The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-08-21
Work And Wages Among Hindas
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.

street lamps, no cutters and no sidewalks
There is an absence of painting and
whitewash the only outside decoration
being Jumps of brown cow dung of the
size and shape of fat buckwheat cake.
These are the fuel of the people. plas-
tered upon the walls of the hut TO dry.
This stuff is picked up by the women
and girls who follow the cattle They
carry the droppings to their houses and
mix them with dirt, patting them into
shape with their bare hands. Such fuel
is used all over India and the women
invariably collect 1t.
Starvation Diet
The Hindu peasants have made feeding
science. They know just how much
will suffice to keep them alive, and they
eat little more. They save everything
and cook just enough. Their diet is
chiefly beans, millet and coarse grains,
with chilli peppers and other condiments.
They seldom have meat, and the castles
of many of them are such that theq
would die rather than eat beef or pork
They consider the COW holy and would
as soon think of chewing their grand
parents as a tenderloin steak. They use
a rancid melted butter called ghee.
The Indian farmer rises at daybreak
and takes with him a snack of cold food
TO the field At noon his wife brings him
q hot dinner. He eats first and she takes
what is left At home the people eat off
the floor. If they are rich they have
several large dishes If poor one or two.
In addition there are small dishes for
curry and condiments. All eat with their
fingers, and the men always first.
1t is a well-to-do family that has two
good meals a day. I am told that not
one-third of the natives can afford to eat
rice; and that the majority live on -four
made of coarse grains. which they cook
up into unleavened cakes called chup-
PATHS.
/ have never eaten with the Hindus
They would not tolerate my touching their
food, for this would make them lose caste
and lead to danlnation.
India's Famines
The whole nation seems to live from
hand to mouth, and the result is that a
short crop always causes a famine This
has been 80 for centuries One hundred
and forty years ago famine in Bengal
caused the death Of 10.000.000, and 70-odd
years since 100000 starved in one prov
ince. Famines are so common that the
British government keeps a fund In re-
serve which II adds to every year, and
1t has a regular system of taking care
of the people by employing them on pub
lie works at such times. During the
famine Of 1895 more than 100000 rations
were issued each day, and notwithstand-
Ing that almost 100000 people died OF
disease or starvation. The people live so
closely that they have no reserve force,
and when their food is cut down they
drop Off like sheep. In some parts of
India the population Is so dense that it
does not increase from year to year, the
natural growth, which goes on over the
rest of the world, being absent.
A striking evidence of the poverty of
India Is the absolute lack of comforts
which Is everywhere seen. The peasants
live more Like animals than men. They
will sleep anywhere. I see them lying on
the floors of the railway stations with
nothing but thin piece of cotton between
their bones and the stone. In the towns
there are public lodging places. where the
accommodations cost from l to cents a
night. The ordinary farmer saves his
cent and camps outside The most com
mon bed Is a rude framework of wood
over which a netting of ropes OF the size
of clothes line is stretched This Is the
bed of the more favored members of
the family. They lie upon the bed spoon
fashion; or II they should stretch out
their legs their feet would hang over.
| Sometimes the children and always the
widows sleep on the floor.
Conditions Improving.
Notwithstanding all this one of the
ca binet ministers of the viceroy tells
me that the farmers are much better
off now than they were in the past.
Said he:
THE wages have almost doubled in
the past generation. When I came to
India 80 years ago the syce who took
care of my horses got about six rupees
go a month, and I now have to pay
that much for a common servant, and
IL rupees ($4) or more for one of the
better classes. A good farm hand can
| II Iaxr In
most localities, while In the Punjab, at
harvest, he will get a shilling and
three pence. In fact, we are short of
labor, and have hardly enough to har-
vest the crops. The farmer raises a
large part of his own food and he is
now profting by the high prices of
grain. On the other hand the profes
sional men, clerks an demployes Of the
government have had their incomes
materially reduced by the rise in prices
| of goods of all kinds This Is one OF
the causes of the unrest"
| This remark of tho official reminds
me of an incident which occurred at the
postoffice here this morning. 1 was
waiting to register o letter, when !
| heard a quarreling among the clerks.
The noise was SO great that 1 went to
| the window and looked in. I saw
| there a big, fine looking babu or native
| official dressed in a long white coat and
| gold turban, cursing a lean Hindu in a
| cheap garb of white cotton. The babu
| shook both his fists in the little man s
| face, and denounced his ancestors to
| the seventh generation. The little fell
low protested and apologized; but the
| babu only cursed him the louder. He
| ended by showing him back to his place
at the sorting table. AS l asked what
| the matter was, the weighing clerk
whispered: The mail is late and that
clerk is partly the cause. 1t Is not his
| fault though. He Is poor and has not
had enough to eat. Hungry men cannot
work rapidly That clerk gets only
nine rupees ($3) a month, and one cam
not buy much rice for that. 1t used to
| be better; but things are so high now
that the poor have not enough
| This increase of prices, which is a COM
/ mon complaint in the United States, has
extended all over the world. 1t has af-
| fected all who have fixed wages or fixed
incomes and especially those government
| clerks who have to dress well for their
| station. AS to the government employees,
| will give you only the wages of post
men. They vary. in the different prov
| inces; but they are seldom more than
81 a. month, while the postal runners get
| half that. In Bengal the postmen receive
| less than 10 cents day; In Bombay they
| get about 10 cents, while in the central
provinces their wages are less than H.
| In all India something like 100000 peo-
| pie are supported by government jobs oil
| one kind or another. There are a few al
the top who get fairly good salaries, but
the smaller places, held by the natives,
| pay very little.