The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-06-26
BRITISH M1sRUsLE
Has impoverished India and Produced
Terrible Far1ines.

Has impoverished India and Produced
Terrible Famines.
In letter to the New York Times,
Charles E. Russell, thus tells of the
"benevolence" of British rule in India
and how it may be easily determined
by reference to few ascertained and
indubitable facts. He says that Great
Britain has been in practical or abso-
lutte control of Indian affairs for a
century and a half, and that the fol-
lowing results are apparent:
The percentage. of illiteracy among
the Indian people is very large. The
country has repeatedly been swept by
terrible famines, all Of them prevent
able. It has been visited, by epidemics,
such as the bubonic plague, prevent
able and always controlled and sup
pressed by eficient government. 1t is
poor and steadily growing poorer.
With unusual advantages for the de-
velopment of manufacturing. the man.
ufacturing interests have ,languished
and vast hordes ,ct people suffer from
unemployment. While. the whole
trend of modern evolution in gov
ernment has been toward more demo.
cracy, the government Of India re-
mains an absolute despotism. The
system. of taxation is oppressive and
unjust. and in some particulars, as,
for example, the%salt> tax, is merely
barbarous.-
Against these facts undeniable in
the mind of every!lunpre1udiced person
who has. ever visited India. are urged
these points: That the government Of
India has beens nenencial because IT
has been .Brittstaand g1ittsb sovsrin :
ment is always beneficial, That with
out Britisherule tie various states and
tribes Of 1ndiasweuh u war gppn each
other: That .thes lroblen s9{fs ri Indian
government 'r, i'is ss,sss sseEn fH. ;vers;, complex
and dtmcudit, sead ss +. sheula,s ME- a,s;. make
wide all9WanHs Vans te .
Fsna q 9, .apas d sthe fail, u
ures. X -; 4t'.. - r
I know, Of nothias nrore sRsstffsiSSrdin-
ary than that anysAeaeriean+s should be
Influenced. on anN Jsxeh !sfeuKds to
think or: speak tolerantly Roe A1aibso1ut-
ism. Can there, be .tn' this aMorid at
this: day any such thing as d: tb1erable
despetism? And. if America. does not
stand now and always for free govern
nent everywhere, will some one kind
ly tell me what she does stand for ?
The idea that We are to applaud alb
solutism' because it. is British seems
somewhat refreshing. What have we
to. do with that? We are not called
upon to admire an autocracy because
It is Russian, or another because it
is Afghan. There is no more reason
why we should tolerate it because It
is. British. Autocracy is autocracy.. by
whatever name it be called, and wher-
ever 1t may be 1t is. loathsome hateful,
retrogressive and poisonous to the
people who live under it.
How is. it possible to maintain tn
British rule, essentially and for no
other reason than its names. means
benevolence, when I'VE remember Ire
land and the South African repub-
lies? AS to the details of British
rule in India, beg attention to these
considerations. Take famines as one
illustration. Famines in India are
caused by. interruption or shortage of
the water supply. The total annual
rainfall, If 1t were conserved and dis
tributed. would always be enough for
the country's needs. The money ex-
pended upon the military establish
ment would, have covered the famine
district with irrigation bitches and
made famine impossible. BY what pro-
cess of casuistry is it possible to
contemplate this fact, to. consider that
within thirty years the annual ex-
penditure for the military establish
ment has risen from S3o,o0o,ooo tc
$1oo,ooo,oo0. and then to defend the
policy of Great Britain in India?
The whole country Is the abode Of
poverty and misery, ignorance anc
destitution. Nowhere else on thii
earth, except in the east end of Lon.
don. can you see. an equal depth Of
degradation. To 60 through the popu.
lous regions of any Indian city under
British rule is to be made sick at heart
that human beings should dwell ir
such conditions. After a. century and
a half Of British rule the state o.
the masses Of the Indian people is a
least as dreadful as 1t was befor'
British rule began, Thenad~hat is thu
use of splitting hairs habeut-'soed I'm:
tentions? Tire he'll. Of India as pavet
with them, pnd has. beesr' since. TIM
L