THE ENGLISH IN INDIA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2671, 24 August 1889, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE ENGLISH IN INDIA.

Fkw of us, I believe, realise the vast amount of harm done to English rule in ludia by Englishmen themselves. Of course, this is not due to " malice aforethought,,' but rather to youth and inexperience. The offenders are almost invariably very juvenile; usually between the ages of 18 and 20, and seldom over 2.5 ; but the harm done, nevertheless, is a very real one, and none feel the effect of the injury so much as the English Government of India. A boy of 18 joins his regiment or comes out to some commercial house, or indigo or tea concern ; lie quickly finds out the childish side of the Indian character, and then, true to the instiuctive love of domineering inherent in almost all youthful and unformed characters, he exerts his power to work off irritation induced by a variety of causes, climatic and otherwise, This love of what we may aptly call cruelty is inherent in human nature, and is particularly noticeable in children. The lower we go down in civilisation the more we find the love of cruelty developed, until at last, among some savage tribes, it becomes a perfect study as to how the amount of pain may be inflicted proportionate to the power of human nature to endure it without loss of consciousness. This is when the natural childish instincts have been maturedaud developed by years and experience. We English in India would, of course, shrink from the particular forms of o-iielty and torture practiced by uneducated .savages ; but there are nviny forms of cruelty. The exorcise of some of t'lem may be considered by inexperienced youths an a kind of manliness and a proof of superiority to supposed inferior beings. A boy comics out to this country, and for the first month or two behaves towards natives as hn would to his countrymen. Soon he finds out the childish character of his now follow-subjects, and in soma cises this leadb to the employment on his side of foolish and useless abuse, and oven sometimes blows. ]T« mistakes for a spirit of manliness :i shoddy superiority in his demeauour, and talks of and in iy treat them as " beasts'' a.id "niggers." One willingly grants that this is the outcome of his own youth s< nd inexperience, and that with increased years will come increased wisdom, and that he will become in time like his older comrades. Usually a couple of years or less cures him of the more violent staire of his folly ; but the affectation of an aggressive superiority is much longer lived,' and only ceases on his arrival at real manly maturity. It is rare, indeed, tei find a case of a man of mature yearn .and experience who habitually demeans hiipselt' in a discourteous manner in his dealings with natives of tho country ; but nevertheless the harm done before he arrives at this staga to the Government which he perhaps servos is u very real one indeed. It must often have struck every mm who takes tho trouble to think that ir. is ;i remarkable circumstance that the Englishman is most popular among tho natives and in tho districts where he is least s«en and known. Compare the kindness and courtesy of native* of a rural district and tho>o near a British cantoumeut or settlement. How many men among us who hive be: n indebted to the kindness iiiifl hospitality of natives during a distant shootinsr excursion and have twit bi-M>u struck- by tlio difference in t,!v?ir behaviour mid tho-io inhabiting wlnt [ may null, in contradistinction, "home villages." In m>t *emi - barbarous countries the opposite experience holds go id. In China, for in.stunco, mi - '■ehiviour of natives is ascribed to tb"ir ignorance of f"ieiiners ; how, th'ii, comes it tint in India wo find the oppo-ite holds good ? The reason is nol, far to se«k. Tho English Government is decidedly popular with tho mass of the people, because they know tho Eu.'lish Government is broadly just in its dealings with th'.'in, and they have little interc mr.«o with tho servants and retainers of i'i li-vidu-il Englishmen. The greater their mi'Miis of intercourse with the ssrviturs of their rulers tho more they hear (if unU of individual insult and bullyitig, 'ind tin! whola mas 3 of Englishmen suffer in oonsequraco of the few. The Government of tho country being foreign to every portion of it, an immense amount of barm is caused by this thoughtless conduct. That the harm done is not greater is duo \n the fact th it, the ufr'oudfTfj are comparatively few, and tho nri.ss to be permeated i,s enormon- : but still rho injury done remains, mid only requires time to develop its fruit'. Natives have no patriotism in the sense understood b}' us ; their love is centred in their families, and seldom or nev«r exteuels beyond their village. It is therefore), comparatively speaking, au eisy task to govern them, and the English in India arc so few in numbers that selfintercut alone should make us strive to render ourselves popular. It is so e-asy to do it if the task is undertaken in the right way. Quietness and .self-confUenoe have always a, great effect ou natives ; a few c ippers thrown to children wo'ks wonders with the parents and goes the round of tho whole village. Stormy and unintelligible abuse the native associtt.es, and perhaps rightly, with low birth. Watch any native who effects superiority of position : ho invariably shows it \>y a quiet, almost absurdly dignified manner. 'this is invariably the case whether he is ii r.ija or it foreman of coolies on 8 rupees a month. Government, owiug to a variety of causes, has been obliged to increase the strength of the army in this country but this iuei'cas'J of strength is insignificant compared to what would bo doveloped if all young Eugli.shmon would be careful in their behaviour towards Every thoughtless action, every disparaging remark is repeated outside, and the ripple widens and widens. The number of servants who understand English, serving in English regiments, is very much larger than most of us imagine, and one such man in a mess room is sufficient to work the evil. It is no exaggeration to say that, if the English were individually popular in the country, we might with perfect equanimity await the arrival of Russia at .lamriul itself, for all we need cire. There would be no necessity of support from England; with the population heart and soul on our side no harm could befall our rule. The Government is undoubtedly popular with the mass ; the Native Princes are undoubtedly loyal to the Government; and it remains for Knglishmen to make themselves popular with the natives. This popularity is not dependent, as some would have us believe, on intercourse ; we do not believe iu real social intercourse when manners and customs are so divergent; sufficient for our purpose if we sain and retain the esteem and sincere respect of the inhabitants. Wo should bear iu mind that if some native habits appear disgusting to us, so are many English customs filthy in the eyes of natives. The Frenchman has his frog stew and snail soup ; to the Chinamail puppy-dogs and earth-worms are appetusiug articles of food ; and if these are disgu.-tiug to us, our fondness for pig and beer and beef is at least as degrading in the eyes of tho natives. To walk over carpets and lie on sofas and eren bed*,. wearing road soiled boots, is to them piirglsh ; to nso utensils in common for eating and drinking is, according to their notions of cleanliness, repulsive; for woinun to dance with strange men, uuuiilural and improper. If natives

smell onoasioriilly of bazaar tab.-ieeo, it i" ut least ;i v<»'° article, and »c use an ' l smfll of tobacco of a much morn powerful kind. We laugh at our Aryan brother's notions of speaking and writim.r English but what about our own iudiorous attempts ill. Hindustani ? If Kuglaud were to lose Tndia few of n« doubt that it would be a terrilic blow, not so much on account of the few Englishmen who are living in India itself as on account of the widespread ruin it would entail among;;iiundreds of of workiutr men and traders ut home, whose livelihood depends on the existence of the Indian market, and £ who out number many fold the paltry English population in this country. Tho loss of India would mom collapse of .trade; for many years, the breaking of banks, tho loss of income in all directions ; and Mm result must iuovifcably bo wholesale emigration very probably extending to some millions of the home population : but suuh a, movonient would be necessitated by poverty and famine. And polity and famine on such a wholesale scale means wholesile riot and disorder, and permanent 10-s of population is permanent loss of wealth and strength. We do not advocate fclfabasement. The Anglo - .Saxon race morally and physically is undoubtedly the finest in the world, ami wo should glory in the fact; but it may be weakened or strengthened by our acts, and we should not throw away tho chance w< , all have of enormously strengthening the (Jovernment oi the country by being individually courteous towards "the inhabitants.