A NEWZEALANDER ON INDIAN AFFAIRS.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12460, 9 February 1909, Page 3

A NEWZEALANDER ON INDIAN AFFAIRS.

(Special to "The: Colonist.") Christchurch, Feb' B. Miss Alice E. Henderson who has been in charge of the Church i J Scotland's" Zenana mission m ; ras :for tbe past twehre years,, has arrived in Christchurch on furlough^ Miss Henderson went to India from New Zealand ■: in the first place ; , and for many years shY w as teachuig. in. Canterbury under the North .Canterbury Education-Board, so that she had i had an exceptionally valuable training in school work. : In JMaaras she has charge of a boarding school, . attended 'by a hundred native girls, and of \an industrial and technical i school, at^which more than .a hundred pupils attend regularly, 'while there' are forty er fifty adults attached to the classes.. The unrest in India, Miss Henderson said in reply to a question" by * a "Lyttelton Times" reporter, had not affected the South to any great extent. "The Tamils," she explained, "are a sane, level-headed people. Generally speaking, they are very loyal j' quiet /and earnest, and of ally the natives., of Indian I think, the most trustworthy They- have won the confidence of the Governnient ■ -too, and -.- there are Tamils to be found in high administrative offices in the public service, and in the Judiciary. They do admirable work as members of (the municipal councils. When the leaders of the reform movement are.anxi--' ous that the annual meeting of the ' Indian National Congress _§hould he • quiet and orderly they ..come to Mad- _ ras. The Congress niet there in the last week in December, and the proceedings were conducted without unpleasantness, although the - year had been a trying one throughout India! .We don't have many troubles in the south; a wandering -agitator occasionally visits ' the Presidency and stirs up strife.- One from Cal- - cutta lately travelled through to Ceylon, visiting some of the educational centres and making seditious speeches to the students. There were riots in one': or two towns, but the offenders were almost invariably young "men from 18 to 25 years of age. :■ The most energetic of the southern agitators was. a young Brahmin studenti just 19 years of age. He ..was arrested, and sent out of the country,, which was doubtless the best course to pursue, although the 'incident was not without its pathetic side. The agitators are very often disappointed office seekers, men who have failed to secure appointments in. the civil service, ,and who have then turned against the Government.. The Government has -been very lenient with them, and with the disaffected newspaper editors in the past, and the more severe measures lately taken, have had a very good effect. We have no ; trouble in Madras itself, and I can. not say- a great deal from personal observation concerning Bengal. The Bengals are worshippers of Kali, ji goddess who demands blood sacrifices, and. it is ipossiblej that this may account for the violence. that occurs at festival -time. Many of .those who have studied the position closely, . . hold that the general tinrest is not necessarily a bad sign, because.it may be produced by. an earnest desire for better conditions. ;With the spread ,of education it Is natural that the natives should be anious for a greaterVsHare -in the_ government of the country; 'and lately there have 'been as'you-know some important extensions in this direction."