slavery in british india.

the extensive, populous, and wealthy peninsula of hindostan has suffered greatly from the crushing effects of the british slave system. from the foundation of the empire in india by clive, conquest and extortion seem to have been the grand objects of the aristocratic government. there unscrupulous soldiers have fought, slaughtered, enslaved, and plundered. there younger sons, with rank, but without fortune, have filled their purses. there vast and magnificent tracts of country have been wasted with fire and sword, in punishment for the refusal of native princes to become slaves. there the fat of the land has been garnered up for the luxury of the conquerors, while famine has destroyed the people by thousands. there, indeed, has the british aristocracy displayed its most malignant propensities—rioting in robbery and bloodshed—setting all religion at defiance, while upholding the christian standard—and earning to the full the continued execration of mankind.

in a powerful work, called "the aristocracy of england: a history for the people, by john hampden, jun.," a book we commend to the people of england, we have the following passage:—

"from the hour that clive and his coadjutors came into the discovery of the vast treasures of the native princes, whence he himself obtained, besides his jaghire of ￡30,000 per annum, about ￡300,000; and he and his fellows altogether, between 1759 and 1763, no less than ￡5,940,498, exclusive of this said jaghire, the cupidity of the aristocracy became excited to the highest degree; and from that period to the present, india has been one scene of flights of aristocratic locusts, of fighting, plundering, oppression, and extortion of the natives. we will not go into these things; they are fully and faithfully written in mills's 'history of british india;' in howitt's 'colonization and christianity;' and, above all, in the letters of the honourable frederick shore, brother of lord teignmouth, a man who passed through all offices—from a clerk to that of a judge—and saw much of the system and working of things in many parts of india. he published his letters originally in the india papers, that any one on the spot might challenge their truth; and, since his death, they have been reprinted in england. the scene which that work opens up is the most extraordinary, and demands the attention of every lover of his country and his species. it fully accounts for the strange facts, that india is now drained of its wealth; that its public works, especially the tanks, which contributed by their waters to maintain its fertility, are fallen to decay; that one-third of the country is a jungle inhabited by tigers, who pay no taxes; that its people are reduced to the utmost wretchedness, and are often, when a crop fails, swept away by half a million at once by famine and its pendant, pestilence, as in 1770, and again in 1838-9. to such a degree is this reduction of the wealth and cultivation of india carried, that while others of our colonies pay taxes to the amount of a pound or thirty shillings per head, india pays only four shillings.

[pg 443]

"at the renewal of its charter in 1834, its income was about twenty millions, its debt about forty millions. since then its income has gradually fallen to about seventeen millions, and its debt we hear now whispered to be about seventy millions. such have been the effects of exhausted fields and physical energies on the one hand, and of wars, especially that of afghanistan, on the other. it requires no conjurer, much less a very profound arithmetician, to perceive that at this rate we need be under no apprehension of russia, for a very few years will take india out of our hands by mere financial force.

"our aristocratic government, through the board of control, keep up and exert a vast patronage in india. the patronage of the president of this board alone, independent of his salary of ￡5000 a year, is about twenty-one thousand pounds. but the whole aristocracy have an interest in keeping up wars in india, that their sons as officers, especially in these times of european peace, may find here both employment and promotion. this, then, the company has to contend against; and few are they who are aware of the formidable nature of this power as it is exerted in this direction, and of the strange and unconstitutional legislative authority with which they have armed themselves for this purpose. how few are they who are aware that, while the east india company has been blamed as the planners, authors, and movers of the fatal and atrocious invasion of caboul, that the directors of the company only first, and to their great amazement, learned the outbreak of that war from the public indian papers. so far from that war being one of their originating, it was most opposed to their present policy, and disastrous to their affairs. how then came this monstrous war about, and who then did originate it? to explain this requires us to lay open a monstrous stretch of unconstitutional power on the part of our government—a monstrous stratagem for the maintenance of their aristocratic views in india, which it is wonderful could have escaped the notice and reprehension of the public. let the reader mark well what follows.

"in the last charter, granted in 1834, a clause was introduced, binding a secret committee of the east india company, consisting [pg 444] of three persons only, the chairman, deputy chairman, and senior director, who are solemnly sworn to this work, to receive private despatches from the board of control, and without communicating them to a single individual besides themselves, to forward them to india, where the receivers are bound, without question or appeal, to enforce their immediate execution. by this inquisitorial system, this worse than spanish or venetian system of secret decrees, government has reserved to itself a direction of the affairs of india, freed from all constitutional or representative check, and reduced the india company to a mere cat's-paw. by the sworn secrecy and implicit obedience of this mysterious triumvirate, the company is made the unconscious instrument of measures most hostile to its own views, and most fatal to its best interests. it may at any hour become the medium of a secret order which may threaten the very destruction of its empire. such was the case with the war of caboul. the aristocratic government at home planned and ordered it; and the unconscious company was made at once to carry out a scheme so atrocious, so wicked and unprincipled, as well as destructive to its plans of civil economy, and to bear also the infamy of it. awaking, therefore, to the tremendous nature of the secret powers thus introduced into their machinery by government, the company determined to exercise also a power happily intrusted to them. hence the recall of lord ellenborough, who, in obedience to aristocratic views at home, was not only running headlong over all their plans of pacific policy, but with his armies and elephants was treading under foot their cotton and sugar plantations. hence, on the other hand, the favour and support which this warlike lord finds with the great martial duke, and the home government."

the policy of the european conquerors of india was fully illustrated during the gubernatorial term of warren hastings. of his extortion the eloquent macaulay says—

[pg 445]

"the principle which directed all his dealings with his neighbours is fully expressed by the old motto of one of the great predatory families of teviotdale—'thou shalt want ere i want,' he seems to have laid it down, as a fundamental proposition which could not be disputed, that when he had not as many lacs of rupees as the public service required, he was to take them from anybody who had. one thing, indeed, is to be said in excuse for him. the pressure applied to him by his employers at home was such as only the highest virtue could have withstood—such as left him no choice except to commit great wrongs, or to resign his high post, and with that post all his hopes of fortune and distinction. it is perfectly true, that the directors never enjoined or applauded any crime. far from it. whoever examines their letters at that time will find there many just and humane sentiments, many excellent precepts; in short, an admirable circle of political ethics. but every exhortation is modified or annulled by a demand for money. 'govern leniently, and send more money; practise strict justice and moderation toward neighbouring powers, and send more money;' this is, in truth, the sum of almost all the instructions that hastings ever received from home. now these instructions, being interpreted, mean simply, 'be the father and the oppressor of the people; be just and unjust, moderate and rapacious.' the directors dealt with india as the church, in the good old times, dealt with a heretic. they delivered the victim over to the executioners, with an earnest request that all possible tenderness might be shown. we by no means accuse or suspect those who framed these despatches of hypocrisy. it is probable that, writing fifteen thousand miles from the place where their orders were to be carried into effect, they never perceived the gross inconsistency of which they were guilty. but the inconsistency was at once manifest to their lieutenant at calcutta, who, with an empty treasury, with an unpaid army, with his own salary often in arrear, with deficient crops, with government tenants daily running away, was called upon to remit home another half million without fail. hastings saw that it was absolutely necessary for him to disregard either the moral discourses or the pecuniary requisitions of his employers. [pg 446] being forced to disobey them in something, he had to consider what kind of disobedience they would most readily pardon; and he correctly judged that the safest course would be to neglect the sermons and to find the rupees."

how were the rupees found? by selling provinces that had never belonged to the british dominions; by the destruction of the brave rohillas of rohilcund, in the support of the cruel tyrant, surajah dowlah, sovereign of oude, of which terrible act macaulay says—

"then the horrors of indian war were let loose on the fair valleys and cities of rohilcund; the whole country was in a blaze. more than a hundred thousand people fled from their homes to pestilential jungles, preferring famine and fever and the haunts of tigers to the tyranny of him to whom an english and a christian government had, for shameful lucre, sold their substance and their blood, and the honour of their wives and daughters. colonel champion remonstrated with the nabob vizier, and sent strong representations to fort william; but the governor had made no conditions as to the mode in which the war was to be carried on. he had troubled himself about nothing but his forty lacs; and, though he might disapprove of surajah dowlah's wanton barbarity, he did not think himself entitled to interfere, except by offering advice. this delicacy excites the admiration of the reverend biographer. 'mr. hastings,' he says, 'could not himself dictate to the nabob, nor permit the commander of the company's troops to dictate how the war was to be carried on.' no, to be sure. mr. hastings had only to put down by main force the brave struggles of innocent men fighting for their liberty. their military resistance crushed, his duties ended; and he had then only to fold his arms and look on while their villages were burned, their children butchered, and their women violated."

by such a course of action, warren hastings made the british empire in india pay. by such means did [pg 447] the aristocrats, of whom the governor was the tool, obtain the money which would enable them to live in luxury.

"the servants of the company obtained—not for their employers, but for themselves—a monopoly of almost the whole internal trade; they forced the natives to buy dear and sell cheap; they insulted with perfect impunity the tribunals, the police, and the fiscal authorities of the country; they covered with their protection a set of native dependants, who ranged through the provinces spreading desolation and terror wherever they appeared. every servant of a british factor was armed with all the power of his master, and his master was armed with all the power of the company. enormous fortunes were thus rapidly accumulated at calcutta, while thirty millions of human beings were reduced to the last extremity of wretchedness. they had been accustomed to live under tyranny, but never under tyranny like this; they found the little finger of the company thicker than the loins of surajah dowlah. under their old masters they had at least one resource; when the evil became insupportable, they rose and pulled down the government. but the english government was not to be so shaken off. that government, oppressive as the most oppressive form of barbarian despotism, was strong with all the strength of civilization; it resembled the government of evil genii rather than the government of human tyrants." * * *

"the foreign lords of bengal were naturally objects of hatred to all the neighbouring powers, and to all the haughty race presented a dauntless front; their armies, everywhere outnumbered, were everywhere victorious. a succession of commanders, formed in the school of clive, still maintained the fame of their country. 'it must be acknowledged,' says the mussulman historian of those times, 'that this nation's presence of mind, firmness of temper, and undaunted bravery are past all question. they join the most resolute courage to the most cautious prudence; nor have they their equal in the art of ranging themselves in battle array and fighting in order. if to so many military qualifications they knew how to join the arts of government—if they exerted as much [pg 448] ingenuity and solicitude in relieving the people of god as they do in whatever concerns their military affairs, no nation in the world would be preferable to them or worthier of command; but the people under their dominion groan everywhere, and are reduced to poverty and distress. o god! come to the assistance of thine afflicted servants, and deliver them from the oppressions they suffer.'"

from the earliest times the "village system," with its almost patriarchal regulations, seems to have prevailed in hindostan. each village had its distinct organization, and over a certain number of villages, or a district, was an hereditary chief and an accountant, both possessing great local influence and authority, and certain estates. [106] the hindoos were strongly attached to their native villages, and could only be forced to abandon them by the most constant oppressions. dynasties might change and revolutions occur, but so long as each little community remained undisturbed, the hindoos were contented. mohammedan conquerors left this beautiful system, which had much more of genuine freedom than the british institutions at the present day, untouched. the english conquerors were not so merciful, although they were acquainted with christianity. the destruction of local organizations and the centralization of authority, which is always attended with the increase of slavery, [107] have been the aims of english efforts. the principle that the government is the sole [pg 449] proprietor of the land, and therefore entitled to a large share of the produce, has been established, and slavery, to escape famine and misery, has become necessary to the hindoos.

exhaustion was the result of the excessive taxation laid upon the hindoos by the east india company. as the government became stinted for revenue, lord cornwallis was instructed to make a permanent settlement, by means of which all the rights of village proprietors over a large portion of bengal were sacrificed in favour of the zemindars, or head men, who were thus at once constituted great landed proprietors—masters of a large number of poor tenants, with power to punish at discretion those who were not able to pay whatever rent was demanded. [108] from free communities, the villages were reduced to the condition of british tenants-at-will. the zemindaree system was first applied to bengal. in madras another system, called the ryotwar, was introduced. this struck a fatal blow at the local organizations, which were the sources of freedom and happiness among the hindoos. government assumed all the functions of an immediate landholder, and dealt with the individual cultivators as its own tenants, getting as much out of them as possible.

the zemindars are an unthrifty, rack-renting class, and take the uttermost farthing from the under-tenants. [pg 450] oppressions and evictions are their constant employments; and since they have been constituted a landed aristocracy, they have fully acted out the character in the genuine british fashion.

another tenure, called the patnee, has been established of late years, by some of the great zemindars, with the aid of government enactments, and it is very common in bengal. the great zemindar, for a consideration, makes over a portion of his estate in fee to another, subject to a perpetual rent, payable through the collector, who receives it on behalf of the zemindar; and if it is not paid, the interests of the patneedar are sold by the collector. these, again, have sub-patneedars, and the system has become very much in vogue in certain districts. the parties are like the irish middlemen, and the last screws the tenant to the uttermost. [109]

during the british government of bengal, wealth has been accumulated by a certain superior class, and population, cultivation, and the receipts from rent of land, have largely increased; but, as in england, the mass of the people are poor and degraded. in the rich provinces of upper india, where the miserable landed system of the conquerors has been introduced, the results have been even more deplorable. communities, once free, happy, and possessed of plenty, are now broken up, or subjected to such excessive taxation that their members are kept in poverty and slavery.

[pg 451]

colonel sleeman, in his "rambles and recollections of an indian official," records a conversation which he held with the head landholder of a village, organized under the zemindar system. during the dialogue, some statements were made which are important for our purpose.

the colonel congratulated himself that he had given satisfactory replies to the arguments of the zemindar, and accounted naturally for the evils suffered by the villagers. the reader will, doubtless, form a different opinion:—

"in the early part of november, after a heavy fall of rain, i was driving alone in my buggy from garmuktesin on the ganges, to meerut. the roads were very bad, the stage a double one, and my horse became tired and unable to go on. i got out at a small village to give him a little rest and food; and sat down under the shade of one old tree upon the trunk of another that the storm had blown down, while my groom, the only servant i had with me, rubbed down and baited my horse. i called for some parched grain from the same shop which supplied my horse, and got a draught of good water, drawn from the well by an old woman, in a brass jug lent to me for the purpose by the shopkeeper.

"while i sat contentedly and happily stripping my parched grain from its shell, and eating it grain by grain, the farmer, or head landholder of the village, a sturdy old rajpoot, came up and sat himself, without any ceremony, down by my side, to have a little conversation. [to one of the dignitaries of the land, in whose presence the aristocracy are alone considered entitled to chairs, this easy familiarity seems at first strange and unaccountable; he is afraid that the man intends to offer him some indignity, or what is still worse, mistakes him for something less than a dignitary! the following dialogue took place:—]

"'you are a rajpoot, and a zemindar?' (landholder.)

"'yes; i am the head landholder of this village.'

[pg 452]

"'can you tell me how that village in the distance is elevated above the ground; is it from the debris of old villages, or from a rock underneath?'

"'it is from the debris of old villages. that is the original seat of all the rajpoots around; we all trace our descent from the founders of that village, who built and peopled it many centuries ago.'

"'and you have gone on subdividing your inheritances here as elsewhere, no doubt, till you have hardly any of you any thing to eat?'

"'true, we have hardly any of us enough to eat; but that is the fault of the government, that does not leave us enough—that takes from us as much when the season is bad as when it is good!'

"'but your assessment has not been increased, has it?'

"'no; we have concluded a settlement for twenty years upon the same footing as formerly.'

"'and if the sky were to shower down upon you pearls and diamonds, instead of water, the government would never demand more from you than the rate fixed upon?'

'no.'

"'then why should you expect remissions in bad seasons?'

"'it cannot be disputed that the burkut (blessing from above) is less under you than it used to be formerly, and that the lands yield less from our labour.'

"'true, my old friend, but do you know the reason why?'

"'no.'

"'then i will tell you. forty or fifty years ago, in what you call the times of the burkut, (blessing from above,) the cavalry of seikh, free-booters from the punjab, used to sweep over this fine plain, in which stands the said village from which you are all descended; and to massacre the whole population of some villages; and a certain portion of that of every other village; and the lands of those killed used to lie waste for want of cultivators. is not this all true?'

"'yes, quite true.'

"'and the fine groves which had been planted over this plain [pg 453] by your ancestors, as they separated from the great parent stock, and formed independent villages and hamlets for themselves, were all swept away and destroyed by the same hordes of free-booters, from whom your poor imbecile emperors, cooped up in yonder large city of delhi, were utterly unable to defend you?'

"'quite true,' said the old man with a sigh. 'i remember when all this fine plain was as thickly studded with fine groves of mango-trees as rohilcund, or any other part of india.'

"'you know that the land requires rest from labour, as well as men and bullocks; and that if you go on sowing wheat, and other exhausting crops, it will go on yielding less and less returns, and at last not be worth the tilling?'

"'quite well.'

"'then why do you not give the land rest by leaving it longer fallow, or by a more frequent alternation of crops relieve it?'

"'because we have now increased so much, that we should not get enough to eat were we to leave it to fallow; and unless we tilled it with exhausting crops we should not get the means of paying our rents to government.'

"'the seikh hordes in former days prevented this; they killed off a certain portion of your families, and gave the land the rest which you now refuse it. when you had exhausted one part, you found another recovered by a long fallow, so that you had better returns; but now that we neither kill you, nor suffer you to be killed by others, you have brought all the cultivable lands into tillage; and under the old system of cropping to exhaustion, it is not surprising that they yield you less returns.'

"by this time we had a crowd of people seated around us upon the ground, as i went on munching my parched grain and talking to the old patriarch. they all laughed at the old man at the conclusion of my last speech, and he confessed i was right.

"'this is all true, sir, but still your government is not considerate; it goes on taking kingdom after kingdom and adding to its dominions, without diminishing the burden upon us its old subjects. here you have had armies away taking afghanistan, but we shall not have one rupee the less to pay.'

"'true, my friend, nor would you demand a rupee less from [pg 454] those honest cultivators around us, if we were to leave you all your lands untaxed. you complain of the government—they complain of you. [here the circle around us laughed at the old man again.] nor would you subdivide the lands the less for having it rent free; on the contrary, it would be every generation subdivided the more, inasmuch as there would be more of local ties, and a greater disinclination on the part of the members of families to separate and seek service abroad.'

"'true, sir, very true; that is, no doubt, a very great evil.'

"'and you know it is not an evil produced by us, but one arising out of your own laws of inheritance. you have heard, no doubt, that with us the eldest son gets the whole of the land, and the younger sons all go out in search of service, with such share as they can get of the other property of their father?'

"'yes, sir; but where shall we get service—you have none to give us. i would serve to-morrow, if you would take me as a soldier,' said he, stroking his white whiskers.

"the crowd laughed heartily, and some wag observed, 'that perhaps i should think him too old.'

"'well,' said the old man, smiling, 'the gentleman himself is not very young, and yet i dare say he is a good servant of his government.'

"this was paying me off for making the people laugh at his expense. 'true, my old friend,' said i, 'but i began to serve when i was young, and have been long learning.'

"'very well,' said the old man; 'but i should be glad to serve the rest of my life upon a less salary than you got when you began to learn.'

"'well, my friend, you complain of our government; but you must acknowledge that we do all we can to protect you, though it is true that we are often acting in the dark.'

"'often, sir? you are always acting in the dark; you hardly any of you know any thing of what your revenue and police officers are doing; there is no justice or redress to be got without paying for it; and it is not often that those who pay can get it.'

"'true, my old friend, that is bad all over the world. you cannot presume to ask any thing even from the deity himself, [pg 455] without paying the priest who officiates in his temples; and if you should, you would none of you hope to get from your deity what you asked for.'

"here the crowd laughed again, and one of them said 'that there was certainly this to be said for our government, that the european gentlemen themselves never took bribes, whatever those under them might do.'

"'you must not be too sure of that neither. did not the lal beebee (red lady) get a bribe for soliciting the judge, her husband, to let go ameer sing, who had been confined in jail?'

"'how did this take place?'

"'about three years ago ameer sing was sentenced to imprisonment, and his friends spent a great deal of money in bribes to the native officers of the court, but all in vain. at last they were recommended to give a handsome present to the red lady. they did so, and ameer sing was released.'

"'but did they give the present into the lady's own hand?'

"'no, they gave it to one of her women.'

"'and how do you know that she ever gave it to her mistress, or that her mistress ever heard of the transaction?'

"'she might certainly have been acting without her mistress's knowledge; but the popular belief is, that lal beebee got the present.'

"i then told them the story of the affair at jubbulpore, when mrs. smith's name had been used for a similar purpose, and the people around us were highly amused; and the old man's opinion of the transaction evidently underwent a change.[110]

[pg 456]

"we became good friends, and the old man begged me to have my tents, which he supposed were coming up, pitched among them, that he might have an opportunity of showing that he was not a bad subject, though he grumbled against the government.

"the next day, at meerut, i got a visit from the chief native judge, whose son, a talented youth, is in my office. among other things, i asked him whether it might not be possible to improve the character of the police by increasing the salaries of the officers, and mentioned my conversation with the landholder.

"'never, sir,' said the old gentleman; 'the man that now gets twenty-five rupees a month, is contented with making perhaps fifty or seventy-five more; and the people subject to his authority pay him accordingly. give him a hundred, sir, and he will put a shawl over his shoulders, and the poor people will be obliged to pay him at a rate which will make up his income to four hundred. you will only alter his style of living, and make him a greater burden to the people; he will always take as long as he thinks he can with impunity.'

"'but do you not think that when people see a man adequately paid by government, they will the more readily complain at any attempt at unauthorized exactions?'

"'not a bit, sir, as long as they see the same difficulties in the way of prosecuting them to conviction. in the administration of civil justice (the old gentleman is a civil judge) you may occasionally see your way, and understand what is doing; but in revenue and police you have never seen it in india, and never will, i think. the officers you employ will all add to their incomes by unauthorized means; and the lower their incomes, the less their pretensions, and the less the populace have to pay.'"

in the "history of the possessions of the honourable east india company," by r. montgomery martin, f. s. s., the following statements occur: [pg 457]—

"the following estimate has been made of the population of the allied and independent states:—hydrabad, 10,000,000; oude, 6,000,000; nagpoor, 3,000,000; mysore, 3,000,000; sattara, 1,500,000; gurckwar, 2,000,000; travancore and cochin, 1,000,000; rajpootana, and various minor principalities, 16,500,000; sciudias territories, 4,000,000; the seiks, 3,000,000; nepál, 2,000,000; cashmere, etc., 1,000,000; scinde, 1,000,000; total, 51,000,000. this, of course, is but a rough estimate by hamilton, (slavery in british india.) for the last forty years the east india company's government have been gradually, but safely, abolishing slavery throughout their dominions; they began in 1789 with putting down the maritime traffic, by prosecuting any person caught in exporting or importing slaves by sea, long before the british government abolished that infernal commerce in the western world, and they have ever since sedulously sought the final extinction of that domestic servitude which had long existed throughout the east, as recognised by the hindoo and mohammedan law. in their despatches of 1798, it was termed 'an inhuman commerce and cruel traffic.' french, dutch, or danish subjects captured within the limit of their dominions in the act of purchasing or conveying slaves were imprisoned and heavily fined, and every encouragement was given to their civil and military servants to aid in protecting the first rights of humanity.

"mr. robertson, [111] in reference to cawnpore, observes:—'domestic slavery exists; but of an agricultural slave i do not recollect a single instance. when i speak of domestic slavery, i mean that status which i must call slavery for want of any more accurate designation. it does not, however, resemble that which is understood in europe to be slavery; it is the mildest species of servitude. the domestic slaves are certain persons purchased in times of scarcity; children purchased from their parents; they grow up in the family, and are almost entirely employed in domestic offices in the house; not liable to be resold.

"'there is a certain species of slavery in south bahar, where [pg 458] a man mortgages his labour for a certain sum of money; and this species of slavery exists also in arracan and ava. it is for his life, or until he shall pay the sum, that he is obliged to labour for the person who lends him the money; and if he can repay the sum, he emancipates himself.

"'masters have no power of punishment recognised by our laws. whatever may be the provision of the mohammedan or hindoo codes to that effect, it is a dead letter, for we would not recognise it. the master doubtless may sometimes inflict domestic punishment; but if he does, the slave rarely thinks of complaining of it. were he to do so his complaint would be received.' this, in fact, is the palladium of liberty in england.

"in malabar, according to the evidence of mr. baber, slavery, as mentioned by mr. robertson, also exists, and perhaps the same is the case in guzerat and to the north; but the wonder is, not that such is the case, but that it is so partial in extent, and fortunately so bad in character, approximating indeed so much toward the feudal state as to be almost beyond the reach as well as the necessity of laws which at present would be practically inoperative. the fact, that of 100,000,000 british inhabitants, [or allowing five to a family, 20,000,000 families,] upward of 16,000,000 are landed proprietors, shows to what a confined extent even domestic slavery exists. a commission has been appointed by the new charter to inquire into this important but delicate subject.'"

we have quoted this passage from a writer who is a determined advocate of every thing british, whether it be good or had, in order to show by his own admission that chattel slavery, that is the precise form of slavery of which the british express such a holy horror, exists in british india under the sanction of british laws. nor does it exist to a small extent only, as he would have us believe. it has always existed there, and must necessarily be on the increase, from the very cause [pg 459] which he points out, viz. famine. no country in the world, thanks to british oppression, is so frequently and so extensively visited by famine as india; and as the natives can escape in many instances from starving to death by selling themselves, and can save their children by selling them into slavery, we can readily form an estimate of the great extent to which this takes place in cases of famine, where the people are perishing by thousands and tens of thousands. as to the statement that the government of the east india company have been endeavouring to abolish this species of slavery, it proves any thing rather than a desire to benefit the natives of india. chattel slaves are not desired by british subjects because the ownership of them involves the necessity of supporting them in sickness and old age. the kind of slavery which the british have imposed on the great mass of their east indian subjects is infinitely more oppressive and inhuman than chattel slavery. indeed it would not at all suit the views of the british aristocracy to have chattel slavery become so fashionable in india as to interfere with their own cherished system of political slavery, which is so extensively and successfully practised in england, scotland, ireland, and the west and east indies. the money required for the support of chattel slaves could not be spared by the aristocratic governments in the colonies. the object is to take the fruits of the labourer's toil without providing for him at all. [pg 460] when labourers are part of a master's capital, the better he provides for them the more they are worth. when they are not property, the character of their subsistence is of no importance; but they must yield the greater part of the results of their toil.

the "salt laws" of india are outrageously oppressive. an account of their operation will give the reader a taste of the character of the legislation to which the british have subjected conquered hindoos. such an account we find in a recent number of "household words," which lord shaftesbury and his associates in luxury and philanthropy should read more frequently than we can suppose they do:—

"salt, in india, is a government monopoly. it is partially imported, and partially manufactured in government factories. these factories are situated in dreary marshes—the workers obtaining certain equivocal privileges, on condition of following their occupation in these pestiferous regions, where hundreds of these wretched people fall, annually, victims to the plague or the floods.

"the salt consumed in india must be purchased through the government, at a duty of upward of two pounds per ton, making the price to the consumer about eight pence per pound. in england, salt may be purchased by retail, three pounds, or wholesale, five pounds for one penny; while in india, upward of thirty millions of persons, whose average incomes do not amount to above three shillings per week, are compelled to expend one-fourth of that pittance in salt for themselves and families.

"it may naturally be inferred, that, with such a heavy duty upon this important necessary of life, that underhand measures are adopted by the poor natives for supplying themselves. we shall see, however, by the following severe regulations, that the [pg 461] experiment is too hazardous to be often attempted. throughout the whole country there are numerous 'salt chokies,' or police stations, the superintendents of which are invested with powers of startling and extraordinary magnitude.

"when information is lodged with such superintendent that salt is stored in any place without a 'ruwana,' or permit, he proceeds to collect particulars of the description of the article, the quantity stated to be stored, and the name of the owner of the store. if the quantity stated to be stored exceeds seventy pounds, he proceeds with a body of police to make the seizure. if the door is not opened to him at once, he is invested with full power to break it open; and if the police-officers exhibit the least backwardness in assisting, or show any sympathy with the unfortunate owner, they are liable to be heavily fined. the owner of the salt, with all persons found upon the premises, are immediately apprehended, and are liable to six months' imprisonment for the first offence, twelve for the second, and eighteen months for the third; so that if a poor indian was to see a shower of salt in his garden, (there are showers of salt sometimes,) and to attempt to take advantage of it without paying duty, he would become liable to this heavy punishment. the superintendent of police is also empowered to detain and search trading vessels, and if salt be found on board without a permit, the whole of the crew may be apprehended and tried for the offence. any person erecting a distilling apparatus in his own house, merely to distil enough sea-water for the use of his household, is liable to such a fine as may ruin him. in this case, direct proof is not required, but inferred from circumstances at the discretion of the judge.

"if a person wishes to erect a factory upon his own estate, he must first give notice to the collector of revenue of all the particulars relative thereto, failing which, the collector may order all the works to be destroyed. having given notice, officers are immediately quartered upon the premises, who have access to all parts thereof, for fear the company should be defrauded of the smallest amount of duty. when duty is paid upon any portion, the collector, upon giving a receipt, specifies the name and residence of the person to whom it is to be delivered, to whom it [pg 462] must be delivered within a stated period, or become liable to fresh duty. to wind up, and make assurance doubly sure, the police may seize and detain any load or package which may pass the stations, till they are satisfied such load or package does not contain contraband salt.

"such are the salt laws of india; such the monopoly by which a revenue of three millions sterling is raised; and such the system which, in these days of progress and improvement, acts as an incubus upon the energies, the mental resources, and social advancement of the immense population of india.

"political economists of all shades of opinion—men who have well studied the subject—deliberately assert that nothing would tend so much toward the improvement of that country, and to a more complete development of its vast natural resources, than the abolition of these laws; and we can only hope, without blaming any one, that at no distant day a more enlightened policy will pervade the councils of the east india company, and that the poor hindoo will be emancipated from the thraldom of these odious enactments.

"but apart from every other consideration, there is one, in connection with the indian salt-tax, which touches the domestic happiness and vital interest of every inhabitant in great britain. it is decided, by incontrovertible medical testimony, that cholera (whose ravages every individual among us knows something, alas! too well about) is in a great measure engendered, and its progress facilitated, by the prohibitory duties on salt in india, the very cradle of the pestilence. our precautionary measures to turn aside the plague from our doors, appear to be somewhat ridiculous, while the plague itself is suffered to exist, when it might be destroyed—its existence being tolerated only to administer to the pecuniary advantage of a certain small class of the community. let the medical men of this country look to it. let the people of this country generally look to it; for there is matter for grave and solemn consideration, both nationally and individually, in the indian salt-tax."

yes, the salt-tax is very oppressive; but it pays [pg 463] those who authorized its assessment, and that is sufficient for them. when they discover some means of obtaining its equivalent—some oppression quite as cruel but not so obvious—we may expect to hear of the abolition of the odious salt monopoly.

famines (always frightfully destructive in india) have become more numerous than ever, under the blighting rule of the british aristocrats. vast tracts of country, once the support of busy thousands, have been depopulated by these dreadful visitations.

"the soil seems to lie under a curse. instead of yielding abundance for the wants of its own population and the inhabitants of other regions, it does not keep in existence its own children. it becomes the burying-place of millions who die upon its bosom crying for bread. in proof of this, turn your eyes backward upon the scenes of the past year. go with me into the north-west provinces of the bengal presidency, and i will show you the bleaching skeletons of five hundred thousand human beings, who perished of hunger in the space of a few short months. yes, died of hunger, in what has been justly called the granary of the world. bear with me, if i speak of the scenes which were exhibited during the prevalence of this famine. the air for miles was poisoned by the effluvia emitted from the putrefying bodies of the dead. the rivers were choked with the corpses thrown into their channels. mothers cast their little ones beneath the rolling waves, because they would not see them draw their last gasp and feel them stiffen in their arms. the english in the cities were prevented from taking their customary evening drives. jackals and vultures approached, and fastened upon the bodies of men, women, and children before life was extinct. madness, disease, despair stalked abroad, and no human power present to arrest their progress. it was the carnival of death. and this occurred in british india—in the reign of victoria the [pg 464] first. nor was the event extraordinary and unforeseen. far from it: 1835-36 witnessed a famine in the northern provinces; 1833 beheld one to the eastward; 1822-23 saw one in the deccan."

the above extract from one of george thompson's "lectures on india," conveys an idea of the horrors of a famine in that country. what then must be the guilt of that government that adopts such measures as tend to increase the frequency and swell the horror of these scenes! by draining the resources of the people, and dooming them to the most pinching poverty, the british conquerors have greatly increased the dangers of the visitations of famine, and opened to it a wide field for destruction. the poor hindoos may be said to live face to face with starvation. the following account of the famine of 1833 is given by colonel sleeman, in his "rambles and recollections:"—

"during the famine of 1833, as on all similar occasions, grain of every kind, attracted by high prices, flowed up in large streams from this favoured province (malwa) toward bundelcund; and the population of bundelcund, as usual in such times of dearth and scarcity, flowed off toward malwa against the stream of supply, under the assurance that the nearer they got to the source the greater would be their chance of employment and subsistence. every village had its numbers of the dead and the dying; and the roads were all strewed with them; but they were mostly concentrated upon the great towns, and civil and military stations, where subscriptions were open for their support by both the european and native communities. the funds arising from these subscriptions lasted till the rain had fairly set in, when all able-bodied persons could easily find employment in tillage among the agricultural [pg 465] communities of the villages around. after the rains have fairly set in, the sick and helpless only should be kept concentrated upon large towns and stations, where little or no employment is to be found; for the oldest and youngest of those who are able to work can then easily find employment in weeding the cotton, rice, sugar-cane, and other fields under autumn crops, and in preparing the land for the reception of the wheat, grain, and other spring seeds; and get advances from the farmers, agricultural capitalists, and other members of the village communities, who are all glad to share their superfluities with the distressed, and to pay liberally for the little service they are able to give in return.

"at large places, where the greater numbers are concentrated, the scene becomes exceedingly distressing, for in spite of the best dispositions and greatest efforts on the part of government and its officers, and the european and native communities, thousands commonly die of starvation. at saugor, mothers, as they lay in the streets unable to walk, were seen holding up their infants, and imploring the passing stranger to take them in slavery, that they might at least live—hundreds were seen creeping into gardens, courtyards, and old ruins, concealing themselves under shrubs, grass, mats, or straw, where they might die quietly, without having their bodies torn by birds and beasts before the breath had left them! respectable families, who left home in search of the favoured land of malwa, while yet a little property remained, finding all exhausted, took opium rather than beg, and husband, wife, and children died in each other's arms! still more of such families lingered on in hope until all had been expended; then shut their doors, took poison, and died all together, rather than expose their misery, and submit to the degradation of begging. all these things i have myself known and seen; and in the midst of these and a hundred other harrowing scenes which present themselves on such occasions, the european cannot fail to remark the patient resignation with which the poor people submit to their fate; and the absence of almost all those revolting acts which have characterized the famines of which he has read in other countries—such as the living feeding on the dead, and mothers devouring their own children. no such things are witnessed in indian famines; [pg 466] here all who suffer attribute the disaster to its real cause, the want of rain in due season; and indulge in no feelings of hatred against their rulers, superiors, or more fortunate equals in society, who happen to live beyond the influence of such calamities. they gratefully receive the superfluities which the more favoured are always found ready to share with the afflicted in india; and though their sufferings often subdue the strongest of all pride—the pride of caste, they rarely ever drive people to acts of violence. the stream of emigration, guided as it always is by that of the agricultural produce flowing in from the more favoured countries, must necessarily concentrate upon the communities along the line it takes a greater number of people than they have the means of relieving, however benevolent their dispositions; and i must say, that i have never either seen or read of a nobler spirit than seems to animate all classes of these communities in india on such distressing occasions."

the same writer has some judicious general remarks upon the causes of famine in india, which are worthy of quotation. we have only to add, that whatever may be found in the climate and character of the country that expose the people to the frequency of want, the conquerors have done their best to aggravate natural evils:—

"in india, unfavourable seasons produce much more disastrous consequences than in europe. in england, not more than one-fourth of the population derive their incomes from the cultivation of the land around them. three-fourths of the people have incomes, independent of the annual returns from those lands; and with these incomes they can purchase agricultural produce from other lands when the crops upon them fail. the farmers, who form so large a portion of the fourth class, have stock equal in value to four times the amount of the annual rent of their lands. they have also a great variety of crops; and it is very rare that more than [pg 467] one or two of them fail, or are considerably affected, the same season. if they fail in one district or province, the deficiency is very easily supplied to people who have equivalents to give for the produce of another. the sea, navigable rivers, fine roads, all are open and ready at all times for the transport of the super-abundance of one quarter to supply the deficiencies of another. in india the reverse of all this is unhappily everywhere to be found; more than three-fourths of the whole population are engaged in the cultivation of the land, and depend upon its annual returns for subsistence. the farmers and cultivators have none of them stock equal in value to more than half the amount of the annual rents of their lands. they have a great variety of crops; but all are exposed to the same accidents, and commonly fail at the same time. the autumn crops are sown in june and july, and ripen in october and november; and if seasonable showers do not fall in july, august, and september, all fail. the spring crops are sown in october and november, and ripen in march; and if seasonable showers do not happen to fall during december or january, all, save what are artificially irrigated, fail. if they fail in one district or province, the people have few equivalents to offer for a supply of land produce from any other. their roads are scarcely anywhere passable for wheeled carriages at any season, and nowhere at all seasons—they have nowhere a navigable canal, and only in one line a navigable river. their land produce is conveyed upon the backs of bullocks, that move at the rate of six or eight miles a day, and add one hundred per cent. to the cost for every hundred miles they carry it in the best seasons, and more than two hundred in the worst. what in europe is felt merely as a dearth, becomes in india, under all these disadvantages, a scarcity; and what is there a scarcity becomes here a famine."

another illustration of the truth that poverty is the source of crime and depravity is found in india. statistics and the evidence of recent travellers show that the amount of vice in the different provinces is just in [pg 468] proportion to the length of time they have been under british rule. no stronger proof of the iniquity of the government—of its poisonous tendencies as well as positive injustice—could be adduced.

the cultivation and exportation of the pernicious drug, opium, which destroys hundreds of thousands of lives annually, have latterly been prominent objects of the east indian government. the best tracts of land in india were chosen for the cultivation of the poppy. the people were told that they must either raise this plant, make opium, or give up their land. furthermore, those who produced the drug were compelled to sell it to the company. in the bengal presidency, the monopoly of the government is complete. it has its establishment for the manufacture of the drug. there are two great agencies at ghazeepore and patna, for the benares and bahar provinces. each opium agent has several deputies in different districts, and a native establishment. they enter into contracts with the cultivator for the supply of opium at a rate fixed to suit the demand. the land-revenue authorities do not interfere, except to prevent cultivation without permission. the land cultivated is measured, and all the produce must be sold to the government. at the head agency the opium is packed in chests and sealed with the company's seal. [112]

[pg 469]

the imperial government of china, seeing that the traffic in opium was sowing misery and death among its subjects, prohibited the introduction of the drug within the empire in 1839. but the british had a vast amount of capital at stake, and the profits of the trade were too great to be relinquished for any considerations of humanity. war was declared; thousands of chinese were slaughtered, and the imperial government forced to permit the destructive traffic on a more extensive scale than ever, and to pay $2,000,000 besides for daring to protest against it!

the annual revenue now realized from the opium traffic amounts to ￡3,500,000. it is estimated that about 400,000 chinese perish every year in consequence of using the destructive drug, while the amount of individual and social misery proceeding from the same cause is appalling to every humane heart. among the people of india who have been forced into the cultivation and manufacture of opium, the use of it has greatly increased under the fostering care of the government. the company seems to be aware that a people enervated by excessive indulgence will make little effort to throw off the chains of slavery. keep the hindoo drunk with opium and he will not rebel.

the effects of this drug upon the consumer are thus described by a distinguished chinese scholar:—"it exhausts the animal spirits, impedes the regular performance of business, wastes the flesh and blood, [pg 470] dissipates every kind of property, renders the person ill-favoured, promotes obscenity, discloses secrets, violates the laws, attacks the vitals, and destroys life." this statement is confirmed by other natives, and also by foreign residents; and it is asserted that, as a general rule, a person does not live more than ten years after becoming addicted to the use of this drug.

the recent burmese war had for one of its objects the opening of a road to the interior of china, for the purpose of extending the opium trade. and for such an object thousands of brave burmese were slaughtered, fertile and beautiful regions desolated, and others subjected to the peculiar slave-system of the east india company. the extension of british dominion and the accumulation of wealth in british hands, instead of the spread of christianity and the development of civilization, mark all the measures of the company.

william howitt, one of the ablest as well as the most democratic writers of england, thus confirms the statements made above:—

"the east india company exists by monopolies of the land, of opium, and of salt. by their narrow, greedy, and purblind management of these resources, they have contrived to reduce that once affluent country to the uttermost depths of poverty and pauperism. the people starve and perish in famine every now and then by half a million at a time. one-third of that superb peninsula is reduced to waste and jungle. while other colonies pay from twenty to thirty shillings per head of revenue, india yields only four shillings per head. the income of the government [pg 471] at the last renewal of the charter was twenty millions; it is now reduced to about seventeen millions; and even to raise this, they have been obliged to double the tax on salt. the debt was forty millions; it is now said to be augmented by constant war, and the payment of the dividends, which, whatever the real proceeds, are always kept up to the usual height, to seventy millions. this is a state of things which cannot last. it is a grand march toward financial inanition. it threatens, if not arrested by the voice of the british people, the certain and no very distant loss of india.

"we have some glimpses of the treatment of the people in the collection of the land-tax, as it is called, but really the rent. the government claims not the mere right of governing, but, as conquerors, the fee-simple of the land. over the greater part of india there are no real freeholders. the land is the company's, and they collect, not a tax, but a rent. they have their collectors all over india, who go and say as the crops stand, 'we shall take so much of this.' it is seldom less than one-half—it is more commonly sixty, seventy, and eighty per cent! this is killing the goose to come at the golden egg. it drives the people to despair; they run away and leave the land to become jungle; they perish by famine in thousands and tens of thousands.

"this is why no capitalists dare to settle and grow for us cotton, or manufacture for us sugar. there is no security—no fixity of taxation. it is one wholesale system of arbitrary plunder, such as none but a conquered country in the first violence of victorious license ever was subjected to. but this system has here continued more than a generation; the country is reduced by it to a fatal condition—the only wonder is that we yet retain it at all.

"the same system is pursued in the opium monopoly. the finest lands are taken for the cultivation of the poppy; the government give the natives what they please for the opium, often about as many shillings as they get paid for it guineas per pound, and ship it off to curse china with it. 'in india,' says a writer in the chinese repository, 'the extent of territory occupied with the poppy, and the amount of population engaged in its cultivation [pg 472] and the preparation of opium, are far greater than in any other part of the world.'

"turkey is said to produce only 2000 chests of opium annually; india produces 40,000 of 134 lbs. each, and yielding a revenue of about ￡4,000,000 sterling.

"but perhaps worse than all is the salt monopoly. it is well known that the people of india are a vegetable diet people. boiled rice is their chief food, and salt is an absolute necessary of life. with a vegetable diet in that hot climate, without plenty of salt, putrid diseases and rapid mortality are inevitable. nature, or providence, has therefore given salt in abundance. the sea throws it up already crystallized in many places; in others it is prepared by evaporation; but the company steps in and imposes two hundred per cent. on this indispensable article, and guards it by such penalties that the native dare not stoop to gather it when it lies at his feet. the consequence is that mortality prevails, to a terrific extent often, among the population. officers of government are employed to destroy the salt naturally formed; and government determines how much salt shall be annually consumed.

"now, let the people of england mark one thing. the cholera originates in the east. it has visited us once, and is on its march once more toward us. we have heard through the newspapers of its arrival in syria, in turkey, in russia, at vienna. in a few months it will probably be again among us.

"has any one yet imagined that this scourge may possibly be the instrument of divine retribution for our crimes and cruelties? has any one imagined that we have any thing to do with the creation of this terrible pestilence? yet there is little, there is scarcely the least doubt, that this awful instrument of death is occasioned by this very monopoly of salt—that it is the direct work of the four-and-twenty men in leadenhall-street. the cholera is found to arise in the very centre of india. it commences in the midst of this swarming population, which subsists on vegetables, and which is deprived by the british government of the necessary salt! in that hot climate it acquires a deadly strength—thousands perish by it as by the stroke of lightning, and it hence [pg 473] radiates over the globe, travelling at the speed of a horse in full gallop. thus it is that god visits our deeds upon our heads.

"such is a brief glance at the mal-administration, the abuse, and the murderous treatment of india, permitted by great and christian england to a knot of mere money-making traders. we commit the lives and happiness of one hundred and fifty millions of souls—the well-being, and probably the chance of retention, of one of the finest countries in the world, and the comfort and prosperity of every human creature in great britain, to the hands of those who are only, from day to day, grasping at the vitals of this glorious eastern region to increase their dividends. this is bad enough, but this is not all. as if we had given them a charter in the most effectual manner to damage our dominions and blast all our prospects of trade, we have allowed these four-and-twenty men of leadenhall-street not only to cripple india, but to exasperate and, as far as possible, close china against us. two millions of people in india and three millions of people in china—all waiting for our manufactures, all capable of sending us the comforts and necessaries that we need—it would seem that to us, a nation especially devoted to trade, as if providence had opened all the gorgeous and populous east to employ and to enrich us. one would have thought that every care and anxiety would have been aroused to put ourselves on the best footing with this swarming region. it has been the last thing thought of.

"the men of leadenhall-street have been permitted, after having paralyzed india, to send to china not the articles that the chinese wanted, but the very thing of all others that its authorities abhorred—that is, opium.

"it is well known with what assiduity these traders for years thrust this deadly drug into the ports of china; or it may be known from 'medhurst's china,' from 'thelwall's iniquities of the opium trade,' from 'montgomery martin's opium in china,' and various other works. it is well known what horrors, crimes, ruin of families, and destruction of individuals the rage of opium-smoking introduced among the millions of the celestial empire. every horror, every species of reckless desperation, social depravity, and sensual crime, spread from the practice and [pg 474] overran china as a plague. the rulers attempted to stop the evil by every means in their power. they enacted the severest punishments for the sale of it. these did not avail. they augmented the punishment to death. without a stop to it the whole framework of society threatened to go to pieces. 'opium,' says the imperial edict itself, 'coming from the distant regions of barbarians, has pervaded the country with its baneful influence.' the opium-smoker would steal, sell his property, his children, the mother of his children, and finally commit murder for it. the most ghastly spectacles were everywhere seen; instead of healthy and happy men, the most repulsive scenes. 'i visited one of the opium-houses,' said an individual quoted by sir robert inglis, in the house of commons, in 1843, 'and shall i tell you what i saw in this antechamber of hell? i thought it impossible to find anything worse than the results of drinking ardent spirits; but i have succeeded in finding something far worse. i saw malays, chinese, men and women, old and young, in one mass, in one common herd, wallowing in their filth, beastly, sensual, devilish, and this under the eyes of a christian government.'

"they were these abominations and horrors that the emperor of china determined to arrest. they were these which our east india company determined to perpetuate for this base gain. when the emperor was asked to license the sale of opium, as he could not effect its exclusion, and thus make a profit of it, what was his reply? 'it is true i cannot prevent the introduction of the flowing poison. gain-seeking and corrupt men will, for profit and sensuality, defeat my wishes, but nothing will induce me to derive a benefit from the vice and misery of my people.'

"these were the sentiments of the chinese monarch; what was the conduct of the so-called christian englishmen? they determined to go on poisoning and demoralizing china, till they provoked the government to war, and then massacred the people to compel the continuance of the sale of opium."

howitt evidently has as ardent a sympathy for those who have suffered from the tyranny of british rule as [pg 475] edmund burke himself. the wholesale degradation of the hindoos, which has resulted from the measures of the east india company, calls loudly indeed for the denunciations of indignant humanity. the crime must have its punishment. the ill-gotten gains of the company should be seized to carry out an ameliorating policy, and all concerned in enforcing the system of oppression should be taught that justice is not to be wounded with impunity.

the burdens imposed upon the hindoos are precisely of the character and extent of those that have reduced ireland to poverty and her people to slavery. besides the enormous rents, which are sufficient of themselves to dishearten the tillers of the soil, the british authorities seem to have exhausted invention in devising taxes. so dear a price to live was never paid by any people except the irish. what remains to the cultivator when the rent of the land and almost forty different taxes are paid?

those hindoos who wish to employ capital or labour in any other way than in cultivation of land are deterred by the formidable array of taxation. the chief taxes are styled the veesabuddy, or tax on merchants, traders, and shopkeepers; the mohturfa, or tax on weavers, carpenters, stonecutters, and other mechanical trades; and the bazeebab, consisting of smaller taxes annually rented out to the highest bidder. the proprietor of the bazeebab is thus constituted a petty chieftain, [pg 476] with power to exact fees at marriages and religious ceremonies; to inquire into and fine the misconduct of females in families, and other misdemeanours—in fact, petty tyrants, who can at all times allege engagements to the government to justify extortion. [113] these proprietors are the worst kind of slaveholders.

the mode of settling the mohturfa on looms is remarkable for the precision of its exaction. every circumstance of the weaver's family is considered; the number of days which he devotes to his loom, the number of his children, the assistance which he receives from them, and the number and quality of the pieces which he can produce in a year; so that, let him exert himself as he will, his industry will always be taxed to the highest degree. [114] this method is so detailed that the servants of the government cannot enter into it, and the assessment of the tax is therefore left to the heads of the villages. it is impossible for a weaver to know what he is to pay to the government for being allowed to carry on his business till the yearly demand is made. if he has worked hard, and turned out one or two pieces of cloth more than he did the year before, his tax is increased. the more industrious he is the more he is forced to pay.

the tax-gatherers are thorough inquisitors. according to rikards, upward of seventy different kinds of [pg 477] buildings—the houses, shops, or warehouses of different castes and professions—were ordered to be entered into the survey accounts; besides the following implements of professions, which were usually assessed to the public revenue, viz.: "oil-mills, iron manufactory, toddy-drawer's stills, potter's kiln, washerman's stone, goldsmith's tools, sawyer's saw, toddy-drawer's knives, fishing-nets, barber's hones, blacksmith's anvils, pack-bullocks, cocoa-nut safe, small fishing-boats, cotton-beater's bow, carpenter's tools, large fishing-boats, looms, salt-storehouses. if a landlord objects to the assessment on trees, as old and past bearing, they are, one and all, ordered to be cut down—a measure as ridiculous as unjust—as it not only inflicts injury upon the landlord, but takes away the chance of future profit for the government. mr. rikards bears witness, as a collector of malabar, that lands and produce were sometimes inserted in the survey account which absolutely did not exist, while other lands were assessed to the revenue at more than their actual produce. from all this, it is obvious that the hindoo labourer or artisan is the slave of the tax-collector, who, moreover, has no interest in the life of his victim.

labour being almost "dirt cheap" in india, whenever speculating companies of englishmen wish to carry out any particular scheme for which labourers are required, they hire a number of hindoo coolies, induce them to visit any port of the country, and treat them abominably, [pg 478] knowing that the poor wretches have no protection. the operations of the assam tea company illustrate this practice:—

"an inconsiderate expenditure of capital placed the assam tea company in great jeopardy, and at one time it was feared the scheme would be abandoned. the number of managers and assistants appointed by the assam company to carry on their affairs and superintend their tea gardens, on large salaries, was quite unnecessary; one or two experienced european superintendents to direct the native establishment would have answered every purpose. a vast number of coolies (or labourers) were induced to proceed to upper assam to cultivate the gardens; but bad arrangements having been made to supply them with proper, wholesome food, many were seized with sickness. on their arrival at the tea-plantations, in the midst of high and dense tree jungle, numbers absconded, and others met an untimely end. the rice served out to the coolies from the assam tea company's store-rooms, was so bad as not to be fit to be given to elephants, much less to human beings. the loss of these labourers, who had been conveyed to upper assam at a great expense, deprived the company of the means of cultivating so great an extent of country as would otherwise have been insured; for the scanty population of upper assam offered no means of replacing the deficiency of hands. nor was the improvidence of the company in respect to labourers the only instance of their mismanagement. although the company must have known that they had no real use or necessity for a steamer, a huge vessel was nevertheless purchased, and frequently sent up and down the burrampooter river from calcutta; carrying little else than a few thousand rupees for the payment of their establishment in upper assam, which might have been transmitted through native bankers, and have saved the company a most lavish and unprofitable expenditure of capital." [115]

[pg 479]

ay, and the expense is all that is thought worthy of consideration. the miserable victims to the measures of the company might perish like brutes without being even pitied.

on the verge of starvation, as so many of the hindoo labourers generally are, it does not excite surprise that they are very ready to listen to the offers of those who are engaged in the "cooley slave-trade." in addition to the astounding facts given by us in the previous chapter, in regard to this traffic in men, we quote the following from the london spectator of october, 1838:—

"under lord glenelg's patronage, the eastern slave-trade prospers exceedingly. the traffic in hill coolies promises to become one of the most extensive under the british flag. a cargo arrived in berbice about the beginning of may, in prime condition: and the berbice advertiser, one of the most respectable of the west india journals, states, that out of 289, conveyed in the whitby, only eight died on the passage, and very few were ill. only one circumstance was wanting to make them the happiest of human(?) beings—only eight women were sent as companions for the 280 men; and the deficiency of females was the more to be regretted because it was 'probable they would be shunned by the negroes from jealousy and speaking a different language.'

"the same newspaper contains a very curious document respecting the hill cooley traffic. it is a circular letter, dated the 8th january, 1838, from henley, dowson, and bethel, of calcutta, the agents most extensively engaged in the shipment of labourers from india to the mauritius and british guiana. these gentlemen thus state their claims to preference over other houses in the same business:—

"'we have within the last two years procured and shipped upward of 5000 free agricultural labourers for our friends at mauritius; [pg 480] and, from the circumstance of nearly 500 of the number being employed on estates in which we possess a direct interest, we can assure you that a happier and more contented labouring population is seldom to be met with in any part of the world, than the dhargas or mountain tribes sent from this vast country.'

"five thousand within two years to the mauritius alone! this is pretty well, considering that the trade is in its infancy. as to the statement of the happiness and contentment of the labourers, rather more impartial evidence than the good word of the exporters of the commodity advertised would be desirable. if englishmen could fancy themselves hill coolies for an instant—landed in berbice, in the proportion of 280 men to 8 of the gentler sex, 'speaking a different language,' and shunned by the very negroes—we are inclined to think they would not, even in that imaginary and momentary view, conceit themselves to be among the happiest of mankind.

"we proceed with the calcutta circular:—

"'the labourers hitherto procured by us have cost their employers, landed at the mauritius, about one hundred rupees (or 10l. sterling) per man; which sum comprises six months' advance of wages, provisions and water for the voyage, clothing, commission, passage, insurance, and all incidental charges.'

"'the expense attending the shipment of indian labourers to the west india colonies would be necessarily augmented—firstly, by the higher rate of passage-money, and the increased quantity of provisions and water; and, secondly, from the necessity of making arrangements, indispensable to the health and comfort of native passengers, on a voyage of so long a duration, in the course of which they would be exposed to great vicissitude of climate.

"'on making ample allowance for these charges, we do not apprehend that a labourer, sent direct from this country to demerara, and engaged to work on your estates for a period of five consecutive years, would cost, landed there, above two hundred and ten rupees, or 21l. sterling.'

"this sum of 210 rupees includes six months' wages—at what rate does the reader suppose? why, five rupees, or ten shillings [pg 481] sterling a month—half-a-crown a week—in demerara! the passage is 10l., and the insurance 12s.; for they are insured at so much a head, like pigs or sheep.

"it is manifest that after their arrival in demerara, the indians will not, unless on compulsion, work for five years at the rate of 10s. a month, while the negroes receive much higher wages. they are therefore placed under strict control, and are just as much slaves as the redemptioners, whom the virtuous quakers inveigled into pennsylvania a century or more ago. the indians bind themselves to work in town or country, wherever their consignee or master may choose to employ them. one of the articles of their agreement is this:—

"'in order that the undersigned natives of india may be fully aware of the engagement they undertake, it is hereby notified, that they will be required to do all such work as the object for which they are engaged necessitates; and that, as labourers attached to an estate, they will be required to clear forest and extract timber, carry manure, dig and prepare land for planting, also to take charge of horses, mules, and cattle of every description; in short, to do all such work as an estate for the cultivation of sugar-cane and the manufacture of sugar demands, or any branch of agriculture to which they may be destined.'

"in case of disobedience or misconduct—that is, at the caprice of the master—they may be 'degraded,' and sent back at their own charge to calcutta. they are to receive no wages during illness; and a rupee a month is to be deducted from their wages—thereby reducing them to 2s. a week—as an indemnity-fund for the cost of sending them back. what security there is for the kind treatment of the labourers does not appear: there is nothing in the contract but a promise to act equitably.

"now, in what respect do these men differ in condition from negro slaves, except very much for the worse? they must be more helpless than the negroes—if for no other reason, because of their ignorance of the language their masters use. they will not, for a long period certainly, be formidable from their numbers. how easily may even the miserable terms of the contract with their employers be evaded! suppose the indian works steadily [pg 482] for four years, it may suit his master to describe him as refractory and idle during the fifth, and then he will be sent back at his own cost; and the whole of his earnings may be expended in paying for his passage to calcutta, where, after all, he is a long way from home.

"it is impossible to contemplate without pain the inevitable lot of these helpless beings; but the conduct of the government, which could sanction the infamous commerce of which the hill cooley will be the victims, while professing all the while such a holy horror of dealing in negroes, should rouse general indignation.

is it only a certain shade of black, and a peculiar physical conformation, which excites the compassion of the anti-slavery people? if it is cruelty, oppression, and fraud which they abhor and desire to prevent, then let them renew their agitation in behalf of the kidnapped natives of india, now suffering, probably more acutely, all that made the lot of the negro a theme for eloquence and a field for christian philanthropy."

this is written in the right spirit. the trade described has increased to an extent which calls for the interference of some humane power. should the british government continue to sanction the traffic, it must stand responsible for a national crime.

oppressive and violent as the british dominion in india undoubtedly is, the means devised to extend it are even more worthy of strong condemnation. the government fixes its eyes upon a certain province, where the people are enjoying peace and plenty, and determines to get possession of it. the romans themselves were not more fertile in pretences for forcible seizure of territory than these british plunderers. they quickly hunt up a pretender to the throne, support his claims [pg 483] with a powerful army, make him their complete tool, dethrone the lawful sovereign, and extend their authority over the country. the course pursued toward afghanistan in 1838 illustrates this outrageous violation of national rights.

the following account of the origin and progress of the afghanistan war is given by an english writer in the penny magazine:—

"in 1747, ahmeed shah, an officer of an afghan troop in the service of persia, refounded the afghan monarchy, which was maintained until the death of his successor in 1793. ahmeed was of the douranee tribe, and the limits over which his sway extended is spoken of as the douranee empire. four of the sons of ahmeed's successor disputed, and in turn possessed, the throne; and during this civil war several of the principal chiefs threw off their allegiance, and the douranee empire ceased to exist, but was split up into the chiefships of candahar, herat, caboul, and peshawur. herat afterward became a dependency of persia, and shah shooja ool moolook, the chief of peshawur, lost his power after having enjoyed it for about six years. dost mohammed kahn, the chief of caboul, according to the testimony of the late sir alexander burnes, writing in 1832, governed his territory with great judgment, improved its internal administration and resources, and became the most powerful chief in afghanistan. shah shooja was for many years a fugitive and a pensioner of the british government. he made one unsuccessful attempt to regain his territory, but peshawur eventually became a tributary to the ruler of the punjab. such was the state of afghanistan in 1836.

"in the above year the anglo-indian government complained that dost mohammed khan, chief of caboul, had engaged in schemes of aggrandizement which threatened the stability of the british frontier in india; and sir alexander burnes, who was [pg 484] sent with authority to represent to him the light in which his proceedings were viewed, was compelled to leave caboul without having effected any change in his conduct. the siege of herat, and the support which both dost mohammed and his brother, the chief of candahar, gave to the designs of persia in afghanistan, the latter chief especially openly assisting the operations against herat, created fresh alarm in the anglo-indian government as to the security of our frontier. several minor chiefs also avowed their attachment to the persians. as our policy, instead of hostility, required an ally capable of resisting aggression on the western frontier of india, the governor-general, from whose official papers we take these statements, 'was satisfied,' after serious and mature deliberation, 'that a pressing necessity, as well as every consideration of policy and justice, warranted us in espousing the cause of shah shooja ool moolk;' and it was determined to place him on the throne. according to the governor-general, speaking from the best authority, the testimony as to shah shooja's popularity was unanimous. in june, 1838, the late sir william macnaghten formed a tripartite treaty with the ruler of the punjab and shah shooja; the object of which was to restore the latter to the throne of his ancestors. this policy it was conceived would conduce to the general freedom and security of commerce, the restoration of tranquillity upon the most important frontier of india, and the erection of a lasting barrier against hostile intrigue and encroachment; and, while british influence would thus gain its proper footing among the nations of central asia, the prosperity of the afghan people would be promoted.

"troops were despatched from the presidencies of bengal and bombay to co-operate with the contingents raised by the shah and our other ally, the united force being intended to act together under the name of the 'army of the indus.' after a march of extraordinary length, through countries which had never before been traversed by british troops, and defiles which are the most difficult passes in the world, where no wheeled carriage had ever been, and where it was necessary for the engineers in many places to construct roads before the baggage could proceed, the combined forces from bengal and bombay reached candahar in may, [pg 485] 1839. according to the official accounts, the population were enthusiastic in welcoming the return of shah shooja. the next step was to advance toward ghiznee and caboul. on the 23d july, the strong and important fortress and citadel of ghiznee, regarded throughout asia as impregnable, was taken in two hours by blowing up the caboul gate. the army had only been forty-eight hours before the place. an 'explosion party' carried three hundred pounds of gunpowder in twelve sand-bags, with a hose seventy-two feet long, the train was laid and fired, the party having just time to reach a tolerable shelter from the effects of the concussion, though one of the officers was injured by its force. on the 7th of august the army entered caboul. dost mohammed had recalled his son mohammed akhbar from jellalabad with the troops guarding the khyber pass, and their united forces amounted to thirteen thousand men; but these troops refused to advance, and dost mohammed was obliged to take precipitate fight, accompanied only by a small number of horsemen. shah shooja made a triumphant entry into caboul, and the troops of dost mohammed tendered their allegiance to him. the official accounts state that in his progress toward caboul he was joined by every person of rank and influence in the country. as the tribes in the bolan pass committed many outrages and murders on the followers of the army of the indus, at the instigation of their chief, the khan of khelat, his principal town (khelat) was taken on the 13th of november, 1839. the political objects of the expedition had now apparently been obtained. the hostile chiefs of caboul and candahar were replaced by a friendly monarch. on the side of scinde and herat, british alliance and protection were courted. all this had been accomplished in a few months, but at an expense said to exceed three millions sterling."

the expense of national outrage is only of importance to the sordid and unprincipled men who conceived and superintended the afghanistan expedition. in the first part of the above extract, the writer places the british government in the position of one who strikes in self-defence. [pg 486] it was informed that dost mohammed entertained schemes of invasion dangerous to the british supremacy—informed by the exiled enemy of the chief of caboul. the information was seasonable and exceedingly useful. straightway a treaty was formed, by which the british agreed to place their tool for the enslavement of the afghans upon the throne from which he had been driven. further on, it is said, that when shah sooja appeared in afghanistan he was joined by every person of rank and influence in the country. just so; and the followers and supporters of dost mohammed nearly all submitted to the superior army of the british general. but two years afterward, the strength of the patriotic party was seen, when caboul rose against shah sooja, drove him again from the throne, and defeated and massacred a considerable british garrison. shah sooja was murdered soon afterward. but the british continued the war against the afghans, with the object of reducing them to the same slavery under which the remainder of hindostan was groaning. the violation of national rights, the massacre of thousands, and the enslavement of millions were the glorious aims of british policy in the afghan expedition. the policy then carried out has been more fully illustrated since that period. whenever a territory was thought desirable by the government, neither national rights, the principles of justice and humanity, nor even the common right of property in individuals [pg 487] has been respected. wealth has been an object for the attainment of which plunder and massacre were not considered unworthy means.

said mr. john bright, the radical reformer of manchester, in a speech delivered in the house of commons:—"it cannot be too universally known that the cultivators of the soil (in india) are in a very unsatisfactory condition; that they are, in truth, in a condition of almost extreme and universal poverty. all testimony concurred upon that point. he would call the attention of the house to the statement of a celebrated native of india, the rajah rammohun roy, who, about twenty years ago, published a pamphlet in london, in which he pointed out the ruinous effects of the zemindaree system, and the oppressions experienced by the ryots in the presidencies of bombay and madras. after describing the state of affairs generally, he added, 'such was the melancholy condition of the agricultural labourers, that it always gave him the greatest pain to allude to it.' three years afterward, mr. shore, who was a judge in india, published a work which was considered as a standard work till now, and he stated 'that the british government was not regarded in a favourable light by the native population of india—that a system of taxation and extortion was carried on unparalleled in the annals of any country.'"

from all quarters we receive unimpeachable evidence that the locust system has performed its devouring work [pg 488] on the broadest scale in india; and that the hindoos are the victims of conquerors, slower, indeed, in their movements, than tamerlane or genghis khan, but more destructive and more criminal than either of those great barbarian invaders.