THE REAL INDIA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 102, 3 May 1938, Page 6

THE REAL INDIA

PLIGHT OF THE PEOPU

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY Aspects of life in India as viewed I by a resident of the country were given to member., of the Wanganui Kolary Club at its weekly luncheo.i yesterday by Dr. A. L. Sutherland, a doctor in one of the Presbyterian mission hospitals in India. Dr. Sutherland said that people who had passed through India had written about the country but what they had written was harly the truth. On his journey to India he was impressed with the coaling of a large German liner ar Colombo, the wora being carried out by women who received about s<l to 6d a day. These women were also burdened wkk i poverty. Most of the people in the villages j of India w ere also carrying a burden i of poverty, said the speaker. He instanced the condition of a woman ■ who had been treated at the mission hospital and who had been found to be suffering from four complaints. It was not an infrequent sight to sec women carrying large bundles ol grass on their shoulders for sale in • the villages or carrying dried manure j to be u.«»ed as fuel. As there were few I trees in India, there was a shortage ; of fuel, and slock manure, instead of • being used for increasing the fertility I of the soil, was dried in the sun to bt used as fuel. The burden ol povei Lv! was being felt by 90 per cent, of the • people of India. Tiie burden of disease was heavy in ; India; it was one thing to treat dis- ■ ease and another to prevent it. It was j a difficult matter to get the villagers io keep their places clean. to eat good I food and ciriiiK clean water a/i to adopt sanitation so that they could enjoy better health. Many hundreds | of babies died at birth and the ques-' tion of birth control was one that I had to be considered if the population increase was to be kept at a reason-! able figure. The question of smaller | families was an important one from every point of view. The burden or ignorance was aa important aspect, said the speaker. The type of education was becoming! much more practical than in the past when too much stress had been laid on the academic aspect. Technical schools were now being set up and the young men given a thoroughly practical education. Where there \v«u ignorance there was superstition, ajid tne speaker gave several instances oi‘ the native superstitions. The burden of British Imperialism was felt much more by some people than others. This burden had been decreased since the passing of the Government of Indiii Act, which had given the right of government to th, various provinces and when he left India last October things were much better politically than ever before. In concluding his address, Di. Sutherland said that in arranging, their wills people sometimes wished to assist schemes for the improvement the conditions of those who wexe downtrodden ana oppressed. The endowment of beds in hospitals and the endowment of a half-acre of land for the planting of trees were too worthy causes. For the sum of £5O<JO, a smaii sanitarium for the treatment of consumptives could be established. On the motion of Archdeacon J. R. Young, the speaker was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.