Darkest India | Page 6

and anxious for employment, but unable to obtain it.
III. The Houseless Poor.
IV. The Destitute Debtors.
V. The Victims of Famine and Scarcity.
VI. The Victims of Pestilence.
VII. The Vicious, including
(a) Drunkards.
(b) Opium eaters.
(c) Prostitutes.
VIII. The Criminals, or those who support themselves by crime.
They are alike in one respect, that if they were compelled to be solely
dependent upon the proceeds of their labor, it would be impossible for
them to exist for a single month.

It is these who constitute the problem which we are endeavouring to
solve. Here is the leprous spot of society on which we desire to place
our finger. If any think, that it is not so big as we imagine, we will not
quarrel with them about its size. Let them cut down our figures to half
the amount we have supposed. It will still be large enough to answer
the purpose of this inquiry, and should surely serve to arrest the
attention of the most callous and indifferent! About its existence no one
can have the smallest doubt, nor as to the serious nature of the plague
which afflicts our society. As to the character of the remedy, there may
be a thousand different opinions but that a remedy is called for, who
can question?


CHAPTER V.
THE BEGGARS.
One of the chief problems of Indian Society is that of beggary. India is
perhaps the most beggar-beridden country to be found. Nor would it be
possible under present circumstances to pass any law forbidding
beggary. In the absence of a poor-law, it is the last resource of the
destitute.
True it is a plague spot in society and a serious reflection both on our
humanity and civilisation, to say nothing of our religious professions,
to tolerate the continued existence of the present state of things.
And yet I see no reason why the problem should not be firmly and
successfully handled in the interests alike of the beggars themselves
and those who supply the alms.
A short time ago I was visiting a Mahommedan gentleman in the
Native quarter of Bombay. It was in the morning before he went to
business, and I happened to hit upon the very time when the beggars
made their usual rounds. I should think upwards of fifty men and

women must have called during the few minutes that I was there. In
fact it seemed like one never-ending string of them reaching down both
sides of the street. Some sang, or shouted, to attract notice; others stood
mutely with appealing eyes, wherever they thought there was a chance
of getting anything. Many received a dole, while others were told to
call again. I could not but be struck by the courteous manner of my host
to them, even when asking them to pass along.
On the opposite side of the road some food, or money, I forget which,
was being distributed to a hungry crowd by another hospitable
merchant. Evidently the supply was limited, and it was a case of first
come first served. The desperate struggle that was going on amongst
that little crowd of some fifty or sixty people was pitiful to behold.
Now the present system, while better than nothing, is fraught with
many serious objections, with which I am sure my Indian readers will
agree.
1. The weakest must inevitably go to the wall. It is the strong
able-bodied lusty beggar who is bound to get the best of it in struggles
such as I have above described, although he is just the one who could
and ought to work and who least needs the charity. He is able also to
cover more ground than the weak and sickly. To the latter the struggle
for existence is necessarily very severe, and while needing and
deserving help the most they get the least.
2. This unsystematic haphazard mode of helping the poor is bound to
be attended with serious inequalities; while some get more than is
either good, or necessary, others get too little, and for the majority even
supposing that on two or three days of the week they succeeded in
getting a sufficiency, the chances are that on four or five they would
not get nearly enough. It would be interesting to know the total amount
of food thus distributed and the number of mouths that claim a share.
3. Of course in the case of any rise in the price of grains, the position of
the beggar is specially painful, as it is upon him that the weight of the
scarcity first falls.

4. Again the present system is a distinct encouragement to fraud. It is
impossible for the givers of charity to know anything about the
characters of those to whom they give. Thus