Nevertheless, Brahmins are very clever in dodging an issue when it is necessary for their convenience.  For example, when a modern water supply was introduced for the first time into a city of India the problem arose, How could the Hindus use water that came from hydrants, in face of the law which prohibited them drinking it from vessels which may have been touched by people of another caste?  After much reflection and discussion the pundits decided that the payment of water rates should be considered an atonement for violating the ordinances of their religion.

There has been some improvement in the condition of women in India, and it is due almost entirely to the Christian missionaries who have brought about reforms which could not have occurred otherwise, although, at the same time, the spirit of modern progress has not been without its influence upon the native families.  Remarkable instances have occurred in which native women have attained distinction in literature, scholarship and science.  Several have passed university entrance examinations; a few have obtained degrees.  In 1903 there were 264 women in collegiate institutions throughout the empire, more than has ever been known before.  There has been a gradual increase in their number.  In 1893-4 there were only 108; two years later there were 110.  In 1898-9 the number jumped to 174, and in 1900-1 it reached 205, hence you will see that the advance has been normal and regular and there have been no steps backward.  The greatest progress has been in the southern part of the empire, where women are less secluded and the prejudice against their education is not so strong.  Nevertheless 99 per cent of the women of India are absolutely illiterate, and among the total of 144,409,000 only 1,433,000 can read and write; 75 per cent of them can do no more.  If a census were taken of those who can read and understand an ordinary novel or a book of travel the total would be less than 250,000, and counted among the literates are all the girls now in school who have advanced as far as the first reader.

In the United Provinces, the richest and proudest of India, where the arts and sciences have advanced quite rapidly among men, only 56,000 women out of a total of 23,078,000 can read and write, and that, as I said before, includes the girl children in the schools.  In the Punjab Province, which lies in the north, out of a total of 12,369,000 women and girls only 42,000 can read and write and at least 50 per cent of them are under 12 years of age.  The total number of girls now attending school in India is only 446,282 out of a total population of 144,409,000 women, but even this small number shows most encouraging improvement during the last ten years.  In 1893-4 the girls in school were only 375,868, but since then there has been a gradual increase every year—­400,709 in 1897-8, 425,914 in 1899-1900 and 429,645 in 1900-01.  In the Central Province, which ought to be one of the most progressive in India, out of a total female population of 23,078,000 only 20,821 girls altogether are in school.