The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-05-08
Social Service Work
 Of Army Materializes
SalvatiOnsts Succeed in Difficult Indian Job Among
 Criminal Tribes-POIce Methods Useless

When hopeless enemies of man. kind are made into useful citizens that is Q worthwhile accomplish. ment which can never be measured by the mere norm of story or statis. tics. It is the accomplishment oi the Salvation Army in its worh among the Criminal Tribes of In. dia.
 India presents many perplexine problems, but few, if any, are more difficult to deal with or more urgent than the vast conspiracy of crime which overspreads the entire coun- try in the form of Criminal Tribes whose sole occupation consists ir the commission of crime, from the proceeds of which they not only support themselves, but bribe the subordinate representative of law and order to grant them certain amount of toleration and immunity from punishment.
 For decades, perhaps centuries the Criminal Tribes have been an economic drain on the country. Not only were the people non-productive themselves, but they made necessary the employment of an army of po- lice in unsuccessful efforts to re- strain them from crime.
 Government officials despaired of curing the evil by police methods The cost of supervising the people, when at large, was heavy; the cost of maintaining them in jail, when caught, was heavier; while the rec ords of crime for which no one was brought to justice, and the complete absence of reformative success among the convicts, all clearly in- dicated that money was being spent in vain.
 PeSsimists Lose Out
 Thus the Army had its opportu- nifty to undertake difficult piece of social service work which few thought would be successful.
 Some twenty-four Criminal Tribe settlements were est a bl is h d throughout India, where the people could be trained as farmers, weav- CTS and in other trades.
 Arrangements were made for them to buy their land and become self-supporting citizens.
 Tremendous obstacles challenged the success of the work, but the common sense of SalvationiStS backed by an all-consuming love for the people, made triumph pos Sible.
 The Chanterwa settlement is typ ical. To arrive there, the last miles must be negotiated by elephant.
 The people of the settlement number 300. They are Doms, said to be the lowest of all criminal tribe castes, with the most fearsome of habits.
 When the Salvation Army officer in charge first arrived he noted that ths district was malarial, with no doctor available, and that the Doms were opposed to agricultural work. The sole industry they were inclined to was weaving, and due provision in this connection had been made by the Army.
 The officer however, felt that if only for health reasons a change to agriculture was imperative. The surrounding land was good, and 225 acres were apportioned by the gov- ernment to the settlement.
 Twenty-Five bullocks were im- ported. These the Doms refused to have anything to do with. The of ficQr and his assistants had to feed and tend them themselves.
 Cultivated Model Holding
 The officer studied the nature of his people to see how he could make it seem to them to be worth while to take up work on the land. He commenced himself by cultivating a model holding. He arranged it that the bullocks could become the per- sonal property of individual selected femilies on easy payment conditions. Cn similar conditions he parcelled the land out. He guided their unac- customed Hands in the rudiments of preparing the ground and plough ing, and moreover offered to do all the actual sowing himself.
 It is possible that when his own first crop was gathered in, sown and grown by himself. it was thought that its size and goodness depended