The Washington times., 1936-11-25
By T. E. Powers
By Edwin C. Hill

worker were exposed to smallpox
and quarantined.
The untouchables live in dismal
little huts. Their dress is the loin
cloth by which Mahatma Gandhi
has signalized. his life conSecra-
tion to the meek and lowly. They
can draw no water from a public
spring or we'll; they can share no
public utility or convenience; they
are barred from the temples; even
a man of the lower caste may be
beaten publicly with impunity;
their. food is scraps; their children
are naked and their women in rags.
They cannot aspire to educa-
ton, cleanliness, ownership OF
property or the most rudimentary
human dignity or security; den
tistry, medication and sanitation
are as far beyond them as the
stars; their work is that Of Scaven-
gers, or the most Sodden and hope
less drudgery; their lives change
less chronicles of sad-eyed despair.
Sympathetic Interpreters of an
cient India make the origins Of
caste seem slightly more defensible
than they can possibly seem to
modern eyes. Undoubtedly, in
their early agricultural civiliza-
tion, the misery of the lower castles
was not so exigent or so appalling.
Even the untouchables, at one
time, were allowed peaceful occu-
pancy, if not ownership, Of the
land. City living and the complex
tiles Of exchange economy have
accentuated and amplified the
worst of the system and ended
whatever it offered in aid Ito de.
cency and Self-respect.
FIXED LEVELS
So far as students of today can
CLEAN from their meager records,
ancient Hindu priests and philoS-
opherS justified the caste organ
ization, curiouSly enough, as the
framework Of an educational SyS-
tenn. They maintained, in line
with our modern behavioriStS, to
be sure, that education must be-
gin in the cradle. Therefore, it
was imperative that parents
should know exactly for what
status in life a child must be
educated.
The only way to arrange this
was to establish fixed Stratifi-
cation Of all human beings which
would fit all persons for the level
to which they were assigned and
induce contentment in each par
ticular state of being, since these
states were divinely ordained. 1t
worked, after a fashion, until the
younger Western World began to
encroach on it.
The British did not greatly dis
turb the caste system, in keeping
with their policy Of respecting na.
tive cultures as long as they do not
aSsail her dominion. But the
screech of a steam whistle is the
trumpet blast which topples the
walls Of Jericho. The untouch.
ables see the wealth which the ma
chine creates. A ragged beggar.
Squatting on his heels by the road
side, is stirred to dreams and am
bition by the voice of today filter
ing through a radio loudSpeaker.
East Indians are not a stupid
people. Notably, it is among the
upper classes that the fight for
the untouchables is mobilizing.
Knak Lata, the brilliant and aris-
tocratic ballet dancer here two
years ago, is typical of enlightened
women in India who are boldly
and effectively aSSailing this cruel
and preposterouS tyranny. It was
gunpowder that toppled the age Of
chivalry-much of said chivalry
being bunk and oppression. Ma
chimes may be even a greater
leveler. All signs indicate that they
already are.
Copyright, 1888. by King Features
Syndicate, Ine.)