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l252 THE LE AD E R [Satorday .
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THE STATE OF LNf)IA. Tins Overland Mail ...
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The news from China still leaves matters...
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INFANTICIDE IN THE PUNJAB. (From the Fri...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Indian Reform. The Bombay Native Associa...
so completely under a parcel of London clerks as to be compelled to send home particulars of everything they say or do , to be commented on , checked , or controlled by parties incapable from position of forming a correct opinion on what they decide , and finally , in India , we have had ^ public education neglected , improvement thrown aside , irrigation and the means of communication overlooked ; thougli to neglect such as' this we have , since , the Charter Act of 1833 , been indebted for famines , which have swept away nearly two millions of human beings , and sacrificed to Government above eight millions sterling , a sum which , if properly expended , would have been sufficient to have averted for ever the calamities by which in a few years
its loss was occasioned . Against things so monstrous as these , in reference to which trie Ministry seemed deaf or unheeding , were the petitions directed as well as against local grievances . Appeals to the people of England , through the Press , were also made by the India Kefbrm Society , and the result has been that the Ministers were obliged to grant more reforms than they at first intended . The double government still remains , however , slightly modified ; but its days are numbered . The report just read has given the prominent innovations in the last Charter Act , and we ought no doubt to acknowledge with thankfulness , the few improvements which have been introduced by the Ministry , in which we cannot help lameitfing to notice , in common with for
our Calcutta brethren , the absence of any provision the extension of p nblic works , for the admission of even a single native into the Legislative ^ Council , and the virtual exclusion of the educated natives from the Civil Serxice by the continuance of the Haileybury College , as the exclusive medium of admission into that service . The British Government professes to educate the Natives to an equality with Europeans , an object worthy of the age and of Britain ; but- ' if Englishmen , after educating the Natives to be their equals , continue to treat them as their inferiors ; if they deny the stimulus to honourable ambition , and show the Natives that there is a barrier over which superior Native merit and ambition can never hope to pass , and that these are considered traits , to which a Native cannot hope to exhibit—are they not in effect undoing all that they have done , unteachinff the Native all that he has been
taught , and pursuing a suicidal policy , which will inevitably array all the talent , honour , and intelligence of the country ultimately in irreconcileable hostility to the ruling power?—will not the British nation be breaking its pledged faith ? The time has come when these things should be considered . As to the argument that the Natives cannot be trusted in places of great responsibility , it is admirably met by Mirabeau , in a work dedicated to the Emperor of Prussia . He says ( something to this effect ) , ' If the Jews are so degraded a race that you cannot trust them with the rights of citizens if you desire a reformed generation , it is only by teaching them what those rights are , and how they can be exercised , that you can hope to improve them . ' Begin this immediately : until they are accustomed to the exercise of their rights , there can be no reformed generation ; the only thing you cannot regain is lost time .
" One fact is proved beyond doubt . Englishmen are most anxious to listen to us everywhere , to befriend us , and to give everything we desire in reason if we would be only true to ourselves . They are ready to do much more for the Natives than the Natives are doing for themselves . Nothing shows better the interest evinced by some of the ablest men than the visit to this country of Mr . Danby Seymour , president of the India Keform Society , who , at his own charges , has come out to seek information and gain experience , to be turned to the good of India . I doubt not , my countrymen in this presidency will give this philanthropic gentleman a hearty welcome when he comes over here , and our very best thanks are due to the liberal-minded gentlemen whose names are stated in the report as having , with energy , zeal , and good sense , greatly forwarded , while in England , the good of England and India .
" It is , no doubt , our duty now to seek for further reform ; to bo awako , and united with tho reformers in the sister preaidencies and in England ; and we may again win successes corresponding in nature to , and exceeding m magnitude , thoso which have been attained by the united agency of the petitions , tho agitation in India , and tho reform combination in London . " To native gentlemen , of whatever colour or creed , who can worthily respond to these sentiments , wo have only to say that their resolution to continue their organisation , and to come hefore Parliament every year , with candid admissions of real henefits , and suggestions of further needed and practical reforms , is tho only course which comports with their dignity , their capabilities , and their duty .
L252 The Le Ad E R [Satorday .
l 252 THE LE AD E R [ Satorday .
The State Of Lnf)Ia. Tins Overland Mail ...
THE STATE OF LNf ) IA . Tins Overland Mail arrived on Monday , with tho usual despatches from our Eastern Empire . The intelligence is scanty and unimportant . A forco had been sent forward from Pcshawur to occupy the outlet of tho Kohnl Pass , and to build u fort there , to keep tho Apredecs in order . A Persian messenger had been sent to Dost Mohammed , at Cabool , for the purposo , it Avas surmised , of inducing the Aflghans to join the Persians against Turkey . Ituflsian forces are reported to have arrived Jit Khiva . The Bombay Times tells an anecdote , showing that Klmtpnt survives . " Lord Falkland is oxpnotod to rot urn to Bombay during tho commencement , of noxfc month , und ltvivtw Imliti , it is undoratood , early in January . Ho will return from tho hilLs by way of 1 ' oonali , to wit mm tho npnctiMilo of tho military camp which in now being formed n \ , tlmt filiation . Tho intclligonco of tho roHtomtion of Colonel Out mm to tho nppointmont of residont at Buroda , which is confirmed by Calcutta papers jiiHfc received , linn given , wo inuy any , univornnl flatiofuction ; out ho Jms yot to war fipjmiiKfc corrupt ; intrigue . An investigation has boon going on m tho Bombay
Secretariat during the last week , which proves that Khutputtsm is as rife as ever among us , and that the Guicowar of Baroda still makes use of its influence successfully . A summary of Barod a affairs was recently prepared in the Secret Department of the Secretariat from numerous documents . For what person it was intended , or for whose edification drawn up , we know not , but it extended over nearly a ream of foolscap , and no doubt contained much valuable information . Lord Falkland being at Mahabuleshwar , it became necessary to send the document by post to that station , and accordingly it was put into the Bombay Post-office for transit , and contractorBut tne
eventually made over-to the mail . . agents of the Guicowar , who had made Khutput in the Secretariat , not only knew that the document was in course of preparation , but became cognisant of the very hour—nay , minute , that it was posted , and determined to possess it ; for this purpose they bribed some of the subordinate servants of the mail contractor , and the document , . while on the way between the Post-office and the steamer , disappeared , and has not since been heard of . The inquiry has only as yet elicited a confession from one of the servants , who acknowledges that he was offered a bribe of 200 rupees to abstract the packets in transittt , "
The News From China Still Leaves Matters...
The news from China still leaves matters where they were ; with the exception of Amoy , which it is said is in the hands of the Imperialists . A letter from Hongkong says : — " We hear there has been a mutiny on board the flag-ship . It seems that on the 8 th of November the men , who have not had liberty for eighteen months , sent in a petition on the subject to Admiral Pellew , who immediately ordered the ship to be got ready for sea . In the evening there was a noise below , when the drum was beat to quarters , and some of the men refused to come on deck , upon which the officers were ordered to compel them at the point of the sword , and in doing so several of the men were severely wounded . "
Infanticide In The Punjab. (From The Fri...
INFANTICIDE IN THE PUNJAB . ( From the Friend of India . ' ) Anotheb chapter in the black history of Indian crime . It is not the least among the many obstacles in the path of the Indian Government that it is called upon to contend with crimes which have become almost national customs . Founded , like Suttee , upon superstition , like infanticide , upon a social prejudice , or tlike Thuggee , upon the mere love of plunder , they have spread in the course of years over whole races , and have become part of the daily life of organised communities . It is not that the
strength of the Government is unable to cope with them on account of their magnitude , for Government could ' . have exterminated the Thugs in a twelvemonth . The difficulty is the utter impotence of the ordinary aids to authority . It receives no information , for the entire people is guilty . It can gain nothing by treachery among the criminals , for , in the people ' s idea , there is nothing to betray . Its European experience is of no value , for the European theory supposes that natural affections are stronger than social prejudices- Its European agents are at
fault , for the proofs of good character and of heinous crime are often united in the same person . The respectable , well-born , intelligent Rajpoot who governs his estates with an ability which extorts the admiration of the collector has murdered his female children , and would . hsivo assisted to burn his mother alive but for . the law . The wife who would kill herself rather than allow a European to see her face , and towards whom her sons express the deepest respect and affection , has consented to the slaughter of her own children . The manner in which a native
retains occasionally , amid great virtues , a criminal side to his character might form one of the most curious chapters in psychology . We make these observations , which many of our Indian readers will consider somewhat trite , because it is the dogged adherence to English ideas which renders our system so unintelligible in England . To proceed to facts : —Late in tho j-ear 1851 Major Lake , Commissioner of Goordaspore , in the Punja " b ,
became aware of the existence of infanticide among a class in his own district . He reported tho facts to tho Board of Administration , and inquiries were immediately commenced . AH the commissioners received orders to report upon tho prevalence of tho crime within their respective jurisdictions , and to suggest measures for its removal . Considerable delay appears to have occurred in collecting the information required , but at last it was obtained in a form which enabled the Judicial Commissioner to
repor t upon it . It was found to prevail more or less in tho Umballn , Ferozcpore , Jullundur , Hooshearpore , Lahore , Mooltan , Jhelum , and Loin districts — -in fact , over a tract of country as large as an European kingdom . It was not , however , practised by all tho inhabitants It is confined chiefly to the Bedccs or descendants of Nanuk Gooroo , men generally of great wealth and influence , and to thc ' linjpools , generally poor , but among whom the custom ' one of immemorial antiquity . The Khctrccn , however , some BranihmiH , and oven several of tho Mussulman tribes , maintain the practice , and tho higher the rank the more certain are tho female branches of destruction . It is bolievcd , ,, i 8 o , by tho most experienced officers , to huvo infected all classes in a greater or less . degreo , and we may readily imagine
that even where the motives which influence th highest class were absent ; the lower orders would quire from their example a degree of careIessn !! * for their children ' s lives . The motive for the crlm differs among the different classes . With the P * poots of the Funjab , as among the Rajpoots eveS " where else , it is simply pride . They must niarrr their female children , and they must marry them t their equals . This is occasionally difficult , and : tli slay them to avoid the inconvenience . Then even ^ they find bridegrooms , they must give a'dower " mm !!' than proportioned to their means . Their extrav gance sometimes reaches a point which is almost in credible among a parsimonious people . One ehipf gave his daughter seventeen lacs of rupees , another expended ten lacs , and a third gave a lac to his niece married to a poor Bramhun of the plains . Their insane pride , to which that of the Highland ' chief is almost humility , forbids them to diminish its
amount . It is a question , as Major Edwardes has observed , between the father ' s wealth and the daughter ' s life , and the life is taken and the wealth retained . Then , again , in some instances it is regarded simply as a means , of proving the purity of-their race , a mere habit of imitating the upper classes . The Munha Rajpoots , for instance when in the hills , are the lowest of their tribe and their children are consequently safe . But in the plains they become the highest , and ; in order to prove that they are such , they slay their children . Yet the Rajpoots are the noblest of the Indian races . * The same causes are in operation among the Mussulmans . The highest tribes , jealous of the purity of their lineage , are jealous also of their wealth , and
the female children are sacrificed to save them from an unequal marriage and their fathers from too liberal donations . Added to all this , the principle of consanguinity is pushed to the wildest extreme . Almost every Rajpoot is the relative of every other ; all who are descended from one common ancestor consider themselves blood relations after the lapse of centuries , and , down to the last degree , marriage is forbidden . Every Rajpoot Campbell considers himself not only the kinsman of the Duke of Argyll , but within the forbidden degrees . It is among the
Bedees only that a different set of motives appears to come into operation . They are the descendants of Dhurm Chund , the grandson of the great Naauk Gooroo , and considered themselves of the priestly caste—the Levites of the Punjab . They murder on the strength of tradition , and add occasionally a mocking ceremony to the crime . The child is buried ; a piece of coarse sugar is put between its lips , and a hank of cotton in its hand , and the father
— " Eat your goor and spin your thread , But go and send a boy instead . " Be the motives what they may , it is certain that in hundreds of families in the Punjab there has been no daughter born for generations . It is certain that in thousands infanticide is a custom , to which no member of them probably would hesitate to allude ; that , all over the Punjab , there is a disproportion in the number of female births not to be acc ounted for by ordinary causes , and that in certain districts this disproportion rises to a height which implies the
extinction of the female sex . The evil must be remedied , and the authorities have resolved upon the means . They are utterly opposed to English ideas . A London magistrate would redouble the vigilance of tho police , and , if possible , increase the certainty of punishment . Such measures by themselves would be useless in India . It is the social police which in England prevents crime , and we have no social ponce . Tho authorities , guided , wo imagine , by Mr . Raikes , whose success at Mynpoorie has given him an * J ! ~" pcan reputation , have attempted to strike the evil . at its root . They have taken advantage of the dawnint , abhorrence of the crime among the people them seivt , and have endeavoured to induce them to remove v UI 1 U IIUIU UIIUL'UVUUIUU LU 1 IIUUW !•!«» - •¦» " i distwcu /
temptations to it . Tho people aro to bo informed that the practice U regarded by their w > rulers as a crime ; a census is to be drawn up , dis guishing tho male and female children ; and lastiv , great meeting has been culled of the chiefs oi «• tricts , aided by the Commissioners of the Julin | n «» » Lahore , and Cia-Sutlcj divisions , and presided «» by tho Chief Commissioner . All tho nativo cmt ^ who can bo expected to attend win invited , and new rules for marnago other ceremonies will , it is hoped , bo J " J , adopted . Tho meeting is to take placo on w ^ . - * , 8 and . 'list of October , in the holy city of tup e » { and can scarcely fail to produce tho result inl " inBt —viz ., nn unanimous declaration of opinion » h the practice . That every effort has been " ™ ° „ ,,
tho interest taken in tho matter by the u < m General i » sufficiently manifested in *« o w "" sentences from a minute dated the 7 th Scpteii "" - - " 2 . Tho Governor-General in Council " '" jicll . thoso papers with deep interest and iiiucli k ' of tion . He can eonceivo no purer or higher w . pride for tho public officers of n State tiron » t | jcir record us this of the wido and rapid s uccess ^ exertions on behalf of tho honour of our ru « , rescue of suffering humanity .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 31, 1853, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31121853/page/4/
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