Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/610

INDIA. 534 INDIA. consiilored of value in nirording protection againiit a recurrence of famine. Tlu-y are of two classes — those which facilitate traiis|K>rtation, and those which increase the water-supply. Spe- cial dilliculty is always encounlereil in the ad- ministration of relief in any district, because there are nut to be found local nrganizations whose purpose lias been to deal with charitable problems, or individuals trained in the nianiifie- nienl of men and the <upcrintcndcM( c of puldic works. Nor docs tin- ciui^iicncc of the native prove to be generally trustworthy. I'ublic relief is not extended until the villajiers bejiin ti> leave their homes and wander about the country in .search of doles, usually toward a large centre of population, the [>rofuse though in<liscriniinate village charity having been well-nigh exhausted. The people as a rule, especially the agriculturists, are very loath to abaiulun their homes. The mendicants and the day laborers arc the first victims of distress and the first to (|uit the vil- lage. They are soon followed by artisans and agriculturists. The public works are usually many miles away, and the journey thither is likely to he exceptionally critical. At the public works the family unit is not destroyed. When all the mendiers of the family are accustomed to labor outdoors at home they arc fitted to work also on the public works. Artisans make or re- pair tools, weavers make clothing, and the assem- blage becomes in n;any respects a normal com- nuuiity. When climatic conditions arc again favorable the farmers especially are eager to re- turn to their lands. And then the final, and ofttimes the most necessary, mission of the Gov- ernment is to see that they are provided with seed, with cattle, and the necessaries for produc- ing a crop. The loss of life from starvation is sometimes considerable, but deaths from diseases which so frequently accotnpany the famine are generally greater. One of the most dilVicult tasks of the Government during the famine period is to en- force necessary sanitary regulations. However, taking one year with another for the whole coun- try, the loss of life from famines constitutes but a small per cent, of the total death-rate. Their influence in reducing the poiiulalion is greatly augmented through the very decided decrease in the birth-rate during the famine period. (See section on I'opulntion.) The ravages of disease in India are not peculiar alone to famine jjeriods. The climatic and sanitary conditions give rise to pestilences which at interv'als carry desolation over the country. Hospitals, riclil.v endowed and admirably regulated, supported by Government as well as by private munificence, exist in all the large towns : and great efforts are constantly made to bring the benefits of medi<al skill and knowledge within reach of the poorer classes. In all parts df the country dispensaries have been opened where medicines are given out and pa- tient-s advised. Disease in India is not a little due to bad water and bad drainage. Where a new water-supply ha •i been introduced, and drains have been made, as in Calcutta, the improvement in the health of the inhabitants has been marked. Several millions of persons are vaccinated an- nually in India. ^lort.nlity i* aggravated by the passion of the people ffir pilgrimages. .Ml ages and both sexes each year traverse vast areas for their devotions, and die by hundreds on the route. The Mohammedan pilgrims go in numbers to Mecca, Kerbela, and .Jerusalem, and a large pro- portion never return. The elfort of the English to enforce sanitary regulations naturally meets with serious dilliculties which grow out of the prejudices and customs of the people. Visits of the sanitary ollieers to the dwellings of tho Mohanuuedans, as is sometimes necessary during the prevalence of a plague, occasion much com- plaint on the part of th<' natives. .I.MiCTi KK.s. I'or icnturies India has been lulled for its beautiful fabrics and metal-work, made chiefly in the houses of the natives. They formerly constituted a large jiroportion of the exports of the country, and competed even with English gooils imtil prohibitory laws were passed by Parliament to protect the Hritish industry. Some Indian products, on account of the ex- quisiteness of the workmanship, occupy a class of their own, and have not been supplanted. Out most native Indian industries are of a primitive type, and in a society so thoroughly inq)ervious to the spirit of progress their moditiiation and improvement have been imimssible. Conseipiently the development of the factory system in England made it possible to manufacture product.s much more cheaply than could be done by the laborious methods of Indian workmcMi. In addition, recent improvements in transportation facilities have enabled European mamifacturing centres to com- mand a large [)art of the Indian iiuirki't, with the result that in the home market in some lo- calities, and in some outside markets, the Indian products have been almost entirely supplanted. The enormous growth of the imports of cotton manufactures is suggestive of the extent to which the native industry has been supi)lanted. For a further account of these movements, .see para- graph on Commerce. L.irL'e numbers of native workmen have thus been either thrown out of employment or forced to make a change of (Kcujiation. which was dis- countenanced by the ])revailing social order. This has resulted in widcsjiread poverty among the laboring classes and given occasion for one of the most serious charges against the alien adminis- tration. The National Indian Congress (see Gov- ernment) has voiced the prevailing si>ntiiiieiit in numerous resolutions demanding a high tarifT on imported manufactures in order to protect the home industry, . other emphatic' demand is that the educational system of the country be altered so as to place more emphasis upon industrial training in order that rising generations may be better prepared to assist in the intrcKluction of Western methods. (See .section on KiUiralion.) Attempts to establish improved methods have generally depended ipon foreign management and untrained native labor, besides having to con- tend with obstacles growing out of difrennccs of caste. Of disadvantages growing out of a lack of material resources, the great want of fviel and the inferior quality of the coal are the most serious. Under these conditions the progress of improved methods of manufacturing is slow. The most important manufacture is that of the coarser grades of cotton. The average ntim- ber of hands cmploved in the cotton-mills in- creased graduallv from .5.'?.H24 in 188."? to 112.000 in 18!)0 and Ifi.S.'oOO in lOOO, while the number of mills increased frcmi fi2 in 1883 to 180 in 1000. .Minut three fourths of this industry centres in the city of Bombay. . similar increa.se was ob- served in the jute and hemp industry, which in