The Underfed

At the Viceregal call of the Marquess of Linlithgow, a conference of Indians met this week in New Delhi to devise emergency relief for the underfed. Millions of people were hungry, everywhere over the land the shortage of food was acute.

Tale from the Plains. As the monsoon came to Calcutta, thousands stood in line before food shops and were drenched. Because of the shortage of food in the suburbs, whole families moved in and camped on sidewalks in front of grain shops. In Bijapur district, near Bombay, famine was so severe that livestock died. In Bombay five persons were reported injured in a quarrel over a piece of bread. In the Punjab farmers hoarded their grain, thereby made the bad situation worse. (The price of Punjab village brides had gone up, a sure sign of spreading inflation.) Some maharajas put their elephants out to pasture, or tried to sell them, because elephants in captivity usually get bread as well as sugar cane and hay.

The rise in food prices was matched by the rise in the price of clothing--up 400% to 500%. The cost of local medicines had skyrocketed, the prices of foreign drugs had risen 1,600%. A small class of manufacturers and profiteers was waxing rich, but the wages of white-dhotied workers and of professional people had not registered increases comparable to the rise in the cost of living.

Tale from the Hills. In one corner of India the scene was different. TIME Correspondent William Fisher cabled this report from New Delhi:

"In the hills it is just like the India of the past. War is far away. Of all places in India, the hill stations are the most British. Simla, with its gingerbready shops, its dingy hotels and antiquated houses, is strangely Victorian. Time seems to have stood still since Kim contemplated the twinkling lights of Jakko, and the Phantom Ricksha made its ghostly rounds.

"Mogul emperors had their pleasure gardens by the lakes of Kashmir, but on the whole the hill station habit is something new for the Indians. Only the wealthiest among them can enjoy it, and the place they like best is Mussoorie, the epitome of all that is fast, flashy and fashionable. The hills are for maharajas, their courts and courtesans, for members of the Viceroy's council, and for kings in cotton and jute."

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