PLAGUE AND FAMINE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11367, 9 May 1900, Page 6

PLAGUE AND FAMINE.

THE FOES LORD CURZON IS FrGHTING IN INDIA.

Calcutta, March 1. "If any rich man in this city is in any doubt as to whether ho should subscribe, I would gladly give him a railway ticket to a famine district, and take what he choso to givo me on his return. lie might go with a hard heart; but he would come back with a broken one."

These two sentences, taken from the Viceroy's speech in inaugurating the famine fund

in Calcutta, exactly describe the present situation— is a heart-breaking one (says the Daily Mail correspondent). Plague, pestilence, and famine; when we are never without one of these scourges in our midst— more often with two than —is it to bo wondered at if the native of this country occasionally gives way to ill-natured railing at

those in authority '! In his heart he knows

that it is not our fault; lie knows that year after year the district officers are wearing themselves away in grappling with their unequal task in the sun-scorched plains ; grappling, among other tilings, with the task of reducing to ii minimum the peculations of his native subordinates, not one of whom but would rob his half-starved brother of everything, did lie chance occur. Also be knows that in the olden days, when he was ruled by Asiatics instead of Europeans, the task of relief administration was rarely, if ever, attempted seriously. If it was attempted, the attempt was inadequate in every way. He knows, too, that this is even now the case in many of the less-eojightened native States, where elaborate schemes of relief have been devised, only to remain for ever upon the p: per on which they were drawn up. And the wretched inhabitants, or such of them as have the strength of body to do so, will tramp away to augment the responsibilities of the unhappy British official engaged in relief work over the border,

Plague, pestilence, and famine! In Bengal we have a violent resurrection of the plague; in Central India and the Bombay Presidency and Rajputana, and many other places, they are in the throes of the worst famine of modern times. In Bombay City not only is the plague worse to-day than it lias ever been before—nearly 700 people died of the plague' alone last week—but, in addition to this, they have a severe epidemic of smallpox, which caused the total mortality in the city last week to rise to over 2500— 2753 deaths is the exact figure. But the spirit in which the officials throughout the country are buckling to their task is magnificent, as is also the response which has been made to the Viceroy's appeal for subscriptions to the famine fund. Among the first subscriptions was one of £10,000 from the Maharajah of Darbhanga. and this was speedily followed by shoals of other donations froi i all the big officials.

The native chiefs and officials have all subscribed, mostly handsomely, according to their individual means. Tim European merchants, too, have subscribed princely sums, but, as is always the case, the native merchants have given scarcely anything at all. There are in the Hurra Bazaar oi Calcutta and other portions of the native city Hindu merchants of almost fabulous wealth. Yet up to the present I have not seen that any one of these men has subscribed " one pie" to the famine fund, or, in fact, that they have done anything at all of a public character beyond inspiring futile articles in tho native press directed against the plague authorities, who have dared to disinfect one or another of their houses on account of a suspected case of plague. It is a pity that some of these merchants do not take' advantage of Lord Curzon's offer, and go at the Viceroy's expense to a famine district. "He might go with a hard heart; but he would conic back with a broken one."