The Famine in India
Reports from rndia indicate that the famine situation there is still serious/ The reasons for the shortage are not obscure. The abnormal increase in the population has far out-distanced the increase in production ; the two million Indians in the army consume con- siderably more per bead than when they were civilians ; Burma's contribution of rice and other grains is not at present available ; and the shortages thus caused have been considerably accentuated by hoarding both by private persons out of an intelligible concern for their own future, and by speculators who by withholding supplies have forced prices up, and are forcing them higher still. Transport difficulties have helped to make a bad situation worse. To attempt to make political capital out of so grave a disaster would be repre- hensible, but since it has been openly alleged that this is the direct result of British rule in India, it is necessary to point out, what should have been a matter of common knowledge, that in Bengal, the province most seriously affected, a purely Indian Ministry, re- sponsible to a purely Indian legislature, is in power, and British rule has nothing to do with the matter at all. The Food Minister of the Government of India, himself an Indian, is doing what he can to alleviate the situation, particularly where transfer from a surplus province to a deficiency province is concerned. Arrange- means for the import of grain from various sources have been made in so far as shipping is available, but delivery cannot be immediately expected. Large responsibilities have been devolved on the Indian Provinces under the Government of India Act. It is not reasonable to demand extensive autonomy, and then in time of difficulty to seek to shift the responsibility elsewhere. It is not suggested that the Bengal Government itself is doing this. It is more in this country that the- situation is being misrepresented. Maximum co-operation between the Provincial Governments and the Central Government in India is needed, but their relationship cannot suddenly be altered to meet a temporary need.
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