El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-08-20


rate of interest is q percent per annum,
and many foreigners are paying 8 per
cent per month and upward. In the in
terror of India the banks charge as much
as 10 percent per annum, although the
government itself has recently been lend
ing the farmers something like 100000
600 at or percent.
There is no country where banking IS
so much of a business. There are castles
here who thoroughly understand the
breeding value of interest. and there are
altogether in India 100000 bankers and
money lenders, of whom more than Co.
900 are women Much money is loaned
upon real estate mortgages, and from
this the bankers are getting hold OF the
land. In SOME provinces as much as 81
percent of the country belongs TO them,
and in others 40 and so ~ercent.
Live In Mud Huts.
The average home of the Hindu peas
ant is not as good as the average Amer
lean stable. It is often a mud hut from
10 to Is feet square, without doors or
windows. The floor is mastered with
COW dung and the furniture is rope bed
and a few pots and pans. The house is
usually matched with straw, and its in
terror is as bare as a barn. 1t seldom
has more than one room, and in this the
can. The stove is a fireplace made of
three or four bricks on end, and the
cooking is done in pots and pans. There
are no chimneys, and the smoke finds
its way out of the door and from under
the caves
The most OF the farmers live in vii
lagos of such huts. In riding across In
dia YOU see these everywhere dotting
the landscape. They are built. along mud
roads and have none Of the surroundings
or conveniences of American towns.
There are no big schoolhouses or
churches. no street lamps. no cutters
and no sidewalks. There is an absence
of painting and whitewash. The only
outside decora ton is seen in Jumps of
brown COW dung of the size and shane
of a fat buckwheat cake. These are the
fuel of the people, plastered upon the
walls OF the hut to dry. This stuff is
picked ND by the women and girls. who
follow the cattle. They carry the drop
Vings 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 col
lect it.
A Starvation Diet.
The Hindu peasants have made feed
ing a science. They know Just how much
viii suffice to keep them alive and they
eaj little more They save evervthinr
and cook just enough. Their diet is
chiefly beans, millet and coarse grains,
with chile peppers and other condiments.
They seldom have meat, and the castles
OF many of them are such that they
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 davbreak
and takes with him a snack of cold
food to the field At noon his wife brings
him a hot dinner. He eats first and She
takes what is left At home the peonIe
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. A.
eat with their fingers and the men al
ways first
1t is 4 weltodo family that has two
good meals day. | am told that not
one-Chird OF the natives can afford to
eat rice. and that the majority live on
flour made of coarse grains. which they
COOK up into unleavened cakes. called
chUpDattis
nave never eaten with the Hindus.
They would not tolerate my touching
their food for this would make them
lose caste and lead to damnation.
midas Famines.
The whole nation seems to live from
hand to mouth. and the result is that n
short crop always causes a famine. This
has been so for centuries. One hundred
and forty years ago a famine in Benga
caused the death of 100000. and 20
odd years since 100000 starved in one
11T-rex- Lo
the British government keeps d fund in
reserve which it adds to every wear. and
II has a regular system of taking care
OF the people by employing them on
public works at such times. During the
famine of 1896 more than LOCO, 900 "a
tons were issued each dav. and not
Wlthstanding that almost l LOCO. 900 peo-
pie died Il 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 alb
sent.
a striking evidence of the poverty of
India is the absolute lack of comforts
which is everywhere seen The peasants
live more ike animals than men. They
will sleep anywhere. / see them living on
the floors OF the railway stations with
nothing but a thin piece of cotton be-
tween their bones and the stone In the
towns there are public lodging places.
where the accommodations cost from
to cents a night. The ordinary farmer
saves his cent and camps outside The
most common bed is a rude framework
Of wood over which a netting of ropes
of the size of a clothes line is stretched.
This is the bed of the more favored
members of the family. They lie upon
the bed spoon fashion; for if 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
cabinet ministers of the vicerov 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