22 HAPPY INDIA 



were founded chiefly upon the reports of high Govern- 

 ment officials, British officers, whose honesty and 

 competence could not be questioned, and ACCORDING 



TO THESE REPORTS THERE ARE NOT LESS THAN FIFTY 

 MILLIONS OF OUR FELLOW-SUBJECTS IN INDIA WHO 

 NEVER EAT FROM BEGINNING TO END OF THE YEAR 



ONE GOOD AND SUFFICIENT MEAL. They have only 

 one meal a day, and that meal is insufficient. This 

 statement would be incredible if it was not vouched 

 for by officers of high rank in the British Govern- 

 ment who have no object to gain in exaggerating 

 the poverty of the people under our rule, but quite 

 the reverse : they would like to make a cheerful and 

 hopeful picture of the life of the people who 

 acknowledge the sovereignty of our King and obey 

 the rule of our Viceroys and Ministers of State sent 

 out from this country. 



THIS BOOK STRUCK ME AS SO TERRIBLE AND SO 



HORRIBLE that I resolved that as soon as I had the 

 opportunity I would go to India and try and ascer- 

 tain from evidence on the spot what was the actual 

 condition of the people. In November 1914 I 

 landed in Rangoon, and after making a tour in 

 Burmah, seeing Mandalay, Bhamo and Prome, I 

 went to Calcutta and from there went up through 

 the great cities of the Ganges Valley and the Punjab 

 to PcDahwcip in the extreme north-west and then 

 worked back through Gwalior and the centre of 

 India to Hyderabad in the Nizam's territory to 

 Madras, and then through Tanjore and Trichinopoly 

 to Madura in the South of India, thence to Cananore 



