'Russia and India in 1903' [‎28v] (58/68)

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RUSSIA AND INDIA IN 1903.
The Means at Hand.
The weapon is ready to hand. Add 2^ per cent, to
your average Indian tariff of 5 per cent, in respect of
foreign goods, as does Canada, as is going to do
Australia and South Africa, an advantage, such as
a preference of one-third at the Bombay Customs
House. I conclude then with the message of Mr.
Chamberlain on his great mission in South Africa to
each and all, to high and low. “ Let Britons keep
ever in their hearts that we want to unite the Empire.
Much has been done, much remains to be doneT
FIGHTING PLAGUE AT BOMBAY.
Although there is no real danger either to the
European traveller or resident in India from the
scourge of plague, it is impossible even for the hurried
spectator of great and imposing events not to turn
his attention for a brief space to so serious a source of
mortality among the three hundred millions of natives.
Among them there are many who regard even famine
and pestilence as the just and opportune visitation of
God to remove a surplus population, and to enable the
survivors to obtain a livelihood. No such interpreta
tion is, of course, accepted by the British Government,
and what it is possible to do to avert the disease, or to
minimise its effects, is done.
Plague among the Philistines.
What is the plague ? It is a sudden “ stroke/' as
indicated by the Greek origin of the word, which
strikes swiftly and surely. How it comes, how it is
communicated to the human sufferer, are matters still
involved in mystery. The glandular swellings and
the high fever supervene with such rapidity that a