The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-14
THE EMPIRE OF
INDIA
<.-Famine's Ever Dreaded Spec
tire.
FREDERIC J. HAsKiN.
Ever Dreaded Spec
Famine's

also looms dnrkly In the future as the
greatest of her problems. Its spectre is
present every year despite elaborate sys-
TENS OF relief. despite donations made BY
rich Indian princes. and despite the I'D
crafty 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 pros
perity is an unjust system Of taxation
which places too large a burden upon the
people who get their living from the soil,
but famine is much older than British
dominance Il must also be admitted tnaL
the presence Of European power, with
such cOnComitants OF European progress
as railway transportation, postal and tel
egraph service, has greatly improved the
situation. Upon the other hand, the ma
tiYes are 20 be credited with habits OF IN
! dustry 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,
meant cannibalism- Later, during the ex-
istence of the Mogul empire, relief meas
ures were not systematic. Bullock carts
or camel trains could not penetrate sec
lions offering no forage or water, and
famine meant depopulation where it
struck In ITO the famine in Bengal car
ried off 100000 In 1888. according to
estimates believed to be conservative,
100000 Of a population OF less tnan IT,
/ 600 600, starved in one province.
1t was only after India passed to the
crown that the organization OF an extern
sive relief system was undertaken since
then work to improve conditions has been
steady, and although famine has by no
means been eliminated, the dimensions or
disaster resulting from crop failure nave
been reduced. During the famine OF 1861
covering an area of 5000 square miles,
with a population Of 20000,000, there were
issued 1900 600 rations, or as il is ex-
pressed in India, that many units were
relieved. Five years later famine visited
ha Of az no ~
dras, affecting a population OF approx
mately $1,000 900. This time relief work
was botched. The gravity Of the. situation
was not appreciated till too late, ana
1000, 900 people persisted
Close upon the heels of this appalling
sacrifice Of human lives came the 1anlne
Of 1S6S-70 in West India. Ratputanas
parched hills could not be traversed by
animai-drawn vehicles, and thousands
died upon the road with their faces
toward relief camps. Then came chOlerd
in the wake OF the 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. Iocusts
destroyed the fall crop raised by the re-
naming Deasantry, tOTrential 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 ana the
United Provinces suffered partial tall-
ure of rain, and in the titanic struggle
that ensued between famine and renei,
800, 600 daily rations for an Individual
were distributed.
Three years later southern India was in
the clutch Of famine. The government
which had been reckless Of expense IN the
previous attempt to save lives, now IN
sisted upon investigations to determine
where relief should be rendered. The re
suit was a strike Of relief workers, ana
while red tape was gone through Win III
an honest effort to betrlend tne sldf ar !lLss
without defrauding the taxpayers OF the
whole country, starvation and resulJanI
fevers killed 100000 persons IN Brltlsn
territory, not including the unnumDereu
deaths in native states.
With the world standing aghast at the
recurrent defamation Of India by starVa-
ton, the first great famine COMMISSION
met in 1878 to formulate upon WORKING
basis a policy offering relief to the real
sufferers without attempting TO give gen
eral relief to persons merely poor ana not
in need of actual sustenance- Inc result
was the provisional famine cOoe, pup
lished in 1885, laying down the principe
that the government in endeaVOrlng 10
save life, Is not obliged TO MAINTAIN IbS
rural population at a norman leNel OF
comfort, and that to do so would De un-
lust to taxpayers and would encourage
Incidence. 80,
An insufficient monsoon in 1896 caused
famine in areas containing about tO,VVV'WV
population, and in British territory alone
lieved. System in this famine resulted IN
great good being accomplished at reason
able cost. The next famine, IN loSS-lsVV,
showed the system to be IN sun III o os t .
working order. Altogether Il4OOOOOO ra-
lions for an individual for day were Is
sued. Notwithstanding this, about LVN'-
600 persons died Of starvation or cRoIeId
due to the pollution of water ana OF ma
Iarial fever resulting from the unusuaI
number Of mosquitoes bred upon the stag
nant water holes. Survivors whose money
was sunk in cattle before the IaIhlne
found themselves Impoverished Receiluy
the relief scheme has been enlargeG 70
deal with the fodder famine as Wen as
the scarcity of food for human beings
While great strides have been MADE,
and field work has been given she"s OF
war from many sources aside from the
United Kingdom and the lndlan govern
ment. the famine problem has not Deen
eliminated. Gradually, but very graodal-
ly, the caste preJudlceS that PIsNgIIL r. r.
lief work from reaching many Hlhdus
are being broken down The hill country
Weavers, who formerly starved rather
than eat at a relief camp lest partakng
of ''unclean" food should destroy t nelI
craftsmanship, have been won over, and
shy, wild tribesmen are learning that II
is better to live upon unortnOdoX 1000
than to be dead Hindus.
Native states are conducting NdIuaOle
relief measures as a result Of the exam
pie Of Europeans, but not until irrigation
extends its benefits to greater portion
Of the sun-baked deforested and densely
populated agricultural country. or the
growth of other native industries draws
a fair proportion of the people from the
land, will famine. and incidental pestl-
IenCe of a dozen varieties, cease 10 make
large periodical reductions of population.
With more physical stamina the Indian
would less quickly sucCumb 10 hunger or
disease, but the race cannot acquire
greater stamina without sufficient nour-
ishment
The frequency of famine in India is
due to the immensely Of a population sub
sisting almost entirely by agriculture in
a country where the tiIers Of the soil
are too poor to save against RAINY
day, if a paradoXical expression may be
used where saving against a rainless day
Is the imperative need. The question is;
| How may the Indian masses become bet
/ ter off financially It is a large ques-
/ tion. readily enough answered by the poll
tician, who says reduce the land reve-
nues collected by the British government
10 maintain her armies for policing, not
| only India, but the Asian OutpOsts Of the
British empire. II is difficult for the
/ dispassionste student Of Indian affairs to
answer finally.
The Indian politicians say that former
! ly war, Tapine and the misrule OF un-
bTidled despots caused famine, and that
/ in these piping times Of peace there
should be no hunger in the land. The