Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 September 1893 — ENGLAND IN INDIA. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ENGLAND IN INDIA.

QUEEN VICTORIA’S BIQ FARM IN THE ORIENT. TMt Wealth Squeezed Oat of the Native*, Who Live In the Most Abject PovertyHalf the Size of the United States—Pat Salaries for Higher Officials. Result of British Rale. The recent disturbances in Bombay, one of the greatest commercial cities In India, make pertinent an aocount of that vast Oriental possessession over which Queen Victoria reigns as Empress. The history of the world has among the real estate records of the transfer of nations no other piece of property like India. It Is half the size of the United States, and contains the most fertile lands in

the world. Its population comprises a seventh part o f the entire human race, and although numbering 3,500 to the one European, the native people merely work the great farm for the benefit of Englishmen, and are completely under British sway. India is a land of many languages and races, and in religions it

has representatives of nearly every creed on the face of the globe. There are more Mohammedans in it than In Turkey, and the Hindoos number nearly 200,000,000. It has 1,300 towns of from 10,000 to 50,000 people, and of its great cities Bombay is as large as Philadelphia, Calcutta as great as Chicago, Madras surpasses St Louis, and the native city of Hyderabad exceeds Baltimore. How England Obtained India. England obtained control of this mighty land by a pinch of pepper. In the days of “good Queen Bess” the Dutch had a monopoly of the trade

of the Orient, and they supplied Europe with its spices. One of the great articles of shipment was pepper, and like some of our own business men the Dutch cornered the market and forced the price of pepper from 75 cents to $1.50 a pound. English merchants kicked, and as a result of the agitation the East India Company was formed and was soon capitalized at $2,000,000. The East India Company soon got a footing in India and began ousting the Dutch traders. They first bought the island of Bombay, and by the time that President Buchanan was presiding at the head of this Republic the East India Company practically controlled the whole country. The British Government took the country off the hands of the East India Company, and ultimately, after successful wars and the natural operations of trade British power in India went on consolidating and increasing until India became a dependency of the crown.. In 1774 Warren Hastings became the first Governor General, and the country has since been governed by a Governor General or Viceroy. The higher offices in India are filled by Englishmen, natives coming

in for inferior offices. The salaries paid are very large. Thus the Governor General receives a salary of •100,000 a year, while $60,000 is given him for entertainment. Under British control India has prospered—in English interests; thus the annual exports of the country,which amounted to $5,000,000 when British citizens obtained control, are now over $300,000,000. But the. condition of the natives is painful to dwell upon. Out of every 1,000 natives 999 live in huts of mud, and a majority of them have not the necessaries of life. The huts are so small that the beds have to be put out of doors during the daytime In order to give room for the family. These beds are rude framesof wood covered with a network of rope the size of a clothes line. The sleeper uses neither sheets nor pillow. He sleeps in the clothes which he wears during the day, and the beds are so abort that he must double himself up on them. The huts are unfloored and destitute of furniture. The familjr squat on their heels or sit crosslegged on benches. The kitchen utensils axe a few pots and kettle*, and the sating is done with the fingers

fßie floor Is often the dining table. The fuel la tfo® droppings of the cattle, which are gathered up by the w|xed ITOd patted into cakei and laid in the son to dry. Bwwiflte of British Bala Thus do the natives live while earning taxes for the British, but it most be *nld that a good deal of the money returns for Investment in thi soil. There are good roads, manj irrigating canals.; find numerous hos* pltals and sohools in the country. The postal service of the country is not inferior to purs, and yearly the natives are using the mails more and more. There are now over 50,000 miles of rail routes in India and the postofflnea almost pay for themselves. India has over !tOO,OOO miles of telegraph wire and the English Government owns all. It is the same way with the railroads. The British Government owns most of the iron highways and is continually building more. Almost 16,000 miles of track now belong to England. At Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta there are great universities on the model of the University of London; there- are ninety-six colleges and the whole of the country is dotted with schools. The people of. India are said to be greatly dissatisfied with British rule, but lack the courage and cohesion to throw oft the yoke. The Mussulmans are divided against the Hindoos, and even the latter are divided among themselves. Bombay, the seat of the disturbances, contains 200,000 Mohammedans and 500,000 Hindoos. The European quarter of the city is second to none in the world in point of beautiful buildings. The materials used in their construction are mostly olive-tinted granite, light-colored sandstone and dark brick. The native quarters, however, are wretched.

AN INDIAN SOLDIER.

PRINCIPAL STREET IN BOMBAY, INDIA.

AN INDIAN MAIL CARRIER.