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Sherman Stanley

British Imperialism in India

A Chart of the Exploitation of 375,000,000 People

(October 1939)

From New International, Vol. 5 No. 10, October 1939, pp. 308–310.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).

“The history of British Imperialism is written in letters of blood from Congo to Canton.”

(Statistics compiled by Sherman Stanley from The India Year Book: Industrial Labour in India – ILO publication – series A, No. 41; Simon Commission Reports; Times of India; The Hindu; Congress Socialist, National Front; Bulletins of the Kisan Sabha, etc., etc.)

The Facts:

1. The British have been in India for 250 years.
2. They have been the complete masters of India for 150 years.
3. There are 285,000 Englishmen in India – that is, 1 Englishman to 1,300 Indians.
4. The British Army comprises 60,000 soldiers, plus British officers for the native army of 600,000.
    

British Profits:

1. (1800–1860) – 1,000,000,000 sterling in gold, jewels, interest, etc., taken out of India.
2. Total Capital Investment: approximately $7,800,000,000 – yielding annual average return of $900,000,000.
3. September 21, 1931 to December 31, 1932: $298-000,000 in gold bullion was shipped to London from India.
4. Interest collected annually on Indian National Debt: $100,000,000.
5. Marx’s Estimate of England’s Profits:
   Rent plus dividends on capital investment plus railway profits plus civil and military pensions plus war taxes equals annual income of 60,000,000 Indian workers.
    

The Peasantry:

1. There are 270,000,000 peasants.
2. They are divided into 700,000 villages.
3. There are 40,000,000 unemployed agricultural workers.
4. The Halis (slaves): average of 12 years debt slavery each; 4½ annas (9¢) fixed wages per year.
    

Interest, Debts and Taxation:

5. Bengal peasants: Total annual taxation equals 40% of total harvest value.
6. (1929–1939) 50% of Bombay Presidency peasant debts paid by seizure and sale of peasant lands.
7. Interest rates on loans: 25% (minimum) to 200%.
8. Total agrarian debt: $4,500,000,000.
    
9. Peasant Taxation and Debt Burden:

1. Rent to local, private landlord.
2. Land tax payable to province or native state government.
3. Land tax payable to British government.
4. Interest on loans from local money lenders.
5. Taxes on water wells, streams, cattle, grazing lands, forests, license fees, wood-chopping, etc.
6. Tax on imported and exported agricultural products.
7. Feudal obligations: forced labor on roads, buildings, etc.; marriage, birth and death taxes; religious dues; hunting taxes, etc.

13. Land Hunger:
    Bengal (1931): 9,995,000 landless laborers (25% of total Bengal peasantry).
    Bombay: below 5 acres – 1,128,732 families. 1 to 25 acres – 2,047,986 families.
14. “Making a Living”: Bihar Province:

Deficit: $20,000,000
plus: Central government land taxes
plus: Livelihood of peasantry
Total: Permanent Slavery
 

The Workers:

1. There are 51 million “Untouchables” (outcasts) with no rights whatsoever. They constitute the bulk of the industrial and agricultural proletariat.
2. Average Annual Income: (per capita)

India		England		United States
$13.50		$369.00		$680.00

3. Percentage of population with annual income over $300: 7%
4. Bombay Wages: (highest in India)

The Native Princes:

1. There are 562 native rulers (Maharajas) in India.
2. Estimated wealth of the Nisam of Hyderabad:

The Indian Budget: (1935–1936)

Police Rule:

1. At the height of the Civil Disobedience Movement (1931) the following number of arrests took place in some of the districts of one of the 11 provinces:

Note: This was during a 6-month period (Jan.–June 1931).
 

The Government of India:

1. War-time India is ruled by the Viceroy; the provincial Governors; the British “advisors” in the native states.
2. Each of these men possesses full military and decree powers in his area.
3. Parliamentary representation under new Constitution:

General Conditions of Life:

1. Illiteracy: 345 million people cannot read or write any language.
2. Education: ²/3 of 700,000 Indian villages have no schools.
3. Life, Death and Infant Mortality:

4. Deaths:

1. 6,000,000 die annually in India.
2. 44% of deaths are due to malaria.
3. Bengal province: 750,000 under the age of 15 years die each year.

5. Housing: Calcutta: An average of 9 to 10 people inhabit rooms having an average size of 8 ft. × 6 ft.
6. Nourishment: (Estimate of Sir John Megaw).

7. Hospitals: There are 6,700 hospitals – that is, 1 hospital to each 163 square miles.
    

Miscellaneous:

1. Bengal – 1771: 10,000,000 died in food famine.
2. 1858–1922: There were 72 military expeditions on the Northwest Frontier.
3. Upkeep of one British soldier equals 4 times that of an Indian soldier.

 
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