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 
