The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-07-08

have learned the story of the Euro-
 pean struggle for free government.
 have learned the lesson of sacrifice and
 the truth that the source of all power lies
 with the people. All of the unrest in
 India has found its origin among those
 educated Indians, who habitually and
 constantly speak. read. write and think
 In English.
 The secondary cause of the unrest is
 the new sense of power which was
 the portion of every Asiatic country in
 the fruits of Japan's victory over Rus-
 sia Japan adopted western ways and
 western methods less than fifty years
 ago. India has been studying with the
 Occident for more than a century. The
 Indians have seen that it Is possible for an Asiatic nation to hold its own in
 battle against a power of Europe. both on land and sea. The theory that the Orient is in perpetual bondage to Flu rope has been smashed.
 Another contributing cause of the unrest Is the American occupation or the Philippines. Fifty-one years ago England promised the Indians a share in their government. That promise is only now about to be fulfilled in part a concession coming on the heels of period of unrest and disturbances. Tho United States promised the Filipinos ultimate seif-government. and actually granted them an elective Legislative assembly before the first ten years of occupation was ended. The Indian pa triotic speakers and writers 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. both of things done and things left undone. The chief of these specific complaints is that the government has utterly disregarded the opinion of the Indian public.
 The administration of Lord Curzon. remarkable for its strenuosity. brought this issue to a head when it was decid- ed to divide Bengal into two provinces despite the protests of the Bengalesa expressed in every possible manner. Lord Curzon worshipped efficiency He cut Gordian knots of red tape which since the era of goose-duill pens and London Company rule. He found Eng lishmen quicker to take hold of radical reforms and more apt to understand his views. Therefore. in the interest of efficiency. native officers were busted. He told eminent Indians who came rr see him that he believed that benevo- ment for India, that one-man-rule was the secret of efficiency. and acted upon that principle.
 He planned several great reforms which would have been of immense benefit to the agricultural population. but few of them advanced beyond the paper stage. Not being willing to di- vide the honors of ruling with the chief of the army, and being utterly unwilling to listen to advice from na- tive leaders, Lord Curzon alienated both Englishmen and educated natives. He left India amid the rejoicinEs of both classes. and the poor peasant. whom he honestly endeavored to heip. doesn't know his name.
 Lord Curzon held the famous Dur bar at Delhi to celebrate the accession of Edward VII to the Royal and Impe- rial throne, spending lakhs and lakhs of rupees on a magnificent spectacle at the very time thousands and thousands of people were starving to death in the famine stricken districts. He organ ized great systems of famine relief. but he would not consent to listen to the petitions which asked him to relieve the Indian Agriculturist from tns burden of rigid and onerous taxation.
 The question of taxation is the prime factor In the present agitation for home rule. When the Indians are giv- en voice in their government they will reform the land tax system. In a broad sense, all the southern half of India is divided into small land hold ings upon which the farmer pays taxes directly to the government. In the northern portion of India the taxes are paid by landlords. who in turn collect from their tenants.
 The principle of taxation is that the government shall take half of what Is left of the product of the soil after the expense of cultivation has been paid. whether collected from landlord or small farmer, this system of taking fifty per cent of the net produce of the land Is adhered to In the ancient Indian days the tax was collected in produce. But now, of course, 1t Is ta- ken in money. A calculation Is made and, the estimated yield of the land Is put down In a. book to stand as the measure of taxation for a term of, say, thirty years. If the crop Is an entire failure the taxes must be paid just the same. In some instances in the last fe wyears there have been remittances of taxation in famine districts, but as a general thing this high tax is col- lected with rigorous exactitude.
 Only in the province of Bengal are taxes light. That condition Is the re- suit of a Permanent Settlement made of India. He fixed rate of taxation by which the government got 90 per cent of the net produce of the farms. This meant terrible op- pression at the time. but fortunately for Bengal he made the settlement permanent Now that the value of farm products has increased greatly, and the tax remains fixed In terms of money at nine-tenths of the cash value of the produce in 1793. the Bengal farmers have to pay a comparatively small tax Therefore Bengal is the most prosper ous Indian province, more of its sons have been educated. and 1t Is more widely permeated by the Unrest"
 Another cause of complaint is tho charge that the government hus de liherately created friction between Hindus and MosIems. On every hand in India one hears the statement that the English would have to leave India tomorrow If the Hindus and Moham. medans ceased fighting each other and presented a united front The prin. cipie of divide and rule" has been in- voked more than once, no doubt. in the but If is folly to charge the British government with responsibility for the age-iong strife between these religions
 The contemptuous treatment of h. dians by English residents in India is oited as another cause of discontent Not only in matters of government, but in every other aspect of life, the Eng proclaims his superiority with every act He will not associate even with the pure-biooded Englishman who had the misfortune to be born in India, even as he will not admit that an Aus tralian or a Canadien is quite his equal. The Indians resent this attitude on the part of the English, although the or- fhOdOv TTIndn would rather Nut hia