6th December.
WHOEVER reads the Report of the Central Executive Committee of the Indian Famine Charitable Relief, Fund, 1900, will be certain hereafter to regard with a great deal of doubt the statement made from time to time, that the Indian Civil Service, as a Service, is much less in touch with the natives of India than in the old days of the Anglo-Indian Nabob, Over and over again in perusing this report we come upon instances of knowledge and sympathy which demonstrate: the falsity of the charge; and we rise from it with a feeling that the natives and their rulers alike have displayed under the stress of calamity fine traits of character to which' justice has never been done.
The Indian famine of 1900 extended over more than 450,000 square miles with a population of nearly sixty millions, and in thei mouth of July upwards of six millions of people were being furnished by the Sate with the means of subsis!- ence, Ihe Indian Charitable Relief Fund of 1900 was inaugurated on the 15h of February at Calcutta at a crowded meeting at the Town Hall, with the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, in the chair, At this meeting no less a sum than Rs, 5,40,847.80 was subscribed. 'The sum raised in India itself, the native princes contributing most' liberally, amounted to Re. 38,838,223. In addition to this, the Maharajah of Jaipur presented a sum of Rs. 20,00,000, to be invested as a permanent fund for the relief of famine in any part of India, Future famine funds will, therefore, benefit by the accumulated interest of this splendid endowment which is styled "The Indian People's Famine Trust." From the United Kingtom including the Mansion-house and other funds the Committee received Rs. 93,88,771. It must be remembered that at the same time the British Empire was subscribing liberally to various war funds, Australasia nevertheless gave Rs, 7,86,644; Canada Rs. 48,943; Ceylon Rs. 2,06,572; Shanghai Rs. 1,53,800, two-thirds of which came from native officials and gentry Hongkong Re. 56,640; Tientsin Ks. 7,280; Amoy Rs. 1,510; and Ningpo Rs. 1,509. Tokio sent Rs. 22,001 Siam Rs. 6,663; the Srraits Re. 216,229; Mauritius Rs. 18,457; Natal! £4,748 10s.; Cape Colony Rs. 17,15: "In May a remittance of Rs. 4,14,492 arrived from Germany with the following telegram from the Emperor} to the Viceroy:—'Full of deepest grmpaby for terrible distress 1:
dia, Berlin has with my approval realised a sum of over half a million' marks. May Indi on the part of the German Empire, ithe deep sense of sympathetic love which prompts my people, which emanates from the fact that blood is Yicher than water'" The United States sent Rs. 1,25,356 in money to the Committee, about Rs. 38,00,000 (upwards of £250,000) direct to missionaries in India for distribution, and large quantities of grain, seed, blankets, etc, one cargo*of maize honesty of the more unsophisticated
remember out in the desert, where relief works are of necessity few and far between, I was haranguing a Jat cultivator on his stupidity in staying hanging on in his village, where he and his family must eventually starve, instead of going on to a relief work, about 40 miles away, while they were still strong and fit to work. After much arguing he said he could alone being valued at Rs. 3,75,000, not go because he had no m besides the cost of transport. Th- of feeding himself and his family Committee conclude their reportion the journey. I then gave him with a mention by name of some of money enough for this purpose and those who, outside India, have praehe. took it promising to start for tically shown their interest in the next day. A few minutes cause, and finally they say urds, however, he came up to The Com as leaving the village and 'ET want you to take that cellency the Vi money back, Saheb.' I naturally ment of India for the asked why. He replied: Well, 1 support and the pecuniary and valuable assistance which has been rendered to didn't quite tell you the truth when them throughout. They are unfortunately I suid I had no nieans for the journey. conscious that in consequence of their have five goats: I will take them imperfect information the names they have with me, and we can kill one each mentioned do not constitute a complete day, eat a bit ourselves and sell the record of those to whom their balance of the mest. And so I don't special ae laments ought to be made, and they ntust consequently con-think I ought to keep this money." tent themselves with generally And so Ttovk it back from hin and let him save his self-respect." One enabled. then more extract we make from the thousands of Report of Gratuitous Relief in the women, and children in I Hiily Tracts, Mowar:—With all his that help must in some faults, and they are neither few nor in spite of the utmost endeavours of Govern-small, the Bhii is not, ungrateful for ment, and in all eases would have. been that has been done fur him, He utterly ruined by the calamity which had j overtaken them. On behalf of these dis-thinks it right to grab all he tressed millions of people, the.most earnest can, and looks on it as venial to grateful thanks of the Committee are swear by all the gods (whom he tendered to those who in all parts of the world collected and subscribed soundly belaboured' in the early the munificent sunt of upwards of one days.of the famine) that you have ion sterling. not given him anything; when There are pages and pages of ex swe minutes before he started his tracts from letters and reports deseripwife and children home laden with tive of the famine, and what is most food and seed; but he is grateful and pathetic in them is the patience of the very thankful for kindness and help sufferers, and their deep gratitude in his hour of dire distress. Were for what was done for them. The reports are constantly brightened by touches of the humour that is sv often the companion of sympathy. A Civilian's wife in Guzerat writes of ithe terrible distress in which she found a number of widows, whose self-respect, exaggerated though in emed, prevented their asking for nid. She says: "I clothed and pensioned till the end of the famine sixty-six old and young purdah: Mahomedan women in Parantij, and the blessings they showered down on me ought to make us as rich as Croesus—the blessings all take the form of pice. Why they cling to one's legs I don't know, but I mast say the position they put one into is a very mira dig. one; fancy 1 Indy smuggling to get aw th a poor old Mahomedan widow strongly attached to each leg! Is is a position in which to serious is an impossibility, and on anger ends in laughter, or at least mine always did." Here is an incident in Rajputana: "'Lhe simple he sufficiently educated he would refer you for exphmation of all his petty laches, such as theft, robbery, and a little illicit bow and arrow shooting tu the description given ut him by the Bengali sident at his B. A. Examination. When asked the question 'Who are' the Bhils?" he wrote down:—'The Bhil is a blacker man, only more hairy. kills his enemy with a bow and the arrow, By this you may know the Bhil?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.