A TRIP TO THE FAR EAST.
INTERVIEW WITH MR P. R. SARGOOD. Mr P. R. Sargood, who has recently returned after making a tour of India, China, and Japan, supplies some interesting information concerning his trip to a member of our staff. Whila in India, where he stayed for five weeks, he visited Bombay, a city containing nearly a million inhabitants, and the seat of some very extensive industries, and, from what Mr Sargood says, a place where plague and smallpox are prevalent. The public buildings and banks he describes as being as fine as any met with in any other part of the i world. The- Victoria railway station is a magnificent pile, and with it may be classed the Bombay and Central India station. Tiie city is a most interesting one, and extreme comfort is met with by Europeans, which is also enjoyed by the wealthy Parsees, from several of whom Mr Sargoocl met with great courtesy. While he was in Bombay plague and smallpox were rife, and were responsible for the death of some 400 or natives per diem, and he describes it as a gruesome sight to see the bodies of the dead being carried through the streets in their roughly-made biers — the contorted features and limbs being covered according to the financial resources of the family ; in many cases nothing but the native cloth in which the deceased had died being worn. .According to the family caste of the deceased, the corpse was cither token to the Towers of Silence, where the vultures did duty as sextons, or to the burning Ghauts, when the bodies were burned in the presence of members of the family, the wood for so doing being supplied in barely sufficient quantity by Government in coses where the family were unable to afford to pay for it. Arm'dabad and Jaipore, further north, which Mr Sargood also visited, are in the heart of the famine districts, and the sights witnessed there were most pitiable. The destruction of animals is prohibited by caste, the natives preferring to starve rather than have their cattle die. The trees growing in the districts are stripped of every leaf, and every vestige of grass is scooped out by the roots, and all is passed through a process of winnowing m order to separate the roots and vegetable matter from the earth necessarily taken up with the roots, the portions saved being utilised for food. This will give some idea of the straits to which the natives are reduced. A serious element in ihe matter is the death of thousands of buffaloes, upon which the natives are dependent for ploughing the land in the rainy season, and a worse famine threatens to take place next year unless the Government's system of buying and keeping these animals alive proves a success. The Sultan of Jaipore, who has 2,500,000 subjects, is doing a great deal in alleviating the intense suffering. He is a man of a pushing and energetic character, encouraging industry by every .means in his power. Mr Sargood was present at a levee held by the Sultan, and was much struck by .the gorgeous nature of the surroundings — a- wonderful contrast when compared with the sqiialor and privation of thousands of tho Sultan's subjects, only just outside his gate. Lahore, Delhi, Cawnpore, _ Lucknow, and many other citie3 of Central | ' India, the names of which are intimately connected with the Indian Mutiny, were also i visited by Mr Sargood, w,ho was struck with a ! feeling, of awe, sorrow, and reverence for the departed heroes who had to heroically, held out against overwhelming odds. He was also struck with wonder when I ' he saw the almost impossible positions which had been defended by our men and their, faithful Indian allies. Calcutta, the centre of Eastern Indian trade and industries, Mr Sargood describes as being, most interesting, but ho does not consider it
so fine a city as Bombay. 'While in Calcutta • he saw Lumsden's Horse — a, fine body of men, who have done good work in South Africa, ; along with many _of our own men. It was -, extremely gratifying to find how keenly the ' Anglo-Indian military, men and the natives I ■, who are watching the New Zealand contin- ; ' gents and the colonials generally, and to hear the warm and spontaneous praise accorded to ; our brave fellows. " Oronje IJay " was celc- j ; biated in Calcutta by the natives decorating , the statue of "Bobs" with nou-ers aud ' i wreaths and by flocking to pay homage to their , idp! s --__X'»S d^co^at^on j?ajp_iiot b© regai'ded PSJ,/ popularity, "and, taken with other signs, it indicates the natives' extreme loyally to the Em- ' press of India and her Empire. This loyal ' feeling was, Mr Sargood slates, strongly in evidence all along his -line' of route. The eternal distinction of -caste Mr Sargood describes as the t ,. curse of India, preventing any recognition of individual merit. A man born in a certain caste must die in it, and is bountt'by the limitations of its r,ules. He can only undertake certain classes of work, and can. only do them according to -the code, of laws regulating" the same. There being- a- large European army in India, ._a3, well as a considerable travelling public, j such articles as * tinned meats, biscuit?, and preserves command a large sale, and New Zealand, Mr thinks, should be able to introduce her products. He saw two of the army contracting firms in Bombay, who intimated their^-willangness to entertain any proposal in this-direction. He touched at Rangoon, Penang, and Singapore — the two latter j places being the centres of an enormous import and .export trade in rice, spice, and tin, as exports, and "principally Manchester goods as imports. -Onions, potatoes, preserves, and tinned meats are still imported in large quantities, and the' huge shipping tonnage passing j through- Singapore offers a fair field for frozen I meal. At _ Singapore facilities for cold stor,age are being promoted, and similar facilities are being -provided at Manila. In both these places Australia has obtained a good footing, .' but Mr Sargood gives it as his opinion that ; New Zealand may yet win her way to the i front if our pastoral magnates take the matter energetically up. At present the native con- j sumption is small, and the demand is for a | poor quality of meat only. They require, says Mr Sargood, to be educated tip to our "prime New Zealand." A trade in dairy produce to India and Singapore, he thinks, might be cultivated, as fresh butter and good cheese are unknown quantities there. He tasted some so-called New Zealand cheese in Bombay, which, in his opinion, had come from London. It "was dry and unpalatable. A few Stiltons sent to the clubs would be more effective in advertising our goods than any other means that could be adopted, ami a fair business would probably eventuate. Hongkong Mr Sargood describes as a marvellous port, and as doing a prosperous and an enormous business. Here Britain's greatness and influence in China are made manifest, i the Chinese flocking into the settlement, becoming naturalised, and evidently fully appreciating the advantages of British rule. He was very much struck v/ilh the Chinese merchants generally, and regards them as a very fair sample of upright men in businesskeen as razors, never missing a point, but when once a bargain is struck adhering- to it with the utmost fidelity. He found ''them most pleasant to transact business 'with. These traits are freely acknowledged ny Europeans all through the East, and Mr Sargood vouches for them from personal experience extending over nearly a month spent among the commercial Chinese of Hongkong, Canton, and Shanghai. The Chinese are very much interested in the poll lax levied on their countrymen, and feel somewhat as-grieved on ■the subject, arguing logically that we, while ■levying this tax, are anxious to have 'free entrance to their country 'to trade,, and at the same time keep up a large --navy r off their coast. They caunot see why their commercial ■ men sh6uld be debarred from trading, and want to know if we are frightened on account • of their business acumen. They also express ■ a doubt as to the ability of Austrolia to shut them_ out when they consider there is a sufficiently large population with which to establish a trade. The present outbreak was only smouldering when Mr Sargood left China. A small .affair which had occurred at Wei-hai-woi was regarded with some alarm, and residents at Shanghai were preparing: to defend themselves in anticipation of possible future trouble. From China Mr Sargood went to Jppan, " the erstwhile country," to use his own words, "of peace- and poetry — now. alas ! verging on bankruptcy and commercial upheaval, due to the terrible rush to imitate the West." In connection with the army, navy, manufactures, social customs, taxation, etc., ■ there is tho same anxiety for a remodeling as indicated. One cannot but admire, their feverish energy and longing to improve their condition, but they have yet to learn, that to walk before they run is an essential to sue- j cew. Increased oosj; of living, Stages, and
production is very manifest — this tending to cripple export and invite outside competition. If the Japanese would become .larger con^ suinsrs of meat, f New Zealand could very Ti-ell supply them ; but Australian meat, being of a lower quality, would, Mr Sargood thinks, suit them better than New Zealand mutton' or beef. In time to come Japan will offei"a fair field for some of our products — dairy,, agricultural, and, industrial, — but not imtifi they have got over their difficulty with 'Sufc . sia, pass,ed through their financial trouble?, and entered on an era of peace and prns,piiliii..~J[ap_ancse__show every symptom of, oemg well disposed towa.l"'!-— Britain and' America, and are not likely to lightly forget the position r the former took up at the close o"f "the war l>etween-€>hinajiind.,Japan t _ . Mr Sargood, in closing, expresses gratifica-7 tion at the fact that on every side, while tra-" versing the Eastern Empire, 'constant expr'es-' sions of good feeling towards the British are met with, and that the predominating flag seen is the Union" Jacli of Old England. ' ~
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Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Volume 26, Issue 2419, 26 July 1900, Page 10
Word Count
1,699A TRIP TO THE FAR EAST. Otago Witness, Volume 26, Issue 2419, 26 July 1900, Page 10
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