19 lo] British Rule in India. 97 



Unrest. 



I have endeavoured to give you some idea of what British rule has 

 meant for India, but the question naturally arises, could not the Indians 

 have done this for themselves if Britain had never conquered the coun- 

 try? It seems to me that the best answer to this question is given by the 

 oriental nations surrounding India. Take China, Afghanistan, Persia, 

 and Turkey, nations whose civilizations are as old as or older than that of 

 India and it is hardly necessary to tell you what they have accomplished 

 for you all know it is practically nothing. All these nations are of one 

 race and religion and so had everything in their favour for developing a 

 strong and progressive country; but look at India with its races and lan- 

 guages as numerous as in Europe and the one hating the others with a 

 deadly hatred. How then could they possibly change the country from 

 what it was at the advent of the British ? They were a prey then to a 

 stronger power and they would have been a prey still. In famine re- 

 lief works the various native states have had many opportunities of show- 

 ing their skill in administration, but almost without exception they have 

 miserably failed. The Raja is generally willing enough to spend large 

 sums of money on relief work, but the amount that filters through the 

 hands of the native officials for actual relief is infinitesimal and the 

 officials often retire after a famine as wealthy men. 



This leads to the question of the unrest in India. While there is 

 undoubtedly much unrest in certain quarters, the newspapers have 

 certainly not diminished its importance. The unrest is chiefly confined 

 to parts of Bengal,especially Calcutta, and its various ramifications have 

 extended from there to various parts of India. The causes are many 

 and the Government is by no means free from blame, especially the home 

 Government. The freedom of the press has always been considered 

 as one of the great bulwarks of British liberty and this liberty 

 has long been extended to the native press in India. They 

 were thus permitted to pour out their fulminations against 

 the British Government, to misrepresent it and to fill their papers with 

 the grossest and vilest lies that it was possible for an Indian Editor to 

 conceive. The people who read these accounts believed every word 

 because their own countrymen had written it, especially was this true of 

 the student class. You know how at a certain age the young in this 

 country believe everything their political party says or does, more so in 

 India. Then the Bengalis are born cowards and orators. When the 

 Crown took over the Government it required that all its native officials 

 should be educated and then the demand exceeded the supply. Now 

 when the opposite is true the Bengali cannot see the difference between 

 the two propositions, "Government requires all its native officials to be 



