62 A COLONY IN THE MAKING chap. 



root and is carefully tended by pro-Indian legislators 

 that this delightful member of the Empire is being 

 kept out of equal rights and indeed persecuted for the 

 colour of his skin by British colonists, who as a class 

 are far less desirable, respectable, or polite. 



Now what are the facts ? The origin of the Indian 

 population lies in the employment of some 25,000 

 coolies of the lowest type in the construction of the 

 Uganda Railway. When the railway was completed, 

 this large body of men, the riff-raff of a nation, 

 remained, with a few exceptions, in the country. 

 They form the basis of the Indian population therein 

 and their numbers are increased by nearly every boat 

 that comes from India, and unfortunately with much 

 the same class as themselves, because the respectable 

 Indian would be at least as loath to mix with them 

 as is the European. 



The original stock therefore was bad. And herein 

 is no question of colour or race. If the original band 

 of British settlers had been composed of, say, ticket- 

 of-leave men, hooligans, and militant suffragettes, it 

 would hardly have been an incentive to respectable 

 colonists to follow. 



This large body of men set themselves to the 

 natural task of making money. To this end they 

 have applied themselves, not as is the British habit 

 by developing the ' natural resources of the country, 

 but rather by the draining dry of the sources already 

 in existence. 



In furtherance of this object they have exploited 

 trade with the native, and never is a station so distant 

 or so unhealthy but a small Indian store will make 

 its appearance. Herein I must confess that I find 

 grounds to admire even our present debased type 



