Darkest India: A Supplement to General Booth's "In Darkest England, and the Way Out"Booth-Tucker, Frederick St. George De Lautour
History
Darkest India: A Supplement to General Booth's "In Darkest England, and the Way Out"
Booth-Tucker, Frederick St. George De Lautour
India -- Social conditions; Poor -- India
(a) It protects the weak from the painful and often unsuccessful
struggle for existence.
(b) It ensures everybody their daily food and a sufficiency of it.
(c) It restores their self respect.
(d) It teaches them habits of honesty, industry and thrift.
(e) It opens up to them a pathway of promotion.
10. Finally it will furnish honest and honorable employment right away
for hundreds of thousands all over the land, and create an entirely
_novel_ industry out of what is at present an absolute _wreckage._
But I am well aware that certain objections are likely to be raised.
These I would seek to remove, though if we are to wait for a plan which
is free from all liability to criticism, we may wait for ever, and wait
in vain. There is a famous answer given by John Wesley to a lady who was
objecting to something about his work,--"Madam, if there were a perfect
organization in the world, it would cease to be so the day that you and
I entered into it." Hence it is not simply a question as to whether
there are difficulties in the present proposals, but can anything better
be suggested. However, I am anxious to meet in the fairest possible
manner all conceivable objections, and am perfectly prepared to make any
such modifications as may appear advisable.
(1.) Some will perhaps say that the beggars are already too well off to
desire to come,--that they are making a good thing of it and will prefer
to prosecute their calling under the present arrangements. Of course if
it be true that they are able to do better for themselves than we are
proposing to do for them, then they have no right to be included in the
submerged tenth. I would congratulate them on their success and turn my
attention to those who are more in need of our services. But could any
one seriously defend such a supposition? And if they are likely to be
bettered by the new arrangements, why should we suppose that they should
be so blind to their own interests as to refuse to profit by the new
chance? Besides, this is contradicted by all experience. Let there be a
prospect of a feast, or a supply of rice or food, and who does not know
that beggars will flock eagerly to the point, though it be only for a
single meal, and we propose to provide a _permanent livelihood._
(2.) But says some one else _they are bone-idle and will not work_, and
you propose to give them no food save in exchange for their work. This
is a real and serious difficulty. We fully recognise it. Yet we do not
think it is un-get-over-able, for the following reasons:--
(a) We do not intend to be hard-taskmasters. The work given will be
of a light character, and suited to the strength of each. We are
not going in for oakum picking and stone breaking. We shall do our
utmost to make everything bright, cheerful and easy. We have no
idea of treating them as criminals.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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