vi THE INDIAN POPULATION 63 



of Indian trader. His manners and morals may be nil 

 and his customs beastly, he may and nearly always does 

 cheat and debase the native, but for his enterprise I 

 have nothing but praise. There is many an outlying 

 station in which the presence of an Indian store is 

 almost invaluable. The money obtained is nearly all 

 sent out of the country, usually by a "sure hand" ; 

 which trait is not one to endear the race to those who 

 believe in the future of our country. 



The settlers in the Protectorate object to the Indian 

 under present conditions for two reasons. The first 

 may be selfish, but is extremely natural. It is that they 

 object to being undersold in nearly every branch of 

 trade. It may be said, and indeed has been said, that 

 this underselling is fair trade and fair competition and 

 cannot be objected to. But is it fair trade and fair 

 competition ? Is the Indian a better trader or better 

 worker than his European competitor ? Certainly not ; 

 it could not be contended that he is by his staunchest 

 adherent. Why, then, does he undersell him ? 

 Because, as the saying is, he can live on the smell 

 of an oil-rag. Because he eats food that the Euro- 

 pean could not touch. Because he lives in sanitary 

 conditions under which no English farmer would 

 dream of keeping his pigs. Because he can do 

 without what the European considers the ordinary ne- 

 cessities of life, such as soap or a change of clothes. 

 Finally, because he often sells his goods below cost 

 price, and makes his profit by some illicit trade. 



The second reason why the settler dislikes the 

 Indian as a class is an entirely unselfish one, and I ven- 

 ture to say that it rouses his resentment to an even 

 greater degree than the former. It is because of the 

 harm, both moral and physical, that is done through 



