It was the same with liquor. For years I never saw a drunken man in the
district. There were no spirits made, none to be obtained and none used.
It is contrary to the religion of the better classes of Hindus to have
anything to do with liquor in any manner, and the Muhamedan religion
prohibits its use entirely. The people were in blissful ignorance of the
use and effects of liquor. Along came the abkari agent of the Revenue
Department of Government who saw a great field for his operations and he
at once arranged for the erection of four distilleries. Natives in the
Government service, both Hindu and Muhamedan were placed in charge. At
first the distilleries were idle, but by sending out agents to offer big
prices for sugar cane refuse, the natives were induced to bring the
stuff for sale. Then the liquor was not used and the same methods were
employed as for the introduction of opium. Places were licensed and
liquor at first given away for the encouragement of trade and the
benefit of the Government revenue. The result was that in a few years
there were drunkards, and the nights were made hideous by their revelry.
Idleness, poverty and crime increased. Broils destroyed the good order
of the communities. The Muhamedan officer in charge told me that every
year there was a large increase in the amount of spirits produced and
the annual reports of Government were exultant over the increased
revenue from this department. One of the members of the Board of
Revenue, an Englishman, in one of his tours of examination boasted of
the increasing success of the liquor traffic among the natives and the
consequent advantage to Government. A man might as well boast of his
seduction of innocence, of his robbery of widows or of defrauding the
simple-minded. But what of the officers of Government, intelligent men,
calling themselves Christians, representing a civilized Christian
people, deliberately planning a scheme with the all-powerful, despotic,
brute force of Government to debauch and degrade the ignorant,
simple-minded people of India? The devil himself, if there be one, as
the Christians devoutly believe, must have made hell ring with laughter
when he saw what these Christian officers of a Christian nation were
doing to help him damn the world.
It may be asked why did the people submit to such tyranny and raise
opium? Only an innocent, unacquainted with the power and methods of the
Indian Government would ask such a question.
What else could these helpless people do but to go when seized by the
policemen of the opium agent, and to take the contracts forced upon
them? The Collector of the District was snubbed by the agent for his
interference and when he referred the matter to the Government of the
Province, he was told in polite, but very emphatic terms, that he was
not to meddle with things outside his own department. As this is a true
story I could name the place, the year, and give the names of all the
officers concerned, but as such methods of raising revenue were no
secret, why be personal? A European, writing of the Eskimos, says: “Our
civilization, our missions and our commercial products have reduced its
material condition, its morality and its social order to a state of such
melancholy decline that the whole race seems doomed to destruction.”
Would not this be applicable to India, especially as regards the
introduction of European vices?
Why did the natives continue to cultivate opium after the Government
pressure had been removed? Because there was a little ready money in it.
They are so desperately impoverished that the offer of money is a
temptation not to be resisted. Nothing is so attractive to a native as
an advance of money, peshgi. He will often make a ruinous bargain or
take a losing contract if he can get a prepayment, trusting to fate to
help him out in the end. Though heathen, they are not more able to
resist temptation, when money is in question, than their Christian
fellow men. I learned when in England that the business of a publican
was considered degrading and disgraceful, yet there were many church
members, both Catholic and Protestant, engaged in it.
Such is the power and worship of wealth that even Her Majesty, the
Queen, and her eminent advisers make peers of brewers and distillers,
and it is not wholly a concealed secret that some prominent
ecclesiastics hold shares in breweries and distilleries. If such things
occur in the civilized Christian light of England, is it to be wondered
at, that the wretched natives of India are tempted by money?
I frequently took pleasure in tantalizing the natives connected with the
distilleries for having to do with a business contrary to their religion
and customs. They replied that it was utterly hateful to them in every
way, but as servants of Government they had to obey orders or lose their
situations, and this would be poverty and starvation to them and their
families. A Tahsildar was in charge of one of the distilleries. I said
to him, “You are a strict Mussalman, you say your daily prayers, you
rigidly fast during all the Ramazan, and yet you superintend the
manufacture of spirits forbidden by your Koran.” He replied, “I have
been in the Government service over thirty years, and have to obey its
orders. Should I refuse, I would receive my dismissal and this would
greatly reduce my pension on which I retire soon. I am helpless in the
matter and compelled to have charge of a business, of which I am ashamed
and more than that, every day when I go to the distillery I am afraid
that the curse of the Prophet may come upon me for doing what is
contrary to my religion.”
If the natives of India were asked about the liquor and opium business,
nine-tenths of them, heathen as they are, would say “abolish it at
once.” Why then is it continued? For the sake of the revenue. Were there
no gain from it, the Government would not tolerate it for a day. The
most detestable feature of the whole matter is the philanthropic,
for-the-glory-of-God air, that the Government supporters assume, when
they try to uphold this crime against a conquered and helpless, ignorant
people. One can have some respect for an outspoken, frank man, though he
be wicked, but I have yet to learn that a truckling hypocrite has ever
been regarded with anything but contempt. If the Government of India
would frankly say that it didn’t care a blanked ha’penny about the
morals, happiness or eternal welfare of the people of India or China,
but what it wanted was revenue from opium and spirits, it would be
telling the truth and one might respect its frankness, though detesting
its principles. When it claims that it is cultivating opium and
fostering the liquor traffic out of pure philanthropy, it is presuming
too much on the capacity of human credulity. The statement that if India
does not raise opium, China will do it for herself, or that India should
supply the pure drug, otherwise the Chinese would get it badly
adulterated, is simply twaddle of the thinnest kind, such as any villain
might use as an excuse for his wrong-doing and none but a knave or an
idiot would accept.
Being such as I am, I have great sympathy for these poor, oppressed
people. I have seen the constantly increasing degradation of India,
through opium and liquor. Year by year it is becoming worse and worse
through the fostering help of this so-called Christian Government. Years
ago, one might travel through the length and breadth of the country, and
not see a man drunk with opium or liquor, now he can see and hear them
everywhere, and the end is not yet. The seed has been sown, and the
harvests are coming.
Every native, and all Europeans, who are not in the service, and have
not their own selfish interests at stake, will lay the blame where it
properly belongs, on the Government. All the blessings that England has
conferred upon India, will never outweigh this curse of drunkenness,
directly caused by Government authority.
As I had an experience in regard to the cultivation of opium, so I had
to thwart a plan for the introduction of liquor. Anyone could see, at a
glance, that these villagers of mine were prosperous, and had money to
spend; so the greedy eyes of the agents of the Abkari Department did not
overlook them. One of these men, in one of the villages, by his oily
tongue, and the offer of a big rent, had nearly obtained the lease of a
house, for the sale of liquor and opium. This was at once reported to
me, and I was soon upon the ground. The opportunity afforded me a chance
for a temperance lecture. The people were all collected one evening
under the big tree in front of the school-house. I explained to them
that their ancestors had never used opium or liquor; that their religion
was opposed to the use of these things; that it would be a violation of
their caste and custom, to degrade them all, and make them mlecchas or
outcasts; that the use of them would be a waste of money. I portrayed
all this with explanations, and begged of them that they would not
degrade themselves, and destroy the good name they had got among the
surrounding people. I wanted to touch their pride, as well as to
encourage their feeling of moral responsibility. I saw that I had gained
my point, and might have rested, but I reminded them of what I had done
for their improvement and happiness, and as they well knew that I had
never done anything to their hurt, they should trust me still, but if
they should allow the sale or use of these injurious things, contrary to
my wishes, I would have less interest in helping them in the future.
Instead of this method, I might have given an order, forbidding the
sale, and it would have been obeyed, but it was not my way of treating
these people. I wanted them to take the responsibility, and to make them
feel they had done the work, not I, by an order.
After the assembly broke up, the man who had lost his chance of getting
a big rent for his house, stopped to ask some questions. “If the use of
opium and liquor were so bad, why did the Sircar, who was the mabap to
all the people, urge and compel them to raise opium, build distilleries
and license places for the sale of sharab? Was the Sircar so bad as to
be willing to injure the people? He had heard in the bazar of the
station, that all the sahibs drank liquor, and that the khitmutgar of
one of the Collectors had said that his sahib would often be drunk after
dinner. All the sahib log were Esai log, Jesus people. If the Christian
religion was the true one, then how could these Christians make opium
and liquor for sale, and use them if it was wrong to do so?” A great
question, as difficult to answer, as it is to excuse Jesus for making
wine; and make an apology for Paul, recommending Timothy to take wine
for his stomach’s sake. It is an unpleasant task to have to apologize
for the wrong-doing of Christians. I explained that the sahibs were only
men, and many of them often did wrong, which was no excuse for others.
If other people should steal, it was no reason why he should become a
thief, no matter who they were.
Why should he not ask such questions? They are asked daily throughout
India. The occurrences in the European households, the tiffs between
husbands and wives are freely discussed in the bazars, and are as well
known as if they had been performed in the street in open daylight. The
people may be heathen, and uneducated, yet they know a great deal more
than they are credited with.
There was no more trouble after that about the culture of opium, or the
sale of liquor in the villages. The people saw enough of the evil
effects in the communities around them, where the government had
established liquor and opium dens, to convince them that they had
happily escaped a great calamity and nuisance.
Not long after this, one of the villages had an object lesson, when I
happened to be present. A sweeper had been away to a village, attending
some festival among his brethren, and returned in a great state of
hilarity. At first he was only amusing, then began to take liberties,
which the people resented. In return he gave them gali, pouring upon
them the foulest abuse. I suggested, they tie him to a tree, and drench
him with water, which they did till he was sober, a great crowd in
attendance, to whom I gave a temperance lecture, with the subject before
me. The next day the village committee came to me to inquire what
punishment should be given to the man for his foul, abusive words. I
suggested they put him on a donkey, with his face tail-wards, and as a
dead vulture had been brought to me, from under one of the trees, that
the skin of this stinking bird should be put on the sweeper as a
headdress. He was soon in position, with his regalia upon him, and the
donkey was led up and down the streets for an hour, while the crowd,
including many from the other villages, for the report of the coming fun
soon spread, made all possible sport with their victim, while the boys
pelted the sinner with bits of earth and rotten vegetables. This I
considered sufficient for the time, but the committee decided, that if
he, or any one else, should commit a like offense, they should be tied
up, drenched with water until sober, and then be flogged. I never heard
of a case of drunkenness in any of the villages afterwards. The people
became a law unto themselves in opposition to the philanthropic
government that tried to make them drunkards.
Life with us went on with the monotony usual in an India station. From
month to month scarcely anything, not even the unexpected, happened. The
military officers were longing for a break out somewhere, no matter with
whom, the French on the south-east, the Russians on the north-west, or
with the border tribes, so long as it would give them something to do in
their line. Their trade was war, and war they wanted, something to take
the place of the everlasting drill, and to break up the tiresome routine
of cantonment work. The members of the civil service had their daily
grists to grind, and like toilers on a tread-mill, were glad when the
days were ended. Though excluded somewhat, I could hear the murmurs of
discontent. Few seemed to have any real interest in their work. They
considered themselves as exiles driven away from home by necessity, to
become naukars, and their great hope was in furloughs and the prospect
of retirement. As I was at home I made the best of it, and my wife
joined me heartily in promoting our mutual happiness. We had our books,
magazines and papers, which gave us an abundance of enjoyment. Our large
garden gave us recreation and pleasure, while our villages gave us work.
We often spent days with our friends, the villagers. My wife became the
mama to all the women and girls and they were very quick to profit by
her teachings. She visited them in their houses, criticised their ways
of keeping house, and advised in regard to making their homes pleasant
and comfortable. She showed them how to make various cheap articles.
Soon all hands were busy in trying to excel each other in having the
cleanest and best furnished house. There were no zananas, and the women
had become so accustomed to seeing me at our assemblies that they freely
welcomed me in company with my wife. It may appear very insignificant,
but it has been one of the delights of my life to recall the great
improvements made in the habits of these simple-minded villagers. The
cost was so little and the results very great, showing what a little
teaching and encouragement can do. Cleanliness became a pride, as well
as a habit. If some kept their houses clean, others did not dare to do
otherwise, if not from choice, for fear of remarks.
The houses were, however, not satisfactory, and my wife suggested that
we build a model house. I selected a spot in a central place, and built
one upon it as cheaply as possible, with a view to substantial use and
comfort. It had two rooms, a small veranda in front, and an enclosed
yard at the back, where the cooking could be done and various articles
be stored. The walls were plastered with clay by the women with their
skill at such work. Then came the furnishing. This model house, matted,
charpoyed, stooled and cupboarded, with pictures cut from illustrated
papers upon the walls, was good enough for a king, and probably much
neater than what some of the lords in England not many years ago
enjoyed. When completed, at one of our evening assemblies I called
attention to it, and promised to give ten rupees to every one who would
build a house like it. I explained to them that by joining together they
could mould the brick, thatch the roofs, and do all the work themselves,
without any outside help—all to work together like busy bees.
I suggested to the committee that the ground plot of the village should
be enlarged, so as to allow of back yards, with alleys between the
yards. This done, the work went on apace, and soon a number of houses
were built. There was an abundance of grass on the borders of the
fields. I engaged a mat-maker from the city, and set him to instruct the
women as well as men to make mats. At first some hesitated, as it was
not according to their caste to do such work, but they soon fell in, and
it was not long before every house had mats for its floors. Many of the
people had slept on the ground from sheer laziness or custom. I had a
carpenter make same cheap charpoys and then thick mats were made for
them. It was a mat-making community for a while, as no one wished to be
outdone by his neighbor. Then came the making of rude shelves, on which
they could place their trinkets, and soon every house had such a
cupboard. Then little low stools, with twine grass bottoms, on which
they could sit cross-legged if they chose, instead of on the floor as
formerly. The desire for these new things became contagious, and their
eagerness gave us great amusement.
My wife had offered to give the twine for the mats, the wood for the
shelves, and the pictures for the walls, and still better than all that,
she would give a looking-glass like the one she used, for each house
when it was complete. This last offer took the cake, as every Eve’s
daughter of them was bound to have a looking-glass, and gave her men
folk no rest until they had built a house. I might have planned for days
and nights together, before I could have caught on such a trick as
effective as that. It was a woman’s instinct that did it. My advice and
offer of ten rupees were nowhere compared to the looking-glass for the
erection of new houses.
The result of our model house suggestion was that within a year there
was not an old house in all the village. Each one was in line, matted,
shelved and pictured, and last but not least, judging by the expressive
faces and appearance of the women, each house had its looking-glass.
My other villages, seeing what was going on, became extremely jealous,
and their committees called on me and asked what they had done to turn
the hearts of the sahib and mem sahib away from them—to favor one
village and not the others. I was greatly pleased with this sign of
life, and after letting them talk a while, as each member of the
committee had to tell his story of their regard for me, how anxious they
were to please me, and how heartbroken they were to think that I had
forgotten them.
I asked what they wanted. Were they willing to build new houses? And
they all responded yes, as with one voice. I then promised to do the
same for their villages as I had done for the other, when they fairly
embraced me, and departed with protestations of love for me and the mem
sahib. They had not left her out, for they had probably been well
instructed before they left home, as they very politely asked, “And the
looking-glasses too, mem sahib?” She responded, with a laugh, “Yes, to
every house a looking-glass.” Soon we had a model house in each village,
and for days I was occupied in staking out the ground for houses, alleys
and yards.
Before another year all the old houses had disappeared, the rubbish
removed and everything was spick and span new and clean, a wonderful
change compared to the filthy places formerly occupied.