19

of the last century, from 1905 we have an era of hk
prices. During the war, the prices rose still further, the
maximum rise being in 1919 from which date there has
been a gradual fall though we have not yet reached the
pre-war level.

Contrary to expectations this great rise in prices has
not led to a permanent advantage to the .Gujarat peasant.
There have been signs of prosperity here and there ; new
houses have been built in some parts ; the habits of dress
have slightly changed, new wants have been created,
for example, taking tea; some luxuries can be noticed,
like smoking cigarettes and so on. If we consider the prob-
lem not from superficial indications, but from the point
of view of the cost of cultivation, we find that the cost
has increased in a greater proportion than the rise in the
prices of agricultural produce- In the absence of detail-
ed data, we shall take the following figures. The daily
rate of wages of field labourers and of skilled labourers
whose services are indispensable to the peasant for mak-
ing new implements or repairing old ones, has risen 3^
times in the case of the former and 4 times in the case
of the latter since 1900 as shown below.

Year
FIELD LABOUR
SKILLED LABOUR

Daily average wage
Index
No,
Daily average wage
Index No.

1900
-Bs. As. Pa. 0-2— $
100
Ms. As. Ps. 0- 7-3
100

1922
0-8-0
356
1-13-6
407

It is obvious from these figures that the cultivator has
not gained but has probably lost from the rise in prices,
but this generalization is subject to several limitations
becauseNthe assumptions made in such calculations are not
all true in every case, (i) The cultivator, if he grows
corn, does not sell the whole of it but retains a part for
his own consumption for the year. To that extent there-
fore he does not enter into the market either as a seller or