HAPPY INDIA 35 



supplies they need we should seldom hear of famines 

 in India. But as things are it is necessary for the 

 Government to come to the aid of the people as soon 

 as there is a failure in the rainfall and to supply them 

 with food, and probably to establish works where 

 the men can labour in return for the food that is 

 given to them. This, of course, is very unsatisfactory, 

 but it is the only way in which the people can be 

 saved from death when the rainfall fails. But 

 notwithstanding the railways and Government aid 

 in the year 1918 the death-rate for all India rose to 

 62 per thousand of the population. 



There is also the question of their cattle. When 

 there is little food for human beings there is generally 

 little food for the cattle and it is difficult to afford 

 food for their support, and what is the condition of 

 the peasant when his cattle are dead ? He has no 

 ox to drive his plough or cart and therefore it is a 

 pity that greater stocks of food are not maintained 

 in all districts in view of the possibility of famine, 

 and also that the people should not be able to save 

 sufficient money to enable them to buy from others 

 the necessary supplies for themselves and their cattle. 



It is, of course, easy to make these criticisms, but 

 how is the present state of affairs to be remedied ? 

 Before we can suggest a remedy we must know the 

 cause. Why is it that over such large areas the 

 cultivators of the soil are in such a condition of 

 desperate poverty ? What causes lead to this ? 

 When did this poverty first begin ? Has it always 

 been so in India ? Or is it of modern growth ? 



