Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-09-26
is AN ANCIENT INIQUlTY
Caste System in India as Evil in its
Effects as Negro Slavery.

| Caste System in India as Evil in it's
Effects as Negro Slavery.
England boasts that a slave Is free
the moment he sets foot on English
territory. But in her largest depen-
dency there exists a social system as
/ evil in its effects as negro slavery 1t
Is not applied by men of one race to
those of another whom they regard as
inferior but by men who consider them
selves of the upper class to others of
the same race whom the accident of
birth has destined to an inferior social
station. 1t Is aristocracy of the worst
form. There are 5O.O00.OO0 people in
the lower castes in India, and 10000
900 Of these belong to the pariahs or
lowest class Of all, proportion fully
equal to that of the negro slaves in the
United States before the Civil waf.
Their condition Is in some respects
worse than that of slaves.
These people are called "untouch-
ables" because contact with one Of
them-even with his shadow-compels
the high caste man to go through ella
borate publication ceremonies. In some
parts of the south of India they are
sold with the land, as serfs were for
merly in Russia, and their economic
condition Is virtually that of slavery,
with no obligation on the landlord to
provide for their needs In o!d age.
They are everywhere restricted to the
lowest and most menial forms of la
Dor, and any attempt on their part to
better their condition Is prevented by
force. They are not allowed to carry
an umbrella or to wear anything but
the scantiest clothing. They are not
allowed to take water from the public
wells, as their touch would be pollu-
ton. On the occasion Of child hav-
ing fallen into n we'll no female was
willing to risk her life, and an "un-
touchable" who offered to descend the
wall was prevented because he would
contaminate the water. Before a man
Of the higher caste could be found the
child drowned. The children of the
untouchables are not permitted to sit
on the same benches in school with
those Of the higher born. In conse-
quence only one in 200 Of them goes to
school.
They call themselves Hindoos, but
are not permitted to enter the sacred
precincts of the temples or to hear the
Vedas read. In short, a more cruel
malign boycott was never carried on In
any other part Of the world. In slavery
there were kindly relations between
the blacks and the decent masters, and
recognition of reciprocal duties. but
in the caste system there is nothing of
the sort. The chance to better ones
condition, which Jefferson called the
right to the pursuit of happiness" and
Napoleon in more sounding phrase,
the career open to talent" Is abso-
lutely denied these degraded creatures
who live and die like the beasts of the
field, helpless and hopeless. England
can hardly say that freedom follows
the English flag.
The degraded condition Of these peo-
pie naturally aroused the pity of the
best English missionaries. They taught
them to read and instructed them In
simple trades. 1t was discovered that
they were quite as capable and docile
as the higher castes, though it had been
supposed that they were the survivors
of the aboriginal race and the others
the descendants of the Aryan conquer
ors. Some of them learned trades, and,
being employed by the English. began
TO accumulate property. One of the
untouchables opened a store in Bonn
bay with the ironic sign, mo touch
ables served" 1t became evident to the
more intelligent of the Brahmins that
these people could be kept no longer in
their proper position" and that there
was growing up nation inside Of the
nation. So they devised a ceremony by
which the pariahs can be initiated into
higher caste and have the right OF
coming to church and even of "wear-
| ing the sacred cord" drawing watei
from the village WELL and being re-
garded as human beings.
That a social regulation at least six
| teen centuries old, which has grown
into an old institution with vested
rights as solid as any in the world,
should show signs Of weakening. Is
perhaps the best evidence that the
twentieth century can give of the pro-
gress of justice and freedom, which af-
ter all are much the same thing in their
effects at least.-Hartford Times.