Upper Burma

“ To the east of Upper Burma, and situated between that country and the great empire of China, are the Shan States tributary to Burma, with an area about four-fifths that of England, but with a population no larger than that of Worcestershire, not one-fourth, it is said, of what it was fifty years ago. This country is a very fine one, consisting of a great plateau with a diversified climate and great natural resources, of which coal is one, though it has not yet been worked, and with every capacity for development. ”

“ The reason of it lies in his past history, his environment and education.
When we took Upper Burma it was hardly an organised nation at all. It was only a mass of villagers which acknowledged a king over all. There was no national army—because no need for one—and no large industries. The Burman has been a free man and he has the religion—or want of religion—of a free man. He has never had priests to rule him, to force on him reverence and obedience as virtues, to destroy his individuality. ”

“ Though I wrote rapidly, I was not a quick worker. I dare say other men would have done as much with less effort. Life in the Secretariat presented few incidents which seem worthy of record. The real work was being done in the districts, in the Shan States, in the Chin Hills.
These years witnessed the completion of the pacification and settlement of Upper Burma, and what may be called the resettlement of Lower Burma. The details of the work in Upper Burma have been described in Sir Charles Crosthwaite’s book. ”

“ There are a good many Panthays in Upper Burma, principally in Mandalay, Bhamo, Mogôk, and the [Pg 211] Shan States, sturdy men of stalwart stature and agreeable manners, assiduous traders, and good citizens. ”

“ INTOXICANTS IN BURMA—THE LIQUOR QUESTION.
We have seen how much there is to admire and to be proud of in the capacity and skill of our nation as the great ruling power in India. One cannot have dwelt in Upper Burma during the last few years without observing how sincerely our rulers have sought the welfare of the people, and how ably they have secured it. ”

“ There is a vast area of land in Upper Burma waiting for population to cultivate it, and if communications were made easy, the Chinese Shans and possibly Chinese and Panthays from Yunnan might be induced to settle in the northern districts. The Chinese and Burmans are akin, and the offspring of Chinese fathers and Burman mothers have the good qualities of both races, which cannot be said of other crosses. ”

“ The Indian Government is disposed to make the rich province of Burma an outlet for the congested populations of some of the provinces of India, and the great steamer companies are accomplishing this by conveying many hundreds of natives every week from the Indian ports to Rangoon, thereby enriching themselves, enriching Burma, and giving to these people a sphere and a chance in life, where their humble energies may receive their due reward. It is in manifold ways like this that civilisation and a firm and enlightened rule bestow such blessings on these teeming Oriental populations. ”

“ It ought to be the aim of every Christian amongst us to purge it of everything detrimental, and to make it all it should be. The responsibilities laid upon us as a people in this respect are very great.
That Burma is destined to play an important part in the development and civilisation of the far East, there can be little doubt, now that our frontier is brought up to the confines of China, and that a railway is to be constructed from Mandalay through the northern Shan States, that will bring us within measurable distance of the great “Celestial Empire.” ”

“ One peculiar and sadly interesting feature of mission work in a new country is the duty of seeking the lost. Whenever a new country is opened, it not only offers a sphere for steady young men seeking one, but it always attracts also many adventurers, wanderers and prodigals from the more settled communities, and they come in considerable numbers. The annexation of Upper Burma was a case of this kind, and the hope of employment brought over persons, some of whom were to be found serving in positions very different from what they or their friends ever expected them to occupy. ”

“ Only five years before, the Burmese king reigned in the palace. Suddenly all Mandalay was in a ferment of dread. English war boats had touched the strand, and British soldiers were marching through the streets, to take the city and capture King Theebaw. Only last year the crack of our rifles was heard in many parts of the country, and even as I write British troops are marching out of the city to take part in fresh expeditions on the frontiers. Burma is not the settled country it will be ten years hence, nor has there yet been time for the people of the conquered land to trust us implicitly. ”

“ As regards Upper Burma in the King’s time, nothing can be farther from the truth. Buddhist ecclesiastics relied on the arm of flesh. The King and his officers promptly and effectually enforced the commands of the hierarchy. Laymen were severely punished for ecclesiastical offences, and recalcitrant monks were imprisoned within the precincts of a pagoda, or compelled to do acts of penance. In early days in Mandalay one Deputy Commissioner essayed to maintain the ancient rule, and to give effect to monastic sentences. ”

“ Not only is there a need for more knowledge of the countries and races we govern, there is also a demand for it. The events of recent years, especially those resulting from the annexation of King Theebaw’s country, have drawn Burma into much closer touch with England; and many people, by no means ignorant of Burma before, now feel a much deeper interest than formerly in all that pertains to that interesting country, whose destinies are henceforth so intimately bound up with our own. ”

“ The British Government, if it had decided to annex Upper Burma, might by a more leisurely occupation, not only with a larger military force, but with a complete staff of civil administrators, have saved the people from some years of anarchy and great suffering. ”

“ Good metalled roads are a luxury we have not seen much of as yet in Upper Burma, but we shall get them in course of time. On the Sunday we rested, and spent some time amongst the villagers, distributing tracts and preaching. Here we had the misfortune [240] to lose our two ponies. Mr. Bestall, pitying them, that there was so little grass to eat in the rest-house enclosure, opened his kind heart, and the gate at the same time, and let them out to graze, giving them in charge to the cartman to look after. ”

“ Another extension of the Mandalay line, from Meiktila to Myingyan on the Irrawaddy, is about to be taken in hand; and a second and more detailed survey is shortly to be made for that very important extension from Mandalay up to the hills, and across the Shan plateau in a north-easterly direction, to open up the rich Shan country, and eventually, in all probability, to connect Upper Burma with Yunan, the great westerly province of China, with eleven millions of inhabitants.
Railways bring new life to a country like Burma, and arouse men from the sleep of centuries. They pay well ”

“ One thing is clear: the country that can afford to gratify its superstitious fear of omens in this spendthrift way, lightly undertaking to build a new capital every now and then, and whilst sparing so much on pagodas, monasteries, monks and other works of merit, yet look so plump and well favoured as Burmans usually do, must possess considerable sources of wealth, and there is no doubt such is the case with Burma. ”

“ In fact, so civilised has Upper Burma become, that a movement is [70] on foot for a private company to lay down several miles of tramway in the streets of Mandalay, and start a service of trams; and another scheme has been submitted for lighting the principal streets with electricity.
A government in an Oriental country, to be successful, must, before everything else, be strong, and nothing contributes more to this than an efficient police. At the outset, the establishment of order was largely a military work, and the brunt of it rested on our British and Sepoy troops. ”

“ The resources of Burma are very considerable. Its mineral wealth includes gold and silver, iron and tin; its mines of rubies and sapphires are noted all over the world; its coal and earth-oil are likely to prove of great value; jade, a green stone much prized in China and Japan for the manufacture of bracelets and trinkets, is found in large quantities in Upper Burma, and amber is met with in the northern parts of the country. As the country and its productions become opened up, these treasures are sure to receive the attention they deserve. ”

“ The suppleness of Burmese women is remarkable. To lean backwards and pick up with the eyelid a rupee placed on the floor is not an unknown feat.
[179] Sir George White’s close connection with Upper Burma was never forgotten. When Ladysmith was relieved, the Upper Burma Club sent him a telegram of congratulation, of which we received a courteous acknowledgment, probably the only instance of an exchange of telegrams between Mandalay and Ladysmith. ”

“ Of the forty or more different races and tribes dwelling in Burma and on its frontiers, the Burmans are the leading race: first, in point of numbers, for they far exceed any of the others; also as regards position and advantages, for they naturally, as the leading race, have come to occupy all the best and most fertile soil, all the tracts of country lying between the great mountain ranges, the valleys of the Irrawaddy and the Chindwin rivers ”

“ I have endeavoured to draw as faithful and accurate a picture as possible of the country and people, and I have tried to show, from the standpoint of a sympathetic but impartial witness, what the annexation of an Oriental country like Burma really means, what are its immediate results, and what are the many strong points and the few weak points in our rule. ”

“ It is undoubtedly a blessing for Burma that such a rule, so hopelessly corrupt and demoralising to the nation, so incompetent to keep order, and so determinedly Oriental, conservative and out of date, has become a thing of the past. ”

“ For few innovations vex a people more than changes in the boundaries of the units of jurisdiction which touch their daily life. Hence it came to pass that all the country between 23° 37' N. and the undefined line dividing Upper Burma from China and Thibet, somewhere about 28° N., was constituted the charge of a single Deputy Commissioner, with the China frontier as its eastern boundary, and as its western limit the Hukawng Valley, the Upper Chindwin district, and further south the Katha district. ”

“ Next to this is Rangoon, the capital and [3] the seat of Government, with 180,324; Maulmein has 56,000. The rest of the towns are considerably smaller.
The population of Burma is scanty in proportion to its area and resources; in fact, population is the great requisite for the development of the country. The quickening touch of British rule and commerce is effecting much in the direction of supplying this need. Every district, without exception, in Lower Burma shows an increase in the last ten years, an increase of 22 per cent. ”

“ It was then long before officers were able to travel without escort in Upper Burma.
This was one of the first daurs, or small expeditions, undertaken. Keeping close to the telegraph line which it was our primary duty to restore to working order, we marched through the midst of the Ava subdivision. In fine open country we rode daily over sessamum fields or through tall growths of millet, making our first acquaintance with the land where so much of our lives was to be spent. [Pg 131] The climate was cool and pleasant, so that we were able to march far into the morning. ”

“ But suddenly having to find a sufficient staff of officials, to rule over a country as large as France, has involved engaging the services of many young men, for they must enter upon their duties young to be properly trained for the work; and it is a notable fact that the great work of pacifying and restoring to order Upper Burma has been chiefly the work of very young men. ”

“ The phoongyees are the brethren of the yellow robe, the Buddhist monks, who are to be seen in Mandalay by thousands, and all through the country in like proportion to the population. The pagodas form here as everywhere in Upper Burma a feature in every landscape. The pariah dogs are uncommonly numerous. You might guess at once you were in a Buddhist country from the thousands of homeless, poor, emaciated, mangy creatures, nobody’s dogs, that roam over the city, eating anything they can pick up, the vilest refuse, and acting as the scavengers of the place. ”

“ Men have been known to make a regular trade of snaring little birds in the jungle, and bringing them to the bazaar to sell to the merit seekers, who buy them merely to set them free.
Many works of merit involve great expense, such as the digging of a well, the erection of a bridge, a zayat or rest-house, a monastery, a pagoda. Judging by the enormous number of these sacred buildings in Upper Burma, it would appear that this is a favourite way of seeking merit. The builder of a pagoda is honoured with a special title attached to his name, and he is understood to be in a fair way for Nirvana. ”

“ British rule would have nothing to justify its presence in such a country as Burma if it did not evidently make for the well-being of the people. In this chapter we have to consider the initiation of those measures that have been adopted with this view, and to ascertain how far they are likely to secure it. Five years is not a period of time from which much can be expected by way of results, but it is long enough for us to form an estimate of the kind of beginning that has been made. ”