178 HAPPY INDIA 



beyond them. It is curious at every turn to find 

 oneself up against this problem, that here we have 

 got a nation the very poorest that is possible. They 

 have no clothes to spare, no food to spare, no valuable 

 stores to spare, and so the development of the great 

 resources of the country is held up and is hindered, 

 and yet the means of wealth are at hand. Some 

 people would say that nothing could make India a 

 tolerable country on account of the great heat, but 

 Englishmen have made a great discovery, they 

 have found that an electric fan in their rooms makes 

 the temperature quite comfortable as a general rule, 

 or at any rate it makes a great difference. They 

 have also found that a motor car makes it possible 

 to ride about at the hottest time of the day without 

 discomfort. If between 11.30 in the morning and 

 3.30 in the afternoon you are driving along in a carriage 

 drawn by a horse the heat of the sun will seem 

 intolerable. If you are in a rapid-going motor car, 

 the current of air makes quite a difference, and I 

 have been told that these two modern inventions 

 have produced a great effect upon the way in which 

 an Englishman looks on life in India ; and there is 

 little doubt that when the reforms which I have 

 indicated are carried out, not only Europeans, not 

 only wealthy Indian gentlemen, but all the people 

 of India will live on a higher level of comfort than is 

 now the case. 



