Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-13


lkY m Aal dians of India We're as indo-
lI SkNll lent as the uncivilised In
lA Kz diahs of North America,
liza. GYIMl the British empire would
lk4keuaAs4 have upon its hands today
an almshouse telanted by
nearly fifth of the population of the
world, or a cemetery half as large IN
area as the United States. Famine Is
not only written large across the pages
of Indias history, but also LIONS dark
ly in the future as rh. greatest OF her
problems. It's specter is present every
year. despite elaborate systems of re-
lief, despite donations made by rich
Indian princes. and despite the liber-
ality with which the world opens It's
purse strings when the Indian peasant
is starving.
Native politicians contend that the
great obstacle between their country
and prosperity is an unjust system OF
taxation which places too large bur
den upon the people who get their liV>
ing from the soil but famine is much
older than British dominance. 1t must
also be admitted that the presence OF
a European power, with such concomi-
tants of European progress as railway
transportation, postal and telegraph
service, has gfeatly improved the sit
uation. Upon the other hand, tho ma
tives are to be credited with habits or
industry that have prevented them
from becoming demoralized by relief
measures.
The ancient Indian adage, "The flesh
OF a son is worth more than his love,
comes down from times when famine
meant cannibalism. Later, during the
existence of the Mogul empire, RELIEF
measures were not systematic. Bul-
lock carts or camel trains could not
penetrate sections offering no forage
or water, and famine meant depopula-
ton where it struck In 1770 the fam
iue i'm Bengal carried off 10 600, 600. In
! 1928. according to estimates believed to
be conservative, 100000 of popula-
tion of less than 100000 starved in
one province.
1t was only after India passed to the
crown that the organization of an eX-
| tensiVe relief system was undertaken.
Since then work to improve conditions
has been steady, and, although famine
has by no means been eliminated, the
dimensions of disaster resulting from
crop failure have been reduced. Dur
ing the famine of 1860, covering an area
of $4,000 square miles with popula-
tion of 10000, 900, there were issued 49,
600 900 rations, or, as ii is expressed IN
India, that many "units" were relieved.
Five years later famine visited the
greater part of India north Of Madras,
affecting a population of approximate
Iv 10. 600 600. This time relief work was
botehed The gravity of the situation
was not appreciated till too late, and
100000 people perished.
Close upon the heels of this appalling
| sacrifice of human lives came the
famine of 1S6S-70 in West India.
Rajputana's parchef hills could not be
| traversed by animal-drawn vehicles,
| and thousands died upon the road with
! their faces toward relief camps. Then
came cholera in the wake of famine,
| and when the surviving villagers made
a heroic rally upon the land in the
| hope of early rains the next spring,
| there was no rain and again they
| died by thousands. Locusts destroyed
! the fall crop raised by the remaining
| peasantry torrential rains came in the
later autumn and fever followed the
| flood. 1t was not until 1870 that the
situation was relieved. While the grim
| tragedy of Orissa and Rajputana was
fresh in memory, Bihar, Bengal and
the United Provinces suffered a partial
! failure of rain, and in the titanic
struggle that ensued between famine
and relief, 300, 900 daily rations for
an individual were distributed.
Three years later southern India was
/ III the Clutch VI lCihllhts AiiC 6CfSA a.
ment, which had been reckless of eX-
pense in the previous attempt to save
| lives, now insisted upon investigations
| TO determine where relief should be ten
| dered The result was a strike of re-
! lief workers, and while red tape was
gone through with in an honest eff
fort to befriend the starving without
defraudng the taxpayers of the whole
| country, starvation and resultant
fevers killed more than 100000 per-
sons in British territory, not including
the unnumbered deaths in native
| states.
With the world standing aghast at
the. recurrent decimation of India by
starvation the first great famine COM
mission met in 1878 to formulate upon
a working basis a policy offering re-
lief to the real sufferers without at
tempting to give general relief to per-
sons merely poor and not in need OF
actual sustenance. The result was the
provisional famine code, published in
1883, laying down the principle that the
government in endeavoring to save life
is not obliged to maintain the rural
population at a normal level of COM
| fort, and that to do so would be un-
Just to taxpayers and would encourage
| Incidence.
An insufficient monsoon in 1896
| caused famine in areas containing
about 700O0,OOO population, and in
British territory alone more than $780,
| 900 900 units" were relieved. System In
this famine resulted in great good be-
ing accomplished at reasonable cost