HINDU WEAVERS 81
for those which are to be found at Manchester, Birmingham, Lyons, and other cities in Europe. Well, the truth is( and most people are still unaware of the fact) all these beautiful fabrics are manufactured in wretched thatched huts built of mud, twenty to thirty feet long by seven or eight feet broad. In such a work-room the weaver stretches his frame, squats on the ground, and quietly plies his shuttle, surrounded by his family, his cow, and his fowls.
The instruments he makes use of are extremely primitive, and his whole stock in trade could easily be carried about by one man. Such is, in very truth, an exact picture of an Indian factory. As to the manufacturer himself, his poverty corresponds to the simplicity of his work-shop.
There are in India two or three large classes whose only
profession is that of weaving. The individuals comprising these classes are, for the most part, very poor, and are even destitute of the necessary means for working on their own account. Those who deal in the products of their industry have to go to them, money in hand, and after bargaining with them as to the price, quality, and quantity of the goods required, are obliged to pay them in advance.
The weavers then go and buy the cotton and other necessaries with which to begin work. Their employers have to supervise their work and keep a sharp look-out lest they decamp with the money, especially if the advances happen to be in any way considerable.
As regards the condition of the Hindus generally, I think that the following account may make things plain. It is based on a long acquaintance with the inhabitants of a large tract of country. Still, the casual observer may find fault
with it if he judges it by what he has noticed in large towns, more especially on the coast. There, at least, most of the natives possess houses of more or less value which they can dispose of if necessary, an advantage not shared by the rural classes. Besides, the towns are the rendezvous of the rich and industrious, and of those who intend to become so by fair means or foul, so it is not surprising to find a higher standard of comfort prevailing there. It is from experience of the masses of the population that I have been able to present this sketch of the different degrees of poverty or wealth amongst the people. *~ ^
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