THE DAILY PROVINCE, VANCOUVER, BRITISH
COLUMBIA, JUNE 26, 1908

CAUSES OF DISCONTENT
PROMPTING HINDUS TO ANARCHY
-----------------Education of Natives Has Made Them
Dissatisfied With Their Lot.
--------------------------DISLIKE CIVILIZED IDEALS
---------------Reforms Instituted Under English Rule Are
Galling to Caste.
Three thousand mice attacking one man would make short work of him,
though he were as strong as a giant, and armed from head to foot. That is
about the number of natives to each Englishman is the Indian Empire, and it is
no wonder that the sedition and general unrest of the people is causing a good
deal of uneasiness, says an Anglo-Indian writer in discussing the real causes of
the recent outbreaks among the natives of India. From processions and
boycotting of English goods, the agitation has passed through the phase of
rioting, with an occasional assassination to bomb explosions.
Although the importation of arms and ammunition is strictly prohibited,
startling discoveries of explosives have been made, as well as of all the
material for a crusade of anarchy. There must be a widespread organisation of
rebellious natives behind the scenes. What is the cause of their
dissatisfaction? That is a question which puzzles those who ought to know
best.
Sir John Strachey, who knows India as well as he knows England, says that
“there never was a country, and never will be, in which the government of
foreigners is really poplar.” Probably tat is the best explanation of the present

THE DAILY PROVINCE, VANCOUVER, BRITISH
COLUMBIA, JUNE 26, 1908
dangerous state of affairs in India. They want to govern themselves, and a nice
kettle of fish they would make of it.
The causes of the present complaint against English rule are so many that it is
impossible to take a view of them all. First, we have forcibly compelled the
natives to live, in many ways, according to our standard.
Hindus Love Wife-burning.
For ages suttee, or the burning of widows-often mere children- was
prdacticed in that strange land; and what could Englishmen do when they
took over the government of the country but prohibit the dreadful rite? There
is no suttee now, but those who know India say that the vast majority of
Hindus are very much dissatisfied on that account.
The Hindus had a rule that no low-caste native could give evidence against a
Brahmin. We have made all men equal in a court of justice, and this is a very
sore point even among educated natives. Mohammedans keep their women in
seclusion, and no Hindu will allow a man to enter his house. When cholera and
plague are carrying off their millions, we enforce isolation of the sick, which
means entry into the homes of people. For his they hate our ways. Dreadful
riots followed these sanitary measures some couple of years ago.
Even our attempts to exterminate the poisonous snakes, which kill twenty
thousand people a year, are a cause of discontent, for the ignorant natives fear
that the gods will be offended. In fact, their ways are not our ways, and our
endeavors to make the Indians take the English view, even though it is for
their own good, beget exasperations and dislike.
Of late years other causes of discontent have arisen. The aim of the
Government has always been to educate the people, and give them the largest
possible share in the government of their country. There are very few
Government positions which are not now open to enterprising Hindus. While
only about 1200 Englishmen are employed in the civil services, natives fill all
the minor posts, and about 3600 of the higher positions.
Many Judges Are Natives

THE DAILY PROVINCE, VANCOUVER, BRITISH
COLUMBIA, JUNE 26, 1908
Almost all the judges of the civil courts are natives. Most of the magisterial
work is done by them. Nearly all the business in connection with the revenues
and the land is in the hands of the natives. But a number of the very highest
positions remain in the hands of Englishmen. This is absolutely necessary in a
country containing so many different races and religions.
The Hindus are not satisfied with this arrangement. They want the entire
conduct of affairs. This of course, is quite natural. Indian subjects go to
England to study, and they take the highest honors at the universities. As law
students they brilliantly distinguish themselves. They are unquestionably men
of very high intellectual power. When they go back to India, it is not surprising
that they wish to see the way open to highest places in the Government.
Apparently, the natives take no account of what Englishmen have done for
their country. Less than fifty years ago it was the custom in Calcutta, the
capital of British India, to use the River Hugli both as a burial ground and the
source of the drinking water. Thousands of corpses were thrown into it every
year, and all the fifth of the vast city drained into it. Of course the people died
like flies, poisoned by the abominable water they rank.
Rangoon, at that time a city of 100,000 populations, had not a single street
lamp. There were few roads in the country, and scarcely any bridges over the
rivers. Famine carried off millions, because there were no canals for irrigation
of the land.