T R UT H S A B O UT

INDIA

BEI N G A R E P R I NT O F L E A FL E T S

I SS U E D BY TH E E AST INDIA

A SSO C I AT I O N FR O M 1 909 TO 1 91 3
C

W I TH O E W O RD
A F R BY

TH E R I G HT H O N LO R D A M P TH ILL,
. GC I E
. . .

A ND A P R E FA C E BY

J. B . PE N N I N G T O N A ND J. P O LLE N

L O N DO N
TH E E A ST INDIA A SS O C I A T I O N

WE STM I N S TE R C H AM B E R S , 3 V I C T O RI A S T RE E T ,
S W .

1 91 3
 FO REWO RD

TH E E ast I ndia Association has taken a y sensible

ver and ,

indeed necessary step in republ ishing t his collec t ion o f l eaf

,

lets i n Pamphlet form I f I ndia is really t o be governed by

.

the B ritish Parliament i t is o f course essen t ial that t h e

,

M embers o f that Parl iament sh ould be correctly i nformed

about I ndian a ffai rs and if t h e H ouse o f C om mons is really
a democratic institution it is e q ually essential that those who
,

elect the mem bers of that H ou se should have some know

ledge o f the questions affecting t hree hu ndred m ill ions o f
thei r fellow subjects for whose welfare and con t en t ment
-

u nder B ritish rule they are respo nsible B o t h electors and

.

their chosen representa t i ves ought to realize more fully t han

they do at present that n o nobler responsibil ity or more

i nspiring duty has ever fallen t o t h e l o t o f a ny people t han
the protection an d govern men t o f I ndia .

B ut th ere are few w h o can afford the money t o bu y bo oks

abou t I ndia o r the ti me t o read them s o that the cheap
,

Pamphle t is th e only and obviou s me ans o f dissemina t ing

t h e necessary information . Th is has been gen erally recog
n i z e d o f la t e i n the matter o f domes t i c pol itics wh ere t h e
,

rapidly increas ing n umber and complexi t y o f q u es t ions has

become a seriou s di fcul ty i n the way o f t ru e democrat ic
govern ment Th e ordinary voter is n o longer sat ised with
.

a leaet which only gives h im par t y catch words o r m akes

u nqualied assertions i n regard t o poi nts o f d e t ail H e .

demands more solid and seriou s matter and wan t s s om eth in g

,

3 9 8i3 0 f)
vi

to read and thi nk about Th e p resent P amphlet wh ich is

.
,

reasonably concise portable i n form and convenient to

, ,

preserve meets this need wh ile leae t s ( wh ich are often

, ,

issued i n millions ) are frequently used only t o l i g h t the re .

I am incl ined to thi nk that t h e articles i n th is collection err

o n the side o f sweet reasonableness i f the prevalen t tas t e
for strong and even exaggerated language i n publ ic con t ro
, ,

v e rs
y is taken i nto accou nt T hey are .all o f t h e na t ure o f

the soft answer which tu rneth away wrath N ow if it were .
,

a case of meetin g honest but m istaken w rath th is would be ,

the best and most j udicio u s method b u t it is u nfortu nately , ,

sometimes a case of meetin g falseh oods and slanders of a

deliberately vile and mal icio u s character and these deserve ,

the strongest and most severe condem nation .

B ritons who del iberatel y slander their fellow c ou ntrymen -

in I ndia are no better than cowards for they select as th e ,

obj ects o f their u nscrup u lou s attacks those who have no

opportunity o f defendi ng themsel ves All publ ic men i n .

this cou nt r y are from tim e t o time exposed to bitter calu mny ;

that is o n e of the evil fru i t s o f our so cal led progress
-
.

They are however al w ays su rrou nded by partisans as

, , ,

n u merou s as their opponents who defend them with vigou r

, ,

so that in the end both sides can cry quits B ut B ritish .

public servants i n I ndia have no such advantage and every ,

attack wh ich is made upon them however gross and u nfai r ,

it may be underm ines t heir p res t ige and i ncreases the

,

dif culty of their dif cult task .

M al ice and hatred generally proceed from envy and it is ,

hard to understand why the E nglishm an i n I ndia should be

an obj ect of envy to any of his fellow co u ntrymen at home -
.

Life i n I ndia has many hard trials even for those who have
g ood appoi ntments and who are most attached to the co u ntry
an d the people E xile from hom e an d separation from
.

wife and children are among th e th in g s wh ich it is h ardest for

hu man nature to bear and these trials are the ordinary lot
,
 For ew or d

of those who spend the best part of their lives i n doin g

B ritish work i n I ndia H o w bravely these trials are borne
.
,

a n d how strong is the s ense o f p u bl ic d u ty wh ich makes

them tolerabl e can only be real ized by those who have

,

lived amon g the B ritis h men an d women i n I ndia B u t a .

little knowledge and a l ittle though t should make the

circu mstances comprehensible t o all people a t home and ,

i ncl ine them to regard with gratitude rather than with envy
those who are doing work for wh ich the B ritish nation is
responsible and upholding B ritish tradi t ions o f j ustice
, ,

humanity and civilization .

I t is i ncomprehensible to anyone who has a spark o f

national feel i ng why we alone o f all nations should have in
o u r m idst a vociferous section wh ose only obj ect i n l ife

seems t o be to disparage and v il ify the best ach ievemen t s o f

o u r race
. Th e only potent and ef cient remedy is to provide
ou r democracy with that k nowledge w hich i t ough t to possess
in order to pass a sou nd j udgment o n th e affai rs for which
it is responsible ; a n d i f the E ast I ndia A ssociation can make
a com mence ment o f su pplying this p u blic need they wil l be ,

entitled to national gratitude .

AM P T H I LL .

M I L T O N E RNEST H A LL ,

B ED FO RD,

j un e 2 8, 1
91 3 .
 P R E FAC E

TH ERE is no rel igion hi g her than Truth Bu t the .

q u estion still stands ,

W hat is Truth and perhaps the

best reply is that T ruth is the j ustly p roportioned ex -

p ression o f the fact no t hi ng therefore seems m ore , ,

des irable in fair controversy than the j ustly proportioned -

setting forth o f facts and the careful avoidance o f all

exaggeration or extenuation I t is from wa nt o f attention
.

to these essentials that newspaper controversy whether ,

pol itical o r econo mic is often so barren o f good res u lts

, .

A bsol ute truth is of course u nattai nable in this
, ,

world o f ou rs and the most we can do is to mov e thro u g h

,

illusions towards truth as D r Abbott says S o the leaets
, . .

here collected are at best merely movements and attempts

to get as near to the truth abou t matters I ndian as o u r
partial knowled g e will admit Th e chief ai m and end we
.

have i n view may be expressed i n the words o f Mr H ume

, .
,

as the consol idatio n o f u nion between E ngland and I ndia ,

and this we consider can best be secu r ed by fearless truth

telling o n both sides and by reciproca l goodwill and mu tual
,

tr u st
.

I f exa g gerated language ( sometimes perhaps u nfairly , ,

called O riental izing ) could be el imi nated from con
t ro v e r s y
,
there would we are persuaded be far less
, ,

u nwholesome u nrest i n I ndia B ut perhaps complete

.

el imination o f heated language is hardly possi ble and all ,

p rogress o f course impl ies u nrest
, ,
b u t su ch u nres t
ix 1
 P f
r e a r

need n o t necessarily be the S i g n of anyth in g u nwhole

some o r i ndeed o f anything m ore seriou s than the
, , ,

growing pains o f you th

- I n this connection it may be
.

noted that the B ritish Govern ment in I ndia i tsel f is still in

its early y o u th S o when G reat B ritain is reproached for
.

doing so l ittle du rin g the 1 5 0 years ( du ring which it is

sometimes alle g ed she has been the Ruler o f I ndia) i t is ,

only fair to recall the fact that barely 1 5 0 years have

elapsed since the handful o f E nglish i n Patna and its
neigh bourhood fell victim s to M ir K asim and w ere ,

almost exterm i nated ( i n and that it was n o t till

some time after that event that even so m u ch as Lower
B en g al came u nder a very imperfect and i ndi fferent sort o f
B ritish control I t was certainly n o t u ntil 1 0 0 years after
.

the Patna massacre that Patna itsel f became a B ritish

self gove rn in g M u n icipal ity and that the B ritish Govern
,

ment in I ndia may be said to have mat u red and t o have ,

beg u n the work o f popular adm i nistration in real earnest .

B efore 1 7 5 6 the B ritish Raj was practically non existent -

,

and the co ndition o f E n gland at t hat time is thus

described
N ever did the fort u n es o f E ngland stand lower than at
the end o f 1 7 5 6 I n N orth A merica B raddock had been
.
,

defeated and his army annihilated O swe g o with w hich .

,

went the control o f Lake O ntario had been taken ; from ,

I ndia came news of the B lack H ole o f Calcutta ; o n the

Continent o u r only ally Frederick o f P russia had been
, ,

defeated ; o n sea Admiral B yng had been defeated by an

e q ual force of F rench and had sl un k home withou t darin g
,

to renew the action .

I ndeed s u ch was the state o f affairs i n those days that

,

the cyn ical Lord C hestereld u ttered the despairful c ry

We are no lon g er a nation I t is therefore clearly idle
.
, ,

t o maintain that I 5 0 years ago the E n g lish were th e rulers o f

 P f
r e a ce

I ndia o r that they have had 1 5 0 years of E mpi re i n the

,

E ast They are really only at the begi nning of thei r work
.

o f I mperial consol idation

, and it is i n the hope that th is
g reat work may be helped even a little for t h e abid i ng
, ,

benet o f the people o f I ndia and the E mpi re i n general ,

that th is reprint has been issued .

J B P E N N I N G TON
. . .

J O H N P OLLE N
.
 C O N TE N TS

I TH E TRUTH A B OUT TH E DRAIN
.

I I TH E TRUTH AB O U T TH E G OVERNMENT O F INDIA

.

II I TH E S I LVER L ININ G AN D INDIA S C LOUD

.

IV INDIAN ADMINISTRATI ON A S IT STRI K ES A D ISTIN G UISHED

.

F RENCH STUDENT
BRITISH RU L E IN INDIA
TH E TRUTH A B OUT L O RD M O R L EY S RE F O RMS ; O R I s INDI A

VI
v
.
,

MIS G OVERNED P
$ VI I BRITIS H RU L E IN INDIA
.

VI I I THE SIMP L E ARITHMETICA L TRUTH AB OUT THE L AN D

.

REVENUE OF I NDIA
THE P R ESENT SITUATI ON
M R K EIR H A RDIE O N THE NATIVE STATES
.

W HAT I s TH E TR U TH AB OU T TH E C ONDITI ON OF TH E
INDIAN PEOP L E $
THE NEED FOR TRUTH AB OUT INDI A N A G RICU L TU RE
THE TRUTH A S TO THE EMP L OYMENT O F INDIANS IN THE
SERVICE O F THEIR C O U NTRY so FAR As TH E PUN J AB IS
,

C ONCERNED
XIV CO OPERATIVE B A N K S A N O BJ ECT L ESS O N F R OM INDIA
.
-
: -

XV THE W ONDERS O F IRRI G A TI O N IN THE PUN J AB

.

XVI THE B U RDEN O F THE H O ME CH A R G ES

.

xv I I M O RE TR U THS A B O UT LA ND REC O RD S AND L AND REVENUE

.

IN TH E PUNJ AB
XVIII A G RIC UL T U R AL INDEBTEDNESS AND THE A L IENATI O N OF
.

LA ND IN THE P U N J A B
XIX THE C O NDITI O N O F TH E PE OP L E IN THE P U N J AB
.
 Con ten t$

NO .

XX THE INCIDENCE O F THE INDIAN INC OME T A X

.
-

XX I
u THE A LL E G ED DESTR U CTI O N BY EN GLAND O F INDI A N
.

INDI G EN OU S INDUSTRIES
XXII THE A BS ORPTI ON O F G OL D A ND SI L VER BY INDI A
.
,

W HAT IT ME A NS
TH E LAST W ATCH O F TH E NI G HT

x xI I I .

XX IV G L IMPSES O F INDIA PAST A ND PRESENT

.
,

x xv S O ME P LA IN F A CTS AB OUT F A MINES IN INDI A

z
.

x xv x TH E TR U TH A B O U T RAI L W A YS
.

X XVII

TH E C O ST O F TH E INDI A N G O VERNMENT
.

XXVIII SIR R OL AND W I L S O N ON THE TR U E CH A R A CTER O F THE

.

INDI A N G OVERNMENT
x x I x MR HYNDMAN TH E TIMES AND TH E TR U TH A B OUT
. .
,

,

TH E DR A IN

1 65

D OES THE INDIAN G OVERNMENT PR OVIDE W OR K FOR A LL 1 68

X XXI AN INDEPENDENT TESTIM ONY BY H A R OL D BEG BIE

. 1 70
 TR U TH S A BOUT IND I A

TH E T R U T H A B O U T
TH E D R A I N

W HA T are the facts abo u t the drai n o f I ndia s wealth i nto
Great B ritai n $ I t has been assumed that there is a drai n ,

b u t the nat u re and e xtent o f th is drai n has been h ighly

exa gg erated and sometimes g rossly m i srepresented Th e
,
.

ofcial drai n is i ncluded i n what are known as the home

charges and these home charges for the th ree years
,

from 1 9 0 4 to 1 9 0 7 amou nt o n the avera g e t o

a
y e a r reduced to about
, by ded u ctin g su ndry
receipts These . can be rou g hl y su m mari z ed
and g rouped u nder the following heads

( )
1 I nterest o n m oney due o r borrowed
( ch iey for railways , e t c.
) about
( )
2 Pu rchase o f stores
(3 ) M il itary charges ( includi ng pe nsions )
( 4) C i vil char g es ( incl ud ing pensions )

As wi l l be seen ( 4) civil and ( 3 ) m ili t ary charges i ncl u din g

,

pensions amou nt to , This is no doubt a heavy

charge but it might well be re g arded as a not u nreasonable
,

pre m iu m payable for i nsu rance a gai nst foreign a g gression

a nd internal d ist u rbance Th e peace and secu rity enjoyed
.

i n I ndia may be taken as an adeq u ate return for this

out l ay .

I t is not i ntended t o j u stify every char g e in the deb t

accou nt b ut ( 1 ) payment o f i nterest o n su ms borrowed for
,
2 Tr u t/zs aoou t

[n a za

the construction o f rail w ays etc o r ( 2 ) disburseme n t s on , .

,

acco u nt of t h e pu rchase o f stores can not fairly be described ,

as a drain because i n retu rn fo r this m oney I nd ia has
,

r eceived adequate com mercial equ ivalent in the shape of

metals machinery railway plant and miscellaneous stores

, , ,
.

S uch receipts h ave al ways been j ustl y re g arded as amon g st

the most val uable and permanent o f com mercial retu rns .

I t has however been u rg ed that in addition to these

, , ,

k n ow n payments t here is a n u nknown drain on I ndia s
,
'

reso u rces i n the sha p e of private rem it t ances and the ,

extent o f this drain has been estimated at between

and 1 2 oo o o oo a y ear This is of co u rse
, , .
, ,

a mere g u ess and th e p robabilities are against the acc u racy

.

o f this g u ess . Th e su m mentioned is more than double

the ann u a l pay o f all the E u ropean of cials in I ndia c ivil ,

and military and i t seems idle t o contend that the com

,

a ra t i v e l v fe w E u rop e an merchants i n I ndia earn more

p
than al l t h e civ il and m ilitary E u ropean o fcials p u t to g ether .

I t is wel l known that E u ropea n of cial s i n I n d ia can not

rem i t a moiety o f their pay to E n gland Many of t h em .

spend all their pay ( and even more ) i n I ndia I t m u st .

s u rely be the same with some E u ropean merchants .

N evertheless it has become the fash ion when comparing

, ,

B ritish r u le i n I ndia with that o f o u r predecessors to declare ,

that al tho u g h the expenditu re o f the N ative Govern me nts

,

was not so prod u c tive i n the economic sense as th a t of the

B ritish Government yet the money w a s spent i n the
,

cou ntry a n d that t ho u g h often wantonly wasted by the

, ,

chiefs and co u rtier the money ltered back i nto the

s ,

possession of the peop l e a n d that the common peopl e were ,

c o n s e q u e n t l v better off Th is is certainly not borne out by

.

the evidence o f non B ritish travellers who have described

-

the former state o f I ndia They fou nd the com mon people .

n o t only not prosperous b u t su ffe rin g o n all sides from

,

g rind in g poverty and living cheerless com fortless l ives

, , .

Whatever be the tr u th about the drain the B ritish Govern ,

ment can clai m to have spen t more money on and done ,

 me Tr n t/z d oom Tee D rain 3

more to sec u re the material and i ndustrial development of

,

I ndia than all its predecessors p ut together B ritish control .

has not only led to an increase i n the rate o f wages o f the

labou ring classes but has also i ncreased the e f ciency of
,

that labou r and has raised the standard o f living and

,

comfort thro u ghout the len g th and breadth o f the land .

Wi th re gard to the drai n o n I ndia the late M r Samuel ,

.

S mith M P not a sun dried bu reaucrat b u t an inde

, . .
-
,

pendent and tho u ghtful critic of t h e I ndian G overn ment

a nd an earnest well wishe r o f the people of I ndia writes
-

thus
I n d amon g st the Con g ress party consisti n g o f the ,

most h i g hly ed u ca t ed natives a cu riou s aversio n to forei g n ,

capital they th i n k i t drains away the prots o f the country .

They point to the great excess o f exports over imports ,

so m e annuall y and charge upon th is the ,

i mpove rish ment o f the co u ntry They i g nore the fact .

that the same phe nomenon appears i n the B ritish Colon ies
and in the U ni t ed S tates and yet that t hese are the m ost
,

prosperou s cou n t ries in the world I t is no doubt true tha t .

a Government by foreigners does i mpose what may be

cal led a certain tribute on the country ( in the shape o f

pensions , N o do u bt h e g oes o n it wou l d be
, ,

better fo r I ndia co u ld capital be raised i n the co u ntry and ,

the adm inistrat i on be cond u cted by the natives o f the

co u ntry ; (Bu t Ma tt i s n ot poss i b l e a t p r esen t and it is su rely ,

better that the railways should be made by forei g n capital

than n o t made at all Th e benets that I nd ia has g ained
.
,

and will gain in the future from the development o f her ,

i nd u stries a nd from cheap mean s o f com m u nication will

, ,

much more than repay her for the i n t erest she has to rem it
to E n g land B u t at present these truths are very d iml y
.

rea h ze df

At p 1 86 o f h is
. E ssays o n I ndian E conomics
,

the late H o n M r J ustice R a n a d e writes : There a re

.

.

some people who thi nk that as lon g as we have a heavy ,

4 Tr n tns a b ou t I nd ai

tribute to pay to E n g land which takes a w ay nearly twenty

crores o f our s u rpl u s exports w e are doomed and ca n
,

do not h ing to he l p ourselves $ This is ho w ever hardly a , ,

fair or man l y position to take up A portion of the bu rden

.

represents i nterest o n moneys advanced to or i nvested i n , ,

ou r co u ntry and so far fro m co m plainin g w e have re ason t o

,

be thankful that w e have a cred itor who s u pplies o u r need s

at suc h a l o w rate o f interest Another po r tion rep resents
.

the val ue o f stores s u pp l ied to u s the l ik e of which w e

,

can not produce here Th e remainder is alle g e d to be more

.

or less necessary for the p u rposes o f ad mi nistration defence ,

and payment o f pensions ; and thou g h there is g ood cause

,

fo r complai nt that it is not all necessary we should not ,

for g et the fact that we are enabled by reason o f this

B ritish c onnection to levy an equivalent t rib u t e from C hina
by o u r opiu m monopoly I would n o t t h erefore desir e y o u
.
, ,

to divert and waste your energ ies i n the fruitless discussio n

of this q u estion of tribute wh ich had bet t er be left t o o u r
,

politicians .

Ap r i l , 1 90 9 .
6 Tr n t/zs a b ou t I n dia

I am a Social is t and h ave at t h e risk o f i ncu rring some

, ,

l ittle odiu m don e what I coul d to advocate S ocialism in the

,

P ress and on the platform i n I ndia wh ile wh en o n fu rlou g h , , ,

I have refu sed to vote fo r any candidate who would not

subscribe to the I L P program me . . . .

I went to I ndia expecting to nd a great deal o f m is :

g overn ment and most u nwilling to admit that any good

,

could result from a bu reau cratic system E xperience has .

forced me to the concl usion that there is n o cou n try i n t ko

w or l d b et t e r gover n ed t /za n I
<
i
n d a , n on e i n w b i eb t /ze a d m i n i s

f
t r a t i on d oes m or e f p or t b e m a ss es o tb e p
eo l e ii
This is
strong language but I am convi nced that any Socialist who
,

made himsel f acquainted with the facts would endorse it ,

with a fervent w ish that thi n g s were as well managed i n

E ngland as i n I ndia .

I n I ndia exce p t i n B engal the land is national p roperty

, , ,

the cultivators holdin g direc tly from the S tate and occ u py ,

i n g thei r farms i n perpetuity on pay ment of a rent of from ,

6 d to 4 5 per acre
. . There is com m u nal grazing l and
.
-

attached to each v illage and the land on which the village ,

is bu ilt is also the property o f the people There are .

conseq u ently no grou nd rents and every man however

, , ,

poor owns h is house All waste land is i n the hands of

, .

Govern ment That wh ich is arable is available for cultiva

.

tion and a portion may be taken and occ u pied by anyone

,

who appl ies for it witho u t any char g e other than the ann ual
,

l and tax H ills and j u ngl e and river tracts are u nder the
-
.

control of the F orest D epartment and are managed i n such ,

a way as to brin g in a prot to th e nation M ining royalties .

go not to a class of g reedy landlords but to th e State , .

Th e railways where they are n o t S tate owned are State

,
-
,

guaranteed and S tate controlled They bring i n a yearly -

.

reven ue o f abou t G overn ment has i ndeed , ,

g one i n s o larg ely for productive works o f various kinds

that it is able to pay t he whole o f the i nterest o n its
borrowed capital from the prots accru in g from these .

Th e i ta li c s a e o u s r r .
 T/ze Tr u th a b ou t t b e Gover n m en t o
f n di a
I 7

It is i mpossible to enumerate all the various schemes

that have been carried o u t by Government for the develop
ment o f the resou rces o f the cou ntry and the improvement
o f the conditi on o f the people M ost notable among these
.

are the openin g u p o f the g reat railway system and th e ,

establish ment o f vast i rrigation works in parts o f t h e

country which su ffered from a precario u s rainfall I n N orth .

I ndia the Ganges system has placed th e greater part o f the

provi nce beyond the reach o f famine ; i n S outh I ndia the
Godavari and K istna Delta Works have transformed the
poorest and most m iserable into the richest and most
prospero u s districts i n the M adras P residency At the .

present ti me as a resul t o f personal i nq u iries made by Lord

,

Cu r z on a hu g e irrigation sch eme is being inaugurated o n

,

the borders o f the Deccan wh ich will distribute water o ver

,

an area as large as I reland and th u s save som e m illions o f

,

people from th e fear o f fam i ne .

I f o u r H ome Govern men t would only take a leaf o u t o f

the book o f the Government o f I ndia it would be a g reat ,

deal better for o u r u nemployed Th e G overnment o f I ndia

.

reco g n izes t o the fu l l its obl igation to provide work for

those who are u nable through any exceptional causes to
,
,

earn a l ivelihood .

I ndia has al ways been subj ect to oft recu rrin g fami ne -
,

owing to the precarious natu re o f the rain fal l bu t whereas

in former times fam ine was re garded as beyond the control
of man it is n o w considered a problem to b e faced and
,

dealt with by those responsible for the g overnmen t o f the

co u ntry I n every district of I ndia the re is a l ist o f useful
.

works in the Govern ment ofces a nd a supply o f tools i n

the Govern ment stores and as soon as there are eviden t
,

si g ns o f distress rel ief works are opened o n which all who

,

are able to earn a l ivelihood can nd employmen t E very .

effort is made to p revent the people from feeli ng that there

is any disgrace i n resorti n g to these works As a res u lt o f .

th is pol icy the hardship and suffering wh ich a rise from

,

famine i n the pr esent day are however great b u t sli g ht

, ,
8 Tr n tb s a b ou t I n dia

compared to the terrible calam ities res u l ting from the famines
of former times .

No statement could be more inaccu rate than that I ndia

has been impoverish ed b v B ritish rule Th e very reverse .

is the case Th e total disappearance o f the shell cu rrency

. ,

the i ncreasing demand for the l uxu ries o f l ife th e yearly ,

absorption o f abo u t pou nds worth o f impo rted
b u ll ion a great part of which is used for the manu fact u re of
,

j ewellery proves that the people are really mu ch wealth ier

,

than formerly .

Th e masses are poor very poor bu t thei r poverty is i n

, ,

no way due to maladmi nistration o r misgovernm en t Reck .

less expenditu re o n marriage festiv ities and l itigation are

the chief causes of the indebtedness of the ryots A man .

will spend th ree or fo u r years in come o n h is son s marriag e ,

borrowin g the money witho u t hesitation from a u su rer wh o ,

ch arg es from 1 2 to 7 5 per cent i nterest per an num N o .

on e i s er n sb ed by over ta xa t i on I t is tr u e that the reven u e

-
.

o f I ndia is much larger than the revenu e o f Great B ritai n

in proportion to the wealth of the cou ntry but it is a g reat ,

m istake to rega rd the whole revenue of I ndia as a tax u pon

the people A large part o f it is pro t earned by p u bl ic
.

works and o f the remainder two thirds come from the

, ,
-

land tax wh ich includes rent M embers of the workin g

-
,
.

classes if they refrai n from the u se o f alcohol and opiu m

,

and keep o u t o f the l a w cou rts h ave nothin g to pay i n the

-
,

shape o f taxation excep t som e fou rpence a h ead which

the sal t monopoly costs th em Those who com plai n o f th e .

lan d tax close th eir eyes to the fact that it i s really o f

-

the nature o f rent paid to the com m u nity for the privile g e
o f occ u pying to the exclusion of others what is really the
, ,

property o f the wh ole nation .

Socialists w h o look into th e controversy on the land

system wh ich has taken place between the Government o f
I ndia o n th e o n e hand and some I ndian political reformers
o n the other will be amazed to nd the s o called reformers
,
-

advocati n g the landlo rd system as fou nd i n B engal while ,

 Tb e Tr u tb a b ou t t/ze Gover n m e n t f
o I n di a . 9

the Govern men t with Lo rd C u rzon at its head stands u p

, ,

fo r national ownership and control Th is is a very fair.

example o f the attitude o f the I nd ian pol itical reformers .

They look a t thi n g s from the standpoi nt o f the classes and ,

leave th e interests o f the masses o f the people al most

enti rely o u t o f acco u nt .

There is a far greater gul f between the classes and the

masses in I ndia than i n E ngland fo r i n I ndia the class ,

feeling is i m mensely i ntensied by the caste system wh ich ,

teaches that the members o f the different sections o f society

have no more in com mon than ho rses and cattle o r sheep ,

and goats Th e mere tou ch o f a l o w caste man is su pposed

-
.

to bring pollu tion Pariahs who form the greater part o f

.
,

the p roletariat and nu mber abou t

, are not
allowed to l ive i n any respectable street o r to draw water
o u t o f the v illage tan ks o r w e l l s I n some parts o f the
.

co u ntry they are still den ied a free use o f the publ ic roads ,

and u ntil recently they were n o t allowed to w hitewash

thei r houses o r to ride o n a horse o r i n a palanqu in I n .

the extreme S o u th of I ndia their women were prevented

from wearing any cloth ing above the waist an d in al most ,

every part of I nd ia any attempt o n the part of either

man o r woman to dress more decently is bitterly resented
by the h i g h caste peopl e Th e B ritish Government has
-
.

i n the main taken t he side o f these poor down trodden -

people .

O ur E ngl ish of cials standi ng as they have done entirely

,

apart from the social system o f the co u ntry have been ,

able as they would not have been at home t o look at

, ,

thin g s from an impartial s t andpoint and consequently have ,

done much to remedy the cru el social i nj ustices from which

.

the poor classes s u ffered T/i e gr ea t m a ss of tb e peop l e f a r

.
<

p r ef er t o b e u n der B r i ti sl t ofei a l s and do n o t h esi t ate to

,

pro t est vigorously a g ains t any attempt t o set them aside I n

favou r o f thei r fellow cou ntrymen E ven u nder B ritish
-
.

rule I have know n I ndian apothecaries refu se to allow l o w

caste patients t o en t er the consulti ng room o f th eir dis -
IO Tr u t b s a b oztt I n di a

pe n sa r y, and I ndian ma g istrates and j ud g es com pel

l o w caste complainan ts and w itnesses to stand ou t side the
-

walls o f thei r cou rt hou ses and sh ou t thei r evidence as best

-

they can from a distance .

I believe i n the extension o f se l f go v e r n m e n t i n I ndia

o
,

but so far as th e welfare o f the masses o f the people is

concerned the measu re o f local govern ment wh ich has
,

already been g iven has been anyth ing but a su ccess .

N u mberless cases coul d be given o f th e way i n which local

boards neglect an d even Oppress the l ower c l asses I n o n e .

district I have myself seen notices issued by a cou ntry

board forbidding the use o f its public res t h o u Se s to any -

but h i g h c lass H indus ; i n another I have known a lad t o

-

be expelled from a publ ic school o n th e written order of a

cou nty board chairman simply becau se he was a pariah
,
.

I n both cases I am glad to say the inj u stice was remedied

, ,

by the action o f the E u ropean magistrate i n charge o f the

district .

When the masses o f the people are educated u p t o th e

poi nt where they shall be conscious o f thei r w rongs and
able to insist o n their rights I ndia will be ready fo r sel f
,

govern ment ; but any attempt to force popular g overn men t

u pon the peopl e at present wo u ld i n vol ve i nj ustice as great
as the handin g over th e people o f I reland to a Parl iamen t
composed exclusively o f landlords and thei r friends I f .

those w h o are ready to l isten to the statements o f the

political reformers wh o for the m ost part belong to the
,

proudest and most exclu sive classes o f society were to ,

study the speeches and writings o f some o f th e social

reformers a l ittle body of brave m en wh o have been
,

excommun icated and persecuted as a reward fo r their

u nselsh efforts o n behal f of the poor and the weak they ,

woul d g et a very different idea i ndeed o f the present situa

tion i n I ndia .

it x
== x
==
X
>=
I
=<

Lord M orley who has bro u g ht some time and a h ighly

,

trai ned intellect to bear on the problem of I ndian a d m i n i s

 Tne Tr u di a b ou t t /ze G over n m en t f
o I n di a 1 1

t ra t i o n , has p ractically come to the same conclusion as

Mr H oward Campbell
. H e can not l ook forward t o the
.

time when a Parliamen t i n I ndia could be started with any

prospect o f su ccess ; and S i r T M a h d a v a Rau whose ex
.
,

e r i e n c e and ability are almost u nrivalled and who was by

p ,

no means an ardent admirer o f Bri t i s h supremacy sum med ,

up the question at the end o f h is career i n th e followi ng

words : Th e l onger o n e l ives observes and thi nks the
, ,

more does o n e feel that there i s no commu nity o n th e

face of the earth wh ich s u ffers less from pol itical ev ils
and more from sel f i n i c t e d or sel f accepted or self created
-
,
-
,
-

and therefore avoidable evils than the H i ndu
, .

Ap r i l , 1 90 9 .
 III

T H E S I LV E R L I N I N G AN D I NDIA S
C LO U D

IN the D ecember number of the S oci a l i st R evi ew there is

an article entitled Th e Silver L i ni ng to I ndia s Cl oud
,

,

by Dr Rutherford M P Th e cloud is the m a l a d m i n i s t r a

.
, . .

tion which has i n the opinion o f that gentleman ru n riot

, ,

fo r y ears Further tb e p r om i se s a n d p l edg es of $ u een
.
,

Vi c t or i a m a d e f ty y ea r s ag o r em a i n u nfu l l l ed
eve ry

e l e m en ta r i ce i n b
y g
r i /i t o
f t b c I n d i a n p eo p l e t o a vo t e

g f
over n m en t o t /zei r ow n cou n t r
y b a s b ee n d en i e d ; p l a ue
g ,

fa m i n e a n d p over ty na ve desol a ted th e l a n d a n d i n sp i te of

, , ,

all ,
t/ze c l ou d b a s r em a i n ed p a ss i ve sa ve f or occa s i on a l p er

t u r ba t i on s i n tb c s /za e of r i ots a n d a s t r on st r eu e or t w o
p g

o f b o m b l g
z n t nin
g
.

Th e prominent note i n criticisms o f o u r I ndian a d m i n i s

t ra t i o n is i ncapacity to appreciate the most elementary facts

c oncern ing o u r g reat D ependency I f D r Ru therford had

. .

the knowled g e which is s u rely an indispensable prelim inary

to wholesale condem nation it is dif cult to bel ieve that he
,

could have intended to attach l iteral accuracy to lang u age

pitched i n such a h i g h key the tu ne may have been set for
those w h o u nfortu nately take an extraordinarily perverted
view o f th in g s i n the E a st and prefer to have their literary
,

food served up hot and hi g hly seasoned I t wo u ld be easy .

to prove by arg u ment fou nded upon rel iable data that Dr
, , .

R utherford s accusations are so r e mote from the real ity as
to be absol u tely grotesqu e and even l udicrou s b u t a reply
,

to char g es so wholesale and reckless which without part i , ,

12
 1 4 Tr u t/t s a b ou t I n di a

P res u mabl y he means here that th e kin g dom s name d

o r i ndicated h ave either worked o u t their political regenera

tion o r are i n cou rse o f doin g so B u t w here is th e analo g y

.

between these co u ntries and H industan $ I s the h omo

e n e o u s national sentiment which animates J apan to be
g
fo u nd in I ndia $ I s any comparison possible betwee n
B u l g aria and I ndia o r fo r that matter between the latte r
, ,

co u nt ry and Persia o r Tu rkey $ What abou t the Trans

vaal B oers th eir treatment o f Asiatics and thei r K a r
population with reference to what Dr R u therford cal l s
,
.

t /ze s i n i st er b a r of col ou r i n I n dia $ F i nally is there ,

self g overnment i n B aroda o r any o f th e 6 0 0 a nd o d d

-

N ative S tates i n I ndia $ Ask these ch iefs how far th ey

admit their subj ects to constitutional privil e g es and ,

r u m i n a t e on t/ze r ep l
y .

According to D r Ru therford th e pe rso n who assert s

.
,

that I ndians are not n o w t to govern themselves is a l iar .

I t would be i nteresting to know when j u dged by th is test , ,

h o w many truth ful men besides D r Rutherford are i n

,
.
,

existence A goodly nu mber o f those who have devote d

. .

the best years o f their l ife to I ndia o r are still servin g ,

there in the closest touch with the people honestly bel iev e ,

that the bul k of the pop u lation are as yet u naffected b y

recent events and hav e no sympathy w ith a n ag itatio n
,

which they do not u nderstand ; that th e very small pro

portion o f literates amongst the i narticulate m ill ions renders
it i mpossible that they can for many years to come b e
q u a l ied to exercise the franch ise that the enormous siz e
of I ndia and its con ictin g interests render it a dan g ero u s
heresy to regard that cou n try as o n e nation o r to speak o f ,

the people o f I ndia as if they were unanimo u s i n senti
ment o r possessed o f anyth ing i n c ommon except that they
,

occ u py o n e geograph ical u nit A ll thi s is o f cou rse the

.
, ,

A B C o f the I ndian problem A simple su m i n arith metic

.

wou l d S how D r Ru therford h o w many M uhammadans and

.

h o w many of the lower castes there are fo r whom the ,

B rah mins and lawyers who comprise t h e bul k o f t h e

,

ag itators c a nh ave no clai m to speak

, .

Tb e S i l ver L i n i ng a nd I n di a s Cl ou d 1 5

D r Rutherford is very severe upon the Partition of

.

B engal to which h e refers as
,
c on ce i ved i n si n a nd

m a u r ed
t i n s t e e t b i f
s p i ece o C u r e on i a n i n i u i t
q y t n i s ,

a c cu r sed t r a n sa ct i on L or d C u r z on s c r i m e
,
S ome men .

o f considerable experience n o w o r previo u sly i n the I ndian , ,

a dministrative ranks are wanton enough even to approve

t h is meas u re as do the maj ority of the inhabitants o f the

,

n ew province wh ilst th e Ti m es correspondent n o w i n

,

I ndia wh o seems t o be a fairly capable observer has a

, ,

ood deal to s a y about the Partition su m m a rizing h is

g ,

r emarks as follows Tb e P a r t i t i on sta n d s i n n o n eed of

'

r en e w e
j d f u st i i
ca t on , or i t b a s been en t i r e
ly j i fi ed by u st

I t w a s i mpossible t o c a rr y o u t s u ch a l ar g e
'

r es u l ts .

s cheme w ithout giving rise to s ome discontent and at the ,

t ime there was u nhappily a good deal of loose g u n powder

, ,

about wh ich readil y I g n i ted I t may i ndeed be that the

,
.
, ,

t ime nearly t w o years duri ng which the proj ect w a s

u nd er p u bl ic exami nation and the fact that the V iceroy ,

made tremendous personal efforts to explain and populariz e

t h e meas u re tended to embitter the controversy
,
E veryone .

i s entitled to h is opin ion as to th e expediency or otherwise

o f d i v id i n up over g row n B engal bu t i n th is con nection to

g ,

a ttribute si nfu l ness and cri minality t o Lord C u rzon seems

to suggest that hav i n g n oth in g partic u lar to u rge i n the way

o f argu ment D r Rutherford resorts t o u nsti nted vitupera

, .

t ion o n the pri nciple o f
, a weak case abuse you r ad versary , .

I t is a pleasu re to turn from D r Ru t herford to a .

d istingu ished F rench man M onsieur J oseph Chaill ey w ho , , ,

as a P rofessor i n the Theory o f C olonial Govern ment has ,

paid visits to I ndia and various E astern colonial posses

sions i n order to study the q u estions there arising at the
,

fo u ntain head I n an article recently published i n L Op i n i on
-
.
,

after criticizing i n an absolu tely i mpartial man ner and n o t ,

a l ways i n a attering strain the variou s branches of o u r ,

a dmi nistration in I ndia he con cl u des ,

Wi tnout a d ou b t tb i s E ng l i s l i r u l e i s n ot w b ol ly g ood
r e or m l i a s fa i l ed N
. m or e tb a n on e f e i t b er . e du c a t i on , n or tb e
1 6 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n di a

a d m n i st r a t i on
i of j i
u s t ce , n or l eg i sl a t i on kow ever , ca r e f ul ly
c on s i de r ed i t m ay k a ve been i s en t i r ely a b ove c r i t i ci s m B u t
,
.

in t/zese m a tter s s o st r a ng ely d if cu l t on ly t /ze i gn or a n t

, ,

w ou l d d a r e to cr i t i c i z e w i t kou t r eser va t i on al l t /za t t /ze

E ng l i s/z k a ve don e Tb e w kol e p ol i cy .

,
esse n t i a l lyE ng l i s/c ,

l zea l tky kapp i ly c on cei ved a n d sk i lf

,
ul l
y p r a c t i sed T b c .

p p
o u l a t i on a pp r oves at l ea st by i ts s i l en ce a n d a t b ottom
,

app l a u ds . On ly a very sma l l b ody f

o n ob l e s ou l s an d a

m or e c om p a ct t r oop f
o a m b i t i ou s p eop l e bl a me an d m en a ce
Gover n men t . B u t tk ei r n u m b er is n ot i mp os i ng , n or is
t /zei r for ce r ed ou b ta bl e . A l so i n , s p i te of tb c a w a k en i n
g f
o

A s i a E ng l a n d
,
n ee d n ot at p r esen t t r em bl e f or t ke du r a t i on

of k er r ul e . Tb e p eop l e a nd t k ei r t r a d i t i on a l and m or a l
i n t er ests a r e a t on e w i t k k er , so a l s o in ou r o p i n i on are t k ei r

p r esen t and m a ter i a l i n t er es ts .

Th e silver l i ni ng to I ndia s cloud is D r Rutherford ,
.

suggests the K in g s P roclamation Th e importance of tha t
,
.

g racious messa g e can hardly be overestimated I t mus t .

a l s o be admitted that i n a certai n area o f the I ndian conti

nent there is trouble b u t i t is a g ross exag g eration to poi n t

,

to this as a clo u d envelop in g the whol e cou nt ry If .

Dr Rutherford be really anxiou s to do some service to o u r

.

A ryan bre t hren i n the East he w ill m indful o f the responsi , ,

b i l i t y which a t taches to h is position abandon the sensa ,

t i o n a l style o f writing and before framing m isch ievo u s , ,

a ppeals to th e democracy consider the advantage a nd the ,

fairness o f hu mdrum statements of facts over tall a n d

u nrel iable denu nciations .
 IV

I N D I A N A D M I N I S TRA TI O N A S I T S TR I K E S
A D I S T I N G U I S H E D F R E N C H S TU D E N T

J O SEPH C HA I LL EY .

I f we may borrow from I n d i a it is never labou r l o s t ,

to the student o f the I ndian p roblem t o gather the views O f

i ntelligen t an d well i nformed foreign observers and there
-
,

fore we make no apolo g y fo r publ ishing the followi ng

translation o f an article which appeared in L Op i n i on o n
J u ne 1 3 1 9 0 8 w ritten by M onsieu r Chailley a cleve r
, , ,

exponent o f the science o f Colonial adm inistration I t does .

not o f course i n some particulars represent views to whic h

, ,

this Association can comm it itsel f bu t it is so i nteresting ,

and so generally appreciative o f B ritish work in I ndia that

the C ou ncil have decided to publish it i n ex ten so withou t
com ment o r explanation .

I N D I A is dis t urbed and agitated O n the N or t h West .

-

Frontier along the spu rs o f the H imalayas as fa r as t h e

,

Afghan plateau o n e o r other o f the tribes more o r less

,

dependent o n E n g land has taken up arms T hey are not .

,

as i t migh t seem e xci t ed to rebellion by t h e Am ir bu t

, ,

they are aided and abetted by some o f t heir bro t hers i n the
Afghan domi nion I n the interior of I ndia i n more than
.
,

on e part at o n e time i n the P u n j

, ab and n o w more

especially i n the t w o B engals some ag itators hav e tried , ,

and are still trying t o appeal both to t h e interests and the

passions o f t h e people i n order t o try and sti r u p n ot
,

only H indoos b u t M ussulmans against the E ngl ish rul e .

B etween these two there is no connection Th e tribes of .

the N orth West are warlike robbers who g ht for pleas u re

-
,

o r fo r spoil Th e agitators are disco ntented people who

.
,

I 7
1 8 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

are ambitious and w h o clamou r fo r reforms W ith what

,
.

are they discontented $ What d o they want and what are ,

their ambitions $ I t is a l on g story I ndia w hich is as .

, ,

large as E u rope fro m M oscow t o Gibraltar num bers ,

i nhabitants : are u nder the rule of

native P rinces and are u nder E n g lish rule
,
.

E ngland has taken the whol e of a century to con q u er her ,

from the middle o f th e ei g h teenth cent u ry to the m iddle of

the ni neteenth I t has been a wor k done by patience and
.

opportu nity rather than by mere for c e Tker e wa s n ot . .

and t ke r e n ever ka s b een ,

an I n di a n n a t on i . I f t ke r e i s
on e som e d ay , it w il l b e tke E ng l i s/c w k o ka ve c r ea t ed it
in al l i ts
pa r t i c u l a r s hu ndred . Th e conquered were a
di fferent peoples differen t i n race rel igion history and
, , ,

l anguage ; people with wh ite ski n and peopl e with black

H i ndoos B uddhists M u hammadans and A ni mists ; men
, ,

of the plough and men o f the sword ; p riests warriors e t c , , .

E n g land has s u bd u ed them r u lin g them at rst fr om afar ,

and afterwards r u l ing them o n the spot with a watchfu l ,

sagacity and with at the very least a desire to do j u stice

, , , .

She has imposed peace i ns u red the sec u rity o f person and ,

p roperty and has ta u g h t ind u stry expect i ng economic

, ,

results I t has been an enormo u s task which she has done

.
,

alone and done well witho u t native co u nsellors if not with , ,

o u t native assistance S he has been able to admit a great.

number into the exec u tion o f this task and has reserved ,

the conception and direction o f it to herselfa form of

g overnment which M acaulay has styled an enli g htened ,

benevolent despotism .

Th e I ndian m a lcontents will only adm it the word

despotism in th is formula .

I n order t o pass j ud g ment o n their criticisms it i s ,

necessary to know h ow th e administration of I nd i a 1 5

organized Th e E ngl ish will t ell u s that they govern with
.

of cials ; but they have I n V i ew only the C iv il S ervice ,

wh ich is entrusted with the general adm inistration with ,

th e land revenue with the co u rts O f j ustice and wh ich i s

, ,
 M . Ck a i l l ey on I nd an
i A d m i n i s t r a t i on 1 9

recruited by competitive exam ination and i nvested with ,

great prestige O ne o u ght to add to th is

. or
other E nglish men who make up the tech n ical services ,

a total of These E n g lish men have u nder

t heir control many m illions o f natives About 1 0 0 are .

h i g h of cials ( J udges of the H i g h C ou rt D irectors o f ,

Accou nts D ist rict J u dges and Collectors ) these earn from
, ,

80 0 t o rupees per an nu m Th e rest are secondary .

ma g istrates ; en g ineers ; men i n the pol ice Postal and ,

Tele g raph Departments ; i n the railways ; i n the I rriga

tion D epartment etc ( these earn from 1 0 to
, .

rupees per month ) ; s u bordinates o f every rank o f ,

every qual ity who share the in nu merabl e and in ferio r

,

appointments which the E nglish are n o t allowed to take

for more than o n e reason I t i s i n order to recru it this
.

formidable army o f s u bordi nates that they have created

the u n iversities and schools o f I nd ia and h a Ve organ ized a ,

system of ed u cation fo l lowing a plan for wh ich M acaulay ,

who was at that time a member o f the G overn ment o f I ndia ,

responsible .

Th e Charter of 1 83 3 had j ust made the p rom ise which ,

was con rmed later by the P roclamation of 1 85 8 that no ,

s u bj ect o f the $ u ee n w ould be exclu ded by reason o f race ,

colou r o r rel igion from any p u bl ic appointment A s they

, ,
.

wished to make natives into of cials it w a s necessary ,

to educate them They del iberately and excl usively

.

pointed o u t Western ideas o f learning to them M aca u lay .

doubtless bel ieved ( they all bel ieved it in th ose days ) that
education i n itself was su f cient to effect a rapid change i n
the m ental o u tlook of a people .

I t chan g ed very little b u t it altered considerably the

,
,

respective social i n u ences if not the actual val u e of th e

,

d ifferent classes o f the population I t prepared the fu ture .

of a n ew class o n e w ith wh ich the An g lo I ndian Govern

,
-

ment wo u ld more than once have to reckon Let us ca l l i t .

t he lettered class

by a term n o t t o o inaccu rate
,
It
, .

wo u l d take t o o long to describe the pro g ram me a n d metho ds

20 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

of ed u cation its exam inations etc

, Let u s content o u r
, .

sel v es by saying that i t was the upper castes n o t the ,

P rinces bu t ch iey the B rah mins w h o lled th e school s

, ,

and the coll eges They were glad to procure for them
.

sel ves ( thanks to thei r prodigious mem ories ) a mean s of

l ivel ihood eager to raise their social status They took
, .

diplomas and passed the examinations wh ich qual ied t hem

for th e publ ic service They even had a t ry fo r the C ivil
.

S ervice i n the competi t ive exami nations and every year ,

there have been some su ccessful candidates o f th ei r clas s

among the E ngl ish A t th is moment strong in the
.
,

promises o f 1 83 3 and 1 85 8 and stron g i n their success in

,

the U n iversiti es and i n the examinations they bel ieved they ,

had reached the obj ect o f thei r ambition namely h igher ,

appointments with th e powers that appertai n thereto .

B u t it was n o t t o be and they fou nd themselves soon

,

taken down a peg or two Th is was a cru el disappoi nt

.

ment o u t o f wh ich has come m uch i rritation and distrust

, .

Th e E nglish have been doubly imprudent A t rst .

they p romised much in terms vague and u nexplai ned .

They had p romised but w ith m e n t a l reservations wh ich

,

for a long time had been kept secret A fterwards havin g .

,

created schools for the p u rpose o f training of cials they ,

appo inted masters w h o were at rst chiey Eu ropeans b u t ,

afterwards natives not o f a very h i g h order

,
Their .

U niversities became examin in g bodies withou t possessin g

any serious in uence over th e mi nds and characters of the
students Th e prod u cts o f these afl iated colle g es were
.

mediocre ; memory was developed more than the i ntel

l i ge n c e ; the learnin g was more s u percial than profou nd ;
the docility o f the students was more marked than their
origi nal ity every th ing in fact wh ich would qualify them
, ,

for posts o f a subordinate rank B ut they fou nd them .

selves far from the full ment o f their high est hopes .

Fo r a long time the E nglish and the natives alike have

refused to acknowled g e th is fail u re Of their hopes Th e .

natives contin u ed to learn and to g ai n diplomas ; they went

22 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

grou nd Th e powers that be consented to listen to them

. ,

and these are some o f their complai nts at the present tim e
E ngland rules ri g orously and appropriates some o f the ,

s u ms which she levies on the I ndian peopl e for the bene t

o f B ri tish po l icy This is w h y the taxation is too heavy
. ,

and why in a co u ntry relatively fertile famine ra g es Th e

, ,
.

people of certai n districts are too poor i n consequ ence of ,

the taxes to buy g rain E n g land ignores th e people that

, .

she has to g overn S he holds hersel f aloof and co nsiders

.

them beneath her she g ives th em n o proof of being abl e

either to u nderstand them o r to sy mpath ize w ith them .

That is why she passes so many measu res wh ich are con
t r a r y to her o w n i nterests and contrary to th e sentiments o f

her subjects .

This state o f thin g s will continue as long as she refu ses

the c o operation of the natives S he has trained both
-
.
,

i n the schools of I ndia and in the U n iversities o f E n g land ,

a select n u mber men of action whose c o operation sho u l d ,

-

be precious to her i f she would only cease t o rep u lse them ,

if she wo u ld only admit them i nto her C ou ncils Let her .

make room for some I ndians i n th e V iceroy s C ou ncil i n ,

the I ndia Co u ncil ( i n London ) i n the E xec u tive Council s ,

of the Governors o f M adras and B ombay ; let her make

room for some I ndians i n th e different Legislative Cou ncils ,

not only for a fe w individuals chosen as they are at present , ,

by the E xec u tive but let there be room made for man y
,

more represen tatives chosen by the people .

S u ch i n broad lines is the programme o f the clai ms of

, ,

the le g al a g itation party .

I n the meantime th e v iolent party has not entirely

g iven u p its methods and bombs from time to time ,

a c cent u ate and support th e ar g u ments o f their m ore pacic

allies
.

Th e E n g l ish have mu ch t o say i n answer to the arg u

ments o f their adversaries .

Firstly th is : that it is a m istake to suppose that these

ac c u sations are acc u rate Th e lettered classes p rodu cts
.
 M . Ck a i l l ey on I n d i a n A dm i n i s t r a t i on 23

of the U niversities do not repre sent either the sentiments

o r th e interests o f the masses They wo u ld be repudiated .

by the aristocracy and by the masses o f the people who l ive

by thei r o w n labo u r and w h o have probabl y more conden c e
,

i n the talents and more faith i n the j u stice o f the Eu ropean

,

as an admin istrator than th ey woul d ever have in the

na t ive .

Then again that these lettered classes are neither so

, ,

well instr u cted nor so able as they i magi ne themsel ves to

be and their administrative and pol itical abilities are p rob
,

ably far below their i ntellect u al abilities Therefore it .

wo u ld be too great a risk to hand over to them the d u ties

o f presidin g over the destinies o f their people .

A nd nally that the g ifts o f mere scholarship and of

, ,

being able to pass exami nations with s u ccess are not

s u f cien t in themselves to q u alify a man to govern C har .

acter and dignity m u st be acq u i red Consequently th e .

E n g l ish aver that if the day ever arrives when the ri g h t

,

of governin g is handed over to the lettered classes to those ,

who are clever o n paper to an i mmense H indoo

maj ority i n fact then a lar g e part o f I ndia would rise u p
,
-

with o n e accord and protest I n fact all the M u ham mada n s .

,

h ave a very different conception of those q u al ities wh ich

enable a man to command and to direct and they wo u ld ,

implore the E n g lish not to abandon them .

And all th is can be s u pported by facts B u t the E ngl ish .

for th e last hal f centu ry have indeed comm itte d an i r r e p a r

-

able m istake They have disdained for reasons of pol icy

. , ,

to l isten to the complaints of the people i n those matters i n

w hich they have a legitimate g rievance ; they have made
solem n promises and then have skil fu lly evaded thei r
promises No w t o day these strata g ems ( hardly disguised )
. ,
-
,

wei g h o n thei r consciences and they nd them sel ves c o n ,

strained by reason o f th e th reatened storm to concede to

,
,

these claims when they might have g ained by y ieldi ng to

,
24 Tr u t /i s a b ou t

I n di a

concessions and h o w to p u t o ff others B u t the .

determi ned resistance is over .

I ndia is abou t to ent er i nto a n e w period one o f c o

operation between master and su bj ect Let us ho pe fo r
.
,

everyone s sake that she will continue to advance fo r a
,

long time to come u nder the direction of the E ngl ish .

. May ,
 V

B R I TI S H R U L E I N I N D I A
A R E P LY TO A R E C E N T A ME R I C A N M A N I FE S T O O N THE
S U B JE C T

BY S YDN EY B R OO K S

Th e following very striking reply o f M r B rooks ( a gentle .

man with pro l on g ed exper i ence o f A merica ) to a recent

A merican man ifesto attacking the I ndian Govern men t
seems deserving o f careful consideration an d forms an ,

appropriate appendix to o u r second leaet Th e Truth ,

about the Government o f I ndia accordin g t o M r H oward .

Campbell . I t is extracted from the Sp r i ng el d S u n d ay

R epu b l i ca n o f April 4 1 9 0 9 ,

S EVERA L A merican papers recently p u blished i n th e form ,

o f an open letter t o M r Roosevel t a manifesto si ned by

.
, g
seventeen A merican g entlemen denou ncing castigating and
, , ,

as I shall qu ickly and convin cingly sh ow libelling B ritish ,

r u le i n I ndia M ost of these gentlemen are clergymen

.
,

and it would be i nteresting t o i nqu ire h o w many o f them

have v isited I ndia o r have made any particular study o f
,

its prob l ems o r are qualied to pass j ud g men t upon the

,

stu pendous and intricate q u estions o f e c On o m i c s statesman ,

s hip and social and nancial pol icy presented by th e

government o f th e peninsula O f those who ar e n O I .

ministers o f the Gospel some are known to m e by nam e

,

a s v ehement anti imperial ists wh o are j u st as m uch opposed

to A meric an rule i n the P h ilippines as to British rul e in

I ndia and who seem to re g ard all govern ment o f O r i ental
,

people by the wh ite races as an abomination A nybody .

famil iar with the meth ods o f political Controversy would

25
26 Tr u tks a b out I n di a

expect a pamphlet issued u nder su ch auspices to display

more indi g nation than accu racy more v iolence than love ,

o f truth and more heat and imag ination than k nowledge

,
.

B u t the u nrestrained bias wh ich these w riters display i n

their strictu res u pon B ritish rule i n I ndia their reckless ,

ness o f misstatement th eir ignorance o f some facts and

,

their distortion of others have I confess su rprised me , , , .

1 .

Th e people
I ndia have no voice whatever i n the
of

Th e brief but su f cient

management o f their o w n affairs .

answer to th is is that over I ndians are governed

by native r u lers u nder what is i n many cases merely a
modicu m o f B ritish s u pervision ; that the armed forces of
the C rown i n I ndia are two thirds native and o n e t h i r d - o

B ritish ; that nearly I ndians are engaged in the

service of the State ; that natives dispose o f the greater
part o f the mag isterial work sit o n the bench i n each of ,

the H i g h Cou rts and exercis e j u risdiction in all classes o f ,

civil cases over I ndians and E u rop eans ali ke that natives
,

g reatly outnu mber the B ritish i n the 7 5 0 mu n icipal ities and

the r u ral boards ; that I ndians sit o n all the l egis
lative councils and are consulted as a matter o f cou rse by
,

Government before any measu re is even drafted .

2

.No t a tax can be changed not a rupee o f th e ,

people s own money appropriated for any pu rpose however

'

u r g ent w ithou t the consent o f B ritish o f cials E ven the

,
.

new reform s p roposed by Lord M orley will effect n o

essential chan g e Th e rst statement is s ubstantially

.
,

though not absol utely correct ; the second is wholly false

, .

Th e natives of I ndia have for many years past been trusted

by their B ritish r u lers w ith the bulk of t h e adm inistrative
work o f the co u ntry F rom n o w onward they are to be
.

allowed an effective an all b u t decisive and controlli n g

,

voice i n th e spheres o f pol icy and legislation To say that .

th is i nvol ves n o essential change is simply nonsense .

To
day fu lly 1 0 0 editors are serving term s of from
3 .

th ree to ten ye ars i n prison m any o f them without trial with

$
, ,
 B r i t isk R u l e i n I n di a 27

ou t having had opportu n ity t o defend themsel ves i n n o t a ,

few cases witho u t even bein g informed o f the natu re o f thei r

offence . E very o n e o f these statements is a separate
falsehood I th ink about seventy two edito rs have been
.
-

imprisoned for incitemen t t o rebell ion and anarch ism I n .

e ach case they have bee n tried th ey have had e very o p p o r ,

t u n i t y o f defendin g themsel ves ; they have been fu lly

i nformed of the nat u re o f thei r offences Th e w riters o f .

the man ifesto have fallen i nto th e egregio u s error o f c o n

fu sin g imprisonment with deportation N obody is i m .

prisoned in I ndia withou t a fairer trial than he would

re c eive in a g ood many co u ntries with wh ich I am
acq u ainted ; and as for deportation only eleven a g itators ,

have u nder g one this form o f p u nish ment i n the last two
years a form o f p u nishment let me add constantly r e , ,

sorted to i n the native states .

4 . I n I ndia the mere d isc u ssion o f reforms is pu nished

by open o r secret imprison ment N o more rid ic u lo u s .

statement was ever penned There are som e . n ative

j ou rnals every o n e o f which is devoted to the discu ssion
,

Th e N ational Congress has done nothin g

Of reforms .

b ut discu ss reform s all the years of its existence and ,

the Govern ment has j u st iss u ed t w o enormou s B l u e books ,

lled with the discussion of reform s b y native g entlemen

o f all classes and creeds from every point o f V iew , H i nd u ,

and M u hammadan land owni ng and professional p ro

,
-
,

B ritish and anti B ritish -

.

5 .

T here is no I ndian h om e that i s n o t liable at any
hou r o f the day o r ni g ht to be forcibly ent ered and searched
at the insti g ation o f spy in g pol ice There is no I ndian .

g entleman however h igh his S tandin g o r u n impeachable

,

h is character w h o may not at any m oment be arrested and

,

h u rried away to an u n k nown prison I f th is is really s o .
7

and I believe it is i t merely shows that conditions in

I ndia are in th is respe c t precisely the sam e as co n dition s
i n F rance .

.6 All teleg raphic and other news from I ndia is close l y

28 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

censored in the E nglish i nterest There is not a word o f .

tr u th i n this N o censorship over the tele g raph ic or other

.

n ews from I ndia exists i n any shape or form whatsoever ,

and it has often I bel iev e been a so u rce of of cial com

, ,

plaint that the G overn ment sho u l d have n o power in

checki ng the stream o f sensational and provocative m i s
information that ows from n ewspaper correspondents i n
I ndia and that leads Opinion i n E ngland into th in king the
,

sit u ation in the dependency worse than it r eally is .

I ndia governed herself for tho u sands o f years
7
. .

S u ch a statemen t concisely inverts all th at is k nown o f

I ndian history I ndia has never g overned herself S he
. .

has been invaded time and a g ai n ; her peoples have been

massacred by tens o f thou sands ; kin g doms and empires
have been carved ou t o f her have ou rished and have , ,

passed away i n violence an d disorder ; all her r u lers have

been conquerors as al ien to their s u bj ects as the B ritish
,

themselves and holdin g their sovereignty by no older or

,

better title .

8
.

There is no record o f I ndian wars so bad as the

Thirty Years War i n Germany and none that compare at ,

all i n loss o f li fe with the wa rs o f N apoleon neither does

I ndian h istory show anyth in g that i n anarchy and violence

eq u al s the reign o f terror in F rance Well the Thirty .
,

Years War th rust Germany back 1 5 0 years i n the scale o f '

civilization and was perhap s th e most terrible calamity

,

that ever fell upon a nation Tamerlane however put

.
, ,

H indus to the sword and the E mperor J ahangir, ,

i n the palmy days of the M o g ul E mpire lamented i n h is ,

memoirs that altho u g h he an d h is father had massacred

or h u man beings H ind u stan was still ,

t u rbulent and disaffected and I do u bt whether any o f

,

N apoleon s achievements were q u ite on that scale As for .

the rei g n of terror i n F rance it is well know n that it never

,

raised the French death rate by the fraction o f a poi nt ;

-

and it is equally well know n that the pop u lation of I ndia ,

u nder the atrocities and i nvasions and disorders of what

3 0 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n di a

d istribution been kept down th a t the price o f sal t to the

I ndian consumer is not materially h i g her than i n E n g land ,

and is substantially lower than i n F rance or I taly o r the , ,

U n ited States bei n g o n an averag e less than 1 cent pe r

,

pou nd U nder native rule owing to bad commu n ication s

. ,

and transport cr u de methods of manu fact u re and a perfect

,

network of i nland Cu stoms a nd transit d u ties sal t w as very ,

m u ch more costly and was often i ndeed not procu rable

, , , .

While I am on this branch o f the subj ect I w ill add that

the I ndian peasant who form s from t w o thirds to th ree
,
-

fourths o f the population pays no tobacco tax n o tea o r , ,

coffee tax and only 3 5 per cent C ustom s d u ty on h is cotton

,
-
.

g arments N O peasantry i n the world is so li g htly taxed

. .

1 2 . E n g land is bu rdenin g a starving p eople w ith the

payment o f wars carried on outside of I ndia E ngland i s .

now doin g nothing of the sort S he u sed t o th row a par t .

of the expense o f employing I ndian troops o u tside of I ndi a

u pon the I ndian exchequer bu t this practice was very ,

properly abandoned several years a g o and w ill never b e ,

revived .

I
3 .

T h e terri ble fami nes i n I ndia are not caused b y
any lack of food bu t by an abj ect poverty bro u ght abo u t
,

by B ritish r u le Fam in es i n I ndia are pri marily c a u s ed

.

by the failure o f the monsoons W hen the rain s are .

re g ular and abundant a g ricult u re is possible ; whe n t h e

,

rains are i rre g ular o r ins u fcient the main i ndustry of th e ,

co u ntry comes to a standstill and the Government is con ,

fronted with the problem o f the u nem ployed o n a scal e

beyond any Western experience Th e poverty of I ndi a is .
,

it is tr u e abj ect and p itiable eno u gh bu t to charge it t o

, ,

B ritish r u le is grotesque Th e social habits o f the peop l e

.
,

their improvidence thei r reckless expendit u re o n dowries

,

and wedding festivities have in nitely m ore to do wit h it,

than any external agency has o r can have Y o u mi g ht .

remit the whole of the land reven u e and abol ish the salt ,

tax and the C u stoms d u ties a n d l n di a wo u ld still be abj ectl y
, .

poor an d famines wo u ld still occ u r A s a matter of fact

, .
,
 B r i t i sk R u l e i n I n d i a 3 1

e very test by wh ich o n e can g au g e the well being of -

nations the i ncrease o f reven ue i n spite o f a decrease o f

taxation the i mports and exports the i ndustrial and sav ings
, ,

ban ks deposits the railroads retu rn s th e amou nt of coin
, ,

and paper in ci rc u l ation the g u res fo r i nvestments and

,

so o n all point t o a slowly risi n g standard o f comfort i n

I ndia u nder B ritish rule .

14
. Th e annual tribute paid by I ndia to E n g land is rated
a t fro m $ 1 2 to I n the ordinary
and recognized sense of th e word no tribu te whatever is ,

p aid by I n dia t o E ngland Th e B ritish con nection i m .

poses upon I ndia th e ann u al paymen t o f c e r t a i m s u ms .

These s u ms which a mou nt to less than

, a
year are in payment partl y o f m il itary and rail way stores
,

an d materials partly o f admi nistrative expenses and partly

, ,

o f interest on debt and upon capital i nvested i n produ ctive i n

d u s t r i e s i n I ndia I n other words for every r u pee rem itted

.
, ,

I ndia has received a full and fai r eq u ivalen t i n g oods ,

services o r capital and M r Roosevelt w a s th u s absol u tely

, , .

and literal l y right i n assertin g that all the moneys raised from
I ndia are spent i n I ndia Th e s u ms d u e fro m I nd ia i n th is
.

way are act u ally paid for by the excess o f exports over i m
ports and the a u thors o f the amazi n g manifesto I am e riti
,

c izin appear to re g ard the s u rpl u s o f exports over im ports

g

as a trib u te to E n g land B u t the U n i ted S tates shows
.

an nually a h u g e su rpl us of exports over i mports in her

deal ings w ith G reat B ritain S O also do A u stral ia and the .

Ar g entine Republ ic A re these co u ntries also payi ng

.

tribu te to E n g land $ o r are the a u thors o f the manifesto
ta l king nonsense
I 5.

Th e rail road policy o f I ndia is controlled wholly by
the prospect of strate g ic val u e and nan cial ret u rn t o E ngland .

I t is E ngland primarily that prots by these roads ; they

are in the hands o f E n g lish men and th e rev en ues derived ,

from them g o i nto the pockets o f E ngl ish men ; they are
b u i l t w h e r e they w ill be o f m ost advantage to the E n g l ish
'

not where they will most benet the people of I ndia A .

3 2 Tr u t/zs a b ou t I n d i a

mere g lan ce at the map showing the rail roads that l i n k u p

,

all the g reat centres o f population is enou g h to dispose of

,

the fatuous allegation that l ines have been bu ilt for the
advantag e o f a few tho u sand E ngl ishm en o r coul d p o s ,

s i b l y be made to pay if th ey did not mi nister to the needs

o f I ndia As fo r the eq u ally preposterous charg e that the

.

reven u es derived from them go into the pockets of

E n glish men it is enou g h to say that o f the
,
m iles of
railroad i n existence the State owns over real izes
a prot o f some on th eir worki n g and i n one ,

way o r another devotes the whole of this prot to th e rel ief

o f taxation .

There are o n e o r two other statem ents i n the man ifesto

that I might challenge with equ al success but I have I , ,

think written enough to expose it i n its true character as a

,

m asterpiece o f mendacity or ignorance .

M ay , 1 90 9 .
 VI

T H E TR U TH A B O U T L O R D M O R L E Y S
RE F O R M S ; OR I S I N D I A M I SGOV E RN E D
,

( B Y A C O NS ERVA TI VE I N D I AN )

LO R D M O R L EY S reforms have been conceived boldly and
generously and i n a spiri t wh i c h redou nds to the credit
,

o f the freedom lov in g insti ncts o f B ritish statesmansh ip

-
.

G reat B ritai n has done its part nobly and consisten tly with
her great traditions in thu s i nau g u rating cons t it u tional
changes of a far reaching character i n the machinery o f the
-

govern ment o f I ndia Th e I nd ian Cou ncils Reform B ill

.

is destined t o mark an epoch in the pol itical h istory of

I ndia and it must therefore be the concern of every well
,

wisher o f I ndia and E ngland t o see h o w to give effect

to these g reat changes and i n what spirit they should be
,

received .

As Lord M orley very correctly said the Reform B ill

,

is no concession to violence O n the other hand Lord
.
,

Morley has pu shed on h is constitutional reforms i n spite o f

the anarch ist and the seditionist thus showin g that the true
,

B ritish i nstinct is su f ciently broad and l iberal t o ignore as

ne g li g ible those who wish to pu t an end to B ritish r u le
in I ndia and preach sedition i n vario u s forms and shapes
,

and g o the length of adopting anarchist plots and methods

as a part o f thei r work .

There are two ways o f looking at the reforms . O ne

is to look u pon them as havin g been wru ng o u t o f an
,

u nwill ing Govern ment by means of bombs and sedition ;

and the other is to l ook u pon them as the nat u ral and
33
34 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

l e g iti mate o u tcome o f those very principles which the

B ritish Government has not only laid down for its gu idance
i n r u lin g I ndia b u t has been steadily g iv in g effect t o i n its
,

admin istration of the cou n try accordi n g to the i ncreasing

tness o f the people for the meas u res i na u g u rated from
time to ti me B e g inn in g fro m the year 1 85 7 and lookin g
.
,

back upon hal f a centu ry of B ritish administration all b u t ,

the most perverse and misgu ided will readily admit that the
people o f I ndia have n o t simply b e e n r u l ed by G reat B ritai n

all along b u t have been r a i sed i n every di rection s o m uch

,

so that the very cry for reforms and chan g es fu rnish es the

most eloq u ent testi mony that E ngland s rule i n I ndia for the
last fty years has been a steady and mighty lever i n
uplifting the pol itical ideas and aspirations o f a people who
were i nnocent o f s u ch ideas all th rou g h their past h isto ry .

Th e present reforms or more correctly constitutional, , ,

c han g es are not the res u lt o f any pol itical cataclysm brough t
,

a bo u t by the seditionist and the bomb th rower bu t they -

,

have been u shered i n by a l iberal mi nded V iceroy and a -

l iberal minded S ec retary of S tate al ike to meet the g rowin g

-
,

requ irements of the coun try .

This bein g the tr u th i n the l i g h t of the h istory of B ritish

ad ministration for the last hal f cen t u ry abo u t w hich no less -

a critic than M r R C D u tt said i n a speech he del iv ered

. . .
,

at Tanj ore that he saw pro g ress i n all directions u nder

,

the B ritish Government and who also g ave them the ,

wholesome advice that we I ndians sho u ld set o u r ho u ses i n

order and t ou rselves for th e fu tu re we aspire to i t is
necessary that ill i nformed E n g l ish men o r g lobe trotting
- -

M P s should not for the sake of sensation or notoriety or
. .
,

i n i g norance o f the truth startle the B ritish p u bl ic by g ross

,

and u n founded charg es a g ainst the B ritish Government in

I ndia I t should be remembered that the state of thin g s
.

i n I ndia is so very differen t from what obtains i n E n g land ,

that democratic or socialistic pri ncip l es o r ideas are not only

out of place i n I ndian pol itics b u t excite the la u g h ter ,

o f those w h o know anythin g abo u t I ndian social conditions .


Tb e Tr a tk a b ou t L or d M o r l ey s R efor m s 35

S u c h char g es have th e u nfortu nate and u ndesirable effect

of making the g overnment of I ndia more and more dif c u lt
t o the best o f Viceroys and Governors besides poison in g ,

th e mi nds o f I ndian yo u ths against th e B ritish people as

a whole and castin g an u n merited slu r o n the B ritish
.

administration of I ndia .

Th e tr u th is there are two sides to th e B ritish govern

,

ment O ne is th e side of administ rative efcienc y p u re and

.

simple as affecting the people at larg e ; an d the other is that

,

of meetin g the g rowi n g pol itical amb itions and aspi ration s
o f the people as they becom e tter day by day f o r a lar g er
,

share in the ad mi nistration o f the co u n try S o far as .

adm inistrative ef ciency goes the m ost captio u s critic will

,

admit that th e chan g es the co u n try has witnessed u nde r

B ritish r u le pro c laim progress i n every direction .

Re g arding concessions o f poli t ical rights an d privileges

t o I ndia on democratic li nes th e probl em is fra u ght with s o
,

mu ch practical di f c u lty and is so closely connected with th e

,

social and rel i g io u s divisions i nto wh ich I n dia is divide d ,

that it is only a student of I n dian sociolo g y i n its i n n u m e r

able ramications and differen ces between class and c l ass ,

race and race and sect and sect that can real ize th e d i f
, ,

c u l t i e s and dan g ers of transplanti ng represen tative i n s t i t u

tions s u ccessfu lly into I ndian soil .

Th e Rev H oward Campbell g ave u tterance to a great

.

truth when he said I f those w h o a r e ready to listen to

th e statements of pol itical reform ers who for the m ost part
belong to th e pro u dest an d m ost exclusive classes of society
were t o st u dy the speeches and w r i t i n g s of the social
refo rmers a l ittle body of brave men who have been
,

excomm u n icated and persec u ted as a reward for thei r u n

selsh efforts o u behal f of the poor and the weak they wo u l d ,

g et a very different idea indeed of the present situation .

E ven forei g ners who have visited I ndia fro m tim e to

time and with no very friendly eye to G reat B ritai n have
.
,

been str u ck with the essentially b e n e c e n t and pro g ressi ve

tendencies Of B ritish rul e i n I ndia and h ave retu rned h ome
,
3 6 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n dia

with a blessin g fo r the B ritish rule H ere i s what a .

P rofessor who is a u thor of a h i g hly i nteresti n g and i n s t r u c

tive work and who has spent about a quarter of a centu ry
,

i n I ndia says i n a letter to me

,

I am n o w l iving i n a cou ntry [the P ro fessor is writin g

from F rance$ where these ideas o f l iberty brotherhood , ,

an d equality may al most be called a national p a ssion

,
Yet . ,

with all the hi g h q u al ities of the F rench and their wonderfu l

i ntelli g ence I nd as l ittle real l iberty here as there is i n
,

Germany where the Govern ment is a ty ran ny I rather

,
.

l ook upon liberty as a th ing u nattai nable by m en I t is an .

ideal prize realizable only by a people which sho u ld hav e

attained its highest potential ities perfect self respect and ,
-

moral greatness I t is the most dif c u lt and momento u s

.

problem we have all to face I do not thi nk theories and .

form u las help us very mu ch Th e practical di fc u lty is that

.
,

i n snatching at liberty y o u o nly escape fro m o n e bondage

i nto another B u t it will come o f i tself i n so far as a p eople
.

is tted to receive it .

Democrats and socialists if they mean what th ey say , ,

will have rst to demol ish th e reli g io u s and social d istin ction
of the I ndian caste system and if they begin doi ng any ,

s u ch thing they will be b o o t e d o u t O ne can hardly u nder .

rate the difc u l ty o f sowing democratic ideas and p ri nciples

amidst peoples o f d ifferent ra c es and creeds and amidst the
rocks of an u nbending caste system wh ich I S an a r i s t o c rafc y
based u pon birth and ordained by G o d .

Lord M orley s reforms will therefore requ ire the utmost
energies o f the I ndians i n the direction of t hei r social
reformation before they can bear good fruit .

j u ly . I 9O9
3 8 Tr u t/cs a b ou t I n di a

co u ntry o u tside of th e show cities and learnin g li ttle o f

,

either th e people or the Government I t is not tr u e to say .

that the people have no share i n the g overn ment o f th e

co u ntry .

I n the M adras P residency there are 2 2 districts each ,

one of which has what is called the D istrict B oard
.

I am a member of one o f these B oards I t is c omposed o f .

3 2 members of
,
whom 2 5 are natives and abou t o n e hal f,
-

o f them are elected by th e people There are . such

B oards in I ndia and what is true of those i n M adr as i s
,

eq u ally true of all the rest There are . natives

in Government employ and less than,
E u ropeans .

These natives are learning sel f govern ment ; b u t as -
,

yet it is quite tr u e as th e P residen t says that I ndia is

, , ,

i ncapable o f sel f g overn ment and if left to them sel ves the
-
,

people wo u ld fall i nto m u t u al strife anarchy and ruin Th is

,
.

is called by these protesters ( y in g i n the face o f h istory )

I ndia govern in g hersel f fo r thou sands o f years H ave .

any of these protesters ever read a line o f I nd ian history $

Do they not know that before the B ritish entered I ndia

, ,

i t w a s wav e u po n wave of i nvasion war u pon w a r and , ,

c onquest upon conquest $

As t o taxation it is q u ite true that salt is hi g hly taxed

,

bu t for the mass of the people it is the only tax they hav e
to pay and the amo u nt of salt used by a family is so small
,

that it is very far from being a bu rden B ritai n is taxed .

twenty v e ti mes more than I ndia F rance and America are

-
.

taxed thi rteen times more than I ndia There is no cou ntry .

i n the worl d that has a smaller tax p e r c ap i ta than I ndia

( see B ishop T horb u rn s C hristian C onquest O f I ndia
P resident Roosevel t is ri g ht wh en he says that I ndia

never had a better G overn ment than th e present I t is .

the best possible u nder present circu mstances B ritai n will .

g ive her a better j u st as fast as the people are able to take

it I l ove I ndia and mean t o end my days th ere and for
.
,

that reason it h u rts me to hear otherwise i ntell i g ent men tal k

so fool ishly about a co u ntry they know so l ittl e about .
 VI I I

T H E S I M P L E A R I TH M E T I C A L TR U T H A B O U T
TH E L A N D R E V E N U E O F I N D I A

TH E simple arithmetical truth abou t the lan d revenue of

I ndia is that it amo u nts now to abou t g r os s ,

o r at the present val u e o f the r u pee Rs

,
and , .

that the area o f land a ct u a l ly c r opped i n 1 9 0 6 0 7 was over -

acres o f wh ich abo u t

,
acres were
permanently irri g ated ( mostly no do u bt with at least t w o
, ,

crops) ; so that the actual n u m ber o f crops reaped w a s

probably not m u ch u nder and the avera g e
assessment per acre of crop would be RS .

5
or a little over 1 9 pence say 1 5 8d . .

Th is assessment ranges from R s 2 0 an acre ( or even .

more ) over whole villages o f permanent do u bl e crop land

,
-

i n the more fort u nate parts o f the co u ntry ( where owi n g to ,

excellent irri gation absolute fail u re is u nknown and where

, ,

conseq u ently there is the greatest p rosperity when other

parts o f I ndia are i n the grip o f fam ine ) down to 2 o r even , ,

1
,
an na an acre in the dry tracts where the land is only ,

occasionally c u l ti vated and hardly worth cul tivatin g at all

, .

This low av erage assessment is not of cou rse a proof that , ,

n o land is ever too h ighly assessed but i t d oes p rove that ,

the land revenue as a whole is not a very serio u s b u rde n

o n the land ; fo r even i f the average g ross prod u ce c o u ld

be estimated at no more than Rs 1 5 an acre ( as su gg ested

.

by the late M r D igby fo r fertile B en g al ) the avera g e

.
,

assessment wo u ld be only 8 per cent ; whilst it is clear .

that R s 1 5 wo u ld be scarcely eno u gh to pay the cost o f

.

c u ltivatin g an acre o f the better sort of land .

39
 40 Tr u t /i s a bou t I n di a

I t may be added for con venien c e of reference that the , ,

land revenue per head o f the populatio n ( leav ing o u t

B u rma) varies from 4 5 7 d i n S ind ( wh e re al most the wh ole . .

c u l tivated area is i rri g ated ) t o 8d in Eastern B engal ; o r .

,

om itti n g Z em indari tracts permanently settled to I s 1 1 d , . .

These g u res mi g ht be u sefully compared with M r K ei r .

H ardie s assertion made at a p u blic meeting at wh ich S i r ,

Will iam Wedderb u rn and S ir H enry Cotton were present

,

and n o t con tradicted by either o f them i t is repeated i n so

many words on p 2 of h is little volu me I ndia j ust .
,

p u blished that over a g reat part of I ndia the Govern

ment wrung from the peasants 7 5 per cent of the y ield .

Th is statement had special reference to the

o f the land .

C entral P rovinces where the average assessmen t is o f cially ,

S t ated to be fr om 8 t o 9 a n n a s a n a c r e ( p 1 8 o f the M oral

.

and I nd u strial P rogress Report fo r 1 9 0 7 8 dated 2 0 5 -

,

I t may also be u sefu l to reprod u ce h ere a S tatement pub

l i s h e d in th e Reports o f the M oral and I nd u strial P ro g ress

o f I ndia showing the proportion w h ich the land revenu e
,

has borne t o the g ross reven ue o f the country since

1 84 2 -
43
L AND R EVEN U E FR O M 1 84 2 To 1 90 7 ( D ECENNI ALL Y ) .

1 84 2 4 3 -
Ab o u t 6 0 0
p er c en t .

1 85 2 5 3 -

1 86 2 - 6 3
1 87 2 7 3 -
377
1 882 83

I O
3
-

1 89 2 9 3 -
28 0

1 9 0 2 -
0
3 3 0 0

1
90 6 -
0 7 29 0

This statement sh ows that the proportion o f revenue -

exacted from the land has steadily declined from 6 0 to

3 0 per cent wh ilst at
.
, the same time the only other un

$
avoidable tax that on salt has been enormously decreased
, , ,

Th e et il s el li g p i c e o f s al t v i e s o w f o m b ou t R s 3 ( i t wo
r a n r ar n r a . n

dis t i c t s l y ) t o b o t R 5 m d of 8 2} l bs o f o m a th e o v e
r on a u S . 1 a au n 2 .
, r r r r r

l b h m o e th a I d I th e P j a b M ad as B mb y
d . 9
. t.o t e ra r r n d o . a n un ,
r , an

( wh e e irt is s lly c h ea p e s t ) i t a v e a g e s l e ss t h
u ua R s a m
, a d o ot r an . 2 un , r n

q ui t e d o bl eu t h e d t y l e vi d by t h e S t te
u B fo wee h d ilw ys we a . e re a ra a

u s e d to c al c l at e t h t t h e p i c e w d bl e fo e ve y h d ed mi l e s o f
u a r as ou r r un r

tra n sp o t ; a d as t h e G o ve m e t d t y w t o n e t im e R s 3 3} i t m ay b e
r n rn n u as a .
A r i tk m et i ca l Tr u t/i a bou t t k e L a n d R e ven u e o f I n di a 41

and brin g s i n n o w far l ess th an excise wh ich whatever else , ,

may be said o f it is clearly a vo l u ntary tax ,

.

To compare g u res prior to 1 889 with those of that

and subsequen t years th e g u res m ust be converted i nto ,

tens o f rupees ; so that takin g qu i nq u ennial averag es o f ,

the land revenu e from 1 86 1 6 5 i ncl uding that d u e to -

,

irrigation in some parts o f I ndia and s u ndry receipts ,

usually credited to land reven u e we sho u ld have t h e ,

follow ing result

1 86 1 6 5 -

1 86 6 - 7 0

1 87 1 7 5 -

1 87 6 80 -

1 88 1 85 -

1 886 9 0 -

1 89 1 9
5
-

1 89 6 -
00 1

1 90 1
-
0 6

Du ring th is period ( wh ich practically covers the whole o f

the time during which the co untry has been u nder the direct
r u le o f Great B ritain ) the area u nder cultivation and ,

especially the irrigated area has enormously increased so , ,

that the actual increase i n the revenue from land has been
very g rad u al and extremely moderate Accordin g to th e .

latest retu rn dated 2 0 5 0 9 it has i ncreased by 2 7 per

, .
,

cent i n the twenty six years from 1 882 to 1 90 8 I t was

.
-
.

act u ally less i n 1 9 0 7 0 8 than i n 1 9 0 6 0 7 - -

.

W ho wo u l d imagine after reading M r O D o n n e l l s , .

denu nciation of rack taxi n g i n the Pu njab that the area

-
,

act u ally cultivated increased from acres i n

1 889 1 9 0 0 -
to acres i n 1 9 04 0 5 and that the -
,

incidence o f taxation at the same ti me had actually

fallen from R I 5 a 8p an acre i n the earlier period to
. . .

R I I a 5 p at the latter .
$ Th e enclos u re to a paper
.

im ag i e d wh at th e p i c e was ve o six h d e d mi l e s f o m th e s o c e o f
n r r un r r ur

s pply I t is o t th e w ei g h t o f t h e t x th a t m atte s w b t o ly t h
u . n a r no , u n e

m op oly i ts el f Th e v e y lib e a l a ll o w a n c e o f a m a d of l t fo
on . r r un sa r a

f mi l y w ou l d c s t n ow f o m R s 3 t o R S 3 a y ea o f o m
a o r to 4 . 1 . r, r r 25 . 5 .

s y f
a ,
t o e i g h t d ys l b ou
our o o g hly an i c o m e ta x o f f
a a r, m to r, r u , n ro 1

2 p e c e
rn t ( c o d i g.t o o e s pl ac e o f e sid e c e) o
ac r n g oss ea i g s
n r n n r rn n .
42 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n d i a

recently p u bl ished entitled Land Revenue Assessments ,

i n the P u njab since is a complete answer to M r .

O D o n n e l l s wild and reckless charges I t shows i n brief .
, ,

that the i ncidence o f taxation i n 1 85 5 was R I 2 a 5 p . . .

that it steadily decl ined till 1 899 1 9 0 0 rose agai n to -

,

R I 2 a 1 o p i n 1 894 9 5 coi ncidentally with the enormo u s

. .
-

decrease i n the gold valu e o f sil ver and a great i ncrease

i n i rri g ation attai ned its very moderate maxi mu m of
,

R s 1 5 a 8p in 1 89 9 1 9 0 0 when the irri g ated area was no

. . .
-
,

less than 7 2 per cent o f the whole area cultivated and i n .

,

1 9 0 4 0 5 w a s act u ally 1 an na an acre less than in 1 85 5 th ou g h

-
,

the area i rri g ated had i ncreased by millions of acres i n the

meanti me ( A s i a t i c $ u a r ter ly R ev i e w J u ly 1 9 0 8 p

, , ,
.

These rates are of cou rse excl usive of water rate for
, ,
-
,

whi c h the ryot gets a very ample equ ivalent .

I n concl u sion w e may fairly quote the followi ng recent

,

trib u te to the I rri g ation D epartment which has done so ,

m u ch for I ndia and will yet do so m u ch more ( A
,

Spirited Defence from the I n di a n Specta tor April 1 0 1 9 0 9

, , , ,

p.
)
2 82 :

We have seldom read an ofcial reply to non o f c i a l -

criticism fuller and more com pletely overwhelming at least ,

on rst readin g than the one which the H on M r M iller

, . .

made at the last meetin g o f the V icere g al Coun cil i n re g ard

to th e Government s irri g ation pol icy Th e H on M em ber . .

for the Central P rovinces had alle g ed that more wonderfu l

thin g s are done in Egypt and A merica than i n his o w n
l and and b e q u oted M r B ryan i n support of his criticism
,
.
.

This u nkind cut drew forth a warm reply from the H on .

M ember i n charge of the i rrigation portfolio as follows :

I f the H on M ember would only go and see for .

h imself if he would spend a week o n one o f the g reat

,

cana l systems of th is co u ntry and then i f he chooses , , ,

compare what has been done i n E g ypt and America ,

we sho u ld not have to l isten to the remarks we ha v e

heard to day H e th inks to s u pport his case by
-
.

q u otin g a g reat American orator w h o made if I , ,

A r i tk m et i ca l Tr a t k a b ou t re L a n d R even u e o f I n di a 43

recollect ari g ht a hu rried rush across this cou ntry

, ,

a pol itician whose o w o f eloquence has not secu red

h im over much credit i n h is o w n cou n t ry I f the H o n . .

M ember wants an A merican Opin ion why does he n o t ,

o fo r it to an American engineer $ H e would then

g
very qu ickly learn that h is o w n cou ntry o f whose ,

e ffor t s he tal ks so sligh ti ngly has led and still leads

,

the world i n the matter of S tate i rrigation and t ha t ,

the reco g nized pre em inence o f I ndia i n this respect

-

might well be the subj ect of some patrio t ic pri d e ,

What share I ndian ofcers have had i n the develop

men t o f i rrigation i n E gypt is well k nown but it is not ,

so well known to what an extent other cou ntries look

to I ndia for adv ice and assistance O ne o f o u r ofcers
.

went to A u stral ia t o assist that cou ntry several have

been req u ired i n S outh Africa ; one is o r wa s engaged , ,

i n S pai n ; the Americans have u nof cially utilized t h e

advice of another ; the Tu rkish Government has now
e n g ag ed a famou s I ndo E g yptian engi neer to advise it
-

abou t M esopotamia ; an A merican engineer is even

now studyin g o u r system with a view t o i rri g atio n
development in the P hil ippi nes we have had in qu iries
o r in qu irers from B razil from M exico from Russia
, , ,

and from J apan I s it because i rrigation has been

.

shamefu lly neglected I n I ndia t hat all those cou ntries

are so anxiou s to g et the benet of ou r experience
.

Th e E ditor conti nues as follows Th e H on M r M iller . .

h a s given ample reasons why we sho u ld be proud of ou r

e n g ineers . We canno t stop there : we mu st be prou d o f
o u r G overn ment al so W hy are o u r en g ineers spared for
.

another cou ntry also I f we have an abu ndance o f them ,

d oes th e Government p rovide less fu nds to them ( s i c ) t han

th ey can utilize $ or is the full utilization of the allotted
f u nds re ndered impossible by other di fculties s u ch as the ,

i nadequacy of labou r $ Do other cou ntries o ffer hi g her

sa l aries to o u r engineers than w e do $ I f so why $ Th e ,

a dmission tha t I ndian gu res come o u t second best o n

-
44 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

a comparison with E gypt is somewhat dama g in g B u t .

every mother m u st be proud o f her o w n ch ild every ,

h u sband o f his o w n wife and every co u nt ry o f its o w n

,

Government ; and in th e circ u mstan ces set forth by the

H o n M ember we may well be prou d o f a Government
.

which has enabled her en g i neers t o giv e a lead t o th e world .

Fo r some reason or o t h e r t h engineers have not been able

'

in the past t o m ak e u s e o f the allotments made Thei r case .

is not before t h e pu blic B ut the H o n M r M iller gave

. . .

the followin g g u res to sh ow that there was n o n i g gardl iness

o n the part o f Government

Y ea rs S p t L kh en a s .

1 90 3 4 98
-

1 90 4 5
-
86
1 90 5 6 1 28
-

1 90 6 7 1 73
-

1
90 7 8 1 89
-

1 90 89 -
2 1 2 ( p ro b a b l e)
Th e Gov ern ment has more than once stated that w hen
a programm e is about to be p u t i n to force the whole allot
-
,

ment may n o t be u tilized for reasons wh ich i mp u te no blame

to s e l f ( s i c ) Th e s u rveys the estimates th e scrutiny o f
.
, ,

h i g her a u thorities the sanction by the S ecretary of S tate

,

all th ese things take time and we have ere now been ,

ass u red that the expendit u re on irri g ation will be pro

r e ss i v e As re g ards p rotective w orks the H on M ember
g .
,
.

S aid that the ti me has come when the rate of expenditu re

must p robably be increased Th is if we are n o t mista k en
.
, ,

amou nts virtually t o an admission that the Government has

been more anxious t o spend money on prod u ctive i rri g ation
which tu rns o u t to be a g ood investment than on protective ,

works which the people i n the l es s favo u red tracts p a r t i c u ,

l a r l y o f this P residency and the Central P rovinces want so ,

badly Bu t the admission we have q u oted a u g u rs well and

.
, ,

if we sho u ld be proud n o w o f th e en g ineers we sha l l be ,

prouder o f t h e Government hereafter .

S ep tem b er , 1 909 .
46 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n di a

been th e centre o f seditious activ ities in London and that ,

S h ya m aj i s tenets claim abo u t forty to fty students ou t o f a
col ony o f seven hu ndred you ng I ndians M r G okhal e . .

promised to revert t o the subj ect o f stu dents and pol i t ics
o n another occasio n and we have no dou bt h is observations
,

would be of im mense practi cal valu e H e then traced th e .

h istory o f political agitation wh ich he said extended t o ,

forty years . What M r Gokh ale evidently meant was

.

systematized agitation for g l impses o f p ol i t i c a l a g itation

,

might even be traced to an earl ier era S ystematized .

agitation g rew in i n t ensi t y and vol ume since the establ ish
ment o f th e Congress As M r Gokhale maintained the. .
,

ideals and aspirat ions o f the C ongress were to work o u t

national salvation as it m ight be worked o u t u nder the
,

aeg is o f B ritish rule Th e idea o f independence m ight

.

hav e oated here and there among a few since the c o m

m e n c e m e n t of B ritish rule but i ts genesis as a political
,

creed th e war cry o f a party caught men s m i nds
,
-
,

only i n the cou rse of these last few years M r G okhale

,
. .

did not i g nore the fact that i n spite o f its short du ra ,

tion it had spread rapidly i n th e cou ntry by reason

,

alike o f its attractiveness an d o f th e lack of political

discrimination and j udgment among the people H e m i g ht .

have added a l so th e partial indifference o f those who ,

knowing these th ings made n o effort to cou n teract their

,

evil i n uences N o man said M r Gokhale could be so

.
, .
,

fallen as to th ink that there was any special merit i n l ivin g

u nder a foreign G overnment o r that there were n o t ,

h u mil iations a t times pai nful and bitter hu mil iations

inseparable from it H owever th e pain ful and bitter
.
,

hum i l iations have to be pu t u p with because it was a ,

question of what was practicable and what was in the best

interests o f the country i n the present circumstances That .

was th e standpoint from wh ich he woul d discuss the qu es

tion and j ud g ed from that standpoi nt M r Gokhale fel t that
, .

no man o u t of a lu natic asylu m co u ld th ink o r tal k o f i nde

e n d e n c e as a workin g scheme O u r obj ect should be to
p .
 Tb e P r esen t S i tu a t i on 47

expand national life t o t h e e xt e n t it could be expanded

'

with i n the l imits prescribed by B ritish s uzerainty .

We vent u re t o th ink w e do the H onourable M r Gokhale .

n o seriou s i nj ustice i f we say that the idea o f Colon ial sel f

govern ment o f which he spoke so eloquen t ly and i n such

,

sin cerity was also only fo u r or ve years o l d J ust as the

, .

idea o f independence oated among the m inds of stray

I ndians so also the C olonial form o f self govern men t w a s
,
-

held as an ideal worth strivin g after by a few I ndians .

J ustice Sankara N air i n h is presidential address at th e

Am raoti Congress referred t o it ; bu t as a pol itical S h i b b o
leth it is o f recent date Also it has to be recogni z ed that
.
,

i t was forced upon the Congress party by a certain section

of disloyal I ndians Th e com mon and accepted principl e
.

o f pol itical workers has been to slowly b u ild up a nation

and base it on sol id and endu ring fo u ndations B ut certain .

people took i t into their heads to tu rn o u t the British n o t ,

by active V iolence fo r wh ich they were not tted bu t by ,

Th e people were to keep th emsel ves

N
passive resistance .

aloof n o t associate with the Government i n their d aily task

,

o f admi nistration pay taxes and m ind their o w n b u siness

, .

B y this process the B ritish it is believed will be ind u ced

, ,

to abandon I ndia and we shall obtain S w a rj Th e idea is

, .

simply ridiculou s said M r Gokhale I t is i mpossible fo r

, . .

the passive resistan ce m ovement t o thrive without coming

i nto con ict w ith the Govern ment at the present stage of
ou r civic conscience I t has already resulted i n most
.

serious m isunderstandings and conict s wh ich the whole

country deplores To be consistent either the I n d e p e n
.
,

den t s should be prepared to take the con se q uences o f thei r

misdeeds thei r violence and disloyalty w ill be met only by
violenceo r give u p thei r p ropaga nda They cannot pro .

test against repression which only their m isdeeds invite .

I f y o u tell the Governme nt N atu re abhors o u r people

,

remai ning dependent for ever upon y o u and we are only ,

obeyin g N atu re s laws i n revolting against o u r bondage
and fo r securing o u r freedom th e Government have a ,
48 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n dia

ri g ht to say We h ave sec u red dominion over you and
, ,

till we can be ej ected by fo rce w e shall mai ntain o u r posi

Th is the I ndependents

tion by the stren g th o f o u r arms .

dare n o t say They proclaim treason from the hou se tops

.
-
,

and when they g et the p u nish men t they deserve they c a l l ,

fo r H eaven s vengeance upon thei r opp ressors Su ch an .

attitude is neither honou rable nor manly We shall revert .

to the subj ect again .

S ep temb er , 1 90 9 .
 x

M R K E I R H AR D I E O N THE N A TI V E S TA T E S
.

( C HAPTER XII . OF H I S VO L U ME cc
I NDI A ) A

TH E chapter on Nat i ve States lays itself specially ope n t o

c riticism becau se here M r K eir H ardie by ded u ctions
, .
,

drawn from tran sparent fallacies has enabled u s to com e to ,

c l ose grips with his arg u ments I t is however easier to .

, ,

start hares than t o run them down within periods which

s h a l l not overtax t h e patience of our readers .

Th e s u gg estion i n the openi n g para g raph is that the late

Lord Sal isbu ry was pri marily responsible for the pol icy ( we
may add the very wise p ol icy ) o f maintaini n g and p e r p e t u a t
i ng these P rincipal ities but as it is generally advanta g eous
,

t o adhere to the hist orical seq u ence o f events we com mence ,

b y pointin g ou t what M r K ei r H ardie apparently does not .

.

know namely that the rst step i n the directio n i ndicated

,

was taken in 1 86 2 du ring Lord Cann i n g s Viceroyalty
, ,

when 1 6 0 adoption S a n a d s were issu ed to all important

r u l in g chiefs these doc u ments com mencin g
,

H er M aj es ty

b ei ng d es i r ou s t/za t t b c Gover n m en ts f
o tke seve a l r P i
r n ces

and Ck i ef f s o I n di a w k o n ow ove r n t ke i r ow n te r r i t or i es
g

'

s b a l l be e rp et u a te d and g oi ng on to confer upon each

p ,

r e c 1 i e n t t h e righ t to adopt an hei r on failure o f natu ral

p '

i ssue This concession obviated the ever present possibility

.
-

o f lapses to the S uzerain Power a n d terminated fo r all ,

time su ch apprehension s as the Ch iefs n o t entirely withou t ,

reason entertained Lord Salisbury some years later was

, .
, ,

responsible fo r an act of the h i g hest statesmanship the ,

rendition o f M ysore bein g no dou bt act u ated t o some

,

extent by the pol icy of non annexation previo u sly i n -

au g u ra t ed .
50 Tr u t /i s a b ou t I n di a

I t is a fact as M r Keir H ardie remarks that M ysore

, .
,

was adm in istered for fty years by t h e B ritish Government

b ut what does he mean by the statement E very tki ng t /za t ,

i ng en u i ty cou l d d o w a s d on e t o m a ke tb c r et u r n to N a t i ve
Gover n m en t as p oss i bl e
d i Wh o were these
cu l t as

malevolent schemers I s it s u gg ested that the Governmen t

o f I ndia broke loose and endeavoured t o fr u strate Lord
$
Salisb u ry s sagacity and benevolence o r were the local
o fcials the arch plotters i n this wicked mach ination
- $

M r K eir H ardie s ph raseolog y s u ggests that these i n
.

e n i o u s and hostile i n u ences were exercised d u ri n g the

g
entire period of fty years B ut the decision by Lord .

S alisbury t o give back the S tate to n ati ve r u le was only

come to i n 1 86 7 6 8 w hen i t became nal and irrevocable ;
-
,

before that date there were fe w who were i n a position t o

anticipate th e t u rn o f events T he period o f i ntri g ue w a s .
'

therefore pres u mably lim ite d to the thirteen years preced ing .

t h e restoration which took place i n 1 88 1 Th e prel iminary .

req u irement of the Rendition was the tness o f the y oung

M aharaj ah to u ndertake the responsibilities o f o f ce I t .

will s u rely not be su g gested that there was any backwar d

ness n preparing him for the post o f r u ler special measure s
were taken fo r his train ing and one of h is t u tors w a s ,

Colonel M alleson an of cer o f considerable distinction Th e

,
.

terms o f the I nstru men t o f Transfer recordin g the c ondi ,

tions u nder wh ich M ysore was i n fu ture to be governed ,

were n o t se t tled u ntil j ust before the R endition and th e , ,

whole proceeding bein g in the nat u re o f a seriou s e xp e r i

ment it was necessary in t h e i nterests of the peopl e o f
,

M ysore to be ve ry careful There is no State wh ich stands .

u nder weightier obl igations to the British Government than

does M ysore ; and u nless M r K eir H ardie has some
, .

evidence which he has not dis c losed it seems t o u s that the ,

charg e wh ich he brin g s agai nst the B ritish Govern ment o r

its ofcers cannot be s u stained .

H is description o f the duties o f B ritish pol itical of cers i n

thei r S tates is as m ight have be en ex pected imperfect and
, ,
 Mr . K ei r H a r d i e on tb c N a t i ve S ta tes 5 1

m isleading Th e u s e o f the words i n ea ck of tkese N a t i ve

.

S ta tes looking to h is esti mate of their n u mbers

,
a b ou t

3 0 0 implies that a far larger n u mber o f B ritish of cers

are thus employed than the returns of the central Govern
ment warrant Th e correct g ure is 1 4 4 wh ich i ncl u des at
.
,

least 7 0 assistants who necessarily work i n a subordinate

,

position as secretaries and so forth H e describes their

, .

d uties as bein g to look after B ritish i nterests and to keep a ,

watchful eye u pon the nances I f the latter implies that .

the political ofcer s b u siness is to check wanton e xt r a v a
g ance o n private expenditu re and the ne g lect of publ ic
req u irements no one would quarrel with the description ;
,

but we can never be quite certain that s u ch a referen ce may

n o t cover some sinister all u sion to th e crazy notion wh ich

p ossesses so many S ocial ists that I ndian ofcials poor ,

men most o f them are i n active sympathy with and

,

assistin g capita l ists As re g ards British i nterests they are

.
,

g enerall y recorded in the shape o f de n ite a g reements ,

and consequently req u ire but little guarding W hat o u r .

political o fcers have to do is to watch the adm in istration so

as to sec u re fair treatment for the C hief s subj ects to a c t as ,

i ntermediaries i n re g ard to the surrender o f criminals to ,

cond u ct the miscellaneo u s bu siness wh ich arises between

adj oining B ritish districts and the N ative S tates o r what is , ,

often o f g reat im portance between o n e S tate and another

,
.

Above all o u r a g ents are req u i red to be o n con dential

,

terms with the Chiefs to whom they are accredited to offer ,

friendly advice whenever it may be requ ired and to appear ,

as l ittle en evi den ce as possible .

M r K ei r H ardie goes o n to say E a ck S ta te ( here

.
, ,

a g ain the context shows that abo u t 3 0 0 is the n um ber
,

i ndicated ) i s u n der ob l i ga t i on t o m a i n ta i n cer ta i n m i l i t a ry

for ces w k i ck a r e a t Me d i sp osa l of tke B r i t i sk a u tk or i t i es
w k en n eed ed f or tb c defen ce of I n d i a Th e forces all u ded.

t o constit u tin g the I mperial S ervice Troops are maintained

, , ,

not by about b u t by o nly twenty ei g ht States Th e

- .

exag g eration i s not perhaps o f m uch importance ; what

, ,
5 2 Tr u t /i s a b ou t I n di a

follows is however , , n ot qu ite so harm l ess W hat was .

ori g inally h e adds , ,

a vol u n ta r
y f
o er of k elp t o t k e

I mp e r i a l Gove r n m en t k a s n ow becom e p r a c t i ca l l y a c om

p u l s or
y c k a rg e on t ke N a t i ve S ta tes f or all t i m e to com e
.

This is of co u rse an incorrect statement

, ,
.

O n September 1 o f th is year the U nder S ecretary for

I ndia answering M r Rees explained in severely of cial
,
.
, ,

phraseology that the maintenance of these troops has

,

th ro u g ho u t been a volu ntary u ndertakin g S eeing that th e .

action of o u r Government had been m isrepresented i n a

somewhat m isch ievous m anner the M aster o f E l i b a n k ,

m i g ht perhaps have given a more complete reply so as to ,

S how clearly that the C hiefs concerned acted entirely of their

own free will As th e natu ral consequ ence o f offers
-
.

spontaneously made from time to time the bu rden restin g ,

upon the fe w N ative States concerned is u nequal and the

sch e m e h as not developed o n any g raduated system o f
payments Were there anyth ing i n the shape of a general
.

for c ed levy we sho u ld nd something approximating to

,

u niformity u nder wh ich the S tates contributed i n p ropor

tion to their revenues or responsibilities Th is would .

however destroy the essence of spontaneity i n a movemen t

,

which both i n its i nception and continuance is p u rely

, ,

vo l u ntary S ome Ch iefs who could well afford to j oin the

.

movement have n o t offered to contribute and certainly w ill ,

not be compelled to do so Th e existence of the I mperial .

Service Troops whose record is in many instances al ready

,

a brilliant o n e constitutes an u n m istakable proof o f the

,

desire o n the part o f some C hiefs t o participate i n the task

o f I mperial D efence .

When M r K eir H ardie ( continui n g the r Ol e of dis

.

a ra i n
p g g everythin g we have done i n I ndia ) adds that these .

troops are kept sol ely a n d ex cl u s i vely f or tk e u se of tke
B r i ti sk Gover n m en t and that mu ch discontent h as thereby,

been caused he is usi ng lang u a g e for which there is no
,

j u stication H e admittedly visited only two N ative

.

S tates ; Baroda and M ysore ; the former has no I mperial

54 Tr u t /i s a b ou t I n d i a

K al i at Calc u tta processions to her s hri ne w here , ,

sacrices o f l ivin g animals g o on day after day a nd of a ,

man one of the most advanced able a nd eloquent of t h e

, ,

extrem ists prostratin g h i m self before the idol i m mediately

,

after his release from c u stody Th e m in g l ing at a B aroda .

g arden party of which s u ch a strong point is made mean s

-
, ,

as little as does the statement that t /ze Ga ekw a r i s a
I i i n du , bu t ki s s ec on d Ck i ef j u s t cei is a d i st i ng u i s/i ed
M u l za m m a da n

.

Th e Governments of B aroda and M ysore afford instances

where adm in istrative talent has taken advantage o f o pp o r
t u n i t i e s denied to of c ials u nder the more rigid system i n

B ritish I ndia ; o u r methods l ike th ose o f Government ,

service in most co u ntries unfortunately cramp in itiat ive and ,

conne personal capacity with i n xed grooves W heth er .

it is p racticable to give o u r of cials more i ndivid u al freedom

is a debatable point wh ich wo u ld obviously requ ire m ore
space than we can afford for its adeq u ate discuss ion ; it is
the o n e prom inent iss u e i n the comparison between the
administration of N ative S tates and that o f o u r territories .

M r K eir H ardie s attention however is directed towards
.
, ,

a di fferent problem H e w rites If tk ose p a r ts of I n d i a

.

w k i c k f or over a k u n d r ed ea r s ka ve been u n der B r i t i s k r ul e

y
a r e n ot
t t o be t r u s t ed w i tk sel
f g o ve r n m en t w k i l st t /zose -
,

N a t i ve S ta tes w k i c/i na ve n e ver b een u n de r B r i t i s/z r u l e,

or na ve s na k en t /ce m sel ves fr ee fr om it , are g ov e r n i ng

t k em se l ves on dem oc r a t i c l i n es , a nd if t b c p eop l e i n k a b i t i ng

tb c N a t i ve S ta tes t er r i t or i es
'

and t k ose i n B r i t t s /i are one

and t ke sa m e,

s u r el tb i s c on s t i t u t es ect i on
I
re
y a sa a
'

B r i t t s/i m et kods ( parenthetically we may remark tha t

sl za ke n t ke m sel ves fr ee fr om i t

is a characteristic ex
pression wh ich i n this connection seems to be absolutel y
, ,

meanin g less ) We note r stly th at sel f g overnment in

.
, ,
-

B ritish I ndia even i n the mi nor sphere of the mana g e

,

ment of local affai rs has th ro u g h no faul t of o u r , ,

of cials made l ittle pro g ress

, N u mberless i nstan c es .

are to be found i n th e administrative reports o f M ofussil

 M r K ei r H a r d i e
. on tb c N a ti ve S ta tes 55

m u nicipal ities and district boards where bu t fo r conti nual ,

ofcial nursing and remonstran ce local sel f g overn ,

-

ment would n o t have su rvived th e apathy and i n d iffe r

ence wh ich al most everywhere th reatened to ru in it .

Th e Government has o n various occasions been moved t o

share in the direct management o f the nances of H i ndu
temples bu t has invariably decl ined I t is adm itted by
, .

most authorities th at before the people can govern their

,

cou ntry they m u st graduat e in the hu mbler sphere o f

,

managing their local affai rs .

S ec on dly that there is no s u ch t h ing as democratic

,

govern men t i n either B aroda o r M ysore Th e Gaekwar .

is fully as a u tocratic as any o f h is fellow P rinces I t is -

.

qu ite righ t he sho u ld be the dominatin g power in his St ate

and as for M ysore the M aharaj ah is by exp ress conditions
, , ,

of the I nstru men t o f Transfer which records the term s u nder

wh ich th e S tate was restored t o native rule personally ,

responsible to the Govern ment o f I ndia fo r the ef ciency

o f h is adm inistration and could not divest himsel f o f th is
,

l iabil ity even i f h e wished t o do so .

M r K eir H ardie has m istaken the r a i son d et r e o f the
.

representat i ve assembly i n that State T his body meets .

only once a y ear for a few days to hear a speech wh ich is

of the natu re of an administration report and is then per ,

m i t t e d to make representations and ventila t e opin ions in

no way bindin g upon the Government I t performs i n .
,

short the us u al fu nctions o f a safety valve Th e Assembly

,
.

has never as is m is t akenly stated been i nvested with

, ,

leg islativ e power and we may safely add t hat no su ch

,

step is contemplated .

There has doubtless been a good deal of loose tal k abou t

representative institutions in N ative S tates tho u gh had he , ,

not been so ready t o accept everyth ing which squared with

h is notion o f thin g s as he expected to nd them and i n so ,

doing t o form ulate dogmatic opinions M r Keir H ardie , .

mi g h t withou t mu ch difcul ty have learnt that democratic

fu nctions thorou g hly u nadaptable as th ey are to British
,
5 6 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

I ndia i n th e present sta g e of the people s dev elopment ,

wo u l d be still more u ns u itable i n principalities where the

personal r u le o f the Chiefs is an essential fe a t u re o f the '

position renderin g it u ndesi rable even i f the ru lers s o

, ,

wished ( which they certainly would not ) to i n troduce ,

methods wh ich are s o far only tted for Western countries .

We should be the last to sug g est that the administration

of either o f these important S tates abou t which M r Kei r , .

H ardie knows so l ittle bu t has g eneralized so hastily is

, ,

not conducted o n enli g htened and creditable li nes from

which especially in M ysore we could advanta g eously
, ,

borrow someth in g whilst i n other respects they m i g ht

,

learn a few lessons from u s B ut as re g ards M r K eir . .

H ardie and h is crude notions if the au thorities there co u ld ,

be ind u ced to speak o u t they would say we have no u se

,

for either democratic o r socialistic remedies ; neither we ,

may add accordi ng t o M r S u r e n d r a n a t h B anerj i have the

,
.
,

people i n B engal Those principles and the autocracy

.

wh ich rightly belongs to N ative chiefs and which they ,

cherish have noth in g i n common A v isit to many other

,
.

N ative States which we could name wo u ld have acted as

a w h o l e s o m e corrective to M r Keir H ardie s extraordi narily
.

m istaken views ; the res u lt m igh t even have been to shock

hi m a little .

To concl u de o u r observations on th is g entleman s advice
t o u s fou nded o n h is very slender experience o f N ative
,

States we will omitting some poi nts o f m inor importance

, ,

which could be made at his expense q u ote only o n e other ,

statement beginnin g with t ke r ea l fa cts a r e to the effect

, ,

that practically all the p rovi nces i n B ritish I ndia are i$ ,

a n tki n better tted f self govern ment than are many
y g o r -
,

o f the N ative S tates b u t t o a d m i t t /zi s w ou l d b e to des t r oy
t /i e u n derp i n n i ng up on w ki ck B r i tt s /i s up r e m a c r est s
'

y .

S u ch a proposition is u nreal and fantastic Whatever .

the fu tu re may develop it is qu ite certai n that so far the

, , ,

people o f B ritish I ndia have shown no aptitude for se l f

g overnment of the k ind advocated by M r K ei r H ardie . .
 Mr . K ei r H a r di e on t ke N a t i ve S ta tes 57

Whether they possess the necessary qualities i n a grea t er

degree than thei r b rethren in th e N at ive S tates raises a
question that can not possibly be sol ved because there are ,

no materials for its sol u tion S elf governmen t outside of .

-
,

B ritish I ndia as we and M r K ei r H ardie u nderstand i t

, .
,

bei ng non existent we can not be said to be with holdin g from

-
,

o r ow n fellow su bj ects an yth in g wh ich those o f N ative
u

S tates enj oy and at a tim e when w e are seriously proposing

,

to create legislative assemblies u nder o u r j u risdiction with ,

non o f c i a l maj orities it mu st surely appear t o any reason

-
,

able bei ng that M r K eir H ardie s s u ggestions and a p p r e
.

h e n s i o n s here as elsewhere are very much beside the

, ,

mark .

Novemb er ,
1 90 9 .
 XI

W H A T I S T H E TR U T H A B O U T
TH E C O N D I TI O N O F T H E I N D I A N P E O P L E $

TH I S is the test merit o f all Govern ments home of th e ,

or foreign D o they o r do they not secu re i nc reased

,

wel fare for the body o f the people governed $ S o says
M r H y ndman in h is report of the S ocial Democra t ic
.

Federation to the I nternational Social ist C on g ress at

Stuttgart which he entitles Th e Ru i n o f I ndia by B ritish
,

R u le and we may accept the test though not h i s con

, ,

e l u sions B u t we can no t g o back to the golden age o f

.

H indu rule ( when parts o f I ndia were n o doubt as well

g overned as any nation of the then world ) o r even to the ,

reign o f the great Akb r ( perhaps the m ost enl igh tened
soverei g n of his day ) for compariso n with the condition o f ,

I ndia du rin g the last fty years o f settled govern ment .

We have a ri g ht to compare i t with the anarchy and

confusion which i n spite o f M r H yndman s assurances to , .

the con trary did actually p revail al l th rou g h the ei g hteenth

,

and the rst quarter at any rate of the nineteenth cen t u ry , , ,

and wh ich alone accou nt for the comparative ease with

wh ich the E n g l ish su cceeded in establishing themsel ves on
the th rone o f the M og u ls .
$

Th e e i g h teen t h c e n t u r y, s a ys
m os t ea s o a bl e I dia a r ec e n t a n d r n n n

w ri ter , M r S K D a tta wa s.

. o e of . wf l bl oodsh ed N ev e h ad t h e
, n a u . r

p eo pl e b e e s h a ss e d o w so iv e s a l A eye wi t e ss tel ls u t h a t
n o ar , r ar un r . n -
n s

th e i v d e s bu
n a e d t h e h ou s e s t o g e t h e
r rn wi t h t h e i m a tes sl a g h te e d r n , u r

o t h e s wi t h t h e sw o d a d l a c e h a l i g o ff i to c a p t ivi t y m i d e s a d
r r n n , u n n a n n

y o t hs m e a d w o m e
u , n D is t i c t s whi c h h d b ee o c e t hi c k l y p o p u l at e d
n n . r a n n

w e e sw ep t b a e o f i h bi ta t s
r r Th e De si e o f I d i a p
n a n r n , .

Th e B i t ish o c u p a t i o i th e o p e i g y ea s o f th e n i n et ee t h c e t y
r c n n n n r n n ur

58
 Tb e Tr a tk a b ou t tb c Con di t i on o
f tke I n di a n P eo pl e 59

I t is o f very little use to imag i ne what m igh t have

happened i f we had not come in o r i f the French had ,

s u cceeded i n ousting u s All that reasonable people are .

concerned to prove is that the state o f the co u n try is better

than it was when we took over charge and that it is ,

steadily i f slowly i mprov in g ; not that it is even now

, ,

perfect ; and b u t fo r M r H yndman and a fe w others as

, .

i gnorant o f I ndia and I ndian history as he evidently is

h i msel f it wo u ld hardly be necessary to arg u e the point
,
.

H e speaks i ndeed of great S tates $ wh ich managed thei r
o w n b u siness capabl
yf o r tk ou sa n d s o
f y ea r s wh ich o u tlived ,
,

a n d recovered from in vasions au d disasters that m ight h ave

c r u shed less vi g orous cou ntries b u t it would p u zzle him , ,

o r anyone else to name such S tates ; and even if there ,

were well managed kin g dom s i n I ndia ma n y hu ndreds of

-

y ears a g o ( as there may have been u nder some u nusually

e nlightened despots their history is quite irrelevant to
) ,

the issue before u s wh ich is the condition o f I ndia i n ,

the eighteenth cent u ry I t is n o t yet ei g h t y years since .

Lord B enti nck i ntrod u ced the begin nings of conscientio u s

r u le i nto I ndia and within twenty t w o years o f h is ,
-

d epart u re it w a s shaken to its fo u ndations b y th e rebellion

o f the S epoys J u st as the eighteenth cent u ry was a
.

p eriod o f war i nvasion and strug g le the

,
ni neteenth has , .
,

Th e Desire

been o n e of consol idation and conciliation

o f I ndia p ,
As to the desi rability o f the
.

c onnection between G reat Britain and I ndia no reasonable

m ea n t s ec i t y a d p e c e I t w o ld b e ex gg e a t i on to say t h t d i g
ur n a . u no a r a ur n

th e p evi o s c e t y t h e o u t y o w e d iv e s o f bl oo d I v a si o s t h e
r u n ur c n r r r . n n ,

r is e d d ec a y o f p e tt y p i c ip a li t i e s th e iv a l i e s fo s p e m a c y t h e
an r n ,
r r r u r ,

p d t o y w a f e o f t h e M a th s a l l b o g h t a b o t t h e m u d e f
re a r r ar ra a , r u u r r o

t h o s a d s o f p eac ea bl e a d i d s t i ou s p ea s a t s wh o s e
u n l y d e si e was to
n n u r n on r

b e l ft a l on e
e Th e v l e o f li fe h s b ee
. is e d by th e e s ta blishm e t o f
a u a n ra n

l s t i g p eac i I d i Th e i etee t h c e t y is
a n e n n a . c on t a s t t o t h e n n n n ur a r

i t e l d iss e si o s whi c h p e vi ou sly d ivid d t h e c o t y d t h e i e ss a t

n rn a n n r e un r an nc n

bl oodsh ed f th i e c e t i e s p ec e d i g B i t is h l e ( p
o e n n n ur r n r ru .

No I d i a p eopl e i his to i c t im e s ev e m an ged th i ow

n n n r r a e r n

b si e ss
u n as a d e m o a y if t h t is wh t M H y d ma me s
cr c , a a r . n n an .
60 Tr a i ks a b ou t I n di a

person can doubt even when v iewed fro m the point o f

,

I ndia a l o n e ( p .

Al l war is hell as G eneral S herman u sed to say ;
,

but even war nowadays is not comparable i n horror with

what Ni c c o l a o M a n u c c i describes it to have been u nder
the auspices o f Au ra n gz ib i n the closi n g years o f th e
M ogul E mpire H is army is a lthy dirty place ( si c )
.
,

more l ike a scourge sent by God j ud g ing by the daily ,

m ortality of men and animals Th e com mon people are .

dealt with as mere animals after they are dead Thei r .

bodies are searched to see if they have any money and , ,

after their feet have been tied to g ether with a rope they ,

are dragged o u t o f the camp and thrown i n the rst hole

to be found A g reat stench is ca u sed i n th is way and no
.
,

measures are taken to g et rid o f this l t h i n e s s Travellers .

settin g o u t fro m this army are not p rotected a gai nst the
attacks of the M ahrattas and other robbers ; and when you
are del ivered from this peril y o u fall i nto the hands o f the

C u sto m s of cers o r p u blicans ( collectors of taxes ) These .

take what they please u nj ustly and by force and if they ,

know that anyone has money o n hi m they rob hi m cut h is ,

throat and bu ry h im ( I n d i a n Spec ta t or S eptember 1 1 , ,

1 90 9 p , .
7 2 6)
Famine t o o is horrible bu t in the last thirty years it h a s
, , ,

been brou g ht u nder control I n 1 7 0 2 1 7 0 4 when ther e .
-
,

was no rain for two years over two m illions M a n u c c i , ,

says died i n the Deccan Fathers compelled by hu n g er

, .
, ,

offered to sell their ch ildren for a q u arter o r hal f a r u pee ,

but were forced to g o witho u t food nding no o n e to bu y ,

them .

S ir E dmu nd Cox i ndeed i n the N i n eteen t/i Cen t u ry a n d

, ,

After for S eptember last speaks o f the Portu g u ese D u t c h

, , ,

F rench and E n g lish as striving fo r the mastery of I ndia
b u t were any o f these nations consciously striving fo r
dominion u ntil D u pleix conceived the idea in the middl e
of the ei g hteenth cent u ry $ Probably no E n g lish m an
before Lord Wellesley ever though t o f makin g E n g land
62 Tr u tns a b ou t I n di a

a few native of cials enj oyed hi g her salaries than they or

their E uropean colleagues ever dream o f nowadays
the late S i r J oh n Woodbu rn as Lie u tenant Governor o f ,
-

B engal is said to have spent

,
a year i n addition to
h is salary o f o n e lakh whereas u nder th e M oguls the ,

G overnor o f the same p rovince drew i n a dd i t i on to p e r ,

u i si t es three lakhs o f rupees abo u t th ree times th e present

q , ,

rate i n rupees o r consideri ng the val u e o f th e red u ced

, ,

r u pee at least fou r times E ven th e M uhammadans never

,
.

th rew the h igher ranks of the C ivil Service open to p u blic

compe t ition M r H y ndman calls th is creeping i nto th e
. .

C ivil Service o n su fferance ( p

.

B u t then it is said we are all i nterlopers w h o never ,

ma k e o u r homes i n the cou ntry and ( so ) drai n away ,

i t s produce to a foreign land ; an d it mu st be admitted
that speakin g gener a lly the E ngl ish do n o t make their
, ,

homes in the cou ntry and prefer to spend the money which,

they have earned by the sweat o f thei r brow i n more c o n

genial cl imates s o that six or seven m illion s a year are mostly
,

S pent by them o u tside the co u ntry wh ere the m oney was

earned b u t su rely th is is part o f the i nevitabl e cost o f an

al ien Government and the only reasonable question is,

whether includin g th is charge the cost o f the I ndian

, ,

Government is excessive As a matter o f fact it is plain .

,

even from the very incorrect g u res g iven o n p 1 0 0 of .

Whitaker that the cost o f G overn ment to each native in
,

I ndia is n o t hal f what it is to the native of J apan and that , ,

o f course is not half o f what the cheapest Govern ment in

,

E u rope costs .

M r H y ndman is indeed a somewhat impossible person

.
, ,

to deal with A s a Social D emocrat h is O pi nions and his

.
,

eth ics are natu rally pec u liar I t it easy and acceptable to .

those holding similar v iews to denounce the r u inous effect
o f u n restrained capitalism to characterize the Govern men t ,

of

I ndia as a nefarious despotism a wh ite capital ist ,

ty ran ny , a pernicio u s dom ination o f capitalism wh ich ,

m n s t be destroyed by the I nternational S ocial D emocra ti c

 Tb e Tr u t k a b ou t t k e C on d i t i on f
o tk e I nd a n
i P eop l e 63

Party o f the World To S ocial D emocrats such language

.

is doubtless welcome and exhilaratin g Ab u se and i n .

v e c t i v e are too apt t o take the place o f truth with such

persons though there are apparently exceptions lik e

, ,

M Paul Leroy B eaul ieu and M r E dward B ernstein w h o

. .
, ,

a ft e r being called i n to c u rse nd themsel ves compelle d ,

to bless .

Fortu nately however the world is n o t composed of

, ,

Social Democrats alone and i nstead o f adopti n g the pre ,

u di c e d and distorted Opinion s of M r H yndman as set

j .

forth i n his pamphlet some disi nterested people may prefer

,

to take a j uster and more generous V iew of the wo rk o f th e

B ritish Govern ment i n I ndia To such persons reco g .
,

n izin
g the fact that the B ritish people nd them selves
respon sible for the adm inistratio n and good govern men t
of a vast dependency o f some 3 0 0 m illion s o f m ixed
O riental races the plai n q u estion is th is I s the Govern
, ,

ment honestly and conscien tiously endeavou ring to dis

charge its d u ty i n the matter t o the be s t o f its ability or ,

is it as M r H y ndman asserts merely exploiting the

, .
,

cou ntry for its o w n benet and thereby reducing the ,

people o f I ndia to a state o f i mpoverishment and rui n

N ow what are the facts
Th e rst effect o f the B ritish occupa t ion o f I ndia is

i nternal peace and order a state o f thi ngs vastly di fferen t
from what existed before and vastly different from what ,

would exist agai n once t h e B ritish power were withdraw n .

Mr H yndman may contend that eve n internecine war i s

.

preferabl e to the imaginary horror o f starva t ion and

impoverish ment which he endeavou rs to depict $
B u t to .

others the mere fact that B ri t ish rule means peace and
contentment througho u t the borders o f that vast territory
is a fact which is not lightly to be s e t aside even by those
The m uc h imp ov e ishm e n t a d fa m o e ac tua l s ta v a t i o
re w as as r n r r r n

b e fo e t h e a dv en t of th e B i t ish I d eed t h e g rea t di ffe e c e is t h a t

r r . n , r n

f mi e s are ow treated s c i e t i c a lly a d h a v e l os t a t l e s t s o m e o f t h ei

a n n n ,
n a r

ho o s rr r .
64 Tr u tks a bou t I n d i a

who advocate a system o f Colonial self government for th e -

co u ntry .

Then if we turn to the moral and material welfare o f the

,

people B ritish r u le su rely stands for rel igio u s eq u al ity and

,

toleration a fact o f no l ittle importance i n a cou ntry o f so

,

many rival races and rel igions And a g ain B ritish rule .
, ,

admittedly means law and order the admi nistration of eq u al ,

j ustice between man and man N ever before has I ndia .

enj oyed so enlightened and so pu re a system o f j udicial

administration N o one would pretend that it is perfect
. ,

b u t it is vastly superior to anyth i ng she has know n i n the

past A nd if in the matter o f education our pol icy h as
. ,

perhaps been at times mistaken o r defecti ve n o o n e can

, ,

contend that the matter has been ne g lected .

B ut it is w ith the material progress of I ndia that M r .

H yndman ch iey nds faul t it is u nrestrained capitalism

that is brin g ing abo u t the rui n of the co u ntry .

I t is n o t very easy to u nderstand M r H yndman s .

denu nciation o r to specify the exact charges wh ich he

,

brings against the Government o f I ndia ; b u t j udging from ,

h is other writings there appear to be t w o points on wh ich

,

he lays stress and in re g ard to wh ich it may be useful

,

to make a few remarks .

Th e rst poi nt is that I n dia and its people are bei n g

impoverished by an excessive land tax To be g in wi th -
.
,

th is is a curio u s assertion t o emanate from a S ocialist for ,

I ndia is one o f the fe w co u ntries i n which the S tate is

admitted to be entitled t o a share i n the prod u ce o f the soil .

Th e theory o f land ten u re in I ndia is and al ways has been , ,

$
that the S tate is the owner o f the land and w hat is called ,

the l and tax is really no more than the rent which the
-

ten u re holder or cultivator pays to the landlord Spoken

-
.

of and re g arded as a tax it sometimes no do u bt appears

, , ,

excessive ; b u t when w e bear i n mi nd that it is the r en t

B d Po we ll wo u l d n ot ag ee th a t th e S ta te w a s th e a c t u a l o w e
a en - r n r,

o r t h a t t h e l a n d re v e n u e is e i t h e r r e n t o t a x b u t p a c t i c a lly n o d o u b t
r r
, , ,

t h e S ta t e is t h e u l t im at e o w n er o f a l l l a n d .
 Tke Tr u tk a b ou t t ke Con di t i on f
o tk e I n d i a n P eo pl e 65

which the ten u re holder o r c u ltivator pays for the use o f the
-

l a n d the matter assu mes a totally di fferen t aspect

, What .

e ver views may be held as to the ownersh ip o f the soil i n

I ndia there can be no do u bt that by im memorial custom

,

t h e M onarch as representing the S tate o r i n other words

, , , ,

t h e people is entitled to a share of all th e prod u ce and is

, ,

a lso entitled t o sell the land if its d u es are not paid so that ,

he is i n fact the u l t i m u s k mr es o f all land That the share

, , .

o f the produce taken by the B ritish G overnment is not only

n o t excessive but far less than that taken by i t s re d e c e ss o r s
,
p
o r i n N ative S tates has been show n over and over aga i n ,

a nd it is not necessary to go into the question h ere .

I t must su f ce to say that th e land reven u e collected by th e

B ritish Govern ment has never e qu alled that taken by
f ormer native r u lers and that where it has not been ,

a ssessed and xed i n perpetu ity it is periodically revised by ,

a set o f specially trained of cers well acq u ainted with the

condition s of the co u ntry and i n sy mpathy w ith its people .

I t is far better so ru n the of cial instr u ctions to S ettle
,

m en t O fcers to u nder assess than over assess

,
- -
.

M r H y ndman s second pet grievance is based o n the
.

large amo u n t o f I ndian expendit u re that is in c u rred i n

E ngland H e sees the S ec retary o f S tate drawing bills on
.

I ndia for endless lakhs o f rupees and he chooses to regard ,

these rem ittances as s o m uch tribute paid by I ndia to

E n g land and arg u es that E ngland is th u s draining I ndia of
,

its wealth for her ow n bene t B ut M r H yndman m ust . .

s u rely be aware that these rem ittances are o n accou nt o f

j u st and le g itimate services rendered to I ndia and it is ,

not a vital matter whether those services are paid fo r i n

E ngland o r i n I ndia T he bul k of the H ome expendit u re
.

r epresents interest payable On the m illions o f capital which

E n g land has len t to I ndia mai nly for th e construction o f rail

,

w ays canals and other prod u c tive and benecial works ; a

, ,

portion is o n acco u nt of the pay or pensions o f of cers wh o

are servin g o r have served i n I ndia ; a portion represents
E g . .
,
in L ea e t No . 8 .
66 Tr /
ut i s a b ou t I n di a

the value o f stores pu rchased i n E ngland ; and it may b e

safely a f rmed whatever M r H y ndman may assert to the
,
.

contrary that s o far from the H ome remittances being i n

,

any sense a tribute paid by I ndia to E ngland there is hardly ,

a pen ny remitted fo r which I ndia does not get o r has n o t

g ot its fu ll value .

M r H yndman appears to obj ect to the i n u x of capital

.

into I ndia but w e th ink that o n this poi nt he will have fe w

fol l owers Th e i nu x o f capital i nto I ndia is yearly addin g
.

to the weal th and resources of the cou ntry ; it i s stimu lati n g

its productiveness and i ncreasing its wa g e fu nd Th is latte r -
.

fact cannot surely escape M r H y ndman s notice I f h e . .

really has the good of the natives of I ndia at h eart he m u s t ,

be gratied by the labou r and wages p rovided for them b y

the constr u ction and mai ntenance of railways and canals b y ,

the establishment of cotton j ute and other factories by t h e

, , ,

cul tivation of tea and by the vario us other businesses i n

,

which B ritish capital is employed N ot onl y does t h e .

employment of the people i n these directions dim i nish t h e

nu mber of those who are compelled to seek their l ivel ihood
from the land but the effect o f E uropean trade and com
,

merce has been to increase the y ield and val ue of t h e

agricult u ral produ ce I n 1 9 0 7 1 9 0 8 the val ue o f the ex port s
.
-

o f I ndian produce was wh ich rep resents n o t ,

a tribu te paid to the rul ing power bu t a s urpl us prod uce ,

not needed by the cou ntry itself o r wh ich would not have ,

been grown at a l l but fo r the foreign demand These .

exports of su rpl us produce enabled the country to im por t

goods t o the val u e o f about f 9 besides ,

worth o f tre a su re This importation of treasu re is a fact

.

which M r H ynd man will do well to bear i n m in d S o fa r

. .

from I ndia being impoverished by a co nti nuou s drain o f

re mittances to the I ndia O fce we have it as a fact that t h e ,

country i mpo rts and absorbs treasu re to the value of abou t

annually Th is surely mu st mean that the peopl e
.

are advancing i n prosperity that they have more money to ,

S pend year by year and that more money is i n circulation .

 T/ze Tr u t/i a b ou t t /ze Con d i t i on f
o tk e I n di a n P pl e
eo 67

All these facts g o to show that capital ism ( i f by that term

M r H yndman means the in trod u ction o f B ritish capital into
.

I ndia ) so far from th reatening the r u in of the co u ntry h a s

, ,

contributed enormously to its development and to the ,

m aterial prosperity o f its peoples We do not say that all .

is perfect and that i n no direction is th ere room for

,

i mprovement and reform b u t we do say that o n the whole , ,

Great B ritai n has little to be ashamed o f i n her treatment

Of I ndia in the past and has every encou ragement to
,

persevere i n her task regardless of the sneers and vitupera

,

tion o f her detractors .

NB . .
-
In
connection with the above reference sh ould be ,

made to the White Paper j u st iss u ed by the I ndia O f ce

M emorandu m on some o f the Results of I nd ian Ad m i n i s
t r a t i on du ring t h e past F ifty Years o f B riti sh Rule i n

I ndia .

D ecember , I 90 9 .
 XI I

TH E N E E D F O R T R U T H A B O U T I N D I A N
AG R I C U L T U R E
A CC O RDI N G TO

S I R G E O R G E S Y D EN HAM C L AR K E ,

G o v e n o o f B omb a y
r r

TH E Council the E ast I ndia Association desire to draw

of

particular attention to the followin g extracts from the a d m i r

able address by S ir Geor g e Syden h am Clarke ,

Governor of B ombay on th e state o f agric u ltu re i n

,

B ombay at a conference held i n Poona in O ctober 1 9 0 9

, ,

In opening the proceedi ngs o f the C onference o f the

B ombay Agricultu re at Poona i n O ctober 1 9 0 9 H is , ,

E xcellency S i r George Clarke said : I n I ndia it is not easy

to say anything that wi l l not be disputed or criticized b u t ,

the t w o p ropositions which I wish to lay before yo u should

command universal acceptance even tho u g h thei r import
,

is imperfectly recognized .

I n the rst place agricult u re is and m ust remai n by far

,

the most important of all I ndian i nd u stries and the essential ,

basis o f I ndia s p rosperity .

I n the second place I ndian agric u l tu re allowing fo r

, ,

cl imatic vagaries is i n a d isti nctly backward position

,
.

P rod u ction is n o t what it might become and waste i n ,

many forms is rampant i n many places .

Th e provision o f an adequ ate food supply is a primary -

condition o f the existence Of man kind and the g reat ,

g rowth o f pop u lation i n I ndia wh ich has accompanied

B ritish rule and wh ich is still proceeding entails more
, ,

68
70 Tr u t/zs a b ou t I n di a

red u ce the i m ports of staples that can be grow n o n her soil ,

she sho u ld n o t lose her export trade .

H o w i mportant that trade is I wis h to explai n You .

have perh aps been told that before the advent of B ri tish
rule I ndia had an immense t rade wh ich has since dis
appeared I a m sure yo u u nderstand howeve r that th e
.
, ,

trade o f those halcyon days was a ba g atelle i n val u e com

pared with that wh ich I ndia n o w enj oys E xcludi n g .

$
Govern men t stores I ndia exported merchandise
,
to the
amo u nt o f about 1 1 5 5 millions sterlin g i n 1 9 0 7 1 9 0 8 Th is -
.

was a record year both for exports and i mports and i n ,

1 9 0 8 1 9 0 9 the former fell to about 9 9

-
3 mill ions owin-
g to ,

a deciency o f crops No w the poin t wh ich I want you

.
,

to remember is that o f these 9 9 9i m illions very nearly

73 mill ions were paid to I ndia fo r the produce o f the land .

I t may well be that y o u do not real ize this important aspect

o f agriculture from which the D ecca n does not lar g ely
prot ; bu t it needs no imag inatio n to grasp th e fact that
th e realization o f nearly 7 3 m ill ions sterlin g i n an i ndifferen t
vear must have an im mensely benecial effect u pon the
economics of I ndia as a whole A nd this bene t is deri ved
.

wholly from ag ricultu re .

E N C O U RA GI N G I N DU S T R I ES .

M u ch has been written abou t th e need fo r the promo t ion

of i ndustries which it has been stated Govern ment desires
, ,

to check I need not tell y o u that such statements are

.

baseless Govern men t is doing all it can to encou rage

.

ind u stries ; bu t if I have made my mean in g clear you

, ,

will u nderstand that a sudden expansion o f manufact u ring

i ndu stries on a large scale would be disadvantageous There .

i s al read y sh ortage o f labo u r i n some local ities and the ,

population in this P residency is not at present c apable o f

supplying a larg e additional su rpl us to work i n factories
withou t depleting the nu mbers requ ired for the vital
P rod u ce a n d m a n u fac t u re s .
 Tb e N eed f or Tr u tk a b ou t I n d i a n Ag r i c u l t u r e 7 1

necessities of ag ric u l t u re and fo r g reat pu bl ic works Th e .

food supply must be maintained and will have to be

-
,

i ncreased ; th e foreign t rade derived from the land must

not be l ost Th e density of pop u lation i n som e parts o f
.

I ndia is g reater than with u s ; b u t even i n these parts a ,

rapid transfer o f large n u mbers o f co u ntry dwellers to town -

l ife such as has happened i n i ndu strial ized co u ntries wou ld

, ,

be an evil since t h e restrictions and regulations t o wh ich

,

E u ropean town dwellers subm it would be bitterl y resented

-

by the people I n the U nited States the dwellers i n tow ns

.

n u mbered 3 per cen t o f the pop u lation a fter th e C iv i l War .

Forty years later 3 3 per cent were l iving i n cities of over .

people I n E nglan d and Wales the tow n population

.

i ncreased from 5 0 per cent to 7 7 per cent i n fty years . . .

I f ch an g es similar to these took place i n I ndia the effects

wo u ld be serious and the factory colony outside the city
, ,

of which th e Poona Paper M ills supply a g ood example ,

poi nts t o a way o f avoiding the evils of overcrowding .

M ean while factory i ndu s t ries as a whole conti nu e to

, , ,

develop by a p rocess of natu ral evo l u tion su bj ect to th e ,

u ct u ations which affect all countries Cotton mills have .

-

i ncreased from 7 4 i n 1 883 1 884 to 2 2 7 i n 1 9 0 7 1 9 0 8 and

- -
,

j u te mills from 2 3 to 5 0 i n th e same period S pindles

-
.

have increased i n far h i g her proportion S tatements as to .

the decay of t rade and industry are refu ted by the smallest
study o f the fac t s .

TH E H AN D L OO M TRA D E .

I n I ndia as i n all cou ntries the character of t rade and

, ,

of i nd u stries has changed ; bu t th e g rowth o f both is

remarkable and it is steady advance especially i n th e
, ,

latter wh ich affect the social l ife of th e people that we

m ust seek to p romote A very u sefu l l ine of man ufact u ring
.

progress for th is P residency at the presen t time is to be

so u ght i n th e enco u ragement o f hand industries s u ch as ,

weavi n g wh ich would not only bring prosperity to an

,

hereditary class but m i g ht enable the e arnin g s o f the

,
7 2 Tr u t /i s a b ou t I n di a

cultivator to be increased Th e Government recently

.

appoi nted M r M ehta to su rvey the handloom i ndu stry

.
,

and from the usefu l report wh ich he h as prepared I g ather

that this branch o f work is capable of development o n th e
two conditions of imp roved methods and c o operative -

a g encies I n the prod u ction o f E ri silk also which is bein g

. ,

u rged by a Govern ment expert there is a possibl e opening

,

for easy and protable labo u r for women and children .

I have endeavo u red to sh ow the vital i mportance o f the

products o f the land i n regard to the feedin g o f the people
and to the export trade I f you tu rn to the i mport trade
.
,

the o n e g reat item i ndicatin g a deciency o f produ ction is

s u gar th e val ue o f the imports o f which reach ed the record
,

1
g u re of 7 7 millions sterl in g in 1 9 0 8 1 9 0 9 I have no -
.

do u bt that this g u re can be redu ced and Government by, ,

its g reat irrigation works and by g iving nan cial assistance

to sugar cane growers is doing all i n its power to increase
-
,

the produ ction o f th is i mportant food staple M eanw hile .

,

y ou as
, th inki ng people will
,
readily u nderstand that to
boycott forei g n s u gar can only in ict hardship on the poor ,

and p romote a partic u larly despicable kind o f fraud F rom .

the econo m ic point of V iew th e step is u seless because the

, .

h i g h prots of s u g ar cane growing i n th is P residency s u f ce

-

to sti m u late its development Th e pol itical obj ect which

.
, ,

as recently dened i n a letter to th e London Ti m es by a

 Tb e N eed f or Tr u tk a b ou t I n d i a n Ag r i cu l t u r e 73

best service which cou ld be rendered to the cou ntr yat the
present time is to increase agricultu ral production For .

various reasons the g rea t est o f I ndian i ndustries is back

ward i n many respects M et h ods are antiq u ated and
.

i nadequ ate even where the co n ditions o f rainfal l o r of

i rrigation are favourable Th e avera g e w heat prod u ct
.

o f E ngland is 3 2 bu shels per acre I n the B ombay P resi .

d e n c y it is 2 1 bu shels on irrigated and 8 bushels on u n

irrigated land I n parts o f the D eccan weeds ru n riot
.

i n the elds and the c u ltivator may be seen sowing his

,

crop amon g them There are even places where the land
.

has been abandoned to weeds wh ich g row stron g est in the ,

best soil and cultivation is th u s d riven to soil o f i nferior

,

quality E ven i n a year of good rai nfall l ike the p resent

.
,

the aggregate production will n o t approach what is possi ble .

Th e tillage o f the land is i nsu f cient and th e selection ,

o f seed is not u nderstood Th e uses o f manu re are l ittle

.

appreciated and night soil wh ich is a source of larg e

,
-
,

p rot to the J apanese is not u til ized Th e breedin g of

, .

stock is mainly left to chance with the necessary res u l t ,

o f deterioration and waste H ealthy and diseased an imals

.

in term in g le with conseq u ent b u t preventable loss , .

I n s u ch condition s as these the improvement o f th e

land wh ich has been a marked feat u re i n J apan is n e c e s
sa rl l absent and there is probably a g rowin g infertility i n
y
many places Th e J apanese w h o rank amon g st the bes t
.
,

nat u ral c u ltivators o f t he world have the advanta g es of ,

a g ood rainfall H avin g been c u t Off from com mu nication

.

with the outer w orld for centuries and possessing a soil ,

naturally poor they have been th rown on th eir o w n

,

resou rces C attle bein g excee dingl y fe w the land mu st be

.
,

worked by hand and th e increasin g press u re o f a p o p u l a

t ion which has risen from 2 7 7 millions i n 1 82 8 to
,
1

4 73 m ill ions in 1 9 5
0 called forth ,the energies and the
i n nate reso u rcefu l ness of the people who make th e u tmost
o u t of a fertil ity wh ich their o w n labo u rs have created and

wh o can afford to waste noth ing A s S ir F N icholson . .

74 Tr u tk s a b ou t I n di a

j ustly states in an interestin g report : Tillage and manu re

,

stren u ou s spade labo u r and the util ization of all waste are

the main secrets o f J apanese hu sbandry I n spite o f the .

heavy bu rden o f taxation which in the case o f agricultu ral

,

land was s u d d enly increased by 1 2 0 per cent to m eet th e .

requ irements o f the Russian War the J apanese cul tivator ,

holds h is own And now that the pressure o f pop u latio n

.

conti nues to in crease wh ile the cultivable area can not be

,

expanded he is showing th e wonderful adaptabil ity of h i s

,

race by q u ickly adopting th e n e w meth ods which science

can i ndicate .

To H E L P T H E C U L TI VA T O R .

I n the science of agricultu re a g eneral solution o f the

many problems is rarely possible E ach may requ ire a .

sol u tion depending u pon local conditions local c u stoms ,

and even local prej ud ices Th e s u ccess of a p rocess or .

o f a plant in other cou ntries does not g uarantee success

here where i t may be necessary to chan g e th e p rocess ,

o r to prod u ce a special plant i n order to s u it the conditions

o f cl imate soil and req u irement

, Th e needs of th e D eccan .

differ in many respects fro m those o f G ujarat a n d o f S ind .

Y o u will therefore see the i mportance o f experiments

, ,

scientically carried o u t by a central body and you may be , .

able to g ive val uable assistance by co m m un icating with the

Department I am glad to know that some of the Chiefs
.

and Sardars i n th e P residency are actively i nteresting

themselves in the improvement o f agric u lt u re and I am ,

s u re that they will c o O perate with us for th e g eneral

-

good .

TH E M A I N R E $ U I REM EN T S .

Th e main requ irements are capital labou r and know ,

l ed g e ; but above all knowledge w ithou t wh ich capital

, , ,

and labo u r would be wasted O nly a centu ry ago there .

were larg e tracts i n the D eccan which lay waste for years
as the resul t o f the devastations o f arm ies and of d e p o p u l a
tion These tracts have been bro u g ht u nde r c u ltivation
.
,
 Tb e N eed f or Tr u t/i a b ou t I n d i a n Ag r i c u l t u r e 75

bu t the i mproving process wh ich i n E n g land and other

,

co u ntries has been brou g ht about by a combination o f labou r

and capital and i n J apan mainly by hi g hly i ntelligent labo u r
,

alone has been absent W hile therefore there are many

, .
, ,

g ood and i nd u striou s cultivators produ ction has been dis ,

appoi nting and there has been a series of i ndi fferent years
,

which mi g ht have ca u sed despair amon g people less st u rdy

and less hopeful than the M ahra ttas Losses d u e to bad .

seasons l ie beyond ou r power to prevent All that .

Government can do is to extend i rrigatio n and you may be ,

sure that we shall spare no e ffort and no ar g u ment to

'

obtain sanction for the g reat Deccan proj ects n o w bein g

elaborated I all ude especially to the Gokak and the N ira
.

ri g ht bank schemes wh ich wil l com mand respective l y

,

and acres wh ile the la t ter will safeguard

,

the most fam ine stricken districts of the Deccan I f these

-
.

great w orks did not i m m ediately earn the prescribed rate

o f i nterest as I bel ieve they would the i ndirect benets
, ,

wo u ld be so i mmense as to demand thei r constru ctio n .

Apart h owever from the extension o f large irri gation

, ,

works there is m u ch that could be done to red u ce loss

,

in bad seasons and to insu re a g reat i ncrease Of production

when the rain fall is favo u rable O u r j ag h i rdars i n a m d a rs
.
, ,

landlords and substantial cultivators will nd that it w ill

pay well to apply capital to the improvement of their lands .

Levelli n g and bu nding the erection o f t als ( banks ) to p re

,

vent wash fencing to protect the elds from the cattle and the
,

cattle from the elds the di gg in g of wells to u tilize su bsoil

,

$
water the harnessin g o f n u llahs to catch s u rface water the
,
-
,

i nstallation o f pumping plants o n river b a n k s t h e se are -

some of the req u irements and if they are approached with

, ,

knowled ge they will prove safe and p rotable i nvestments

,
.

S imilarly i n the u se o f man u res i n the selection of seeds

, , ,

i n sowing where there is n o w m u ch waste and in i mproved ,

tilla g e there is ample scope for pro g ress Th e last ann u al .

report of the Agric u ltural Department poi nts ou t that i f

W a te c ou s e s r r .
7 6 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

x
jo w ar i seed is treated with sulphate o f copper costin g

1 anna an acre there will often be
,
a prot o f a h u ndred

fold and more H ere is a way i n wh ich the i nvestment o f
.

capital o n an i nsign icant scale will prove rem u nerative .

As to investment o n the lar g er scale such as the pu rchase ,

o f i ron ploughs and o f pu mpin g or cane crush i ng pla nt y o u -

,

will nd some usefu l i nformatio n i n the report E ven i n .

dry years larg e sources o f sorely needed water are wasted

fo r the want of power p u mps -
.

P RAC TI CA L $ U ES TI O N S .

Th e practical questions w hich confro nt us are : H ow

can we bring the knowledge already available and certain
t o be increased year by year to bear upon the people and ,

how can the poor cul tivators be helped i n the matte r of

capital $ I earnestly hope that the m embers o f this C o n
ference will be able to give us val u able help and advice i n
solving these important questions .

We are anxio u s to i ncrease the nu mber of agricultu ral

associations an d I am glad t o note that ten such bodies
,

were i naugurated during the past year and that many ,

I ndian g entlemen are renderin g g reat assistance E ach .

s u ch association can be a cen tre from which practical

information such as is contained i n the series of very
,

useful publications edi ted by D r M an n can be dis .

,

semin a ted B u t more is wanted and we require the

.
,

active agency o f local leaders who w i l l supply i nitiative

i n agricultural matters and will S how th e people h o w they
,

can improve their position S imilarly we have a n i n

.
,

creasing nu mber o f c o op erative societies by means o f

-

wh ich with the aid of a bank we hope that the benets o f ,

n a n C I a l combi nation and of the industrial organiza t ion

wh ich has worked wonders i n other cou ntries may be made
mani fest I n helping s uch bodies as these there is a wide
.

fi eld o f practical u seful ness for the true patriots o f the

M i l l et .
 XIII

TH E T R U T H A s To T H E E M P LOY M E N T O F
I N D I AN S I N TH E S E RV I C E O F TH E I R
C O U N TRY s o FA R ,
A S TH E P U N J A B i s
CONC E RN E D

SO much is said by ill inform ed critics su ch as M r K ei r

-
,
.

H ardie and now M iss H o w s i n as t o the practical excl u sio n

,

o f I ndians from the serv ice o f their o w n cou ntry that i t
seems desirable to publ ish the following extract from S i r

J ames Wilson s paper read on December 9 1 9 0 9 befor e
, , ,

the Royal S ociety of Arts which g ives a statement o f t h e

,

facts so far as that provi nce is concerned .

A fter a fe w p rel iminary remarks S ir J ames went o n a s

,

follows
I can perhaps best employ the tim e at m y disposal b y '

asking y o u to consider the most i mportan t question of all

namely what is the present condition o f th e mass of t h e
,

population h o w far have they beneted from B ritish r u le

, ,

and how has B ri tai n discha rg ed her tru st for the wel fare o f
these m ill ions of hu man bein g s $ I t is well to remembe r
that al l power in I ndia is derived from the K ing and
Parliament of this country and that t h e ulti mate responsi
,

b il i t y for the g ood government of the E mpire therefore

rests mainly with the seven m illion voters o f the U n ited
K ingdom O f cials come and go and each i n his tim e
.

has g reat personal i n uence for good o r ill over the peopl e
comm itted to his char g e ; but the acts o f any individ u al
of cial however powerful are of l ittle consequ ence whe n
, ,

c ompared with the g eneral spirit and pu rpose wh i c h

78
E mpl oy m en t f
o I n dia n s i n t ke S er v i c e o f t k ei r Cou n t ry 79

pervade the system o f admin istration and with the broad ,

resul ts o f that system on the welfare o f the people as a

whole .

TH E GO VER N M EN T .

Th e a im of
the B ritish Government in the P u nj ab as i n ,

t h e rest o f I ndia has always been t o maintain order to

, ,

repress violence and fraud t o render person and property ,

s ecure to do j u stice to all to aid the poor the weak

, , ,

and the u n fort u nate and to conrm t o every man h is ,

i ndividual l iber t y o f action with as fe w restric t ions as

p ossible and the
,
laws have been carefully framed with th is
o bj ect in the light o f past experience Th e of cials both .
,

E u ropean and I ndian who are im mediately responsible ,

f o r t he ad ministra t ion o f these laws are animated by a similar

s p irit
. I t is often n o t fully realized h ow many o f them are
I ndians and how large a proportion o f the po w ers and
,

d u ties o f g overn ing have been entrusted to men draw n

fro m the people o f the provi nce itsel f When I rst entered .

th e service thirty fou r years ago ( more than half

,
-
way back
to an nexation ) the n umber o f men exercising j udicial powers
, ,

a s magistrates o r j udges was u nder

5 0 0 and o f those only
, ,

3 0 were I ndians and no I ndian h e l d a hi g her post

2 ,

t han that of assistant to a deputy com missioner o r district -

j u dge N ow there are abou t

. men invested with
c ri minal civil and administrative powers and o f t hese
, , ,

a bou t 80 0 are I ndians 2 6 0 o f them being non o f c i a l ,

-

honorary magistrates ; and all the subordinate ofcials ,

i ncluding for i nstance all but 1 0 0 o f the

, pol ice
, ,

p ractically the whole o f the n umerou s clerks and all the ,

villa g e accountants are I ndians O f the 2 9 of cials , .

ho l ding the position o f district j udge 2 2 are I ndians ; o f

th e 2 5 0 assistants at head q uarters of districts 1 5 0 are
I ndians ; there are four I ndian deputy comm issioners o r -
,

settlement of cers t w o I ndian divisional j ud g es an d

, ,

generally t w o I ndian J u d g es o f the C hief Co u rt the ,

h ighest cou r t o f crimi nal an d civil j urisdiction ; and four

o f the n ine members who have h itherto composed the
 80 Tr u tks a b ou t I n dia

Legislative Council o f the prov ince have usually been

I ndians S o too i n the specialized branches such as th e
.
, , ,

P ublic Wor k s M edical E d u cational and Forest Depart

, , ,

ments which now exercise many o f the fu nc t ions o f

,

g overnin g while the control and supervision are mai nl y

,

i n the hands o f E u ropean o f cials and the spirit a n d ,

character o f the adm inistration are disti nctly B ritish al mos t ,

all the subordinate o f cial s are everywhere I ndians I n .

al l departments the continuo u s tendency has fo r man y

years been to entrust m ore and more authority to native s
o f the province carefully selected thoroughly trained u nder
, ,

E uropean supervision and p roved by experience to be t

to exercise power u nder the S tate withou t danger to th e
interests o f the masses o f the people I am glad to be a bl e ,

to tes tify t hat although there is still mu ch room for i m

,

provement there has withi n my o w n recollection been

, , ,

a steady and mark e d advance i n the c haracter of t h e

g eneral body o f native of cials There is not only a g rea t .

improvement i n their intellect u al attai nments but a m u c h ,

smaller proportion o f them are open to corr u ption o r

swayed by party prej udice or g iven to abusing th ei r
authori ty and their g eneral trustworth iness is mu ch highe r
,

than it u sed t o be Th is is especially the case with t h e

.

fe w who have attained to the h igher posts some of w ho m ,

have reached the E u ropean standard of rectitude i mpar ,

t i a l i t y and e fciency
, B ut I think the best o f th em wo u l d
.

admit that they would nd it dif cul t t o main tain t ha t

standard were i t not fo r the backing they receive from
their E u ropean fellows and the in uence o f the genera l ,

t one o f th e serv ice to which they are proud t o belong .

T he broad resul t o f all this c a reful selection and t rai ning

is tha t we have provided the people o f t h e Pu njab wit h
a large nu mber o f tru stworthy a nd ef cient servants o f
the S tate mainly taken from among themsel ves far mor e
, ,

honest i mpartial and at the same time sympathetic tha n

, ,

ever ruled over them before ; men whose mo t to may be

pu t as : D o j us t ice su ccou r the distressed ,S eldom h a s .
E mpl oy m en t f
o I n d i a n s i n tk e S er vi ce f
o t k ei r Cou n t r y 81

s ch far reachi ng power been wielded by a body of of cial s

u -

with a stronger sense of p u bl ic dutya combination which

g uarantees a high measu re of secu rity to all and ready aid ,

to any class o f the commun ity wh ich stands i n need o f it .

Whenever any serious trouble arises in any part o f the

P rovince such as crime disease drought earthqu ake
, , , , ,

ood o r even a destructive hailstorm some of cial hastens

, ,

to the spot bri n g s help to the distressed people and sets in

, ,

motion the S tate s mach inery to remedy the evil .

F rom the rst it has been the policy o f the B ritish

Govern ment t o encou rage the grow t h o f p ubli c spirit and
enlist the services o f t h e leaders o f t h e people by es tabl ish
i ng district boards a nd mu nicipal committees which corre ,

s o n d to th e co u nty cou ncils and town cou ncils i n th is

p
co u ntry E ach of the twenty nine districts has its d istrict
.
-

board presided over by the Depu ty Com missioner who is -

also m agistrate and collector o f the district and some sub ,

divisions o f districts have su bordinate local boards Al to .

gether the n u m ber o f members i s of whom 6 0 0 are

elected They are responsible for most o f the roads
.
,

bridges schools hospitals an d other loca l matters in the

, , ,

ru ral parts o f the province and the money placed at th ei r ,

disposal fo r these pu rposes has steadily risen n o t s o much ,

by increase of taxation as by increase o f the amou nt

allotted to them by the central Government I t is n o w .

abou t a year Wh ere the members are elected.

it is seldo m that m u ch i nterest is taken i n the elec t ion and ,

at the m eetings of th e boards th ere i s rarely any v oti ng

o n disputed questio ns as the members prefer to tru st to
,

the su perior knowledge and impartial ity o f their of cial

chairman and readily adopt h is suggestions There is .

somewhat more an i mat i on i n the proceedi n g s o f the

m u nicipal com m ittees which manage the a ffairs o f two
million people i n 1 3 7 town s and comprise nearly ,

mem bers o f w hom , are n o n o f c i a l s Thei r tot a l -

.

expenditu re is nearly per an nu m and the p ro ,

g ress made i n th e towns i n edu cation san itatio n medical , ,

82 Tr u t/zs a b ou t I n d i a

relief and publ ic improvements g eneral ly is on the whole

, , ,

sat i sfactory tho u gh still far behi nd a E u ropean standard

,
.

I n the v illages a large amou n t o f local adm inistration is

done by the hereditary headman and by the leadin g l and
ow n ers who have been placed i n charge o f g roups of
villag es and form a val u able l ink between th e D epu ty
,

Com missioner and the peopl e M any o f the principal .

landowners as well as of the leading townsmen have been

, ,

i nvested with powers as honora ry mag istrates and do good

service i n aidin g the of cial magistrates to admin ister th e
l aw There is thus a lar g e nu mber o f private i ndiv iduals
.

who take part in local affairs and th rough whom the ,

ofcials o n whom the ch ief responsibility rests keep in

, ,

touch with the bul k o f the population Although th ere are .

exceptions these n o n o f c i a l au thorities o f all g rades and

,
-
,

especially the heads o f o l d families w ho exercise great ,

in uence owing to the extent o f their estates their wealth

, , ,

their character o r the traditional respect th ey comman d

,

among their dependents and nei g hbou rs are a great ,

support t o the Govern ment whose proj ects fo r the benet o f

the people they as a rule loyally endeavou r to carry o u t
, ,
.

I t may interest y o u if I briey s u mmarize th e chan g es

made in the constitu tio n o f the Legislative Cou ncil o f the
province H i therto excluding th e Lie u tenant Governor
.
,
-
,

w h o presides at a l l Council meetings there have been n i ne ,

m embers o f whom ve have u sually been non o f c i a l s

,
-
.

All the members were nomi nated by the Lieutenant

Governor N ow the recent Act xes the maxi mu m
.

n u mber of members at th irty but for the presen t the ,

u s u al nu mber w ill be twenty fo u r thou g h th e Lieutenant

-
,

Governor has power t o appoint not more than two addi

E mp l oy m en t f
o I nd ans
i i n tke S er v i ce o f t kei r Cou n t ry 83

extended t o the representation o f th e landholders and o f

the M u hammadan comm unity M eanwh ile the remai ning .
,

ni neteen members w ill be nominated by the Lieutenant

Governor Th e ve members to be elected at present will
.

be elected one by the U n iversity o f th e P u nj ab o n e by ,

the P unj ab Chamber o f Commerce and three by th e ,

m u nicipal and cantonment com m ittees o f the large towns .

Th e U n iversity member will be elected by the members o f

the Senate and the H onorary F ellows and must h imself ,

belong to o n e o f these two bodies T he Com merce member .

w ill be elected by the P u nj ab Chamber o f Com merce ,

and mu st h imself b e a member o f that body Th e three .

mu n icipal members will be elected by those members of

certai n important mu nicipal and canton men t committees
who have not been appointed ex
o i c i o Fo r th is p u rpose .

three groups of comm ittees have been formed each o f ,

which will elect a member T he C is S u tlej group is made

.
-

up o f the mu nicipal and cantonment committees o f D el hi ,

S imla U m b a l a L udhiana and Fero z epore Th e central

, , , .

g roup consists o f the com m ittees o f Lahore A mritsar and , ,

J alandar ; and the western group of those o f M u ltan ,

Rawal p indi and S i a l ko t e A candidate for o n e o f these

-
, .

mu n icipal seats m ust have a place of residence i n the

g roup and must be o r have served fo r three years as a
, ,

mem ber of the mu nicipal com mittee belonging t o that

group I t will thu s be seen that i n no case will the
.

n umber o f electors be large and that the important ,

principle has been laid down that i n each case th e elected

member must be a true represen t ative o f th e body he
represents .

Th e nancial statement w ill be exam ined by a committee

o f the Cou ncil consisting o f twelve mem bers of whom six
, ,

will be nom i nated by the Lieu tenant Governor a n d si x -

,

elected by th e n o n o f c i a l mem bers M embers will also

-
.

have th e powe r o f pu tti n g q u estions and movin g resol u

tions sub j
,
ect t o certai n restrictions and th e con trol o f the
p resident I t is t o be hoped that these n e w powers will be
.
84 Tr u t/zs a b ou t I n d i a

u sed with d iscretion and n o t em ployed as a m eans o f wast

,

ing time o r worryin g th e respon sible a u thorities .

I f I may express an opin ion I thi nk that th is enlarge ,

ment o f the n u mbers and powers of the Le g islativ e Council

will ultimately work o u t for th e g ood of the provi nce I t .

will n o dou bt have its dan g ers and drawbacks wh ich w ill
req u ire to be g uarded a g ainst I t w ill tend to keep the .

higher of cials more closely to headquarters and s o less i n ,

touch with the people it will necessitate their giving more

time to tal k and less to th i nkin g and to action and so tend ,

to lessen ef ciency o r lead to a costly i ncrease i n thei r

,

nu mber I t may tend to weaken the authority of the local

.

ofcials o f all departments and especially o f the I ndian ,

of cials wh ich would be d isastro u s to the i nterests o f

,

peace order and sec u rity and especially o f the poorer

, ,

classes B u t it will have th e g reat advanta g es o f bringin g

.

th e leaders o f the people i nto closer relationship w ith th e

ofcials o f the Govern ment o f g iving them som e share of ,

the responsibil ities o f governin g and o f open ing a way fo r ,

the ambitious am ong them to render i mportant service to

th e S tate and to th ei r fellow cou ntrymen outside the ranks -

of the paid ofcials Th e system w ill for some ti me be on

.

its trial and it remai ns to be seen wh ether the me n selected

,

will rise to the occasion and prove that they are tted
to discharge their n e w duties I have great faith i n th e .

e n e r a l common sense and g ood intention s o f the large

g
maj ority o f P u njabis o f all classes a nd t r u st that after , ,

the rst e x citement has died down it w ill be fou nd that the ,

new members of the C ou ncil are imbued with a spiri t o f

public du ty and a desire t o advance the com mon weal ,

and are therefore real pillars o f the S ta t e B u t the true .

representa t ives o f the masses of the people and especially ,

o f the peasant proprietors the tenants and the labo u rers

, ,

m u st fo r many years to come be the of cials both E u ropean ,

and I ndian whose ma i n du ty after the maintenance of law

, , ,

order and j ustice is t o ch erish the poor
, .

Feb r u a ry , I 9I o .
86 Tr u t ks a b ou t I n dia

I t will be helpfu l therefo re i n deal in g with this argu ment

, , ,

to show h o w a far more conservative person than th e

E nglish man has eagerly welcomed th e c o operative system - .

I t may n o t be known bu t i t is nevertheless a fact that , , ,

owing to the efforts of the I ndian Government c o operative ,

-

vi l lag e banks have spread w ith extraordinary rapidity over

I ndia i n the last fe w years and i n many districts have ,

act u ally lowered th e rate o f interest on agricultu ral loans .

TH E I N DI AN C U L TI VA T O R A ND TH E U S U RER .

For g enerations the I ndian peasantry have been i n the

g rip of the money lender B efore the days o f B ri t ish rule
-
.

the evil was probabl y not so great fo r i n those times every ,

village was al most a republic and no doubt took the law ,

i nto its ow n hands when the money lend e r became too m u ch -

o f a tyrant M oreover as taxes wer e u sually paid i n kind

.
, ,

the need fo r ready money was not then so great Th e .

B ritish Govern men t however with its enormo u s benets , ,

o f peace law and order introduced also the monetary system

, , ,

and protected the money lender from th e v iolence of the -

infu riated villagers Th e I ndian peasant is an excellent.

cultivator but he has never u nderstood money and the

,

all ied problems o f credit H e has th erefore got h imself .

, ,

i nto the grip o f the usu rer To get money he pledged h is .

crops and when h is crops were n ot enou g h he pledged h is

,

land Th e usu rer made money at both ends H e bo u ght

. .

the wheat i n the ear when it was cheapest disposed of it ,

when it was dearest and sold part o f it back a gain t o th e,

peasant as seed grain H e charged interest wh ich some

-
.

times rose to 1 0 0 per cent and he even when he fou nd it .

, ,

was safe began to foreclose and take possession o f the land

,
.

Th e peasant thu s often became a m ere tenant l iv ing from

hand to mouth wi t h no reserve either o f grain o r money
, , ,

to ward o ff fami ne .

Th e I ndian Gover nment has passed law after law to stop

these evils b u t it has fou nd by bitter experience that it can
,
 Co -
o e r a t i ve
p B a n ks 87

neither prevent the i ndebtedness o f the peasant n o r the

alienation o f land Ta kd vi o r a Govern ment system o f
.
,

loan s was devised as a cu re ; but t hough they have been

, ,

available for th irty years o r so the peasantry have not yet ,

got over thei r distru st of a system which in their eyes only , ,

places them in the hands o f n e w m oney lenders the native -

,

su bordinates i n the Governmen t service They may be .

driven to Ta kci vi by fami ne but it is do u btfu l i f the syste m

,

w ill ever be popular and indeed u n iversal indebted ness to

, , ,

th e Governmen t wo u ld have ev ils almost as great as u n i

versal debt to the m oney lender W hen Lord C romer -
.
,

then M aj or B ari n g was i n I ndia as F i nancial Secretary he

, ,

took a deep interest i n an attempt to found a private bank

o n ph ilanth ropic li nes S ir William Wedderbu rn and others
.

worked hard for this scheme and the Government o f I ndia ,

decided to liqu idate debt s over an experi men tal area so as

to give t h e bank a fair start w h ile it was to have special ,

advanta g es i n the way o f remission o f stamp duty and -

recovery th rou g h Revenue ofcers Th e Secretary o f S tate .

refused t o sanction th is sch eme Laws have also been .

passed from time to time to stop land al ienation b u t s u ch -

,

l e g islation is obviously retrograde I t keeps the cultivator .

a ch ild in economic matters and moreover i t is often i m , , ,

possible to prevent evasion .

E N C O U RAG EM EN T OF CO -
O PERA TI VE C RE DIT .

All these schemes failing then the Indian Government , ,

was al most forced to the al ternative of enco u ragin g c o

operative credit among the people themsel ves As early .

as 1 89 : the M adras Government appointed M r N icholson .

( n o w S ir F A N icholson ) to report o n the q u estion and

. .
,

his report w a s encyclop aedic and extremely u sefu l in the

w a y o f attractin g attention to the c o operati ve bankin g -

systems of E u rope I n the P u njab two C ivil S ervants

.
,

M r M aclag an and Captain J G C rosth waite started a

. . .
,

l ittle g rain b ank Th e members deposited the grain at

.
 88 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

harvest time i t was sold when prices rose and the money
-
,

was lent to members at low rates I t w a s however i n the .

, ,

U nited Provi nces that the master mi nd arose that sol ved
th e p roblem H ere M r H D u p e r n e x a C ivil S ervant
. . .
,

w ith a stron g bent for na n ce wrote an adm irable l ittle ,

book i n wh ich he showed h o w the German c o operative

,
-

systems m igh t be adapted to I ndia n needs H e pointed .

o u t that the I ndian v illage has bee n fro m time i m memorial

a c o operative society Th e c o sharers where this system

-
.
-
,

exists o w n the land i n com mon and are acc u stomed to be

, ,

j ointly responsibl e for reven u e Th e affairs of the village .

are mana g ed by the village cou ncil and though the B ritish , ,

Government h ave too often followed a policy of encou raging

individ u alism this ancient commu nism is still strong Upon
, .

this villa g e system M r D u p e r n e x su gg ested that the Govern

.

ment sho u ld g raft the R a ffe i se n B an ks o f G ermany These .

banks it need hardly be explained are close societies of

, ,

V illagers who pool their e ntire credit an d thereby Obtai n ,

cheap money from outside wh ich they lend only to members

at a sli g htly hi g her rate o f i nterest than they pay A s the .

loan s are only made for reprod u ctive p u rposes and are ,

amply safe g uarded i n a n u m ber of ways t here is hardly ,

ever o u t of the tho u sands of such banks i n E u rope a case

, ,

o f fail u re and by these means the German peasant has

,

been del ivered o u t o f the hands o f the m oney lender and -

t u rned into a thrivi ng farmer M r D u p e r n e x also sug g ested . .

that to nan ce these small ban k s town ban ks o n another

, ,

German c o operative system m i g h t be started and to these

-
,

the v illa g e banks might be li nked thus form ing ci rcles ,

th ro u g h which money wo u ld pass from tow n to cou ntry

and from cou ntry to town S i r A ntony Ma c Do n n e l l g ave .

-M r. D u p e r n e x the task of starting th e system i n th e N orth

West P rovinces as they then were a nd soon M r D u p e rn e x
, , .

had several l ittle banks r u n nin g m errily They worked .

much i n the normal German fash ion the m em bers doin g ,

their o w n b u siness wh ich was very simple i n a perfectly

, ,

ef cient way M oreo ver they soon be g an to show thei r

.
,
90 Tr u tks a b ou t I n d i a

Rs . wh ile loans from pri vate persons more than

dou bled rising from 1 2 % to 2 5 lakhs Th is shows that the
,
.

ban ks have establ ished themselves i n busi ness condence ,

and are able to raise thei r money i n the open market .

C AP IT A L AN D LO YA L T Y .

When we remember how conservative and distrustful

the I n d ian peasant is and h o w si nce the begin ni n g of
, ,

time he has been accustomed to no other system o f banking

,

than an earthenware p o t buried u nder the oor o r silver ,

ban g les o n the ankles o f his women folk we are able to -

,

estimate the amaz in g nat u re Of th is revolution I t is plai n .

that where these societies exist money is n o longer bu ried

or mel ted down bu t is used in the way capital should be
, ,

u sed as the seed g rai n of a futu re nancial harvest

,
-
Who .

can estimate the amo u nt o f hoarded wealth in I ndia o r the ,

benet which w ill accr u e to th e people when this treasure

is dug u p and used for th e benet o f agricultu re and ind u stry $
I f the movement g oes o n at the present rate the prospect is ,

a l most stag g erin g i n its possi bilities We s h a l l have an .

or ganization spread over I ndia whose m embers and capital

will alike be nu mbered in m illions I t will be th e nest .

weapon ever forged to ght famine and the ag itator Fears .

have indeed been expressed that these or g anizations may

, ,

g et into the hands o f the disloyal but the so u nder V ie w is ,

that there is no better w a y of making a man loyal than

to make h im a capital ist since the conservative forces i n
,

society are al ways those which have somethi ng to lose .

I D C . . .

M a r c/z , 1 91 0 .
 XV

TH E W O N D E R S O F I R R I GA T I O N I N TH E
PU NJAB

( Th e Cou ncil of
the East I ndia A ssociatio n t hi nk it
desirable t o call par t icular attention t o t h e really wonderfu l
story o f irrigation in th e Pu nj ab as recently told by S ir
,

J ames Wilson to t h e Royal S ociety o f Arts ) .

IN a cou ntry l ike the P u nj ab w here the air is u sually

,

very dry and the temperatu re though moderate i n w inter

, ,
.

goes u p i n su m mer to over 1 1 5 i n th e shade t h e farmer s

,

ch ief dif culty [S to get su f cien t moistu re fo r the germi na

tion and matu rin g o f h is crops ; and where they are de
pendent only o n the rai nfall h is vicissitudes are m uch
g reater than those experienced i n more t emperate cl i mes ;
fo r the rainfall is very variable both i n amou nt and di s t r i
b u tion. I n a l l years the ou ttu rn varies g reatly however ,

careful and industrious th e farmer may be ; and i n a year

o f widespread drought m iles upon miles o f elds ordinarily

covered with ourishing crops produce noth ing o r next to ,

nothing and whole t racts o f cou nt ry a r e pl u nged into di re

,

distress sometimes verging o n fam ine A lthough last year

,
.

was a fairl y good year it was repor t ed that altogether

,

acres o r one
, sixth o f the area sown had failed ,

t o produce a fair crop . Th e best S afeguard the peasant

can have ag ainst th e effects o f drou g ht is the provision
o f means o f irri g ation fo r h is elds and the t w o ch ief
,

sou rces o f i rrigation are wells wh ich enable h i m to draw

,

water from th e u nderground supply and canals which ,

brin g th e water o f th e rivers o n to the th i rsty g round$

9I 7
9 2 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n d i a

Wells have been largely used from ti me i m memorial bu t ,

their nu mber has largely i ncreased si nce an nexation and ,

there are n o w nearly wells i n use for purposes o f

irrigation representing an expenditu re by the landowners
,

themselves o f over sterl ing I n the d ry year . ,

1 90 7 0 8
-
,
acres o f crops were i rrigated from
wells .

Th e development o f canals has been still more wonderfu l ,

thanks to ou r engineers who have erected strong mason ry

weirs right across th e beds o f the mighty rivers which
bring the melted snows dow n from the H imalaya mountains
and o w acros s the plain on their way to j oi n the I ndus and
the sea ; so that they can di vert any portion o f their oods
at will i nto great canal s and convey the water o n to the
level country lower down where i t is distributed by an
elaborate network o f chan nel s to every eld as re q uired .

Th e t o ta l length o f main canal exceeds m iles and the ,

length o f distributi ng channels is over m iles and i n

the year 1 90 7 0 8 when the u nprotected crops were wither
-
,

ing from want o f rai n the canals o f the Province irrigated

,

no less than acres and enabled th e cultivators

,

to reap a satisfactory harvest over th is area S uch lar g e .

irrigation works are not m ade fo r noth ing Th e eleven

-
.

most important canals cost the S tate sterl ing to

make T heir gross revenue that is th e money charged
.
,

the cultivators as the price o f the precious water amou nted ,

i n 1 9 0 7 0 8 to
-
and the net revenu e after de ,

fraying all annual charges except i nterest amoun ted to ,

o r 1 0 per cent o n the capital cost ; and as the

.
,

S tate borrowed the money at an averag e o f abo u t 3 % per

cent these canals have proved a very protable i nvestment
for the I ndian general taxpayer as well as an im mense ,

b enet to the thousands o f peasants whose crops they have

rendered sec u re Th e en g i neers have n o t yet nearly come
.

to an end of thei r b e n e c e n t schemes They are n o w con .

s t ru c t i n a set of th ree canals which will draw water from

g ,

the Jh el a m and Chenab Rivers and take it across the val l ey,
94 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

per acre b u t very large areas give a Very poor ou t t urn and
, ,

the average produc t ion o f whea t fo r t h e P rov ince is o nly

1
3 bushels per acre whereas ,
i n t h e U nited S tates o f
America t h e average is 1 6 b ushels i n F rance 2 0 b ushels , ,

i n Canada 2 2 bushels and in G reat B ritain w ith its w ell

, ,

manu red land abou t 3 2 bushels per acre There is t wice

,
.

as mu ch wheat an nually g row n i n th e P u nj ab as there is i n

the U nited K ingdom .

When peopl e i n the P u nj ab present an address of welcome

t o a h igh of cial or del iver a speech o n t h e blessin g s of

B ritish rule ( wh ich they take every opportu nity to do ) ,

they u su a lly begi n by p raisin g the impartial adm in istration

o f j us t ice and t h e arrangements made for the mai ntenance

o f order , which as they pu t it enable the g oat to drink

, ,

W ithou t fear at t h e sam e watering place as the tiger and -

,

o on t o express adm i rat ion and gra t itude fo r the vast

g
imp rovement i n th e m ean s o f com mu n ication rai l ways , ,

roads post o f c e s and tel egraphs O f all these the o n e

,
-
.
,

that comes mos t hom e to th e villager is the post o f c e -

,

the development o f wh ich has been ex t raordinary and

its management most progressive and successful E very .

v illager i n the Pu n j ab n o w nds a pos t o f c e w ith in com -

a ra t i v e l easy reach from wh ich he can w ith perfect

p y , ,

condence send a letter fo r A

, d o r a post card for i d ,
-
,

nearly m iles across the length and breadth o f I ndia ,

and from wh ich he can get money sent h im at a smal l ,

charge by relations o r friends either in I ndia itsel f o r from

,

the farthest ends o f the earth Y o u can u nderstand wha t .

a convenience and what an education the post o f c e is t o -

the villager who can recollect the time when it was hardly
possible for hi m to send o r recei ve a letter o r a money
order S imilarly the telegraph system has i n recent years
.

been rapidly extended and there is n o w hardly a to w n o f

,

any i mportance that is not con nected by telegraph w ith th e

rest of the world S ixty years ago there were no railways
.

i n the Pu nj ab and n o g ood roads Traf c had often to nd .

its way across th e elds th rou g h deep m ud or soft dust as

, ,
 Tb e Wo n de r s f
o I r r i ga t i on i n t ke P un a
j b 95

best it could Th e rst railway was com menced j ust fty

.

years a go and now the great N orth Western Railway

,
-

syste m constructed and managed by the S tate e xtends

,

its branches all over the P rovi nce and along with several , ,

smaller rail ways owned by private companies collects the ,

surplus produce fo r co nveyance down the I ndus to K arach i

for e xport to E u rope o r so u th eastwards towards Calcu tta
,
-

and B ombay and brings i n from outside the P rovi nce articles
,

re q u ired fo r consumption This N orth Western Railway .

-
,

which partly l ies i n the adj oining P rov ince o f S i nd cost ,

the S tate sterling and its gross earnings last ,

year were I t carried passengers ,

and tons weigh t o f g oods I t took third class .

-

passengers ve m iles fo r a pen ny and ordinary goods at ,

a rate below a halfpen ny per t o n per mile Good roads .

are m aintai ned by the G overn ment between all the principal
towns and the roads leading to villages have been much
,

i m proved Trade has thu s been greatl y facil itated even

.

in the farthest corners of th e P rovince and has i ncreased ,

enormously i n bul k and value O n the average o f the .

th ree years ending 1 9 0 7 th e an nual exports from th e

P u nj ab amou nted to c wt valued at .
,

and the imports to cwt Of a bou t the sam e

valu e. Th e exports are chiey wheat oilseed cot t on , ,

and o t her ag ricul tu ral produce and th e i m ports cot t on ,

piece goods sugar and metals

-
, B esides these goods .
,

t here was a net i mport o f treasure principally sil ver coin ,

and bullion o f the value o f

, sterl ing i n th e
three years du ring which the people o f the P unj ab must
h ave added that amou nt of gold and sil ver to their hoard s
and ornaments .

This great improvement o f com mu nications which is ,

still steadily pr oceeding year by year has n o t only c o n ,

tributed im mensely to the general convenience o f th e

P unj ab v illagers all over the P rovi nce but has t ended to ,

equal ize prices by facil ita t ing the ow o f all com modi t ies
from where they are plentifu l and cheap to where they are
96 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n d i a

scarce and dear to make i mported articles cheaper and

,

to enable th e villag er to get a better price for h is su rplus

produce and this tendency has been even more marked
i n the outlyin g villa g es than i n th e tow ns F orty o r fty .

years ago when au thentic news was di f c u lt to g et and

, ,

the carria g e of b u lky g oods was very costly i t was not ,

u ncommon t o nd g rain selli ng i n o n e part o f th e cou ntry ,

where the harvests had been good at hal f the price that ,

would willin g ly be paid for it t w o or th ree h undred miles

away where there had been a drought the crops had failed
, ,

and the people were starvi n g N o w news of any imp ortant .

change o f prices is at on ce sent over the cou ntry by telegram

or letter p rod u ce is rapidly bought up where i t is plentiful
, ,

and sent by railway to places where it is scarce and prices ,

at both places soo n attain a position o f eq u ilibriu m with ,

a differenc between them littl e greater than the cost o f

e .

carrying Th e wor k in g of th is system and especially o f

.
,

the rail ways i s i nval uable for th e p revention o f famine

,

conditions A n instance o f th is occu rred i n 1 9 0 8 when

.
,

there was a very severe and w idespread failu re o f th e

crops owing to drou g ht i n the U nited P rovinces while at ,

the same time there had been a fair crop i n the canal
i rrigated elds o f th e P u nj ab proper At once traders set .

to work to brin g about an e q uil ibri um o f prices Th e .

su rplus o f the P unj ab i nstead o f as usual nding its

, , ,

way through K arach i to E u rope was i mmediately d iverted ,

to the U n ited Prov i nces and pou red i nto every railwa y
,

station in the distressed tract keepi ng down prices there ,

and stav ing o ff fami ne conditions H ad it not been for the .

railways it wo u l d have been impossible to get enou g h food

i nto the famine stricken area in ti me to save the people
-
,

prices would have gone up enorm ously and thousands ,

would probably have died o f starvation M eanwhile the .

,

peasants on the P u nj ab canals would have fo u n d it i m

possible to sell their s u rplus grain except at excessively l o w
p r i ces
.

I n ordinary years there is a steady stream of p rod u ce

98 Tr u t /i s a b ou t I n di a

average acre of land will no w fetch quite doubl e the amou n t

o f such th ings as co t ton cloth metals mineral oil o r i mported
-
, , ,

articles o f use o r ornament that it d id thi rty o r forty years

a o S al t 1 0 0 o n e o f t h e daily articles o f consumption
g .
, , ,

h as greatly fallen i n price owing to reduction o f taxation ,

and the average Pu nj ab villager can now buy th ree pou nds
weigh t for a penny wh ich would only have purchased hal f
tha t am ou nt ten years ago .

Apr i l , 1 91 0
 XVI

TH E B U R D E N O F TH E H O M E C H A R G E S

IFM r A J Wilson and M r H y ndman are even a p p r o x i

. . . .

mately ri ght all ou r tal k abou t the d rai n o f weal th from
,

I ndia t o E ngland is as sou ndin g brass o r a tinkl i n g

cy m bal and it is necessary to go m uch more deepl y into
,

the su bj ect than we attempted i n Leaet N o 1 Th e . .

question s at issue now seem to be the comparative cost o f

the I ndian G overn ment taken as a w hole and t h e valu e o f
, ,

the expendit u re tha t has been i nc u rred i n what is generally

called the develop ment o f th e cou ntry by railways etc b u t , .
,

which M essrs H yndman and W ilson seem incli ned t o stig

.

matize an exploitation for the selsh interests of E ngl ish

men of busi ness an d th is last idea raises th e whole ques
tion of the condition o f th e I ndian people so that we -

have to consider whether it is slowly improvi ng as o fcials ,

g enerally and almost every E u ropean wh o has resided i n

$
the cou ntry thi nk i t has or whether it i s still o n the road
,

to bankruptcy as M r H ynd man has been saying fo r the last

,
.

th irty o r forty years and as M r Wilson also seems t o th i nk

,
. .

To take the easiest qu estion rst the act ual am oun t ,

raised by taxation proper i n B ritish I ndia was in 1 9 0 7 0 8 -

on a pop u latio n o f o r abou t

4 .5 a head an d this incl

,
u des the rent paid t o th e superior

landlord o f all th e a g ric u lt u ral land in the cou ntry ( the S tate ) ,

which may be pu t roughly at sterl in g o r say , , ,

I S 8d an acre o f actual crop

. . Leaving o u t the land tax
.
,

wh ich at any rate incl udes th e rent th e only u navoidable

, , ,

S ee L ea et No . 1 1 .

99
1 00 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n di a

taxes are the i ncome which affects a very l im ited

n u mber and that on sa l t which n o w brings i n
,

o r n o t qu ite 4 d a head o f the population ; and even for

.

this small su m they are guaranteed a fairly plentiful supply

o f wholesome salt i nstead o f th e di rty and pern icious stu ff
,

so commonly eaten i n places where th e p rice of g ood sal t

used t o be almost prohibitory S u rely therefore the cost .
, ,

of the Government of I ndia cannot be considered excessive

i n comparison w ith that o f other cou ntries .

Taki ng th e g u res i n gross however as it would n o t be , ,

easy to go i nto the same detai l for other cou ntries w e have ,

the following results fo r some of the poorest coun tries and

some o f the weal thier
P H
A P p l ti Rv r ea
if. o u a on . e enu e .
er
S .

I di a
n 6 4
Au s t i a
r
53 4
E g yp t 8 2 0

F ran c e 74 4
G er m an y 1 0 0 2

G rea t B r i ta i n an d

I rel an d 67 1

H u n g ary 44 0

I t al y 44 2

J a p an 1 3 4
R u ssi a . 1 3 0 ,0 0 0 , c oo 3 2 4
S pai n 33 2

U n i te d S t a te s of

Am er i c a 54 7

I t will be seen that t h e cost per head i n I ndia is less than

half what it i s in J apan w hich agai n is less than hal f o f the
,

cos t o f E gypt All the E u ropean Governments are much

.

more costly even Russia costing 4 s a head m ore than

, .

Egypt on the gures available .

N ow as t o t h e much vexed q u estion o f the condition

,
-

Th e wh ol e o f th e c o mm e c i al a d t ra di n g c l ass e s p ay a b ou t a mi ll i o
r n n

Sterl i n g o o n l y a b out four t im es as m u c h as is c o trib u ted by th e o i c ia l s

, r n

of th e G o ve rn m e t n .

I Not a s i n Whi ta k e r .

1 T h ere m u s t b e s o m e thi g w ro g a b ou t t his g u e a n d

n n r ,

c e ta i n l y a b ou t t his
r I fa c t a l l t h e g u re s o n t his p ag e o f Whi tak e
. n , r

a e e vid e n tl y i n ac c u a t e as n o c h an g e h as b een m a d e i
r r , t h e m for t wo y e s n ar

a t l ea s t b u t fo c o mp ar at iv e p u p o s e s t h e y m ay s e v e fo w t o f b ette
r r r r an r .
1 0 2 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n di a

they spend i n pay ing the land revenue and are ac tually ,

extravagant enough to i mport tons a year valu ed ,

at abou t That i mported stu ff alone provides

them with 4 pou nds a head o r nearly two th i rds o f the ,
-

whole consu mption per head i n I taly where the price is stil l ,

between 6 d and 7 d a pou nd and th erefore prohibi t ory

. .
,
.

I n I ndia the price seems to average less than 1 d a pou nd . ,

whilst M auri t ius sugar is now dow n to I i d -

.

N o w the consum ption o f sugar is generally adm itted to

,

be o n e proof o f the prosperity o f a cou ntry t hough n o t , ,

o f course a conclusive p roof becau se ci rcu mstances differ

, ,

but the gu res for I taly strangely corroborate the concl usion

arrived at by S ubadar M ahomed B eg ( M y J u bile e Visi t
to London
that he had never i n his life ( i n I ndia )

seen su ch poverty stricken people as the inhabitants o f

-

B rindisi And yet he had lived all h is l ife i n th e typical
.

famine district o f B ellary .

I n December last th is questio n o f the d rai n and the
conditio n o f the people o f I ndia was di scu ss ed at some
length in that very reasonabl e j ou rnal th e I n d i a n Sp ecta tor ,

and it seems worth while t o embody that discussion i n th is

paper I t began with a letter from a correspondent w h o is
.
,

vouched fo r by the editor as a H indoo gentleman o f

position wh ich ru ns as follows
,

S ir I n h is defence i n the Pol ice Cou rt i n London

, ,

Dh ingra pleaded as follows

I hold t hat the E ngl ish people are responsible fo r
the murder o f 80 m illions o f I ndian people i n the last
fty years and they are also responsible for taking
every year from I ndia T he
,

away .

Ti mes of I n d i a o f J uly 3 1 1 9 0 9 , .

1 . This is th e well know n theory o f the drai n i n
-

Dh i n gra s lan g uage The theory itsel f owes its origi n and
.

propagation t o o t hers A popular M aratha j ournal i n its

.
,

issu e o f December 1 8 1 9 0 6 admitted that at its commence

, ,

ment B ritish rule was welcomed in the Deccan as the reign

o f righteousness and then proceeded t o state that one
,
 Tb e B u r den of tke H om e Cka rg es 0 3

par t icular idol o f the peopl e has since establ ished beyond
question that t h e cou ntry was being steadily drain ed o f its
l i fe blood u nder B ritish rule S ome writers and speakers
-
.

$
have declared that the rule is responsibl e fo r recu rri ng and
more and more devastating fami nes and also for t h e plague ,
.

As t h is t heory is n o w being transla t ed i n t o ac t s it beco mes ,

ne cessary t o try and nd out whether it has any bas is in fact .

2 Th e following table shows the revenues o f the

.

K athiawar S ta t e s of the rst fou r classes i n t h e year

1 80 7 0 8 1 885 and 1 89 6
-
,

N m f th S t t
a e o e a e .

J u n agad h
N a w a n a g ar
B h a v n agar
P o rb u n d e r
D h ran g a d ra
M o rb i
G on d al
J a f a b ad
r

S EC O ND CL ASS .

T H IRD CLA SS .

1 5 L a k h ta r
1 6 Sa y al a
1 7 Chud a

1 8 Val a
I 9 J a sd an
20 B a ntwa
F O U RTH CLA SS .

I . e
.
, th e I n di an G o v ern m en t .
10 4 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

Th e g ures for 1 80 7 0 8 are taken from a table an nexed -

to C olonel Walter s report dated M ay 1 5 1 80 8 ( selec t ions ,

from the Records o f th e B ombay G overn ment No 3 7 , .

,

pp 1 9 8 2 0 0 edition o f
.
- I t was Colon el Walker
,

who i n c o operation with V i t h a l ra i De w aj

,
-
i D iwan o f ,

B aroda settled the tribute of Kathiawar i n 1 80 7 0 8 I n

,
-
.

para g raph 1 5 8 of the report h e says tha t he had the ,

assistance o f experienced residents o f Kathiawar i n prepar

ing h is table I t may therefore be taken to be fairly .

accu rate The gures for 1 885 and 1 89 6 are taken from
.

the K athiawar Local D irectory .

3 A comparison
. i n the gu res f o r 1 80 7 0 8 with those -

fo r 1 885 and 1 89 6 shows a grea t i ncrease i n revenue If .

the cou ntry has been getting poorer u nder B ritish rule ,

how is this i ncrease t o be accou nted for

4 Roughly abou t one half o f the revenue is collected in
-
.
,

kind and it m ight therefore be sugges t ed tha t th e i ncrease

,

is due to a rise i n the price o f produce B u t this suggestion .

i s not borne o u t by the facts At pp 2 1 7 1 8 o f the . .

-

B om ba y Ga z etteer v o l v iii there is a table o f prices from , . .

,

1 7 83 to 1 882 I n this w e nd the prices o f the S taple

.

grains in 1 80 7 1 80 9 1 881 and 1 882 as follows , , , ,

K A THI A W AR G RAIN P RICES P OU NDS , PER R UPEE .

1 807 . 1 809 . 1 881 . 1 882 .

39 42 33 24

37 42 33 28

62 73 40 34

Th e
average price of millet du ring the ten years ending
1 882 is twel ve po u nds the rupee h igher than i t was du rin g

the rst ten years o f the century ( p As only hal f .

the revenue is collected i n kind the i ncrease in prices ,

would account fo r but a small portion o f the actual i ncrease

i n reven u e .

5 I n a partition case between two Kathiawar S tates i t

.

T his ar ug m e n t is n ot q u i te co n c l u siv e , as we do n

t k n o w th e p op u l a t i o n
in 1 80 7 -
0 8 .
 0 6 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n di a

are now the richest i n K athiawa r and have i n vested large

sums i n railways and other u nder t akings .

When on accou n t o f the m i nority o f a Ch ief a S tate 1 5
taken u nder the managemen t o f the Agency it is very ,

soon s e t free from deb t s and e q u ipped with roads schools , ,

cou r t houses a gaol and other accessories o f an improved

-
,

admin istration and when it is restored to its Ch ief a hand

some cash balance is m ade over to hi m along w ith the
S tate T h is well know n fac t is clearly a g ainst th e t h eory
.
-

that B ritish management cau ses a drai n o f weal t h I n.

.

speaking o f the l i q u idation of debts I am referring t o what

u sed to happen even before the n e w regulations of 1 89 8

and 1 9 0 1 .

S o far therefore as K ath iawar is con cerned the theory

, ,

o f the drain is clearly u nsound I s it true for the res t o f

.

I ndia $ Any person o f average in t elligence can test i t fo r

himsel f H e migh t begi n with h is o w n family and his o w n
.

n eighbours and ac q uaintances and i nqu ire h o w many of ,

them are now richer and how m any poorer than they were
fty years ago I f he is a resident o f a town h e m ight
.
,

i nquire whether there are not n o w many more and much

better hou ses in th e tow n than there were fty years ago and ,

whether these better houses have n o t been built with money

earned with i n the same period whether the prices o f ho u se
S ites have not greatly risen an d the rate o f i nterest c o n
s id e r a b l y fallen since 1 86 0 I f he l ives in a v illage he
.

might inqui re whether the price o f agricultu ral land has n o t

g reatly risen and the houses wh ich were bu ilt o f m ud and
thatch fty years ago are not n o w buil t of much better
materials with tiled roofs H e m igh t also ascertain whether
.

artisans cooks domestic servants agricultu ral and other

, , ,

labourers do not now get h i g her wa g es than they did fty

o r even thir t y years a g o H e migh t fu rthe r inqu i re whether
.

th e sons and gran dsons o f th ose who formerly went about

i n a l a ng ot i and a coarse ka m a l i do not now wear dkot i s f
$

j acke t s and head dresses H e m i g ht ask whe t her the

-
.

R ug . 1 L oo s e k i l ts .
 Tk e B u r den f
o tke H om e C/i a rg es 10 7

v il l agers d o not n o w possess vessel s o f brass and copper in

place o f the earthen vessel s which alone their forefathers
co u ld afford fty years a g o H e might nd t hat the Oldest .

inhabitants of towns and v illa g es would be able to supply

h im with val u able i nfo matio n on the above and other r

si milar points .

S i r W W H unter i n h is I ndian E mpi re pp 5 6 8
. .

, .

5 6 9 states that the net accu mulations o f sil ver and gold in
,

I ndia after allowing fo r r e exports averaged

,
-
,

S terl ing durin g the ve years ending 1 87 9 and rose to ,

an avera g e o f sterl i ng duri ng th e next q u in

u e n n i a l period endi ng M a rch 88 and this average
q 3 1 1 4 , ,

i s risi ng Th e stu dent m ight ask h i msel f whether it i s

.

possible o r conceivable that a co u ntry which is growin g

poorer y ear by year can afford to hoard more and more
gold and S ilver O n th is p o i n t h e mi g h t with prot read
.

the cross exam i nat i on o f the I ndian w itnesses before the

-

Welby Com m ission H e would nd that those w itnesses

.

could offer no explanation at all of the increasing hoards of

the preciou s metals H e m i gh t i nq u ire why the p u blica
.

tio ns advertised i n certai n newspapers p u blish the examina

tion i n ch ief o f those W i tn esses and omit their c ross
- -

exam ination .

I m mense tracts of howl in g wastes have been converted

by th e irrigation en g i neer i nto s miling elds yielding rich
harvests o f w heat and s u g ar cane year by yea r The net -
.

produce of these lands o u g ht c learly to be p u t to the credi t

of a system wh ich is charg ed with drain i n g the co u ntry s
weal th .

I f the i nqu irer is honest with hi msel f and makes u p h is

mind to have nothing b u t the truth he will soon nd him

sel f forced to the concl usion that the drai n theory is contra

dicted by a large nu mber o f facts w hich face hi m at ever y

turn and cannot stand the test o f scr u tiny P r i m f a c i e .

a state o f peace is more conducive to the production and

d istribu tion of wealth than a state o f i ncessan t wars and

insecurity which was I ndia s lot before th e establ ishment o f
8
10 8 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

B ritish rule Th e evidence above i ndicated conrms this

.

belie f .

Great is the responsibility o f t hose who ori g inated o r

propagated the drain theory I t is n o use their preachi n g

.

moderation t o those who accept and act upon that theory .

For the extremists t u rn rou nd upon them and ask whe ther
it is not the he i ght of cowardice to tolerate a Governmen t

which by its economic d rain brin g s about repeat ed and

ever more and more disastro u s fam i nes an d thereby c auses

the death o f millions $ N ow that the drain theor y is proved

to be at the bottom o f the p resent u nrest and to have c o n ,

verted you ng S tudents of respectable famil ies into mu rd e rers

and dacoits is it not the clear d u ty of its authors and p rO p a
,

gators to revise their conclusions i n the l i g ht of facts w hich

perhaps were n o t w ithi n their knowledge when th e theory
was rst started m ore than forty years ago and i n the light
of facts wh ich have su bseq u ently occurred
I n the interest of the ri si n g generation and i n the
i nterest of th e coun try I appeal to them to allay the u nrest
by rev i s i n g their co n clusion s .

T h ere is no Dh a r m a
hi g h er t h a n Tr th u ,

An d o si g ea te t h a n n t t h
n n r r u ru .

T u th is th e V e d o f Dh a m a
r a r ,

T h e fo e l et ot t h e T u th b e c o c eal ed
re r n r n .

M A H A BH AR A TA .

You rs faithfu lly ,

E N $ U I RE R .

Th e E d itor ( i n h is issue of December 1 8 last ) com men ts

on the above as follows
Last week we publ ished a letter from a H ind u g entle

man o f position on the s u bj ect o f the drain of I ndia s

resources u nder a forei g n Govern ment The theory is an .

o l d o n e even older than M r

, D a d a b h a i Na o roj
i and o u r
.
,

o w n V iew of it is not un known I t is not to be denied .

that the g overnment of a co u ntry by an alien race from

a distan ce necessitates a d rai n on the resources of the

1 10 Tr u tks a b ou t I n dia

the common people i n the villages especially the larg e ,

class known as a g ricul tu ral l abou rers nd i t mo re dif c u l t

,

to eke o u t anyth ing l i ke a decent l ivi ng Th e cau ses ma y .

b e many and not all o f them reecti ng o n th e hu manity of

the Government as such B u t their u ncertai n pol icy a nd.

oft changing laws h ave m uch to do with distress i n o u r

-

ru ral areas Poverty is also i n t en sied by rise i n the cost

.

o f living an d sufferin g is a gg ravated by an ignoran t and

,

venal V illage agency A n d as if th is evil were not g rave

.

enou g h o u r laws seem i n tended to pu nish not to p r event

, , ,

cri me N ot a fe w of th ese laws therefore prove an

.
, ,

i ncentive to the com mission o f cri me .

I n towns an d cities there is decidedly less poverty O n .

the other hand new classes have spru ng u p u nder the

,

B ritish r g ime who are amassi ng weal th and acqu i rin g

importance o u t of p roportion to the good they manage to
d o to the rest of the pop u lation This is an econom ic .

evil i nevitable i n the c ircu mstances and we can only hope

, ,

it will work itsel f o u t There is need o f greater sym pathy

.

n o t only between the Of cial and the n o n o f c i a l c l asses -

,

b u t also between the employers and the employees i n o u r

i ndustrial centres And it is ti me those who have made
.

fortu nes i n the trades an d th e p rofessions shared them

more l iberally w ith the bul k o f th e population wh o helped
them to make thei r piles I t is t ime too that Govern men t
.
, ,

showed a livel ier sense o f th e p rivations o f thei r o w n

h u mbler servants i n these days o f the depreciated rupee and

i ncreasing domestic wants .

N o doubt there mu st be a d rain o n I ndian resou rces

as t h e E ditor says bu t th e only reasonabl e q u estion
,

is whether the char g e for services rendered by the E n g lish

to I ndia is excessi ve I t wo u ld appear from the com
.

m e n c e m e n t o f th is paper and from a per u sal o f Leaets

N os 1 and 1 1 that it is not only not excessive bu t extremely
.

moderate .

This some w hat len g thy paper may t t i n gl y close with

the sensible reections attrib u ted to th e Ghost of the
 Tb e B u r de n of tl i e I I ome C/i a rg es 1 1 1

H on . Mr . J u stice Ra n a d e in E a st an d W
es t for
J an u ary 1 9 1 0
,

I t i s a moral l a w that for every benet received y o u
must pay a p rice I f E ngland enriches I ndia by i ncreasin g
.

her p rod uce and improving its circulation amon g a vast

population spread over an ex t ensive area they are obl iged ,

to pay a price for the benet they receive That is what .

you call the drai n As fo r the ill t reatment o f natives I

.
-
,

have never made much o f it mysel f A s a J udge I was .

qu ite fam iliar with the ill trea t ment o f I ndians by I ndians
- .

I t is an excl usi ve attention paid to controversial pol itics

that makes you n g men l ike y o u exaggerate th e inevitable
h u man weaknesses of E nglishmen Th e best correcti ve .

for t hat tendency is religious and soc ial reform o n right

l ines I always preached i n the sp i r i t o f Tu ka r a m w h o
.

did n o t believe t ha t good men are born only i n o n e

cou ntry o r com mu nity .

Apr i l , 1 91 0 .
 XVI I

M O R E T R U T H S A B O U T LA N D R E C O R D S AN D

LAN D R E V E N U E I N T H E P U N J A B

BY S I R J AM ES W I L S O N

TH E peasan t proprietor val ues h is land above a l l his other

possessions and what he most o f al l desi res is sec u rity in
,

h is ten u re so that he may feel certai n that he will contin ue

,

to enj oy the possession of his ancestral holding and hand it

o n to his descendants after h im Th is is g iven hi m by ou r
.

syst e m o f land record w hich at th e cost o f comparatively

, ,

little expense and trouble provides for each o f the m illio ns

,

o f landowners and tenan t s a map of his elds and a clear

statement o f all the ri g hts relating to them A nyone can .

fo r a fe w pence Obtai n a copy o f th is record and the people,

show the condence they have in its correctness by t heir

readiness to buy land o r take it on mort g age wi thout any
, ,

registered deed being content w ith th e secu rity o f title

,

given them by th e mere en t ry o f their ri g hts in the l and

record Th e system thu s mentioned not only makes land
.

transfer cheap and easy b u t p revents the n u mberless

,

disp u tes and quarrell ings that would arise among the
m illions o f peasan t ry if their bou ndaries and rights were
not s o clearl y de ned .

I n I nd ia generally the ruler o f the country for the ti me

being has always been held entitled to app ropriate a sh are
o f the produce of all land for the p u bl ic use and it is ,

obvio u sly most important to the landow ner that a certain

and reasonable l i mit sho u ld be placed on th is S tate s share

which is n o w called land revenu e U nder the S ikhs
.

I IZ
1 1 4 Tr u tks a b ou t I n d i a

years thereafter agricul t u ral land of ordinary q u al ity hardly

,

fetched any p rice at all ; twenty years a g o averag e land

sold at 2 1 0 5 per acre now the market val u e of aver ag e
.

land subject to the payment of th e l and revenue is over

, ,

6 per acre more than one hu ndred ti mes th e land revenu e

,

assessed u pon it Thu s the landowners o f the P u nj ab

.

possess i n their 2 8 m illion acres o f c u ltivated land a

, ,

property worth i n the market well over 1 5 0 m illions

sterl in g and as that same p roperty was worth only
, ,

5 0 mill ions twenty y ears a g o th is means that the liberal ,

ol icy o f Govern ment the general extension of c o m m u n i c a

p ,

t ions and irri g ation and the improvement o f trade have

practica l l y p resented the landowners o f the province with

an u nearned i ncrement of 1 0 0 m illions sterlin g withi n
the present g e neration .

Wh ile the average peasant proprietor has in ordinary

ti mes no d ifculty i n paying this ligh t land revenu e there ,

is a danger that in bad seasons when there is l ittle o r no ,

crop the s mall holder w h o has often no savin g s to fall back

, ,

u pon may be driven i n t o debt by a demand fo r the cash

,

p ayable at xed ti mes to th e S tate No w that wages have .

risen the danger is n ot so g reat as it used to be A small

, .

holder with say t w o acres o f av erage land has to pay

, , ,

every hal f year a s land revenue only s i x t e e n p e n c e ; and

-

as he h as now little dif culty i n nding employment either ,

fro m h is richer neigh bou rs o r on p u bl ic works at fou rpence

a day even i n bad times a few days labou r is all that
, ,

is requ i red to earn enough to pay th e S tate s demand We .

have h owever borne i n m ind th is danger an d taken

, , ,

el a borate precautions to safeg u ard the small peasant from

an embarrassing demand for land revenue at a time when
he will have difculty i n paying it I n the rst place the .

settlement o fcer who r e - assesses t h e land reven u e every

,

twenty o r th ir t y years is al ways sp ecially careful to dis ,

tribute the total bu rden o f th e a ssessment equ itably over

the different villages and holdin g s so that each petty land ,

owner may pay only h is fai r share Then whe n it is fou nd .

,
 L a n d R ecor ds and L a n d R even u e i n t k e P un ajb 1 1 5

that a well has fallen in o r land has been dama g ed by th e

,

action of water or sand deposits the land revenue o f the -

,

holdings permanently inj ured is p roportionately reduced .

Again g reat leniency is S hown i n collecting the land

,

revenu e i n bad years A carefu l i nq u i ry is made v illage

.
,

by village and when necessary the collection o f the whole

, , , ,

or a portion of the instal ment is postponed u ntil better ,

times come ro u nd I n 1 9 0 7 0 8 when there was a serious

.
-
,

drought over a large part of the P rovince 1 ; or ,

nearly one ft h o f the whole xed land reven u e demand

-
,

was s u spended i n th is way .

Then when good times come round and the harvests

, ,

are ple ntifu l the peasants can easily pay u p their arrears
, .

Last year the crops were generally g ood and prices h igh ,

and after careful inquiry again village by village

, , ,

of the arrears were collected There are still of .

arrears outstanding ; b u t if only the present favourabl e

crop prospects conti nue and p rices remain h i g h th ere will
, ,

be l ittle dif cul ty i n collecting the greater portion o f th is

d u ring the cu rren t a g ricu ltu ral year .

I n some parts of the Province where th e crops are ,

exceptionally subj ect to g reat vicissit u des owing to varia

tions i n rainfall irrigation and in u ndation we have gone a
, ,

step farther i n the directio n o f makin g the land revenue

deman d p roportioned to the crops of the year by i n t r o d u c
i ng a system o f uctuatin g assessment that is every el d ,

i s inspected twice a year by a S tate O f cial who carefully

records the area o f each crop g rown and its conditio n No .

as sessment at all is charged o n elds wh ich prod u ce no

crop o r a very poor one and the fu ll ass essmen t is charged
, ,

only on those elds wh ich produ ce somethin g approach in g

to a fair crop Th e g reat advanta g e o f this system is that
.

it proportions the demand to the c rop and the peasant is ,

only req u ired to pay land reven ue when he has prod u ce to

pay i t from I t has its disadvanta g es also the ch ief of
.
,

them being that it invol ves an inspection o f every eld by

a Govern ment o fcial whose wo rk mu st be checked by
,
1 1 6 Tr u tk s a b ou t I n dia

hi g her of c ials and gives the subordinate staff opportu nities

,

for extortion and bribery W hether the advantages out

.

weigh the disadvantages o r not is a matter that may safel y

be left to the j u dgment of the peasants w h o have tried both
plans ; and the success of the system may be j ud g ed from
the fact that o f the tho u sands of V illages w hose land
revenue is n o w assessed harvest by harvest i n th is manner ,

hardly one would willingly g ive it u p and revert to that o f

a xed average assessment Th e system has also the
.

i ndirect advantage o f bri ngi ng th e su perior revenue of cials

i nto close contact w i t h t h e villagers ; and above all it , ,

makes the Govern ment share directly and i m mediately

with each individu al cultivator i n h is losses as well as i n
h is prots and so avoids the odi u m o f a seem ingly callous
,

realization of a xed demand from poor peasants i n years

when their crops have failed M ore t han a sixth o f the
.

total land revenue demand of the P rovi nce is now collected

u nder th is system o f uctuating assessment and it is ,

becoming com mon for villagers to ask to have its benets

extended to them .

S ir J ames con cludes this part of h is paper with the

followi ng accou nt of the great col on ization schemes
Th e great coloni z ation schemes wh i c h h ave been carried
ou t durin g the last twenty years have had a far re a ch in g -

i n u ence o n t h e conditions o f agricultu re i n the Provi nce

g enerally As a full accou n t o f them w a s g iven t o this
.

S ociety two years ago by M r Lawrence Robertson I need

.
,

only refer briey to thei r results Th e construction o f the

.

great canals wh ich I have described rendered it possible to

i rrigate vas t t rac t s of waste land owned by t h e S ta t e and ,

schemes were carefully draw n u p u nder which this land was

allotted fo r cultivation to selected men usually men o f the ,

peasan t cl ass from the congested d i stricts near the foot of

th e H i malayas At rs t i t was dif cul t to persuade them
.

to leave thei r homes fo r the distant prairie desert w ith its

u nknown terrors and hardships
; b u t soo n t h e fame of the
 Tr u tk s a b ou t I n di a

roads and villages with roomy houses wells mos q ues

, , , ,

schools trees gardens and every S ign o f comfort and

, ,

progress S ince then the irrigated land s have prod u ced

.

anoth er splendid crop las t M ay A n ol d I ndian friend o f .

mi ne said : I am eighty t hree years o l d and I have never

-
,

seen such wheat before i n my life P rices have ruled extra .

ordinarily h igh and th ese colonists are now rolli ng i n

,

wealth Th e land to which they as i ndividuals had n o

.
, ,

prev ious claim and which was g ranted them i n most cases

for noth ing i s n o w su bj ect to all the S tate s demands fo r
, ,

land revenu e cesses a nd charges fo r water worth i n the

, ,

market about 2 0 m ill ions sterli ng What wonder if t hey .

,

as they themselves say pray n ight and day fo r t h e Govern

,

ment that has conferred s u ch benets upon them and are ,

condent that th e necessary steps w i l l be taken to remove

any reasonable cause o f grievance .

M ay , 1 91 0 .
 XV I I I

A G R I C U L TU R A L I N D E B T E D N E S S A N D T H E
A L I E N A TI O N O F LA N D I N TH E P U N J A B

A N O T H ER interestin g q u estion d iscussed by S i r J ames

,

W ilson i n the paper fro m which we have q uoted so larg ely ,

is that o f debt and alienation o f land H e says

,
.

O ne o f the great dif culties of the small peasant is to obtai n

the capital necessary for nancing his agricultural operations
and carry ing him throu g h seasons i n wh ich the produce o f his
holding is not s u f cient to maintai n h im and h is family and
cattle H itherto he has mainly depended i n this respect
.

on the villa g e shopkeeper who combi nes w ith h is business

o f prov idin g the v illa g ers with the necessaries an d smal l
luxu ries which their o w n holdin g s do not prod u ce such as
salt oil s u gar cloth e t c the still more lucrati ve business
, , , ,

of bankin g or money lendi ng by all owin g cre d i t to his

-
,

customers for goods bough t o r advancin g them money o n

i nterest Th e ch ief security the peasant i n former times
.

had to offer was h is hop e o f fu t u re g ood crops and as this

secu rity was very u ncertain high rates o f interest were
,

com mo n and even n o w as much as 7 5 o r 1 0 0 per cent per

,
.

ann u m is sometimes charged for short loans I t may .

,

howev er be estimated that at the present ti me the

,

ordinary fairly sol ven t peasant has to pay about 2 0 per

cent per an n u m on money or goods borrowed by him
. .

This at compou nd i nterest qu ickly do u bles the ori g inal

, ,

debt and u nless the borro w er is able soon to pay it off h e

, , ,

becomes hopelessly i nvol ved .

AS the net pro t s of cultivation rap idly increased and

1 19
 1 20 Tr u tks a b ou t I n di a

th e land rose i n mar k et val ue the peasan t s rights i n the
,

land became a desi rable i nvestment and th e shopkeep in g

class natural ly schemed to get p o ss e s i o n o f it by encou raging
the peasant to borrow freely u ntil h e becam e so deeply
i ndebted that he was forced t o mortga g e or sell part o f h is
cherished holdin g o n terms favou rable to his creditor To o .

many o f the smaller peasants were ignorant and u nthri fty ,

and ready to borrow for p resent needs w i t hou t considerin g

that acc u m u lating debt would u ltimately force them t o part
with their land .

Th e consequence o f th is state o f th ings was that wh ile ,

the S tate w a s red uci n g its share o f the produce t aken as

land reven u e and th u s maki ng rights i n the land more
valuable and wh ile those landowners w h o could keep fr ee
,

of debt were becom ing more and more prosperous there ,

w a s a steadi ly i ncreasing nu mber o f hereditary landowners

w h o h ad lost the whole o r part o f their an cestral lands

to the shopkeeping class or to the residents o f towns w h o

did not farm the land th emsel ves but let it at the highest
,

rents they could g et often to the dispossessed peasan t

,

proprietors Th is evil gave rise to a growing feel in g

.

of discontent among the exprop riated peasants w h o could

n 0 t b u t feel that there must be someth in g wrong with the

l a w which had th is effect so disastro u s to themsel ves and

,

their fam il ies .This discontent at last forced itsel f on the

notice o f th e Government and the P u nj ab Al ienation
o f Land Act w a s passed making it impossible for mem bers
,

of the shopkeepin g and professional classes to buy o r take

o n mortgage fo r more tha n twen ty years land owned by

members of the hereditary land owning classes except with

-

the consent of a Government ofcial Th e effec t o f th is .

Act has been even more satisfactory than its supporters

hoped . Th e avera g e area an n u ally sold has fallen from
to acres and the av erage area a nnually
,

mortgaged from to acres wh ile the average

,

area annually redeemed fro m mortgage has risen from

to acres Thus the A ct has n ot only
.
 1 22 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n d i a

tion an d the i ncome from j u dicial stamps wh ich affords an

, ,

i ndication o f the n u m ber and val u e o f su its brou g ht fe l l ,

from i n 1 9 0 4 5 to -
i n 1 90 6 7 Un -
.

fortu nately they have also had an effect i n reducing the

,

i ncome of the lawyers and wh ile the u nemployed labou rer

, ,

is a dif cul t problem to deal with the starvi n g lawyer is ,

a g raver danger to the peace o f th e com mu nity .

O win g to t hese meas u res and still more to the risin g

,

val ue o f agricultu ral produce and o f land the burden o f ,

debt o n the a g ric u lt u ral classes is growi n g l ess serious in

proportio n to th e val u e o f their property Th e area held .

on usufru ct u ary mor t g ag e has decreased from 1 4 per cent .

of the total cultivated area ve years ago to 1 per cent .

,

and the total i ndebtedness o f the a g ric u lt u ral classes t o

othe r classes can not be more than 2 0 m illions sterlin g less ,

than one seventh o f the market val ue of thei r land Fe w

-
.

co u ntries i n the world could sho w a better record than th is .

M easu res have also been taken to provide t h e peasan t

with the necessary capital at a lower rate of i nterest than
he is g enerally charged S tate fu nds are advanced at
.

6 % per cent to landowners for land imp rovements and

.

for the p u rchase of seed cattle and fodder i n bad ti mes

, ,

and abo u t Rs . are at present o u t o n loan i n this w a y .

Th e system has recently been overha u led and improved

so as to make it easier for the peasant to obtai n such
an advance to make the accou nts si mpler and to i nsure
,

that repayment by i nstal ments i s made easy and enforced

only when the crops are good Last year when there w a s .
,

a serio u s drough t i n great part o f the P rovi nce ,

o f State fu nds were disb u rsed and enabled the peasants ,

o f the affected tracts to s o w a m u ch larger area o f crops

than they Otherwise could have done and th us not only ,

i ncreased the p roduce of the land bu t h elped to provide ,

usefu l employment and to preven t the development of

fami ne conditions .

E ven however i f the S tate advanced as m u ch as a

, ,

m illion sterl in g for s u ch p u rposes as I think it very well , , ,

 A g r i c u l t u r a l I n debted n ess i n t ke P un
j ab 1 23

mi g ht do th is wo u ld only provide a frac t ion o f the total

,

su m at p resen t req u ired to nance agricul tu re and other ,

means mu st be sou g h t of aiding i n its provision at reason

able rates o f interest I t is partly with this obj ect that the
.

c o operative
-
movement has recently been started after ,

S tudy o f the marvello u s resul ts which have been at t ai ned

by c o operation among com m u n i t i es o f small farmers and
-

landowners i n vario u s cou ntries o f E urope A C o operative .

-

C redit S ocieties Act was passed a few years ago and i n t h ,

P u nj ab as i n other P rov in ces a special of cer was told o ff

, ,

to encourage the establ ishment o f villa g e ban ks amon g the

peasants and to audit their accou nts fo r them free o f char g e .

Last year the P rovince had 3 1 6 such banks with ,

members and assets worth wh ich exceed their

liabil ities by There is so m uch capital amon g
the peasantry that these societies have borrowed very little
from o u tside the members themselves having s u bscribed
,

o r advanced to the societies b u t wh en they do

want to borrow they will be a ble with their j oint u nlimited ,

l iability t o obtain loans at mu ch lower rates of i nterest than

,

any i ndividual m ember could At present most societies .

charg e their members on loans abou t 9 per cent wh ich .

,

is mu ch less than th e 2 0 per cent ( or more ) they have been

. .

forced to pay h itherto Th e movement is still in a tentative

.

stage bu t is full of promise a n d there is g ood grou nd to

,

b o n e that it w ill i n t i me not onl y provide the smaller

peasants with capital at less cost and enable th e richer
members of the v illag e comm u n ities to aid their poorer
fellows withou t risk of loss b u t will encourage the g rowth
,

of thrift an d of a spi rit o f c o operation i n other directions

-

than that o f providin g capital .

TENAN T S AND L AB O U RERS .

N ext t o the peasant proprietors the most importan t ,

class in rural economy is the body o f tenants who w ith ,

their families n u mber about one sixth o f the total pO p u l a

,
-

tion They t o o have beneted from the rise o f prices

.
, , ,

9
1 24 Tr u tk s a b ou t I n di a

for altho u gh thei r rents have risen their prots have risen
, ,

still more Th e great extension of cultivation and i rriga

.

tion o f recen t y ears h as led to a keen demand for ten ants

o n the part o f landowners wh o have m ore land than they

can cultivate them sel ves so tha t a tenan t has l ittle dif culty
,

i n nding land at a remu nerative rent Th e tenancy law .

of the Province protects mos t o f t h e tenants of old standing

fro m arbitrary ej ectment or u ndue enhancement o f rent i
and although it leaves the landlord at liberty t o bargain
,

with his ordinary tenants as to the rent to be paid and t h e

conditions o f the tenancy it p revents h im from ej ectin g
,

any tenant without d u e notice and paym ent o f compensatio n

for any i mprovements o f importance the tenant may have
executed on the holdi n g Generally speaking the rela t ions
.

between landlords and tenants are good ; and seeing that ,

there are some ve m illion separate tenan t holdi n g s the ,

nu mber o f cases o f dispute betwe e n these classes wh ich

come into cou rt is s u rprisingly small .

Th e oth er residents of the villages are the a rt isans and

labourers who form an i mportant class altho u g h most o f ,

the e l d work is done by t h e small p e asant proprietors and

-

tenants themselves D u ring the last forty jears agric u ltu ral
.

wages and the wages of mas o ns carpenters and black ,

smith s have approxi mately doubled a nd what is still m ore , ,

import ant employm ent has become m u ch more constant

, ,

owi n g to the sp read o f i rrigation the activity o f trade the

, ,

acc u m u lation of capital and the steady demand for labo u r

for the construction o f houses and making o f roads ,

emban kments canal s rail w ays and other improvements

, , .

Formerly a com mon rate o f wa g es for an u nskilled labou rer

was twopence o r th re epence a day n o w he has not far to
o to earn v e e n c e o r S ixpenc e and at harvest ti me h is
g p
-
,

earnin g s often amou nt to a shilli ng a day Th e great .

shiftin g of the population du e to the extension o f c anal

i rri gation to new lands h a s enco u ra g ed the labou ri n g
population to move readily from place to place accordin g ,

to the demand for labou r and so to nd hi g her wages a nd

,
 XIX

TH E C O N D I T I O N O F T H E P E O P L E I N
TH E P U N J A B

( Fro m a pa p er re ad by S I R J A MES WI L S ON , l at e F i n a n C Ia l

C o mmissi on e b e fo e t h e R o y a l E c o o mi c
r, r n S oc i e t y )
.

I N T E RES T AN D C RE DIT
IT is somewhat su rpr i s i ng that with all th e acc u m ulation ,

o f capital that has t aken place i n the last twenty years and ,

i ndeed i n the last fty o r sixt y years th e rate o f i nterest ,

char g ed on ordinary loans remai ns very high Fo r i nstance .

,

the S tate itself and the p rivate ra ilway companies have

spent i n the P rovi nce somethin g l ike o n rail

ways and on canals al most all borrowed from ,

outside and t h ere also has been a very large amou nt o f

,

sav in g M u ch o f the accumulated capital however has

. , ,

been su nk i n improvement o f the land both i n the shape ,

o f large Ub l i c works and o f n u merous small pri vate works

p ,

su ch as wells and embankments and is accou nted fo r by ,

$

the rise in the market value o f the land M uch has been .

secured by the labou ri ng classes i n the rise o f wages and ,

mu ch has been u tilized by all cl asses i n improvi n g their

standard of l iv in g They have more and better food
.
,

clothes houses a g ric u ltu ral i mplements cattle household

, , , ,

u tensils M u ch has been p u t away by the people in the

.

form o f hoards o r ornaments o f g old o r silver A fter an .

i nqu iry i nto the prevalent rates o f i nterest I have come

to the concl u sion that on the average the ordi nary sma l l
, ,

peasant has to pay somethin g l ik e 2 0 per cent per ann u m .

T h at m on e y , a t a n y ra te, r e ma i s n i n th e c ou n tr y E D
. .

1 26
 Tb e Con di t i on o
f t ke P p l e i n t ke P
eo un a
j b 1 27

for loans Th e act u al rates charg ed vary very m uch say

.
,

from 1 2 per cent to 5 0 or more bu t perhaps the

.

commonest rates are 1 8 and 2 7 p e r cent per an nu m . .

A mong th e reasons fo r these hi g h rates are that the

peasant s borrowi n g s are mainly made i n hard times when ,

his need is u rgent an d he is prepared to agree to al most

,

any terms i n order to get money ; that he is generally

ignorant and illiterate and often th riftless so th at he is at
, ,

the mercy of h is more astu te creditor the v illage shop

keeper ; that his ch ief secu rity besides his land w ith , ,

wh ich he is n o w more u nwilling than ever to part is h is ,

crops wh ich are still even on irrigated lands su bj ect to

, , ,

g reat vicissit u des o f season and that the procedu re of th e

C ivil Cou rts tho u g h recently greatly i mproved is still t o o
, ,

c omplicated for the petty d isp u tes o f peasants and shop

keepers and altho u gh i t is not dif c u l t for a creditor at

, ,

the cost of some money and trou b l e t o g e t a decree it is , ,

by no means easy for h i m to exec u te it so that the expense ,

o f l itigation and the lender s fear of losin g part o f h is capital

keep up the general rate of interest .

Th e Government have taken meas u res to improve t h is

state o f matters O ne si xth o f the land revenue and th e
.
-

whol e of the large s u m levied as th e price o f the canal

water are n o w assessed on the crops act u ally harvested
and real ized only when the c u ltivator has produce i n h is
hands from wh ich t o pay them Th e old pol icy of .

s u s p ending the xed land revenue demand i n years of

bad harvest has been made m u ch more l iberal and i n th e ,

dry year 1 9 0 7 8 -
or nearly o n e ft h o f the whole -

xed land reven u e demand was suspended t o be real ized , ,

o n l y when a g ood harvest made it easy for the peasant to

pay it S tate money is freely advanced to landowners at
.

6 % per cent for land i mprovements and i n bad season s

.
,

free o f interest for the p u rchase of seed and fodder and ,

the loan is reco vered by easy instal ments i n years o f g ood

harves t Th e am o u nt at present ou t o n l oan i n this way
.

is about and I think mysel f it migh t well be

I 28 Tr a i ks a b ou t I n di a

i ncreased to M u ch is to be hoped for from

the recently started c o operative m ovement wh ich has -

been fostered by G overn ment by the passin g o f a special

Act and by the appointment of a Registrar who assisted
, ,

b V a competen t staff p reaches th e benets of c o operation

,
-

t o the peasants advises th em and a u dits th eir accou nts

,

free of char g e Th e nu mber of c o

. operative societies is
rapid l y i ncreasing Last year there were i n th e P rovince
.

3 1
,
6 with mem bers and assets worth ,

of wh ich the members themselves had su bscribed

Th e societies char g e th eir borrowi ng members about 9 per
cent and m uch success has al re a dy been attained i n a
.
,

nu mber of v illa g es i n freei ng th e poorer m embers from the

crush in g burden o f ol d debts at much h i g her rates o f
i nterest M any of th e leadi ng peasants wh o manage these
.

l i t tle banks themsel ves are keen and careful manag ers and , .

as the s o c ie t i e s h a v e recently come successfu lly th rou g h a

'

bad year the movement is likely to spread rapidly and by

, , ,

a red u ction in the rate o f interest and the encou ragemen t

o f a spirit o f th rift and c o operation to con fer i mmense
-
,

benets o n the poorer classes o f the peasantry .

TH E L AB O U R I N G C L AS SES .

I n the P unj ab where the land is al most entirely cultivated

,

by small peasant proprietors or tenants who do most o f the

e l d work themsel ves and where large industries are only
-
,

i n their Infan cy th e classes o f landless labo u rer and artisan

,

are o f l ittle i mportance i n comparison with the position

t hey hold i n su ch a cou ntry as E ngland I n 1 9 0 1 the .

nu m b er o f a g ric u ltu ral labou rers and thei r famil ies was
re t u rned as less than 2 per cen t of the t otal pop u lation .
,

the other u n skilled labou rers as 3 5 per cent the nu mber .

,

o f weavers as 6 per cent and th e nu mber o f leather

W orkers as 3 per cent and 3 per cent o f the population
. .

were ret u rned as s u bsistin g by mendican cy a trib u te to

t he charity for wh ich I ndians of all classes are disti n g u ished .

I t i s these poorer classes however w h o are most h elpless

, , ,
 1 30 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n d i a

the last fou r years 8 3 ru pees a rise of 2 6 per cent for th e .

second pe r iod over the rst and of 5 4 per cent i n the last
,
.

fou r years com pared with th irty years a go S o that these

,
.

gu res for Lahore corroborate t o some extent those for the

Province generally Daily wages paid fo r u ns k ill ed labou r
.

at t h e Lahore workshops were 3 an nas thi rty seven years -

ago and 5 4
, ;
an nas last year and th e averages ,
for the
different periods have been for the rst ei g hteen years ,

3 2 annas fo r
,
the last nineteen years 4 2 an nas and ,

5 an nas fo r the last fou r years I t is more u s u al even in

.
,

t h e case of agricul t u ral labo u r to pay by the day than by ,

t h e month and i f w e take the monthly w ages reported for

,

t h e P rovince and spread them over twenty seven workin g -

d ays in the month w e get th e followin g g u res for daily

,

wa g es as the average fo r the P rovi nce for the th ree years

e ndin g 1 87 5 1 an nas for the eighteen years endin g
3 , ;
1 89 0 3 6 for the last n i n e teen years annas and for
, ; 45 ; ,

the last four y ears 5 9 an nas B roadly speaking th en it

, .
, ,

may be said that th e average wages o f an agricult u ral

labou rer i n the Pu nj ab measu red i n an nas are now nearly
, ,

do u ble what they were forty years ago and at least ,

5 0 per cent hi g her

. than they were twenty years a
g o F o r .

t h e las t eleven years the gold val u e of the an na has been

exactly 1 d so that it m a y be said that at p resent on th e

.
, ,

averag e an agricul tu ral labo u rer i n the P u nj ab can earn

,

between 5 d and 6 d a day As a matter o f fact the de

. . .
,

mand fo r labou r varies very much from p l ace to place and

according to th e seasons ; b u t i t is seldom that a labou rer
cannot earn a t least 4d a day by labou r i n the elds o r i n
.
,

th e towns o r o n canal rail way and other publ ic works ;

, , ,

an d at harvest ti me especially i n the irrigated tracts when

, ,

very large areas of crops have to be reaped in a short time ,

his earnin g s often amou n t to more than 1 5 a day . .

Th e true measure of the labo u rer s prosperity is the
mar g in he has left over from h is wages after providin g fo r
his necessary wants and we must therefore make allowanc e
for the recent rise i n p rices of food g rain s As compared -
.
 Tb e Con d i t i on o f u P p
eo l e i n t /i e P
j b
un a 1 3 1

with h is daily food h is other needs are of l ittle importance

, .

For cloth ing th e poorer class o f a g ric u ltu ral labo u rer i s
,

content with a fe w g arments o f coarse cotton and a woollen

blan k et o r two Fo r shelter he is happy i n a hou se of
.
,

s u n dried bricks made w ith h is o w n hands and with t h e

-

hel p o f h is nei g hbo u rs Fo r fuel h e o r his family can .

,

al ways pick u p eno u g h sticks o r d u n g to make a re to

bake h is scones o r heat h is m ilk or boil h is vegetabl e
, ,

broth H e rarely tastes meat o r spi rits and h is chief

.
,

l u x u ries are s u g ar and tobacco wh ich are not taxed i nside ,

I ndia and are therefore cheap After long experience o n .

fam ine relief works we have fo u nd that a man doing a fai r

daily task o f spade work is kept i n good condition if h e i s
-

g iven a daily wage su f cient to enable him to buy

2
% pounds weight of the cheapest grai n ; n o t that he eats

so m u ch grain bu t this covers also the cost of salt r e

, ,

wood and vegetables Fe w labo u rers act u ally consum e .

more t h an 2 po u nds o f ou r i n a day I n ordinary tim es .

this amo u nt o f millet or p u lse can be bough t for 1 d and

even i n famin e times it rarely cost more th an 1 5d so that ,

the u nenc u mbered l abo u rer who can earn even 4d a day ,
.
,

can easily afford himsel f more than his daily necessary food
and save money I take however the case o f a man wh o
. , ,

has to support out of his ow n earnings a w ife and t w o

ch ildren S uch a family will not consu me m ore than
.

2 ma u nds that is 1 6 5 pou nds w eigh t o f grain i n a m o n t h

,

so that the price o f 2 mau nds o f ja w ar , the cheapest g rain ,

is enou g h to allow fo r the monthly expendit u re on necessary

food for su ch a family I have accordingly shown in the .

statement the cost of 2 mau nds of ja w ci r at the averag e

price for each year and the difference bet w een that and
,

the average monthly wa g e I have called th e margi n of

comfort as it rep resents what th e married labo u rer has
,

over after providing enough food to keep his fam ily i n

,

good health to spend o n clothi ng comforts and petty

, ,

l u xu ries o r to save I t w ill be seen that the cost of

,
.

2 mau nds o f cheap mi l let avera g ed 3 3 rupees fo r the rst

1
3 2 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n d i a

ei g hteen years of the period taken 4 4 rupees for the last ,

n ineteen years and 5 2 rupees for the last fou r years ; so

,

that the margi n o f comfort of su ch a fam ily averaged

2 8 rupees fo r the rst eigh teen years 3 2 rupees fo r the ,

last n ineteen years and 4 7 rupees fo r th e last fou r years .

Thu s notwithstanding the rise o f prices the average

, ,

labourer is much better off than he w a s formerly and has ,

now nearly tw ice as m uch to spend o n comforts and

l ux u ries as he could reckon o n twenty years ago I n years .

o f scarcity however when grain is dear th is margin o f

, , ,

comfort for the married labou rer is dangero u sly red u ced .

I n 1 89 6 and again i n 1 9 0 0 it took nearly all his wages to

, ,

p rovide h is family with necessary food I n 1 9 0 8 though . ,

p rices were very h i g h the phenomenal rise i n the rate o f ,

wag es left th e margin o f comfort not mu ch below the

average Th is i s the condi tion of th e married labou rer
.

who obtains constant employ ment at the average rate o f

wages But o f cou rse there are often ti mes wh en h e nds
.
, ,

it dif cu lt to do s o and must be content to accept lower

,

wages temporarily or g o i n search o f work o r do w ithou t

, ,

it fo r a time This is especially the case in seasons o f

.

widespread dro u ght whe n the soil is too dry and hard to ,

be worked and agric u ltu ral operations are at a standstill

,

over many s q u are m iles of co u ntry F ormerly s uch c o n .

di t i o n s gave rise to famine and it req u i red all the resou rces ,

o f the S tate to keep the people alive I n the Pu nj ab ; .

thanks to the recent great developmen t o f cultivation and

i rrigation to th e accu m u lation o f capital and to the constan t
,

demand for large bodies o f u nskilled labo u rers o n the canal

and railway works there is n o w l ittle fear except in small
, ,

isolated tracts o f cou ntry of th e development o f famine ,

conditions to such an extent as to necessitate th e open ing

o f large relief works When the prices o f the inferior .

grains fall as they are al ready showin g a tenden cy to do

, ,

and the population r ecovers its normal health wages will ,

p robably fall a l ittle bu t they are n o t i n the near fut u re

,

l i kely to be again m uch below thei r present l evel beca u se ,

I34 Tr u t/i s a b ou t I n di a

i n kind B u t the chan g e has led to a great advance i n t h e

.

i n dependence and prosperity of the menial cl asses an d th e ,

g reatest cost o f labou r t o the yeomen and peasa n ts i s more

than made up to th em by th e greater val u e of thei r crops
d u e t o the rise of prices .

There has been a sim ilar rise i n the wa g es of t h e skilled

artisan classes su ch as carpen ters blacksmith s a n d masons
, , ,

due to S imilar reason s According to th e reports fro m th e

.

d i fferent districts the averages fo r these classes have been

,

as follows per month : for th e th ree years e n ding 1 87 5 .

1 2 7 r u pees fo r the eighteen years endi n g 1 89 0 1 4 6 ru pees ; ,

for the last nineteen years an d for th e last fou r years

, ,

2 7 4 r u pees so that an artisan o f th ese classes can n o w

earn nearly dou bl e the wages he co u ld earn twen ty years

ago Th e demand for better ho u ses better im plements
.
,

and u tensils and the g rowth of publ ic works o f al l k i nds

,

have prov ided m uch re g u lar employmen t fo r th is class of

s k illed workman and thei r prosperity seem s ass u red
Th e great and s udden rise of prices an d wages has not
been withou t its hardsh ips especially to those classes ,

whose i nc ome is a xed n u mber of r u pees as they now ,

nd it difcul t t o ma k e both ends meet and to m aintai n

their previou s standard o f comfort Bu t there i s a tenden cy .
,

in discussi ng the effects o f this rise to dwell u pon the ,

interests o f the consu m er and to for g et those o f th e

prod u cer P ractically all the of cials thinkers speakers
.
, ,

and writers who deal with the q u estion are so far a s ,

regards material wealth more cons u mers than prod u cers , ,

and th ey nat u rally th in k rst o f the in terests o f their o w n

class B u t the great mass o f the population o f th e P u nj ab
.
,

landowners tenants and labou rers are producers as well

, ,

as cons u mers and there can be n o dou bt that fo r them the

,

net res u lt o f the recent rise i n prices and wages has been a

great increase in wealth There i S another tendency to be

.

avoided I n dealin g with questions affecting the land we

.

have naturally and properly concentrated o u r attention o n

, ,

the u nfort u nate members o f the landownin g commu nity ,

 Tb e Con d i t i on f
o Me P e op l e i n Me P u n a b
j 1 35

those who have lost their land or becom e i n vol ved in

seriou s debt and have been busied i n dev isin g means for
their protection B u t let u s not forget that they are a
.

s mall minority o f th e whole body and that the great mass,

of the peasant landowners are well o ff and free o f debt ,

many o f them possessin g besides their land property o f

, ,

considerable val ue i n houses c a t t l e utensils clothes and

, , ,

ornaments Th e landow nin g and tenant classes o f the

.

P rov in ce are able after meetin g their own needs and those
,

of the rest o f the pop u lation to export annually a g ricultu ral

,

and pastoral produce to the valu e o f sterlin g ,

o r abo u t one th ird o f the gross p roduce o f the land

-
O nly .

abo u t On e eighth o f th e land is u nder m ortgage ; and the

-

total indebtedness of the agricultu ral to the non agricultural -

class es cannot m u ch exceed sterling o r about ,

o n e tenth o f the selli ng value o f their land

-
There are fe w
.

co u n tries i n the world wh ich can show a better state o f

thin g s than th is .

ju n e,
1 91 o .
 XX

TH E I N C I D E N C E O F TH E I N D I A N
I N C O M E T AX -

THE average income o n wh ich income tax is assessed in -

Great B ritain is abo u t 9 0 0 Th e smallest i ncome u pon

.

which the tax is leviable is 1 6 0 I n G ermany the average

.

taxable i ncome falls below 1 2 0 the s mallest i ncome o n ,

which the tax i s leviabl e b eing 4 5 There are abou t

.

a m ill ion persons w h o have m ore t han 1 6 0 a year i n Great

B ritai n and these have 5 0 per cent more i nco me than the
, .

taxable persons i n Germany I n I ndia there

.

were 2 5 5 7 9 2 persons assessed to the i ncome tax i n 1 90 6 0 7

,
- -
,

and their i ncome amou nted to not less than

This gives an average in come o f over 2 2 2 the smallest ,

being 6 6 B ut it mu st be rem embered that i n I ndia

.

n o i n com e d e r i ved fr om l a n d is l i a b l e t o i n com e t a x C o n se -

.

quently th e i ncome tax i n I ndia is comparatively t rivial

-
,

and affects only about a quarter of a m ill ion people ; and

even o f these the Govern ment of cials pay m ore than o n e
ft h o f th e w hole tax .

I n Prussia a g ain , o u t of the

, assessed
to the tax ( or 9 4 7 per cen t ) have an i ncome below
.

marks ( say 1 , Thus the w h o have an annual

i ncome above marks pay 6 6 per cent o f t h e whole .

i ncome tax Th is leaves about one third o f the tax to be

-
.
-

paid by people whose i nco me falls far below the average o f

the tax as assessed i n I ndia I t i s evident therefore that the
.
, ,

income tax i n I ndia is in nitely more m oderate in its

-

incidence than i n Germany .

 XX I

TH E A L L E G E D D E S T R U C T I O N B Y E N G L A N D
O F I N D I A N I N D I G E N O U S I N D U S TR I E S

IT is being constant l y reiterated by writers ( who certainly

o u ght to k now better ) that E ngland i n years gone by
del iberately set hersel f to r u i n the industries o f I ndia by
high p rotective d u ties and that i n short E n g land repressed
, .

I ndia s great industries for selsh B ritish ends and
destroyed her indigeno u s trade and manufactu res This .

has been tho u g htlessly accepted by some b u t it has been ,

stren u o u sly denied by writers who have st u died the q uestion

i mpartially .I t is tr u e that M r Da d a b h a i Na o r oj
i once
.

allowed h imself to go so far as to say that al l the g reat
i nd u stries o f I ndia h ave been destroyed simply beca u se the ,

people had not enough to eat and were not able t o carry

them o n . I f that were anyth ing l ike the tr u th and not a
glarin g exa g geration h o w does it happen that even such an
,

extremist as the late M r W D igby admits that abo u t

. .

6 0 m illions ( ou t o f the 2 40 m illions o f B ritish I ndia ) are

fairly prospero s u $ A nd h o w comes it that o n the
average s o many native merchants i n the Western Presi
den e y are far more prospero u s than their E n g lish ri vals
i n trade and com merce $ A nd h o w came it that the late
M r Sam u el S mith M P who visited I ndia i n the year
.
, . .
,

1 86 2 bore witness that th e environs o f B ombay especially

, ,

M alabar H ill were covered with v illas belon g in g n o t S O

,

much to the E n g lish robbers as to the robbed Parsees

and H indoos N 0 o n e can doubt he says that this is , ,

a wealthy city and a beautifu l one Trade is ourishin g

.

1 38
 0 (1 6 70o
L 5

p
es ec i a l ly t b c w ea vi ng b r a n ck . Th e demand for g oods i s
u nusually active and manu factu rers ali ke in Lancashire and
,

Bombay are earning handsome prots O ver eighty great .

factories eq u a l i n every r espect t o t /i ose i n L a n ca k i r e giv e

,
s ,

employment to larg e masses o f the population etc etc I S ,
.
, .

it possible that M r Da da b h a i Na o r oj i and M r S m ith c a n

. .

have been speaking o f the same country

I n December 1 9 0 8 M r C W M c Mi n n 1 C s ( r et i r ed)
, , . . .
, . . .
,

read a paper before th is A ssociation d ealing with this subj ect .

H e had bee n making an exhaustive study o f the q uestion

for years and had gone carefully through M acgregor s
Com mercial Tariffs and examined all the old records ,

regarding the t rade o f J oh n C ompany with the E ast and ,

th is is what h e says
I n a grea t work o n E conom ic H istory ( by M r '
.

Ro m e s h C hu nder D i i t t ) I nd it stated tha t t h e B ritish ,

imposed an unj u st and enormous duty on I ndian cotton
o f 2 0 per cent but on reference to the q uoted authority I
.

nd i t was 4d per c w t AS cotto n was 5 d per 1h the rate

. . .
,

w a s less than 1 per cent Th is was not a printer s devil ry .
,

for taffetas s u gar mats are sim ilarly m is stated Th e t r u th

, , ,
-
.

was that foreign cotton was payi ng 5 5 1 od per cwt abo u t

$
. . .
,

2 0 per cent w hile I ndian cotton had t h e preferential tariff

.
, ,

less than 1 per cent T his is the tr u th . .

x
-~
91 as as

In 1E n g land red u ced the B ritish Tari ff tax on tea

7 84
to 1 2
'

3 per cent o n piece goods t o.1 8, per cent and -

to make up the deciency th u s cau sed i n the I nlan d

Revenue i mposed a wi ndow tax o n the E n g lish people .

This proved a hardship and a sanitary evil to the poor and ,

a grave an noyance t o the rich .

Will iam P itt did this Possibly he remembered that .

I ndian trade had made his grandfather a rich man and .

fou nded the great fortu ne o f the g reat Chatham .

U p to 1 86 0 i n the matter o f tariffs B r i ta i n fa vou r ed

, ,

I n d i a m or e or l ess Abo u t 1 83 8 there were I o r t y t h ree

.
-

C o mm on s R ep o t 83 ol p 60 7 r , 1 2, v . . .
 40 Tr u t /i s a b ou t I n di a

articles incl ud in g eve ry i mportant article o f necessity o r

,

l u xu ry for wh ich th ere were preferential l ight du ties fo r

,

B ritish possessions F or ra w sil k from Bengal there was a

.

special light du ty favou ring B engal I t paid 4 5 6 d wh ile

,
. .

all the res t of the world paid 5 5 1 o d per . .

=< ll it

B ritish tari ffs were n ot only j u st to I ndia b u t even

b en evol en t from 1 82 5 onwards O piu m indi g o tea j ute .
, , , ,

cotton were brin g in g wealth t o the E mpire su rpassing

,

tenfold that o f Th e M ogul s

.

3G dl

I admit that i n B engal par t ic ularly for th e rst twenty

, ,

years after the Company assu med the D i w a n i there were
most serio u s drawbacks to the peace and prosperity which
B ritish rule introdu ced .

F rom 1 7 85 amendment commenced partly due to a ,

great imp rov ement i n the Custom s reg u lations and to lower
tariffs on the two great E as t ern products tea an d piece ,

g oods dating from 1 7 80 and 1 7 84

, .

E veryone h as heard o f the pl u nder after P lassey bu t ,

the redu ction o f th e d u ties i n 1 7 84 on tea and piece goods -

were boons to I ndia and to E ngland .

S o far as I can j udge not o n e of the numerous writers

,

o n econom ic su bj ects i n I ndia has ever heard of these tariff

chan g es i n 1 7 84 They seem to have a g eneral idea that

.

the Company and G overn ment i n E n g land being hostile to ,

I ndian manu fact u res im posed u nj ust and enormo u s duties

,

to crush o r throttle them and w ith fa t al success : so that

,

I ndia once a g reat manu facturing cou ntry has now fallen
, ,

back solely upon ag ric u lt u re wh ich a gai n is stran g led by,

a heavy and i nvariable land tax so that the peasantry -

, ,

becomin g poorer and poorer are perishing by fami nes which

,

have become more deadly and destr u ctive every year .

I am u s in g th e exact words employed by M arti n in his

C o mm o n s R ep ort , 1 83 2 , vol . ii p.
, . 60 7 .
 XX I I

T H E A B S O R P TI O N O F G O L D A N D S I LV E R
BY I N D I A A N D W H AT I T M E A N S
,

In V iew o f renewed criticism s o f the administration

of I ndia notably by M r Charles Edward R u ssell an
.
,

American traveller i t seems desirable to draw attention
to the other side o f the shield as depicted by S ir J ames
Wilson i n his most illum inating paper o n I ndian Currency

P ol icy .

A BS O RP TI O N OF GO L D BY I N D I A .

A s we are special ly i nterested in I ndia let u s see w hat ,

share I ndia has secu red o f all this gold We have fairly .

tr u stworthy gu res for the import and export o f treasu re

i nto an d o u t o f I ndia si nce 1 840 and these show that du rin g
,

th e last seventy years I ndia has absorbed

worth of gold equal to m ore than one tenth o f the wh ole -

world s produ ction d u ri ng that period I ndia s population .

i s about o n e sixth o f that o f th e whol e world so that the

-
,

q u antity o f gold that I ndia has secu red is n o t so very

far s h ort o f its sha r e with the rest o f the world man fo r ,

man as migh t be i magined from th e comparative poverty

,

o f the masses o f its population There must have been

.

a good deal of g old i n I nd i a i n 1 840 and there can not have

,

been m u ch absol ute loss o f gold since then so that I ndia ,

m u st at this moment contai n someth ing like

worth of gold o r nearly o n e twelfth o f the whole existin g
,
-

world s stock which I have estimated at 3
, ,

M oreover I ndia s absorption o f gold is rapidly increasing
, ,

and the share it takes of th e g reatly increased an nual

supply is g rowin g D uri n g the last decade the world s
.

1 42
 Tl i e Absorp t i on of Gol d an d S i l ver by I n d i a 1 43

pro d uction was worth and o f this I ndia ,

absorbed worth ( more than one tenth ) I n -

.

the las t two years she has ab s orbed worth ,

which was m ore than one sixth o f the world s produ ction
-

for those two years O f the whole

. worth
o f gold held in I nd ia only abou t
, worth is in
the Govern ment treasuries ; a l l the rest is held by the
people .

I t seems to me that these gu res for I ndia even more ,

than those for the ban k s and treasu ries of the world ,

indicate why i t is that notwithstanding the enormous

,

increase i n the world s stock o f gold t h e exchan g eable ,

value o f gold i n relation to other commodities generally

has risen considerably i n the last forty y ears As people s .

material prosperity i ncreases they l ike to have more gold

,

n thei r possession than before whether i n the form o f

i
hoards o r o rnaments and they can afford to ind u lge i n
that lu xu ry so tha t thei r effective demand f o r g old rises
,

more rapidly than that for other com modities which they do
not desire so m u ch O win g to the great adva n ce made by
. .

man i n his mastery over th e forces o f N atu re du ring t h e

last cent u ry there has been al most everywhere i n the
,

world an enormous add ition to capital o f al l kinds and

to the material wealth of th e hu man race The desire

for gold is u niversal and this i ncrease o f material wealth

,

has enabled vast nu mbers o f people th rou g hou t the world

t o g ratify that desi re and is the real ca use o f t h e a pp r e c i a
,

t ion o f the exchangeabl e value o f gold which t h e cou rse ,

o f prices proves to have taken place i n spite o f the ,

u nprecedented addition to the w orld s supply .

As for I ndia her prosperity is steadily advancing

,
.

Great n umber s o f her people pre fer t o S p e nd t heir s a v m gs

on g old rather than on other commodities Th e probab i l ity .

is that al to g ether apart from questions o f currency I ndia

, ,

will continu e to absorb g ol d i n ever increasing q uantity

-
.
1 Tr u th ou t

[m zza
'

44
~

WO R L D S S U PP L Y OF S I L V ER .

So m u ch for gold No w let u s see what has happened

.
,

to sil ver I n studying sil ver it is be t ter to deal with

.
,

weigh t than with val ue i n pou nds sterl in g becau se the ,

g ol d value o f silver has varied so mu ch from ti me to time .

I therefore give the g u res for silver i n m ill ions of ounces .

( I t is well to remember that an ou nce o f sil ver is n o w

worth abo u t two sh illings o r a ten t h o f a sovereign and , ,

that up to forty years a go it had fo r some time been worth

abo u t ve shill in g s or a fourth o f a soverei g n )
, .

Th e total world s production o f silver fro m the discovery
of A merica 40 0 years ago has been nearly I
, ,

ounces There was a large quantity o f silver i n th e world

.

before then and th e wastage can not have been very

,

great I estimate the presen t world s stock o f sil ver at
.

about ou nces worth a t its present price , , ,

i n gold N earl y hal f th is am ou nt has been

.

added to the world s stock o f sil ver d u rin g the last sixty
years The rate o f p rodu ction measured i n decades steadily
. , ,

i ncreased from 1 83 0 onwards and rose to ,

ou nces per an n u m i n the decade 1 9 0 1 1 910 the prod u ction ,

l ast year being the record o n e of 2 ounces more

than dou ble what it was o nly twenty v e years ago and -
,

e igh t times what it was sixty years a go With th is enor .

mou s addition to the world s s u pply o f silver the wonder is ,

that its exchangeable value has n o t fallen even more than it

actually has D urin g the last 40 0 years taki ng weigh ts
.
,

only the w orld s prod u ction o f g old has been i n m illion
,

ounces 6 7 1 and o f silver

, , o r i n the proportion o f,

16 o u nces o f silver to 1 o f gold For the last sixty .

years the production has been ounces o f

g old to ou nces of sil ver o r only about ,

1 1 ou nces of silver t o 1 o f g old Fo r the last decade the .

p roportion was 1 0 t o 1 S o that the falling off i n the

.

val u e of silver in relation to gold is n ot d u e to any i ncrease

i n the relative produ ction of silver i n comparison w ith that
 46 Tr n tb s a b ou t I n di a

that people do not prefer the preciou s metals to t h e

necessaries o f l ife They hoard them ch iey as a means
.

o f obtaining the necessaries o f life i n case Of n eed But .

su rely the i ncreased absorption Of the precious m etals

seems to disprove M r Russell s theory Of the i n c r ea s i ng
.

poverty Of the cou ntry I t is impossible that weal t h can

.

come into a cou ntry and not get i t sel f distri b u ted to some
extent thou g h the distributio n is always the weak poin t o f
,

modern civili z ation .

A ugust, 1 9 I I .
 XX I I I

T H E LAS T W A TC H O F TH E N I G H T

I LL - I NF O RME Dcri tics O f the I ndia n Govern ment Often re

proach it for havi ng done so l ittle du ring the 1 50 y e ars it
has ( according t o them ) ru led the cou ntry T hey q u ite
, , .

forget or conven iently ignore the state o f the coun try

, ,

1 5 0 years a o and M r K eene s brief note on the subj ect
g , .

i n E a st a n d West fo r M ay 9 1 1 may be useful to them ,

1 ,

and Others
To the n orth Of t h e N arbada anarchy and war were
chronic ; th ere W as a nom inal empire Of which the centre
was at Delhi as Of yore , I n 1 7 5 9 however ( exactly
.
,

1 5 0 years a g o ) the Emperor had been m u rdered and his

, ,

son and heir driven to y from the capital and wander in

the eas tern p rov inces a s u ppl ian t for aid I n the following
, .

year the Afghans i nvaded H i ndustan and the M a r athas , ,

w h o had occupied D elhi were driven back to the Deccan

,

after a defeat attended with terrible slaughter I n 1 7 6 4 .

t h e Of cers of the E n g l ish Company defeated and deposed

the N awab O f the eastern p rovinces and the fugitive heir ,

O f the empire concluded a treaty with the B ritish by which

h e was recogni z ed as E mperor and i n 1 7 7 1 he retu rned to ,

Delh i w here he exercised local au thority throu g h the

,

ag ency o f able fu nctionaries I n the eastern prov inces .

the power o f the B ritish was rmly establ ished and their ,

rst Governor G eneral Warren H astings lent the support

-
, ,

O f B ritish arm s to h is ally the N awab Of O ude i n a cam

, ,

a i n wh ich he cond u cted with success a ainst the Rohillas

p g g ,

or I ndian Afghans w h o had been plunderin g the northern

,

I 47
districts I n 1 7 80
. 8 1 the B ritish arms were turned agai n st
the M arathas the war bein g termi nated i n the following
,

year by the treaty O f S a l b a i i n vi rt u e o f wh ich the N orth

,

Western P rovinces o f H industan fell completely u nder th e

i n u ence O f M a d h oji S india the most prom inent mil itary ,

l eader o f that nation Th e E mperor S hah Alam c o n

.

ti n n ed o n the th rone thou g h the whole admin istration was

,

assum ed by S india wh o took u p h is residence at D elhi

,
.

Th e next fe w years were lled with strife th e M al wa ,

M arathas being desirous of competing with the su ccess o f

S india and the more sou therly p rovinces O f H i ndustan
,

were devastated by u nceasi n g warfare S i n di a s a d m i n i s .

t r a t i o n also became u npop u lar elsewhere and a hostil e

combination arose before which he temporarily retired

from the capital Delh i w a s immediately seized by some
.

malcontent M u slims o n e Of whom a Roh illa named

, ,

Ghulam Kadir after various ou t rages i n the palace bl inded

, ,

the h elpless O l d E mperor S i ndia arriv ing with reinforce

.

m ents the rebels retreated and S india res u med his posi
, ,

tion o f a u thority which he retained u ntil h is death i n 1 7 9 4

,
.

About tha t time there arri ved i n I ndia intell i g ence Of the
declaration o f war agai nst E ngland by the Rep u blican
Government Of F rance and the F rench Ofcers i n the,

M ar at ha army became i n consequence hostile t o the

, ,

B ritish i n I ndia I n 1 7 9 8 the Govern ment in Calcutta was

.

assu med by Lord M orni n g ton the able elder brother Of ,

the fu tu re conq u eror Of N apoleon and a forward pol ic y ,

arose destined i n coming years to al ter the whole face o f

I ndian pol itics I n 1 80 1 the n e w S india a man very
.

i nferior to his u ncle whom he had succeeded attacked and

conquered the famo u s B ritish adventurer Geor g e Thomas , ,

wh o had for a time made himsel f i ndependen t ruler i n

H ariana B ut h is tri u mph was o f short dura t ion I n 1 80 3
. .

the Governor General deemed it necessary to ch eck the

-

fu rther proceedin g s Of S india and his F rench advisers and ,

a force was sent i nto H i nd u stan under the command 0

General Lake whil e General Wellesley c o operated i n t h e
,
-
1 5 0 Tr u t/zs a b ou t I n di a

and so utterly cowed thei r spi rit that the fe w v illag es that ,

did conti nue to exi st at g reat intervals had scarcely any

, ,

comm u nication with each other and so g reat was the ,

i ncrease Of beasts Of p rey that the little commu n ication

that remained was often c u t o ff by a single ti g er known to

hau nt t h e road .

Th e rst impression o n anarchy in H industan was made

before Lake s co n q u est by O f cers acting u nder M a h a daj
, i
S india After the blindin g Of S hah Alam by Ghulam
.

Kadir and when the n e w model ar my had been organized

, ,

G e neral de B o i gn e held land at A ligarh the pay Of the ,

of cers and men being a rst charge upon the rents ; and
this estate was gradually in creased until it became a q u asi
pri ncipality .

Th e ori g inal holding was o f t h e val ue o f some twenty

lakhs ( say two m ill ion s O f r u pees ) per annu m g raduall y ,

i ncreased to more than double of that i ncom e ; and w ith

that security for their pay and condence in the honou r ,

and prom ises O f their Savoyard C h ief the troops became ,

patterns Of good conduc t I n an E nglish newspaper o f the .

tim e we are told that the m en submit t ed to General de

B o i g n e s discipl ine an d civil ization and

the rapacious ,

l icence wh ich had formerly b een com mon came at last

to be looked u pon as in famou s even by the meanest soldier

( B e n
g a l j ou r nal T h e civilization
, i ntroduced

among the troops would form a type for the s u rrounding

populat ion N atu rally mi l d and orderly and nding them
.
,

selves no longer robbed o r oppressed by th ei r p rofessed

g uardian s they would t u rn to their squalid homes and
,

long ne g lected fallows with some h ope O f nding a pro t in

-

honest i ndustry S O late as the second quarter O f the

.

ni neteenth century the M eer u t Un i ver sa l M ag a z i n e stated

that i n B egu m S a m r u s p ri ncipal ity Of Sardhana armed
soldiers had to patrol the elds to enforce cultivation ; and
it is o n record that she levied transit d ues o n every kind Of
goods enteri n g o r leaving her territory down to her death
in 1 83 6 F rom state papers written so near the close Of
.
 Tb e L a st l Va t eb of Ng b t
'

t ue 1 5 1

the anarchic period as 1 80 8 ( 1 0 0 years a g o) we Obtai n ,

con rmation Of the above recorded descriptions A board .

having been formed to construct a system O f adm inistration

for the ceded and con q uered provi nces reports were

,
called fo r from local O f cial s wh ich show the m iserable
condition into wh ich the land had fallen Th e Collector o f .

Aligarh recom mended cautio u s measu res in regard t o the

appraisement of assets fo r the pu rpose Of xin g the State s
demand stating that th e land owing to long misrule
, , ,

famine and war had lapsed i nto a quasi wild condition

,
-
.

H e anticipated an i ncrease Of cultivation and O f revenue

should six years Of peace follow which h e rec k oned at
3 2 per cent I n E tawa lower down the D oab matters
.
, ,

were no better F oreign invasions w rote the D istrict
.

,

O f cer and intestine t u mult had materially checked p o p u

,

,

lation wh ilst the poverty o f the cou ntry and the rapacity Of
,

its governors had al most an nihilated com merce E lse .

wh ere it was noted that th e form o f Government wh ich

had existed had not oper a ted t o relieve the necessities Of

the s u bj ect or t o i mp rove the re sou rces o f the empire by
the encou ra g ement of husbandry and commerce Th e .

exertions o f the yeoman ry have been discou raged and

m eans O f cu ltivation den ied th em Agriculture as a con .
,

sequence has langu ished and decl ined

,
E very Tal u kdar .

had his customs platform so that i n those days the hi g h ,

ways were u noccupied and the travellers walked th ro u gh

byways S kinner and Gardner t w o good Ofcers from
.
,

the M ahratta service patro lled the roads with parties o f

,

horse bu t the gangs broke o u t as soon as thei r backs were

, ,

tu r n ed u nder the Ja t and B a rgo oj
,
a r chieftain s I n the .

so u thern part Of I ndia matters were if possi ble worse , ,

.

Writin g Of th e period between 1 7 6 3 and 1 7 83 the able ,

a u thor O f Forbes O riental M emoi rs says that th e

M ahratta Governor o f Poona was inattentive to the m isery

O f the people whom h is dep u ty oppressed i n a cr u el

,

man ner Venality and corr u ption gu ide the helm of S tate
.

and pervade all Departments F rom th e C h ieftains and .

I 52 Tr u t/t s a b ou t I n di a

nobles to the hu mblest peasant i n a village neither the ,

property n o r the li fe o f a su bj ect can be called his o w n .

H e conrms t h e Resident Of remote Ali g arh as to the fear

Of show ; th e man who has saved a little hoard makes no

i mprovemen t l ives no better than before and bu ries it in

, ,

the earth withou t in form ing h is ch ildren o f the conceal ment .

O n the other side Of the cou ntry M ountstuart E lph instone ,

records a c u riou s con versation with a beg g ing friar near th e ,

temple Of ja g an nath s o late as 1 80 1 , H e spoke to u s .

witho u t any respect called us t o h im bu t wou ld not ,

let u s pass h is bou ndary When w e were near he said .

,

Listen $ When w ill you take this country $ This cou ntry
wants you Th e H ind u s are villains ; when w ill y o u take
.

the cou ntry $ We answered N ever $ H e sa i d Yes , ,

you will certainly take it Th e country wants y o u that

.

was the t r u e sayin g Of an u naccredited but competen t

representative .

E ven i n far distant Tinnevelly l and th e occ u pancy

-
, ,

right to which n o w sells at Rs an acre ( o r even .

more) and pays 6 per cent o n the pu rchase money bein g

, .
,

assessed at 3 0 3 an acre had . no sal eable val u e in
,

1 82 0 when peace had not yet been t horou g hly establish ed

, .

U nfort u nately as M r K eene says i n conclu sion
, . the ,

H ind u s are n o t given to h istorical research ; and there are

those among them sincere patriots who si g h for the
retu rn of days when the country was without a master .

S uch persons must be content to nd their consolation i n

the refl ection that i n that case the co u ntry wou ld be witho u t
an impartial S overei g n both will ing and able t o promote
prosperity and peace .

S ep temb er , 1 9I 1
1 54 Tr u tb s a b ou t I n di a

H ow would it be possi ble for a S overei g n i n S outh I ndia

to travel merely i n order to attend a Cou ncil at Ayodhya
, ,

all the length Of I ndia and back to his o w n cou ntry at

a ti me when t here were no roads or those i n existence were ,

m ere tracks and where he would owing t o the cou ntry

, ,

being i nfested with gangs Of robbers have had t o take an ,

army with its necessary transport fo r h is p rotection $ A

, ,

cou ple Of years absence would have been necessary There .

is no record o r ad mission by Chola o r P a n diy a S overeigns

that they were vassal s o f Ayodh ya Th in k Of the i m .

possibil ity O f a n I m perial Cou ncil when there was no o n e ,

lan g uag e u nderstood by all the people .

Let u s teach th e facts o f Izi story t o the you nger genera

tion and thu s secu re that a j ust h istorical comparison based
, ,

o n truth and not o n misu nderstandin g may become possible ,

for the rising generation .

Th e tiniest bits Of opinion sown i n th e m i nds Of

ch ildren i n private l ife afterwards issue forth to t h e world
an d become p ubl ic opinion fo r nations are ga t hered o u t Of
n urseries and they who hold the leadin g strings o f ch ildren
,
-

may even exercise a grea t er power than those who hold t he

reins of govern ment I f y o u teach yo u r ch ildren what is
.

not true you are not patriotic .

9k l6 9K 9K 9K

I t is the sneer ign or a n ce of zol za t na s b app en ed i n tb c

pa st t o u se an I ndia n gentleman s words that is at the
, ,

root O f much o f the present discontent and u nrest B ut we .

have no righ t to be ignorant n o w that owing to patient , , ,

scienti c research and translations Old edicts have been ,

deciphered and much l ight has been thrown o n the past

, .

Fact can n o w take t he place Of ction I th ink fe w know .

,

ing the facts would care to retu rn t o t h e Old sys t em

, .

Octob er , 1 91 1
 X XV

S O M E P LA I N F A CT S A B O U T F A M I NE S
I N I NDIA

O nly the other day an eloquent I ndian was agai n

denou nci ng the drain o f wealth from I ndia as a mai n
cause of fami nes and it may b e worth while to rep u bl ish
,

the following succ inct accou nt b y a M adras lady o f some , ,

I ndian fami nes i n those good Old days wh ich some people ,

who ought to know better even yet profess to re g ret I t , .

will have been noticed no doubt that the facts i n th is, ,

and Leaet No 2 4 are mai nly adapted from M r Robert

. .

S ewell s I ndia before the as wel l as from

D r joh n M u rdoch s I ndia Past and P resent
. .

IT has been stated and repeated by newspapers and

a g itators that the famines which have desolated I ndia
,

w ith i n the past quarter of the nineteenth century are

u nexampled i n their extent and i nte n sity i n the history

o f ancient o r modern times .

Th e Shanti P arva o f the M ahabh arata describes a

fam ine of twel ve years du ratio n $ M r S rin ivasa R a g h a v a .

Ai ya n g a r sa y s :
Th e Ram ayana ment ions a severe and
prolonged dro u g ht wh ich oc cu rred in N orthern I ndia .

A ccordin g to the O rissa legends severe fami nes occ u rred ,

between A D . . an d 1 1 43 Th e memory o f a twelve .

years famine D v a d a s a va rs h a Panj am l ives i n traditio n

i n S o u thern I ndia B u t i f the accou nts of U ni versal
.

E mpi re are as they have been show n to be poetica l

, ,

creations i t is possible that famines mentioned may be

,

p oetical creations too I t may be so We w ill quote wh a t

. .

A p pea r r ea d b efo re th e East I n di a Ass oc i a ti on in 1 89 7 .

1 55 II
1 56 Tr ut bs a b ou t I n di a

M r S M M itra writes O f fam ines i n Ak b a r s rei g n
. . . I t is .

adm itted by everyone that Ak b a r s rei g n was the best i n
th e M u hammadan period of I ndian h istory Let u s see h o w .

the g reat Akbar fared as re g ards fam ine T h ree great .

fami nes desolated the cou n try d u ring the rei g n Th e .

M uham madan h istorian wrote M en could not nd corn ;

they were driven to the extremity o f eating each other and ,

some formed themselves i n to parties t o ca r ry of l on e

i n di vi d u a l s f or t b e i r food at the time o f famine and

distress parents were a l l ow ed to sell thei r ch ild ren .

I n the forty second year o f A k b a r s reign A D 1 5 9 6 a
-
, . .
,

fearfu l fam ine raged conti nuously fo r three o r four years

th rougho u t the whole O f H ind u stan A ki nd o f plague .

also added to the horrors o f th is period and depop ulated ,

whole cities t o say noth i ng o f hamlets a n d v illages I n

, .

consequence o f the dearth o f grain and the necessities o f ,

raveno u s h u n g er h u man esh w a s eaten Th e streets and

,
.

roads were blocked w ith dead bodies a nd n o prov ision .

could be made for their removal .

A fter readin g the above can it be truly asserted that t h e

,

recent famines were u nexampl ed in their extent and .

intensi t y i n the his t ory of ancien t o r m odern times
I n I 5 7 0 there was a terrible fam i ne o n the West Coast .

I n 1 6 4 8 i n the Co i mbatore D istrict a g reat nu mber

, ,

died .

I n 1 6 5 9 there was another and i n o n e small tract amongst

,

the Christians alone perished .

I n 1 7 0 9 there w a s a prolon g ed drought o f several years .

I n 1 7 3 3 there was a fami n e in th e Ch ingleput D istrict .

I n 1 7 80 o n e over th e whole o f the C arn atic .

From 1 7 89 to 1 7 9 2 th ere w a s a terrible fami ne in the

N orthern S irkars and the people died i n thou sands
,
.

If w e k n ew m or e of tb e pa s t l zi st ory of I n d i a we sho u ld
nd that seasons of scanty rainfall have erp etu a l ly r ec u r r ed ,

as they are n o w rec u rring in the nat u ral order o f th in g s

, ,

which man s will can not alter .

H ow did H ind u s and M oham medans deal w i th famines $

 XXV I

TH E T R U T H A B O U T R A I LW A YS

FR OM

G L IMPSES OF I ND 1 A PA ST
, A ND P RESENT

W HAT is the correct view to take about Railways i n I ndia $

Some people m ostly I ndians seem to thi nk they d o

, ,

more harm than good by draining t h e cou ntry o f its
produce ( as they say ) an d even go so far as to charge ,

them with p r eve n t i ng th e ryots fro m storing their grain ,

and s o prov iding agai nst the rainless day .

Well sixty years ago there were no railways in I ndia

, .

People travell ed slowly b y bullock carts t w o and a half

m iles an hou r o r b y carriages at fou r miles an hou r T h ey
,
.

were exposed to fati g ue to the weather t o robbers to , , ,

sickness and often had to l ie dow n and die alone What .

a difference to being wh irled along smoothly and more

q u ickly than if drawn by racehorses .

We h a ve often heard the assertion made that a great

deal o f money g oes from I ndia to E ngland and th at ,

E ngland is bleedin g I ndia b u t such statements are ,

utterly baseless I n d i a pay s n o t r i b u te t o E ng l a n d N ea r l y

.

al l t ae p ay m en ts a r e i n te r est on m on ey ten t on s e r v i c es ,

r en der ed or m a te r i a l s s u p l i ed
, p .

N o w to make railways costs a great deal o f money I n

, .

most countries th e people themsel ves supply the m oney

out of their savin g s I n I ndia the peopl e said N o ; they
.

requ ired the money for j ewels fo r marriage and other

$
,

ceremonies .

Th e m o u t o f j ew el s n o w h el d i n I d i a c a n ot b e w o t h l ess th
a n n n r an

300 cr o e s i t is p o b a bly m c h g e t e ; a t
r , r p e c e t i te es t i t w o u l d
u r a r 1 2 r n . n r

yi el d 3 6 c o es a y ea I J p a w o m e h a v e n o j ew ell e y
r r r . n a n n r .

1 58
 Tb e Tr u t l i a b ou t R a i l w ay s 1 59

Therefore t h e money had t o be borrowed and for ,

borrowed money i nterest has to be paid I f the people .

have to borrow money in I ndia they have to pay the

sowcar fro m 1 2 to 3 0 40 o r 5 0 per cent Poor people , .

borrow money at the rate o f 1 an na a rupee per month ,

,

wh ich comes to 7 5 per cent per annum Well the Govern . .

,

ment o f I ndia asked oth er nat ions to lend the money .

G ermany F rance A merica Russia all asked i nterest at

, , , ,

the rate o f fro m 5 to 1 0 per cent Th e nation that offered .

at the l ow est r a t e of i n ter est w a s E ng l a n d S he offered .

the money at per cent I do n o t thi nk that any reason .

able person would call that bleedi ng I ndia .

M r T N M u kerj i says :
. .

NO cou ntry having the
.

faintest claim to civili z ation should n o w be without its

railways W hen we ourselves could ( w ou l d $ ) not make
.

them the next best thi ng w as to have them made by

,

others for it would n o t be wise to wait a centu ry or t w o

, .

I ndian rail ways n o w n o t only meet all charges from thei r

earnin g s but in 1 9 0 1 yielded a prot of 1 1 5 lakhs This
, .

prot will l ar g e l y i ncrease and become an important source

o f revenue w hi l e very g reat benet i n other ways is con
,

ferred on the cou ntry Th e railways give direct employmen t .

to a lar g e body o f m en I n 1 9 0 9 the rail way service .

employed persons o f whom over were ,

I ndians When $ ueen V ic t oria ascended the Throne

.

there w a s not a si ngle mile o f railway i n t he cou ntry O n .

Decem ber 3 1 1 9 1 0 there were over ,

miles Of rail
, ,

which carried passengers and over 00 0

tons o f goods .

As noted in Leaet N O 2 5 Railways are essential for .

,

t h e distrib u tion of food i n fam ine time and su rely i t is ,

better i n every way for the ryot to store up his su rplus

grain if he has a su rplus in the form o f ru pees i n a B an k
, , ,

where it will even giv e h im some interest rather than i n ,

the form of grain exposed to plu nder by rats and robbers .

Feb r u a ry , 1 9 I 2 .
 xx v n

T H E C O S T O F TH E I N D I A N G O V E R N M E N T

A N O T H ER popular grievance j ust now is th e exces s ive

cost o f the I ndian Governmen t an d the over employ ment -

of E uropeans chiey B ritish at extravagant salaries

, ,
.

What are the facts o n these poi nts $ S ir ja mes Wilson

told what we believe to be The Truth as to th e E mploy

m ent o f I ndians so far as the Pu nj ab is Concerned in ,

Leaet N o 1 3 . and no o n e so far as we know has , ,

c orrected h is g u res P u t as briey as possible he made

.
,

o u t that when he entered the serv ice

( i n 1 87 5
) th e nu mber
O f men exercisin g j udicial powers as magistrates or j u dges

w a s u nder 5 0 0 and o f them only 3 2 0 ( not qu ite t w o th irds )

,
-

w ere I ndians wh ilst no I nd ian held a higher post than that

,

of assistant to a Dep u ty Com missioner or D istrict j udge

-
.

W hereas when he read his paper that is in 1 9 1 0 o u t o f

, ,

abo u t similarly employed 80 0 ( abo u t fou r ft h s) and ,

-

a l l the s u bordi nate o f cials except 1 0 0 pol ice o u t of

,

were I ndians O f 2 9 hold ing th e position o f D istrict

.

j udge 2 2 were I ndians o f 2 5 0 A ssistants at head q uarters

of districts 1 5 0 were I ndians There were 4 Dep u ty .

Commissioners o r Salt O f cers all I ndians 2 I nd ian

, ,

D ivisional judges and generally 2 i n the Chief Cou rt

, .

S O m uch fo r the P u nj ab No w for the nu mber and cost

.

O f imported E n g l ish labo u r Lord E lgi n when Vi ceroy

.
, ,

fou nd that the total annual cost o f the C ivil S ervice ( about
men ) i ncl u ding pay pension and exchan g e allow
, ,

a n c e s came to 1
, 3 pies a month per head of the then o u
p p
lation , I f I ndians at hal f the cost were
employed the savin g to each i ndivid u al in I ndia wo u ld be
,

l ess tna n on e p i e p er b ea d p er m on t/z or l ess t b a n on e p en ny ,

1 60
 62 Tr u th s a b ou t I n di a

fou r H igh Cou rts and Chief Cou rts and I ndians have seats ,

i n the Legislative and n o w i n th e E xecutive Cou ncils O f

,
.

th e m embers of the C ivil S ervice 6 5 are I ndians .

To u se Lord C u rz o n s words : I hold on the contrary
, ,

that ou r Adm i nistration is characterized by a li beral it y

u nexampled i n th e world Y o u may search thro u gh h isto ry .

and since t he days o f th e Roman E mpire y o u w i l l nd no

s u ch tr u st I have V isited the Ru ssians i n C e n t r a l Asia
. ,

the Dutch i n java th e F rench i n Algeria Coch i n C hina

, ,

and Tongking a n d have seen what there p revails and if

, ,

anyone thinks that they show p roportions even remotely

comparable with those wh ich I have quoted I can ass u re ,

him that h e i s gravely m istaken I t is true that as a rule .
, ,

the maj ority of the hi g hest posts are an d m u st for a c o n ,

s i d e ra b l e time be h eld by E nglish men th e reason being

, ,

that they possess partly by h eredity partly by upbringin g

, , ,

and partly by education the habits o f m ind and the vigour ,

of character w hich are essential for the task Then the .

,

rule bei n g a B ritish o n e the tone and standard S hould be ,

set by those who are responsible fo r it The pro g ressive .

growth o f condence that is revealed by the steadily i n

creasing n umbers o f I ndians em ployed is honou rable to the
B ritish Governm ent and honou rable to the p e ople o f the
cou ntry . I t reveals a E u ropean system o f Gov ern ment
entrusted largely to non E u ropean hands and adm i n istered -
,

far less by th e conq u ering power than by i ts ow n so ns .

A nd beyond all that it testies to a steady growth o f loyalty

, ,

and i ntegrity o n the o n e part and o f willing recognition o f ,

these v irtues on th e other wh ich is rich w ith hope fo r the ,

fu tu re Gl impses o f I ndia Past and Presen t ,

N otwithstanding the undou bted cost o f i mported labou r ,

it is s a fe to say that th e G overn ment o f I ndia considerin g ,

what it does fo r the people is by far the most econom ical ,

i n th e world and is perhaps the only Govern men t wh ich

, , , ,

i n the last resort Offers work for all, .

Ap r i l , 1 91 2
 XXV I I I

S I R R O LA N D W I L S O N O N TH E TR U E
C H A RA C TE R O F TH E I N D I A N G O V E R N M E N T

I T may be u seful t o publ ish as w idely as possible the latest

reections o n the G overnm ent o f I ndia which are to be ,

fou nd in S i r Roland Wilson s new book th e P rovince Of ,

the State . M embers o f this Association will not have
forg otten h is u ncomprom isi n g attack o n S tate aided E d u c a -

tion i n I ndia ; and as a very advanced thinker n o t t o say

, ,

ra d i c a l reformer his carefully studied language is worthy o f

,

very serious co nsideration by those who take extreme V iews

of I ndian adm in istration W hat follows is taken ver ba t i m
.

from the notice o f the book i n I ndia fo r S eptember 8
last page 1 2 1
, .

There are variou s references to I ndia i n this volu me

which i nv ite com ment and cri ticism but we can only nd ,

space i n th is iss u e fo r o n e more long q u otation w hich is p u t ,

forward i n reply to H erbert S pencer s well know n position -

o f absol u te condem nation of the B riti sh occ u pation Sir .

Roland w ri tes

A fter all allowance made for i ncidental fa u lts and
cri mes the substitu tion of the rule o f th e E ast I ndia Com
,

pany for that o f the decadent M ogul and the rapacio u s

M aratha and the s u bstit u tion o f direct B ritish rule fo r that
,

o f the E ast I ndia Company mu s t s urely be cou nted o n the

,

whole as triu mphs o f indu strial ism over mil itarism A .

force o f trained soldiers o f whom only abou t one

,

fourth are B ritish now s u f ces for the defen ce and control
,

o f a population of
3 0 0 m ill ions N O S tatistics are available
. ,

1 63
1 64 Tr u t /zs a b ou t I n di a

as far as I know fo r the close o f the eighteenth centu ry ;

,

but it is a pretty safe conj ectu re that the p roportion o f

ghters by profession u nder th e variou s native potentates
was much nearer o n e per cent than o n e per thou sand . .

G rievou s as is the poverty Of modern I ndia the vastly ,

larger population that continu es somehow to exist proves

that far more skill a nd i ndustry is appl ied now than
formerly t o the util ization o f the productive forces of
natu re .

I f ( says S i r Rolan d ) i nstead o f denou ncing the process

,

by which I ndia was d ragged up to its p resent stage o f

social p ro g ress H erbert Spencer had u rged that i n con
.

se q u ence of th is progress the time was n o w ripe or nearly ,

so for a n e w departu re i n th e d irection o f n ational u n it y

,

a nd self govern ment probably many o f h is admirers and

-
,

certainly S i r Roland h imself would have heartily assented .

N o o n e i n present sy mpathy with S pencerian pol itical

ethics will hesitate to ad m it t hat the kind o f domi nion n o w
exercised by Great B ritai n over her great E astern de
pe n dency re q u ires exceptional ci rcu mstances to j u stify it ,

and should continu e n o l onger than is rendered absol utely

necessary by the pol itical immatu rity o f the governed .

Th e mai n ends for which the S tate exists must always be

pursued u nder heavy disadvantages by the agents of a
distant and al ien n ation That su ch an alien rule may
.

nevertheless be at any given momen t less imperfect than

any form o f any i ndi g enou s ru le wh ich could then and
there be s u bstituted is what S pencer ought to have more
,

expl icitly reco g nized .

Th e cal m and u nprej udiced moderation these observa of

tio ns will com mend themselves to every cal m a nd u n p re

ju di c e d reader N or are they forei g n to the cast o f thought
.

of the I ndian reformer .

May , 1 91 2 .
 66 Tr u tas a b ou t I n di a

pretty fairly with the details given in o u r Leae t No I .

,

from wh ich it appears t hat abo u t hal f the drai n ( according

to o u r V iew o r o n e th ird according t o h is ) consists o f
,
-

interest o n money borrowed at say 3 42 per cen t in order , ,

.

to i ncrease the produ ce of the land in I ndia ten fold by

I rr i gat i on and to provide her w ith railways S ome I ndian .

critics object to railways as drainin g away the produce o f
the cou nt ry but it seem s from pa g e 8 o f th e paper alluded
,

to that M r ; H yndman adm its th e bene t I ndia has derived

from railways and that bene t also is su rely a real c o m
,

m e r c i a l retu rn fo r the money borrowed o n extraordi narily
easy terms j u st as the enormous increase o f wealth du e to
,

irrigation certainly is .

The rest of the home charges must be defended o n

di fferent grou nds as the u navoidable cost o f a forei gn
govern ment ; but then it can j ustly be contended that ,

eve n adm itting th is drain th e Government of I ndia is ,

s till the most economical o f civilized govern ments when

what it does fo r the co u ntry is fairly considered l
Th e .
ae

lamentable poverty o f I ndia may be admitted bu t poverty

is a comparative term and even M r Di g by ( or perhaps h is
, .
, ,

Salvation A rmy friend M r S torey wh o certainly sou nded

, .
,

the very depths of I ndia n poverty ) had to admit that

or about one sixth of the population were -
,

really prosperous I t may be do u bted i f a much lar g er
.

proportion i n any cou ntry could be fai rly so described ;

and i n many ways poverty i n I ndia is not as cruel as
, , ,

for i nstance i n Russia where m illions su ffer from fam ine

, ,

of wh ich we hear l ittle o r nothin g .

B u t if there is a drain ou t th ere is al so a drai n i n and

we S hould like someone to calculate th e drain o f wealth

into I ndia without com mercial retu rn and th en strike
a balance .

Th e followin g facts show that the

drain in must be
considerable and sho uld not be l i g htly disregarded
,

D u r i ng th e last seventy years I ndia has absorbed
S ee Whi ta k e fo 9 r r 1 1 0 .
 z Wr . Hy n d m a n and tb e Tr u t/c a bou t th e D rain 1 67

ou nces o f S ilver o r more than one th ird of ,

-

t he whole world s s u pply d u rin g that period I n the last .

decade she absorbed ou t of I 82 6 OOO OOO , , ,

ou nces produced in the whole world ( Mr Sarma o n .

p 5 2 4 o f the H i n d u sta n R ev i ew for December last ) No w

. .

out o f 1 82 O O OO O OO is nearly 4 0 p e r cent I s , , ,

.

t his a proof of i ncreasing poverty I t does not o f cou rse , ,

prove increasing prosperity among th e lower orders but ,

su rely some o f th is inrush mu st lter down t o some of the

workers and go to raise wag es to the rate t o wh ich eve ry
body ( except perhaps M r H y ndman ) knows they hav e .

risen S ince he so condently predicted the B an kr u ptcy

of I ndia i n 1 87 8 That su ch bankruptcy is still very .

remote is shown by the facts noticed recently i n a leading

article i n the Ti m es u nder the heading A Romance o f an ,

I ndian Port ( Karach i ) and by the fact that I ndia exported ,

last year m ore whea t than was exported from any other
cou ntry i n the world .

j m e s W ils on i n his e l a b o at p a pe o n I di an C u e c y
Sir a , r e r n rr n

P o li c y rea d b efo e t h e E a s t I di Ass oc i a t i on o ju e 4 1 9 sh o w ed

,

r n a n n 1 ,
1 1 ,

f rt h er t h at d i g t h e l a s t s ev e t y y ea s I di a h as a bs o b e d 4
u ur n n r n r 2 o, o o o, o o o

w o th o f g ol d o m o e t h n a te t h o f th e wh o l e wo l d s p o d c t i o
r , r r

a n r r u n .

E v e if i t s p op u l a t i o i s a b o t o e six th a s h e s ys i t is
n

n th e q u a t i t y
u n -
,
a , n

o f g o l d t h a t I n di a h as s ec u e d is ot so v er y fa sh o t o f i t s sh a e m a n fo
r n r r r ,
r

m a n a s mi g h t b e im a g i n ed f o m t h e c o mp ara t iv e p o v ert y o f t h e p eo p l e

,
r .

M o eo v er h e s a ys
r

I n di a s a bs o p t i o o f g ol d is rapid l y i c ea si n g
,

,
r n n r .

In t h e l s t t wo y ea s sh e
a h a s a bs o b e d r o t
w h m o e th r r r an

o e six t h o f t h e w o l d s p o d u c t i o

fo r t h o s e t w o y e a s

n -
r r n r .

ju n e , 1 91 2 .
 XX X

D O E S TH E I N D I A N G O V E R N M E N T

P ROV I D E W O R K F O R A L L $

E X CEP TI O N has been taken to the statement at the end o f

'

Leaet NO 2 7 to the effect that the Government of I ndia

.

is perhaps the only G overnment wh ich i n the last resort

, , , ,

Offers work fo r all and as th is statemen t is perhaps l iable to

misconstru ction it seems desi rable t o p ut it somewhat more
clearly I t was fou nded o n a paper by the late Rev H oward
. .

Campbell i n the Labo u r Leader entitled ,

I s I ndia M is
,

governed T h is paper was reproduced i n the second o f o u r

Lea ets ( p 5 of this vol u me ) M r C ampbell began by
. . .

sayi n g that he was a S ocialist ; that he went to I ndia

expecting to nd a grea t deal o f misgovernment and mos t ,

u nwilling to admit that any good coul d res u lt from a bu rea u

cratic system . E xperience o f twen ty years however , ,

forced hi m to the conclusion that there is n o cou ntry i n

the world better governed than I ndia none i n wh ich th e ,

Admi nistration does more fo r the masses o f the people .

Farther o n he says I f o u r H ome Govern ment would
,

only take a leaf out of the book o f the Govern men t o f

I ndia it would be a g reat deal better for o u r unemployed .

Th e Governmen t of I ndia r ecog n i z es to tae fu l l i ts obl iga

t i on t o p r ovi d e w or k f or t b ose w h o a r e u n a b l e tnr oug b a ny ,

ex cep t i on a l ca u ses t o ea r n a l i vel i b ood
, H e refers of co u rse
.
, ,

to the rule n o w so well establ ished that w or k i s t o be

, ,

p r ovi ded on r el i ef w ar /Es i n ca se of f a m i n e s o taa t n o on e ,

n eed d i e of b u r g er H is remarks on this s u bject are

.

worth reprodu cing a g ai n .

 X XX I

A N I N D E P E N D E N T TE S T I M O N Y
BY H A R O L D B E G B I E

IT may be useful to add t o th is collection o f T ruth s abou t

I ndia t h e carefully considered j u d g ment o n the G overn
-

ment o f I ndia by that well k nown writer H arold B egbie as

-
,

p ublished i n h is interestin g l ittle book Th e L i g h t o f I ndia

.

These conclusion s may be compared with M r H oward .

Campbell s j ud g men t ( Leaet No and that o f
.

D r D ownie ( No
. .

M r B eg bie is in no way connected with the Govern ment

.

Of I ndia and is a quite independent witness This is what

, .

he says
I t is a foolish calu mn y to exh ibit the I ndian G overn
ment as som e men now do in the character o f a
, ,

lollin g epicu re or a bedizened circu s master There .

may be as there are i n all G overnments ma t ters for

, ,

criticism b u t I think there is no Govern ment i n the world

more earnest in the cause o f pro g ress and enli g htenmen t
t han the Governmen t o f I ndia n o Govern ment in the world
,

that can S how a more impressive record o f achievement ,

no G overnment that is served by a more fai t hfu l i nd u strio u s ,

and h u man hearted C iv il Service I t is enou g h fo r the

-
.

critics o f th is Government if they can obtai n o n e or two

,

narratives o f E nglish rudeness to I ndian gentlemen to ,

condem n th e whole Government ; a nd the v isitations o f

p l a g ue and fam ine are su f cient for the m to prove that the
Government is i d l e and i niq u ito u s .

What is the real t ruth $ F rom t h e h i g hest to the

l o west servant in the S tate t h e who l e I ndian Government
,

1 70
 A n I n depen den t Test i m ony 1 7 1

i s ceaselessly e m pl o ve d in devel opi ng the resou rces o f the

co u n t ry and promoting the prosperity o f the p eople Th e .

Government fo r in stance supplies m ore t h a n a th ird o f
, ,

the total irrigation o f the cou ntry .

N ot only d o these canal s i ncrease prosperity they
create it T wo o f th e Pu nj ab canals li terally have con
.

verted desolate un inhabi t ed plai n s into t h rivi n g cou n t ries

, .

Alon g the ban ks o f the C henab canal now stre t ch elds

and V illages in hab ited by a mill ion people where twelve ,

years a go a few nomads wandered over a deser t o f parched

earth and camel thorn The S ta t e i rriga t ion works of
-
.

I nd ia are of thei r kind the greatest and the most b e n e

, ,

cent triumphs o f en g ineeri ng that the world has

S ir Lo u is Dane said to me We are adding an E gypt
a year to the E mpire by ou r ca n a l s bu t E n g land takes no ,

notice A ll this S ocial istic w

. ork is nothin g to the S ocialist
at home Let a youn g tea planter obj ec t i n his railway
.
-

carria g e to a native who collects at bedtime h is lice i n a

box lest he sho u ld hu r t the m by lying o n them and the ,

fact that the I ndian Government has bestowed happ iness

and prosperi t y o n a million people inhabiting what w a s
once a desert O f parched earth is bu t a ou rish i i n go i s m ,

to the o u tra g ed p ropriety o f o u r u niversal reformer .

Perhaps few people i n E n g land reali z e from the Tory ,

who V iolentl y supports it t o the S ocialist wh o as violently

defames it how far the Govern ment o f I ndia has g one
,

a l ong the road o f what w e sho u ld term i n E ngland th e

wildest and most godless S ocialism To be g in w ith the .
,

soil o f I ndia is national p roperty and the land tax is ,

-

national revenue I mag i ne such a state o f th ings i n

.

E ngland $ Again the national revenu e of I ndia with n o

, ,

navy to pay for is devoted i n enormou s su ms to the

,

develop ment O f the cou ntry I magine such a th in g i n .

E n gland $ Stran g e is it not that the home Conservative

, ,

defends i n I ndia what he wo u ld die to Oppose i n E n g land ,

S tu di es of I n di a n i fe
L and S en t im en t by , S ir B a mpfy l d e F u ll er ,

p . 1 95 .
 Tr u tns a b ou t I n dia

and the S ocialist attacks i n I ndia what he s o eloquently -

demands fo r E ngland .

Let the reader j ud g e between the poor cal u mny o f

these extrem e S ocial ists and the sober words o f S i r joh n
H ewett who in addressin g an I ndustrial Conference c o n
, ,

vened by him sel f t o increase the p rosperity o f the U nited

P rovin ces had the honesty and cou ra g e to make these
followi n g references before an au dience composed ch iey o f
I ndians
Onexp e i e c e d m an ag e of c otto mill i t h e s e p o vi n c e s sp eak
e r n r a n- n r ,

i n g a t t h e I d s t i l C o fe e c e a t B e a e s i
n u r a
9 5 said n r n n r n 1 0 ,

Go wh e e yo will a d s ea c h wh e e you m y yo
r u wil l d e v y n r r a ,
u n er

wh e e th e s m e c mpl a i t a d t h t is t h e p oo q u li t y of l a b ou A d i t
r a o n ,
n a r a r . n

is p oo b e au s e t h e l a b o i g m is o t t h ift y H e o n l y v l e s m y
r c ur n an n r . a u on e

fo wh a te v e i t c a g iv e h im t t h m o m en t
r r H e d oe s ot v a l ue w o k f
n a e . n r or

w o k s s k e To him i t is f t a tely a m a tte o f c o mpl e te i n d i e e e
r a .
,
u n or u n , r r nc

wh e t h e his w o k is b a d o g oo d H e d oe s ot v l t im e b ec a s e his
r r r . n a ue ,
u

p ti e is n ot to d o m c h a s p o ssibl e i
ra c c g iv e t im e b t s l i ttl e
as u n a n ,
u a as

p o ssibl e .

O e O f t h e l e a d i g m e h a t s i C l tt w i t e s t o m
n n foll o ws rc n n a cu a r e as

K e ep i

mi d h o w e v e t h e g ood ol d B i t ish sys te m o f p p e ti
n n ,
r, r a r n ce

sh ip whi h i s s a b oy m as te i g his c a ft a d g e e a ll l o vi g i t too

,
c n ure r n r ,
n n r y n .

Th e I d i p eo p l e d o t go t w o k i th e mills fo t h e l o v e o f t h e t hi n g
n

an n o r n r ,

b t to m k e
u livi g I h v e sp e t t hi t y th e y e s i n si d e mi l ls h e e
a a n . a n r -
re ar r ,

b t o t o e I d i a h s s gg e s te d
u n n n im p o v e m en t i m a hi e y o t e t
n a u an r n c n r r r a

m e t o f a w m t i l S h a s ta te of t hi g s w o l d b e im po ssibl e i
n r a er a . uc n u n

B i ta i
r Th e w o k m
n. t h e e is v e y l o w d o w i t h e s c al w h o d o e s o t
r an r r n n e n

pl a a n d th i n k o t s c h m s to m a k e his t o ls m o e e ec t i e
n u e e o r v .

M C h att erj ee h
r . t i e d t h e l o w i t ell e t a l s t d d o f th e h d
as no c n c u an ar an

l oo m w eav e s n d a d voc t e s a v e y wi d e x te si o o f p im a y e d uc a t i o
r , a a r e n n r r n

a m o g th e w e vi g c l ss e s
n a n a .

S ir j oh n H ewett proceeded as follows :

G en tl e m e n ,
wh
I b e g a n my d d e ss I s a i d t h a t th e p ro bl e m b e fo re
en a r

u s wa s n o l i g h t o n e I t is e q u a lly c er t a i n t h a t i t is o f t h e u t m o s t imp or
.

t a n c e t o t his c o u n t r y th a t e v e r y e ff or t sh ou l d b e m d e to s o lv e i t wi th o u t a

d e l a y I n n o c ou tr y t h at I k o w o f h a v e t h e c o n d i t i o n s n o w e xis t i n g i
. n n n

I n d i a e v e p e s e n t ed t h e ms el v e s b efor e We h a v e a l a g e a d expa n di n g
r r . r n

r ilw a y sys t e m ; w e h a v e fou r or e g e at c e n t r e s o f i n d u s t r y whi c h w o l d

a v r u

c o mp a r e fa v o u ra bly wi t h m a y o f t h e i d u s t i a l c e n t e s o f E u r o p e ; w e n n r r

h v e th e r i c h e s t p ossib l e c o ll ec t i on of mi n e a l a d v eg etabl e p o d u c t s w e
a r n r

h av e a fo e i g n tra d e o f n ea rly 1 2 milli on s s t rli g m u c h o f whi c h c n sis t s

r 2 e n ,
o

i n t h e e xp or t o f ou r v a l u a bl ra w p r o d u c t s i n r e t u rn fo r m a n u fa c t u r e d e

a t i c l e s m a d e i n t h e U n i te d K i n gd o m
r d fo e i g n o u n t i e s I n c ert i n an r c r . a
1 74 Tr u tas a b ou t I n d ia

any legislation wh ich by t h e greatest stretch o f i ma gi nation

, ,

could be designated class le g isl ation ; the entire energies o f

Government the entire forces o f a brillian t and assid uo us
,

C ivil Serv ice are devoted to the u plifting and safeguarding

,

o f the I ndian people .

I d o n o t strain me t aphor when I l ike n the twelve

h u ndred E n g l ish men at the head o f the I nd ian Govern
men t to the managers o f a com mercial enterprise whose
sol e Obj ect and pu rpose i n existence is the prosperity o f
t hei r undertak ing B etween each provi nce there is a
.

j ealou sy a trade rival ry a spirit o f competin g en thusiasm

, , .

I t i s the strai n and energy o f these cou ntrymen o f ou rs

to excel each other i n the great advent u re o f I ndian
p rosperity .

C onsider fo r a moment what th is Govern ment h a s

done . F irst it has established peace throughou t the
,

length and breadth o f I ndia a peace i n wh ich the hu mblest ,

ou t cast c a n wal k u nafraid and th e most industrious pursue

h is callin g without risk Thi s by itsel f considering the
.
,

racial con icts and reli g io u s animosities o f the im mense

con tinent i s an achievement o f the rst magni t ude B u t
,
.

the Govern men t has n o t been content w i t h th is a c hieve

ment I t has lighted the torch o f education and it
.
,

preached th e g ospel o f h u manity .

B I L L I NG A ND S O NS . LT D .
, P R I NTE R S , G U I L DFO R D
 H on . S ec r eta ry ,

E A S T I N D IA A S S O CIA TIO N ,

WE S T M I N S T E R C HAMB E R S ,

3 , VI CT O R IA S T RE E T ,

LO N D O N , S . W.

Wi ll y o u k i d ly
n su b m it my na m e to th e C ou n c i l of

th e E A S T I ND I A AS S O C I ATI O N for l
e ec t o i n as a Me m b e r $

Y o u r s fa i t h fu ll y ,

Nam e

Add re ss