The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1933-11-22
Son Succeeds Father
AS Naugy YDirector
Donald S. futile Elected at Annual Meetng-lndia
Worker Addresses Session

that except for the fact that q
budget was kept by the "Y" each
year and cooperation in sticking to
it was given, the organization
would not be successful year after
year.
Hear w. M. Hume
America can give India some-
thing she needs and benefit by
things she can learn from India,
said Wilson McLaughry Hume, Y,
M. c. A. worker in India, at the
meeting. There Is in a strange
sense q real relationship between
India and this country. he as
serted.
He advised that Americans who
go to India should not try to be
diplomatic. The East has the
West beaten handily in diplomacy,
he pointed out, and the best thing
we can do is to be straightforward
and frank and this will teach the
people of India in time that
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. is to its adj
vantage, he said. There is in the
Indian nature something which
does not permit absolute frankness
and truthfulness, he said. The In
dian is trained to realize that If he
reveals to other men what he
thinks they will take advantage of
it. For this reason he sometimes
lies or evades the truth, Mr. Hume
said.
"Sense OF Beauty"
The people of India have a sense
of beauty, sense also of spirit
uality and a sense of the virtues
of simplicity that Americans would
do we'll to profit by, the speaker
claimed. He pointed to the exam
pie of the Tai Mahal, which is
claimed to be the most beautiful
building in the world, of architect
of which was blinded after he had
finished the temple SO that he
could never reproduce such beauty
again.
''The Indian is conscious of how
we are surrounded by a world we
cannot see but which to him is
more real than anything you can
touch or see," Mr. Hume stated.
This is one contribution India can
help us in. However, India is up
again it now, he said. There is a
low standard of living, "a compre-
hensive poverty" poverty of food,
money and intellectual resources
there. Only IL out of every 100
men and out of 100 women can
read or write there. There is pow
erty in India such as You or /
can't imagine, he declared. The
average income of an Indian fam
lily is not more than $40 a year
for their whole expense. You can
imagine how much is possible on
this he added.
"However, he incidentally point
ed out, that in Lahore, his city,
there were probably things from
Naugatuck sold there. You
couldn't buy anything in Hartford,
he said, that you could not get in
Lahore.
Gandhi Impresses
Mahatma Gandhi, he asserted is
'just little bag of skin and bones
but when you look at him you get
an impression of one of the most
powerful and vital personalities
and forces in the whole world to-
day." he continued. He is a moral
force which the whole British en-
pire has had to respect. The peo-
pie who follow him have made 1t
an honor to go to Jail.
The Y. M. G. A. has helped the
physical life of India to an amaz-
ing degree, he said. The system
in India, the caste system, which
ranks inhabitants in this order:
priests, soldiers, farmers and then
businessmen and shopkeepers, and
all who don't fall into these cate
gories as "untouchables" who do
the dirty work, is a system that
may have been all right years ago
but is obsolete now. However, one
thing we in America could learn
from it, Mr. Hume said, is that each
man has a duty to perform in this
world. "The ~ represents the I'M
selfish outreach of the heart of
America to a people trying to lift
themselves to a new day." he said.
India needs self-leadership, a civil
form of organization, a practical
program and training of leaders to
carry on the work, he asserted. Let
es be her friend now, he urged.
Have Friends Here
He thanked friends in Naug-
atuck who helped to make pos
sible the work of the "Y" in India,
mentioning specifically the late
Howard =. futile. He was warmly
app1auded.