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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:37:01 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:37:01 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11468-0.txt b/11468-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..39925f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/11468-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5471 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11468 *** + +[Transcriber's note: The spelling irregularities of the original have +been preserved in this etext.] + + +DARKEST INDIA + +BY COMMISSIONER BOOTH-TUCKER + +A SUPPLEMENT TO GENERAL BOOTH'S + +"IN DARKEST ENGLAND, AND THE WAY OUT." + +1891 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The remarkable reception accorded to General Booth's "In Darkest England +and the Way Out," makes it hardly necessary for me to apologise for the +publication of the following pages, which are intended solely as an +introduction to that fascinating book, and in order to point out to +Indian readers that if a "cabhorse charter" is both desirable and +practicable for England (see page 19, Darkest England) a "bullock +charter" is no less urgently needed for India. + +In doing this it is true that certain modifications and adaptations in +detail will require to be made. But the more carefully I consider the +matter, the more convinced do I become, that these will be of an +unimportant character and that the gospel of social salvation, which has +so electrified all classes in England, can be adopted in this country +almost as it stands. + +After all, this is no new gospel, but simply a resurrection, or +resuscitation, of a too much neglected aspect of the original message +of "peace on earth, good will towards men," proclaimed at Bethlehem. It +has been the glory of Christianity, that it has in all ages and climes +acknowledged the universal brotherhood of man, and sought to relieve the +temporal as well as the spiritual needs of the masses. Of late years +that glory has in some degree departed, or at least been tarnished, not +because the efforts put forth are less than those in any previous +generation, but because the need is so far greater, that what would have +been amply sufficient a few centuries ago, is altogether inadequate when +compared to the present great necessity. + +The very magnitude of the problem has struck despair into the hearts of +would-be reformers, many of whom have leapt to the conclusion, that +nothing but an entire reconstruction of society could cope with so vast +an evil, whilst others have been satisfied with simply putting off the +reckoning day and suppressing the simmering volcano on the edge of +which, they dwelt with paper edicts which its first fierce eruption is +destined to consume. + +Surely the present plan if at all feasible, is God-inspired, and if +God-inspired, it will be certainly feasible. And surely of all countries +under the face of the sun there is none which more urgently needs the +proclamation of some such Gospel of Hope than does India. That it is +both needed and feasible I trust that in the following pages I shall be +able to abundantly prove. + +General Booth has uttered a trumpet-call, the echoes of which will be +reverberated through the entire world. The destitute masses, whom he has +in his book so vividly pourtrayed, are everywhere to be found. And I +believe I speak truly when I say that in no country is their existence +more palpable, their number more numerous, their misery more aggravated, +their situation more critical, desperate and devoid of any gleam of hope +to relieve their darkness of despair, than in India. + +And yet perhaps in no country is there so promising a sphere for the +inauguration of General Booth's plan of campaign. Religious by instinct, +obedient to discipline, skilled in handicrafts, inured to hardship, and +accustomed to support life on the scantiest conceivable pittance, we +cannot imagine a more fitting object for our pity, nor a more +encouraging one for our effort, than the members of India's "submerged +tenth." + +Leaving to the care of existing agencies those whose bodies are +diseased, General Booth's scheme seeks to fling the mantle of +brotherhood around the morally sick, the destitute and the despairing. +It seeks to throw the bridge of love and hope across the growing +bottomless abyss in which are struggling twenty-six millions of our +fellow men, whose sin is their misfortune and whose poverty is their +crime, who are graphically said to have been "damned into the world, +rather than born into it." + +The question is a national one. This is no time therefore for party or +sectarian feeling to be allowed to influence our minds. True for +ourselves we still believe as fully as ever that the salvation of Jesus +Christ is the one great panacea for all the sins and miseries of +mankind. True we are still convinced that to merely improve a man's +circumstances without changing the man himself will be largely labor +spent in vain. True we believe in a hell and in a Heaven, and that it is +our ultimate object to save each individual whom we can influence out of +the one into the other. True that among the readers of the following +pages will be those whose religious creed differs from our's as widely +as does the North Pole from the South. + +But about these matters let us agree for the present to differ. Let us +unite with hand and heart to launch forthwith the social life boat, and +let us commit it to the waves, which are every moment engulfing the +human wrecks with which our shores are lined. When the tempest has +ceased to rage, and when the last dripping mariner has been safely +landed we can, if we wish, with a peaceful conscience dissolve our +partnership and renew the discussion of the minor differences, which +divide, distract and weaken the human race, but _not till then._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +IN DARKEST INDIA. + + I. Why "Darkest India?" + + II. Who are not the Submerged Tenth? + + III. The minimum standard of existence + + IV. Who are the Submerged Tenth? + + V. The Beggars + + VI. "The Out of Works" + + VII. The Homeless Poor + +VIII. The Land of Debt + + IX. The Land of Famine + + X. The Land of Pestilence + + XI. The White Ants of Indian Society + + (a) The Drunkard + + (b) The Opium Slave + + (c) The Prostitute + + XII. The Criminals + +XIII. On the Border Land + + XIV. Elements of Hope + + +PART II. + +THE WAY OUT. + + I. The Essentials to success + + II. What is General Booth's scheme? + + III. The City Colony + + IV. The Labour Bureau + + V. Food for all--the Food Depôts + + VI. Work for all, or the Labour Yard + + VII. Shelter for all, or the Housing of the Destitute + + VIII. The Beggars Brigade + + IX. The Prison Gate Brigade + + X. The Drunkards Brigade + + XI. The Rescue Homes for the Fallen + + XII. "The Country Colony"--"Wasteward ho!" + + XIII. The Suburban Farm + + The Dairy + + The Market Garden + + XIV. The Industrial Village + + XV. The Social Territory, or Poor Man's Paradise + + XVI. The Social City of Refuge + + XVII. Supplementary Branches of the Country Colony + + Public Works + + Off to the Tea Gardens + + Land along the Railways + + Improved methods of Agriculture + +XVIII. The Over-sea Colony + + XIX. Miscellaneous Agencies + + The Intelligence Department + + The Poor Man's Lawyer + + The Inquiry Office for missing Friends + + The Matrimonial Bureau + + The Emigration Bureau + + Periodical Melas + + XX. How much will it Cost? + + XXI. A Practical conclusion + + + + +PART I.--IN DARKEST INDIA. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +WHY "DARKEST INDIA?" + + +It is unnecessary for me to recapitulate the parallel drawn by General +Booth between the sombre, impenetrable and never-ending forest, +discovered by Stanley in the heart of Africa, and the more fearfully +tangled mass of human corruption to be found in England. Neither the +existence, nor the extent, of the latter have been called in question, +and in reckoning the submerged at one tenth of the entire population it +is generally admitted that their numbers have been understated rather +than otherwise. + +Supposing that a similar percentage be allowed for India, we are face to +face with the awful fact that the "submerged tenth" consists of no less +than _twenty-six millions of human beings_, who are in a state of +destitution bordering upon absolute starvation! No less an authority +than Sir William Hunter has estimated their numbers at fifty millions, +and practically his testimony remains unimpeached. + +Indeed I have heard it confidently stated by those who are in a good +position to form a judgement, that at least one hundred millions of the +population of India scarcely ever know from year's end to year's end +what it is to have a satisfying meal, and that it is the rule and not +the exception for them to retire to rest night after night hungry and +faint for want of sufficient and suitable food. + +I am not going, however to argue in favor of so enormous a percentage +of destitution. I would rather believe, at any rate for the time being, +that such an estimate is considerably exaggerated. Yet do what we will, +it is impossible for any one who has lived in such close and constant +contact with the poor, as we have been doing for the last eight or nine +years, to blink the fact, that destitution of a most painful character +exists, to a very serious extent, even when harvests are favorable and +the country is not desolated by the scourge of famine. + +Nor do I think that there would be much difficulty in proving that this +submerged mass constitutes at least one-tenth of the entire population. +No effort has hitherto been made to gauge their numbers, so that it is +impossible to speak with accuracy, and the best that we can do is, to +form the nearest feasible estimate from the various facts which lie to +hand and which are universally admitted. + +Let any one who is tempted to doubt the literal truth of what I say, or +to think that the picture is overdrawn, but place himself at our +disposal for a few days, or weeks, and we will undertake to show him, +and that in districts which are as the very Paradise of India, thousands +of cases of chronic destitution (especially at certain seasons in the +year) such as ought to be sufficient to melt even a heart of stone! + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WHO ARE NOT THE SUBMERGED TENTH? + + +Before passing on to consider of whom the destitute classes actually +consist, it will be well in a country like India to make a few +preliminary remarks regarding the numbers and position of their more +fortunate countrymen who have employment of some sort, and are therefore +excluded from the category. + +The entire population of British India, including Ceylon, Burmah, and +the Native States amounts according to the Census of 1881 to about two +hundred and sixty-four millions. + +These I would divide into five classes-- + + 1st--The wealth and aristocracy of the country consisting of those + who enjoy a monthly income of one hundred rupees and upwards per + family. According to the most sanguine estimate we can hardly + suppose that these would number more than forty millions of the + population. + + 2nd.--The well-to-do middle classes, earning twenty rupees and + upwards, numbering say seventy millions. + + 3rd.--The fairly well off laboring classes, whose wages are from + five rupees and upwards, numbering say at the most one hundred + millions. + + 4th--The poverty stricken laboring classes, earning less than five + rupees a month for the support of their families. These cannot at + the lowest estimate be less than twenty-five millions. + + 5th.--The destitute and unemployed poor, who earn nothing at all, + and who are dependent for their livelihood on the charity of others. + These can hardly be less than twenty-five millions, or a little less + than one-tenth of the entire population. + +The two hundred and ten millions who are supposed to be earning +regularly from five rupees and upwards per family, we may dismiss +forthwith from consideration. For the time being they are beyond the +reach of want, and they are not therefore the objects of our solicitude. +At some future date it may be possible to consider schemes for their +amelioration. + +Indirectly, no doubt, they will benefit immensely by any plans that will +relieve them of the dead weight of twenty-five million paupers, hanging +round their necks and crippling their resources. But for the present we +may say in regard to them, happy is the man who can reckon upon a +regular income of five rupees a month for the support of himself and his +family, albeit he may have two or three relations dependent on him, and +a capricious money lender ever on his track, ready to extort a lion's +share of his scanty earnings. And thrice happy is the man who can boast +an income of ten, fifteen, or twenty rupees a month, though the poorest +and least skilled laborers in England would reckon themselves badly paid +on as much per week. + +We turn from these to the workless tenth and to the other tenth who eke +out a scanty hand-to-mouth existence on the borders of that great and +terrible wilderness. But before enumerating and classifying them, there +is one other important question which calls for our consideration. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE MINIMUM STANDARD OF EXISTENCE. + + +What may reasonably be said to be the minimum scale of existence, below +which no Indian should be suffered to descend? Fix it as low as you +like, and you will unfortunately find that there are literally +_millions_ who do not come up to your standard. + +Pick out your coarsest, cheapest grains, and weigh them to the last +fraction of an ounce. Rigidly exclude from the poor man's bill of fare +any of the relishes which he so much esteems, and the cost of which is +so insignificant as to be hardly worth mentioning, and yet you will find +legions of gaunt, hungry men, women and children, who would greedily +accept your offered regimen to-morrow, if you could only discover the +wherewithal for obtaining the same, and who would gladly _pay for it +with the hardest and most disagreeable description of labour._ + +Take for instance the prison diet, where the food is given by weight, +and where it is purposely of the coarsest description consistent with +health. That the quantity is insufficient to satisfy the cravings of +hunger I can myself testify, having spent a month inside one of Her +Majesty's best appointed Bombay prisons, and having noted with painful +surprise the eagerness with which every scrap of my own coarse brown +bread, that I might leave over, was claimed and eaten by some of my +hungry, low-caste fellow prisoners! + +The clothing and the blankets are also of the very cheapest description. +Of course it must be remembered too, that the food and materials being +bought in large quantities, are obtained at contract prices which are +considerably less than the usual retail rates in the bazaar. And yet +notwithstanding these facts it costs the Bombay Government on an average +Rs. 2/4 per month for each prisoner's food, and close upon Rs. 2 a year +for clothing, besides the cost of establishment, police guard, hospital +expenses and contingencies. Altogether according to the figures given in +the Jail Report of 1887 for the Bombay Presidency, including all the +above mentioned items, I find that the average monthly cost to +Government for each prisoner is a little over Rs. 6 a head. + +Now it is a notorious, though almost incredible, fact, that in many +parts of India, men will commit petty thefts and offences on purpose to +be sent to jail, and will candidly state this to be their reason for +doing so. Many Government Officials will, I am sure, bear me out in +this. Here we have men who are positively so destitute that they are not +only prepared to accept with thankfulness the scanty rations of a jail, +but are willing to sacrifice their characters and endure the ignominy of +imprisonment and the consequent loss of liberty and separation from home +and family, because there is absolutely no other way of escape! In +Ceylon the jail is familiarly known among this class as their "_Loku +amma_", or "_Grandmother_"! + +India has no poor law. There is not even the inhospitable shelter of a +workhouse, to which the honest pauper may have recourse. Hence with tens +of thousands it is literally a case of "steal or starve." I suppose that +nine-tenths of the thefts and robberies, besides a large proposition of +the other crimes committed in India, are prompted by sheer starvation, +and until the cause be removed, it will be in vain to look for a +diminution of the evil, multiply our police and soldiery as we will. + +But I am digressing. My special object in this chapter is to show the +minimum amount which is necessary for the subsistence of our destitute +classes. + +Another very interesting indication of the minimum cost of living in the +cheapest native style, consistent with health, and a very moderate +degree of comfort, is furnished by the experience of our village +officers to whom we make a subsistence allowance of from eight to twelve +annas per week. This with the local gifts of food which they collect in +the village enables them to live in the simplest way, and ensures them +at least one good meal of curry and rice daily, the rest being locally +supplied. + +Here is the account of one of our Native Captains as to how he used to +manage with his allowance of eight annas a week. I have taken it down +myself from his own lips. + + "When in charge of a village corps, I received with others my weekly + allowance. When I was alone I used to get 10 annas, and when there + were two of us together we got eight annas each. This was sufficient + to give us one good meal of kheechhree (rice and dal) every day, + with a little over for extras, such as firewood, vegetables, oil and + ghee. + + "We had two regular cooked meals daily, one about noon and the other + in the evening. Besides this we also had a piece of bajari bread + left over from the previous day, when we got up in the morning. + + "For the morning meal we used to beg once a week uncooked food from + the villagers. They gave us about eight or nine seers, enough to + last us for the week. + + "It was a mixture of grains, consisting ordinarily of bajari, + bhavtu, kodri, jawar and mat. These we got ground up into flour. It + made a sort of bread which is known as Sângru and which we liked + very much. With it we would take some sâg (vegetables) or dâl. This + was our regular midday meal. + + "Including the value of the food we begged, the cost of living was + just about two annas a day for each of us. We could live comfortably + upon this. + + "The poorer Dhers in the villages seldom or never get kheechhree + (rice and dal). They could not afford it. Most of them live on + "ghens" (a mixture of buttermilk and coarse flour cooked into a sort + of skilly, or gruel) and bhavtu or bajari bread, or "Sângru." The + buttermilk is given to them by the village landowners, in return + for their labour. They are expected for instance to do odd jobs, cut + grass, carry wood, &c. The grain they commonly get either in harvest + time in return for labour, or buy it as they require it several + maunds at a time. Occasionally they get it in exchange for cloth. + Living in the cheapest possible way, and eating the coarsest food, I + don't think they could manage on less than one annas' worth of food + a day." + +One of our European Officers, Staff Captain Hunter, who has lived in the +same style for about four years among the villagers of Goojarat, and who +has been in charge of some 30 or 40 of our Officers, confirms the above +particulars. He says that on two annas a day it is possible to live +comfortably, but that one anna is the minimum below which it is +impossible to go in order to support life even on the coarsest sorts of +food. + +He tells me that the weavers have assured him that when husband and +wife are working hard from early to late, they cannot make more than +four annas profit a day by their weaving, since the mills have come into +the country and then they have to pay a commission to some one to sell +their cloth for them, or spend a considerable time travelling about the +country finding a market for it themselves. A piece of cloth which would +fetch nine rupees a few years ago, is now only worth three and a half or +four rupees. + +Bearing in mind, therefore, the above facts, I should consider that if +India's submerged tenth are to be granted, even nothing better than a +"bullock charter," the lowest fraction which could be named for the +minimum claimable by all would be one anna a day, or two rupees a month +for each adult. As a matter of fact, I have no hesitation in saying, +that there are many millions in India who do not get even half this +pittance from year's end to year's end, and yet toil on with scarcely a +murmur, sharing their scanty morsel with those even poorer than +themselves, until disease finds their weakened bodies an easy prey, and +death gives them their release from a poverty-stricken existence; which +scarcely deserves the name of "life." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +WHO ARE THE SUBMERGED TENTH? + + +By classifying and grading the various orders that constitute Indian +Society according to their average earnings, and by considering their +minimum, standard of existence, I have sought to prepare the way for a +more careful investigation of those who actually constitute the Darkest +India, which we are seeking to describe. I have narrowed down our +inquiry to the fifty millions, or whatever may be their number, who are +either absolutely destitute, or so closely on the border-land of +starvation as to need our immediate sympathy and assistance. + +Strictly speaking it is with the former alone, the absolutely destitute, +numbering as I have supposed some twenty-five millions, that we are at +present concerned. I have, however, found it impossible to exclude some +reference to the poverty-stricken laboring classes, earning less than +five rupees a month for the support of each family, inasmuch as they are +probably far more numerous than I have supposed, and their miseries are +but one degree removed from those of the utterly destitute. Indeed we +scarcely know which is the most to be pitied, the beggar who, if he has +nothing, has perhaps at least the comfort that nobody is dependent on +him, or the poor coolie who with his three or four rupees a month has +from five to eight, or more, mouths to fill! _Fill_ did I say? They are +_never_ filled! The most that can be done in such cases is to prolong +life and to keep actual starvation at bay, and that only it may be for a +time! + +Nevertheless, I have restricted the term "Submerged Tenth" to the +absolutely destitute, whom I now proceed to still further analyse. + +In doing so I have been obliged to include several important classes +who happily do not exist in England, or who are at any rate so few in +number, or so well provided for, as not to merit special attention. I +mean the beggars, the destitute debtors, and the victims of opium, +famine, and pestilence, without whom our catalogue would certainly be +incomplete. + +Including the above we may say that the Indian Submerged Tenth consist +of the following classes:-- + + I. The Beggars, excluding religious mendicants. + + II. The out-of-works,--the destitute, but honest, poor, who are + willing and anxious for employment, but unable to obtain it. + + III. The Houseless Poor. + + IV. The Destitute Debtors. + + V. The Victims of Famine and Scarcity. + + VI. The Victims of Pestilence. + + VII. The Vicious, including + + (a) Drunkards. + + (b) Opium eaters. + + (c) Prostitutes. + + VIII. The Criminals, or those who support themselves by crime. + +They are alike in one respect, that if they were compelled to be solely +dependent upon the proceeds of their labor, it would be impossible for +them to exist for a single month. + +It is these who constitute the problem which we are endeavouring to +solve. Here is the leprous spot of society on which we desire to place +our finger. If any think, that it is not so big as we imagine, we will +not quarrel with them about its size. Let them cut down our figures to +half the amount we have supposed. It will still be large enough to +answer the purpose of this inquiry, and should surely serve to arrest +the attention of the most callous and indifferent! About its existence +no one can have the smallest doubt, nor as to the serious nature of the +plague which afflicts our society. As to the character of the remedy, +there may be a thousand different opinions but that a remedy is called +for, who can question? + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE BEGGARS. + + +One of the chief problems of Indian Society is that of beggary. India is +perhaps the most beggar-beridden country to be found. Nor would it be +possible under present circumstances to pass any law forbidding beggary. +In the absence of a poor-law, it is the last resource of the destitute. + +True it is a plague spot in society and a serious reflection both on our +humanity and civilisation, to say nothing of our religious professions, +to tolerate the continued existence of the present state of things. + +And yet I see no reason why the problem should not be firmly and +successfully handled in the interests alike of the beggars themselves +and those who supply the alms. + +A short time ago I was visiting a Mahommedan gentleman in the Native +quarter of Bombay. It was in the morning before he went to business, and +I happened to hit upon the very time when the beggars made their usual +rounds. I should think upwards of fifty men and women must have called +during the few minutes that I was there. In fact it seemed like one +never-ending string of them reaching down both sides of the street. Some +sang, or shouted, to attract notice; others stood mutely with appealing +eyes, wherever they thought there was a chance of getting anything. Many +received a dole, while others were told to call again. I could not but +be struck by the courteous manner of my host to them, even when asking +them to pass along. + +On the opposite side of the road some food, or money, I forget which, +was being distributed to a hungry crowd by another hospitable merchant. +Evidently the supply was limited, and it was a case of first come first +served. The desperate struggle that was going on amongst that little +crowd of some fifty or sixty people was pitiful to behold. + +Now the present system, while better than nothing, is fraught with many +serious objections, with which I am sure my Indian readers will agree. + + 1. The weakest must inevitably go to the wall. It is the strong + able-bodied lusty beggar who is bound to get the best of it in + struggles such as I have above described, although he is just the + one who could and ought to work and who least needs the charity. He + is able also to cover more ground than the weak and sickly. To the + latter the struggle for existence is necessarily very severe, and + while needing and deserving help the most they get the least. + + 2. This unsystematic haphazard mode of helping the poor is bound to + be attended with serious inequalities; while some get more than is + either good, or necessary, others get too little, and for the + majority even supposing that on two or three days of the week they + succeeded in getting a sufficiency, the chances are that on four or + five they would not get nearly enough. It would be interesting to + know the total amount of food thus distributed and the number of + mouths that claim a share. + + 3. Of course in the case of any rise in the price of grains, the + position of the beggar is specially painful, as it is upon him that + the weight of the scarcity first falls. + + 4. Again the present system is a distinct encouragement to fraud. It + is impossible for the givers of charity to know anything about the + characters of those to whom they give. Thus much of their generosity + is misapplied, and the most pitiable cases escape notice, either + because they have not so plausible a tale, or because they have not + the requisite "_cheek_" for pushing their claims. + + 5. While the generous are severely taxed, the less liberal get off + scot free. They cannot give to all and therefore they will give to + nobody. Some beggars are frauds, therefore they will help none. They + have been taken in once, therefore they do not mean to be taken in + again. + + 6. Finally the Indian army of beggars is continually increasing, and + will sooner or later have to be dealt with. Private charity will + soon be unable to cope with its demands, and humanity forbids that + we should leave them to starve. + +I return therefore to the question, can we not seize this opportunity, +in the common interests of both beggars and be-begged, for dealing +vigorously with the difficulty, and for mitigating it, if we cannot at +one stroke entirely remove it? + +I am very hopeful that this can be done, and that now certain classes +of beggars. But in any case I think we may fairly view the problem in a +spirit of hopefulness. + +Roughly speaking the beggars may be divided into four classes:-- + + (a) The blind and the infirm. + + (b) Those who take them about and share the proceeds of their + begging. + + (c) The able bodied out-of-works, and + + (d) The religious mendicants. + +Passing over the last of these for obvious reasons, I would confine +myself to the first three classes. But I must not anticipate. The scheme +for their deliverance is fully described in a later portion of this +book, and for the present I would only say that they constitute a very +important section of India's submerged tenth and no plan would be +perfect that did not take them fully into account. + +It is true that this does not form a part of General Booth's original +scheme. But the reason for this is patent. In England vagrancy is +forbidden. There is a poor law in operation and there are work-houses +provided by the State. In India there is nothing of the kind, save a law +for the _compulsory emigration_ of European vagrants, who are deported +by Government and not allowed to return. For Natives there is no choice +save the grim one between _beggary, starvation,_ and _the jail._ To +obtain the shelter of the last of these they must leave their family, +sacrifice their liberty, and commit some offence. Therefore the honest +out-of-works are driven by tens of thousands to lives of beggary, which +too often pave the way for lives of imposture and crime. + +That the problem is capable of being successfully solved, if wisely +handled, has been proved by the Bavarian experiment of Count Rumford +quoted by General Booth in an appendix to his book. True that in that +case the Government lent their authority, their influence and the public +purse to the carrying out of the Count's plan of campaign. + +This we do not think that public opinion would permit of in India, even +if Government should be willing to undertake so onerous a +responsibility. Nor do I believe that there is any necessity for it. The +circumstances are a good deal different to those in Bavaria, and will be +better met by the proposals which I have elsewhere drawn up. + +Anyhow it is high time that something should be done, and that on an +extensive scale and of such a drastic nature as to deal effectually with +the question. + +I can easily imagine that some may fear lest in dealing with the system +we should wound the religious susceptibilities of the people. Begging +has come to be such a national institution and is so much a part and +parcel of the Indian's life and religion, that any proposal to +extinguish the fraternity may cause in some minds positive regret. To +such I would say that we do not propose to _extinguish_ but to _reform_, +and with this one hint I must beg them, before making up their minds, to +study carefully the proposals detailed in Chapter VII of Part II. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +"THE OUT-OF-WORKS." + + +I should question whether there is a single town or country district in +India which does not present the sad spectacle of a large number of men, +willing and anxious to work, but unable to find employment. Moreover, as +is well known, they have almost without exception families dependent +upon them for their support, who are necessarily the sharers of their +misfortunes and sufferings. There is one district in Ceylon, where +deaths from starvation have been personally known to our Officers, and +yet the country appears to be a very garden of Eden for beauty and +fertility. + +In the early years of our work I remember begging food from a house, and +learning afterwards that what they had given us was positively the last +they had for their own use. Needless to say that it was hastily +returned. During the same visit a cry of "Thief, thief!" was raised in +the night. We learnt next morning that the robbery had been committed by +a man whose wife and child were starving. It consisted of rice, and the +thief was discovered partly by the disappearance of the suspected +person, and partly by the fact that in his house was found the exact +quantity which had been stolen, whereas it was known that on the +previous day he had absolutely nothing whatever in his house! He had +left it all for his starving wife and child, and had himself fled to +another part of the country, probably going to swell the number of +criminals or mendicants in some adjoining city. + +I quote these instances as serving to show the impossibility of judging +merely from outside appearances in regard to the existence or +non-existence of destitution of the most painful character, which it is +often to the interest of the local landlords to whitewash and conceal. +It is only on looking under the surface that such can in many cases be +discovered. It has been the actual living among the people that has made +it possible for us to obtain glimpses of their home life, such as could +not otherwise have been the case. + +But let me enumerate a few of the classes among whom the Indian +"Out-of-works" are to be found. I do not mean of course to imply that +the entire castes, or tribes, or professions, referred to, constitute +them. Far from it. A large proportion are comparatively well off, and +though entangled almost universally in debt, are included among the 210 +millions with whom we are not now concerned. None the less it will be +admitted, I believe, that it is from these that the ranks of destitution +are chiefly recruited. I call attention to this fact, because it helps +in a large measure to remove the religious difficulty which might at +first sight appear likely to stand in the way of our being commissioned +by the Indian public to undertake these much-needed reforms. They are +almost without exception of either no caste, or of such low caste, that +religiously speaking they may justly be regarded as "no man's land." The +higher castes and the respectable classes are mostly able to look after +themselves, and will not therefore come within the scope of our scheme. + +And yet on the threshold of our inquiry we are confronted with an +important and increasing class, of "out-of-works" who are being turned +out of our educational establishments, unfitted for a life of hard +labour, trained for desk service, but without any prospect of suitable +employment in the case of a great and continually increasing majority. I +do not see how it will be possible for us to exclude or ignore this +class in our regimentation of the unemployed. Certainly our sympathies +go out very greatly after them. But beyond registering them in our +labour bureau, and acting as go-betweens in finding employment for a +small fraction of them, I do not see what more can be done. However, the +majority of them have well-to-do relations and friends to whom they can +turn, and except in cases of absolute destitution will not fall within +the scope of the present effort. + +Passing over these we come to the poorest classes of peasant proprietors +who, having mortgaged their tiny allotments to the hilt, have finally +been sold up by the money-lender. Add to these again the more +respectable sections of day-laborers. Then there are the destitute among +the weavers, tanners, sweepers and other portions of what constitute the +low-caste community. Out of these take now the case of the weaver caste, +with whom we happen to be particularly familiar, as our work in Gujarat +is largely carried on among them. Since the introduction of machinery, +their lot has come to be particularly pitiable. In one district it is +reckoned that there are 400,000 of them. Previous to the mills being +started, they could get a comfortable competence, but year by year the +margin of profit has been narrowed down, till at length absolute +starvation is beginning to stare them in the face, and that within +measurable distance. + +To the above we may add again the various gipsy tribes, who have no +settled homes or regular means of livelihood. Finally, there are the +non-religious mendicants, the religious ones being considered as not +coming within the scope of our present effort, being provided for in +charitable institutions of their own. + +Representatives of nearly all the above abound in our cities, and when +both town and village destitutes come to be reckoned together, I do not +think it will be too serious a view to take of their numbers, to reckon +the absolutely workless as numbering at least 25 or 26 millions. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE HOMELESS POOR. + + +On this question I do not propose to say much, not because there is not +much that could be said, but because in a climate like India it is a +matter of secondary importance as compared with food. The people +themselves are comparatively speaking indifferent to it. The "bitter +cry" of India if put into words would consist simply of "Give us food to +fill our stomachs. This is all we ask. As for shelter, we are content +with any hovel, or willing to betake ourselves to the open air. But food +we cannot do without." + +And yet, looked at from the point of view either of a moralist, a +sanitarian, or a humanitarian, the question is one which calls for +prompt consideration and remedial action. For instance, according to the +last Government census, the average number of persons inhabiting each +house in the city of Bombay is no less than 28. The average for the +entire Presidency is six. But then it must be remembered that the great +majority of the houses of the poor in the agricultural district consist +of one-roomed huts, in which the whole family sleep together. + +In the cities the overcrowding has become so excessive, and the +accomodation available for the poor is so inadequate, costly and +squalid, as to almost beggar description. Considerations of decency, +comfort and health are largely thrown to the winds. A single unfurnished +room, merely divided from the next one by a thin boarding, through which +everything can be heard, will command from five to thirty rupees a +month, and even more, according to its position, in Bombay. + +The typical poor man's home in India consists as a rule of a +single-storeyed hut with walls of mud or wattle, and roof of grass, +palm-leaf, tiles, mud, or stones, according to the nature of the +country. One or two rooms, and a small verandah, are all that he +requires for himself and his family. + +In the cities the high price of the land makes even this little +impossible. Take for instance Bombay. Here the representative of the +London lodging-house is to be found in the form of what are called +"chawls," large buildings, several storeys high, divided up into small +rooms, which are let off to families, at a rental of from three rupees a +month and upwards. Very commonly the same room serves for living, +sleeping, cooking, and eating. There being as a rule no cooking place, +the cheap earthen "choola" serves as a sufficient make-shift, and the +smoke finds its exit through the door or window best it can. + +For hundreds, probably thousands, in every large city, even this poor +semblance of a home does not exist. Those who manage somehow or other to +live on nothing a month, cannot certainly afford to pay three rupees, or +even less, for a lodging. Whilst, no doubt, many of the submerged, tenth +are not absolutely houseless, inasmuch as they are often able to share +the shelter of some relation or friend, it cannot be doubted that a very +large percentage of them might say, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of +the air have nests," but we "have not where to lay our heads." + +Of the homeless poor there are two classes. The more fortunate find +shelter in those of the Dharamsalas, Temples and Mosques which contain +provision for such purposes. It must be remembered, however, that a +large number of such institutions are reserved for certain favored +castes, and are not therefore available for the out-caste poor. For the +rest, the uncertain shelter of verandahs, porticoes, market-places, +open sheds, and, in fine weather, the road-way, esplanade, or some shady +tree, have to suffice. + +As already said, I am quite willing to admit that this question of +shelter for the poor is of secondary importance as compared with that of +their food-supply. And yet is it nothing to us that millions of the +Indian poor have no place that they can call "home," not even the meagre +shelter of the one-roomed hut with which they would gladly be content? +Is it nothing to us that superadded to the sufferings of hunger, they +have to face the sharp and sometimes frosty air of the cold weather with +scarcely a rag to their backs, and no doors, windows, or even walls to +keep off the chilly wind? Is it nothing to us that in the rainy season +they have to make their bed on the damp floor or ground, though to do so +means a certain attack of fever? Is it nothing to us that under such +circumstances the houseless poor should be converted into a dismal +quagmire in which moral leprosy, more terrible than its bodily +representative, should thrive and propagate itself? Certainly if the +Indian destitute are to have a "bullock charter" granted to them, it +will be necessary that it should sooner or later include suitable and +decent shelter as well as food. + +True, the problem is a vast one but this is no reason why it should be +looked upon as insoluble, or left to grow year by year still vaster and +more uncontrollable. + +What we propose ourselves to undertake in this will be found elsewhere +(see Part II Chapter VI). It must be remembered, moreover, that if our +efforts to deal with the workless masses in finding them employment +should prove successful this will in itself help to remove much of the +existing evil. And by directing labor into channels where it can be the +most profitably employed, we shall help to disembarrass those channels +which have at present got choked up with an excess of it. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE LAND OF DEBT. + + +One of the darkest shadows on the Indian horizon is that of debt. A +drowning man will snatch at a straw, and it would surely be inhuman for +us to find much fault with the unhappy creatures who constitute the +submerged tenth for borrowing their pittance at even the most exorbitant +rates of interest in the effort to keep their heads above water. + +I have no desire here to draw a gloomy picture of the Indian Shylock. In +some respects I believe him to be a decided improvement on his European +and Jewish representative. It was only a short time ago that I read a +blood-curdling description of the London money-lender, which put any +Indian I have ever come across altogether into the shade. + +Nevertheless, Shylock flourishes in India as perhaps in no other country +under the sun. His name is Legion. He is ubiquitous. He has the usual +abnormal appetite of his fraternity for rupees. But strange to say he +fattens upon poverty and grows rich upon the destitute. Whereas in other +regions he usually concentrates his attention upon the rich and +well-to-do classes, here he specially marks out for his prey those who +if not absolutely destitute live upon the border-land of that desolate +desert, and makes up by their numbers for what they may lack in quality. +He gives loans for the smallest amount from a rupee and upwards, +charging at the rate of half an anna per month interest for each rupee, +which amounts to nearly 38 per cent. per annum. As for payment, he is +willing to wait. Every three years, a fresh bond is drawn up including +principal and interest. Finally, when the amount has been sufficiently +run up, whatever land, house, buffalo, or other petty possessions may +belong to the debtor are sold up, usually far below their real value. + +I remember one case, which came before me when I was in Government +service, where the facts were practically undisputed, in which a +cultivator was sued for 900 rupees, principal and interest, the original +debt being only ten rupees worth of grain borrowed a few years +previously. Ultimately it was compromised for about 100 rupees. This is +by no means an exceptional case. + +Of course it may be said in favour of the money-lender that he is +obliged to charge these high rates, to cover the extra risk, and that as +a rule, he is generally prepared to forego half his legal claim when +the time for payment comes. I am aware also that the subject has long +occupied the earnest attention of Government, and that in some parts of +the country enactments have been introduced for the relief of poor +debtors. But these are only local and the evil is universal. A judicial +Solon is sadly needed who shall rise up and boldly face the evil. The +extortions of usurers have led to revolutions before now, and it seems +high time for an enlightened Government to do something on a large scale +for the abatement of the evil, if only by an absolute refusal to enforce +any such usurious contracts. + +But I have only mentioned the subject, because it plays a specially +important part in the present depressed condition of the submerged +masses. In the following pages I hope among other things to be able to +cast some rays of light into this valley of the shadow of debt, if not +of death. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE LAND OF FAMINE. + + +Any review of Darkest India would be incomplete without some mention of +the widespread and calamitous famines which periodically devastate the +country and which reappear from time to time with terrible certainty. + +In a country where so large a proportion of the population is +agricultural, and where the poor are almost entirely paid in kind, the +failure of a single crop means the most terrible scarcity and privation +for those who even in time of plenty live at best but a hand-to-mouth +existence. And when the failure is repeated famine faces the +poverty-stricken masses, and they are frequently swept off by thousands. + +In the terrible Madras famine of 1877 to 1878, several millions +perished, in spite of the relief works and charitable agencies which +hastened to their assistance. When the census of 1881 came to be taken, +it was found that in this part of India, instead of the population +having largely increased, as was everywhere else the case, there had +been a diminution of two per cent as compared with the census of 1871. + +It may be said that such famines are not frequent and we are thankful to +admit that this is so. Yet scarcely a year passes without some part of +India suffering severely from partial droughts. Only last year hundreds +of poor starving wretches, crowded into Bombay from Kattiyawar, and were +for weeks encamped on the Esplanade, an abject multitude, dependent on +the charity of the rich. And yet it was "no famine" that had driven them +hundreds of miles from their homes, but "_only_ a scarcity." + +At the same time famine prevailed in the Ganjam District to an extent +which would probably have been utterly discredited, had not the Governor +of Madras proceeded personally to the spot, and reported on the terrible +state of affairs. No less than 30,000 persons were thrown upon +Government for their support. In the same year through a fortnight's +delay in the break of the monsoon, there were grain riots at +Trichinopoly and Tanjore, several merchants stores being broken into, +through a rise in the price of food. Happily a subsequent fall of rain +averted the impending calamity, prices fell and order was restored. + +Now to deal radically with famines it is necessary to meet them half +way, and not to wait till they are upon us in all their stupendous +immensity. It must be remembered that, as in the above instances, the +present condition of things is such, that the mere threatening of famine +is sufficient to send up the prices of food at a bound, to famine rates. + +The chief victims of famine are the very classes who have been here +described as constituting the "submerged tenth." In ordinary times "the +wolf" is always "at the door" but at these calamitous periods there is +no door to keep him out, and he is master of the situation. Now General +Booth's scheme proposes to deal with him promptly and remove him to such +a safe distance, as shall make his inroads almost impossible. + +By leaving these destitute classes in their present miserable condition, +we prepare for ourselves a gigantic and impossible task when the evil +day of famine at last overtakes us. By facing the difficulty at the +outset, and meeting it midway, we make our task much easier. Time is in +our favour. True, the people are hungry, but they are not dying. We can +afford to let them drift a few weeks, months, or even years longer, +while we are putting our heads and hearts together to devise for them +some way of deliverance commensurate with the immensity of their needs. +But to resign oneself to the present condition of things as inevitable +seems to me almost as heartless as to fold our hands helplessly at a +time of absolute famine. To deafen our ears to the immediate distresses +of the submerged tenth may be less criminal in degree but not in kind. + +To those who feel paralysed by the vastness of the problem I would say +"Study General Booth's Way Out and the adaptation of it to India which I +have endeavoured to sketch in the following pages." + +Here at least is a plan, perhaps not a perfect one, but still definite, +tangible and immediately possible. Improve upon it as much as you like. +Help us to remedy its defects by all means. But whatever you do, don't +stand by as an indifferent spectator. Put your own individual shoulder +to the wheel. Help us with your sympathy, prayers and substance to make +the effort, and should failure ensue, you will at least have the +satisfaction of realising that you have helped others to make an honest +determined effort for dealing with a gigantic evil that involves the +welfare, if not the existence of millions. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE LAND OF PESTILENCES. + + +Happily a description of English destitution does not call for any +reference to plagues, such as those which annually or at least +periodically, devastate India, and that with such certainty that their +presence has come to be regarded, almost with indifference, as a matter +of course, or at least of necessity. Indeed we suppose that some would +even look upon it as a Divinely ordained method for reducing the +population. True, that in Europe the matter is regarded in a very +different light. Public opinion has made its voice heard. Medical +science has exerted itself, and not in vain. The laws of sanitation are +better known, and are enforced upon the entire community by severe legal +enactments. And above all, Christianity has taught the rich to say of +the poor "He is my brother," and to provide for him the medical care and +attention that would otherwise not be within his reach. + +What is possible in Europe is no doubt possible in India. Much has +already been done, and our Government is fully awake to the importance +of the subject, and will be able, year by year, to institute further +improvements in this respect. + +With this, however, we are not directly concerned. My object in +referring to the subject is to point out-- + +1. That it is almost invariably from among the submerged tenth, with +whom we propose to deal that these fearful plagues usually have their +origin. Pestilence may indeed be said to take up its abode among them. +Destitution is as it were the egg from which pestilence is hatched. +There are brooding seasons when it may for a time disappear from sight. +But it is there all the same and we know it. If we are to eradicate the +evil, we must deal effectually with its cause. And this is the special +object of General Booth's scheme. + +True, it may be possible to keep this deadly enemy at bay by multiplying +our hospital fortresses and putting into the field medical legions armed +with the latest discoveries of science. But the requisite paraphernalia +is too expensive for a country like India; and who does not know that +well-fed bodies, and healthy homes are better safeguards against disease +than all the most costly medicines that could be provided by the British +pharmacopoeia? If therefore we are able to deal radically with +destitution we shall at the same time strike an effective blow at the +pestilences which are at present such a scourge to India. + +2. Again I would like to remind my readers of another fact, and in this +aspect of the question, all classes of the community are bound to be +interested. If pestilence begins its deadly work among the destitute, it +can never be reckoned on to stop there. Indeed pestilence may be +regarded as _Nature's revenge_ on society for the neglect of the poor. +Once the cholera fiend has broken loose, it is impossible to tell whom +he is going to select for his victims. The rich, the fair, the learned, +the young, the strong, are often the first objects of his attention. He +manifests a reckless disregard of social position. The distinctions of +caste and rank, of beauty or learning, are not for him. And even as I +write he may be preparing his invisible hordes of bacilli for fresh +invasions, more terrible than those that have ever swept down from the +mountains of Afghanistan. While we are spending millions upon +strengthening our North-Western Frontiers against a foe who may never +exist, save in our imagination, can we dare to neglect the more terrible +enemy who defies all Boundary Commissions, who overleaps the strongest +fortresses, and who laughs to scorn the largest cannon that ever capped +our walls? + +3. Finally there is one very sad shade in this part of our picture of +darkest India. If on the one hand pestilence may be said to somewhat +thin the ranks of the destitute by decreasing the number of mouths +requiring to be fed, it must be remembered on the other hand that it +continually recruits them both by sweeping away so many of the +breadwinners, and by frequently paralysing many of those who are left, +and preventing them from earning what they otherwise might. How often do +we hear of even public institutions having to be closed, and of +thousands being thrown out of work by the panic which ensues at such +times. + +I have sought to confine myself to a matter-of-fact description of this +gloomy subject, and to avoid anything that could be construed into mere +sensationalism. And yet deaf must be the ears, and hard must be the +hearts, that can be insensible to the cries of agony that yearly ascend +from thousands and tens of thousands of homes. In a recent Government +report, I find that from cholera alone in one year there were reported +no less than 300,000 deaths; and yet the year was not remarkable for any +exceptional outbreak. Still more terrible and regular are the ravages of +the various malarial fevers, that sweep away millions yearly to a +premature grave, often just in the prime of life, when they are most +needed by the country. That a very large percentage of these deaths are +directly connected with destitution, and that pestilence frequently but +finishes the work commenced by months and years of starvation, is too +notorious to require proof. It is a melancholy picture, and yet without +it our review of Darkest India would be necessarily incomplete. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE WHITE ANTS OF INDIAN SOCIETY. + + +Hitherto our description of the Submerged Tenth has concerned those who +may be styled principally the children of misfortune, and who in their +struggle for existence have resort to means which are indeed desperate +in their nature, but against which no moral objection can be raised. + +General Booth next calls attention to another great section of the +Submerged Tenth who have found a temporary shelter or asylum in the +temple of Vice,--those who either trade upon the sins of society, or are +the miserable victims of those sins. The unlawful gratification of the +natural appetites has ever been the snare by which millions have been +deluded to damnation. If it were possible to combat this tendency in +human nature by mere legal enactments, it would have been done long ago. +But though much has been done in this way to hold vice in check, and to +prevent it from openly parading itself in public as it otherwise would, +yet it has chiefly been by the chains of religion that the monster has +been bound, and even his legal shackles have mostly been manufactured at +the anvils of the religious public. Take for instance the wholesale +prohibition of intoxicating liquor by the Mahommedan religion, or again +the strong Temperance movement that has more lately been established +among Christians. The former has no doubt accomplished what would never +have been done by means of legal enactments, while the latter has first +educated the public on the Temperance question and has thus prepared the +way for prohibitory legislation of a more stringent character. + +In dealing with this portion of the Submerged Tenth there can be no +doubt that the religious and moral appeals of the Salvation Army +Officers will serve to stimulate and enforce wholesale reformation. By +substituting the attractions of our public meetings, we shall do much to +counteract those of the liquor den and other factories of pollution and +destitution,--for it is as such that we may regard the places where +drunkards, opium-eaters, prostitutes, fornicators, and the other hideous +satellites of Vice are manufactured wholesale, whether with or without +the shelter of a license. A large proportion of those who are engaged in +vice as a trade openly profess to do so as a means of subsistence, and +because it enables them to eke out what is in nine cases out of ten but +a scanty subsistence, and what is almost invariably accompanied by the +most terrible penalties Nature can inflict on those who outrage her +ordinances. Many are heartily sick of the trade, but can see no way of +escape. In dealing with destitution we shall open for these a door of +hope. The deserters from the ranks of those who trade in vice will help +us to deal more effectively with those who still cling to the profession +on account of its profits. + +In dealing with the panderers to the vices of society we shall largely +diminish the numbers of its victims. It has been said that sinning is +very much a matter of temptation, and in reducing those temptations, as +we believe General Booth's scheme will largely tend to do, we shall be +able to reduce in quantity, if we cannot hope to cause altogether to +cease, the frightful holocaust of human victims that is annually offered +up at this dark shrine. + + +_(a) The Drunkards._ + +I will take the question of the Drunkard first, for it is itself a +prolific root of all kinds of evil. The gradual breaking up of religious +restraints, the increasing facilities for obtaining at smallest cost +the most fiery and dangerous liquors, the added suffering entailed on +any drinking habits that may be formed by the tropical heat of India, +all serve to accentuate the gravity of the evil in this country. Add to +this a consideration of the distressing poverty, the chronic hunger, the +dull monotony, unrelieved by hope of amendment, in which myriads of the +people of India fight out the battle of life; reflect how these must +crave for the boon of forgetfulness and eagerly grasp at the wretched +relief which drunkenness may bring. Nor can we throw the responsibility +altogether upon the individual, if it be true that prior to contact with +Western nations, the Hindoos were largely a temperate and even an +abstinent people. We are in an especial manner bound to consider whether +there can be found any alleviation or remedy for a disaster which, if we +have not actually created, we have at least suffered to spring up +unheeded and unchecked in our very midst. + +It is notorious that the large cities of India are crowded with shops of +the kind thus described by Mr. Caine, late M.P., in his "Picturesque +India": + + "The wide and spacious shops in front of which are strewn broken + potsherds, and whose contents are two or three kegs and a pile of + little pots; are the liquor-dealer's establishments. The groups of + noisy men seated on the floor are drinking ardent spirits of the + worst description absolutely forbidden to the British soldiers, but + sold retail to natives at three farthings a gill." + +Mr. Caine goes on to say that in the city of Lucknow, with a population +of some 300,000 inhabitants, there were in 1889 thirty distilleries of +native spirits and 200 liquor-shops. The Government exchequer receipts +from spirits in the North-West Provinces amount to nearly £600,000, +having doubled themselves during the last seven years. This means that +in round numbers £1,000,000 worth of native spirits is sold in these +provinces per annum. + +Now consider first that as a rule with rare exceptions a native of +India who uses the fiery country liquors drinks for no other purpose +than to become intoxicated. They are manufactured with a view to this, +and not as in Europe to provide a thirst-quenching potation. Mr. Caine +says: "The people of India, unlike other people, only drink for the +purpose of getting drunk, and if we make them drunken we destroy them +more rapidly than by war, pestilence and famine." + +Nothing is clearer than that a rapidly increasing multitude in this +country, once remarkable for its sobriety and thrift, are rushing +headlong into the disastrous vice of intemperance and its attendant +horrors, almost without check. Something must be done. We cannot +cold-bloodedly abandon them to a gospel of despair. + + +_(b) The Opium Slaves._ + +Darker still perhaps is the dreadful night, and more sickening the +miasma, which lies around the opium creeks, multiplying and increasing +and slowly sucking down into their slimy depths thousands upon thousands +of those who dare to seek momentary relief from sorrow in its lethal +stream. Mr. Caine thus describes an opium den in Lucknow:-- + + "Enter one of the side rooms. It has no windows and is very dark, + but in the centre is a small charcoal fire whose lurid glow lights + up the faces of nine or ten human beings, men and women, lying on + the floor. A young girl some fifteen years of age has charge of each + room, fans the fire, lights the opium pipe, and holds it in the + mouth of the last comer, till the head falls heavily on the body of + his or her predecessor. In no East-end gin palace, in no lunatic or + idiot asylum, will you see such horrible destruction of God's image + in the face of man, as appears in the countenances of those in the + preliminary stage of opium drunkenness! Here you, may see some + handsome young married woman, nineteen or twenty years of age, + sprawling, on the ground, her fine brown eyes flattened and dull + with coming, stupor; and her lips drawn convulsively back from her + glittering white teeth. Here is a young girl sitting among a group + of newly arrived customers singing some romance. As they hand round + the pipes there is a bonny little lad of six or seven watching his + father's changing face with a dreadful indifference. + + "At night these dens are crowded to excess, and it is estimated that + there are upwards of twelve thousand persons in Lucknow enslaved by + this hideous vice. An opium sot is the most hopeless of all + drunkards. Once in the clutches of the fiend, everything gives way + to his fierce promptings. His victims only work to get more money + for opium. Wife, children, home, health, and life itself are + sacrificed to this degrading passion." + +If twelve thousand for Lucknow be a fair estimate, can we put the +figures for the whole country at less than 100,000? + +Still there is a deeper depth. In the same city, says Mr. Caine, there +are ninety shops for the sale of Bhang and Churras. "Bhang," says the +same writer, "is the most horrible intoxicant the world has ever +produced. In Egypt its importation and sale is absolutely forbidden, and +a costly preventive service is maintained to suppress the smuggling of +it by Greek adventurers. When an Indian wants to commit some horrible +crime such as murder, he prepares himself for it with two annas' worth +of Bhang." + + +_(c) Prostitution._ + +In the all but impenetrable shades and death-breathing swamps of this +social forest, lie and suffer and rot probably not less than one hundred +thousand prostitutes. Multitudes of these are dedicated to such a life +in childhood, given over to it, in some cases by their parents and not +unfrequently kept in connection with the temples. Thousands are searched +for and persuaded and entrapped by old women, whose main business it is +to supply the market. We know of at least one village where beautiful +children, who have been decoyed or purchased from their parents by +these prostitute-hunters, are taken to be reared and trained for the +profession. In Bombay there is actually a caste in which the girls are +in early childhood "married to the dagger," or, in other words, +dedicated to a life of prostitution. In some of the cities old men are +employed as touts to secure customers for the women, who remain in their +haunts, thus seducing and leading into vice crowds of lads and young men +who might otherwise have escaped. + +Such suffering, shame, cruelty, and wreckage belong to this crime that +one's heart bleeds to think of the tens of thousands doomed, not by +their own choice, but by the wicked greed of unnatural parents or the +crafty cunning of wicked decoys to such a gehenna, without the least +power to extricate themselves from its torment and its shame. + +With so much pity left upon the earth to weep over human woes, with so +much courage still to hack and hew a path through grim forests and +morasses of suffering, there must, and shall, be found "a way out." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE CRIMINALS. + + +The most recent report of the Indian Government informs us that there +are now no less that 737 Jails in British India (exclusive of Native +Territory), with an average population of 75,922 prisoners. In the +course of last year in the Bombay Presidency alone no less than 76,000 +criminals were convicted, while 152,879 were placed on trial before the +various courts. In the whole of India the number of annual convictions +amount to upwards of one million, while the number who appear before the +Court are at least twice as numerous. Again, there are also immense +numbers of offences committed yearly, in which the Police are unable to +get any clue, the offenders having succeeded in eluding altogether the +vigilance of the Law. For instance a celebrated outlaw has only recently +been apprehended in Central India after several years of successful and +daring robbery, arson, mutilation and murder. Indeed in many parts of +India there are predatory tribes and communities of thieves who have to +be perpetually under Police surveillance, and who are brought up from +their infancy to thieving as a profession. + +We desire to plead the cause of the voiceless multitude who occupy our +Indian Jails. The fact that they are voiceless,--that they have no means +of voicing their claims, their wrongs and their rights (for they, too, +_have_ rights), only adds to their danger. How can a criminal hope for +redress? What chance has he of being heard? Who will listen? What +advocate will plead his cause? Ah, if he happen to be rich, it is true, +he will have many friends! But as a rule the criminal is poor. Often he +has to choose between crime and starvation. For himself he might prefer +to starve, but the sight of his emaciated wife and aged parents,--with +whom, criminal though he be, he is as a rule ready to share his last +crust,--the clamour of his hungry children, all this drives him to +desperation and to a life of crime. He can only give voice to his +sorrows and his needs by some fresh act of lawlessness. Hence the +occasional outbursts of mutiny, and the murders of jail warders, which +from time to time reach the newspapers and shock the public ear. + +And here I would desire to call attention to the fact that though crime +must be vigorously dealt with and punished, at the same time the +tendency of punishment is not to _reform_, but to _harden._ Who does not +know that the _worst criminals_ are those who have been _longest in +Jail_? Instead of _getting better_ they _grow daily worse_,--more adept +in committing crime and eluding detection,--more careless as to its +consequences. + +Equally futile would be the offer of a wholesale pardon. A singular +illustration of this occurred in 1887, when in honour of Her Majesty's +Jubilee in the Bombay Presidency alone, no less than 2,465 prisoners +were released out of a total of 6,087. Yet the Government report goes on +to show that within a few months of their release the Jails were fuller +than ever! + +What, then, is to be done? Punishment hardens the criminal, pardon +encourages crime, while the hearts of the offenders remain the same! + +Here steps in the Salvation Army. Its methods and meetings, however +distasteful to the educated and refined, have a special attraction for +these dangerous classes. Its Officers are accustomed to handle them with +superhuman love and patience, as well as with a tact and adroitness +such as has often elicited the admiration and praise of those who have +no sympathy with our creed or ways of work. + +We have all over the world fearlessly invaded these criminals in their +lowest haunts and dens, in the teeth of the warnings of the Police; we +have braved their fiercest fury when, urged on by publicans, maddened +with drink, misled by all sorts of infamous lies, and winked at or +patronised by the Police and Magistrates, they have wreaked on us the +utmost cruelties. We have invariably weathered the storm, though often +at the cost of health and even life itself. And in the end as a rule the +Roughs, Criminals and Dangerous Classes have become our warmest friends +and vigorous supporters. From amidst them we have rescued and reformed +some of the noblest trophies of Divine grace. This has been done all +over the world. It has been done in India and Ceylon. In a later part of +this book we have given a glimpse of this most interesting and important +portion of our work. Independent witnesses testify to its reality. +Government officials assure us of their warmest sympathy, and in not a +few cases aid us with their influence and subscriptions. In Ceylon the +Government has treated us most handsomely, throwing open their prisons +for our Officers to visit and hold meetings among the prisoners, +assisting us in the expenses of our Home with a monthly grant of Rs. +100, and encouraging the criminal classes to take advantage of the +opportunity thus afforded them for reforming their lives. + +The common reason given for refusing such assistance elsewhere is that +Government cannot interfere with the religion of the prisoners. But in +Ceylon the majority of the prisoners are Buddhists, Hindoos and +Mahommedans, and what has been found to work so well there can surely be +tried with equal success elsewhere! Government does not hesitate all +over India to assist religious bodies in their endeavours to _educate_ +the people, and they may therefore well countenance and help forward, as +they might so easily do, our efforts to reach and reform the criminal +classes on precisely the same grounds, offering similar advantages to +any Hindoo or Mahommedan Associations that might afterwards be formed +for the same purpose. At present the Indian criminal has no friend to +lend him a helping hand. Prison officials in various places have +personally informed me that they are distressed at being able to do +nothing for criminals, who, having lost their character and being +abandoned by their friends, have no alternative but to return to their +old associates. If our example causes others to rise up and make efforts +for reaching and reforming these classes, who would not rejoice? At +present it is a sad fact that throughout India the native criminals are +debarred from all opportunities of being reached by the softening +influences of religion. The Europeans have their Chaplains,--the +Natives are allowed to have no one to minister to their souls' needs, or +to bring to bear upon them those moral influences which might, and we +know often would, lead to their reform. There seems no reason whatever +why the following rules, which have been drawn up by the Ceylon +Government, should not be adopted likewise in India:-- + + General Rules made by His Excellency the Governor, acting under the + advice of the Executive Council for the Government of Prisons, for + the guidance of the prison officers, _under and by authority of + Section_ 26 _of the Prisons Ordinance_, 1887. + + 226. Ministers of religion and religions instructors shall be + entitled to visit prisoners under commitment for trial and prisoners + undergoing sentence after trial, and to give religious and moral + instructions to those who are willing to receive the same on Sundays + and other days in which prisoners are usually allowed freedom from + work, between the hours of eight in the morning and four in the + afternoon. + + 227. Such ministers or other persons shall be allowed access at all + times (but between the hours specified) to all prisoners who shall + be certified by the medical officers of the prison to be seriously + ill. + + 228. In prisons where such an arrangement can conveniently be made, + a suitable room shall be set apart where religious instruction can + be afforded to prisoners and the rites of religion administered. + + 229. If, under the directions of Government, Christian services be + held in any Jail, on Sundays and on other days when such services + are performed, all Christian criminal prisoners shall attend the + same unless prevented by sickness or other reasonable cause--to be + allowed by the Jailor--or unless their service is dispensed with by + the Superintendent. No prisoner, however, shall be compelled to + attend any religious instruction given by the ministers or religious + instructor of a church or persuasion to which the prisoner does not + belong. + + 230. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent in charge of any + prison to prohibit any particular minister or instructor visiting + any prisoner in such prison, if it shall appear to him that such + minister or instructor is an improper or indiscreet person, or + likely to have improper communication with the prisoner, provided + that such Superintendent shall without delay communicate his reason + for doing so, to the Inspector General for report to Government. + + 231. No books or printed papers shall be admitted into any prison + for the use of the prisoners, except by permission of the + Superintendent, and the jailor shall keep a catalogue of all books + and printed papers admitted into the prison. + + 232. It shall be the duty of the minister or instructor admitted to + visit any prison, to communicate to the jailor any abuse or + impropriety in the prison which may come to his knowledge, on pain + of being prohibited from visiting the prison. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +ON THE BORDER LAND. + + +Besides the 25,000,000 who constitute the actual destitute and criminal +population, we estimate that at a very low computation there are +25,000,000 who are on the border-land, who are scarcely ever in a +position to properly obtain for themselves and for their families the +barest necessities of existence. I do not say that they are wholly +submerged, but they pass a sort of amphibious existence, being part of +the time under water and part of the time on land,--some part of their +life being spent in the most abject poverty, and some part of it in +absolute starvation--positively for the time submerged, and liable at +any moment to be lastingly engulfed. These are the classes whose income +never rises above five rupees a month, while more frequently it is under +four rupees. + +On one farm, concerning which we have detailed information, where the +rent of the land is unusually low, the soil good and well irrigated, +where loans can be got at a merely nominal interest, the cultivators, +with the additional help of occasional cooly work, did not average in +their earnings four rupees a month, some having to keep a family on +three and a half, while if a bullock died, or a plough had to be +procured, it meant positive hunger and increased indebtedness to supply +those needs. + +The fact is that in many districts there is not only an increase of +population to be sustained by a constantly narrowing area of cultivated +land, but the land itself is deteriorating through the unendurable +pressure put upon it. As the forests grow more distant through being +used up for timber and fuel, wood becomes dearer. The manure which ought +to go upon the land is therefore by necessity consumed for fuel. The +ground in consequence becomes impoverished. As the struggle for +existence becomes fiercer, the people are unable to let their land +periodically lie fallow, so the crops grow lighter. Again, the ryot is +not only unable properly to feed himself, but his bullocks share a +similar fate. The feeble animals can only draw a plough which merely +scratches the surface of the ground. Furthermore, as the population +increases the land is divided into smaller and smaller holdings. The +struggle against the advancing tide of adversity cannot be maintained. +Inch by inch the tide rolls up, pushing the border-landers closer and +closer upon the black rocks of famine, to escape which they at length +plunge into the sea amongst the submerged millions, who, weary and +bitter and despairing, or with blind submission to the iron hand of +fate, have grown hopelessly and miserably indifferent. + +Now, it is notorious that millions live thus on the border-land. Granted +that after the harvest border-landers may for a time get two good meals +a day. Yet as the reserve store dwindles down and long before +harvest-time comes round, again, they get but one, and that frequently a +scanty one. They do live, multitudes of them, it is true, amidst +conditions that seem to us impossible. But how many of them die on this +one meal a day, there is nobody to chronicle. But if we do nothing +beyond rescuing a considerable mass of the totally submerged, we shall +considerably ameliorate the condition of these border-landers. + +By rendering independent of charity thousands who now depend upon the +gifts of the more fortunate, by making large tracts of land productive +which at present lie waste, by enlarging the stream of emigration, and +partially draining the morass of crime, it is absolutely certain that +the conditions of life will become more favourable for the +border-landers. New markets will be created both for produce and labour, +which will tend to relieve the congested condition of the land now under +cultivation. + +The land at present is like a good, but overworked and under-fed horse, +which, under this double adversity of overwork and under-feeding, dies +and leaves his poor owner, who was entirely dependent upon his earnings, +a pauper. It is a condition of things which is bad, and bound of +necessity to grow only worse and worse, till the willing horse drops +under his load, and his master falls from poverty to destitution. Once +enable the man to temporarily decrease his horse's labour and +permanently increase its food supply, that horse will regain its +strength, and by its increased strength become able to do double the +amount of work, increase its master's earnings, and so in time enable +him not only to properly feed his horse, but also to properly feed +himself. + +Now close to hand there is an unemployed horse available which will +afford the relief, for want of which the overworked horse is dying. The +unoccupied and waste lands, waste labour, and waste produce, constitute +the ideal unemployed horse, on whose back we would put part of the +burden of maintaining the life and feeding the mouths of the Nation. +This idle and hitherto useless horse will immediately become useful and +productive, and will enable its under-fed companion, not only to be +relieved of part of its burden, but also to get sufficient food, and +grow once more plump and strong. Thus the man, or nation, that lived, +however miserably, yet still lived, on the labour of the one famished +over-worked horse, will then be able to get a decent living, since there +will be two strong well-fed horses to work for them, instead of a single +broken-down one. + +It is simply impossible within the limits of this chapter to trace out +the whole process. Enough to say that as a rule, to which of course +there are exceptions, one man's prosperity means some one else's +prosperity. Suppose I am a beggar. I wear practically no clothing. The +little I have is what somebody else has cast off. I have no home. I +sleep in the street. I get very little food, and that I do not pay for. +I produce nothing. My children, if I have any, are wastrels like myself. +But I am lifted out of this beggary, I become a productive worker. I get +a home, wear clothes, buy food, educate my children. Not only have I +improved my own circumstances, but I have helped to improve the +circumstances of others. Builders, shopkeepers, food-producers, all +profit by my redemption. + +Now, if not one wastrel only, but 1,000,000 such are raised, a mighty +impetus is given to industry of every kind, and the border-landers, +instead of being driven on the black rocks by the tide of adverse +surroundings, begin to drive back the tide, and conquer the earth, and +subdue it, till the border-landers will be border-landers no longer, and +the dreadful days of hunger will live only in the stories of famine and +want, which the grey old man will tell to his happy and prosperous +grandchildren, and ten thousand links of love between emigrant sons and +home-staying fathers will bind the fertile plains of Ceylon, Burmah, +Africa, and other countries to the populous shores of India. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ELEMENTS OF HOPE. + + +The picture which I have endeavoured to paint in the foregoing pages is +dark enough to strike despair into the hearts of the most sanguine. And +if there were indeed no way of escape for these victims of sin and +misfortune, we might well prefer to draw a veil over the sad scene, and +to bury in the ocean of forgetfulness, the very recollection of this +earthly purgatory. + +But there are elements of hope in the consideration of this problem, +which should prevent us from regarding it despair. + +1. In the first place, supposing that we are correct in computing this +human wastage at from twenty-five to twenty-six million souls, this +would represent only some five million families. It is true that looked +at even in this light the number is vast. But surely it is not +impossible for India to make sufficient and suitable provision for them +within her own borders, to say nothing of the "regions beyond" if +reasonable thought and effort were put forth in dealing with the +problem. + +2. Again, as regards the _numbers_, it will be found _easier_ to deal +with these great national problems in bulk than piecemeal, and their +very size will give them an impetus when once they are fairly set in +motion. It will be found as easy to dispose of 1,000 people as of a +hundred, and of 50,000 as of a thousand, if they be properly organised. +Indeed, for many reasons it is easier. The larger the community, the +more work they at once provide for each other. Once let this social ball +be set rolling on a large scale, and we may believe that it will soon +get to move of its own weight. + +3. Again, it is not an indiscriminate system of largely extended charity +that we propose to provide. Our object is to find work for these +workless multitudes, and such work as shall more than pay for the very +humble pittance the Indian destitute requires. He must be a poor +specimen of a human being who cannot fairly earn his anna or two annas a +day, and our brains must be poor addled affairs, if in this great vast +world of ours we cannot find that amount of work for him to do. It is +all nonsense to talk about over-population, when the world is three +parts empty and waiting to be occupied. + +4. While we are piercing the bowels of the earth in search of gold, +minerals and coal, there lies at our very door a mine of wealth which it +is simple folly for us to ignore. True, the shaft has become choked with +the rubbish of despair, vice and crime, which will take time, trouble +and untiring patience to dig through. But it needs no prophet to foresee +that beneath this rubbish are veins of golden ore which will amply repay +our utmost efforts to open up. The old adage that "labour is wealth," +and that a nation's riches consist in its hardy sons and daughters of +toil, will yet be proved true. Treat this human muck-heap even as you +would ordinary sewage or manure, and who does not know that the very +same putrefying mass of corruption which if allowed to remain near our +doors would breed nothing but fever, cholera, and the worst forms of +disease and death, when removed to a little distance, will double and +treble the ordinary fertility of the soil and produce crops that will +increase the wealth of the entire nation? + +And knowing this can we be so blind, even to our selfish interests, as +to treat this human waste in a manner that we should deem the very +height of imprudence and folly in dealing with the other sort? Can we +shut our eyes to the fact that there are moral diseases, more terrible +in their nature, and more fatal to a nation's life, than the bodily +ones, against which we are so anxious to guard, even at the most lavish +expenditure of the public purse? And shall we, in dealing with this +moral sewage, neglect even the most ordinary precautions that we +consider necessary in dealing with the conservancy of our cities? + +If on the other hand the problem be boldly and wisely faced, I am +convinced that in India, as in England, General Booth's most sanguine +prophecies will be realised, our most pestilential marshes shall be +drained, our moral atmosphere purified, prosperity take the place of +destitution, and hope that of despair. The millstone that hangs around +our national neck, so that we can barely keep our heads above water, +even when there is not a ripple upon its surface, and that always +threatens to engulf us in perdition at the first symptoms of a +storm,--this millstone shall be converted into an unsinkable life-buoy, +that shall not only support itself upon the crest of the highest waves, +but shall help to keep afloat the entire national body. What is now an +eyesore shall become an adornment, and what is now a cause of weakness +shall be a source of strength, bulwark of protection and mine of wealth +to all India. How this can be done we have sought in the following pages +to unfold, adhering carefully to the programme marked out by General +Booth, and suggesting only such additions and alterations as the +circumstances of the case appear to necessitate. + + + + +PART II.--THE WAY OUT. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS. + + +General Booth prefaces his scheme for the deliverance of the submerged +by laying down briefly the essentials to success. I cannot do better +than quote from his own words. + +(1) "You must _change the man_, when it is his character and conduct +which constitute the reasons for his failure in the battle of life. No +change in circumstances, no revolution in social conditions, can +possibly transform the nature of man. Some of the worst men and women in +the world, whose names are chronicled by history with a shudder of +horror, were whose who had all the advantages that wealth, education and +station could confer, or ambition could obtain. + +"The supreme test of any scheme for benefiting humanity lies in the +answer to the question; what does it make of the individual? Does it +quicken his conscience, does it soften his heart, does it enlighten his +mind? Does it, in short, make a true man of him? Because only by such +influences can he be enabled to lead a human life. You may clothe the +drunkard, fill his purse with gold, establish him in a well furnished +house, and in three, six, or twelve months, he will once more be on the +"Embankment," haunted by delirium tremens, dirty, squalid and ragged. + +(2) "The remedy, to be effectual, must _change the circumstances_, when +they are the cause of his wretched condition, and lie beyond his +control. + +(3) "Any remedy worthy of consideration must be on _a scale commensurate +with the evil_, which it proposes to deal with. It is no use trying to +bale out the ocean with a pint pot. There must be no more philanthropic +tinkering, as if this vast sea of human misery were contained in the +limits of a garden pond. + +(4) "Not only must the scheme be large enough, but it _must be +permanent._ That is to say, it must not be merely spasmodic coping with +the misery of to-day, but must go on dealing with the misery of +to-morrow and the day after, so long as there is misery left in the +world with which to grapple. + +(5) "But while it must be permanent, it must also be _immediately +practicable_, and capable of being brought into instant operation with +beneficial results. + +(6) "The indirect features of the scheme must not be such as to produce +injury to the persons whom we seek to benefit. Mere charity for +instance, while relieving the pinch of hunger, demoralises the +recipient. It is no use conferring sixpenny worth of benefit on a man, +if at the same time we do him a shillings worth of harm. + +(7) "While assisting one class of the community, it must not seriously +interfere with the interest of another. + +"These are the conditions by which I ask you to test the scheme I am +about to unfold. They are not of my making. They are the laws which +govern the work of the philanthropic reformer just as the laws of +gravitation, of wind and of weather govern the operation of the +engineer. It is no use saying we could build a bridge across the Tay, if +the wind did not blow. The engineer has to take into account the +difficulties, and make them his starting point. The wind will blow, +therefore the bridge must be made strong enough to resist it. So it is +with the social difficulties, which confront us. If we act in harmony +with these laws we shall triumph. But if we ignore them, they will +overwhelm us with destruction, and cover us with disgrace." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WHAT IS GENERAL BOOTH'S SCHEME? + + +His object is to supply the destitute with food, shelter and clothing, +to provide them with work and to set them on their feet for making a +fresh start in life. + +With a view to this he proposes to call into existence, a threefold +organisation, consisting of self-helping and self-sustaining +communities, governed and disciplined on the principles of the Salvation +Army. These he calls "Colonies", and divides into + + (1) The City Colony, + + (2) The Country Colony, and + + (3) The Over-sea Colony. + +All these are to be linked together and to be interwoven with and +dependent on each other. In the City Colony a series of agencies will be +established for gathering up and sifting the destitute. Thence they will +be passed on to the Country Colony and subsequently many of them will be +sent to Colonies across the sea. + +Now this triple organisation can be brought into existence, on the +largest possible scale in India under circumstances peculiarly favorable +to the success of the scheme. + +Our country is not of limited extent like England. It covers an immense +area and includes a conglomeration of nationalities, such as we find in +Europe, with the special advantage of being united under a single, and +that a friendly Government. + +Then again there is the fact that, though the influx from the country +to the cities has commenced, yet it has not at present got beyond +manageable proportions, so that it is possible for us, if awake to the +emergency, to rise up and divert the stream into more desirable +channels. + +If instead of waiting for a further irruption of village Goths and +Vandals, (which is only a matter of time, and which will soon overwhelm +our City labour market and compel the attention of our civil +authorities,) we anticipate the event and meet them half way by opening +up fresh channels for them, more in harmony with their own taste and +preference, we shall not only confer an inestimable boon upon them, but +shall turn them into a source of strength and revenue for the country, +and shall with them people tracts which are at present barren and +fruitless, but which are only waiting to be occupied and which in many +cases have only to be restored to the prosperity that they formerly +enjoyed. + +Finally we have the great advantage of a people already trained to +husbandry from their youth, and accustomed to the very co-operative +system of farming which General Booth advocates, where payments are +mostly to be made in kind rather than in cash, and where the exchange of +goods will largely supersede transactions in money, a strong but +paternal government regulating all for the general good. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CITY COLONY. + + +The first portion of General Booth's threefold scheme consists of the +City Colony. + +This may aptly be compared to a dredger, which, gathers up all the silt +of a harbour, and carries it out to sea, leaves it there and then +returns to repeat the operation. If such an operation is necessary in a +harbour, and if without it the best anchorages in the world would often +get choked with rubbish and become useless, how doubly important must it +be in the case of the human wastage that abounds in every large Indian +City. + +Should a single ship strike on an unknown rock, we hasten to mark it +down in our charts, or erect over the spot a lighthouse as a warning to +others. Should it sink where it is likely to hinder the traffic, we set +our engineers to work to remove it, even though it may be necessary to +blow it to atoms. + +And yet it is a notorious fact that our cities abound with rocks over +which there is no lighthouse,--that every channel is obstructed with +sunken vessels, and that there are not a few tribes of pirates who +fatten on the human wreckage. But we fold our hands in despair, and +allow bad to grow worse, till the problem daily becomes more enormous, +desperate and difficult to deal with. + +Now General Booth's scheme proposes to establish a dredger for every +harbour, a lighthouse for every rock, an engineer for keeping clear +every channel. It may be too much to expect that there will be no +wrecks, but they will be fewer, and that surely is something! We do not +say that there will be no accidents, but there will be willing hands +held out to deliver. We cannot hope to abolish failures, mistakes, +shortcomings and weaknesses of various sorts, but we shall do our best +to anticipate and provide for them? We are sure there will be +difficulties and disappointments to encounter, but we shall meet them in +the confidence that God is on our side, that He is intensely interested +in the efforts which He Himself has inspired us to undertake and that +ultimate victory is bound to crown our efforts. + +And now I would give a brief description of this great City Dredger, +explaining its component parts in the chapters that are to follow. We +cannot promise that the entire machine will get into working order at +once. We are anxious to start it immediately and to complete it as soon +as possible. But on the public will largely depend the question as to +how long it will take us to get it afloat and finished. Its simplicity, +practicability, and universality are to me at the same time its chief +charms, and its credentials to success. It is only part of a larger +scheme with which it is entwined. But it is an important, perhaps the +most important part and will continue to exercise over the entire effort +the controlling head and the inspiring heart without which the whole +apparatus will be as motionless as a machine without steam, or a body +without life. + +The following are the various branches of the City Colony-- + + (1) The Regimentation of Labor. + + (2) Food for all--Food Depôts. + + (3) Work for all--Labor yards. + + (4) Shelter for all. + + (5) The household Salvage Corps. + + (6) The Prison Gate Brigade. + + (7) The Drunkard's Home. + + (8) The Rescue Home for fallen women. + + (9) The poor man's Metropole. + + (10) The Emigration Bureau. + +To these no doubt will in course of time be added many other branches. +In the meantime this is in itself a sufficiently extensive programme for +some years to come. How we propose to elaborate each of the above, will +be found in the following pages. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE LABOR BUREAU. + + +One of the most painful sights with which modern civilisation presents +us is the enormous and increasing wastage of valuable human labor. The +first step towards remedying this gigantic and alarming evil will be to +ascertain its extent. This we propose to do by means of our Labor +Bureau. Here all classes of out-of-works will be welcomed, from the +respectable well educated intelligent youths, who are being poured out +of our colleges by thousands, to the most squalid specimen of a Lazarus +that lies at our gates desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fall from +our tables. All will be sorted out, sifted and regimented, or organised, +into distinct corps, which will in time no doubt develope into legions. + +The Bureau will not, however, stop short with simply ascertaining the +extent of the evil which exists. It will at the same time turn its +attention to the examination and regimentation of the channels which +already exist for the absorption of that labor. For while it is true +that there are vast quantities of unutilised labor, and that the present +supply of labor greatly exceeds the demand, it is also true that for +want of suitable arrangements for bringing together capital and labor, +the capitalist also frequently loses time and money, either in searching +for labor which he cannot get, or in resorting to labor of an inferior +quality, where labor of a superior quality would bring in much larger +returns. + +Into the pre-existing channels it would be the first aim of our Labor +Bureau to pour the labor supply of the country. And experience would +probably enable us to widen, deepen and lengthen these channels in such +a manner as would prove profitable to both employers and employed, as +well as to the nation at large. + +When, however, this had been done, it is alas! only too certain that we +should still have left upon our hands a vast amount of surplus labor, +for which we should next proceed to dig out new and profitable channels. +The problem no doubt bristles with difficulties, but that is no reason +why we should sit down before it and fold our hands in despair. + +Once upon a time, aye for hundreds of years, the waters of the Cauvery +were poured in one useless torrent into the sea, sweeping past great +tracts of thirsty land, which craved its waters, but could not reach +them. At the present moment scarcely a drop of that river reaches the +ocean. Its course has been diverted into a thousand channels, and so +fertilising are its waters that the rich alluvial deposits which they +bear render the use of manure unnecessary. And yet for centuries these +possibilities were unrecognised and suffered to go to waste. + +Is not this a fitting picture of the huge river of labor that winds its +course through arid plains of want and poverty and starvation, which it +is capable of fertilising and converting into a modern Paradise? True +that on its banks and in its immediate neighbourhood are strips of +luxuriant vegetation. But those only show up in painful relief the utter +barrenness of the "region beyond." Why should the dwellers upon the +banks be allowed to monopolise and appropriate that which they cannot +even utilise, and that which is often a source of positive danger, +annoyance and loss to them? Why should not channels be devised for these +human waters, by means of which they should be distributed, so as to be +put to the utmost possible use? + +This social problem is no doubt the "white elephant" of society. Cannot +we devise a "kheddah" for capturing the entire herd wholesale? Perhaps +after all we shall find it easier and quicker to catch and tame the +herd, than to set snares and pitfalls for individual ones and twos. Ah, +you say, many have tried and failed. That is because they have not +studied the habits of the animal. Besides it is by means of failure that +the grandest successes have ultimately been achieved. See how skilfully +that "mahaut" manages his huge yet obedient servant. And cannot we point +already in our own ranks to elephants more wonderful that have been +tamed and mastered by the goad of love? + +It is the successes of the past that encourage General Booth to face the +problem in the spirit of hopefulness that breathes through every page of +"Darkest England." And if the genius of man has been able to tame the +strongest of animals, such as elephants,--the fiercest, such as +lions,--the swiftest, such as horses, and the dullest, such as the +ass,--why should we despair of reducing to order this chaotic mass of +labor, and of turning that which at present constitutes a danger that +threatens the very existence of society into a source of safety, of +wealth and power? At any rate this is the object that will be kept +steadily in view by our Labor Bureau. + +All persons will be able to register names at our Bureau. If they are +destitute and willing to go to our yards, they will be sent there and +given work suitable to their caste, or profession. If on the other hand +they are not in need of such assistance, being supported by their +friends, we shall simply register their names and do our best to find +suitable work for them, though it would of course be distinctly +understood by them that we undertook no responsibility in regard to +this. A small fee will be charged, in proportion to the nature of the +case. This would serve to cover the expenses of the Bureau, which would +I am sure meet a long felt want. + +Employers of labour would benefit almost more even than the men +employed, as we should always be able to supply them at a short notice +with any description and number of "hands" that they might require, and +they would be saved the expense, delay, and uncertainty of having to +advertise. + +For instance I know of millowners who complain that they cannot get +labourers who will stay, and that their work suffers from the flotsam, +jetsam character of those whom they employ working for a few weeks and +then leaving. This we should be able to remedy. + +Indeed after a short time we might reasonably expect that in recognising +the great convenience thus afforded them, millowners and other great +employers of labour, including very possibly the Government and the +Railway Companies would refuse to employ any who had not registered +themselves at our Bureau. + +Again it would doubtless be a great satisfaction to employers in cases +where a reduction of establishment became necessary, to feel that they +could hand over to us those with whose services they were dispensing, +knowing that every effort would be made to make suitable provision for +them. + +The labour register would contain columns in which would be entered the +various kinds of employment for which the applicant was willing or +suited, and the minimum pay which he was prepared to accept, so that we +should be able to ascertain exactly how many out-of-works there were of +each particular class. We should also enter in a separate register those +who had accepted an inferior position, in the hopes of being able to +better themselves subsequently. + +In connection with our registers we should keep a character roll. Copies +of certificates would be filed, and notes made in regard to +unsatisfactory characters, so that in course of time we should be able +to give some sort of a guarantee in regard to those whom we sent out. In +the case of any one being reported to us as unsatisfactory, we should +still, however, give him another chance by redrafting him into our +Labour Yards, or by giving him some sort of inferior employment, more +immediately under our own surveillance, till he had regained his +character. + +Among other things we might undertake to supply servants to European +families. A register of such would be very useful both to masters and +servants. For instance in the case of lost "chits" we could supply +certified copies of the original. + +There is another class to whom I should think the establishment of such +an agency will be particularly welcome. Our cities swarm with educated +young men unable to find employment. Although we cannot include them +among our destitute classes, we believe that without turning aside from +our main object, we could do a great deal to help them. + +If our scheme grows to the proportions and with the rapidity which we +anticipate, this would in itself absorb large numbers of them. And where +we could do no more we could obtain a moral influence over them and they +would come within the scope of the Advice and Intelligence Bureaux which +are described elsewhere. Constituting as they do the cream of the youth +of India, full of ardent, though often misdirected, enthusiasm, we +should be able to help mould them into happy, independent, prosperous +and loyal citizens, who would be a bulwark to the State, instead of +leaving them to simmer in their present unfortunate circumstances. "To +dig" they don't know, and "to beg" they are ashamed. + +They would in their turn I believe give an important impetus to our +scheme and might constitute themselves its fervent apostles helping it +to sweep from end to end of India in less time than it is possible for +us to conceive. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +FOOD FOR ALL--THE FOOD DEPÔTS. + + +In England, owing to the severity and uncertainty of the weather, the +food and shelter questions go hand in hand. This is not the case in +India, where the shelter is not so important as the food, and there is +no such urgency in dealing with the former as with the latter. For +instance during nine months out of twelve it is not such a very great +hardship to sleep in the open air in most parts of India. I have myself +done it frequently and so have many of our Officers. It is true that we +should not like it as a regular thing, and still less perhaps, if driven +to it by absolute want. Still I am perfectly prepared to admit that the +circumstances are totally different to that of England, and that the +question of shelter is of secondary importance as compared with food. + +The time will come when we shall be obliged to face and deal with it. If +our scheme meets with the success that we anticipate, having first +satisfied the gnawings of these hunger-bitten stomachs, we shall +certainly turn round and think next what we can do to provide them with +decent homes for themselves and their families. + +But we can safely afford to defer the consideration of this question for +the present, in order to throw all our time and energy into the solution +of the infinitely more urgent and important problem of a regular and +sufficient food supply for these destitutes. + +At present as I have already pointed out, they are dependent solely on +the help of relations and friends and on the doles of the charitable; +or on the proceeds of vice and crime. The insufficiency of these to meet +the needs of the case I have also, I believe, proved to demonstration. + +Therefore one of the first parts of our City programme will be the +establishment of cheap food depôts, at which food of various kinds will +be supplied at the lowest possible cost price. These depôts will be +dovetailed in with other parts of our scheme, which have yet to be +described, and the one will help to support the other. + +It may be objected that if we undertake to sell food at lower than the +ordinary market rates, we shall interfere with the legitimate operations +of trade. But to this we would answer that the same objection would be +still more true in regard to charitable doles, which are given for +nothing. And further, we shall fix our prices with a view to covering +the actual cost of the food, so that there will not be any probability +of our interfering with ordinary market rates. Besides, should there be +any very serious difficulty of the kind, we could always make a rule +limiting the food sold at these depôts to those who came under the +operation of the other branches of our social reform. + +At the outset it would probably be wisest to avoid all caste +complications by confining ourselves entirely to uncooked food, leaving +the people to do their own cooking, but it is very probable that before +long we should be forced to undertake the preparation of cooked food. We +should of course pay due regard in this respect to the customs of the +various castes, religions and nationalities concerned. To a Hindoo for +instance it would be extremely disagreeable to eat out Of the same dish +as others, while Mahommedans, as one said to me the other day, only +enjoy the meal the more, when others are sitting round the platter. +These, however, are subordinate details which would largely settle +themselves as we went along. Food in some shape or form, the destitute +must have, good in quality and sufficient in quantity, and if they +prefer it uncooked this will save us trouble, whereas if cooking becomes +necessary we shall have another industry for the employment of many +hands. Meanwhile the fact that nearly every native of the poorer castes, +be it man, woman, or even child, knows how to cook their own food, is +likely to be of no little help in settling the question of the food +supply. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WORK FOR ALL, OR THE LABOUR YARD. + + +But it may next be asked, what we shall do in the case of those who have +no money with which to buy their food, even at the reduced rates we +would propose? To this we would reply that such will be expected to +perform a reasonable amount of work, in return for which they will be +given tickets entitling them to obtain food from the depôts just +referred to. + +In order to do this we shall establish labour yards, where we shall +provide work of a suitable character for the destitute. This will +involve very little expense, as sheds of a cheap description will answer +our purpose, there being no necessity for providing against the +inclement weather which adds so greatly to the expense and difficulty of +carrying on such operations in England. + +Whatever may be the produce of this cheap labour, we shall be careful to +sell it rather above than below the ordinary market rates, so as to +avoid competing with other labour. Moreover, we shall direct our +attention from the first to manufacturing chiefly those articles which +are likely to be of service to us in other branches of our scheme, so +that the labour of the destitute will go chiefly towards supplying their +own wants and those of the persons who are engaged in prosecuting the +work. + +For instance, supposing that a number of the destitute were employed in +making coarse cloth, baskets, mats, or cow-dung fuel, these could be +retailed at a nominal figure to those who presented our labour tickets +at our food depôts. + +The most encouraging feature in the establishment of labour yards is +that nearly every Indian has been brought up from childhood to some +trade. You can rarely meet the most ignorant and uneducated Native +without finding that he is thoroughly expert at some kind of handicraft. +In brigading the poor we should be careful to make the best use of this +knowledge by putting each as much as possible to the trade with which he +was most familiar. + +The following industries, the majority of them directly connected with +various branches of our work, could be started at once and would need +scarcely any outlay to begin with. + + 1. _The Potters Brigade_--Would furnish us with the earthenware, for + which we should from the first have a very large demand. The + Household Salvage Brigade would require some thousands of pots to + start with and in connection with our food depôts we should be able + to dispose of thousands more. + + 2. _The Weavers Brigade_--This would give employment for a large + number of skilled hands. Their first object would be to supply the + kinds of clothes, blankets, &c., which would be most suitable for + the use of the submerged tenth. In catering for their wants we + should avoid, however, anything _prisony_, or _workhousey_, or + charity-institutiony in appearance. As our numbers increased we + should find plenty of work for our weavers, at any rate for many + years to come without entering into any sort of competition either + with the market or the mills. + + 3. _The Basket Brigade_--Would supply us with all sorts of cheap + baskets, for which we should have a constant demand. + + 4. _The Mat Making Brigade_--Would find employment for many more + hands in supplying us with mats for sleeping and household purposes. + + 5. _The Fuel Brigade_--Here we have an industry which requires no + skill. There would be two branches of it--the woodchoppers and the + Oopala makers. For the latter women and children could be largely + employed both in the collection of the cow-dung and in the + preparation of it for use as fuel. + + 6. _The Tinners Brigade_--Will be kept busy making receptables and + badges for the Salvage Brigade, and also probably emblems for the + Labor Bureau. + + 7. _The Ropemakers Brigade_--Will furnish employment to a number + more and the results of their labour will find an ample market in + our various colonies. + + 8. _The Tanners Brigade_--Will supply all our departments with such + leather as may be required for various purposes, and among other + things will be attached to. + + 9. _The Shoemakers Brigade_--Who will be employed in patching up the + old shoes collected by our Household Salvage Brigade and in making + new ones for our consumption. + + 10. _The Tailors Brigade_--Will supply uniform and clothing of all + kinds. For these we have already a very considerable demand, which + would increase year by year. + + 11. _The Carpenters Brigade_--Would have plenty to do in providing + seats for our Barracks, office essentials, boxes, and household + furniture for our colonies. They would be linked with + + 12. _The Building Brigade_--For whom we shall find ample employment + in the erection of our Labour Sheds, Shelters and Farms. + + 13. _The Masons Brigade_--Would also be attached to the previous + one, and would become an important feature in our Labour Department. + + 14. _The Brick Makers Brigade_--Would supply us with all the bricks + and tiles that we might require. Here again it is easy to see that, + without trenching in the least on the outside public, we should + create and support an important industry which would soon absorb + hundreds if not thousands of hands. + + 15. _The Painters Brigade_--Would undertake the painting and + whitewashing of our buildings, carts, tinware, &c. + + 16. _The Dyers Brigade_--Would find employment in dyeing our cloth, + or the various sorts of thread we might require for the use of our + weavers. + + 17. _The Dhobees Brigade_--Although among our community we should + encourage every one to be his own dhobee, yet from the first we + should have plenty of washing to employ a considerable number of + hands. + + 18. _The Umbrella Makers Brigade_--Would find considerable scope in + repairing the old frames collected by our Household Salvage Brigade; + while the Sewing Brigade would work the covers. + + 19. _The Paper-makers Brigade_--Would also be supplied with plenty + of material by the Household Salvage Brigade, and would keep our + printing establishment supplied with whatever paper they might + require. Already we consume a considerable quantity, and this would + be enormously increased by the development of our scheme. + + 20. _The Book-binders Brigade_--Would furnish us with our registers + for the Regimentation Bureau, besides doing our other miscellaneous + work of a similar description. + + 21. _The Brass Brigade_--Would supply Our colonies with the various + kinds of brazen vessels we should be likely to require. For these in + process of time there would be a large demand. + + 22. _The Net-making Brigade_--Would make nets for fishing purposes. + + 33. _The Hawkers Brigade_--There could be no possible objection to + our disposing of our goods in this way at the ordinary market rates + supposing that we were in a position to manufacture more than we + required for our own consumption. + + 24. _The Barbers Brigade_--Would also be a necessary addition to our + forces, and would find plenty of scope for their skill among the + unwashed multitudes who would compose our labour legions. + +Such are some of the occupations which might at once be set on foot. To +these would no doubt be added many other sorts of handicraft, as our +numbers and experience increased, and fresh opportunities opened up +around us. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +SHELTER FOR ALL, OR THE HOUSING OF THE DESTITUTE. + + +A considerable portion of General Booth's book is devoted to the +description of shelters, improved lodgings and suburban villages for the +poor. As elsewhere remarked this question is not of such vital +importance for India as for England, though the dealing with it is +simply a question of time. + +We would therefore simply refer our readers to the admirable proposals +embodied in General Booth's book. It is possible that there may be some +who will desire that immediate steps should be taken for the preparation +of similar quarters for the poor in our terribly over-crowded Indian +cities. It is in any case extremely likely that the question will be +forced upon us at an early date by the people themselves. + +But I have thought it best to narrow down the scheme as much as possible +to those things which seem of the most absolute and immediate urgency, +and I have therefore divested it as much as possible of all that could +reasonably be dispensed with. + +Still I see no reason why each city should not have its "Poor Man's +Metropole," as well as its model dwellings and suburban villages, for +the working classes. I would have these, moreover, as purely oriental as +possible with a careful avoidance of anything that might be European in +their appearance and arrangements. There should be tanks for bathing, +and washing purposes, gardens, recreation grounds for the children, +proper conveniences for cooking, and quarters in which they would not be +herded together like cattle, but given the decencies of life, so +necessary and helpful to the encouragement of cleanliness and morality. + +Another point would be the absolute absence of anything in the shape of +mere "charity" about any of the buildings. Everybody would be made to +feel happy and at home, and their self-respect would be cultivated by +arranging for suitable charges to be made, payment being taken either in +cash or labour. + +However, these are only hints that are thrown out, to show that we are +fully awake to the importance of this subject, and in order that friends +who are interested in the question may feel free to communicate their +wishes and give us their advice. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE BEGGARS BRIGADE. + + +I now come to a special element of both hope and difficulty in the +solution of our Indian Social problem,--The Beggars. Here we have the +lowest stratum of the submerged tenth, excluding from them the religious +mendicants with whom we are not now concerned. I have classified them as +follows:-- + + 1. The blind and infirm. + + 2. Those who help them and share the proceeds of their begging. + + 3. Able-bodied out of works. + +Now I propose to deal with them in a way which will not call for +Legislation. In the first place it is most improbable that Government +would interfere with beggary, even if asked to do so. Certainly no such +interference would be possible without assuming the responsibility of +the entire pauper population, involving an expenditure of many million +pounds. In the second place any such interference would in all +likelihood be extremely distasteful to the native public. In the third +place I believe the question can be better dealt with in another way. + +I propose to cut diamond with diamond, to set a thief to catch a thief, +to make a beggar mend a beggar. In other words my plan is to _reform_ +the system rather than _abolish_ it. To the radical reformer who would +sweep out the whole "nuisance" at one stroke, this may be a +disappointment. But I believe that this feeling will be diminished, if +not entirely removed, when he has made himself familiar with the +following scheme. + +Of course if the Upas tree could be uprooted and banished from our +midst,--if with a wave of his magic wand some sorcerer could make it +disappear, so much the better. But this is impossible. We should require +an axe of gold to cut down the tree; and this we do not possess. If a +rich and powerful Government shrinks from the expense of such an +undertaking, we may well be excused for doing the same. + +But after all supposing that you can transform your Upas tree into a +fruit-bearing one, will not this be even better than to cut it down? +Such things are done every day before our very eyes in nature. The stock +of the crab-apple can be made to bear quinces, and a mango tree that is +scarcely worth the ground it occupies, can be made to yield fruit which +will fetch four annas a piece! + +What is done in the garden is possible in human nature. And God will yet +enable us to graft into this wretched and apparently worthless Upas +stock, a bud which in coming years shall be loaded with fruit that shall +be the marvel of the world. This human desert shall yet blossom as the +rose, this wilderness shall become a fruitful garden, and the waste +places be inhabited. + +Surely then, better even than the _annihilation_ of beggary will be its +_reformation_, should this be possible. At least the suggestion is well +worthy of consideration, and in examining, the matter, there will be +several important advantages to which I shall afterwards refer. + +(1.) The first step that we would take in reforming the-beggars would be +to _regiment them._ The task would be undertaken by our Labor Bureau. In +this I do not think there would be serious difficulty encountered, if +the scheme commended itself to the native public. They would only have +to stop their supplies and send the beggars to us. + +(2.) Our next step would be to _sort out_ the beggars. They would be +divided into three classes:-- + + (a) _The physically unfit_, who could be furnished with light work + at our labor yards, or otherwise cared for. At present there are + hundreds of beggars who are physically unfit for the exertion that + begging involves, and who are driven to it by the desperate pangs + of hunger. + + (b) _Those who like_ it, and are physically well fitted for it, + besides being accustomed to the life, and not being fitted much for + anything else. + + (c) Those who dislike the life, and would prefer, or are suited for + other occupations. Some of these we would draft off to other + departments of our labour yards, while some would for the present + be kept on as beggars, with the hope of early promotion to other + employment. + +(3.) We should _brigade the beggars_ under the name of the Household +Salvage Brigade, or some similar title, dividing them into small +companies and appointing over them Sergeants from among themselves, and +providing each with a badge or number. + +(4.) We should with the advice and consent of the leading members of the +native community, _map out the city into wards_, and assign each company +their respective streets, allotting as far as possible the Mahommedan +beggars to the Mahommedan quarters, and the Hindoos to the Hindoo. In +this we should also take the advice of experienced beggars, from whom we +should expect to learn many useful hints. + +(5,) Each house that was willing to receive them would _be supplied with +three receptacles_, one for waste cooked food, another for gifts of +uncooked food, and a third for old clothes, waste paper, shoes, tins, +bottles, and other similar articles. + +(6.) At an appointed hour the Brigade would proceed to their posts, +would patrol their wards, and bring or send the various articles +collected to the labor yards, where all would be sorted and dealt with +as necessary the cooked food being distributed among those who were +willing to eat it, or sent to the surburban farm for our buffaloes. The +raw grain would be handed over to our food depôts, and credited by them +to the Beggars Fund for the special benefit of the destitute. + +(7.) At the end of each day every member of the Brigade would receive a +food ticket in payment of his services. The amount could be regulated +hereafter. This ticket he would present at our food depôt, where he +would be supplied with whatever articles he might require. There would +be a regular system of rewards and encouragements for good conduct. But +all such details will be settled hereafter. + +(8.) A special feature in the system would be the introduction of the +ancient _Buddhist_ custom of "_meetihal_," or "the consecrated handful +of rice." This is as follows. A pot is kept in each home and a handful +of grain is put into it every time the family meal is cooked. We think +that there would be no difficulty in getting this custom universally +adopted, when it was understood that the proceeds would be devoted +entirely to feeding the destitute. I believe that the income derived +from this alone would in course of time be sufficient to meet the needs +of the destitute in any city in India, at the same time that it would +serve to equalise and therefore minimise the burden which now rests +chiefly on a comparative few. + +(9.) In case the food supply thus obtained should be insufficient, we +have little doubt that we could persuade leading merchants in the city +to club together and make up the difference, when they saw the good work +that was going on. + +Such in brief is a skeleton of the scheme for elevating and renovating +the Beggar population of India. It is no doubt open to criticism on some +points, but it has special advantages which I will proceed to point out, +apologising for the extra space I am obliged to occupy, in dealing with +this subject, on account of its novelty and importance, and in order +that I may be thoroughly understood. + +1. _It is conservative._ Here you have a reformation without a +revolution, or rather a revolution by means of a reformation. And yet +there is no attempted upheaval of society. + +2. It is thoroughly _Indian_, and suited to the national taste. + +3. It _costs nothing_ and may even prove in time a source of income to +the Social Scheme. + +4. It is _doubly economical_ since it uses the human waste in collecting +what would be the natural wastage of the city, and devotes each to the +service of the other. + +5. It is _systematic_ and therefore bound to be as immensely superior to +the present haphazard mode, as a regular Army is to an undisciplined +mob. + +6. It unites the advantages of _moral suasion_, with those of the most +perfect _religious equality_ and _toleration._ + +7. _It saves the State an enormous expenditure_ and avoids the necessity +for harsh, repressive, unpopular legislation, and increased taxation. + +8. _It benefits the public._ + + (a) It removes a public nuisance. + + (b) And yet it satisfies the public conscience. + + (c) It stimulates private charity, and directs its generosity into + wise and beneficial channels. + +9. _It benefits the beggars._ + + (a) It protects the weak from the painful and often unsuccessful + struggle for existence. + + (b) It ensures everybody their daily food and a sufficiency of it. + + (c) It restores their self respect. + + (d) It teaches them habits of honesty, industry and thrift. + + (e) It opens up to them a pathway of promotion. + +10. Finally it will furnish honest and honorable employment right away +for hundreds of thousands all over the land, and create an entirely +_novel_ industry out of what is at present an absolute _wreckage._ + +But I am well aware that certain objections are likely to be raised. +These I would seek to remove, though if we are to wait for a plan which +is free from all liability to criticism, we may wait for ever, and wait +in vain. There is a famous answer given by John Wesley to a lady who was +objecting to something about his work,--"Madam, if there were a perfect +organization in the world, it would cease to be so the day that you and +I entered into it." Hence it is not simply a question as to whether +there are difficulties in the present proposals, but can anything better +be suggested. However, I am anxious to meet in the fairest possible +manner all conceivable objections, and am perfectly prepared to make any +such modifications as may appear advisable. + +(1.) Some will perhaps say that the beggars are already too well off to +desire to come,--that they are making a good thing of it and will prefer +to prosecute their calling under the present arrangements. Of course if +it be true that they are able to do better for themselves than we are +proposing to do for them, then they have no right to be included in the +submerged tenth. I would congratulate them on their success and turn my +attention to those who are more in need of our services. But could any +one seriously defend such a supposition? And if they are likely to be +bettered by the new arrangements, why should we suppose that they should +be so blind to their own interests as to refuse to profit by the new +chance? Besides, this is contradicted by all experience. Let there be a +prospect of a feast, or a supply of rice or food, and who does not know +that beggars will flock eagerly to the point, though it be only for a +single meal, and we propose to provide a _permanent livelihood._ + +(2.) But says some one else _they are bone-idle and will not work_, and +you propose to give them no food save in exchange for their work. This +is a real and serious difficulty. We fully recognise it. Yet we do not +think it is un-get-over-able, for the following reasons:-- + + (a) We do not intend to be hard-taskmasters. The work given will be + of a light character, and suited to the strength of each. We are + not going in for oakum picking and stone breaking. We shall do our + utmost to make everything bright, cheerful and easy. We have no + idea of treating them as criminals. + + (b) It ought not to be difficult to get each one to do two annas + worth of work, and this will be more than sufficient to cover their + expenses. We have no desire to become _sweaters._ + + (c) _Begging is hard work._ If you don't believe it, come and try + it! I and many of my officers have begged our food as religious + mendicants, so that we, are able to speak from _experience_! + It is at best a life of sacrifice, hardship and suffering. And yet + we have practised it under _specially favorable circumstances_, + particularly those of us who are Europeans. But that there can be + any sort of rest, or ease, or enjoyment in it to those who are + driven to it by the pangs of hunger, unsupported by any spiritual + consolations, I cannot conceive. On the contrary I should say that + the task of the beggar is so hard, and disagreeable not to say + _shameful_, that the majority of them would leap to do the + most menial tasks that would deliver them from a bondage so + painful. + + Have you ever solicited help and been refused? Have you known what + it is to feel the awful sickenings of heart at hope deferred? Have + you known what it is to be regarded with suspicion, with contempt, + with dislike, with scorn, or even with _pity_ by your fellow men? + If so, you may be able to realise the experiences that every beggar + has to go through a hundred times a day, many of them with feelings + every bit as sensitive as your own. Will he demean himself and work + hard at so miserable a calling and yet be unwilling to do some + light work, with which he can earn an honest living? I for one + cannot believe it, till I see it. + + (d) Our experience further contradicts it in dealing with the more + depraved, hardened and supposed-to-be-idle criminals and + prostitutes, whom we receive into our Prison Gate and Rescue Homes. + When Sir E. Noel Walker was visiting our Prisoners' Home in + Colombo he was astonished at the _alacrity_ with which the men + obeyed orders, and the _eagerness_ with which they worked at their + allotted tasks. He asked the Officer in Charge whether he ever + _"hammered"_ them, and was surprised at finding that the only + hammer he ever required was the _allsufficient_ hammer of _love._ + And yet the gates were always open and they were free to walk out + whenever they liked. Moreover, beyond getting their food and a very + humble sort of shelter, their labour was entirely unpaid. + + (e) Finally by means of a judicious system of rewards and promotions + we should educate and encourage them into working, besides teaching + them industries which would be useful after they had left us. + +(3.) But some one else will say "They are thievish and will rob you. +They are roguish and will decieve you. You don't know whom you have to +deal with." Well, if we don't know them, we should think nobody does! I +would answer, + + (a) Granted that some of them cheat us. All will not. And why should + the honest suffer with the rogues? + + (b) What if we do lose something in this way? It would be little in + comparison with the enormous gain. I feel sure it would in no case + exceed ten or twenty per cent, on the collections made, and that + would be a mere trifle. + + (c) Our system of regimentation would largely guard against any such + danger and would be an encouragement to honesty. + + (d) It is notorious that there is "honour among thieves." They would + watch over one another. Among them "_nimak-harami_" or + "faithlessness to their salt" would soon come to be regarded as a + crime of the first water. + + (e) The inducement for thieving would be largely gone. Very few + steal _for the sake of stealing._ A man usually steals to fill his + own stomach, or some one else's, whom he loves. But here all would + be provided for. + + (f) Besides he would feel that all he could earn was for the _common + good_ and was not going to make any individual rich at his expense. + + (g) Our experience in the Prison Gate Homes contradicts it. True, we + have had some thefts especially at the beginning, but when I was + last visiting our Colombo Home, the Officers in charge assured me + that they were now of the rarest occurrence, while the gentleman + who owned the tempting cocoanuts that were hanging overhead told + me that he had never had such good crops from his trees, as since + our colony of thieves and criminals had been settled there! + +(4.) Some one else may perhaps object that we shall have thrown upon our +hands a swarm of helpless, useless, cripples and infirm. Well, and what +if we do? Are they not our fellow human beings, and ought not some one +to care for them? We shall look upon it as a precious responsibility, +and I speak fearlessly on behalf of our devoted officers when I say, +that they would rather spend and be spent for such than for the richest +in the land. If, as I have already shown, the effort can be made +_self-supporting_ and _self-propagating_, the mere fact of their misery +or poverty only impels us to love them the more and to strive the more +earnestly for their emancipation. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PRISON GATE BRIGADE. + + +This has already been in operation for two years in the cities of Bombay +and Colombo and a branch has been recently established in Madras. Now +that it will be connected with other branches of our Social Reform, we +may look for a rapid increase of this useful though difficult work. + +The establishment of our Labor Yards will greatly help us in finding +work for this class, without branding them with the perpetual stigma of +their crime. The chief difficulty in the working of these Homes consists +in the almost insuperable objection of the men to be _known as +criminals_ after their release from jail. This is of course perfectly +natural. Besides, it is important that we should hold out before them +hopes of bettering themselves by their good conduct, and earning an +independent and honest livelihood at no distant date. When once our +Labor Yards and Farm Colonies are in active operation, we shall be able +to do this for our rescued criminals, continuing at the same time the +fatherly supervision and help which they so very much need. + +The following quotations from our last annual report will serve to +explain this branch of our work, and to give a glimpse of the +encouraging success with which we have already met in our efforts to +reach and reform the criminal classes. + + +COLOMBO PRISON GATE HOME. + +Picturesquely situated among palm trees in one of the most beautiful +suburbs of Colombo, within easy reach of the principal city jail, is our +Sinhalese Prisoners' Home. Cinnamon Gardens, as the district is called, +forms one of the attractions of Colombo, which every passing visitor is +bound to go and see. The beauty of the surroundings must be a pleasant +contrast to those dull prison walls from which the inmates have just +escaped. Still more blessed and cheering must be the change from the +Warder's stern commands to the affectionate welcome and kindly +attentions of the red-jacketed Salvationists, who have the management of +the Home. + + +A bright lad who is on duty in the guard-room opens the gates and +introduces you to the grounds in which the quarters are situated. There +are groups of huts with mud walls and palm-leaf thatching, which have a +thoroughly Indian and yet home like appearance. The first few of these +are occupied as workshops or carpentry for the manufacture of tea boxes, +and here from early to late the men may be seen busily employed, sawing, +planing, measuring, bevelling, hammering and working with such a will +that you might imagine their very lives depended on it, or at least that +they must be making their fortunes out of it, whereas they are not being +paid at all, and all the profits of the manufactory go towards the +support of the Home! + +"What I admire about your work," observed Sir Athur Gordon, the late +Governor of Ceylon, "is the way in which your Officers identify +themselves with these convicts, and live among them on terms of perfect +equality." + +But I was describing the little colony. On the left of this group of +workshops is a neat little hut where Captain Dev Kumar and his young +bride, Captain Deva Priti, reside. What a change for them form the +English Homes to which they have been accustomed, to this little jungle +hut, surrounded as they are continually by a band of ex-convicts, and +criminals. Yet it would be hard to find a happier couple in the +island,--in fact, quite impossible outside the Salvation Army. + +"It is all our own work," explains the Captain. "Our men built the hut, +and the materials only cost about Rs. 25!" Certainly this is the +perfection of cheapness in the way of house building! A little further +inside the enclosure you come to more huts, in some of which the men +live, while others serve for quarters for the native officers who assist +in the superintendence of the Home, and to whose noble efforts so much +of its success is due. Then there is the kitchen, and a dining-room, and +a stable for the bullock trap, in which the released prisoners are +brought to the Home, to avoid the risk of a foot journey when their old +associates might hinder them on the way. + +The spare bits of ground are all laid out in little plots of garden, +where plantains and vegetables are grown, and in front of the Captain's +quarters is a dainty little scrap of a flower garden. The entire +enclosure forms really a portion of the garden of a neighbouring house, +the property of the late Mr. Ginger, who took a warm interest in our +work, and leased the grounds to us at a nominal rent. + +The following are the statistics of the work during the past year:-- + + Total number of admissions, .......................... 230 + Found Situations, ................................... 115 + Left, the Home and lost sight, of, .................. 103 + Total number of sentences of imprisonment,............ 459 + Number of juvenile convicts under 16 years of age, ... 40 + Number of meals given,.............................. 15,774 + Number of tea-boxes made, .......................... 2,880 + Profits on same,................................. Rs. 350 + +The accompanying is the official report form sent in by us to +Government every month showing the results of the work-- + + +JAIL GATE BRIGADE--COLOMBO--ITS RESULTS. + +Prisons. + +A.--This Return for the preceding month shall be forwarded on 1st or 2nd +of each month, by the Officer Commanding Salvation Army, through the +Superintendent of the Convict Establishment to the Inspector General of +Prisons, with columns 1, 6, 7, and 8, duly filled in. + +B.--The Superintendent Convict Establishment shall fill in columns 2, 3, +4, and 5, and send on the Return to the Inspector General. + +1. Name and age of Prisoner. + +2. Nationality and religion. + +3. Name of Offence. + +4. Length of imprisonment in months. + +5. General character in Jail. + +6. Number of days maintained by the Salvation Army + +7. How employed now, or going to be employed. + +8. Result of action of salvation Army on prisoner, roughly estimated. + +_Superintendent Convict Establishment._ + +_Commdt. Salvation Army, Colombo._ + + +That the work of the Colombo Prisoners' Home is highly appreciated in +Colombo is further proved by the fact that most of the leading +Government officials subscribe to its funds, including the Colonial +Secretary, Sir E. Noel Walker, the Chief Justice Sir Bruce Burnside, +and many others. Again, it is not an uncommon thing for us to receive +such letters as the following from the Magistrate:-- + + + From the POLICE MAGISTRATE, Colombo, + To the CAPTAIN OF THE PRISON GATE BRIGADE. + _Dated, Colombo, October 30th, 1889._ + + _Subject--Habitual Offender, Dana._ + + Sir, + + I have the honour to inform you that a man named Dana, produced + before me this day, charged with being a habitual thief, has + expressed a wish to be admitted into the Prison Brigade Home. + + I shall be glad if you afford him an opportunity to redeem his + character. + + I am, Sir, + Your obedient Servant, + E.W.M., + _Police Magistrate._ + + +The past year was suitably finished up by providing a special feast to +which only ex-convicts were admitted. No less than 150 accepted the +invitation. + +About this branch of our work a leading daily paper, the Ceylon +_Independent_, writes as follows.-- + + Most of our readers have read in our columns of the good work the + Army is doing at the Prison Gate, in reclaiming from criminal + courses the discharged prisoners who have served their time of + confinement. In that critical moment, when the wide world is once + more before the newly discharged culprit, when he emerges from + confinement to overwhelming temptation, big it may be with fresh + schemes of crime, armed with enlarged experiences to aid in its + accomplishment, to be met, taken kindly by the hand, and led gently + to the pleasanter and more peaceful path of honesty, industry, and + virtue, is a surprise that is calculated to disarm temptation at + least for a moment, and thus virtue gains time for thought. + +The success of the Prison Gate Brigade has hitherto been surprising, and +quite beyond its founders' anticipation. It has been especially useful +in reclaiming juvenile offenders, of whom a large number have been +induced to take to the honest means of livelihood, chiefly carpentry, +which the Home provides. + + +OUR BOMBAY PRISON GATE BRIGADE. + +This work in Bombay was commenced some two years ago at the instance of +a leading Parsee gentleman, with a generous subscription of Rs. 1,200. +Owing partly to the fact that we have been hitherto unable to secure +suitable premises and partly to the entire absence of any assistance on +the part of Government, the work in Bombay has been much more uphill and +discouraging than in Ceylon. Nevertheless we have persevered in the +teeth of all sorts of difficulties, and the results have been very +encouraging. Recently in one week no less than three of the inmates of +our Bombay Home were accepted as cadets, to be trained up as future +officers. Previously to this nine others had been similarly accepted. +One of these, Lieut. Hira Singh, is now himself taking an active part in +the rescue of other convicts, while another is sucessfully working in +Gujarat. Accounts of their lives are given further on. + +Indeed Bombay has proved itself to be an even richer field than Colombo +itself; and now that some of the peculiar difficulties that have +hitherto hindered the work, are one by one being removed, there is every +reason to believe that this work will soon make rapid progress. + +The returns for the past year show that the prison gates have been +visited 235 times, for the purpose of meeting the convicts on their +release. Since the commencement of the Home about 134 men have been +admitted. Of these 74 have professed conversion, about 12 having been +accepted as officers by ourselves and the remainder having mostly found +employment elsewhere. The number of meals given during the past year has +been about 7,800. + +One of the special features of the work here consists in the constant +visitation of the liquor dens, with a view to persuading those who were +frequenting them to give up their evil ways. No less than 430 such were +in this way visited and a large number of papers distributed. While the +opposition was in some instances severe, as a rule our officers were +well treated even by the grogshop-keepers, who while admitting that +their trade was evil, pleaded that they had the Government's approval, +and that they must somehow support themselves and their families. + +Besides the regular inmates, a large number of casuals have been +relieved and assisted, but of these we have no exact figures. + +The following are some specimens of the work done by us among the +criminal classes in Bombay and Ceylon:-- + + +LIEUTENANT HIRA SINGH + +Is a Hindu of the Kshatraya caste. He comes of a soldier race and +family, his father having served in the East India Company's army before +him, and he having from his youth followed the same profession for the +past eighteen years, serving successively as Private, Lance-Corporal, +Corporal, and Sergeant in a native Regiment. He went through the last +Afghan campaign, having been to Cabul, Quetta, and other places. + +For many years his conduct was excellent, but latterly he took to +drinking, got into serious trouble with the police, and was sent to +prison for forty days, thus losing his post as well as his claim to +pension. He was met by our officers on his release, accompanied them to +the Home, gave his heart to God, and has now been an officer in our +ranks for more than a year. During most of this time he has been +connected with our Bombay Prison Gate work, and has in turn helped to +rescue many others. But for the help he then received, a life of +drunkenness and crime would probably have been, almost forced upon him. +He is a good specimen of numbers who would _like_ to reform, but with +ruined reputation have no choice, save between starvation and crime. + + +HARMANIS. + +"I am a native (Singhalese) of Kalutara in Ceylon. My father was a +toddy-drawer. We were very poor. Sometimes my uncles would give me a +cent or two for mounting guard to give them warning about anybody's +approach while they were slaughtering stolen cattle in the jungles. +Once, being very hungry, I climbed up a palm tree to steal cocoanuts, +but was caught by the owner and handed over to the police. The +magistrate sent me to jail for three weeks. After my release I came to +Colombo, and falling in with the Salvation Army, I went to their Home +for prisoners, and now thank God I am saved." + + +PODI SINGHA + +This is only one of the many aliases by which he is known. He has been +one of the worst thieves and bad characters to be met with even in +Colombo, where there is a pretty good assortment of the scum of slumdom. +Adopted as an infant by a pious Mahomedan, he was trained up in that +religion. But in spite of every effort that was made for his +reformation, he rapidly went from bad to worse, till at length he found +himself in the hands of the police. + +His first sentence was twelve months for throwing sand in a Singhalese +man's eyes and then robbing him of his comb. When released he fell in +with other criminals, from whom he learnt many new tricks of the trade. +Once he was stealing some clothes from a line when the lady of the house +saw him. A hue and cry was raised, and he soon found himself surrounded +with coolies and dogs. Seeing that there was no chance of escape, he +began to jump and scream and go through all sorts of antics. The lady, +thinking he was mad, and having pity on him, let him go. + +He has seen the inside of nearly all the Colombo jails, but without +being made any better. Finally, he was received into our Home. At first +he was rather troublesome, but after a short time he gave his heart to +God, and has been doing well. "He cannot read or write," says the +Captain in charge, "but he prays like a divine, and I am believing to +see him become an Officer some day." + + +JANIS + +Was brought from his village by a Singhalese gentleman when quite a +little boy, but, leaving his master, thought he would start life on his +own account. He soon became a practised thief. "I always managed to +escape," he says, "till one day with some of my companions I robbed a +Buddhist temple. I managed to get a silver 'patara' (plate), which we +sold for Rs. 24, but was caught and sent to jail." "But you were +yourself a Buddhist," said the Captain. "How came you to rob your own +temple?" "What of that? I thought nothing of sin in those days. But it +is all so different now. I am saved, and mean to spend all my life in +saving others. I am just now practising a song to sing in the meeting +to-night." + +The Captain asked him whether he did not think it a great disgrace to go +to jail. "Oh, no! I thought everybody in Colombo had been there some +time or other. All the people with whom I mixed had been." "Well, how +did you like it?" "Oh, it was not such a bad place! The food was fairly +good, and I had not to work very hard but I wish I had known about +salvation sooner. Even then I used to wish that I could find something +which would _make_ me good, but all my efforts were in vain till I came +to the Home, and got saved." + +In conclusion, I feel sure that a few brief particulars regarding this +branch of our work in Australia will be read with interest, and will +serve to prove the usefulness of this portion of our social reform +scheme: + +Some six or seven, Prisoners' Homes have been established in +Australasia. The Victorian Government give an annual grant of £1,000, to +assist us in this branch of our work. Special facilities are afforded to +our Officers in visiting the prisoners, and in some of the jails printed +notices are posted up by the authorities to the effect that any +prisoner, previous to discharge, may communicate with the officers in +charge of our Home, with a view to making a fresh start in life. + +The testimony of Sir Graham Berry, Agent General, the Chief Secretary, +the Inspector General of Penal Establishments, and the Chief +Commissioner of Police, proves conclusively how much good has thus been +done. The following extracts from their letters are copied from our +Australasian Prison Gate report:-- + +H.E. SIR H.B. LOCH, K.C.B., G.C.M.G., writes through his Private +Secretary to express "his approval and appreciation of the work done by +the Salvation Army in connection with the Prison Gate Brigades and +Rescued Sisters' Homes, and has great pleasure in expressing his belief +in the good which has resulted from the philanthrophic endeavours of the +Salvation Army to rescue and afford material assistance to those in +whose interests these organisations have been formed." + +SIR GRAHAM BERRY, Agent General for Victoria, writes:--"I have +confidence in the permanent results of your labours, because you, treat +these unfortunates as if they were human beings and capable of better +things. I believe your organisation is a very powerful agency for good +among that class which is practically neglected by others." + +CHIEF JUSTICE HIGGINBOTHAM says that "it is only proper to mention that +there is no better nor more useful work done in rescuing discharged +prisoners from relapsing into crime, than that effected by the Prison +Gate Brigade of the Salvation Army." + +Similar letters have also been received from the following gentlemen:-- + + + The Hon. ALFRED DEAKIN, M.L.A., Chief Secretary. + + The Hon. JAMES BALFOUR, M.L.C. + + The Hon. M.H. DAVIES, M.L.A. (Speaker of the Legislative Assembly). + + The Hon. F.F. DERHAM, M.L.A., Postmaster General. + + The Hon. H.T. WRIXON, M.L.A., Attorney General. + + The Hon. W.F. WALKER, M.L.A., Commissioner of Customs. + + Mr. JUSTICE KERFERD. + + The Bishop of MELBOURNE. + + W.G. BRETT, Esq., Inspector General, Penal Department. + + H.M. CHOMLEY, Esq., Chief Commissioner of Police. + + A. SHIELDS, Esq., M.P., Medical Officer, Melbourne Jail. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE DRUNKARD'S BRIGADE. + + +Hundreds of habitual drunkards have been soundly converted and reformed +in connection with our ordinary spiritual work in India. Probably there +are not less than 500 such enrolled in our ranks in this country, and +turned into staunch and perpetual abstainers. + +The terrible nature of the drinks and drugs consumed by the Natives, I +have already had occasion to describe, as also the increasingly large +number of those who are becoming enchained by the habit. + +In connection with our present Social Reform, special efforts will be +made to reach this class. They will be personally dealt with, and placed +as far as possible in circumstances that shall put them beyond the reach +of their besetting temptation. + +For some time past our Officers, more especially those in charge of the +Prison Gate work, have visited liquor-shops and opium and ganja dens, +speaking personally to the frequenters, and in some cases distributing +among them suitable appeals and warnings in regard to the fatal +consequences of the habit. + +Untimately it is intended to establish homes for the most hopeless class +of inebriates, both for those habituated to liquor and for those who are +the slaves of the still more fatal drugs, such as opium and bhang. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE RESCUE HOMES FOR THE FALLEN. + + +Here again we have made a beginning. It is now a year since the opening +of our Home in Colombo, and during that time 52 girls have been received +into our Home. Of these + + 2 have been restored to their friends, + + 4 are with others--doing well, + + 23 have turned out unsatisfactory, and + + 23 are with us in the Home, almost without exception giving evidence of + being truly reformed. + +Heart-rending are the tales which have reached our ears as to the way in +which many of them have been decoyed from their homes, and as to the +miserable existence which they have since been dragging out. + +Every Indian city teems with a too fast increasing number of similar +unfortunates, for whom at present nothing has been attempted. We +propose, therefore, very largely to extend our Homes at all the large +centres of population. + +Connected as will be this department with the network of other agencies +that we have already established, and increased as will be our +facilities for reaching this class, we are confident that we shall be +able to carry out this much-needed reform on a scale commensurate with +the evil, besides warning the youths of our cities against the terrible +contamination to which they are at present exposed. All the weight of +our increasing influence will be thrown into the scale for cutting off +both the supply and demand of this infamous traffic in human souls. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"THE COUNTRY COLONY"--"WASTEWARD HO!" + + +As has been already explained in the first part of this book, the +congested state of the labor market in the agricultural districts is +leading to an enormous and increasing immigration of the country +population towards the towns, not as a matter of preference, or of +choice, but of dire necessity. The object of the Country Colony, as +applied to India, will be twofold: + +1. It will seek to divert into more profitable channels the steadily +increasing torrent of immigration from the villages to the towns. + +2. It will re-direct and re-distribute the masses of the Submerged Tenth +who already exist in every large city. + +Like his English representative, the Indian village bumpkin has a +natural aversion to town life. Peculiarities in his dialect, dress, and +manners make him the laughing-stock of the clever Cockney townsman. His +simplicity and ignorance of the world cause him to be easily victimised +by the city sharper, for whom he is no match in the struggle of life. He +sighs for his green fields, and longs to get away from the bustle that +everywhere surrounds and bewilders him. He surrenders these preferences +only, because starvation is staring him in the face, and he has better +chances of working, begging, or stealing in the city than in his +village. + +And yet within a few miles of his birthplace there are frequently tracts +of waste land amply sufficient to support him and thousands more. He +could reduce it to cultivation if he had the chance. He would infinitely +prefer eking out the scantiest existence in this manner to flinging +himself into the turbulent whirlpool of town life. Strangely enough the +"Sirkar" (Government), to whom these tracts belong, is equally anxious +that the land in question should be cultivated. It would yield in the +course of a few years as rich a revenue as the acres of exactly similar +soil that have been brought under cultivation in the neighbourhood. But +the difficulties in the way are well nigh insuperable: + +1. The congested labor consists almost entirely of those castes which +are looked upon as inferior. The very idea of their emancipation is +distasteful to the higher castes, who enjoy in most parts of India an +almost exclusive monopoly of the land. Hence any effort to obtain a +grant of waste land is met with strong and often bitter opposition, and +it is next door to impossible for any one in the position of the +Submerged Tenth to fight the battle through. + +2. Of course, under the British Government these caste distinctions are +not officially recognised. But as a matter of fact they still carry +great weight. Anybody can, it is true, petition the Government for a +grant of this land, but to secure favourable consideration is almost +impossible. During the last four or five years I have personally +interested myself in several petitions, with a view to assisting the +petitioners, whom I knew to be thoroughly deserving of success. And yet +after going through a weary tissue of formalities, seldom lasting less +than a year, I have not known of a single favourable answer, nor have +these advances met with the least sort of encouragement. The Government +officials to whom these vast estates are entrusted are mostly so +preoccupied with other work that it is impossible for them to give to +the subject the personal attention that it requires, and they are guided +by the reports of interested and sometimes bribed subordinates. The very +fact that they are entitled to draw exactly the same salary whether the +public estate improves or not, removes the incentive that would +otherwise exist, even if they were the absentee landlords of the +property, while the constant liability to be transferred from one +district to another aggravates the difficulty of the situation. + +3. Again, there is a lack of the capital necessary for the initial +expenses of the cultivator in sinking wells, building houses, supplying +cattle and obtaining both seed and food till the harvest has been +gathered in. + +4. The lack of combination among the congested mass of labourers is +another serious evil. They are as sheep without a shepherd. Individually +they have no influence. Collectively they are capable of becoming a +mighty power. What is needed at the present moment is a directing head +and an enfolding organisation that shall gather them together, bind them +in one harmonious whole, and with the help of a friendly Government lead +them on to occupy and cultivate these waste lands, converting them into +districts inhabited by a sober, thrifty and enterprising population. +Without such a combination the efforts that are made by private +enterprise will continue to be carried out on such a petty scale as will +utterly fail to cope with or remove the existing evil, and will merely +serve to give relief in a few isolated cases. For instance I have in +mind one district where to my personal knowledge the amount of congested +labor cannot amount on the most moderate calculation to less than half a +million people. There is in their immediate neighbourhood abundance of +waste land capable of supporting them. The Government is anxious for +that land to be occupied. The people are eager to obtain and capable of +cultivating every piece of waste that can be placed at their disposal. +If, instead of leaving it to individual caprice and effort to carry on +in the present haphazard and redtape fashion, we are able on the one +hand to combine this mass of labor, and to obtain on the other hand from +Government the particulars of the land they are desirous of having +cultivated, and the most favorable terms on which it can be granted to +us, we shall be in a position with, but a very moderate amount of +capital at our command, to solve the double problem of the waste land +and waste labor, and that within a very short period. + +5. The religious influences which we should bring to bear on the +colonists would be invaluable, especially in the early days of these +colonies. The example of our Officers, their self-sacrificing devotion +to the interests of the people, the knowledge that they would gain +nothing by the success of the enterprise and that they were actuated +solely by the highest motives, the facts that they were sharing the +homes of the people, enduring the same hardships and eating the same +food, all this would act as an inspiration to the colonists when the +early days of trial and difficulty came upon them. No less an authority +than Mr. John Morley, M.P., remarked when he first heard of General +Booth's scheme, that he considered that its combination of religion with +the other details of the plan of campaign was its most hopeful feature, +and would be most likely to ensure its success. This seems to apply +especially to that portion of the scheme now under consideration. +Indeed, were such an enterprise directed solely by an agency destitute +of this powerful lever, we should anticipate failure in nine cases out +of ten, no matter how great the ability that directed and how abundant +the capital that could be commanded. Individual rapacity and selfishness +would spoil everything, and instead of a beautiful spirit of harmony and +self-sacrifice, we should find a lucky few gaining the prizes and the +masses left no better, perhaps worse, off than before. + +With these preliminary remarks I would introduce the Country Colony, as +suggested by General Booth. It will consist of the following branches, +to which no doubt others will be added as we advance:-- + + 1. The Suburban Farm in the vicinity of large cities, including + + (a) A dairy for the supply of milk, ghee, cream and butter. + + (b) A market garden for fruit and vegetables. + + 2. The Industrial Village. + + 3. The Social Territory or Poor Man's Paradise. + + 4. The City of Refuge. + + 5. Miscellaneous: + + (a) Gangs for public works, such as tanks, railways, roads, &c. + + (b) Gangs for tea gardens. + + (c) Land along the railways. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE SUBURBAN FARM. + + +The connecting link between the City Colony and the Country Colony will +be the Suburban Farm. Situated conveniently near to the largest cities, +it will serve many important purposes. + +1. It will form the channel, or outlet, by which the agricultural +portion of the labor overflow in the cities will make its way back to +the country. In fact, it will constitute a sort of sluice which will in +time act with the same regularity and ease as those which are attached +to any reservoir of water, directing to the most needy places, and +distributing without waste, those very waters which if uncontrolled +would sweep everything before them as a devastating flood. + +2. It will at the same time find a ready market in the city, not only +for its own produce, but for that of the other branches of the country +colony, with which it would be in constant and close communication. + +3. It will supply the city with wholesome and unadulterated dairy +produce, together with the best fruits and vegetables, at the ordinary +market rates. These could be disposed of either wholesale to city +merchants, or by moans of stalls in the various markets, or we could +undertake to retail them in connection with our Household Salvage +Brigade. The Suburban Farm would consist of, say, from fifty to five +hundred acres of land in the immediate neighbourhood of a city. It would +combine three or more separate departments. + +1. _The Dairy._ Buffaloes and cows would be given us by friends, +besides being purchased and reared by us, in large numbers. To tend +them, milk them, prepare the ghee, cream and butter, and to convey it +all to town, would find employment for a large number of the Submerged +Tenth. + +2. The _Market Garden_ would employ a still larger number. Bananas grow +quickly in all parts of India, and with them we could make an immediate +beginning, introducing from different districts the best species. +Sugar-cane and other popular native products would receive special +attention, and where the European population in the neighbourhood was +sufficiently numerous we could include the cultivation of such fruits +and vegetables as would be liked by them. In the case of seaport towns +we should no doubt do a large business with the steamers in the harbour, +as for instance, in Bombay, Colombo, or Calcutta. + +3. We should probably at an early period transfer some of the industrial +brigades enumerated in Chapter VI to our Suburban Farm. In doing this +there would be several obvious advantages: + + (a) We should have more elbow room for them on the Farm, than in the + Labor Yards, where land would be so expensive that we should be + obliged to crowd everything into the smallest possible compass, + both in regard to work sheds and sleeping accommodation. + + (b) In removing them from the contaminating influences of city life, + we should be able to exercise a more personal and powerful influence + upon these members of the Submerged Tenth and should stand a far + better chance of effectively carrying out that spiritual and moral + regeneration, without which we reckon that any mere temporal + reformation would be ineffective and evanescent. + + (c) We should prevent our labor yards from getting gorged, and would + keep them within manageable dimensions. At the same time that we + should cope more effectively with all existing distress. + + (d) The Suburban Farm being closely connected with other portions of + our Country Colony, we should be able to use the latter to relieve + it in case of its becoming in turn overcrowded by the influx from + the City. + + (e) It would thus form a natural stepping-stone to the Industrial + Village, which we have next to describe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE. + + +For the Industrial Village we have already before our very eyes an +admirable object lesson in the existing organisation and subdivision of +an ordinary Indian village. Indeed it is singular how precisely India +has anticipated just what General Booth now proposes to introduce in +civilized Europe. + +The village community so familiar to all who have resided in India +consists of an independent or rather interdependent, co-operative +association which constitutes a miniature world of its own, producing +its own food and manufacturing its own clothes, shoes, earthenware, +pots, &c, with its own petty government to decide all matters affecting +the general welfare of the little commonwealth. Very wisely the British +rulers of India have left this interesting relic of ancient times +untouched, so that the institution can be seen in complete working order +at the present day all over India. The onward march of civilisation has +somewhat shaken the fabric and has threatened the existence of several +of the village industries. But at present there has not been any radical +alteration. The village may still be seen divided up into its various +quarters. + +Take for instance a village in Gujarat. Those substantial houses in the +centre belong to the well-to-do landowners. The cultivators or tenants +have their quarters close alongside. The group of huts belonging to the +weavers is easily distinguishable by the rude looms and apparatus for +the manufacture of the common country cloth. The tanners' quarter is +equally well marked, and yonder the groups at work with mud and wheel +and surrounded with earthenware vessels of various shapes and sizes, +remind you that you are among the Potters. + +On inquiring into the interior economy of the village a system of +payment in kind and exchange of goods for labour and grain is found to +prevail exactly similar to that suggested by General Booth. Only here we +have the immense advantage that instead of having to explain and +institute a radical reform in the existing system, we have to deal with +millions of people who are thoroughly imbued with these principles from +their infancy. + +For instance one of the staple articles of food in the village consists +of buttermilk, which is distributed by the high caste among the low +caste from year's end to year's end in return for petty services. One of +the usual ways in which the high caste will punish the low, for any +course of conduct to which they object is by the terrible threat of +stopping their supply of "chas," which means usually nothing short of +starvation. + +Here then is our model in good working order and in exact accordance +with the ideal sketched out by General Booth. We cannot do better than +adhere to it as closely as possible. + +Probably the first industrial settlement which we shall establish, in +addition to the labor yards and suburban farms already referred to, will +consist of a colony of Weavers in Gujarat. + +For this we shall have special facilities, as we have now 150 Officers +at work in that part of the country, as well as more than 2,000 enrolled +adults, a large proportion of whom have been in our ranks for several +years. From amongst these we shall be able to select thoroughly reliable +superintendents (both European and Native), and shall be able to take +full advantage of their local experience. + +But how far we shall consider it wise to confine our first settlement +to one particular caste or to include within it from the outset some +other useful village industries such as have been above referred to, I +am not as yet prepared to say. Much will necessarily depend on the +course that events may hereafter take. For the present I can only say +that we will adhere as closely as possible to our Indian model. + +The one weak point about the Indian system, as it at present exists, is, +that there is no means of regulating the proportion of labour in each +section of the community. The rules of caste prevent any transfer from +one trade to another, while there is no system of intercommunication +between the villages to enable them to readily transfer their surplus +population to the places where they would be most needed. In a case +where some village industry is threatened with annihilation, as for +instance the weavers, there is absolutely no provision for the transfer +of the unfortunate victims of civilisation either to some more favored +locality or to some other sphere of labour. + +Now this is just where our combined plan of campaign with its union of +City, Country, and Over-sea Colonies would step in and supply the +missing link. We should be able to direct the glut of labor into just +those channels where it would be the most useful. + +And why should this be thought impracticable? Everybody is acquainted +with the power of wind, water and steam, where properly directed, to +move the most gigantic machinery and yet for centuries those powers were +suffered to go to waste. It is only of late that we have learnt for +instance to put chains upon the genii of the tea-kettle, to put them as +it were into harness, to bridle them and to compel them to drag our huge +leviathans across thousands of miles of ocean. May not the enormous +mass of waste labor that has accumulated in our cities and rural +districts be fitly compared to the former waste of steam. The best that +we have been able to do for it so far has been to provide for it the +safety valves of beggary, destitution, famine, pestilence, crime, +imprisonment and the gallows. + +Is it too much to suppose that this enormous waste of human steam, the +most valuable sort of steam that the world contains, can be properly +controlled and guided so that it will make for itself railways and +steamers that shall carry its human cargoes by millions across lands +that are at present mere wastes, and to populate countries which are as +yet wildernesses? In doing so, we shall but fulfil the words of prophecy +uttered 26,000 years ago. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall +be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. +It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing.* * +For in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. +And the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs +of water.* * * And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be +called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, but it +shall be for those. The way-faring men, though fools shall not err +therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up +thereon; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, +and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Sion with songs +and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and +gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE SOCIAL TERRITORY, OR, POOR MAN'S PARADISE. + + +Probably the biggest wholesale emigration scheme ever undertaken was +that of Israel out of Egypt into Canaan, under the leadership of Moses. +The circumstances were so very similar to those with which we are +dealing, that I may be excused for referring to them, as they have a +direct bearing on the present problem, and may help largely towards its +solution. It is said that "History repeats itself" and certainly this is +true in regard to the evils that then existed, and we do not see why the +remedy should not in some respect correspond. + +Looking back then, we find that there was in Egypt in the year 1,500 +B.C. a submerged tenth, consisting of 600,000 able-bodied men with their +wives and families and numbering therefore at least two and a half +million souls. They constituted a distinct caste, or nation, which had +been grafted into the original Egyptian stock 430 years previously. +Owing to hereditary customs, race distinctions and religious differences +they had preserved their identity and had never become assimulated with +the Egyptians. It was a famine that had driven them to take refuge in +Egypt at a time when their numbers were so few that their presence +caused no particular inconvenience to the original inhabitants, while +the services of the King's Vazir, to whose caste they belonged secured +them a suitable reception. + +At the time however when we take up their history a change had taken +place. Their numbers had immensely increased. The labor market was +deluged with them. The rulers, capitalists and landowners began to +tremble for their very existence. Enormous public works were planned and +the enslaved caste were compelled to carry out their allotted labour +under rigorous taskmasters, who made their lives a burden to them. Still +their numbers continued to increase. Alarmed at the prospect of an +impending revolution, the King gave orders that every male child of the +Hebrews should be drowned, thinking thus to stamp out the nation. It is +easy to imagine therefore that affairs must have come to a desperate +pass, when from the palace of Pharaoh and yet from among their own caste +a deliverer was raised up to organise and carry out the wholesale +emigration of the entire nation. + +Looked at in this light it was certainly the boldest venture and +greatest scheme of the kind that had ever been conceived, and without +the aid of remarkable miraculous displays of Divine power Moses could +never have carried out so magnificent a project. + +Everything appeared to be against him. The people whom he had come to +deliver were an undisciplined mob of cowardly slaves, whose spirit had +been crushed by years of cruel tyranny. They were unarmed and +unaccustomed to war. They were the subjects of the most powerful +military monarchy of those times. For them to dream of emigrating must +have seemed the wildest folly. On the one hand the Egyptians would not +hear of it, and their way would be barred by legions of the best +soldiers the world could produce. On the other hand the country to which +they were to emigrate was already occupied by numerous and warlike +tribes, who would contest every inch of territory. Added to this there +was a "great and howling wilderness" which separated the one country +from the other. + +Hence it will be seen that this vast national emigration scheme was +carried out by Moses under circumstances of peculiar difficulty which do +not exist in the problem at present under consideration. + +There are the same destitute hunger-bitten multitudes, it is true, and +the same difficulty arises before us as to what to do with these +steadily increasing hordes. The same Egyptian remedy, the construction +of vast public works, has been resorted to over and over again, with the +effect of giving temporary, but not permanent relief. In some respects +the position of the Hebrews in Egypt was preferable to that of the +destitute masses in India. They seem at least to have had no lack of +food and shelter, and if they had to work hard, and were cruelly treated +by their taskmasters, we have become familiar in the Indian villages +with many instances of cruelty in the treatment of the low caste by the +high such as could not well have been surpassed in Egypt itself, to say +nothing of the extortions of the money-lender and the ravages of famine +and pestilence referred to elsewhere. + +But in many respects the situation is far more hopeful. Our Pharaoh is a +Christian Queen, under whom we have, not one, but many Josephs, who are +really anxious for the highest welfare of the submerged masses, and who +are likely to hail with gladness (as has been already the case in +England) any project which bids fair to alleviate permanently the +existing misery. The wealth and power of the British Government and +Nation, instead of being used to hinder such a scheme, is likely to be +thrown bodily into the scale in favour of all reasonable reform that +will help congested labour to redistribute itself and recover its normal +balances. + +Again the progress of science and civilization has removed immense +barriers that previously existed, and railways, steamers, post and +telegraph have rendered possible for us, if not comparatively easy, what +was before only within the reach of miraculous manifestations of Divine +Power. + +Furthermore, _the land is there, plenty of it, for centuries to come_, +some of it across the seas, within easy reach of our steamers, but a +great deal of it quite close at hand. Nor will it be necessary to +dispossess others to occupy it. The only enemies that will have to be +faced are the wild beasts, always ready to beat a retreat when man +appears. It does not even belong to some different nationality or +Government, jealous of our encroachments, but is the property of the +same Power to whom these destitute multitudes are looking for their +daily bread. + +Hence it is impossible to imagine circumstances more favorable than +those which already exist in India at the moment that General Booth's +scheme is placed before the public, towards the carrying out on an +enormous scale, hitherto never dreamt of, the portion of his projects +referred to in the present chapter. + +What I would propose is that a considerable section of waste Territory +should be assigned to us and placed at our disposal in some suitable +part of India, upon which we could plant colonies of the destitute, +similar in many respects to those already described, save that we should +here carry out on a wholesale scale what elsewhere we should be doing by +retail. Into this central lake or reservoir all our scattered streams +would empty themselves, till it was so far full that we should require +to repeat the process elsewhere. Beginning with a single social +reservation in some specially selected district, we should easily be +able to repeat the experiment elsewhere on an even larger scale +profiting as we went along by our accumulated experience. + +From the first, however, I should suppose that it would be preferable to +carry out the manoeuvre on as large a scale as possible, for the reason +that this is just one of those things which will be found easier to do +wholesale than retail. + +We have many illustrations of this in business. The merchant who amasses +a colossal fortune will perhaps scarcely spend an hour a day in +superintending the working of an establishment that covers half an acre, +while the poor retail shopkeeper over the way toils from early morning +to late at night and is scarcely able then to earn a bare subsistence +for the support of his family. + +Compare again the labour and profits of a boatman in Bombay Harbour, +with those of the owner of an ocean going steamer. The former toils day +and night at the peril of his life and earns but little, while the +latter rests comfortably at home and enjoys a handsome income. + +Or again let the village hand-loom weaver be pitted against the Bombay +Mill-owner, and we see at a glance that under certain circumstances it +_pays_ infinitely better to do things on a large than on a small scale, +and that in so doing the amount of labour and risk are also economised. + +Now this applies to the proposal contained in this chapter. Given a +people who are well acquainted with Indian agriculture and who are +willing to be moved;--given a leader and an organisation in which they +have confidence;--given those religious and moral influences which will +so help them in overcoming the initial difficulties of the enterprise; +and given a suitable tract of country which (without displacing existing +population) they can occupy, and I would say with confidence that it +will be found easier to accomplish the transfer on a large than on a +small scale, by wholesale rather than by retail. + +In the present case all the above conditions are satisfied. The entire +congested labor of the rural districts is thoroughly versed from +childhood in the arts of Indian agriculture. They are willing in many +parts of the country to emigrate by thousands even across the "kala +pani," to which they have such an intense and religious aversion, or to +enlist by thousands in our merchant marine and military forces. Much +more then will they be willing to emigrate in far larger numbers to +districts close at hand. A leader to inspire, an organisation to enfold, +and a plan of campaign to guide, have in the most marvellous manner +almost dropped from the skies since the publication of General Booth's +book. The religious and moral restraints and incentives, so important +for guarding against the abuses of selfishness and for inspiring with a +spirit of cheerful self-sacrifice, are provided, and that in a purely +_Native garb_, and yet with all the advantages of European leadership +and enthusiasm. And finally there is land in abundance which Government +desires to see colonised, and which is being slowly retailed out bit by +bit in a manner altogether unworthy of the urgent necessities of the +occasion. + +What then is there to hinder a big bold experiment? General Booth will +have in England largely to _make_ his agriculturists before he can put +them upon the land. Here in India we have _millions_ of skilled +destitutes ready to hand, and it will be possible within a very short +period with a few bold strokes to relieve the congested labor market +from one end of India to the other in a manner that can hardly now be +conceived. + +Is not this plan infinitely superior to the spasmodic Egyptian +expedient of occasional public works, which cost the State enormous sums +and only increase the local difficulty as soon as they are completed? +Should we not here be erecting a satisfactory and permanent bulwark +against the future inroads of famine? Shall we not rather be increasing +the public revenue for future years by millions of pounds and that +without adding a single new tax, or relying upon sources so uncertain +and detrimental to the public welfare as those founded upon the +consumption of drugs and liquors that destroy the health of the people? +Shall we not again be increasing the stability and glory of the Empire +in caring for its destitute masses and in turning what is now a danger +to the State into a peaceful, prosperous and contented community? And +finally will not our Poor Man's Paradise be infinitely superior from +every point of view to the miserable regulation _workhouse_, that is in +other countries offered by the State, or again to the system of +charitable doles and wholesale beggary that at present exists? To me it +seems that there is indeed no comparison between the two, and General +Booth's book has opened out a vista of happiness to the poor, such as we +should hardly have conceived possible save in connection with a +Christian millennium or a Hindoo "_Kal Yug._" + +But it may be objected by some that in providing those outlets for the +destitute, we should in the end only aggravate the difficulty by +enormously increasing the population. This reminds one of the gigantic +folly of the miser with his hoards of gold. An amusing eastern anecdote +is told of one who having gone two or three miles to say his prayers to +a mosque suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to put out an oil +lamp before leaving home. He at once retraced his steps and on reaching +his house called out to the servant girl to be sure and put out the +light. She replied that she had already done so, and that it was a pity +he had wasted his shoe leather in walking back so far to remind her. To +this he answered that he had already thought of this and had therefore +taken off his shoes and carried them under his arm so as not to wear +them out! + +And here you have a wretched class of miserly so-called "_economists_" +who are afraid to light their lamp, lest they should burn the oil, and +who would rather sleep in the darkness, doing nothing, or break their +necks fumbling about in their vain efforts to do little, when for a +farthing dip they may put in hours of profitable toil! And when a shoe +is provided for the swollen foot of a nation they are so afraid of +wasting their shoe leather, that they would rather hobble about belamed +with thorns, stones, heat, or cold, than lay out the little that is +necessary to bring them so ample a return! + +Each labourer represents to the state what the piece of gold is to the +miser. He is the human capital of the nation and is capable of producing +annual interest at the rate of at least a hundred per cent, if placed in +sufficiently favourable circumstances. What folly is it then, nay what +culpable negligence, nay what nothing short of criminality to sink this +human gold in the bogs of beggary and destitution! Man is the most +wonderful piece of machinery that exists in the world! The cleverest +inventions of human science sink into insignificance in comparison with +him! The whole universe is so planned that his services _cannot_ be +dispensed with and indeed he is at the same time the most beautiful +ornament and the essential keystone of the entire fabric! The utmost +that science itself can do is to increase his productive powers. + +But the idea of dispensing with the service of a single human being, or +of consigning him hopelessly to the perdition of beggary, destitution, +famine and pestilence is the most stupendous act of folly conceivable. +What should we think of a railway company that would shunt half its +engines on to a siding and leave them to the destructive influence of +rain and dust? And how shall we characterise the stupidity that shall +shunt millions of serviceable human beings into circumstances of misery +so appalling as well as of uselessness so entire, as those which we have +endeavoured to picture? Why, here we have not even the decency of a +siding! These wonderfully made semi-Divine human engines are suffered to +obstruct the very main lines on which our expresses run, not only +wrecked themselves, but the fruitful cause of wreckage to millions more! + +But I have said enough I trust to show that the problem is not a +hopeless one, and that the portion of General Booth's scheme to which +this chapter refers is particularly applicable to India and capable of +being successfully put into operation on a scale commensurate with the +necessities of the hour. + +Having obtained our territory we should proceed to mark it out, and to +direct into the most advantageous channels, the inflowing tide of +immigration. There would be a threefold division into agricultural +districts which would furnish food for the incoming population, a +pastoral district for the cattle, and a central market, which would +furnish the pivot on which all the rest would work. Our agricultural and +dairy farm proposal I have already fully discussed and will now proceed +to describe the social City of Refuge which will act as a sort of solar +system round which all the minor constellations would revolve. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE SOCIAL CITY OF REFUGE. + + +I am tempted again to turn to Hebrew history to find a parallel for what +would I believe be easily accomplished at an early period in connection +with our "Poor Man's Paradise." I refer to what was styled the "City of +Refuge." The object of this institution was to provide a temporary +shelter for those who had unintentionally killed any one, so that they +might escape from "the avenger of blood." If on inquiry it could be +proved that the death was purely accidental, the fugitive was entitled +to claim protection until by the death of the high priest, the blood +should have been expiated when he would be free to return to his home +and people. If, on the other hand, it were a case of premeditated +murder, the city authorities were bound to hand over the fugitive to +justice. + +The careful provision made by the Hebrew law for the occasional +manslayer surely casts a severe reflection on the millions who, many of +them through no fault of their own, represent the submerged tenth! Let +us leave for the time being the wilful criminals who are the open +enemies of society to be dealt with as severely as you like by the arm +of the law. Turn for a moment a pitying gaze towards those hungry +destitute multitudes, who cannot it may be, plead their own cause, but +whose woes surely speak with an eloquence that no mere words could ever +match! Why should we not provide them with a City of Refuge, where they +will have a chance of regaining their feet? If it be urged that their +numbers preclude such a possibility, we would reply that it has already +been proved in the previous chapter, that this will in really make +our task the more easy. The impetus and enthusiasm created by a movement +in mass tends largely to ensure its success. + +If on the other hand it be urged that our object is to divert the flow +of population from cities to villages, it must be remembered that this +does not preclude the creation of new towns and cities, which shall +furnish convenient centres and markets for the surrounding villages. It +is not a part of General Booth's scheme to abolish cities, but rather to +dispose suitably of their superfluous population. And no doubt in course +of time the world will be covered not only with suburban farms and +industrial villages, but with cities which for commercial importance and +in other respects will rival any that now exist. + +I am the more encouraged to believe that this will be particularly +practicable in India for the following reasons. + +1. We have an enormous population close at hand. If at a distance of +12,000 to 14,000 miles, England can build its Melbournes, Sydneys and +Adelaides, surely it does not require a very great stretch of +imagination to suppose that here in our very midst with millions upon +millions of people at disposal we shall be able to repeat what has +already been elsewhere accomplished under circumstances so specially +disadvantageous. + +2. Again let it be remembered that in this case we should have the +special advantage of carrying out the work on a carefully organised plan +and in connection with a scheme possessing immense ramifications all +over India and the world. + +3. Once more, India supplies labor at the cheapest conceivable rate, so +that the cost would be infinitesimal as compared with the other +countries just mentioned. + +4. Another important fact is that the laborers are accustomed to be +paid in kind, and to carry on a system of exchange of goods which will +further minimise the cost of the undertaking. + +5. A still more encouraging element in the solving of our Indian problem +is the fact that nearly every native is a skilled artizan and you can +hardly meet with one who has not from childhood been taught some +handicrafts. Indeed the majority both of men and women are acquainted +with two or three different trades, besides being accustomed from +childhood to draw their own water, wash their clothes and do their +cooking. Hence it is impossible to find a more self-helpful race in the +world. + +6. Again this very thing has been already done in India itself, +especially by its great Mahommedan rulers, hundreds of years ago, and +that under circumstances, which made the undertaking infinitely more +difficult than would now be the case. What was possible to them then, is +equally possible to us now. + +7. Finally in the midst of some of the very waste tracts of which we +have spoken may be found cities which were once the flourishing centres +of as large and enterprising a population as can anywhere be seen. Why +should not such places be restored to their former prosperity instead of +being handed over to become "the habitation of owls and dragons." + +The selection of the site of the future city would of course be made +with due reference to advantages of climate, water, and communication +and it would be planned out previous to occupation with every +consideration of convenience, health, and economy. Gangs of workmen +would precede the arrival of the regular inhabitants, though we should +largely rely upon the latter to build for themselves such simple yet +sufficiently substantial dwellings as would meet the necessities of the +case. We might reasonably anticipate, moreover, that the influx of +population would attract of its own accord a certain proportion of +well-to-do capitalists, for whom a special quarter of the town could be +reserved and to whom special facilities could be granted for their +encouragement, consistent with the general well-being of the community. + +It would be easy to fill many pages with a description of the internal +colony, the business routine, the simple recreations, the practical +system of education for the children and the lively religious services +that would constitute the daily life of the City of Refuge. Suffice it +to say that we should spare no pains to promote in every way the +temporal and spiritual welfare of its inhabitants, to banish drunkenness +and immorality, to guard against destitution and to establish a happy +holy Godfearing community, that would constitute a beacon of light and +hope not only for its own immediate surroundings but far and wide for +all India and the East. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +SUPPLEMENTARY BRANCHES OF THE COUNTRY COLONY. + + +(1.) _Public Works_-- + +While the central idea of the entire system will be that of providing +permanent, as contrasted with temporary work for the destitute, there is +no reason why the former should not be supplemented by the latter. The +great public works which at present afford occasional relief for +thousands would still be possible, only provision would be made for the +redistribution of the masses of labour thus withdrawn from the ordinary +channels as soon as the public work in question was completed. + +For this again we possess a scriptural parallel in the "levy out of all +Israel" raised by King Solomon, consisting of thirty thousand men who +were sent "to Lebanon ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were +in Lebanon and two months at home." In addition to the above we find +that he employed seventy thousand "that bare burdens" and eighty +thousand "hewers in the mountains, beside the officers which were over +the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people +that wrought in the work." It was the elaborate organisation of these +laborers, and the provision for their spending a certain proportion of +their time at home, which enabled Solomon to carry out his great public +works without seriously deranging the labor market, or hindering the +prosperity of the nation. I have selected this instance because it is +from well authenticated sources, goes fully into details and refers to a +nation and country very much resembling India. Indeed it is almost +identical with the familiar Indian institution known as "begar" or +forced labour. + +The weak point of such special efforts is that they tend to leave +things in a worse position than ever when they are concluded. Nobody +sits down to calculate what is to become of the thousands who have been +drawn together, often hundreds of miles from their homes, when the time +comes for them to be paid off. They are thrown bodily upon the labor +market and left to shift for themselves as best they can, without any +means of informing themselves where they ought to go, or into what other +channels they can most profitably direct their labor. + +This evil we hope to obviate by means of our Labor Bureaux, which will +be planted in every city and district, and will keep such elaborate +returns as will enable to watch all the fluctuations of the labor +market. + +For instance let us be informed of the fact that a railway is to be +opened, a canal dug, or some other public work constructed in a +particular district, we should be able to calculate from our returns the +amount of labor that could conveniently be withdrawn from existing +channels, and the amount that would have to be imported. + +We should be able to constitute a Solomon's levy (voluntary of course), +and the laborers would have the assurance that when the work on which +they were engaged was concluded, sufficient provision would be made for +their reemployment elsewhere, or for their restoration to their ordinary +occupation. Our Labor Bureau would thus do for the laborer what is at +present impossible for him to do for himself, and would economise his +time to the utmost. + + +(2.) _Off to the Tea Gardens_-- + +We should be able again to supply the Tea and Coffee Districts with +gangs of laborers, and should guard the interests of both employer and +employed. The former would be supplied with picked laborers at the +ordinary market rate, without the worry, delay and expense of having to +procure them for themselves. The latter would be kept in communication +with their families, and could be worked in "courses" on Solomon's plan. + + +(3.) _Land along the Railways_-- + +Among other proposals General Booth suggests that the land along the +Railway lines might well be utilised for the purpose of spade husbandry. +There seems no reason why these extensive strips of often fertile soil +should be left to go to waste, conveniently situated as they are on +borders of the main arteries of commerce and in close vicinity to +stations. + + +(4.) _Improved methods of Agriculture_-- + +This is a subject which deserves a chapter to itself in a country like +India. If it be true that there are millions of acres of waste land that +are only waiting to be cultivated to yield a rich return, it is equally +notorious that by improved methods of agriculture the present produce of +the soil may be doubled and trebled. To this subject we intend to pay +the full attention that it deserves, making the best possible use of +Native experience and European science. We shall be in a peculiarly +favorable situation for experiments on a large scale. But this is a +subject on which we cannot at present do more than touch, reserving for +a future period the elaboration of schemes which will doubtless have an +enormous reflexive effect upon the whole of India, and thus materially +increase the wealth of the entire country and the revenue of the +Government. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE OVER-SEA COLONY. + + +As in England, so in India, the establishment of a colony over the sea +will in the end prove the necessary completion of our scheme for +supplying work to the workless. There are sure to be found eventually in +overcrowded centres many for whom work at home cannot be found, and for +whom vast reaches of unoccupied territories in other lands wait to +afford a home. + +Happily this will not be an immediate necessity in India. Over the +extended area occupied by the various races which comprise the Indian +Empire, large tracts of land still wait to be conquered by well-directed +industry, and the numerous settlements which it will be possible to form +in different parts of the country may for some time to come absorb the +surplus labour, add to the wealth of the country, the stability of the +Empire and the more rapid advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. Since, +however, we must look forward to emigration as the ultimate solution of +the problem which confronts us, we shall briefly indicate the lines upon +which we propose to carry it out. + +In the establishment of Over-sea Colonies we shall follow very closely +the lines laid down in "Darkest England." + +At present the continuous stream of emigrant labour flowing into +existing colonies already overstocked with labor, is creating serious +difficulties, and we have no idea of relieving a congested labour market +in one country by overstocking another: this would be, not to heal the +disorder, but only to shift the locality. + +It may not be generally known how extensively emigration is already +resorted to by the people of India. We know that the impression is +abroad that Indians will not leave their country, that they fear the +sea, are too much attached to their home and their customs, and are far +too much filled with the dread of losing caste to yield to any pressure +that may be brought to bear upon them to quit the shores of their own +land for foreign fields of labour. As a matter of fact, however, +emigration to a considerable extent already exists. + +In Ceylon alone there are nearly 300,000 Tamil coolies employed on the +Tea Estates, besides hundreds of thousands more who have permanently +settled in various parts of the Island. Vast tracts in the Island are +still waiting to be occupied. The former population of Ceylon is +variously estimated as having been from twelve to thirty millions,--now +it is only three! Is it impossible for us to suppose that it can be +restored to its former prosperity? Immense tanks and irrigation works +cover the entire country in tracts which are now unoccupied and desolate. +Many of these have been restored by Government, and there are now +100,000 acres of irrigable land in that country, only waiting to be +occupied and cultivated. Government is ready to give it on easy terms. +Here, then, alone is a wide and hopeful field for Indian emigration, +only requiring to be skilfully directed in order to find a home and +living for millions of India's destitute. + +Now what we propose to do is not to check the stream of emigration, nor +yet to help it to flow on in its present channel until it overflows its +banks and engulfs in ruin the colonies it might have enriched, but +rather to dig out new channels, founding entirely new colonies in +districts yet unoccupied, on the plan laid down in "Darkest England." + +The stream which, diverted into 20 or 30 channels, would enrich and +fertilize a whole continent, would if confined to one or two channels +burst its banks and become a desolating flood. + +We shall ourselves become the leaders of the coolies, and dig out +channels in Ceylon, in Africa, in South America, and other countries, +building up from entirely new centres new colonies and territories and +kingdoms where the Indian colonist would find himself not a stranger in +a strange land, unwelcome, neglected, or illtreated, but at home in a +new India, more prosperous and happy than the one he had left behind,--a +colony peopled and possessed and managed by those of his own race and +language. + +Emigration carried on simply in the interests of those who promote it +and derive a profit out of it, without regard to the needs of the +districts to which they are exported, and with absolute disregard to the +comfort and convenience of the emigrant, and often attended with +heartless cruelties, must necessarily be fraught with grave evils. These +we believe we should largely be able to obviate. In vessels chartered by +ourselves or in some way under our direction, and with every comfort and +convenience which can be secured for the limited sum available for cost +of transit, for men, women, and children, under the direct +superintendence of our own trained officers, what a curtailment of human +suffering and shame there will be in the transit of the Colonist alone! +On his arrival he will be met by those who, if strangers, are his +friends, and who will secure for him comfortable quarters, communicate, +or enable the emigrant to communicate, with his friends at home, +introduce him to the particular industry to which he is assigned, and +who will not cease their personal care of him until he is happily +settled in his new home, and who will afterwards be available for +advice and counsel. He will find himself, not amongst people who are +eager to secure their own profit at his expense, but a part of a +commonwealth where each is taught to seek the good of his neighbour, and +where the laws are framed to secure and perpetuate this desirable +condition of things. A community where the blessings of home and +education and sanitary laws and religion are valued and made available +for all, and where liberty, which nowhere shines so sweetly as amongst a +frugal, industrious, intelligent, simple and godly people, reigns in +truth. + +Moreover, our widely extended operations, our connection and oneness +with the great social movement of the Army in various lands, and the +regulations which will control the movement, will enable us invariably +to convey our colonists to fields where their labours will be of the +greatest value, and instantly to check any tendency to excess of labour +at any given centre, and even at times to greatly relieve temporary +gluts in the labor market arising from unforeseen circumstances. + +In short, it is scarcely possible to overrate the blessings likely to +flow from Colonies where drink and opium will be unprocurable, where +vice will be repressed, where greed will receive little encouragement +and have few opportunities to grow, and where the comparative absence of +poverty on the one hand, and of extreme wealth on the other and the +general contentment of the people, will make life on earth a joy to +those who were once nearly starved out of it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES. + + +(1) THE INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT. + +In connection with our Labor Bureau we shall establish an intelligence +department, the duty of which will be to collect all kinds of +information likely to be of use in prosecuting our Social Reform. + +For instance, it would watch the state of the labor market, would +ascertain where there was a lack of labor and where a glut, would inform +the public of the progress of the movement, would bring to our notice +any newspaper criticisms or suggestions, and would generally make itself +useful in a thousand ways. + + +(2) THE POOR MAN'S LAWYER. + +This would meet a long-felt want, and could also be worked in connection +with the Labor Bureau. + +The poor would be able to get sound legal advice in regard to their +difficulties, and we should be able to help them in their defence where +we believed them to be wronged. + + +(3) THE INQUIRY OFFICE FOR MISSING FRIENDS. + +This has been established for some time in England with admirable +success, our worldwide organization enabling us to trace people under +the most unfavorable circumstances. No doubt there would be much scope +for such a department in India. At the outset it would form part of the +duties of the Labor Bureau, and would not therefore entail any extra +expense. + + +(4) THE MATRIMONIAL BUREAU. + +A thoroughly confidential matrimonial bureau which would wisely advise +people desirous of getting married, would certainly be of great service +in India. Its operations would no doubt be small in the beginning, but +as it got to be known and trusted it would be more and more resorted to. + +Even supposing that outsiders should hold aloof from it, we should have +a large inside constituency to whom its operations would be very +valuable, and it would be thoroughly in accordance with native notions +for the mutual negotiations to be carried on in such a way. + +Missionaries are everywhere largely resorted to in regard to questions +of this kind; and we have every reason to believe that it would be so +with ourselves, and we should thus be able largely to guard our people +against ill-assorted matches, and to furnish them with wise counsel on +the subject. + + +(5) THE EMIGRATION BUREAU. + +The subject of emigration has been already referred to elsewhere. No +doubt we shall ultimately require a separate and special office for this +purpose in all the chief cities but at the outset its duties would fall +upon the Labor Bureau and Intelligence Departments who would collect all +the information they could preparatory to the launching of this part of +the scheme. + + +(6) PERIODICAL MELAS. + +In place of the "Whitechapel by the sea" proposed by General Booth, a +suitable Indian substitute would I think consist of periodical "melas" +similar to those already prevalent in various parts of the country. + +These might be arranged with the treble object of religious +instruction, bodily recreation, and in order to find an occasional +special market for the surplus goods that we produce. + +Everything would be managed with military precision. The place would be +previously prepared for the reception of the people. An attractive +programme would be arranged. Everybody would be made to feel comfortable +and at home. And no effort would be spared to make the occasion morally +and spiritually profitable, as well as valuable for the relaxation it +afforded to the bodies of those who attended, and financially profitable +for the purpose of our Social Reform work. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? + + +In order to put the whole of the foregoing machinery into motion on an +extensive scale, there can be no doubt that economise as we may, a +considerable outlay will be unavoidable. True we are able to supply +skilled leadership under devoted and self-sacrificing men and women for +a merely nominal cost. True we have Europeans willing to live on the +cheap native diet, and to assimilate themselves in dress, houses and +other manners to the people amongst whom they live. True that we have +raised up around us an equally devoted band of Natives, in whose +integrity we have the fullest confidence and whose ability and knowledge +of the country will prove of valuable service to us in the carrying out +of our scheme. True that around our 450 European and Native officers, we +have enlisted and drilled a force of several thousands of earnest +soldiers of the Cross, who are pledged abstainers from all intoxicating +liquors and drugs, who have renounced all forms of impurity and +sin,--who have promised to devote their lives to the social, moral and +spiritual regeneration of their fellow countrymen,--who are accustomed +to pray and preach in their leisure hours, without being paid a cowrie +for doing so, and who not only support themselves and their families by +their labor, but contribute for the support of their officers. + +Nevertheless, while it is a fact that this cheap and efficient agency +exists for the carrying out of the reforms that have been sketched in +the foregoing pages,--it cannot be denied that a considerable sum of +money will be needed for the successful launching of the scheme. + +Once fairly started, we have every reason to believe that the plans +here laid down will not only prove strictly self-supporting, but will +yield such a margin of profit as will ultimately enable us to set on +foot wholesale extensions of the scheme. No doubt there will be local +disappointments and individual failures. We are dealing with human +nature, and must anticipate that this will be the case. But the +proportion of success will far outweigh the fraction of failure, and +when the profits and losses of the scheme came to be balanced year by +year we have no doubt that socially, physically, morally and financially +we shall be able to show so enormous a gain that the most unreasonable +of our critics will be silenced. + +And yet when we come face to face with the details of the scheme, we +find that the scale of our operations must necessarily depend on the +amount of capital with which we are able to start. The City Colony, with +its Labor Bureau, Labor Yards, Food Depôts, Prison and Rescue Homes, and +Salvage Brigade, will involve a considerable initial expense. Although +we are able to supply an efficient supervising staff for a mere fraction +of the ordinary cost,--rents of land and buildings will have to paid. +And although work will be exacted from those who resort to our Yards and +Homes, yet the supply of food to the large numbers who are likely to +need our help will at the outset probably cost us more than we are able +to recover from the sale of the goods produced. + +The Country Colony, with its Industrial Villages, Suburban Farms, and +Waste Settlements, will involve a still heavier outlay of capital. There +is every reason to believe that we may look for an ample return. Indeed +the financial prospects of this branch of the scheme are more hopeful +than these of the City Colony. But to commence on a large scale will +involve no doubt a proportionate expenditure. We may hope indeed that +Government, Native States and private landowners will generously assist +us to overcome these difficulties by grants of land, and advances of +money and other concessions. Still we must anticipate that a +considerable portion of the financial burden and responsibility in +commencing such an enterprise must of necessity fall upon us. + +The Over-Sea Colony may for the present be postponed, and hence we have +not now to consider what would be the probable expenses. But omitting +this, and having regard only to the City and Country Colonies, I believe +that to make a commencement on a fairly extensive scale we shall require +a sum of one lakh of rupees. We do not pretend that with this sum at our +command we can do more than make a beginning. It would be idle to +suppose that the miseries of twenty-five millions of people could be +annihilated at a stroke for such a sum. + +We do believe however that by sinking such a sum we should be able to +manufacture a road over which a continuous and increasing mass of the +Submerged would be able to liberate themselves from their present +miserable surroundings and rise to a position of comparative comfort. + +We are confident moreover that the profits, or shall we call them the +tolls paid by those who passed over this highway, would enable us +speedily to construct a second, which would be broader and better than +the first. The first two would multiply themselves to four, the four to +eight, the eight to sixteen, till the number and breadth of these social +highways would be such as to place deliverance within easy reach of all +who desired it. + +The sum we ask for is less than a tithe of what has been so speedily +raised in England for the rescue of a far smaller number of the +submerged. And yet there may be those who will think that we are asking +for too much. But when I see far larger sums expended on the erection, +or support of a single Hospital, or Dharamsala, and when I remember that +Indian philanthropy has covered the country with such, I am tempted to +exclaim "What is this among so many?" + +Surely it would be a libel upon Indian philanthropy and generosity to +ask for less, in launching a scheme, which has received the hearty +support of multitudes of persons so well able to form a judgment as to +its feasibility and soundness, and this too after having been submitted +to the most searching criticisms that human ingenuity could suggest! At +any rate this we can promise, that whatever may be given will be laid +out carefully to the best possible advantage. A special annual balance +sheet will show how the money entrusted to our care has been expended, +and if the success of the work be not sufficient to justify its +existence, it will always be easy for the public to withhold those +supplies on which we must continue to depend for the prosecution of our +enterprise. + +Looking at the future however in the light of the past history of the +Salvation Army, both in India, and especially in those other parts of +the world, where its organization has had more time to develop and fewer +obstacles to contend with, we are confident that the results will be +such as to repay a hundred fold every effort made and every rupee laid +out in promoting the welfare of India. And even supposing that +comparative failure should result, we should have the satisfaction of +knowing that + + "'Tis better to have tried and failed, + Than never to have tried at all!" + +The anathemas of posterity will alight upon the heads, not of those who +have made a brave effort to better the evils that surround them, but of +those who by their supineness helped to ensure such failure, or by their +active opposition paralysed the efforts and discouraged the hearts of +those who, but for them, might either have wholely succeeded in +accomplishing what all admit to be so desirable, or might at least have +been far nearer reaching their goal than was possible owing to the +dog-in-the-manger obstructions of those who had neither the heart to +help, nor the brains to devise, nor the courage to execute, what others +might have dared and done! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. + + +In proposing at once to deal with the problem of lifting out of the jaws +of starvation India's poorest and darkest however impossible it may look +to some, we have the immense advantage and encouragement which arises +from the fact that General Booth's scheme (which I have followed as +closely as the widely differing conditions of Indian society would +admit) has already received the all but universal approval of the best +and ablest in Europe from the Queen downwards. It has in fact so +commended itself to the general public that men of all shades of +religious belief, men of no belief at all, men of every political party, +and from every rank of society have not only heartily approved but +contributed already £100,000 for the carrying out of the project. +Moreover, some of its most important details have already had applied to +them both in England and Australia the valuable test of experience. + +There is one question which may start up in the mind of the reader and +that is, granted that the scheme is sure to prove successful in England, +is it not still probable that, owing to the complex arrangements of +caste and religion in India any such scheme would meet with failure. To +this I answer in the first place, that all will be helped, irrespective +of their creed, and any change of opinions on their part will be purely +voluntary, since no compulsion, beyond that of love and moral suasion, +is intended to be used. Moreover, drowning men are not too particular as +to the means available for their rescue. They would rather be dragged +out of the water by the hair of their heads than left to drown, or would +rather be lifted out feet foremost than left to be devoured by +alligators. If it be true that starving men are driven by hunger to +commit theft solely that they may be sent to jail where at least they +will get food and be saved for a time from the hunger-wolf, how can we +doubt but that thousands will hail with gladness a deliverance which is +not only a deliverance from want and starvation, but the opening out of +a brighter path for their whole future. + +The blessed example set by hundreds of men and women in our ranks who +have given up friends, parents, home, prospects and everything they +possess to walk barefooted beneath India's burning sun in order to seek +the weal of its people cannot fail I believe to stir up the rich and +well-to-do, nay _all_ but those too poor to help,--to make some +sacrifice to heal the unutterable woes, and to sweeten the hard and +bitter lot of those who, often through no fault of their own, have +fallen in the battle of life, and who have been all but crushed and +cursed out of existence by misfortunes which are to some extent at least +within our power to remedy. + +True lovers of India (and nothing is more encouraging than the splendid +manner in which the intelligence of this country is arousing itself to +thoughtful active effort for the weal of the nation, putting aside all +differences of race and religion, that it may unite to seek the common +good,) true lovers of India, we say, will never allow differences in +race and religion to hinder them in a question affecting the well-being +of some 26,000,000 of people who are already a drag and a hindrance to +the rising prosperity of the nation, and who are sure if neglected to +become a danger. No one asks about the religion of Stanley. His heroic +march through the terrible forest, his rescue of Emin Pasha, his +successful achievement of that which to most men would have been +impossible, have made him to be admired and praised in every land. + +Here we are proposing to rescue, not one Pasha and a handful of his +followers, but almost as many people as the entire population of Great +Britain. We stand at the edge of this forest. We know something of it +before we enter. We are not dismayed. We only ask you to meet the cost +of the expedition. Great armies of beggars and workless, and drunkards +and opium-eaters and harlots and criminals are going to be dragged out +of these morasses, to bless the land which gave them birth with the +wealth of their labor and to build new Indian Empires across the sea. + +A bold and daring expedition has been planned into this dark social +forest, with its dismal swamps, its pestilential vapours, its seemingly +endless night, to rescue and bring to the light of hope, to green +industrial pastures and healthy heavenly breezes, its imprisoned +victims. May we not then, since men can be found to do and dare in such +a godlike enterprise, confidently claim the enthusiastic interest and +the practical help of all good men, no matter when or how they worship +the great Eternal Father of the human race! + +If any one should object that is an impossible enterprise, we answer, +who can tell? Why indeed impossible, seeing that millions of acres wait +to be tilled and to yield their treasures to the unfed mouths of +workless labourers? Why impossible, since hundreds of thousands are +saying, it is not charity, we crave, but the privilege to work and earn +our bread? Why impossible, when willing hearts and hands are ready to +spring forward and at any cost dive into this dark forest and bring the +hungry mouths into the fostering care of the fruitful earth? Why +impossible, when a mass of unproductive wealth waits to serve some +useful purpose and bless its holder, bringing back to him a hundred per +cent, if he will but lend it to his God by giving it to the poor? + +We have portrayed with studied moderation the dark regions of woe. We +have laid before you with careful explicitness the scheme or remedy. We +have endeavoured to anticipate and answer all objections. And now it is +for you to make this great enterprise possible by uniting to subscribe +the sum we ask for, as necessary to float the scheme. + +We have built our deliverance ship in the dockyard of loving design, we +have wrought her plates, riveted her bolts, fixed her masts, put in her +boilers and engines, fitted her and supplied her with gear. It is your +privilege to launch her--to draw the silver bolt and permit her to leave +the stocks and glide down into the dark deep sea of misery and land on +heavenly shores the drowning submerged millions. + +We believe that your response will be worthy of you. Coming generations +will thank you, and the blessings of them that were ready to perish will +rest upon you, and the God of the fatherless and the widow will remember +you for good. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +_The Poor Whites and Eurasians._ + +It will doubtless be noticed that I have excluded the consideration of +this question from the foregoing pages. This has been decided on, though +with considerable hesitation, for the following reasons:-- + +1. Numerically they are much fewer than the submerged India of which we +have been speaking. + +2. Influential charitable agencies already exist, whose special duty it +is to care for them; any effort on our part to apply General Booth's +scheme to them would probably be regarded by those societies as a work +of supererogation, and would be likely to be received by them with a +considerable measure of opposition. + +3. The circumstances and surroundings of the European and Eurasian +community are so different that the scheme will require considerable +readaptation. Indeed the subject will need a pamphlet to itself, and I +have found it impossible to work it harmoniously into the present +scheme. + +4. I am convinced moreover that this is a _subsidiary_ question, and +that our main efforts _must_ be directed towards reaching and uplifting +the purely Indian submerged. + +5. Should however the question be pressed upon us hereafter, we shall be +quite prepared to take it up and deal with it systematically and +radically on the lines laid down by General Booth. I have studied with +considerable care and interest the writings of the late Mr. White on +this important matter, and believe that if the necessary funds were +forthcoming, it would be comparatively easy for us to adapt the Darkest +England Scheme to the necessities of this important class. + + + + +PUBLIC OPINION ON GENERAL BOOTH'S SOCIAL SCHEME. + + +_Her Majesty the Queen-Empress cordially sympathises._ + +Her Majesty says "The Queen cannot of course express any opinion on the +details of the scheme, but understanding that your object is to +alleviate misery and suffering, her Majesty cordially wishes you success +in the undertaking you have originated." + + +_His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales,_ + +Writes to express his hearty interest in the scheme and is seen +earnestly studying the book and making notes upon it. + + +_The Empress Frederick reads the book with interest._ + +THE EMPRESS FREDERICK'S PALACE, BERLIN, + +_November_ 1, 1890. + +Count Seckendorff begs leave to acknowledge by command of her Majesty +the Empress Frederick the receipt of General Booth's book in "Darkest +England and the way out." Count Seckendorff is commanded to say that her +Majesty will read the book with special interest. + + +_The Earl of Aberdeen expresses his sympathy._ + +In common with thousands of others I have been studying your "plan of +campaign." Last night I saw Mr. Bancroft's letter. I think he has +performed a public service in coming forward in this spirited manner at +the present time. Those who have been in any way associated with past or +existing efforts on behalf of the classes which you aim at reaching +should reasonably be amongst the first to welcome a scheme so practical, +so comprehensive, and so carefully devised as that which you have placed +before the country. I shall be happy to become one of the hundred +contributors who according to Mr. Bancroft's proposal shall each be +responsible for £1,000 on the condition specified. With the offer of +sympathy, and the assurance of hearty good wishes, + +I remain, yours very faithfully, + +ABERDEEN. + + +_The Earl of Airlie Subscribes._ + +"The Earl of Airlie has forwarded towards General Booth's fund a cheque +for £1,000." + + +_The Marquis of Queensberry offers his services._ + +GLENLEE, NEW GALLOWAY, N.B., + +_November_ 21. + +My Dear General Booth--I have read your book "In Darkest England" with +the greatest interest, also with thrills of horror that things should be +as bad as they are. + +I send you a cheque for £100, and shall feel compelled if your scheme is +carried out to give you a yearly subscription. You say you want +recruits. When I come to town I should very much like to see you to talk +this matter over, for I see no cause which a man could more put his +heart and soul into than this one of endeavouring to alleviate this +fearful misery of our fellow-creatures. I see you quote Carlyle in your +book, but is it possible for any one like myself, who is even more +bitterly opposed than he was against what to me is the Christian +falsehood, to work with you! We have two things to do as things are at +present--first to endeavour to alleviate the present awful suffering +that exists to the best of our abilities, and surely this ought to be a +state affair; and secondly to get at the roots of the evils and by +changing public opinion gradually develop a different state of things +for future generations, when this help will not be so necessary. I do +not wish to get into a religious controversy with you on how this is to +be brought about, but I tell you I am no Christian and am bitterly +opposed to it. A tree, I believe, is to be judged by its fruits. +Christianity has been with us many hundreds of years. + +What can we think of it when its results are as they are at present with +the poor whom Christ, I believe, you say informed us we should always +have with us. I know nothing about other worlds, beyond that I see +thousand around me whom I presume look after their own affairs. It +appears to me our common and plainest duty to help and to try and change +the lot of our suffering fellow creatures here on this earth. You can +publish this if you please, but without suppressing any of it. If not +and any notice is given of subscriptions as I see you are doing, I beg +it may be notified that I send this mite as a reverent agnostic to our +common cause of humanity. + +Yours faithfully, + +QUEENSBERRY. + + +_Lord Scarborough is amongst its supporters._ + +"Lord Scarborough, writing from Lumley Castle Chester-le-street, has +subscribed £50." + + +_Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone lend to it the weight of their influence._ + +"Mr. Gladstone has already expressed has interest in the scheme and now +Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone with a like kindly expression forward £50 towards +it." + + +_Mr. Pickersgill, M.P., looks upon it with increasing favour._ + +At the New Debating Society, Haverstook Hill, Mr. Pickersgill, M.P., +said when he first began to read the book he did not approach it with +any particularly favourable feelings towards the Salvation Army. He +thought that the scheme was the most plausible ever devised. There was +in it a happy blending of the ideal with the practical, and a nice +balancing of its various parts in the attempt to solve the problem +involved in the question "Can we get back to the ordinary conditions of +life as they exist in a small healthy community." + + +_The Bishop of Durham reviews the Scheme._ + +Speaking on Thursday night at the closing meeting of the General Church +Mission at Sunderland, the Bishop of Durham said that just now men were +talking on all sides of a great scheme which had been set forth for +dealing with some of the social sorrows of our age. The remarkable book +in which it was sketched was well calculated to present, in a most vivid +combination, the various forms of work to which Christian men must bring +the power of their faith. It brought together with remarkable skill the +different problems which were pressed upon them; it allowed them to gain +a view of the whole field and something of the relation of the different +parts one to another. For his own part he trusted that many might be +stirred to some unwonted exertion. + + +_The Bishop of Lincoln thanks the General._ + +"I thank you heartily for the book you have sent me. The name of it is +already well known to English Churchmen, and its object is one in which, +we all agree. + +"The Cross of Christ is the only effectual remedy for the great mass of +vice and wretchedness in our large towns, to which you are endeavouring +to call public attention; and we must not be content with presenting +that Cross in words alone, but must endeavour to show, by our personal +efforts and example, how it may practically be applied so as to purify +the lives and quicken the hopes of those amongst our countrymen who are +now as much strangers to its power as the inhabitants of darkest +Africa." + + +_The Bishop of Bath and Wells values the book._ + +"I beg to acknowledge, with very many thanks, the receipt of your letter +and the volume of your work, 'In Darkest England,' which you have been +so good as to send me. I shall read it with much interest, both from the +deep importance of the subject, whether viewed in its social, political, +or Christian aspect, and also from its containing the opinion of one who +has had such universal opportunities as you have had of becoming +acquainted with the wants of the lowest and most unhappy section of our +great population." + + +_The Bishop of Rochester is glad to possess the book._ + +The Bishop of Rochester writes that he hastens to thank Mr. Booth for +sending him his book, and he is glad to possess it, and hopes it may be +productive of much good. He takes the opportunity of expressing his +profound sympathy with him in Mrs. Booth's death. + + +_The Bishop of Wakefield (Dr. Walsham How) studies the scheme with +deepest interest._ + +I have just received your book, which you have so kindly sent me. I have +already bought a copy, which I shall give away. I am studying your +scheme with the deepest interest, and I trust and pray it may bring +blessing and hope to many. May I venture to express my sympathy with you +in your recent heavy bereavement? You do not sorrow as those that have +no hope. + + +_Canon Farrar preaching at Westminster Abbey, says we are bound to help +the scheme or find a better one._ + +It was not difficult to see, as early as half past one on Sunday +afternoon last, that something was about to take place in Westminister +Abbey. A friendly policeman informed me that the service in the fine old +pile of buildings did not commence till three o'clock, but that as Canon +Farrar was announced to preach, and upon such an all-absorbing topic as +General Booth's new book, people were bent upon securing a good position +by being in time. + +Some three-quarters of an hour before the service commenced the gigantic +building was crowded, and the trooping multitudes only arrived at the +doors to find a crowd waiting for the least opportunity of getting in. +It was reported that thousands were turned away. + +Canon Farrar had announced his subject as "Social Amelioration," and at +the outset stated that he alone was responsible for the opinions he +proposed to express in connection with General Booth's scheme. In a very +masterly and eloquent way he pictured the social evils which disgrace +our civilisation, the small and ineffectual efforts being put forth for +their removal, and the terrible responsibility resting upon us as a +nation to do our utmost to forward any scheme which appeared likely to +effect an amelioration. He proceeded:-- + +Well, here was General Booth's scheme, which he had examined, and with +which he had been deeply struck. He pitied the cold heart which could +read and not be stirred by "Darkest England." In his best judgment he +believed the scheme to be full of promise if the necessary funds were +provided, and he merely regarded it as his humble duty to render the +undertaking such aid as he could. + +Had any such scheme been proposed by a member of the Church of England, +he should have given it every support. He regarded the scheme as +supplementing, not interfering with, the work of the Church, as +preparing for, not hindering, the Church's work. The scheme, although no +Christian scheme could be wholly dislinked from religion, was yet most +prominently a social scheme; its origin was The Salvation Army, but it +was intended to promote the work of the common Church. + +Was the scheme to be thrown aside contemptuously at once on account of +prejudice, because it emanated from The Salvation Army? If any thought +so, he blamed them not, but he for one declared he could not share their +views. He was, perhaps, more widely separated from some of the methods +of the Salvation Army than many of his brethren, but the work of the +Army had not been unblessed, and there was much that might be learned +from an organisation which in so short a time had accomplished so great +a work. He dwelt upon the nature of The Salvation Army's work, the +officers who were exerting themselves in connection with it, the number +of countries to which the organisation had spread. The Salvation Army in +its work and extent had credentials which could not be denied. Were they +to stand coldly, finically aside because they were too refined and nice, +and full of culture to touch this work of The Salvation Army with the +point of the finger? He took it that he should fail grievously in his +duty if insult or self-interest caused him to hold aloof from any +movement which Christ, if He had been on earth, would have approved. + +Then Dr. Farrar quoted the late Bishop Lightfoot and the late Canon +Liddon in favor of The Salvation Army as an organisation which had +accomplished a deal of good work. + +Next he asked, "How shall we receive General Booth's scheme now that it +is here to our hands?" With some people the simplest way of treating any +scheme for good was to leave it alone. To those who took that position +with reference to General Booth's scheme he had nothing whatever to say. +There was no need for saying anything either to the other class of +people who would talk about a scheme, and having talked about it drop +the matter and think no more about it. + +Another way in which General Booth's scheme might be received was that +of examining it, and if convinced against it of rejecting it. That, at +all events, was a perfectly manly course; a clear and decided method of +reception which there can be no mistaking. To those included in this +class, those who would regard the scheme as migratory or pernicious, +there was nothing to be said. But what about those who did not mean to +help in this or any other scheme, those who left others the burden of +the work, the opportunists who would want to step in when the breach had +been made? Here, no doubt, there would be such a class, but the last way +of receiving General Booth's scheme, and the way in which as he trusted +it would be received, was to support it by their influence, and to give +to it of their means. It was an immense and far-reaching scheme, which, +might bring help and hope to thousands of the helpless and hopeless, +made helpless and hopeless by the terrible conditions of society, but +for every one of whom Christ died. + +To begin the scheme in earnest would require a sum of £100,000, but he +asked, "What was that to the wealth of England--to the wealth of +London?" It was a mere drop in the ocean compared to what was every year +spent on drink and wasted in extravagance. There were a hundred men in +England who might immortalise themselves by giving this sum, and yet not +have a luxury the less. He left the response to General Booth's appeal +with the public, but would it not, he asked, be a desperate shame for +England if any scheme giving so hopeful a promise of social amelioration +should fail without a trial, and like a broken promise, be lost in air? + +But to this observation somebody might reply in the form of a queried +objection, "The scheme might fail." _Yes, it might fail; anything might +fail. But if to die amid disloyalty and hatred meant failure, then St. +Paul failed. If to die in the storm meant failure, then Luther and +Wesley and Whitfield failed; if to die at the stake by the flames meant +failure, did not martyrs fail; Finally, if to die on the cross, with the +priests and the soldiers spitting out hatred, meant failure, then Jesus +Christ failed._ Yes, the scheme might fail; but was all this failure? +Were there none among them bold enough to look beyond the possibility of +failure? Could they not somehow get round the word? Fear and jealousy +and suspicion and intolerance and despair were counsellors finding +multitudes to listen, but he for one would listen to the nobler +counsellor "Hope." Were none of them bold enough at the last moment to +prefer even failure in a matter like this to the most brilliant success +in pleasing the world and making truce with the devil? He would try to +hope that the scheme might not fail, but what each one had to consider +was the question, "Shall it fail through my cowardice, my greed, my +supineness, my prudential cautiousness, my petty prejudices, my selfish +conventionality?" + +"If, on examining this plan in the light of conscience, we see in it an +augury for the removal of the deadly evils which lie at the heart of our +civilisation, it seems to me we are bound to do our utmost to help it +forward. 'But,' you say, 'if we conscientiously disapprove of it?' Then +we are in duty bound to propose or to forward + +SOMETHING BETTER. + +"One way only is contemptible and accursed--that is, to make it a mere +excuse for envy, malice and depreciation. + +"He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear; +but God shall be the judge between us, and His voice says in Scripture: +'If thou forbear to deliver them that are bound unto death, and those +who are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, "Behold," we knew it not, +doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it, and he that keepeth +thy soul, doth not He know it, and shall not He render to every man +according to his work?'" + + +_Archdeacon Sinclair wishes the scheme success._ + +Speaking at Bromley, Kent, on Friday night, in connection with the +Canterbury diocese, of the Church of England Temperance Society, +Archdeacon Sinclair referred to General Booth's scheme. He wished very +great success to that courageous and large scheme. + + +_The Rev. Brooke Lambert defends the scheme in the "Times."_ + +There is much that is not new in the scheme. General Booth allows that +much. But there are two factors in his scheme which, if not new, at +least acquire a new prominence. These two factors are help and hope. +Society drops these two h's. For help it substitutes money-giving, and +as for hope for the disreputable, it has none. The personal contact of +General Booth's workers, of his 10,000 officers, is an essential feature +of the scheme. They take the man or the woman as they enter the shelter, +and prevent it from becoming a means of dissemination of crime, of +filth, of disease. They stand by the new-fledged proselyte to work, to +encourage perseverance. They follow him to the country colony, the +abomination of desolation to one who has walked the London pavements and +found his heaven in the gin-palace and the music-hall, to stimulate +effort. They accompany him to the colony to remind him that true freedom +is not licence, that the conditions of success are a change of mind and +not of climate. But for them, one might doubt whether the hope General +Booth conceives for the "submerged tenth" would be hope at all in their +eyes. Nothing so difficult as to persuade the Londoner to go into the +country, and the emigrant to keep to work away from the congenial +interludes of town pleasure. But once create this hope (and persistent +reiteration can do much when the agent is a kindly man or woman) and you +have introduced a new element into the life of the wastrel. Our prison +system, growing in harshness, failed utterly to deter; with the +reformatory system, based on the principle of making it to a man's +interest to behave well within the walls, a new era dawned on criminal +legislation. It is for these reasons that I look with deep interest on +General Booth's experiment. Do not let us say, "The experiment has been +tried before; it is useless to attempt it again." I believe there is +enough of novelty in General Booth's scheme to justify a hope of +success. But for past failures I can but say that people do not regard +failure as a ground for inaction when their interest is deeply involved. +When I was a boy, some 45 years ago, I saw at the old Polytechnic +experiments in electricity: the electric light, the electric cautery, +&c. For years I expected to see them introduced into the work-day world. +Now, at last, they are coming into use, but I do not think the shares +stand at a very high premium. None the less electricity will one day be +of universal use. That is what experiment in spite of failure has done; +that is what we ought to do in social matters. When all is done, the +result will be comparatively small when compared with our aspirations, +but it will create, as all good work does, new outlets for effort, new +objects for hope. + +BROOKE LAMBERT. + +_The Vicarage, Greenwich, Nov. 19._ + + +_Dr. Parker approves the General's Scheme._ + +A report in the _Star_ says:--"Dr. Parker, preaching his one-minute +sermon at the City Temple yesterday (Sunday) morning, said, 'I hope +General Booth will get every penny he asked for. No man can make better +use of money. I wish be would include other Englands in his scheme. +There is another England, darker than the darkest he has in view. I mean +the England of genteel poverty and genteel misery.... These people are +not in the slums, but they are fast being driven in that direction.... +From my point of view, one of the best features in General Booth's +scheme is that nobody is to receive anything for nothing. It is easy to +throw money away. Money we work for goes farthest. There is + +NO STAIN OF PAUPERISM + +upon it. + +DR. PARKER SAYS "NO BOARDS."--Dr. Parker, addressing his congregation on +Thursday morning, said:--"General Booth spoke to me the other day at my +house, amongst others, about boards of trustees and referees, and all +the rest of it, in reference to his scheme. I said that would spoil the +whole thing. I do not want any boards of reference. We have boards +enough and referees enough--(laughter)--and we do not want little men to +assume an awful responsibility which Providence never meant them to +handle. They had better let a great governing spirit like General Booth +manage the whole thing in his own way. I am afraid I was even more of a +democrat than even General Booth suspected. (Laughter.) I am an +autocrat--I believe in one man doing a thing. Some persons imagine if +they have got six little men together that they will total up into a +Booth. The Lord makes His own Booths, and Moodys, and Spurgeons, and +sends them out to do His work, and we shall do well to get out of their +way, except when we have anything to give of sympathy, money, prayer and +assistance. Presently, some Thursday morning, I am going to give you a +chance of giving--which you will--to this great scheme." (Applause.) + + +_Dr. Moulton, President of the Wesleyan Conference, is grateful for the +labour which the General has expended upon this problem._ + +"No one can read your book without recognising the claim which you have +established on the sympathetic help of all Christian churches. For +myself, I am deeply grateful to you for the enormous labor which you +have expended on the great problem, and for your able treatment of its +difficulties." + + +_Revd. Alfred Rowland says he believes the working of the Scheme will be +for the good of the people._ + +Yesterday morning the Rev. Alfred Rowland preached at Park Chapel, +Crouch End, the first portion of a sermon on General Booth's book. The +preacher said the scheme was a noble, bold, and generous effort to reach +the masses. He believed the result of the working of the scheme would be +for the good of the people at large. He asked them to give liberally to +the project, even if it was only an experiment, because he believed it +would succeed, and all he could do, financially and otherwise, he should +be pleased to do in support of the scheme. + + +_A Collection for the Scheme is raised at City Church, Oxford._ + +At the City Church, Oxford, on Sunday, the rector, the Rev. Carterel +J.H. Fletcher, preached at both morning and evening services in aid of +General Booth's Social Salvation Fund, and the collections were devoted +to the object. + + +_Revd. H. Arnold Thomas makes a successful appeal on behalf of the +Scheme._ + +A HANDSOME OFFERING. + +The sum of £650 was collected at Highbury Congregational Chapel, +Bristol, on Sunday, as a contribution to General Booth's fund, for his +scheme unfolded in his book, "In Darkest England." This was in response +to an appeal from the pastor, the Rev. H. Arnold Thomas. + + +_Revd. Champness looks upon it as a forlorn hope._ + +A letter dated from Rochdale, and bearing the well-known name "Thomas +Champness," has reached General Booth, with a contribution of £50. "I +wish," writes Mr. Champness in his letter, "I could make you know how +much my heart is with you in your great scheme. I am not as sanguine as +some of your admirers are as to the success you are sure to win; but I +look upon it as a forlorn hope, in which a man had better lose his life +than save it by ignoble do-nothingness." + + +_Mrs. Fawcett points out the great value of the Scheme._ + +MRS. FAWCETT'S VIEWS. + +Mrs. Henry Fawcett, lecturing last night on "Private Remedies for +Poverty," before the Marylebone Centre of the university Extension +Lectures Society, at Welbeck Hall, Welbeck-street, W., said that +according to classified directories of London charities, these charities +had a yearly income of £4,000,000, but she did not think full returns +were made in all instances, and that the total sum was nearer +£7,000,000 than £4,000000, while the entire cost of poor-law relief in +the United Kingdom was only £8,000,000. Having dwelt upon the evils of +misdirected charity, she said the keynote of General Booth's scheme, and +what, as it seemed to her, gave her great hope of its being to some +extent a success, was the amount of personal devotion and energy which +it called for and which she believed the Salvation Army was prepared to +give to its development. Its keynote was the possibility of bringing +about a change in the individual by personal effort and influence. As +General Booth pointed out, the problem was unsolvable unless new soul +could be infused in the poor and outcast class whom it was designed to +help: and to this end it was not money that was wanted so much as the +personal service of men and women. One great feature of the scheme was +that no relief was to be given without work, except in very exceptional +cases. She had personally visited the workshops and shelters of the +Salvation Army in Whitechapel, and she found a number of people +apparently of the very lowest moral and physical type, and yet they were +de-brutalised and had a happy human look as they went on with their +work, which in some cases was the same as they had performed in gaol. No +temptation was afforded by the workshops or shelters to induce people to +stay away from ordinary industrial life longer than they could possibly +help. The men had to sleep in a kind of orange-box without bottom, on +the floor, upon an American oilcloth mattress; and with a piece of +leather for a coverlet. Most previous schemes for employing the +unemployed upon colonies and waste land had failed because of the men +put upon them, who were drunken, lazy, and half-witted. By General +Booth's scheme there was process of selection which would weed out those +individuals: and she thought photography might be employed in getting to +know bad and unsatisfactory characters. + + +_Mrs. Howard M'Lean hopes the Scheme may have an immediate trial._ + +Mrs. Howard M'Lean "presents her compliments to General Booth, and begs +to send him her promise of £100, in the earnest hope that the scheme set +forth in 'In Darkest England' may at least have a fair trial, and that +immediately." + + +_The "Times of India" points out the advantages of the Scheme._ + +If we apprehend the scheme aright, it will be carried out independently +of existing charities, and indeed not under the guise of a charity at +all. The bread of poverty is bitter enough, but that of pauperism is +bitterer still, and General Booth, it would seem, intends to foster +rather than discourage such spirit of independence as he may find among +the lost souls for whom he works. But it seems to us that where such a +scheme as his chiefly gains its power, is in its total dissociation from +church or sect. However good the work which is done by the Church and by +the more widely ramified agency of the Non-conformist sects--and no one +will be found to deny that this work is of the greatest possible value +in relieving the destitute and reclaiming the criminal classes--there is +little or no unity about it. It is under no individual control, it is +not carried out on any uniform system, and one agency has no means of +knowing what another agency is doing. The result is that relief gets +very unevenly distributed, and the lazy and dissolute profit at the +expense of the deserving poor. Nor do any of these agencies, as a +general rule, aim at any systematic crusade against other destitution +than that of the moment. When they touch the lowest of low-life deeps; +it is for the most part in the way of temporary relief only, without the +effort (because they have not power) to set these people on their feet +again and give them the means of earning a living. It is here that +General Booth steps in, and by an elaborate but perfectly feasible +system, proposes without any attempt at proselytization to drag the poor +from their poverty, put them in the way of doing work of any kind they +may be fitted for, and eventually establish them in an over-sea colony. + +Looking now to the objections which may be urged against General Booth's +scheme, we are at once confronted by two important considerations. The +first concerns the "General" himself. He asks for a million pounds +sterling to enable him to carry out his project, and the question seems +to have already been asked, Is he the person to whom a million pounds +may be entrusted? Will it be so safeguarded that those who subscribe may +feel assured that the money will be properly applied and an honest +attempt made to do the work here planned out? To all these questions we +are disposed to reply in the affirmative. General Booth and his +Salvation Army have by this time pretty well weathered the storm of +abuse and scorn with which their methods were at first received, and +however much we may be disposed even now to question the taste or +propriety of those methods, there can be no amount of doubt in the mind +of any reasonable man that the Salvation Army has been the means of +achieving enormous good the whole world over. In his administration of +this huge organization of which himself was the founder, Mr. Booth has +proved himself a man of probity and of the strictest possible integrity. +We do not hesitate to say that all the money he requires for this great +scheme may be safely placed in his hands, and that he will render a +strict account of its disbursement. Then comes the question, how far is +it possible for him to succeed in the work he proposes to undertake? He +has already in the field a vast organization doing good work among the +dregs of the population, and the extension of this organization to carry +out the main points of his project is not a matter of difficulty. The +ill is a terrible one, the evil gigantic, and the means to grapple with +it must be gigantic also. But given the means, will they be effective? +We frankly confess that we do not believe they will be so effective as +General Booth hopes, but we believe at the same time that if he can +achieve only one-tenth of what he hopes to achieve, ten millions of +pounds would be worthily laid out upon it. The hungry, the dirty, the +ragged, the hopeless and outcast, the criminal and the drunkard, the +idle and the vicious--can he gather all these in with any hope of +starting them afresh on the journey of life? So much work of this kind +has already been done without any special system, that there can be +little doubt that to a large extent he can. With the honestly poor it is +not a difficult matter, but with the vicious and criminal classes, who +have no inclination to work so long as they can steal, it will be a long +time before the Salvation Army or any other agency can effect any +sweeping reform. The work will be slow, but we believe it will be done. +It has been objected against General Booth's scheme that it is not new, +except in the fact that General Booth proposes that it shall be himself +who carries it out. It seems to us, on the contrary, that it is new in +one most vital aspect, and that is, that its details are to be worked +out by an enormous united body on a definite plan, instead of by +numberless charitable agencies all working independently of each other. +We believe, in short, that General Booth will meet with a very large +measure of success, and we believe also that when the details of his +scheme come to be read and discussed, he will have no difficulty in +getting all the money he asks for, and more besides. Looking at the +enormous wealth of England, a million pounds is as nothing. It is the +Duke of Westminister's income for three months, and it would open up the +means of finding hope and work and refuge, and a new life beyond the +seas, for a million or more of the helpless poor. We wish Mr. Booth +God-speed in his great undertaking. + + +_The "Bombay Gazette" of November 15th, 1890, gives an exhaustive +review, from which we cull the following extracts:_-- + +There is little of the form, though there may be much of the spirit, of +the Salvation Army in General Booth's "Darkest England and the Way Out." +It is on the whole a sober, and in some respects well-reasoned, attempt +to solve the most urgent problem of the day. Whosesoever the actual +workmanship of the book may be, the personality of General Booth +pervades every page--nowhere obtrusively it is true, but sufficiently to +impart life and warmth to the discussion of a problem whose solution, +though it must be sought for only within the limits marked out by +economic principles, will never be found, unless it is sought for with a +certain passionate sympathy for the outcast. The dramatic parallel which +the writer establishes between the savagery of Darkest Africa and the +suffering and sin of Darkest England, will arrest attention, and will of +itself make the book popular. Here, however, we are concerned with the +more matter-of-fact elements in the problem, and with the practical +remedies which are proposed for it. The heading of "the Submerged Tenth" +which is given to one of the chapters, roughly indicates the dimensions +of the task that has to be performed. General Booth takes three millions +to be the strength of the army of the destitute in England. The total +comprises the representatives of every phase of want--criminals and +drunkards and idlers and their dependants, as well as the class who are +destitute through misfortune, who are honest in their poverty, and whom +no man can blame for it. For these last-named, society does next to +nothing. There is the workhouse for people who have spent their last +penny; for so long as it remains unspent, it is a legal disqualification +for the help of the State. Or there is the casual ward, where a hard +task is exacted in payment for hard fare, but where absolutely nothing +is done to help the wayfarer to gain or regain a place and a living in +society. Out-relief has been reduced to the minimum. A few weeks ago the +whole parish of St. Jude, Whitechapel, with a population of sixty +thousand, provided only four applicants to the Board of Guardians for +out-relief. Thus far the organized official agency has done little +enough for the raising of the "submerged tenth." If _laissez faire_ were +a cure for all the ills of society, they would have been cured long ago, +for the remedy has been applied with a persistency that has failed not. +General Booth thinks that he has discovered a more excellent way, and is +entitled to a hearing for his plan, for part of it is already in +operation. In the "shelters" established by the Salvation Army in the +east of London, casual relief is given on almost as large a scale as in +the casual wards of the London Workhouses; but he claims for it that it +is a less degrading form of help, that sympathy goes with it; and with +him of course the emotional accompaniments which the Salvation Army is +careful to provide, count for much. + + +_The "Christian" prognosticates a good future for the Scheme._ + +Up to this stage the great social scheme of General Booth for uplifting +the "sunken tenth," has been, so to speak, "in the air." Monday night's +meeting at Exeter Hall may be said to have set it on the solid ground +and given good hope that it will run as fast and as far as the supplied +resources will allow. The great audience to which the General had to +address himself, was not mainly of the usual enthusiastic Army type; but +it cannot be said that it was not ready to approve and applaud when any +good and telling point was made. The brief religious service at the +beginning gave the proceedings the spiritual stamp of Army gatherings, +but the larger part of the time was taken up with the statement of the +General. For more than two and a half hours he was on his feet so that +he did not, at any rate, spare himself in his effort to interest the +public in his gigantic plan of campaign. At the outset, he expressed +diffidence in entering on the exposition of somewhat new lines of work, +but he soon showed himself at home, and in much that he advanced there +was a happy audacity and a confidence that boded well for the future +developments of his scheme. + + +_The "Bombay Guardian" defends the Scheme._ + +General Booth's aim is to give every one who is "down in the world" a +chance to rise. No one, however poor or however degraded, is to be left +out. By means of shelters and training factories in the towns, he would +give every one a chance who wishes to work, however "lost" their +character may have become. There is to be absolutely no charity. All +will work for their food and lodging, until they have gained sufficient +character and experience to take a situation as a respectable working +man or woman. There are thousands of "out-of-works," "ne'er-do-wells," +&c., in every large town in England, who are naturally fitted for +agricultural work, although they have lived all their lives, perhaps, +far away from the green fields. For the training of these General Booth +has a scheme of a large "Farm Colony" which will be nearly or entirely +self-supporting. When trained sufficiently in agricultural work, they +will be drafted off by emigration to a great "over-sea" colony in South +Africa. The whole movement will be permeated by earnest Christian +teaching. The man who is in trouble and professes to be converted, will +be welcomed on that account, and the man who is in trouble but does not +profess to be saved, will be equally welcome in the hope that he may +give himself to Christ. + +It is computed that there are three million people in England whom this +scheme will eventually hope to help. A first instalment of £100,000 +towards an eventual million, is asked for as a starting-point for the +scheme. + +This seems a large undertaking and a large sum, but compared to the +needs of the world, it is very small. + +There is a still darker France than the darkest England, a darker Italy +than the darkest France, and deeper depths of darkness still in India. + +We think that those who know the "slums" of London and large English +towns the best, will be the heartiest in wishing God-speed to General +Booth's latest movement, which also includes every possible form of +Christian benevolent activity. + +When Christ reigns as Viceroy for Jehovah for a thousand years, as the +Word of God so distinctly intimates, it may be that some such plan as +this, far more perfect and world-wide in its aim, will form part of the +inaugurative forces of that happy lot. + +Speaking broadly, General Booth's great scheme is in harmony with views +that are accepted by all Christians. His design is to elevate the +wretched to more favourable conditions of life, on the principle of the +Temperance reformer who seeks to remove temptations to drunkenness; or +of the opponent of the iniquitous opium traffic, who insists upon the +prohibition of the drug which is the curse of millions; or of the +antagonist of licensed impurity, who demands that the tendency of law +shall be to make it easy to do right, and not afford facilities to do +wrong. Some passages of "In Darkest England and the Way Out" are +certainly capable of being misconstrued. But on looking at the book and +its scheme as a whole, the Christian heart is drawn into lively sympathy +with it, without being committed to every detail. If all that is +anticipated be not realized by this gigantic scheme, the attempt to +carry it out cannot do otherwise than prove a source of great and +eternal good to multitudes, as the labourers carry on their work in +dependance upon God. + + +_The London "Speaker" testifies to the capacity of Gen. Booth for +winning the masses._ + +Seeing from what the Salvation Army has grown, and to what it has grown, +we are extremely reluctant to denounce any scheme seriously and +carefully elaborated by its leader, as being "too big to be +practicable." We must remember who will be the "one head and centre" of +the scheme. There are many weak points in General Booth: he is only +human. But he is an earnest man; he has proved his talent for +organisation; he has proved his capacity for winning the sympathies of +the masses. We would say nothing against gentleness, and quiet, and +culture. We hope to attain them in the end. It is a pretty work to prune +the vine, a beautiful thing to let in the sunlight on the fruit, and to +watch the perfection of bloom, and shape, and color; but first of all +something has to be done at the roots, something at which we may hold +our noses, but which is for all that requisite. + +It remains to be seen, first, whether the people concerned would accept +the scheme; secondly, whether discipline could be maintained; thirdly, +whether money can be raised. As to the first two questions, experience +in some degree answers. The people _do_ come to the Salvation Army's +establishments, and they do behave well in the Shelters and the +Workshops. Those who best know the poorer working classes of the +country, will be the least likely to despair on these points. A group of +poorer English men and women are easily led by a leader who instils +regularity and order, and of whose hearty goodwill to them, they are +assured. Organisation is in the English blood; and the rougher East End +crowd has orderly elements ready to respond at once to the word of +command from men and women whom they know and trust. Only the crowd must +be sober; and that which its leader preaches must be hope. As to the +money, some portion has come in already; and if this is used, as it will +be, in making a visible beginning, there will be plenty of people +troubled in their consciences who will be ready to give more. Let us +give General Booth money, and five years for his experiment. At the end +of that time it will be clear enough whether or no the best thing which +we can provide for the unemployed is a lethal chamber. + + +_The Book has an unprecedented sale._ + +Up to the middle of January the book had reached a total circulation of +200,000 copies, beside running through two separate editions in America. +It is now being translated into Japanese, French, Swedish and other +languages. + + +_The Book of the year._ + +I do not think I say too much when I say it will not be the attitude ten +per cent. after they have read from cover to cover the most remarkable +volume that has been issued from the press this year. + +A UNIQUE BOOK. + +It is a book that stands by itself. In one sense it may be said that +there is nothing new in it. That many men are miserable, that it is the +duty of all calling themselves by the name of Christian, to do their +utmost to save their perishing brethren, and that if they set about the +task in earnest, certain well-known methods will have to be resorted to; +all this is familiar enough. Neither can it be said that the spirit of +exalted enthusiasm which breathes in every page of the book is one +appears for the first time in the writings of General Booth. It is on +the contrary the abiding evidence of the presence of the Divine Spirit +in men, which has never failed in this world since "the first man stood +God conquered, with his face to heaven upturned." But the unique +character of the book arises from the combination of all these elements, +with others which have never hitherto been united even within the covers +of a single volume. There is a buoyant enthusiasm in every page, a +sanguine optimism at which the youngest among us might marvel, combined +with a familiar acquaintance with the saddest and darkest phenomena of +existence. The book deals with problems which of all others are most +calculated to appal, and overwhelm the minds with the sense of +desolation and despair, yet it is instinct throughout with a joyous hope +and glowing confidence. General Booth, face to face with the devil, +still believes in God. + + +A MIRACLE OF THE BURNING BUSH. + +Another distinctive feature of the book is the extent to which it +combines the shrewdest and most practical business capacity with the +most exalted religious enthusiasm. The fanatic is usually regarded as +somewhat of a fool; no one can read this book through and think that +General Booth has the least deficiency in practical capacity, in shrewd +common sense and enormous knowledge of men. From one point of view it is +easy to be a saint, and it is easy to be a man of the world; the +difficulty is to combine the two qualities, the cunning of the serpent +with the innocence of the dove. There is nothing of the naive and +guileless innocence of a cloistered virtue in the book, but though the +serpent is very cunning his wiliness and craftiness coexist with a +simple enthusiasm of humanity which is very marvellous to behold. When +we read General Booth's expressions of confidence in the salvability of +mankind and note the intrepid audacity with which he sallies forth like +another David to attack the huge Goliath who threatens the hosts of our +modern Israel, and remember that he is no mere shepherd boy fresh from +the fold, but one who for forty years of his life has lived and laboured +in an atmosphere saturated with emanations from every form of human vice +and wretchedness, then we feel somewhat as did Moses when he stood +before the burning bush, "and he looked, and behold the bush burned with +fire and the bush was not consumed." + + +THOMAS CARLYLE REDIVIVUS. + +It is impossible not to be impressed by the parallel and at the same +time by the contrast between General Booth's book and the latter day +prophecies of Mr. Carlyle. For forty years and more Mr. Carlyle +prophesied unto the men of his generation, proclaiming in accents of +deep earnestness, tinged, however, by a bitter despair, what should be +done if we were not utterly to perish. I remember the bitterness with +which he told me, while the shadows of the dark valley were gathering +round him, that when he wrote his whole soul out in "Latter Day +Pamphlets," and delivered to the public that which he believed to be +the very truth and inner secret of all things, his message was flouted, +and "it was currently reported," said he, with grim resentfulness "it +was currently reported that I had written them under the influence of +too much whiskey." Now, however, another prophet has arisen with +practically the same gospel, but with oh, how different a setting! In +Mr. Carlyle's books, his prophetic message shines out lurid as from the +background of thunder-cloud amid the gloom as of an eclipse heralded by +portents of ruin and decay. Here "In Darkest England and the Way Out" +there is a brightness and a gladness as of a May day sunrise. Infinite +hope bubbles up in every page, and in every chapter there is a calm +confidence which comes from the experience of one who in sixty years of +troubled life can say with full assurance "I know in whom I have +believed." That is not the only contrast between the two. Mr. Carlyle as +befitted the philosopher in his study, contented himself with writing in +large characters of livid fire, "This is the way, walk ye in it;" but +the generation scoffed and walked otherwhere. General Booth, equally +with Mr. Carlyle writes up in characters so plain that the way-faring man, +though a fool, cannot help reading it, "This is the way, walk ye in +it." But he does more. He himself offers to lead the van, "This is the +way," he declares, "I will lead you along it, follow me!" + + +CATHOLICITY--SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS. + +Another distinctive characteristic of this book is its extraordinary +catholicity. In this respect I know no book like it that has appeared in +our time. While declaring with passionate conviction the truth and +necessity of the gospel which the Salvation Army preaches, there is not +one word of intolerance from the first page to the last. It is easy to +be broad when there is no intensity of conviction. The liberality of +indifference is one of the most familiar phenomena of the day. But +General Booth is broad without being shallow, and his liberalism +certainly cannot be attributed to indifference! He is as earnest as John +the Baptist, for now and then the aboriginal preacher reappears crying +aloud, Jonah-like, messages calling men to flee from the wrath to come. +But no broad churchman of our time, from Dean Stanley downwards, could +display a more catholic spirit to all fellow workers in the great +harvest field, which is white unto the harvest, but where the labourers +are so few. This spirit he displays not only in the religious field, but +what is still more remarkable, he carries it into the domain of social +experiment. The old intolerance and fierce hatred which raged in the +churches at many great crises in the history of the world is with us +still, but it is no longer in religious dress. The rival sects of +socialists hate each other and contend with each other with a savagery +which recalls the worst days of the early church. Every man has got his +own favourite short cut to Utopia and he damns all those who do not work +therein with the unhesitating assurance of an Athanasius. Hence +catholicity is much more needed and much more rarely found in the domain +of social economics than in that of religious polemices. General Booth +as befits a practical man is supremely indifferent to any particular +fad, and constructs his scheme on the principle of selecting every +proposal which seems to have stuff in it, or is calculated to do any +good to suffering humanity. The socialist, the individualist, the +political economist, the advocate of emigration, and all social +reformers will find what is best in their own particular schemes +incorporated in General Booth's schemes. He claims no originality, he +disclaims all prejudice even in favour of his own scheme. His +suggestions, he says, seem for the moment the most practicable, but he +is ready, he tells us with uncompromising frankness, to abandon them +to-morrow if any one can show him a better way. + +A TEACHABLE PROPHET. + +Another extraordinary characteristic of the book is its combination of +supreme humility with what the enemy might describe as overweening +arrogance. The General's confidence in himself and his men is superb. +Not Hildebrand in the height of his power, or Mahommed, at the moment +when he was launching the armies which offered to the world Islam or the +sword, showed himself more supremely possessed with the confidence of +his providential mission than does General Booth in his book. "For this +end was I created, to this work was I called, all my life has been a +preparation to fit me for its accomplishment." While thus speaking with +the confidence of a man who feels himself charged with a divine mission, +General Booth displays a humility and a teachableness that is as +beautiful as it is rare. Over and over again he deplores his lack of +knowledge and the insufficiency of his experience, and admits that his +most elaborate proposals may be vitiated by some flaw or some defect +which will make itself only too apparent when they get into action. So +far from being determined to thrust his scheme as a panacea down the +throats of reluctant humanity he appeals to all those who may differ +from him not to stand idly cavilling at his proposals, but to produce +something better of their own, assuring them that he will be only too +good to carry out the best of his ability any scheme which will do more +for the benefit of the lapsed classes than his own. + + +A SHIFTY AND RESOURCEFUL MARINER. + +General Booth shows himself in the capacity of a bold and shifty mariner +who has been ordered to take a ship filled with precious cargo across a +stormy and rock-strewn ocean to a distant port. Quicksands abound, cross +currents continually threaten to carry the ship from her course, the +wind shifts from point to point, now rising to a hurricane and then +dying away to a dead calm. But alike by night and day, whether the sky +be black with clouds, or bright with radiant sunshine, in the teeth of +the wind or in a favourable gale, he presses forward to his distant +haven. He will tack to the right or to the left, availing himself to the +utmost of every favourable current and every passing breeze, supremely +indifferent to all accusations of inconsistency, or of deviating from +the straight line from the port which he left to the port for which he +is bound, if so he can get the quicker and the more safely to his goal. +Hitherto General Booth had practically been in the condition of a +Captain who relied solely on his boilers to make his voyage. "Get up +steam, make the heart right, keep the furnace fires going, and drive +ahead through the darkness regardless of a lowering tempest or of the +swift rushing current which sweeps you from your course." This book +proclaims his decision in favour of adopting a less reckless and more +practical mode of navigation. While his reliance is still placed on the +inner central fire he will not disdain to utilise the currents, the +tides, and the winds which will make it easier for his straining boilers +and untiring screw to forge its way across the sea. + +The book is interesting in itself as a book, but of the bookmaking part +of it, it is absurd to speak. You might as well speak of the rivets and +the paint, in describing the performance of a Cunarder; as to speak of +the literary merits or demerits of this book. As a piece of actuality, +full of life and force, it comes to us in paper and ink and between two +covers; but the vehicle of its presentation is as indifferent as the +quality of the boards in which it is bound. The supreme thing is not the +form but the substance.--_The Review of Reviews._ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Darkest India, by Commissioner Booth-Tucker + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11468 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..672071f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11468 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11468) diff --git a/old/11468-8.txt b/old/11468-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9872972 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11468-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5890 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Darkest India, by Commissioner Booth-Tucker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Darkest India + A Supplement to General Booth's "In Darkest England, and the Way Out" + +Author: Commissioner Booth-Tucker + +Release Date: March 6, 2004 [EBook #11468] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DARKEST INDIA *** + + + + +Produced by Dave Maddock and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +[Transcriber's note: The spelling irregularities of the original have +been preserved in this etext.] + + +DARKEST INDIA + +BY COMMISSIONER BOOTH-TUCKER + +A SUPPLEMENT TO GENERAL BOOTH'S + +"IN DARKEST ENGLAND, AND THE WAY OUT." + +1891 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The remarkable reception accorded to General Booth's "In Darkest England +and the Way Out," makes it hardly necessary for me to apologise for the +publication of the following pages, which are intended solely as an +introduction to that fascinating book, and in order to point out to +Indian readers that if a "cabhorse charter" is both desirable and +practicable for England (see page 19, Darkest England) a "bullock +charter" is no less urgently needed for India. + +In doing this it is true that certain modifications and adaptations in +detail will require to be made. But the more carefully I consider the +matter, the more convinced do I become, that these will be of an +unimportant character and that the gospel of social salvation, which has +so electrified all classes in England, can be adopted in this country +almost as it stands. + +After all, this is no new gospel, but simply a resurrection, or +resuscitation, of a too much neglected aspect of the original message +of "peace on earth, good will towards men," proclaimed at Bethlehem. It +has been the glory of Christianity, that it has in all ages and climes +acknowledged the universal brotherhood of man, and sought to relieve the +temporal as well as the spiritual needs of the masses. Of late years +that glory has in some degree departed, or at least been tarnished, not +because the efforts put forth are less than those in any previous +generation, but because the need is so far greater, that what would have +been amply sufficient a few centuries ago, is altogether inadequate when +compared to the present great necessity. + +The very magnitude of the problem has struck despair into the hearts of +would-be reformers, many of whom have leapt to the conclusion, that +nothing but an entire reconstruction of society could cope with so vast +an evil, whilst others have been satisfied with simply putting off the +reckoning day and suppressing the simmering volcano on the edge of +which, they dwelt with paper edicts which its first fierce eruption is +destined to consume. + +Surely the present plan if at all feasible, is God-inspired, and if +God-inspired, it will be certainly feasible. And surely of all countries +under the face of the sun there is none which more urgently needs the +proclamation of some such Gospel of Hope than does India. That it is +both needed and feasible I trust that in the following pages I shall be +able to abundantly prove. + +General Booth has uttered a trumpet-call, the echoes of which will be +reverberated through the entire world. The destitute masses, whom he has +in his book so vividly pourtrayed, are everywhere to be found. And I +believe I speak truly when I say that in no country is their existence +more palpable, their number more numerous, their misery more aggravated, +their situation more critical, desperate and devoid of any gleam of hope +to relieve their darkness of despair, than in India. + +And yet perhaps in no country is there so promising a sphere for the +inauguration of General Booth's plan of campaign. Religious by instinct, +obedient to discipline, skilled in handicrafts, inured to hardship, and +accustomed to support life on the scantiest conceivable pittance, we +cannot imagine a more fitting object for our pity, nor a more +encouraging one for our effort, than the members of India's "submerged +tenth." + +Leaving to the care of existing agencies those whose bodies are +diseased, General Booth's scheme seeks to fling the mantle of +brotherhood around the morally sick, the destitute and the despairing. +It seeks to throw the bridge of love and hope across the growing +bottomless abyss in which are struggling twenty-six millions of our +fellow men, whose sin is their misfortune and whose poverty is their +crime, who are graphically said to have been "damned into the world, +rather than born into it." + +The question is a national one. This is no time therefore for party or +sectarian feeling to be allowed to influence our minds. True for +ourselves we still believe as fully as ever that the salvation of Jesus +Christ is the one great panacea for all the sins and miseries of +mankind. True we are still convinced that to merely improve a man's +circumstances without changing the man himself will be largely labor +spent in vain. True we believe in a hell and in a Heaven, and that it is +our ultimate object to save each individual whom we can influence out of +the one into the other. True that among the readers of the following +pages will be those whose religious creed differs from our's as widely +as does the North Pole from the South. + +But about these matters let us agree for the present to differ. Let us +unite with hand and heart to launch forthwith the social life boat, and +let us commit it to the waves, which are every moment engulfing the +human wrecks with which our shores are lined. When the tempest has +ceased to rage, and when the last dripping mariner has been safely +landed we can, if we wish, with a peaceful conscience dissolve our +partnership and renew the discussion of the minor differences, which +divide, distract and weaken the human race, but _not till then._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +IN DARKEST INDIA. + + I. Why "Darkest India?" + + II. Who are not the Submerged Tenth? + + III. The minimum standard of existence + + IV. Who are the Submerged Tenth? + + V. The Beggars + + VI. "The Out of Works" + + VII. The Homeless Poor + +VIII. The Land of Debt + + IX. The Land of Famine + + X. The Land of Pestilence + + XI. The White Ants of Indian Society + + (a) The Drunkard + + (b) The Opium Slave + + (c) The Prostitute + + XII. The Criminals + +XIII. On the Border Land + + XIV. Elements of Hope + + +PART II. + +THE WAY OUT. + + I. The Essentials to success + + II. What is General Booth's scheme? + + III. The City Colony + + IV. The Labour Bureau + + V. Food for all--the Food Depôts + + VI. Work for all, or the Labour Yard + + VII. Shelter for all, or the Housing of the Destitute + + VIII. The Beggars Brigade + + IX. The Prison Gate Brigade + + X. The Drunkards Brigade + + XI. The Rescue Homes for the Fallen + + XII. "The Country Colony"--"Wasteward ho!" + + XIII. The Suburban Farm + + The Dairy + + The Market Garden + + XIV. The Industrial Village + + XV. The Social Territory, or Poor Man's Paradise + + XVI. The Social City of Refuge + + XVII. Supplementary Branches of the Country Colony + + Public Works + + Off to the Tea Gardens + + Land along the Railways + + Improved methods of Agriculture + +XVIII. The Over-sea Colony + + XIX. Miscellaneous Agencies + + The Intelligence Department + + The Poor Man's Lawyer + + The Inquiry Office for missing Friends + + The Matrimonial Bureau + + The Emigration Bureau + + Periodical Melas + + XX. How much will it Cost? + + XXI. A Practical conclusion + + + + +PART I.--IN DARKEST INDIA. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +WHY "DARKEST INDIA?" + + +It is unnecessary for me to recapitulate the parallel drawn by General +Booth between the sombre, impenetrable and never-ending forest, +discovered by Stanley in the heart of Africa, and the more fearfully +tangled mass of human corruption to be found in England. Neither the +existence, nor the extent, of the latter have been called in question, +and in reckoning the submerged at one tenth of the entire population it +is generally admitted that their numbers have been understated rather +than otherwise. + +Supposing that a similar percentage be allowed for India, we are face to +face with the awful fact that the "submerged tenth" consists of no less +than _twenty-six millions of human beings_, who are in a state of +destitution bordering upon absolute starvation! No less an authority +than Sir William Hunter has estimated their numbers at fifty millions, +and practically his testimony remains unimpeached. + +Indeed I have heard it confidently stated by those who are in a good +position to form a judgement, that at least one hundred millions of the +population of India scarcely ever know from year's end to year's end +what it is to have a satisfying meal, and that it is the rule and not +the exception for them to retire to rest night after night hungry and +faint for want of sufficient and suitable food. + +I am not going, however to argue in favor of so enormous a percentage +of destitution. I would rather believe, at any rate for the time being, +that such an estimate is considerably exaggerated. Yet do what we will, +it is impossible for any one who has lived in such close and constant +contact with the poor, as we have been doing for the last eight or nine +years, to blink the fact, that destitution of a most painful character +exists, to a very serious extent, even when harvests are favorable and +the country is not desolated by the scourge of famine. + +Nor do I think that there would be much difficulty in proving that this +submerged mass constitutes at least one-tenth of the entire population. +No effort has hitherto been made to gauge their numbers, so that it is +impossible to speak with accuracy, and the best that we can do is, to +form the nearest feasible estimate from the various facts which lie to +hand and which are universally admitted. + +Let any one who is tempted to doubt the literal truth of what I say, or +to think that the picture is overdrawn, but place himself at our +disposal for a few days, or weeks, and we will undertake to show him, +and that in districts which are as the very Paradise of India, thousands +of cases of chronic destitution (especially at certain seasons in the +year) such as ought to be sufficient to melt even a heart of stone! + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WHO ARE NOT THE SUBMERGED TENTH? + + +Before passing on to consider of whom the destitute classes actually +consist, it will be well in a country like India to make a few +preliminary remarks regarding the numbers and position of their more +fortunate countrymen who have employment of some sort, and are therefore +excluded from the category. + +The entire population of British India, including Ceylon, Burmah, and +the Native States amounts according to the Census of 1881 to about two +hundred and sixty-four millions. + +These I would divide into five classes-- + + 1st--The wealth and aristocracy of the country consisting of those + who enjoy a monthly income of one hundred rupees and upwards per + family. According to the most sanguine estimate we can hardly + suppose that these would number more than forty millions of the + population. + + 2nd.--The well-to-do middle classes, earning twenty rupees and + upwards, numbering say seventy millions. + + 3rd.--The fairly well off laboring classes, whose wages are from + five rupees and upwards, numbering say at the most one hundred + millions. + + 4th--The poverty stricken laboring classes, earning less than five + rupees a month for the support of their families. These cannot at + the lowest estimate be less than twenty-five millions. + + 5th.--The destitute and unemployed poor, who earn nothing at all, + and who are dependent for their livelihood on the charity of others. + These can hardly be less than twenty-five millions, or a little less + than one-tenth of the entire population. + +The two hundred and ten millions who are supposed to be earning +regularly from five rupees and upwards per family, we may dismiss +forthwith from consideration. For the time being they are beyond the +reach of want, and they are not therefore the objects of our solicitude. +At some future date it may be possible to consider schemes for their +amelioration. + +Indirectly, no doubt, they will benefit immensely by any plans that will +relieve them of the dead weight of twenty-five million paupers, hanging +round their necks and crippling their resources. But for the present we +may say in regard to them, happy is the man who can reckon upon a +regular income of five rupees a month for the support of himself and his +family, albeit he may have two or three relations dependent on him, and +a capricious money lender ever on his track, ready to extort a lion's +share of his scanty earnings. And thrice happy is the man who can boast +an income of ten, fifteen, or twenty rupees a month, though the poorest +and least skilled laborers in England would reckon themselves badly paid +on as much per week. + +We turn from these to the workless tenth and to the other tenth who eke +out a scanty hand-to-mouth existence on the borders of that great and +terrible wilderness. But before enumerating and classifying them, there +is one other important question which calls for our consideration. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE MINIMUM STANDARD OF EXISTENCE. + + +What may reasonably be said to be the minimum scale of existence, below +which no Indian should be suffered to descend? Fix it as low as you +like, and you will unfortunately find that there are literally +_millions_ who do not come up to your standard. + +Pick out your coarsest, cheapest grains, and weigh them to the last +fraction of an ounce. Rigidly exclude from the poor man's bill of fare +any of the relishes which he so much esteems, and the cost of which is +so insignificant as to be hardly worth mentioning, and yet you will find +legions of gaunt, hungry men, women and children, who would greedily +accept your offered regimen to-morrow, if you could only discover the +wherewithal for obtaining the same, and who would gladly _pay for it +with the hardest and most disagreeable description of labour._ + +Take for instance the prison diet, where the food is given by weight, +and where it is purposely of the coarsest description consistent with +health. That the quantity is insufficient to satisfy the cravings of +hunger I can myself testify, having spent a month inside one of Her +Majesty's best appointed Bombay prisons, and having noted with painful +surprise the eagerness with which every scrap of my own coarse brown +bread, that I might leave over, was claimed and eaten by some of my +hungry, low-caste fellow prisoners! + +The clothing and the blankets are also of the very cheapest description. +Of course it must be remembered too, that the food and materials being +bought in large quantities, are obtained at contract prices which are +considerably less than the usual retail rates in the bazaar. And yet +notwithstanding these facts it costs the Bombay Government on an average +Rs. 2/4 per month for each prisoner's food, and close upon Rs. 2 a year +for clothing, besides the cost of establishment, police guard, hospital +expenses and contingencies. Altogether according to the figures given in +the Jail Report of 1887 for the Bombay Presidency, including all the +above mentioned items, I find that the average monthly cost to +Government for each prisoner is a little over Rs. 6 a head. + +Now it is a notorious, though almost incredible, fact, that in many +parts of India, men will commit petty thefts and offences on purpose to +be sent to jail, and will candidly state this to be their reason for +doing so. Many Government Officials will, I am sure, bear me out in +this. Here we have men who are positively so destitute that they are not +only prepared to accept with thankfulness the scanty rations of a jail, +but are willing to sacrifice their characters and endure the ignominy of +imprisonment and the consequent loss of liberty and separation from home +and family, because there is absolutely no other way of escape! In +Ceylon the jail is familiarly known among this class as their "_Loku +amma_", or "_Grandmother_"! + +India has no poor law. There is not even the inhospitable shelter of a +workhouse, to which the honest pauper may have recourse. Hence with tens +of thousands it is literally a case of "steal or starve." I suppose that +nine-tenths of the thefts and robberies, besides a large proposition of +the other crimes committed in India, are prompted by sheer starvation, +and until the cause be removed, it will be in vain to look for a +diminution of the evil, multiply our police and soldiery as we will. + +But I am digressing. My special object in this chapter is to show the +minimum amount which is necessary for the subsistence of our destitute +classes. + +Another very interesting indication of the minimum cost of living in the +cheapest native style, consistent with health, and a very moderate +degree of comfort, is furnished by the experience of our village +officers to whom we make a subsistence allowance of from eight to twelve +annas per week. This with the local gifts of food which they collect in +the village enables them to live in the simplest way, and ensures them +at least one good meal of curry and rice daily, the rest being locally +supplied. + +Here is the account of one of our Native Captains as to how he used to +manage with his allowance of eight annas a week. I have taken it down +myself from his own lips. + + "When in charge of a village corps, I received with others my weekly + allowance. When I was alone I used to get 10 annas, and when there + were two of us together we got eight annas each. This was sufficient + to give us one good meal of kheechhree (rice and dal) every day, + with a little over for extras, such as firewood, vegetables, oil and + ghee. + + "We had two regular cooked meals daily, one about noon and the other + in the evening. Besides this we also had a piece of bajari bread + left over from the previous day, when we got up in the morning. + + "For the morning meal we used to beg once a week uncooked food from + the villagers. They gave us about eight or nine seers, enough to + last us for the week. + + "It was a mixture of grains, consisting ordinarily of bajari, + bhavtu, kodri, jawar and mat. These we got ground up into flour. It + made a sort of bread which is known as Sângru and which we liked + very much. With it we would take some sâg (vegetables) or dâl. This + was our regular midday meal. + + "Including the value of the food we begged, the cost of living was + just about two annas a day for each of us. We could live comfortably + upon this. + + "The poorer Dhers in the villages seldom or never get kheechhree + (rice and dal). They could not afford it. Most of them live on + "ghens" (a mixture of buttermilk and coarse flour cooked into a sort + of skilly, or gruel) and bhavtu or bajari bread, or "Sângru." The + buttermilk is given to them by the village landowners, in return + for their labour. They are expected for instance to do odd jobs, cut + grass, carry wood, &c. The grain they commonly get either in harvest + time in return for labour, or buy it as they require it several + maunds at a time. Occasionally they get it in exchange for cloth. + Living in the cheapest possible way, and eating the coarsest food, I + don't think they could manage on less than one annas' worth of food + a day." + +One of our European Officers, Staff Captain Hunter, who has lived in the +same style for about four years among the villagers of Goojarat, and who +has been in charge of some 30 or 40 of our Officers, confirms the above +particulars. He says that on two annas a day it is possible to live +comfortably, but that one anna is the minimum below which it is +impossible to go in order to support life even on the coarsest sorts of +food. + +He tells me that the weavers have assured him that when husband and +wife are working hard from early to late, they cannot make more than +four annas profit a day by their weaving, since the mills have come into +the country and then they have to pay a commission to some one to sell +their cloth for them, or spend a considerable time travelling about the +country finding a market for it themselves. A piece of cloth which would +fetch nine rupees a few years ago, is now only worth three and a half or +four rupees. + +Bearing in mind, therefore, the above facts, I should consider that if +India's submerged tenth are to be granted, even nothing better than a +"bullock charter," the lowest fraction which could be named for the +minimum claimable by all would be one anna a day, or two rupees a month +for each adult. As a matter of fact, I have no hesitation in saying, +that there are many millions in India who do not get even half this +pittance from year's end to year's end, and yet toil on with scarcely a +murmur, sharing their scanty morsel with those even poorer than +themselves, until disease finds their weakened bodies an easy prey, and +death gives them their release from a poverty-stricken existence; which +scarcely deserves the name of "life." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +WHO ARE THE SUBMERGED TENTH? + + +By classifying and grading the various orders that constitute Indian +Society according to their average earnings, and by considering their +minimum, standard of existence, I have sought to prepare the way for a +more careful investigation of those who actually constitute the Darkest +India, which we are seeking to describe. I have narrowed down our +inquiry to the fifty millions, or whatever may be their number, who are +either absolutely destitute, or so closely on the border-land of +starvation as to need our immediate sympathy and assistance. + +Strictly speaking it is with the former alone, the absolutely destitute, +numbering as I have supposed some twenty-five millions, that we are at +present concerned. I have, however, found it impossible to exclude some +reference to the poverty-stricken laboring classes, earning less than +five rupees a month for the support of each family, inasmuch as they are +probably far more numerous than I have supposed, and their miseries are +but one degree removed from those of the utterly destitute. Indeed we +scarcely know which is the most to be pitied, the beggar who, if he has +nothing, has perhaps at least the comfort that nobody is dependent on +him, or the poor coolie who with his three or four rupees a month has +from five to eight, or more, mouths to fill! _Fill_ did I say? They are +_never_ filled! The most that can be done in such cases is to prolong +life and to keep actual starvation at bay, and that only it may be for a +time! + +Nevertheless, I have restricted the term "Submerged Tenth" to the +absolutely destitute, whom I now proceed to still further analyse. + +In doing so I have been obliged to include several important classes +who happily do not exist in England, or who are at any rate so few in +number, or so well provided for, as not to merit special attention. I +mean the beggars, the destitute debtors, and the victims of opium, +famine, and pestilence, without whom our catalogue would certainly be +incomplete. + +Including the above we may say that the Indian Submerged Tenth consist +of the following classes:-- + + I. The Beggars, excluding religious mendicants. + + II. The out-of-works,--the destitute, but honest, poor, who are + willing and anxious for employment, but unable to obtain it. + + III. The Houseless Poor. + + IV. The Destitute Debtors. + + V. The Victims of Famine and Scarcity. + + VI. The Victims of Pestilence. + + VII. The Vicious, including + + (a) Drunkards. + + (b) Opium eaters. + + (c) Prostitutes. + + VIII. The Criminals, or those who support themselves by crime. + +They are alike in one respect, that if they were compelled to be solely +dependent upon the proceeds of their labor, it would be impossible for +them to exist for a single month. + +It is these who constitute the problem which we are endeavouring to +solve. Here is the leprous spot of society on which we desire to place +our finger. If any think, that it is not so big as we imagine, we will +not quarrel with them about its size. Let them cut down our figures to +half the amount we have supposed. It will still be large enough to +answer the purpose of this inquiry, and should surely serve to arrest +the attention of the most callous and indifferent! About its existence +no one can have the smallest doubt, nor as to the serious nature of the +plague which afflicts our society. As to the character of the remedy, +there may be a thousand different opinions but that a remedy is called +for, who can question? + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE BEGGARS. + + +One of the chief problems of Indian Society is that of beggary. India is +perhaps the most beggar-beridden country to be found. Nor would it be +possible under present circumstances to pass any law forbidding beggary. +In the absence of a poor-law, it is the last resource of the destitute. + +True it is a plague spot in society and a serious reflection both on our +humanity and civilisation, to say nothing of our religious professions, +to tolerate the continued existence of the present state of things. + +And yet I see no reason why the problem should not be firmly and +successfully handled in the interests alike of the beggars themselves +and those who supply the alms. + +A short time ago I was visiting a Mahommedan gentleman in the Native +quarter of Bombay. It was in the morning before he went to business, and +I happened to hit upon the very time when the beggars made their usual +rounds. I should think upwards of fifty men and women must have called +during the few minutes that I was there. In fact it seemed like one +never-ending string of them reaching down both sides of the street. Some +sang, or shouted, to attract notice; others stood mutely with appealing +eyes, wherever they thought there was a chance of getting anything. Many +received a dole, while others were told to call again. I could not but +be struck by the courteous manner of my host to them, even when asking +them to pass along. + +On the opposite side of the road some food, or money, I forget which, +was being distributed to a hungry crowd by another hospitable merchant. +Evidently the supply was limited, and it was a case of first come first +served. The desperate struggle that was going on amongst that little +crowd of some fifty or sixty people was pitiful to behold. + +Now the present system, while better than nothing, is fraught with many +serious objections, with which I am sure my Indian readers will agree. + + 1. The weakest must inevitably go to the wall. It is the strong + able-bodied lusty beggar who is bound to get the best of it in + struggles such as I have above described, although he is just the + one who could and ought to work and who least needs the charity. He + is able also to cover more ground than the weak and sickly. To the + latter the struggle for existence is necessarily very severe, and + while needing and deserving help the most they get the least. + + 2. This unsystematic haphazard mode of helping the poor is bound to + be attended with serious inequalities; while some get more than is + either good, or necessary, others get too little, and for the + majority even supposing that on two or three days of the week they + succeeded in getting a sufficiency, the chances are that on four or + five they would not get nearly enough. It would be interesting to + know the total amount of food thus distributed and the number of + mouths that claim a share. + + 3. Of course in the case of any rise in the price of grains, the + position of the beggar is specially painful, as it is upon him that + the weight of the scarcity first falls. + + 4. Again the present system is a distinct encouragement to fraud. It + is impossible for the givers of charity to know anything about the + characters of those to whom they give. Thus much of their generosity + is misapplied, and the most pitiable cases escape notice, either + because they have not so plausible a tale, or because they have not + the requisite "_cheek_" for pushing their claims. + + 5. While the generous are severely taxed, the less liberal get off + scot free. They cannot give to all and therefore they will give to + nobody. Some beggars are frauds, therefore they will help none. They + have been taken in once, therefore they do not mean to be taken in + again. + + 6. Finally the Indian army of beggars is continually increasing, and + will sooner or later have to be dealt with. Private charity will + soon be unable to cope with its demands, and humanity forbids that + we should leave them to starve. + +I return therefore to the question, can we not seize this opportunity, +in the common interests of both beggars and be-begged, for dealing +vigorously with the difficulty, and for mitigating it, if we cannot at +one stroke entirely remove it? + +I am very hopeful that this can be done, and that now certain classes +of beggars. But in any case I think we may fairly view the problem in a +spirit of hopefulness. + +Roughly speaking the beggars may be divided into four classes:-- + + (a) The blind and the infirm. + + (b) Those who take them about and share the proceeds of their + begging. + + (c) The able bodied out-of-works, and + + (d) The religious mendicants. + +Passing over the last of these for obvious reasons, I would confine +myself to the first three classes. But I must not anticipate. The scheme +for their deliverance is fully described in a later portion of this +book, and for the present I would only say that they constitute a very +important section of India's submerged tenth and no plan would be +perfect that did not take them fully into account. + +It is true that this does not form a part of General Booth's original +scheme. But the reason for this is patent. In England vagrancy is +forbidden. There is a poor law in operation and there are work-houses +provided by the State. In India there is nothing of the kind, save a law +for the _compulsory emigration_ of European vagrants, who are deported +by Government and not allowed to return. For Natives there is no choice +save the grim one between _beggary, starvation,_ and _the jail._ To +obtain the shelter of the last of these they must leave their family, +sacrifice their liberty, and commit some offence. Therefore the honest +out-of-works are driven by tens of thousands to lives of beggary, which +too often pave the way for lives of imposture and crime. + +That the problem is capable of being successfully solved, if wisely +handled, has been proved by the Bavarian experiment of Count Rumford +quoted by General Booth in an appendix to his book. True that in that +case the Government lent their authority, their influence and the public +purse to the carrying out of the Count's plan of campaign. + +This we do not think that public opinion would permit of in India, even +if Government should be willing to undertake so onerous a +responsibility. Nor do I believe that there is any necessity for it. The +circumstances are a good deal different to those in Bavaria, and will be +better met by the proposals which I have elsewhere drawn up. + +Anyhow it is high time that something should be done, and that on an +extensive scale and of such a drastic nature as to deal effectually with +the question. + +I can easily imagine that some may fear lest in dealing with the system +we should wound the religious susceptibilities of the people. Begging +has come to be such a national institution and is so much a part and +parcel of the Indian's life and religion, that any proposal to +extinguish the fraternity may cause in some minds positive regret. To +such I would say that we do not propose to _extinguish_ but to _reform_, +and with this one hint I must beg them, before making up their minds, to +study carefully the proposals detailed in Chapter VII of Part II. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +"THE OUT-OF-WORKS." + + +I should question whether there is a single town or country district in +India which does not present the sad spectacle of a large number of men, +willing and anxious to work, but unable to find employment. Moreover, as +is well known, they have almost without exception families dependent +upon them for their support, who are necessarily the sharers of their +misfortunes and sufferings. There is one district in Ceylon, where +deaths from starvation have been personally known to our Officers, and +yet the country appears to be a very garden of Eden for beauty and +fertility. + +In the early years of our work I remember begging food from a house, and +learning afterwards that what they had given us was positively the last +they had for their own use. Needless to say that it was hastily +returned. During the same visit a cry of "Thief, thief!" was raised in +the night. We learnt next morning that the robbery had been committed by +a man whose wife and child were starving. It consisted of rice, and the +thief was discovered partly by the disappearance of the suspected +person, and partly by the fact that in his house was found the exact +quantity which had been stolen, whereas it was known that on the +previous day he had absolutely nothing whatever in his house! He had +left it all for his starving wife and child, and had himself fled to +another part of the country, probably going to swell the number of +criminals or mendicants in some adjoining city. + +I quote these instances as serving to show the impossibility of judging +merely from outside appearances in regard to the existence or +non-existence of destitution of the most painful character, which it is +often to the interest of the local landlords to whitewash and conceal. +It is only on looking under the surface that such can in many cases be +discovered. It has been the actual living among the people that has made +it possible for us to obtain glimpses of their home life, such as could +not otherwise have been the case. + +But let me enumerate a few of the classes among whom the Indian +"Out-of-works" are to be found. I do not mean of course to imply that +the entire castes, or tribes, or professions, referred to, constitute +them. Far from it. A large proportion are comparatively well off, and +though entangled almost universally in debt, are included among the 210 +millions with whom we are not now concerned. None the less it will be +admitted, I believe, that it is from these that the ranks of destitution +are chiefly recruited. I call attention to this fact, because it helps +in a large measure to remove the religious difficulty which might at +first sight appear likely to stand in the way of our being commissioned +by the Indian public to undertake these much-needed reforms. They are +almost without exception of either no caste, or of such low caste, that +religiously speaking they may justly be regarded as "no man's land." The +higher castes and the respectable classes are mostly able to look after +themselves, and will not therefore come within the scope of our scheme. + +And yet on the threshold of our inquiry we are confronted with an +important and increasing class, of "out-of-works" who are being turned +out of our educational establishments, unfitted for a life of hard +labour, trained for desk service, but without any prospect of suitable +employment in the case of a great and continually increasing majority. I +do not see how it will be possible for us to exclude or ignore this +class in our regimentation of the unemployed. Certainly our sympathies +go out very greatly after them. But beyond registering them in our +labour bureau, and acting as go-betweens in finding employment for a +small fraction of them, I do not see what more can be done. However, the +majority of them have well-to-do relations and friends to whom they can +turn, and except in cases of absolute destitution will not fall within +the scope of the present effort. + +Passing over these we come to the poorest classes of peasant proprietors +who, having mortgaged their tiny allotments to the hilt, have finally +been sold up by the money-lender. Add to these again the more +respectable sections of day-laborers. Then there are the destitute among +the weavers, tanners, sweepers and other portions of what constitute the +low-caste community. Out of these take now the case of the weaver caste, +with whom we happen to be particularly familiar, as our work in Gujarat +is largely carried on among them. Since the introduction of machinery, +their lot has come to be particularly pitiable. In one district it is +reckoned that there are 400,000 of them. Previous to the mills being +started, they could get a comfortable competence, but year by year the +margin of profit has been narrowed down, till at length absolute +starvation is beginning to stare them in the face, and that within +measurable distance. + +To the above we may add again the various gipsy tribes, who have no +settled homes or regular means of livelihood. Finally, there are the +non-religious mendicants, the religious ones being considered as not +coming within the scope of our present effort, being provided for in +charitable institutions of their own. + +Representatives of nearly all the above abound in our cities, and when +both town and village destitutes come to be reckoned together, I do not +think it will be too serious a view to take of their numbers, to reckon +the absolutely workless as numbering at least 25 or 26 millions. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE HOMELESS POOR. + + +On this question I do not propose to say much, not because there is not +much that could be said, but because in a climate like India it is a +matter of secondary importance as compared with food. The people +themselves are comparatively speaking indifferent to it. The "bitter +cry" of India if put into words would consist simply of "Give us food to +fill our stomachs. This is all we ask. As for shelter, we are content +with any hovel, or willing to betake ourselves to the open air. But food +we cannot do without." + +And yet, looked at from the point of view either of a moralist, a +sanitarian, or a humanitarian, the question is one which calls for +prompt consideration and remedial action. For instance, according to the +last Government census, the average number of persons inhabiting each +house in the city of Bombay is no less than 28. The average for the +entire Presidency is six. But then it must be remembered that the great +majority of the houses of the poor in the agricultural district consist +of one-roomed huts, in which the whole family sleep together. + +In the cities the overcrowding has become so excessive, and the +accomodation available for the poor is so inadequate, costly and +squalid, as to almost beggar description. Considerations of decency, +comfort and health are largely thrown to the winds. A single unfurnished +room, merely divided from the next one by a thin boarding, through which +everything can be heard, will command from five to thirty rupees a +month, and even more, according to its position, in Bombay. + +The typical poor man's home in India consists as a rule of a +single-storeyed hut with walls of mud or wattle, and roof of grass, +palm-leaf, tiles, mud, or stones, according to the nature of the +country. One or two rooms, and a small verandah, are all that he +requires for himself and his family. + +In the cities the high price of the land makes even this little +impossible. Take for instance Bombay. Here the representative of the +London lodging-house is to be found in the form of what are called +"chawls," large buildings, several storeys high, divided up into small +rooms, which are let off to families, at a rental of from three rupees a +month and upwards. Very commonly the same room serves for living, +sleeping, cooking, and eating. There being as a rule no cooking place, +the cheap earthen "choola" serves as a sufficient make-shift, and the +smoke finds its exit through the door or window best it can. + +For hundreds, probably thousands, in every large city, even this poor +semblance of a home does not exist. Those who manage somehow or other to +live on nothing a month, cannot certainly afford to pay three rupees, or +even less, for a lodging. Whilst, no doubt, many of the submerged, tenth +are not absolutely houseless, inasmuch as they are often able to share +the shelter of some relation or friend, it cannot be doubted that a very +large percentage of them might say, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of +the air have nests," but we "have not where to lay our heads." + +Of the homeless poor there are two classes. The more fortunate find +shelter in those of the Dharamsalas, Temples and Mosques which contain +provision for such purposes. It must be remembered, however, that a +large number of such institutions are reserved for certain favored +castes, and are not therefore available for the out-caste poor. For the +rest, the uncertain shelter of verandahs, porticoes, market-places, +open sheds, and, in fine weather, the road-way, esplanade, or some shady +tree, have to suffice. + +As already said, I am quite willing to admit that this question of +shelter for the poor is of secondary importance as compared with that of +their food-supply. And yet is it nothing to us that millions of the +Indian poor have no place that they can call "home," not even the meagre +shelter of the one-roomed hut with which they would gladly be content? +Is it nothing to us that superadded to the sufferings of hunger, they +have to face the sharp and sometimes frosty air of the cold weather with +scarcely a rag to their backs, and no doors, windows, or even walls to +keep off the chilly wind? Is it nothing to us that in the rainy season +they have to make their bed on the damp floor or ground, though to do so +means a certain attack of fever? Is it nothing to us that under such +circumstances the houseless poor should be converted into a dismal +quagmire in which moral leprosy, more terrible than its bodily +representative, should thrive and propagate itself? Certainly if the +Indian destitute are to have a "bullock charter" granted to them, it +will be necessary that it should sooner or later include suitable and +decent shelter as well as food. + +True, the problem is a vast one but this is no reason why it should be +looked upon as insoluble, or left to grow year by year still vaster and +more uncontrollable. + +What we propose ourselves to undertake in this will be found elsewhere +(see Part II Chapter VI). It must be remembered, moreover, that if our +efforts to deal with the workless masses in finding them employment +should prove successful this will in itself help to remove much of the +existing evil. And by directing labor into channels where it can be the +most profitably employed, we shall help to disembarrass those channels +which have at present got choked up with an excess of it. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE LAND OF DEBT. + + +One of the darkest shadows on the Indian horizon is that of debt. A +drowning man will snatch at a straw, and it would surely be inhuman for +us to find much fault with the unhappy creatures who constitute the +submerged tenth for borrowing their pittance at even the most exorbitant +rates of interest in the effort to keep their heads above water. + +I have no desire here to draw a gloomy picture of the Indian Shylock. In +some respects I believe him to be a decided improvement on his European +and Jewish representative. It was only a short time ago that I read a +blood-curdling description of the London money-lender, which put any +Indian I have ever come across altogether into the shade. + +Nevertheless, Shylock flourishes in India as perhaps in no other country +under the sun. His name is Legion. He is ubiquitous. He has the usual +abnormal appetite of his fraternity for rupees. But strange to say he +fattens upon poverty and grows rich upon the destitute. Whereas in other +regions he usually concentrates his attention upon the rich and +well-to-do classes, here he specially marks out for his prey those who +if not absolutely destitute live upon the border-land of that desolate +desert, and makes up by their numbers for what they may lack in quality. +He gives loans for the smallest amount from a rupee and upwards, +charging at the rate of half an anna per month interest for each rupee, +which amounts to nearly 38 per cent. per annum. As for payment, he is +willing to wait. Every three years, a fresh bond is drawn up including +principal and interest. Finally, when the amount has been sufficiently +run up, whatever land, house, buffalo, or other petty possessions may +belong to the debtor are sold up, usually far below their real value. + +I remember one case, which came before me when I was in Government +service, where the facts were practically undisputed, in which a +cultivator was sued for 900 rupees, principal and interest, the original +debt being only ten rupees worth of grain borrowed a few years +previously. Ultimately it was compromised for about 100 rupees. This is +by no means an exceptional case. + +Of course it may be said in favour of the money-lender that he is +obliged to charge these high rates, to cover the extra risk, and that as +a rule, he is generally prepared to forego half his legal claim when +the time for payment comes. I am aware also that the subject has long +occupied the earnest attention of Government, and that in some parts of +the country enactments have been introduced for the relief of poor +debtors. But these are only local and the evil is universal. A judicial +Solon is sadly needed who shall rise up and boldly face the evil. The +extortions of usurers have led to revolutions before now, and it seems +high time for an enlightened Government to do something on a large scale +for the abatement of the evil, if only by an absolute refusal to enforce +any such usurious contracts. + +But I have only mentioned the subject, because it plays a specially +important part in the present depressed condition of the submerged +masses. In the following pages I hope among other things to be able to +cast some rays of light into this valley of the shadow of debt, if not +of death. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE LAND OF FAMINE. + + +Any review of Darkest India would be incomplete without some mention of +the widespread and calamitous famines which periodically devastate the +country and which reappear from time to time with terrible certainty. + +In a country where so large a proportion of the population is +agricultural, and where the poor are almost entirely paid in kind, the +failure of a single crop means the most terrible scarcity and privation +for those who even in time of plenty live at best but a hand-to-mouth +existence. And when the failure is repeated famine faces the +poverty-stricken masses, and they are frequently swept off by thousands. + +In the terrible Madras famine of 1877 to 1878, several millions +perished, in spite of the relief works and charitable agencies which +hastened to their assistance. When the census of 1881 came to be taken, +it was found that in this part of India, instead of the population +having largely increased, as was everywhere else the case, there had +been a diminution of two per cent as compared with the census of 1871. + +It may be said that such famines are not frequent and we are thankful to +admit that this is so. Yet scarcely a year passes without some part of +India suffering severely from partial droughts. Only last year hundreds +of poor starving wretches, crowded into Bombay from Kattiyawar, and were +for weeks encamped on the Esplanade, an abject multitude, dependent on +the charity of the rich. And yet it was "no famine" that had driven them +hundreds of miles from their homes, but "_only_ a scarcity." + +At the same time famine prevailed in the Ganjam District to an extent +which would probably have been utterly discredited, had not the Governor +of Madras proceeded personally to the spot, and reported on the terrible +state of affairs. No less than 30,000 persons were thrown upon +Government for their support. In the same year through a fortnight's +delay in the break of the monsoon, there were grain riots at +Trichinopoly and Tanjore, several merchants stores being broken into, +through a rise in the price of food. Happily a subsequent fall of rain +averted the impending calamity, prices fell and order was restored. + +Now to deal radically with famines it is necessary to meet them half +way, and not to wait till they are upon us in all their stupendous +immensity. It must be remembered that, as in the above instances, the +present condition of things is such, that the mere threatening of famine +is sufficient to send up the prices of food at a bound, to famine rates. + +The chief victims of famine are the very classes who have been here +described as constituting the "submerged tenth." In ordinary times "the +wolf" is always "at the door" but at these calamitous periods there is +no door to keep him out, and he is master of the situation. Now General +Booth's scheme proposes to deal with him promptly and remove him to such +a safe distance, as shall make his inroads almost impossible. + +By leaving these destitute classes in their present miserable condition, +we prepare for ourselves a gigantic and impossible task when the evil +day of famine at last overtakes us. By facing the difficulty at the +outset, and meeting it midway, we make our task much easier. Time is in +our favour. True, the people are hungry, but they are not dying. We can +afford to let them drift a few weeks, months, or even years longer, +while we are putting our heads and hearts together to devise for them +some way of deliverance commensurate with the immensity of their needs. +But to resign oneself to the present condition of things as inevitable +seems to me almost as heartless as to fold our hands helplessly at a +time of absolute famine. To deafen our ears to the immediate distresses +of the submerged tenth may be less criminal in degree but not in kind. + +To those who feel paralysed by the vastness of the problem I would say +"Study General Booth's Way Out and the adaptation of it to India which I +have endeavoured to sketch in the following pages." + +Here at least is a plan, perhaps not a perfect one, but still definite, +tangible and immediately possible. Improve upon it as much as you like. +Help us to remedy its defects by all means. But whatever you do, don't +stand by as an indifferent spectator. Put your own individual shoulder +to the wheel. Help us with your sympathy, prayers and substance to make +the effort, and should failure ensue, you will at least have the +satisfaction of realising that you have helped others to make an honest +determined effort for dealing with a gigantic evil that involves the +welfare, if not the existence of millions. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE LAND OF PESTILENCES. + + +Happily a description of English destitution does not call for any +reference to plagues, such as those which annually or at least +periodically, devastate India, and that with such certainty that their +presence has come to be regarded, almost with indifference, as a matter +of course, or at least of necessity. Indeed we suppose that some would +even look upon it as a Divinely ordained method for reducing the +population. True, that in Europe the matter is regarded in a very +different light. Public opinion has made its voice heard. Medical +science has exerted itself, and not in vain. The laws of sanitation are +better known, and are enforced upon the entire community by severe legal +enactments. And above all, Christianity has taught the rich to say of +the poor "He is my brother," and to provide for him the medical care and +attention that would otherwise not be within his reach. + +What is possible in Europe is no doubt possible in India. Much has +already been done, and our Government is fully awake to the importance +of the subject, and will be able, year by year, to institute further +improvements in this respect. + +With this, however, we are not directly concerned. My object in +referring to the subject is to point out-- + +1. That it is almost invariably from among the submerged tenth, with +whom we propose to deal that these fearful plagues usually have their +origin. Pestilence may indeed be said to take up its abode among them. +Destitution is as it were the egg from which pestilence is hatched. +There are brooding seasons when it may for a time disappear from sight. +But it is there all the same and we know it. If we are to eradicate the +evil, we must deal effectually with its cause. And this is the special +object of General Booth's scheme. + +True, it may be possible to keep this deadly enemy at bay by multiplying +our hospital fortresses and putting into the field medical legions armed +with the latest discoveries of science. But the requisite paraphernalia +is too expensive for a country like India; and who does not know that +well-fed bodies, and healthy homes are better safeguards against disease +than all the most costly medicines that could be provided by the British +pharmacopoeia? If therefore we are able to deal radically with +destitution we shall at the same time strike an effective blow at the +pestilences which are at present such a scourge to India. + +2. Again I would like to remind my readers of another fact, and in this +aspect of the question, all classes of the community are bound to be +interested. If pestilence begins its deadly work among the destitute, it +can never be reckoned on to stop there. Indeed pestilence may be +regarded as _Nature's revenge_ on society for the neglect of the poor. +Once the cholera fiend has broken loose, it is impossible to tell whom +he is going to select for his victims. The rich, the fair, the learned, +the young, the strong, are often the first objects of his attention. He +manifests a reckless disregard of social position. The distinctions of +caste and rank, of beauty or learning, are not for him. And even as I +write he may be preparing his invisible hordes of bacilli for fresh +invasions, more terrible than those that have ever swept down from the +mountains of Afghanistan. While we are spending millions upon +strengthening our North-Western Frontiers against a foe who may never +exist, save in our imagination, can we dare to neglect the more terrible +enemy who defies all Boundary Commissions, who overleaps the strongest +fortresses, and who laughs to scorn the largest cannon that ever capped +our walls? + +3. Finally there is one very sad shade in this part of our picture of +darkest India. If on the one hand pestilence may be said to somewhat +thin the ranks of the destitute by decreasing the number of mouths +requiring to be fed, it must be remembered on the other hand that it +continually recruits them both by sweeping away so many of the +breadwinners, and by frequently paralysing many of those who are left, +and preventing them from earning what they otherwise might. How often do +we hear of even public institutions having to be closed, and of +thousands being thrown out of work by the panic which ensues at such +times. + +I have sought to confine myself to a matter-of-fact description of this +gloomy subject, and to avoid anything that could be construed into mere +sensationalism. And yet deaf must be the ears, and hard must be the +hearts, that can be insensible to the cries of agony that yearly ascend +from thousands and tens of thousands of homes. In a recent Government +report, I find that from cholera alone in one year there were reported +no less than 300,000 deaths; and yet the year was not remarkable for any +exceptional outbreak. Still more terrible and regular are the ravages of +the various malarial fevers, that sweep away millions yearly to a +premature grave, often just in the prime of life, when they are most +needed by the country. That a very large percentage of these deaths are +directly connected with destitution, and that pestilence frequently but +finishes the work commenced by months and years of starvation, is too +notorious to require proof. It is a melancholy picture, and yet without +it our review of Darkest India would be necessarily incomplete. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE WHITE ANTS OF INDIAN SOCIETY. + + +Hitherto our description of the Submerged Tenth has concerned those who +may be styled principally the children of misfortune, and who in their +struggle for existence have resort to means which are indeed desperate +in their nature, but against which no moral objection can be raised. + +General Booth next calls attention to another great section of the +Submerged Tenth who have found a temporary shelter or asylum in the +temple of Vice,--those who either trade upon the sins of society, or are +the miserable victims of those sins. The unlawful gratification of the +natural appetites has ever been the snare by which millions have been +deluded to damnation. If it were possible to combat this tendency in +human nature by mere legal enactments, it would have been done long ago. +But though much has been done in this way to hold vice in check, and to +prevent it from openly parading itself in public as it otherwise would, +yet it has chiefly been by the chains of religion that the monster has +been bound, and even his legal shackles have mostly been manufactured at +the anvils of the religious public. Take for instance the wholesale +prohibition of intoxicating liquor by the Mahommedan religion, or again +the strong Temperance movement that has more lately been established +among Christians. The former has no doubt accomplished what would never +have been done by means of legal enactments, while the latter has first +educated the public on the Temperance question and has thus prepared the +way for prohibitory legislation of a more stringent character. + +In dealing with this portion of the Submerged Tenth there can be no +doubt that the religious and moral appeals of the Salvation Army +Officers will serve to stimulate and enforce wholesale reformation. By +substituting the attractions of our public meetings, we shall do much to +counteract those of the liquor den and other factories of pollution and +destitution,--for it is as such that we may regard the places where +drunkards, opium-eaters, prostitutes, fornicators, and the other hideous +satellites of Vice are manufactured wholesale, whether with or without +the shelter of a license. A large proportion of those who are engaged in +vice as a trade openly profess to do so as a means of subsistence, and +because it enables them to eke out what is in nine cases out of ten but +a scanty subsistence, and what is almost invariably accompanied by the +most terrible penalties Nature can inflict on those who outrage her +ordinances. Many are heartily sick of the trade, but can see no way of +escape. In dealing with destitution we shall open for these a door of +hope. The deserters from the ranks of those who trade in vice will help +us to deal more effectively with those who still cling to the profession +on account of its profits. + +In dealing with the panderers to the vices of society we shall largely +diminish the numbers of its victims. It has been said that sinning is +very much a matter of temptation, and in reducing those temptations, as +we believe General Booth's scheme will largely tend to do, we shall be +able to reduce in quantity, if we cannot hope to cause altogether to +cease, the frightful holocaust of human victims that is annually offered +up at this dark shrine. + + +_(a) The Drunkards._ + +I will take the question of the Drunkard first, for it is itself a +prolific root of all kinds of evil. The gradual breaking up of religious +restraints, the increasing facilities for obtaining at smallest cost +the most fiery and dangerous liquors, the added suffering entailed on +any drinking habits that may be formed by the tropical heat of India, +all serve to accentuate the gravity of the evil in this country. Add to +this a consideration of the distressing poverty, the chronic hunger, the +dull monotony, unrelieved by hope of amendment, in which myriads of the +people of India fight out the battle of life; reflect how these must +crave for the boon of forgetfulness and eagerly grasp at the wretched +relief which drunkenness may bring. Nor can we throw the responsibility +altogether upon the individual, if it be true that prior to contact with +Western nations, the Hindoos were largely a temperate and even an +abstinent people. We are in an especial manner bound to consider whether +there can be found any alleviation or remedy for a disaster which, if we +have not actually created, we have at least suffered to spring up +unheeded and unchecked in our very midst. + +It is notorious that the large cities of India are crowded with shops of +the kind thus described by Mr. Caine, late M.P., in his "Picturesque +India": + + "The wide and spacious shops in front of which are strewn broken + potsherds, and whose contents are two or three kegs and a pile of + little pots; are the liquor-dealer's establishments. The groups of + noisy men seated on the floor are drinking ardent spirits of the + worst description absolutely forbidden to the British soldiers, but + sold retail to natives at three farthings a gill." + +Mr. Caine goes on to say that in the city of Lucknow, with a population +of some 300,000 inhabitants, there were in 1889 thirty distilleries of +native spirits and 200 liquor-shops. The Government exchequer receipts +from spirits in the North-West Provinces amount to nearly £600,000, +having doubled themselves during the last seven years. This means that +in round numbers £1,000,000 worth of native spirits is sold in these +provinces per annum. + +Now consider first that as a rule with rare exceptions a native of +India who uses the fiery country liquors drinks for no other purpose +than to become intoxicated. They are manufactured with a view to this, +and not as in Europe to provide a thirst-quenching potation. Mr. Caine +says: "The people of India, unlike other people, only drink for the +purpose of getting drunk, and if we make them drunken we destroy them +more rapidly than by war, pestilence and famine." + +Nothing is clearer than that a rapidly increasing multitude in this +country, once remarkable for its sobriety and thrift, are rushing +headlong into the disastrous vice of intemperance and its attendant +horrors, almost without check. Something must be done. We cannot +cold-bloodedly abandon them to a gospel of despair. + + +_(b) The Opium Slaves._ + +Darker still perhaps is the dreadful night, and more sickening the +miasma, which lies around the opium creeks, multiplying and increasing +and slowly sucking down into their slimy depths thousands upon thousands +of those who dare to seek momentary relief from sorrow in its lethal +stream. Mr. Caine thus describes an opium den in Lucknow:-- + + "Enter one of the side rooms. It has no windows and is very dark, + but in the centre is a small charcoal fire whose lurid glow lights + up the faces of nine or ten human beings, men and women, lying on + the floor. A young girl some fifteen years of age has charge of each + room, fans the fire, lights the opium pipe, and holds it in the + mouth of the last comer, till the head falls heavily on the body of + his or her predecessor. In no East-end gin palace, in no lunatic or + idiot asylum, will you see such horrible destruction of God's image + in the face of man, as appears in the countenances of those in the + preliminary stage of opium drunkenness! Here you, may see some + handsome young married woman, nineteen or twenty years of age, + sprawling, on the ground, her fine brown eyes flattened and dull + with coming, stupor; and her lips drawn convulsively back from her + glittering white teeth. Here is a young girl sitting among a group + of newly arrived customers singing some romance. As they hand round + the pipes there is a bonny little lad of six or seven watching his + father's changing face with a dreadful indifference. + + "At night these dens are crowded to excess, and it is estimated that + there are upwards of twelve thousand persons in Lucknow enslaved by + this hideous vice. An opium sot is the most hopeless of all + drunkards. Once in the clutches of the fiend, everything gives way + to his fierce promptings. His victims only work to get more money + for opium. Wife, children, home, health, and life itself are + sacrificed to this degrading passion." + +If twelve thousand for Lucknow be a fair estimate, can we put the +figures for the whole country at less than 100,000? + +Still there is a deeper depth. In the same city, says Mr. Caine, there +are ninety shops for the sale of Bhang and Churras. "Bhang," says the +same writer, "is the most horrible intoxicant the world has ever +produced. In Egypt its importation and sale is absolutely forbidden, and +a costly preventive service is maintained to suppress the smuggling of +it by Greek adventurers. When an Indian wants to commit some horrible +crime such as murder, he prepares himself for it with two annas' worth +of Bhang." + + +_(c) Prostitution._ + +In the all but impenetrable shades and death-breathing swamps of this +social forest, lie and suffer and rot probably not less than one hundred +thousand prostitutes. Multitudes of these are dedicated to such a life +in childhood, given over to it, in some cases by their parents and not +unfrequently kept in connection with the temples. Thousands are searched +for and persuaded and entrapped by old women, whose main business it is +to supply the market. We know of at least one village where beautiful +children, who have been decoyed or purchased from their parents by +these prostitute-hunters, are taken to be reared and trained for the +profession. In Bombay there is actually a caste in which the girls are +in early childhood "married to the dagger," or, in other words, +dedicated to a life of prostitution. In some of the cities old men are +employed as touts to secure customers for the women, who remain in their +haunts, thus seducing and leading into vice crowds of lads and young men +who might otherwise have escaped. + +Such suffering, shame, cruelty, and wreckage belong to this crime that +one's heart bleeds to think of the tens of thousands doomed, not by +their own choice, but by the wicked greed of unnatural parents or the +crafty cunning of wicked decoys to such a gehenna, without the least +power to extricate themselves from its torment and its shame. + +With so much pity left upon the earth to weep over human woes, with so +much courage still to hack and hew a path through grim forests and +morasses of suffering, there must, and shall, be found "a way out." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE CRIMINALS. + + +The most recent report of the Indian Government informs us that there +are now no less that 737 Jails in British India (exclusive of Native +Territory), with an average population of 75,922 prisoners. In the +course of last year in the Bombay Presidency alone no less than 76,000 +criminals were convicted, while 152,879 were placed on trial before the +various courts. In the whole of India the number of annual convictions +amount to upwards of one million, while the number who appear before the +Court are at least twice as numerous. Again, there are also immense +numbers of offences committed yearly, in which the Police are unable to +get any clue, the offenders having succeeded in eluding altogether the +vigilance of the Law. For instance a celebrated outlaw has only recently +been apprehended in Central India after several years of successful and +daring robbery, arson, mutilation and murder. Indeed in many parts of +India there are predatory tribes and communities of thieves who have to +be perpetually under Police surveillance, and who are brought up from +their infancy to thieving as a profession. + +We desire to plead the cause of the voiceless multitude who occupy our +Indian Jails. The fact that they are voiceless,--that they have no means +of voicing their claims, their wrongs and their rights (for they, too, +_have_ rights), only adds to their danger. How can a criminal hope for +redress? What chance has he of being heard? Who will listen? What +advocate will plead his cause? Ah, if he happen to be rich, it is true, +he will have many friends! But as a rule the criminal is poor. Often he +has to choose between crime and starvation. For himself he might prefer +to starve, but the sight of his emaciated wife and aged parents,--with +whom, criminal though he be, he is as a rule ready to share his last +crust,--the clamour of his hungry children, all this drives him to +desperation and to a life of crime. He can only give voice to his +sorrows and his needs by some fresh act of lawlessness. Hence the +occasional outbursts of mutiny, and the murders of jail warders, which +from time to time reach the newspapers and shock the public ear. + +And here I would desire to call attention to the fact that though crime +must be vigorously dealt with and punished, at the same time the +tendency of punishment is not to _reform_, but to _harden._ Who does not +know that the _worst criminals_ are those who have been _longest in +Jail_? Instead of _getting better_ they _grow daily worse_,--more adept +in committing crime and eluding detection,--more careless as to its +consequences. + +Equally futile would be the offer of a wholesale pardon. A singular +illustration of this occurred in 1887, when in honour of Her Majesty's +Jubilee in the Bombay Presidency alone, no less than 2,465 prisoners +were released out of a total of 6,087. Yet the Government report goes on +to show that within a few months of their release the Jails were fuller +than ever! + +What, then, is to be done? Punishment hardens the criminal, pardon +encourages crime, while the hearts of the offenders remain the same! + +Here steps in the Salvation Army. Its methods and meetings, however +distasteful to the educated and refined, have a special attraction for +these dangerous classes. Its Officers are accustomed to handle them with +superhuman love and patience, as well as with a tact and adroitness +such as has often elicited the admiration and praise of those who have +no sympathy with our creed or ways of work. + +We have all over the world fearlessly invaded these criminals in their +lowest haunts and dens, in the teeth of the warnings of the Police; we +have braved their fiercest fury when, urged on by publicans, maddened +with drink, misled by all sorts of infamous lies, and winked at or +patronised by the Police and Magistrates, they have wreaked on us the +utmost cruelties. We have invariably weathered the storm, though often +at the cost of health and even life itself. And in the end as a rule the +Roughs, Criminals and Dangerous Classes have become our warmest friends +and vigorous supporters. From amidst them we have rescued and reformed +some of the noblest trophies of Divine grace. This has been done all +over the world. It has been done in India and Ceylon. In a later part of +this book we have given a glimpse of this most interesting and important +portion of our work. Independent witnesses testify to its reality. +Government officials assure us of their warmest sympathy, and in not a +few cases aid us with their influence and subscriptions. In Ceylon the +Government has treated us most handsomely, throwing open their prisons +for our Officers to visit and hold meetings among the prisoners, +assisting us in the expenses of our Home with a monthly grant of Rs. +100, and encouraging the criminal classes to take advantage of the +opportunity thus afforded them for reforming their lives. + +The common reason given for refusing such assistance elsewhere is that +Government cannot interfere with the religion of the prisoners. But in +Ceylon the majority of the prisoners are Buddhists, Hindoos and +Mahommedans, and what has been found to work so well there can surely be +tried with equal success elsewhere! Government does not hesitate all +over India to assist religious bodies in their endeavours to _educate_ +the people, and they may therefore well countenance and help forward, as +they might so easily do, our efforts to reach and reform the criminal +classes on precisely the same grounds, offering similar advantages to +any Hindoo or Mahommedan Associations that might afterwards be formed +for the same purpose. At present the Indian criminal has no friend to +lend him a helping hand. Prison officials in various places have +personally informed me that they are distressed at being able to do +nothing for criminals, who, having lost their character and being +abandoned by their friends, have no alternative but to return to their +old associates. If our example causes others to rise up and make efforts +for reaching and reforming these classes, who would not rejoice? At +present it is a sad fact that throughout India the native criminals are +debarred from all opportunities of being reached by the softening +influences of religion. The Europeans have their Chaplains,--the +Natives are allowed to have no one to minister to their souls' needs, or +to bring to bear upon them those moral influences which might, and we +know often would, lead to their reform. There seems no reason whatever +why the following rules, which have been drawn up by the Ceylon +Government, should not be adopted likewise in India:-- + + General Rules made by His Excellency the Governor, acting under the + advice of the Executive Council for the Government of Prisons, for + the guidance of the prison officers, _under and by authority of + Section_ 26 _of the Prisons Ordinance_, 1887. + + 226. Ministers of religion and religions instructors shall be + entitled to visit prisoners under commitment for trial and prisoners + undergoing sentence after trial, and to give religious and moral + instructions to those who are willing to receive the same on Sundays + and other days in which prisoners are usually allowed freedom from + work, between the hours of eight in the morning and four in the + afternoon. + + 227. Such ministers or other persons shall be allowed access at all + times (but between the hours specified) to all prisoners who shall + be certified by the medical officers of the prison to be seriously + ill. + + 228. In prisons where such an arrangement can conveniently be made, + a suitable room shall be set apart where religious instruction can + be afforded to prisoners and the rites of religion administered. + + 229. If, under the directions of Government, Christian services be + held in any Jail, on Sundays and on other days when such services + are performed, all Christian criminal prisoners shall attend the + same unless prevented by sickness or other reasonable cause--to be + allowed by the Jailor--or unless their service is dispensed with by + the Superintendent. No prisoner, however, shall be compelled to + attend any religious instruction given by the ministers or religious + instructor of a church or persuasion to which the prisoner does not + belong. + + 230. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent in charge of any + prison to prohibit any particular minister or instructor visiting + any prisoner in such prison, if it shall appear to him that such + minister or instructor is an improper or indiscreet person, or + likely to have improper communication with the prisoner, provided + that such Superintendent shall without delay communicate his reason + for doing so, to the Inspector General for report to Government. + + 231. No books or printed papers shall be admitted into any prison + for the use of the prisoners, except by permission of the + Superintendent, and the jailor shall keep a catalogue of all books + and printed papers admitted into the prison. + + 232. It shall be the duty of the minister or instructor admitted to + visit any prison, to communicate to the jailor any abuse or + impropriety in the prison which may come to his knowledge, on pain + of being prohibited from visiting the prison. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +ON THE BORDER LAND. + + +Besides the 25,000,000 who constitute the actual destitute and criminal +population, we estimate that at a very low computation there are +25,000,000 who are on the border-land, who are scarcely ever in a +position to properly obtain for themselves and for their families the +barest necessities of existence. I do not say that they are wholly +submerged, but they pass a sort of amphibious existence, being part of +the time under water and part of the time on land,--some part of their +life being spent in the most abject poverty, and some part of it in +absolute starvation--positively for the time submerged, and liable at +any moment to be lastingly engulfed. These are the classes whose income +never rises above five rupees a month, while more frequently it is under +four rupees. + +On one farm, concerning which we have detailed information, where the +rent of the land is unusually low, the soil good and well irrigated, +where loans can be got at a merely nominal interest, the cultivators, +with the additional help of occasional cooly work, did not average in +their earnings four rupees a month, some having to keep a family on +three and a half, while if a bullock died, or a plough had to be +procured, it meant positive hunger and increased indebtedness to supply +those needs. + +The fact is that in many districts there is not only an increase of +population to be sustained by a constantly narrowing area of cultivated +land, but the land itself is deteriorating through the unendurable +pressure put upon it. As the forests grow more distant through being +used up for timber and fuel, wood becomes dearer. The manure which ought +to go upon the land is therefore by necessity consumed for fuel. The +ground in consequence becomes impoverished. As the struggle for +existence becomes fiercer, the people are unable to let their land +periodically lie fallow, so the crops grow lighter. Again, the ryot is +not only unable properly to feed himself, but his bullocks share a +similar fate. The feeble animals can only draw a plough which merely +scratches the surface of the ground. Furthermore, as the population +increases the land is divided into smaller and smaller holdings. The +struggle against the advancing tide of adversity cannot be maintained. +Inch by inch the tide rolls up, pushing the border-landers closer and +closer upon the black rocks of famine, to escape which they at length +plunge into the sea amongst the submerged millions, who, weary and +bitter and despairing, or with blind submission to the iron hand of +fate, have grown hopelessly and miserably indifferent. + +Now, it is notorious that millions live thus on the border-land. Granted +that after the harvest border-landers may for a time get two good meals +a day. Yet as the reserve store dwindles down and long before +harvest-time comes round, again, they get but one, and that frequently a +scanty one. They do live, multitudes of them, it is true, amidst +conditions that seem to us impossible. But how many of them die on this +one meal a day, there is nobody to chronicle. But if we do nothing +beyond rescuing a considerable mass of the totally submerged, we shall +considerably ameliorate the condition of these border-landers. + +By rendering independent of charity thousands who now depend upon the +gifts of the more fortunate, by making large tracts of land productive +which at present lie waste, by enlarging the stream of emigration, and +partially draining the morass of crime, it is absolutely certain that +the conditions of life will become more favourable for the +border-landers. New markets will be created both for produce and labour, +which will tend to relieve the congested condition of the land now under +cultivation. + +The land at present is like a good, but overworked and under-fed horse, +which, under this double adversity of overwork and under-feeding, dies +and leaves his poor owner, who was entirely dependent upon his earnings, +a pauper. It is a condition of things which is bad, and bound of +necessity to grow only worse and worse, till the willing horse drops +under his load, and his master falls from poverty to destitution. Once +enable the man to temporarily decrease his horse's labour and +permanently increase its food supply, that horse will regain its +strength, and by its increased strength become able to do double the +amount of work, increase its master's earnings, and so in time enable +him not only to properly feed his horse, but also to properly feed +himself. + +Now close to hand there is an unemployed horse available which will +afford the relief, for want of which the overworked horse is dying. The +unoccupied and waste lands, waste labour, and waste produce, constitute +the ideal unemployed horse, on whose back we would put part of the +burden of maintaining the life and feeding the mouths of the Nation. +This idle and hitherto useless horse will immediately become useful and +productive, and will enable its under-fed companion, not only to be +relieved of part of its burden, but also to get sufficient food, and +grow once more plump and strong. Thus the man, or nation, that lived, +however miserably, yet still lived, on the labour of the one famished +over-worked horse, will then be able to get a decent living, since there +will be two strong well-fed horses to work for them, instead of a single +broken-down one. + +It is simply impossible within the limits of this chapter to trace out +the whole process. Enough to say that as a rule, to which of course +there are exceptions, one man's prosperity means some one else's +prosperity. Suppose I am a beggar. I wear practically no clothing. The +little I have is what somebody else has cast off. I have no home. I +sleep in the street. I get very little food, and that I do not pay for. +I produce nothing. My children, if I have any, are wastrels like myself. +But I am lifted out of this beggary, I become a productive worker. I get +a home, wear clothes, buy food, educate my children. Not only have I +improved my own circumstances, but I have helped to improve the +circumstances of others. Builders, shopkeepers, food-producers, all +profit by my redemption. + +Now, if not one wastrel only, but 1,000,000 such are raised, a mighty +impetus is given to industry of every kind, and the border-landers, +instead of being driven on the black rocks by the tide of adverse +surroundings, begin to drive back the tide, and conquer the earth, and +subdue it, till the border-landers will be border-landers no longer, and +the dreadful days of hunger will live only in the stories of famine and +want, which the grey old man will tell to his happy and prosperous +grandchildren, and ten thousand links of love between emigrant sons and +home-staying fathers will bind the fertile plains of Ceylon, Burmah, +Africa, and other countries to the populous shores of India. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ELEMENTS OF HOPE. + + +The picture which I have endeavoured to paint in the foregoing pages is +dark enough to strike despair into the hearts of the most sanguine. And +if there were indeed no way of escape for these victims of sin and +misfortune, we might well prefer to draw a veil over the sad scene, and +to bury in the ocean of forgetfulness, the very recollection of this +earthly purgatory. + +But there are elements of hope in the consideration of this problem, +which should prevent us from regarding it despair. + +1. In the first place, supposing that we are correct in computing this +human wastage at from twenty-five to twenty-six million souls, this +would represent only some five million families. It is true that looked +at even in this light the number is vast. But surely it is not +impossible for India to make sufficient and suitable provision for them +within her own borders, to say nothing of the "regions beyond" if +reasonable thought and effort were put forth in dealing with the +problem. + +2. Again, as regards the _numbers_, it will be found _easier_ to deal +with these great national problems in bulk than piecemeal, and their +very size will give them an impetus when once they are fairly set in +motion. It will be found as easy to dispose of 1,000 people as of a +hundred, and of 50,000 as of a thousand, if they be properly organised. +Indeed, for many reasons it is easier. The larger the community, the +more work they at once provide for each other. Once let this social ball +be set rolling on a large scale, and we may believe that it will soon +get to move of its own weight. + +3. Again, it is not an indiscriminate system of largely extended charity +that we propose to provide. Our object is to find work for these +workless multitudes, and such work as shall more than pay for the very +humble pittance the Indian destitute requires. He must be a poor +specimen of a human being who cannot fairly earn his anna or two annas a +day, and our brains must be poor addled affairs, if in this great vast +world of ours we cannot find that amount of work for him to do. It is +all nonsense to talk about over-population, when the world is three +parts empty and waiting to be occupied. + +4. While we are piercing the bowels of the earth in search of gold, +minerals and coal, there lies at our very door a mine of wealth which it +is simple folly for us to ignore. True, the shaft has become choked with +the rubbish of despair, vice and crime, which will take time, trouble +and untiring patience to dig through. But it needs no prophet to foresee +that beneath this rubbish are veins of golden ore which will amply repay +our utmost efforts to open up. The old adage that "labour is wealth," +and that a nation's riches consist in its hardy sons and daughters of +toil, will yet be proved true. Treat this human muck-heap even as you +would ordinary sewage or manure, and who does not know that the very +same putrefying mass of corruption which if allowed to remain near our +doors would breed nothing but fever, cholera, and the worst forms of +disease and death, when removed to a little distance, will double and +treble the ordinary fertility of the soil and produce crops that will +increase the wealth of the entire nation? + +And knowing this can we be so blind, even to our selfish interests, as +to treat this human waste in a manner that we should deem the very +height of imprudence and folly in dealing with the other sort? Can we +shut our eyes to the fact that there are moral diseases, more terrible +in their nature, and more fatal to a nation's life, than the bodily +ones, against which we are so anxious to guard, even at the most lavish +expenditure of the public purse? And shall we, in dealing with this +moral sewage, neglect even the most ordinary precautions that we +consider necessary in dealing with the conservancy of our cities? + +If on the other hand the problem be boldly and wisely faced, I am +convinced that in India, as in England, General Booth's most sanguine +prophecies will be realised, our most pestilential marshes shall be +drained, our moral atmosphere purified, prosperity take the place of +destitution, and hope that of despair. The millstone that hangs around +our national neck, so that we can barely keep our heads above water, +even when there is not a ripple upon its surface, and that always +threatens to engulf us in perdition at the first symptoms of a +storm,--this millstone shall be converted into an unsinkable life-buoy, +that shall not only support itself upon the crest of the highest waves, +but shall help to keep afloat the entire national body. What is now an +eyesore shall become an adornment, and what is now a cause of weakness +shall be a source of strength, bulwark of protection and mine of wealth +to all India. How this can be done we have sought in the following pages +to unfold, adhering carefully to the programme marked out by General +Booth, and suggesting only such additions and alterations as the +circumstances of the case appear to necessitate. + + + + +PART II.--THE WAY OUT. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS. + + +General Booth prefaces his scheme for the deliverance of the submerged +by laying down briefly the essentials to success. I cannot do better +than quote from his own words. + +(1) "You must _change the man_, when it is his character and conduct +which constitute the reasons for his failure in the battle of life. No +change in circumstances, no revolution in social conditions, can +possibly transform the nature of man. Some of the worst men and women in +the world, whose names are chronicled by history with a shudder of +horror, were whose who had all the advantages that wealth, education and +station could confer, or ambition could obtain. + +"The supreme test of any scheme for benefiting humanity lies in the +answer to the question; what does it make of the individual? Does it +quicken his conscience, does it soften his heart, does it enlighten his +mind? Does it, in short, make a true man of him? Because only by such +influences can he be enabled to lead a human life. You may clothe the +drunkard, fill his purse with gold, establish him in a well furnished +house, and in three, six, or twelve months, he will once more be on the +"Embankment," haunted by delirium tremens, dirty, squalid and ragged. + +(2) "The remedy, to be effectual, must _change the circumstances_, when +they are the cause of his wretched condition, and lie beyond his +control. + +(3) "Any remedy worthy of consideration must be on _a scale commensurate +with the evil_, which it proposes to deal with. It is no use trying to +bale out the ocean with a pint pot. There must be no more philanthropic +tinkering, as if this vast sea of human misery were contained in the +limits of a garden pond. + +(4) "Not only must the scheme be large enough, but it _must be +permanent._ That is to say, it must not be merely spasmodic coping with +the misery of to-day, but must go on dealing with the misery of +to-morrow and the day after, so long as there is misery left in the +world with which to grapple. + +(5) "But while it must be permanent, it must also be _immediately +practicable_, and capable of being brought into instant operation with +beneficial results. + +(6) "The indirect features of the scheme must not be such as to produce +injury to the persons whom we seek to benefit. Mere charity for +instance, while relieving the pinch of hunger, demoralises the +recipient. It is no use conferring sixpenny worth of benefit on a man, +if at the same time we do him a shillings worth of harm. + +(7) "While assisting one class of the community, it must not seriously +interfere with the interest of another. + +"These are the conditions by which I ask you to test the scheme I am +about to unfold. They are not of my making. They are the laws which +govern the work of the philanthropic reformer just as the laws of +gravitation, of wind and of weather govern the operation of the +engineer. It is no use saying we could build a bridge across the Tay, if +the wind did not blow. The engineer has to take into account the +difficulties, and make them his starting point. The wind will blow, +therefore the bridge must be made strong enough to resist it. So it is +with the social difficulties, which confront us. If we act in harmony +with these laws we shall triumph. But if we ignore them, they will +overwhelm us with destruction, and cover us with disgrace." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WHAT IS GENERAL BOOTH'S SCHEME? + + +His object is to supply the destitute with food, shelter and clothing, +to provide them with work and to set them on their feet for making a +fresh start in life. + +With a view to this he proposes to call into existence, a threefold +organisation, consisting of self-helping and self-sustaining +communities, governed and disciplined on the principles of the Salvation +Army. These he calls "Colonies", and divides into + + (1) The City Colony, + + (2) The Country Colony, and + + (3) The Over-sea Colony. + +All these are to be linked together and to be interwoven with and +dependent on each other. In the City Colony a series of agencies will be +established for gathering up and sifting the destitute. Thence they will +be passed on to the Country Colony and subsequently many of them will be +sent to Colonies across the sea. + +Now this triple organisation can be brought into existence, on the +largest possible scale in India under circumstances peculiarly favorable +to the success of the scheme. + +Our country is not of limited extent like England. It covers an immense +area and includes a conglomeration of nationalities, such as we find in +Europe, with the special advantage of being united under a single, and +that a friendly Government. + +Then again there is the fact that, though the influx from the country +to the cities has commenced, yet it has not at present got beyond +manageable proportions, so that it is possible for us, if awake to the +emergency, to rise up and divert the stream into more desirable +channels. + +If instead of waiting for a further irruption of village Goths and +Vandals, (which is only a matter of time, and which will soon overwhelm +our City labour market and compel the attention of our civil +authorities,) we anticipate the event and meet them half way by opening +up fresh channels for them, more in harmony with their own taste and +preference, we shall not only confer an inestimable boon upon them, but +shall turn them into a source of strength and revenue for the country, +and shall with them people tracts which are at present barren and +fruitless, but which are only waiting to be occupied and which in many +cases have only to be restored to the prosperity that they formerly +enjoyed. + +Finally we have the great advantage of a people already trained to +husbandry from their youth, and accustomed to the very co-operative +system of farming which General Booth advocates, where payments are +mostly to be made in kind rather than in cash, and where the exchange of +goods will largely supersede transactions in money, a strong but +paternal government regulating all for the general good. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CITY COLONY. + + +The first portion of General Booth's threefold scheme consists of the +City Colony. + +This may aptly be compared to a dredger, which, gathers up all the silt +of a harbour, and carries it out to sea, leaves it there and then +returns to repeat the operation. If such an operation is necessary in a +harbour, and if without it the best anchorages in the world would often +get choked with rubbish and become useless, how doubly important must it +be in the case of the human wastage that abounds in every large Indian +City. + +Should a single ship strike on an unknown rock, we hasten to mark it +down in our charts, or erect over the spot a lighthouse as a warning to +others. Should it sink where it is likely to hinder the traffic, we set +our engineers to work to remove it, even though it may be necessary to +blow it to atoms. + +And yet it is a notorious fact that our cities abound with rocks over +which there is no lighthouse,--that every channel is obstructed with +sunken vessels, and that there are not a few tribes of pirates who +fatten on the human wreckage. But we fold our hands in despair, and +allow bad to grow worse, till the problem daily becomes more enormous, +desperate and difficult to deal with. + +Now General Booth's scheme proposes to establish a dredger for every +harbour, a lighthouse for every rock, an engineer for keeping clear +every channel. It may be too much to expect that there will be no +wrecks, but they will be fewer, and that surely is something! We do not +say that there will be no accidents, but there will be willing hands +held out to deliver. We cannot hope to abolish failures, mistakes, +shortcomings and weaknesses of various sorts, but we shall do our best +to anticipate and provide for them? We are sure there will be +difficulties and disappointments to encounter, but we shall meet them in +the confidence that God is on our side, that He is intensely interested +in the efforts which He Himself has inspired us to undertake and that +ultimate victory is bound to crown our efforts. + +And now I would give a brief description of this great City Dredger, +explaining its component parts in the chapters that are to follow. We +cannot promise that the entire machine will get into working order at +once. We are anxious to start it immediately and to complete it as soon +as possible. But on the public will largely depend the question as to +how long it will take us to get it afloat and finished. Its simplicity, +practicability, and universality are to me at the same time its chief +charms, and its credentials to success. It is only part of a larger +scheme with which it is entwined. But it is an important, perhaps the +most important part and will continue to exercise over the entire effort +the controlling head and the inspiring heart without which the whole +apparatus will be as motionless as a machine without steam, or a body +without life. + +The following are the various branches of the City Colony-- + + (1) The Regimentation of Labor. + + (2) Food for all--Food Depôts. + + (3) Work for all--Labor yards. + + (4) Shelter for all. + + (5) The household Salvage Corps. + + (6) The Prison Gate Brigade. + + (7) The Drunkard's Home. + + (8) The Rescue Home for fallen women. + + (9) The poor man's Metropole. + + (10) The Emigration Bureau. + +To these no doubt will in course of time be added many other branches. +In the meantime this is in itself a sufficiently extensive programme for +some years to come. How we propose to elaborate each of the above, will +be found in the following pages. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE LABOR BUREAU. + + +One of the most painful sights with which modern civilisation presents +us is the enormous and increasing wastage of valuable human labor. The +first step towards remedying this gigantic and alarming evil will be to +ascertain its extent. This we propose to do by means of our Labor +Bureau. Here all classes of out-of-works will be welcomed, from the +respectable well educated intelligent youths, who are being poured out +of our colleges by thousands, to the most squalid specimen of a Lazarus +that lies at our gates desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fall from +our tables. All will be sorted out, sifted and regimented, or organised, +into distinct corps, which will in time no doubt develope into legions. + +The Bureau will not, however, stop short with simply ascertaining the +extent of the evil which exists. It will at the same time turn its +attention to the examination and regimentation of the channels which +already exist for the absorption of that labor. For while it is true +that there are vast quantities of unutilised labor, and that the present +supply of labor greatly exceeds the demand, it is also true that for +want of suitable arrangements for bringing together capital and labor, +the capitalist also frequently loses time and money, either in searching +for labor which he cannot get, or in resorting to labor of an inferior +quality, where labor of a superior quality would bring in much larger +returns. + +Into the pre-existing channels it would be the first aim of our Labor +Bureau to pour the labor supply of the country. And experience would +probably enable us to widen, deepen and lengthen these channels in such +a manner as would prove profitable to both employers and employed, as +well as to the nation at large. + +When, however, this had been done, it is alas! only too certain that we +should still have left upon our hands a vast amount of surplus labor, +for which we should next proceed to dig out new and profitable channels. +The problem no doubt bristles with difficulties, but that is no reason +why we should sit down before it and fold our hands in despair. + +Once upon a time, aye for hundreds of years, the waters of the Cauvery +were poured in one useless torrent into the sea, sweeping past great +tracts of thirsty land, which craved its waters, but could not reach +them. At the present moment scarcely a drop of that river reaches the +ocean. Its course has been diverted into a thousand channels, and so +fertilising are its waters that the rich alluvial deposits which they +bear render the use of manure unnecessary. And yet for centuries these +possibilities were unrecognised and suffered to go to waste. + +Is not this a fitting picture of the huge river of labor that winds its +course through arid plains of want and poverty and starvation, which it +is capable of fertilising and converting into a modern Paradise? True +that on its banks and in its immediate neighbourhood are strips of +luxuriant vegetation. But those only show up in painful relief the utter +barrenness of the "region beyond." Why should the dwellers upon the +banks be allowed to monopolise and appropriate that which they cannot +even utilise, and that which is often a source of positive danger, +annoyance and loss to them? Why should not channels be devised for these +human waters, by means of which they should be distributed, so as to be +put to the utmost possible use? + +This social problem is no doubt the "white elephant" of society. Cannot +we devise a "kheddah" for capturing the entire herd wholesale? Perhaps +after all we shall find it easier and quicker to catch and tame the +herd, than to set snares and pitfalls for individual ones and twos. Ah, +you say, many have tried and failed. That is because they have not +studied the habits of the animal. Besides it is by means of failure that +the grandest successes have ultimately been achieved. See how skilfully +that "mahaut" manages his huge yet obedient servant. And cannot we point +already in our own ranks to elephants more wonderful that have been +tamed and mastered by the goad of love? + +It is the successes of the past that encourage General Booth to face the +problem in the spirit of hopefulness that breathes through every page of +"Darkest England." And if the genius of man has been able to tame the +strongest of animals, such as elephants,--the fiercest, such as +lions,--the swiftest, such as horses, and the dullest, such as the +ass,--why should we despair of reducing to order this chaotic mass of +labor, and of turning that which at present constitutes a danger that +threatens the very existence of society into a source of safety, of +wealth and power? At any rate this is the object that will be kept +steadily in view by our Labor Bureau. + +All persons will be able to register names at our Bureau. If they are +destitute and willing to go to our yards, they will be sent there and +given work suitable to their caste, or profession. If on the other hand +they are not in need of such assistance, being supported by their +friends, we shall simply register their names and do our best to find +suitable work for them, though it would of course be distinctly +understood by them that we undertook no responsibility in regard to +this. A small fee will be charged, in proportion to the nature of the +case. This would serve to cover the expenses of the Bureau, which would +I am sure meet a long felt want. + +Employers of labour would benefit almost more even than the men +employed, as we should always be able to supply them at a short notice +with any description and number of "hands" that they might require, and +they would be saved the expense, delay, and uncertainty of having to +advertise. + +For instance I know of millowners who complain that they cannot get +labourers who will stay, and that their work suffers from the flotsam, +jetsam character of those whom they employ working for a few weeks and +then leaving. This we should be able to remedy. + +Indeed after a short time we might reasonably expect that in recognising +the great convenience thus afforded them, millowners and other great +employers of labour, including very possibly the Government and the +Railway Companies would refuse to employ any who had not registered +themselves at our Bureau. + +Again it would doubtless be a great satisfaction to employers in cases +where a reduction of establishment became necessary, to feel that they +could hand over to us those with whose services they were dispensing, +knowing that every effort would be made to make suitable provision for +them. + +The labour register would contain columns in which would be entered the +various kinds of employment for which the applicant was willing or +suited, and the minimum pay which he was prepared to accept, so that we +should be able to ascertain exactly how many out-of-works there were of +each particular class. We should also enter in a separate register those +who had accepted an inferior position, in the hopes of being able to +better themselves subsequently. + +In connection with our registers we should keep a character roll. Copies +of certificates would be filed, and notes made in regard to +unsatisfactory characters, so that in course of time we should be able +to give some sort of a guarantee in regard to those whom we sent out. In +the case of any one being reported to us as unsatisfactory, we should +still, however, give him another chance by redrafting him into our +Labour Yards, or by giving him some sort of inferior employment, more +immediately under our own surveillance, till he had regained his +character. + +Among other things we might undertake to supply servants to European +families. A register of such would be very useful both to masters and +servants. For instance in the case of lost "chits" we could supply +certified copies of the original. + +There is another class to whom I should think the establishment of such +an agency will be particularly welcome. Our cities swarm with educated +young men unable to find employment. Although we cannot include them +among our destitute classes, we believe that without turning aside from +our main object, we could do a great deal to help them. + +If our scheme grows to the proportions and with the rapidity which we +anticipate, this would in itself absorb large numbers of them. And where +we could do no more we could obtain a moral influence over them and they +would come within the scope of the Advice and Intelligence Bureaux which +are described elsewhere. Constituting as they do the cream of the youth +of India, full of ardent, though often misdirected, enthusiasm, we +should be able to help mould them into happy, independent, prosperous +and loyal citizens, who would be a bulwark to the State, instead of +leaving them to simmer in their present unfortunate circumstances. "To +dig" they don't know, and "to beg" they are ashamed. + +They would in their turn I believe give an important impetus to our +scheme and might constitute themselves its fervent apostles helping it +to sweep from end to end of India in less time than it is possible for +us to conceive. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +FOOD FOR ALL--THE FOOD DEPÔTS. + + +In England, owing to the severity and uncertainty of the weather, the +food and shelter questions go hand in hand. This is not the case in +India, where the shelter is not so important as the food, and there is +no such urgency in dealing with the former as with the latter. For +instance during nine months out of twelve it is not such a very great +hardship to sleep in the open air in most parts of India. I have myself +done it frequently and so have many of our Officers. It is true that we +should not like it as a regular thing, and still less perhaps, if driven +to it by absolute want. Still I am perfectly prepared to admit that the +circumstances are totally different to that of England, and that the +question of shelter is of secondary importance as compared with food. + +The time will come when we shall be obliged to face and deal with it. If +our scheme meets with the success that we anticipate, having first +satisfied the gnawings of these hunger-bitten stomachs, we shall +certainly turn round and think next what we can do to provide them with +decent homes for themselves and their families. + +But we can safely afford to defer the consideration of this question for +the present, in order to throw all our time and energy into the solution +of the infinitely more urgent and important problem of a regular and +sufficient food supply for these destitutes. + +At present as I have already pointed out, they are dependent solely on +the help of relations and friends and on the doles of the charitable; +or on the proceeds of vice and crime. The insufficiency of these to meet +the needs of the case I have also, I believe, proved to demonstration. + +Therefore one of the first parts of our City programme will be the +establishment of cheap food depôts, at which food of various kinds will +be supplied at the lowest possible cost price. These depôts will be +dovetailed in with other parts of our scheme, which have yet to be +described, and the one will help to support the other. + +It may be objected that if we undertake to sell food at lower than the +ordinary market rates, we shall interfere with the legitimate operations +of trade. But to this we would answer that the same objection would be +still more true in regard to charitable doles, which are given for +nothing. And further, we shall fix our prices with a view to covering +the actual cost of the food, so that there will not be any probability +of our interfering with ordinary market rates. Besides, should there be +any very serious difficulty of the kind, we could always make a rule +limiting the food sold at these depôts to those who came under the +operation of the other branches of our social reform. + +At the outset it would probably be wisest to avoid all caste +complications by confining ourselves entirely to uncooked food, leaving +the people to do their own cooking, but it is very probable that before +long we should be forced to undertake the preparation of cooked food. We +should of course pay due regard in this respect to the customs of the +various castes, religions and nationalities concerned. To a Hindoo for +instance it would be extremely disagreeable to eat out Of the same dish +as others, while Mahommedans, as one said to me the other day, only +enjoy the meal the more, when others are sitting round the platter. +These, however, are subordinate details which would largely settle +themselves as we went along. Food in some shape or form, the destitute +must have, good in quality and sufficient in quantity, and if they +prefer it uncooked this will save us trouble, whereas if cooking becomes +necessary we shall have another industry for the employment of many +hands. Meanwhile the fact that nearly every native of the poorer castes, +be it man, woman, or even child, knows how to cook their own food, is +likely to be of no little help in settling the question of the food +supply. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WORK FOR ALL, OR THE LABOUR YARD. + + +But it may next be asked, what we shall do in the case of those who have +no money with which to buy their food, even at the reduced rates we +would propose? To this we would reply that such will be expected to +perform a reasonable amount of work, in return for which they will be +given tickets entitling them to obtain food from the depôts just +referred to. + +In order to do this we shall establish labour yards, where we shall +provide work of a suitable character for the destitute. This will +involve very little expense, as sheds of a cheap description will answer +our purpose, there being no necessity for providing against the +inclement weather which adds so greatly to the expense and difficulty of +carrying on such operations in England. + +Whatever may be the produce of this cheap labour, we shall be careful to +sell it rather above than below the ordinary market rates, so as to +avoid competing with other labour. Moreover, we shall direct our +attention from the first to manufacturing chiefly those articles which +are likely to be of service to us in other branches of our scheme, so +that the labour of the destitute will go chiefly towards supplying their +own wants and those of the persons who are engaged in prosecuting the +work. + +For instance, supposing that a number of the destitute were employed in +making coarse cloth, baskets, mats, or cow-dung fuel, these could be +retailed at a nominal figure to those who presented our labour tickets +at our food depôts. + +The most encouraging feature in the establishment of labour yards is +that nearly every Indian has been brought up from childhood to some +trade. You can rarely meet the most ignorant and uneducated Native +without finding that he is thoroughly expert at some kind of handicraft. +In brigading the poor we should be careful to make the best use of this +knowledge by putting each as much as possible to the trade with which he +was most familiar. + +The following industries, the majority of them directly connected with +various branches of our work, could be started at once and would need +scarcely any outlay to begin with. + + 1. _The Potters Brigade_--Would furnish us with the earthenware, for + which we should from the first have a very large demand. The + Household Salvage Brigade would require some thousands of pots to + start with and in connection with our food depôts we should be able + to dispose of thousands more. + + 2. _The Weavers Brigade_--This would give employment for a large + number of skilled hands. Their first object would be to supply the + kinds of clothes, blankets, &c., which would be most suitable for + the use of the submerged tenth. In catering for their wants we + should avoid, however, anything _prisony_, or _workhousey_, or + charity-institutiony in appearance. As our numbers increased we + should find plenty of work for our weavers, at any rate for many + years to come without entering into any sort of competition either + with the market or the mills. + + 3. _The Basket Brigade_--Would supply us with all sorts of cheap + baskets, for which we should have a constant demand. + + 4. _The Mat Making Brigade_--Would find employment for many more + hands in supplying us with mats for sleeping and household purposes. + + 5. _The Fuel Brigade_--Here we have an industry which requires no + skill. There would be two branches of it--the woodchoppers and the + Oopala makers. For the latter women and children could be largely + employed both in the collection of the cow-dung and in the + preparation of it for use as fuel. + + 6. _The Tinners Brigade_--Will be kept busy making receptables and + badges for the Salvage Brigade, and also probably emblems for the + Labor Bureau. + + 7. _The Ropemakers Brigade_--Will furnish employment to a number + more and the results of their labour will find an ample market in + our various colonies. + + 8. _The Tanners Brigade_--Will supply all our departments with such + leather as may be required for various purposes, and among other + things will be attached to. + + 9. _The Shoemakers Brigade_--Who will be employed in patching up the + old shoes collected by our Household Salvage Brigade and in making + new ones for our consumption. + + 10. _The Tailors Brigade_--Will supply uniform and clothing of all + kinds. For these we have already a very considerable demand, which + would increase year by year. + + 11. _The Carpenters Brigade_--Would have plenty to do in providing + seats for our Barracks, office essentials, boxes, and household + furniture for our colonies. They would be linked with + + 12. _The Building Brigade_--For whom we shall find ample employment + in the erection of our Labour Sheds, Shelters and Farms. + + 13. _The Masons Brigade_--Would also be attached to the previous + one, and would become an important feature in our Labour Department. + + 14. _The Brick Makers Brigade_--Would supply us with all the bricks + and tiles that we might require. Here again it is easy to see that, + without trenching in the least on the outside public, we should + create and support an important industry which would soon absorb + hundreds if not thousands of hands. + + 15. _The Painters Brigade_--Would undertake the painting and + whitewashing of our buildings, carts, tinware, &c. + + 16. _The Dyers Brigade_--Would find employment in dyeing our cloth, + or the various sorts of thread we might require for the use of our + weavers. + + 17. _The Dhobees Brigade_--Although among our community we should + encourage every one to be his own dhobee, yet from the first we + should have plenty of washing to employ a considerable number of + hands. + + 18. _The Umbrella Makers Brigade_--Would find considerable scope in + repairing the old frames collected by our Household Salvage Brigade; + while the Sewing Brigade would work the covers. + + 19. _The Paper-makers Brigade_--Would also be supplied with plenty + of material by the Household Salvage Brigade, and would keep our + printing establishment supplied with whatever paper they might + require. Already we consume a considerable quantity, and this would + be enormously increased by the development of our scheme. + + 20. _The Book-binders Brigade_--Would furnish us with our registers + for the Regimentation Bureau, besides doing our other miscellaneous + work of a similar description. + + 21. _The Brass Brigade_--Would supply Our colonies with the various + kinds of brazen vessels we should be likely to require. For these in + process of time there would be a large demand. + + 22. _The Net-making Brigade_--Would make nets for fishing purposes. + + 33. _The Hawkers Brigade_--There could be no possible objection to + our disposing of our goods in this way at the ordinary market rates + supposing that we were in a position to manufacture more than we + required for our own consumption. + + 24. _The Barbers Brigade_--Would also be a necessary addition to our + forces, and would find plenty of scope for their skill among the + unwashed multitudes who would compose our labour legions. + +Such are some of the occupations which might at once be set on foot. To +these would no doubt be added many other sorts of handicraft, as our +numbers and experience increased, and fresh opportunities opened up +around us. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +SHELTER FOR ALL, OR THE HOUSING OF THE DESTITUTE. + + +A considerable portion of General Booth's book is devoted to the +description of shelters, improved lodgings and suburban villages for the +poor. As elsewhere remarked this question is not of such vital +importance for India as for England, though the dealing with it is +simply a question of time. + +We would therefore simply refer our readers to the admirable proposals +embodied in General Booth's book. It is possible that there may be some +who will desire that immediate steps should be taken for the preparation +of similar quarters for the poor in our terribly over-crowded Indian +cities. It is in any case extremely likely that the question will be +forced upon us at an early date by the people themselves. + +But I have thought it best to narrow down the scheme as much as possible +to those things which seem of the most absolute and immediate urgency, +and I have therefore divested it as much as possible of all that could +reasonably be dispensed with. + +Still I see no reason why each city should not have its "Poor Man's +Metropole," as well as its model dwellings and suburban villages, for +the working classes. I would have these, moreover, as purely oriental as +possible with a careful avoidance of anything that might be European in +their appearance and arrangements. There should be tanks for bathing, +and washing purposes, gardens, recreation grounds for the children, +proper conveniences for cooking, and quarters in which they would not be +herded together like cattle, but given the decencies of life, so +necessary and helpful to the encouragement of cleanliness and morality. + +Another point would be the absolute absence of anything in the shape of +mere "charity" about any of the buildings. Everybody would be made to +feel happy and at home, and their self-respect would be cultivated by +arranging for suitable charges to be made, payment being taken either in +cash or labour. + +However, these are only hints that are thrown out, to show that we are +fully awake to the importance of this subject, and in order that friends +who are interested in the question may feel free to communicate their +wishes and give us their advice. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE BEGGARS BRIGADE. + + +I now come to a special element of both hope and difficulty in the +solution of our Indian Social problem,--The Beggars. Here we have the +lowest stratum of the submerged tenth, excluding from them the religious +mendicants with whom we are not now concerned. I have classified them as +follows:-- + + 1. The blind and infirm. + + 2. Those who help them and share the proceeds of their begging. + + 3. Able-bodied out of works. + +Now I propose to deal with them in a way which will not call for +Legislation. In the first place it is most improbable that Government +would interfere with beggary, even if asked to do so. Certainly no such +interference would be possible without assuming the responsibility of +the entire pauper population, involving an expenditure of many million +pounds. In the second place any such interference would in all +likelihood be extremely distasteful to the native public. In the third +place I believe the question can be better dealt with in another way. + +I propose to cut diamond with diamond, to set a thief to catch a thief, +to make a beggar mend a beggar. In other words my plan is to _reform_ +the system rather than _abolish_ it. To the radical reformer who would +sweep out the whole "nuisance" at one stroke, this may be a +disappointment. But I believe that this feeling will be diminished, if +not entirely removed, when he has made himself familiar with the +following scheme. + +Of course if the Upas tree could be uprooted and banished from our +midst,--if with a wave of his magic wand some sorcerer could make it +disappear, so much the better. But this is impossible. We should require +an axe of gold to cut down the tree; and this we do not possess. If a +rich and powerful Government shrinks from the expense of such an +undertaking, we may well be excused for doing the same. + +But after all supposing that you can transform your Upas tree into a +fruit-bearing one, will not this be even better than to cut it down? +Such things are done every day before our very eyes in nature. The stock +of the crab-apple can be made to bear quinces, and a mango tree that is +scarcely worth the ground it occupies, can be made to yield fruit which +will fetch four annas a piece! + +What is done in the garden is possible in human nature. And God will yet +enable us to graft into this wretched and apparently worthless Upas +stock, a bud which in coming years shall be loaded with fruit that shall +be the marvel of the world. This human desert shall yet blossom as the +rose, this wilderness shall become a fruitful garden, and the waste +places be inhabited. + +Surely then, better even than the _annihilation_ of beggary will be its +_reformation_, should this be possible. At least the suggestion is well +worthy of consideration, and in examining, the matter, there will be +several important advantages to which I shall afterwards refer. + +(1.) The first step that we would take in reforming the-beggars would be +to _regiment them._ The task would be undertaken by our Labor Bureau. In +this I do not think there would be serious difficulty encountered, if +the scheme commended itself to the native public. They would only have +to stop their supplies and send the beggars to us. + +(2.) Our next step would be to _sort out_ the beggars. They would be +divided into three classes:-- + + (a) _The physically unfit_, who could be furnished with light work + at our labor yards, or otherwise cared for. At present there are + hundreds of beggars who are physically unfit for the exertion that + begging involves, and who are driven to it by the desperate pangs + of hunger. + + (b) _Those who like_ it, and are physically well fitted for it, + besides being accustomed to the life, and not being fitted much for + anything else. + + (c) Those who dislike the life, and would prefer, or are suited for + other occupations. Some of these we would draft off to other + departments of our labour yards, while some would for the present + be kept on as beggars, with the hope of early promotion to other + employment. + +(3.) We should _brigade the beggars_ under the name of the Household +Salvage Brigade, or some similar title, dividing them into small +companies and appointing over them Sergeants from among themselves, and +providing each with a badge or number. + +(4.) We should with the advice and consent of the leading members of the +native community, _map out the city into wards_, and assign each company +their respective streets, allotting as far as possible the Mahommedan +beggars to the Mahommedan quarters, and the Hindoos to the Hindoo. In +this we should also take the advice of experienced beggars, from whom we +should expect to learn many useful hints. + +(5,) Each house that was willing to receive them would _be supplied with +three receptacles_, one for waste cooked food, another for gifts of +uncooked food, and a third for old clothes, waste paper, shoes, tins, +bottles, and other similar articles. + +(6.) At an appointed hour the Brigade would proceed to their posts, +would patrol their wards, and bring or send the various articles +collected to the labor yards, where all would be sorted and dealt with +as necessary the cooked food being distributed among those who were +willing to eat it, or sent to the surburban farm for our buffaloes. The +raw grain would be handed over to our food depôts, and credited by them +to the Beggars Fund for the special benefit of the destitute. + +(7.) At the end of each day every member of the Brigade would receive a +food ticket in payment of his services. The amount could be regulated +hereafter. This ticket he would present at our food depôt, where he +would be supplied with whatever articles he might require. There would +be a regular system of rewards and encouragements for good conduct. But +all such details will be settled hereafter. + +(8.) A special feature in the system would be the introduction of the +ancient _Buddhist_ custom of "_meetihal_," or "the consecrated handful +of rice." This is as follows. A pot is kept in each home and a handful +of grain is put into it every time the family meal is cooked. We think +that there would be no difficulty in getting this custom universally +adopted, when it was understood that the proceeds would be devoted +entirely to feeding the destitute. I believe that the income derived +from this alone would in course of time be sufficient to meet the needs +of the destitute in any city in India, at the same time that it would +serve to equalise and therefore minimise the burden which now rests +chiefly on a comparative few. + +(9.) In case the food supply thus obtained should be insufficient, we +have little doubt that we could persuade leading merchants in the city +to club together and make up the difference, when they saw the good work +that was going on. + +Such in brief is a skeleton of the scheme for elevating and renovating +the Beggar population of India. It is no doubt open to criticism on some +points, but it has special advantages which I will proceed to point out, +apologising for the extra space I am obliged to occupy, in dealing with +this subject, on account of its novelty and importance, and in order +that I may be thoroughly understood. + +1. _It is conservative._ Here you have a reformation without a +revolution, or rather a revolution by means of a reformation. And yet +there is no attempted upheaval of society. + +2. It is thoroughly _Indian_, and suited to the national taste. + +3. It _costs nothing_ and may even prove in time a source of income to +the Social Scheme. + +4. It is _doubly economical_ since it uses the human waste in collecting +what would be the natural wastage of the city, and devotes each to the +service of the other. + +5. It is _systematic_ and therefore bound to be as immensely superior to +the present haphazard mode, as a regular Army is to an undisciplined +mob. + +6. It unites the advantages of _moral suasion_, with those of the most +perfect _religious equality_ and _toleration._ + +7. _It saves the State an enormous expenditure_ and avoids the necessity +for harsh, repressive, unpopular legislation, and increased taxation. + +8. _It benefits the public._ + + (a) It removes a public nuisance. + + (b) And yet it satisfies the public conscience. + + (c) It stimulates private charity, and directs its generosity into + wise and beneficial channels. + +9. _It benefits the beggars._ + + (a) It protects the weak from the painful and often unsuccessful + struggle for existence. + + (b) It ensures everybody their daily food and a sufficiency of it. + + (c) It restores their self respect. + + (d) It teaches them habits of honesty, industry and thrift. + + (e) It opens up to them a pathway of promotion. + +10. Finally it will furnish honest and honorable employment right away +for hundreds of thousands all over the land, and create an entirely +_novel_ industry out of what is at present an absolute _wreckage._ + +But I am well aware that certain objections are likely to be raised. +These I would seek to remove, though if we are to wait for a plan which +is free from all liability to criticism, we may wait for ever, and wait +in vain. There is a famous answer given by John Wesley to a lady who was +objecting to something about his work,--"Madam, if there were a perfect +organization in the world, it would cease to be so the day that you and +I entered into it." Hence it is not simply a question as to whether +there are difficulties in the present proposals, but can anything better +be suggested. However, I am anxious to meet in the fairest possible +manner all conceivable objections, and am perfectly prepared to make any +such modifications as may appear advisable. + +(1.) Some will perhaps say that the beggars are already too well off to +desire to come,--that they are making a good thing of it and will prefer +to prosecute their calling under the present arrangements. Of course if +it be true that they are able to do better for themselves than we are +proposing to do for them, then they have no right to be included in the +submerged tenth. I would congratulate them on their success and turn my +attention to those who are more in need of our services. But could any +one seriously defend such a supposition? And if they are likely to be +bettered by the new arrangements, why should we suppose that they should +be so blind to their own interests as to refuse to profit by the new +chance? Besides, this is contradicted by all experience. Let there be a +prospect of a feast, or a supply of rice or food, and who does not know +that beggars will flock eagerly to the point, though it be only for a +single meal, and we propose to provide a _permanent livelihood._ + +(2.) But says some one else _they are bone-idle and will not work_, and +you propose to give them no food save in exchange for their work. This +is a real and serious difficulty. We fully recognise it. Yet we do not +think it is un-get-over-able, for the following reasons:-- + + (a) We do not intend to be hard-taskmasters. The work given will be + of a light character, and suited to the strength of each. We are + not going in for oakum picking and stone breaking. We shall do our + utmost to make everything bright, cheerful and easy. We have no + idea of treating them as criminals. + + (b) It ought not to be difficult to get each one to do two annas + worth of work, and this will be more than sufficient to cover their + expenses. We have no desire to become _sweaters._ + + (c) _Begging is hard work._ If you don't believe it, come and try + it! I and many of my officers have begged our food as religious + mendicants, so that we, are able to speak from _experience_! + It is at best a life of sacrifice, hardship and suffering. And yet + we have practised it under _specially favorable circumstances_, + particularly those of us who are Europeans. But that there can be + any sort of rest, or ease, or enjoyment in it to those who are + driven to it by the pangs of hunger, unsupported by any spiritual + consolations, I cannot conceive. On the contrary I should say that + the task of the beggar is so hard, and disagreeable not to say + _shameful_, that the majority of them would leap to do the + most menial tasks that would deliver them from a bondage so + painful. + + Have you ever solicited help and been refused? Have you known what + it is to feel the awful sickenings of heart at hope deferred? Have + you known what it is to be regarded with suspicion, with contempt, + with dislike, with scorn, or even with _pity_ by your fellow men? + If so, you may be able to realise the experiences that every beggar + has to go through a hundred times a day, many of them with feelings + every bit as sensitive as your own. Will he demean himself and work + hard at so miserable a calling and yet be unwilling to do some + light work, with which he can earn an honest living? I for one + cannot believe it, till I see it. + + (d) Our experience further contradicts it in dealing with the more + depraved, hardened and supposed-to-be-idle criminals and + prostitutes, whom we receive into our Prison Gate and Rescue Homes. + When Sir E. Noel Walker was visiting our Prisoners' Home in + Colombo he was astonished at the _alacrity_ with which the men + obeyed orders, and the _eagerness_ with which they worked at their + allotted tasks. He asked the Officer in Charge whether he ever + _"hammered"_ them, and was surprised at finding that the only + hammer he ever required was the _allsufficient_ hammer of _love._ + And yet the gates were always open and they were free to walk out + whenever they liked. Moreover, beyond getting their food and a very + humble sort of shelter, their labour was entirely unpaid. + + (e) Finally by means of a judicious system of rewards and promotions + we should educate and encourage them into working, besides teaching + them industries which would be useful after they had left us. + +(3.) But some one else will say "They are thievish and will rob you. +They are roguish and will decieve you. You don't know whom you have to +deal with." Well, if we don't know them, we should think nobody does! I +would answer, + + (a) Granted that some of them cheat us. All will not. And why should + the honest suffer with the rogues? + + (b) What if we do lose something in this way? It would be little in + comparison with the enormous gain. I feel sure it would in no case + exceed ten or twenty per cent, on the collections made, and that + would be a mere trifle. + + (c) Our system of regimentation would largely guard against any such + danger and would be an encouragement to honesty. + + (d) It is notorious that there is "honour among thieves." They would + watch over one another. Among them "_nimak-harami_" or + "faithlessness to their salt" would soon come to be regarded as a + crime of the first water. + + (e) The inducement for thieving would be largely gone. Very few + steal _for the sake of stealing._ A man usually steals to fill his + own stomach, or some one else's, whom he loves. But here all would + be provided for. + + (f) Besides he would feel that all he could earn was for the _common + good_ and was not going to make any individual rich at his expense. + + (g) Our experience in the Prison Gate Homes contradicts it. True, we + have had some thefts especially at the beginning, but when I was + last visiting our Colombo Home, the Officers in charge assured me + that they were now of the rarest occurrence, while the gentleman + who owned the tempting cocoanuts that were hanging overhead told + me that he had never had such good crops from his trees, as since + our colony of thieves and criminals had been settled there! + +(4.) Some one else may perhaps object that we shall have thrown upon our +hands a swarm of helpless, useless, cripples and infirm. Well, and what +if we do? Are they not our fellow human beings, and ought not some one +to care for them? We shall look upon it as a precious responsibility, +and I speak fearlessly on behalf of our devoted officers when I say, +that they would rather spend and be spent for such than for the richest +in the land. If, as I have already shown, the effort can be made +_self-supporting_ and _self-propagating_, the mere fact of their misery +or poverty only impels us to love them the more and to strive the more +earnestly for their emancipation. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PRISON GATE BRIGADE. + + +This has already been in operation for two years in the cities of Bombay +and Colombo and a branch has been recently established in Madras. Now +that it will be connected with other branches of our Social Reform, we +may look for a rapid increase of this useful though difficult work. + +The establishment of our Labor Yards will greatly help us in finding +work for this class, without branding them with the perpetual stigma of +their crime. The chief difficulty in the working of these Homes consists +in the almost insuperable objection of the men to be _known as +criminals_ after their release from jail. This is of course perfectly +natural. Besides, it is important that we should hold out before them +hopes of bettering themselves by their good conduct, and earning an +independent and honest livelihood at no distant date. When once our +Labor Yards and Farm Colonies are in active operation, we shall be able +to do this for our rescued criminals, continuing at the same time the +fatherly supervision and help which they so very much need. + +The following quotations from our last annual report will serve to +explain this branch of our work, and to give a glimpse of the +encouraging success with which we have already met in our efforts to +reach and reform the criminal classes. + + +COLOMBO PRISON GATE HOME. + +Picturesquely situated among palm trees in one of the most beautiful +suburbs of Colombo, within easy reach of the principal city jail, is our +Sinhalese Prisoners' Home. Cinnamon Gardens, as the district is called, +forms one of the attractions of Colombo, which every passing visitor is +bound to go and see. The beauty of the surroundings must be a pleasant +contrast to those dull prison walls from which the inmates have just +escaped. Still more blessed and cheering must be the change from the +Warder's stern commands to the affectionate welcome and kindly +attentions of the red-jacketed Salvationists, who have the management of +the Home. + + +A bright lad who is on duty in the guard-room opens the gates and +introduces you to the grounds in which the quarters are situated. There +are groups of huts with mud walls and palm-leaf thatching, which have a +thoroughly Indian and yet home like appearance. The first few of these +are occupied as workshops or carpentry for the manufacture of tea boxes, +and here from early to late the men may be seen busily employed, sawing, +planing, measuring, bevelling, hammering and working with such a will +that you might imagine their very lives depended on it, or at least that +they must be making their fortunes out of it, whereas they are not being +paid at all, and all the profits of the manufactory go towards the +support of the Home! + +"What I admire about your work," observed Sir Athur Gordon, the late +Governor of Ceylon, "is the way in which your Officers identify +themselves with these convicts, and live among them on terms of perfect +equality." + +But I was describing the little colony. On the left of this group of +workshops is a neat little hut where Captain Dev Kumar and his young +bride, Captain Deva Priti, reside. What a change for them form the +English Homes to which they have been accustomed, to this little jungle +hut, surrounded as they are continually by a band of ex-convicts, and +criminals. Yet it would be hard to find a happier couple in the +island,--in fact, quite impossible outside the Salvation Army. + +"It is all our own work," explains the Captain. "Our men built the hut, +and the materials only cost about Rs. 25!" Certainly this is the +perfection of cheapness in the way of house building! A little further +inside the enclosure you come to more huts, in some of which the men +live, while others serve for quarters for the native officers who assist +in the superintendence of the Home, and to whose noble efforts so much +of its success is due. Then there is the kitchen, and a dining-room, and +a stable for the bullock trap, in which the released prisoners are +brought to the Home, to avoid the risk of a foot journey when their old +associates might hinder them on the way. + +The spare bits of ground are all laid out in little plots of garden, +where plantains and vegetables are grown, and in front of the Captain's +quarters is a dainty little scrap of a flower garden. The entire +enclosure forms really a portion of the garden of a neighbouring house, +the property of the late Mr. Ginger, who took a warm interest in our +work, and leased the grounds to us at a nominal rent. + +The following are the statistics of the work during the past year:-- + + Total number of admissions, .......................... 230 + Found Situations, ................................... 115 + Left, the Home and lost sight, of, .................. 103 + Total number of sentences of imprisonment,............ 459 + Number of juvenile convicts under 16 years of age, ... 40 + Number of meals given,.............................. 15,774 + Number of tea-boxes made, .......................... 2,880 + Profits on same,................................. Rs. 350 + +The accompanying is the official report form sent in by us to +Government every month showing the results of the work-- + + +JAIL GATE BRIGADE--COLOMBO--ITS RESULTS. + +Prisons. + +A.--This Return for the preceding month shall be forwarded on 1st or 2nd +of each month, by the Officer Commanding Salvation Army, through the +Superintendent of the Convict Establishment to the Inspector General of +Prisons, with columns 1, 6, 7, and 8, duly filled in. + +B.--The Superintendent Convict Establishment shall fill in columns 2, 3, +4, and 5, and send on the Return to the Inspector General. + +1. Name and age of Prisoner. + +2. Nationality and religion. + +3. Name of Offence. + +4. Length of imprisonment in months. + +5. General character in Jail. + +6. Number of days maintained by the Salvation Army + +7. How employed now, or going to be employed. + +8. Result of action of salvation Army on prisoner, roughly estimated. + +_Superintendent Convict Establishment._ + +_Commdt. Salvation Army, Colombo._ + + +That the work of the Colombo Prisoners' Home is highly appreciated in +Colombo is further proved by the fact that most of the leading +Government officials subscribe to its funds, including the Colonial +Secretary, Sir E. Noel Walker, the Chief Justice Sir Bruce Burnside, +and many others. Again, it is not an uncommon thing for us to receive +such letters as the following from the Magistrate:-- + + + From the POLICE MAGISTRATE, Colombo, + To the CAPTAIN OF THE PRISON GATE BRIGADE. + _Dated, Colombo, October 30th, 1889._ + + _Subject--Habitual Offender, Dana._ + + Sir, + + I have the honour to inform you that a man named Dana, produced + before me this day, charged with being a habitual thief, has + expressed a wish to be admitted into the Prison Brigade Home. + + I shall be glad if you afford him an opportunity to redeem his + character. + + I am, Sir, + Your obedient Servant, + E.W.M., + _Police Magistrate._ + + +The past year was suitably finished up by providing a special feast to +which only ex-convicts were admitted. No less than 150 accepted the +invitation. + +About this branch of our work a leading daily paper, the Ceylon +_Independent_, writes as follows.-- + + Most of our readers have read in our columns of the good work the + Army is doing at the Prison Gate, in reclaiming from criminal + courses the discharged prisoners who have served their time of + confinement. In that critical moment, when the wide world is once + more before the newly discharged culprit, when he emerges from + confinement to overwhelming temptation, big it may be with fresh + schemes of crime, armed with enlarged experiences to aid in its + accomplishment, to be met, taken kindly by the hand, and led gently + to the pleasanter and more peaceful path of honesty, industry, and + virtue, is a surprise that is calculated to disarm temptation at + least for a moment, and thus virtue gains time for thought. + +The success of the Prison Gate Brigade has hitherto been surprising, and +quite beyond its founders' anticipation. It has been especially useful +in reclaiming juvenile offenders, of whom a large number have been +induced to take to the honest means of livelihood, chiefly carpentry, +which the Home provides. + + +OUR BOMBAY PRISON GATE BRIGADE. + +This work in Bombay was commenced some two years ago at the instance of +a leading Parsee gentleman, with a generous subscription of Rs. 1,200. +Owing partly to the fact that we have been hitherto unable to secure +suitable premises and partly to the entire absence of any assistance on +the part of Government, the work in Bombay has been much more uphill and +discouraging than in Ceylon. Nevertheless we have persevered in the +teeth of all sorts of difficulties, and the results have been very +encouraging. Recently in one week no less than three of the inmates of +our Bombay Home were accepted as cadets, to be trained up as future +officers. Previously to this nine others had been similarly accepted. +One of these, Lieut. Hira Singh, is now himself taking an active part in +the rescue of other convicts, while another is sucessfully working in +Gujarat. Accounts of their lives are given further on. + +Indeed Bombay has proved itself to be an even richer field than Colombo +itself; and now that some of the peculiar difficulties that have +hitherto hindered the work, are one by one being removed, there is every +reason to believe that this work will soon make rapid progress. + +The returns for the past year show that the prison gates have been +visited 235 times, for the purpose of meeting the convicts on their +release. Since the commencement of the Home about 134 men have been +admitted. Of these 74 have professed conversion, about 12 having been +accepted as officers by ourselves and the remainder having mostly found +employment elsewhere. The number of meals given during the past year has +been about 7,800. + +One of the special features of the work here consists in the constant +visitation of the liquor dens, with a view to persuading those who were +frequenting them to give up their evil ways. No less than 430 such were +in this way visited and a large number of papers distributed. While the +opposition was in some instances severe, as a rule our officers were +well treated even by the grogshop-keepers, who while admitting that +their trade was evil, pleaded that they had the Government's approval, +and that they must somehow support themselves and their families. + +Besides the regular inmates, a large number of casuals have been +relieved and assisted, but of these we have no exact figures. + +The following are some specimens of the work done by us among the +criminal classes in Bombay and Ceylon:-- + + +LIEUTENANT HIRA SINGH + +Is a Hindu of the Kshatraya caste. He comes of a soldier race and +family, his father having served in the East India Company's army before +him, and he having from his youth followed the same profession for the +past eighteen years, serving successively as Private, Lance-Corporal, +Corporal, and Sergeant in a native Regiment. He went through the last +Afghan campaign, having been to Cabul, Quetta, and other places. + +For many years his conduct was excellent, but latterly he took to +drinking, got into serious trouble with the police, and was sent to +prison for forty days, thus losing his post as well as his claim to +pension. He was met by our officers on his release, accompanied them to +the Home, gave his heart to God, and has now been an officer in our +ranks for more than a year. During most of this time he has been +connected with our Bombay Prison Gate work, and has in turn helped to +rescue many others. But for the help he then received, a life of +drunkenness and crime would probably have been, almost forced upon him. +He is a good specimen of numbers who would _like_ to reform, but with +ruined reputation have no choice, save between starvation and crime. + + +HARMANIS. + +"I am a native (Singhalese) of Kalutara in Ceylon. My father was a +toddy-drawer. We were very poor. Sometimes my uncles would give me a +cent or two for mounting guard to give them warning about anybody's +approach while they were slaughtering stolen cattle in the jungles. +Once, being very hungry, I climbed up a palm tree to steal cocoanuts, +but was caught by the owner and handed over to the police. The +magistrate sent me to jail for three weeks. After my release I came to +Colombo, and falling in with the Salvation Army, I went to their Home +for prisoners, and now thank God I am saved." + + +PODI SINGHA + +This is only one of the many aliases by which he is known. He has been +one of the worst thieves and bad characters to be met with even in +Colombo, where there is a pretty good assortment of the scum of slumdom. +Adopted as an infant by a pious Mahomedan, he was trained up in that +religion. But in spite of every effort that was made for his +reformation, he rapidly went from bad to worse, till at length he found +himself in the hands of the police. + +His first sentence was twelve months for throwing sand in a Singhalese +man's eyes and then robbing him of his comb. When released he fell in +with other criminals, from whom he learnt many new tricks of the trade. +Once he was stealing some clothes from a line when the lady of the house +saw him. A hue and cry was raised, and he soon found himself surrounded +with coolies and dogs. Seeing that there was no chance of escape, he +began to jump and scream and go through all sorts of antics. The lady, +thinking he was mad, and having pity on him, let him go. + +He has seen the inside of nearly all the Colombo jails, but without +being made any better. Finally, he was received into our Home. At first +he was rather troublesome, but after a short time he gave his heart to +God, and has been doing well. "He cannot read or write," says the +Captain in charge, "but he prays like a divine, and I am believing to +see him become an Officer some day." + + +JANIS + +Was brought from his village by a Singhalese gentleman when quite a +little boy, but, leaving his master, thought he would start life on his +own account. He soon became a practised thief. "I always managed to +escape," he says, "till one day with some of my companions I robbed a +Buddhist temple. I managed to get a silver 'patara' (plate), which we +sold for Rs. 24, but was caught and sent to jail." "But you were +yourself a Buddhist," said the Captain. "How came you to rob your own +temple?" "What of that? I thought nothing of sin in those days. But it +is all so different now. I am saved, and mean to spend all my life in +saving others. I am just now practising a song to sing in the meeting +to-night." + +The Captain asked him whether he did not think it a great disgrace to go +to jail. "Oh, no! I thought everybody in Colombo had been there some +time or other. All the people with whom I mixed had been." "Well, how +did you like it?" "Oh, it was not such a bad place! The food was fairly +good, and I had not to work very hard but I wish I had known about +salvation sooner. Even then I used to wish that I could find something +which would _make_ me good, but all my efforts were in vain till I came +to the Home, and got saved." + +In conclusion, I feel sure that a few brief particulars regarding this +branch of our work in Australia will be read with interest, and will +serve to prove the usefulness of this portion of our social reform +scheme: + +Some six or seven, Prisoners' Homes have been established in +Australasia. The Victorian Government give an annual grant of £1,000, to +assist us in this branch of our work. Special facilities are afforded to +our Officers in visiting the prisoners, and in some of the jails printed +notices are posted up by the authorities to the effect that any +prisoner, previous to discharge, may communicate with the officers in +charge of our Home, with a view to making a fresh start in life. + +The testimony of Sir Graham Berry, Agent General, the Chief Secretary, +the Inspector General of Penal Establishments, and the Chief +Commissioner of Police, proves conclusively how much good has thus been +done. The following extracts from their letters are copied from our +Australasian Prison Gate report:-- + +H.E. SIR H.B. LOCH, K.C.B., G.C.M.G., writes through his Private +Secretary to express "his approval and appreciation of the work done by +the Salvation Army in connection with the Prison Gate Brigades and +Rescued Sisters' Homes, and has great pleasure in expressing his belief +in the good which has resulted from the philanthrophic endeavours of the +Salvation Army to rescue and afford material assistance to those in +whose interests these organisations have been formed." + +SIR GRAHAM BERRY, Agent General for Victoria, writes:--"I have +confidence in the permanent results of your labours, because you, treat +these unfortunates as if they were human beings and capable of better +things. I believe your organisation is a very powerful agency for good +among that class which is practically neglected by others." + +CHIEF JUSTICE HIGGINBOTHAM says that "it is only proper to mention that +there is no better nor more useful work done in rescuing discharged +prisoners from relapsing into crime, than that effected by the Prison +Gate Brigade of the Salvation Army." + +Similar letters have also been received from the following gentlemen:-- + + + The Hon. ALFRED DEAKIN, M.L.A., Chief Secretary. + + The Hon. JAMES BALFOUR, M.L.C. + + The Hon. M.H. DAVIES, M.L.A. (Speaker of the Legislative Assembly). + + The Hon. F.F. DERHAM, M.L.A., Postmaster General. + + The Hon. H.T. WRIXON, M.L.A., Attorney General. + + The Hon. W.F. WALKER, M.L.A., Commissioner of Customs. + + Mr. JUSTICE KERFERD. + + The Bishop of MELBOURNE. + + W.G. BRETT, Esq., Inspector General, Penal Department. + + H.M. CHOMLEY, Esq., Chief Commissioner of Police. + + A. SHIELDS, Esq., M.P., Medical Officer, Melbourne Jail. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE DRUNKARD'S BRIGADE. + + +Hundreds of habitual drunkards have been soundly converted and reformed +in connection with our ordinary spiritual work in India. Probably there +are not less than 500 such enrolled in our ranks in this country, and +turned into staunch and perpetual abstainers. + +The terrible nature of the drinks and drugs consumed by the Natives, I +have already had occasion to describe, as also the increasingly large +number of those who are becoming enchained by the habit. + +In connection with our present Social Reform, special efforts will be +made to reach this class. They will be personally dealt with, and placed +as far as possible in circumstances that shall put them beyond the reach +of their besetting temptation. + +For some time past our Officers, more especially those in charge of the +Prison Gate work, have visited liquor-shops and opium and ganja dens, +speaking personally to the frequenters, and in some cases distributing +among them suitable appeals and warnings in regard to the fatal +consequences of the habit. + +Untimately it is intended to establish homes for the most hopeless class +of inebriates, both for those habituated to liquor and for those who are +the slaves of the still more fatal drugs, such as opium and bhang. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE RESCUE HOMES FOR THE FALLEN. + + +Here again we have made a beginning. It is now a year since the opening +of our Home in Colombo, and during that time 52 girls have been received +into our Home. Of these + + 2 have been restored to their friends, + + 4 are with others--doing well, + + 23 have turned out unsatisfactory, and + + 23 are with us in the Home, almost without exception giving evidence of + being truly reformed. + +Heart-rending are the tales which have reached our ears as to the way in +which many of them have been decoyed from their homes, and as to the +miserable existence which they have since been dragging out. + +Every Indian city teems with a too fast increasing number of similar +unfortunates, for whom at present nothing has been attempted. We +propose, therefore, very largely to extend our Homes at all the large +centres of population. + +Connected as will be this department with the network of other agencies +that we have already established, and increased as will be our +facilities for reaching this class, we are confident that we shall be +able to carry out this much-needed reform on a scale commensurate with +the evil, besides warning the youths of our cities against the terrible +contamination to which they are at present exposed. All the weight of +our increasing influence will be thrown into the scale for cutting off +both the supply and demand of this infamous traffic in human souls. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"THE COUNTRY COLONY"--"WASTEWARD HO!" + + +As has been already explained in the first part of this book, the +congested state of the labor market in the agricultural districts is +leading to an enormous and increasing immigration of the country +population towards the towns, not as a matter of preference, or of +choice, but of dire necessity. The object of the Country Colony, as +applied to India, will be twofold: + +1. It will seek to divert into more profitable channels the steadily +increasing torrent of immigration from the villages to the towns. + +2. It will re-direct and re-distribute the masses of the Submerged Tenth +who already exist in every large city. + +Like his English representative, the Indian village bumpkin has a +natural aversion to town life. Peculiarities in his dialect, dress, and +manners make him the laughing-stock of the clever Cockney townsman. His +simplicity and ignorance of the world cause him to be easily victimised +by the city sharper, for whom he is no match in the struggle of life. He +sighs for his green fields, and longs to get away from the bustle that +everywhere surrounds and bewilders him. He surrenders these preferences +only, because starvation is staring him in the face, and he has better +chances of working, begging, or stealing in the city than in his +village. + +And yet within a few miles of his birthplace there are frequently tracts +of waste land amply sufficient to support him and thousands more. He +could reduce it to cultivation if he had the chance. He would infinitely +prefer eking out the scantiest existence in this manner to flinging +himself into the turbulent whirlpool of town life. Strangely enough the +"Sirkar" (Government), to whom these tracts belong, is equally anxious +that the land in question should be cultivated. It would yield in the +course of a few years as rich a revenue as the acres of exactly similar +soil that have been brought under cultivation in the neighbourhood. But +the difficulties in the way are well nigh insuperable: + +1. The congested labor consists almost entirely of those castes which +are looked upon as inferior. The very idea of their emancipation is +distasteful to the higher castes, who enjoy in most parts of India an +almost exclusive monopoly of the land. Hence any effort to obtain a +grant of waste land is met with strong and often bitter opposition, and +it is next door to impossible for any one in the position of the +Submerged Tenth to fight the battle through. + +2. Of course, under the British Government these caste distinctions are +not officially recognised. But as a matter of fact they still carry +great weight. Anybody can, it is true, petition the Government for a +grant of this land, but to secure favourable consideration is almost +impossible. During the last four or five years I have personally +interested myself in several petitions, with a view to assisting the +petitioners, whom I knew to be thoroughly deserving of success. And yet +after going through a weary tissue of formalities, seldom lasting less +than a year, I have not known of a single favourable answer, nor have +these advances met with the least sort of encouragement. The Government +officials to whom these vast estates are entrusted are mostly so +preoccupied with other work that it is impossible for them to give to +the subject the personal attention that it requires, and they are guided +by the reports of interested and sometimes bribed subordinates. The very +fact that they are entitled to draw exactly the same salary whether the +public estate improves or not, removes the incentive that would +otherwise exist, even if they were the absentee landlords of the +property, while the constant liability to be transferred from one +district to another aggravates the difficulty of the situation. + +3. Again, there is a lack of the capital necessary for the initial +expenses of the cultivator in sinking wells, building houses, supplying +cattle and obtaining both seed and food till the harvest has been +gathered in. + +4. The lack of combination among the congested mass of labourers is +another serious evil. They are as sheep without a shepherd. Individually +they have no influence. Collectively they are capable of becoming a +mighty power. What is needed at the present moment is a directing head +and an enfolding organisation that shall gather them together, bind them +in one harmonious whole, and with the help of a friendly Government lead +them on to occupy and cultivate these waste lands, converting them into +districts inhabited by a sober, thrifty and enterprising population. +Without such a combination the efforts that are made by private +enterprise will continue to be carried out on such a petty scale as will +utterly fail to cope with or remove the existing evil, and will merely +serve to give relief in a few isolated cases. For instance I have in +mind one district where to my personal knowledge the amount of congested +labor cannot amount on the most moderate calculation to less than half a +million people. There is in their immediate neighbourhood abundance of +waste land capable of supporting them. The Government is anxious for +that land to be occupied. The people are eager to obtain and capable of +cultivating every piece of waste that can be placed at their disposal. +If, instead of leaving it to individual caprice and effort to carry on +in the present haphazard and redtape fashion, we are able on the one +hand to combine this mass of labor, and to obtain on the other hand from +Government the particulars of the land they are desirous of having +cultivated, and the most favorable terms on which it can be granted to +us, we shall be in a position with, but a very moderate amount of +capital at our command, to solve the double problem of the waste land +and waste labor, and that within a very short period. + +5. The religious influences which we should bring to bear on the +colonists would be invaluable, especially in the early days of these +colonies. The example of our Officers, their self-sacrificing devotion +to the interests of the people, the knowledge that they would gain +nothing by the success of the enterprise and that they were actuated +solely by the highest motives, the facts that they were sharing the +homes of the people, enduring the same hardships and eating the same +food, all this would act as an inspiration to the colonists when the +early days of trial and difficulty came upon them. No less an authority +than Mr. John Morley, M.P., remarked when he first heard of General +Booth's scheme, that he considered that its combination of religion with +the other details of the plan of campaign was its most hopeful feature, +and would be most likely to ensure its success. This seems to apply +especially to that portion of the scheme now under consideration. +Indeed, were such an enterprise directed solely by an agency destitute +of this powerful lever, we should anticipate failure in nine cases out +of ten, no matter how great the ability that directed and how abundant +the capital that could be commanded. Individual rapacity and selfishness +would spoil everything, and instead of a beautiful spirit of harmony and +self-sacrifice, we should find a lucky few gaining the prizes and the +masses left no better, perhaps worse, off than before. + +With these preliminary remarks I would introduce the Country Colony, as +suggested by General Booth. It will consist of the following branches, +to which no doubt others will be added as we advance:-- + + 1. The Suburban Farm in the vicinity of large cities, including + + (a) A dairy for the supply of milk, ghee, cream and butter. + + (b) A market garden for fruit and vegetables. + + 2. The Industrial Village. + + 3. The Social Territory or Poor Man's Paradise. + + 4. The City of Refuge. + + 5. Miscellaneous: + + (a) Gangs for public works, such as tanks, railways, roads, &c. + + (b) Gangs for tea gardens. + + (c) Land along the railways. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE SUBURBAN FARM. + + +The connecting link between the City Colony and the Country Colony will +be the Suburban Farm. Situated conveniently near to the largest cities, +it will serve many important purposes. + +1. It will form the channel, or outlet, by which the agricultural +portion of the labor overflow in the cities will make its way back to +the country. In fact, it will constitute a sort of sluice which will in +time act with the same regularity and ease as those which are attached +to any reservoir of water, directing to the most needy places, and +distributing without waste, those very waters which if uncontrolled +would sweep everything before them as a devastating flood. + +2. It will at the same time find a ready market in the city, not only +for its own produce, but for that of the other branches of the country +colony, with which it would be in constant and close communication. + +3. It will supply the city with wholesome and unadulterated dairy +produce, together with the best fruits and vegetables, at the ordinary +market rates. These could be disposed of either wholesale to city +merchants, or by moans of stalls in the various markets, or we could +undertake to retail them in connection with our Household Salvage +Brigade. The Suburban Farm would consist of, say, from fifty to five +hundred acres of land in the immediate neighbourhood of a city. It would +combine three or more separate departments. + +1. _The Dairy._ Buffaloes and cows would be given us by friends, +besides being purchased and reared by us, in large numbers. To tend +them, milk them, prepare the ghee, cream and butter, and to convey it +all to town, would find employment for a large number of the Submerged +Tenth. + +2. The _Market Garden_ would employ a still larger number. Bananas grow +quickly in all parts of India, and with them we could make an immediate +beginning, introducing from different districts the best species. +Sugar-cane and other popular native products would receive special +attention, and where the European population in the neighbourhood was +sufficiently numerous we could include the cultivation of such fruits +and vegetables as would be liked by them. In the case of seaport towns +we should no doubt do a large business with the steamers in the harbour, +as for instance, in Bombay, Colombo, or Calcutta. + +3. We should probably at an early period transfer some of the industrial +brigades enumerated in Chapter VI to our Suburban Farm. In doing this +there would be several obvious advantages: + + (a) We should have more elbow room for them on the Farm, than in the + Labor Yards, where land would be so expensive that we should be + obliged to crowd everything into the smallest possible compass, + both in regard to work sheds and sleeping accommodation. + + (b) In removing them from the contaminating influences of city life, + we should be able to exercise a more personal and powerful influence + upon these members of the Submerged Tenth and should stand a far + better chance of effectively carrying out that spiritual and moral + regeneration, without which we reckon that any mere temporal + reformation would be ineffective and evanescent. + + (c) We should prevent our labor yards from getting gorged, and would + keep them within manageable dimensions. At the same time that we + should cope more effectively with all existing distress. + + (d) The Suburban Farm being closely connected with other portions of + our Country Colony, we should be able to use the latter to relieve + it in case of its becoming in turn overcrowded by the influx from + the City. + + (e) It would thus form a natural stepping-stone to the Industrial + Village, which we have next to describe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE. + + +For the Industrial Village we have already before our very eyes an +admirable object lesson in the existing organisation and subdivision of +an ordinary Indian village. Indeed it is singular how precisely India +has anticipated just what General Booth now proposes to introduce in +civilized Europe. + +The village community so familiar to all who have resided in India +consists of an independent or rather interdependent, co-operative +association which constitutes a miniature world of its own, producing +its own food and manufacturing its own clothes, shoes, earthenware, +pots, &c, with its own petty government to decide all matters affecting +the general welfare of the little commonwealth. Very wisely the British +rulers of India have left this interesting relic of ancient times +untouched, so that the institution can be seen in complete working order +at the present day all over India. The onward march of civilisation has +somewhat shaken the fabric and has threatened the existence of several +of the village industries. But at present there has not been any radical +alteration. The village may still be seen divided up into its various +quarters. + +Take for instance a village in Gujarat. Those substantial houses in the +centre belong to the well-to-do landowners. The cultivators or tenants +have their quarters close alongside. The group of huts belonging to the +weavers is easily distinguishable by the rude looms and apparatus for +the manufacture of the common country cloth. The tanners' quarter is +equally well marked, and yonder the groups at work with mud and wheel +and surrounded with earthenware vessels of various shapes and sizes, +remind you that you are among the Potters. + +On inquiring into the interior economy of the village a system of +payment in kind and exchange of goods for labour and grain is found to +prevail exactly similar to that suggested by General Booth. Only here we +have the immense advantage that instead of having to explain and +institute a radical reform in the existing system, we have to deal with +millions of people who are thoroughly imbued with these principles from +their infancy. + +For instance one of the staple articles of food in the village consists +of buttermilk, which is distributed by the high caste among the low +caste from year's end to year's end in return for petty services. One of +the usual ways in which the high caste will punish the low, for any +course of conduct to which they object is by the terrible threat of +stopping their supply of "chas," which means usually nothing short of +starvation. + +Here then is our model in good working order and in exact accordance +with the ideal sketched out by General Booth. We cannot do better than +adhere to it as closely as possible. + +Probably the first industrial settlement which we shall establish, in +addition to the labor yards and suburban farms already referred to, will +consist of a colony of Weavers in Gujarat. + +For this we shall have special facilities, as we have now 150 Officers +at work in that part of the country, as well as more than 2,000 enrolled +adults, a large proportion of whom have been in our ranks for several +years. From amongst these we shall be able to select thoroughly reliable +superintendents (both European and Native), and shall be able to take +full advantage of their local experience. + +But how far we shall consider it wise to confine our first settlement +to one particular caste or to include within it from the outset some +other useful village industries such as have been above referred to, I +am not as yet prepared to say. Much will necessarily depend on the +course that events may hereafter take. For the present I can only say +that we will adhere as closely as possible to our Indian model. + +The one weak point about the Indian system, as it at present exists, is, +that there is no means of regulating the proportion of labour in each +section of the community. The rules of caste prevent any transfer from +one trade to another, while there is no system of intercommunication +between the villages to enable them to readily transfer their surplus +population to the places where they would be most needed. In a case +where some village industry is threatened with annihilation, as for +instance the weavers, there is absolutely no provision for the transfer +of the unfortunate victims of civilisation either to some more favored +locality or to some other sphere of labour. + +Now this is just where our combined plan of campaign with its union of +City, Country, and Over-sea Colonies would step in and supply the +missing link. We should be able to direct the glut of labor into just +those channels where it would be the most useful. + +And why should this be thought impracticable? Everybody is acquainted +with the power of wind, water and steam, where properly directed, to +move the most gigantic machinery and yet for centuries those powers were +suffered to go to waste. It is only of late that we have learnt for +instance to put chains upon the genii of the tea-kettle, to put them as +it were into harness, to bridle them and to compel them to drag our huge +leviathans across thousands of miles of ocean. May not the enormous +mass of waste labor that has accumulated in our cities and rural +districts be fitly compared to the former waste of steam. The best that +we have been able to do for it so far has been to provide for it the +safety valves of beggary, destitution, famine, pestilence, crime, +imprisonment and the gallows. + +Is it too much to suppose that this enormous waste of human steam, the +most valuable sort of steam that the world contains, can be properly +controlled and guided so that it will make for itself railways and +steamers that shall carry its human cargoes by millions across lands +that are at present mere wastes, and to populate countries which are as +yet wildernesses? In doing so, we shall but fulfil the words of prophecy +uttered 26,000 years ago. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall +be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. +It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing.* * +For in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. +And the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs +of water.* * * And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be +called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, but it +shall be for those. The way-faring men, though fools shall not err +therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up +thereon; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, +and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Sion with songs +and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and +gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE SOCIAL TERRITORY, OR, POOR MAN'S PARADISE. + + +Probably the biggest wholesale emigration scheme ever undertaken was +that of Israel out of Egypt into Canaan, under the leadership of Moses. +The circumstances were so very similar to those with which we are +dealing, that I may be excused for referring to them, as they have a +direct bearing on the present problem, and may help largely towards its +solution. It is said that "History repeats itself" and certainly this is +true in regard to the evils that then existed, and we do not see why the +remedy should not in some respect correspond. + +Looking back then, we find that there was in Egypt in the year 1,500 +B.C. a submerged tenth, consisting of 600,000 able-bodied men with their +wives and families and numbering therefore at least two and a half +million souls. They constituted a distinct caste, or nation, which had +been grafted into the original Egyptian stock 430 years previously. +Owing to hereditary customs, race distinctions and religious differences +they had preserved their identity and had never become assimulated with +the Egyptians. It was a famine that had driven them to take refuge in +Egypt at a time when their numbers were so few that their presence +caused no particular inconvenience to the original inhabitants, while +the services of the King's Vazir, to whose caste they belonged secured +them a suitable reception. + +At the time however when we take up their history a change had taken +place. Their numbers had immensely increased. The labor market was +deluged with them. The rulers, capitalists and landowners began to +tremble for their very existence. Enormous public works were planned and +the enslaved caste were compelled to carry out their allotted labour +under rigorous taskmasters, who made their lives a burden to them. Still +their numbers continued to increase. Alarmed at the prospect of an +impending revolution, the King gave orders that every male child of the +Hebrews should be drowned, thinking thus to stamp out the nation. It is +easy to imagine therefore that affairs must have come to a desperate +pass, when from the palace of Pharaoh and yet from among their own caste +a deliverer was raised up to organise and carry out the wholesale +emigration of the entire nation. + +Looked at in this light it was certainly the boldest venture and +greatest scheme of the kind that had ever been conceived, and without +the aid of remarkable miraculous displays of Divine power Moses could +never have carried out so magnificent a project. + +Everything appeared to be against him. The people whom he had come to +deliver were an undisciplined mob of cowardly slaves, whose spirit had +been crushed by years of cruel tyranny. They were unarmed and +unaccustomed to war. They were the subjects of the most powerful +military monarchy of those times. For them to dream of emigrating must +have seemed the wildest folly. On the one hand the Egyptians would not +hear of it, and their way would be barred by legions of the best +soldiers the world could produce. On the other hand the country to which +they were to emigrate was already occupied by numerous and warlike +tribes, who would contest every inch of territory. Added to this there +was a "great and howling wilderness" which separated the one country +from the other. + +Hence it will be seen that this vast national emigration scheme was +carried out by Moses under circumstances of peculiar difficulty which do +not exist in the problem at present under consideration. + +There are the same destitute hunger-bitten multitudes, it is true, and +the same difficulty arises before us as to what to do with these +steadily increasing hordes. The same Egyptian remedy, the construction +of vast public works, has been resorted to over and over again, with the +effect of giving temporary, but not permanent relief. In some respects +the position of the Hebrews in Egypt was preferable to that of the +destitute masses in India. They seem at least to have had no lack of +food and shelter, and if they had to work hard, and were cruelly treated +by their taskmasters, we have become familiar in the Indian villages +with many instances of cruelty in the treatment of the low caste by the +high such as could not well have been surpassed in Egypt itself, to say +nothing of the extortions of the money-lender and the ravages of famine +and pestilence referred to elsewhere. + +But in many respects the situation is far more hopeful. Our Pharaoh is a +Christian Queen, under whom we have, not one, but many Josephs, who are +really anxious for the highest welfare of the submerged masses, and who +are likely to hail with gladness (as has been already the case in +England) any project which bids fair to alleviate permanently the +existing misery. The wealth and power of the British Government and +Nation, instead of being used to hinder such a scheme, is likely to be +thrown bodily into the scale in favour of all reasonable reform that +will help congested labour to redistribute itself and recover its normal +balances. + +Again the progress of science and civilization has removed immense +barriers that previously existed, and railways, steamers, post and +telegraph have rendered possible for us, if not comparatively easy, what +was before only within the reach of miraculous manifestations of Divine +Power. + +Furthermore, _the land is there, plenty of it, for centuries to come_, +some of it across the seas, within easy reach of our steamers, but a +great deal of it quite close at hand. Nor will it be necessary to +dispossess others to occupy it. The only enemies that will have to be +faced are the wild beasts, always ready to beat a retreat when man +appears. It does not even belong to some different nationality or +Government, jealous of our encroachments, but is the property of the +same Power to whom these destitute multitudes are looking for their +daily bread. + +Hence it is impossible to imagine circumstances more favorable than +those which already exist in India at the moment that General Booth's +scheme is placed before the public, towards the carrying out on an +enormous scale, hitherto never dreamt of, the portion of his projects +referred to in the present chapter. + +What I would propose is that a considerable section of waste Territory +should be assigned to us and placed at our disposal in some suitable +part of India, upon which we could plant colonies of the destitute, +similar in many respects to those already described, save that we should +here carry out on a wholesale scale what elsewhere we should be doing by +retail. Into this central lake or reservoir all our scattered streams +would empty themselves, till it was so far full that we should require +to repeat the process elsewhere. Beginning with a single social +reservation in some specially selected district, we should easily be +able to repeat the experiment elsewhere on an even larger scale +profiting as we went along by our accumulated experience. + +From the first, however, I should suppose that it would be preferable to +carry out the manoeuvre on as large a scale as possible, for the reason +that this is just one of those things which will be found easier to do +wholesale than retail. + +We have many illustrations of this in business. The merchant who amasses +a colossal fortune will perhaps scarcely spend an hour a day in +superintending the working of an establishment that covers half an acre, +while the poor retail shopkeeper over the way toils from early morning +to late at night and is scarcely able then to earn a bare subsistence +for the support of his family. + +Compare again the labour and profits of a boatman in Bombay Harbour, +with those of the owner of an ocean going steamer. The former toils day +and night at the peril of his life and earns but little, while the +latter rests comfortably at home and enjoys a handsome income. + +Or again let the village hand-loom weaver be pitted against the Bombay +Mill-owner, and we see at a glance that under certain circumstances it +_pays_ infinitely better to do things on a large than on a small scale, +and that in so doing the amount of labour and risk are also economised. + +Now this applies to the proposal contained in this chapter. Given a +people who are well acquainted with Indian agriculture and who are +willing to be moved;--given a leader and an organisation in which they +have confidence;--given those religious and moral influences which will +so help them in overcoming the initial difficulties of the enterprise; +and given a suitable tract of country which (without displacing existing +population) they can occupy, and I would say with confidence that it +will be found easier to accomplish the transfer on a large than on a +small scale, by wholesale rather than by retail. + +In the present case all the above conditions are satisfied. The entire +congested labor of the rural districts is thoroughly versed from +childhood in the arts of Indian agriculture. They are willing in many +parts of the country to emigrate by thousands even across the "kala +pani," to which they have such an intense and religious aversion, or to +enlist by thousands in our merchant marine and military forces. Much +more then will they be willing to emigrate in far larger numbers to +districts close at hand. A leader to inspire, an organisation to enfold, +and a plan of campaign to guide, have in the most marvellous manner +almost dropped from the skies since the publication of General Booth's +book. The religious and moral restraints and incentives, so important +for guarding against the abuses of selfishness and for inspiring with a +spirit of cheerful self-sacrifice, are provided, and that in a purely +_Native garb_, and yet with all the advantages of European leadership +and enthusiasm. And finally there is land in abundance which Government +desires to see colonised, and which is being slowly retailed out bit by +bit in a manner altogether unworthy of the urgent necessities of the +occasion. + +What then is there to hinder a big bold experiment? General Booth will +have in England largely to _make_ his agriculturists before he can put +them upon the land. Here in India we have _millions_ of skilled +destitutes ready to hand, and it will be possible within a very short +period with a few bold strokes to relieve the congested labor market +from one end of India to the other in a manner that can hardly now be +conceived. + +Is not this plan infinitely superior to the spasmodic Egyptian +expedient of occasional public works, which cost the State enormous sums +and only increase the local difficulty as soon as they are completed? +Should we not here be erecting a satisfactory and permanent bulwark +against the future inroads of famine? Shall we not rather be increasing +the public revenue for future years by millions of pounds and that +without adding a single new tax, or relying upon sources so uncertain +and detrimental to the public welfare as those founded upon the +consumption of drugs and liquors that destroy the health of the people? +Shall we not again be increasing the stability and glory of the Empire +in caring for its destitute masses and in turning what is now a danger +to the State into a peaceful, prosperous and contented community? And +finally will not our Poor Man's Paradise be infinitely superior from +every point of view to the miserable regulation _workhouse_, that is in +other countries offered by the State, or again to the system of +charitable doles and wholesale beggary that at present exists? To me it +seems that there is indeed no comparison between the two, and General +Booth's book has opened out a vista of happiness to the poor, such as we +should hardly have conceived possible save in connection with a +Christian millennium or a Hindoo "_Kal Yug._" + +But it may be objected by some that in providing those outlets for the +destitute, we should in the end only aggravate the difficulty by +enormously increasing the population. This reminds one of the gigantic +folly of the miser with his hoards of gold. An amusing eastern anecdote +is told of one who having gone two or three miles to say his prayers to +a mosque suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to put out an oil +lamp before leaving home. He at once retraced his steps and on reaching +his house called out to the servant girl to be sure and put out the +light. She replied that she had already done so, and that it was a pity +he had wasted his shoe leather in walking back so far to remind her. To +this he answered that he had already thought of this and had therefore +taken off his shoes and carried them under his arm so as not to wear +them out! + +And here you have a wretched class of miserly so-called "_economists_" +who are afraid to light their lamp, lest they should burn the oil, and +who would rather sleep in the darkness, doing nothing, or break their +necks fumbling about in their vain efforts to do little, when for a +farthing dip they may put in hours of profitable toil! And when a shoe +is provided for the swollen foot of a nation they are so afraid of +wasting their shoe leather, that they would rather hobble about belamed +with thorns, stones, heat, or cold, than lay out the little that is +necessary to bring them so ample a return! + +Each labourer represents to the state what the piece of gold is to the +miser. He is the human capital of the nation and is capable of producing +annual interest at the rate of at least a hundred per cent, if placed in +sufficiently favourable circumstances. What folly is it then, nay what +culpable negligence, nay what nothing short of criminality to sink this +human gold in the bogs of beggary and destitution! Man is the most +wonderful piece of machinery that exists in the world! The cleverest +inventions of human science sink into insignificance in comparison with +him! The whole universe is so planned that his services _cannot_ be +dispensed with and indeed he is at the same time the most beautiful +ornament and the essential keystone of the entire fabric! The utmost +that science itself can do is to increase his productive powers. + +But the idea of dispensing with the service of a single human being, or +of consigning him hopelessly to the perdition of beggary, destitution, +famine and pestilence is the most stupendous act of folly conceivable. +What should we think of a railway company that would shunt half its +engines on to a siding and leave them to the destructive influence of +rain and dust? And how shall we characterise the stupidity that shall +shunt millions of serviceable human beings into circumstances of misery +so appalling as well as of uselessness so entire, as those which we have +endeavoured to picture? Why, here we have not even the decency of a +siding! These wonderfully made semi-Divine human engines are suffered to +obstruct the very main lines on which our expresses run, not only +wrecked themselves, but the fruitful cause of wreckage to millions more! + +But I have said enough I trust to show that the problem is not a +hopeless one, and that the portion of General Booth's scheme to which +this chapter refers is particularly applicable to India and capable of +being successfully put into operation on a scale commensurate with the +necessities of the hour. + +Having obtained our territory we should proceed to mark it out, and to +direct into the most advantageous channels, the inflowing tide of +immigration. There would be a threefold division into agricultural +districts which would furnish food for the incoming population, a +pastoral district for the cattle, and a central market, which would +furnish the pivot on which all the rest would work. Our agricultural and +dairy farm proposal I have already fully discussed and will now proceed +to describe the social City of Refuge which will act as a sort of solar +system round which all the minor constellations would revolve. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE SOCIAL CITY OF REFUGE. + + +I am tempted again to turn to Hebrew history to find a parallel for what +would I believe be easily accomplished at an early period in connection +with our "Poor Man's Paradise." I refer to what was styled the "City of +Refuge." The object of this institution was to provide a temporary +shelter for those who had unintentionally killed any one, so that they +might escape from "the avenger of blood." If on inquiry it could be +proved that the death was purely accidental, the fugitive was entitled +to claim protection until by the death of the high priest, the blood +should have been expiated when he would be free to return to his home +and people. If, on the other hand, it were a case of premeditated +murder, the city authorities were bound to hand over the fugitive to +justice. + +The careful provision made by the Hebrew law for the occasional +manslayer surely casts a severe reflection on the millions who, many of +them through no fault of their own, represent the submerged tenth! Let +us leave for the time being the wilful criminals who are the open +enemies of society to be dealt with as severely as you like by the arm +of the law. Turn for a moment a pitying gaze towards those hungry +destitute multitudes, who cannot it may be, plead their own cause, but +whose woes surely speak with an eloquence that no mere words could ever +match! Why should we not provide them with a City of Refuge, where they +will have a chance of regaining their feet? If it be urged that their +numbers preclude such a possibility, we would reply that it has already +been proved in the previous chapter, that this will in really make +our task the more easy. The impetus and enthusiasm created by a movement +in mass tends largely to ensure its success. + +If on the other hand it be urged that our object is to divert the flow +of population from cities to villages, it must be remembered that this +does not preclude the creation of new towns and cities, which shall +furnish convenient centres and markets for the surrounding villages. It +is not a part of General Booth's scheme to abolish cities, but rather to +dispose suitably of their superfluous population. And no doubt in course +of time the world will be covered not only with suburban farms and +industrial villages, but with cities which for commercial importance and +in other respects will rival any that now exist. + +I am the more encouraged to believe that this will be particularly +practicable in India for the following reasons. + +1. We have an enormous population close at hand. If at a distance of +12,000 to 14,000 miles, England can build its Melbournes, Sydneys and +Adelaides, surely it does not require a very great stretch of +imagination to suppose that here in our very midst with millions upon +millions of people at disposal we shall be able to repeat what has +already been elsewhere accomplished under circumstances so specially +disadvantageous. + +2. Again let it be remembered that in this case we should have the +special advantage of carrying out the work on a carefully organised plan +and in connection with a scheme possessing immense ramifications all +over India and the world. + +3. Once more, India supplies labor at the cheapest conceivable rate, so +that the cost would be infinitesimal as compared with the other +countries just mentioned. + +4. Another important fact is that the laborers are accustomed to be +paid in kind, and to carry on a system of exchange of goods which will +further minimise the cost of the undertaking. + +5. A still more encouraging element in the solving of our Indian problem +is the fact that nearly every native is a skilled artizan and you can +hardly meet with one who has not from childhood been taught some +handicrafts. Indeed the majority both of men and women are acquainted +with two or three different trades, besides being accustomed from +childhood to draw their own water, wash their clothes and do their +cooking. Hence it is impossible to find a more self-helpful race in the +world. + +6. Again this very thing has been already done in India itself, +especially by its great Mahommedan rulers, hundreds of years ago, and +that under circumstances, which made the undertaking infinitely more +difficult than would now be the case. What was possible to them then, is +equally possible to us now. + +7. Finally in the midst of some of the very waste tracts of which we +have spoken may be found cities which were once the flourishing centres +of as large and enterprising a population as can anywhere be seen. Why +should not such places be restored to their former prosperity instead of +being handed over to become "the habitation of owls and dragons." + +The selection of the site of the future city would of course be made +with due reference to advantages of climate, water, and communication +and it would be planned out previous to occupation with every +consideration of convenience, health, and economy. Gangs of workmen +would precede the arrival of the regular inhabitants, though we should +largely rely upon the latter to build for themselves such simple yet +sufficiently substantial dwellings as would meet the necessities of the +case. We might reasonably anticipate, moreover, that the influx of +population would attract of its own accord a certain proportion of +well-to-do capitalists, for whom a special quarter of the town could be +reserved and to whom special facilities could be granted for their +encouragement, consistent with the general well-being of the community. + +It would be easy to fill many pages with a description of the internal +colony, the business routine, the simple recreations, the practical +system of education for the children and the lively religious services +that would constitute the daily life of the City of Refuge. Suffice it +to say that we should spare no pains to promote in every way the +temporal and spiritual welfare of its inhabitants, to banish drunkenness +and immorality, to guard against destitution and to establish a happy +holy Godfearing community, that would constitute a beacon of light and +hope not only for its own immediate surroundings but far and wide for +all India and the East. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +SUPPLEMENTARY BRANCHES OF THE COUNTRY COLONY. + + +(1.) _Public Works_-- + +While the central idea of the entire system will be that of providing +permanent, as contrasted with temporary work for the destitute, there is +no reason why the former should not be supplemented by the latter. The +great public works which at present afford occasional relief for +thousands would still be possible, only provision would be made for the +redistribution of the masses of labour thus withdrawn from the ordinary +channels as soon as the public work in question was completed. + +For this again we possess a scriptural parallel in the "levy out of all +Israel" raised by King Solomon, consisting of thirty thousand men who +were sent "to Lebanon ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were +in Lebanon and two months at home." In addition to the above we find +that he employed seventy thousand "that bare burdens" and eighty +thousand "hewers in the mountains, beside the officers which were over +the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people +that wrought in the work." It was the elaborate organisation of these +laborers, and the provision for their spending a certain proportion of +their time at home, which enabled Solomon to carry out his great public +works without seriously deranging the labor market, or hindering the +prosperity of the nation. I have selected this instance because it is +from well authenticated sources, goes fully into details and refers to a +nation and country very much resembling India. Indeed it is almost +identical with the familiar Indian institution known as "begar" or +forced labour. + +The weak point of such special efforts is that they tend to leave +things in a worse position than ever when they are concluded. Nobody +sits down to calculate what is to become of the thousands who have been +drawn together, often hundreds of miles from their homes, when the time +comes for them to be paid off. They are thrown bodily upon the labor +market and left to shift for themselves as best they can, without any +means of informing themselves where they ought to go, or into what other +channels they can most profitably direct their labor. + +This evil we hope to obviate by means of our Labor Bureaux, which will +be planted in every city and district, and will keep such elaborate +returns as will enable to watch all the fluctuations of the labor +market. + +For instance let us be informed of the fact that a railway is to be +opened, a canal dug, or some other public work constructed in a +particular district, we should be able to calculate from our returns the +amount of labor that could conveniently be withdrawn from existing +channels, and the amount that would have to be imported. + +We should be able to constitute a Solomon's levy (voluntary of course), +and the laborers would have the assurance that when the work on which +they were engaged was concluded, sufficient provision would be made for +their reemployment elsewhere, or for their restoration to their ordinary +occupation. Our Labor Bureau would thus do for the laborer what is at +present impossible for him to do for himself, and would economise his +time to the utmost. + + +(2.) _Off to the Tea Gardens_-- + +We should be able again to supply the Tea and Coffee Districts with +gangs of laborers, and should guard the interests of both employer and +employed. The former would be supplied with picked laborers at the +ordinary market rate, without the worry, delay and expense of having to +procure them for themselves. The latter would be kept in communication +with their families, and could be worked in "courses" on Solomon's plan. + + +(3.) _Land along the Railways_-- + +Among other proposals General Booth suggests that the land along the +Railway lines might well be utilised for the purpose of spade husbandry. +There seems no reason why these extensive strips of often fertile soil +should be left to go to waste, conveniently situated as they are on +borders of the main arteries of commerce and in close vicinity to +stations. + + +(4.) _Improved methods of Agriculture_-- + +This is a subject which deserves a chapter to itself in a country like +India. If it be true that there are millions of acres of waste land that +are only waiting to be cultivated to yield a rich return, it is equally +notorious that by improved methods of agriculture the present produce of +the soil may be doubled and trebled. To this subject we intend to pay +the full attention that it deserves, making the best possible use of +Native experience and European science. We shall be in a peculiarly +favorable situation for experiments on a large scale. But this is a +subject on which we cannot at present do more than touch, reserving for +a future period the elaboration of schemes which will doubtless have an +enormous reflexive effect upon the whole of India, and thus materially +increase the wealth of the entire country and the revenue of the +Government. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE OVER-SEA COLONY. + + +As in England, so in India, the establishment of a colony over the sea +will in the end prove the necessary completion of our scheme for +supplying work to the workless. There are sure to be found eventually in +overcrowded centres many for whom work at home cannot be found, and for +whom vast reaches of unoccupied territories in other lands wait to +afford a home. + +Happily this will not be an immediate necessity in India. Over the +extended area occupied by the various races which comprise the Indian +Empire, large tracts of land still wait to be conquered by well-directed +industry, and the numerous settlements which it will be possible to form +in different parts of the country may for some time to come absorb the +surplus labour, add to the wealth of the country, the stability of the +Empire and the more rapid advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. Since, +however, we must look forward to emigration as the ultimate solution of +the problem which confronts us, we shall briefly indicate the lines upon +which we propose to carry it out. + +In the establishment of Over-sea Colonies we shall follow very closely +the lines laid down in "Darkest England." + +At present the continuous stream of emigrant labour flowing into +existing colonies already overstocked with labor, is creating serious +difficulties, and we have no idea of relieving a congested labour market +in one country by overstocking another: this would be, not to heal the +disorder, but only to shift the locality. + +It may not be generally known how extensively emigration is already +resorted to by the people of India. We know that the impression is +abroad that Indians will not leave their country, that they fear the +sea, are too much attached to their home and their customs, and are far +too much filled with the dread of losing caste to yield to any pressure +that may be brought to bear upon them to quit the shores of their own +land for foreign fields of labour. As a matter of fact, however, +emigration to a considerable extent already exists. + +In Ceylon alone there are nearly 300,000 Tamil coolies employed on the +Tea Estates, besides hundreds of thousands more who have permanently +settled in various parts of the Island. Vast tracts in the Island are +still waiting to be occupied. The former population of Ceylon is +variously estimated as having been from twelve to thirty millions,--now +it is only three! Is it impossible for us to suppose that it can be +restored to its former prosperity? Immense tanks and irrigation works +cover the entire country in tracts which are now unoccupied and desolate. +Many of these have been restored by Government, and there are now +100,000 acres of irrigable land in that country, only waiting to be +occupied and cultivated. Government is ready to give it on easy terms. +Here, then, alone is a wide and hopeful field for Indian emigration, +only requiring to be skilfully directed in order to find a home and +living for millions of India's destitute. + +Now what we propose to do is not to check the stream of emigration, nor +yet to help it to flow on in its present channel until it overflows its +banks and engulfs in ruin the colonies it might have enriched, but +rather to dig out new channels, founding entirely new colonies in +districts yet unoccupied, on the plan laid down in "Darkest England." + +The stream which, diverted into 20 or 30 channels, would enrich and +fertilize a whole continent, would if confined to one or two channels +burst its banks and become a desolating flood. + +We shall ourselves become the leaders of the coolies, and dig out +channels in Ceylon, in Africa, in South America, and other countries, +building up from entirely new centres new colonies and territories and +kingdoms where the Indian colonist would find himself not a stranger in +a strange land, unwelcome, neglected, or illtreated, but at home in a +new India, more prosperous and happy than the one he had left behind,--a +colony peopled and possessed and managed by those of his own race and +language. + +Emigration carried on simply in the interests of those who promote it +and derive a profit out of it, without regard to the needs of the +districts to which they are exported, and with absolute disregard to the +comfort and convenience of the emigrant, and often attended with +heartless cruelties, must necessarily be fraught with grave evils. These +we believe we should largely be able to obviate. In vessels chartered by +ourselves or in some way under our direction, and with every comfort and +convenience which can be secured for the limited sum available for cost +of transit, for men, women, and children, under the direct +superintendence of our own trained officers, what a curtailment of human +suffering and shame there will be in the transit of the Colonist alone! +On his arrival he will be met by those who, if strangers, are his +friends, and who will secure for him comfortable quarters, communicate, +or enable the emigrant to communicate, with his friends at home, +introduce him to the particular industry to which he is assigned, and +who will not cease their personal care of him until he is happily +settled in his new home, and who will afterwards be available for +advice and counsel. He will find himself, not amongst people who are +eager to secure their own profit at his expense, but a part of a +commonwealth where each is taught to seek the good of his neighbour, and +where the laws are framed to secure and perpetuate this desirable +condition of things. A community where the blessings of home and +education and sanitary laws and religion are valued and made available +for all, and where liberty, which nowhere shines so sweetly as amongst a +frugal, industrious, intelligent, simple and godly people, reigns in +truth. + +Moreover, our widely extended operations, our connection and oneness +with the great social movement of the Army in various lands, and the +regulations which will control the movement, will enable us invariably +to convey our colonists to fields where their labours will be of the +greatest value, and instantly to check any tendency to excess of labour +at any given centre, and even at times to greatly relieve temporary +gluts in the labor market arising from unforeseen circumstances. + +In short, it is scarcely possible to overrate the blessings likely to +flow from Colonies where drink and opium will be unprocurable, where +vice will be repressed, where greed will receive little encouragement +and have few opportunities to grow, and where the comparative absence of +poverty on the one hand, and of extreme wealth on the other and the +general contentment of the people, will make life on earth a joy to +those who were once nearly starved out of it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES. + + +(1) THE INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT. + +In connection with our Labor Bureau we shall establish an intelligence +department, the duty of which will be to collect all kinds of +information likely to be of use in prosecuting our Social Reform. + +For instance, it would watch the state of the labor market, would +ascertain where there was a lack of labor and where a glut, would inform +the public of the progress of the movement, would bring to our notice +any newspaper criticisms or suggestions, and would generally make itself +useful in a thousand ways. + + +(2) THE POOR MAN'S LAWYER. + +This would meet a long-felt want, and could also be worked in connection +with the Labor Bureau. + +The poor would be able to get sound legal advice in regard to their +difficulties, and we should be able to help them in their defence where +we believed them to be wronged. + + +(3) THE INQUIRY OFFICE FOR MISSING FRIENDS. + +This has been established for some time in England with admirable +success, our worldwide organization enabling us to trace people under +the most unfavorable circumstances. No doubt there would be much scope +for such a department in India. At the outset it would form part of the +duties of the Labor Bureau, and would not therefore entail any extra +expense. + + +(4) THE MATRIMONIAL BUREAU. + +A thoroughly confidential matrimonial bureau which would wisely advise +people desirous of getting married, would certainly be of great service +in India. Its operations would no doubt be small in the beginning, but +as it got to be known and trusted it would be more and more resorted to. + +Even supposing that outsiders should hold aloof from it, we should have +a large inside constituency to whom its operations would be very +valuable, and it would be thoroughly in accordance with native notions +for the mutual negotiations to be carried on in such a way. + +Missionaries are everywhere largely resorted to in regard to questions +of this kind; and we have every reason to believe that it would be so +with ourselves, and we should thus be able largely to guard our people +against ill-assorted matches, and to furnish them with wise counsel on +the subject. + + +(5) THE EMIGRATION BUREAU. + +The subject of emigration has been already referred to elsewhere. No +doubt we shall ultimately require a separate and special office for this +purpose in all the chief cities but at the outset its duties would fall +upon the Labor Bureau and Intelligence Departments who would collect all +the information they could preparatory to the launching of this part of +the scheme. + + +(6) PERIODICAL MELAS. + +In place of the "Whitechapel by the sea" proposed by General Booth, a +suitable Indian substitute would I think consist of periodical "melas" +similar to those already prevalent in various parts of the country. + +These might be arranged with the treble object of religious +instruction, bodily recreation, and in order to find an occasional +special market for the surplus goods that we produce. + +Everything would be managed with military precision. The place would be +previously prepared for the reception of the people. An attractive +programme would be arranged. Everybody would be made to feel comfortable +and at home. And no effort would be spared to make the occasion morally +and spiritually profitable, as well as valuable for the relaxation it +afforded to the bodies of those who attended, and financially profitable +for the purpose of our Social Reform work. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? + + +In order to put the whole of the foregoing machinery into motion on an +extensive scale, there can be no doubt that economise as we may, a +considerable outlay will be unavoidable. True we are able to supply +skilled leadership under devoted and self-sacrificing men and women for +a merely nominal cost. True we have Europeans willing to live on the +cheap native diet, and to assimilate themselves in dress, houses and +other manners to the people amongst whom they live. True that we have +raised up around us an equally devoted band of Natives, in whose +integrity we have the fullest confidence and whose ability and knowledge +of the country will prove of valuable service to us in the carrying out +of our scheme. True that around our 450 European and Native officers, we +have enlisted and drilled a force of several thousands of earnest +soldiers of the Cross, who are pledged abstainers from all intoxicating +liquors and drugs, who have renounced all forms of impurity and +sin,--who have promised to devote their lives to the social, moral and +spiritual regeneration of their fellow countrymen,--who are accustomed +to pray and preach in their leisure hours, without being paid a cowrie +for doing so, and who not only support themselves and their families by +their labor, but contribute for the support of their officers. + +Nevertheless, while it is a fact that this cheap and efficient agency +exists for the carrying out of the reforms that have been sketched in +the foregoing pages,--it cannot be denied that a considerable sum of +money will be needed for the successful launching of the scheme. + +Once fairly started, we have every reason to believe that the plans +here laid down will not only prove strictly self-supporting, but will +yield such a margin of profit as will ultimately enable us to set on +foot wholesale extensions of the scheme. No doubt there will be local +disappointments and individual failures. We are dealing with human +nature, and must anticipate that this will be the case. But the +proportion of success will far outweigh the fraction of failure, and +when the profits and losses of the scheme came to be balanced year by +year we have no doubt that socially, physically, morally and financially +we shall be able to show so enormous a gain that the most unreasonable +of our critics will be silenced. + +And yet when we come face to face with the details of the scheme, we +find that the scale of our operations must necessarily depend on the +amount of capital with which we are able to start. The City Colony, with +its Labor Bureau, Labor Yards, Food Depôts, Prison and Rescue Homes, and +Salvage Brigade, will involve a considerable initial expense. Although +we are able to supply an efficient supervising staff for a mere fraction +of the ordinary cost,--rents of land and buildings will have to paid. +And although work will be exacted from those who resort to our Yards and +Homes, yet the supply of food to the large numbers who are likely to +need our help will at the outset probably cost us more than we are able +to recover from the sale of the goods produced. + +The Country Colony, with its Industrial Villages, Suburban Farms, and +Waste Settlements, will involve a still heavier outlay of capital. There +is every reason to believe that we may look for an ample return. Indeed +the financial prospects of this branch of the scheme are more hopeful +than these of the City Colony. But to commence on a large scale will +involve no doubt a proportionate expenditure. We may hope indeed that +Government, Native States and private landowners will generously assist +us to overcome these difficulties by grants of land, and advances of +money and other concessions. Still we must anticipate that a +considerable portion of the financial burden and responsibility in +commencing such an enterprise must of necessity fall upon us. + +The Over-Sea Colony may for the present be postponed, and hence we have +not now to consider what would be the probable expenses. But omitting +this, and having regard only to the City and Country Colonies, I believe +that to make a commencement on a fairly extensive scale we shall require +a sum of one lakh of rupees. We do not pretend that with this sum at our +command we can do more than make a beginning. It would be idle to +suppose that the miseries of twenty-five millions of people could be +annihilated at a stroke for such a sum. + +We do believe however that by sinking such a sum we should be able to +manufacture a road over which a continuous and increasing mass of the +Submerged would be able to liberate themselves from their present +miserable surroundings and rise to a position of comparative comfort. + +We are confident moreover that the profits, or shall we call them the +tolls paid by those who passed over this highway, would enable us +speedily to construct a second, which would be broader and better than +the first. The first two would multiply themselves to four, the four to +eight, the eight to sixteen, till the number and breadth of these social +highways would be such as to place deliverance within easy reach of all +who desired it. + +The sum we ask for is less than a tithe of what has been so speedily +raised in England for the rescue of a far smaller number of the +submerged. And yet there may be those who will think that we are asking +for too much. But when I see far larger sums expended on the erection, +or support of a single Hospital, or Dharamsala, and when I remember that +Indian philanthropy has covered the country with such, I am tempted to +exclaim "What is this among so many?" + +Surely it would be a libel upon Indian philanthropy and generosity to +ask for less, in launching a scheme, which has received the hearty +support of multitudes of persons so well able to form a judgment as to +its feasibility and soundness, and this too after having been submitted +to the most searching criticisms that human ingenuity could suggest! At +any rate this we can promise, that whatever may be given will be laid +out carefully to the best possible advantage. A special annual balance +sheet will show how the money entrusted to our care has been expended, +and if the success of the work be not sufficient to justify its +existence, it will always be easy for the public to withhold those +supplies on which we must continue to depend for the prosecution of our +enterprise. + +Looking at the future however in the light of the past history of the +Salvation Army, both in India, and especially in those other parts of +the world, where its organization has had more time to develop and fewer +obstacles to contend with, we are confident that the results will be +such as to repay a hundred fold every effort made and every rupee laid +out in promoting the welfare of India. And even supposing that +comparative failure should result, we should have the satisfaction of +knowing that + + "'Tis better to have tried and failed, + Than never to have tried at all!" + +The anathemas of posterity will alight upon the heads, not of those who +have made a brave effort to better the evils that surround them, but of +those who by their supineness helped to ensure such failure, or by their +active opposition paralysed the efforts and discouraged the hearts of +those who, but for them, might either have wholely succeeded in +accomplishing what all admit to be so desirable, or might at least have +been far nearer reaching their goal than was possible owing to the +dog-in-the-manger obstructions of those who had neither the heart to +help, nor the brains to devise, nor the courage to execute, what others +might have dared and done! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. + + +In proposing at once to deal with the problem of lifting out of the jaws +of starvation India's poorest and darkest however impossible it may look +to some, we have the immense advantage and encouragement which arises +from the fact that General Booth's scheme (which I have followed as +closely as the widely differing conditions of Indian society would +admit) has already received the all but universal approval of the best +and ablest in Europe from the Queen downwards. It has in fact so +commended itself to the general public that men of all shades of +religious belief, men of no belief at all, men of every political party, +and from every rank of society have not only heartily approved but +contributed already £100,000 for the carrying out of the project. +Moreover, some of its most important details have already had applied to +them both in England and Australia the valuable test of experience. + +There is one question which may start up in the mind of the reader and +that is, granted that the scheme is sure to prove successful in England, +is it not still probable that, owing to the complex arrangements of +caste and religion in India any such scheme would meet with failure. To +this I answer in the first place, that all will be helped, irrespective +of their creed, and any change of opinions on their part will be purely +voluntary, since no compulsion, beyond that of love and moral suasion, +is intended to be used. Moreover, drowning men are not too particular as +to the means available for their rescue. They would rather be dragged +out of the water by the hair of their heads than left to drown, or would +rather be lifted out feet foremost than left to be devoured by +alligators. If it be true that starving men are driven by hunger to +commit theft solely that they may be sent to jail where at least they +will get food and be saved for a time from the hunger-wolf, how can we +doubt but that thousands will hail with gladness a deliverance which is +not only a deliverance from want and starvation, but the opening out of +a brighter path for their whole future. + +The blessed example set by hundreds of men and women in our ranks who +have given up friends, parents, home, prospects and everything they +possess to walk barefooted beneath India's burning sun in order to seek +the weal of its people cannot fail I believe to stir up the rich and +well-to-do, nay _all_ but those too poor to help,--to make some +sacrifice to heal the unutterable woes, and to sweeten the hard and +bitter lot of those who, often through no fault of their own, have +fallen in the battle of life, and who have been all but crushed and +cursed out of existence by misfortunes which are to some extent at least +within our power to remedy. + +True lovers of India (and nothing is more encouraging than the splendid +manner in which the intelligence of this country is arousing itself to +thoughtful active effort for the weal of the nation, putting aside all +differences of race and religion, that it may unite to seek the common +good,) true lovers of India, we say, will never allow differences in +race and religion to hinder them in a question affecting the well-being +of some 26,000,000 of people who are already a drag and a hindrance to +the rising prosperity of the nation, and who are sure if neglected to +become a danger. No one asks about the religion of Stanley. His heroic +march through the terrible forest, his rescue of Emin Pasha, his +successful achievement of that which to most men would have been +impossible, have made him to be admired and praised in every land. + +Here we are proposing to rescue, not one Pasha and a handful of his +followers, but almost as many people as the entire population of Great +Britain. We stand at the edge of this forest. We know something of it +before we enter. We are not dismayed. We only ask you to meet the cost +of the expedition. Great armies of beggars and workless, and drunkards +and opium-eaters and harlots and criminals are going to be dragged out +of these morasses, to bless the land which gave them birth with the +wealth of their labor and to build new Indian Empires across the sea. + +A bold and daring expedition has been planned into this dark social +forest, with its dismal swamps, its pestilential vapours, its seemingly +endless night, to rescue and bring to the light of hope, to green +industrial pastures and healthy heavenly breezes, its imprisoned +victims. May we not then, since men can be found to do and dare in such +a godlike enterprise, confidently claim the enthusiastic interest and +the practical help of all good men, no matter when or how they worship +the great Eternal Father of the human race! + +If any one should object that is an impossible enterprise, we answer, +who can tell? Why indeed impossible, seeing that millions of acres wait +to be tilled and to yield their treasures to the unfed mouths of +workless labourers? Why impossible, since hundreds of thousands are +saying, it is not charity, we crave, but the privilege to work and earn +our bread? Why impossible, when willing hearts and hands are ready to +spring forward and at any cost dive into this dark forest and bring the +hungry mouths into the fostering care of the fruitful earth? Why +impossible, when a mass of unproductive wealth waits to serve some +useful purpose and bless its holder, bringing back to him a hundred per +cent, if he will but lend it to his God by giving it to the poor? + +We have portrayed with studied moderation the dark regions of woe. We +have laid before you with careful explicitness the scheme or remedy. We +have endeavoured to anticipate and answer all objections. And now it is +for you to make this great enterprise possible by uniting to subscribe +the sum we ask for, as necessary to float the scheme. + +We have built our deliverance ship in the dockyard of loving design, we +have wrought her plates, riveted her bolts, fixed her masts, put in her +boilers and engines, fitted her and supplied her with gear. It is your +privilege to launch her--to draw the silver bolt and permit her to leave +the stocks and glide down into the dark deep sea of misery and land on +heavenly shores the drowning submerged millions. + +We believe that your response will be worthy of you. Coming generations +will thank you, and the blessings of them that were ready to perish will +rest upon you, and the God of the fatherless and the widow will remember +you for good. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +_The Poor Whites and Eurasians._ + +It will doubtless be noticed that I have excluded the consideration of +this question from the foregoing pages. This has been decided on, though +with considerable hesitation, for the following reasons:-- + +1. Numerically they are much fewer than the submerged India of which we +have been speaking. + +2. Influential charitable agencies already exist, whose special duty it +is to care for them; any effort on our part to apply General Booth's +scheme to them would probably be regarded by those societies as a work +of supererogation, and would be likely to be received by them with a +considerable measure of opposition. + +3. The circumstances and surroundings of the European and Eurasian +community are so different that the scheme will require considerable +readaptation. Indeed the subject will need a pamphlet to itself, and I +have found it impossible to work it harmoniously into the present +scheme. + +4. I am convinced moreover that this is a _subsidiary_ question, and +that our main efforts _must_ be directed towards reaching and uplifting +the purely Indian submerged. + +5. Should however the question be pressed upon us hereafter, we shall be +quite prepared to take it up and deal with it systematically and +radically on the lines laid down by General Booth. I have studied with +considerable care and interest the writings of the late Mr. White on +this important matter, and believe that if the necessary funds were +forthcoming, it would be comparatively easy for us to adapt the Darkest +England Scheme to the necessities of this important class. + + + + +PUBLIC OPINION ON GENERAL BOOTH'S SOCIAL SCHEME. + + +_Her Majesty the Queen-Empress cordially sympathises._ + +Her Majesty says "The Queen cannot of course express any opinion on the +details of the scheme, but understanding that your object is to +alleviate misery and suffering, her Majesty cordially wishes you success +in the undertaking you have originated." + + +_His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales,_ + +Writes to express his hearty interest in the scheme and is seen +earnestly studying the book and making notes upon it. + + +_The Empress Frederick reads the book with interest._ + +THE EMPRESS FREDERICK'S PALACE, BERLIN, + +_November_ 1, 1890. + +Count Seckendorff begs leave to acknowledge by command of her Majesty +the Empress Frederick the receipt of General Booth's book in "Darkest +England and the way out." Count Seckendorff is commanded to say that her +Majesty will read the book with special interest. + + +_The Earl of Aberdeen expresses his sympathy._ + +In common with thousands of others I have been studying your "plan of +campaign." Last night I saw Mr. Bancroft's letter. I think he has +performed a public service in coming forward in this spirited manner at +the present time. Those who have been in any way associated with past or +existing efforts on behalf of the classes which you aim at reaching +should reasonably be amongst the first to welcome a scheme so practical, +so comprehensive, and so carefully devised as that which you have placed +before the country. I shall be happy to become one of the hundred +contributors who according to Mr. Bancroft's proposal shall each be +responsible for £1,000 on the condition specified. With the offer of +sympathy, and the assurance of hearty good wishes, + +I remain, yours very faithfully, + +ABERDEEN. + + +_The Earl of Airlie Subscribes._ + +"The Earl of Airlie has forwarded towards General Booth's fund a cheque +for £1,000." + + +_The Marquis of Queensberry offers his services._ + +GLENLEE, NEW GALLOWAY, N.B., + +_November_ 21. + +My Dear General Booth--I have read your book "In Darkest England" with +the greatest interest, also with thrills of horror that things should be +as bad as they are. + +I send you a cheque for £100, and shall feel compelled if your scheme is +carried out to give you a yearly subscription. You say you want +recruits. When I come to town I should very much like to see you to talk +this matter over, for I see no cause which a man could more put his +heart and soul into than this one of endeavouring to alleviate this +fearful misery of our fellow-creatures. I see you quote Carlyle in your +book, but is it possible for any one like myself, who is even more +bitterly opposed than he was against what to me is the Christian +falsehood, to work with you! We have two things to do as things are at +present--first to endeavour to alleviate the present awful suffering +that exists to the best of our abilities, and surely this ought to be a +state affair; and secondly to get at the roots of the evils and by +changing public opinion gradually develop a different state of things +for future generations, when this help will not be so necessary. I do +not wish to get into a religious controversy with you on how this is to +be brought about, but I tell you I am no Christian and am bitterly +opposed to it. A tree, I believe, is to be judged by its fruits. +Christianity has been with us many hundreds of years. + +What can we think of it when its results are as they are at present with +the poor whom Christ, I believe, you say informed us we should always +have with us. I know nothing about other worlds, beyond that I see +thousand around me whom I presume look after their own affairs. It +appears to me our common and plainest duty to help and to try and change +the lot of our suffering fellow creatures here on this earth. You can +publish this if you please, but without suppressing any of it. If not +and any notice is given of subscriptions as I see you are doing, I beg +it may be notified that I send this mite as a reverent agnostic to our +common cause of humanity. + +Yours faithfully, + +QUEENSBERRY. + + +_Lord Scarborough is amongst its supporters._ + +"Lord Scarborough, writing from Lumley Castle Chester-le-street, has +subscribed £50." + + +_Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone lend to it the weight of their influence._ + +"Mr. Gladstone has already expressed has interest in the scheme and now +Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone with a like kindly expression forward £50 towards +it." + + +_Mr. Pickersgill, M.P., looks upon it with increasing favour._ + +At the New Debating Society, Haverstook Hill, Mr. Pickersgill, M.P., +said when he first began to read the book he did not approach it with +any particularly favourable feelings towards the Salvation Army. He +thought that the scheme was the most plausible ever devised. There was +in it a happy blending of the ideal with the practical, and a nice +balancing of its various parts in the attempt to solve the problem +involved in the question "Can we get back to the ordinary conditions of +life as they exist in a small healthy community." + + +_The Bishop of Durham reviews the Scheme._ + +Speaking on Thursday night at the closing meeting of the General Church +Mission at Sunderland, the Bishop of Durham said that just now men were +talking on all sides of a great scheme which had been set forth for +dealing with some of the social sorrows of our age. The remarkable book +in which it was sketched was well calculated to present, in a most vivid +combination, the various forms of work to which Christian men must bring +the power of their faith. It brought together with remarkable skill the +different problems which were pressed upon them; it allowed them to gain +a view of the whole field and something of the relation of the different +parts one to another. For his own part he trusted that many might be +stirred to some unwonted exertion. + + +_The Bishop of Lincoln thanks the General._ + +"I thank you heartily for the book you have sent me. The name of it is +already well known to English Churchmen, and its object is one in which, +we all agree. + +"The Cross of Christ is the only effectual remedy for the great mass of +vice and wretchedness in our large towns, to which you are endeavouring +to call public attention; and we must not be content with presenting +that Cross in words alone, but must endeavour to show, by our personal +efforts and example, how it may practically be applied so as to purify +the lives and quicken the hopes of those amongst our countrymen who are +now as much strangers to its power as the inhabitants of darkest +Africa." + + +_The Bishop of Bath and Wells values the book._ + +"I beg to acknowledge, with very many thanks, the receipt of your letter +and the volume of your work, 'In Darkest England,' which you have been +so good as to send me. I shall read it with much interest, both from the +deep importance of the subject, whether viewed in its social, political, +or Christian aspect, and also from its containing the opinion of one who +has had such universal opportunities as you have had of becoming +acquainted with the wants of the lowest and most unhappy section of our +great population." + + +_The Bishop of Rochester is glad to possess the book._ + +The Bishop of Rochester writes that he hastens to thank Mr. Booth for +sending him his book, and he is glad to possess it, and hopes it may be +productive of much good. He takes the opportunity of expressing his +profound sympathy with him in Mrs. Booth's death. + + +_The Bishop of Wakefield (Dr. Walsham How) studies the scheme with +deepest interest._ + +I have just received your book, which you have so kindly sent me. I have +already bought a copy, which I shall give away. I am studying your +scheme with the deepest interest, and I trust and pray it may bring +blessing and hope to many. May I venture to express my sympathy with you +in your recent heavy bereavement? You do not sorrow as those that have +no hope. + + +_Canon Farrar preaching at Westminster Abbey, says we are bound to help +the scheme or find a better one._ + +It was not difficult to see, as early as half past one on Sunday +afternoon last, that something was about to take place in Westminister +Abbey. A friendly policeman informed me that the service in the fine old +pile of buildings did not commence till three o'clock, but that as Canon +Farrar was announced to preach, and upon such an all-absorbing topic as +General Booth's new book, people were bent upon securing a good position +by being in time. + +Some three-quarters of an hour before the service commenced the gigantic +building was crowded, and the trooping multitudes only arrived at the +doors to find a crowd waiting for the least opportunity of getting in. +It was reported that thousands were turned away. + +Canon Farrar had announced his subject as "Social Amelioration," and at +the outset stated that he alone was responsible for the opinions he +proposed to express in connection with General Booth's scheme. In a very +masterly and eloquent way he pictured the social evils which disgrace +our civilisation, the small and ineffectual efforts being put forth for +their removal, and the terrible responsibility resting upon us as a +nation to do our utmost to forward any scheme which appeared likely to +effect an amelioration. He proceeded:-- + +Well, here was General Booth's scheme, which he had examined, and with +which he had been deeply struck. He pitied the cold heart which could +read and not be stirred by "Darkest England." In his best judgment he +believed the scheme to be full of promise if the necessary funds were +provided, and he merely regarded it as his humble duty to render the +undertaking such aid as he could. + +Had any such scheme been proposed by a member of the Church of England, +he should have given it every support. He regarded the scheme as +supplementing, not interfering with, the work of the Church, as +preparing for, not hindering, the Church's work. The scheme, although no +Christian scheme could be wholly dislinked from religion, was yet most +prominently a social scheme; its origin was The Salvation Army, but it +was intended to promote the work of the common Church. + +Was the scheme to be thrown aside contemptuously at once on account of +prejudice, because it emanated from The Salvation Army? If any thought +so, he blamed them not, but he for one declared he could not share their +views. He was, perhaps, more widely separated from some of the methods +of the Salvation Army than many of his brethren, but the work of the +Army had not been unblessed, and there was much that might be learned +from an organisation which in so short a time had accomplished so great +a work. He dwelt upon the nature of The Salvation Army's work, the +officers who were exerting themselves in connection with it, the number +of countries to which the organisation had spread. The Salvation Army in +its work and extent had credentials which could not be denied. Were they +to stand coldly, finically aside because they were too refined and nice, +and full of culture to touch this work of The Salvation Army with the +point of the finger? He took it that he should fail grievously in his +duty if insult or self-interest caused him to hold aloof from any +movement which Christ, if He had been on earth, would have approved. + +Then Dr. Farrar quoted the late Bishop Lightfoot and the late Canon +Liddon in favor of The Salvation Army as an organisation which had +accomplished a deal of good work. + +Next he asked, "How shall we receive General Booth's scheme now that it +is here to our hands?" With some people the simplest way of treating any +scheme for good was to leave it alone. To those who took that position +with reference to General Booth's scheme he had nothing whatever to say. +There was no need for saying anything either to the other class of +people who would talk about a scheme, and having talked about it drop +the matter and think no more about it. + +Another way in which General Booth's scheme might be received was that +of examining it, and if convinced against it of rejecting it. That, at +all events, was a perfectly manly course; a clear and decided method of +reception which there can be no mistaking. To those included in this +class, those who would regard the scheme as migratory or pernicious, +there was nothing to be said. But what about those who did not mean to +help in this or any other scheme, those who left others the burden of +the work, the opportunists who would want to step in when the breach had +been made? Here, no doubt, there would be such a class, but the last way +of receiving General Booth's scheme, and the way in which as he trusted +it would be received, was to support it by their influence, and to give +to it of their means. It was an immense and far-reaching scheme, which, +might bring help and hope to thousands of the helpless and hopeless, +made helpless and hopeless by the terrible conditions of society, but +for every one of whom Christ died. + +To begin the scheme in earnest would require a sum of £100,000, but he +asked, "What was that to the wealth of England--to the wealth of +London?" It was a mere drop in the ocean compared to what was every year +spent on drink and wasted in extravagance. There were a hundred men in +England who might immortalise themselves by giving this sum, and yet not +have a luxury the less. He left the response to General Booth's appeal +with the public, but would it not, he asked, be a desperate shame for +England if any scheme giving so hopeful a promise of social amelioration +should fail without a trial, and like a broken promise, be lost in air? + +But to this observation somebody might reply in the form of a queried +objection, "The scheme might fail." _Yes, it might fail; anything might +fail. But if to die amid disloyalty and hatred meant failure, then St. +Paul failed. If to die in the storm meant failure, then Luther and +Wesley and Whitfield failed; if to die at the stake by the flames meant +failure, did not martyrs fail; Finally, if to die on the cross, with the +priests and the soldiers spitting out hatred, meant failure, then Jesus +Christ failed._ Yes, the scheme might fail; but was all this failure? +Were there none among them bold enough to look beyond the possibility of +failure? Could they not somehow get round the word? Fear and jealousy +and suspicion and intolerance and despair were counsellors finding +multitudes to listen, but he for one would listen to the nobler +counsellor "Hope." Were none of them bold enough at the last moment to +prefer even failure in a matter like this to the most brilliant success +in pleasing the world and making truce with the devil? He would try to +hope that the scheme might not fail, but what each one had to consider +was the question, "Shall it fail through my cowardice, my greed, my +supineness, my prudential cautiousness, my petty prejudices, my selfish +conventionality?" + +"If, on examining this plan in the light of conscience, we see in it an +augury for the removal of the deadly evils which lie at the heart of our +civilisation, it seems to me we are bound to do our utmost to help it +forward. 'But,' you say, 'if we conscientiously disapprove of it?' Then +we are in duty bound to propose or to forward + +SOMETHING BETTER. + +"One way only is contemptible and accursed--that is, to make it a mere +excuse for envy, malice and depreciation. + +"He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear; +but God shall be the judge between us, and His voice says in Scripture: +'If thou forbear to deliver them that are bound unto death, and those +who are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, "Behold," we knew it not, +doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it, and he that keepeth +thy soul, doth not He know it, and shall not He render to every man +according to his work?'" + + +_Archdeacon Sinclair wishes the scheme success._ + +Speaking at Bromley, Kent, on Friday night, in connection with the +Canterbury diocese, of the Church of England Temperance Society, +Archdeacon Sinclair referred to General Booth's scheme. He wished very +great success to that courageous and large scheme. + + +_The Rev. Brooke Lambert defends the scheme in the "Times."_ + +There is much that is not new in the scheme. General Booth allows that +much. But there are two factors in his scheme which, if not new, at +least acquire a new prominence. These two factors are help and hope. +Society drops these two h's. For help it substitutes money-giving, and +as for hope for the disreputable, it has none. The personal contact of +General Booth's workers, of his 10,000 officers, is an essential feature +of the scheme. They take the man or the woman as they enter the shelter, +and prevent it from becoming a means of dissemination of crime, of +filth, of disease. They stand by the new-fledged proselyte to work, to +encourage perseverance. They follow him to the country colony, the +abomination of desolation to one who has walked the London pavements and +found his heaven in the gin-palace and the music-hall, to stimulate +effort. They accompany him to the colony to remind him that true freedom +is not licence, that the conditions of success are a change of mind and +not of climate. But for them, one might doubt whether the hope General +Booth conceives for the "submerged tenth" would be hope at all in their +eyes. Nothing so difficult as to persuade the Londoner to go into the +country, and the emigrant to keep to work away from the congenial +interludes of town pleasure. But once create this hope (and persistent +reiteration can do much when the agent is a kindly man or woman) and you +have introduced a new element into the life of the wastrel. Our prison +system, growing in harshness, failed utterly to deter; with the +reformatory system, based on the principle of making it to a man's +interest to behave well within the walls, a new era dawned on criminal +legislation. It is for these reasons that I look with deep interest on +General Booth's experiment. Do not let us say, "The experiment has been +tried before; it is useless to attempt it again." I believe there is +enough of novelty in General Booth's scheme to justify a hope of +success. But for past failures I can but say that people do not regard +failure as a ground for inaction when their interest is deeply involved. +When I was a boy, some 45 years ago, I saw at the old Polytechnic +experiments in electricity: the electric light, the electric cautery, +&c. For years I expected to see them introduced into the work-day world. +Now, at last, they are coming into use, but I do not think the shares +stand at a very high premium. None the less electricity will one day be +of universal use. That is what experiment in spite of failure has done; +that is what we ought to do in social matters. When all is done, the +result will be comparatively small when compared with our aspirations, +but it will create, as all good work does, new outlets for effort, new +objects for hope. + +BROOKE LAMBERT. + +_The Vicarage, Greenwich, Nov. 19._ + + +_Dr. Parker approves the General's Scheme._ + +A report in the _Star_ says:--"Dr. Parker, preaching his one-minute +sermon at the City Temple yesterday (Sunday) morning, said, 'I hope +General Booth will get every penny he asked for. No man can make better +use of money. I wish be would include other Englands in his scheme. +There is another England, darker than the darkest he has in view. I mean +the England of genteel poverty and genteel misery.... These people are +not in the slums, but they are fast being driven in that direction.... +From my point of view, one of the best features in General Booth's +scheme is that nobody is to receive anything for nothing. It is easy to +throw money away. Money we work for goes farthest. There is + +NO STAIN OF PAUPERISM + +upon it. + +DR. PARKER SAYS "NO BOARDS."--Dr. Parker, addressing his congregation on +Thursday morning, said:--"General Booth spoke to me the other day at my +house, amongst others, about boards of trustees and referees, and all +the rest of it, in reference to his scheme. I said that would spoil the +whole thing. I do not want any boards of reference. We have boards +enough and referees enough--(laughter)--and we do not want little men to +assume an awful responsibility which Providence never meant them to +handle. They had better let a great governing spirit like General Booth +manage the whole thing in his own way. I am afraid I was even more of a +democrat than even General Booth suspected. (Laughter.) I am an +autocrat--I believe in one man doing a thing. Some persons imagine if +they have got six little men together that they will total up into a +Booth. The Lord makes His own Booths, and Moodys, and Spurgeons, and +sends them out to do His work, and we shall do well to get out of their +way, except when we have anything to give of sympathy, money, prayer and +assistance. Presently, some Thursday morning, I am going to give you a +chance of giving--which you will--to this great scheme." (Applause.) + + +_Dr. Moulton, President of the Wesleyan Conference, is grateful for the +labour which the General has expended upon this problem._ + +"No one can read your book without recognising the claim which you have +established on the sympathetic help of all Christian churches. For +myself, I am deeply grateful to you for the enormous labor which you +have expended on the great problem, and for your able treatment of its +difficulties." + + +_Revd. Alfred Rowland says he believes the working of the Scheme will be +for the good of the people._ + +Yesterday morning the Rev. Alfred Rowland preached at Park Chapel, +Crouch End, the first portion of a sermon on General Booth's book. The +preacher said the scheme was a noble, bold, and generous effort to reach +the masses. He believed the result of the working of the scheme would be +for the good of the people at large. He asked them to give liberally to +the project, even if it was only an experiment, because he believed it +would succeed, and all he could do, financially and otherwise, he should +be pleased to do in support of the scheme. + + +_A Collection for the Scheme is raised at City Church, Oxford._ + +At the City Church, Oxford, on Sunday, the rector, the Rev. Carterel +J.H. Fletcher, preached at both morning and evening services in aid of +General Booth's Social Salvation Fund, and the collections were devoted +to the object. + + +_Revd. H. Arnold Thomas makes a successful appeal on behalf of the +Scheme._ + +A HANDSOME OFFERING. + +The sum of £650 was collected at Highbury Congregational Chapel, +Bristol, on Sunday, as a contribution to General Booth's fund, for his +scheme unfolded in his book, "In Darkest England." This was in response +to an appeal from the pastor, the Rev. H. Arnold Thomas. + + +_Revd. Champness looks upon it as a forlorn hope._ + +A letter dated from Rochdale, and bearing the well-known name "Thomas +Champness," has reached General Booth, with a contribution of £50. "I +wish," writes Mr. Champness in his letter, "I could make you know how +much my heart is with you in your great scheme. I am not as sanguine as +some of your admirers are as to the success you are sure to win; but I +look upon it as a forlorn hope, in which a man had better lose his life +than save it by ignoble do-nothingness." + + +_Mrs. Fawcett points out the great value of the Scheme._ + +MRS. FAWCETT'S VIEWS. + +Mrs. Henry Fawcett, lecturing last night on "Private Remedies for +Poverty," before the Marylebone Centre of the university Extension +Lectures Society, at Welbeck Hall, Welbeck-street, W., said that +according to classified directories of London charities, these charities +had a yearly income of £4,000,000, but she did not think full returns +were made in all instances, and that the total sum was nearer +£7,000,000 than £4,000000, while the entire cost of poor-law relief in +the United Kingdom was only £8,000,000. Having dwelt upon the evils of +misdirected charity, she said the keynote of General Booth's scheme, and +what, as it seemed to her, gave her great hope of its being to some +extent a success, was the amount of personal devotion and energy which +it called for and which she believed the Salvation Army was prepared to +give to its development. Its keynote was the possibility of bringing +about a change in the individual by personal effort and influence. As +General Booth pointed out, the problem was unsolvable unless new soul +could be infused in the poor and outcast class whom it was designed to +help: and to this end it was not money that was wanted so much as the +personal service of men and women. One great feature of the scheme was +that no relief was to be given without work, except in very exceptional +cases. She had personally visited the workshops and shelters of the +Salvation Army in Whitechapel, and she found a number of people +apparently of the very lowest moral and physical type, and yet they were +de-brutalised and had a happy human look as they went on with their +work, which in some cases was the same as they had performed in gaol. No +temptation was afforded by the workshops or shelters to induce people to +stay away from ordinary industrial life longer than they could possibly +help. The men had to sleep in a kind of orange-box without bottom, on +the floor, upon an American oilcloth mattress; and with a piece of +leather for a coverlet. Most previous schemes for employing the +unemployed upon colonies and waste land had failed because of the men +put upon them, who were drunken, lazy, and half-witted. By General +Booth's scheme there was process of selection which would weed out those +individuals: and she thought photography might be employed in getting to +know bad and unsatisfactory characters. + + +_Mrs. Howard M'Lean hopes the Scheme may have an immediate trial._ + +Mrs. Howard M'Lean "presents her compliments to General Booth, and begs +to send him her promise of £100, in the earnest hope that the scheme set +forth in 'In Darkest England' may at least have a fair trial, and that +immediately." + + +_The "Times of India" points out the advantages of the Scheme._ + +If we apprehend the scheme aright, it will be carried out independently +of existing charities, and indeed not under the guise of a charity at +all. The bread of poverty is bitter enough, but that of pauperism is +bitterer still, and General Booth, it would seem, intends to foster +rather than discourage such spirit of independence as he may find among +the lost souls for whom he works. But it seems to us that where such a +scheme as his chiefly gains its power, is in its total dissociation from +church or sect. However good the work which is done by the Church and by +the more widely ramified agency of the Non-conformist sects--and no one +will be found to deny that this work is of the greatest possible value +in relieving the destitute and reclaiming the criminal classes--there is +little or no unity about it. It is under no individual control, it is +not carried out on any uniform system, and one agency has no means of +knowing what another agency is doing. The result is that relief gets +very unevenly distributed, and the lazy and dissolute profit at the +expense of the deserving poor. Nor do any of these agencies, as a +general rule, aim at any systematic crusade against other destitution +than that of the moment. When they touch the lowest of low-life deeps; +it is for the most part in the way of temporary relief only, without the +effort (because they have not power) to set these people on their feet +again and give them the means of earning a living. It is here that +General Booth steps in, and by an elaborate but perfectly feasible +system, proposes without any attempt at proselytization to drag the poor +from their poverty, put them in the way of doing work of any kind they +may be fitted for, and eventually establish them in an over-sea colony. + +Looking now to the objections which may be urged against General Booth's +scheme, we are at once confronted by two important considerations. The +first concerns the "General" himself. He asks for a million pounds +sterling to enable him to carry out his project, and the question seems +to have already been asked, Is he the person to whom a million pounds +may be entrusted? Will it be so safeguarded that those who subscribe may +feel assured that the money will be properly applied and an honest +attempt made to do the work here planned out? To all these questions we +are disposed to reply in the affirmative. General Booth and his +Salvation Army have by this time pretty well weathered the storm of +abuse and scorn with which their methods were at first received, and +however much we may be disposed even now to question the taste or +propriety of those methods, there can be no amount of doubt in the mind +of any reasonable man that the Salvation Army has been the means of +achieving enormous good the whole world over. In his administration of +this huge organization of which himself was the founder, Mr. Booth has +proved himself a man of probity and of the strictest possible integrity. +We do not hesitate to say that all the money he requires for this great +scheme may be safely placed in his hands, and that he will render a +strict account of its disbursement. Then comes the question, how far is +it possible for him to succeed in the work he proposes to undertake? He +has already in the field a vast organization doing good work among the +dregs of the population, and the extension of this organization to carry +out the main points of his project is not a matter of difficulty. The +ill is a terrible one, the evil gigantic, and the means to grapple with +it must be gigantic also. But given the means, will they be effective? +We frankly confess that we do not believe they will be so effective as +General Booth hopes, but we believe at the same time that if he can +achieve only one-tenth of what he hopes to achieve, ten millions of +pounds would be worthily laid out upon it. The hungry, the dirty, the +ragged, the hopeless and outcast, the criminal and the drunkard, the +idle and the vicious--can he gather all these in with any hope of +starting them afresh on the journey of life? So much work of this kind +has already been done without any special system, that there can be +little doubt that to a large extent he can. With the honestly poor it is +not a difficult matter, but with the vicious and criminal classes, who +have no inclination to work so long as they can steal, it will be a long +time before the Salvation Army or any other agency can effect any +sweeping reform. The work will be slow, but we believe it will be done. +It has been objected against General Booth's scheme that it is not new, +except in the fact that General Booth proposes that it shall be himself +who carries it out. It seems to us, on the contrary, that it is new in +one most vital aspect, and that is, that its details are to be worked +out by an enormous united body on a definite plan, instead of by +numberless charitable agencies all working independently of each other. +We believe, in short, that General Booth will meet with a very large +measure of success, and we believe also that when the details of his +scheme come to be read and discussed, he will have no difficulty in +getting all the money he asks for, and more besides. Looking at the +enormous wealth of England, a million pounds is as nothing. It is the +Duke of Westminister's income for three months, and it would open up the +means of finding hope and work and refuge, and a new life beyond the +seas, for a million or more of the helpless poor. We wish Mr. Booth +God-speed in his great undertaking. + + +_The "Bombay Gazette" of November 15th, 1890, gives an exhaustive +review, from which we cull the following extracts:_-- + +There is little of the form, though there may be much of the spirit, of +the Salvation Army in General Booth's "Darkest England and the Way Out." +It is on the whole a sober, and in some respects well-reasoned, attempt +to solve the most urgent problem of the day. Whosesoever the actual +workmanship of the book may be, the personality of General Booth +pervades every page--nowhere obtrusively it is true, but sufficiently to +impart life and warmth to the discussion of a problem whose solution, +though it must be sought for only within the limits marked out by +economic principles, will never be found, unless it is sought for with a +certain passionate sympathy for the outcast. The dramatic parallel which +the writer establishes between the savagery of Darkest Africa and the +suffering and sin of Darkest England, will arrest attention, and will of +itself make the book popular. Here, however, we are concerned with the +more matter-of-fact elements in the problem, and with the practical +remedies which are proposed for it. The heading of "the Submerged Tenth" +which is given to one of the chapters, roughly indicates the dimensions +of the task that has to be performed. General Booth takes three millions +to be the strength of the army of the destitute in England. The total +comprises the representatives of every phase of want--criminals and +drunkards and idlers and their dependants, as well as the class who are +destitute through misfortune, who are honest in their poverty, and whom +no man can blame for it. For these last-named, society does next to +nothing. There is the workhouse for people who have spent their last +penny; for so long as it remains unspent, it is a legal disqualification +for the help of the State. Or there is the casual ward, where a hard +task is exacted in payment for hard fare, but where absolutely nothing +is done to help the wayfarer to gain or regain a place and a living in +society. Out-relief has been reduced to the minimum. A few weeks ago the +whole parish of St. Jude, Whitechapel, with a population of sixty +thousand, provided only four applicants to the Board of Guardians for +out-relief. Thus far the organized official agency has done little +enough for the raising of the "submerged tenth." If _laissez faire_ were +a cure for all the ills of society, they would have been cured long ago, +for the remedy has been applied with a persistency that has failed not. +General Booth thinks that he has discovered a more excellent way, and is +entitled to a hearing for his plan, for part of it is already in +operation. In the "shelters" established by the Salvation Army in the +east of London, casual relief is given on almost as large a scale as in +the casual wards of the London Workhouses; but he claims for it that it +is a less degrading form of help, that sympathy goes with it; and with +him of course the emotional accompaniments which the Salvation Army is +careful to provide, count for much. + + +_The "Christian" prognosticates a good future for the Scheme._ + +Up to this stage the great social scheme of General Booth for uplifting +the "sunken tenth," has been, so to speak, "in the air." Monday night's +meeting at Exeter Hall may be said to have set it on the solid ground +and given good hope that it will run as fast and as far as the supplied +resources will allow. The great audience to which the General had to +address himself, was not mainly of the usual enthusiastic Army type; but +it cannot be said that it was not ready to approve and applaud when any +good and telling point was made. The brief religious service at the +beginning gave the proceedings the spiritual stamp of Army gatherings, +but the larger part of the time was taken up with the statement of the +General. For more than two and a half hours he was on his feet so that +he did not, at any rate, spare himself in his effort to interest the +public in his gigantic plan of campaign. At the outset, he expressed +diffidence in entering on the exposition of somewhat new lines of work, +but he soon showed himself at home, and in much that he advanced there +was a happy audacity and a confidence that boded well for the future +developments of his scheme. + + +_The "Bombay Guardian" defends the Scheme._ + +General Booth's aim is to give every one who is "down in the world" a +chance to rise. No one, however poor or however degraded, is to be left +out. By means of shelters and training factories in the towns, he would +give every one a chance who wishes to work, however "lost" their +character may have become. There is to be absolutely no charity. All +will work for their food and lodging, until they have gained sufficient +character and experience to take a situation as a respectable working +man or woman. There are thousands of "out-of-works," "ne'er-do-wells," +&c., in every large town in England, who are naturally fitted for +agricultural work, although they have lived all their lives, perhaps, +far away from the green fields. For the training of these General Booth +has a scheme of a large "Farm Colony" which will be nearly or entirely +self-supporting. When trained sufficiently in agricultural work, they +will be drafted off by emigration to a great "over-sea" colony in South +Africa. The whole movement will be permeated by earnest Christian +teaching. The man who is in trouble and professes to be converted, will +be welcomed on that account, and the man who is in trouble but does not +profess to be saved, will be equally welcome in the hope that he may +give himself to Christ. + +It is computed that there are three million people in England whom this +scheme will eventually hope to help. A first instalment of £100,000 +towards an eventual million, is asked for as a starting-point for the +scheme. + +This seems a large undertaking and a large sum, but compared to the +needs of the world, it is very small. + +There is a still darker France than the darkest England, a darker Italy +than the darkest France, and deeper depths of darkness still in India. + +We think that those who know the "slums" of London and large English +towns the best, will be the heartiest in wishing God-speed to General +Booth's latest movement, which also includes every possible form of +Christian benevolent activity. + +When Christ reigns as Viceroy for Jehovah for a thousand years, as the +Word of God so distinctly intimates, it may be that some such plan as +this, far more perfect and world-wide in its aim, will form part of the +inaugurative forces of that happy lot. + +Speaking broadly, General Booth's great scheme is in harmony with views +that are accepted by all Christians. His design is to elevate the +wretched to more favourable conditions of life, on the principle of the +Temperance reformer who seeks to remove temptations to drunkenness; or +of the opponent of the iniquitous opium traffic, who insists upon the +prohibition of the drug which is the curse of millions; or of the +antagonist of licensed impurity, who demands that the tendency of law +shall be to make it easy to do right, and not afford facilities to do +wrong. Some passages of "In Darkest England and the Way Out" are +certainly capable of being misconstrued. But on looking at the book and +its scheme as a whole, the Christian heart is drawn into lively sympathy +with it, without being committed to every detail. If all that is +anticipated be not realized by this gigantic scheme, the attempt to +carry it out cannot do otherwise than prove a source of great and +eternal good to multitudes, as the labourers carry on their work in +dependance upon God. + + +_The London "Speaker" testifies to the capacity of Gen. Booth for +winning the masses._ + +Seeing from what the Salvation Army has grown, and to what it has grown, +we are extremely reluctant to denounce any scheme seriously and +carefully elaborated by its leader, as being "too big to be +practicable." We must remember who will be the "one head and centre" of +the scheme. There are many weak points in General Booth: he is only +human. But he is an earnest man; he has proved his talent for +organisation; he has proved his capacity for winning the sympathies of +the masses. We would say nothing against gentleness, and quiet, and +culture. We hope to attain them in the end. It is a pretty work to prune +the vine, a beautiful thing to let in the sunlight on the fruit, and to +watch the perfection of bloom, and shape, and color; but first of all +something has to be done at the roots, something at which we may hold +our noses, but which is for all that requisite. + +It remains to be seen, first, whether the people concerned would accept +the scheme; secondly, whether discipline could be maintained; thirdly, +whether money can be raised. As to the first two questions, experience +in some degree answers. The people _do_ come to the Salvation Army's +establishments, and they do behave well in the Shelters and the +Workshops. Those who best know the poorer working classes of the +country, will be the least likely to despair on these points. A group of +poorer English men and women are easily led by a leader who instils +regularity and order, and of whose hearty goodwill to them, they are +assured. Organisation is in the English blood; and the rougher East End +crowd has orderly elements ready to respond at once to the word of +command from men and women whom they know and trust. Only the crowd must +be sober; and that which its leader preaches must be hope. As to the +money, some portion has come in already; and if this is used, as it will +be, in making a visible beginning, there will be plenty of people +troubled in their consciences who will be ready to give more. Let us +give General Booth money, and five years for his experiment. At the end +of that time it will be clear enough whether or no the best thing which +we can provide for the unemployed is a lethal chamber. + + +_The Book has an unprecedented sale._ + +Up to the middle of January the book had reached a total circulation of +200,000 copies, beside running through two separate editions in America. +It is now being translated into Japanese, French, Swedish and other +languages. + + +_The Book of the year._ + +I do not think I say too much when I say it will not be the attitude ten +per cent. after they have read from cover to cover the most remarkable +volume that has been issued from the press this year. + +A UNIQUE BOOK. + +It is a book that stands by itself. In one sense it may be said that +there is nothing new in it. That many men are miserable, that it is the +duty of all calling themselves by the name of Christian, to do their +utmost to save their perishing brethren, and that if they set about the +task in earnest, certain well-known methods will have to be resorted to; +all this is familiar enough. Neither can it be said that the spirit of +exalted enthusiasm which breathes in every page of the book is one +appears for the first time in the writings of General Booth. It is on +the contrary the abiding evidence of the presence of the Divine Spirit +in men, which has never failed in this world since "the first man stood +God conquered, with his face to heaven upturned." But the unique +character of the book arises from the combination of all these elements, +with others which have never hitherto been united even within the covers +of a single volume. There is a buoyant enthusiasm in every page, a +sanguine optimism at which the youngest among us might marvel, combined +with a familiar acquaintance with the saddest and darkest phenomena of +existence. The book deals with problems which of all others are most +calculated to appal, and overwhelm the minds with the sense of +desolation and despair, yet it is instinct throughout with a joyous hope +and glowing confidence. General Booth, face to face with the devil, +still believes in God. + + +A MIRACLE OF THE BURNING BUSH. + +Another distinctive feature of the book is the extent to which it +combines the shrewdest and most practical business capacity with the +most exalted religious enthusiasm. The fanatic is usually regarded as +somewhat of a fool; no one can read this book through and think that +General Booth has the least deficiency in practical capacity, in shrewd +common sense and enormous knowledge of men. From one point of view it is +easy to be a saint, and it is easy to be a man of the world; the +difficulty is to combine the two qualities, the cunning of the serpent +with the innocence of the dove. There is nothing of the naive and +guileless innocence of a cloistered virtue in the book, but though the +serpent is very cunning his wiliness and craftiness coexist with a +simple enthusiasm of humanity which is very marvellous to behold. When +we read General Booth's expressions of confidence in the salvability of +mankind and note the intrepid audacity with which he sallies forth like +another David to attack the huge Goliath who threatens the hosts of our +modern Israel, and remember that he is no mere shepherd boy fresh from +the fold, but one who for forty years of his life has lived and laboured +in an atmosphere saturated with emanations from every form of human vice +and wretchedness, then we feel somewhat as did Moses when he stood +before the burning bush, "and he looked, and behold the bush burned with +fire and the bush was not consumed." + + +THOMAS CARLYLE REDIVIVUS. + +It is impossible not to be impressed by the parallel and at the same +time by the contrast between General Booth's book and the latter day +prophecies of Mr. Carlyle. For forty years and more Mr. Carlyle +prophesied unto the men of his generation, proclaiming in accents of +deep earnestness, tinged, however, by a bitter despair, what should be +done if we were not utterly to perish. I remember the bitterness with +which he told me, while the shadows of the dark valley were gathering +round him, that when he wrote his whole soul out in "Latter Day +Pamphlets," and delivered to the public that which he believed to be +the very truth and inner secret of all things, his message was flouted, +and "it was currently reported," said he, with grim resentfulness "it +was currently reported that I had written them under the influence of +too much whiskey." Now, however, another prophet has arisen with +practically the same gospel, but with oh, how different a setting! In +Mr. Carlyle's books, his prophetic message shines out lurid as from the +background of thunder-cloud amid the gloom as of an eclipse heralded by +portents of ruin and decay. Here "In Darkest England and the Way Out" +there is a brightness and a gladness as of a May day sunrise. Infinite +hope bubbles up in every page, and in every chapter there is a calm +confidence which comes from the experience of one who in sixty years of +troubled life can say with full assurance "I know in whom I have +believed." That is not the only contrast between the two. Mr. Carlyle as +befitted the philosopher in his study, contented himself with writing in +large characters of livid fire, "This is the way, walk ye in it;" but +the generation scoffed and walked otherwhere. General Booth, equally +with Mr. Carlyle writes up in characters so plain that the way-faring man, +though a fool, cannot help reading it, "This is the way, walk ye in +it." But he does more. He himself offers to lead the van, "This is the +way," he declares, "I will lead you along it, follow me!" + + +CATHOLICITY--SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS. + +Another distinctive characteristic of this book is its extraordinary +catholicity. In this respect I know no book like it that has appeared in +our time. While declaring with passionate conviction the truth and +necessity of the gospel which the Salvation Army preaches, there is not +one word of intolerance from the first page to the last. It is easy to +be broad when there is no intensity of conviction. The liberality of +indifference is one of the most familiar phenomena of the day. But +General Booth is broad without being shallow, and his liberalism +certainly cannot be attributed to indifference! He is as earnest as John +the Baptist, for now and then the aboriginal preacher reappears crying +aloud, Jonah-like, messages calling men to flee from the wrath to come. +But no broad churchman of our time, from Dean Stanley downwards, could +display a more catholic spirit to all fellow workers in the great +harvest field, which is white unto the harvest, but where the labourers +are so few. This spirit he displays not only in the religious field, but +what is still more remarkable, he carries it into the domain of social +experiment. The old intolerance and fierce hatred which raged in the +churches at many great crises in the history of the world is with us +still, but it is no longer in religious dress. The rival sects of +socialists hate each other and contend with each other with a savagery +which recalls the worst days of the early church. Every man has got his +own favourite short cut to Utopia and he damns all those who do not work +therein with the unhesitating assurance of an Athanasius. Hence +catholicity is much more needed and much more rarely found in the domain +of social economics than in that of religious polemices. General Booth +as befits a practical man is supremely indifferent to any particular +fad, and constructs his scheme on the principle of selecting every +proposal which seems to have stuff in it, or is calculated to do any +good to suffering humanity. The socialist, the individualist, the +political economist, the advocate of emigration, and all social +reformers will find what is best in their own particular schemes +incorporated in General Booth's schemes. He claims no originality, he +disclaims all prejudice even in favour of his own scheme. His +suggestions, he says, seem for the moment the most practicable, but he +is ready, he tells us with uncompromising frankness, to abandon them +to-morrow if any one can show him a better way. + +A TEACHABLE PROPHET. + +Another extraordinary characteristic of the book is its combination of +supreme humility with what the enemy might describe as overweening +arrogance. The General's confidence in himself and his men is superb. +Not Hildebrand in the height of his power, or Mahommed, at the moment +when he was launching the armies which offered to the world Islam or the +sword, showed himself more supremely possessed with the confidence of +his providential mission than does General Booth in his book. "For this +end was I created, to this work was I called, all my life has been a +preparation to fit me for its accomplishment." While thus speaking with +the confidence of a man who feels himself charged with a divine mission, +General Booth displays a humility and a teachableness that is as +beautiful as it is rare. Over and over again he deplores his lack of +knowledge and the insufficiency of his experience, and admits that his +most elaborate proposals may be vitiated by some flaw or some defect +which will make itself only too apparent when they get into action. So +far from being determined to thrust his scheme as a panacea down the +throats of reluctant humanity he appeals to all those who may differ +from him not to stand idly cavilling at his proposals, but to produce +something better of their own, assuring them that he will be only too +good to carry out the best of his ability any scheme which will do more +for the benefit of the lapsed classes than his own. + + +A SHIFTY AND RESOURCEFUL MARINER. + +General Booth shows himself in the capacity of a bold and shifty mariner +who has been ordered to take a ship filled with precious cargo across a +stormy and rock-strewn ocean to a distant port. Quicksands abound, cross +currents continually threaten to carry the ship from her course, the +wind shifts from point to point, now rising to a hurricane and then +dying away to a dead calm. But alike by night and day, whether the sky +be black with clouds, or bright with radiant sunshine, in the teeth of +the wind or in a favourable gale, he presses forward to his distant +haven. He will tack to the right or to the left, availing himself to the +utmost of every favourable current and every passing breeze, supremely +indifferent to all accusations of inconsistency, or of deviating from +the straight line from the port which he left to the port for which he +is bound, if so he can get the quicker and the more safely to his goal. +Hitherto General Booth had practically been in the condition of a +Captain who relied solely on his boilers to make his voyage. "Get up +steam, make the heart right, keep the furnace fires going, and drive +ahead through the darkness regardless of a lowering tempest or of the +swift rushing current which sweeps you from your course." This book +proclaims his decision in favour of adopting a less reckless and more +practical mode of navigation. While his reliance is still placed on the +inner central fire he will not disdain to utilise the currents, the +tides, and the winds which will make it easier for his straining boilers +and untiring screw to forge its way across the sea. + +The book is interesting in itself as a book, but of the bookmaking part +of it, it is absurd to speak. You might as well speak of the rivets and +the paint, in describing the performance of a Cunarder; as to speak of +the literary merits or demerits of this book. As a piece of actuality, +full of life and force, it comes to us in paper and ink and between two +covers; but the vehicle of its presentation is as indifferent as the +quality of the boards in which it is bound. The supreme thing is not the +form but the substance.--_The Review of Reviews._ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Darkest India, by Commissioner Booth-Tucker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DARKEST INDIA *** + +***** This file should be named 11468-8.txt or 11468-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/6/11468/ + +Produced by Dave Maddock and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Darkest India + A Supplement to General Booth's "In Darkest England, and the Way Out" + +Author: Commissioner Booth-Tucker + +Release Date: March 6, 2004 [EBook #11468] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DARKEST INDIA *** + + + + +Produced by Dave Maddock and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +[Transcriber's note: The spelling irregularities of the original have +been preserved in this etext.] + + +DARKEST INDIA + +BY COMMISSIONER BOOTH-TUCKER + +A SUPPLEMENT TO GENERAL BOOTH'S + +"IN DARKEST ENGLAND, AND THE WAY OUT." + +1891 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The remarkable reception accorded to General Booth's "In Darkest England +and the Way Out," makes it hardly necessary for me to apologise for the +publication of the following pages, which are intended solely as an +introduction to that fascinating book, and in order to point out to +Indian readers that if a "cabhorse charter" is both desirable and +practicable for England (see page 19, Darkest England) a "bullock +charter" is no less urgently needed for India. + +In doing this it is true that certain modifications and adaptations in +detail will require to be made. But the more carefully I consider the +matter, the more convinced do I become, that these will be of an +unimportant character and that the gospel of social salvation, which has +so electrified all classes in England, can be adopted in this country +almost as it stands. + +After all, this is no new gospel, but simply a resurrection, or +resuscitation, of a too much neglected aspect of the original message +of "peace on earth, good will towards men," proclaimed at Bethlehem. It +has been the glory of Christianity, that it has in all ages and climes +acknowledged the universal brotherhood of man, and sought to relieve the +temporal as well as the spiritual needs of the masses. Of late years +that glory has in some degree departed, or at least been tarnished, not +because the efforts put forth are less than those in any previous +generation, but because the need is so far greater, that what would have +been amply sufficient a few centuries ago, is altogether inadequate when +compared to the present great necessity. + +The very magnitude of the problem has struck despair into the hearts of +would-be reformers, many of whom have leapt to the conclusion, that +nothing but an entire reconstruction of society could cope with so vast +an evil, whilst others have been satisfied with simply putting off the +reckoning day and suppressing the simmering volcano on the edge of +which, they dwelt with paper edicts which its first fierce eruption is +destined to consume. + +Surely the present plan if at all feasible, is God-inspired, and if +God-inspired, it will be certainly feasible. And surely of all countries +under the face of the sun there is none which more urgently needs the +proclamation of some such Gospel of Hope than does India. That it is +both needed and feasible I trust that in the following pages I shall be +able to abundantly prove. + +General Booth has uttered a trumpet-call, the echoes of which will be +reverberated through the entire world. The destitute masses, whom he has +in his book so vividly pourtrayed, are everywhere to be found. And I +believe I speak truly when I say that in no country is their existence +more palpable, their number more numerous, their misery more aggravated, +their situation more critical, desperate and devoid of any gleam of hope +to relieve their darkness of despair, than in India. + +And yet perhaps in no country is there so promising a sphere for the +inauguration of General Booth's plan of campaign. Religious by instinct, +obedient to discipline, skilled in handicrafts, inured to hardship, and +accustomed to support life on the scantiest conceivable pittance, we +cannot imagine a more fitting object for our pity, nor a more +encouraging one for our effort, than the members of India's "submerged +tenth." + +Leaving to the care of existing agencies those whose bodies are +diseased, General Booth's scheme seeks to fling the mantle of +brotherhood around the morally sick, the destitute and the despairing. +It seeks to throw the bridge of love and hope across the growing +bottomless abyss in which are struggling twenty-six millions of our +fellow men, whose sin is their misfortune and whose poverty is their +crime, who are graphically said to have been "damned into the world, +rather than born into it." + +The question is a national one. This is no time therefore for party or +sectarian feeling to be allowed to influence our minds. True for +ourselves we still believe as fully as ever that the salvation of Jesus +Christ is the one great panacea for all the sins and miseries of +mankind. True we are still convinced that to merely improve a man's +circumstances without changing the man himself will be largely labor +spent in vain. True we believe in a hell and in a Heaven, and that it is +our ultimate object to save each individual whom we can influence out of +the one into the other. True that among the readers of the following +pages will be those whose religious creed differs from our's as widely +as does the North Pole from the South. + +But about these matters let us agree for the present to differ. Let us +unite with hand and heart to launch forthwith the social life boat, and +let us commit it to the waves, which are every moment engulfing the +human wrecks with which our shores are lined. When the tempest has +ceased to rage, and when the last dripping mariner has been safely +landed we can, if we wish, with a peaceful conscience dissolve our +partnership and renew the discussion of the minor differences, which +divide, distract and weaken the human race, but _not till then._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +IN DARKEST INDIA. + + I. Why "Darkest India?" + + II. Who are not the Submerged Tenth? + + III. The minimum standard of existence + + IV. Who are the Submerged Tenth? + + V. The Beggars + + VI. "The Out of Works" + + VII. The Homeless Poor + +VIII. The Land of Debt + + IX. The Land of Famine + + X. The Land of Pestilence + + XI. The White Ants of Indian Society + + (a) The Drunkard + + (b) The Opium Slave + + (c) The Prostitute + + XII. The Criminals + +XIII. On the Border Land + + XIV. Elements of Hope + + +PART II. + +THE WAY OUT. + + I. The Essentials to success + + II. What is General Booth's scheme? + + III. The City Colony + + IV. The Labour Bureau + + V. Food for all--the Food Depots + + VI. Work for all, or the Labour Yard + + VII. Shelter for all, or the Housing of the Destitute + + VIII. The Beggars Brigade + + IX. The Prison Gate Brigade + + X. The Drunkards Brigade + + XI. The Rescue Homes for the Fallen + + XII. "The Country Colony"--"Wasteward ho!" + + XIII. The Suburban Farm + + The Dairy + + The Market Garden + + XIV. The Industrial Village + + XV. The Social Territory, or Poor Man's Paradise + + XVI. The Social City of Refuge + + XVII. Supplementary Branches of the Country Colony + + Public Works + + Off to the Tea Gardens + + Land along the Railways + + Improved methods of Agriculture + +XVIII. The Over-sea Colony + + XIX. Miscellaneous Agencies + + The Intelligence Department + + The Poor Man's Lawyer + + The Inquiry Office for missing Friends + + The Matrimonial Bureau + + The Emigration Bureau + + Periodical Melas + + XX. How much will it Cost? + + XXI. A Practical conclusion + + + + +PART I.--IN DARKEST INDIA. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +WHY "DARKEST INDIA?" + + +It is unnecessary for me to recapitulate the parallel drawn by General +Booth between the sombre, impenetrable and never-ending forest, +discovered by Stanley in the heart of Africa, and the more fearfully +tangled mass of human corruption to be found in England. Neither the +existence, nor the extent, of the latter have been called in question, +and in reckoning the submerged at one tenth of the entire population it +is generally admitted that their numbers have been understated rather +than otherwise. + +Supposing that a similar percentage be allowed for India, we are face to +face with the awful fact that the "submerged tenth" consists of no less +than _twenty-six millions of human beings_, who are in a state of +destitution bordering upon absolute starvation! No less an authority +than Sir William Hunter has estimated their numbers at fifty millions, +and practically his testimony remains unimpeached. + +Indeed I have heard it confidently stated by those who are in a good +position to form a judgement, that at least one hundred millions of the +population of India scarcely ever know from year's end to year's end +what it is to have a satisfying meal, and that it is the rule and not +the exception for them to retire to rest night after night hungry and +faint for want of sufficient and suitable food. + +I am not going, however to argue in favor of so enormous a percentage +of destitution. I would rather believe, at any rate for the time being, +that such an estimate is considerably exaggerated. Yet do what we will, +it is impossible for any one who has lived in such close and constant +contact with the poor, as we have been doing for the last eight or nine +years, to blink the fact, that destitution of a most painful character +exists, to a very serious extent, even when harvests are favorable and +the country is not desolated by the scourge of famine. + +Nor do I think that there would be much difficulty in proving that this +submerged mass constitutes at least one-tenth of the entire population. +No effort has hitherto been made to gauge their numbers, so that it is +impossible to speak with accuracy, and the best that we can do is, to +form the nearest feasible estimate from the various facts which lie to +hand and which are universally admitted. + +Let any one who is tempted to doubt the literal truth of what I say, or +to think that the picture is overdrawn, but place himself at our +disposal for a few days, or weeks, and we will undertake to show him, +and that in districts which are as the very Paradise of India, thousands +of cases of chronic destitution (especially at certain seasons in the +year) such as ought to be sufficient to melt even a heart of stone! + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WHO ARE NOT THE SUBMERGED TENTH? + + +Before passing on to consider of whom the destitute classes actually +consist, it will be well in a country like India to make a few +preliminary remarks regarding the numbers and position of their more +fortunate countrymen who have employment of some sort, and are therefore +excluded from the category. + +The entire population of British India, including Ceylon, Burmah, and +the Native States amounts according to the Census of 1881 to about two +hundred and sixty-four millions. + +These I would divide into five classes-- + + 1st--The wealth and aristocracy of the country consisting of those + who enjoy a monthly income of one hundred rupees and upwards per + family. According to the most sanguine estimate we can hardly + suppose that these would number more than forty millions of the + population. + + 2nd.--The well-to-do middle classes, earning twenty rupees and + upwards, numbering say seventy millions. + + 3rd.--The fairly well off laboring classes, whose wages are from + five rupees and upwards, numbering say at the most one hundred + millions. + + 4th--The poverty stricken laboring classes, earning less than five + rupees a month for the support of their families. These cannot at + the lowest estimate be less than twenty-five millions. + + 5th.--The destitute and unemployed poor, who earn nothing at all, + and who are dependent for their livelihood on the charity of others. + These can hardly be less than twenty-five millions, or a little less + than one-tenth of the entire population. + +The two hundred and ten millions who are supposed to be earning +regularly from five rupees and upwards per family, we may dismiss +forthwith from consideration. For the time being they are beyond the +reach of want, and they are not therefore the objects of our solicitude. +At some future date it may be possible to consider schemes for their +amelioration. + +Indirectly, no doubt, they will benefit immensely by any plans that will +relieve them of the dead weight of twenty-five million paupers, hanging +round their necks and crippling their resources. But for the present we +may say in regard to them, happy is the man who can reckon upon a +regular income of five rupees a month for the support of himself and his +family, albeit he may have two or three relations dependent on him, and +a capricious money lender ever on his track, ready to extort a lion's +share of his scanty earnings. And thrice happy is the man who can boast +an income of ten, fifteen, or twenty rupees a month, though the poorest +and least skilled laborers in England would reckon themselves badly paid +on as much per week. + +We turn from these to the workless tenth and to the other tenth who eke +out a scanty hand-to-mouth existence on the borders of that great and +terrible wilderness. But before enumerating and classifying them, there +is one other important question which calls for our consideration. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE MINIMUM STANDARD OF EXISTENCE. + + +What may reasonably be said to be the minimum scale of existence, below +which no Indian should be suffered to descend? Fix it as low as you +like, and you will unfortunately find that there are literally +_millions_ who do not come up to your standard. + +Pick out your coarsest, cheapest grains, and weigh them to the last +fraction of an ounce. Rigidly exclude from the poor man's bill of fare +any of the relishes which he so much esteems, and the cost of which is +so insignificant as to be hardly worth mentioning, and yet you will find +legions of gaunt, hungry men, women and children, who would greedily +accept your offered regimen to-morrow, if you could only discover the +wherewithal for obtaining the same, and who would gladly _pay for it +with the hardest and most disagreeable description of labour._ + +Take for instance the prison diet, where the food is given by weight, +and where it is purposely of the coarsest description consistent with +health. That the quantity is insufficient to satisfy the cravings of +hunger I can myself testify, having spent a month inside one of Her +Majesty's best appointed Bombay prisons, and having noted with painful +surprise the eagerness with which every scrap of my own coarse brown +bread, that I might leave over, was claimed and eaten by some of my +hungry, low-caste fellow prisoners! + +The clothing and the blankets are also of the very cheapest description. +Of course it must be remembered too, that the food and materials being +bought in large quantities, are obtained at contract prices which are +considerably less than the usual retail rates in the bazaar. And yet +notwithstanding these facts it costs the Bombay Government on an average +Rs. 2/4 per month for each prisoner's food, and close upon Rs. 2 a year +for clothing, besides the cost of establishment, police guard, hospital +expenses and contingencies. Altogether according to the figures given in +the Jail Report of 1887 for the Bombay Presidency, including all the +above mentioned items, I find that the average monthly cost to +Government for each prisoner is a little over Rs. 6 a head. + +Now it is a notorious, though almost incredible, fact, that in many +parts of India, men will commit petty thefts and offences on purpose to +be sent to jail, and will candidly state this to be their reason for +doing so. Many Government Officials will, I am sure, bear me out in +this. Here we have men who are positively so destitute that they are not +only prepared to accept with thankfulness the scanty rations of a jail, +but are willing to sacrifice their characters and endure the ignominy of +imprisonment and the consequent loss of liberty and separation from home +and family, because there is absolutely no other way of escape! In +Ceylon the jail is familiarly known among this class as their "_Loku +amma_", or "_Grandmother_"! + +India has no poor law. There is not even the inhospitable shelter of a +workhouse, to which the honest pauper may have recourse. Hence with tens +of thousands it is literally a case of "steal or starve." I suppose that +nine-tenths of the thefts and robberies, besides a large proposition of +the other crimes committed in India, are prompted by sheer starvation, +and until the cause be removed, it will be in vain to look for a +diminution of the evil, multiply our police and soldiery as we will. + +But I am digressing. My special object in this chapter is to show the +minimum amount which is necessary for the subsistence of our destitute +classes. + +Another very interesting indication of the minimum cost of living in the +cheapest native style, consistent with health, and a very moderate +degree of comfort, is furnished by the experience of our village +officers to whom we make a subsistence allowance of from eight to twelve +annas per week. This with the local gifts of food which they collect in +the village enables them to live in the simplest way, and ensures them +at least one good meal of curry and rice daily, the rest being locally +supplied. + +Here is the account of one of our Native Captains as to how he used to +manage with his allowance of eight annas a week. I have taken it down +myself from his own lips. + + "When in charge of a village corps, I received with others my weekly + allowance. When I was alone I used to get 10 annas, and when there + were two of us together we got eight annas each. This was sufficient + to give us one good meal of kheechhree (rice and dal) every day, + with a little over for extras, such as firewood, vegetables, oil and + ghee. + + "We had two regular cooked meals daily, one about noon and the other + in the evening. Besides this we also had a piece of bajari bread + left over from the previous day, when we got up in the morning. + + "For the morning meal we used to beg once a week uncooked food from + the villagers. They gave us about eight or nine seers, enough to + last us for the week. + + "It was a mixture of grains, consisting ordinarily of bajari, + bhavtu, kodri, jawar and mat. These we got ground up into flour. It + made a sort of bread which is known as Sangru and which we liked + very much. With it we would take some sag (vegetables) or dal. This + was our regular midday meal. + + "Including the value of the food we begged, the cost of living was + just about two annas a day for each of us. We could live comfortably + upon this. + + "The poorer Dhers in the villages seldom or never get kheechhree + (rice and dal). They could not afford it. Most of them live on + "ghens" (a mixture of buttermilk and coarse flour cooked into a sort + of skilly, or gruel) and bhavtu or bajari bread, or "Sangru." The + buttermilk is given to them by the village landowners, in return + for their labour. They are expected for instance to do odd jobs, cut + grass, carry wood, &c. The grain they commonly get either in harvest + time in return for labour, or buy it as they require it several + maunds at a time. Occasionally they get it in exchange for cloth. + Living in the cheapest possible way, and eating the coarsest food, I + don't think they could manage on less than one annas' worth of food + a day." + +One of our European Officers, Staff Captain Hunter, who has lived in the +same style for about four years among the villagers of Goojarat, and who +has been in charge of some 30 or 40 of our Officers, confirms the above +particulars. He says that on two annas a day it is possible to live +comfortably, but that one anna is the minimum below which it is +impossible to go in order to support life even on the coarsest sorts of +food. + +He tells me that the weavers have assured him that when husband and +wife are working hard from early to late, they cannot make more than +four annas profit a day by their weaving, since the mills have come into +the country and then they have to pay a commission to some one to sell +their cloth for them, or spend a considerable time travelling about the +country finding a market for it themselves. A piece of cloth which would +fetch nine rupees a few years ago, is now only worth three and a half or +four rupees. + +Bearing in mind, therefore, the above facts, I should consider that if +India's submerged tenth are to be granted, even nothing better than a +"bullock charter," the lowest fraction which could be named for the +minimum claimable by all would be one anna a day, or two rupees a month +for each adult. As a matter of fact, I have no hesitation in saying, +that there are many millions in India who do not get even half this +pittance from year's end to year's end, and yet toil on with scarcely a +murmur, sharing their scanty morsel with those even poorer than +themselves, until disease finds their weakened bodies an easy prey, and +death gives them their release from a poverty-stricken existence; which +scarcely deserves the name of "life." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +WHO ARE THE SUBMERGED TENTH? + + +By classifying and grading the various orders that constitute Indian +Society according to their average earnings, and by considering their +minimum, standard of existence, I have sought to prepare the way for a +more careful investigation of those who actually constitute the Darkest +India, which we are seeking to describe. I have narrowed down our +inquiry to the fifty millions, or whatever may be their number, who are +either absolutely destitute, or so closely on the border-land of +starvation as to need our immediate sympathy and assistance. + +Strictly speaking it is with the former alone, the absolutely destitute, +numbering as I have supposed some twenty-five millions, that we are at +present concerned. I have, however, found it impossible to exclude some +reference to the poverty-stricken laboring classes, earning less than +five rupees a month for the support of each family, inasmuch as they are +probably far more numerous than I have supposed, and their miseries are +but one degree removed from those of the utterly destitute. Indeed we +scarcely know which is the most to be pitied, the beggar who, if he has +nothing, has perhaps at least the comfort that nobody is dependent on +him, or the poor coolie who with his three or four rupees a month has +from five to eight, or more, mouths to fill! _Fill_ did I say? They are +_never_ filled! The most that can be done in such cases is to prolong +life and to keep actual starvation at bay, and that only it may be for a +time! + +Nevertheless, I have restricted the term "Submerged Tenth" to the +absolutely destitute, whom I now proceed to still further analyse. + +In doing so I have been obliged to include several important classes +who happily do not exist in England, or who are at any rate so few in +number, or so well provided for, as not to merit special attention. I +mean the beggars, the destitute debtors, and the victims of opium, +famine, and pestilence, without whom our catalogue would certainly be +incomplete. + +Including the above we may say that the Indian Submerged Tenth consist +of the following classes:-- + + I. The Beggars, excluding religious mendicants. + + II. The out-of-works,--the destitute, but honest, poor, who are + willing and anxious for employment, but unable to obtain it. + + III. The Houseless Poor. + + IV. The Destitute Debtors. + + V. The Victims of Famine and Scarcity. + + VI. The Victims of Pestilence. + + VII. The Vicious, including + + (a) Drunkards. + + (b) Opium eaters. + + (c) Prostitutes. + + VIII. The Criminals, or those who support themselves by crime. + +They are alike in one respect, that if they were compelled to be solely +dependent upon the proceeds of their labor, it would be impossible for +them to exist for a single month. + +It is these who constitute the problem which we are endeavouring to +solve. Here is the leprous spot of society on which we desire to place +our finger. If any think, that it is not so big as we imagine, we will +not quarrel with them about its size. Let them cut down our figures to +half the amount we have supposed. It will still be large enough to +answer the purpose of this inquiry, and should surely serve to arrest +the attention of the most callous and indifferent! About its existence +no one can have the smallest doubt, nor as to the serious nature of the +plague which afflicts our society. As to the character of the remedy, +there may be a thousand different opinions but that a remedy is called +for, who can question? + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE BEGGARS. + + +One of the chief problems of Indian Society is that of beggary. India is +perhaps the most beggar-beridden country to be found. Nor would it be +possible under present circumstances to pass any law forbidding beggary. +In the absence of a poor-law, it is the last resource of the destitute. + +True it is a plague spot in society and a serious reflection both on our +humanity and civilisation, to say nothing of our religious professions, +to tolerate the continued existence of the present state of things. + +And yet I see no reason why the problem should not be firmly and +successfully handled in the interests alike of the beggars themselves +and those who supply the alms. + +A short time ago I was visiting a Mahommedan gentleman in the Native +quarter of Bombay. It was in the morning before he went to business, and +I happened to hit upon the very time when the beggars made their usual +rounds. I should think upwards of fifty men and women must have called +during the few minutes that I was there. In fact it seemed like one +never-ending string of them reaching down both sides of the street. Some +sang, or shouted, to attract notice; others stood mutely with appealing +eyes, wherever they thought there was a chance of getting anything. Many +received a dole, while others were told to call again. I could not but +be struck by the courteous manner of my host to them, even when asking +them to pass along. + +On the opposite side of the road some food, or money, I forget which, +was being distributed to a hungry crowd by another hospitable merchant. +Evidently the supply was limited, and it was a case of first come first +served. The desperate struggle that was going on amongst that little +crowd of some fifty or sixty people was pitiful to behold. + +Now the present system, while better than nothing, is fraught with many +serious objections, with which I am sure my Indian readers will agree. + + 1. The weakest must inevitably go to the wall. It is the strong + able-bodied lusty beggar who is bound to get the best of it in + struggles such as I have above described, although he is just the + one who could and ought to work and who least needs the charity. He + is able also to cover more ground than the weak and sickly. To the + latter the struggle for existence is necessarily very severe, and + while needing and deserving help the most they get the least. + + 2. This unsystematic haphazard mode of helping the poor is bound to + be attended with serious inequalities; while some get more than is + either good, or necessary, others get too little, and for the + majority even supposing that on two or three days of the week they + succeeded in getting a sufficiency, the chances are that on four or + five they would not get nearly enough. It would be interesting to + know the total amount of food thus distributed and the number of + mouths that claim a share. + + 3. Of course in the case of any rise in the price of grains, the + position of the beggar is specially painful, as it is upon him that + the weight of the scarcity first falls. + + 4. Again the present system is a distinct encouragement to fraud. It + is impossible for the givers of charity to know anything about the + characters of those to whom they give. Thus much of their generosity + is misapplied, and the most pitiable cases escape notice, either + because they have not so plausible a tale, or because they have not + the requisite "_cheek_" for pushing their claims. + + 5. While the generous are severely taxed, the less liberal get off + scot free. They cannot give to all and therefore they will give to + nobody. Some beggars are frauds, therefore they will help none. They + have been taken in once, therefore they do not mean to be taken in + again. + + 6. Finally the Indian army of beggars is continually increasing, and + will sooner or later have to be dealt with. Private charity will + soon be unable to cope with its demands, and humanity forbids that + we should leave them to starve. + +I return therefore to the question, can we not seize this opportunity, +in the common interests of both beggars and be-begged, for dealing +vigorously with the difficulty, and for mitigating it, if we cannot at +one stroke entirely remove it? + +I am very hopeful that this can be done, and that now certain classes +of beggars. But in any case I think we may fairly view the problem in a +spirit of hopefulness. + +Roughly speaking the beggars may be divided into four classes:-- + + (a) The blind and the infirm. + + (b) Those who take them about and share the proceeds of their + begging. + + (c) The able bodied out-of-works, and + + (d) The religious mendicants. + +Passing over the last of these for obvious reasons, I would confine +myself to the first three classes. But I must not anticipate. The scheme +for their deliverance is fully described in a later portion of this +book, and for the present I would only say that they constitute a very +important section of India's submerged tenth and no plan would be +perfect that did not take them fully into account. + +It is true that this does not form a part of General Booth's original +scheme. But the reason for this is patent. In England vagrancy is +forbidden. There is a poor law in operation and there are work-houses +provided by the State. In India there is nothing of the kind, save a law +for the _compulsory emigration_ of European vagrants, who are deported +by Government and not allowed to return. For Natives there is no choice +save the grim one between _beggary, starvation,_ and _the jail._ To +obtain the shelter of the last of these they must leave their family, +sacrifice their liberty, and commit some offence. Therefore the honest +out-of-works are driven by tens of thousands to lives of beggary, which +too often pave the way for lives of imposture and crime. + +That the problem is capable of being successfully solved, if wisely +handled, has been proved by the Bavarian experiment of Count Rumford +quoted by General Booth in an appendix to his book. True that in that +case the Government lent their authority, their influence and the public +purse to the carrying out of the Count's plan of campaign. + +This we do not think that public opinion would permit of in India, even +if Government should be willing to undertake so onerous a +responsibility. Nor do I believe that there is any necessity for it. The +circumstances are a good deal different to those in Bavaria, and will be +better met by the proposals which I have elsewhere drawn up. + +Anyhow it is high time that something should be done, and that on an +extensive scale and of such a drastic nature as to deal effectually with +the question. + +I can easily imagine that some may fear lest in dealing with the system +we should wound the religious susceptibilities of the people. Begging +has come to be such a national institution and is so much a part and +parcel of the Indian's life and religion, that any proposal to +extinguish the fraternity may cause in some minds positive regret. To +such I would say that we do not propose to _extinguish_ but to _reform_, +and with this one hint I must beg them, before making up their minds, to +study carefully the proposals detailed in Chapter VII of Part II. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +"THE OUT-OF-WORKS." + + +I should question whether there is a single town or country district in +India which does not present the sad spectacle of a large number of men, +willing and anxious to work, but unable to find employment. Moreover, as +is well known, they have almost without exception families dependent +upon them for their support, who are necessarily the sharers of their +misfortunes and sufferings. There is one district in Ceylon, where +deaths from starvation have been personally known to our Officers, and +yet the country appears to be a very garden of Eden for beauty and +fertility. + +In the early years of our work I remember begging food from a house, and +learning afterwards that what they had given us was positively the last +they had for their own use. Needless to say that it was hastily +returned. During the same visit a cry of "Thief, thief!" was raised in +the night. We learnt next morning that the robbery had been committed by +a man whose wife and child were starving. It consisted of rice, and the +thief was discovered partly by the disappearance of the suspected +person, and partly by the fact that in his house was found the exact +quantity which had been stolen, whereas it was known that on the +previous day he had absolutely nothing whatever in his house! He had +left it all for his starving wife and child, and had himself fled to +another part of the country, probably going to swell the number of +criminals or mendicants in some adjoining city. + +I quote these instances as serving to show the impossibility of judging +merely from outside appearances in regard to the existence or +non-existence of destitution of the most painful character, which it is +often to the interest of the local landlords to whitewash and conceal. +It is only on looking under the surface that such can in many cases be +discovered. It has been the actual living among the people that has made +it possible for us to obtain glimpses of their home life, such as could +not otherwise have been the case. + +But let me enumerate a few of the classes among whom the Indian +"Out-of-works" are to be found. I do not mean of course to imply that +the entire castes, or tribes, or professions, referred to, constitute +them. Far from it. A large proportion are comparatively well off, and +though entangled almost universally in debt, are included among the 210 +millions with whom we are not now concerned. None the less it will be +admitted, I believe, that it is from these that the ranks of destitution +are chiefly recruited. I call attention to this fact, because it helps +in a large measure to remove the religious difficulty which might at +first sight appear likely to stand in the way of our being commissioned +by the Indian public to undertake these much-needed reforms. They are +almost without exception of either no caste, or of such low caste, that +religiously speaking they may justly be regarded as "no man's land." The +higher castes and the respectable classes are mostly able to look after +themselves, and will not therefore come within the scope of our scheme. + +And yet on the threshold of our inquiry we are confronted with an +important and increasing class, of "out-of-works" who are being turned +out of our educational establishments, unfitted for a life of hard +labour, trained for desk service, but without any prospect of suitable +employment in the case of a great and continually increasing majority. I +do not see how it will be possible for us to exclude or ignore this +class in our regimentation of the unemployed. Certainly our sympathies +go out very greatly after them. But beyond registering them in our +labour bureau, and acting as go-betweens in finding employment for a +small fraction of them, I do not see what more can be done. However, the +majority of them have well-to-do relations and friends to whom they can +turn, and except in cases of absolute destitution will not fall within +the scope of the present effort. + +Passing over these we come to the poorest classes of peasant proprietors +who, having mortgaged their tiny allotments to the hilt, have finally +been sold up by the money-lender. Add to these again the more +respectable sections of day-laborers. Then there are the destitute among +the weavers, tanners, sweepers and other portions of what constitute the +low-caste community. Out of these take now the case of the weaver caste, +with whom we happen to be particularly familiar, as our work in Gujarat +is largely carried on among them. Since the introduction of machinery, +their lot has come to be particularly pitiable. In one district it is +reckoned that there are 400,000 of them. Previous to the mills being +started, they could get a comfortable competence, but year by year the +margin of profit has been narrowed down, till at length absolute +starvation is beginning to stare them in the face, and that within +measurable distance. + +To the above we may add again the various gipsy tribes, who have no +settled homes or regular means of livelihood. Finally, there are the +non-religious mendicants, the religious ones being considered as not +coming within the scope of our present effort, being provided for in +charitable institutions of their own. + +Representatives of nearly all the above abound in our cities, and when +both town and village destitutes come to be reckoned together, I do not +think it will be too serious a view to take of their numbers, to reckon +the absolutely workless as numbering at least 25 or 26 millions. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE HOMELESS POOR. + + +On this question I do not propose to say much, not because there is not +much that could be said, but because in a climate like India it is a +matter of secondary importance as compared with food. The people +themselves are comparatively speaking indifferent to it. The "bitter +cry" of India if put into words would consist simply of "Give us food to +fill our stomachs. This is all we ask. As for shelter, we are content +with any hovel, or willing to betake ourselves to the open air. But food +we cannot do without." + +And yet, looked at from the point of view either of a moralist, a +sanitarian, or a humanitarian, the question is one which calls for +prompt consideration and remedial action. For instance, according to the +last Government census, the average number of persons inhabiting each +house in the city of Bombay is no less than 28. The average for the +entire Presidency is six. But then it must be remembered that the great +majority of the houses of the poor in the agricultural district consist +of one-roomed huts, in which the whole family sleep together. + +In the cities the overcrowding has become so excessive, and the +accomodation available for the poor is so inadequate, costly and +squalid, as to almost beggar description. Considerations of decency, +comfort and health are largely thrown to the winds. A single unfurnished +room, merely divided from the next one by a thin boarding, through which +everything can be heard, will command from five to thirty rupees a +month, and even more, according to its position, in Bombay. + +The typical poor man's home in India consists as a rule of a +single-storeyed hut with walls of mud or wattle, and roof of grass, +palm-leaf, tiles, mud, or stones, according to the nature of the +country. One or two rooms, and a small verandah, are all that he +requires for himself and his family. + +In the cities the high price of the land makes even this little +impossible. Take for instance Bombay. Here the representative of the +London lodging-house is to be found in the form of what are called +"chawls," large buildings, several storeys high, divided up into small +rooms, which are let off to families, at a rental of from three rupees a +month and upwards. Very commonly the same room serves for living, +sleeping, cooking, and eating. There being as a rule no cooking place, +the cheap earthen "choola" serves as a sufficient make-shift, and the +smoke finds its exit through the door or window best it can. + +For hundreds, probably thousands, in every large city, even this poor +semblance of a home does not exist. Those who manage somehow or other to +live on nothing a month, cannot certainly afford to pay three rupees, or +even less, for a lodging. Whilst, no doubt, many of the submerged, tenth +are not absolutely houseless, inasmuch as they are often able to share +the shelter of some relation or friend, it cannot be doubted that a very +large percentage of them might say, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of +the air have nests," but we "have not where to lay our heads." + +Of the homeless poor there are two classes. The more fortunate find +shelter in those of the Dharamsalas, Temples and Mosques which contain +provision for such purposes. It must be remembered, however, that a +large number of such institutions are reserved for certain favored +castes, and are not therefore available for the out-caste poor. For the +rest, the uncertain shelter of verandahs, porticoes, market-places, +open sheds, and, in fine weather, the road-way, esplanade, or some shady +tree, have to suffice. + +As already said, I am quite willing to admit that this question of +shelter for the poor is of secondary importance as compared with that of +their food-supply. And yet is it nothing to us that millions of the +Indian poor have no place that they can call "home," not even the meagre +shelter of the one-roomed hut with which they would gladly be content? +Is it nothing to us that superadded to the sufferings of hunger, they +have to face the sharp and sometimes frosty air of the cold weather with +scarcely a rag to their backs, and no doors, windows, or even walls to +keep off the chilly wind? Is it nothing to us that in the rainy season +they have to make their bed on the damp floor or ground, though to do so +means a certain attack of fever? Is it nothing to us that under such +circumstances the houseless poor should be converted into a dismal +quagmire in which moral leprosy, more terrible than its bodily +representative, should thrive and propagate itself? Certainly if the +Indian destitute are to have a "bullock charter" granted to them, it +will be necessary that it should sooner or later include suitable and +decent shelter as well as food. + +True, the problem is a vast one but this is no reason why it should be +looked upon as insoluble, or left to grow year by year still vaster and +more uncontrollable. + +What we propose ourselves to undertake in this will be found elsewhere +(see Part II Chapter VI). It must be remembered, moreover, that if our +efforts to deal with the workless masses in finding them employment +should prove successful this will in itself help to remove much of the +existing evil. And by directing labor into channels where it can be the +most profitably employed, we shall help to disembarrass those channels +which have at present got choked up with an excess of it. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE LAND OF DEBT. + + +One of the darkest shadows on the Indian horizon is that of debt. A +drowning man will snatch at a straw, and it would surely be inhuman for +us to find much fault with the unhappy creatures who constitute the +submerged tenth for borrowing their pittance at even the most exorbitant +rates of interest in the effort to keep their heads above water. + +I have no desire here to draw a gloomy picture of the Indian Shylock. In +some respects I believe him to be a decided improvement on his European +and Jewish representative. It was only a short time ago that I read a +blood-curdling description of the London money-lender, which put any +Indian I have ever come across altogether into the shade. + +Nevertheless, Shylock flourishes in India as perhaps in no other country +under the sun. His name is Legion. He is ubiquitous. He has the usual +abnormal appetite of his fraternity for rupees. But strange to say he +fattens upon poverty and grows rich upon the destitute. Whereas in other +regions he usually concentrates his attention upon the rich and +well-to-do classes, here he specially marks out for his prey those who +if not absolutely destitute live upon the border-land of that desolate +desert, and makes up by their numbers for what they may lack in quality. +He gives loans for the smallest amount from a rupee and upwards, +charging at the rate of half an anna per month interest for each rupee, +which amounts to nearly 38 per cent. per annum. As for payment, he is +willing to wait. Every three years, a fresh bond is drawn up including +principal and interest. Finally, when the amount has been sufficiently +run up, whatever land, house, buffalo, or other petty possessions may +belong to the debtor are sold up, usually far below their real value. + +I remember one case, which came before me when I was in Government +service, where the facts were practically undisputed, in which a +cultivator was sued for 900 rupees, principal and interest, the original +debt being only ten rupees worth of grain borrowed a few years +previously. Ultimately it was compromised for about 100 rupees. This is +by no means an exceptional case. + +Of course it may be said in favour of the money-lender that he is +obliged to charge these high rates, to cover the extra risk, and that as +a rule, he is generally prepared to forego half his legal claim when +the time for payment comes. I am aware also that the subject has long +occupied the earnest attention of Government, and that in some parts of +the country enactments have been introduced for the relief of poor +debtors. But these are only local and the evil is universal. A judicial +Solon is sadly needed who shall rise up and boldly face the evil. The +extortions of usurers have led to revolutions before now, and it seems +high time for an enlightened Government to do something on a large scale +for the abatement of the evil, if only by an absolute refusal to enforce +any such usurious contracts. + +But I have only mentioned the subject, because it plays a specially +important part in the present depressed condition of the submerged +masses. In the following pages I hope among other things to be able to +cast some rays of light into this valley of the shadow of debt, if not +of death. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE LAND OF FAMINE. + + +Any review of Darkest India would be incomplete without some mention of +the widespread and calamitous famines which periodically devastate the +country and which reappear from time to time with terrible certainty. + +In a country where so large a proportion of the population is +agricultural, and where the poor are almost entirely paid in kind, the +failure of a single crop means the most terrible scarcity and privation +for those who even in time of plenty live at best but a hand-to-mouth +existence. And when the failure is repeated famine faces the +poverty-stricken masses, and they are frequently swept off by thousands. + +In the terrible Madras famine of 1877 to 1878, several millions +perished, in spite of the relief works and charitable agencies which +hastened to their assistance. When the census of 1881 came to be taken, +it was found that in this part of India, instead of the population +having largely increased, as was everywhere else the case, there had +been a diminution of two per cent as compared with the census of 1871. + +It may be said that such famines are not frequent and we are thankful to +admit that this is so. Yet scarcely a year passes without some part of +India suffering severely from partial droughts. Only last year hundreds +of poor starving wretches, crowded into Bombay from Kattiyawar, and were +for weeks encamped on the Esplanade, an abject multitude, dependent on +the charity of the rich. And yet it was "no famine" that had driven them +hundreds of miles from their homes, but "_only_ a scarcity." + +At the same time famine prevailed in the Ganjam District to an extent +which would probably have been utterly discredited, had not the Governor +of Madras proceeded personally to the spot, and reported on the terrible +state of affairs. No less than 30,000 persons were thrown upon +Government for their support. In the same year through a fortnight's +delay in the break of the monsoon, there were grain riots at +Trichinopoly and Tanjore, several merchants stores being broken into, +through a rise in the price of food. Happily a subsequent fall of rain +averted the impending calamity, prices fell and order was restored. + +Now to deal radically with famines it is necessary to meet them half +way, and not to wait till they are upon us in all their stupendous +immensity. It must be remembered that, as in the above instances, the +present condition of things is such, that the mere threatening of famine +is sufficient to send up the prices of food at a bound, to famine rates. + +The chief victims of famine are the very classes who have been here +described as constituting the "submerged tenth." In ordinary times "the +wolf" is always "at the door" but at these calamitous periods there is +no door to keep him out, and he is master of the situation. Now General +Booth's scheme proposes to deal with him promptly and remove him to such +a safe distance, as shall make his inroads almost impossible. + +By leaving these destitute classes in their present miserable condition, +we prepare for ourselves a gigantic and impossible task when the evil +day of famine at last overtakes us. By facing the difficulty at the +outset, and meeting it midway, we make our task much easier. Time is in +our favour. True, the people are hungry, but they are not dying. We can +afford to let them drift a few weeks, months, or even years longer, +while we are putting our heads and hearts together to devise for them +some way of deliverance commensurate with the immensity of their needs. +But to resign oneself to the present condition of things as inevitable +seems to me almost as heartless as to fold our hands helplessly at a +time of absolute famine. To deafen our ears to the immediate distresses +of the submerged tenth may be less criminal in degree but not in kind. + +To those who feel paralysed by the vastness of the problem I would say +"Study General Booth's Way Out and the adaptation of it to India which I +have endeavoured to sketch in the following pages." + +Here at least is a plan, perhaps not a perfect one, but still definite, +tangible and immediately possible. Improve upon it as much as you like. +Help us to remedy its defects by all means. But whatever you do, don't +stand by as an indifferent spectator. Put your own individual shoulder +to the wheel. Help us with your sympathy, prayers and substance to make +the effort, and should failure ensue, you will at least have the +satisfaction of realising that you have helped others to make an honest +determined effort for dealing with a gigantic evil that involves the +welfare, if not the existence of millions. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE LAND OF PESTILENCES. + + +Happily a description of English destitution does not call for any +reference to plagues, such as those which annually or at least +periodically, devastate India, and that with such certainty that their +presence has come to be regarded, almost with indifference, as a matter +of course, or at least of necessity. Indeed we suppose that some would +even look upon it as a Divinely ordained method for reducing the +population. True, that in Europe the matter is regarded in a very +different light. Public opinion has made its voice heard. Medical +science has exerted itself, and not in vain. The laws of sanitation are +better known, and are enforced upon the entire community by severe legal +enactments. And above all, Christianity has taught the rich to say of +the poor "He is my brother," and to provide for him the medical care and +attention that would otherwise not be within his reach. + +What is possible in Europe is no doubt possible in India. Much has +already been done, and our Government is fully awake to the importance +of the subject, and will be able, year by year, to institute further +improvements in this respect. + +With this, however, we are not directly concerned. My object in +referring to the subject is to point out-- + +1. That it is almost invariably from among the submerged tenth, with +whom we propose to deal that these fearful plagues usually have their +origin. Pestilence may indeed be said to take up its abode among them. +Destitution is as it were the egg from which pestilence is hatched. +There are brooding seasons when it may for a time disappear from sight. +But it is there all the same and we know it. If we are to eradicate the +evil, we must deal effectually with its cause. And this is the special +object of General Booth's scheme. + +True, it may be possible to keep this deadly enemy at bay by multiplying +our hospital fortresses and putting into the field medical legions armed +with the latest discoveries of science. But the requisite paraphernalia +is too expensive for a country like India; and who does not know that +well-fed bodies, and healthy homes are better safeguards against disease +than all the most costly medicines that could be provided by the British +pharmacopoeia? If therefore we are able to deal radically with +destitution we shall at the same time strike an effective blow at the +pestilences which are at present such a scourge to India. + +2. Again I would like to remind my readers of another fact, and in this +aspect of the question, all classes of the community are bound to be +interested. If pestilence begins its deadly work among the destitute, it +can never be reckoned on to stop there. Indeed pestilence may be +regarded as _Nature's revenge_ on society for the neglect of the poor. +Once the cholera fiend has broken loose, it is impossible to tell whom +he is going to select for his victims. The rich, the fair, the learned, +the young, the strong, are often the first objects of his attention. He +manifests a reckless disregard of social position. The distinctions of +caste and rank, of beauty or learning, are not for him. And even as I +write he may be preparing his invisible hordes of bacilli for fresh +invasions, more terrible than those that have ever swept down from the +mountains of Afghanistan. While we are spending millions upon +strengthening our North-Western Frontiers against a foe who may never +exist, save in our imagination, can we dare to neglect the more terrible +enemy who defies all Boundary Commissions, who overleaps the strongest +fortresses, and who laughs to scorn the largest cannon that ever capped +our walls? + +3. Finally there is one very sad shade in this part of our picture of +darkest India. If on the one hand pestilence may be said to somewhat +thin the ranks of the destitute by decreasing the number of mouths +requiring to be fed, it must be remembered on the other hand that it +continually recruits them both by sweeping away so many of the +breadwinners, and by frequently paralysing many of those who are left, +and preventing them from earning what they otherwise might. How often do +we hear of even public institutions having to be closed, and of +thousands being thrown out of work by the panic which ensues at such +times. + +I have sought to confine myself to a matter-of-fact description of this +gloomy subject, and to avoid anything that could be construed into mere +sensationalism. And yet deaf must be the ears, and hard must be the +hearts, that can be insensible to the cries of agony that yearly ascend +from thousands and tens of thousands of homes. In a recent Government +report, I find that from cholera alone in one year there were reported +no less than 300,000 deaths; and yet the year was not remarkable for any +exceptional outbreak. Still more terrible and regular are the ravages of +the various malarial fevers, that sweep away millions yearly to a +premature grave, often just in the prime of life, when they are most +needed by the country. That a very large percentage of these deaths are +directly connected with destitution, and that pestilence frequently but +finishes the work commenced by months and years of starvation, is too +notorious to require proof. It is a melancholy picture, and yet without +it our review of Darkest India would be necessarily incomplete. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE WHITE ANTS OF INDIAN SOCIETY. + + +Hitherto our description of the Submerged Tenth has concerned those who +may be styled principally the children of misfortune, and who in their +struggle for existence have resort to means which are indeed desperate +in their nature, but against which no moral objection can be raised. + +General Booth next calls attention to another great section of the +Submerged Tenth who have found a temporary shelter or asylum in the +temple of Vice,--those who either trade upon the sins of society, or are +the miserable victims of those sins. The unlawful gratification of the +natural appetites has ever been the snare by which millions have been +deluded to damnation. If it were possible to combat this tendency in +human nature by mere legal enactments, it would have been done long ago. +But though much has been done in this way to hold vice in check, and to +prevent it from openly parading itself in public as it otherwise would, +yet it has chiefly been by the chains of religion that the monster has +been bound, and even his legal shackles have mostly been manufactured at +the anvils of the religious public. Take for instance the wholesale +prohibition of intoxicating liquor by the Mahommedan religion, or again +the strong Temperance movement that has more lately been established +among Christians. The former has no doubt accomplished what would never +have been done by means of legal enactments, while the latter has first +educated the public on the Temperance question and has thus prepared the +way for prohibitory legislation of a more stringent character. + +In dealing with this portion of the Submerged Tenth there can be no +doubt that the religious and moral appeals of the Salvation Army +Officers will serve to stimulate and enforce wholesale reformation. By +substituting the attractions of our public meetings, we shall do much to +counteract those of the liquor den and other factories of pollution and +destitution,--for it is as such that we may regard the places where +drunkards, opium-eaters, prostitutes, fornicators, and the other hideous +satellites of Vice are manufactured wholesale, whether with or without +the shelter of a license. A large proportion of those who are engaged in +vice as a trade openly profess to do so as a means of subsistence, and +because it enables them to eke out what is in nine cases out of ten but +a scanty subsistence, and what is almost invariably accompanied by the +most terrible penalties Nature can inflict on those who outrage her +ordinances. Many are heartily sick of the trade, but can see no way of +escape. In dealing with destitution we shall open for these a door of +hope. The deserters from the ranks of those who trade in vice will help +us to deal more effectively with those who still cling to the profession +on account of its profits. + +In dealing with the panderers to the vices of society we shall largely +diminish the numbers of its victims. It has been said that sinning is +very much a matter of temptation, and in reducing those temptations, as +we believe General Booth's scheme will largely tend to do, we shall be +able to reduce in quantity, if we cannot hope to cause altogether to +cease, the frightful holocaust of human victims that is annually offered +up at this dark shrine. + + +_(a) The Drunkards._ + +I will take the question of the Drunkard first, for it is itself a +prolific root of all kinds of evil. The gradual breaking up of religious +restraints, the increasing facilities for obtaining at smallest cost +the most fiery and dangerous liquors, the added suffering entailed on +any drinking habits that may be formed by the tropical heat of India, +all serve to accentuate the gravity of the evil in this country. Add to +this a consideration of the distressing poverty, the chronic hunger, the +dull monotony, unrelieved by hope of amendment, in which myriads of the +people of India fight out the battle of life; reflect how these must +crave for the boon of forgetfulness and eagerly grasp at the wretched +relief which drunkenness may bring. Nor can we throw the responsibility +altogether upon the individual, if it be true that prior to contact with +Western nations, the Hindoos were largely a temperate and even an +abstinent people. We are in an especial manner bound to consider whether +there can be found any alleviation or remedy for a disaster which, if we +have not actually created, we have at least suffered to spring up +unheeded and unchecked in our very midst. + +It is notorious that the large cities of India are crowded with shops of +the kind thus described by Mr. Caine, late M.P., in his "Picturesque +India": + + "The wide and spacious shops in front of which are strewn broken + potsherds, and whose contents are two or three kegs and a pile of + little pots; are the liquor-dealer's establishments. The groups of + noisy men seated on the floor are drinking ardent spirits of the + worst description absolutely forbidden to the British soldiers, but + sold retail to natives at three farthings a gill." + +Mr. Caine goes on to say that in the city of Lucknow, with a population +of some 300,000 inhabitants, there were in 1889 thirty distilleries of +native spirits and 200 liquor-shops. The Government exchequer receipts +from spirits in the North-West Provinces amount to nearly L600,000, +having doubled themselves during the last seven years. This means that +in round numbers L1,000,000 worth of native spirits is sold in these +provinces per annum. + +Now consider first that as a rule with rare exceptions a native of +India who uses the fiery country liquors drinks for no other purpose +than to become intoxicated. They are manufactured with a view to this, +and not as in Europe to provide a thirst-quenching potation. Mr. Caine +says: "The people of India, unlike other people, only drink for the +purpose of getting drunk, and if we make them drunken we destroy them +more rapidly than by war, pestilence and famine." + +Nothing is clearer than that a rapidly increasing multitude in this +country, once remarkable for its sobriety and thrift, are rushing +headlong into the disastrous vice of intemperance and its attendant +horrors, almost without check. Something must be done. We cannot +cold-bloodedly abandon them to a gospel of despair. + + +_(b) The Opium Slaves._ + +Darker still perhaps is the dreadful night, and more sickening the +miasma, which lies around the opium creeks, multiplying and increasing +and slowly sucking down into their slimy depths thousands upon thousands +of those who dare to seek momentary relief from sorrow in its lethal +stream. Mr. Caine thus describes an opium den in Lucknow:-- + + "Enter one of the side rooms. It has no windows and is very dark, + but in the centre is a small charcoal fire whose lurid glow lights + up the faces of nine or ten human beings, men and women, lying on + the floor. A young girl some fifteen years of age has charge of each + room, fans the fire, lights the opium pipe, and holds it in the + mouth of the last comer, till the head falls heavily on the body of + his or her predecessor. In no East-end gin palace, in no lunatic or + idiot asylum, will you see such horrible destruction of God's image + in the face of man, as appears in the countenances of those in the + preliminary stage of opium drunkenness! Here you, may see some + handsome young married woman, nineteen or twenty years of age, + sprawling, on the ground, her fine brown eyes flattened and dull + with coming, stupor; and her lips drawn convulsively back from her + glittering white teeth. Here is a young girl sitting among a group + of newly arrived customers singing some romance. As they hand round + the pipes there is a bonny little lad of six or seven watching his + father's changing face with a dreadful indifference. + + "At night these dens are crowded to excess, and it is estimated that + there are upwards of twelve thousand persons in Lucknow enslaved by + this hideous vice. An opium sot is the most hopeless of all + drunkards. Once in the clutches of the fiend, everything gives way + to his fierce promptings. His victims only work to get more money + for opium. Wife, children, home, health, and life itself are + sacrificed to this degrading passion." + +If twelve thousand for Lucknow be a fair estimate, can we put the +figures for the whole country at less than 100,000? + +Still there is a deeper depth. In the same city, says Mr. Caine, there +are ninety shops for the sale of Bhang and Churras. "Bhang," says the +same writer, "is the most horrible intoxicant the world has ever +produced. In Egypt its importation and sale is absolutely forbidden, and +a costly preventive service is maintained to suppress the smuggling of +it by Greek adventurers. When an Indian wants to commit some horrible +crime such as murder, he prepares himself for it with two annas' worth +of Bhang." + + +_(c) Prostitution._ + +In the all but impenetrable shades and death-breathing swamps of this +social forest, lie and suffer and rot probably not less than one hundred +thousand prostitutes. Multitudes of these are dedicated to such a life +in childhood, given over to it, in some cases by their parents and not +unfrequently kept in connection with the temples. Thousands are searched +for and persuaded and entrapped by old women, whose main business it is +to supply the market. We know of at least one village where beautiful +children, who have been decoyed or purchased from their parents by +these prostitute-hunters, are taken to be reared and trained for the +profession. In Bombay there is actually a caste in which the girls are +in early childhood "married to the dagger," or, in other words, +dedicated to a life of prostitution. In some of the cities old men are +employed as touts to secure customers for the women, who remain in their +haunts, thus seducing and leading into vice crowds of lads and young men +who might otherwise have escaped. + +Such suffering, shame, cruelty, and wreckage belong to this crime that +one's heart bleeds to think of the tens of thousands doomed, not by +their own choice, but by the wicked greed of unnatural parents or the +crafty cunning of wicked decoys to such a gehenna, without the least +power to extricate themselves from its torment and its shame. + +With so much pity left upon the earth to weep over human woes, with so +much courage still to hack and hew a path through grim forests and +morasses of suffering, there must, and shall, be found "a way out." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE CRIMINALS. + + +The most recent report of the Indian Government informs us that there +are now no less that 737 Jails in British India (exclusive of Native +Territory), with an average population of 75,922 prisoners. In the +course of last year in the Bombay Presidency alone no less than 76,000 +criminals were convicted, while 152,879 were placed on trial before the +various courts. In the whole of India the number of annual convictions +amount to upwards of one million, while the number who appear before the +Court are at least twice as numerous. Again, there are also immense +numbers of offences committed yearly, in which the Police are unable to +get any clue, the offenders having succeeded in eluding altogether the +vigilance of the Law. For instance a celebrated outlaw has only recently +been apprehended in Central India after several years of successful and +daring robbery, arson, mutilation and murder. Indeed in many parts of +India there are predatory tribes and communities of thieves who have to +be perpetually under Police surveillance, and who are brought up from +their infancy to thieving as a profession. + +We desire to plead the cause of the voiceless multitude who occupy our +Indian Jails. The fact that they are voiceless,--that they have no means +of voicing their claims, their wrongs and their rights (for they, too, +_have_ rights), only adds to their danger. How can a criminal hope for +redress? What chance has he of being heard? Who will listen? What +advocate will plead his cause? Ah, if he happen to be rich, it is true, +he will have many friends! But as a rule the criminal is poor. Often he +has to choose between crime and starvation. For himself he might prefer +to starve, but the sight of his emaciated wife and aged parents,--with +whom, criminal though he be, he is as a rule ready to share his last +crust,--the clamour of his hungry children, all this drives him to +desperation and to a life of crime. He can only give voice to his +sorrows and his needs by some fresh act of lawlessness. Hence the +occasional outbursts of mutiny, and the murders of jail warders, which +from time to time reach the newspapers and shock the public ear. + +And here I would desire to call attention to the fact that though crime +must be vigorously dealt with and punished, at the same time the +tendency of punishment is not to _reform_, but to _harden._ Who does not +know that the _worst criminals_ are those who have been _longest in +Jail_? Instead of _getting better_ they _grow daily worse_,--more adept +in committing crime and eluding detection,--more careless as to its +consequences. + +Equally futile would be the offer of a wholesale pardon. A singular +illustration of this occurred in 1887, when in honour of Her Majesty's +Jubilee in the Bombay Presidency alone, no less than 2,465 prisoners +were released out of a total of 6,087. Yet the Government report goes on +to show that within a few months of their release the Jails were fuller +than ever! + +What, then, is to be done? Punishment hardens the criminal, pardon +encourages crime, while the hearts of the offenders remain the same! + +Here steps in the Salvation Army. Its methods and meetings, however +distasteful to the educated and refined, have a special attraction for +these dangerous classes. Its Officers are accustomed to handle them with +superhuman love and patience, as well as with a tact and adroitness +such as has often elicited the admiration and praise of those who have +no sympathy with our creed or ways of work. + +We have all over the world fearlessly invaded these criminals in their +lowest haunts and dens, in the teeth of the warnings of the Police; we +have braved their fiercest fury when, urged on by publicans, maddened +with drink, misled by all sorts of infamous lies, and winked at or +patronised by the Police and Magistrates, they have wreaked on us the +utmost cruelties. We have invariably weathered the storm, though often +at the cost of health and even life itself. And in the end as a rule the +Roughs, Criminals and Dangerous Classes have become our warmest friends +and vigorous supporters. From amidst them we have rescued and reformed +some of the noblest trophies of Divine grace. This has been done all +over the world. It has been done in India and Ceylon. In a later part of +this book we have given a glimpse of this most interesting and important +portion of our work. Independent witnesses testify to its reality. +Government officials assure us of their warmest sympathy, and in not a +few cases aid us with their influence and subscriptions. In Ceylon the +Government has treated us most handsomely, throwing open their prisons +for our Officers to visit and hold meetings among the prisoners, +assisting us in the expenses of our Home with a monthly grant of Rs. +100, and encouraging the criminal classes to take advantage of the +opportunity thus afforded them for reforming their lives. + +The common reason given for refusing such assistance elsewhere is that +Government cannot interfere with the religion of the prisoners. But in +Ceylon the majority of the prisoners are Buddhists, Hindoos and +Mahommedans, and what has been found to work so well there can surely be +tried with equal success elsewhere! Government does not hesitate all +over India to assist religious bodies in their endeavours to _educate_ +the people, and they may therefore well countenance and help forward, as +they might so easily do, our efforts to reach and reform the criminal +classes on precisely the same grounds, offering similar advantages to +any Hindoo or Mahommedan Associations that might afterwards be formed +for the same purpose. At present the Indian criminal has no friend to +lend him a helping hand. Prison officials in various places have +personally informed me that they are distressed at being able to do +nothing for criminals, who, having lost their character and being +abandoned by their friends, have no alternative but to return to their +old associates. If our example causes others to rise up and make efforts +for reaching and reforming these classes, who would not rejoice? At +present it is a sad fact that throughout India the native criminals are +debarred from all opportunities of being reached by the softening +influences of religion. The Europeans have their Chaplains,--the +Natives are allowed to have no one to minister to their souls' needs, or +to bring to bear upon them those moral influences which might, and we +know often would, lead to their reform. There seems no reason whatever +why the following rules, which have been drawn up by the Ceylon +Government, should not be adopted likewise in India:-- + + General Rules made by His Excellency the Governor, acting under the + advice of the Executive Council for the Government of Prisons, for + the guidance of the prison officers, _under and by authority of + Section_ 26 _of the Prisons Ordinance_, 1887. + + 226. Ministers of religion and religions instructors shall be + entitled to visit prisoners under commitment for trial and prisoners + undergoing sentence after trial, and to give religious and moral + instructions to those who are willing to receive the same on Sundays + and other days in which prisoners are usually allowed freedom from + work, between the hours of eight in the morning and four in the + afternoon. + + 227. Such ministers or other persons shall be allowed access at all + times (but between the hours specified) to all prisoners who shall + be certified by the medical officers of the prison to be seriously + ill. + + 228. In prisons where such an arrangement can conveniently be made, + a suitable room shall be set apart where religious instruction can + be afforded to prisoners and the rites of religion administered. + + 229. If, under the directions of Government, Christian services be + held in any Jail, on Sundays and on other days when such services + are performed, all Christian criminal prisoners shall attend the + same unless prevented by sickness or other reasonable cause--to be + allowed by the Jailor--or unless their service is dispensed with by + the Superintendent. No prisoner, however, shall be compelled to + attend any religious instruction given by the ministers or religious + instructor of a church or persuasion to which the prisoner does not + belong. + + 230. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent in charge of any + prison to prohibit any particular minister or instructor visiting + any prisoner in such prison, if it shall appear to him that such + minister or instructor is an improper or indiscreet person, or + likely to have improper communication with the prisoner, provided + that such Superintendent shall without delay communicate his reason + for doing so, to the Inspector General for report to Government. + + 231. No books or printed papers shall be admitted into any prison + for the use of the prisoners, except by permission of the + Superintendent, and the jailor shall keep a catalogue of all books + and printed papers admitted into the prison. + + 232. It shall be the duty of the minister or instructor admitted to + visit any prison, to communicate to the jailor any abuse or + impropriety in the prison which may come to his knowledge, on pain + of being prohibited from visiting the prison. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +ON THE BORDER LAND. + + +Besides the 25,000,000 who constitute the actual destitute and criminal +population, we estimate that at a very low computation there are +25,000,000 who are on the border-land, who are scarcely ever in a +position to properly obtain for themselves and for their families the +barest necessities of existence. I do not say that they are wholly +submerged, but they pass a sort of amphibious existence, being part of +the time under water and part of the time on land,--some part of their +life being spent in the most abject poverty, and some part of it in +absolute starvation--positively for the time submerged, and liable at +any moment to be lastingly engulfed. These are the classes whose income +never rises above five rupees a month, while more frequently it is under +four rupees. + +On one farm, concerning which we have detailed information, where the +rent of the land is unusually low, the soil good and well irrigated, +where loans can be got at a merely nominal interest, the cultivators, +with the additional help of occasional cooly work, did not average in +their earnings four rupees a month, some having to keep a family on +three and a half, while if a bullock died, or a plough had to be +procured, it meant positive hunger and increased indebtedness to supply +those needs. + +The fact is that in many districts there is not only an increase of +population to be sustained by a constantly narrowing area of cultivated +land, but the land itself is deteriorating through the unendurable +pressure put upon it. As the forests grow more distant through being +used up for timber and fuel, wood becomes dearer. The manure which ought +to go upon the land is therefore by necessity consumed for fuel. The +ground in consequence becomes impoverished. As the struggle for +existence becomes fiercer, the people are unable to let their land +periodically lie fallow, so the crops grow lighter. Again, the ryot is +not only unable properly to feed himself, but his bullocks share a +similar fate. The feeble animals can only draw a plough which merely +scratches the surface of the ground. Furthermore, as the population +increases the land is divided into smaller and smaller holdings. The +struggle against the advancing tide of adversity cannot be maintained. +Inch by inch the tide rolls up, pushing the border-landers closer and +closer upon the black rocks of famine, to escape which they at length +plunge into the sea amongst the submerged millions, who, weary and +bitter and despairing, or with blind submission to the iron hand of +fate, have grown hopelessly and miserably indifferent. + +Now, it is notorious that millions live thus on the border-land. Granted +that after the harvest border-landers may for a time get two good meals +a day. Yet as the reserve store dwindles down and long before +harvest-time comes round, again, they get but one, and that frequently a +scanty one. They do live, multitudes of them, it is true, amidst +conditions that seem to us impossible. But how many of them die on this +one meal a day, there is nobody to chronicle. But if we do nothing +beyond rescuing a considerable mass of the totally submerged, we shall +considerably ameliorate the condition of these border-landers. + +By rendering independent of charity thousands who now depend upon the +gifts of the more fortunate, by making large tracts of land productive +which at present lie waste, by enlarging the stream of emigration, and +partially draining the morass of crime, it is absolutely certain that +the conditions of life will become more favourable for the +border-landers. New markets will be created both for produce and labour, +which will tend to relieve the congested condition of the land now under +cultivation. + +The land at present is like a good, but overworked and under-fed horse, +which, under this double adversity of overwork and under-feeding, dies +and leaves his poor owner, who was entirely dependent upon his earnings, +a pauper. It is a condition of things which is bad, and bound of +necessity to grow only worse and worse, till the willing horse drops +under his load, and his master falls from poverty to destitution. Once +enable the man to temporarily decrease his horse's labour and +permanently increase its food supply, that horse will regain its +strength, and by its increased strength become able to do double the +amount of work, increase its master's earnings, and so in time enable +him not only to properly feed his horse, but also to properly feed +himself. + +Now close to hand there is an unemployed horse available which will +afford the relief, for want of which the overworked horse is dying. The +unoccupied and waste lands, waste labour, and waste produce, constitute +the ideal unemployed horse, on whose back we would put part of the +burden of maintaining the life and feeding the mouths of the Nation. +This idle and hitherto useless horse will immediately become useful and +productive, and will enable its under-fed companion, not only to be +relieved of part of its burden, but also to get sufficient food, and +grow once more plump and strong. Thus the man, or nation, that lived, +however miserably, yet still lived, on the labour of the one famished +over-worked horse, will then be able to get a decent living, since there +will be two strong well-fed horses to work for them, instead of a single +broken-down one. + +It is simply impossible within the limits of this chapter to trace out +the whole process. Enough to say that as a rule, to which of course +there are exceptions, one man's prosperity means some one else's +prosperity. Suppose I am a beggar. I wear practically no clothing. The +little I have is what somebody else has cast off. I have no home. I +sleep in the street. I get very little food, and that I do not pay for. +I produce nothing. My children, if I have any, are wastrels like myself. +But I am lifted out of this beggary, I become a productive worker. I get +a home, wear clothes, buy food, educate my children. Not only have I +improved my own circumstances, but I have helped to improve the +circumstances of others. Builders, shopkeepers, food-producers, all +profit by my redemption. + +Now, if not one wastrel only, but 1,000,000 such are raised, a mighty +impetus is given to industry of every kind, and the border-landers, +instead of being driven on the black rocks by the tide of adverse +surroundings, begin to drive back the tide, and conquer the earth, and +subdue it, till the border-landers will be border-landers no longer, and +the dreadful days of hunger will live only in the stories of famine and +want, which the grey old man will tell to his happy and prosperous +grandchildren, and ten thousand links of love between emigrant sons and +home-staying fathers will bind the fertile plains of Ceylon, Burmah, +Africa, and other countries to the populous shores of India. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ELEMENTS OF HOPE. + + +The picture which I have endeavoured to paint in the foregoing pages is +dark enough to strike despair into the hearts of the most sanguine. And +if there were indeed no way of escape for these victims of sin and +misfortune, we might well prefer to draw a veil over the sad scene, and +to bury in the ocean of forgetfulness, the very recollection of this +earthly purgatory. + +But there are elements of hope in the consideration of this problem, +which should prevent us from regarding it despair. + +1. In the first place, supposing that we are correct in computing this +human wastage at from twenty-five to twenty-six million souls, this +would represent only some five million families. It is true that looked +at even in this light the number is vast. But surely it is not +impossible for India to make sufficient and suitable provision for them +within her own borders, to say nothing of the "regions beyond" if +reasonable thought and effort were put forth in dealing with the +problem. + +2. Again, as regards the _numbers_, it will be found _easier_ to deal +with these great national problems in bulk than piecemeal, and their +very size will give them an impetus when once they are fairly set in +motion. It will be found as easy to dispose of 1,000 people as of a +hundred, and of 50,000 as of a thousand, if they be properly organised. +Indeed, for many reasons it is easier. The larger the community, the +more work they at once provide for each other. Once let this social ball +be set rolling on a large scale, and we may believe that it will soon +get to move of its own weight. + +3. Again, it is not an indiscriminate system of largely extended charity +that we propose to provide. Our object is to find work for these +workless multitudes, and such work as shall more than pay for the very +humble pittance the Indian destitute requires. He must be a poor +specimen of a human being who cannot fairly earn his anna or two annas a +day, and our brains must be poor addled affairs, if in this great vast +world of ours we cannot find that amount of work for him to do. It is +all nonsense to talk about over-population, when the world is three +parts empty and waiting to be occupied. + +4. While we are piercing the bowels of the earth in search of gold, +minerals and coal, there lies at our very door a mine of wealth which it +is simple folly for us to ignore. True, the shaft has become choked with +the rubbish of despair, vice and crime, which will take time, trouble +and untiring patience to dig through. But it needs no prophet to foresee +that beneath this rubbish are veins of golden ore which will amply repay +our utmost efforts to open up. The old adage that "labour is wealth," +and that a nation's riches consist in its hardy sons and daughters of +toil, will yet be proved true. Treat this human muck-heap even as you +would ordinary sewage or manure, and who does not know that the very +same putrefying mass of corruption which if allowed to remain near our +doors would breed nothing but fever, cholera, and the worst forms of +disease and death, when removed to a little distance, will double and +treble the ordinary fertility of the soil and produce crops that will +increase the wealth of the entire nation? + +And knowing this can we be so blind, even to our selfish interests, as +to treat this human waste in a manner that we should deem the very +height of imprudence and folly in dealing with the other sort? Can we +shut our eyes to the fact that there are moral diseases, more terrible +in their nature, and more fatal to a nation's life, than the bodily +ones, against which we are so anxious to guard, even at the most lavish +expenditure of the public purse? And shall we, in dealing with this +moral sewage, neglect even the most ordinary precautions that we +consider necessary in dealing with the conservancy of our cities? + +If on the other hand the problem be boldly and wisely faced, I am +convinced that in India, as in England, General Booth's most sanguine +prophecies will be realised, our most pestilential marshes shall be +drained, our moral atmosphere purified, prosperity take the place of +destitution, and hope that of despair. The millstone that hangs around +our national neck, so that we can barely keep our heads above water, +even when there is not a ripple upon its surface, and that always +threatens to engulf us in perdition at the first symptoms of a +storm,--this millstone shall be converted into an unsinkable life-buoy, +that shall not only support itself upon the crest of the highest waves, +but shall help to keep afloat the entire national body. What is now an +eyesore shall become an adornment, and what is now a cause of weakness +shall be a source of strength, bulwark of protection and mine of wealth +to all India. How this can be done we have sought in the following pages +to unfold, adhering carefully to the programme marked out by General +Booth, and suggesting only such additions and alterations as the +circumstances of the case appear to necessitate. + + + + +PART II.--THE WAY OUT. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS. + + +General Booth prefaces his scheme for the deliverance of the submerged +by laying down briefly the essentials to success. I cannot do better +than quote from his own words. + +(1) "You must _change the man_, when it is his character and conduct +which constitute the reasons for his failure in the battle of life. No +change in circumstances, no revolution in social conditions, can +possibly transform the nature of man. Some of the worst men and women in +the world, whose names are chronicled by history with a shudder of +horror, were whose who had all the advantages that wealth, education and +station could confer, or ambition could obtain. + +"The supreme test of any scheme for benefiting humanity lies in the +answer to the question; what does it make of the individual? Does it +quicken his conscience, does it soften his heart, does it enlighten his +mind? Does it, in short, make a true man of him? Because only by such +influences can he be enabled to lead a human life. You may clothe the +drunkard, fill his purse with gold, establish him in a well furnished +house, and in three, six, or twelve months, he will once more be on the +"Embankment," haunted by delirium tremens, dirty, squalid and ragged. + +(2) "The remedy, to be effectual, must _change the circumstances_, when +they are the cause of his wretched condition, and lie beyond his +control. + +(3) "Any remedy worthy of consideration must be on _a scale commensurate +with the evil_, which it proposes to deal with. It is no use trying to +bale out the ocean with a pint pot. There must be no more philanthropic +tinkering, as if this vast sea of human misery were contained in the +limits of a garden pond. + +(4) "Not only must the scheme be large enough, but it _must be +permanent._ That is to say, it must not be merely spasmodic coping with +the misery of to-day, but must go on dealing with the misery of +to-morrow and the day after, so long as there is misery left in the +world with which to grapple. + +(5) "But while it must be permanent, it must also be _immediately +practicable_, and capable of being brought into instant operation with +beneficial results. + +(6) "The indirect features of the scheme must not be such as to produce +injury to the persons whom we seek to benefit. Mere charity for +instance, while relieving the pinch of hunger, demoralises the +recipient. It is no use conferring sixpenny worth of benefit on a man, +if at the same time we do him a shillings worth of harm. + +(7) "While assisting one class of the community, it must not seriously +interfere with the interest of another. + +"These are the conditions by which I ask you to test the scheme I am +about to unfold. They are not of my making. They are the laws which +govern the work of the philanthropic reformer just as the laws of +gravitation, of wind and of weather govern the operation of the +engineer. It is no use saying we could build a bridge across the Tay, if +the wind did not blow. The engineer has to take into account the +difficulties, and make them his starting point. The wind will blow, +therefore the bridge must be made strong enough to resist it. So it is +with the social difficulties, which confront us. If we act in harmony +with these laws we shall triumph. But if we ignore them, they will +overwhelm us with destruction, and cover us with disgrace." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WHAT IS GENERAL BOOTH'S SCHEME? + + +His object is to supply the destitute with food, shelter and clothing, +to provide them with work and to set them on their feet for making a +fresh start in life. + +With a view to this he proposes to call into existence, a threefold +organisation, consisting of self-helping and self-sustaining +communities, governed and disciplined on the principles of the Salvation +Army. These he calls "Colonies", and divides into + + (1) The City Colony, + + (2) The Country Colony, and + + (3) The Over-sea Colony. + +All these are to be linked together and to be interwoven with and +dependent on each other. In the City Colony a series of agencies will be +established for gathering up and sifting the destitute. Thence they will +be passed on to the Country Colony and subsequently many of them will be +sent to Colonies across the sea. + +Now this triple organisation can be brought into existence, on the +largest possible scale in India under circumstances peculiarly favorable +to the success of the scheme. + +Our country is not of limited extent like England. It covers an immense +area and includes a conglomeration of nationalities, such as we find in +Europe, with the special advantage of being united under a single, and +that a friendly Government. + +Then again there is the fact that, though the influx from the country +to the cities has commenced, yet it has not at present got beyond +manageable proportions, so that it is possible for us, if awake to the +emergency, to rise up and divert the stream into more desirable +channels. + +If instead of waiting for a further irruption of village Goths and +Vandals, (which is only a matter of time, and which will soon overwhelm +our City labour market and compel the attention of our civil +authorities,) we anticipate the event and meet them half way by opening +up fresh channels for them, more in harmony with their own taste and +preference, we shall not only confer an inestimable boon upon them, but +shall turn them into a source of strength and revenue for the country, +and shall with them people tracts which are at present barren and +fruitless, but which are only waiting to be occupied and which in many +cases have only to be restored to the prosperity that they formerly +enjoyed. + +Finally we have the great advantage of a people already trained to +husbandry from their youth, and accustomed to the very co-operative +system of farming which General Booth advocates, where payments are +mostly to be made in kind rather than in cash, and where the exchange of +goods will largely supersede transactions in money, a strong but +paternal government regulating all for the general good. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CITY COLONY. + + +The first portion of General Booth's threefold scheme consists of the +City Colony. + +This may aptly be compared to a dredger, which, gathers up all the silt +of a harbour, and carries it out to sea, leaves it there and then +returns to repeat the operation. If such an operation is necessary in a +harbour, and if without it the best anchorages in the world would often +get choked with rubbish and become useless, how doubly important must it +be in the case of the human wastage that abounds in every large Indian +City. + +Should a single ship strike on an unknown rock, we hasten to mark it +down in our charts, or erect over the spot a lighthouse as a warning to +others. Should it sink where it is likely to hinder the traffic, we set +our engineers to work to remove it, even though it may be necessary to +blow it to atoms. + +And yet it is a notorious fact that our cities abound with rocks over +which there is no lighthouse,--that every channel is obstructed with +sunken vessels, and that there are not a few tribes of pirates who +fatten on the human wreckage. But we fold our hands in despair, and +allow bad to grow worse, till the problem daily becomes more enormous, +desperate and difficult to deal with. + +Now General Booth's scheme proposes to establish a dredger for every +harbour, a lighthouse for every rock, an engineer for keeping clear +every channel. It may be too much to expect that there will be no +wrecks, but they will be fewer, and that surely is something! We do not +say that there will be no accidents, but there will be willing hands +held out to deliver. We cannot hope to abolish failures, mistakes, +shortcomings and weaknesses of various sorts, but we shall do our best +to anticipate and provide for them? We are sure there will be +difficulties and disappointments to encounter, but we shall meet them in +the confidence that God is on our side, that He is intensely interested +in the efforts which He Himself has inspired us to undertake and that +ultimate victory is bound to crown our efforts. + +And now I would give a brief description of this great City Dredger, +explaining its component parts in the chapters that are to follow. We +cannot promise that the entire machine will get into working order at +once. We are anxious to start it immediately and to complete it as soon +as possible. But on the public will largely depend the question as to +how long it will take us to get it afloat and finished. Its simplicity, +practicability, and universality are to me at the same time its chief +charms, and its credentials to success. It is only part of a larger +scheme with which it is entwined. But it is an important, perhaps the +most important part and will continue to exercise over the entire effort +the controlling head and the inspiring heart without which the whole +apparatus will be as motionless as a machine without steam, or a body +without life. + +The following are the various branches of the City Colony-- + + (1) The Regimentation of Labor. + + (2) Food for all--Food Depots. + + (3) Work for all--Labor yards. + + (4) Shelter for all. + + (5) The household Salvage Corps. + + (6) The Prison Gate Brigade. + + (7) The Drunkard's Home. + + (8) The Rescue Home for fallen women. + + (9) The poor man's Metropole. + + (10) The Emigration Bureau. + +To these no doubt will in course of time be added many other branches. +In the meantime this is in itself a sufficiently extensive programme for +some years to come. How we propose to elaborate each of the above, will +be found in the following pages. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE LABOR BUREAU. + + +One of the most painful sights with which modern civilisation presents +us is the enormous and increasing wastage of valuable human labor. The +first step towards remedying this gigantic and alarming evil will be to +ascertain its extent. This we propose to do by means of our Labor +Bureau. Here all classes of out-of-works will be welcomed, from the +respectable well educated intelligent youths, who are being poured out +of our colleges by thousands, to the most squalid specimen of a Lazarus +that lies at our gates desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fall from +our tables. All will be sorted out, sifted and regimented, or organised, +into distinct corps, which will in time no doubt develope into legions. + +The Bureau will not, however, stop short with simply ascertaining the +extent of the evil which exists. It will at the same time turn its +attention to the examination and regimentation of the channels which +already exist for the absorption of that labor. For while it is true +that there are vast quantities of unutilised labor, and that the present +supply of labor greatly exceeds the demand, it is also true that for +want of suitable arrangements for bringing together capital and labor, +the capitalist also frequently loses time and money, either in searching +for labor which he cannot get, or in resorting to labor of an inferior +quality, where labor of a superior quality would bring in much larger +returns. + +Into the pre-existing channels it would be the first aim of our Labor +Bureau to pour the labor supply of the country. And experience would +probably enable us to widen, deepen and lengthen these channels in such +a manner as would prove profitable to both employers and employed, as +well as to the nation at large. + +When, however, this had been done, it is alas! only too certain that we +should still have left upon our hands a vast amount of surplus labor, +for which we should next proceed to dig out new and profitable channels. +The problem no doubt bristles with difficulties, but that is no reason +why we should sit down before it and fold our hands in despair. + +Once upon a time, aye for hundreds of years, the waters of the Cauvery +were poured in one useless torrent into the sea, sweeping past great +tracts of thirsty land, which craved its waters, but could not reach +them. At the present moment scarcely a drop of that river reaches the +ocean. Its course has been diverted into a thousand channels, and so +fertilising are its waters that the rich alluvial deposits which they +bear render the use of manure unnecessary. And yet for centuries these +possibilities were unrecognised and suffered to go to waste. + +Is not this a fitting picture of the huge river of labor that winds its +course through arid plains of want and poverty and starvation, which it +is capable of fertilising and converting into a modern Paradise? True +that on its banks and in its immediate neighbourhood are strips of +luxuriant vegetation. But those only show up in painful relief the utter +barrenness of the "region beyond." Why should the dwellers upon the +banks be allowed to monopolise and appropriate that which they cannot +even utilise, and that which is often a source of positive danger, +annoyance and loss to them? Why should not channels be devised for these +human waters, by means of which they should be distributed, so as to be +put to the utmost possible use? + +This social problem is no doubt the "white elephant" of society. Cannot +we devise a "kheddah" for capturing the entire herd wholesale? Perhaps +after all we shall find it easier and quicker to catch and tame the +herd, than to set snares and pitfalls for individual ones and twos. Ah, +you say, many have tried and failed. That is because they have not +studied the habits of the animal. Besides it is by means of failure that +the grandest successes have ultimately been achieved. See how skilfully +that "mahaut" manages his huge yet obedient servant. And cannot we point +already in our own ranks to elephants more wonderful that have been +tamed and mastered by the goad of love? + +It is the successes of the past that encourage General Booth to face the +problem in the spirit of hopefulness that breathes through every page of +"Darkest England." And if the genius of man has been able to tame the +strongest of animals, such as elephants,--the fiercest, such as +lions,--the swiftest, such as horses, and the dullest, such as the +ass,--why should we despair of reducing to order this chaotic mass of +labor, and of turning that which at present constitutes a danger that +threatens the very existence of society into a source of safety, of +wealth and power? At any rate this is the object that will be kept +steadily in view by our Labor Bureau. + +All persons will be able to register names at our Bureau. If they are +destitute and willing to go to our yards, they will be sent there and +given work suitable to their caste, or profession. If on the other hand +they are not in need of such assistance, being supported by their +friends, we shall simply register their names and do our best to find +suitable work for them, though it would of course be distinctly +understood by them that we undertook no responsibility in regard to +this. A small fee will be charged, in proportion to the nature of the +case. This would serve to cover the expenses of the Bureau, which would +I am sure meet a long felt want. + +Employers of labour would benefit almost more even than the men +employed, as we should always be able to supply them at a short notice +with any description and number of "hands" that they might require, and +they would be saved the expense, delay, and uncertainty of having to +advertise. + +For instance I know of millowners who complain that they cannot get +labourers who will stay, and that their work suffers from the flotsam, +jetsam character of those whom they employ working for a few weeks and +then leaving. This we should be able to remedy. + +Indeed after a short time we might reasonably expect that in recognising +the great convenience thus afforded them, millowners and other great +employers of labour, including very possibly the Government and the +Railway Companies would refuse to employ any who had not registered +themselves at our Bureau. + +Again it would doubtless be a great satisfaction to employers in cases +where a reduction of establishment became necessary, to feel that they +could hand over to us those with whose services they were dispensing, +knowing that every effort would be made to make suitable provision for +them. + +The labour register would contain columns in which would be entered the +various kinds of employment for which the applicant was willing or +suited, and the minimum pay which he was prepared to accept, so that we +should be able to ascertain exactly how many out-of-works there were of +each particular class. We should also enter in a separate register those +who had accepted an inferior position, in the hopes of being able to +better themselves subsequently. + +In connection with our registers we should keep a character roll. Copies +of certificates would be filed, and notes made in regard to +unsatisfactory characters, so that in course of time we should be able +to give some sort of a guarantee in regard to those whom we sent out. In +the case of any one being reported to us as unsatisfactory, we should +still, however, give him another chance by redrafting him into our +Labour Yards, or by giving him some sort of inferior employment, more +immediately under our own surveillance, till he had regained his +character. + +Among other things we might undertake to supply servants to European +families. A register of such would be very useful both to masters and +servants. For instance in the case of lost "chits" we could supply +certified copies of the original. + +There is another class to whom I should think the establishment of such +an agency will be particularly welcome. Our cities swarm with educated +young men unable to find employment. Although we cannot include them +among our destitute classes, we believe that without turning aside from +our main object, we could do a great deal to help them. + +If our scheme grows to the proportions and with the rapidity which we +anticipate, this would in itself absorb large numbers of them. And where +we could do no more we could obtain a moral influence over them and they +would come within the scope of the Advice and Intelligence Bureaux which +are described elsewhere. Constituting as they do the cream of the youth +of India, full of ardent, though often misdirected, enthusiasm, we +should be able to help mould them into happy, independent, prosperous +and loyal citizens, who would be a bulwark to the State, instead of +leaving them to simmer in their present unfortunate circumstances. "To +dig" they don't know, and "to beg" they are ashamed. + +They would in their turn I believe give an important impetus to our +scheme and might constitute themselves its fervent apostles helping it +to sweep from end to end of India in less time than it is possible for +us to conceive. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +FOOD FOR ALL--THE FOOD DEPOTS. + + +In England, owing to the severity and uncertainty of the weather, the +food and shelter questions go hand in hand. This is not the case in +India, where the shelter is not so important as the food, and there is +no such urgency in dealing with the former as with the latter. For +instance during nine months out of twelve it is not such a very great +hardship to sleep in the open air in most parts of India. I have myself +done it frequently and so have many of our Officers. It is true that we +should not like it as a regular thing, and still less perhaps, if driven +to it by absolute want. Still I am perfectly prepared to admit that the +circumstances are totally different to that of England, and that the +question of shelter is of secondary importance as compared with food. + +The time will come when we shall be obliged to face and deal with it. If +our scheme meets with the success that we anticipate, having first +satisfied the gnawings of these hunger-bitten stomachs, we shall +certainly turn round and think next what we can do to provide them with +decent homes for themselves and their families. + +But we can safely afford to defer the consideration of this question for +the present, in order to throw all our time and energy into the solution +of the infinitely more urgent and important problem of a regular and +sufficient food supply for these destitutes. + +At present as I have already pointed out, they are dependent solely on +the help of relations and friends and on the doles of the charitable; +or on the proceeds of vice and crime. The insufficiency of these to meet +the needs of the case I have also, I believe, proved to demonstration. + +Therefore one of the first parts of our City programme will be the +establishment of cheap food depots, at which food of various kinds will +be supplied at the lowest possible cost price. These depots will be +dovetailed in with other parts of our scheme, which have yet to be +described, and the one will help to support the other. + +It may be objected that if we undertake to sell food at lower than the +ordinary market rates, we shall interfere with the legitimate operations +of trade. But to this we would answer that the same objection would be +still more true in regard to charitable doles, which are given for +nothing. And further, we shall fix our prices with a view to covering +the actual cost of the food, so that there will not be any probability +of our interfering with ordinary market rates. Besides, should there be +any very serious difficulty of the kind, we could always make a rule +limiting the food sold at these depots to those who came under the +operation of the other branches of our social reform. + +At the outset it would probably be wisest to avoid all caste +complications by confining ourselves entirely to uncooked food, leaving +the people to do their own cooking, but it is very probable that before +long we should be forced to undertake the preparation of cooked food. We +should of course pay due regard in this respect to the customs of the +various castes, religions and nationalities concerned. To a Hindoo for +instance it would be extremely disagreeable to eat out Of the same dish +as others, while Mahommedans, as one said to me the other day, only +enjoy the meal the more, when others are sitting round the platter. +These, however, are subordinate details which would largely settle +themselves as we went along. Food in some shape or form, the destitute +must have, good in quality and sufficient in quantity, and if they +prefer it uncooked this will save us trouble, whereas if cooking becomes +necessary we shall have another industry for the employment of many +hands. Meanwhile the fact that nearly every native of the poorer castes, +be it man, woman, or even child, knows how to cook their own food, is +likely to be of no little help in settling the question of the food +supply. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WORK FOR ALL, OR THE LABOUR YARD. + + +But it may next be asked, what we shall do in the case of those who have +no money with which to buy their food, even at the reduced rates we +would propose? To this we would reply that such will be expected to +perform a reasonable amount of work, in return for which they will be +given tickets entitling them to obtain food from the depots just +referred to. + +In order to do this we shall establish labour yards, where we shall +provide work of a suitable character for the destitute. This will +involve very little expense, as sheds of a cheap description will answer +our purpose, there being no necessity for providing against the +inclement weather which adds so greatly to the expense and difficulty of +carrying on such operations in England. + +Whatever may be the produce of this cheap labour, we shall be careful to +sell it rather above than below the ordinary market rates, so as to +avoid competing with other labour. Moreover, we shall direct our +attention from the first to manufacturing chiefly those articles which +are likely to be of service to us in other branches of our scheme, so +that the labour of the destitute will go chiefly towards supplying their +own wants and those of the persons who are engaged in prosecuting the +work. + +For instance, supposing that a number of the destitute were employed in +making coarse cloth, baskets, mats, or cow-dung fuel, these could be +retailed at a nominal figure to those who presented our labour tickets +at our food depots. + +The most encouraging feature in the establishment of labour yards is +that nearly every Indian has been brought up from childhood to some +trade. You can rarely meet the most ignorant and uneducated Native +without finding that he is thoroughly expert at some kind of handicraft. +In brigading the poor we should be careful to make the best use of this +knowledge by putting each as much as possible to the trade with which he +was most familiar. + +The following industries, the majority of them directly connected with +various branches of our work, could be started at once and would need +scarcely any outlay to begin with. + + 1. _The Potters Brigade_--Would furnish us with the earthenware, for + which we should from the first have a very large demand. The + Household Salvage Brigade would require some thousands of pots to + start with and in connection with our food depots we should be able + to dispose of thousands more. + + 2. _The Weavers Brigade_--This would give employment for a large + number of skilled hands. Their first object would be to supply the + kinds of clothes, blankets, &c., which would be most suitable for + the use of the submerged tenth. In catering for their wants we + should avoid, however, anything _prisony_, or _workhousey_, or + charity-institutiony in appearance. As our numbers increased we + should find plenty of work for our weavers, at any rate for many + years to come without entering into any sort of competition either + with the market or the mills. + + 3. _The Basket Brigade_--Would supply us with all sorts of cheap + baskets, for which we should have a constant demand. + + 4. _The Mat Making Brigade_--Would find employment for many more + hands in supplying us with mats for sleeping and household purposes. + + 5. _The Fuel Brigade_--Here we have an industry which requires no + skill. There would be two branches of it--the woodchoppers and the + Oopala makers. For the latter women and children could be largely + employed both in the collection of the cow-dung and in the + preparation of it for use as fuel. + + 6. _The Tinners Brigade_--Will be kept busy making receptables and + badges for the Salvage Brigade, and also probably emblems for the + Labor Bureau. + + 7. _The Ropemakers Brigade_--Will furnish employment to a number + more and the results of their labour will find an ample market in + our various colonies. + + 8. _The Tanners Brigade_--Will supply all our departments with such + leather as may be required for various purposes, and among other + things will be attached to. + + 9. _The Shoemakers Brigade_--Who will be employed in patching up the + old shoes collected by our Household Salvage Brigade and in making + new ones for our consumption. + + 10. _The Tailors Brigade_--Will supply uniform and clothing of all + kinds. For these we have already a very considerable demand, which + would increase year by year. + + 11. _The Carpenters Brigade_--Would have plenty to do in providing + seats for our Barracks, office essentials, boxes, and household + furniture for our colonies. They would be linked with + + 12. _The Building Brigade_--For whom we shall find ample employment + in the erection of our Labour Sheds, Shelters and Farms. + + 13. _The Masons Brigade_--Would also be attached to the previous + one, and would become an important feature in our Labour Department. + + 14. _The Brick Makers Brigade_--Would supply us with all the bricks + and tiles that we might require. Here again it is easy to see that, + without trenching in the least on the outside public, we should + create and support an important industry which would soon absorb + hundreds if not thousands of hands. + + 15. _The Painters Brigade_--Would undertake the painting and + whitewashing of our buildings, carts, tinware, &c. + + 16. _The Dyers Brigade_--Would find employment in dyeing our cloth, + or the various sorts of thread we might require for the use of our + weavers. + + 17. _The Dhobees Brigade_--Although among our community we should + encourage every one to be his own dhobee, yet from the first we + should have plenty of washing to employ a considerable number of + hands. + + 18. _The Umbrella Makers Brigade_--Would find considerable scope in + repairing the old frames collected by our Household Salvage Brigade; + while the Sewing Brigade would work the covers. + + 19. _The Paper-makers Brigade_--Would also be supplied with plenty + of material by the Household Salvage Brigade, and would keep our + printing establishment supplied with whatever paper they might + require. Already we consume a considerable quantity, and this would + be enormously increased by the development of our scheme. + + 20. _The Book-binders Brigade_--Would furnish us with our registers + for the Regimentation Bureau, besides doing our other miscellaneous + work of a similar description. + + 21. _The Brass Brigade_--Would supply Our colonies with the various + kinds of brazen vessels we should be likely to require. For these in + process of time there would be a large demand. + + 22. _The Net-making Brigade_--Would make nets for fishing purposes. + + 33. _The Hawkers Brigade_--There could be no possible objection to + our disposing of our goods in this way at the ordinary market rates + supposing that we were in a position to manufacture more than we + required for our own consumption. + + 24. _The Barbers Brigade_--Would also be a necessary addition to our + forces, and would find plenty of scope for their skill among the + unwashed multitudes who would compose our labour legions. + +Such are some of the occupations which might at once be set on foot. To +these would no doubt be added many other sorts of handicraft, as our +numbers and experience increased, and fresh opportunities opened up +around us. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +SHELTER FOR ALL, OR THE HOUSING OF THE DESTITUTE. + + +A considerable portion of General Booth's book is devoted to the +description of shelters, improved lodgings and suburban villages for the +poor. As elsewhere remarked this question is not of such vital +importance for India as for England, though the dealing with it is +simply a question of time. + +We would therefore simply refer our readers to the admirable proposals +embodied in General Booth's book. It is possible that there may be some +who will desire that immediate steps should be taken for the preparation +of similar quarters for the poor in our terribly over-crowded Indian +cities. It is in any case extremely likely that the question will be +forced upon us at an early date by the people themselves. + +But I have thought it best to narrow down the scheme as much as possible +to those things which seem of the most absolute and immediate urgency, +and I have therefore divested it as much as possible of all that could +reasonably be dispensed with. + +Still I see no reason why each city should not have its "Poor Man's +Metropole," as well as its model dwellings and suburban villages, for +the working classes. I would have these, moreover, as purely oriental as +possible with a careful avoidance of anything that might be European in +their appearance and arrangements. There should be tanks for bathing, +and washing purposes, gardens, recreation grounds for the children, +proper conveniences for cooking, and quarters in which they would not be +herded together like cattle, but given the decencies of life, so +necessary and helpful to the encouragement of cleanliness and morality. + +Another point would be the absolute absence of anything in the shape of +mere "charity" about any of the buildings. Everybody would be made to +feel happy and at home, and their self-respect would be cultivated by +arranging for suitable charges to be made, payment being taken either in +cash or labour. + +However, these are only hints that are thrown out, to show that we are +fully awake to the importance of this subject, and in order that friends +who are interested in the question may feel free to communicate their +wishes and give us their advice. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE BEGGARS BRIGADE. + + +I now come to a special element of both hope and difficulty in the +solution of our Indian Social problem,--The Beggars. Here we have the +lowest stratum of the submerged tenth, excluding from them the religious +mendicants with whom we are not now concerned. I have classified them as +follows:-- + + 1. The blind and infirm. + + 2. Those who help them and share the proceeds of their begging. + + 3. Able-bodied out of works. + +Now I propose to deal with them in a way which will not call for +Legislation. In the first place it is most improbable that Government +would interfere with beggary, even if asked to do so. Certainly no such +interference would be possible without assuming the responsibility of +the entire pauper population, involving an expenditure of many million +pounds. In the second place any such interference would in all +likelihood be extremely distasteful to the native public. In the third +place I believe the question can be better dealt with in another way. + +I propose to cut diamond with diamond, to set a thief to catch a thief, +to make a beggar mend a beggar. In other words my plan is to _reform_ +the system rather than _abolish_ it. To the radical reformer who would +sweep out the whole "nuisance" at one stroke, this may be a +disappointment. But I believe that this feeling will be diminished, if +not entirely removed, when he has made himself familiar with the +following scheme. + +Of course if the Upas tree could be uprooted and banished from our +midst,--if with a wave of his magic wand some sorcerer could make it +disappear, so much the better. But this is impossible. We should require +an axe of gold to cut down the tree; and this we do not possess. If a +rich and powerful Government shrinks from the expense of such an +undertaking, we may well be excused for doing the same. + +But after all supposing that you can transform your Upas tree into a +fruit-bearing one, will not this be even better than to cut it down? +Such things are done every day before our very eyes in nature. The stock +of the crab-apple can be made to bear quinces, and a mango tree that is +scarcely worth the ground it occupies, can be made to yield fruit which +will fetch four annas a piece! + +What is done in the garden is possible in human nature. And God will yet +enable us to graft into this wretched and apparently worthless Upas +stock, a bud which in coming years shall be loaded with fruit that shall +be the marvel of the world. This human desert shall yet blossom as the +rose, this wilderness shall become a fruitful garden, and the waste +places be inhabited. + +Surely then, better even than the _annihilation_ of beggary will be its +_reformation_, should this be possible. At least the suggestion is well +worthy of consideration, and in examining, the matter, there will be +several important advantages to which I shall afterwards refer. + +(1.) The first step that we would take in reforming the-beggars would be +to _regiment them._ The task would be undertaken by our Labor Bureau. In +this I do not think there would be serious difficulty encountered, if +the scheme commended itself to the native public. They would only have +to stop their supplies and send the beggars to us. + +(2.) Our next step would be to _sort out_ the beggars. They would be +divided into three classes:-- + + (a) _The physically unfit_, who could be furnished with light work + at our labor yards, or otherwise cared for. At present there are + hundreds of beggars who are physically unfit for the exertion that + begging involves, and who are driven to it by the desperate pangs + of hunger. + + (b) _Those who like_ it, and are physically well fitted for it, + besides being accustomed to the life, and not being fitted much for + anything else. + + (c) Those who dislike the life, and would prefer, or are suited for + other occupations. Some of these we would draft off to other + departments of our labour yards, while some would for the present + be kept on as beggars, with the hope of early promotion to other + employment. + +(3.) We should _brigade the beggars_ under the name of the Household +Salvage Brigade, or some similar title, dividing them into small +companies and appointing over them Sergeants from among themselves, and +providing each with a badge or number. + +(4.) We should with the advice and consent of the leading members of the +native community, _map out the city into wards_, and assign each company +their respective streets, allotting as far as possible the Mahommedan +beggars to the Mahommedan quarters, and the Hindoos to the Hindoo. In +this we should also take the advice of experienced beggars, from whom we +should expect to learn many useful hints. + +(5,) Each house that was willing to receive them would _be supplied with +three receptacles_, one for waste cooked food, another for gifts of +uncooked food, and a third for old clothes, waste paper, shoes, tins, +bottles, and other similar articles. + +(6.) At an appointed hour the Brigade would proceed to their posts, +would patrol their wards, and bring or send the various articles +collected to the labor yards, where all would be sorted and dealt with +as necessary the cooked food being distributed among those who were +willing to eat it, or sent to the surburban farm for our buffaloes. The +raw grain would be handed over to our food depots, and credited by them +to the Beggars Fund for the special benefit of the destitute. + +(7.) At the end of each day every member of the Brigade would receive a +food ticket in payment of his services. The amount could be regulated +hereafter. This ticket he would present at our food depot, where he +would be supplied with whatever articles he might require. There would +be a regular system of rewards and encouragements for good conduct. But +all such details will be settled hereafter. + +(8.) A special feature in the system would be the introduction of the +ancient _Buddhist_ custom of "_meetihal_," or "the consecrated handful +of rice." This is as follows. A pot is kept in each home and a handful +of grain is put into it every time the family meal is cooked. We think +that there would be no difficulty in getting this custom universally +adopted, when it was understood that the proceeds would be devoted +entirely to feeding the destitute. I believe that the income derived +from this alone would in course of time be sufficient to meet the needs +of the destitute in any city in India, at the same time that it would +serve to equalise and therefore minimise the burden which now rests +chiefly on a comparative few. + +(9.) In case the food supply thus obtained should be insufficient, we +have little doubt that we could persuade leading merchants in the city +to club together and make up the difference, when they saw the good work +that was going on. + +Such in brief is a skeleton of the scheme for elevating and renovating +the Beggar population of India. It is no doubt open to criticism on some +points, but it has special advantages which I will proceed to point out, +apologising for the extra space I am obliged to occupy, in dealing with +this subject, on account of its novelty and importance, and in order +that I may be thoroughly understood. + +1. _It is conservative._ Here you have a reformation without a +revolution, or rather a revolution by means of a reformation. And yet +there is no attempted upheaval of society. + +2. It is thoroughly _Indian_, and suited to the national taste. + +3. It _costs nothing_ and may even prove in time a source of income to +the Social Scheme. + +4. It is _doubly economical_ since it uses the human waste in collecting +what would be the natural wastage of the city, and devotes each to the +service of the other. + +5. It is _systematic_ and therefore bound to be as immensely superior to +the present haphazard mode, as a regular Army is to an undisciplined +mob. + +6. It unites the advantages of _moral suasion_, with those of the most +perfect _religious equality_ and _toleration._ + +7. _It saves the State an enormous expenditure_ and avoids the necessity +for harsh, repressive, unpopular legislation, and increased taxation. + +8. _It benefits the public._ + + (a) It removes a public nuisance. + + (b) And yet it satisfies the public conscience. + + (c) It stimulates private charity, and directs its generosity into + wise and beneficial channels. + +9. _It benefits the beggars._ + + (a) It protects the weak from the painful and often unsuccessful + struggle for existence. + + (b) It ensures everybody their daily food and a sufficiency of it. + + (c) It restores their self respect. + + (d) It teaches them habits of honesty, industry and thrift. + + (e) It opens up to them a pathway of promotion. + +10. Finally it will furnish honest and honorable employment right away +for hundreds of thousands all over the land, and create an entirely +_novel_ industry out of what is at present an absolute _wreckage._ + +But I am well aware that certain objections are likely to be raised. +These I would seek to remove, though if we are to wait for a plan which +is free from all liability to criticism, we may wait for ever, and wait +in vain. There is a famous answer given by John Wesley to a lady who was +objecting to something about his work,--"Madam, if there were a perfect +organization in the world, it would cease to be so the day that you and +I entered into it." Hence it is not simply a question as to whether +there are difficulties in the present proposals, but can anything better +be suggested. However, I am anxious to meet in the fairest possible +manner all conceivable objections, and am perfectly prepared to make any +such modifications as may appear advisable. + +(1.) Some will perhaps say that the beggars are already too well off to +desire to come,--that they are making a good thing of it and will prefer +to prosecute their calling under the present arrangements. Of course if +it be true that they are able to do better for themselves than we are +proposing to do for them, then they have no right to be included in the +submerged tenth. I would congratulate them on their success and turn my +attention to those who are more in need of our services. But could any +one seriously defend such a supposition? And if they are likely to be +bettered by the new arrangements, why should we suppose that they should +be so blind to their own interests as to refuse to profit by the new +chance? Besides, this is contradicted by all experience. Let there be a +prospect of a feast, or a supply of rice or food, and who does not know +that beggars will flock eagerly to the point, though it be only for a +single meal, and we propose to provide a _permanent livelihood._ + +(2.) But says some one else _they are bone-idle and will not work_, and +you propose to give them no food save in exchange for their work. This +is a real and serious difficulty. We fully recognise it. Yet we do not +think it is un-get-over-able, for the following reasons:-- + + (a) We do not intend to be hard-taskmasters. The work given will be + of a light character, and suited to the strength of each. We are + not going in for oakum picking and stone breaking. We shall do our + utmost to make everything bright, cheerful and easy. We have no + idea of treating them as criminals. + + (b) It ought not to be difficult to get each one to do two annas + worth of work, and this will be more than sufficient to cover their + expenses. We have no desire to become _sweaters._ + + (c) _Begging is hard work._ If you don't believe it, come and try + it! I and many of my officers have begged our food as religious + mendicants, so that we, are able to speak from _experience_! + It is at best a life of sacrifice, hardship and suffering. And yet + we have practised it under _specially favorable circumstances_, + particularly those of us who are Europeans. But that there can be + any sort of rest, or ease, or enjoyment in it to those who are + driven to it by the pangs of hunger, unsupported by any spiritual + consolations, I cannot conceive. On the contrary I should say that + the task of the beggar is so hard, and disagreeable not to say + _shameful_, that the majority of them would leap to do the + most menial tasks that would deliver them from a bondage so + painful. + + Have you ever solicited help and been refused? Have you known what + it is to feel the awful sickenings of heart at hope deferred? Have + you known what it is to be regarded with suspicion, with contempt, + with dislike, with scorn, or even with _pity_ by your fellow men? + If so, you may be able to realise the experiences that every beggar + has to go through a hundred times a day, many of them with feelings + every bit as sensitive as your own. Will he demean himself and work + hard at so miserable a calling and yet be unwilling to do some + light work, with which he can earn an honest living? I for one + cannot believe it, till I see it. + + (d) Our experience further contradicts it in dealing with the more + depraved, hardened and supposed-to-be-idle criminals and + prostitutes, whom we receive into our Prison Gate and Rescue Homes. + When Sir E. Noel Walker was visiting our Prisoners' Home in + Colombo he was astonished at the _alacrity_ with which the men + obeyed orders, and the _eagerness_ with which they worked at their + allotted tasks. He asked the Officer in Charge whether he ever + _"hammered"_ them, and was surprised at finding that the only + hammer he ever required was the _allsufficient_ hammer of _love._ + And yet the gates were always open and they were free to walk out + whenever they liked. Moreover, beyond getting their food and a very + humble sort of shelter, their labour was entirely unpaid. + + (e) Finally by means of a judicious system of rewards and promotions + we should educate and encourage them into working, besides teaching + them industries which would be useful after they had left us. + +(3.) But some one else will say "They are thievish and will rob you. +They are roguish and will decieve you. You don't know whom you have to +deal with." Well, if we don't know them, we should think nobody does! I +would answer, + + (a) Granted that some of them cheat us. All will not. And why should + the honest suffer with the rogues? + + (b) What if we do lose something in this way? It would be little in + comparison with the enormous gain. I feel sure it would in no case + exceed ten or twenty per cent, on the collections made, and that + would be a mere trifle. + + (c) Our system of regimentation would largely guard against any such + danger and would be an encouragement to honesty. + + (d) It is notorious that there is "honour among thieves." They would + watch over one another. Among them "_nimak-harami_" or + "faithlessness to their salt" would soon come to be regarded as a + crime of the first water. + + (e) The inducement for thieving would be largely gone. Very few + steal _for the sake of stealing._ A man usually steals to fill his + own stomach, or some one else's, whom he loves. But here all would + be provided for. + + (f) Besides he would feel that all he could earn was for the _common + good_ and was not going to make any individual rich at his expense. + + (g) Our experience in the Prison Gate Homes contradicts it. True, we + have had some thefts especially at the beginning, but when I was + last visiting our Colombo Home, the Officers in charge assured me + that they were now of the rarest occurrence, while the gentleman + who owned the tempting cocoanuts that were hanging overhead told + me that he had never had such good crops from his trees, as since + our colony of thieves and criminals had been settled there! + +(4.) Some one else may perhaps object that we shall have thrown upon our +hands a swarm of helpless, useless, cripples and infirm. Well, and what +if we do? Are they not our fellow human beings, and ought not some one +to care for them? We shall look upon it as a precious responsibility, +and I speak fearlessly on behalf of our devoted officers when I say, +that they would rather spend and be spent for such than for the richest +in the land. If, as I have already shown, the effort can be made +_self-supporting_ and _self-propagating_, the mere fact of their misery +or poverty only impels us to love them the more and to strive the more +earnestly for their emancipation. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PRISON GATE BRIGADE. + + +This has already been in operation for two years in the cities of Bombay +and Colombo and a branch has been recently established in Madras. Now +that it will be connected with other branches of our Social Reform, we +may look for a rapid increase of this useful though difficult work. + +The establishment of our Labor Yards will greatly help us in finding +work for this class, without branding them with the perpetual stigma of +their crime. The chief difficulty in the working of these Homes consists +in the almost insuperable objection of the men to be _known as +criminals_ after their release from jail. This is of course perfectly +natural. Besides, it is important that we should hold out before them +hopes of bettering themselves by their good conduct, and earning an +independent and honest livelihood at no distant date. When once our +Labor Yards and Farm Colonies are in active operation, we shall be able +to do this for our rescued criminals, continuing at the same time the +fatherly supervision and help which they so very much need. + +The following quotations from our last annual report will serve to +explain this branch of our work, and to give a glimpse of the +encouraging success with which we have already met in our efforts to +reach and reform the criminal classes. + + +COLOMBO PRISON GATE HOME. + +Picturesquely situated among palm trees in one of the most beautiful +suburbs of Colombo, within easy reach of the principal city jail, is our +Sinhalese Prisoners' Home. Cinnamon Gardens, as the district is called, +forms one of the attractions of Colombo, which every passing visitor is +bound to go and see. The beauty of the surroundings must be a pleasant +contrast to those dull prison walls from which the inmates have just +escaped. Still more blessed and cheering must be the change from the +Warder's stern commands to the affectionate welcome and kindly +attentions of the red-jacketed Salvationists, who have the management of +the Home. + + +A bright lad who is on duty in the guard-room opens the gates and +introduces you to the grounds in which the quarters are situated. There +are groups of huts with mud walls and palm-leaf thatching, which have a +thoroughly Indian and yet home like appearance. The first few of these +are occupied as workshops or carpentry for the manufacture of tea boxes, +and here from early to late the men may be seen busily employed, sawing, +planing, measuring, bevelling, hammering and working with such a will +that you might imagine their very lives depended on it, or at least that +they must be making their fortunes out of it, whereas they are not being +paid at all, and all the profits of the manufactory go towards the +support of the Home! + +"What I admire about your work," observed Sir Athur Gordon, the late +Governor of Ceylon, "is the way in which your Officers identify +themselves with these convicts, and live among them on terms of perfect +equality." + +But I was describing the little colony. On the left of this group of +workshops is a neat little hut where Captain Dev Kumar and his young +bride, Captain Deva Priti, reside. What a change for them form the +English Homes to which they have been accustomed, to this little jungle +hut, surrounded as they are continually by a band of ex-convicts, and +criminals. Yet it would be hard to find a happier couple in the +island,--in fact, quite impossible outside the Salvation Army. + +"It is all our own work," explains the Captain. "Our men built the hut, +and the materials only cost about Rs. 25!" Certainly this is the +perfection of cheapness in the way of house building! A little further +inside the enclosure you come to more huts, in some of which the men +live, while others serve for quarters for the native officers who assist +in the superintendence of the Home, and to whose noble efforts so much +of its success is due. Then there is the kitchen, and a dining-room, and +a stable for the bullock trap, in which the released prisoners are +brought to the Home, to avoid the risk of a foot journey when their old +associates might hinder them on the way. + +The spare bits of ground are all laid out in little plots of garden, +where plantains and vegetables are grown, and in front of the Captain's +quarters is a dainty little scrap of a flower garden. The entire +enclosure forms really a portion of the garden of a neighbouring house, +the property of the late Mr. Ginger, who took a warm interest in our +work, and leased the grounds to us at a nominal rent. + +The following are the statistics of the work during the past year:-- + + Total number of admissions, .......................... 230 + Found Situations, ................................... 115 + Left, the Home and lost sight, of, .................. 103 + Total number of sentences of imprisonment,............ 459 + Number of juvenile convicts under 16 years of age, ... 40 + Number of meals given,.............................. 15,774 + Number of tea-boxes made, .......................... 2,880 + Profits on same,................................. Rs. 350 + +The accompanying is the official report form sent in by us to +Government every month showing the results of the work-- + + +JAIL GATE BRIGADE--COLOMBO--ITS RESULTS. + +Prisons. + +A.--This Return for the preceding month shall be forwarded on 1st or 2nd +of each month, by the Officer Commanding Salvation Army, through the +Superintendent of the Convict Establishment to the Inspector General of +Prisons, with columns 1, 6, 7, and 8, duly filled in. + +B.--The Superintendent Convict Establishment shall fill in columns 2, 3, +4, and 5, and send on the Return to the Inspector General. + +1. Name and age of Prisoner. + +2. Nationality and religion. + +3. Name of Offence. + +4. Length of imprisonment in months. + +5. General character in Jail. + +6. Number of days maintained by the Salvation Army + +7. How employed now, or going to be employed. + +8. Result of action of salvation Army on prisoner, roughly estimated. + +_Superintendent Convict Establishment._ + +_Commdt. Salvation Army, Colombo._ + + +That the work of the Colombo Prisoners' Home is highly appreciated in +Colombo is further proved by the fact that most of the leading +Government officials subscribe to its funds, including the Colonial +Secretary, Sir E. Noel Walker, the Chief Justice Sir Bruce Burnside, +and many others. Again, it is not an uncommon thing for us to receive +such letters as the following from the Magistrate:-- + + + From the POLICE MAGISTRATE, Colombo, + To the CAPTAIN OF THE PRISON GATE BRIGADE. + _Dated, Colombo, October 30th, 1889._ + + _Subject--Habitual Offender, Dana._ + + Sir, + + I have the honour to inform you that a man named Dana, produced + before me this day, charged with being a habitual thief, has + expressed a wish to be admitted into the Prison Brigade Home. + + I shall be glad if you afford him an opportunity to redeem his + character. + + I am, Sir, + Your obedient Servant, + E.W.M., + _Police Magistrate._ + + +The past year was suitably finished up by providing a special feast to +which only ex-convicts were admitted. No less than 150 accepted the +invitation. + +About this branch of our work a leading daily paper, the Ceylon +_Independent_, writes as follows.-- + + Most of our readers have read in our columns of the good work the + Army is doing at the Prison Gate, in reclaiming from criminal + courses the discharged prisoners who have served their time of + confinement. In that critical moment, when the wide world is once + more before the newly discharged culprit, when he emerges from + confinement to overwhelming temptation, big it may be with fresh + schemes of crime, armed with enlarged experiences to aid in its + accomplishment, to be met, taken kindly by the hand, and led gently + to the pleasanter and more peaceful path of honesty, industry, and + virtue, is a surprise that is calculated to disarm temptation at + least for a moment, and thus virtue gains time for thought. + +The success of the Prison Gate Brigade has hitherto been surprising, and +quite beyond its founders' anticipation. It has been especially useful +in reclaiming juvenile offenders, of whom a large number have been +induced to take to the honest means of livelihood, chiefly carpentry, +which the Home provides. + + +OUR BOMBAY PRISON GATE BRIGADE. + +This work in Bombay was commenced some two years ago at the instance of +a leading Parsee gentleman, with a generous subscription of Rs. 1,200. +Owing partly to the fact that we have been hitherto unable to secure +suitable premises and partly to the entire absence of any assistance on +the part of Government, the work in Bombay has been much more uphill and +discouraging than in Ceylon. Nevertheless we have persevered in the +teeth of all sorts of difficulties, and the results have been very +encouraging. Recently in one week no less than three of the inmates of +our Bombay Home were accepted as cadets, to be trained up as future +officers. Previously to this nine others had been similarly accepted. +One of these, Lieut. Hira Singh, is now himself taking an active part in +the rescue of other convicts, while another is sucessfully working in +Gujarat. Accounts of their lives are given further on. + +Indeed Bombay has proved itself to be an even richer field than Colombo +itself; and now that some of the peculiar difficulties that have +hitherto hindered the work, are one by one being removed, there is every +reason to believe that this work will soon make rapid progress. + +The returns for the past year show that the prison gates have been +visited 235 times, for the purpose of meeting the convicts on their +release. Since the commencement of the Home about 134 men have been +admitted. Of these 74 have professed conversion, about 12 having been +accepted as officers by ourselves and the remainder having mostly found +employment elsewhere. The number of meals given during the past year has +been about 7,800. + +One of the special features of the work here consists in the constant +visitation of the liquor dens, with a view to persuading those who were +frequenting them to give up their evil ways. No less than 430 such were +in this way visited and a large number of papers distributed. While the +opposition was in some instances severe, as a rule our officers were +well treated even by the grogshop-keepers, who while admitting that +their trade was evil, pleaded that they had the Government's approval, +and that they must somehow support themselves and their families. + +Besides the regular inmates, a large number of casuals have been +relieved and assisted, but of these we have no exact figures. + +The following are some specimens of the work done by us among the +criminal classes in Bombay and Ceylon:-- + + +LIEUTENANT HIRA SINGH + +Is a Hindu of the Kshatraya caste. He comes of a soldier race and +family, his father having served in the East India Company's army before +him, and he having from his youth followed the same profession for the +past eighteen years, serving successively as Private, Lance-Corporal, +Corporal, and Sergeant in a native Regiment. He went through the last +Afghan campaign, having been to Cabul, Quetta, and other places. + +For many years his conduct was excellent, but latterly he took to +drinking, got into serious trouble with the police, and was sent to +prison for forty days, thus losing his post as well as his claim to +pension. He was met by our officers on his release, accompanied them to +the Home, gave his heart to God, and has now been an officer in our +ranks for more than a year. During most of this time he has been +connected with our Bombay Prison Gate work, and has in turn helped to +rescue many others. But for the help he then received, a life of +drunkenness and crime would probably have been, almost forced upon him. +He is a good specimen of numbers who would _like_ to reform, but with +ruined reputation have no choice, save between starvation and crime. + + +HARMANIS. + +"I am a native (Singhalese) of Kalutara in Ceylon. My father was a +toddy-drawer. We were very poor. Sometimes my uncles would give me a +cent or two for mounting guard to give them warning about anybody's +approach while they were slaughtering stolen cattle in the jungles. +Once, being very hungry, I climbed up a palm tree to steal cocoanuts, +but was caught by the owner and handed over to the police. The +magistrate sent me to jail for three weeks. After my release I came to +Colombo, and falling in with the Salvation Army, I went to their Home +for prisoners, and now thank God I am saved." + + +PODI SINGHA + +This is only one of the many aliases by which he is known. He has been +one of the worst thieves and bad characters to be met with even in +Colombo, where there is a pretty good assortment of the scum of slumdom. +Adopted as an infant by a pious Mahomedan, he was trained up in that +religion. But in spite of every effort that was made for his +reformation, he rapidly went from bad to worse, till at length he found +himself in the hands of the police. + +His first sentence was twelve months for throwing sand in a Singhalese +man's eyes and then robbing him of his comb. When released he fell in +with other criminals, from whom he learnt many new tricks of the trade. +Once he was stealing some clothes from a line when the lady of the house +saw him. A hue and cry was raised, and he soon found himself surrounded +with coolies and dogs. Seeing that there was no chance of escape, he +began to jump and scream and go through all sorts of antics. The lady, +thinking he was mad, and having pity on him, let him go. + +He has seen the inside of nearly all the Colombo jails, but without +being made any better. Finally, he was received into our Home. At first +he was rather troublesome, but after a short time he gave his heart to +God, and has been doing well. "He cannot read or write," says the +Captain in charge, "but he prays like a divine, and I am believing to +see him become an Officer some day." + + +JANIS + +Was brought from his village by a Singhalese gentleman when quite a +little boy, but, leaving his master, thought he would start life on his +own account. He soon became a practised thief. "I always managed to +escape," he says, "till one day with some of my companions I robbed a +Buddhist temple. I managed to get a silver 'patara' (plate), which we +sold for Rs. 24, but was caught and sent to jail." "But you were +yourself a Buddhist," said the Captain. "How came you to rob your own +temple?" "What of that? I thought nothing of sin in those days. But it +is all so different now. I am saved, and mean to spend all my life in +saving others. I am just now practising a song to sing in the meeting +to-night." + +The Captain asked him whether he did not think it a great disgrace to go +to jail. "Oh, no! I thought everybody in Colombo had been there some +time or other. All the people with whom I mixed had been." "Well, how +did you like it?" "Oh, it was not such a bad place! The food was fairly +good, and I had not to work very hard but I wish I had known about +salvation sooner. Even then I used to wish that I could find something +which would _make_ me good, but all my efforts were in vain till I came +to the Home, and got saved." + +In conclusion, I feel sure that a few brief particulars regarding this +branch of our work in Australia will be read with interest, and will +serve to prove the usefulness of this portion of our social reform +scheme: + +Some six or seven, Prisoners' Homes have been established in +Australasia. The Victorian Government give an annual grant of L1,000, to +assist us in this branch of our work. Special facilities are afforded to +our Officers in visiting the prisoners, and in some of the jails printed +notices are posted up by the authorities to the effect that any +prisoner, previous to discharge, may communicate with the officers in +charge of our Home, with a view to making a fresh start in life. + +The testimony of Sir Graham Berry, Agent General, the Chief Secretary, +the Inspector General of Penal Establishments, and the Chief +Commissioner of Police, proves conclusively how much good has thus been +done. The following extracts from their letters are copied from our +Australasian Prison Gate report:-- + +H.E. SIR H.B. LOCH, K.C.B., G.C.M.G., writes through his Private +Secretary to express "his approval and appreciation of the work done by +the Salvation Army in connection with the Prison Gate Brigades and +Rescued Sisters' Homes, and has great pleasure in expressing his belief +in the good which has resulted from the philanthrophic endeavours of the +Salvation Army to rescue and afford material assistance to those in +whose interests these organisations have been formed." + +SIR GRAHAM BERRY, Agent General for Victoria, writes:--"I have +confidence in the permanent results of your labours, because you, treat +these unfortunates as if they were human beings and capable of better +things. I believe your organisation is a very powerful agency for good +among that class which is practically neglected by others." + +CHIEF JUSTICE HIGGINBOTHAM says that "it is only proper to mention that +there is no better nor more useful work done in rescuing discharged +prisoners from relapsing into crime, than that effected by the Prison +Gate Brigade of the Salvation Army." + +Similar letters have also been received from the following gentlemen:-- + + + The Hon. ALFRED DEAKIN, M.L.A., Chief Secretary. + + The Hon. JAMES BALFOUR, M.L.C. + + The Hon. M.H. DAVIES, M.L.A. (Speaker of the Legislative Assembly). + + The Hon. F.F. DERHAM, M.L.A., Postmaster General. + + The Hon. H.T. WRIXON, M.L.A., Attorney General. + + The Hon. W.F. WALKER, M.L.A., Commissioner of Customs. + + Mr. JUSTICE KERFERD. + + The Bishop of MELBOURNE. + + W.G. BRETT, Esq., Inspector General, Penal Department. + + H.M. CHOMLEY, Esq., Chief Commissioner of Police. + + A. SHIELDS, Esq., M.P., Medical Officer, Melbourne Jail. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE DRUNKARD'S BRIGADE. + + +Hundreds of habitual drunkards have been soundly converted and reformed +in connection with our ordinary spiritual work in India. Probably there +are not less than 500 such enrolled in our ranks in this country, and +turned into staunch and perpetual abstainers. + +The terrible nature of the drinks and drugs consumed by the Natives, I +have already had occasion to describe, as also the increasingly large +number of those who are becoming enchained by the habit. + +In connection with our present Social Reform, special efforts will be +made to reach this class. They will be personally dealt with, and placed +as far as possible in circumstances that shall put them beyond the reach +of their besetting temptation. + +For some time past our Officers, more especially those in charge of the +Prison Gate work, have visited liquor-shops and opium and ganja dens, +speaking personally to the frequenters, and in some cases distributing +among them suitable appeals and warnings in regard to the fatal +consequences of the habit. + +Untimately it is intended to establish homes for the most hopeless class +of inebriates, both for those habituated to liquor and for those who are +the slaves of the still more fatal drugs, such as opium and bhang. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE RESCUE HOMES FOR THE FALLEN. + + +Here again we have made a beginning. It is now a year since the opening +of our Home in Colombo, and during that time 52 girls have been received +into our Home. Of these + + 2 have been restored to their friends, + + 4 are with others--doing well, + + 23 have turned out unsatisfactory, and + + 23 are with us in the Home, almost without exception giving evidence of + being truly reformed. + +Heart-rending are the tales which have reached our ears as to the way in +which many of them have been decoyed from their homes, and as to the +miserable existence which they have since been dragging out. + +Every Indian city teems with a too fast increasing number of similar +unfortunates, for whom at present nothing has been attempted. We +propose, therefore, very largely to extend our Homes at all the large +centres of population. + +Connected as will be this department with the network of other agencies +that we have already established, and increased as will be our +facilities for reaching this class, we are confident that we shall be +able to carry out this much-needed reform on a scale commensurate with +the evil, besides warning the youths of our cities against the terrible +contamination to which they are at present exposed. All the weight of +our increasing influence will be thrown into the scale for cutting off +both the supply and demand of this infamous traffic in human souls. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"THE COUNTRY COLONY"--"WASTEWARD HO!" + + +As has been already explained in the first part of this book, the +congested state of the labor market in the agricultural districts is +leading to an enormous and increasing immigration of the country +population towards the towns, not as a matter of preference, or of +choice, but of dire necessity. The object of the Country Colony, as +applied to India, will be twofold: + +1. It will seek to divert into more profitable channels the steadily +increasing torrent of immigration from the villages to the towns. + +2. It will re-direct and re-distribute the masses of the Submerged Tenth +who already exist in every large city. + +Like his English representative, the Indian village bumpkin has a +natural aversion to town life. Peculiarities in his dialect, dress, and +manners make him the laughing-stock of the clever Cockney townsman. His +simplicity and ignorance of the world cause him to be easily victimised +by the city sharper, for whom he is no match in the struggle of life. He +sighs for his green fields, and longs to get away from the bustle that +everywhere surrounds and bewilders him. He surrenders these preferences +only, because starvation is staring him in the face, and he has better +chances of working, begging, or stealing in the city than in his +village. + +And yet within a few miles of his birthplace there are frequently tracts +of waste land amply sufficient to support him and thousands more. He +could reduce it to cultivation if he had the chance. He would infinitely +prefer eking out the scantiest existence in this manner to flinging +himself into the turbulent whirlpool of town life. Strangely enough the +"Sirkar" (Government), to whom these tracts belong, is equally anxious +that the land in question should be cultivated. It would yield in the +course of a few years as rich a revenue as the acres of exactly similar +soil that have been brought under cultivation in the neighbourhood. But +the difficulties in the way are well nigh insuperable: + +1. The congested labor consists almost entirely of those castes which +are looked upon as inferior. The very idea of their emancipation is +distasteful to the higher castes, who enjoy in most parts of India an +almost exclusive monopoly of the land. Hence any effort to obtain a +grant of waste land is met with strong and often bitter opposition, and +it is next door to impossible for any one in the position of the +Submerged Tenth to fight the battle through. + +2. Of course, under the British Government these caste distinctions are +not officially recognised. But as a matter of fact they still carry +great weight. Anybody can, it is true, petition the Government for a +grant of this land, but to secure favourable consideration is almost +impossible. During the last four or five years I have personally +interested myself in several petitions, with a view to assisting the +petitioners, whom I knew to be thoroughly deserving of success. And yet +after going through a weary tissue of formalities, seldom lasting less +than a year, I have not known of a single favourable answer, nor have +these advances met with the least sort of encouragement. The Government +officials to whom these vast estates are entrusted are mostly so +preoccupied with other work that it is impossible for them to give to +the subject the personal attention that it requires, and they are guided +by the reports of interested and sometimes bribed subordinates. The very +fact that they are entitled to draw exactly the same salary whether the +public estate improves or not, removes the incentive that would +otherwise exist, even if they were the absentee landlords of the +property, while the constant liability to be transferred from one +district to another aggravates the difficulty of the situation. + +3. Again, there is a lack of the capital necessary for the initial +expenses of the cultivator in sinking wells, building houses, supplying +cattle and obtaining both seed and food till the harvest has been +gathered in. + +4. The lack of combination among the congested mass of labourers is +another serious evil. They are as sheep without a shepherd. Individually +they have no influence. Collectively they are capable of becoming a +mighty power. What is needed at the present moment is a directing head +and an enfolding organisation that shall gather them together, bind them +in one harmonious whole, and with the help of a friendly Government lead +them on to occupy and cultivate these waste lands, converting them into +districts inhabited by a sober, thrifty and enterprising population. +Without such a combination the efforts that are made by private +enterprise will continue to be carried out on such a petty scale as will +utterly fail to cope with or remove the existing evil, and will merely +serve to give relief in a few isolated cases. For instance I have in +mind one district where to my personal knowledge the amount of congested +labor cannot amount on the most moderate calculation to less than half a +million people. There is in their immediate neighbourhood abundance of +waste land capable of supporting them. The Government is anxious for +that land to be occupied. The people are eager to obtain and capable of +cultivating every piece of waste that can be placed at their disposal. +If, instead of leaving it to individual caprice and effort to carry on +in the present haphazard and redtape fashion, we are able on the one +hand to combine this mass of labor, and to obtain on the other hand from +Government the particulars of the land they are desirous of having +cultivated, and the most favorable terms on which it can be granted to +us, we shall be in a position with, but a very moderate amount of +capital at our command, to solve the double problem of the waste land +and waste labor, and that within a very short period. + +5. The religious influences which we should bring to bear on the +colonists would be invaluable, especially in the early days of these +colonies. The example of our Officers, their self-sacrificing devotion +to the interests of the people, the knowledge that they would gain +nothing by the success of the enterprise and that they were actuated +solely by the highest motives, the facts that they were sharing the +homes of the people, enduring the same hardships and eating the same +food, all this would act as an inspiration to the colonists when the +early days of trial and difficulty came upon them. No less an authority +than Mr. John Morley, M.P., remarked when he first heard of General +Booth's scheme, that he considered that its combination of religion with +the other details of the plan of campaign was its most hopeful feature, +and would be most likely to ensure its success. This seems to apply +especially to that portion of the scheme now under consideration. +Indeed, were such an enterprise directed solely by an agency destitute +of this powerful lever, we should anticipate failure in nine cases out +of ten, no matter how great the ability that directed and how abundant +the capital that could be commanded. Individual rapacity and selfishness +would spoil everything, and instead of a beautiful spirit of harmony and +self-sacrifice, we should find a lucky few gaining the prizes and the +masses left no better, perhaps worse, off than before. + +With these preliminary remarks I would introduce the Country Colony, as +suggested by General Booth. It will consist of the following branches, +to which no doubt others will be added as we advance:-- + + 1. The Suburban Farm in the vicinity of large cities, including + + (a) A dairy for the supply of milk, ghee, cream and butter. + + (b) A market garden for fruit and vegetables. + + 2. The Industrial Village. + + 3. The Social Territory or Poor Man's Paradise. + + 4. The City of Refuge. + + 5. Miscellaneous: + + (a) Gangs for public works, such as tanks, railways, roads, &c. + + (b) Gangs for tea gardens. + + (c) Land along the railways. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE SUBURBAN FARM. + + +The connecting link between the City Colony and the Country Colony will +be the Suburban Farm. Situated conveniently near to the largest cities, +it will serve many important purposes. + +1. It will form the channel, or outlet, by which the agricultural +portion of the labor overflow in the cities will make its way back to +the country. In fact, it will constitute a sort of sluice which will in +time act with the same regularity and ease as those which are attached +to any reservoir of water, directing to the most needy places, and +distributing without waste, those very waters which if uncontrolled +would sweep everything before them as a devastating flood. + +2. It will at the same time find a ready market in the city, not only +for its own produce, but for that of the other branches of the country +colony, with which it would be in constant and close communication. + +3. It will supply the city with wholesome and unadulterated dairy +produce, together with the best fruits and vegetables, at the ordinary +market rates. These could be disposed of either wholesale to city +merchants, or by moans of stalls in the various markets, or we could +undertake to retail them in connection with our Household Salvage +Brigade. The Suburban Farm would consist of, say, from fifty to five +hundred acres of land in the immediate neighbourhood of a city. It would +combine three or more separate departments. + +1. _The Dairy._ Buffaloes and cows would be given us by friends, +besides being purchased and reared by us, in large numbers. To tend +them, milk them, prepare the ghee, cream and butter, and to convey it +all to town, would find employment for a large number of the Submerged +Tenth. + +2. The _Market Garden_ would employ a still larger number. Bananas grow +quickly in all parts of India, and with them we could make an immediate +beginning, introducing from different districts the best species. +Sugar-cane and other popular native products would receive special +attention, and where the European population in the neighbourhood was +sufficiently numerous we could include the cultivation of such fruits +and vegetables as would be liked by them. In the case of seaport towns +we should no doubt do a large business with the steamers in the harbour, +as for instance, in Bombay, Colombo, or Calcutta. + +3. We should probably at an early period transfer some of the industrial +brigades enumerated in Chapter VI to our Suburban Farm. In doing this +there would be several obvious advantages: + + (a) We should have more elbow room for them on the Farm, than in the + Labor Yards, where land would be so expensive that we should be + obliged to crowd everything into the smallest possible compass, + both in regard to work sheds and sleeping accommodation. + + (b) In removing them from the contaminating influences of city life, + we should be able to exercise a more personal and powerful influence + upon these members of the Submerged Tenth and should stand a far + better chance of effectively carrying out that spiritual and moral + regeneration, without which we reckon that any mere temporal + reformation would be ineffective and evanescent. + + (c) We should prevent our labor yards from getting gorged, and would + keep them within manageable dimensions. At the same time that we + should cope more effectively with all existing distress. + + (d) The Suburban Farm being closely connected with other portions of + our Country Colony, we should be able to use the latter to relieve + it in case of its becoming in turn overcrowded by the influx from + the City. + + (e) It would thus form a natural stepping-stone to the Industrial + Village, which we have next to describe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE INDUSTRIAL VILLAGE. + + +For the Industrial Village we have already before our very eyes an +admirable object lesson in the existing organisation and subdivision of +an ordinary Indian village. Indeed it is singular how precisely India +has anticipated just what General Booth now proposes to introduce in +civilized Europe. + +The village community so familiar to all who have resided in India +consists of an independent or rather interdependent, co-operative +association which constitutes a miniature world of its own, producing +its own food and manufacturing its own clothes, shoes, earthenware, +pots, &c, with its own petty government to decide all matters affecting +the general welfare of the little commonwealth. Very wisely the British +rulers of India have left this interesting relic of ancient times +untouched, so that the institution can be seen in complete working order +at the present day all over India. The onward march of civilisation has +somewhat shaken the fabric and has threatened the existence of several +of the village industries. But at present there has not been any radical +alteration. The village may still be seen divided up into its various +quarters. + +Take for instance a village in Gujarat. Those substantial houses in the +centre belong to the well-to-do landowners. The cultivators or tenants +have their quarters close alongside. The group of huts belonging to the +weavers is easily distinguishable by the rude looms and apparatus for +the manufacture of the common country cloth. The tanners' quarter is +equally well marked, and yonder the groups at work with mud and wheel +and surrounded with earthenware vessels of various shapes and sizes, +remind you that you are among the Potters. + +On inquiring into the interior economy of the village a system of +payment in kind and exchange of goods for labour and grain is found to +prevail exactly similar to that suggested by General Booth. Only here we +have the immense advantage that instead of having to explain and +institute a radical reform in the existing system, we have to deal with +millions of people who are thoroughly imbued with these principles from +their infancy. + +For instance one of the staple articles of food in the village consists +of buttermilk, which is distributed by the high caste among the low +caste from year's end to year's end in return for petty services. One of +the usual ways in which the high caste will punish the low, for any +course of conduct to which they object is by the terrible threat of +stopping their supply of "chas," which means usually nothing short of +starvation. + +Here then is our model in good working order and in exact accordance +with the ideal sketched out by General Booth. We cannot do better than +adhere to it as closely as possible. + +Probably the first industrial settlement which we shall establish, in +addition to the labor yards and suburban farms already referred to, will +consist of a colony of Weavers in Gujarat. + +For this we shall have special facilities, as we have now 150 Officers +at work in that part of the country, as well as more than 2,000 enrolled +adults, a large proportion of whom have been in our ranks for several +years. From amongst these we shall be able to select thoroughly reliable +superintendents (both European and Native), and shall be able to take +full advantage of their local experience. + +But how far we shall consider it wise to confine our first settlement +to one particular caste or to include within it from the outset some +other useful village industries such as have been above referred to, I +am not as yet prepared to say. Much will necessarily depend on the +course that events may hereafter take. For the present I can only say +that we will adhere as closely as possible to our Indian model. + +The one weak point about the Indian system, as it at present exists, is, +that there is no means of regulating the proportion of labour in each +section of the community. The rules of caste prevent any transfer from +one trade to another, while there is no system of intercommunication +between the villages to enable them to readily transfer their surplus +population to the places where they would be most needed. In a case +where some village industry is threatened with annihilation, as for +instance the weavers, there is absolutely no provision for the transfer +of the unfortunate victims of civilisation either to some more favored +locality or to some other sphere of labour. + +Now this is just where our combined plan of campaign with its union of +City, Country, and Over-sea Colonies would step in and supply the +missing link. We should be able to direct the glut of labor into just +those channels where it would be the most useful. + +And why should this be thought impracticable? Everybody is acquainted +with the power of wind, water and steam, where properly directed, to +move the most gigantic machinery and yet for centuries those powers were +suffered to go to waste. It is only of late that we have learnt for +instance to put chains upon the genii of the tea-kettle, to put them as +it were into harness, to bridle them and to compel them to drag our huge +leviathans across thousands of miles of ocean. May not the enormous +mass of waste labor that has accumulated in our cities and rural +districts be fitly compared to the former waste of steam. The best that +we have been able to do for it so far has been to provide for it the +safety valves of beggary, destitution, famine, pestilence, crime, +imprisonment and the gallows. + +Is it too much to suppose that this enormous waste of human steam, the +most valuable sort of steam that the world contains, can be properly +controlled and guided so that it will make for itself railways and +steamers that shall carry its human cargoes by millions across lands +that are at present mere wastes, and to populate countries which are as +yet wildernesses? In doing so, we shall but fulfil the words of prophecy +uttered 26,000 years ago. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall +be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. +It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing.* * +For in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. +And the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs +of water.* * * And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be +called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, but it +shall be for those. The way-faring men, though fools shall not err +therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up +thereon; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, +and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Sion with songs +and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and +gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE SOCIAL TERRITORY, OR, POOR MAN'S PARADISE. + + +Probably the biggest wholesale emigration scheme ever undertaken was +that of Israel out of Egypt into Canaan, under the leadership of Moses. +The circumstances were so very similar to those with which we are +dealing, that I may be excused for referring to them, as they have a +direct bearing on the present problem, and may help largely towards its +solution. It is said that "History repeats itself" and certainly this is +true in regard to the evils that then existed, and we do not see why the +remedy should not in some respect correspond. + +Looking back then, we find that there was in Egypt in the year 1,500 +B.C. a submerged tenth, consisting of 600,000 able-bodied men with their +wives and families and numbering therefore at least two and a half +million souls. They constituted a distinct caste, or nation, which had +been grafted into the original Egyptian stock 430 years previously. +Owing to hereditary customs, race distinctions and religious differences +they had preserved their identity and had never become assimulated with +the Egyptians. It was a famine that had driven them to take refuge in +Egypt at a time when their numbers were so few that their presence +caused no particular inconvenience to the original inhabitants, while +the services of the King's Vazir, to whose caste they belonged secured +them a suitable reception. + +At the time however when we take up their history a change had taken +place. Their numbers had immensely increased. The labor market was +deluged with them. The rulers, capitalists and landowners began to +tremble for their very existence. Enormous public works were planned and +the enslaved caste were compelled to carry out their allotted labour +under rigorous taskmasters, who made their lives a burden to them. Still +their numbers continued to increase. Alarmed at the prospect of an +impending revolution, the King gave orders that every male child of the +Hebrews should be drowned, thinking thus to stamp out the nation. It is +easy to imagine therefore that affairs must have come to a desperate +pass, when from the palace of Pharaoh and yet from among their own caste +a deliverer was raised up to organise and carry out the wholesale +emigration of the entire nation. + +Looked at in this light it was certainly the boldest venture and +greatest scheme of the kind that had ever been conceived, and without +the aid of remarkable miraculous displays of Divine power Moses could +never have carried out so magnificent a project. + +Everything appeared to be against him. The people whom he had come to +deliver were an undisciplined mob of cowardly slaves, whose spirit had +been crushed by years of cruel tyranny. They were unarmed and +unaccustomed to war. They were the subjects of the most powerful +military monarchy of those times. For them to dream of emigrating must +have seemed the wildest folly. On the one hand the Egyptians would not +hear of it, and their way would be barred by legions of the best +soldiers the world could produce. On the other hand the country to which +they were to emigrate was already occupied by numerous and warlike +tribes, who would contest every inch of territory. Added to this there +was a "great and howling wilderness" which separated the one country +from the other. + +Hence it will be seen that this vast national emigration scheme was +carried out by Moses under circumstances of peculiar difficulty which do +not exist in the problem at present under consideration. + +There are the same destitute hunger-bitten multitudes, it is true, and +the same difficulty arises before us as to what to do with these +steadily increasing hordes. The same Egyptian remedy, the construction +of vast public works, has been resorted to over and over again, with the +effect of giving temporary, but not permanent relief. In some respects +the position of the Hebrews in Egypt was preferable to that of the +destitute masses in India. They seem at least to have had no lack of +food and shelter, and if they had to work hard, and were cruelly treated +by their taskmasters, we have become familiar in the Indian villages +with many instances of cruelty in the treatment of the low caste by the +high such as could not well have been surpassed in Egypt itself, to say +nothing of the extortions of the money-lender and the ravages of famine +and pestilence referred to elsewhere. + +But in many respects the situation is far more hopeful. Our Pharaoh is a +Christian Queen, under whom we have, not one, but many Josephs, who are +really anxious for the highest welfare of the submerged masses, and who +are likely to hail with gladness (as has been already the case in +England) any project which bids fair to alleviate permanently the +existing misery. The wealth and power of the British Government and +Nation, instead of being used to hinder such a scheme, is likely to be +thrown bodily into the scale in favour of all reasonable reform that +will help congested labour to redistribute itself and recover its normal +balances. + +Again the progress of science and civilization has removed immense +barriers that previously existed, and railways, steamers, post and +telegraph have rendered possible for us, if not comparatively easy, what +was before only within the reach of miraculous manifestations of Divine +Power. + +Furthermore, _the land is there, plenty of it, for centuries to come_, +some of it across the seas, within easy reach of our steamers, but a +great deal of it quite close at hand. Nor will it be necessary to +dispossess others to occupy it. The only enemies that will have to be +faced are the wild beasts, always ready to beat a retreat when man +appears. It does not even belong to some different nationality or +Government, jealous of our encroachments, but is the property of the +same Power to whom these destitute multitudes are looking for their +daily bread. + +Hence it is impossible to imagine circumstances more favorable than +those which already exist in India at the moment that General Booth's +scheme is placed before the public, towards the carrying out on an +enormous scale, hitherto never dreamt of, the portion of his projects +referred to in the present chapter. + +What I would propose is that a considerable section of waste Territory +should be assigned to us and placed at our disposal in some suitable +part of India, upon which we could plant colonies of the destitute, +similar in many respects to those already described, save that we should +here carry out on a wholesale scale what elsewhere we should be doing by +retail. Into this central lake or reservoir all our scattered streams +would empty themselves, till it was so far full that we should require +to repeat the process elsewhere. Beginning with a single social +reservation in some specially selected district, we should easily be +able to repeat the experiment elsewhere on an even larger scale +profiting as we went along by our accumulated experience. + +From the first, however, I should suppose that it would be preferable to +carry out the manoeuvre on as large a scale as possible, for the reason +that this is just one of those things which will be found easier to do +wholesale than retail. + +We have many illustrations of this in business. The merchant who amasses +a colossal fortune will perhaps scarcely spend an hour a day in +superintending the working of an establishment that covers half an acre, +while the poor retail shopkeeper over the way toils from early morning +to late at night and is scarcely able then to earn a bare subsistence +for the support of his family. + +Compare again the labour and profits of a boatman in Bombay Harbour, +with those of the owner of an ocean going steamer. The former toils day +and night at the peril of his life and earns but little, while the +latter rests comfortably at home and enjoys a handsome income. + +Or again let the village hand-loom weaver be pitted against the Bombay +Mill-owner, and we see at a glance that under certain circumstances it +_pays_ infinitely better to do things on a large than on a small scale, +and that in so doing the amount of labour and risk are also economised. + +Now this applies to the proposal contained in this chapter. Given a +people who are well acquainted with Indian agriculture and who are +willing to be moved;--given a leader and an organisation in which they +have confidence;--given those religious and moral influences which will +so help them in overcoming the initial difficulties of the enterprise; +and given a suitable tract of country which (without displacing existing +population) they can occupy, and I would say with confidence that it +will be found easier to accomplish the transfer on a large than on a +small scale, by wholesale rather than by retail. + +In the present case all the above conditions are satisfied. The entire +congested labor of the rural districts is thoroughly versed from +childhood in the arts of Indian agriculture. They are willing in many +parts of the country to emigrate by thousands even across the "kala +pani," to which they have such an intense and religious aversion, or to +enlist by thousands in our merchant marine and military forces. Much +more then will they be willing to emigrate in far larger numbers to +districts close at hand. A leader to inspire, an organisation to enfold, +and a plan of campaign to guide, have in the most marvellous manner +almost dropped from the skies since the publication of General Booth's +book. The religious and moral restraints and incentives, so important +for guarding against the abuses of selfishness and for inspiring with a +spirit of cheerful self-sacrifice, are provided, and that in a purely +_Native garb_, and yet with all the advantages of European leadership +and enthusiasm. And finally there is land in abundance which Government +desires to see colonised, and which is being slowly retailed out bit by +bit in a manner altogether unworthy of the urgent necessities of the +occasion. + +What then is there to hinder a big bold experiment? General Booth will +have in England largely to _make_ his agriculturists before he can put +them upon the land. Here in India we have _millions_ of skilled +destitutes ready to hand, and it will be possible within a very short +period with a few bold strokes to relieve the congested labor market +from one end of India to the other in a manner that can hardly now be +conceived. + +Is not this plan infinitely superior to the spasmodic Egyptian +expedient of occasional public works, which cost the State enormous sums +and only increase the local difficulty as soon as they are completed? +Should we not here be erecting a satisfactory and permanent bulwark +against the future inroads of famine? Shall we not rather be increasing +the public revenue for future years by millions of pounds and that +without adding a single new tax, or relying upon sources so uncertain +and detrimental to the public welfare as those founded upon the +consumption of drugs and liquors that destroy the health of the people? +Shall we not again be increasing the stability and glory of the Empire +in caring for its destitute masses and in turning what is now a danger +to the State into a peaceful, prosperous and contented community? And +finally will not our Poor Man's Paradise be infinitely superior from +every point of view to the miserable regulation _workhouse_, that is in +other countries offered by the State, or again to the system of +charitable doles and wholesale beggary that at present exists? To me it +seems that there is indeed no comparison between the two, and General +Booth's book has opened out a vista of happiness to the poor, such as we +should hardly have conceived possible save in connection with a +Christian millennium or a Hindoo "_Kal Yug._" + +But it may be objected by some that in providing those outlets for the +destitute, we should in the end only aggravate the difficulty by +enormously increasing the population. This reminds one of the gigantic +folly of the miser with his hoards of gold. An amusing eastern anecdote +is told of one who having gone two or three miles to say his prayers to +a mosque suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to put out an oil +lamp before leaving home. He at once retraced his steps and on reaching +his house called out to the servant girl to be sure and put out the +light. She replied that she had already done so, and that it was a pity +he had wasted his shoe leather in walking back so far to remind her. To +this he answered that he had already thought of this and had therefore +taken off his shoes and carried them under his arm so as not to wear +them out! + +And here you have a wretched class of miserly so-called "_economists_" +who are afraid to light their lamp, lest they should burn the oil, and +who would rather sleep in the darkness, doing nothing, or break their +necks fumbling about in their vain efforts to do little, when for a +farthing dip they may put in hours of profitable toil! And when a shoe +is provided for the swollen foot of a nation they are so afraid of +wasting their shoe leather, that they would rather hobble about belamed +with thorns, stones, heat, or cold, than lay out the little that is +necessary to bring them so ample a return! + +Each labourer represents to the state what the piece of gold is to the +miser. He is the human capital of the nation and is capable of producing +annual interest at the rate of at least a hundred per cent, if placed in +sufficiently favourable circumstances. What folly is it then, nay what +culpable negligence, nay what nothing short of criminality to sink this +human gold in the bogs of beggary and destitution! Man is the most +wonderful piece of machinery that exists in the world! The cleverest +inventions of human science sink into insignificance in comparison with +him! The whole universe is so planned that his services _cannot_ be +dispensed with and indeed he is at the same time the most beautiful +ornament and the essential keystone of the entire fabric! The utmost +that science itself can do is to increase his productive powers. + +But the idea of dispensing with the service of a single human being, or +of consigning him hopelessly to the perdition of beggary, destitution, +famine and pestilence is the most stupendous act of folly conceivable. +What should we think of a railway company that would shunt half its +engines on to a siding and leave them to the destructive influence of +rain and dust? And how shall we characterise the stupidity that shall +shunt millions of serviceable human beings into circumstances of misery +so appalling as well as of uselessness so entire, as those which we have +endeavoured to picture? Why, here we have not even the decency of a +siding! These wonderfully made semi-Divine human engines are suffered to +obstruct the very main lines on which our expresses run, not only +wrecked themselves, but the fruitful cause of wreckage to millions more! + +But I have said enough I trust to show that the problem is not a +hopeless one, and that the portion of General Booth's scheme to which +this chapter refers is particularly applicable to India and capable of +being successfully put into operation on a scale commensurate with the +necessities of the hour. + +Having obtained our territory we should proceed to mark it out, and to +direct into the most advantageous channels, the inflowing tide of +immigration. There would be a threefold division into agricultural +districts which would furnish food for the incoming population, a +pastoral district for the cattle, and a central market, which would +furnish the pivot on which all the rest would work. Our agricultural and +dairy farm proposal I have already fully discussed and will now proceed +to describe the social City of Refuge which will act as a sort of solar +system round which all the minor constellations would revolve. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE SOCIAL CITY OF REFUGE. + + +I am tempted again to turn to Hebrew history to find a parallel for what +would I believe be easily accomplished at an early period in connection +with our "Poor Man's Paradise." I refer to what was styled the "City of +Refuge." The object of this institution was to provide a temporary +shelter for those who had unintentionally killed any one, so that they +might escape from "the avenger of blood." If on inquiry it could be +proved that the death was purely accidental, the fugitive was entitled +to claim protection until by the death of the high priest, the blood +should have been expiated when he would be free to return to his home +and people. If, on the other hand, it were a case of premeditated +murder, the city authorities were bound to hand over the fugitive to +justice. + +The careful provision made by the Hebrew law for the occasional +manslayer surely casts a severe reflection on the millions who, many of +them through no fault of their own, represent the submerged tenth! Let +us leave for the time being the wilful criminals who are the open +enemies of society to be dealt with as severely as you like by the arm +of the law. Turn for a moment a pitying gaze towards those hungry +destitute multitudes, who cannot it may be, plead their own cause, but +whose woes surely speak with an eloquence that no mere words could ever +match! Why should we not provide them with a City of Refuge, where they +will have a chance of regaining their feet? If it be urged that their +numbers preclude such a possibility, we would reply that it has already +been proved in the previous chapter, that this will in really make +our task the more easy. The impetus and enthusiasm created by a movement +in mass tends largely to ensure its success. + +If on the other hand it be urged that our object is to divert the flow +of population from cities to villages, it must be remembered that this +does not preclude the creation of new towns and cities, which shall +furnish convenient centres and markets for the surrounding villages. It +is not a part of General Booth's scheme to abolish cities, but rather to +dispose suitably of their superfluous population. And no doubt in course +of time the world will be covered not only with suburban farms and +industrial villages, but with cities which for commercial importance and +in other respects will rival any that now exist. + +I am the more encouraged to believe that this will be particularly +practicable in India for the following reasons. + +1. We have an enormous population close at hand. If at a distance of +12,000 to 14,000 miles, England can build its Melbournes, Sydneys and +Adelaides, surely it does not require a very great stretch of +imagination to suppose that here in our very midst with millions upon +millions of people at disposal we shall be able to repeat what has +already been elsewhere accomplished under circumstances so specially +disadvantageous. + +2. Again let it be remembered that in this case we should have the +special advantage of carrying out the work on a carefully organised plan +and in connection with a scheme possessing immense ramifications all +over India and the world. + +3. Once more, India supplies labor at the cheapest conceivable rate, so +that the cost would be infinitesimal as compared with the other +countries just mentioned. + +4. Another important fact is that the laborers are accustomed to be +paid in kind, and to carry on a system of exchange of goods which will +further minimise the cost of the undertaking. + +5. A still more encouraging element in the solving of our Indian problem +is the fact that nearly every native is a skilled artizan and you can +hardly meet with one who has not from childhood been taught some +handicrafts. Indeed the majority both of men and women are acquainted +with two or three different trades, besides being accustomed from +childhood to draw their own water, wash their clothes and do their +cooking. Hence it is impossible to find a more self-helpful race in the +world. + +6. Again this very thing has been already done in India itself, +especially by its great Mahommedan rulers, hundreds of years ago, and +that under circumstances, which made the undertaking infinitely more +difficult than would now be the case. What was possible to them then, is +equally possible to us now. + +7. Finally in the midst of some of the very waste tracts of which we +have spoken may be found cities which were once the flourishing centres +of as large and enterprising a population as can anywhere be seen. Why +should not such places be restored to their former prosperity instead of +being handed over to become "the habitation of owls and dragons." + +The selection of the site of the future city would of course be made +with due reference to advantages of climate, water, and communication +and it would be planned out previous to occupation with every +consideration of convenience, health, and economy. Gangs of workmen +would precede the arrival of the regular inhabitants, though we should +largely rely upon the latter to build for themselves such simple yet +sufficiently substantial dwellings as would meet the necessities of the +case. We might reasonably anticipate, moreover, that the influx of +population would attract of its own accord a certain proportion of +well-to-do capitalists, for whom a special quarter of the town could be +reserved and to whom special facilities could be granted for their +encouragement, consistent with the general well-being of the community. + +It would be easy to fill many pages with a description of the internal +colony, the business routine, the simple recreations, the practical +system of education for the children and the lively religious services +that would constitute the daily life of the City of Refuge. Suffice it +to say that we should spare no pains to promote in every way the +temporal and spiritual welfare of its inhabitants, to banish drunkenness +and immorality, to guard against destitution and to establish a happy +holy Godfearing community, that would constitute a beacon of light and +hope not only for its own immediate surroundings but far and wide for +all India and the East. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +SUPPLEMENTARY BRANCHES OF THE COUNTRY COLONY. + + +(1.) _Public Works_-- + +While the central idea of the entire system will be that of providing +permanent, as contrasted with temporary work for the destitute, there is +no reason why the former should not be supplemented by the latter. The +great public works which at present afford occasional relief for +thousands would still be possible, only provision would be made for the +redistribution of the masses of labour thus withdrawn from the ordinary +channels as soon as the public work in question was completed. + +For this again we possess a scriptural parallel in the "levy out of all +Israel" raised by King Solomon, consisting of thirty thousand men who +were sent "to Lebanon ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were +in Lebanon and two months at home." In addition to the above we find +that he employed seventy thousand "that bare burdens" and eighty +thousand "hewers in the mountains, beside the officers which were over +the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people +that wrought in the work." It was the elaborate organisation of these +laborers, and the provision for their spending a certain proportion of +their time at home, which enabled Solomon to carry out his great public +works without seriously deranging the labor market, or hindering the +prosperity of the nation. I have selected this instance because it is +from well authenticated sources, goes fully into details and refers to a +nation and country very much resembling India. Indeed it is almost +identical with the familiar Indian institution known as "begar" or +forced labour. + +The weak point of such special efforts is that they tend to leave +things in a worse position than ever when they are concluded. Nobody +sits down to calculate what is to become of the thousands who have been +drawn together, often hundreds of miles from their homes, when the time +comes for them to be paid off. They are thrown bodily upon the labor +market and left to shift for themselves as best they can, without any +means of informing themselves where they ought to go, or into what other +channels they can most profitably direct their labor. + +This evil we hope to obviate by means of our Labor Bureaux, which will +be planted in every city and district, and will keep such elaborate +returns as will enable to watch all the fluctuations of the labor +market. + +For instance let us be informed of the fact that a railway is to be +opened, a canal dug, or some other public work constructed in a +particular district, we should be able to calculate from our returns the +amount of labor that could conveniently be withdrawn from existing +channels, and the amount that would have to be imported. + +We should be able to constitute a Solomon's levy (voluntary of course), +and the laborers would have the assurance that when the work on which +they were engaged was concluded, sufficient provision would be made for +their reemployment elsewhere, or for their restoration to their ordinary +occupation. Our Labor Bureau would thus do for the laborer what is at +present impossible for him to do for himself, and would economise his +time to the utmost. + + +(2.) _Off to the Tea Gardens_-- + +We should be able again to supply the Tea and Coffee Districts with +gangs of laborers, and should guard the interests of both employer and +employed. The former would be supplied with picked laborers at the +ordinary market rate, without the worry, delay and expense of having to +procure them for themselves. The latter would be kept in communication +with their families, and could be worked in "courses" on Solomon's plan. + + +(3.) _Land along the Railways_-- + +Among other proposals General Booth suggests that the land along the +Railway lines might well be utilised for the purpose of spade husbandry. +There seems no reason why these extensive strips of often fertile soil +should be left to go to waste, conveniently situated as they are on +borders of the main arteries of commerce and in close vicinity to +stations. + + +(4.) _Improved methods of Agriculture_-- + +This is a subject which deserves a chapter to itself in a country like +India. If it be true that there are millions of acres of waste land that +are only waiting to be cultivated to yield a rich return, it is equally +notorious that by improved methods of agriculture the present produce of +the soil may be doubled and trebled. To this subject we intend to pay +the full attention that it deserves, making the best possible use of +Native experience and European science. We shall be in a peculiarly +favorable situation for experiments on a large scale. But this is a +subject on which we cannot at present do more than touch, reserving for +a future period the elaboration of schemes which will doubtless have an +enormous reflexive effect upon the whole of India, and thus materially +increase the wealth of the entire country and the revenue of the +Government. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE OVER-SEA COLONY. + + +As in England, so in India, the establishment of a colony over the sea +will in the end prove the necessary completion of our scheme for +supplying work to the workless. There are sure to be found eventually in +overcrowded centres many for whom work at home cannot be found, and for +whom vast reaches of unoccupied territories in other lands wait to +afford a home. + +Happily this will not be an immediate necessity in India. Over the +extended area occupied by the various races which comprise the Indian +Empire, large tracts of land still wait to be conquered by well-directed +industry, and the numerous settlements which it will be possible to form +in different parts of the country may for some time to come absorb the +surplus labour, add to the wealth of the country, the stability of the +Empire and the more rapid advancement of the Kingdom of Christ. Since, +however, we must look forward to emigration as the ultimate solution of +the problem which confronts us, we shall briefly indicate the lines upon +which we propose to carry it out. + +In the establishment of Over-sea Colonies we shall follow very closely +the lines laid down in "Darkest England." + +At present the continuous stream of emigrant labour flowing into +existing colonies already overstocked with labor, is creating serious +difficulties, and we have no idea of relieving a congested labour market +in one country by overstocking another: this would be, not to heal the +disorder, but only to shift the locality. + +It may not be generally known how extensively emigration is already +resorted to by the people of India. We know that the impression is +abroad that Indians will not leave their country, that they fear the +sea, are too much attached to their home and their customs, and are far +too much filled with the dread of losing caste to yield to any pressure +that may be brought to bear upon them to quit the shores of their own +land for foreign fields of labour. As a matter of fact, however, +emigration to a considerable extent already exists. + +In Ceylon alone there are nearly 300,000 Tamil coolies employed on the +Tea Estates, besides hundreds of thousands more who have permanently +settled in various parts of the Island. Vast tracts in the Island are +still waiting to be occupied. The former population of Ceylon is +variously estimated as having been from twelve to thirty millions,--now +it is only three! Is it impossible for us to suppose that it can be +restored to its former prosperity? Immense tanks and irrigation works +cover the entire country in tracts which are now unoccupied and desolate. +Many of these have been restored by Government, and there are now +100,000 acres of irrigable land in that country, only waiting to be +occupied and cultivated. Government is ready to give it on easy terms. +Here, then, alone is a wide and hopeful field for Indian emigration, +only requiring to be skilfully directed in order to find a home and +living for millions of India's destitute. + +Now what we propose to do is not to check the stream of emigration, nor +yet to help it to flow on in its present channel until it overflows its +banks and engulfs in ruin the colonies it might have enriched, but +rather to dig out new channels, founding entirely new colonies in +districts yet unoccupied, on the plan laid down in "Darkest England." + +The stream which, diverted into 20 or 30 channels, would enrich and +fertilize a whole continent, would if confined to one or two channels +burst its banks and become a desolating flood. + +We shall ourselves become the leaders of the coolies, and dig out +channels in Ceylon, in Africa, in South America, and other countries, +building up from entirely new centres new colonies and territories and +kingdoms where the Indian colonist would find himself not a stranger in +a strange land, unwelcome, neglected, or illtreated, but at home in a +new India, more prosperous and happy than the one he had left behind,--a +colony peopled and possessed and managed by those of his own race and +language. + +Emigration carried on simply in the interests of those who promote it +and derive a profit out of it, without regard to the needs of the +districts to which they are exported, and with absolute disregard to the +comfort and convenience of the emigrant, and often attended with +heartless cruelties, must necessarily be fraught with grave evils. These +we believe we should largely be able to obviate. In vessels chartered by +ourselves or in some way under our direction, and with every comfort and +convenience which can be secured for the limited sum available for cost +of transit, for men, women, and children, under the direct +superintendence of our own trained officers, what a curtailment of human +suffering and shame there will be in the transit of the Colonist alone! +On his arrival he will be met by those who, if strangers, are his +friends, and who will secure for him comfortable quarters, communicate, +or enable the emigrant to communicate, with his friends at home, +introduce him to the particular industry to which he is assigned, and +who will not cease their personal care of him until he is happily +settled in his new home, and who will afterwards be available for +advice and counsel. He will find himself, not amongst people who are +eager to secure their own profit at his expense, but a part of a +commonwealth where each is taught to seek the good of his neighbour, and +where the laws are framed to secure and perpetuate this desirable +condition of things. A community where the blessings of home and +education and sanitary laws and religion are valued and made available +for all, and where liberty, which nowhere shines so sweetly as amongst a +frugal, industrious, intelligent, simple and godly people, reigns in +truth. + +Moreover, our widely extended operations, our connection and oneness +with the great social movement of the Army in various lands, and the +regulations which will control the movement, will enable us invariably +to convey our colonists to fields where their labours will be of the +greatest value, and instantly to check any tendency to excess of labour +at any given centre, and even at times to greatly relieve temporary +gluts in the labor market arising from unforeseen circumstances. + +In short, it is scarcely possible to overrate the blessings likely to +flow from Colonies where drink and opium will be unprocurable, where +vice will be repressed, where greed will receive little encouragement +and have few opportunities to grow, and where the comparative absence of +poverty on the one hand, and of extreme wealth on the other and the +general contentment of the people, will make life on earth a joy to +those who were once nearly starved out of it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES. + + +(1) THE INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT. + +In connection with our Labor Bureau we shall establish an intelligence +department, the duty of which will be to collect all kinds of +information likely to be of use in prosecuting our Social Reform. + +For instance, it would watch the state of the labor market, would +ascertain where there was a lack of labor and where a glut, would inform +the public of the progress of the movement, would bring to our notice +any newspaper criticisms or suggestions, and would generally make itself +useful in a thousand ways. + + +(2) THE POOR MAN'S LAWYER. + +This would meet a long-felt want, and could also be worked in connection +with the Labor Bureau. + +The poor would be able to get sound legal advice in regard to their +difficulties, and we should be able to help them in their defence where +we believed them to be wronged. + + +(3) THE INQUIRY OFFICE FOR MISSING FRIENDS. + +This has been established for some time in England with admirable +success, our worldwide organization enabling us to trace people under +the most unfavorable circumstances. No doubt there would be much scope +for such a department in India. At the outset it would form part of the +duties of the Labor Bureau, and would not therefore entail any extra +expense. + + +(4) THE MATRIMONIAL BUREAU. + +A thoroughly confidential matrimonial bureau which would wisely advise +people desirous of getting married, would certainly be of great service +in India. Its operations would no doubt be small in the beginning, but +as it got to be known and trusted it would be more and more resorted to. + +Even supposing that outsiders should hold aloof from it, we should have +a large inside constituency to whom its operations would be very +valuable, and it would be thoroughly in accordance with native notions +for the mutual negotiations to be carried on in such a way. + +Missionaries are everywhere largely resorted to in regard to questions +of this kind; and we have every reason to believe that it would be so +with ourselves, and we should thus be able largely to guard our people +against ill-assorted matches, and to furnish them with wise counsel on +the subject. + + +(5) THE EMIGRATION BUREAU. + +The subject of emigration has been already referred to elsewhere. No +doubt we shall ultimately require a separate and special office for this +purpose in all the chief cities but at the outset its duties would fall +upon the Labor Bureau and Intelligence Departments who would collect all +the information they could preparatory to the launching of this part of +the scheme. + + +(6) PERIODICAL MELAS. + +In place of the "Whitechapel by the sea" proposed by General Booth, a +suitable Indian substitute would I think consist of periodical "melas" +similar to those already prevalent in various parts of the country. + +These might be arranged with the treble object of religious +instruction, bodily recreation, and in order to find an occasional +special market for the surplus goods that we produce. + +Everything would be managed with military precision. The place would be +previously prepared for the reception of the people. An attractive +programme would be arranged. Everybody would be made to feel comfortable +and at home. And no effort would be spared to make the occasion morally +and spiritually profitable, as well as valuable for the relaxation it +afforded to the bodies of those who attended, and financially profitable +for the purpose of our Social Reform work. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? + + +In order to put the whole of the foregoing machinery into motion on an +extensive scale, there can be no doubt that economise as we may, a +considerable outlay will be unavoidable. True we are able to supply +skilled leadership under devoted and self-sacrificing men and women for +a merely nominal cost. True we have Europeans willing to live on the +cheap native diet, and to assimilate themselves in dress, houses and +other manners to the people amongst whom they live. True that we have +raised up around us an equally devoted band of Natives, in whose +integrity we have the fullest confidence and whose ability and knowledge +of the country will prove of valuable service to us in the carrying out +of our scheme. True that around our 450 European and Native officers, we +have enlisted and drilled a force of several thousands of earnest +soldiers of the Cross, who are pledged abstainers from all intoxicating +liquors and drugs, who have renounced all forms of impurity and +sin,--who have promised to devote their lives to the social, moral and +spiritual regeneration of their fellow countrymen,--who are accustomed +to pray and preach in their leisure hours, without being paid a cowrie +for doing so, and who not only support themselves and their families by +their labor, but contribute for the support of their officers. + +Nevertheless, while it is a fact that this cheap and efficient agency +exists for the carrying out of the reforms that have been sketched in +the foregoing pages,--it cannot be denied that a considerable sum of +money will be needed for the successful launching of the scheme. + +Once fairly started, we have every reason to believe that the plans +here laid down will not only prove strictly self-supporting, but will +yield such a margin of profit as will ultimately enable us to set on +foot wholesale extensions of the scheme. No doubt there will be local +disappointments and individual failures. We are dealing with human +nature, and must anticipate that this will be the case. But the +proportion of success will far outweigh the fraction of failure, and +when the profits and losses of the scheme came to be balanced year by +year we have no doubt that socially, physically, morally and financially +we shall be able to show so enormous a gain that the most unreasonable +of our critics will be silenced. + +And yet when we come face to face with the details of the scheme, we +find that the scale of our operations must necessarily depend on the +amount of capital with which we are able to start. The City Colony, with +its Labor Bureau, Labor Yards, Food Depots, Prison and Rescue Homes, and +Salvage Brigade, will involve a considerable initial expense. Although +we are able to supply an efficient supervising staff for a mere fraction +of the ordinary cost,--rents of land and buildings will have to paid. +And although work will be exacted from those who resort to our Yards and +Homes, yet the supply of food to the large numbers who are likely to +need our help will at the outset probably cost us more than we are able +to recover from the sale of the goods produced. + +The Country Colony, with its Industrial Villages, Suburban Farms, and +Waste Settlements, will involve a still heavier outlay of capital. There +is every reason to believe that we may look for an ample return. Indeed +the financial prospects of this branch of the scheme are more hopeful +than these of the City Colony. But to commence on a large scale will +involve no doubt a proportionate expenditure. We may hope indeed that +Government, Native States and private landowners will generously assist +us to overcome these difficulties by grants of land, and advances of +money and other concessions. Still we must anticipate that a +considerable portion of the financial burden and responsibility in +commencing such an enterprise must of necessity fall upon us. + +The Over-Sea Colony may for the present be postponed, and hence we have +not now to consider what would be the probable expenses. But omitting +this, and having regard only to the City and Country Colonies, I believe +that to make a commencement on a fairly extensive scale we shall require +a sum of one lakh of rupees. We do not pretend that with this sum at our +command we can do more than make a beginning. It would be idle to +suppose that the miseries of twenty-five millions of people could be +annihilated at a stroke for such a sum. + +We do believe however that by sinking such a sum we should be able to +manufacture a road over which a continuous and increasing mass of the +Submerged would be able to liberate themselves from their present +miserable surroundings and rise to a position of comparative comfort. + +We are confident moreover that the profits, or shall we call them the +tolls paid by those who passed over this highway, would enable us +speedily to construct a second, which would be broader and better than +the first. The first two would multiply themselves to four, the four to +eight, the eight to sixteen, till the number and breadth of these social +highways would be such as to place deliverance within easy reach of all +who desired it. + +The sum we ask for is less than a tithe of what has been so speedily +raised in England for the rescue of a far smaller number of the +submerged. And yet there may be those who will think that we are asking +for too much. But when I see far larger sums expended on the erection, +or support of a single Hospital, or Dharamsala, and when I remember that +Indian philanthropy has covered the country with such, I am tempted to +exclaim "What is this among so many?" + +Surely it would be a libel upon Indian philanthropy and generosity to +ask for less, in launching a scheme, which has received the hearty +support of multitudes of persons so well able to form a judgment as to +its feasibility and soundness, and this too after having been submitted +to the most searching criticisms that human ingenuity could suggest! At +any rate this we can promise, that whatever may be given will be laid +out carefully to the best possible advantage. A special annual balance +sheet will show how the money entrusted to our care has been expended, +and if the success of the work be not sufficient to justify its +existence, it will always be easy for the public to withhold those +supplies on which we must continue to depend for the prosecution of our +enterprise. + +Looking at the future however in the light of the past history of the +Salvation Army, both in India, and especially in those other parts of +the world, where its organization has had more time to develop and fewer +obstacles to contend with, we are confident that the results will be +such as to repay a hundred fold every effort made and every rupee laid +out in promoting the welfare of India. And even supposing that +comparative failure should result, we should have the satisfaction of +knowing that + + "'Tis better to have tried and failed, + Than never to have tried at all!" + +The anathemas of posterity will alight upon the heads, not of those who +have made a brave effort to better the evils that surround them, but of +those who by their supineness helped to ensure such failure, or by their +active opposition paralysed the efforts and discouraged the hearts of +those who, but for them, might either have wholely succeeded in +accomplishing what all admit to be so desirable, or might at least have +been far nearer reaching their goal than was possible owing to the +dog-in-the-manger obstructions of those who had neither the heart to +help, nor the brains to devise, nor the courage to execute, what others +might have dared and done! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. + + +In proposing at once to deal with the problem of lifting out of the jaws +of starvation India's poorest and darkest however impossible it may look +to some, we have the immense advantage and encouragement which arises +from the fact that General Booth's scheme (which I have followed as +closely as the widely differing conditions of Indian society would +admit) has already received the all but universal approval of the best +and ablest in Europe from the Queen downwards. It has in fact so +commended itself to the general public that men of all shades of +religious belief, men of no belief at all, men of every political party, +and from every rank of society have not only heartily approved but +contributed already L100,000 for the carrying out of the project. +Moreover, some of its most important details have already had applied to +them both in England and Australia the valuable test of experience. + +There is one question which may start up in the mind of the reader and +that is, granted that the scheme is sure to prove successful in England, +is it not still probable that, owing to the complex arrangements of +caste and religion in India any such scheme would meet with failure. To +this I answer in the first place, that all will be helped, irrespective +of their creed, and any change of opinions on their part will be purely +voluntary, since no compulsion, beyond that of love and moral suasion, +is intended to be used. Moreover, drowning men are not too particular as +to the means available for their rescue. They would rather be dragged +out of the water by the hair of their heads than left to drown, or would +rather be lifted out feet foremost than left to be devoured by +alligators. If it be true that starving men are driven by hunger to +commit theft solely that they may be sent to jail where at least they +will get food and be saved for a time from the hunger-wolf, how can we +doubt but that thousands will hail with gladness a deliverance which is +not only a deliverance from want and starvation, but the opening out of +a brighter path for their whole future. + +The blessed example set by hundreds of men and women in our ranks who +have given up friends, parents, home, prospects and everything they +possess to walk barefooted beneath India's burning sun in order to seek +the weal of its people cannot fail I believe to stir up the rich and +well-to-do, nay _all_ but those too poor to help,--to make some +sacrifice to heal the unutterable woes, and to sweeten the hard and +bitter lot of those who, often through no fault of their own, have +fallen in the battle of life, and who have been all but crushed and +cursed out of existence by misfortunes which are to some extent at least +within our power to remedy. + +True lovers of India (and nothing is more encouraging than the splendid +manner in which the intelligence of this country is arousing itself to +thoughtful active effort for the weal of the nation, putting aside all +differences of race and religion, that it may unite to seek the common +good,) true lovers of India, we say, will never allow differences in +race and religion to hinder them in a question affecting the well-being +of some 26,000,000 of people who are already a drag and a hindrance to +the rising prosperity of the nation, and who are sure if neglected to +become a danger. No one asks about the religion of Stanley. His heroic +march through the terrible forest, his rescue of Emin Pasha, his +successful achievement of that which to most men would have been +impossible, have made him to be admired and praised in every land. + +Here we are proposing to rescue, not one Pasha and a handful of his +followers, but almost as many people as the entire population of Great +Britain. We stand at the edge of this forest. We know something of it +before we enter. We are not dismayed. We only ask you to meet the cost +of the expedition. Great armies of beggars and workless, and drunkards +and opium-eaters and harlots and criminals are going to be dragged out +of these morasses, to bless the land which gave them birth with the +wealth of their labor and to build new Indian Empires across the sea. + +A bold and daring expedition has been planned into this dark social +forest, with its dismal swamps, its pestilential vapours, its seemingly +endless night, to rescue and bring to the light of hope, to green +industrial pastures and healthy heavenly breezes, its imprisoned +victims. May we not then, since men can be found to do and dare in such +a godlike enterprise, confidently claim the enthusiastic interest and +the practical help of all good men, no matter when or how they worship +the great Eternal Father of the human race! + +If any one should object that is an impossible enterprise, we answer, +who can tell? Why indeed impossible, seeing that millions of acres wait +to be tilled and to yield their treasures to the unfed mouths of +workless labourers? Why impossible, since hundreds of thousands are +saying, it is not charity, we crave, but the privilege to work and earn +our bread? Why impossible, when willing hearts and hands are ready to +spring forward and at any cost dive into this dark forest and bring the +hungry mouths into the fostering care of the fruitful earth? Why +impossible, when a mass of unproductive wealth waits to serve some +useful purpose and bless its holder, bringing back to him a hundred per +cent, if he will but lend it to his God by giving it to the poor? + +We have portrayed with studied moderation the dark regions of woe. We +have laid before you with careful explicitness the scheme or remedy. We +have endeavoured to anticipate and answer all objections. And now it is +for you to make this great enterprise possible by uniting to subscribe +the sum we ask for, as necessary to float the scheme. + +We have built our deliverance ship in the dockyard of loving design, we +have wrought her plates, riveted her bolts, fixed her masts, put in her +boilers and engines, fitted her and supplied her with gear. It is your +privilege to launch her--to draw the silver bolt and permit her to leave +the stocks and glide down into the dark deep sea of misery and land on +heavenly shores the drowning submerged millions. + +We believe that your response will be worthy of you. Coming generations +will thank you, and the blessings of them that were ready to perish will +rest upon you, and the God of the fatherless and the widow will remember +you for good. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +_The Poor Whites and Eurasians._ + +It will doubtless be noticed that I have excluded the consideration of +this question from the foregoing pages. This has been decided on, though +with considerable hesitation, for the following reasons:-- + +1. Numerically they are much fewer than the submerged India of which we +have been speaking. + +2. Influential charitable agencies already exist, whose special duty it +is to care for them; any effort on our part to apply General Booth's +scheme to them would probably be regarded by those societies as a work +of supererogation, and would be likely to be received by them with a +considerable measure of opposition. + +3. The circumstances and surroundings of the European and Eurasian +community are so different that the scheme will require considerable +readaptation. Indeed the subject will need a pamphlet to itself, and I +have found it impossible to work it harmoniously into the present +scheme. + +4. I am convinced moreover that this is a _subsidiary_ question, and +that our main efforts _must_ be directed towards reaching and uplifting +the purely Indian submerged. + +5. Should however the question be pressed upon us hereafter, we shall be +quite prepared to take it up and deal with it systematically and +radically on the lines laid down by General Booth. I have studied with +considerable care and interest the writings of the late Mr. White on +this important matter, and believe that if the necessary funds were +forthcoming, it would be comparatively easy for us to adapt the Darkest +England Scheme to the necessities of this important class. + + + + +PUBLIC OPINION ON GENERAL BOOTH'S SOCIAL SCHEME. + + +_Her Majesty the Queen-Empress cordially sympathises._ + +Her Majesty says "The Queen cannot of course express any opinion on the +details of the scheme, but understanding that your object is to +alleviate misery and suffering, her Majesty cordially wishes you success +in the undertaking you have originated." + + +_His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales,_ + +Writes to express his hearty interest in the scheme and is seen +earnestly studying the book and making notes upon it. + + +_The Empress Frederick reads the book with interest._ + +THE EMPRESS FREDERICK'S PALACE, BERLIN, + +_November_ 1, 1890. + +Count Seckendorff begs leave to acknowledge by command of her Majesty +the Empress Frederick the receipt of General Booth's book in "Darkest +England and the way out." Count Seckendorff is commanded to say that her +Majesty will read the book with special interest. + + +_The Earl of Aberdeen expresses his sympathy._ + +In common with thousands of others I have been studying your "plan of +campaign." Last night I saw Mr. Bancroft's letter. I think he has +performed a public service in coming forward in this spirited manner at +the present time. Those who have been in any way associated with past or +existing efforts on behalf of the classes which you aim at reaching +should reasonably be amongst the first to welcome a scheme so practical, +so comprehensive, and so carefully devised as that which you have placed +before the country. I shall be happy to become one of the hundred +contributors who according to Mr. Bancroft's proposal shall each be +responsible for L1,000 on the condition specified. With the offer of +sympathy, and the assurance of hearty good wishes, + +I remain, yours very faithfully, + +ABERDEEN. + + +_The Earl of Airlie Subscribes._ + +"The Earl of Airlie has forwarded towards General Booth's fund a cheque +for L1,000." + + +_The Marquis of Queensberry offers his services._ + +GLENLEE, NEW GALLOWAY, N.B., + +_November_ 21. + +My Dear General Booth--I have read your book "In Darkest England" with +the greatest interest, also with thrills of horror that things should be +as bad as they are. + +I send you a cheque for L100, and shall feel compelled if your scheme is +carried out to give you a yearly subscription. You say you want +recruits. When I come to town I should very much like to see you to talk +this matter over, for I see no cause which a man could more put his +heart and soul into than this one of endeavouring to alleviate this +fearful misery of our fellow-creatures. I see you quote Carlyle in your +book, but is it possible for any one like myself, who is even more +bitterly opposed than he was against what to me is the Christian +falsehood, to work with you! We have two things to do as things are at +present--first to endeavour to alleviate the present awful suffering +that exists to the best of our abilities, and surely this ought to be a +state affair; and secondly to get at the roots of the evils and by +changing public opinion gradually develop a different state of things +for future generations, when this help will not be so necessary. I do +not wish to get into a religious controversy with you on how this is to +be brought about, but I tell you I am no Christian and am bitterly +opposed to it. A tree, I believe, is to be judged by its fruits. +Christianity has been with us many hundreds of years. + +What can we think of it when its results are as they are at present with +the poor whom Christ, I believe, you say informed us we should always +have with us. I know nothing about other worlds, beyond that I see +thousand around me whom I presume look after their own affairs. It +appears to me our common and plainest duty to help and to try and change +the lot of our suffering fellow creatures here on this earth. You can +publish this if you please, but without suppressing any of it. If not +and any notice is given of subscriptions as I see you are doing, I beg +it may be notified that I send this mite as a reverent agnostic to our +common cause of humanity. + +Yours faithfully, + +QUEENSBERRY. + + +_Lord Scarborough is amongst its supporters._ + +"Lord Scarborough, writing from Lumley Castle Chester-le-street, has +subscribed L50." + + +_Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone lend to it the weight of their influence._ + +"Mr. Gladstone has already expressed has interest in the scheme and now +Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone with a like kindly expression forward L50 towards +it." + + +_Mr. Pickersgill, M.P., looks upon it with increasing favour._ + +At the New Debating Society, Haverstook Hill, Mr. Pickersgill, M.P., +said when he first began to read the book he did not approach it with +any particularly favourable feelings towards the Salvation Army. He +thought that the scheme was the most plausible ever devised. There was +in it a happy blending of the ideal with the practical, and a nice +balancing of its various parts in the attempt to solve the problem +involved in the question "Can we get back to the ordinary conditions of +life as they exist in a small healthy community." + + +_The Bishop of Durham reviews the Scheme._ + +Speaking on Thursday night at the closing meeting of the General Church +Mission at Sunderland, the Bishop of Durham said that just now men were +talking on all sides of a great scheme which had been set forth for +dealing with some of the social sorrows of our age. The remarkable book +in which it was sketched was well calculated to present, in a most vivid +combination, the various forms of work to which Christian men must bring +the power of their faith. It brought together with remarkable skill the +different problems which were pressed upon them; it allowed them to gain +a view of the whole field and something of the relation of the different +parts one to another. For his own part he trusted that many might be +stirred to some unwonted exertion. + + +_The Bishop of Lincoln thanks the General._ + +"I thank you heartily for the book you have sent me. The name of it is +already well known to English Churchmen, and its object is one in which, +we all agree. + +"The Cross of Christ is the only effectual remedy for the great mass of +vice and wretchedness in our large towns, to which you are endeavouring +to call public attention; and we must not be content with presenting +that Cross in words alone, but must endeavour to show, by our personal +efforts and example, how it may practically be applied so as to purify +the lives and quicken the hopes of those amongst our countrymen who are +now as much strangers to its power as the inhabitants of darkest +Africa." + + +_The Bishop of Bath and Wells values the book._ + +"I beg to acknowledge, with very many thanks, the receipt of your letter +and the volume of your work, 'In Darkest England,' which you have been +so good as to send me. I shall read it with much interest, both from the +deep importance of the subject, whether viewed in its social, political, +or Christian aspect, and also from its containing the opinion of one who +has had such universal opportunities as you have had of becoming +acquainted with the wants of the lowest and most unhappy section of our +great population." + + +_The Bishop of Rochester is glad to possess the book._ + +The Bishop of Rochester writes that he hastens to thank Mr. Booth for +sending him his book, and he is glad to possess it, and hopes it may be +productive of much good. He takes the opportunity of expressing his +profound sympathy with him in Mrs. Booth's death. + + +_The Bishop of Wakefield (Dr. Walsham How) studies the scheme with +deepest interest._ + +I have just received your book, which you have so kindly sent me. I have +already bought a copy, which I shall give away. I am studying your +scheme with the deepest interest, and I trust and pray it may bring +blessing and hope to many. May I venture to express my sympathy with you +in your recent heavy bereavement? You do not sorrow as those that have +no hope. + + +_Canon Farrar preaching at Westminster Abbey, says we are bound to help +the scheme or find a better one._ + +It was not difficult to see, as early as half past one on Sunday +afternoon last, that something was about to take place in Westminister +Abbey. A friendly policeman informed me that the service in the fine old +pile of buildings did not commence till three o'clock, but that as Canon +Farrar was announced to preach, and upon such an all-absorbing topic as +General Booth's new book, people were bent upon securing a good position +by being in time. + +Some three-quarters of an hour before the service commenced the gigantic +building was crowded, and the trooping multitudes only arrived at the +doors to find a crowd waiting for the least opportunity of getting in. +It was reported that thousands were turned away. + +Canon Farrar had announced his subject as "Social Amelioration," and at +the outset stated that he alone was responsible for the opinions he +proposed to express in connection with General Booth's scheme. In a very +masterly and eloquent way he pictured the social evils which disgrace +our civilisation, the small and ineffectual efforts being put forth for +their removal, and the terrible responsibility resting upon us as a +nation to do our utmost to forward any scheme which appeared likely to +effect an amelioration. He proceeded:-- + +Well, here was General Booth's scheme, which he had examined, and with +which he had been deeply struck. He pitied the cold heart which could +read and not be stirred by "Darkest England." In his best judgment he +believed the scheme to be full of promise if the necessary funds were +provided, and he merely regarded it as his humble duty to render the +undertaking such aid as he could. + +Had any such scheme been proposed by a member of the Church of England, +he should have given it every support. He regarded the scheme as +supplementing, not interfering with, the work of the Church, as +preparing for, not hindering, the Church's work. The scheme, although no +Christian scheme could be wholly dislinked from religion, was yet most +prominently a social scheme; its origin was The Salvation Army, but it +was intended to promote the work of the common Church. + +Was the scheme to be thrown aside contemptuously at once on account of +prejudice, because it emanated from The Salvation Army? If any thought +so, he blamed them not, but he for one declared he could not share their +views. He was, perhaps, more widely separated from some of the methods +of the Salvation Army than many of his brethren, but the work of the +Army had not been unblessed, and there was much that might be learned +from an organisation which in so short a time had accomplished so great +a work. He dwelt upon the nature of The Salvation Army's work, the +officers who were exerting themselves in connection with it, the number +of countries to which the organisation had spread. The Salvation Army in +its work and extent had credentials which could not be denied. Were they +to stand coldly, finically aside because they were too refined and nice, +and full of culture to touch this work of The Salvation Army with the +point of the finger? He took it that he should fail grievously in his +duty if insult or self-interest caused him to hold aloof from any +movement which Christ, if He had been on earth, would have approved. + +Then Dr. Farrar quoted the late Bishop Lightfoot and the late Canon +Liddon in favor of The Salvation Army as an organisation which had +accomplished a deal of good work. + +Next he asked, "How shall we receive General Booth's scheme now that it +is here to our hands?" With some people the simplest way of treating any +scheme for good was to leave it alone. To those who took that position +with reference to General Booth's scheme he had nothing whatever to say. +There was no need for saying anything either to the other class of +people who would talk about a scheme, and having talked about it drop +the matter and think no more about it. + +Another way in which General Booth's scheme might be received was that +of examining it, and if convinced against it of rejecting it. That, at +all events, was a perfectly manly course; a clear and decided method of +reception which there can be no mistaking. To those included in this +class, those who would regard the scheme as migratory or pernicious, +there was nothing to be said. But what about those who did not mean to +help in this or any other scheme, those who left others the burden of +the work, the opportunists who would want to step in when the breach had +been made? Here, no doubt, there would be such a class, but the last way +of receiving General Booth's scheme, and the way in which as he trusted +it would be received, was to support it by their influence, and to give +to it of their means. It was an immense and far-reaching scheme, which, +might bring help and hope to thousands of the helpless and hopeless, +made helpless and hopeless by the terrible conditions of society, but +for every one of whom Christ died. + +To begin the scheme in earnest would require a sum of L100,000, but he +asked, "What was that to the wealth of England--to the wealth of +London?" It was a mere drop in the ocean compared to what was every year +spent on drink and wasted in extravagance. There were a hundred men in +England who might immortalise themselves by giving this sum, and yet not +have a luxury the less. He left the response to General Booth's appeal +with the public, but would it not, he asked, be a desperate shame for +England if any scheme giving so hopeful a promise of social amelioration +should fail without a trial, and like a broken promise, be lost in air? + +But to this observation somebody might reply in the form of a queried +objection, "The scheme might fail." _Yes, it might fail; anything might +fail. But if to die amid disloyalty and hatred meant failure, then St. +Paul failed. If to die in the storm meant failure, then Luther and +Wesley and Whitfield failed; if to die at the stake by the flames meant +failure, did not martyrs fail; Finally, if to die on the cross, with the +priests and the soldiers spitting out hatred, meant failure, then Jesus +Christ failed._ Yes, the scheme might fail; but was all this failure? +Were there none among them bold enough to look beyond the possibility of +failure? Could they not somehow get round the word? Fear and jealousy +and suspicion and intolerance and despair were counsellors finding +multitudes to listen, but he for one would listen to the nobler +counsellor "Hope." Were none of them bold enough at the last moment to +prefer even failure in a matter like this to the most brilliant success +in pleasing the world and making truce with the devil? He would try to +hope that the scheme might not fail, but what each one had to consider +was the question, "Shall it fail through my cowardice, my greed, my +supineness, my prudential cautiousness, my petty prejudices, my selfish +conventionality?" + +"If, on examining this plan in the light of conscience, we see in it an +augury for the removal of the deadly evils which lie at the heart of our +civilisation, it seems to me we are bound to do our utmost to help it +forward. 'But,' you say, 'if we conscientiously disapprove of it?' Then +we are in duty bound to propose or to forward + +SOMETHING BETTER. + +"One way only is contemptible and accursed--that is, to make it a mere +excuse for envy, malice and depreciation. + +"He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear; +but God shall be the judge between us, and His voice says in Scripture: +'If thou forbear to deliver them that are bound unto death, and those +who are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, "Behold," we knew it not, +doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it, and he that keepeth +thy soul, doth not He know it, and shall not He render to every man +according to his work?'" + + +_Archdeacon Sinclair wishes the scheme success._ + +Speaking at Bromley, Kent, on Friday night, in connection with the +Canterbury diocese, of the Church of England Temperance Society, +Archdeacon Sinclair referred to General Booth's scheme. He wished very +great success to that courageous and large scheme. + + +_The Rev. Brooke Lambert defends the scheme in the "Times."_ + +There is much that is not new in the scheme. General Booth allows that +much. But there are two factors in his scheme which, if not new, at +least acquire a new prominence. These two factors are help and hope. +Society drops these two h's. For help it substitutes money-giving, and +as for hope for the disreputable, it has none. The personal contact of +General Booth's workers, of his 10,000 officers, is an essential feature +of the scheme. They take the man or the woman as they enter the shelter, +and prevent it from becoming a means of dissemination of crime, of +filth, of disease. They stand by the new-fledged proselyte to work, to +encourage perseverance. They follow him to the country colony, the +abomination of desolation to one who has walked the London pavements and +found his heaven in the gin-palace and the music-hall, to stimulate +effort. They accompany him to the colony to remind him that true freedom +is not licence, that the conditions of success are a change of mind and +not of climate. But for them, one might doubt whether the hope General +Booth conceives for the "submerged tenth" would be hope at all in their +eyes. Nothing so difficult as to persuade the Londoner to go into the +country, and the emigrant to keep to work away from the congenial +interludes of town pleasure. But once create this hope (and persistent +reiteration can do much when the agent is a kindly man or woman) and you +have introduced a new element into the life of the wastrel. Our prison +system, growing in harshness, failed utterly to deter; with the +reformatory system, based on the principle of making it to a man's +interest to behave well within the walls, a new era dawned on criminal +legislation. It is for these reasons that I look with deep interest on +General Booth's experiment. Do not let us say, "The experiment has been +tried before; it is useless to attempt it again." I believe there is +enough of novelty in General Booth's scheme to justify a hope of +success. But for past failures I can but say that people do not regard +failure as a ground for inaction when their interest is deeply involved. +When I was a boy, some 45 years ago, I saw at the old Polytechnic +experiments in electricity: the electric light, the electric cautery, +&c. For years I expected to see them introduced into the work-day world. +Now, at last, they are coming into use, but I do not think the shares +stand at a very high premium. None the less electricity will one day be +of universal use. That is what experiment in spite of failure has done; +that is what we ought to do in social matters. When all is done, the +result will be comparatively small when compared with our aspirations, +but it will create, as all good work does, new outlets for effort, new +objects for hope. + +BROOKE LAMBERT. + +_The Vicarage, Greenwich, Nov. 19._ + + +_Dr. Parker approves the General's Scheme._ + +A report in the _Star_ says:--"Dr. Parker, preaching his one-minute +sermon at the City Temple yesterday (Sunday) morning, said, 'I hope +General Booth will get every penny he asked for. No man can make better +use of money. I wish be would include other Englands in his scheme. +There is another England, darker than the darkest he has in view. I mean +the England of genteel poverty and genteel misery.... These people are +not in the slums, but they are fast being driven in that direction.... +From my point of view, one of the best features in General Booth's +scheme is that nobody is to receive anything for nothing. It is easy to +throw money away. Money we work for goes farthest. There is + +NO STAIN OF PAUPERISM + +upon it. + +DR. PARKER SAYS "NO BOARDS."--Dr. Parker, addressing his congregation on +Thursday morning, said:--"General Booth spoke to me the other day at my +house, amongst others, about boards of trustees and referees, and all +the rest of it, in reference to his scheme. I said that would spoil the +whole thing. I do not want any boards of reference. We have boards +enough and referees enough--(laughter)--and we do not want little men to +assume an awful responsibility which Providence never meant them to +handle. They had better let a great governing spirit like General Booth +manage the whole thing in his own way. I am afraid I was even more of a +democrat than even General Booth suspected. (Laughter.) I am an +autocrat--I believe in one man doing a thing. Some persons imagine if +they have got six little men together that they will total up into a +Booth. The Lord makes His own Booths, and Moodys, and Spurgeons, and +sends them out to do His work, and we shall do well to get out of their +way, except when we have anything to give of sympathy, money, prayer and +assistance. Presently, some Thursday morning, I am going to give you a +chance of giving--which you will--to this great scheme." (Applause.) + + +_Dr. Moulton, President of the Wesleyan Conference, is grateful for the +labour which the General has expended upon this problem._ + +"No one can read your book without recognising the claim which you have +established on the sympathetic help of all Christian churches. For +myself, I am deeply grateful to you for the enormous labor which you +have expended on the great problem, and for your able treatment of its +difficulties." + + +_Revd. Alfred Rowland says he believes the working of the Scheme will be +for the good of the people._ + +Yesterday morning the Rev. Alfred Rowland preached at Park Chapel, +Crouch End, the first portion of a sermon on General Booth's book. The +preacher said the scheme was a noble, bold, and generous effort to reach +the masses. He believed the result of the working of the scheme would be +for the good of the people at large. He asked them to give liberally to +the project, even if it was only an experiment, because he believed it +would succeed, and all he could do, financially and otherwise, he should +be pleased to do in support of the scheme. + + +_A Collection for the Scheme is raised at City Church, Oxford._ + +At the City Church, Oxford, on Sunday, the rector, the Rev. Carterel +J.H. Fletcher, preached at both morning and evening services in aid of +General Booth's Social Salvation Fund, and the collections were devoted +to the object. + + +_Revd. H. Arnold Thomas makes a successful appeal on behalf of the +Scheme._ + +A HANDSOME OFFERING. + +The sum of L650 was collected at Highbury Congregational Chapel, +Bristol, on Sunday, as a contribution to General Booth's fund, for his +scheme unfolded in his book, "In Darkest England." This was in response +to an appeal from the pastor, the Rev. H. Arnold Thomas. + + +_Revd. Champness looks upon it as a forlorn hope._ + +A letter dated from Rochdale, and bearing the well-known name "Thomas +Champness," has reached General Booth, with a contribution of L50. "I +wish," writes Mr. Champness in his letter, "I could make you know how +much my heart is with you in your great scheme. I am not as sanguine as +some of your admirers are as to the success you are sure to win; but I +look upon it as a forlorn hope, in which a man had better lose his life +than save it by ignoble do-nothingness." + + +_Mrs. Fawcett points out the great value of the Scheme._ + +MRS. FAWCETT'S VIEWS. + +Mrs. Henry Fawcett, lecturing last night on "Private Remedies for +Poverty," before the Marylebone Centre of the university Extension +Lectures Society, at Welbeck Hall, Welbeck-street, W., said that +according to classified directories of London charities, these charities +had a yearly income of L4,000,000, but she did not think full returns +were made in all instances, and that the total sum was nearer +L7,000,000 than L4,000000, while the entire cost of poor-law relief in +the United Kingdom was only L8,000,000. Having dwelt upon the evils of +misdirected charity, she said the keynote of General Booth's scheme, and +what, as it seemed to her, gave her great hope of its being to some +extent a success, was the amount of personal devotion and energy which +it called for and which she believed the Salvation Army was prepared to +give to its development. Its keynote was the possibility of bringing +about a change in the individual by personal effort and influence. As +General Booth pointed out, the problem was unsolvable unless new soul +could be infused in the poor and outcast class whom it was designed to +help: and to this end it was not money that was wanted so much as the +personal service of men and women. One great feature of the scheme was +that no relief was to be given without work, except in very exceptional +cases. She had personally visited the workshops and shelters of the +Salvation Army in Whitechapel, and she found a number of people +apparently of the very lowest moral and physical type, and yet they were +de-brutalised and had a happy human look as they went on with their +work, which in some cases was the same as they had performed in gaol. No +temptation was afforded by the workshops or shelters to induce people to +stay away from ordinary industrial life longer than they could possibly +help. The men had to sleep in a kind of orange-box without bottom, on +the floor, upon an American oilcloth mattress; and with a piece of +leather for a coverlet. Most previous schemes for employing the +unemployed upon colonies and waste land had failed because of the men +put upon them, who were drunken, lazy, and half-witted. By General +Booth's scheme there was process of selection which would weed out those +individuals: and she thought photography might be employed in getting to +know bad and unsatisfactory characters. + + +_Mrs. Howard M'Lean hopes the Scheme may have an immediate trial._ + +Mrs. Howard M'Lean "presents her compliments to General Booth, and begs +to send him her promise of L100, in the earnest hope that the scheme set +forth in 'In Darkest England' may at least have a fair trial, and that +immediately." + + +_The "Times of India" points out the advantages of the Scheme._ + +If we apprehend the scheme aright, it will be carried out independently +of existing charities, and indeed not under the guise of a charity at +all. The bread of poverty is bitter enough, but that of pauperism is +bitterer still, and General Booth, it would seem, intends to foster +rather than discourage such spirit of independence as he may find among +the lost souls for whom he works. But it seems to us that where such a +scheme as his chiefly gains its power, is in its total dissociation from +church or sect. However good the work which is done by the Church and by +the more widely ramified agency of the Non-conformist sects--and no one +will be found to deny that this work is of the greatest possible value +in relieving the destitute and reclaiming the criminal classes--there is +little or no unity about it. It is under no individual control, it is +not carried out on any uniform system, and one agency has no means of +knowing what another agency is doing. The result is that relief gets +very unevenly distributed, and the lazy and dissolute profit at the +expense of the deserving poor. Nor do any of these agencies, as a +general rule, aim at any systematic crusade against other destitution +than that of the moment. When they touch the lowest of low-life deeps; +it is for the most part in the way of temporary relief only, without the +effort (because they have not power) to set these people on their feet +again and give them the means of earning a living. It is here that +General Booth steps in, and by an elaborate but perfectly feasible +system, proposes without any attempt at proselytization to drag the poor +from their poverty, put them in the way of doing work of any kind they +may be fitted for, and eventually establish them in an over-sea colony. + +Looking now to the objections which may be urged against General Booth's +scheme, we are at once confronted by two important considerations. The +first concerns the "General" himself. He asks for a million pounds +sterling to enable him to carry out his project, and the question seems +to have already been asked, Is he the person to whom a million pounds +may be entrusted? Will it be so safeguarded that those who subscribe may +feel assured that the money will be properly applied and an honest +attempt made to do the work here planned out? To all these questions we +are disposed to reply in the affirmative. General Booth and his +Salvation Army have by this time pretty well weathered the storm of +abuse and scorn with which their methods were at first received, and +however much we may be disposed even now to question the taste or +propriety of those methods, there can be no amount of doubt in the mind +of any reasonable man that the Salvation Army has been the means of +achieving enormous good the whole world over. In his administration of +this huge organization of which himself was the founder, Mr. Booth has +proved himself a man of probity and of the strictest possible integrity. +We do not hesitate to say that all the money he requires for this great +scheme may be safely placed in his hands, and that he will render a +strict account of its disbursement. Then comes the question, how far is +it possible for him to succeed in the work he proposes to undertake? He +has already in the field a vast organization doing good work among the +dregs of the population, and the extension of this organization to carry +out the main points of his project is not a matter of difficulty. The +ill is a terrible one, the evil gigantic, and the means to grapple with +it must be gigantic also. But given the means, will they be effective? +We frankly confess that we do not believe they will be so effective as +General Booth hopes, but we believe at the same time that if he can +achieve only one-tenth of what he hopes to achieve, ten millions of +pounds would be worthily laid out upon it. The hungry, the dirty, the +ragged, the hopeless and outcast, the criminal and the drunkard, the +idle and the vicious--can he gather all these in with any hope of +starting them afresh on the journey of life? So much work of this kind +has already been done without any special system, that there can be +little doubt that to a large extent he can. With the honestly poor it is +not a difficult matter, but with the vicious and criminal classes, who +have no inclination to work so long as they can steal, it will be a long +time before the Salvation Army or any other agency can effect any +sweeping reform. The work will be slow, but we believe it will be done. +It has been objected against General Booth's scheme that it is not new, +except in the fact that General Booth proposes that it shall be himself +who carries it out. It seems to us, on the contrary, that it is new in +one most vital aspect, and that is, that its details are to be worked +out by an enormous united body on a definite plan, instead of by +numberless charitable agencies all working independently of each other. +We believe, in short, that General Booth will meet with a very large +measure of success, and we believe also that when the details of his +scheme come to be read and discussed, he will have no difficulty in +getting all the money he asks for, and more besides. Looking at the +enormous wealth of England, a million pounds is as nothing. It is the +Duke of Westminister's income for three months, and it would open up the +means of finding hope and work and refuge, and a new life beyond the +seas, for a million or more of the helpless poor. We wish Mr. Booth +God-speed in his great undertaking. + + +_The "Bombay Gazette" of November 15th, 1890, gives an exhaustive +review, from which we cull the following extracts:_-- + +There is little of the form, though there may be much of the spirit, of +the Salvation Army in General Booth's "Darkest England and the Way Out." +It is on the whole a sober, and in some respects well-reasoned, attempt +to solve the most urgent problem of the day. Whosesoever the actual +workmanship of the book may be, the personality of General Booth +pervades every page--nowhere obtrusively it is true, but sufficiently to +impart life and warmth to the discussion of a problem whose solution, +though it must be sought for only within the limits marked out by +economic principles, will never be found, unless it is sought for with a +certain passionate sympathy for the outcast. The dramatic parallel which +the writer establishes between the savagery of Darkest Africa and the +suffering and sin of Darkest England, will arrest attention, and will of +itself make the book popular. Here, however, we are concerned with the +more matter-of-fact elements in the problem, and with the practical +remedies which are proposed for it. The heading of "the Submerged Tenth" +which is given to one of the chapters, roughly indicates the dimensions +of the task that has to be performed. General Booth takes three millions +to be the strength of the army of the destitute in England. The total +comprises the representatives of every phase of want--criminals and +drunkards and idlers and their dependants, as well as the class who are +destitute through misfortune, who are honest in their poverty, and whom +no man can blame for it. For these last-named, society does next to +nothing. There is the workhouse for people who have spent their last +penny; for so long as it remains unspent, it is a legal disqualification +for the help of the State. Or there is the casual ward, where a hard +task is exacted in payment for hard fare, but where absolutely nothing +is done to help the wayfarer to gain or regain a place and a living in +society. Out-relief has been reduced to the minimum. A few weeks ago the +whole parish of St. Jude, Whitechapel, with a population of sixty +thousand, provided only four applicants to the Board of Guardians for +out-relief. Thus far the organized official agency has done little +enough for the raising of the "submerged tenth." If _laissez faire_ were +a cure for all the ills of society, they would have been cured long ago, +for the remedy has been applied with a persistency that has failed not. +General Booth thinks that he has discovered a more excellent way, and is +entitled to a hearing for his plan, for part of it is already in +operation. In the "shelters" established by the Salvation Army in the +east of London, casual relief is given on almost as large a scale as in +the casual wards of the London Workhouses; but he claims for it that it +is a less degrading form of help, that sympathy goes with it; and with +him of course the emotional accompaniments which the Salvation Army is +careful to provide, count for much. + + +_The "Christian" prognosticates a good future for the Scheme._ + +Up to this stage the great social scheme of General Booth for uplifting +the "sunken tenth," has been, so to speak, "in the air." Monday night's +meeting at Exeter Hall may be said to have set it on the solid ground +and given good hope that it will run as fast and as far as the supplied +resources will allow. The great audience to which the General had to +address himself, was not mainly of the usual enthusiastic Army type; but +it cannot be said that it was not ready to approve and applaud when any +good and telling point was made. The brief religious service at the +beginning gave the proceedings the spiritual stamp of Army gatherings, +but the larger part of the time was taken up with the statement of the +General. For more than two and a half hours he was on his feet so that +he did not, at any rate, spare himself in his effort to interest the +public in his gigantic plan of campaign. At the outset, he expressed +diffidence in entering on the exposition of somewhat new lines of work, +but he soon showed himself at home, and in much that he advanced there +was a happy audacity and a confidence that boded well for the future +developments of his scheme. + + +_The "Bombay Guardian" defends the Scheme._ + +General Booth's aim is to give every one who is "down in the world" a +chance to rise. No one, however poor or however degraded, is to be left +out. By means of shelters and training factories in the towns, he would +give every one a chance who wishes to work, however "lost" their +character may have become. There is to be absolutely no charity. All +will work for their food and lodging, until they have gained sufficient +character and experience to take a situation as a respectable working +man or woman. There are thousands of "out-of-works," "ne'er-do-wells," +&c., in every large town in England, who are naturally fitted for +agricultural work, although they have lived all their lives, perhaps, +far away from the green fields. For the training of these General Booth +has a scheme of a large "Farm Colony" which will be nearly or entirely +self-supporting. When trained sufficiently in agricultural work, they +will be drafted off by emigration to a great "over-sea" colony in South +Africa. The whole movement will be permeated by earnest Christian +teaching. The man who is in trouble and professes to be converted, will +be welcomed on that account, and the man who is in trouble but does not +profess to be saved, will be equally welcome in the hope that he may +give himself to Christ. + +It is computed that there are three million people in England whom this +scheme will eventually hope to help. A first instalment of L100,000 +towards an eventual million, is asked for as a starting-point for the +scheme. + +This seems a large undertaking and a large sum, but compared to the +needs of the world, it is very small. + +There is a still darker France than the darkest England, a darker Italy +than the darkest France, and deeper depths of darkness still in India. + +We think that those who know the "slums" of London and large English +towns the best, will be the heartiest in wishing God-speed to General +Booth's latest movement, which also includes every possible form of +Christian benevolent activity. + +When Christ reigns as Viceroy for Jehovah for a thousand years, as the +Word of God so distinctly intimates, it may be that some such plan as +this, far more perfect and world-wide in its aim, will form part of the +inaugurative forces of that happy lot. + +Speaking broadly, General Booth's great scheme is in harmony with views +that are accepted by all Christians. His design is to elevate the +wretched to more favourable conditions of life, on the principle of the +Temperance reformer who seeks to remove temptations to drunkenness; or +of the opponent of the iniquitous opium traffic, who insists upon the +prohibition of the drug which is the curse of millions; or of the +antagonist of licensed impurity, who demands that the tendency of law +shall be to make it easy to do right, and not afford facilities to do +wrong. Some passages of "In Darkest England and the Way Out" are +certainly capable of being misconstrued. But on looking at the book and +its scheme as a whole, the Christian heart is drawn into lively sympathy +with it, without being committed to every detail. If all that is +anticipated be not realized by this gigantic scheme, the attempt to +carry it out cannot do otherwise than prove a source of great and +eternal good to multitudes, as the labourers carry on their work in +dependance upon God. + + +_The London "Speaker" testifies to the capacity of Gen. Booth for +winning the masses._ + +Seeing from what the Salvation Army has grown, and to what it has grown, +we are extremely reluctant to denounce any scheme seriously and +carefully elaborated by its leader, as being "too big to be +practicable." We must remember who will be the "one head and centre" of +the scheme. There are many weak points in General Booth: he is only +human. But he is an earnest man; he has proved his talent for +organisation; he has proved his capacity for winning the sympathies of +the masses. We would say nothing against gentleness, and quiet, and +culture. We hope to attain them in the end. It is a pretty work to prune +the vine, a beautiful thing to let in the sunlight on the fruit, and to +watch the perfection of bloom, and shape, and color; but first of all +something has to be done at the roots, something at which we may hold +our noses, but which is for all that requisite. + +It remains to be seen, first, whether the people concerned would accept +the scheme; secondly, whether discipline could be maintained; thirdly, +whether money can be raised. As to the first two questions, experience +in some degree answers. The people _do_ come to the Salvation Army's +establishments, and they do behave well in the Shelters and the +Workshops. Those who best know the poorer working classes of the +country, will be the least likely to despair on these points. A group of +poorer English men and women are easily led by a leader who instils +regularity and order, and of whose hearty goodwill to them, they are +assured. Organisation is in the English blood; and the rougher East End +crowd has orderly elements ready to respond at once to the word of +command from men and women whom they know and trust. Only the crowd must +be sober; and that which its leader preaches must be hope. As to the +money, some portion has come in already; and if this is used, as it will +be, in making a visible beginning, there will be plenty of people +troubled in their consciences who will be ready to give more. Let us +give General Booth money, and five years for his experiment. At the end +of that time it will be clear enough whether or no the best thing which +we can provide for the unemployed is a lethal chamber. + + +_The Book has an unprecedented sale._ + +Up to the middle of January the book had reached a total circulation of +200,000 copies, beside running through two separate editions in America. +It is now being translated into Japanese, French, Swedish and other +languages. + + +_The Book of the year._ + +I do not think I say too much when I say it will not be the attitude ten +per cent. after they have read from cover to cover the most remarkable +volume that has been issued from the press this year. + +A UNIQUE BOOK. + +It is a book that stands by itself. In one sense it may be said that +there is nothing new in it. That many men are miserable, that it is the +duty of all calling themselves by the name of Christian, to do their +utmost to save their perishing brethren, and that if they set about the +task in earnest, certain well-known methods will have to be resorted to; +all this is familiar enough. Neither can it be said that the spirit of +exalted enthusiasm which breathes in every page of the book is one +appears for the first time in the writings of General Booth. It is on +the contrary the abiding evidence of the presence of the Divine Spirit +in men, which has never failed in this world since "the first man stood +God conquered, with his face to heaven upturned." But the unique +character of the book arises from the combination of all these elements, +with others which have never hitherto been united even within the covers +of a single volume. There is a buoyant enthusiasm in every page, a +sanguine optimism at which the youngest among us might marvel, combined +with a familiar acquaintance with the saddest and darkest phenomena of +existence. The book deals with problems which of all others are most +calculated to appal, and overwhelm the minds with the sense of +desolation and despair, yet it is instinct throughout with a joyous hope +and glowing confidence. General Booth, face to face with the devil, +still believes in God. + + +A MIRACLE OF THE BURNING BUSH. + +Another distinctive feature of the book is the extent to which it +combines the shrewdest and most practical business capacity with the +most exalted religious enthusiasm. The fanatic is usually regarded as +somewhat of a fool; no one can read this book through and think that +General Booth has the least deficiency in practical capacity, in shrewd +common sense and enormous knowledge of men. From one point of view it is +easy to be a saint, and it is easy to be a man of the world; the +difficulty is to combine the two qualities, the cunning of the serpent +with the innocence of the dove. There is nothing of the naive and +guileless innocence of a cloistered virtue in the book, but though the +serpent is very cunning his wiliness and craftiness coexist with a +simple enthusiasm of humanity which is very marvellous to behold. When +we read General Booth's expressions of confidence in the salvability of +mankind and note the intrepid audacity with which he sallies forth like +another David to attack the huge Goliath who threatens the hosts of our +modern Israel, and remember that he is no mere shepherd boy fresh from +the fold, but one who for forty years of his life has lived and laboured +in an atmosphere saturated with emanations from every form of human vice +and wretchedness, then we feel somewhat as did Moses when he stood +before the burning bush, "and he looked, and behold the bush burned with +fire and the bush was not consumed." + + +THOMAS CARLYLE REDIVIVUS. + +It is impossible not to be impressed by the parallel and at the same +time by the contrast between General Booth's book and the latter day +prophecies of Mr. Carlyle. For forty years and more Mr. Carlyle +prophesied unto the men of his generation, proclaiming in accents of +deep earnestness, tinged, however, by a bitter despair, what should be +done if we were not utterly to perish. I remember the bitterness with +which he told me, while the shadows of the dark valley were gathering +round him, that when he wrote his whole soul out in "Latter Day +Pamphlets," and delivered to the public that which he believed to be +the very truth and inner secret of all things, his message was flouted, +and "it was currently reported," said he, with grim resentfulness "it +was currently reported that I had written them under the influence of +too much whiskey." Now, however, another prophet has arisen with +practically the same gospel, but with oh, how different a setting! In +Mr. Carlyle's books, his prophetic message shines out lurid as from the +background of thunder-cloud amid the gloom as of an eclipse heralded by +portents of ruin and decay. Here "In Darkest England and the Way Out" +there is a brightness and a gladness as of a May day sunrise. Infinite +hope bubbles up in every page, and in every chapter there is a calm +confidence which comes from the experience of one who in sixty years of +troubled life can say with full assurance "I know in whom I have +believed." That is not the only contrast between the two. Mr. Carlyle as +befitted the philosopher in his study, contented himself with writing in +large characters of livid fire, "This is the way, walk ye in it;" but +the generation scoffed and walked otherwhere. General Booth, equally +with Mr. Carlyle writes up in characters so plain that the way-faring man, +though a fool, cannot help reading it, "This is the way, walk ye in +it." But he does more. He himself offers to lead the van, "This is the +way," he declares, "I will lead you along it, follow me!" + + +CATHOLICITY--SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS. + +Another distinctive characteristic of this book is its extraordinary +catholicity. In this respect I know no book like it that has appeared in +our time. While declaring with passionate conviction the truth and +necessity of the gospel which the Salvation Army preaches, there is not +one word of intolerance from the first page to the last. It is easy to +be broad when there is no intensity of conviction. The liberality of +indifference is one of the most familiar phenomena of the day. But +General Booth is broad without being shallow, and his liberalism +certainly cannot be attributed to indifference! He is as earnest as John +the Baptist, for now and then the aboriginal preacher reappears crying +aloud, Jonah-like, messages calling men to flee from the wrath to come. +But no broad churchman of our time, from Dean Stanley downwards, could +display a more catholic spirit to all fellow workers in the great +harvest field, which is white unto the harvest, but where the labourers +are so few. This spirit he displays not only in the religious field, but +what is still more remarkable, he carries it into the domain of social +experiment. The old intolerance and fierce hatred which raged in the +churches at many great crises in the history of the world is with us +still, but it is no longer in religious dress. The rival sects of +socialists hate each other and contend with each other with a savagery +which recalls the worst days of the early church. Every man has got his +own favourite short cut to Utopia and he damns all those who do not work +therein with the unhesitating assurance of an Athanasius. Hence +catholicity is much more needed and much more rarely found in the domain +of social economics than in that of religious polemices. General Booth +as befits a practical man is supremely indifferent to any particular +fad, and constructs his scheme on the principle of selecting every +proposal which seems to have stuff in it, or is calculated to do any +good to suffering humanity. The socialist, the individualist, the +political economist, the advocate of emigration, and all social +reformers will find what is best in their own particular schemes +incorporated in General Booth's schemes. He claims no originality, he +disclaims all prejudice even in favour of his own scheme. His +suggestions, he says, seem for the moment the most practicable, but he +is ready, he tells us with uncompromising frankness, to abandon them +to-morrow if any one can show him a better way. + +A TEACHABLE PROPHET. + +Another extraordinary characteristic of the book is its combination of +supreme humility with what the enemy might describe as overweening +arrogance. The General's confidence in himself and his men is superb. +Not Hildebrand in the height of his power, or Mahommed, at the moment +when he was launching the armies which offered to the world Islam or the +sword, showed himself more supremely possessed with the confidence of +his providential mission than does General Booth in his book. "For this +end was I created, to this work was I called, all my life has been a +preparation to fit me for its accomplishment." While thus speaking with +the confidence of a man who feels himself charged with a divine mission, +General Booth displays a humility and a teachableness that is as +beautiful as it is rare. Over and over again he deplores his lack of +knowledge and the insufficiency of his experience, and admits that his +most elaborate proposals may be vitiated by some flaw or some defect +which will make itself only too apparent when they get into action. So +far from being determined to thrust his scheme as a panacea down the +throats of reluctant humanity he appeals to all those who may differ +from him not to stand idly cavilling at his proposals, but to produce +something better of their own, assuring them that he will be only too +good to carry out the best of his ability any scheme which will do more +for the benefit of the lapsed classes than his own. + + +A SHIFTY AND RESOURCEFUL MARINER. + +General Booth shows himself in the capacity of a bold and shifty mariner +who has been ordered to take a ship filled with precious cargo across a +stormy and rock-strewn ocean to a distant port. Quicksands abound, cross +currents continually threaten to carry the ship from her course, the +wind shifts from point to point, now rising to a hurricane and then +dying away to a dead calm. But alike by night and day, whether the sky +be black with clouds, or bright with radiant sunshine, in the teeth of +the wind or in a favourable gale, he presses forward to his distant +haven. He will tack to the right or to the left, availing himself to the +utmost of every favourable current and every passing breeze, supremely +indifferent to all accusations of inconsistency, or of deviating from +the straight line from the port which he left to the port for which he +is bound, if so he can get the quicker and the more safely to his goal. +Hitherto General Booth had practically been in the condition of a +Captain who relied solely on his boilers to make his voyage. "Get up +steam, make the heart right, keep the furnace fires going, and drive +ahead through the darkness regardless of a lowering tempest or of the +swift rushing current which sweeps you from your course." This book +proclaims his decision in favour of adopting a less reckless and more +practical mode of navigation. While his reliance is still placed on the +inner central fire he will not disdain to utilise the currents, the +tides, and the winds which will make it easier for his straining boilers +and untiring screw to forge its way across the sea. + +The book is interesting in itself as a book, but of the bookmaking part +of it, it is absurd to speak. You might as well speak of the rivets and +the paint, in describing the performance of a Cunarder; as to speak of +the literary merits or demerits of this book. As a piece of actuality, +full of life and force, it comes to us in paper and ink and between two +covers; but the vehicle of its presentation is as indifferent as the +quality of the boards in which it is bound. The supreme thing is not the +form but the substance.--_The Review of Reviews._ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Darkest India, by Commissioner Booth-Tucker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DARKEST INDIA *** + +***** This file should be named 11468.txt or 11468.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/6/11468/ + +Produced by Dave Maddock and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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