment OF Indians
by English residents in India is cited a:
another cause of discomfort. Not only il
( matters Of government, but in every Othel
{ aspect of life the Englishman proclalms
his superiority with every act He vii
/ not associate even with the pure-blOOdaC
I Engiishman who had the misfortune tC
I be born in India. even as he will not ad
nit that an Australian or Canadian j;
quite his equal The Indians resent this
attitude on the part of the English. al
I though the orthodox Hindu would rather
cut his own throat than 10 accept an in
/ vitation TO dine with an unclean CHRIS
tan In this matter there IS much 10 bt
said on both sides. The Brahman pro
claims his superiority over an other men
treats the low caste native with indignity
and then. with naive inconsistency de
mands that the Engiishman shall treai
/ all men as equal
It is after all. a matter Of education
/ The English have taught the Indian;
T their language And with the Language
/ came the stories of the great reforms anc
I revolutions OF the western World-the
7 names of Hampden. Burke Russell. Grey
I and Gladstone as well as those Of Wash
| ington Mazzini and Garibaldi- EverS
J Bengal student knows the history Of par
liamentary reform in England as well a;
+ he knows the events Of the week in Cal
cutta He knows that England could moi
I keep Canada and Australia for a fort
( night II Il did not grant those colonies the