To Major J. B. Keith
December 5, 1901.
Y o u wa nt to k n ow "the approximate cost of Western c i v i l i z at i on to Indi a, say f or about fifty years." Before I deal w i t h this,
we have to remember that t i ll the year 1849, w h en Punjab was
annexed, a ll the wars f or the f o rma t i on of the Indi an E m p i re
were pa id for by the Indians, n ot to say anything about the ir
bloodshed for the same. T he maintenance of the Emp i re was
also at the cost of Indians; and besides to these was to be added
a ll the we a l th that had been r emi t t ed by the East India C omp a ny
p u b l i c l y, and by a ll Europeans pr iva t e ly, to this c o u n t r y; and
also w h at was consumed by a ll Europeans in India itself. A l l this,
w i t h interest, w i l l mean thousands o f mi l l ions and f o rm no small
part of the cost of We s t e rn c i v i l i z a t i o n.
N o w , c o m i ng to the cost, say, f r om 1850, this cost is best
ascertained by the net exports, that is to say, the produce and
we a l th that goes clean o ut of the count ry w i t h o ut any ma t e r i al
or commercial returns, and of these net exports we have official
records. The cost can be d i v i d ed i n to t wo parts:
( i ) A l l t h at is c o n s umed by Europeans in I n d ia to the d e p r i v at i o n of the Indi ans. Of this p a r t, I do n ot k n o w of any r e c o rd
as a v e ry r e l i able estimate. T h is is sometimes estimated at
£10,000,000 a n n u a l l y, or 10 crores of rupees a n n u a l l y.
(2) A l l t h at p r o d u ce or w e a l th of I n d ia t h at goes clean o ut of
the c o u n t ry in v a r i o us shapes as " n et e x p o r t s ." I f i r st g i ve
y o u the e x p o r ts o f f i c i a l ly r e c o r d ed f or the f i f ty years,
o m i t t i n g a p e r i od of six years, the uns e t t l ed p e r i od of the
I n d i an M u t i n y , comes to a b o ut Rs. 664 crores. To this
has to be added the p r o f i ts of the t o t al expor ts of m e rchandise, w h i c h is o n ly 10 % and a c tua l ly amounts to
310 crores of rupees. To this has to be added f r e i g ht and
insurance moni e s, a ll s h i p p i ng b e i ng B r i t i s h. Gene r a l ly 6 %.
To a ll the above i t ems is to be added the debt h e ld in the U n i t e d
K i n g d om w h i c h , in 1900, is a b o ut 186 crores of rupees, besides
t he rupee paper h e ld in E n g l a n d, hi I n d i a, t he debt is 132 crores,
of w h i c h a p o r t i on is h e ld by Europeans.
L a s t l y, there is the i t em of interest lost to I n d ia on this a c cum u l a t ed d r a i n. I f the o r d i n a ry I n d i an c o m m e r c i al c o m p o u nd
interest of 9 %, or even 5 %, be added, the t o t al cost of W e s t e rn
c i v i l i z a t i on w i l l be v e ry e n o rmo us inde ed. T he cost of " W e s t e rn
c i v i l i z a t i o n *' is s u m m ed up in the d e s t r u c t i on of m i l l i o ns by
f ami n e, pestilence, etc., a nd the subsistence of crores of m i l l i o ns
on insufficient f o o d.
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