Major Sleeman reveals the fact that the trade union and the boycott are antiquities in India.  India seems to have originated everything.  The “sweeper” belongs to the bottom caste; he is the lowest of the low—­all other castes despise him and scorn his office.  But that does not trouble him.  His caste is a caste, and that is sufficient for him, and so he is proud of it, not ashamed.  Sleeman says: 

“It is perhaps not known to many of my countrymen, even in India, that in every town and city in the country the right of sweeping the houses and streets is a monopoly, and is supported entirely by the pride of castes among the scavengers, who are all of the lowest class.  The right of sweeping within a certain range is recognized by the caste to belong to a certain member; and if any other member presumes to sweep within that range, he is excommunicated—­no other member will smoke out of his pipe or drink out of his jug; and he can get restored to caste only by a feast to the whole body of sweepers.  If any housekeeper within a particular circle happens to offend the sweeper of that range, none of his filth will be removed till he pacifies him, because no other sweeper will dare to touch it; and the people of a town are often more tyrannized over by these people than by any other.”

A footnote by Major Sleeman’s editor, Mr. Vincent Arthur Smith, says that in our day this tyranny of the sweepers’ guild is one of the many difficulties which bar the progress of Indian sanitary reform.  Think of this: 

     “The sweepers cannot be readily coerced, because no Hindoo or
     Mussulman would do their work to save his life, nor will he pollute
     himself by beating the refractory scavenger.”

They certainly do seem to have the whip-hand; it would be difficult to imagine a more impregnable position.  “The vested rights described in the text are so fully recognized in practice that they are frequently the subject of sale or mortgage.”

Just like a milk-route; or like a London crossing-sweepership.  It is said that the London crossing-sweeper’s right to his crossing is recognized by the rest of the guild; that they protect him in its possession; that certain choice crossings are valuable property, and are saleable at high figures.  I have noticed that the man who sweeps in front of the Army and Navy Stores has a wealthy South African aristocratic style about him; and when he is off his guard, he has exactly that look on his face which you always see in the face of a man who has is saving up his daughter to marry her to a duke.

It appears from Sleeman that in India the occupation of elephant-driver is confined to Mohammedans.  I wonder why that is.  The water-carrier (’bheestie’) is a Mohammedan, but it is said that the reason of that is, that the Hindoo’s religion does not allow him to touch the skin of dead kine, and that is what the water-sack is made of; it would defile him.  And it doesn’t allow him to eat meat; the animal that furnished the meat was murdered, and to take any creature’s life is a sin.  It is a good and gentle religion, but inconvenient.