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rHE FOUNDATIONS Oi
INDIAN ECONOMICS

RADHAKAMAL MUKERJEE

THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN
ECONOMICS

INDIA'S MESSAGE TO THE WEST

India stands for living Humanity as against
inert matter; for more equitable distribution
of wealth ; for less luxury and more brother-
hood; for less industrial conflict and more
co-operation; for wealth as a means as
against wealth as an end; and for finding
happiness not in restless self-serving but in
the consecration of life to the welfare of
Society and Humanity.

Pp. 459-61, 465-7-

•••••• a

• ♦ * » • .,

THE FOUNDATIONS OF
INDIAN ECONOMICS

RADHAKAMAL MUKERJEE, M.A.

PREMCHAND ROYCHAND SCHOLAR, CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY ; PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS,
KRISHNATH COLLEGE, BERHAMPORE, BENGAL ; HONORARY ORGANISER,
CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES, MURSHIDABAD

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

PATRICK GEDDES

PROFESSOR OF BOTANY, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, DUNDEE

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO,
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK

BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS

I916

All rights rtsemed

^fWgf^H

(Markandeya Chandi, Chap. XL, 46-49.)

" And I shall again be on earth when there
has been drought, and scarcity of water for
a hundred years, born not out of mother's
womb when my praise will be recited by
the Saints. Then I shall cast a look on
mankind with hundred eyes, and they shall
call me the hundred-eyed from that time.
Then, ye Gods, I shall support the entire
universe until there is rain with life-sustain-
ing herb created out of my own body.
From that time I shall be known on earth
by the name Sakamvari" (lit. she who
sustains with the herb).

35734

INTRODUCTION

Professor Mukerjee honours me by his wish that
I should write the introduction to his volume ; and
I willingly attempt this. As an eager reader, and
even an old reviewer of books on India, I can
honestly invite others to follow him through the
villages and fields, and into the homes and work-
shops to which, he leads us, and of which he has so
much to tell. Since the appearance of " The Web
of Indian Life," by his and my old friend Sister
Nivedita, I know of no such further and fuller
volume, again sympathetic and suggestive and now
detailed and practical, even reconstructive.

The situation of the village is one of the pro-
foundest interest, and this to Indian and European
alike, since the whole modern transition is involved
within it. There — the ancient village community
with its family and caste systems, and with the
agriculture, the crafts and arts, the education and
religion also, which are congruent with these.
Here — attacking and disintegrating it, more and
more year by year — the Industrial Revolution.
Upon this process of breaking-down of the antique
social order, which in Western countries we have
earlier and thus more completely expressed, there
are two familiar and contrasted types of comment,
the regretful and the triumphant respectively. Of

X INTRODUCTION

the first, Goldsmith's "Deserted Village" is the
classic dirge, as Carlyle's, Ruskin's, and Morris's
impassioned diatribes are the later expression ; but
for most ears all these alike have been drowned by
the tumult of the manufacturing or the financial
city, by the mingled thunder of steam-engine, rail,
and loom, and, above all, by the economists' and
politicians' inspiring battle-cry of " Progress."
What, then, can we expect from the Indian student,
insistently educated as he is in both these schools —
in experience by the first, and at college by the
second — but that he should accept the process, as
Westerns usually do, as ** at any rate inevitable,"
and so adjust his life to win such position or profit
as may be practicable under the circumstances ?
Not so, however, our author ; here is the main
point and purport of his book.

The rural conditions of India, its village life
and institutions, have been described by many
authors and with a recognition of their antique
worth which no one now-a-days will seriously deny.
Similarly for the associated industries, though here
in this book with a real beginning of full and
monographic surveys. The struggle for existence
in which the village now finds Itself Is likewise
admitted on all hands, though it is much to have
it here reviewed afresh by an essentially first-hand
observer. But the main thesis of this book, to
which all else leads up — Its distinctive contribution,
by which It has to fall or stand — Is that the struggle
is not, at any rate need not be, that of despairing
age, vainly striving with broken sword and feeble
shield, against overpowering numbers, modern
weapons, limitless resources, ruthless strategy, and

INTRODUCTION XI

thus inexorable fate. With cheering faith in the
survival-capacity of his old village, as well as in
the value of its villagers, — a faith based on
knowledge — our author presages for it and them
a very different future ; and he supports this fore-
cast not merely by general economic arguments of
vigour, but by definite and practical proposals as
well. For him age is not necessarily senescence,
still less senility ; its long-sought secret of rejuven-
escence is again coming within grasp ; why, then,
may not renewing and readaptive youth — even
now, far though the struggle has gone — seize his
antagonist's best weapons and successfully turn
them to the defence of village and home ?

*' Fair hopes of a young writer," the elderly
reviewers, if in good temper, may patronisingly
say. Many of us have felt the like, and this forty
years ago and more. But we saw Ruskin forced
to retire to his hillside in sadness, and Morris to
retreat to his library, his printing-press ; and so
more or less with the other romantics, ** beautiful
ineffectual angels" all. The foremost living poet
of the West, Emile Verhaeren, has faced the
modern inferno of hideously spreading tentacular
cities, into which their impoverished and halluci-
nated country-sides more or less hopelessly fall.
And now that war is bringing poverty, and its
stern financial masters, so plainly within view, what
rural life can hope to escape from the clamant
summons of the manufacturing towns "^ From the
standardized semi-slums of Western progress, the
corresponding coolie-lines or human warehouse-
chawls of Indian progress, who will deliver these
simple country people who daily crowd the ingoing

Xll INTRODUCTION

trains? What hope from the most benevolent of
governments, save of inspection and inspectors ? or
from progressive social theorists, like Mr. Wells ? or
from his antagonists, the Fabian Society for choice,
save more machinery and more inspectors still ?

Despite all this, and even here in Calcutta —
where the industrial process, with its coarsest
material of jute and its attendant evils accordingly,
with its planless muddle of docks and railways and
canals, is rising to a devastating and destructive
force fully recalling the unrestrained and un-
moralized heyday of the generations of correspond-
ing initiative of Britain — Professor Mukerjee is
resolved to fight his battle, and not only to defend
but renew his hard-beset village home. It is well
he should, for, in eager thought no less than in
strenuous deed, youth must to-day, as of old, " ride
forth to war with all his banners flowing." But
with what hope for him, or for those he seeks to
inspire or lead ?

Despite ample witness of failures and dis-
appointments in social and educational endeavours,
and long, indeed well-nigh incessant, experience of
such discouragement as well, I yet venture to main-
tain that his main thesis is sound. The village can
be made to survive. Though a Ruskin may fail,
a Plunkett may and does succeed. In Denmark,
above all. Bishop Gruntwig has succeeded.

Education has not said its last word, but only
repeated earlier and mistaken ones, in preparing
the present overplus of would-be clerks and
officials, of barristers and politicians, with dis-
appointments, embitterments, and social dangers
accordingly. Similarly for social organization ;

INTRODUCTION XUl

even with its soldiers and munition-makers by the
million to-day, massed as for the creation of rail-
ways and factories a generation and more ago.
France, which has so largely led the world, and
for evil as well as good, into militarism, officialism,
and examinationalism alike, is now peculiarly dis-
illusioned with all three ; and she is setting towards
rural and technical efficiency ; other countries are
following suit ; and the turn of India will not be
much longer delayed. That when the war is over
young Europe will wish for and seek more con-
structive work, more manly, healthy life than our
present cities offer, is being generally realized.
The generation succeeding that of our young
soldiers is already characterized by its boy scouts,
with their joyous return to nature and labour.
Moreover, to the boy scout is already being added
the boy citizen. Then why not also the boy
villager, who more naturally includes them both?
And this similarly (or first ?) for girls.

Beyond all such observations or forecasts of
social changes in detail, there is a larger view with
which we may conclude, that of a better understand-
ing of the Industrial Age. Of this every economist
speaks, but none has yet adequately analyzed it.
Every one has heard of the Stone Age ; but no
ordinarily informed person any longer speaks of this
as one period but always clearly distinguishes it
into two ages, rude and fine, ** Paleolithic " and
" Neolithic," the Old Stone Age and the New. In
the earlier of these periods we see man still fresh
from his emergence above the brute, grasping a
rudely chipped flint and mastering the secret of fire.
In the second we have man rising beyond the rude

XIV INTRODUCTION

hunting stage, and founding, in all its essentials, our
present civilization. For he is creating not only
finished and polished tools, with corresponding finer
workmanship, but has established agriculture and
cattle-keeping, with all that these imply — of the
progress of intelligence, the status of woman, of the
beginnings of institutions. He had religion too, as
his burials and monuments testify, and education
necessarily also.

Here, then, is the material for a present com-
parison ; here the clue to a corresponding analysis
of the Industrial or Technic Age, into its ruder and
its finer phase, as Paleotechnic and Neotechnic.
The first is the age of coal and smoke, of steam
factories and railway centralization, of mean housing
and cheap textiles. Above all, it is the age of cheap
people, slaves to all the evils of overcrowding, dirt
and disease, and with rebound from these into worse
evils, as of intemperance and vice : furthermore it is
maintained by that substantial indifference among
the directive classes, that shrinking acceptance
among the educated classes, which we all know so
well. This Paleotechnic phase of industry has been
abstractly formulated ; into mechanical science and
machine-politics, into conventional ** education " of
examination boards, above all, into monetary eco-
nomics, its appropriate mythology ; and the whole
has been received with superstitious and fatalistic
acceptance, all the world over. Hence it is no
wonder that Indians, as the smoke-cloud and ash-
heap and muck-rake come from overseas to them,
think of these as ** Western Civilization."

Thus, as prime example, arose Paleotechnic
Glasgow ; for here there emerged James Watt and

INTRODUCTION XV

Adam Smith, as veritable conqueror and law-giver
of the whole Paleotechnic world for generations to
come. Their little old university and cathedral
townlet thus swiftly grew into a world-city, yet one
fundamentally of slum, overcrowded from the de-
populated villages of Highlands and Islands, of
Lanarkshire and Ireland alike. The same process
spread everywhere, in Birmingham and the Mid-
lands, Lancashire, Yorkshire ; each developed its
Black country ; and next throughout the world.

But in this very city of the Prometheus of Steam,
and in the very midst of its crude industrial order,
there has been going on, for two generations past,
more and more of higher Promethean endeavour and
accomplishment. Here worked for half a century
the foremost magician of electricity, Lord Kelvin ;
and here young Lister began the cleansing advance
which he later perfected into the antiseptic surgery
of Edinburgh, and finally popularized in London,
and to the world. The master-art of ship-building,
surpassing even architecture in its co-ordination of
crafts and sciences, has in Glasgow reached its
highest perfection ; and, at the same time as in
Holland of old, the art of painting has had its most
conspicuous development in modern Britain. From
the Paleotechnic City, of coal, steam, and iron,
of overcrowding, dirt, and squalor, there is thus
emerging the Neotechnic City, of electricity and
hygiene, of architecture and art. And with all this
a new uplift of citizenship which has made its Town
Council undertakings known to every municipality.
So for Birmingham, for Manchester, for American
cities too : everywhere throughout the Paleotechnic
confusion there is beginning to appear the Neotechnic

XVI INTRODUCTION

order. So even the railway kings — at first harsh
invaders like the conquering caravaneers of old,
and still charging **what the traffic will bear," still
careless even of their own workers, as of the towns
and villages through which they pass and which
they disorganize — are now showing signs of develop-
ing into socialized, even moralized, rulers ; it is a
change as from Mongols to Moghuls.

In this Neotechnic society, as it becomes con-
scious, agriculture is beginning to recover and to
redeem the land from its Paleotechnic neglect and
waste ; and with this is arising horticulture. There
also reappears the art of Town-planning ; and with
this Housing and Town-planning there is new hope
for the related crafts and arts. In a word Western
Civilization proper begins to emerge from its eclipse
and to enter a fresh phase of evolution. In this
renewal the heritage of the past is being recovered ;
its ideals are being re-stated ; it may be that even
its essential institutions may be renewed upon the
modern spiral.

All this is of present interest in Professor
Mukerjee's volume. He has much to tell of how
India has conserved the essentials of her civilization,
and of how, making at once the best of her old
powers and resources and of her new ones, she may
again hold her own in the great world and even
more. Beyond this economic vision he has socio-
logical insight. He sees that India may arouse to
the value of her communitary spirit and free this
from its present deteriorations, even develop it into
a renewed efficiency, surpassing all mere economic
co-operation ; and if so that she will renew her
rural and her urban world, until each again blossoms

INTRODUCTION XVll

and fruits as did the village into the city life of old.
Tree and Shrine, Parishad and Panchayet, have
grown before now into Temple and Council, and
may again. Etho-polity, culture, and art are not the
finished products, the urban monopolies, the towns-
man now-a-days thinks them : on the contrary, their
greatest renewals have come to him from the fields ;
and will again.

This line of argument is I take it essentially
that of Mukerjee's book ; and I submit to him as to
his readers that it may be further elaborated in
detail and in theory, and increasingly applied to-
wards practice.

PATRICK GEDDES.

The Civic Exhibition,

TowNHALL, Calcutta,

December, 191 5.

PREFACE

I HAVE attempted in the following pages to describe
the main features of Indian industrial life, and to
formulate a programme of Indian economic expansion.
I have felt the relativity of economic life and in-
stitutions, the significance of which is unfortunately
not fully understood in our country. In India we
have heard and seen enough of theories as well as
practices attempting to force economic systems and
methods which have not been wholly successful in
the West, but which are unsuited to the socio-
economic traditions of the country, and to its
geographical and historical conditions : and the time
has come for a clear analysis of the regulative social
and ethical ideals of India, to which all economic
institutions must be adapted. It is true that some
of these ideals themselves will be and are being
changed by contact with Western industrialism, but
we need to analyze the nature and extent of this
change, and to judge whether this change will be
permanent, or only temporary in its operation.
Above all, we have to decide whether such changes
will aid the expression of the Indian genius, of the
particular phase of universal humanity which the
Indian people are unfolding, or will tend to suppress
and obliterate these. The investigations into the

XX PREFACE

various factors in Indian economics have followed
the historico-comparative method, the only right
method in all sociological inquiry, and will, it is
hoped, as a study in comparative and applied
economics, be a contribution to the science of pure
economics, widening its basis, and extending the
domain of its data.

An attempt has been made to examine the socio-
economic data derived from caste and the joint family
as well as the economico-religious ideas and institu-
tions, and the peculiarities and special features of
Indian consumption, which are still living forces in
Indian economic life. I have made an inductive study
of the principal cottage and village industries, which
are still holding their own with a remarkable
vitality and exhibit in their nature a striking though
not perfect adaptation to their environment, and are
ultimately sustained by the moral ideas and ideals it
involves. I have also studied the machinery of
exchange and distribution which this Indian indus-
trial system has evolved, the characteristic methods
of trade, transport and credit which are adapted to
and subserve the productive organization. Finally,
there have been indicated in a general way the lines
of Indian economic advance, showing the scope of
the factory, the workshop, and the cottage industry
in the industrial progress of the future. Though I
have touched more slightly upon Indian agriculture,
which I hope to discuss in a future work, I have
examined and pointed out remedies for the decline
of the village, and of rural life generally, which in
India is now so grave and urgent a problem for
the economist and the statesman. In the concluding
chapters I have sought to discover the economic

PREFACE XXI

message of India breathed forth by her immemorial
institutions, and its meaning and significance for the
economic unrest of the modern age.

My study of Indian economic phenomena and
problems has led me to certain conclusions about
the economic future of India which differ in some
respects from the two rival theories now current.
One of these formulated by what may be called *' the
arts and crafts school " can find no place for large
production in the scheme of Indian economic develop-
ment ; while the other is equally extreme in preaching
the impossibility of small production. My conclusion
is between the two extremes ; and I am convinced that
in sound economic development both large and small
industries have their proper scope and importance,
and one need not exclude the other.

As a student of Indian Economics, I cannot
but express my ol^ligation to Ranade's Essays, which
is the pioneer work on the subject. The different
papers submitted to the Indian Industrial Conferences
are published every year and contain a mine of
information on technical and industrial subjects
which I have occasionally drawn upon. Sir
Theodore M orison's Industrial Organization of an
Indian Province has been specially useful to me as
regards the methods of economic investigation it
has followed. For the regulative conceptions of
Indian economic life the brochure entitled An
Introduction to Indian Economics of my brother,
Dr. Radhakumud Mookerji, M. A., Ph. D., author of
A History of Indian Shipping, is an admirable
production ; while his paper on Lines of Indian
Industrial Advance is specially valuable for the light
it throws on the proper place and importance of the

XXll PREFACE

small industry in Indian economic life. The mono-
graphs published by Government in different pro-
vinces on village industries and handicrafts, though
mainly descriptive in their character, have been very
useful : they are, however, unfortunately too few in
number.

But the main source of my information is my
own first-hand study and actual investigation on the
spot of the cottage and village industries and the
systems of trade, credit and transport. I have had
to go from village to village in a laborious search
for facts and details regarding rural life and labour
which have hardly been recorded by any previous
observation. The difficulties one has to experience
in collecting such data from our artisan and trading
classes are characteristic. One has to fight not only
their ignorance and superstitions, but also their fears
and suspicions. The real sources of information
are accessible only to sympathy and fellowship with
simple labour and life, in its distress and sufferings,
its aims and aspirations.

For some of these data I am indebted to artisans
and labourers who are taught in my night schools,
rural and urban, and also to agriculturists and traders
who are members of Co-operative Credit Societies
in villages established by me as Honorary Organizer
of Co-operative Societies in the district of Murshi-
dabad. I have been able to collect, after Engels'
method, the statistics of consumption partly through
them as well as through friends and pupils of Krish-
nath College, Berhampore, who took the trouble of
filling up the tables I prepared for this purpose : and
to them my best thanks are due.

I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Dr. Brajendra

PREFACE XXlll

Nath Seal, M.A., Ph.D., King George V. Professor
of Philosophy in the Calcutta University, for his
invaluable suggestions given from time to time, and
his deep interest in my work. My acknowledg-
ments are also due to Dr. Radhakumud Mookerji,
M.A., Ph.D., and Professor Benoy Kumar Sarkar,
M.A., author of the Science of Education, for revision
of the book, and assistance rendered by them in
various ways ; as also to the writer of the intro-
duction.

Chapters Land II., Book III., and Chapter IX.,
Book IV., were approved by the Calcutta University
for the Premchand Roychand Research Student-
ship. Some of the other chapters were originally
submitted as papers to the Indian Industrial Con-
ference, and the Provincial Co-operative Conference,
Bengal. My thanks are due to those by whose kind
permission I am reproducing them here. I should
also express my grateful acknowledgments to the
Editors of the Modern Review, the Indian Review,
the Hindusthan Review, the Modem Worlds the
Wealth of India, the Dacca Review, the Vedic
Magazine and Gurukula Samachar, the Collegian,
and the Calcutta University Magazine for the courtesy
of their permission to reproduce different portions of
the work which originally appeared in these journals.
My special thanks are due to Mr. Ramananda
Chatterji, M.A., of the Modern Review, for the
greater portion of this work appeared in his journal.

RADHAKAMAL MUKERJEE.
Bkrhampore, Murshidabad,

March, 1914.

CONTENTS

BOOK I
THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Economic Transformation of Rural India . . 3

II. Conservative Elements in the Economic Order . . 11

III. The Family as the Economic Unit 15

IV. Caste as an Economic Factor 33

V. The Religious Element in Crafts and Industries . 47

VI. The Standard of Consumption 56

VII. Retrospect and Forecast 60

BOOK II
THE COTTAGE AND VILLAGE INDUSTRIES

I. Lac Culture and Manufacture 65

II. Apiculture : Collection of Honey and Extraction

OF Wax 73

III. Bamboo Working and Basket Making 78

IV. The Fishing Industry 81

V. Dairying 92

VI. Rice and Wheat Manufacture 96

VII. Sugar Industry 106

VIII. The Oil-pressing Industry 125

IX. Pottery 137

X. Carpentry 148

XI. Handloom Weaving 152

XII. The Silk Industry 173

XXVI CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGB

XIII. Tassar and Endi Rearing and Weaving .... 198

XIV. Dyeing 205

XV. The Leather Industry 210

XVI. Sola Manufacture and Tinsel Industry .... 220

XVII. Bangle Making 225

XVIII. Metal Work 228

XIX. Building and Carving 243

BOOK III
CREDIT AND TRADE SYSTEMS

I. The Organization of Rural Credit 265

II. The Organization of Rural Trade and Transport . 280

III. The Transition in Trade 307

BOOK IV
THE ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF INDIA

I. Indian Industrialism and its Line of Evolution . 321

II. The Coming Change in Western Industrialism . . 333

III. The Industrial Problem of India (a) The Case for

the Factory Organization 339

IV. The Industrial Problem of India {continued) (b) The

Case for the Workshop 356

V. The Industrial Problem of India {continued) (c) The

Case for the Cottage Industry 369

VI. Co-operation and the Cottage Industry .... 377

VII. Technical Education and the Cottage Industry . 392

VIII. The Restoration of the Village 400

IX. Co-operation and the Village Life 418

X. The Ethics of Indian Industrialism, and its Lessons

for the West 447

XI. Conclusion 462

Index I. Subjects 47i

II. Proper Names and Literary References . 508

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. The Bamboo Trap on the Margin of the River Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

2. Bamboo Weaving 79

3. Fishing in Mid-stream 81

4. Fishing in Shallov^^ Water 86

5. Husking and Winnowing Grain 97

6. GuR-MAKiNG 108

7. Tapping the Date-palm 122

8. Silk Industry 173

9. Feeding Cocoons 176

10. The Shoemakers at work 212

11. Hammering the Utensil on the Anvil 231

12. The Furnace: the Artisan pouring the Molten Kansa

into the Earthen Crucibles 233

13. The Hand-lathe for Chiselling and Polishing : the

Artisan applying the Chisel to the Revolving

Vessel 234

14. Goldsmiths at work 241

15. The Pheriwalah 297

16. The Factory and the Slums . 416

ERRATA

Page 31, line

For " Dom " f

''ea

„ 38 „

„ "Kolu"

„ 44 „

„ "Sayyied"

» n V

„ " output "

» 121 „

„ "creditors"

» 141 „

„ "kaby"

„ 165 „

„ 211 „ 9-

-12

" Native saddles ... I

Jric

"Dome"

"Kalu"

"Sayyid"

"outfit"

" debtors »

"kabis"

"tea-"
Bridles . . . Hide-ropes . . .
Water-bags" should be read immediately
following the articles enumerated at foot
of page 210 and de/ore " Musical Instru-
ments "

„ 227

»)

/^^r

"khilan"

read

"'khiten''

» 238

"bellow"

))

"bellows"

» 247

" curvings "

" carvings "

„ 248

"curved"

"carved"

„ 261

" Juggannath "

" Jagannath "

,,266

„

" 30 per cent."

" 50 per cent."

„ 289

''bundh''

''bimdhs"

„ 299

" gomustas "

" gumusthas "

» 309

»>

" Export of rice

" Export of rice and
wheat "

V 386

" non-seasonable " „

" non-seasonal "

» 423

" ecuri "

" security "

» 439

" perquisites "

"requisites"

BOOK I
THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER I

THE ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF RURAL
INDIA

India is now in the throes of a great economic
revolution. A contrast between city life and village
life would show the fundamental character of this
revolution. Rural India carries on the production,
distribution, and consumption of wealth in a manner
which is strikingly different from that of city India.
The structure of rural society has hitherto rested,
and is still resting to a certain extent on status,
while the cities are rapidly coming under the sway
of competition. Indeed, the economic ideas of the
city are not only far removed, but in some cases
are actually antagonistic to those of the village.
The village is still almost self-sufficing, and is in
itself an economic unit. The village agriculturist
grows all the food necessary for the inhabitants of
the village. The smith makes the ploughshares for
the cultivator, and the few iron utensils required for
the household. He supplies these to the people, but
does not get money in return. He is recompensed
by mutual services from his fellow villagers. The
potter supplies him with pots, the weaver with
cloth, and the oilman with oil. From the culti-
vator each of these artisans receives his traditional
share of grain. Thus almost all the economic

B 2

4!: ;T^ FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

transactions are carried on without the use of money.
To the villagers money is only a store of value,
not a medium of exchange. When they happen
to be rich in money, they hoard it either in coins
or make ornaments made of gold and silver.

The village agriculturist possesses little capital.
He lives from hand to mouth. The Banya supplies
the cultivator with seeds, and charges an enormous
interest.^ But the cultivator pays the interest un-
grudgingly ; though he stoops under the heavy
burden, he does not improve his position. There
is no desire for a better, more comfortable living,
both among the cultivators as well as among the
artisans. The artisans follow their hereditary
occupations. There is no competition, no stimulus
for improvement, no change in customary wages.
The industries are stereotyped; the apprentice
only tries to imitate his master, and rarely thinks
of introducing new implements or new methods of
manufacture. Thus the village communities are
the most complete and the most contented in the
world. Within their self-sufficing confines trade is
no vulgar source of profit for which men scheme
and strive, but a calling, often a holy calling,
handed down from father to son through genera-
tions, each with its own unchanging ideals, its
zealously-guarded crafts.

But the village life is being transformed. The
city sends to the village Manchester cloths, and

^ He is not altogether so despicable as many think him to be, for
without his assistance agricultural operations cannot be carried on
for a day in the village. The people are so poor that ** the Banya
has often not only to forego the repayment of the loan for the time
being, but even to feed his debtors in the bargain, in order to keep
alive the hope of being paid in future."

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF RURAL IND/A S

these are replacing the cloths woven by its weavers.
Not only weavers, but also other artisans are losing
their occupations and turning to agriculture. The
cheap kerosene oil from Baku or New York
threatens the oilman's existence. Brass and copper
which have been used for vessels from time imme-
morial are threatened by cheap enamelled ironware
imported from Europe. The village sugar-cane
is also in danger on account of the competition of
imported sugar, which is sold at a very low price.
The manufacture of sugar from gur (molasses)
tends to become unremunerative. The demand
for gur also falls off when the price of sugar is
brought down by competition. There is also
pari passu a transformation of the tastes of the
consumers. They abandon gur for crystal sugar.
Home- woven cloths are now replaced by manu-
factured cloths for being too coarse. All local
industries are attacked, and many have been de-
stroyed. Villages that for centuries followed cus-
tomary practices are brought into contact with the
world s market all on a sudden. For steamship
and railways which have established the connection
have been built in so short an interval as hardly
to allow breathing time to the village which slum-
bered so long under the dominion of custom. Thus
the sudden introduction of competition into an
economic unit which had from time immemorial
followed custom has wrought a mighty change.

New economic ideas have now begun to in-
fluence the minds of the villagers. In some of the
villages the weavers and the blacksmiths have no
doubt been compelled to leave their occupations on
account of foreign competition, but more men are

&; . TfiE. FOUND4TI0NS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

leaving their hereditary occupations q/ their own
accord. All Brahmins are not priests now. Many,
indeed, live according to the old ideals, and view the
temptations and vices of the West in " silent, deep
disdain." But a few of them who have felt the
impulse of a new life have gone to the cities. Those
who are intelligent become lawyers or government
servants, and those who fail in the competition
become petty clerks in railway or mercantile offices.
The middle classes also leave their village and get
scattered all over the country to earn a living. A
writer^ thus laments the decline of villages in
Bengal : ** In days long gone by our villages vied
with each other as to which had the best Sanskrit
Pandits and the best Tols, which had the largest
number of Durga Pujas and where the largest
number of people of all castes were fed. The days
are gone by when each village was proud of the
products of its looms, of the hoes made by its
blacksmiths, itsjatras^ and its Baroari poojaks. But
where are those things now ? Echo answers where }
At day time you will find large and expensive build-
ings either wholly unoccupied or in the occupation
of a few old women. Is there a pestilence in the
village ? Ah no ! for you will see the houses and
huts of the peasantry full to overcrowding. It is
the houses of the middle-class Bhadralokes that are
wholly or partly unoccupied and that gives to the
whole village the look of a deserted village." Not
only the middle class but the field labourers also
have found their ancestral occupations not suffi-
ciently paying and have felt the need of moving to
other places. The Government public works, the

^ The Bengalee, August 2, 1901.

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF RURAL/ INDIA 7

factories, the tea, indigo, and coffee plantations, the
mining operations, as well as the facilities for foreign
emigration all tend to shake the old immobility of
labour. As the Imperial Gazetteer writes, " A com-
parison of census returns of 1891 and 1901 shows
that a considerable landless class is developing
which involves economic danger, because the in-
crease has been most marked in districts where the
rural population is already congested or in pro-
vinces in which there is a special liability to periodic
famines. The ordinary agricultural labourers are
employed on the land only during the busy seasons
of the year and in slack times a few are attracted
to large trade-centres for temporary work." ^ The
attraction to towns and other trade centres increases
as trade industries develop and this movement is
accelerated in famine years. " Agricultural labourers
migrate from Bengal and the Central Provinces to
Assam, from the United Provinces to Bengal, from
Madras and Chittagong to Burmah ; and outside
India to Ceylon, Mauritius, South Africa, British
Guiana, and other colonies in search of agricultural
and other employment." In Madras, where emigra-
tion has been comparatively easy, there is almost a
chronic scarcity of labour. In some districts the
agricultural operations have been much impeded and
at times endangered by the constant and sudden
desertion of agricultural labourers, who, after enter-
ing into contract to cultivate the lands on certain
conditions, emigrate to foreign parts without the
slightest notice to their employers.^

^ Vol. iii., p. 2.

2 G. S. Iyer, " Some Economic Aspects of British Rule in India,"
p. 207.

8 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

There are also other great far-reaching effects
of this migration of labour. There has been
engendered an aversion from the parent plough
and the workshop. The demand for labour, again,
has withdrawn the most valuable and potential
elements from society — the flower of the agricul-
tural population and rural artisans — so that not only
agriculture but the handicrafts also suffer. The
production of cereals has diminished a great deal
while the foreign exports have a continuous ten-
dency to increase. The village market is no longer
isolated ; the demand for food in any part of India
tends also to affect it. The population has in-
creased and the standard of living has also become
higher. The coolie emigrants or the middle class
who return to the villages bring with them good
savings and live on better fare than they were con-
tent with before they emigrated. The increased
demand for food is, however, unaccompanied by an
increased out-turn of agricultural produce. The
price of food-stuffs has consequently risen by 32
per cent. The exodus to towns is still going on at
an alarming rate, the towns still continue to offer
easy employment to the middle classes and labourers
and ready markets for the products of the village
artisans. They offer high material prospects to the
ambitious, and in general provide all the mechanical
facilities and pleasures of life to satisfy those whose
standard of life has suddenly been raised. The
landlords pass their lives amid the luxuries of
the towns, and lose touch with their tenants.
The sturdy cultivators become domestic servants,
and the middle-class independent bhadralokes be-
come clerks in mercantile offices and Government

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF RURAL INDIA 9

establishments. Thus the villages are all deserted and
left as wastes and become prey to malaria. Paternal
estates, tanks and orchards which have been handed
down from generation to generation are left to
decay. The cattle gradually deteriorate in quality.
Milk and dairy produce become gradually scarce,
and pisciculture and horticulture become unknown.
The movement of the population from the village
to the city is in fact not only working a complete
revolution in the habits and ideals of our people,
but its economic consequences are far more serious
than are ordinarily supposed. It has made our
middle class helplessly subservient to employment
and service, and has also killed the independence of
our peasant proprietor. It has jeopardized our food
supply, and is fraught with the gravest peril not
only to our handicrafts but also to our national
industry, agriculture.

Another important change brought about in our
rural industrial life is the introduction of money-
economy. This has been a slow process, and
brought about by various causes. The railways
have destroyed the economic self-sufficiency of the
village. They have created wants which were
unknown before. The commodities which are thus
introduced into the social economy of the village
cannot be made by village artisans. Thus there
grows a class of middle-men and intermediaries.
At first they are peripatetic, like the Kabulis and
Marwaris, who come from up-country. They will
sell the commodities only for money in cash, for
they cannot stay in the village waiting for a quantity
of grain at harvest time. Thus these itinerant
dealers who come to the village occasionally with

lo THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

their assortment of imported goods encourage the
system of money-economy. There are also other
causes of the introduction of money. The villagers
who go to the cities and other trade centres for service
and employment are paid in kind and not in money.
When they return to the village, they come with
ready money in their hands. Again, the steady
and continued rise in prices of the necessities of
life which has been a characteristic feature of the
recent economic history of the country has put the
cultivating classes in possession of an amount of
ready money which they never possessed before.
In those tracts of the country especially where raw
materials for exports, such as jute, cotton, oil-seeds,
are grown, the agents of the European exporting
firms offer cash advances to the peasants, and make
them more or less independent of the village
money-lenders, who lend seeds and recover their
advances in kind, and who are thus instrumental
in conserving barter-economy. The substitution of
the gumustha or clerk of the exporting firm for the
village mahajan, indeed, marks a stdge in the tran-
sition from barter-economy to money-economy.
With these economic causes is combined an ad-
ministrative necessity. The system of collecting
the revenue in cash is perhaps the most powerful
cause of the substitution of money for barter in
Indian villages.

CHAPTER II

CONSERVATIVE ELEMENTS IN THE ECONOMIC
ORDER

Thus there have been in operation several forces
which tend to profoundly affect the old Indian
social economy. But the new economic ideas and
practices which are being introduced into the social
organization of India have not as yet been able to
produce their full effects.

Let us first study some facts about the rural
exodus which has been considered as one of the
important phases of the social transformation. In
spite of the attraction to towns the people as a mass
still live in villages. Of India more than any other
country it can be said that the nation lives in the
cottage. Nearly 85 per cent, of the total population
live in the country. There are only 2 1 50 towns in
the whole of India possessing not less than 5000
persons. Even these towns are aggregations of
villages not greatly differing from single villages.
There are 190 towns in Bengal which contain only
5 per cent, of the population. The villages make
up the remaining ninety-five. The number of vil-
lages in Bengal is about 203,658, counting each so-
called town as only an overgrown village. Of these
165,305 contain under 2000 souls, and 3066 over
3000. Migration or emigration has worked hitherto
on such a small scale in India as a whole that little

12 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

relief has been given either to congested or to
sparsely populated districts.^ The Indian peasant
clings to the neighbourhood of his own home,
however much it may be over-crowded. Again,
** the movement between different parts of India is
usually of a temporary nature, and does not involve
a permanent change in residence." Statistics show
that over 90 per cent, of the inhabitants of every
district were born in that district, 6 per cent,
were born in the districts immediately adjoining
it, and only 3 per cent, come from more distant
places. Thus the self-sufficing isolated village is
still the real unit of the Indian social life. The
number of landless labourers who are employed in
mills and factories is exceedingly small as compared
with the total industrial population of our country.
In the Punjab, where a great deal of land has been
brought under canal irrigation within recent years,
and has been colonized by people from thickly in-
habited tracts, the census returns show only 360,000
labourers and more than 10,000,000 landowners
and tenants. Large industries have been estab-
lished, but the supply of labour has been found to
be inadequate. The tea-gardens of Assam are
worked, though less and less so as time goes on, by
coolies recruited under a system of State-aided and
State-supervised emigration under the Inland Emi-
gration Acts. The stream of emigrant coolies that
used to be poured out to the British colonies under
the system of State-aided emigration is now almost
counter-balanced by the coolies who return to India.^
The factories are suffering from the inadequacy in

1 Imperial Gazetteer^ vol. iii., p. 2.

2 See G. S. Iyer's " Economic Aspects of British Rule in India."

CONSERVATIVE ELEMENTS IN ECONOMIC ORDER 13

the supply of labour. The deficiency has seriously
restricted their productive capacity.^ The fact is
that the Indian labourer is quite reluctant to leave
his native village. When, however, he does leave
his village to work in the factories, he does not
leave it for good, but he tries to return as soon as
he can. As the Report of Factory Commission,
1908, says, "The Indian factory hand is primarily
an agriculturist. His real home is in his native
village^ not in the city where he works. He leaves
both wife and children behind him when he emi-
grates to the factory, and regularly returns to them
to look after his family affairs and to rest from his
labours. More than this, he can always find work
in his village if he gets tired of the factory."

With regard to the introduction of money-
economy, another phase of the economic transition,
it should be remembered that in many villages of
modern India grain is still playing the part of
money. The tenants are still paying the landlord
in crop and not in money. The labourer in many
villages is satisfied with the customary remuneration
in grain. There can still be found many village

^ "There is at present one very serious obstacle to the rapid
development of the factory system. Labour is very difficult to secure. '
The Indian labourer does not readily adapt himself to new methods, i
In factories, in hand-loom workshops and in coal-mines there is the
same complaint — that the wages are higher than can be earned any-
where else, and yet there is a strange unwillingness to be tempted by
them. In order to induce an Indian workman to enter a factory-, he
has to be allowed a freedom from discipline which softens the contrast
with his older methods of work " (Prof. Lees Smith, " India and Tariff
Problem," p. 24). Again, " At the Ranigunge coal-mine the labourers
will not, as a rule, work more than half the month. Though they
could easily cut two tubs a day they are usually content with cutting
one, and they take frequent holidays " (Report of the Chief Inspector
of Mines, 1905).

14 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

markets where a large number of purchases and
sales is carried on without a single coin passing
between the buyer and the seller. Especially in
those parts of India where the influence of the
village community is strong, grain transactions are
the general rule. The labourers and artisans are
all employed by the body of villagers and receive
their wages in kind. These wages are altered with
great difficulty. A remarkable proof of the fact
that villages have not adopted money-economy is
the disparity between prices in the towns and those
in villages. Prices in villages still continue to
remain more or less unaffected by fluctuations in
the towns. Thus the middle-men and intermedi-
aries often gain a good deal out of purchases in
villages and sales for export. The ignorance of
the villagers is sometimes regarded as the cause
of the disparity of price-levels, but any one closely
examining the village economy will find that it is
not the ignorance of the villagers but the lack of
connection between money prices and commodities
in the village that accounts for the differences of
prices in town and village.

Thus the Indian village has not universally
adopted the economic methods and practices of the
West. It has, on the other hand, shown a rigid
adherence to her own organization. A study in
this connection of the important socio-economic
institutions of our country like the joint family and
caste, and also of the standard of consumption of
the average villager, which have tended to con-
serve the economic order, and an examination how
far western ideas and ideals have tended to modify
them, will therefore be very interesting and useful.

CHAPTER III

THE FAMILY AS THE ECONOMIC UNIT

The Hindu family, "joint in food, worship and
estate," is the economic unit of Hindu society. The
family consists of the man and woman, their sons,
grandsons, and great grandsons, who live in peace
and harmony and share the common chest or purse.^
Founded on the virtues of affection and self-control,
this system tends to develop a spirit of self-sacrifice,
and mutual control and dependence, which are quite
opposed to the competitive individualistic spirit, the
key-note of modern industrialism. Indeed, the
sentiment which it fostered and the economic effects
it produced have led to certain fundamental differ-
ences characteristic of our industrial life clearly
distinguishing it from that of Europe and America.
Thus, while in the West it is the individuaFs own
scale of wants, his standard of comforts and of
activities which regulates the growth of population,
in India the family mode of enjoyment or standard
of life is the main factor. Marriage in Hindu
society is compulsory at a particular age, so the

^ "The Hindu family is a group of individuals related to one
another by their descent from a common ancestor within seven
generations in the descending line " (Bhattacharjee, " The Law relating
to the Joint-Family "). A well-known saying ascribes happiness in
heaven to one who lives to see seven generations gathered under his
roof.

i6 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

fluctuations in prices of the crops have no such
effects as in Europe, on the number of marriages.
In Europe the check to the increase of population
is competition, the struggle for food and its law, " if
a man will not work, neither shall he eat," enforced
upon the individual by society. In India the rigour
of the law is mitigated in its operation by the family.
The family protects the young wife, the helpless
orphan or the decrepit grandfather. Thus state
medical aid or old age pensions become unnecessary.
The members of the family are assured maintenance
not only for themselves but for as many children as
they choose to bring into the world from the property
ordained to be the hereditary source of maintenance
for all. There are also theoretical restraints on the
birth-rate which serve to prevent excess of popula-
tion. These restraints are not economic but moral
and religious, and are enforced by the family. Such
restraints, however, are not now operating to any
great extent. As in the case among the lower
grades of society in England, the great bulk of the
population of our country has no prudential checks.
It seems that when the standard of comforts and of
activities is low, the higher brain centres are in-
active and the reproductive organs vigorous. The
absence of higher intellectual activities which in-
hibit reproduction is also accompanied by enfeebled
vitality, due to poverty and economic stress, and
such enfeebled vitality to a great extent encourages
instead of checking the birth-rate. The probable
explanation according to the biologist is that an
inadequate nutrition of the somatic tissues, within
certain limits, promotes the activities of the repro-
ductive organs. Thus the population increases.

THE FAMILY AS THE ECONOMIC UNIT 17

and this increase leads to poverty, which again
promotes a further increase of the population ; and
it is clear how the effects are intensified as this
state of things goes on cumulatively until the process
of degeneracy reaches a certain limit beyond which
the stock seriously deteriorates. To this, if we add
the consideration that Hindu society is dominated
by the ideal of the family and paternal affection, we
can easily see what results follow in our country.
Indeed, the notion among the Hindus that it is the
duty of each and every one of society to bring into
the world at least one son, without whom not only
he but all his forefathers will be without food and
water in the next world, though appropriate to a
race in its early stage of evolution, has now become
unsuitable under present economic conditions. To
the Hindu lawgivers family increase was associated
with prosperity, for the Hindus in very early times
when the codes were drawn up were surrounded
by inimical tribes, most of whom, again, being
Dravidians were matriarchal societies. Thus even
now there is the strong prejudice in favour of the
birth of sons, which, however, in facfe of the present
relation of the population to the food supply is
accompanied by baleful economic consequences.
The population of India has increased threefold in
the last century. This rate of increase, though
small as compared to countries in Europe and
America, is, indeed, high if we consider the agri-
cultural and industrial conditions of our country, so
that the only checks which now seem to operate
are brought about by the very fact of over-popula-
tion, viz., pestilence and famine. The want of
staying as well as of resisting power in the physique,

i8 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

which is due to inadequate nourishment or suste-
nance, consequent on over-population, is responsible
to a great extent for the prevalence of malaria,
plague, consumption and other diseases which are
now fast spreading in the country.

But though the ideal of the joint-stock family
has been unable to exercise its moral influence
with regard to the population question, its ennobling
effects on our socio-economic life, through its con-
ception of the marriage relation, can hardly be
over-estimated. In India marriage is a sacrament
and its supreme object is to perpetuate a family, a
patrimony and a faith. The consent of the family
is necessary. Individual likes and dislikes are not
of much importance ; for marriage is not a means
of one's individual pleasure or advantage, but
the duty of transmitting an unimpaired estate and
of maintaining the integrity of a family is the
supreme consideration. And the family in main-
taining a strong authority in its integrity does not
allow economic considerations to stand in the way
of a marriage. A man need not be very wealthy
before marrying, for the family will support his
wife and children, and the girl in the family organiza-
tion is not left to shift for herself in the matrimonial
market.^ Her father arranges the marriage and she
finds assured maintenance provided for her as soon
as she leaves her parents for her husband's family
on reaching maturity. Such a family presents a
striking contrast with the unstable organization of

^ " A member, entitled to get the least share on partition, may by
reason of having a large family of his own to support consume during
jointness the large portion of the proceeds of joint property, without
being liable to be called upon to account for the excess of consumption
at the time of partition" (G. Sarkar's " Hindu Law," p. 215).

THE FAMILY AS THE ECONOMIC UNIT 19

the romantic family of Europe and America, which
offers little resistance to the disintegrating influence
of morbid emotion and insane ambition. "When
the duty of maintaining a family tradition is no
longer acknowledged, when religion has ceased to
be an element in domestic life, when children have
become unwelcome, and marriage is viewed as a
convenience or a pleasure, legal obstacles to its
dissolution will not long be tolerated by a com-
munity of irritable, sentimental, and egoistic men
and women who have found life disappointing/'^
Thus divorces have been rapidly multiplying in
Europe and America. To add to the family
instability, the woman of the West is becoming
more and more economically independent. Not
supported by her own family and unable to find
a husband or deserted by him she has to earn her
own living. Thrown into the hard struggle and
competition for wealth, she gradually loses the
idealism that is natural to her. She asks for votes
in order to shield herself from the individualistic
economic system regulated in the interests of men,
but the feverish excitement, the constant fever and
fret of modern industrialism, gradually renders her
unfit for motherhood — the essential and incontestable
right of every normal woman.

Our family organization enjoining the man that
marriage is a family duty necessary for the per-
petuation of family culture and a bond which is
indissoluble in the interests of the children, and
protecting the woman from being dragged into the
mire of industrial competition and struggle for

1 See Giddings, " Principles of Sociology," chapter on the Demo-
genic Evolution.

20 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

living, has contributed in no small degree to a high
standard of morality and real contentment of the
people.

The unity and stability of our joint-stock
family have, however, been threatened by the
growth of individualistic tendencies due to the
recent changes of economic conditions. According
to Professor Nicholson one of the most character-
istic features of "economic progress" has been the
disintegration of the family ; freedom of the indi-
vidual has displaced the bonds of blood relationship,
at any rate to a considerable extent. New organs
for the accumulation of capital have been invented,
individual earnings need no longer be invested in
family land. The desire for personal liberty has
made necessary a change in the idea of the family
as the social organ of property.

Perhaps the earliest indication of this change
in our country was the differentiation between
patrimony and self-acquired property effected before
the age of Manu s code. The rights of self-acquired
property thus came to differ essentially from those
to patrimony in Manu's system. The Mitakshara
emphasized this distinction, no gift or sale of the
family property could be made, but the self-acquired
property could be given to any one. The family
property was held in sacred trust, it was inalienable,
for *' they who are born and they who are yet
unborn require the means of support." A member
of the joint family acquires a right to the joint
property on becoming a member by birth, adoption
or marriage. This is the theory of Samudayay that
of the whole existing in and through the parts,
the whole being potential in each part. But the

THE FAMILY AS THE ECONOMIC UNIT 21

individualistic movement into which the country was
plunged with the spread of Buddhism wrought a
fundamental change in the conception of property
rights. The theory of Samudaya was abandoned.
The whole was now conceived as merely an aggre-
gate of the parts, and the parts alone were now
real. Thus partition rights were now greatly
emphasized. Not only self-acquired property but
the patrimony as well could be alienated by the
Karta, or head of the family. The patrimony
was dissipated and the joint family system thus
threatened. To check the excesses of individualism,
Jimutbahana, the reputed author of the Dayabhaga
System in Bengal, interpreted the doctrine of
Samudaya on new lines. Both the whole and the
parts existed, but their relation was different from
that in Mitakshara. The whole, again, was not
potential in the part, hence legally the patrimony
could be alienated, but the alienation was restricted
by moral obligation.^ A change in the system of
law was thus made. The new code formulated that
the sons had no right to the ancestral property
during the father's lifetime, deprived them of the
right of enforcing partition against the father's will,
and further provided two shares for the father in
case he made a partition during his life.

^ According to the Dayabhaga a father is incompetent to alienate
a movable property, excepting a small portion, provided that such
alienation is not incompatible with the maintenance of the family.
Then, the author of the Dayabhaga maintains that a person is legally
competent to alienate, as for the legal necessity affecting the family
when the property is ancestral, and according to his pleasure when
it is self-acquired, the ancient texts requiring consent of the copar-
ceners in the former case and of the sons in the latter, should be held
to impose only a moral obligation, but not to invalidate an alienation
actually made without such consent ; because the nature of the law
cannot be changed by a hundred such texts.

22 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

To prevent injustice to the sons, he at the same
time deprived the father of the power of capriciously
and whimsically alienating the ancestral property or
of making unequal division of it or of taking more
than a double share on partition. The modern
courts of justice, however, declare that there cannot
be a real joint-family consisting of a father and sons
during the father's lifetime inasmuch as joint pro-
perty, which is the essence of the conception of
joint-family, would be wanting to make them joint.
Nor can there be, according to the modern view, a
real partition during the father's life; for it must
mean neither more nor less than a gift of the pro-
perty by the father to his sons. Thus " the posi-
tion of affairs has become anomalous owing to the
divergence between actual practice and legal theory,"
and the view taken by the courts making it almost
impossible that there should be a joint-family of
father and sons, unless there is joint property ac-
quired otherwise than by inheritance, threatens the
existence of the joint-family system in Bengal.
Still joint families consisting of father and son do
exist in Bengal, and the natural love of a father for
his sons prevents the evil consequences that might
follow from an application of the court rulings.

It is not, indeed, the High Court decisions, but
the economic stress and consequent growth of in-
dividualistic spirit in our country that have been
slowly sapping the roots of the joint-family organ-
ization. A more complex economic life has neces-
sitated a change. It is possible that the joint- family
system may come to an end. But let us not accept
the family system of Europe as the ideal. To
gratify individual desires, feelings and preferences,

THE FAMILY AS THE ECONOMIC UNIT 23

the system of the west has sacrificed family patri-
mony and tradition, and in its passion to develop
the personality of the individual has often shown an
impatience of the restraints imposed by a genuine
consideration of the well-being and interests of
children.

The system of our country, indeed, disciplined
the people in a lofty family ideal, but it now tends
to lose its efficacy and moral significance. It has
engendered an unmistakable affection in the man
and woman and habituated them to look upon the
marriage based on such affection as sacred and
indissoluble. It has helped the maintenance of a
respectable and happy home and inculcating a noble
ideal of social service, infused strength and vigour
into the life of society. Society in India, indeed,
draws its very inspiration from the joint-family
system, being dominated by the manifold personal
ties which bind one to it, viz., the relation of the son
to the parents, of the husband to the wife, of the
householder to the guest, of the disciple to the
guru, of the servant to the master. Thus the ideals
of Hindu manhood that have been handed down
from the remote past through our epics and our
puranas, our folk-songs and rustic tales, are all
drawn from the home and joint-family life. The
heroes of the Ramayana and of the Mahabharata
typify the supreme examples of filial obedience.
Laksmana embodies the devotion to the brother,
Hanuman the reverence for the master, Eklabya
the implicit faith in the guru, and Raja Sibi the
veneration for the guest, while the sacrifice of Sita,
Sabitri, Saibya, and Damayanti, as well as of Behula
and Fullara, represents the supreme ideal of Indian

24 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

womanhood. Our god and goddess are Siva and
Sati, the ideal couple, whose selfless lives are con-
secrated and illumined by their sufferings for each
others sake. As it has been well remarked, **the
home in India was the great sanctuary where sacri-
fices and martyrdoms were to be undergone for the
sake of those sacred ties which bind one to it ; and
this would, according to the notion of the Hindus,
infallibly lead him to a realization of the supreme
duty which a man owes to God — culminating in a
glorious renunciation of home for the good of the
soul and of the world. Indeed, in a place where a
joint and undivided family-system required a man
to live and eat together with all his near kinsmen,
it would be impossible to live in harmony without
elevating domestic duties into the highest virtues.
Hence no other nation has given so high a value to
domestic duties identifying them so closely with
spiritual." But while it develops the gentle quali-
ties by sanctifying domestic duties, our system has,
on the other hand, promoted stagnation and idle-
ness, and thus sacrificing economic progress has
stood in the way of the development and the per-
petuation of that rational personality, which is the
\supreme end for which the family exists. In the
joint-family no obligation exists on any one member
to stir a finger if one does not feel so disposed,
either for his own benefit or for that of the family ;
if he does so, he gains thereby no advantage ; if he
does not do so, he incurs no responsibility, nor is
any member restricted to the share which he is to
enjoy prior to the division. A member of the joint-
family has only a right to demand that a share of
the existing family property should be separated

THE FAMILY AS THE ECONOMIC UNIT 2$

and given to him ; and so long as the family union
remains unmodified, the enjoyment of the family
property is in strictest sense common. Though
social opinion and domestic influence — the ladies
exert it to no small extent — tend to check cases of
idleness, these are not by any means rare. When
the members of the family lose their sense of Re-
sponsibility, and sitting idly at home and begetting
children, continue to share in the common property,
the family gradually becomes impoverished. The
home, instead of being the nurse of a lofty idealism,
now becomes a source of endless worry and dis-
traction. The bickerings of women and the long-
standing enmity of men baffle the energies of the
more industrious and intelligent. Landed property,
held in co-partnery, cannot be improved because
of the quarrels among the members. Litigation
involving heavy expenditure becomes rife, and whole
families are thus ruined and become extinct. The
picture of such a home has been thus given by Mr.
N. Ghosh : "The Hindu home is a source of end-
less distraction and embarrassment. It has crushed
many a spark of native fire, buried many a noble
project. Poverty is not the worst of its destructive
agencies, but the agitation of feeling caused by the
living together of a large number of men and women,
very few of whom are in sympathy with each other,
and almost every one of whom has some grievance
as against the rest, cannot fail to deaden energies.
The quarrels of women, the deep-seated malice of
men, the ** mighty contrasts" which **rise from
trivial things," give no rest to the unfortunate
inmate of the Hindu home. The fight rages some-
times about a point of dignity, sometimes about

26 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

money, sometimes about questions of authority and
obedience. Occasionally, of course, there is inter-
mission of above hostilities ; but no more peaceful
condition is ordinarily reached than that of armed
neutrality." The picture has certainly been over-
drawn, but unfortunately there is something in the
Hindu home which makes such a drawing possible.
These quarrels become more frequent as poverty
and the cost of living increase, and as the in-
dividualistic ideal of the West exercises its dis-
integrating influence on the family till, under the
stress and exigencies of modern life, the Hindu
comes to disregard his old joint system altogether,
refusing to be bound by obligation beyond the
circle of his nearest kith and kin.

Thus actuated though it is by a noble idealism,
it is being endangered by the stress and struggle
of the civilized life of the present day. Life has now
become harder as the standard of living has also
become much higher, and individual earnings have
now come to be devoted to satisfy individual wants
instead of being shared equally among distant family
relations.

Neither India nor Europe and America, but
something above them will give us the ideal family.
The ideal family regards duty as the most sacred
thing in the world. It has a high sense of the
privilege of transmitting its qualities and its culture
to the child. It gives the child right training, dis-
ciplines him in the robust virtues of self-control and
self-sacrifice. Thus it consciously selects, culti-
vates, and transmits the fairer fruits of a rational
civilization. The child, as the heir of the past and
the promise of the future, represents humanity,

THE FAMILY AS THE ECONOMIC UNIT 27

and the ideal family therefore serves humanity in
serving the child. By such social service alone, the
healthy development of individual personality in
man as well as woman is attained.

The evil effects of our joint-family system have
been intensified by our systems of inheritance and
succession. In the joint-stock family, while there
is no room for bequest, the right of inheritance is
fundamental. But our law of succession has a very
pernicious influence on our economic life. The
land is divided into many small estates. The small
landowners have little capital to make permanent
improvements of their estates. Usually the security
of tenure is less in small than in large estates, and
the relations of landlord and tenant are worse.
Again, with regard to property other than land,
Mr. Dadabhay has remarked that the family capital,
as soon as it reaches the point when it can be in-
creased with the greatest advantage, undergoes a
process of disintegration, which reduces the partici-
pators to actual poverty, or at least throws them
back to the original position, when they have to
start accumulation anew. This process goes on
see-saw fashion, to the detriment of industry.
Nothing is more certain in finance than that redu-
plication and growth of capital progress successfully
and quickly after accumulation has reached a
decent point. The same might be said of the
Muhammadan system of succession.^ Thus the

^ Owing to the Muhammadan law of inheritance, there is a
tendency for all Muhammadan families to become impoverished, and
many of the Ashraf (or sharf " noble ") have thus been merged in the
ranks of the Ajlaf (or " mean " people). This is a serious matter
which is now attracting the attention of the Muhammadan community,
who hold that the law of inheritance laid down in the Hedaya was

28 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

capital that can be accumulated is very small, and
the village indebtedness is chronic and increasing
at an alarming rate. On the other hand, the system
of primogeniture in the West is open to criticism
from the economic point of view in certain respects.
Though it stimulates individual initiative and enter-
prise in the younger sons of the family, it acts more
or less as a solvent of the solidarity of family life,
which is such a marked feature of the Indian social
system. Again, it is also open to some of the objec-
tions that have been advanced against monopolies
and entailed property by the jurist and the socio-
logist. The concentration of property in a few
hands not only militates against that general diffu-
sion of well-being and advantage, the aim of modern
social legislation, but also creates a spirit of strife
and opposition among the Have-Nots, who have
been defrauded of what they believe to be their
just claims in society.

The land system itself, again, is also responsible
to a great extent for the minute sub-division of
property. Under the system of peasant proprietor-
ship, the ryot has become so strongly attached by
the most sacred and deeply rooted ties to the soil
that, rather than relinquish his hold on it, he will
burden himself and his heirs with debt for genera-
tions ; and gradually under the Hindu practice of
inheritance the holdings become so minutely sub-
divided and overburdened by mortgages, that ex-
tended cultivation and high farming are made

intended for a pastoral people, and is not applicable to the present
state of society in India. It is very undesirable that the ancient
families should disappear, and yet this is what must happen sooner or
later unless something is done to prevent it (Gait, " Census of India,
1901," vol. vi., Part I., p. 442).

THE FAMILY AS THE ECONOMIC UNIT 29

almost impossible. An analogy may be found in
the law of equal inheritance and its economic effects
in France.

Again, though, the one great advantage that
the small farmer has as a rule possessed is inherited
and empirical skill ; this is, however, useful under
conditions fixed by custom, and may, when con-
ditions are changing, prove an obstacle in the
way of improvement.^ In Indian agriculture the
conditions, in fact, have now greatly changed, and
the small farmer, being unable to adapt himself to
circumstances, has become much worse off.^

The joint-stock system has secured a character-/
istic co-operation of the family members in oun
society, which, though advantageous at first, isj
detrimental to progress in a higher state of in-!
dustrialism. In the agriculturalist's family the
women are found freely to assist the men in field
work, sowing the seeds, weeding, or assisting their
husbands in irrigating the fields. In Behar, where
the pressure of population has led the males to

1 In Belgium, however, where there is a great number of small
landholders, and sub-division of the soil promoted by the French
Law of Succession, also density of population, agriculture has been
very successful. The system of cheap and rapid transport, in which
light railways fill a prominent role^ while the canals are not neglected,
contributes to the undoubted success of Belgian agriculturists. Co-
operative methods of purchase and sale are encouraged, and agricul-
tural education is systematically diffused in the country, thus giving an
example to Indians to imitate with profit.

2 One bright side has, however, been pointed out by Sir George
Birdwood. To the land and village system, he says, are due the in-
dustrial and artistic skill and cunning of the people. " There can, in
fact, be no popular art without popular traditions, and traditionary art
can arise only among a people whose social and municipal institutions
are based in perpetuity on a democratic organization of their inherent
right and property in a national soil, such as is secured to the people
of India by the ryotwari tenure."

30 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

emigrate to Bengal for work, the woman leads a
more secluded life, seldom taking an active share in
outdoor work, and the seclusion is greater as the
family is richer or the caste higher. Agricul-
turist's wives will on no account come to the fields
in which their husbands work, the breakfast being
brought there by infant girls or old females, usually
the mother. As a rule females do not work in the
fields, except the very old or very young, who are
sometimes deputed to tend cattle in plots adjoining
to homesteads. But the women may be sometimes
seen employed in threshing out the grain, winnow-
ing, or stacking the hay. In her house, however,
the woman works the whole day. She cooks the
food, and makes all necessary preparations for that
process. She has also to grind the wheat or the
pulses on the Janta or husk the rice on the Dhenki,
and if she has any leisure, she spins cotton or silk
threads, or twists the san, cocoa-nut, jute, and rhea
fibres into ropes. ^ If it is an artisan's family, the
woman can assist in the husband's work more
materially. The weaver's wife cleans the thread
and arranges the warp and woof. The oil-presser's
wife manages the bullocks and runs the Ghani

1 A spinning-wheel does not cost much — Rs.i to Rs.i-8 — accord-
ing to the quahty of the wood. The spinning hours are those which
a woman snatches amidst labours at home ; an hour after midday
and the night meal is a most usual time in which she plies her wheels.
Sometimes she works at it in the dark before day dawn, guided
by the dexterity of her fingers. In the course of two months her
savings in thread, after exchanging with the trader, suffice for a piece
of cloth for herself or her husband, for which she pays the weaver at
the rate of two pies per cubit, either in cash or in Dhan^ the length of
the cloth being seven or eight cubits.

For twisting fibres, a few bundles are hung from the thatched
roof of the verandah, and the woman twists, by means of a reel called
Dhera or Thakur, into twines of different thicknesses.

THE FAMILY AS THE ECONOMIC UNIT 31

when the Kalu is working in the fields. The silk-
rearer's wife diligently and carefully feeds the
cocoons. The tailor's wife uses the sewing-machine
when there is hard work for the family. The
laundress herself washes the clothes in the tanks.
The banglemaker s wife makes the slow fire and
rolls the lac rods into thin pencils. The Muchi's
wife helps her husband in the collection of hides
and skins. The Dom woman weaves the baskets.
The potter's wife collects and prepares the clay.
In some cases, again, the woman does much of the
labour of carrying the goods for sale at the market.
Thus bangles are sold exclusively by women. The
fish-woman is better at bargaining than her husband.
The laundress carries the clothes to the Zenana.
The milk-woman and the oil-presser's wife also
carry their products to the inmates of the rich
man's household.^

The boys of the family also are all usefully
employed. They do most of the work of pastur-
ing the cattle. They collect fuel and manure, milk
the goat, and sometimes cut grass for the cows.
The girls at their father's house have not to work
much. In the artisan's family the boys, like their
mother, can do more work. They are early trained
as apprentices. In Madanpura, Benares, I saw
boys and girls of four or five years arranging the
nakhsa threads by means of wooden handles, and

^ The woman, however, has no freedom and initiative in her occu-
pation. In the above cases she merely helps her husband to some
extent in the maintenance of the family. Only in the lowest social
grades the woman goes out and earns her living independently.
Thus, among the Sonihals, Dosadhs^ Ghatwals^ Chekuiyas, etc., the
women are seen to work as day labourers in the fields, or as rejasj
carrying bricks and mortar in the building industry.

32 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

thus helping their father in his weaving. Thus the
boys are trained in the craft quite early, and they
begin work as soon as they learn some of its rudi-
ments. The system, while it provides for all the
family members, gives each his place and occupa-
tion, so that his services can be best utilized in the
interests of the family. But the family co-operation
is advantageous in the first stage, only for produc-
tion on a small scale. The division of labour being
confined to the small family group, there are none
of the economic advantages of co-operation and
division of labour in society on an organized scale.
There is little scope for the utilization of capital.
The wealth that remains after providing for the few
agricultural implements and seed and manure, or
artisan's tools goes to bedeck the persons of women,
or is spent on family property which may be de-
teriorating. New investments of capital are dis-
liked. The system discourages individual initiative,
and consequently there is loss of personal energy.
The stimulus to individual exertion being not very
great, progress is difficult. Thus the organization
has lost much of its older vitality, now in a stage
of industrialism dominated by ideas of individual
gain and by the passion for personal advancement.

CHAPTER IV

CASTE AS AN ECONOMIC FACTOR

We have seen that the family and not the individual
is the unit of the Indian economic organization. In
India the family is the natural sphere for the work-
ing out of the struggle for living. There has also
developed the idea of a larger unity in society on
the basis of kinship or community of blood and
origin. Thus along the lines of the family, the con-
ception of the caste, Samaj, or race, has sprung up.
The caste, or Samaj\ not only determines the area
within which marriage can take place, but defines
to some extent the proper and characteristic occupa-
tion of its members/

The conception of caste as the social unit is
essentially a dynamic one. In spite of the origin in
the racial idea, the unit is proselytizing, constantly *
growing by accretion. It is always drawing new
people within its own fold, and, giving them some

* According to Nesfield, the communion of profession is the founda-
tion of caste. He does not admit of any other origin : he deliberately
excludes all influence of religion and race. Risley, however, is in
direct contradiction with Nesfield. The race, according to him, is the
generative principle. The " nasal index " is the formula for the pro-
portion of the nose : this is the most certain criterion of race, and he
sets down as a law of the organization of the castes in the East Indies
that the social rank of a man varies in the inverse ratio of the size of
his nose !

34 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

characteristic customs and institutions, it ensures
for them a well-defined rank and place in society.
The introduction of new blood into the caste saves
it from the deterioration of the stock following from
endogamy within the Samaj continued for several
generations. It has been shown by the last three
censuses that the Hindus proper as well as the out-
cast races are strongly affected, in their physical
characteristics as well as social institutions, by inter-
course with numerous indigenous and aboriginal
tribes. Indeed, the descendants of aborigines now
in connection with Hindus are ten times in excess
of those who have remained loyal to their original
tribes. The effect produced on the Hindus them-
selves has been of a very levelling character, and,
as nearly all the castes have to some extent allied
themselves with renegade aborigines, they have to
that extent lost their Hindu purity and genuine-
ness ; thus their blood has been diluted to a great
extent ! Thus the enormous class of Vaidyas and
Sudras, which constitute nearly five-sixths of the
entire population of the country and are the chief
source of its economic well-being, though showing
in the main the preponderance of Hindu traits and
characteristics, exhibit here and there unmistak-
able signs of aboriginal alliances, especially in certain
castes, or clans, or families. This process of assimila-
tion of the Hindu castes with the aborigines con-
tinues to the present day. Some aborigines are
entering within the limits of recognized castes, while
others are forming new castes at the lower end of
the social ladder.^ Aboriginal warriors have assumed

* " Caste is the frame of the whole Brahminical organization. It
is in order to come within the pale of Brahmanism that the aboriginal

CASTE AS AN ECONOMIC FACTOR 35

the name of Kshatriyas and have been allowed that
proud name ; while aboriginal priests are up to the
present day assuming the name of Brahmans as one
by one their tribes enter within the pale of Hinduism.
A patriarchal and sacerdotal organization thus re-
places the old totemistic or matriarchal system.
The Brahmin, the Gotra and its Rishi are all in-
troduced to effect this social transformation. Ex-
ogamy and endogamy are now regulated by Gotra
instead of by totem, and besides there is the general
tendency of what Risley calls very inappropriately
** hypergamy," the tendency to marry the girl into
the higher caste or status. This bears comparison
with the sanctions for anuloma and against prati-
loma in the Hindu Smritis.

Thus the aboriginal races are gradually adopting
the civilization and social structure of the Hindus.
The aboriginal castes who have been brought in
contact with Hindu castes since a longer period,
like the Chandals, the Bagdis, the Meleyas, the
Khoyras, the Lobars, etc., have Brahmans of their
own just like the Hindu castes of Kaibartas or
Goalas ; while the Haris, the Bauris, and other
castes who are lowest in the scale of semi-Hinduised
aboriginals have no recognized Brahmans, Purohits
or Pandits, and perform their religious and social
ceremonies themselves without the aid of hired
priests. Again, castes in which the process of
Hinduisation is more advanced are classed as Naba-
sakha or the new branch. Besides the Kayasthas

populations constitute themselves in caste and accept the strict
regulations of caste and the phenomenon goes back high into the
past." — ''^ Senart. Des Castes dans PInde" vide Indian Antiquary,
May, 1912.

36 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

or Vaidyas, they constitute the artisan and the trad-
ing castes like the Kamar and the Kumar, the Teli
and the TamuH, the Kansari and the Sankhari, the
Tanti, the Napit, the Sadgop, the Moyra, and the
Gandhabanik. Each of these castes have Brahmans,
or Brahmans belonging to particular castes, who
perform religious ceremonies. These castes are all
considered purer than the castes mentioned above.
Their water will be taken by high-caste men, but
not that touched by the former.^

It may be observed in connection with this
intermixture of Hindu castes with the semi-
aboriginals that a large portion of the Hindu's
decorative, artistic, and manual skill, i.e.^ delicacy
of touch and manipulation of finger movements, is
due to the introduction of the Dravidian element,
characterized by a high degree of natural endow-
ment in these respects. Thus the Hindus, popularly
characterized by the exclusiveness and strictness of
caste prejudices, have notwithstanding shown a
catholicity and wonderful power of assimilation with
such important effects on the social and industrial

^ This tendency of assimilation is most strong in Bengal for
two reasons. First, the small colonies of ancient Aryan emigrants
settling amongst Kolharian and Dravidian peoples intermarried
with the latter. Secondly, the prevalence of Buddhism for centuries,
which encouraged such intermixture. Perhaps the strength of
Buddhism in Bengal was derived in part from the non-Aryan
element in the population. Even now the traces of Buddhism that
are found in Bengal are to be seen among the lower semi-aboriginal
castes like the Bagdis, the Haris, the Sarakis, etc. The "depressed
classes" of Bengal are mostly the survivals of the now-forgotten
Buddhism. They are now depressed because they have lost the
memory of their glorious achievements in the past history of Bengal :
it was they who preached the ideals of Buddhism in Tibet, China, and
Japan, who carved the magnificent temples of Borobodur in Java, and
who cultivated trade relations with Ceylon, Siam, and Cambodia.

CASTE AS AN ECONOMIC FACTOR 37

history of the country/ This significant movement
in Indian sociology ^ has, however, received a con-
siderable check of late through the proselytizing
activities of Christian missions.

Again, even within the caste there is much
scope for advancement. Instances are quite
common in which certain members of a caste have
risen to a higher status due to wealth and ability,
leading to the subdivision of the caste into groups.
Indeed, there is always visible an upward economic
movement in a prospering community. Thus it
comes to divide itself according to the social scale :
(a) handicraftsmen, (U) middlemen of the trade,
(c) middlemen of other trades. As the community
is thus divided according to the separation of the
occupation, in every step in the ascending scale
there is a ramification of castes and occupations.
In the upper strata the original fluidity is lost, and
the caste and status tend to become more or less
stereotyped. Thus the higher sub-group ceases to
consort with the lower in eating and marrying, and
gradually, by an inevitable course of development,
is differentiated into a new caste, till even the
common origin is sometimes forgotten.

The Suvarnabanik is quite distinct from the
Suvarnakar, the former being the traders, and the
latter artisans, goldsmiths, and it is remarkable
that members of the Baniya caste engaging in the

^ It is significant that the process described above is one of growth
by general absorption, adoption, and assimilation, and not by con-
scious integration and differentiation which can only be fostered under
the stress of political forces in building up a national state.

2 As it has been well remarked, " the history of religions presents
us no stranger phenomenon than the tacit process of proselytism by
which Hinduism is absorbing within itself millions of the less civilized
tribes of India."

38 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

profession of goldsmiths are styled Sankara, or
mixed baniks, and excommunicated from the society
of their brethren. The Saha, which is the most
enterprising and prosperous community in Bengal,
comprising a large number of cloth merchants, sal-
traders, wood-dealers, and bankers, is quite distinct
from the Sunri, who is the distiller (artisan), or the
wine-merchant. The Tilis derive their origin from
the oil-pressing community. They are now engaged
in trade and money-lending, and have come to con-
stitute a caste distinct from the Kolu. Among the
fishing castes, when a man has saved some money
his first idea is to give up fishing and become a
fishmonger. The middlemen, called nikaris or
gunris, now constitute a distinct caste, higher in
status than the ordinary fishing castes.^ In Dacca
the Sankhari, or the shell-cutting caste, is divided
into two sub-castes : {a) Bara-Bhagiya, or Bikram-
pur Sankhari, (b) Chhota Bhagiya or Sonargaon
Sankhari. The latter are a comparatively small
group, constituted of more expert master artisans,
who work at polishing shell which they purchase
rough cut — a departure from traditional use, which
accounts for their separation from the main body of
this caste. In other districts, owing possibly to the
smallness of the caste, no similar groups have been
formed ; recently, a certain portion of the Dacca
Sankharis have become traders, writers, timber and
cloth merchants, and claim on that account to be
superior in social rank to those who manufacture
shell bracelets.^ This is an interesting example
of a caste in the course of formation.

* Risley's *' Tribes and Castes of Bengal."
2 Ibid.^ vol. ii., p. 221.

CASTE AS AN ECONOMIC FACTOR 39

Perhaps the characteristic and most remarkable
example of the upward economic movement and
consequent social differentiation is to be seen among
the weaving community of Calcutta. There are
several grades, such as the Basaka, the Dakshin-
kul, and the Madhyamkul tantis. The Basaks
generally are now engaged in trade and usury.
The Dakshinkulsy up to about fifty years ago, were
active traders with the English cloth and silk
merchants, as well as general agents and importers.
The Madhyamkuls still practise their hereditary
craft. Originally the weavers settling in Govinda-
pur and Sutanati prospered in connection with the
English on account of their trade in the textiles
and dye-stuffs, and, according to the general move-
ment indicated above, gradually rose in the social
scale, and, becoming middlemen and importers,
dissociated themselves more or less from their
humble brethren of the craft. These middlemen
formed themselves into Dakshinkuls, and the
general traders differentiated themselves into the
Basak community. With this economic differentia-
tion there has been a corresponding social one,
with the result that the Basaks, the Dakshinkuls,
and the Madhyamkuls do not intermarry, though
originally they came from the same stock. For
these historical reasons these classes of the weaving
community are to be found only in the centres of
European cotton trade like Calcutta, Howrah,
Hughly, Chandernagore, and Serampore.

In the case of agricultural communities this
upward movement comprises the following stages,
ascending in order in social status : (a) the culti-
vator, {J)) the cultivator who also employs labour.

40 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

{c) the mahajan or money-lender with or without
agricultural occupation, (d) the landholder.^

The upward economic movement, both in the
agricultural as well as the industrial castes is the
cause of the vigorous vitality and fruitfulness of
those classes among the population. If we always
bear in mind the fact that almost all the industrial
castes follow more or less the agricultural occupation,
we can easily see the wide choice of employments
and modes of living among them. In each of these
employments there are, as we have already pointed
out, distinct grades of occupation to which the
caste-man can rise by degrees through diligence
and ability. There is, again, the stimulus to labour
due to the fact that the higher grade of work
implies improved social status. Thus there is con-
tinuous scope for enterprise and rise in the social
scale through diligence and ability. Indeed, a
trade or profession tends to become stereotyped
and too rigidly followed from father to son for
generations without any improvement, only when
the caste loses its vigorous life, its enterprise, initia-
tive and inventive faculty. Where, on the other
hand, the caste shows life and vigour, the trade is
not followed in the same way by the family for
generations, but there is more or less of a wide
choice of employments and of distinct grades of
profession to which a man can rise by his labour
and skill. The Chamars afford an excellent speci-
men of a caste of this type, being noted for their
internal prosperity and consequent growth beyond
that of other castes. The hereditary occupation of

1 The hunting and fighting tribes are gradually lifted up to the
status of Kshatriyas and Rajputs as well as landholders.

CASTE AS AN ECONOMIC FACTOR 41

these people is the manipulation of leather, as
dealers in hides, tanners, shoemakers, harness-
makers, and the like. Their caste has seven
divisions, each of which undertakes a separate
branch of the general trade, while, in order to give
full scope to each so that one may not intrude on
the province of another, they maintain no mutual
intercourse in the smallest degree, and permit no
intermarriages or any social or festive union.
There is also scope for an improvement from one
grade to another ; a Chamar by his ability can rise
from the lowest to the highest profession of the
industry. Again, the caste has been much too wise
not to restrict its labour merely to the pursuits of
ancestors. Many Chamars have become servants,
grooms, day-labourers, and coolies ; and a very
large number have taken to agriculture. Through-
out a large portion of Northern India extensive
tracts are entirely cultivated by this caste. As
cultivators they are laborious and fairly intelligent.
Thousands of villages are in their hands, in most of
which they are only tenants ; yet in not a few they
are in the position of landholders.^ Like the
Chamars, many other low castes also have a wide
choice of occupations.^

1 M. M. Sherring, " The Unity of the Hindu Race," the Calcutta
Review^ vol. Ixxi., p. 216. His remarks in this connection may be
quoted : " They have been free to choose various employments which
their families have followed from generation to generation with such
regularity and strictness that many castes are known by their occupa-
tions. From this division of labour, which doubtless has its serious
drawbacks, arising from the circumstance that a trade or profession
is too rigidly followed from father to son, leaving at last little scope for
enterprise and the exercise of the inventive faculty, the great increase
of the Sudras and castes below them have nevertheless chiefly resulted."

2 Where this diversity of occupation is not found, the population

42 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Indeed, the evil of caste, sociologically speaking,
only arises when the fluidity is lost and the caste in
the higher strata frames strict rules forbidding inter-
marriage with the lower sections, and, industrially
speaking, when the caste becoming strict and stereo-
typed checks the upward economic movement from
the lower to the higher branches of the occupation.
The occupation embraces a whole crowd of distinct
castes or classes, each of which enforces unmeaning
distinctions with a rigidity that kills all originality
and initiative. Thus, in the United Provinces
amongst the workers in metal, the Kasera forms a
distinct caste from the Thatera. The Kasercis
speciality lies in mixing the softer metals, zinc, copper
and tin, and moulding the alloy into various shapes,
such as cups, bowls, plates, etc. The Thatera s art
consists in engraving and polishing the utensils
which the Kasera supplies.^ No Thatera can rise
to the Kasera group, and there is no intermarriage
between the two sections.

Thus the occupations become isolated, and the
isolation leads to narrowness and consequent stagna-
tion. Among the oil-pressers there are two sub-
castes which have originated from an industrial
improvement.

The Ghana, Ghani, or Gachua Telis work an
oil-mill of primitive pattern. The machine has no
hole for the removal of the oil, which has to be
soaked up with a bit of rag tied on to a stick. The

cannot grow. Thus the Rajput tribe is restricted in its pursuits,
so that many of its members are unable to obtain a livelihood for
themselves, but lead an indolent life as dependants on their wealthier
brethren. The increase of the tribe is, in consequence, seriously
affected.

^ W. Crooke, " Tribes and Castes of the United Provinces."

CASTE AS AN ECONOMIC FACTOR 43

Kolus use a mill with a hole to let out the oil.^ The
status of the latter is very low. The former do not
adopt the improvement, thus the more ingenious
craftsmen pay the penalty for their intelligence. In
Dacca, the Bara Bhagiya Kumhars, or potters, have
separated into two divisions — the first, descended
from Tilak Pal, only make black utensils ; the second,
sprang from Mahadev Pal, only make red.^ The
distinction is unmeaning, nevertheless it is enforced
with rigidity. Similar castes marked off into dis-
tinct grades or classes by almost impassable barriers
can also be cited. The distinctions which they
emphasize serve only to impede economic progress
and should not be tolerated by a healthy industrial
community.

Among the Muhammadans there are occupation
castes like those of darzis (tailors), bhistis (water-
carriers), drummers, wire-drawers, etc., but these
are not bound by strict regulations in the matter of
food. But though under the democratic constitution
of Islam theoretically all men are equal, there are
grades of social rank recognized among them. The
higher class which claims descent from the prophet
or from some of his followers consider themselves
superior to those sprung from Hindu converts. But
these latter have brought with them some of the
rules of caste, and many of the inferior agricultural
and artisan groups are often as strictly endogamous
as Hindu castes. Thus the Jolahas of Bengal, who
are the most important functional group amongst
the Muhammadans, form a strict and regular caste
organization after the fashion of the Hindus. The

* Risley's "Tribes and Castes of Bengal," vol. ii., p. 307.
2 Ibid,

44 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

movement from the lower to the higher rank in
society is, however, much easier among the Muham-
madans than among the Hindu castes, and is tersely
described in the well-known saying: **The year
before last I was a jolaha ; last year a Sheikh (or
respectable Muhammadan) ; this year, if the prices
rise, I will become a Sayyied (or descendant of the
Prophet) " ; though the process of promotion, as
Mr. Gait has pointed out, is not quite so rapid in
reality as it is in the proverb. The advantage of
an easy rise in the social scale is, indeed, the chief
cause of the success of the Muhammadan Firs in
securing converts for Islam. In the Punjab and in
Eastern Bengal, among the lower Hindu castes, a
man engaged in an occupation which renders him
contemptible in the eyes of his neighbours, such as
the currier or sweeper, when he aspires to rise in
social rank, adopts Islam and starts one of the
minor industries which require little training. Thence
the progress to a higher life and improved social
standing is not difficult.^

The management of a caste is in the hands of
the punchayet and its chief who is called by different
names, Sardar, Mathbar, Pradhan, or Mandal. The
Punchayet takes cognizance of all breaches of caste-
custom in respect of religion, morality, or trade.
Thus in respect of industrial matters, no member
of a caste is allowed to engage in any occupation
which is looked upon as degrading ; a Jolah, for
instance, may not mend shoes, nor may a Kolu
serve as a washerman, nor a Dhunia act as mid-
wife. In some cases a caste will not even allow
its members to engage in avocations which are

^ Vide W. Crooke, "Northern India," p. 130.

CASTE AS AN ECONOMIC FACTOR 45

considered more honourable than its own traditional
occupation. No member of a caste may endeavour to
oust another from any employment he has obtained
by offering to do the work for a lower wage or other-
wise.^

The Punchayet sometimes frames regulations
with regard to manufacture and use of raw materials.
The weavers' Punchayet, for instance, in some parts
of the country prohibited for several years the use of
the artificial dyes and excommunicated artisans who
dyed clothes in these colours. Among the Bhaskars
or ivory-carvers of Murshidabad, no artisan can
carve the figure of Krishna. If an artisan manu-
factures or sells the figure of their god, he incurs
the displeasure of the Punchayet. The Punchayet
also organizes trade strikes. Where the trade
includes men of very different castes, as, for instance,
darziSy or tailors and cabmen in larger cities, the
Punchayet is much stronger. In such cases, the
Punchayet shows remarkable features of similarity
with the European trade unions, enforcing strict
trade regulations in the interests of the caste, and
presenting a united front against a common danger,
or grave trade-peril.

We conclude with a few general observations
on the importance of caste in the life of the artisans.
The caste represents a social ideal. To the artisans
the caste is only the family writ large. The caste-
man is the member of a larger unit. A member of
the caste, even if he is an orphan, is not helpless,
for the caste will feed and protect him and train

* Gait, "Census of India," 1901, vol. vi.. Part I., p. 440. Vide
also Mukundi Lai's article on "Trade Guilds in India," Modern
Review^ 1911.

46 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

him in his craft till he can earn his livelihood. And
the caste provides an excellent system of training
at the minimum of cost. Particular crafts being con-
fined to the same caste, trade secrets are preserved
and dexterity as well as quickness of perception
are acquired most easily. Again, the boy has an
imitative leaning towards the hereditary craft and
begins with a fund of technical insight and educa-
tion which it would otherwise require years to
acquire. The caste gives the individual training.
It is the caste on which he depends for help at the
time of a death in the family. The caste-men are
really his friends in need, as they also celebrate
together a marriage or other occasions of rejoicing.
To the caste also the individual looks forward for
justice in case of injuries received, and the caste has
the power of enforcing it by the sanction of certain
penalties and above all by the power of final exclu-
sion from the social group. Indeed, the real reason
why the people still cling to the institution of caste-
dinners and other forms of lavish expenditure at
the risk of bringing poverty and indebtedness upon
themselves is to be sought in the influence of the
social ideal. This social ideal has begun to be
superseded by the individualistic ideal of the West,
but it still remains the ideal of the great bulk of our
people, though it is sometimes, unhappily, an ideal
of poverty of the individual and the family.

CHAPTER V

THE RELIGIOUS ELEMENT IN CRAFTS AND
INDUSTRIES

Another important conservative element in Indian
economic life is the Indian craftsman's strong re-
ligious consciousness which still persists. The family
and caste define and circumscribe the craftsman's
economic activities ; it is his religion that give them
their characteristic tone, dignity and simplicity.

In India the whole of life is regarded as religious,
no part as profane. In this conception of all life as
a sacrament, the product of the idealism of the
Hindus and of their religion, the opportunity for
art and craft is very great. The first essential of
art and industry is imagination. To the idealistic
mind of the Hindu, art and industry are the repre-
sentation of one aspect of the Divinity which per-
vades every department of life. They therefore
transcend the limitations of beauty and form in
nature, and attempt to represent the ideal as the
only true beauty. Beauty has an absolute existence
in the ideal plane, and is revealed in the mind of
the Hindu artist by God. The Hindu artist thus
relies more upon the inward inspiration than upon
any discipline in reproducing the external form.
The God who is the source of all beauty, rhythm,
proportion, and idea is Viswakarma, and to him all

48 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

the homage and reverence of the Hindu artisan are
due, for all art and industry are revealed by him to
the artisan. In the Mahabharata he is described as
Lord of the arts, the carpenter of the gods, the
fashioner of all ornaments, who made the celestial
chariots of the deities, on whose craft men subsist,
and whom, a great and immortal God, they con-
tinually worship. Viswakarma is not only wor-
shipped by the craftsmen with offerings and ritual
at the beginning of their work, but there are also
numerous charms and songs with which he is in-
voked to ward off disasters and assist them in their
work. In the Dasahara day every year Viswakarma
is invoked by the Brahmin of the industrial caste.

He will not only bestow riches, but also skill
and dexterity to the artisans.

f^r^^jwrf^ ^fgohK* ^fV^oRTH n^fw^jft ^wqwrf^ ^^rn

In meditation he is ^^t^ H^rrk ^f^^^ WiXM i
f%ig^ f^Tgvf '^ '^ T^nTT^TJT^^^ n in pranam, %^^-

In the Rupavalia, his form and attributes are
thus described :

** Salutation I give to Viswakarma, the fair and
great, who is renowned and free, who has ^v^ tilak-
marked faces, ten arms, holding a book and writing
style, a sword, an adze, a citron, a cup, a waterpot,
a rosary, a cobra about his neck, a noose, hands
betokening sternness and beneficence, and wearing
a golden sacred thread."

RELIGIOUS ELEMENT IN CRAFTS AND INDUSTRIES 49

The tools and implements are also worshipped
by besmearing them with Chandan or sandal-paste.
They are considered to be the gifts of Viswakarma,
whom they are meant to interpret. Art thus be-
comes the interpretation of the Absolute or Love,
not an abstraction but a person, God, and God
aids the artisan in the revelation of His beauty.
The artisan's work is also sacred. As is said in
Manu —

**The hand of the artisan is always pure. So
is (every vendible commodity) exposed for sale in
the market and food obtained by begging which a
student holds (in his hand) is always fit for use ;
that is a settled rule."

Another doctrine that exercises a most bene-
ficial influence on craftsmanship is that of Karma,
A man's deeds follow him in his next birth. Thus
one who knows amiss his craft will fall into hell and
suffer after his death. Builders and painters taking
money falsely from other men thereby grow poor.
Builders and painters who know their business well
will become rajas, lacking naught ; so also cunning
painters are meet to become nobles. Builders and
painters both, who know naught of their craft, when
here are given according to the work accomplished,
take that money and (leaving their work) rush
home therewith, though they get thousands, there
is nothing even for a meal ; they have not so much
as a piece of cloth to wear, that is the reward of
past births, as you know ; dying, they fall into hell
and suffer pain a hundred lacs of years ; if they
escape, they will possess a deformed body and live
in great distress ; when born as a man it will
be as a needy builder ; the painter s eyes will

so THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

squint — look ye, what livelihood can there be for
him ? ^

Again, the holiness of nature in its infinite
variety and beauty is a fundamental thought of
the Hindu, and is not only fixed and ritualized in
the series of the Hindu year's fasts and feasts, but
finds an expression in arts and crafts. Thus the
Hindu craftsman decorates his handiwork with the
forms of well-known plants and flowers, birds, and
beasts. He worships God with grass, leaves and
flowers, and loves the birds and beasts associated
with His life. These, therefore, he represents in
his handiwork. Perhaps the most significant of
the designs is the lotus pattern, which to the Hindu
is the symbol of life, the water in which it floats
being the eternity of existence. This beautiful
conception is crystallized into the arts of India, and
appears again and again, not only in Hindu but
also in Muhammadan decoration. Among the
Hindus the most familiar copper or brass vessel
used in home, viz., the lota^ has derived its shape
from the partially expanded flowers of the sacred
lotus. Among other frequent flowers may be
mentioned the iris, the imperial pendant lily, the
rose, and the polyanthus, with its gracefully nod-
ding head of flower and revolute leaf-margins, and
many fruits of the plains, such as the mango,

* The Maya matya, quoted in Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy*s " Indian
Craftsmen."

2 With the Muhammadans the lota has been given a spout,
because the Koran ordains that a man shall perform his ablutions in
running water, and the water when poured out of the vessel is con-
sidered to be running water. The shapes of the Hindu and the
Muhammadan vessels and their respective uses have given birth
to two widely different forms of both domestic and decorative metal
works characteristic of our country.

RELIGIOUS ELEMENT IN CRAFTS AND INDUSTRIES 51

brinjal, etc., are also represented. In the textiles
flowers are very common. Buti is a single flower
or figure not connected by a trellis, or j all or buta^
when the flowers are large. The various flowers
depicted are denoted by further appellations, such
as chameli buti (jasmine flowered), gul dandi buti
(chrysanthemum flowered), and genda buti (mari-
gold flowered). When circular the buti would be
described as chanda, and turanj is the name of the
so-called cone-pattern of the Kashmir shawls. A
pan-buti would be heart-shaped like the betel leaf.
When the floral ornamentations form a network
that covers completely the field, the textile is called
jalar. At other times the poetic name oi panna-
hazara, or thousand emeralds, is given when the
sprays of flowers are connected together like the
settings of a jewel ; so also the expression phulwar
is used when a running floral pattern covers the
entire field.

Among birds the most frequent are the peacock
and the paroquet, represented in wood carving as
well as in the textiles. In the textiles the birds
are placed usually head and tail in the vertical
bands and in the transverse ones, with each alter-
nate bird looking over its shoulder. Another bird
often depicted resembles the swan or goose — the
vehicle of the great creator Brahma — at other times
it is the Garuda. The lion, the elephant, the
horse, and the ox are also frequently represented
in the arts.

The representation of these bird and animal
forms in life and vigour depends upon the guiding
and controlling power of a living religion. When
religious life becomes dull, a decorative art becomes

52 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

a mere reproduction of conventional forms. The
Hindu craftsman moulds, paints, or carves these
patterns out of his own head, not from any visible
model before him. His patterns are deeply rooted
in the national life, full of symbolical associations
that have no meaning to the foreigner, but enhance
their significance a thousandfold to the pious Hindu.
For the reproduction of these patterns which thus
form a characteristic language of the art of the
people, the craftsman depends upon his race-
memory and his own imagination worked up by
a profound devotion. When he will begin his
work, the craftsman, according to the injunctions
of the Shastras, will proceed to a solitary place,
after purificatory ablutions, and wearing newly-
washed garments. Then he is enjoined by the
Shastras to compose individual consciousness.
Thus the mental image becomes clearly defined.
When the artist vividly sees his picture he draws
it from his own mind. The craftsman is also in-
structed to rely upon knowledge obtained in sleep
or dreams. On the night before beginning his
work the imager, after ceremonial obligations, is
asked to pray, ** O thou lord of all the Gods, teach
me in dreams how to carry out all the work I have
in my mind."

It should be observed in this connection that
there is an immense variety of patterns of orna-
mentation in details in different parts of our
country. Each centre of art develops its own
peculiar variety of patterns and conventions. Thus
in Ahmedabad, the phenomenon, not unfamiliar to
the Indian traveller, of a banyan tree growing out
of and around a palm, until in its snake-like

RELIGIOUS ELEMENT IN CRAFTS AND INDUSTRIES 53

entanglements of root and branch the banyan
strangles its foster plant, is very common in arts
and handicrafts. It is repeated time after time
in the carved hide shields, in the kinkhabs and other
textiles, and in the gold and silver plate and
jewellery, until it has become the characteristic
feature of Ahmedabad art. This peculiarity is
absent in the work of all other art-centres in the
country.

Mythological scenes are also represented very
frequently in the arts. Incidents in the life of the
youthful Krishna are depicted with exquisite skill
and delicacy in woodwork. The moonlight dance
of Krishna and the milkmaids, while flowers are
being showered upon them from the clouds, or the
passionate longing of Krishna for Radha, and the
joy of their union are depicted with great feeling
and charming idealism. Nature seems to rejoice
at their union on earth ; every bough of the tree,
every bird and animal, as also the fish in the
waters, sing their praise, while the joy of the
trooping homeward cattle that is also depicted is
admirable. There are also, in carved woodwork,
the figures of Chamunda slaying the demons
Chanda and Munda, Lakshmi with her two atten-
dant elephants, Saraswati playing on the vina.
While in the ivory work, especially in Bengal,
the figure of Durga thrusting her spear into the
demon Mahishasur, and attended by Lakshmi,
Saraswati and Ganesh, is very popular, and meets
a large local demand. The potters in almost every
village of India, after making the domestic vessels,
make toy gods and goddesses, prototypes of those
represented in the higher arts.

54 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Thus the arts and crafts of the Hindu are essen-
tially idealistic and religious. The arts and crafts
of India are applied to the ends of religion and
mythology. Religion has not only been the motive
force and inspiration to the Hindu artist and crafts-
man, but ceremonial worship has also its influence
on art.

The implements that are used in temples for
worship have greatly stimulated art conceptions.
Throughout the country the Kosa or panch patra,
as well as the Kusi or achamani, the dhupdani, the
arati lamp, and the bells are often extremely beauti-
ful objects, largely drawn upon in decorative art.
Again, the sinhasana of the pattern of the lotus-
leaf, a beautiful symbol, has originated some of the
most beautiful products of Indian art. Thus the
religion of the people has contributed to keep alive
a high degree of mechanical skill and artistic feel-
ing by creating a demand for the ceremonial imple-
ments in temples as well as in the household
throughout the country.

The religious festivals of the industrial castes
are not many in number. The worship of Viswa-
karma comes off on the Bhadra-Sankranti day. The
carpenter, the blacksmith, the barber, the potter,
Sankkariy and Kansari do not do any work on
that day, and worship their respective implements,
washing them in oil, ghee, and Ganges water, and
besmearing them with sandal-paste and vermillion.
But the Hindustani artisans in Bengal do not
observe this ceremony. In Eastern Bengal the
women of the middle class, who work at the charka,
or spinning-machine, worship Viswakarma on the
first day of the Bengali year. They decorate the

RELIGIOUS ELEMENT IN CRAFTS AND INDUSTRIES 55

Charka with flowers, and with their own hand-
drawing, and give offerings of milk, dahiy and
cheera. After worshipping the charka, they tell
a story recounting the miracle by which a king
acquired great riches, because his prince's wife
worshipped Viswakarma in secrecy, being advised
by her foster-mother, a kite of the forest.^ Another
day in which the Hindu artisans of Bengal abstain
from any work is the Bijaya-dasami day. The
weavers particularly do not work on Bijaya-dasami,
on ekadasi and dvadasi days, and worship the loom,
the shuttle, and the weights and measures, with
flowers, Vermillion, and sandal-paste. On the
trayodasi day they begin work anew. The telis,
the tamlis, and gandhabaniyas, who deal in spices,
worship Gandheswari on the Baisakhi Purnima
day. An image of Durga is made, and the goddess
is invoked to aid trade, ^ftri^ ^jP^Mgof, ^l^fimirricfTift
Tgft(;^!M^m4 ^fT^ I Among the traders the first of
Baisakh and the Ramnavami days are observed as
days of salth, in which they begin their accounting
anew in new account-books.

On the life of the craftsman, his inspiration, his
ideal and handiwork, and his joys and amusements,
religion continues to exercise a direct and potent
sway, the significance of which can scarcely be
over-estimated.

1 See Gurubandhu Bhattacharyee's article on Biswakarma Brata^
Praiiva, 1320.

CHAPTER VI

THE STANDARD OF CONSUMPTION

The joint family and caste and religious ideas and
ideals govern the economic and social life of the
Indian craftsman and have contributed to determine
his standard of comfort and consumption, his wants
and his activities. The standard of consumption of
the Indian craftsman is being slowly and gradually
modified by the decline of the influences of the
family and samaj as well as religion as social factors.
Still, the average craftsman of the Indian village is
persisting in his traditional and socialized standard
of life. A study of his plane of living, indeed, gives
an important evidence of the slow change in our
rural economy and methods of life.

I have for several years been engaged in collect-
ing family budgets with a view to estimating the
relation of income to expenditure of an average
labourer, and thus come to an approximate know-
ledge of his plane of living. The following are
standard family budgets of different classes of
Indian labourers which have been framed after a
careful investigation of a large number of family
budgets : —

THE STANDARD OF CONSUMPTION

Family Budgets.

Economic condition of our people as indicated
by statistics of expenditure.

Percentage of the expenditure of the family of —

II.

III.

IV.

VI.

Day

labourer.
Percent.

Agri-
culturist.
Percent.

Carpenter.
Percent.

Black.

smith.

Percent.

Shop-
keeper.
Percent.

Poor

middle

class.

Percent.

Food

Clothing . . .
Medicine . . .
Education . . .
Religious and \
social ceremonies/
Luxuries . . .

95*4
4-0

0-6

94-0
i-o

2'0

83-5

I2"0

1*5

2-0
VO

79-0

II'O

5-0

4-0
ro

777

9-0

5*9
ro

5-0
I '4

74-0
47
8-0

3*3
8-0

2'0

Total ....

loo-o

lOO'O

loo-o

The next tables give family budgets of people of
America and Europe.

II.

III.

IV.

VI.

Income

200$.

300-400^

500-600$.

700-800$.

900-1000$.

1200$.

America—

Food . .

49-64

45'59

43-84

38-89

34*34

28-63

Clothing .

12-82

14-14

15-27

16-63

16-84

15-71

Shelter .

15-48

14-98

15-15

15-60

14-96

12-09

Fuel . .

7-07

6-04

5-63

4-42

4-00

2-57

Lighting .

I -CM

o'9^

•97

8-8o

•74

•45

Luxuries .

13-94

18-27

19-14

23-88

29-12

40-05

Europe—

Food . .

48-32

49-58

50-06

44-00

46-24

Clothing .

19-08

14-18

15-21

18-97

14-15

Shelter .

9-38

11-93

10-26

9*49

IO-49

Fuel . .

5-38

5*49

3-32

3*97

5-19

Lighting .

1-66

1-59

1-37

I -20

1-53

Luxuries .

i6-i8

17-23

19-78

22-37

22*40

Total . .

lOO-Q

1 00-0

loo-o

IGQ-O

58 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Dr. Engels, after a careful investigation of
family budgets, inferred —

(i) As the income of a family increases a
smaller percentage is spent on food.

(2) As the income of a family increases the
expenditure for clothing remains approximately the
same.

(3) In all the cases investigated, the percentage
of expenditure for rent, fuel, and light was nearly
the same.

(4) As the income increases a constantly grow-
ing percentage is expended for education, health,
recreation, amusements, etc.

Bearing in mind these principles, and comparing
the Indian budget with the budgets of the American
and European families, we come to the following
conclusions : —

(a) That even the lower middle classes of our
country are much poorer than ordinary labourers of
America and Europe.

(J?) That the luxuries of the lower middle classes
are not justifiable if we consider their proportionate
expenditures for food and education.

{c) That the condition of our day labourers is
miserable to the extreme.

(d) That amongst all classes the expenditure for
the social and religious ceremonies and friendly
dinners is inordinate.

{e) That the poorer classes are gradually adopt-
ing the luxuries of the poor middle classes.

The conclusion (d) that the expenditure for the
social ceremonies is disproportionate to the income
enjoyed by the people unmistakably proves how
our mode of life is fundamentally the same in spite

THE STANDARD OF CONSUMPTION 59

of the impact of Western civilization on our society.
Social ceremonies have still their time-honoured
value and religious significance to every Indian in
spite of the economic stress which he is subject to
in modern times. The reason is not far to seek.
We have already seen that the Indian joint-family
has not been broken up though the growing eco-
nomic struggle encourages its disintegration. The
people are still dominated by their own social ethics,
the aim of which is to establish an exquisite balance
between the needs of individualism and those of the
caste, or samaj, embracing the individual and his
family. Thus the individual has at times to sub-
ordinate his interests to those of his family and his
caste. The caste-dinner represents the close con-
nection between the family and the caste. It is,
indeed, the symbol of the supremacy of the caste, of
the predominance of the social ideal, sanctioned by
religious decrees. For every social ceremony is
associated with some religious observances. Ex-
penditure on a social ceremony does not display the
pomp of wealth, but it shows virtue and piety. It
is not wastefulness. It contributes to social pro-
gress ; and is not as condemnable as the luxury of
a millionaire spending thousands in one night in a
ball-dance. It is associated not with momentary
pleasure and dissipation, but with self-restraint and
devotion. It gives not individual satisfaction, but
social contentment. Thus has modern India stood
against the domination of a crass individualism, still
maintaining the time-honoured valuation of social
objects. The abject poverty of the individual has
not modified the standards of social choice.

CHAPTER VII

, RETROSPECT AND FORECAST

A STUDY of the social environment of our country
has prepared us for an investigation into the cha-
racteristic methods of Indian industry. Economic
organizations derive their support and inspiration
from the social structure and the ethical and religious
ideas or ideals it embodies. The institution of the
joint family, which in India is still the proper
sphere for the working out of the struggle for
living, has defined the nature and character of
industry carried on in the home, with the collabora-
tion of the family members who are often entrusted
with its important processes. The industrialists
are inheritors of a family occupation handing down
their crafts from generation to generation. They
inherit not only the family industry, but also the
hereditary skill and artistic excellence, which no
amount of technical education can produce amongst
artisans. The industrialists also belong to a caste
which lays down its own social and economic code
rules. The domestic industry, division of labour
amongst the members of the family securing im-
portant economies of production, family ambition
striving to maintain the traditions of the family
industry, heredity maintaining high excellence in
the practice of a family art, the caste, more or less

RETROSPECT AND FORECAST 6i

a trades-union, laying down strict regulations in
the interests of the craft, religion which enforces
these regulations, and is the source and inspiration
of a life of simplicity and austerity, of simple wants
and few luxuries in which alone can popular art
best thrive, these are the socio-economic conditions
which have determined the character of our in-
dustrial organizations. And the industrial organi-
zation has also determined the nature of the trade
and credit system.

India is essentially the land of cottage industries.
Our artisans work in cottages. They live more or
less out of touch with the commercial world. The
system of travelling brokers and middlemen which
make their products accessible to the markets is
just what is suitable for a country of cottage in-
dustries. To support the organization of cottage
industries there have, indeed, been developed a
characteristic system of credit, and an organization
of trade, a class of itinerant brokers, carriers, and
intermediaries, as well as money-lenders. Thus a
description of some cottage and village industries
in Book II. will be followed by an examination of
the credit and trade organizations of our country
in Book III.

BOOK II

THE COTTAGE AND VILLAGE
INDUSTRIES

CHAPTER I

LAC CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE

Lac manufacture Is one of the most important of
our village industries. Lac enters into the agricul-
tural, commercial, artistic, manufacturing, domestic,
and sacred feelings and enterprises of the people
of India to an extent hardly appreciated by the
ordinary observer. The existence of the poorer
communities in the agricultural and forest tracts
is made more tolerable through the income derived
from the collection of the crude article. Every
village has its carpenter, cartwright, shoemaker, and
tanner, and all these craftsmen use lac in some form
or other every day of their lives. The blemishes
and defects are plugged up and concealed by crude
lac, and the surfaces are uniformly varnished or
coloured with lac where colour is desired. Coloured
lac, in fact, takes the place of the oil and paint of
Europe. The silver and coppersmiths employ it
as a resist-bed upon which to hammer out or punch
certain of their wares. By means of lac coloured
ornamentations are made on copper and glass
wares, and also on ivory. Lapidaries construct
grindstones of the same material, fused with sand,
and with it cement blade to haft in knives and
swords. Potters, bookbinders, and makers of
smoking pipes all need lac as a varnish or a stiffening

(id THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

material. Jewellers load hollow gold and silver
ornaments with it, or fix the stones in these by its
means. The makers of the humbler personal orna-
ments prepare most of their wares almost entirely
of lac. Indeed, it is highly probable that one of
the very earliest utilizations of lac was this very
preparation of peasant jewellery. Lastly, in the
hands of the lac-turner and toy-maker lac is
supreme. The use of lac in the form of a spirit
varnish is spreading among the manufacturers of
certain classes of articles, such as carriages and
furniture, India not having yet begun to make
spirit varnishes, owing to the want of cheap in-
dustrial alcohol.^ In Europe and America the
demand for lac is very great. Its most important
applications are in the manufacture of varnishes
and in the supply of the chief material of sealing-
wax. It is also extensively used as a stiffening
material for hats, as an ingredient in lithographic
ink, in the manufacture of gramophone records, and
also as an insulating material in electric appliances.
It is suggested that the last-mentioned utilization
gave a fresh impetus to the lac traffic, which ac-
counted for the expansion of the exports from
India. In 1903 the price of lac went up from Rs.8
to Rs.40 per maund. But it has again fallen to
Rs.20 per maund. The traffic in crude lac, how-
ever, has great prospects in future. The artificial
substitute, the discovery of which was announced
in Germany, has not been brought into the market.
India possesses almost a monopoly of the raw
article, Indo-China, the only competitor, exporting

* Watt, Agricultural Ledger^ iQoij No. 9, also *' Dictionary of
Economic Products."

LAC CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE 67

only an insignificant quantity of lac of an inferior
kind.

Lac in India varies a good deal in quality.
Kusumb tree gives the best lac. Phalsa tree lac
is also good. Baer and Ghat-baer lac is only
slightly inferior, and Palas tree lac, which is
the darkest red, is the poorest of all, though
the Palas tree is more frequently used than any
other. ^ For lac-culture the trees are kept as free
from ants and other insects as possible. To obtain
vigorous growth of the branches, the trees are
pruned, and the soil under them is cultivated.
The pruning is done in February for the June
inoculation, and in June for the November inocu-
lation. The inoculation of seed sticks * is done by
tying the sticks in different parts of a tree, with
the interposition of a bundle of grass, or by putting
them in mosquito-net bags and hanging them on
the branches. A fortnight after the inoculation the
empty sticks are taken down and used Tor the ex-
traction of lac. The larvae on swarming crawl to
new wood and remain still, sucking the juice.
While thus engaged, the lac covers them up from
all sides. The lac may be considered as a secretion
from the wounded branches due to the action of a
bacterium. As the insects develop the incrustation
round each also develops. If the object in the
collection of lac be to procure the red dye, the lac-
incrusted twigs are then gathered, before the larvae
have swarmed. But if the resin-lac be sought,

1 Mr. N. G. Mukherjee, " Handbook of Indian Agriculture,"
p. 432.

2 Mother lac should only be taken from trees of the same species,
or species which have a harder wood (vide *'Lac Cultivation," by
Mr. T. N. Kotwal, a paper read at the Industrial Conference, 1912).

68 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

there would seem every reason to delay the collec-
tion until the swarming has taken place/ The
industry assumed its present form while lac-dye (if
not equally valuable with the resin) was a profitable
by-product. Now that the dye has been robbed of
its commercial value by the introduction of chemical
dyes, a change in the season of collection is ex-
pected. The presence of the dye admittedly
depreciates the shell-lac very greatly ; it necessi-
tates expensive, and possibly to the resin injurious,
method of removal ; and the decomposition of the
larvae gives the offensive smell to the factory which
well-nigh becomes a public nuisance. It would thus
seem that the time has more than once come when
this state of affairs might be mitigated by some
change in the season of collection that would allow
of the colour being very largely removed before
stick-lac comes to the factory. The collecting
seasons at present adopted are May to June for
the one brood, and October to November for the
other ; a delay of a month or six weeks in each case
would see the swarming accomplished.

There is much scope for the improvement of
the quality of the lac through the selection of the
stock on a rational and scientific basis. Sir G.
Watt does not even think it impossible actually to
evolve a white insect, or, at all events, one to a
large extent devoid of the objectionable colour, the
removal of which so seriously enhances the cost
of the present day resins. Mr. Stebbing has com-
mended better methods of the cultivation of lac.^
The chief improvement required to be made are in

1 Watt, Agricultural Ledger^ 1901, No. 9.

2 Mr. E. F. Stebbing, *' Notes on Lac Insect."

LAC CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE 69

the direction of the formation of regular areas of
coppice, either from seed or cuttings, which should
be worked on a definite rotation. Experiments
are also required to be made in such shrubs as
Cajanus indicus {arhar dal). It is reported that
this latter plant, if sown in November in Assam,
will be fit to plant out at the close of the following
rains, the plants being then stout saplings, averag-
ing four feet in height. Planted in rows four feet by
eight feet apart (1360 to the acre), it will, if well
cultivated, be ready to receive the insect exactly two
years after first sowing. Further, it is stated that
the lac reared on Cajanus indicus, which is said
to be the best lac produced in Assam, can be put
on to other lac-rearing plants, such as Ficus cor-
difoliay Ficus elastica, Ficus religiosa^ Zizyphus ju
juba, and Ficus aliissima. Crops of lac on the
arhar dal would thus be raised in nurseries in the
forest, from which the seed-lac could be put on to
the trees in the forest, or distributed to the co-habi-
tants of forest and other villages.^ The formation
of these lac-nurseries is strongly to be recommended
in Assam, and, in fact, in many parts of India, with
a view to demonstrating their usefulness to the
people, and thus improving the methods of collec-
tion and increasing the amount available for ex-
port. Lac-nurseries, established in the rural tracts

1 " A very important plant is the Babul {Acacia arabica), which
bears lac of great value. There could be a very large extension
of lac cultivation on this plant, which grows freely in very wide areas
in India. On this tree, especially, there could be a very large produc-
tion of lac on canal banks, on waste land, and wherever this tree
occurs. There is immense scope for lands being rendered profitable
that are now of little value except as a source of firewood and grazing
for goats" {The Agricultural Journal of India, vol. 4, Part 3 of
1909).

70 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

of our country, and distributing seed-lac to the
rearers, will lead to a great improvement of lac
culture. But the improvement must necessarily
be very slow, as it will take a long time for the
illiterate and superstitious villagers to change their
present methods of cultivation and collection of lac.^

Lac-rearing industry, like many village indus-
tries, is almost entirely in the hands of the middle-
men, who lend their capital to the rearers. They
make advances of money, and get stipulated quanti-
ties of the lac, thus realizing twice or even thrice
the amount they lend.

Often, however, the rearers enter into contracts
with the owners of lac-rearing trees to give them a
portion, frequently half the produce.

The sticks incrusted with lac are dried in the
shed, by which the wood shrinks, this often leaving
the lac as hollow tubes. The lac is then ground in
querns, and then sifted with Chalnis ; the fanning
eliminates the light extraneous matter. The lac-
dust, called khud, is then washed in vats of clear
water. The water becomes of a deep scarlet colour,
and is allowed to run off, a fresh washing given,
and repeated till the washing passes off colourless.
The washings are taken up with cotton wool {alta),
which is in great request among women for dyeing
the feet red. The lac-dust, after being washed in
vats of water, is sometimes placed in dhamas, or
closely woven cane baskets, and is rubbed against
their sides till the dye is eliminated. The washed

^ It has been suggested by Mr. Stebbing that the present very
insignificant revenue from lac as a minor product can be increased by
the forest, irrigation and railway departments of Government. Their
subordinates can be trained to work and remunerated by a share
in the produce.

LAC CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE 71

seed-lac is golden. The pure seed-lac is used by
the laharis in making bangles of better quality,
while the khud, in which particles of dust are mixed,
is used for making the ordinary bangles. The pure
lac sells at Re.i per seer, while the ordinary lac
can be purchased even at As. 2 per seer. Manu-
facturers of sealing-wax, lacquer-workers, silver and
coppersmiths, and potters, like the la- haris, also
purchase the ordinary crude lacs.

The lac-rearers in the rural tracts of the
country generally sell off the seed-lac either to
these village artisans or to the middlemen and
brokers of the manufacturers, who fuse or tune
it into shellac. A quaint and characteristic practice
has been seen to be followed in most sales in lac.
The buyers and sellers join hands and sit facing
each other, a cloth being thrown over the hands.
The buyer presses certain fingers of the seller's
hand, thus making an offer. This is usually re-
jected by a motion of the head, and further finger-
pressing ensues. Finally, the bargain is struck
without a word having been uttered.

There are steam as well as hand-labour small
factories. It is stated that though steam-power
has been successfully applied to the industry, the
hand-labour factories still hold their own, and for
some grades produce qualities hardly, if at all,
attainable by machinery.^ Sir G. Watt has pointed
out that, in fusing lac with resin in dry heat, great
skill is required in knowing when the lac has been
cooked to the proper extent. It is, therefore, freely
admitted that the hand-made lac possesses certain
properties never attained by the steam-machinery

* The hnperial Gazetteer^ vol. iii., p. 173.

72 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

factories. Again, in the preparation of shellac, the
molten lac is spread into a very thin skin by means
of a ribbon of palm-leaf stretched between the
hands. In this operation great skill is required
in exercising just the right pressure to cause the
lac to spread out in a compact sheet of uniform
thickness.

Mr. Puran Sing, F.C.S., has discovered a new
method of refining lac by the aid of methyl alcohol,
which is expected to produce a greater and purer
yield of shellac from crude lac than hitherto. A
considerable saving of labour, cost of manufacture,
and obtaining a larger quantity of resinous prin-
ciples are expected to make the lac industry much
more profitable than it is now. The apparatus em-
ployed for the extraction of lac with methyl alcohol
is not very costly, and can be easily constructed
anywhere at no great expense. The spirit used is
not at all lost, but can be utilized several times.
Thus, as Mr. Avasia, Instructor of the Imperial
Forest College, has expressed his opinion, Mr.
Puran Sing's method will not only revolutionize the
old methods of the manufacture of lac, but confer a
great boon on the villagers who carry on the lac
industry by saving them a lot of trouble which
they now take in carrying and storing the lac.^ It
will also diminish the inferiority of one kind of lac
to another.

^ Mr. H. M. Lefroy, however, says that the method is full of
practical difficulties, and regrets that the process is as yet a purely
theoretical, laboratory one, without practical application. He hopes
that the author will pursue his researches on a really practical scale,
and by showing the cost of producing shell-lac by this means, enable
the manufacturer to judge how far he can adopt it, and whether he
can really reduce the cost of separating the pure lac-resin from the
crude lac.

CHAPTER II

APICULTURE: COLLECTION OF HONEY AND
EXTRACTION OF WAX

In the hills and forests regular bee-culture is carried
on by village artificers. The swarms are gathered
from trees and rocks and kept in small boxes under
the eaves of the cottages where the artisans dwell.
Sometimes bee-culture is established on a much
larger scale. Houses are then kept especially for
rearing bees. In the rearing houses small recesses
are made on the walls and closed on the outside by
a wooden panel in which a hole is made. A man
is placed in charge of the bee-house. He gives
each colony ample room and clips the wings of the
queen. He also guards the apiary against insects
and animals. Stocking with early swarms is made
by capturing wild bees and bringing them to the
apiary. The season for making wax is the hot
months, namely April to June. The separation of
the honey from the wax is usually done in the
crudest manner by squeezing the comb between the
hands. It is then washed in cold water to further
remove honey or other soluble matter contained in
it, after which it is placed in a vessel half filled with
water and heated over a fire. As a rule no attempt
is made to grade the wax before melting, so that
the comb containing brood, eggs, twigs, and leaves is

74 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

included in the boiling. These separate from the
wax when in a melted condition, and are removed
by straining the wax through cloth. On cooHng
the wax is made into cakes or balls. In Assam
Naga wax is usually sold in rolls cast on bamboo
moulds. A second melting is sometimes given and
turmeric powder is frequently mixed with the wax
to give it a yellow colour. In a melted state, it is
poured into vessels containing a little water, which
serve as moulds.

In the plains apiculture is almost neglected.
The comb and honey are gathered from the trees
only by itinerant honey-gatherers. These are
generally a class of Bagdis called Moulays or honey-
men, and Bharias, Khunjurs, and Natuas.

A light reed-like bamboo, about twenty feet long,
and armed with a reaping-hook at the end, serves
to cut the comb from the trees. There is a small
net below the sickle which receives the combs. A
light cord running through a loop above the head
of the gatherer and fastened to the sickle-end of the
rod enables him to use the rod as a derrick, which
he can raise, lower, and swing to any position. When
the net is full the contents are sometimes emptied
into a large close-framed basket lined with leaves,
which is suspended from a separate cord. The
men are covered from head to foot. Their dress
cover is smoked in wood-fire, and emits a pungent
smell which has a paralyzing effect on bees and pre-
vents them from stinging. More generally two men
are needed to collect. One enveloped in a blanket
climbs the tree to which the comb is attached, pro-
vided with a sickle and an earthen pot. The other
man ignites a bundle of grass and leaves and passes

APICULTURE 75

it to the man on the tree who smokes the bees away
from the comb, cuts it from the branch, and places
it on the pot.

Honey is highly appreciated as an article of food
by the inhabitants of the country and also for its
medicinal properties. In some parts of the country,
e.g, in Cashmere and Kuram Valley, honey is used
largely in place of sugar for mixing with food and pre-
serving fruits. Wax is largely required by the silver-
smiths and goldsmiths as well as by brass and copper
foundrymen to give finishing touches to the moulds
and to be subsequently liquefied and dispelled by
the molten metal poured into the matrix. Though
honey and wax are procurable in large quantities,
they are not utilized fully. The trade in these
things has remained almost stationary for many
years, though it is capable of great improvement.
Attempts to domesticate bees have not been
attended with such success as can affect the trade
in honey or wax. In Cashmere, the bee is almost
domiciled, and nearly every farmer has provision in
his house for having the bees, consisting of small
hives, often to the number of ten, built in the upper
portion of the walls. ^

The industry has not prospered as it has been
left in the hands of the lowest castes or of almost
wild tribes. The wax is refined by crude methods.
As Mr. David Hooper, F.C.S., F.I.C., has said :
** There are in this country vast opportunities
of improvement of this industry. The sources of
supply might be visited and a study made of
better methods for collecting the combs and pre-
paring the wax for the market by more economical

^ The Agricultural Ledger^ I904> No. 7.

76 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

processes. A close acquaintance with the habits
of the wild bees and the flower they frequent
is urgently required, and an enterprise in this
direction is almost sure to meet with success."
In America apiculture is carried on systematically
on scientific lines. Colonies of bees are reared in
frames, and stocks are selected. Queens are tested
and introduced into hives with great skill. The
bee-keeper of America, however, needs but few
implements which can all be manufactured in our
country at less than Rs.20. With even a limited
number of hives, a smoker, a wax executor, and a
few queen-introducing cages are necessary, the
total cost of which in America does not exceed $5
to $6. The frame and hive most in use in America
is that of Rev. L. Langstroth, and this hive, with
slight modifications, is generally adopted in England
and her colonies. It is also becoming known and
appreciated on the continent of Europe. The
bellows-smoker now in use has the fire-box at the
side of the bellows so arranged as to enable the
operator to work it with one hand, and when not in
use to stand it upright and secure a draft which
would keep the fire snug. One of the most in-
expensive devices in America for the rendering of
comb into wax is the Doolittle Solar Wax Extractor.
This consists of a wooden box usually larger than
broad, arranged with legs near one end so that it
can be raised up at an angle towards the sun. The
interior is fitted up with a concave tin-lining to hold
the comb, separated by a wire gauze straining honey
from the wax pan at the lower end of the box. The
wax obtained by solar heat is of good quality, being
clean, never soaked nor scorched, and also light in

APICULTURE 77

colour, owing to the bleaching action of the sunlight.
In India, though the price of honey is nearly one-
fourth of the price of wax, it is much more profitable
to turn the working force to the production of honey
rather than wax, taking only as much wax as can be
produced without lowering the yield of honey. The
honey-extractor with one or two uncapping knives
should be adopted, which will enable the apiarist to
return the combs but slightly injured to be refilled
by the bees after extracting the honey from them
by centrifugal force. The cost of this output is
nearly Rs.50. The extractor consists of a large
can, within which a light metal-basket revolves.
The full combs of honey from w^hich the cappings
of the salves have been removed by the knife
are placed inside the basket, and after several rapid
revolutions by means of a simple gearing are found to
have been emptied of their contents. The combs are
not damaged and can be returned to the hives. The
cost of the implements required to run an apiary on
modern scientific lines is not very great. To manage
economically and conveniently some fifty or even
seventy-five hives the cost of the output need not
exceed Rs.6o. With such a small expenditure the
introduction of recent tools and appliances will
revolutionize apiculture and transform it into one
of the most important of our cottage industries.

CHAPTER III

BAMBOO WORKING AND BASKET MAKING

The bamboo is one of the most useful plants in the
country. Amongst other uses of the bamboo might
be mentioned rafters, walking-sticks, whip-handles,
the manufacture of mats, roofing, sieves, hand -pan k-
has, umbrellas, chairs, vessels for holding grease
and oil, bows, arrows, and cordage, etc. The culms
sometimes attain to a height of loo feet. They
are sometimes crooked and knotty, but the ghorami
or the cottage-builder splits these up, and finds in
them all the materials required for the erection
and furnishing of a poor man's hut. The ghorami
weaves the bamboo strips together and constructs
a sloping roof of thatch to throw off the rain.
Rice-straw and date-palm leaves are laid on the
bamboo rafters. He also constructs the walls of
a peasant's hut by fastening together the split
bamboo and covering them with earth or cow-
dung. The ghorami sometimes builds the roof of
tiles and khapras ; but this is not usual. It is only
the wealthy classes, again, who have brick build-
ings. The ghorami is only the builder of a cottage,
while the Rajmistri is the mason who builds the
houses for the rich.

In the rural districts of the country bamboo
weaving is also a very important occupation.

BAMBOO WEAVING.

BAMBOO WORKING AND BASKET MAKING 79

Basket and wicker-work are followed as an occu-
pation by a large number of villagers, various kinds
of baskets and bamboo-woven vessels being re-
quired for agricultural as well as for domestic pur-
poses. These are all made of bamboo twigs, slips
of bamboo, date-palm leaves, or particular kinds of \
grass. Some of the baskets are made very strong.
These are used by coolies for carrying loads, or
rejas for carrying bricks. Sometimes the bottom
of the baskets is so finely woven that they can
even hold water. The dhama is a strong basket
made of rattan. The sieves and kulos are made
of bamboo slips. The scale-pan or the toraju is
made of rattan. Ingenious fish-traps, bitti, tap^
dohar, and genja, as well as bird-cages, are also
made of bamboo. Fans of date-palm leaves are
also made largely in villages. In some villages
bamboo- working and basket-making, as a conse-
quence of special facilities, attain a high position,
and even become artistic and ornamental, as in
villages in the Purneah District, and in Patna,
Bhagalpur, Chittagong, etc.

Bamboo weaving is left almost entirely in the
hands of the lowest classes of the community. The
domes, who live near the burning ghats, generally
carry on this work as a subsidiary occupation.
They prepare baskets and other rough works in
bamboo, and are largely assisted by their women
in the work. They sweep the ground, clear brush-
wood, and do other odd work. The Bhuimalis,
literally the gardeners, have left the degrading
occupation of the scavenger, together with that
of gardening, and follow this occupation very
largely. They act as menials in the houses of the

8o THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

rich, though they are not allowed to touch water.
They wear the tulsi-beads on their neck, and are
Vaisnavas. The Bagdis also work in bamboo. It
is an usual sight in villages to see Bagdi women
fishing in tanks and ponds with small baskets
woven by themselves, or gathering in them the
panifal^ the fruit of the lotus plant, or other pond
vegetables for sale in the nearest hat. Some of
the low-class Muhammadans have also taken to
bamboo-weaving as a profitable occupation. These
are more skilful workmen, and prepare fancy works
for the Europeans, like moras or cane-seats, and
chiks or screens. They also prepare the floor
matting and the bamboo hedges, which the munici-
palities and district boards purchase in large
numbers to protect newly-planted trees on the
sides of roads.

CHAPTER IV

THE FISHING INDUSTRY

Fish is a favourite food of the people. It has been
calculated that forty million maunds of fish would
represent the proper annual consumption of Bengal,
were the supply equal to the demand, which it is
not. Thus fish is reared in almost every village of
Bengal in the tanks. These tanks are necessities
of life in order to supply water, and that they are
utilized as sources of edible fish is not only natural
and economical, but essential to the purity of water.
Nearly eight lakhs of men are engaged in catching
and selling fish in Bengal. They are Malas (Jhala),
Tiyars (Rajbansi), Kaibarta (Jele), and Karals.
Among the Muhammadans they are Nikaris,
Chaklais, Mahi-farosh, etc. Besides these fishing
castes proper, there are other castes who also take
to fishing. Thus among the Bagdis 14*9 per cent,
are engaged in fishing. The fishing castes of
Bengal are remarkable for strength, nerve, and
independent bearing. The finest examples of Ben-
gali manhood are found among them, and their
muscular figures astonish those accustomed to the
feeble and effeminate inhabitants of cities and
towns. Again, a considerable number of men
follow fishing as a subsidiary occupation in leisure
time. Thus in parts of Eastern Bengal, a boat

82 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

and a net are found in almost every house, and
these are brought specially into requisition in thq
rainy season. During the rains whole districts go
under water and their inhabitants have to live an
almost amphibious life. The numerous and inter-
secting khals and rivers form the only means of
communication between different houses, and fish
the most important food of the people. It becomes
an usual sight at the time to see almost all the in-
habitants of the village engaged in trapping fish
throughout the day.

The implements that are used in catching fish
are most varied. Indeed, the persistency with which
the people pursue fish with every kind of contrivance
shows clearly how fish is prized as food. The
fishermen use the sieve, drift, drawl, bag and cast
nets. Nets are made of hemp and of cotton, and
they are steeped in gab pounded and allowed to
ferment, by which means the net is dyed of a dark
brown colour, becoming after immersion in water
almost dark. There seems to be a confusion in the
minds of the fishermen. They say that the kapsha
jalsy those made of cotton thread, are more durable
than son or hemp jals. Hemp is generally manu-
factured at home by the jele-vjon\G.n with the help
of the taki or spindle. Sometimes spun thread is
bought from other women in the village. Re.i
would give six to seven chattaks of spun hemp-
thread. The nets are woven by the jeles themselves,
their women also helping them. There is a pro-
verb that they can weave the nets faster the more
furiously they quarrel and abuse one another. Rhea
fibre is sometimes spun into coarse thread, three
strands of which are again spun together to make

THE FISHING INDUSTRY 83

fishing lines, and with the cord of which the kaijals
are made. The nets are occasionally tanned with
gab, after a period varying from five to ten days in
the working season. The fishermen vie with one
another in their ability to preserve the nets. Floats
are made of shola, or pieces of bamboo, but dried
gourds are preferred. Sinkers are made of baked
clay or iron.

The following are the common nets in use
among the fishers : —

The phatajal is a sweep net somewhat elongated
in shape with floats made of phata or small pieces
of bamboo, used generally in tanks to catch small
fry. The phata jal and the chabi jal, which is of
the same variety, are very popular in West Bengal.
The former usually costs Rs.5, while the latter Rs.3
approximately.

Jhaki is the circular cast net. It is usually six
or seven cubits in diameter, and is either thrown
from the bank of a stream or from a boat. The
circumference is drawn up into loops, or rather
puckered and weighted with iron. It is folded in
the left forearm, while the edge and the central
string are held by the right hand. By a sudden
and forcible swing of the body the net is cast, and
if properly thrown alights on the surface of the
water forming a complete circle. On its touching
the bottom the fisher slowly draws it towards him
by the string just mentioned, and as he does so the
heavy weighted edge comes together and no fish
can escape. The outcast Bagdi in Central Bengal
swings the net round his head before casting it, but
no respectable fisherman would dishonour his calling
by so doing. The Uthar and gulti are magnified

84 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

cast nets, differing only in size and in the dimen-
sions of the meshes. They are shot from a board
placed broadside to a stream, with the net folded
on the edge. One man holds the centre rope, while
two others gradually unfold and drop it overboard.
As the boat drifts the net falls in a circle and is
then slowly drawn up. Some of these nets are
often forty feet in diameter and a long boat is
required to shoot them from. The Bere or the
sweep net is one, the upper edge or back of which
is buoyed up by bamboos, while the lower, or foot,
is weighted with iron. Sometimes the net is very
long and is shot from two boats fastened together,
and when drawn the two wings or ends are slowly
brought ashore. The Bera Jal is used to catch all
the fish in tanks. The bamboos, one at each end
of the net, are held by two persons who are on
opposite sides of the tank. They move slowly
along the banks in the same direction, turning the
net upside down when it is bagged. The Karki
jal is also a sweep net used in rivers, but much
smaller than the ber. The Gaganber jal is often
three to four miles long, frequently used in the
Meghna. It is the most magnificent net used in
Bengal, and its catch often brings to the fishermen
Rs.iooo to Rs.2000.

The Rakkhas jal is a drawl net, so called be-
cause of its large mouth, is lowered down from the
boat as it drifts in the stream and catches the fish
in its lower lip. The fixed net is used either from
the side of a boat balanced by an outrigger, or
attached to posts on the banks of rivers. It is
attached to the two bamboos which meet at an acute
angle in the boat but branching off until they

THE FISHING INDUSTRY 85

separate about fifteen to twenty feet. One man stands
at the angle and lowers the net into the water, while
another sits at the stern working a paddle with his
leg until a certain distance has been passed over,
when the net which is somewhat bagged is leisurely
raised/ The Dharma jal consists of a square net
about five or six cubits in one of its sides. In the
centre there is a pouch, and at the four corners
there are four elastic bamboo sticks each (about)
eight cubits long. The free ends of the sticks are
thrust into two hollow bamboo pieces tied together
crosswise. A bamboo pole is attached to the cross-
piece, one end of which the jele holds by his hands
as he sits fishing. This kind of net is used for
shallow water, the net being raised all on a sudden
when the fish enters it and is finally caught in the
pouch.

The Chandijal is a large drift net used in rivers
supported by bamboo floats. In the water it hangs
as a curtain, the fish being caught in the gills. It
is very popular in the Bhagirathi, where it is largely
used to catch hilsa in the rainy season. The laby-
rinth jal, kona jaly is an elaborate and ingenious
drift net with a pouch and side walls, to one of
which is attached a guiding net. The pouch and
the side walls are kept in position by bamboo poles.
During the rainy season when 5er jal is not used,
the kona jal is employed to catch hilsa. It is priced
at Rs.200 or more.

^ The Khadajal is of this type and is extensively used in bils and
shallow waters. There is a proverb which is very common and runs
thus, " ha-bhate jeler chowra khada." It means that the fisherman
has a wide khada net who cries for food ; it indicates that the use of
this particular net is very common.

86 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Another method of catching fish is the bamboo
trap. A cane or bamboo-work is fixed in tanks or
on the margin of a river especially where there is a
back-water or an eddy. The small fry run into it
easily by forcing open the grates, but cannot escape
as the ends of the sticks at the entrance project
outwards. Bhanr is the name of the bigger trap,
while the chore bitti or ghuni (so called in Malda,
Hooghly, and Jessore) is the smaller one. Another
fish trap made of bamboo slips is the dohar. It
resembles a hollow sieve, placed on the bank of a
river and covered over with twigs. The fish seek
shelter in it from the current, and when the dohar
is raised from the water they are caught. The /<?/(?
is a trap made of split bamboos, extensively used
throughout Bengal. It is like a bell jar with a
wide bottom and narrow open neck. It is sud-
denly plunged in shallow water, and the fish found
inside is taken out by hand through the narrow
opening.

Another trap is the danp^ used generally to catch
koi, magury ghuntel, bars ha khulsa, puti in the hot
months of Chait, Baisakh. In the elastic ends of
a bamboo pole a grass-hopper is attached. As the
fish devours it the ends expand and catch the fish
in its jaws. This method of catching fish is not
very popular. It is believed by the jeles that the
Devil would suck their hearts' blood if they adopt
this foul practice of killing life at the dead of night.

The fishermen use also the rod and the line.
But more usually they use the togi or sheresta. In
a long thread attached to a latim several barsis or
hooks are affixed. The fish are caught in the
hooks as they devour the oilcakes, rotten chakli

FISHING IN SHALLOW WATER.

THE FISHING INDUSTRY 87

and dal as well as insects which cover the hooks.
The togi is especially useful in the rainy season
when the water is deep. The Chakna is a small net
used for bagging fish when it is caught.

The fishermen also use missile implements. The
Konch is a bundle of spears of split bamboo, tipped
with iron points. Sometimes fish are speared by
torchlight. A torch is placed on the prow of a
canoe. The fish are attracted by the light in the
darkness of the night and are speared with the tenia.
Again, a drum is sometimes beaten slowly. The/^^
fish are attracted by the sound and are speared when
they come near the boat.

The fishermen often work at all hours of the
day, but they do not miss the sunrise or sunset and
the full as well as the new moon. The fishermen
lease a tank and pay an annual rent. Sometimes
more than ten of them rent a big bit, paying the
rent to the landlord in equal amounts. They have
to sell all the fish usually to the lessees of fisheries,
otherwise they would cancel their lease. These
lessees get the fish at a cheap rate and gain all the
profits which the high prices usually fetch. Some-
times wholesale vendors of fish intervene between
the lessees and the fish-catchers. They become
the exacting middlemen. A fisherman once repeated
to me a grim proverb full of pathos, which well
illustrates the exploitation of the ^oor jeles by these
laoyans or middlemen : Jeler parane tenay laoyane
kaney sona. ^* The jeles wear rags, while the laoyans
or middlemen wear golden earrings. '^

The middlemen in the fishing industry always
constitute a community of higher social status than
ordinary fish-catchers. Thus the Nikari in Dacca

88 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

and Faridpore, the Chaklai in Jessore, the Dhawa
in Malda and Purneah claim a higher social position
than the fishermen. Many of these middlemen
secure a good fortune and live in brick buildings.
The income of the average Calcutta middlemen has
been estimated to be not less than Rs.40 a month.
The income of an ordinary fish-catcher varies from
Rs.4 to Rs.i2. The occupation of the fishermen
is very uncertain, and on account of the perishable
nature of their ware they are naturally at the mercy
of the wholesale vendors of fish, who can dispose
of the fish much more quickly.^ Fishermen, indeed,
seldom sell the fish themselves. What the middle-
men, or vendors, do not take is left to be sold by
them. These fish are then hawked about by their
women folk in villages, or sold by them in the daily
bazars or weekly or bi-weekly markets. These
women have such a loud way of articulation and
such a complete mastery of the vocabulary of abuse
that the fish-market becomes the noisiest place in
the neighbourhood for several hours in the morning.
In the cold weather fish is sent by train from the
principal stations on the Ganges to distant markets.
Boats loaded with fish also come from Khulna and
Jessore to Dhappa for the Calcutta market. Thus
for several months in winter the well-known bhetki

^ The fish supply, as we will see later on, has greatly decreased.
Again, on account of the extension of railways and steamers, a large
number of the fishing caste who used to ply cargo and passenger
boats in rivers has been thrown out of occupation. The occupation
of fishermen and that of boatmen being interchangeable, in the
slack season the fish-catchers readily take up the work as boatmen.
Now on account of the decline in the country of boat traffic, not only
is this last resort being destroyed, but a large number of cargomen
is reverting to the fishing trade only to make the conditions of the
fishermen worse.

THE FISHING INDUSTRY 89

floods the fish-market and is found in the hands of
many of the clerks returning from the offices.

For the last decade the fish supply has been
greatly and progressively declining in Bengal.
Not only the Bhagirathi, Jelangi, Mathabhanga, or
Madhumati are rapidly declining, but the main
stream of the Ganges as well. With the gradual
silting up of the rivers the jheels and beds are
affected. These are most valuable fisheries affording
shelter to fishes during the dry season and being full
of aquatic weeds are not open to free netting, and
thus immune from exhausting modes of capture.
Not only the beels are declining, but the Zamindars
of villages who become absentee landlords are also
neglecting the village tanks. While the gradual
diminution of the fresh-water surface is reducing
the fish supply, the indiscriminate destruction of fry
and immature fish causes a further fall in natural
production. The price of fish has doubled or
trebled in the last few years, and this has led to
the slaughter of breeding fish and fry throughout
the province.^ It has been suggested that the law
should prohibit the capture and sale of fry except
for rearing and stocking purposes, and should pre-
scribe a minimum size for the principal carps for
sale in a dead state. Protective measures like these
have been adopted in the United States and Canada,

^ In many of the rivers large quantities of hilsa, mostly immature,
are caught in spring, and there is regular winter fishing in the
Madhumati and in the Hooghly near Kalna, as well as in many parts
of the coast. In fact, the capture of fish goes on throughout the year,
not even the " spent " fish being spared. The supply of hilsa is thus
greatly on the decline, and it is certain that if no remedial measures
are adopted the hilsa will sooner or later be altogether exterminated
{Quarterly Journal of the Dept, of Agriculture y Bengal^ Vol. III.,
No. 4).

90 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

and li these are in operation in our country their
effects will be most beneficial.

Another fruitful source of the diminution of fish
supply is the building of bandhs or weirs in most of
our sluggish rivers. These are usually impassable
barriers thrown right across a river with a small
passage guarded by a floating bamboo pole. A
series of them is often constructed at short intervals
along the entire course, and they not only interfere
with the free passage of boats, but accelerate the
process of silting up. To fish-life the result has
been disastrous, as they effectually bar the upward
journey of breeding fish, especially of the carp
family, to the spawning grounds as well as the
downward passage of young ones later on. The
damming of channels and streams in this way should
be penalized.

In Bengal, the methods of propagation of fish
are clumsy. The fry are collected on the surface
of shallow water near sand-banks in the rivers with
a piece of cloth, and are carried inland remote from
the rivers in damp earthen pots to be sold to the
owners of tanks. The following are the better
known fish that are generally reared : the coi or the
climbing fish, the magur^ the catla^ the calbauSy the rui^
and the mirgely the fry being sold from Rs.5 to Rs.8.

Improvements and new methods that might be
adopted in this direction are numerous. A scien-
tific system of pisciculture would utilize our tanks
in the villages better than has hitherto been the
case, as well as conserve and develop our river
fisheries now almost neglected,^ and yield a fish

1 The Fishery Department in Bengal has been trying to prove
whether the artificial culture of carp in ponds, tanks, or other confined

THE FISHING INDUSTRY 91

harvest, abundant and continually increasing with-
out any fear of exhaustion. Measures connected
with the protection as well as the propagation of
fish demand immediate attention in our country,
especially in Bengal, where inland waters are so
extensive and the fish diet not only highly prized
but is a necessity of life.

waters is as practicable in Bengal as it has been found to be in Europe
and Japan. In Europe and Japan the remarkable increase in the
stock of the carp and other edible fish is chiefly traceable to their
culture in ponds and other confined waters, and also to the artificial
propagation on a large scale made by means of hatcheries. In
America the hatcheries are used not only for stocking ponds, but,
what is of special interest to us in Bengal, in systematically replenish-
ing the large rivers and lakes, many of which, by this means, have
been restored from a state of exhaustion to one of great abundance,
exceeding that which unassisted nature achieved before.

CHAPTER V

DAIRYING

Milk and its preparations, dahiy gheCy and makham,
have been food to the people of this country from
very early times. The gowalaSy or milkmen, are
therefore important members of the village, and
their services are in great request, especially at the
time of marriage or other social as well as religious
festivals. In fact, entertainments without the pre-
paration of Khir, dahty and the sweets which are
prepared from milk channa are not at all praised
and very rare.

The various preparations of milk are done at
home by the gowala women. The cows are milked
in the fields by the gowalas who carry the milk
home. The milk on its arrival is sent to villagers
who have no cows and who want raw milk. Fresh
milk is carried to a long distance by being placed
in earthen or brass pots with large open mouths.
These are swung over the shoulder by means of the
bank, and the gowala run with them sometimes
quite swiftly. Within these pots there are often
placed a few twigs or leaves, e,g, rice straw, date-
palm leaves. It is believed that these prevent the
milk turning sour, if it is not boiled. The milk
is then boiled for at least one hour. The milk of
the buffalo, being much richer, is boiled for less

DAIRYING 93

time. Again, the milk in the morning which is
usually not so concentrated as the evening's milk
has to be boiled more. In the marriage season,
when the village becomes a jubilee of feasts, the
gowalas get previous orders of khir. In that case
the goylanies add sugar to the fresh milk while boil-
ing it. The flavour of khir, ox\ concentrated milk,
depends on (^) the quantity of milk boiled at a
time ; (b) the care with which the milk is stirred at
the time of boiling ; and {c) the nature of the heat
applied, (a) To obtain khir as white as possible,
and possessing the best flavour, not more than half
a seer of milk should be boiled at a time. (U) All
the time the milk is boiling it should be stirred with
a wooden rod. Some prefer to stir it with a number
of rods, {c) A strong and steady heat should be
applied. Tamarind wood is considered the best
fuel for this purpose. Khir of an inferior quality
is sometimes made from fresh buttermilk. Some-
times a little arrowroot or flour is also added to get
the thickened khir of a fine white colour.

The dahi, which is another preparation from the
boiled milk, is also a very popular food. The
boiled milk is allowed to cool and is thrown into a
vessel which has contained dahi, but has not been
washed. Sometimes an acid substance is added to
the boiled milk. The milk is left to stand from
twelve to eighteen hours in a vessel narrowed to-
wards the top. When curds are intended to be
prepared the acid is added to the hot milk. This
is called dud-chenna. The whey is separated by
pressing the curd within a clean cloth. Dahi,
chenna, and khir are largely eaten by the people
and are the chief ingredients of the sweetmeats of

94 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

our country, which may thus be regarded as pos-
sessing all the elements of food and are not merely
luxuries like the sweetmeats of Europe.

The simplest churn is a wide -mouthed bottle or
bamboo-joint into which a quantity of milk is placed
and shaken in the hand until butter forms. Rota-
tory churns are also used. The milk is placed in a
shallow basin and a whisk is made to rotate on its
surface by its handle being rubbed between the
hands. At first warm and then cold water are
added now and again, but quite empirically. Verti-
cal churns made of bamboos are also found in use.
At the end of a wooden rod about a foot in length,
two small bamboos or wooden pieces are attached
crosswise at right angles to it. The stick is rotated
by means of the hands with a string. Those who
churn the curd according to the old fashion should
observe that in the beginning the number of revo-
lutions should be small. When cream or the surface
of the curd cracks and water is added then the revo-
lution should be increased. In this way the butter
taken out would be of the best quality. Prolonged
churning injures the quality of butter by incorpora-
ting cheesy matters with it. It may also be noted
that when butter appears on the surface the churn-
ing should be again slackened. Observation of this
rule will surely increase the quantity of butter
yielded.

The ghee is prepared by heating the butter
until the greater part of its moisture evaporates.
The oil rises to the surface, mostly casein forms
below as a sediment. Too much heating causes the
ghee to assume an acid taste, while imperfect heat-
ing renders it liable to putrefaction. Great skill is

DAIRYING 95

thus required, but the ghee that is sold in the
market is usually under-cooked owing to the loss in
weight which takes place when fully cooked. The
yield of ghee from the butter of the buffaloes is
greater than from that of the cow. Hence the
ordinary ghee is principally derived from the buffalo
milk. The ghee is eaten by the rich every day.
It is required for cooking vegetables or for pre-
paring sweets, and is taken uncooked with rice and
bread. The poor, however, cannot take ghee ex-
cept on feast days, and are satisfied with vegetable
oils.

There has been a continuous and steady decline
of the ghee industry. The production of ghee has
diminished a great deal, though the market for milk
has widened. The reason for the disparity of the
supply of milk and ghee is not far to seek. The
dairyman can secure a profitable market for fresh
milk and butter, but there is at present no profitable
market for ghee. The following figures will illus-
trate this. Butter, which is in essence the same
thing as ghee, sells at prices ranging from Rs.2-8-0
to Re. 1-8-0 per seer, according to quality. But
the lowest price at which pure ghee could be sold at
a profit is about Re. 1-6-0 per seer. The lowest
possible cost of production is higher than what the
consumers are prepared to pay for ghee.

CHAPTER VI

RICE AND WHEAT MANUFACTURE

The value of rice and wheat produced in India far
exceeds the value of all other agricultural products
of the country put together.

It is natural, therefore, that the conditioning,
husking, and cleaning or the manufacture of rice
and wheat is the most important indigenous industry
of India. In fact the industry is the most extensive
in the country, being carried on in every village.

In the case of paddy the agriculture and the
manufacture are not separated. The different pro-
cesses may be indicated as follows : —

The grain is threshed by being trodden out in
the " Kkamar'* or the threshing ground by bullocks.
A hooked stick, " karauli^' is used for pushing the
sheaves under their feet. The bullocks are tied by
ropes to a stake, nihi. The straw that has been
threshed is called the nara, and is the ordinary food
for cattle. The straw is not trodden, but tied up in
bundles, and the heads are beaten against a block
of stone or wood (thepa^). When the grain is thus
separated, the straw is used in thatching cottage
roofs.

The paddy is dried in the sun, and is then sifted
by means of pechas and kulaSy woven of bamboo
slips. The paddy is then soaked in water. The

HUSKING GRAIN.

RICE AND WHEAT MANUFACTURE 97

balls of mud, bits of stick and straw float on the
surface of the water and are thus separated from
the paddy, which sinks to the bottom of the vessel.
The paddy being thus further cleaned undergoes
the process of boiling. The paddy is boiled only
partially, the rice is thus rendered wholesome.
Sometimes the rice is not boiled ; it then becomes
ready for the next process, that of being dried in
the sun {attob rice). Boiling and drying help the
husking process a great deal. Boiling inflates and
drying contracts the grain, thus the husk is partially
released. Drying alone has this effect to a very
slight extent. Unboiled paddy takes about three
hours and boiled paddy about five hours to dry in
the sun. The paddy is then ready for the husking
operation.

The process of parboiling is the most laborious
and difficult to regulate. When the rice is over-
boiled it would be reduced to dust in the process of
husking, and would sell very cheaply. The con-
sumption of boiled rice is more extensive than that
of unboiled rice, the latter being used mainly by the
poor and Brahmin pandits and widows.

There are two indigenous methods of husking
grain. The dhenki, or the lever, is a movable beam
which rests on two pillars, and works on an axle.
A woman standing at the further end of the heavy
beam alternately rests and removes her weight from
its extremity. The beam alternately rises and falls,
the peg in the other end of the beam crushing the
rice placed in the hollow wooden bowl on which it
falls. Another woman sits near this and stirs the
grain and removes the husk with the hand as soon
as the peg rises. Sometimes there is a hand-rail

98 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

which serves as support to the woman who works
at the pedal. Instead of the dhenki, the hath,
mashuli, or the ukli (udhkhal, Sans.), or the pestle
and the mortar are often used for the same work.
There is an iron ferrule at the bottom of the pestle
to prevent it splitting. When paddy is husked it
is called brown rice, owing to the brown below the
husk which now appears. The removal of this
coating is the next process in which there is more
friction applied than pressure. When brown rice
has been cleaned it is known as white rice. The
rice is then ready for purchase, but the people
always fan and wash the rice again before con-
suming it.

The method above described is extremely crude,
tedious, and expensive as compared with that fol-
lowed in America and Rangoon. It does not even
yield a clean produce. The cost of manufacture
has been estimated to be about 7 annas per maund
for boiled and 6 as for unboiled rice. The working
time required by one person to prepare a maund of
boiled rice is about twenty-one hours. The average
cost is 6^ annas, which also coincides with the rate
paid to hired workers for rice preparation in certain
parts of Bengal, which is generally 6 annas per
maund of rice, the worker retaining the half a maund
of husk which may be valued at half an anna.
These workers, " bharanis " as they are often called,
are sometimes in great request in the country. The
cost of manufacture varies mostly with the quality
of rice wanted, whether boiled or unboiled, polished
or unpolished. In coarse paddy, the cost is some-
what lower than in fine paddy. The average cost
mentioned before is for medium qualities only. It

RICE AND WHEAT MANUFACTURE 99

has been estimated that a maund of medium quality
of Bengal paddy would yield about twenty-six seers
of rice, thirteen seers of husk (thoosh), and one seer
of meal {kuro)^ the yield of rice increases slightly in
coarse paddy and diminishes somewhat in fine
paddy. ^

It is a matter of regret that the staple food of
the country is manufactured in a method which
involves much waste of time and of labour. This
waste, however, is inevitable, as long as the manu-
facture is not separated from the agriculture of the
crop as in the case of wheat. The real reason why
rice is as a rule conditioned and husked by those
who grow it, is to be found in the cheap labour of
the country. Indeed, the Burmah rice-mills had
their origin in the very high cost of labour in that
province, and the disinclination of the Burmah
agriculturist to undertake any work he can avoid on
account of the dear labour. It soon became evident
that if rice is to be an important article of export, it
must be conveyed to Rangoon as paddy and husked
there cheaply by means of machine. This gave
rise to the important rice-milling industry in Bur-
mah. The question of the disposal of the husk,
however, then became a serious one. The dis-
covery soon followed that the husk, previously
wasted, might be utilized as the fuel to drive the
mills. The husk is accordingly conveyed by special
contrivances to the furnaces, and there consumed
while a stream of water flowing below carries off the
ash. By these and other inventions so great econo-
mies were effected, that it soon became evident that

1 Vide Mr. H. Ghoshe's paper on " Rice Manufacture," Industrial
Conference, 1906.

loo THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

not only was a great export trade possible, but that
it would no longer pay to carry rice in husk to be
milled at localities remote from the areas of pro-
duction. By 1904 there were 114 mills established
in Burmah.

In the mills in Rangoon the process of separa-
tion is effected in the case of unboiled rice by a
set of sieves circulating in one plane and requiring
but very little power to drive. When boiled rice
is wanted the separation is brought about by specific
gravity in the soaking process. Boiling can be done
far more easily than in the indigenous method by a
boiling apparatus when steam is introduced by means
of a pipe. No water will be needed and decidedly
better results will follow. The indigenous process
of drying the paddy in the sun requires a long
time and is very tedious. Hot air has been used in
a few mills, with great success, to do the work. It
cannot be said that the machines are too costly.
Though they are beyond the capabilities of the
ordinary individual cultivator, they are well within
the means of a comparatively small zamindar. The
rapid development of co-operative societies, again,
would place the cultivator in a better position to
purchase expensive but better machines than had
hitherto been the case. And, in spite of their cost,
it has always to be remembered that a good
machine, though expensive at the start, is far
more economical in the long run than a cheap one.
Some of the rice-milling machinery, however, are
cheap. Messrs. Nagel Kaemp, Hamburg, exhibited
one such in the U. P. Exhibition, Allahabad (1910-
11). They claimed that the Filpina and Colonia
mills shown at work together with their patent

RICE AND WHEAT MANUFACTURE i6i

paddy separator, would place the small producer in
a position to compete with larger installation, and
they would turn out the highest grade of polished
rice with comparatively cheap machinery. Messrs.
Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies and other companies
also exhibited in the same exhibition several steam
threshing plants which they believe to be suitable
for India, and a few of them were fitted with bhusha-
making apparatus. The official handbook makes
these remarks : " It is contended by the designers
of these machines that the bhusha so made is even
superior to that obtained by the ordinary indigenous
process. Steam threshing machinery, however, ap-
peals to only a limited number of large zamindars,
and to conditions where it is possible to collect a large
quantity of unthreshed wheat, or rice, within a com-
paratively small area. The hand- and bullock-power
threshing machines, which are exhibited alongside,
are within the capacities of many comparatively
small landowners. One advantage of using thresh-
ing machines is that the grain is put on the market
more quickly and in a much clearer condition than is
possible when trodden out by bullocks."

In the system of rice-milling machinery described
above, it has been estimated that the cost of rice
manufactured per maund would be approximately
2 annas 6 pies for unboiled and 3 annas for boiled
rice, unpolished rice, such as would be consumed
in the country. Rangoon millers reckon an average
of 3 annas as the cost of preparing polished rice.
If the system of artificial instead of natural drying
is introduced, the cost of boiled rice should be
reduced by 6 pies approximately. Thus the intro-
duction of the up-to-date system of machinery

i02 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

would diminish the cost of manufacture of rice by
about 4 annas per maund. The price of the staple
food of the people will be reduced to more than
one-third, and a vast amount of time and labour will
be set free for other industries.

In Bengal, and in the deltaic tracts and rice
lands generally, where grazing lands are limited or
totally wanting, bichuli, or dry rice straw, is the only
fodder available for cattle in any quality. It is be-
lieved that green food is not suited to working cattle.
Rice straw is also worked up into fancy baskets.
Mats called mandri, phindi, as also string, are made
of rice-straw in many places. Mr. Collins, in his
Report on Arts and Manufactures, Bengal, 1890,
says that in the Patna and Bhagalpur divisions fancy
baskets of coloured grasses are made by high-caste
ladies. Fancy straw baskets are made in Purnea
district. The straw (even the stubble and roots) may
also be used in paper making. The thoosky or husk, is
utilized in boiling paddy making, or charcoal for the
chilam. The potter has sometimes to use the husk
to make the clay sticky, especially in moulding
pratimas, and the mud walls of the huts have also
the husk mixed with clay. A dye is also made
from the husk.

The kuro and the khud, or the small particles of
rice rejected in the cleaning process by the kulo, are
eaten by the very poor, or given to the cattle.

The edible grain may be said to be of two
grades — the finer qualities, or table (Patna) rice;
the lower grade, suitable for distillation or for the
manufacture of starch. The rices of Burmah are
employed for distillation (and for that purpose
very largely go to Holland and Germany), and for

RICE AND WHEAT MANUFACTURE 103

conversion into starch (mainly to England). They
are thick, coarse, highly glutinous rices, and when
boiled assume a heavy and somewhat repulsive
appearance to persons not accustomed to them.
Such glutinous rices are, however, much prized in
the manufacture of cements. A special Indian
cement is made from the water in which rice has
been boiled mixed with a quantity of pure lime.

In the case of wheat, unlike that of rice, the
manufacture is separated from the agriculture, the
grower does not prepare the corn. The indigenous
process is that of grinding the corn by the hand-
mill. The bigger kind used for milling wheat is
called the janta. The upper lid is so heavy that
it is worked by two persons, one sitting in front of
another on the other side. The junta is made to
revolve in an axle by the handle. The smaller
kind used for breaking the pulses is not so heavy.
It is called the Chakki, and worked by one person.
From the wheat grain three kinds of flour are made
in th^jantay viz. skuji, maida^ and ata. The first is a
granular meal obtained by moistening the grain over-
night and then grinding it. The fine flour passes
through the sieve, leaving the skuji and the bran
above. The latter is got rid of by improving the
skujz grains. The preparation is most easily pro-
duced from the hard wheat rich in gluten. It is
employed in confectionery, the haluai being found
in every confectioners shop. Maida and ata are
prepared from the flour separated in the preparation
of shuji by regrinding it and passing it through a
finer sieve than used formerly, the fine flour that
passes through being maida and coarser afa^ They
are, however, most largely prepared without going

I04 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

through the process of separation of skuji, the dry
grain being at once ground and sifted into the two
qualities. Mazda and aia constitute the chief food
of Upper India, the former being the luxury of the
rich, while the latter is the flour of the poor. In
many localities the ata is not obtained from pure
wheat, but from a mixture of barley and wheat
grains, the two grains being ground in a mixed
form, a habit that has led to the cultivation of the
mixed crops, and also to the sale of the mixed
grains. The flour is used in the production of
certain sweetmeats in villages. In towns, bread
and biscuits prepared from flour are greatly in use.
Several biscuit factories have been started in the
country and show great promise. There is also the
indigenous baker who prepares bread from flour
leavened and baked in his oven. He uses a
wooden spoon and an iron bar hooked or flattened
at the end.

In addition to the indigenous hand-grinding
methods which are found all over India, there have
been established in the country several flour-mills
which are run on modern methods. In 1906, there
were forty-two such mills, employing 3000 persons,
in the country, which were distributed thus : —
Punjab twenty-one, Bengal nine, Bombay four,
United Provinces four, Madras two, Sindh and the
Central Provinces one each. In some cases the
villagers have also been known to use the water-
driven flour-mill where a fall in the water level can
be obtained, especially in the hills.

By far the major portion of the flour annually
produced in the country is turned out by the
indigenous hand- or water-power mills, and thus

RICE AND WHEAT MANUFACTURE 105

escapes registration. No more particulars can
therefore be afforded of the consumption of flour
than are implied by the annual production of wheat
and the balance of that cereal over and above the
foreign exports. The trade in exporting wheat-
flour is not very profitable. In 19 13-14 it was
1,588,000 cwt, with a value of Rs. 12,5 11,000.

CHAPTER VII

SUGAR INDUSTRY

India b the largest dngle producer of cane-sugar
in the worid, and the importance of sugar in our
village economy is very great and dates from the
earliest times. Sugar is the only luxury that is
within the reach of the poor in our rural tracts,*
and the demand for it in the country is continually
increasiiig, year after year. Up to the last decade
India manufactured only jngger}^ and very crude
sxig^ to meet the wants of her people. Now the
demand for refined sugar is supplemented by an
tncreasiiig demand for refined sugar which she can-
not produce alone herself and which she has to
import in large quantities. Indeed, " the power of
India to absorb immense quantities of crystallized
SQgaLT in addition to the cruder sugar of her own
pcodncdon becomes increasingly striking year by
year. The increasing demand for crystallized sugar
si^;gests a d^jee of preference that may well
account for the continuous decline in the acreage
under cane in this country. Ten years ago im-
puted sogar formed only 59 per cent, of it. The
increase of so^^ from internal production has
fidlen by about 409,000 tons. As time goes on the

^ It is said tikat dv >flr e^fitm caosampaoa of sqgv in IiM&i is

SUGAR INDUSTRY 107

conviction gains ground that the decline in Indian
cultivation of sugar is real and continuous, and that
there is probably an excess between it and the
growth of imports. Price records show that in
sixteen years the prices of food-stuffs in India
have risen by 32 per cent. The price of Indian
crude sugar, known as Gur, has risen only 26
per cent. In other words, sugar has not fully
shared in the appreciation of other food-stuffs, and
it is difficult to dissociate this fact from the circum-
stance that the world's price of, say, Java sugar
has declined in the same period by 25 per
cent.*' ^ It is recognized, however, that India is not
inferior to other countries as a grower of sugar-
cane. Dr. J. W. Leather has remarked: "There
is no need to go outside India for good varieties, or
to other countries for good methods of cultivation.
The best varieties are met with, and the methods
of cultivation in some parts are very perfect
What is wanted is the introduction of these good
varieties and good methods into those parts,
particularly the North-Western Provinces and
Behar, which provinces, it must be recollected,
include much the largest area under cane of any
province of India. The real causes of the decline
of the industry have thus been pointed out : India's
potentialities as a sugar producer are hampered by
the small and scattered nature of the holdings, the
impracticability, except perhaps in new assignments
such as the Canal Colonies, of concentrating culti-
vation round a central factory, and the peculiarities
of demand which as to four-fifths of its volume
is restricted to molasses and low-grade sugars,

* Noel Paton's " Review of the Trade of India, 1910-11."

io8 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

produced by wasteful and primitive methods, and
commanding prices out of proportion to their
refinery values." ^ Indeed, the sparse distribution
and defective cultivation of cane, together with the
petty scale and inefficient methods of the indigenous
industry are the an^^itheses of the practice, ex-
emplified by the "Central Factories'* that have
been gradually adopted in competing countries,
and they result in losses, possibly sufficient
to account for the discrepancy of cost.^ Thus
it has come about that though India's share
in the world's total cane-sugar is 34 per cent,
and cane-sugar ^ — India's included — represents
about 52 per cent, of the world's total sugar supply,
yet India at the same time imports largely increasing
quantities amounting to 10 per cent, of the total
supply of cane-sugar outside India. In 1913-14,
the imports of cane-sugar amounted to Rs. 12,89
lakhs, and beet-sugar Rs.1,40 lakhs.

It has been maintained that were modern
machinery installed in the place of the antiquated
conglomeration of wheels and rollers at present to
be met with, the sugar production of India could
be doubled with little or no difficulty, and India's
ancient place as an important sugar-exporting
country restored to her. Thus the introduction of the
Central Factory system as is followed successfully
in Java, Mauritius, Formosa, or Hawaii, is regarded
as the sole remedy of the present condition of the
industry. But there are obvious difficulties in the
introduction of the Central Factory which are

1 C. W. E. Collin's " Review of the Trade of India, 1909-10."

2 F. Noel Paton's "Review of the Trade of India, 1910-11."

^ The chief sources of cane-sugar are Java and Mauritius, while in
respect of beet-sugar Austria has uniformly retained the first place.

^ 'p

,..>■■ ^

^■,-

»4..

^B (»

r^\1

ti'yk^

\"Tk

ML,^

m^^^m

mMm" '

'" '~ ';^^^^^^^H

GUR-MAKING.

SUGAR INDUSTRY 109

almost insuperable in many parts of our country.
A continuous and large supply of sugar-cane at one
centre, which a Central Factory will require, cannot
be easily organized.

It will not be expedient for the manufacturers
to secure a few contractors producing on a large
scale, or to conduct agricultural operations them-
selves. The growing of sugar is distinctly a
business for the small farmer, and it is very
questionable whether any company can produce
sugar as cheaply, even under the most favourable
conditions, as can the individual grower with a
smaller acreage, and consequent closer supervision
of work. With the least laxity in supervision it
becomes a very easy matter for a company to lose
in the field all that is really made in the factory,
and the manufacture of sugar forced to bear the
burden of the field losses.^ The economic pro-
duction of sugar in the field is a far more compli-
cated matter than the extraction of it in the factory.
Thus the agricultural operations have to be left in
the hands of the people themselves. The sugar-
cane tracts are usually so scattered, and each
cultivator sows such a small area that the factory
has to deal with a very large number of small
cultivators. If any of these men fail to supply the
factory with the required number of canes the mill
has to be stopped, and there will be a very serious
loss. For the factory cannot keep a reserve stock
of sugar-cane, because it deteriorates rapidly as
soon as it is cut. Thus the difficulty of obtaining
the supply of sugar-cane is so great that under

1 "The California Sugar Industry," by G. W. Shaw, M.A., Ph.D.,
Bulletin No. 149, University of California publications.

no THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

these conditions, we can say that the sugar industry
will not in the main develop on the lines of the
Central Factory system, though there might be par-
ticular localities where sugar-cane grows abundantly
and where the system can be worked to a profit.

It has been suggested ^ that the Central Factory
instead of manufacturing sugar directly from the
sugar-cane, might produce it from Gur, Such a
process is considered to be more easy and profit-
able. Gur is available in large quantities, and can
be transported from considerable distances and
stored; in Gur business the factory can work all
the year round, whereas in cane business it only
works for three or four months. Besides, the
machinery used in Gur business are very few as
compared with that used in cane business. But
this system has also its difficulties.

Gur as a starting point for sugar-making is
admittedly scientifically unsound ; the loss of sugar
during the manufacture of Gur is very high indeed,
and it is at the best an indifferent material for
sugar refining. The price of sugar in the Indian
market apparently bears little relation to the price
of imported sugar or to its own sugar contents ; the
higher priced Gur prepared for eating purposes are
so dear in proportion to their sugar content that
they are entirely useless for refiners. Again the
Indian market values Gur partly by the grain or
texture, that is the amount of sugar-crystals present
in it, and partly by the colour; the refiner cares

' The internal trade in sugar is divided into two sections, {a) refined
and {b) unrefined sugar. The grand total of the movements of the
former kind came in 1906-7 to 5,984,425 cwt., the traffic in unrefined
sugar came to 9,420,832 cwt.

SUGAR INDUSTRY iii

nothing whatever about the colour but looks only
to the amount of crystals.^ Now to get a large
proportion of crystals, it is necessary to add lime
to the juice when making Gur ; and the addition of
lime usually makes the Gur almost black and quite
unsaleable in the Indian market. So if you lime
your juice, you can sell only to the refineries, and
if you do not lime, the refiners will not buy.^ Thus
as long as Gur continues to satisfy a large pro-
portion of the demand for sugar, the refining
industry is handicapped at its very beginning.^

The refining industry might adopt one alter-
native. It might work on cane during a portion,
say, one-third of the year, and on Gur during the
two-thirds. Such a combined factory will work at
a relatively low rate of profit during two-thirds of
the year and at a higher rate during one-third.
Central Factories will then be gradually brought
into existence. When these are established it will
pay manufacturers to offer to crush cane such a
price as will lead to the abandonment of Gur-
making. When foreign capital came to be used,
cultivators at Porto Rico found it more profitable
to sell their cane than to work it up by the old
process.* Under similar conditions, Gur available

1 " The United Province Sugar Industry," April, 1907. Paper read
at the first United Provinces Industrial Conference.

2 The manufacturer in the factory will seek to get as large a
proportion of crystals in the Gtir as possible. If a method of Gur-
making is suggested which will produce more crystals without
sacrificing the colour as the addition of limes does, the difficulty is
obviated.

3 The Cossipore Sugar Factory in Bengal, which consumes Gur
and produces sugar and molasses, and the Central Sugar Works,
U.P., which also do the same labour under this difficulty.

* "Sugar-cane and Sugar Industry in India and Other Countries."
Paper read at the Industrial Conference, Calcutta, 1912.

112 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

for refining in India will tend to become more rare
and cane will be offered in its place. It is, how-
ever, doubtful if the transformation of the public
taste can be expected very soon though it has
already begun in many parts of India/ In Bombay
now-a-days the better classes of people prefer the
white sugar to the usually locally produced juggery
or to the brown Mauritius, and for such white
sugars they have to look to the countries producing
white qualities such as Austria, Germany and Java.
These white sugars, imported through Bombay, find
their way to Gujrat district, viz. Surat, Ahmedabad,
and on the Great Indian Peninsula line they go as
far north as Delhi. In the United Provinces the
demand for Gur has greatly diminished when
refined sugar imported from Java and Mauritius
can be had at cheaper rates. Thus economic
causes have been modifying the tastes of the
people, and it is not impossible to find the demand
for Gur in our rural tracts gradually disappearing
on account of the low prices of refined sugar.
Nevertheless the existing demand is still mainly
restricted to Gur and low-grade sugars, manu-
factured in the country. Thus in the rural tracts,
Gur being generally preferred to refined sugar, the
average price of Gur has for some years past been
higher than that of sugar. So long as the public
taste remains as it now is, and the relative prices of
Gur and refined sugar do not greatly change, there
is no profit to be made by refining sugar, and sugar

^ Mr. Barber, Government Botanist, Madras, has suggested that
every effort should be made to encourage such a change, for the
production of sugar on a large scale for the local market instead of
Gur^ for this would pave the way for India to become a large sugar-
producing country, and the question of export will naturally follow.

SUGAR INDUSTRY 113

will continue to be manufactured according to
indigenous methods.

Under the indigenous system the cultivators of
sugar-cane are in most cases the manufacturers.
In the large sugar-cane tracts, the cultivators have
their mills at the depdts to crush the canes. The
canes are peeled in the fields and are taken on
bullock carts or head loads to the depots, which,
attracting swarms of young children of the village,
become busy centres of life during this sugar
manufacturing season.

There are three kinds of mills in use for crush-
ing sugar-cane : ( i ) The Ghani or wooden mortar
and pestle mill, the same as is used in crushing oil-
seeds, but instead of the up-and-down motion of an
ordinary pestle, the pestle is rolled against the sides
of the mortar by a lever attached to it. (2) The
Chaki, consisting of two horizontal wooden rollers
with screws fitting into each other. (3) The iron
mill. The iron mill is now commonly used. Thus,
in Eastern Bengal and Assam, the iron mills appear
to have completely supplanted the wooden mill in
all the districts of Rajshahi Division, and in the
districts of Faridpore, Bakarganj and a greater part
of Chittagong Division and Cachan The Nepalese
cane growers of Assam also use iron mills, though
among the Assamese cultivators the use of the
wooden roller mill is still all but universal. The
earlier type of iron mill with two vertical rollers, is
slowly giving way to three roller mills which are
more effective. The cane juice is collected in a
huge earthen vessel called the Patna. Sometimes
two or three vessels with ropes tied to them are
employed ; when one of them is filled up, the second

114 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

is put in its place, and then the third. This is a
precaution against the fermentation of sugar in the
unclean earthen vessels dug up into the earth. A
piece of cloth or a bamboo basket is placed on the
mouth of the Patna for straining the juice. As
soon as the Patna is full the juice is removed to
Karahis or boiling kettles placed on the furnace. The
Gur manufacturer sits on one side of the structure
and makes the fire with bamboo sticks, dried arhar
twigs or palm or cane leaves. There are usually
three or four Karahis on the furnace, which, being
connected with one another, are fed with the same
fire, the juice as it thickens is brought from one
pot to another close to the furnace mouth. The
process of converting the scum into a valuable
cattle food has been thus described in a pamphlet
published by the Bombay Department of Agri-
culture : Mix an equal quantity of water with the
strained scum and boil the liquid in a Gur pan.
Any rejected pan will do. As soon as it boils, fine
powdery megass should be mixed with it in pro-
portion of one point of megass to four of the
original scum. The whole mass is stirred and the
fire then stopped. Then it is spread in the sun
till thoroughly dry. The scum meal thus prepared
from the refuse of one Gur boiling furnace is quite
enough for all the bullocks required to work the
mill supplying that furnace. The scum is mixed
with the shani and given as food to the bullock.
Small quantities of milk diluted with water and
mustard oil are added during the process of boiling
to assist, and the scum is removed with the Labari,
a broad ladle. The Karahi is taken off the furnace
when the syrup is quite thick, and assumes a dark

SUGAR INDUSTRY 115

brown colour. This is the Gur of the ordinary
market.

The Gur is (i.) sold to tobacco dealers to mix
with tobacco; (ii.) boiled down to hard mass and
sold as a sweetmeat ; (iii.) sold to the spirit makers ;
(iv.) or it may be more profitable to reboil to rab
and centrifugalize again. Thus a second crop
of white sygar is often obtained in the United
Provinces, and there are still molasses left over
which for the purposes of the tobacco trade, is not
as good as before. Most of the first molasses in
this kind of factory are reboiled to rab and extract-
ing a second crop of white sugar, a very big mass is
said to be made. The following figures have been
given : —

Expenditure rs. a. p.

1. Value of 47 mds. of molasses 78 6 o

2. 2 boilers for two days at 6 as. per day . . 180

3. I fireman for 2 days 060

4- Fuel 300

5. 26 gharras for rab i 12 o

6. Centrifugalling charges 10 o o

Total . . 94 10 o
Income

9J mds. of sugar 8580

28J mds. molasses 47 o o

Total ... 132 8 o

Rab produced is about 80 per cent, of weight
of molasses, therefore yield from 41 mds. = about
38 mds. of second rab ; 38 mds. rab at 25 per
cent, sugar = 9 mds. 20 srs. sugar, and 28 mds.
20 srs. molasses {Agricultural Journal of Indian
Vol. VIII., Part I., p. no). The average out-turn
of Gur from a bigha of land is 27 mds.

Mr. H. E. Annet tells us from his experience
in a village in Jessore District, Bengal, that about

ii6 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

20 pucca mds, of Gur per bigha (of one-third acre)
was the usual yield, but that 30 mds. was usually
obtained. An area 16 feet by 25 feet in the cane
field was measured out. The average distance
between the rows was 2 feet 8 inches, and on this
area there were one hundred and seventeen stalls,
fifty-two of the stalls contained one hundred and
fifty-six canes, i,e, an average of three canes per
stall, a total of three hundred and fifty one canes in
the area. The number of canes in a stall varied
from one to five. Fifty stripped canes were found
to weigh 45 lbs. 8 ozs. an average of 0*9 1 lb. per
cane. So that the total weight of stripped cane
in this area was 319 lbs. 5 ozs. This comes out at
15*5 tons per acre of stripped cane. Each fourteen
parts of juice gives about three of Gur^ so that the
yield of Gur per acre works out at about 2*2 tons.

The following represent the cost of the
manufacture of Gur as given in a report on the
sugar-cane industry submitted by the Agricultural
Department, Bengal, to the Board of Agriculture,
India : —

Rs, A. p.
{a) 5 men to cut and strip canes 140

I man attends to the furnace 040

I man boils the juice 040

I man fits the mill 100

Total ... 300

The work is extended for 4 days 13 o o

Fuel 080

Hire of the mill and pan 400

Rent 400

Total Rs. ... 21 8 o
ib) Cost of cultivation for a bigha of land yielding

sugar-cane 53 2 o

Calculated total . . 74 10 o

SUGAR INDUSTRY 117

Rs. A. P.

Rs.4 a maund 96 o o

Sugar-cane tops 18 o o

Total ... 114 o o

{d) Profits Rs.39 -6-0 per bigha or Rs.i 18 - 2 - o
per acre.

The manufacture of Gur is perhaps the best
example of the appHcation of co-operative methods
in our rural tracts. The fact that the sugar-cane
growers are in one locality where the large con-
tiguous acreage makes the average of supply of
cane juice large in amount, contributes to develop
the spirit of co-operation. In the villages we
usually find that the cultivators who grow sugar-
cane own one or two cane mills together.^ The
canes are not allowed to lie in the fields for long,
but are crushed as soon as they are cut. Each of
the cultivators has a pair of bullocks which drives
the mill by turn. All the cultivators are engaged
in the work ; some assist in the boiling process, one
taking out the scum in one Karahi and another
stirring the liquid in another pan, while others
control the fire in the furnaces or are engaged in
crushing the sugar-canes. Thus all the economies
resulting from a manufacture on a comparatively
large scale are effected without any initial outlay,

1 If the cultivators do not own the mill themselves they hire it and
pay, say Rs.i per day's work of the mill. Sometimes, however, a
rich cultivator owns a mill and offers to crush the sugar-canes and
turn the juice to rab on receipt of a fixed money payment from the
other growers. Thus he will charge Rs.io to crush one bigha yield
of sugar-cane and turn the juice into Gur with his own men. Often,
however, they charge a rate, say 4 annas, according to the quality of
juice.

ii8 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

while the sugar-cane growers — themselves the
manufacturers — are pretty sure of their out-turn.

The indigenous process of sugar manufacture
can be improved in various ways. The following
are some of the improvements that are suggested :

(a) The use of tin canisters instead of earthen vessels
for storing the cane juice. Experiments in Mysore
show that losses from fermentation, due to the use
of dirty receptacles, amount to about lo per cent, of
the sugar in the juice. The discarding of earthen-
ware pots, and the use of iron or copper receptacles,
combined with cleanliness, would prevent a con-
siderable proportion of this loss (Proceedings of
the Board of Agriculture in India, Cawnpore, 1907).

(b) The use of the cast-iron Karahi which is all one
piece throughout, instead of the pan made of many
pieces of iron riveted together, {c) The furnace
should not be straight and deep, but wider in the
sides. Attention paid to a few simple details about
which the cultivators are careless will lead to a great
improvement of the quality of Gur, Thus, in the
Burdwan and Sibpore experimental farms, the same
appliances as are used by the neighbouring culti-
vators are used, yet the jaggery is of excellent
quality. The juice is received in pots which are
clean and sweetened every day ; and as soon as the
pot is full, the juice is poured into the boiling pan,
and kept sufficiently hot to prevent fermentation
until the full charge has been collected. The pan
used is made of iron, and is of the shallow circular
type now used in many parts of Bengal. The pan
is so placed over the fire that its outer six inches
or so projects beyond the furnace, preventing the
burning of the jaggery as it thickens in the pan.

SUGAR INDUSTRY 119

After the juice has been clarified, and the first scum
that rises has been removed, the boiUng is pushed
on as fast as possible. The simple method which
entails no additional cost can be further improved
by defecating the juice with the half of such sub-
stances as soda and the extract obtained by crushing
the stem of the Vindi plant.^ Mr. Mohammed
Hadi, Khan Bahadur, has introduced several im-
provements ^ in indigenous manufacture. His pro-
cesses for the manufacture of Khand and refined
sugar from cane juice are within the reach of small
capitalists, and by their use sugar can be produced
of better quality than existing India sugars, and at
considerably lower cost. They are well adapted
to co-operative methods, if the sugar growers of
a given area would combine and set up a factory on
Mr. Hadi's lines for production of sugar from their
cane.

The introduction of the centrifugal instead of
the Khanchi for preparing sugar from rab was pro-
bably the first improvement introduced by the Hadi
process, and this part of the process has already been

^ Mr. Basu, " Report on the Sugar-cane Industry of Bengal."
^ " Improvements in Native Methods of Sugar Manufacture," Bul-
letin No. 19 of 1905, U.P. Department of Agriculture: "The way to
make the rab was evolved by experiments with successive modifications
of existing methods, (i) The pans were arranged so that juice could
travel by gravity instead of having to be lifted ; then copper was
substituted for iron in the pans, the greater cost of raw material being
almost covered by simplification of the construction ; further, the
arrangement of pans over the furnace had to be worked out in detail.
So that each pan should get the temperature it needed and that fuel
should be economized ; while, lastly, the infusion of the stem of the
wild hibiscus together with crude soda sulph. (known as Sajji) used in
small quantities were the best materials for defecation." — Agricultural
Journal of India^ Vol. II., Part I., 1907. W. H. Moreland, " Sugar
Industry in the United Provinces."

I20 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

inkisited hy thQ K/iandsarzs in the United Provinces
using the Dest process who have not yet adopted the
improved methods of evaporation. But perhaps
the most important improvement that is required is
the introduction of efficient cane mills for bullock
power. There are several types that are suitable,
which might be immediately introduced. Mr.
Moreland has suggested the establishment of an
agency which will let their mills on hire to the
cultivators, in all the sugar-growing tracts of the
country, at a rate that would include maintenance
for the season. The mechanics could be employed
in visiting periodically each mill that had been hired
out, in adjusting the bearings and otherwise seeing
that every mill was in thorough working order.
Power-crushers might be introduced were a suffi-
cient area of cane to be obtained ; for even the least
small bullock mill cannot avoid the loss of juice.
In the U.P. Exhibition, Allahabad, 1910-1 1, Messrs.
Blair, Campbell & Maclean exhibited at work a
small complete English Sugar Factory, equipped
with all the apparatus for economical crushing and
vacuum evaporation. At the same time it produces
only I J tons of sugar every twenty-four hours, thus
requiring from fifteen to eighteen acres of cane per
day, which can easily be obtained from one acre.
In other words, such a factory in order to work day
and night for one hundred days would require one
hundred acres. Thus the factory ** represents the
latest efforts to provide a factory on modern lines,
but which is small enough to deal with quan-
tities of cane such as are likely to be available
within a reasonable radius." The establishment
of such factories in the important cane districts

SUGAR INDUSTRY 121

of the country will be found to be a commercial
success.

The sugar-cane cultivators, however, have
another great drawback in common with the
agriculturalists, which has stood in the way of the
development of the sugar manufacturing industry.
Many of them are in debt to the Mahajans. The
cultivation of cane is rather difficult and expensive,
and so the cane growers often borrow money from
the Mahajans, pledging to pay them back in seers
of Gur. These Mahajans are generally the sugar
refiners who find it to their advantage to lend money
to sugar-cane growers. They thus become certain
of the regular supply of Gur from their creditors
during the season, while getting the rates of interest
for their money. The Gur is usually charged at
rates when it just comes into the market early in
the season. One cultivator said to me that he had
no inducement to refine the GuVy as that would
mean a less weight and consequent less deduction
from the loan by the Mahajan who seems to dis-
regard the quality of the Gur. In some tracts of
Behar, the cultivators have to give up the Gur
before the phalguni purnimah day. If they do
not, the Mahajans will either go to the court or
charge a higher rate of interest and deduct the Gur
at lower prices. Thus the cane-grower, after his
cultivation and manufacture of Gur, finds that he
has but little profits. The only remedy for this is
the introduction of the co-operative credit societies
among the growers. The adoption of co-operative
methods in the manufacture of Gur has already been
noted. If co-operation extends to cultivation, the
industry will receive a great stimulus.

122 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

We have hitherto been dealing with cane-sugar
industry. Date-sugar manufacture is another im-
portant village industry. The date-palm is cul-
tivated systematically like the staple crops of
agriculture in some tracts. The ground generally
chosen is the higher ground, that which is too high
for rice to grow well, and the rent paid for such
ground is at least three times that for the rice land.
The trees are planted in regular rows and the turf
is ploughed up. Thus attended to and left for
seven years, the trees ripen and are rich in juice.
After the rainy season, when there will be no more
rain, the Gachi, or the tree-climber, cuts off the
lateral leaves of the trees for one half of the circum-
ference. The bare surface is left exposed for a few
days. The tapping then commences. A triangular
surface is cut into the trees, and a hollow bamboo
channel is inserted into the trees which carries the
juice out into a pot, hanging below it. The cut is
made in the evening and the juice runs into the pot
throughout the night and is collected next morning.
The juice from the first cut is the best, and called
jee ran ras. The juice from the cut in the second
evening is called Do-Kut, not so good as th^Jeeratty
while that from the third evening's cut is called
JharaUy which is sold simply as " droppings." The
tree is allowed rest for three days and a new cut is
made over the previous one on the sixth day. Thus
the cuts continue throughout the winter season,
beginning from October, when Gur fetches very
high prices, and ending in February. Next year
the cut is made on the opposite side of the tree.
As each season's cutting is above the previous
season's, and on the opposite side, the stem of the

TAPPINC; THE PALM JUICE.

SUGAR INDUSTRY 123

tree has, if looked at from the side, a curious zigzag
appearance. A good tree yields regularly on an
average five seers of juice per night. The Gachi
has no other tools with him except a sharp sickle,
or Hasua, and a rope which he manipulates with
his feet as he deftly ascends straight out to the top
of the tree.

The juice is used as a drink fresh or after
fermentation. It is then called Taddy, For making
Gur the juice is boiled in large pots placed on a
perforated dome below which a strong fire is made
to burn. The juice becomes a dark-brown semi-
solid mass after boiling, and it is then poured out
into the earthen vessels called Kalsis, Sometimes
solid Khejoor-Gur cakes, called Patali, are made by
boiling the juice for longer time, which command a
greater sale. Generally it takes from seven to ten
seers of juice to produce one seer of Gur. The
tapping season lasts four and a half months, or
sixty-seven nights. Thus at five seers a night 335
seers of juice are obtained, or about forty seers,
or one maund of Gur per tree, worth Rs.2 to
Rs.2-4.

The cultivators sell the Gur in the market or to
the sugar refiners. The refiner pours out the Gur
into baskets, which are placed over open pans. The
molasses passing through the baskets drop into
the pans beneath and leave the sugar above them.
Shayala^ Pathshyala, 3Xid Jhanjiy or mosses, are also
placed on the top of the sugar. These keep the
sugar moist and have bleaching properties as well.
Thus the molasses are separated and the sugar
becomes comparatively white. This is the dhalo
sugar which is used chiefly by the people, and

124 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

especially in the manufacture of sweets. The pucca^
or fine sugar, however, is much more refined. The
process of its manufacture is different. The Gur
is poured into flat wooden boards. A great deal
of the molasses thus flows off. The rest is put into
sacks and squeezed. The sugar is then boiled with
water and the scum is separated from it. When it
is cool the Shayala leaves are thrown over it. Thus
good white sugar is obtained.

The waste molasses collected are called Chittya-
Gur. This is boiled down into a black sticky
treacle, which is utilized for mixing with the tobacco
for the hookah.

CHAPTER VIII

THE OIL-PRESSING INDUSTRY

The oilman is a very important member of the
village community, oil being used by all Hindus for
domestic as well as for religious purposes. The
oils that have been largely used as illuminants are
castor-oil and cocoanut-oil But the introduction
of kerosene, the best qualities of which are cheaper
than ordinary cocoanut or castor-oil, as well as
the invention of cheap German lamps, have reduced
their demand within a remarkably short time.
Kerosene has, in fact, reached even the peasantry
in remotest villages. The cocoanut-oil, however,
continues to be largely used in the country in cook-
ing and for toilet purposes. It is also largely used
in the manufacture of the dhobies soaps. But the
most popular oil in the country is the til, the name
has the generic significance.

A very large quantity of seeds is annually sent
to foreign countries. The share of oil-seeds in the
total value of raw produce exported (excluding such
as falls under the head food and drink) was in
1908 and 1909 successively 17*4 per cent, and
22*4 per cent. In 1910-11 it rose to 267 per cent.
In value the increase is no less than 34*2 per cent.
The average of seeds export for three years ending
1911-12 was 24I million cwts. In 1913-14 the

126 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

quantity was over 3i| million cwts. Linseed is
the most important to commerce, only about 6 per
cent, of the annual average out-turn being retained
in the country. Bengal and the Central Provinces
have usually the largest extent of land under this
crop. Til and mustard and rape are very much
more largely consumed locally than linseed. The
fatty oil obtained from the mustard and rape seeds
is popularly known as the karwa-teL It is the chief
oil used in cooking by the people. Rape is largely
used to anoint the body. Mustard is met with all
over India, but grown most extensively in Bengal
and Assam. In Upper India the rape crop becomes
more important than the mustard. In the internal
trade in oil-seeds, the most important receiving
province is Bengal, most of the crops being drawn
from the United Provinces and Calcutta. In the
internal traffic in oils, the most important is mustard
and rape, followed by ** others," then by cocoanut
and by castor. Of the traffic in mustard and rape
the significant feature may be said to be the large
exports to Eastern Bengal and Assam, and to
Bengal proper from Calcutta. This is the direct
manifestation of the oil mills within the city which
imports large quantities of mustard and rape seed,
chiefly from the United Provinces, to be used up
in the manufacture of oil. Last year nearly 1 30,000
tons of mustard came by rail to Calcutta. In 1904,
there were 112 mills, with the total number of
persons employed 4985 (in 1903), 5200 (1904), in
the whole country. The suburbs of Calcutta literally
teem with private castor-oil mills. As manifesting
their importance, it may be explained that while
Calcutta exports a large amount of castor-oil.

THE OIL-PRESSING INDUSTRY 127

practically no castor seed leaves Bengal for foreign
countries.

But far more important, so far as internal con-
sumption is concerned, is the manufacture of oil in
almost every Indian village according to the old
native method. T\i^ ghani, or the indigenous oil-
mill, consists of a hollow wooden block (generally
made of tamarind and sisoo) buried very deeply in
the ground. The cavity in the mill is shaped like
an inverted cone, the apex reaching to about mid-
way down the block. There it is about two inches
wide, and thence it widens again ; the triangular
hole thus formed is the exit for the oil. The pestle
moves in the hollow of the mill, at the end there is
a ball which fits tightly into the narrow point of the
cavity at the waist. It is in this portion that the
oil-seeds are placed. A curved block of wood
connects the pestle with the vertical post fastened
to the horizontal board. The kalu^ or oilman, sits
on the board. At its end, nearest the main block
of the machine, is fastened a thick lump of wood
which acts as a kind of washer between the end of
the board and the block, and which also rests
against the latter, revolving in a horizontal groove
cut in the latter's exterior surface. There is a
bamboo strut running up from the inner portion of
the horizontal board to meet the upright post so as
to strengthen the joint. The bullocks are yoked
to the horizontal board. They are blind-folded
lest they refuse to move continually in the circle.
There is a peg standing up in the cavity amidst
the seeds alongside the pestle. To its top is
attached a horizontal handle, the other end of which
is fastened to the upright post by another peg

128 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

The whole, therefore, revolves with the pestle, the
first peg moving amongst the seeds concentrically.
At the same time the stirring is rendered more
effective by the peg being perpendicular and the
pestle on the slant.

The Kalus generally employ two or four bullocks
in relays of one at a time. After a few rounds the
kalu waters the oilcake before pressing it a second
time in order to abstract the residuary oil. This
occasions the presence of a certain amount of essen-
tial oil, which gives a pungent odour and bitter
taste to the mustard oil that is sold in the bazaars.
The kalu often adulterates the oil with poppy seed,
sarson, and other oils. They suppose that the
adulteration would make the mustard yield oil more
easily, as well as give a pungent odour to it. The
oil falls on the earthen pot, on the mouth of which
is a clean linen which serves to filter it. Sometimes
the ghani has no hole for the removal of the oil,
which has in this case to be soaked up with a bit of
rag, leather, or thin iron plate, tied on to a stick.
In fact, the invention of the hole at the bottom of
the mill seems to be recent, and has originated the
kalu sub-caste. There is a legend, popular among
the TeliSy which bears on this point. In the begin-
ning of time, Bhagabati made two men out of
turmeric paste, and ordered them to bring her oil.
One came back very soon with a pot of oil ; the
other took much longer. When the goddess asked
the reason of the delay, the latter explained that he
had to soak up the oil with a bit of rag and squeeze
it into a pot, while the former had stolen a march
on him by using a mill with a hole at the bottom
through which the oil trickled out. On hearing

THE OIL-PRESSING INDUSTRY 129

this the goddess was much offended, and condemned
the former to be degraded to a lower caste. He is
the head of the kalu sub-caste, the status of which
is far lower than the main body of the Telis. The
Gachua Telis and other sub-castes will never think
of using a mill with a hole, which, however, is
invariably in use among the kalus. Sometimes,
again, even the ghani is dispensed with, a sub-caste
of a still higher status being thus constituted. In
Eastern Bengal, Sir H. Risley quotes Dr. Wise,
the pure telis extract oil from til, and their caste is
forfeited if any other oil be manufactured. The
ghani is never used, the oil being prepared in the
following manner : The seeds are boiled and given
to low-caste Muhammadan women to husk. After
being sifted, the teli puts them into large vats,
boiling water being poured in, and the seeds
allowed to soak for twelve hours. In the morning
the liquid is beaten with bamboo paddles {ghoina)
and left to settle, when the oil floating on the sur-
face is skimmed off and stored, no attempts to purify
it being made. The refuse, khal, is given to cattle.
The yield of the ghani differs in different locali-
ties. I have found in one place that every time
eight seers of seeds are placed in the cavity of the
ghani, linseed would yield 2-2| seers, mustard
2I-3, and til 3-3J seers of oil each time. Thus the
average yield for four times in the day would vary
from 8 to 14 seers, the duration in each case being
on an average about three hours, though linseed
takes a little longer time.^ The Kalus ordinarily

^ From another kalu I learnt that 3 hotays (approximately
10 seers) of mustard and rye seeds would give 2| seers of oil, while
the same quantity of til seeds gives 3 seers.

" In an old oil-press in Jessore district, the yield of oil per maund

I30 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

purchase the seeds from the market and sell the oil.
Sometimes, however, they undertake to manufacture
oil out of seeds supplied by another and get the
wages. Their charges are ordinarily, 3 annas for
til and mustard, and 4 annas for linseed, weighing
8 seers in each case ; these will be reduced to
halves when the oilcakes are given to the kalus.

The kalus have always lands of their own which
they till in the slack season. Even in ordinary

of seed crushed has been estimated to be 12-15 seers, i.e. 30-38 per
cent. The press takes a charge of 7^ seers, and i^ hours is required
to complete one crushing. Kazli seed gives oil from 12-13 seers and
brown and yellow seed give 13I-15 seers per maund,the yellow giving
the highest yield of all.

" Three kinds of seed are used for pressing in the factory, (i) white
or yellow. This is imported from Behar, Cawnpore, and Delhi, there
being very little grown locally. Cawnpore and Delhi is the best seed,
the Punjab seed being considered the best of all. Behar seed is
smaller than the seed from these two places. (2) Brown. The
remarks on the white and yellow seed hold good for this also.
(3) Kazh. This is a small-grained brown seed, and is grown in Purneah,
Nadia, Jessore, Midnapore, and Behar. Mostly, the seed grown
locally is used for crushing ; but it is imported from Purneah if the
price is favourable.

" Rye is not pressed for oil, as the grain is hard and it gives a low
yield.

"OilissoldatRs.i6-8-otoRs.i7-o-o permaund of 82 lbs., and
is all disposed of locally. It is used for cooking and illuminating, and
also for anointing the body. The cake fetches from Rs.i -12-0 to
Rs.2 -2-0 per maund of 82 lbs., and is all sold in the neighbourhood.
It is used for feeding cows, and also for manuring. As a manure it is
especially liked for the betel vine, which is grown largely throughout
Jessore. A large amount of mustard cake is imported from Calcutta
for cattle food, and a small proportion of this, perhaps 10 per cent., is
used as a manure for the betel vine, and also for market garden crops
occasionally. The price of mustard seed is regularly quoted in
Capital. Early in 191 1 yellow seed was quoted at Rs.5-8-0 to
Rs.6-8-oper maund, and the brown at Rs.5-0-0 to Rs.5-14-0.
Now, however (November, 191 1), prices have gone up considerably, and
such variations in price are likely to make all the difference between
profit and loss in the nnditri^km^^^ {Agricultural Journal of India,
1912).

THE OIL-PRESSING INDUSTRY 131

times, the adult kalu works as an agriculturist, while
the boys and women stay at home to look after the
ghanL The boy sits on the horizontal board and
drives the bullock, while the woman assists him in
testing the oil when the seeds have been pressed or
in measuring the quantity of the new seeds to be
placed in the ghani.

Some of the telisy becoming wealthy, have given
up the manufacture of oil and become amdawalahs^
or traders, buying goods wholesale and selling them
by retail. They are known as tills. The tills are
now often regarded as a caste wholly distinct from
tell. Other tells, who have abandoned the oil trade
and become cloth-dealers and shop-keepers, take
rank among the Nava-Sakha, or nine castes (now
in fact fourteen), from whose hands a Brahman may
take water, while the kaluSy or working oilmen, are
included in a lower group along with the Sutradhar,
the Sundi, and the Kapali. In Behar the entire
caste seems to stand on this lower level, and no
Brahman will take water from their hands.

In this connection, the indigenous processes of
the manufacture of attars, cosmetics, and essential
oils might be indicated. India is renowned in the
world for its perfumed blossoms, the essences of
which have been extracted by indigenous methods
for ages past. The manufacture of perfumes is
chiefly in the hands of the Muhammadans, these
being in universal use among Muhammadan women
from the time of the Moghuls. In Bengal, in
Murshidabad, Dacca, and a few other Muhammadan
centres several Muhammadan families still continue
to ply their hereditary crafts. The process by
which they extract the essence is that of enfleurage.

132 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Layers of sesatnum seed wetted in water, alter-
nating with layers of bela, henna, chameli, or other
scented flowers are covered with a cloth and left for
twelve to eighteen hours. The flowers are renewed
periodically. After the seeds have been fully im-
pregnated with scent, the oil is pressed in ordinary
ghanis drawn by bullocks. The best essential oil
manufactured by this process in Lalbagh (Mur-
shidabad) ^ is the bela. It is manufactured only by
two families, and sells in the town at Rs.4 per seer.
Rose-water and attar are also manufactured by
these people. This is done by the process of dis-
tillation (khincha). The flowers are plucked early
in the morning and thrown into the retort on the
fire. The retort is a copper or iron boiler joined
by a bamboo tube, with a long-necked vessel called
the bhubka. The perfume comes off in steam with
the vapour of water and passes into the receiver.
The receiver is placed in a vessel of cold water,

1 In Lalbagh, Murshidabad, the industry is in the hands of two
brothers who ply the craft secretly. The method of manufacture is
never shown to anyone, not even to their agents. The apprentices
are recruited from the members of the same family. The rose flowers
are imported by them from Secunderpore, but they get the Keora^
the bela, the chameli^ and the kamini flowers from the local gardens.
They can get one seer of the bela or the kamini for Rs.4, and one
keora flower for one pice. The following is a price-list of the oils and
attars : — (i) The kamini oil, 6 annas per bottle (of 2 ounces), the
oil being distilled twelve times. (2) The bela oil, twelve times
distillation, Rs.4 ; twenty-four times distillation, Rs.io. (3) The
chameli oil, twelve times distillation, Rs.5 ; twenty -four times
distillation, Rs.ii. Ordinarily, however, a bottle of bela costs
Re.i -8 to Rs.2-8, and that of Chameli Re.i -4 to Rs.2. (4) The
keora and the bela attars sell from Rs.2 to Rs.50 per bhari.
Scented tobacco is also prepared for use with betel, especially
among the Muhammadan ladies. The artisans have to give a large
share of their profits to the agents or middlemen who sell the oils in
the town. They get 4 annas for every bottle of oil they can sell.

THE OIL-PRESSING INDUSTRY 133

which is changed as it gets heated. The quality of
the rose-water depends upon the number of distil-
lations. It is generally distilled three or four times,
the water from the first distillation being used to
pour over the roses for the second. The distilled
rose-water is then taken from the receiver, placed
in a small glass carboy, and exposed to the sun.
Its mouth is covered with cotton, and it is then
ready for sale. The lowest quality sells at 8 annas
a bottle, while the better sorts sell at Rs.i to
Rs.2.

In the manufacture of attar a quantity of sandal-
wood oil, the zamin, is put in the receiver in which
rose-water is allowed to distil from the retort. The
sandal-wood oil absorbs the volatile oil from the
rose-water, the vessel is then let into the ground,
which had been previously moistened with water
and allowed to remain for the night. The cooling
causes a little film of attar to form on the surface,
and this is skimmed in the morning and placed in
a small phial. The attar is sold at Rs.io per tola
down to Rs. 2 for the inferior sorts.

The foreign trade has greatly affected the culti-
vation and manufacture of most of the minor oils,
more especially those intended as illuminants and
lubricants. Kerosene has greatly affected the
domestic economy of the Indian peasant ; it is not
likely that the consumption, when once its luxury
and convenience are experienced, will diminish in
future. If an average be struck on two years, 1909
and 1 9 10, we find a weekly consumption of about
330,000 units of two tins, or eight gallons, in the
whole country. In August, 19 10, a rate war broke
out between the Standard and the Shell interests,

134 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

and involved Burma companies. The aggregate
reduction of rates from August 15 to the end of
March raged approximately from 9 to 19 per cent.
It has been estimated that the consumption for the
first seventeen weeks of 191 1 increased on account
of the low prices by 24,000 units. It cannot be
asserted that saturation point has been reached ;
but on the whole it is surprising that the low rates
prevalent since August, 19 10, did not more greatly
stimulate consumption, and the inference probably
is that there is a limit to the supply available at
low prices. In 191 3-1 4 the value of kerosene im-
ported was nearly Rs.3 crores. Russian oil is
in popular demand. The American oil is out of
reach of Indian consumers by reason of its higher
prices.

In India, however, the use of the oil as an
article of diet is perhaps more important than as an
illuminant. Again, another important characteristic
use of oil is the anointment of the body. It is
certain that as long as the habits of the people are
not changed, the manufacture of oil and the demand
for the services of the kalu will not materially
diminish. Reference has already been made to the
importance of the export trade of India in oil-seeds.
India sends to the West a very large quantity of
oil-seeds and imports a considerable amount of
vegetable oils. This means a double loss, the loss
not only of lucrative employment but the loss also
of the oilcake, the utility of which as the richest
manure for our agricultural soil cannot be over-
estimated. Dr. Voelcker has said, " to export the
entire oil-seed is to export the soil's fertility." The
only remedy would be a better and more effective

THE OIL-PMESSING INDUSTRY 135

system of the manufacture of oil in the country
itself, and dependence on the Indian markets for
the disposal of the cake. Only a more efficient
local manufacture can counteract the disadvantage
that in the present state of agriculture in the
country, the bye-product of the manufacture, viz.
oilcake, is less in demand than in Europe. The
surplus cake, instead of the seed, might be imported
as a regular commercial article. A seed generally
contains 33 per cent, of oil, the freight on the seed
in the present oil-trade is greatly enhanced by the
weight of the other matter contained in it. In the
latter case, if seed is manufactured into oil, even
the bye-product, which is valuable in itself, will bear
its owa weight. Indeed, the stereotyped method
of the manufacture of oil must end ^ in the face of
the present disadvantages of the trade. Already
the number of oil-mills in the country is increasing,
and the domestic system steadily giving way.^

It cannot be said that the domestic system has
no hopes. A single English hand-press costing
from £d^o to ;^5o can crush a ton of seed in three
days. In the United Provinces Exhibition, one of
the most important exhibits in the agricultural
court was the complete working oil-mill supplied by
Messrs. Greenwood and Batley. The plant was

* It is believed, however, that the iron press discolours the oil,
and that a disregard of cleanliness will affect the quality of the
manufactured oil, the oil from the indigenous wooden ghani being
far purer and more sparkling. This may be pure conservatism,
however.

2 " Oil pressers have diminished by 47 per cent, during the last
decade, as it was found more profitable to export oil-seeds and import
pressed oil from abroad, than to press it at home by crude and anti-
quated processes " (H.H. The Gaekwar's Inaugural Address, Indus-
trial Conference, Calcutta (1906)).

136 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

shown at work throughout the Exhibition preparing
oil and oil-cake from cotton, linseed, mustard, and
other Indian seeds. The official handbook has
this remark, *'The retaining in India of the oil-
seeds produced in the country, and more particularly
the cake, is of the utmost agricultural importance,
so that this exhibit of a plant which is within the
capacity of a small capitalist, both as regards price
and the amount of material handled, is of more than
usual interest." A co-operative organization might
help the kalu in preferring such machinery for the
primitive ghani, and thus in tiding over his diffi-
culties, which are on the increase.

CHAPTER IX

POTTERY

The village potter plays an Important part in the
village economy and is as a rule much respected by
the villagers. Though he is poorly paid, the articles
he turns out are necessary for every household.
They are —

(i) Surahis, or water bottles, which are very
porous and clean, and are largely used for the cool
water that may be drawn from them after an hour
or so.

(2) Kalasas, waterjars, pitchers.

(3) Handis, cooking-pots, Bhandas, cups, frying-
pans.

(4) Glasses, khuris (small pots), dishes, etc.

(5) Cheelams for the hookah or tobacco bowls.

(6) Rings for wells.

The shapes of these, which are as yet uncon-
taminated by foreign demand, are not only graceful,
but highly instructive. It accordingly seems pos-
sible that were a complete series of all the pots
used in carrying water or in boiling rice, or in
holding milk, etc., to be collected from every race
of people and from all parts of India, much of great
interest would be learned, not only from the stand-
point of the arts and industries of the country, but
as object lessons in historic and anthropological

138 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

science. The shapes vary with every few hundred
miles, and are severely isolated according to the
races of people and the traditions of the country.
The primitive methods of ornamentation shown on
them might also afford suggestions of great value
in the study of Indian decorative art.^

The articles which the potters turn out are very
perishable and priced low. Thus their earnings on
the average are small, amounting to Rs.6 to Rs.io
a month. Again, the potters are out of work during
the rains. They require sunshine to harden their
wares before they are fired, and hence have to stop
work in the rainy season, when they become day
labourers or cultivators in their own fields. In the
working season, however, they are very busy, the
little boys of their family helping them in their
work.

The clay that the potters use is generally carried
from the river banks and pond or bil sides. This
is heaped in the corners of their hovels and there
allowed to soak with water. After a couple of days
the clay is mixed well with a shovel and is tempered
by the potter with his own legs for about half a day.
Next he takes care to examine the trodden clay,
and picks out the stones or hard lumps, if any.
Lastly, a proportionate quantity of sand is added
to the clay before finishing it into a stiff paste. But
if pots of a black colour are required (as in Sewan
and Khulna) they mix with the paste some handfuls
of ashes.

The village potters instruments are only a
wheel and a few flat mallets of wood. The former
consists of a horizontal fly-wheel, two or three feet

* Sir G. Watt, " Dictionary of Economic Products."

POTTERY 139

in diameter, made of light timber, and its rim is
covered over with a paste of straw and mud. This
heavy load round adds to the momentum of the
wheel while in motion. . Once set spinning the
wheel revolves steadily for minutes. The wheel
rests upon a pyramidal stone and rotates on a strong
pin cut from the heart of a tamarind tree and fitting
loosely into a socket in the pyramid. In the rim
there is an indent which assists in the wheel being
rotated with the help of a bamboo pole, pitna} The
clay to be moulded is heaped in the centre of the
wheel. A round ball of hardened clay is held in-
side. The bamboo is then applied to the wheel,
and with a dexterous motion of his hands the
potter sets the wheel in violent motion. His left
hand is thrust into the centre of the clay, while his
right hand is slightly pressing on the outside to
keep the whole together ; but it is from the inside
that most of the shaping is due. Meanwhile the
wheel is made to turn more quickly. Then by
keeping both hands opposite each other, i.e. one
inside and one outside, together moving slowly up
from the wheel, pressure by both hands is exerted
and the shapeless mass of clay assumes the required
forms with astonishing rapidity. Sometimes fancy
lines are cut as the plastic material is revolving on
the wheel. Then he smooths the surface of the pot
or any other model which he is preparing with a
convex piece of wood. Next he presses a delicate
twig at the bottom of the finished model just to cut

1 The extension in the Behar districts of the form of potter's wheel
used in parts of Bengal has been suggested by Mr. Gumming. The
Behar wheel, the ancient " rote," is solid ; the improved Bengali wheel
has a heavy periphery attached by spokes to the central hub. The
latter is mechanically more efficient.

I40 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

it off from the heap of clay, and finally with a skilful
movement of the hand he removes it from the wheel
for being dried in the sun.

After it has become hard it undergoes finishing
and polishing (with a special preparation called the
Kabis). This is comprised of yellow earth (a form
of fuller's earth) known as piary matti, of powdered
mango-bark and shaji matti or crude carbonate of
soda. Tiles and bricks are also manufactured by
the potter in a different and simpler way. He
prepares the semi-solid clay and spreads it out
along the level ground. Allowing it to dry for a
few days he cuts it into the required sizes and
shapes by sharp-edged pieces of wood, the bricks
and tiles thus formed are dried a little more in the
sunshine. The pots, which are open on both sides,
require something more to be done before polishing.
The open bottom is closed by the potter by spread-
ing out the clay with the help of a small, flat,
wooden mallet, the whole thing being then polished
and painted.

The colours are always mixed with mucilage
obtained from be! or tamarind seed. Red paints
are prepared with the red lead ; yellow with arsenic
and indigo; and black with charred seeds or red
seeds. Garjan oil is used to impart gloss. Some-
times powdered mica is sprinkled over toys while
the paint is still wet.

The tiles and bricks as well as the pots are
afterwards stacked together in the form of a rough
square with alternate layers of twigs, dry leaves,
cowdung and other easy combustibles. The whole
is next covered all round and over with husk and
set fire to from the bottom. If the articles are

POTTERY 141

blackened as in Sewan, there are usually placed
within the pan or the kiln some damp straw, cow-
dung, and oilcake which generate much smoke.
The confinement during the firing imparts black
colour. Otherwise grass reeds or bamboo stems
are the ordinary combustibles. One night and day
is allowed for burning, while another night and day
is taken up in cooling. Thereafter the conical
frustum-shaped tiles are cut in two. As for
the pots they are kept as they are. The range
of vegetable substances used in the same way as
the mango bark in the preparation of kaby is very
remarkable, and in each case it is claimed that
these vegetable ingredients give it its polishing
property over the clay. Among these may be
mentioned the bark of the tensa tree, the leaves of
the bamboo, of the bashak, etc. To impart colour
the vessels are coated with coloured earth, such as
geru, chalk, or tale (abrak) before the firing. The
heat fixes the colour without the formation of a
glaze. After being fired, unglazed pottery is often
smeared with lac, one layer of lac over the other in
order to make it impervious to fluids.

In almost all villages we find the potters turning
out not only the things of household and agricul-
tural use, but also clay toys for the young folk. In
the smaller toys, figures of men and women, horses,
tigers, elephants, etc., the outlines are imprinted
from the moulds kept for that purpose. But the
Krishnagar (Ghurni) and Santipore modellers who
turn out images of gods and goddesses of full size
have attained a far higher standard. The stuff of
straw which is used from year to year is covered
with clay, and the protima is painted and varnished

142 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

with an exuberance and profusion of colour that
are quite in keeping with the magnificence of the
Hindu religious festivals. These artisans decorate
the images with tinsel ornaments, vying with each
other in the effect they can produce. A subsidiary
trade carried on chiefly by the lower classes of the
society has also arisen. These prepare a magnificent
stock of tinsel ornaments for a whole year to adorn
th.Q protimas and supply the entire Hindu population
of Bengal on the occasion of the great festival.

But the artisans can best display their talents
on the occasion of the Doljatra, when they are
required to turn out new images, not according to
any fixed time-honoured models. The figures
they shape to adorn the dol-prangan, illustrating
the ever-popular incidents in the lives of Sree
Krishna and Ramchandra, or other episodes in
Hindu mythology, amply testify to the high degree
of excellence they have attained in the higher forms
of the ceramic arts, and afford a striking instance
of the use of artistic skill for ethical and religious
purposes. The series of Hindu religious festivals,
fasts and feasts that celebrate the procession of
the seasons has found an expression in the ceramic
art. Every religious festival gives rise to the
manufacture of appropriate images of gods and
goddesses and characteristic symbols which are
largely purchased by the people on such occasions.
Here is an instance of a popular art, kept alive by
the procession of the seasons and deriving its
strength from religious feeling and inspiration.

Not only the images of gods and goddesses, but
the models of men and women, animals and things
are turned out in large numbers by the artisans.

POTTERY 143

The models of everyday life in miniature turned
out by the Krishnagore artisans have in recent
years acquired a great celebrity and command a
great sale. Models of fruits, vegetables, fish, etc.,
made of clay and lac, are sold at Rs.3 a dozen. The
price of a miniature cow or human figure ranges
from As. 1 2 to Rs.3.

Hindu observance and custom stand in the way
of the development of the potter s art. According
to the Hindu custom, pottery is easily defiled and
has to be broken whenever polluted, since it cannot
be cleansed in the same way as brass. So, again,
pottery has to be thrown away on certain prescribed
occasions whether polluted or not. On the occa-
sion of an eclipse or a death in the family, the clay
vessels used for cooking purposes have to be dis-
carded. Thus has come into existence an immense
traffic with the Hindu in a cheap material (where
artistic developments would be superfluous), but
no demand whatever for higher class of pottery.
Glazing is almost unnecessary unless the ware be
meant to hold water, and since artistic ware has
mainly been produced in the way of grain or pickle
jars, painted or lacquered pottery is equally service-
able and infinitely cheaper than glazed ware. Unless
the social and religious customs of the people are
modified, the higher developments of the potter's
craft will continue to suffer.

There are, however, a few disadvantages the
craft now labours under which might be remedied
with a little output of capital. First among the
potter's hardships is the waste of a good deal of
energy and time by his leaving naught but his legs
to temper the clay. To save this waste of time and

144 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

energy, he might very profitably make use of what
is known as the pug-mill. This simple mechanism
consists of a vertical shaft revolving in a hollow
cylinder in which the clay is put. This is about
three feet wide and has a hole in the bottom for
the tempered clay to pass out. To the vertical
shaft a cross beam is attached by one of its ends,
while the other end is being dragged round and
round by the bulls just as in the case of the indi-
genous oil-mills.

Coming now to the examination of the wheel,
the worst disadvantage about it is that there is every
danger of the wheelman being injured. There
have been cases of permanent deformation. These
dangers happen when the potter either stands
too close to the fast rotating wheel or when the
beginner slips and tumbles over while revolving
the wheel with a bamboo. Further, the time taken
in making a certain number of articles is far in
excess of the actual time required to the mere
shaping of them, and this time must be saved by
some easy contrivance. The extra amount of time
is spent in resetting the wheel in motion not only
when beginning to shape a new pot or tile but also
between the shaping and the rough polishing in the
wheel itself. Thus while he should take about
two minutes to work a tile he generally takes an
additional minute. Hence in a day of seven hours'
work he takes four and two-thirds hours to the
actual shaping, while the remaining time is lost in
extraneous labour. So then if these two and one-
third hours be utilized in fruitful work he will be
able to turn out fifty per cent. more.

There is yet another source of waste of time.

POTTERY 145

for even the most experienced man is not able
to rotate the wheel without tilting it out of its
horizontal position, and the wheel takes some
seconds before regaining its stability and steady
movement. All these entail a waste not only of
time but also of energy.

A writer has suggested the introduction of a new
mechanism, the advantages of which are rapidity
of production, safety of person and uniformity of
work. The time which the potter spends in main-
taining the motion of the wheel is in the present
case utilized in the actual shaping of the articles.
And he can during the time that is thus saved do
half as much work again. In this case, however,
we have to take into account the wages of the
boy working at the handle. But this item of
I expenditure may be reduced by half if one and the
same handle is made to work another machine of
its kind placed in contiguity. The potter, if he has
a son, might not have the necessity to hire a hand.
Even if he has not, there will be, in spite of having
to pay the boy, a distinct gain of about 30 per
cent, more than before. The rapidity of production
depends to a certain extent on the uniformity of
rotation and work. In this mechanism the same
rotation can be maintained from first to last. In
the potter's wheel, as it is, there is a great range
for diversities of velocity, because the wheel after
being set to rotate gradually slackens in speed, and
the potter has sometimes to reset it even before a
single tile or pot is made. Another evil attendant
on the crude wheel is here cured. And it is that
there is no chance of the wheel being tilted out
of its horizontal position. The dangers which at

146 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

present beset the potter's wheel have been already
set forth ; and these two causes of danger will here
be absent fully. For the whole mechanism is
planted on a pit two feet deep, and is also covered
over with planking at the level of the ground.

The process of manufacture of bricks suffers
under an additional disadvantage. In making
bricks by hand it is very difficult to get the edges
sharp and well defined, the only way to obtain this
being to use none but well-made moulds, and to
reject at once any mould found to be in the
slightest degree cracked or damaged. That diffi-
culty is to a large extent overcome by the use of
machinery, though an even greater disadvantage at
once arises, viz. that machine-made bricks have to
be transported from the brick-field to the building
site, thus materially adding to their cost. In India
it is usual to manufacture hand-made bricks near
the place where they are used, and it is highly
likely that the clay employed is not always the best
that would be desired or discovered, were a search
made a little further afield. Finally, the Indian
climate is a serious consideration. It is impossible
to harden a large number of bricks at a time on
account of the size of the kiln. The bricks absorb
moisture and are badly cracked in the sunshine.
On account of this reason, the manufacture of bricks
by hand and firing by kilns is gradually decaying.
In the immediate neighbourhood of Calcutta, which
is the most important brick-making centre of India,
bricks are for the most part fired by furnaces and
not kilns. In this way, the Akra factory, which is
the largest brick factory in India, can turn out
twenty to thirty million bricks annually.

POTTERY 147

The industry has now begun to be carried on
efficiently according to scientific methods, and on a
large scale in different places. On this side of
India, the Calcutta Pottery Works has been manu-
facturing tea-cups and saucers, ink-pots, dolls, etc.,
which have excellent finish, and command a large
sale in the country. Indeed the scope for improve-
ment of the cottage industry in this case has
declined to a great extent. The people have begun
to use enamelled iron wares for their household
purposes. China wares are also coming into daily
use. Earthen lamps are being superseded by tin
lamps, and tin dishes and jugs are also replacing
earthen wares. Still the cottage pottery is uni-
versally found in the rural tracts of the country
supplying earthen wares to all classes of the people,
the poor who cannot afford to use wares of iron,
copper and bell metal, and the rich who are enjoined
by religion to use earthen wares for certain purposes
defined by the Skastras, Not to speak of the
cheap earthen wares that are in constant use in
the Indian household, cheap toys and small models
as well as images for worship will always be
required, and the art that meets this demand will
not find its scope limited by the encroachment of
large-scale pottery works.

CHAPTER X

CARPENTRY

The carpenter has an important place in the
economy of the village. In all parts of the country
the plough which is made entirely of wood with
the exception of the phal, is manufactured by
the indigenous carpenter. The villagers depend
upon the carpenter for the woodwork of their
houses, the railings, doors, and windows, for articles
for personal use, such as bedsteads, lamp stands,
chests and boxes, kharams or barkasheSy or for
vehicles like the palkiy the cow-cart, or even the
river boat.^ The higher branch of the carpenter's
art, viz. that of wood-carving, is more or less dying
out. This industry, however, reached the apex
of the beautiful in the past. Wood-carving now

* "The boat-makers and dugout-makers are more centralized
carpenters, and colonies of these are to be found in one or two
villages of most East Bengal districts. On some villages on the
Karnafuli river in Chittagong a large number of Sarangas, Kondas
and Sampmi boats are made and exported largely to Noakhali,
Tippera and other districts. Malda was at one time a great centre
of boat-building. In the sub-division of Habiganj in Sylhet
special kinds of flat-bottomed Sarangas are manufactured and great
quantities of Reels and half-finished boats of jarul wood are made
for sale at Pandauk Bazar in the Tippera district. Dacca is
famous for its "house-boats," and the Dacca mistries are in requisi-
tion all over the province either to build, or to supervise the building,
of such boats. A fairly comfortable Dacca boat can be constructed
for Rs.iooo" (G. N. Gupta, "Survey of the Industries of Eastern
Bengal and Assam ").

CARPENTRY 149

exists only nominally, there are no wood-carvers
now whose work can bear any comparison at all
with the splendid remains of the older art. There
has been a sad deterioration of the public taste. The
rich as well as the poor people of the past while
building their dwellings appear to have held to the
constant idea that some part of the ambient where
they had to spend the greater part of their lives
should possess something to delight the eyes, there-
fore stone and wood-carving was employed in the
erection of frontage to a house whose proportions,
adequate to the means and the aesthetics of its
owners, would generally afford at least some carved
pillars, doorways, architraves carved windows, etc.^
But now there is no demand for them, none of the
new buildings have any wood-carvings at all. The
wood-carvers, therefore, have no chance to employ
themselves except in making toys or small boxes
which find a large market in the country. Thus
the wood -carvers have become mere carpenters,
and the industry which had such a magnificent past
fails to inspire any enthusiasm in the hearts of its
present votaries.

A better artisan employs himself in making
doors and windows, chairs, wooden pans in which
dough is kneaded, etc., or he turns out what are
called Benares toys. These are painted in gaudy
colours by the carpenter rubbing sticks of coloured
sealing wax as the toy is made to revolve in the
lathe. The friction melts the wax which adhere to
the surface of the toys. The ordinary carpenter is
chiefly occupied in making and mending carts, well

^ Chevalier O. Ghilardi's "Monograph on Wood-carving in
Bengal."

i5o THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

gears, farm implements, sometimes cotton gins and
sugar mills. During the agricultural season, there-
fore, he is very busy, working from morning till
evening or even late at night. The following kinds
of wood are generally used by the ordinary
carpenter : Sal for woodwork of houses, Sisoo
for bedstead, Sagun for doors and windows and
furniture and chests, Giringa for toys. Jack fruit for
khats, chests and toktaposh, etc. He uses the
following tools : (i) hataru, or the hammer ; (2) ruk-
haniy or the wood-cutting chisel ; (3) the bar si, or
the axe ; (4) randa, or the plane ; (5) the ara, or the
saw ; ^ (6) the bamer, or the drill ; (7) the screw-
driver. These tools are rough and bad and un-
suited for fine workmanship and finish. " The saw
is in such a bad order that the carpenter cuts
tenons as a rule with a mallet and chisel, and his
ignorance of gauges renders him unable to make
even twenty articles exactly alike ; also the
carpenter rarely knows what size of nail or screw
is required on a given job, whilst his screw is
always too small. The carpenter has to be taught
to measure accurately, to use sharp tools, and
to cut to the mark.^ The Indian lathe is also
defective. It has been suggested that the Indian
lathe with its double rope ends should be supplanted
by a rope pulley which would work continuously
when driven by a large wooden wheel.

The industry furnishes an excellent opening for
middle-class capitalists. In the small factories

* The carpenter uses his toes as well as his hands to hold the
wood, and he works the saw in a way the reverse of the Western
craftsman. Its teeth, therefore, are cut in the opposite direction.

2 Mr. Wallace in Cassier's Magazine; Mr. Gumming in Part. 1 1 .
of " Special Report on Industries in Bengal.*'

CARPENTRY 151

machine plant driven by mechanical power such as
a hand-saw, planing and morticing machines might
be established. The introduction of such improved
hand tools which are used in the European or
Chinese firms in Calcutta, or of machine tools run
by the steam or oil engines or by coolies, may lead
to great improvement, and make the establishment
a profitable concern, as some of the carpenters show
great cleverness and ingenuity. There has been
in recent times a steadily increasing demand for
English furniture, and the carpenters who have
hitherto supplied the few stools and cots for the
Indian household have also to move with the times.
Otherwise the fresh demand would' be met by
foreign firms established in Calcutta or elsewhere.

CHAPTER XI

HANDLOOM WEAVING

Handloom weaving is the most important cottage
industry of our country. Two-thirds of the skilled
artisan population of the country are handloom
weavers. Moreover, weaving is followed as a
subsidiary occupation by a large proportion of our
population.

In most parts of the country the handloom fills
up the intervals of husbandry and provides the
clothing of the agriculturist's family. Besides those
who are primarily agriculturists, but who weave at
certain times of the year, there are in all India
about 28 lakhs of handloom weavers. The follow-
ing statistics indicating the quantity of yarn con-
sumed in the country, with the sources of supply,
give a clear idea of the importance of handloom
production : —

1. Yarn consumed in the production of mill-made
cloth in India (million lbs.) —

jgoo-i. igoi-a. 1902-3. 1903-4. 1904-5. 1905-6. 1906-7. 1907-8, 1908-9. 1909-10.

98£ ii9i 122^ 138 158I 164 165I 189 192I 228f

2. Indian mill-made cloth for home consump-
tion—

1900-1. 1901-2. 1902-3. 1903-4. 1904-5. 1905-6. 1906-7. 1907-8. 1908-9.

66 8ii 8496 115 118 158^ 184I 187I 2i7i

3. Indian handloom production —

1900-1. 1901-9. 1902-3. 1903-4. 1904-5. 1905-6. 1906-7. 1907-8. 1908-9. 1909-10.
162 206 226 203I 189^ 252 268J 256^ 257^ 199J

HANDLOOM WEAVING 153

4. Foreign-made cloth imported —

1900-1. 1901-2. 1902-3. 1903-4. 1904-5. 1905-6. 1906-7. 1907-8. 1908-9. 1909-10.
490* 535 5i9i 500J 57oi 614I 580 6334 499 55©

The total out-turn of piece goods of our mills
and handlooms stands each at present at about
228 million lbs., or together over 450 million lbs.
Since the year 1905-6 the out-turn of Indian mill-
made cloth has increased 36 per cent., while, com-
paring the figures of the last five years, we find that
there has been an increase of handloom production
by no less than 50 million lbs., or over 25 per cent.
The imports of foreign-made piece-goods come
"P ^^ 55^ million lbs. Thus, out of the total
consumption of 1000 million lbs., the Indian
mills and handlooms each produce for home con-
sumption 225 millions, and together 450 million lbs.
If we take the average of 1911-14 the total weight
of yarns consumed in the Indian mills comes to
246 million lbs., and that consumed in the production
of cloth by hand-weaving is about 262 million lbs.

The first step in the process of handloom-
weaving is the preparation of the cotton. India
imports every year a large quantity of American
and Egyptian cottons,^ chiefly for the manufacture

* In the opinion of Mr. F. Fletcher, the experiments so far con-
ducted have sufficiently demonstrated that on perennially irrigated
areas in Sind, the Egyptian cottons can be grown normally, and
would presumably give even a large yield. If the whole of Sind were
put under perennial irrigation through a dam constructed at Sukker,
the potentialities of the province for the cotton growing could not be
surpassed even by the United States.

"Recently, the extraordinarily high price of raw cotton, result-
ing from shortage in the American and Egyptian crops, greatly
restricted the use in India of such long staple foreign cottons as are
wanted for the production of high count yarns. These are used in
the manufacture of fine cloths and muslins in India ; and the industry

154 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

of the finer fabrics. These are sold in Indian
markets and are purchased by the weavers, either
directly or through middlemen. Frequently, how-
ever, cotton is grown in plots of land adjoining
the weavers* cottage. Women are employed in
picking the pods of cotton from the fields. The
pods are then exposed to the sun and the husks
removed. The cotton is cleaned by separating the
seed from the fibre. This is done at first with the
hands and then with the small hand-machine called
the charki. It consists of two rollers of wood or
iron made to revolve towards each other by hand
labour, communicated by a crank or wheel. The
seed-cotton is presented at one side against the
rollers, the lint passes through, and the seed falls
down in front.

On an average, the charki produces from three
to four seers of clean cotton per day for each man
or woman engaged in the work. Though no
modern machine injures the lint and seed less than
the native charki, its great defect is its slowness,
and therefore inaptitude for dealing with large
quantities. This has led to the establishment all
over the country of large public ginning and press-
ing mills, each situate in a convenient position to
drain the produce of a tract of country within which
it often has a monopoly. The cultivators every-
where now hardly gin their own cotton, but carry
the produce of their fields to the steam-ginning
mills. Widely different lints are consequently

is largely conducted by hand- weavers, who are not financially strong
enough to take the risk of dear material ; so the importation of foreign
cottons in 1910-11 declined by more than half, and the quantity was
equal to 8 per cent, of the total mill consumption of cotton in 1910"
(Frederick Noel Paton, " Review of the Trade of India, 1910-11 ").

HANDLOOM WEAVING 155

mixed and ginned together, and, moreover, the
cultivators are given, or purchase, mixed seeds.
This has, in consequence, led to an equalization and
degeneration of the Indian staple.

The next process is that of carding. This is
done by the dhunia by means of the dhunetti. It
is a bow of hard wood, which is held with the left
hand so that the string may just touch the cotton.
The dhunia twangs the string with the mallet, the
string vibrates and separates the cotton fibres and
all the dust also falls out. Some of the cotton
thus carded is used in quilts and pillows, but the
greater portion is spun into thread.

The charka, or the spinning machine, consists
of the wheel and the spindle, which are so arranged
that a swift revolving action is given to the axle of
the spindle by means of a driving band which passes
round the driving-wheel. Cotton in the form of
a wick is presented to the point of the spindle and
then spun into a thread, which is allowed to roll
round the spindle. When the projecting point of
the spindle is full, the thread is moved and rolled
round the natai. The next process is that of clean-
ing and stiffening the thread in khahi, chera, or
rice-water. The attob rice is boiled, and to this
is added a small quantity of lime and tamarind. It
is again placed in the charka and rolled round the
nataL Then it is dried by being stretched across
a number of stakes in the sun. In the rainy season
the threads are dried over the fire, and the weavers
generally do not use starch water. The spinning
industry has suffered a great deal in recent years.
It has been all but annihilated in the competition
with machine-spinning. Throughout the country

156 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

cloths are in most cases manufactured, not from
homespun, but machine-made thread, European and
Indian, which is available in most markets, the old
method of spinning being maintained only in those
places where communications are difficult. Thus,
in old Bengal, it is only in parts of Orissa and
Chotanagpur and in Chittagong and Tippera, that
the country thread is used and cotton-spinning
carried on as a domestic industry. It is almost
extinct everywhere else. The most skilful hand-
spinners in India are those of Dacca; they are
producing to-day yarns of a fineness that no
machinery in the world could spin from the inferior
staple which they use. It would thus appear that
the European spinner, with all his beautiful ma-
chinery, may still have something to learn from the
hand-spinner. It is unfortunate that such a high-
class hereditary skill is fast becoming extinct.
"Three years ago," says Mr. N. N. Banerji, "I
was informed by one of the manufacturers of Dacca
muslins that the generation of women who spun
the yarn of which the finest fabrics were made has
all passed away, except two very aged beings who,
with their defective eyesight, earned but a pre-
carious livelihood at Manickgunge."

The thread which is thus spun and cleaned in
the weaver's cottage, or the machine-made yarn
purchased by the weaver from the market, is then
ready for the last process. The threads are arranged
in groups by an instrument called the ach khaya
kata^ and are rolled round the naros. These are
then placed across the longitudinal threads which
are to form the cloth with two sticks, one above
and one below the threads. The whole is then

HANDLOOM WEAVING 157

Stretched, one end is rolled round the naros, and
the cloth, as soon as the weaving is finished, is
rolled round another piece of wood called the kapa.
Next are the bag threads and the sticks, which are
balanced on a framework called the nachni over the
cloth to be woven. An iron instrument called makuy
to which some thread is attached, is passed from one
side to another through the threads, and supplies
the cross-threads and completes the weaving.

The cotton fabrics woven in the handlooms may
be classified into {a) very fine cloth, {b) cloth of
thick texture. Malmal is the generic name for the
very fine webs. The best muslin, as the thin
cotton cloth is often called, is that made in Dacca.
The embroidered muslins, such as scarfs, hand-
kerchiefs, and pagris, or turbans, are known as
kasida. The jamdani, which is the name of the
figured muslins, shuti sari, and urani, Le, cloth and
cover, are the most famous. The peculiarity of the
jamdani is that it is hand-embroidered in the loom ;
its price ranges from Rs.50 to Rs.125. In Bengal,
the other places well known for the manufacture of
fine cloths are Farashdanga and Santipur, the dhutis
and saris of which are greatly admired throughout
the Province. Cloths of thin texture are also made
in Chandrakona and Kalna, Barnagore, Pabna,
and a few other places. The mausari kapavy or
mosquito-curtain cloth, is also a thin fabric woven
in different parts of the Province. This is generally
made in check, and the best is made in some of the
villages of Burdwan.

Cloth of thick texture is made as a village
industry in almost all districts of the Province,
and is known as mota kapar. The gamcha, which

158 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

is the bathing napkin of thick texture, is in universal
use. The Muhammadans call it lungi. In Comilla,
coloured coarse cloth is woven. There are other
special kinds of thick cloth, e.g, the Fota cloth used
by women, made in Rangpur, Purnea, and Jalpai-
guri, the brown khaki cloth woven in Madhubani
Sub-Division, Darbhanga ; the cloth motia, used
generally by the poor in Behar. In Behar some of
these coarse cloths are converted into towels, table-
cloths, and bed-sheets. Ashans, durries, and sata-
ranjis, which are all cotton floor-cloths, differing
only in size, are also chiefly made in Behar ; in the
jails, not only of Behar, but also of Bengal, good
sataranjis are now manufactured. Other varieties
of thick cotton floor-cloths are galichas and jajims.
The process of weaving carpets and galichas differs
from that of weaving ordinary cloth. Newar tape
and sutis are also made in Behar, the former is
used for bedsteads, khats, and the latter for tents,
shamianas, etc. The machine for rope-twisting con-
sists of a bent wooden handle and a perforated
board. The strands are fastened at one end to
the handle and the other ends are twisted by the
hand.

The cotton goods are sold as they come from
the loom. The great bulk of the cloth woven by
the people does not require the services of the
tailor. The dhutis and chaddars and saris, gamchas
and pagris are not required to be cut or sewn.
The middle or lower classes, however, use the
tailor-made garments, jamas, churidars, pyjamas,
and tupis, which indicate a preponderance of the
Muhammadan fashion. Nowadays, however, the
European style of dress is being steadily adopted.

HAND LOOM WEAVING I59

the loose garments are gradually replaced by the
tight-fitting coats, bodices, jackets, and drawers,
leading to an increasing demand for the services
and skill of the tailoring class.

The methods of organization of the weaving
industry are characteristic of the indigenous type.
The industry is mainly in the hands of particular
castes, the Tantis and Tuntvays and Jugis among
the Hindus, and Jolahs among the Muhammadans.
Though other castes have been known to follow
the occupation, their number does not bear appreci-
able comparison with the weaving castes proper.
In the weaver's household, not only the male but
also the female members of the family help the
weaver a great deal. We have already seen that
women not only pick the pods of cotton from the
fields, but also clean the cotton, first with the hands
and then with the charki. Carding is not done by
women, but spinning is usually their work. In
Indian society, where the family furnishes the main
career of the women, she is generally of necessity
in a position of dependence either on father or
husband. But she could earn and have her own
pin-money by her spinning work. The late Sister
Nivedita wrote,^ "A hundred years ago the main
occupation of all women, and especially of those of
gentle birth, in our country was spinning. I have
known many a man of high education whose child-
hood was passed in dependence on the secret earn-
ing of, say, a grandmother.'* The old woman loved
the charka even as her husband, son, and grandson
who could give her riches — ''^?Ft?r C^^c^ CTt?[ ^^^t^

^ " The Position of Women in the East," a paper read before the
Universal Races Congress, 191 1.

i6o THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

^t^1 ^t€t." Such a possibility no longer exists, and
perhaps one of the saddest consequences has been
the amount of unfruitful leisure that has taken place.
Instead of the old spinning and its kindred cuts,
the woman has become still more dependent on her
husband than she was. In India, beside the class
of women teachers, the old household industries, in
a lower social class, are giving place to the factory
organization, and in many places woman is becoming
a wage-earner. This change is, of course, accom-
panied by great economic stability and by the pinch
of poverty in all directions. It is one of the many
phases of the substitution of civilization which is
now proceeding.

The arrangement of the warp, which is the most
tedious portion of the weaver's work, cannot be
done except with the help of his wife and boys.
In the work of actual weaving, however, men do
the greatest portion, but women have also their
part here. They generally assist the weavers in
wrapping the thread round the bamboo spools
placed inside the shuttle. The process of weaving
sataranjis requires two men, and when these are
large, more than two have to work. In this case
the weaver is helped by his brothers, nephews, or
other male members of his family. Thus all the
members of the weaver's family, young and old,
work together for the common object. The head
of the family distributes their work and all benefit
if he gets higher profits. Indeed, this is one of the
reasons why the domestic industry still persists.
The factory can give employment only to the able-
bodied, and if all the male members get employ-
ment, the women and children have no work to do.

HANDLOOM WEAVING i6i

In spite of the advantages that the co-operation of
all the members of the family in the work brings
about, the weaver labours under the difficulty of
want of capital. A large family sometimes becomes
a curse rather than a blessing to him. The weaver
usually borrows money from the middlemen who
deal in cloths. He does not pay interest, but he
sells the cloth at a reduced price to his mahajan.
He often spends more than he can produce or pay.
The mahajan, who wants to get in return cloths
whose value is equivalent to the money he has
advanced, has then to give another order. This
system of advance goes on from year to year, the
weaver is perpetually in debt to the mahajan. And
when a marriage, or a sradha, comes about, his ruin
is certain. The cloth-dealers, in order to be sure
of the supply of the stipulated out-turn, sometimes
supply the weaver, not with money, but with the
necessary warp and weft. The orders are executed
piece by piece, and the weaver is given only the
amount of wages agreed to previously. There are,
indeed, at present only a few weavers who lay out
their own capital and do the work. The cloths
manufactured are often given to the dalals, or
middlemen, who effectuate sales. In certain cases,
however, the weavers hawk about their own goods
from house to house and get orders to carry out.

For the last few decades there has been a rapid
decline of the handloom weaving industry through-
out the country on account of the competition with
machine manufacture. The machine-made goods
imported from abroad are much cheaper and finer
in quality. The lowest price of an indigenous dhutiy
or sari, is not less than Rs.2 to Rs.3, and that of

i62 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

an urani not less than Rs.i-8 to Rs.2, whilst a
machine-made dkuti, or sari, costs lo annas to
12 annas, and an urani 6 annas to 8 annas. Thus,
though the mass of the population still wear the
very coarse cloths and napkins prepared in the
handlooms, the indigenous industry greatly suffered
in the competition. Large numbers of weavers
abandoned their looms and took up other pursuits.
Recently, however, there have been signs of im-
provement in this important industry. In Bengal,
especially, the industry recovered by 1906-7. This
was due to an increased local demand for indigenous
goods. In many districts the out-turn of the hand-
loom has increased a great deal ; many weavers
who had given up their caste occupation have re-
turned to it. Taking individual districts we find
that the development has been the greatest in those
districts which have been able to supply an ex-
panding demand for any special class of goods. For
instance, the industry seems to have progressed
most in Noakhali, Comilla, Pabna, and Faridpur.
All those districts, besides producing the usual saries
and dhutis, turned out a very large quantity of check
and chintzes, both thick and thin and suitable for
the making of coats, shirts, and panjabis, and of the
weaving mostly in vogue now.^

But will this development of the handloom
industry continue } It has been sometimes said that
handloom weaving is a small moribund industry,
inevitably doomed to be crushed out entirely by
the power-loom. Lord Curzon at the Delhi-Durbar
said that the power-loom will drive out the hand-
loom, just as surely as the steam car is advancing

* J. G. Gumming, " Industrial Survey of Bengal."

HANDLOOM WEAVING 163

and the hand-pulled pankha is being replaced by
the electric fan. Sir George Watt also said that
its extension was inevitable. The hope of the
handloom weaver, however, lies, he says, in the
restriction of his operations to lines that are too
small to tempt the competition of the power-loom
weaver. He affirms that " there is nothing either
too fine in texture or too complicated in pattern
for the power-loom manufacturer to produce. His
advent in the field is alone restricted by the possi-
bilities of profit. The finest Dacca muslins and the
most intricate Kashmere shawls can be, and have
been, manufactured by machinery cheaper than by
hand labour. But there are markets eminently
suited to the hand weaver, such as the production
of special saries and lungis of a particular shape and
size that the power-loom producer does not success-
fully contest. There is this also in favour of the
handloom weaver — he can purchase the very best
English-spun yarn and produce a quality of fabrics
admittedly superior to the very best power-loom
textiles ordinarily turned out by the Indian mills.
But let it be repeated, his safety lies in the goods
he manufactures being of fancy or special nature
meeting local markets known to him, rather than
the regular commercial articles, and intended for
large markets." The official view, however, has
now been greatly modified. The experiments of
Mr. Havell and Mr. Chatterton have convinced the
Government that the handloom can still compete
with the power-loom, and handloom factories have
been established by different local governments in
the great weaving centres of the country. But the
notion of a competition between the handloom and

i64 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

the power-loom is altogether wrong. The hand-
loom does not compete with the mill, it supplements
it in the following way: (i) It produces special
kinds of goods which cannot be woven in the mills.

(2) It utilizes yarn below and above certain counts
which cannot at present be used on the power-loom.

(3) It will consume the surplus stock of Indian
spinning mills, which need not then be sent out of
the country, (4) Being mainly a village industry,
it supplies the local demand and at the same time
gives employment to small capitalists, weavers, and
other village workmen ; and (5) lastly, it will supply
the long-felt want of an honest field for work and
livelihood for educated Indians/

Mr. Patel, Director of Agriculture and In-
dustries, Baroda, has prepared a table giving a
probable estimate in millions of yards of the dif-
ferent classes of cloth consumed in the country with
their sources of production —

Class.

Warp
counts.

Weft
counts.

Indian

hand-

loom

supply.

Indian

mill
supply.

Foreign
imports.

Total
consump-
tion.

Per-
cent-
age.

Coarse
Coarse

medium
Medium
Fine

s. s.

6 to 16

20 to 26
26 to 40
Over 40

s. s.

6 to 20

20 to 40
30 to 50
Over 40

900

150
450
150

500

300

1,100
750

1,260

1,750

1,240

500

26
II

Total

1,650

600

2,500

4,750

100

The bulk of the very coarse cloths is woven
on Indian handlooms from Indian mill-yarn. This
yarn is made from very inferior cotton. Some of

1 Vide Professor Lees Smith's lecture on the importance of
developing the handloom industry in India, January, 1909, Bombay.

HANDLOOM WEAVING 165

the mills in Bombay tried to produce this class of
cloth, but the yarn could not stand the speed of the
power-looms. They had to give it up as a bad
business. This cloth is very thick, warm, and
durable, and is made everywhere in the country for
local sale. This cloth may therefore be considered
as coming within the absolute sphere of the hand-
loom. Foreign cloth of this class is being imported,
but with increased local production the foreign
article may be supplanted. The main bulk of the
coarse medium class is made up of imported shirt-
ings and Indian mill-made shirtings, chadars, T.
cloths. This class forms over one-third of the total
cloth consumption of the country, and the supply is
almost equally divided between the Indian and
foreign power-looms. Coarse medium yarn is very
strong and can stand any amount of rough usage in
the power-loom, and the handloom has therefore no
ultimate chance against it. The medium class con-
sists mainly of dhutis, saris, etc., consumed by the
large body of the Indian middle class. Indian
cotton is unsuited to produce warp yarn of this
class, while the weft yarn produced by the Indian
mills is used up in weaving cloth of the coarse
medium class by power-looms. Competition in this
class is between the foreign looms and Indian hand-
looms, both using foreign yarn. A cheap machine,
cheap home labour, and the production of stronger
cloth on account of proper dressing of yarn are in
favour of the handloom weavers, while the power-
looms cannot work so fast on this yarn as on the
coarse medium. Mr. Patel thinks that an extra
production coupled with the sentiment of protection
can help the handloom workers in this class a great

i66 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

deal. The production of the fine class is restricted
to handloom and foreign power-looms, and the speed
at which the power-looms can work on fine yarn
being still further restricted, the handloom ought to
be supreme in this class of work. The difficulty,
however, comes in the want of bleaching and finish-
ing. The fine cloths can be produced on hand-
looms specially in the humid districts of Madras
and Bengal, but the sun-bleaching process adopted
in the country neither gives a fine feel to the cloth
nor preserves its strength.

Central bleaching and finishing factories can
alone help the weavers to get the upper hand in
this competition. With proper arrangement for
bleaching, and the cultivation of Egyptian cotton in
the country, the handloom can get a still greater
advantage over the foreign power-loom.

But in spite of the advantages of the handloom
weaver so far as certain classes of the cotton piece
goods are concerned, the speed of his work should
be increased in order that he may successfully com-
pete and meet the growing demand. The hand-
looms and the necessary appliances and methods
would have to be improved. Otherwise the in-
dustry would not develop. Mr. Havell, since 1901,
has persistently advocated the substitution of the
fly-shuttle loom for the native loom, claiming that if
that was done, the output of the weavers would be
doubled. But the fly-shuttle loom has not been
popular among the weavers. Mr. Alfred Chatterton,
who was for some years carrying on experiments in
the handloom weaving factory at Salem, under the
orders of the Government of Madras, found that the
weavers were ignorant and conservative, and in

HANDLOOM WEAVING 167

their eyes the fly-shuttle loom presented too small
an advantage over the Indian loom to make them
change their ways of working. Mr. Churchill, of
the American Mission Industrial School, Ahmed-
nagar, has also come to the same conclusion, but he
thinks that for the fine cloths there is no better
than the English fly-shuttle loom on the market.
"If the hand-weaving industry is to prosper, how-
ever, there must be a better one, and if such a
better one can be found, and the Indian warping
methods much improved, as most of those engaged
in hand-weaving believe it entirely possible and
probable, we expect the continuance and prosperity
of the hand-weaving industry for many generations
to come." ^ Mr. Churchill has enumerated some of
the directions in which the further development of
the handloom may profitably take place.

(i) Any improved handloom must be capable of
being run all day, day after day, with ease by an
ordinary man else it will fail.

(2) To put it beyond the probability of being
soon set aside in competition with the power-loom,
it should have a speed approximating that of the
latter. Mechanically speaking, this is entirely
probable, as the power required to put a thread
through a shed is insignificant. It is the cumber-
some methods and machinery now in use to accom-
plish this that demand the power, not the act, of
weaving. The speed should be restricted to the
maximum working speed, the yarn at the weaver s
command should be able to stand the climate in
which he works. Mr. Chatterton thinks that so far

^ " Handloom Weaving in India," by Raoji B. Patel, M.R.A.C.
{The Indian Review^ January, 1907).

i68 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

as the fly-shuttle loom is concerned, the improve-
ment that should be sought for is not so much
increasing the rate of picking, which is already quite
fast enough, but in improving the details of the
shedding and the working of the sley, so that the
operation of weaving subjects the comparatively
delicate threads to the minimum amount of strain.

(3) It must be adaptable to all ordinary widths
of Indian hand-made cloth. This does not mean
that the same loom must weave all classes, but it
ought to be capable of being designed to suit the
various kinds of cloth.

Not only have the handlooms to be improved,
but the position of the weaver has also to be raised
in order to ensure the development of the industry.
We have already observed that the ordinary
weaver gets his yarn and other materials from the
village mahajan on credit, and sells the finished
products on terms fixed by the mahajan, who
generally takes the most unfair advantage of the
necessities of the weaver. Sometimes the middle-
men are the cloth merchants, who generally absorb
most of the profits, leaving very little to the weavers.
The progress of the weaving industry is impossible
as long as the weavers are in their present state of
slavery. When the weaver is free he will not be
found so dull as he is at present. To relieve the
indebtedness of the poor artisans the Co-operative
Credit Society has been found to be the most useful
organization. Throughout the country the number
of credit societies for the industrial classes shows
a steady and gratifying increase. Of these the
weavers' societies have been very successful. Their
functions are twofold. First, they purchase yarn,

HANDLOOM WEAVING 169

etc., at wholesale rates, and retail it on credit to the
weavers at a small profit. Secondly, they sell the
finished products effectively. They also advance
cash to help the weavers over the slack season,
taking the finished clothes as pledges to be re-
deemed when there is a brisk demand for them.
In this way the weavers get their raw materials
at reasonable rates, and obtain the best market
price for their labour. The arts of production are
cheapened while the middlemen cannot intercept
the profits of sale. The weavers have been found
to be so punctual in the payment of advances that
the law is seldom invoked, and while their condition
has greatly improved, the institutions have been a
fair financial success.^ The multiplication of such
co-operative institutions is a necessity. It is the
system of co-operation alone which can bring most
easily a comparatively large amount of capital within
reach of the poor weavers with which they can
buy the special machinery or adopt the improved
methods and appliances. The weavers as a rule are
organized into caste or trade guilds. Co-operation
would tighten the bond of the caste system, help
the weavers to tide over the slack season, and by
affording an easy access to capital and improved
methods and appliances might enlarge their scale of
operation. Again, the maintenance of joint ware-
houses for storing finished products and their joint
sale will stimulate the work of the weavers by
assuring them the fruits of their labour which they
are unable to reap under the present system. It is
indeed certain that the weaver in his cottage, left

* Vide A. C. Chatterji's report on the industries in the United
Provinces.

I70 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

solely to the mercy of the mahajan, must succumb
in the competition with the power-loom.

The workshop method of organization is some-
times recommended in India as being more efficient
than the cottage system. In this system, the
weaver leaves his cottage and works with hand-
looms in a small workshop under the control of the
capitalist.

In the Madras Presidency there has developed
a large number of such handloom workshops carried
on a large scale and on business principles. The
centres of these are Tanjore, Madura, Salem,
Coimbatore, etc. Mr. A. C. Chatterji, I.C.S., said
of these : — " A number of very promising handloom
factories have been started in various parts of the
Madras Presidency, and several of the owners
assured me that they had found it a good business.
Commercially speaking, I may in passing state that
the apprehensions entertained in some quarters that
the development of the factory system for handloom
is likely to depress the weaver socially or morally
or destroy his artistic temperament are entirely
chimerical. The condition of life for the workmen
prevailing in the factories visited are in no way
inferior to the conditions obtaining in the home of
the weavers, and there is as much scope for the
display of his art in the factory as in the cottage
industry. The word * factory ' is really a misnomer
for these collections of handlooms under one roof,
for there is no resemblance whatever between such
a concern and a power-loom." Mr. Chatterton, who
has been conducting one of these handloom work-
shops, the weaving factory in Salem, is in favour of
the workshop system. He regards the present

HANDLOOM WEAVING • 171

artisan method of the weaving industry as hopeless.
\ ** One result of our work at Salem is to furnish
reliable data for the opinion that the weaver himself
is not likely, within any reasonable time, to change
his methods of working and take to fly-shuttle loom,
and it seems almost certain that in this part of
India the factory system will have to be introduced
if anything is to be done. The only hope of pro-
gress is that outsiders will put their money into the
trade, and through their intelligence and energy it
will be placed upon a new footing." \

But it might be pertinently asked, does not this
system reduce the independent artisans to the con-
dition of day labourers under the control of indi-
vidual capitalists ? Will it not to some extent
repeat the great evil of the factory system, the
exploitation of labour by capital ? It is quite plain
that such a factory is fundamentally different from
and far worse than one owned and controlled by
the weavers themselves, and worked on sound co-
operative principles. Thus the co-operative methods
of organization of the weaving industry are far more
desirable than the handloom workshops controlled
by the individual capitalists. Again, it might be
questioned, what is the need of crowding together
so many looms under one roof.** Is the workshop
necessary at all? In the early days of "machino-
facture," it was important to transmit motive power
to every cottage in the village at a very small cost.
In a few decades, if not now, science will enable the
weaver in the cottage to use mechanical power as
easily as the capitalist does now in the factory, so
that by turning a switch the weaver might convert
the handloom into a power-loom whenever and for

172 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

as long as he likes. If the craftsman has no capital
himself, or if co-operative enterprise is still a thing
of the future, the individual capitalist might now
come forward with his own capital and supply the
craftsman with the electric power in his own home.
Again, it must be remembered that the weavers'
loom is a one-power machine, and no advantage can
be gained by applying more than a one-man power
to it. Thus there is no special advantage in the
cheap application of mechanical power. The work-
shop method, therefore, will not render such assist-
ance as is often supposed, while the cottage system
aided by co-operative methods of purchase of raw
materials and co-operative sale of finished products
promises a rich reward, and is well adapted to the
Indian social system.

SILK INDUSTRY.

CHAPTER XII

THE SILK INDUSTRY

The silk industry gives occupation to a consider-
able number of the population in our villages.
Those who are engaged in it may be divided
into four distinct industrial groups : (a) Mulberry
growers ; (d) Cocoon rearers ; (c) Carders and
spinners ; and (d) Weavers. The method of culti-
vation of the mulberry and the feeding of the worm
require a highly specialized knowledge. There are
various diseases which attack the mulberry, and if
precautions are not taken the silkworms fed on
them are themselves seriously affected. The most
serious of the diseases which attack the bush mul-
berries is the tukra, or keukra (curled up), caused
by an insect {Doctylopius BromelicB), This can
only be remedied by drastic measures.

The Imperial Entomologist, Mr. H. M. Lefroy,
says, " There is one effectual and simple remedy
which should be enforced as soon as the first
* tukra ' leaf is seen. Every ' tukra ' leaf and
shoot should be plucked, carefully taken from the
field and either at once burnt or buried. The
present practice of plucking the ' tukra ' leaves and
shoots and dropping them on the field is the worst
thing possible ; every mealy bug in those shoots

174 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

comes out, walks to another plant, and spreads the
disease further." ^ Tree mulberries, however, once
cultivated require little attention, and are much less
affected by dry hot weather or disease.

Silk rearing is even far more difficult. Much
care has to be taken in the selection of the seed,
otherwise diseases will do considerable damage to
the worms. The chief diseases are : ( i ) Pebrine,
known in Bengal as Kata, or in aggravated form
Tali, is the worst of the diseases. It is contagious
as well as hereditary, and damages the quality of
the silk very greatly ; (2) Muscardine, which next
to the former does the most harm in Bengal. It is
known as Chuna or Chunakele, a name indicating
the resemblance to lime. Next to Pebrine it does
the most harm in Bengal ; (3) Flacherie or Galene,
known in Bengal as Kalashira or Shalfa. The
disease is contagious and to a certain extent heredi-
tary ; (4) Grasserie, known in Bengal as Rasa.
Following Muscardine it does considerable damage
to the worms in Bengal. Mr. N. G. Mukherjee
has described in detail the construction of rearing
houses where the selection and improvement of the
stock might be conducted, and disease eliminated
by the microscopic selection of eggs. The rearing
house should be established close to a tank or river ;
should be surrounded by mulberry trees ; should be
one mile away from the cocoon-rearing villages,
filatures or cocoon godowns, and should be in a
village where a sufficient community exists con-
versant with the picking of ripe worms, handling
moths, and planting mulberries. It is not possible
to conduct sericulture under hired labour, if the

* Agricultural Journal, January, 1910.

THE SILK INDUSTRY 175

workers are not drawn from the hereditary silk-
worm rearers.^

This point is of vital importance as it takes
many years' careful training to acquire the expert
knowledge essential to success. Cocoon rearing is
now done chiefly in mud-walled houses. The seed
cocoons are placed thinly spread out on Dalas, or
flat bamboo trays, which in some districts are
circular, and in others square or oblong.^ In eight
or nine days in the hot weather, and fifteen or
sixteen days in the cold weather, the moths come
out and they remain paired for the greater part of
the day, that is, until they are separated in the
afternoon.

After being separated, the males are thrown
away, and the females left to lay eggs on the Dala.
In the case of the Bara Palu, the female moths are
transferred to a piece of rag, and they deposit their
eggs there. Pieces of rag with eggs adhering to
them by means of a natural gum are folded up and

* This is found to a greater extent in Japan. Indeed one of the
causes of the success of the silk industry in Japan is the almost
inexhaustible amount of cheap labour that can be easily and quickly
trained, due possibly to greater inteUigence in cultivation. In almost
every district of Japan the farmers themselves will be found engaged
in the cultivation of rice and other grains, forming the staple food of
the people, while their families will be busily occupied with the rearing
of silkworms, thus putting into practice the ideal recorded in ancient
history of a wise emperor himself tilling the ground for rice-growing
in the palace garden, in order to get a knowledge of the actual condi-
tions of farming, and of an empress with her court ladies engaging in
rearing silkworms as a practical lesson in sericulture (" Report on the
Raw Silk Industry," Mr. G. P. Paton, of Japan).

2 In America trays used for silkworms are covered with a mosquito
net during the first two stages, and a coarse string net when the
insects are larger ; or a perforated paper has proved very satisfactory
where it is obtained (Circular No. 19, University of Cahfornia publi-
cations, " Silk Culture," by Mr. C. W. Woodworth).

176 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

kept inside a Handi, or earthen pot, the mouth of
which is closed by means of an earthen cover and
sealed with mud. The earthen vessel is kept
suspended from the roof in a cool part of the house.
In the case of the Nistari, Chota Palu and Cheena
Palu, the eggs are left on the Dalas on which they
are laid, and allowed to hatch there, the hatching
taking place in eight or nine days in the hottest
weather, and in sixteen or eighteen days in the
coldest. The Bara Palu eggs do not hatch till
next spring, remaining in the Handi from the end
of March to the end of January. After the worms
have hatched out, tender leaves of mulberry cut up
very fine are sprinkled over the newly-hatched
worms. Three or four hours afterwards the worms
are moved to another Dala with the help of a little
brush made of grass or feathers. The worms with
the refuse leaves are then made into a neat flat
circle or Chaki of uniform depth of about one-
twelfth of an inch, and fresh leaf, finely cut up, is
sprinkled over this Chaki. Regularity of feeding
is regarded as very essential. The special art in
rearing silkworms consists in stopping feeding at
the right time, and recommencing feeding at the
right time. One often sees an old and experienced
woman being called in at these critical periods to
judge whether feeding should be stopped, or
whether feeding should be recommenced. Women
do most of the work in connection with the rear-
ing house, while men look after the mulberry, cut
and brought home for the silkworms, and assist
the women at feeding and clearing. When ready
for spinning, the silkworms cease eating, look
about restlessly, spit about silk fibre and appear

FEEDING COCOONS.

THE SILK INDUSTRY I77

transluscent. They are then picked and placed
on Chandrakis or spinning mats.^ These bamboo
screens are put out in the morning sun, and in the
cold weather fire is kept up in the room at night to
hasten spinning.

Cocoon rearers are considered higher in the
social scale than ordinary agriculturists, who are
employed by them as labourers. They are, how-
ever, perhaps more in debt than the latter. Their
struggle against poverty is indeed much harder as
they are recognized as belonging to the middle and
not to the lower classes of our society. Recently
there has been a general decline of the cocoon
rearing industry throughout Bengal, except in
Maldah. This has led also to the poverty of the
mulberry growers. In many tracts mulberry culti-
vation is being given up and other crops grown
instead. The production of raw silk has greatly
diminished, and a large proportion of cocoon
rearers have abandoned their hereditary profession.
Various remedial measures have been suggested
by experts. Mr. Hart, Director of Agriculture,
Eastern Bengal and Assam, submitted an exhaus-
tive report to Government on this subject in 1907.
He made the following observations : —

(i) The conclusion of the Special Silk Com-
mittee appointed last year, that the decline in the
silk industry is primarily due to disease amongst

^ Mr. C. W. Wood worth, referring to the practice in Europe to
furnish the silkworms with brush cut in the winter from trees and
bound together in such a way that they may be set upon the trays in
rows, suggests that a very satisfactory arrangement can be made of
lath by laying them edgewise about three-quarters of an inch apart
and backing other laths at right angles across these to hold them in
position.

178 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

the worms, and not to defects in reeling or manu-
facture, and that the greatest loss is caused by
pebrine, must be accepted as correct.

(2) If worms free from disease can be obtained,
silk rearing is more profitable than any other form
of cultivation, even more profitable than jute in
1906. This is the universal testimony of the silk-
rearers I have met,

(3) By the Pasteur system of microscopic selec-
tion of seed, as practised in the Bengal Silk Com-
mittee's nurseries, pebrine can be eradicated. The
evidence recorded by the special committee leaves
no doubt on that point, and my own enquiries have
confirmed their finding.

(4) An adequate supply of pure seed cocoons
would alone cause a very great improvement of the
industry.

(5) Properly constructed rearing-houses and the
adoption of certain precautions against the silk-
worm-fly muscardine, grasserie and flacherie are
only second in importance to the necessity of pure
seed.

(6) The Government should vigorously attack
the silk question on tried and proved lines by
establishing nurseries to supply the seeds required
by all the rearers of the province.

(7) The building of a silk-rearing house on
approved lines should be declared to be an ** im-
provement" under the Land Improvement Loans
Act, and loans should be distributed for improve-
ment of this kind.

(8) For the control of all sericultural operations
including loans, a Sericultural Superintendent of
the Province should be appointed, and he should

THE SILK INDUSTRY i^j^

be assisted by District overseers. Other remedies
that have been suggested are : (i) Introduction of
the superior European or Chinese or Japanese
cocoons ; (2) Improvement of the system of mul-
berry cultivation ; (3) Better and more liberal treat-
ment of the worms ; (4) Taking fewer ** bunds "
or crops. The Bengal Silk Committee have for
some years been distributing seeds among the
cocoon-rearers, and their efforts as well as those of
their Superintendent, have been very successful in
Maldah, while in Murshidabad, the decline of the
industry is arrested to a great extent.

The cocoons after they finish spinning are
taken down from the chandrakis, and either
(i) Taken to the nearest hat for sale, or (2) Killed
by exposure to the sun, and reserved for sale until
paikars or agents of European filatures come round,
or (3) Placed in a basket covered up with cloth
under which a pot of water is kept boiling, and
reeled off into silk, or (4) If they were formed in
a very healthy manner, they are bought for seed by
travelling rearers going about in quest of seed from
village to village.

After the seeding is done in the house of the
rearers there are always pierced cocoons left, which
cannot be reeled off into silk like the whole cocoons.
These are brought by the poorer women of the
villages. They are soaked in a thin paste made
by grinding peas with water, and fibres are drawn
out of them and attached to the spindle called teko.
When the spinning of a few ounces of thread is
done it is taken out of the teku and gathered on to
the natai. It is only poor or old and decrepit
women who are matka-spinners. Mr. N. G.

i8o THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Mukherjee has observed that they are usually Mu-
hammadans who attempt to keep up their pardah
respectability by means of this sedentary toil which
brings such poor net return. He has estimated
that the total number of matka-spinning women
in Bengal is 3000. They are, however, never
employed all the year round in this industry.
They spin matka only for a few days in every
bund.

The whole cocoons are spun into thread in
villages by means of a machine called ghai. They
are at first killed by steaming or being exposed to
the sun. The steamed cocoons are reeled by first
putting them in the basin in the boiling water, and
working them with a brush or bundle of sticks, so
that each cocoon gets dipped in the boiling water
and its end attached to the brush. When nearly
all the ends have got attached to this brush they
are taken up with the left hand, and with the right
hand the cocoons are lightly shaken, so that a
greater length of the fibres works off. A few, ten
or twelve or so according to the size of the silk
wanted, that work off very easily, are then sepa-
rated out of the whole lot of cocoons in the basin,
and these are divided into two equal lots of five or
six or ten cocoons, the end of which are passed
through the two eyes or holes of the kaL These
are usually upright wires on the kal to keep the two
lots of fibres separate during the reeling. These
also serve to give croiseurs to the fibres, one between
the holes of the kal and the upright wires, and the
other between these wires and the reel. The fric-
tion caused by these croiseurs agglutinate the fibres
together, and make them pass on to the reel as

THE SILK INDUSTRY i8i

firm and single threads. There are little twisted
wires or guides (khela mastar) on the khelana or
piece of bamboo, which moves in an eccentric
manner on thejanta. The thread passing through
these wires on to the reel do not pass straight to
the reel, and get laid on to the reel exactly on the
same spot. The movements to and fro of the
khelana causes each thread to be laid over a width
of three or four inches of the reel. Getting laid on
the reel in this wide manner, the thread gets dry
more easily, and when there is a break the end is
also found out more easily.

Mr. N. G. Mukherjee made the following sug-
gestions for improving the reeling process above
described : —

(i) The adoption of a reeling machine like that
of the Japanese which can be worked by one man.

(2) The adoption of a more vigorous system of
croiseurs that silk of greater ** nerve " may be
obtained. At each place in the double croiseurs
there should be ten or twelve crossings instead of
one or two, which is the rule now even in European
filatures.

(3) The regulation of the temperature of the
basin at about 50° C., and the boiling of cocoons
in a separate place in little wire baskets holding
four pans of Bengal or two pans of Bombay mori
cocoons. The length of time for which each lot of
cocoons should be boiled must be determined by
an experienced person, who will, according to the
value of the cocoons, boil them for one and a half
minutes up to seven minutes.

(4) All the raw silk exported from Bengal
should be re-reeled.

i82 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

The indigenous reeling industry is at present
considerable. It has been calculated that more than
half of the mulberry cocoons raised in Bengal is
spun into thread by the indigenous method. The
raw silk of export, however, is made in large
factories, and more carefully, though in the main
the principle of reeling resembles more the old
methods than the present methods, which have
come into vogue in Italy and France. The
principal differences between the local KhamrUy
and the filature methods are: (i) The boiling and
heating of water is done in filatures from a central
boiler with steam, and not by fire kept under each
basin as is done in the native ghais ; (2) Silk is
reeled to even weights ; (3) Crossing of two
adjacent threads to give them roundness and firm-
ness is invariably done in filature reeling, though
it is rarely done in Khamru reeling ; (4) Filature
silk is finer.

The country method is cheaper than the
European filature method of reeling on account
of the following causes : — (i) The yield of Khamru
silk is larger; (2) A spinner can turn out three
times as much Khamru silk as filature silk ;
(3) As six skeins of Khamru silk are turned out
at a time in some parts of Maldah instead of
two, the number of winders required is also less
in the case of the Khamru silk ; (4) The estab-
lishment charges of a European factory are con-
siderably larger.^ The indigenous industry will

1 Thus the manufacture of Khamru silk is more profitable to the
native reeler than that of the filature silk, notwithstanding the higher
price which is or ought to be obtained for the latter. For a maund
of green cocoons 2J to 3J seers of Khamru silk is obtained, the out-
turn of filature silk being about half a seer less in either case.

On an average when a reeler is engaged on monthly pay he gets

THE SILK INDUSTRY 183

receive a great impetus, if the foreign merchants
instead of merely putting the filature-reeled silk in
keen competition with Khamru silk also recognize
the latter as an article of export, and buying up
large quantities of it, rewind it, and then send it
to the European merchants. \ At present, however,
it is on the decline except in Maldah. Silk reeling
is now seldom the only occupation of the reelers.
They live also by cultivation and field work.
There are only two firms in Rajshahi who now deal
in Khamru, one a Muhammadan, and the second
a Marwari firm. In Maldah about 2000 maunds
of Khamru silk are still produced. The Khamru
silk of Maldah is highly prized by native weavers,
especially for the weft (Bharna), the weft silk of
Maldah usually selling at Rs.12 to Rs.i6 per
share, which is a rupee higher than the warp or
tana silk. Berhampore weavers are said to prefer
Maldah Khamru to that reeled in their own district.
But more than half of the silk produced in Bengal
is sent to other provinces. There are Paikars in
villages who buy Khamru for the silk merchants in
the town acting as commission agents for weavers
of Benares, Nagpur, Mirzapur and Agra, etc. On
account of this systematic demand for silk in other
parts of the country, the lowering of the value of
the Indian silk in the European markets has not
led to a sudden decline of the industry in all its
branches, still the decline is noticeable throughout
the province. This decline of the export trade is

from Rs.6 to Rs.io a month, and a winder from Rs.4 to Rs.6. In
filatures the scale of pay is less, being from Rs.5 to Rs.7 for spinners
and from Rs.3 to Rs.4 for winders, but the latter generally receive
money in advance and have smaller hours of work in native ghais.

1 84 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

due to (i) the competition with Italian, Chinese,
and Japanese silks. Italian silk is less in favour in
the United States and failed to rise in price, but
Shanghai silk on the average gained about io'2,
and Cantons about 167. Indian silks are on a
much lower scale of popularity, and the exports
declined from Rs.58'98 in 1909--10 to Rs.5o'55
lakhs in 1910— 11. The decline represents 11 per
cent, in quantity and 0*04 per cent, in value.
Bengal consignments of reeled silk rose from
Rs.23'oi lakhs to Rs.23-i2 lakhs, the advance
representing 2*6 per cent, in quantity and 5*2 per
cent, in value. The average export of raw silk
between 1870-80 was Rs.8'5 lakhs, it declined to
Rs.5*o lakhs between 1880-90, and to Rs.4*o7
lakhs between 1910-14. The export of silk manu-
factures in 1913-14 was valued at Rs.6 lakhs, as
compared with over Rs.17 lakhs on an average
between 1890— 1900. (2) Disease amongst the
worms, coupled with defective methods of reeling.
(3) The decline of mulberry cultivation with the
introduction of more profitable crops.

Under the present credit system the factory
owners advance a lump sum to the Paikar for
purchasing a specified amount of the cocoons, the
price being fixed according to the current rates
in the silk market. The Paikar distributes por-
tions of the money he has got by way of advance
among the cocoon rearers either for expenses of
growing mulberry or for purchasing leaves to feed
the worms. The Paikar then takes the produce
and brings it to the factory. On account of the
lower prices of silk in the foreign markets, the
European factory owners can offer but small

THE SILK INDUSTRY 185

prices for the cocoons. Nor is the demand for
Khamru silk among Indian weavers strong enough
to direct the sale of the cocoons from this direction.
The cocoon rearers cannot carry the produce to
distant hats. They grow only a limited quantity,
and, perhaps, they have taken advances from the
Paikars. So there is no other way of selling the
cocoons near at home except to these men who
also deduct from the prices a commission for
undertaking the sale. The labour of rearing has
increased on account of the diseases of the worms.
Thus the cocoon rearers while complaining of the
inadequate prices of the cocoons have to sell them
to the European filatures. The decline of the
cocoon rearing industry has, as has already been
pointed out, affected mulberry cultivation. The
mulberry fields which bore high rates and rent are
now lying waste, and in some parts of the province
the poor cultivators have still to pay the high rates
for the lands which they are not cultivating. The
Zemindar will not allow them to surrender the
mulberry fields alone. If they are to give these up
at all, they should surrender the whole jote which
they cannot. Thus they pay the rents though the
land is not cultivated at all. The above account
of the decline of the industry is true of the whole
province of Bengal, except of Maldah, Murshidabad,
Rajshahi, Bogra and Birbhoom, and shows a great
decadence of the cocoon rearing and Khamru spin-
ning industry.

Before, however, the Khamru silk is employed
in the loom, the weaver always unwinds it by
means of the Charki. Thus one uninterrupted
thread of uniform thickness is gathered on to the

1 86 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

same Natai, For manufacturing superior silks the
thread is also twisted. These are called Pakwan,
while silks in which untwisted threads are used are
of poor quality and called Khami. Mr. N. G.
Mukherjee has thus described the process of
twisting. The natais are planted loosely in holes
in the floor. The threads are passed through an
iron guide called Loibangri Khunti firmly planted
in the floor ; they are then carried up in front of
the operator through a bamboo and cane erection
called Dol, and then through the first space of the
uppermost series of a number of Thaks or bamboo
erections, back through the first spaces of the lower
series of spaces of the same Thaks, and the second
space of the Dol, when the threads are snapped at
the iron guide, and a Takur tied at each end, the
two ends being then made to hang vertically at
equal heights from the floor. Another length of
thread is then taken exactly in the same way from
the natais, passed through the guide, the third
space of the Dol, the second spaces of the upper
and lower rows of the Thaks and the fourth space
of the Dol, two Takurs being again tied at the two
ends in front of the operator. In this way seven
lengths of threads with fourteen Takurs attached
to their ends remain hanging in front of the operator.
From the Dol to the last Thak being twenty-seven
yards, 378 yards of thread are twisted at the same
time by each operator. The distance between the
Dol and the last Thak is sometimes more and
sometimes less, and sometimes sixteen Takurs are
used instead of fourteen. There are usually nine
Thaks when the distance between the Dol and the
last Thak is twenty-seven yards. The Takurs are

THE SILK INDUSTRY 187

simply slender pins of bamboo with mud weights
attached to their bottom, which help to keep the
threads straight while the twisting is going on.
The operator keeps the rubbing pins of the Takurs
successively between the palms of his hands so as
to make them spin fast and uninterruptedly which
serves to twist the threads. When the Takurs are
only nine inches from the Dol, by the shortening
of the threads by nine inches, as the result of
twisting, the operator considers the twisting done.
The seven pieces of twisted thread are then
gathered on to a natai as one continuous piece by
knotting them together. More thread is then
twisted in exactly the same way. In the native
system of weaving, the weft is never made of
twisted thread. The method of twisting above
described is nearly the same in all the weaving
centres with slight differences in details. Where,
however, a separate class of silk twisters, Cham-
bulias, as they are called, has not been differentiated
from the weavers and spinners, and the weavers
themselves twist the threads, the method is
different. The reels of thread are suspended from
the ceiling of the house, and the operator who sits
below takes down the ends of threads, and joins
them so as to form one thread. This joint thread
is then twisted with the right hand on the left fore-
arm. As the process goes on, the operator keeps
the prepared thread on a thing called KkatiUy which
consists merely of two small upright posts fixed on
a block of wood. The thread is arranged on this
in the shape of an elongated 8.

The silk weavers are superior to cultivators in
social position. They are as a class more prosperous

i88 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

than cotton weavers, though in the districts where
silk weaving is not a speciality silk weaving and
cotton weaving are pursued indifferently by the
same families as occasion arises, the same looms
being used for both purposes. Silk weaving proper
is done in all the districts by adult males, the
women and children assisting them in preparing
the thread and fixing the work.

The threads, twisted or untwisted, are then
ready for the next processes. They are bleached
and dyed, as required, and then arranged for wrap-
ping. Four posts are planted in the ground forming
the vertices of a rectangular parallelogram. The
width between the post is such that the length of
the work covers two opposite sides and one other
of the parallelogram. Kathis are then placed singly
or in pairs, a yard or two apart from post to post
on its three sides. The yarn is then taken in two
ckarkis, each of which is provided with a handle
called kulkiy ending in a glass or metallic loop. The
threads pass out from the two charkis through the
two loops and are laid on alternate sides of the
Kathis and posts. Both charkis are used simul-
taneously by the same person who holds one in
each hand, one thread passing by the right of each
post or Kathi and the other by the left. The
Kathis are renewed when the warping is completed
and tapes inserted in their places. These keep
the two charkis quite separate during the pro-
cesses of bleaching and dyeing if the warp is
bleached and dyed before it is introduced in the
loom. The warp is then rolled up, one extremity
is attached to the yarn beam of the loom and
the whole warp is wound round it. The next

THE SILK INDUSTRY 189

Operation is Shanparana, that is, passing the warp
through the reed, and the arrangement of reed.
The arrangement of reed and the process of form-
ing healds are highly complex and require great
patience.

On account of the complicated processes in-
volved, the weavers seldom go in for setting the
loom if they are not sure of setting eight or ten
pieces of any fabric. This is the reason why they
need to spend a good deal of money in advance.
They have to buy the silk for all the eight or ten
pieces and look out for buyers of all the pieces
before they can begin the work. The Mahajan
advances the money at a high rate of interest and
also assures him the sale of all the pieces at cost
price.^

If the weavers succeed in selling some pieces
directly to the customers, they make some profits
out of which they pay the interests on their loans ;
while the Mahajans who buy from them the remain-
ing pieces at their cost prices, gain large profits
as middlemen and continue to be in business
relations with the weavers who can give them a
steady and continuous supply of their fabrics. We
thus see that from the nature of the industry,
requiring as it does an investment of capital which
is now to be regarded as a large amount if we
consider the social position of the weavers, silk
weaving is particularly exposed to financial diffi-
culties. As long as the weavers were rich they

1 More often he advances thread, and when the doth has been
woven it is weighed, a certain percentage being allowed for wastage.
Bani (or price of weaving) is paid according to the quality and size of
the cloth, and this varies from Rs.3 to Rs.7 per piece (Mr. G. N.
Gupta's " Survey of Industries in Eastern Bengal and Assam," p. 34).

I90 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

could employ their own capital in the industry
and were not dependent on the money-lenders.
In Benares the silk weavers of the past, besides
preparing first-class purely Indian silk work and
Saries and Kimkhabs, used to keep a store of silk
articles. In those good old days they were both
makers and sellers of their articles. The present-
day merchants (silk sellers) then only worked as
brokers. But now the broker has turned into a
wholesale dealer, a big merchant who orders the
weavers to prepare things according to the taste and
demand of the public. As long as the makers were
sellers also, they used to make things as their
artistic traditional training and the pleasure that a
maker or artist feels in his work, inspired them to
do. They had their own good old patterns and
designs. They had their own dyes and dyeing
materials, the deep harmonious Indian colours.
The result was that the work prepared was quite
superb in every respect and fine and beautiful.
From the economic point of view it was a great
gain to the country. Thousands of gold and silver
thread makers lived affluently in Benares. The
silk culture was a living industry.^ The Mahajans,
on the other hand, are not to blame, for they per-
form indeed a useful economic function under the
present conditions of the industry. There is com-
petition among them, and considering the risks
involved in the trade the interest they get on their
capital is not too high. Still credit has to be made
much cheaper if the industry is to prosper. Again,
so long as the industry is in the hands of the

^ Lala Mukundi Lai, "Prize Essay on Trade Guilds in India,"
Modern Review^ March, 191 1.

THE SILK INDUSTRY 191

Mahajans it is hopeless to expect any art in the
wares for long. Their sole motive is to make
profit, and they always have those things prepared
which suit the public taste. Thus the old indi-
genous colours of India have been superseded by
the dazzling and transient aniline dyes, and the
pure gold thread by the fine and brilliant thread of
Europe. Again, if superior fabrics are woven the
capital has to be locked up for a much larger period
than at present. Capital is also required for the
purposes of advertising the silk work widely, thus
creating a demand for them among the richer
people, and also for inducing the weavers to adopt
good and fresh designs.^ This capital has to be

1 " Many of the silk weavers of Madanapur and Benares told me
that they could reproduce any pattern from paper that I would like
them to do. But it seems that the initial cost of transferring a design
from paper to the cotton thread frame is almost prohibitive " (A. Chat-
terjee's " Note on the Industries in the United Provinces," p. 46).

In Murshidabad, Mrittunjoy Sarkar, of Gankar, Mirzapore, a clever
silk weaver, was asked by Mr. N. G. Mukherjee if he could construct
looms for weaving ornamental fabrics like those made by Dubraj, a
chamar by birth who was a most famous weaver of the district. After
many efforts he succeeded in reproducing the border of Dubraj's
shawls and table covers without the corner ornaments. It is by a
special arrangement of healds for the borders that he produced his
plain shawl with a wide ornamental border, an article which is now
highly valued in the Berhampore market. There is now no one in
the district since Dubraj's death who understands the mechanism of
those looms which are still in use in the Baluchar circle for producing
figured fabrics. When any of these looms would get out of order
Dubraj was sent for to set it right, but he reserved the neatest patterns
for himself.

The necessity of introducing new designs and of teaching the art
of transferring them to the loom is now recognized. The services
of expert weavers have to be utilized for teaching the art of con-
structing looms for bringing out new patterns. Even now the art
seldom dies with 'the talented weavers, for they do not as a rule keep
the patterns for themselves, but teach their own castemen the repro-
duction of their patterns. In Baluchar, e.g,^ the weavers recognized

192 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

supplied to the weavers at an easier rate of
interest.

In Benares the Silk Weavers* Associations,
founded in 1906, and registered under Act X. of
1904 as a Limited Company with a capital of
Rs.45,000, seeks to finance the poor weavers. It
supplies the raw materials to the weavers and
receives manufactured fabrics at a particular fixed
time. It will thus be seen that the Association is
practically a Limited Liability Company acting as
silk merchants. The system of payment is really
that of piece-work, and it is to the interest of work-
men to accomplish as much as possible in the day.
The Association is not concerned with apprentice-
ship, as it pays only for work, instead of for work-
men's time. The workmen themselves teach their
sons, or employ apprentices on their own account.
The apprentices are stimulated to exertion by the
knowledge that they can obtain no remuneration
until they are qualified to work by themselves.^
Similar advances of money, looms, or other appli-
ances might be made to the weavers by the
Government. In Europe in some countries, e.g,^
Austria, Switzerland, the government support the
artisans by granting them subsidies to purchase the
raw materials and the appliances of production.
But the best method of financing the weavers is
through the establishment of Co-operative Unions.

Mrittunjoy as their master, as he was the means of introducing many
improvements in the silk- weaving industry at that centre. " The
caste system viewed in the light of a trade guild is a great lever for
industrial improvements in this country, and any system of technical
education that may be introduced in the country should fully utilize
the existing system" (Mr. N. G. Mukherjee's "Monograph on the
Silk Fabrics of Bengal," p. 42).

* Mr. Mukundi Lai's " Prize Essay on Trade Guilds in India."

THE SILK INDUSTRY 193

The Government has recognized the necessity of
Co-operative Societies among the industrial classes,
and steps are being taken by the registrars to
pioneer such societies among the weavers in the
different provinces. Many such societies have
been established, and they have done immense
good to the weavers. As Mr. G. N. Gupta, M.A.,
I.C.S., says, "The introduction of Co-operative
Credit Societies amongst weavers which has been
so successfully tried for the silk weavers of Benares,
for weavers of Solapur in Bombay and in parts of
Madras, stands out as the most suitable means for
improving the financial condition of the weavers
and of teaching them habits of co-operation, self-
reliance and self-help, which in themselves will
be valuable assets in bringing success to their
occupation." ^

Murshidabad is the centre of the silk-weaving
industry of Bengal. Various kinds of fabrics are
woven in the district, such as Motka Dhuties and
Saries, Alwans or thick Chadars, silk Musleens and
Hawai Dure, Chelis, Namabolis, etc., which have a
great demand in the local market. Gown-pieces
are in demand among the European ladies and also
among Bengal gentlemen for making chapkans and
chogas. Corahs are the cheapest fabrics forming
the staples of export to Europe, where they are
used mainly for lining purposes. Bootidar Saris are
woven in Baluchar ; some are very decent, but the
ladies of the rich and middle classes prefer the
Benares fabrics. Ornamental silks, Rumals and
Shawals, Scarps and Sashes, are also made to order
from the looms set by Dubraj. These are inferior

1 Mr. G. N. Gupta's " Survey," p. 23.

194 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

only to the best patterns of Kashmir and Benares
looms, but unlike them they can stand any amount
of washing. Mr. N. G. Mukherjee has remarked :
"It is too late to think of reviving the industry of
weaving ornamental silk fabrics, as the only man
who could be used to uplift this industry is now
dead. The only hope of reviving the industry now
rests in the fact that Dubraj's looms are still in
existence." In other parts of Bengal Maldah,
Bogra, Birbhoom and Rajshahi, Silk Saris, Dhoties
of silk or Motka, handkerchief, pieces of coating,
uranis made of silk or of mixed silk and cotton,
are manufactured and command a good sale. The
demand for silk fabrics is increasing, and will con-
tinue to increase in the country with a steadily
rising standard of life of the people. The increased
demand, however, is satisfied to some extent by the
Japanese and Chinese silks,^ the imports of which
have been increasing for some time. It is only a
vitiated taste that prefers the gaudy and brilliant
fabrics to the pure and lasting silks of the indi-
genous handlooms.

The working of the looms from which figured
patterns are made is highly complex. The follow-
ing is a description of the working of a loom used
for weaving bootidar saries in Baluchar, given by
Mr. N. G. Mukherjee, which shows the cleverness
and ingenuity of our weavers who manipulate it.
The cloth beam is placed on two pillars or plat-
forms, the weavers sitting on a plank resting on

* Silk piece goods representing Rs. 178*93 lakhs were imported in
i9io-ii,the increase being 16*4 per cent. Japan sent goods to the
value of Rs.io4'96. The imports of China show an advance of
Rs.5-46 lakhs, and stand at Rs.52-56 lakhs (Paton's " Review of the
Trade of India," 1910-1 1).

THE SILK INDUSTRY 195

the same pillar alongside the cloth beam, his legs
going between and his feet working the treadles
which are fixed in the floor at one end, in the same
manner as the treadles are fixed in the pit in the
case of an ordinary loom. The work beam is also
placed on the floor, being slightly elevated with
pivots. Thus the work runs up in a slant from the
warp beam to the cloth beam, instead of horizon-
tally, as in the case of the ordinary loom. The use
of four healds where two only is essentially neces-
sary has been already mentioned. The essential
peculiarity of the NakshaAoom. consists in the
presence of the Shirak, or a large number of strong
twines, running across and above the warp just
beyond the healds. Each of these twines is at-
tached below to a certain number of the threads
in the warp by means of long loops of strong cotton
suspended vertically from the twines and allowing
one, two, or more warp threads to pass through
each, according to the figure intended to be
brought out. Above the frames are attached two
Nakshas, or sets of harness cords, which the weaver
sitting behind the frames on an elevated platform
manipulates, thus bringing up each time a number
of twines which in their turn raise by means of the
loops the required threads of the warp. At the
same time two nanglis, or plough-shaped wooden
wedges, suspended from the ceiling with ropes are
thrust in by the weaver among the twines. He
then passes the little sticks called shirkisy charged
with coloured weft threads, through the ''sheds"
among the whole width of the piece, corresponding
to the buts or figures. When the coloured threads
for the buts have been once passed, the nanglis are

196 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

withdrawn while the reed is pressed home to the
web, the treadles worked and the shuttle passed
once to lay one thread of the ground weft. The
reed is again pressed, and then the draw-boy
manipulates the cords of the nakshas which govern
the elevation of the warp for the two borders only.
The nanglis are again thrust in to bring the two
sheds on the two sides (for the borders) distinctly
up, and then the two sticks with coloured threads
meant for the two borders are passed through the
shed once. Another weft thread for the ground is
then put in with the shuttle. These three sets of
operations go on throughout the weaving. As a
rule there are two nakshas for the borders, two for
the buts, two for the anchala or the ornamental
end-piece, and one for the beginning and finishing
up. The draw-boy manipulates a harness cord for
the buts. At the next operation, viz., the putting
in of a weft thread for the ground, the draw-boy
does nothing; then the draw-boy manipulates a
harness cord for the border while the weaver puts
in a thread for the border. At the next operation
the draw-boy does nothing, while the weaver passes
the shuttle to put another weft thread for the
ground. At each operation, therefore, time is spent
by the weaver not only in his own manipulations
but also in watching those of the boy. For richer
designs as many as fourteen nakshas are sometimes
employed. It is easy therefore to imagine how a
piece of five yards long and forty-two inches wide
can take as much as six months for a weaver
and his boy to weave, beginning at the adjust-
ment of the loom, and ending in the completion
of the first piece, and sometimes twenty pieces are

THE SILK INDUSTRY 197

turned out before a re-adjustment of the loom is
allowed.

These looms are highly suited for weaving the
fabrics for which they are meant, and the fact that
there are as many varieties of looms as there are
patterns of weaving shows that silk weaving is a
living industry.

CHAPTER XIII

TASSAR AND ENDI REARING AND WEAVING

We have hitherto been deaUng with silk weaving
as distinct from tassar or endi weaving. Tassar
weaving is a considerable village industry. It has
been calculated that there are nearly 25,000 persons
in Bengal and 20,000 in the Central Provinces who
are more or less dependent on tassar weaving. The
number of persons concerned in tassar-cocoon rear-
ing is roughly estimated to be about eight times the
number of those engaged in weaving. Tassar rear-
ing differs widely from ordinary silkworm weaving,
in that the ordinary silkworm is a perfectly domesti-
cated interest, whereas the tassar worm thrives best
in the jungle. The ordinary silkworm eggs have
to be kept up for ten months, from March when
they are laid till January when they are allowed to
hatch out, whereas tassar eggs are laid irregularly,
some in May, some in July, some in October, and
the Muga might not eclose for a whole year.^

Tassar-cocoon rearing has been declining for
some years in Bengal. Mr. N. G. Mukherjee has
pointed out that the degeneracy of tassar-worms is
due to (i) inferior cocoons (small size and flimsy in
structure) being purposely reserved for seed, owing

1 Mr. F. Smith, B.Sc, " Tassar silk cocoon rearing at Chaibassa,'
Agricultural Joiirnal, January, 1909.

TASSAR AND ENDI REARING AND WEA VING 199

to the superior cocoons fetching a higher price, and
(2) semi-domestication and the use of home-grown
cocoons for seed instead of wild ones.^

Rearers formerly used to go to the jungles
every third or fourth year to get the supply of new
seeds, but they have not been doing this for the
last ten years. This has led to the deterioration of
the stock. To prevent this degeneracy, the Govern-
ment Chaibassa firm take in every year the wild
muga seed, and domesticating it for one year issue
the seed to rearers, who can have then no scruples
as to the uncertainty of the eclosion, as by domesti-
cation the moths eclose regularly in May and June.
Mr. Smith has given some figures regarding tassar
sericulture. From 60 trees if well managed and
watched we can get three kahans of cocoons. As
one pollards the trees every second year, to obtain
three kahans per annum 120 trees will be required.
At Rs.7 per kahan of cocoons the annual income
from 120 trees will be Rs.2. For taking ara or
permission to grow cocoons in the village some
payment has also to be made. Thus the rearers
have found that the firewood is more paying than
the cocoons, so many trees are being killed by
over-pollarding. The decline of tassar - cocoon
rearing is due to low prices now obtaining for
tassar silk. One kahan of cocoon, which costs
Rs.7, gives one seer of tassar silk, the price of
which in the present market is Rs.9. Now, the
cost of tassar reeling in the factories is 13 annas
per kakan, thus the cottage reelers can have but
little profit if they have to buy the cocoons at Rs.7

1 " Inquiry into the state of the tassar silk industry, Bengal," Mr.
N. G. Mukherjee, 1905.

200 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

per kahan. Thus the cocoon-rearing industry is
ultimately affected. At present it is placed only in
the hands of the old women and the children of
the villages. If tassar rearing becomes a success
Bengal might compete with China in the export
trade in tassar silk ; at present, however, Bengal's
share in the trade is almost negligible. While
China exports to Europe 20,000 to 50,000 bales of
tassar silk annually, India exports only 333 bales.

The tassar manufacturers belong to the same
social position as the silk manufacturers. In fact,
the same men often take up both the industries in
their hands. Winding and warping are done en-
tirely by women. Tassar silk is washed in soap
with cold water. It is generally coloured red and
violet with aniline dyes ; yellow colour is sometimes
made from turmeric and Kamala powder. Tassar
saris and dhuties as well as suitings for the use of
the rich and the middle classes are largely woven
and are in great demand. Borderless tassar cloths
are largely used by poor Hindu widows during
religious and festive ceremonies. Kethe is a worse
kind of fabric made of pierced tassar-cocoons.
Bapta is another sort of fabric differing from tassar
in that the warp is all tassar and the woof cotton.

In Assam endi and muga silk weaving is a part
of the occupation of almost every female. The
poorer people of Assam had formerly been ex-
clusively clad in eri silk, while the muga silk is in
great request among the middle and upper classes.
Mr. Darrah, who wrote a note on eri silk, said :
" The climate is an ideal one for the growth of silk.
The food of the worm is almost a weed in many
parts of the province, and actually a weed in others.

TASSAR AND ENDI REARING AND WEA VING 201

The worm is exceedingly prolific, and the labour
required for rearing it is such as can be given by
the decrepit and infirm members of the family.
The produce required needs no skill in handling ;
reelers are not wanted ; nothing but the empty
shell from which the chrysalis has been extracted
or the moth has escaped is asked for in England,
and for this commodity the demand exceeds the
supply. It is difficult to imagine a combination of
circumstances which promise fairer for the com-
mercial success of any commodity." The eri worms
are bigger and much more hardy than the silk-
worms, and they feed on the leaves of the castor-
oil plant — mulberry is not a food plant. The
cocoons cannot be reeled. For the purpose of
spinning thread the cocoons are boiled ; after
three or four days they are washed clean, one
cocoon is then turned inside out and put like a cap
at the end of a small wooden stick called katku
Another cocoon is treated in the same manner and
capped over the first, and so on ; this forms some-
thing like a knob at the end of the katki. The
woman holds the katki in her left hand with the
knob downwards. Some fibres are then pinched
and drawn out of the knob and twisted by an
instrument called tanka. This tanka consists
simply of a bamboo rod fixed at the centre of a
circular piece of stone or broken pot. The bamboo
rod has a catch at the other extremity, and is fixed
firmly to the stone piece. The end of the thread
to be spun is tied with the rod and wound round it
a number of times. Then the whole thing is given
a vigorous turn by the two fingers of the right
hand. The tanka being suspended by the thread

202 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

goes on twisting it, the heavy thing below serving
the purpose of a fly-wheel. More fibres are pinched
up and added on to the thread, which is drawn out,
and the twisting goes on.

The thread is then transferred from the Tanka
to the Natai. This is of peculiar construction,
being a forked branch of a tree across which is tied
a bamboo rod. It is then again transferred to the
Charki. The next processes, warping, putting threads
through the Shane, forming the healds, and fitting
up and working of the loom, resemble with but little
differences those of the ordinary weaver.

The spinning process is most primitive and
requires to be improved. As regards the manu-
facture of cloth it is said that the best way of
improving the quality of the fabric is by intro-
ducing drill-weaving, so that the cloth will be more
substantial and be better suited for suitings, etc.
It has also been suggested that if any other fabrics
be mixed with Endi, the fabrics turned out would
have a stiffer structure than the present Endi has,
and it will be possible not only to sell the Thans
cheaper but they are likely to be more popular with
the public.^ At present, however, the Endi Thans
are comparatively high priced. A Than of six or
seven yards, with a width of fifty-four to fifty-six
inches, of good quality, cannot be had for less than
Rs.25, while the Benares Endi of the same quality
sells for Rs.i6 to Rs.i8.

Mr. Maxwell Lefroy, imperial entomologist,
thinks that there is a large field for the extension
of eri, as a minor or home industry, wherever castor
grows in India. The seed is obtainable and is

1 G. N. Gupta's " Survey," p. 27.

TASSAR AND ENDI REARING AND WEAVING 203

readily sent by post to all parts of India ; the
rearing is simple and can be done on a small or
large scale once it has been seen; the production
of thread and cloth offers no difficulty to people
accustomed to spinning and weaving cotton, and
there is no inherent difficulty which could prevent
its adoption in all parts of India where castor is
grown and where the climate is suitable. Indeed,
the industry is being taken up in different parts of
India, and wherever there is a demand for light
remunerative work, such as can be done by women
and children, if castor is available, the rearing, spin-
ning, and weaving of this silk offer many advan-
tages/ Again, it is also pointed out that it will not
pay to simply grow cocoons and sell them unless
there is a definite market. The spinning is as im-
portant as anything else, and if there are not people
to do the spinning as a spare-time occupation in
their own houses, the cultivation of eri silk should
not be undertaken at all. Where the spinning can
be done and a cottage industry is possible, sufficient
cocoons for the year should be reared either all
through the year, or else for nine months of rains
and cold weather which are not excessively dry
and hot.^

Commercially, Muga is less important than Endi.
The silk is superior in quality, but it is too dear for
the European markets. The cocoons intended for
breeding are placed in trays and hung up safely in
mud-wall houses. The female moths, which come
forth in a fortnight's time, are secured by threads,
passing the thread behind the wings and tied to

1 The Agricultural Journal of India, April, 1908.

2 Ibid., April, 19 10.

204 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

short lengths of straw hooked on to a line stretched
across the room. The eggs are stored in baskets
covered with cloth, and the room in which they are
kept is heated in winter but kept dark as much as
possible. In summer it is not necessary to retain
the eggs within doors at all. The worms are fed
on trees, and when they have devoured the leaves
they descend of their own accord. They are then
caught by a trap of straw or plantain leaves tied
around the stem. Much care has to be taken to
protect the worms against the crows, kites, and
many other birds by day and owls and bats by
night ; thus abundant and continuous employment
IS afforded to young, old, and infirm members of
the family.

The insects within the cocoons are killed by
exposure to the sun or by fire. The filaments are
rolled together between the palm of the right hand
drawn across the thigh, while the left hand works
the reeling apparatus. Almost every part of the
Muga cocoon is utilized. The Muga silk had until
recently been the material of dress for the middle
classes of Assam ; even now there is much greater
demand for this there than for Endi cloth. Muga
Thans are used for making suits and exported to
Dacca, Calcutta, and a few other places.

CHAPTER XIV

DYEING

The industry of dyeing has formerly been very
important in the country, but there has been a very
rapid dedine during the last decade on account of
the importation of aniline and alizarine dyes from
the West. These have become very popular, not
only on account of their cheapness and their brilliant
colour, but also because of the ease with which they
can be used as compared with the complicated pro-
cess of the indigenous dyeing.^ Still the process of
dyeing cloth with indigenous dyes is carried on in
the rural tracts of our country largely to meet the
home demands. The important indigenous dyes

1 The influence of these modern mineral dyes has been more
destructive to the tinctorial and textile industries of India than is
commonly supposed. They have depraved the artistic feelings of the
people and demoralized many of the indigenous crafts. ..." It has
been computed that there are at present 2000 distinct colours of this
kind offered for practical use, the manufacturers of which are often
prepared to send expert dyers to the workshops of their customers in
order to instruct the operatives in the technicalities of the dyes they
sell. Recently it has, moreover, been proposed that a ' keyboard ' of
colours should be established, with fixed numbers for each shade, so
that the buyers of Indian goods may be able to dictate the colours to
be used. This may be desirable for certain commercial transactions,
but with the art-crafts it is likely to be pernicious. All the famed
natural dyes and tinctorial combinations of India have been already
imitated and their vernacular names given to the fabricated coal-tar
preparations, so that nothing is left undone that could expedite the
complete overthrow of the indigenous crafts."

2o6 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

which have survived the competition with the
synthetic dyes of the West are (i) Indigo. The
cloth is dipped three or four times in a solution of
indigo with Sajjimatti, lime and molasses, and then
dried in the sun. The plant is steeped in water
in a vat, and heating is effected in various ways
with short sticks to the ends of which flat discs are
attached, or with wheels consisting of wood attached
to the ends of a number of spokes radiating from
the axle. After the beating is complete, the liquor
is allowed to stand until the precipitated indigo
is separated by means of a canvas filter. It is
suspended on a wooden filter frame in the form of
a bag called Majikat, (2) Lac. Lac is dissolved
in water to which is added Sajjimatti, and some
Ladh (Symplocos racemota) powder. The mixture
is boiled. The cloth to be dyed is immersed in the
boiling liquid, and then left to dry in the sun. A
fast red colour is thus obtained. (3) Turmeric is
finely powdered and mixed in water with Sajjimatti
and alum or lemon. The solution is boiled and the
cloth immersed in it while hot. The cloth thus
gets a deep yellow colour. (4) Kusum, The
florets are dried in the sun and placed on a basket
filter. Cold water is poured over. This removes
the useless yellow dye. When the water passes
through, some Sajjimatti is added to the florets
to dissolve the red colouring matter. The florets
are then pressed into cakes and water is added.
The solution is of a brilliant red colour. A
little lime juice or tamarind is added to neutralize
the effects of the Sajjimatti, (5) Bilati-HaldL
The seeds are used for the preparation of a yellow
colour. The seeds are boiled in water to which

DYEING 207

Sajjimatti is added. Silk is usually dyed with this
dye. The colour is made fast by steeping the
cloth in Babul solution, obtained by boiling Babul-
bark in water, before and after the immersion in
Lotkan water. (6) Harasinghar and Palas flowers
are also boiled in water, and the cloth is dyed by
being immersed in the infusion. The al wood
powdered and boiled in water yields a fast red
colour. Saw-dust of Kanthal or Jackwood, mixed
with leaves of the Bakash plant, and boiled in
water, gives a yellow colour. The fruit of the
Haritaki mixed with water and Hirakosh — proto-
sulphate of iron — gives a black colour.

Mr. Watson has pointed out that it is a mistake
to think that all indigenous dyes are fast — in fact,
most of them are fugitive. On the other hand, all
chemical dyes are not fugitive. Besides, their fast-
ness is being steadily improved by chemical pro-
cesses. Thus we can clearly see why the indigenous
colours are being gradually superseded by the
aniline dyes.

The demand for coloured cloth is considerable
in the country.

Coloured head-cloths [Dopattd) and small caps
are in great demand among the Hindusthanis.
Shirts chiefly dyed blue are used by Muhamma-
dan Khalasis (Sailor) and Vistis (water-carriers).
Dhutis or cloths are generally dyed in Sunkh
Kusum (deep red), Subuj (green), Kakreja
(maroon), Narangi (orange) and Glabi (rose), and
are in great request in the zenana. In Bengal it
is only the girls that wear coloured cloths. In
Behar, however, they are worn also by elderly
women. The Muhammadans as a rule favour

2o8 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

coloured cloths more than the Hindus. Silk cloths,
gown pieces, and Chaddars are also dyed in
various colours. Threads are dyed for making
shawl scarfs. Wool is dyed for the manufacture
of blankets. Quilts and Balaposhes, bed-sheets and
pillow-cases are also largely dyed. In the cloth
and silk industries the dyeing operation had
formerly been specialized, being performed by the
Rangreza or professional dyer. As regards cloth
his services, however, are but seldom required now.
The cloths are now dyed by the cheap imported
dyes by the men who want them, and though their
colour is fugitive it does not matter much because
the cloth they wear do not last long. The cotton
w^ver also purchases these yarns ready dyed, or
dyes it himself with the chemical dyes. The case
is the same with the silk weavers as well. Mr. A.
Chatterjee has remarked : ** This abandonment of
the system of division of labour is a retrograde
step, for an expert silk weaver's time ought to be
more valuable than that of a dyer, while the former
can never have the same specialized knowledge as
the latter." The work of the professional dyer is
thus requisitioned only when blue or black colours
with vegetable indigo is required. Even here the
synthetic indigo competes with the vegetable dye.
Thus, industrially, indigenous dyeing is almost
dead. In Eastern Bengal, Mr. G. N. Gupta found
Pubna to be the only district where yarn was dyed
locally for borders of Saris and Dhutis. The
colours produced are two : black and red. For
black, vegetable indigo was being used, and for red
aniline powder. There are two grades of black
dyeing. For the first the yarn is successively

DYEING 209

soaked in the vegetable dye two or three times till
fast colour is obtained. The Bani or rate charged
by the dyers for dyeing, according to the above
process, is Rs.2-8. And inferior black is obtained
by first steeping the yarn in aniline red dye, and
then into the pot containing the vegetable indigo.
The result produced is a comparatively unstable
kind of colouring, and the price charged is from
As. 1 2 to Re. I per bundle of ^n^ seers. In Mur-
shidabad, there are four families of indigenous
silk dyers, but they have been adopting the aniline
dyes. In Shahpore and Sibgunj, Maldah, silk
yarn is dyed locally. In the Khashi Hills and
among the Manipuris and the Turungs, however,
indigenous dyes are still used to a very large
extent.

The industry in cotton, silk, and calico printing
is also carried on to some extent in Monghyr,
Patna, Gaya, and Calcutta. This is done entirely
by hand. There are wooden blocks fitted at the
back with handles of tamarind or Shesham wood.
The patterns are mostly floral or geometrical. The
paste used for stamping is prepared differently.
After the stamping is over, the cloth is soaked in
manjista or al water and boiled.

Women are specially skilled in the process of
dyeing cloths for their daily wear. The cloth is
folded, and in some spots tied up with threads in
the form of screws. This requires much ingenuity
and practical skill. The cloth is then dyed. When
it is dried, the knotted parts of the cloth remain
white while the rest of the cloth gets the colour.

CHAPTER XV

THE LEATHER INDUSTRY

Every village has its shoe-makers and shoe-repairers.
The chamars and the muchisareall Hindus except-
ing a few Muhammadan muchis. In Bengal the
Patna division has the largest number of chamars,
and after it comes the Bhagalpur division ; while
the Presidency division has the largest number of
muchis, and next to it the Burdwan division. The
majority of these, however, are also engaged in
agricultural pursuits, in ** provision and care for
animals, menial service, dealing in food and drink,
weaving, working in metals, wood, glass, stones,
canes, bamboos, leaves, etc/' The following sta-
tistics show the number of persons at present
engaged in the various branches : —

Leather dyers 141

Shoe, boot and sandal makers 153,432

Tanners and curriers 22,323

Water-bag, well-bag, bucket and ghee-pot makers . . 657

Harness makers 15

The articles manufactured by the muchis in the
town consist of: —

Nagra shoes As.8 to Re.i

Shoes for the middle classes Re.i to Rs.3

Boots Rs.3 to Rs.5

Slippers As.6 to Rs.1-4

Bags for drawing water Rs.3 to Rs.5

Leather straps for fastening to the ploughs . . As. 2

THE LEATHER INDUSTRY 21 1

Musical instruments : —

Dugi As.i2

Tabla As.12

Khole Re.i to Rs.io

Khanjanai As.4 to As.8

Mridanga Rs.4 to Rs.5

Dhak Re.i-8 to Rs.io

Mandar Re.i to Rs.2

Native saddles Rs.8 to Rs.io

Bridles Rs.2 to Rs.4

Hide ropes Rs.io to Rs.12

Water bags Rs.3 to Rs.5

Calcutta, Dacca, Murshidabad and Vishnupur
are the centres of the manufacture of these musical
instruments. The principal centres of the shoe-
making industry are Cuttack, Patna, and Saran.
In most of these places decent slippers and shoes
are made. The muchis here are better workmen,
and as they use in most cases foreign leather they
turn out goods with better finish. Saddles and
bridles as well as harness for hackney carriages and
ekkas are also made in these towns.

The indigenous shoes are often elaborately
embroidered and even jewelled. They are some-
times veritable works of art considered from the
point of view of ornamentation. Embroidery in gold
and silver thread, both genuine and imitation, is
applied not only to the upper, but in some cases
even to the inside of the shoes and slippers. But
this industry is now decaying, as the shoes are now
forsaken for leather foot-wear from Europe.

The muchi gets the skins of the animals from
the villagers whose animals die naturally. He
often undertakes to supply the zemindars with
shoes on condition that he can get all the dead
animals throughout his estates. Sometimes he

212 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

takes lease of the " baghars," where carcases of
dead animals are thrown. The cess he has to pay
per month is As.8.

The muchi's methods of tanning are primitive.
The following materials are generally used by him
in the tanning process : lime, amlaki, haritaki,
babul-bark and pods, myrobalans, etc. ; of these
babul-bark is chiefly used, being very cheap and
abundant. The leather is steeped in water in
which these substances are mixed for a whole day.
The water is then boiled over a slow fire. The
chief defects in the indigenous process of tanning
are found to be : (i) Over liming. (2) Antiquated
tools for fleshing and removing the hair. (3) In-
sufficient attention given to bathing. (4) The
actual tanning period is too short, and the process
is not properly graduated. (5) Very little attempt
at currying.

Often, however, the muchi does not tan the
leather, but purchases tanned leather imported from
Calcutta. The demand for shoes in the country
is usually of the European pattern. Thus the
muchi usually uses leather tanned in Calcutta, Agra,
or Cawnpore.

The instruments which the muchi uses are :
(1) The piri or wooden board, or the sil or stone
on which the leather is planed. The bangua^ which
is a wooden rod, is used in planing. (2) The chisel,
khurpa (big) and khurpai (small), for cutting or
finishing (chant) leather, and gaining the edges of
the sole. (3) The lokia or the pounder. (4) The
sewing and boring pins. These are of various
kinds. The borer is called pegeL The needles
are called katariy and are mag jal, broad, tejal,

THE LEATHER INDUSTRY 213

middling, and fine, mihi. The albet-katari Is the
needle used for sewing with hair. (5) The
dkaplenmg, which is a small square made of horn
used for making the leather before cutting. (6) The
horn to keep lard in. (7) The srishtak and dhap
for applying lard to the lowest upper edges of the
sole. (8) The ghirudhap and jhikur for pressing
and making the edges of the heel and the sole.
(9) The haddibom, which is a small rod of bone
used for polishing when lard has been applied to
the heel and the sole. (10) The last of small size
is called the bochani, and that of larger size called
barapatra. (11) The jharnura and the ring-
chapri for boring and fitting the rings or hooks.
(12) Hammer, lohia hamor.

The muchi manufactures shoes, usually getting
money in advance from the mahajans, who are the
shop-keepers. Leather manufacture, like all other
cottage industries of the country, is thus mainly in
the hands of the middlemen. One muchi exempli-
fied his relation with the middleman by repeating a
proverb very common among the fishermen, jeler
parone tena, layoner kane sona, (The fisherman
wears rags while the middleman who becomes rich
on his account wears gold ear-rings.) The muchi
receives either money or tanned leather from the
mahajan, who has a shoe-store in the locality. The
system of dadan, as usual, is very disadvantageous.
Thus for Rs.50 advanced by the mahajan, the
muchi would give him within the period of a month
twenty pairs of shoes. These are sold by the
mahajan at Rs.3-8 per pair. The mahajan thus
makes a profit of Re. i per pair of shoes he sells.
For every pair of shoes worth Rs.3-8 he gains

214 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

approximately Re.i, loas. for shoes worth Rs.2-12,
and i2as. for shoes worth Re. 1-8.

Only a system of industrial co-operation among
the muchis can prevent the present exploitation.
There should be organized co-operative societies
among the chamars, giving credit cheaply or advanc-
ing tanned leather, and more improved tools and
implements on better terms. Tanning establish-
ments might be conducted on co-operative lines, and
expensive and up-to-date methods and processes
which are beyond the scope of an individual muchi
might be introduced in them. Co-operative sale
societies should also be organized. They will sell
the products of the industry on much better terms
than at present, and thus be a boon to the artisans.
The caste-organization is very strong among these
people, and there is no reason why the co-operative
idea will not take strong roots in the community if
it is preached sympathetically amongst them by our
educated classes.

The head muchi usually employs several appren-
tices and workmen who are generally paid by piece-
work. The wages they usually get vary from 8 as.
to Re. I per pair of shoes. They usually take
nearly two days to finish a pair. The head artisan
gets approximately Rs.15 a month, an income
which must be considered to be very inadequate, if
we think of his hard and continuous work through-
out the day. The condition of the industry is
gradually becoming worse. Not only the system
of dadan, and the difficulty of obtaining capital, but
other causes also have been working against the
muchi. The muchi and the chamar hold almost
the lowest places in the social and religious scale

THE LEATHER INDUSTRY 215

of society. They are the ** untouchables," and in
order to avoid them their quarters are invariably
assigned on the outskirt of the villages. The
female chamar is usually a mid-wife, this occupation
being considered to be most degraded, though the
female muchi never follows it. She makes baskets,
brushes, mats, etc. The leather industry being
thus the monopoly of a degraded special caste,
suffers from the loss of invigorating competition
and popular sympathy. Indeed, in view of its
present position of degradation and neglect, one
often wonders how the muchis oftentimes cut boots
and shoes of very good finish, which might compare
favourably with those made in the tanneries though
their prices are higher. Again, some of the tools
and implements are up-to-date and imported from
Calcutta, a fact which reflects great credit on the
muchi, when we remember that obsolete tools and
implements are still in use in cottage industries in
the hands of higher and more honourable castes.
Another cause which has greatly affected the leather
industry is foreign competition. The price of
leathers has greatly increased, almost 50 per cent.,
on account of their import to foreign countries.
With the imported leathers the foreign manu-
facturers send out to this country their finished
goods to compete with locally made shoes. The
exports from Bengal of raw hides were 357,794 cwts.,
East Bengal and Assam supplied 234,810. Of the
total value of the foreign exports in dried and
pickled skins, Calcutta contributed 75*6 per cent, in
1904-5. In the " Review of the Trade of India,*' it
is shown that the prices of hides rose steadily during
the preceding four years, the average price for

2i6 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

1904-5 being 11*4 per cent. In excess of that of the
previous year. The corresponding price of skins
fell 13' I per cent. The Review for 1905-6
states that the price of hides continued to rise, the
average value per cwt. increasing from Rs. 5 2-4-8
in 1904-5 to 55-7; while that of skin continued to
fall, viz. from Rs.91-1-6 per cwt. in 1904-5 to
Rs.90-7-1. Superiority of leather and shape and
a moderate price prevail, so the local manufactures
are losing ground. The imports of boots and shoes
from abroad into Calcutta have been increasing : —

c 902-3.

1903-4.

1904-5-

1905-6.

1906-7.

1907-8.

9'oi

9*59

12-86

io'93

6*41

6*40

Lakhs .

Superiority of leather and shape and a moderate
price must prevail, so the muchis are losing ground,
and are depending for their living on mending
foreign shoes and other leather articles, or by
working as agricultural labourers, musicians, or
grooms.

Leather industry has come to be essentially a
large industry on account of certain recent improve-
ments ; indeed, the cottage system under the present
conditions of the industry must sooner or later be
confined to the manufacture of ornamented shoes,
the working of tinsel or leather, the manufacture
of purses, artistic leather cases and blotting pads,
bookbinding, etc. In these art-industries in leather
there is an ample scope for the small scale organiza-
tion, which is likely to be extended as the big in-
dustry gradually monopolizes the manufacture of
boots and shoes. While the place of the cottage
system in these art-industries is assured, the large
scale organization will inevitably supersede the
cottage system In the manufacture of ordinary boots

THE LEATHER INDUSTRY 217

and shoes. From being an industry in which time
and capital had to be locked up almost indefi-
nitely, tanning and leather manufacture may now
be spoken of as characterized by a rapidity of
production and a turn-over hardly equalled by any
other branch of manufacturing enterprise. From
being essentially a craft for manual labour, every
stage in the tanning of leather and the pre-
paration from it of the most artistically finished
boots are accomplished by complex and intricate
machinery. There is no necessity of retaining
hides and skins for a protracted period subject to
the slow action of some vegetable tanning material :
rapid chemical methods {e.g. the chrome process)
by mineral salts and even aided by electricity have
been called into existence and adopted with avidity
by the trade. The indigenous tanner with no
capital and skill who pursues crude methods and
continues to employ defective appliances can no
more hold his own against the cheap modern
methods. Indeed, the change in the character of
our exports of hides and skins to foreign countries
points to the urgent necessity for the adoption in
India of the scientific methods and processes which
are in vogue in western countries. For some years
Madras has been carrying on a good export trade
in tanned skins. The United States of America
have hitherto been the most important market for
the Madras skins, but within the past few years the
export traffic in dressed goods has fallen back and
the demand for Bengal raw skins advanced con-
siderably. In 1904 the export of tanned skins was
approximately one-half the value of the traffic five
years previously. This transference of the trade from

2i8 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

tanned to untanned skins shows that the so-called
tanning of India is so imperfect that re-tanning is
essential, and this is likely to proceed in an accele-
rated degree (to the great detriment of the Madras
trade) unless new methods are introduced. Indeed,
the industry in India is now conducted according to
most inefficient and uneconomical methods. If the
industry had been established on a sound economic
basis, it would not and could not have suffered ; for
all the natural conditions are in its favour, including
abundant supplies on the spot of skins and tanning
substances and cheap labour. These advantages,
however, were not effectively utilized in conse-
quence of the absence of capital, for tanning is
essentially an industry in which the possession of
large resources counts for much.^ The position,
however, may be rectified without difficulty if
capital is forthcoming ; and if it is desired to prove
that tanning is a profitable industry, it may be
observed that where it has been undertaken in
accordance with sound principles, as in the leading
tanning establishments in Cawnpore and Bombay,
it has been an extremely profitable and expanding
business. But in order that capital might be forth-
coming the leather industry must not have the
ignominy now associated with it. A social revolu-
tion is necessary before such a state of things can
be arrived at. A mere supply of capital will not
suffice. Skilled workers having a practical training
in the modern economical methods of tanning are
necessary, who will manage the business on a large
scale. The hereditary knowledge and skill of the
muchis and chamars again must not be allowed to

1 " Review of the Trade of India," J. E. O'Connor.

THE LEATHER INDUSTRY 219

be wasted, but should be joined to improved methods
of education, i^ The tanneries should be started \
where there is a cheap supply of hides and raw)
materials for tanning, and also a colony of chamarsj
and muchis. il Recently, however, there seems to be/
some improvement in the leather industry. The
exports for 1905-6 show a great improvement in
tanned hides, amounting to an increase of 637 per
cent, in quantity and Z"] per cent, in value on the
figures of 1904-5. Some new tanneries have been
established, and they carry on a brisk business.
The local market is also growing in importance,
and this circumstance also manifests the possibilities
of their development. In 191 3-14 the export of
hides and skins amounted to Rs. 1 1 '69 lakhs. An
examination of the internal trade returns would
show that the local manufactures in hides and
leather were at least as valuable as the foreign
trade. The total turnover (exports and consump-
tion) would have been close on Rs.20 crores.

CHAPTER XVI

SOLA MANUFACTURE AND TINSEL INDUSTRY

The demand for tinsel work is still very great, and
the tinsel industry is fairly important and flourishing
in villages. Images have for a long time been
decorated with tinsel ornaments, and garments,
turbans, caps, etc., are embroidered in gold and
silver, as also horse and elephant trappings, canopies
with fringes and palanquin covers. The industry
in villages is the hereditary occupation of the
Malakars, or the garland and pith (Sold) ornament-
makers, and they carry on a brisk business at the
time of the Poojaks, or the marriage season. When
an image has to be decorated the Shajwalak, or
decorator, informs the Malakar to supply him with
the raw materials. The Malakar supplies kap, or
pieces of Sola, to the decorators, who, in order to
obtain an impression of the design, press the kap
with the foot or elbow on a mould previously
made by setting thick cotton thread on a kap with
the paste. The paste is generally prepared with
wax and scented resin. Angtis, or rings, are pre-
pared by coiling lametta round an iron wire by
means of a Chorka. A mesh-work of these is then
laid on the surface of the kap, and the impression
is thus obtained. The kap is then made over to

SOLA MANUFACTURE AND TINSEL INDUSTRY 221

the women workers, who cut out some of the inter-
stices by means of Naruns. These openings are
then closed with J amir a or ruby or emerald foils
from behind. The interspaces are pasted over with
Ckumkisy or spangles. These spangles are prepared
in this way : Round a very thin iron rod a wire is
coiled, and the coiled wire is cut into rings one by
one. These rings are dropped on a highly polished
anvil with the aid of forceps and hammered. With
every stroke of the hammer a Chumki is made.
For the preparation of the Mukut, or the crown, an
iron wire frame is covered with lametta and set
with ChumkiSy and Angtis, the ends of which are
tied together by means of Resha or twisted lametta.
The Malakar also makes the Topors, or cone-shaped
tinsel hats worn by bridegrooms and brides. Pith
is attached to a bamboo reed frame and tinsel
work then added to it to make the Hours ^ or
crowns.

In the villages the Malakars are also found
making children's toys, such as crude artificial
flowers, fruits, dolls, monkeys, birds, etc., almost
entirely made of Sola. Sola hats are also made
and command good sale. The stems of the Sola
pith plant are cut into lengths of two or three feet,
only the thicker portions being selected, and tied
into bundles. When they are quite dry, the brown
bark is removed, and the pith is then cut up in
various ways according to the necessities of the
articles for which they are required. Thus, for the
manufacture of hats, the stem is held in front of
the artisan and with a long thin knife is stripped
spirally, the knife being made to travel round and
round within the thickness until the whole stem is

222 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

reduced to a very thin sheet. It has been pointed
out that to perform this feat expeditiously requires
great skill, since the slightest excess pressure will
compress the pith and produce inequalities in thick,
ness, and sever the sheet into useless pieces. Hats,
etc., are worked up on wooden and clay moulds of
the required size and shape, and if honestly made
are built up layer upon layer of Sola sheets, pasted
one on the top of the other. If the pith is required
for the manufacture of flowers or to be woven into
mats, the debarked stalks are drawn between
bamboos fastened upright in the ground at various
distances apart, or are flattened by means of smooth
stones, a stone being firmly drawn over the top
while the Sola rests on a smooth stone floor. By
either of these methods the pith is compressed and
drawn out. It will retain the form thus given until
moistened, when it again expands. To make a
flower the strips of Sola are compressed in such a
manner that in transverse section they are more
or less triangular in shape, and, along the surface
corresponding to the base of the triangle, parallel
lines are cut. The strips of Sola are then cut with
a sharp knife transversely into very thin pieces.
The pointed ends of the triangles are inserted into
slits made on another stick of Sola, intended as
the stalk of the flower. When the required parts
have been thus inserted into their places, a brush
moistened in water (previously coloured green) is
made to touch the outer whorl of triangles. These
instantly expand and become the sepals of the
flower. A brush, moistened in pink or other
coloured water, next touches the inner whorls, and
these obeying the magician's wand expand into

SOLA MANUFACTURE AND TINSEL INDUSTRY 223

petals, and are bent while still flaccid into the
desired positions. The slits that were cut length-
wise along the compressed sticks of Sola are now
seen to open out into petaloid teeth. Stamens are
formed of thin strips of pith upon the extremities
of which (from a coloured saccharine fluid) particles
of sugar have been made to crystallize, thus forming
glistening anthers. Floral buds are constructed of
stained grains of rice fastened with green leaflets of
sola. The simple artisans possess indeed a highly-
artistic and mechanical skill which has been praised
by both Indian and foreign observers.^

The only tools that the Malakars possess are a
low rude table, a pair of scissors, a small hammer,
one or two reels and a pair of forceps. The women
are also largely employed in the industry. In
Kumartali and Mechuabazar, Calcutta, there are
about ten shops with 125 workmen, besides 300
women helping them in the industry by doing
indoor work. The workers are paid by piece-work ;
each man earns about 4 as. to 5 as. a day in the
slack season, and 10 as. to 12 as. in the busy season.
Almost all the women are members of middle-class
Hindu families who devote their leisure hours to
the work. There are also some poor women who
depend on it for their livelihood, earning daily from
i^ as. to 2\ as.

In some places, wire work is carried on with
great skill and dexterity. Huka pipes are adorned
with Kalabatoon. Gold and silver wires, silk and
cotton fabrics, are also woven with gold and silver
threads. Benares brocades are by far the most

1 The Agricultural Ledger^ No. VI., 1902 ; also M. Roy's " Tinsel
Work in Bengal."

224 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

famous. Some of the best embroidery is also
wrought on a velvet ground or on English broad
cloth. The heaviest kind is called Kinkhab. This
is done by fixing the fabric which is to be
embroidered on a frame-work. The patterns are
lightly printed on the fabric with some kind of
coloured material, and the embroiderer follows the
patterns in laying the Kalabatoon thread. Sir
George Watt has pointed out that the diversities
and local characteristics of embroidery work are as
numerous as the seats of the craft. There is hardly
an important locality of production that does not
show something in its gold embroidery that is as
distinct as are its ruined tombs, mosques, and
palaces, something that marks the individuality of
its rulers, and of the dynasty of which perhaps it
was the capital.

CHAPTER XVII

BANGLE MAKING

{a) From Lac

Lac bangles are almost universally worn by our
poor classes. Bangle making, therefore, is a very
profitable village industry. Crude lac is purchased
at 2 as. per seir. Refined lac, which is costly,
selling at Re. i per seer, is used for making orna-
mental bangles. The instruments which are used
in making bangles are (i) a wooden disc, called
pz^a^ on which lac is kneaded ; (2) a small wooden
handle used in the kneading process ; (3) an instru-
ment called khapi, by which the lac is flattened ;
(4) the kalbock, which measures the size and the
circle of the bangle; (5) the chanch^ or mould.
The chanch is made for the bangle maker by the
goldsmith. It costs him Rs.2-4 for each pattern.
Aniline dyes are used by the bangle maker, who
mixes them with the lac in fixed proportions.

The profits of the bangle makers are very small.
For this reason the industry is often in the hands
of women. A bundle of twelve ordinary bangles
is sold only for 2 as. When bangles are ornamental
they are sold for 4 as. per bundle. The bangle
makers seldom sell the bangle themselves. The
middlemen purchase large quantities at wholesale

226 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

rates and intercept sometimes 50 per cent, of the
profits of the industry.

(<5) From Conch Shell

Bangles are also made from conch shells, which
are all imported. On their arrival the remains of
the mollusc are extracted and sold to native
physicians, who use them as medicine. The base
of the lip and point of the shell are then knocked
off with a hammer. From two to eight bangles
are made from one shell. The bangles are of two
kinds, (i) kard, or the whole-piece bangle, which is
slipped over the knuckles; and (2) khiten, or the
two-piece bangle, the pieces being held together
by means of pins passed through the holes at the
ends of the pieces.

The projecting joints and the crude portions of
a roughly cut bangle are lopped off with an adari,
or a hammer-shaped instrument with one side
sharpened into an edge. Then the inner side is
made smooth with a salui^ or a rounded stick, which
is made of sand and lac and which the artisan
makes for himself. The upper surface being
filed is then polished on a piece of stone {sil). On
the polished surface fine lines are cut with a
kathy which resembles a chopper except that it is
bent, larger in size and narrower in breadth. The
whole piece he divides into two with ^^pattar^ or a
knife, when a khiten is to be made. The artisan,
when he files the surface and cuts fine lines on it,
passes the bangle through a stick on which it
hangs. The stick again is passed through a pole
at the apex of the two prongs, the ends of which

BANGLE MAKING 227

are placed on the ground. This whole instrument
is called Tesna^ and on it the artisan rests his
hands when he works. Some of these bangles he
covers with a red viscous substance, which is a
mixture of the vermilion and lac.

The artisan turns out two pairs of kard
sankha or a pair and a half of khilan in a day.
The kard and the khiten sell at 6 as. and 8 as.
respectively.

Highly ornamental bangles are made in some
places. Dacca in Bengal is famous for her bangle
makers. There is a Sankhari bazar in Dacca,
a very congested and dirty quarter, where the
artisans both young and old labour to a late hour
in the night, working at the semi-circular saw
which ceaselessly runs up and down, and cuts the
shell that is held by the toes. The bangle-makers
are unusually industrious ; but they do not improve
their position. Their habits of life are filthy, and
the shops in which they work and live afford but
small accommodation for their growing families.
The ornaments on the shell bangles there are often
beautiful, and are of various kinds, being variously
described, such as diamond cut wavy or Jaltaranga,
fish or mach, shark-faced or makerchehara, bordered
or karnishdar, etc.

In the ordinary shell the whorls turn from right
to left, but when one is found with the whorls
reversed, dakshina-varta, its price is extravagant, as
it is believed to assure wealth and prosperity. One
belonging to a Dacca Zemindar is so highly prized
that he refused an offer of Rs.300.

CHAPTER XVIII

METAL WORK

(a) The Industry of the Village Smith

The blacksmith, or the kamar, is another important
village artisan. He makes the pkal, or the iron tip,
of the plough which is the most important of the
agricultural implements. He also manufactures the
kodaliy the implement invariably used for digging
the earth, as well as the grass-cutting implements,
the kastha, the harsiia, and the khurpa. For
chopping straw for cattle, the garasor, and for
cutting down trees, the kurali are also necessary
for the cultivators. Not only is the blacksmith's
work necessary for making the agricultural imple-
ments, the cooking utensils, the karai, hata and
khunti, as well as the water vessels, the doles and
the ghoras are also important in village economy.
The blacksmith also makes many of the tools and
other articles used in various handicrafts and pro-
fessions. The tools of the barber, the carpenter,
the mason and the tailor are all prepared by him.
For building houses the nails, paraks, the hinges,
kabjas, the bolts, gazals, and the door hinges are all
manufactured in his shop. The shopkeeper who
has to use scales for weighing also depends on the
work of the smith. The women of the village also

METAL WORK 229

depend upon the blacksmith for some articles of
personal use. They all require for daily use the
kajal lata, in which the pomade for blacking the
eyes of their children is kept. Again, one of the
bracelets which all Hindu women must wear should
be made of iron, and is associated with all that a
happy married life means.

One of the special branches of the blacksmith's
trade is the manufacture of guns. In Bengal,
Monghyr is its centre. There are thirteen gun-
makers* shops in Monghyr, which produce 700-800
guns annually. The gun-making cottage industry
has almost died in all places except in Monghyr,
being superseded by the modern industry, iron and
steel work carried on in large firms according to
European methods, the Government factories at
Cossipore and Ishapore. In a few villages, e,g,
Kanchenagore (Burdwan), Senhat (Nuddea), etc.,
cutlery of an excellent quality is made, and com-
mands a large sale. The manufacture of locks and
keys is also a favourite occupation. Brass pieces
are cast and polished and put together. Sometimes
very strong padlocks and keys are manufactured by
kamars of particular villages. The blacksmith in
the village has to compete not only with the im-
ported goods from Europe, but also with the pro-
ducts of the iron and steel workshops which are
run in the country itself according to Western
methods. There are fifteen important iron and
steel engineering works in Bengal. Some of them
compare favourably with all but the largest works
in England. The E.I.R. workshop at Jamalpur
employs 10,000 men, the value of the products
per annum being Rs. 54,000. Bengal is the only

230 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

province in India in which pig-iron is produced.
The Bengal Iron and Steel Co/s works, Barakar,
produce pig-iron in blast furnaces of the most
up-to-date pattern. Messrs. Burn & Co.*s works,
Howrah, produce annually products to the value
Rs. 4,000,000. Agricultural implements such as
kodalis, sickles, bill-hooks, etc., can be made eco-
nomically and of better quality in factories than in
the cottage system, and with increase of railway
communication the distribution of factory-made
articles of this class will be effected more and more
cheaply, so that the scope of the village blacksmith
will in time be reduced to repair work only.^ The
village blacksmith with his small capital and bad
tools produces articles which are far inferior to
those prepared in those factories run on the most
modern methods. The price he charges is also
higher, for he has to buy the raw iron in retail and
in small amount, as he has to work only to order
and is frequently without work. At present, how-
ever, there seems to be competition with imported
articles. The price of the raw material is small
compared with the price of the manufactured
article, iron being bought at Rs.5 a maund and
steel at Rs.13. But the finished article is sold
from Re. 1-4 to Rs.2-8 per seer. In the ordi-
nary implements only a little steel is welded to
the edge to give hardness and sharpness to it.
The profits of this industry therefore seem to be
greater than that of any other village industry.
The ordinary blacksmith earns about Rs.15 a
month during the working season. They are all
independent of mahajans, and as their females can

^ Watson's " Iron and Steel Work in Bengal."

HAMMERING A UTENSIL ON THE ANVN. {p. 233).

METAL WORK 231

also earn for themselves if they like, they are really
well off. As far as the manufacture of the village
implements is concerned, it is difficult to suggest
any improvements in the existing methods of pro-
duction. The artisans themselves only complain
about the high price of coal and coke.

The kamars work in all metals, including gold
and silver, and despise the professional goldsmith,
the subarnabanik or sonarbene. Most of the work-
ing goldsmiths, or Sekras, are kamars, and more
than half the caste are employed as blacksmiths.
The manufacture of the brass utensils also devolves
upon the kamars.

{b) Bell-Metal Industry

The bell-metal industry is one of the few
village industries which have not suffered from the
competition with imported machine-made articles.
In spite of the extensive demand for enamelled
ware, especially among the Muhammadan popula-
tion, the industry still continues to thrive in its
important centres. In Bengal, they are Kamarpara,
Dainhat, Purbasthali (Burdwan), Khagra (Mur-
shidabad), Ghatal, Kharar (Midnapore), Patna,
Bankura, Santipur, Islampur, Malda, Rajbari,
Kalam, Gomnati and Rungpur.

Throughout the Presidency the industry is
chiefly carried on by Kansaris.

The kansari is a sub-caste of the kamars^ which
has severed its connection with the main caste, and
set up as an independent group working in kansa,
or bell- metal. They buy their material in the form
of brass sheeting, and manufacture the kansa^ which

232 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

is an inferior alloy of copper, zinc and tin. Bell-
metal costs Rs.30 to Rs.40 per maund. At present
no other alloy except bharan^ seems to be made
locally. Bell-metal utensils which were formerly
made from kansa manufactured by the artisans in
their own shops are now exclusively made by
melting down the metal of the old kansa vessels.
The artisans have told me that the risk involved in
manufacturing good kansa in the shop far out-
weighs the possibility of profits, and that utensils
made from old kansa generally have more polish
than if they make the kansa themselves.

Of the two methods of the manufacture of bell-
metal ware, (i) the dkala, or casting in moulds,
and (2) t\iQ pita, or hammering, the latter is much
more common. In Khagra, Murshidabad, which
is one of the important centres of the bell-metal
industry in the Province, there is only one family
which follows the process of moulding, while there
are more than fifty which have adopted the pita
process, and that family again does not belong to
the locality, but has come from RajshahL It uses
an inferior alloy of copper and zinc, the vessels are
not durable, and an artificial polish is used, as the
utensils do not get the natural glaze of the kansa.

The preparation of the mould may be described
thus : The outer mould, called the dalee, is made
first in earth (mixed with cowdung, limestone,
grain husks and jute cuttings) upon a standard

* A mahajan in the bell-metal trade repeated to me a saying which
is quite popular among the artisans : all kansa are aHke. Any mixture
with bharan or an inferior alloy would break the kansa in the hammer-
ing process. Hence it is believed that the kansa made by the pita
or hammering process is much more durable than kansa cast in
moulds, as in the latter some alloy might be mixed.

THE FURNACE

THE ARTISAN POURING THE MOLTEN KANSA INTO
THE EARTHEN CRUCIBLES.

METAL WORK 233

vessel. It Is divided vertically In two, and the two
halves are joined again when the vessel is taken
out. Then the anteuy or the mould of the inner
surface, is made by ramming earth inside the vessel.
The moulds are then dried, the inner core receiving
a scraping and fine polish. If a tumbler is to be
manufactured, the chaki, or the mould of the rim, is
fitted into the former and the whole turned upside
down. There is space left between the outer mould
and the inner core, as also the rim, for the casting.
Into the rim now at the top, the muchi or the
earthen vessel with the chips of old metals is fitted.
To ensure that the muchi fits well with the moulds,
these are provided with an earthen mouth called
the nali, A hole is made on the surface of the rim,
and the whole is placed in the fire. After three or
four hours when the molten liquid has filled the
hollow space, the moulds are taken out of the
furnace, and the vessels allowed to cool and under-
go the processes of chiselling and polishing. The
jali, or the earthen net, is sometimes placed above
the hole or the rim to skim off the flux.

In the hammering process the muchisy or the
earthen crucibles, are larger. Being filled with the
clips of old kansa, these are placed in the furnace.
Two jhapnas, or semi-circular earthen discs, cover
the surface. The muchi is placed in the furnace
for several hours. It is then taken out, and the
molten liquid comes out of the muchi through a
hole made in it into the anks, or small earthen cups.
Oil is placed on their bottom, and when the liquid
has been poured, grain-husks are burnt on its
surface. The burning of the carbon reduces the
scum and prevents any free zinc from forming an

234 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

oxide. The scum is then skimmed off. This
operation being rather difficult, is undertaken only
by the master-artisan. The metal is allowed to
cool, and then made to undergo four separate pro-
cesses, one after another, (i) The pita, or the
hammering process. The nehais, or anvils, are of
various kinds. Some are hook-shaped and called
saboles. With the help of their hammers, the
artisans beat out the metals on the anvils to any
shape they want. (2) The ghasha, or the filing
process. The black colour on the surface of the
vessels is removed by means of the file. (3) The
ckanckay or the scouring process. (4) The chisel-
ling and the polishing process. The bottom of the
vessel is fixed with resin to a cylindrical wooden
hand-lathe, and this is made to revolve backwards
and forwards by means of a rope. The labourer
holds in his hands the double-ended rope, and the
artisan applies the chisel to the revolving vessel.
The muhali, or the chisel, is of various kinds. They
are : (i) shoman, flat ; (2) tikelo, oval ; and (3) chaku^
elongated. The first kind is used for the convex
and the second for the concave surface. The
chaku is used for chiselling the inside of tumblers.
The vessel is rubbed with oil, hair, brickdust, lard
and rag as it is chiselled, and gets a fine polish.
The khura, or the rim, is made in this last process
of chiselling.

The master artisan employs many apprentices.
The wages of the boys vary from Rs.2 to Rs.8
per month. The boys are chiefly employed in filing
the vessels, or in preparing the earth for the muchis
and the anks. They cannot make the earthen
crucibles themselves, these are prepared by the

THE HAND-LATHE FOR CHISELLING AND POLISHING: THE ARTISAN
APPLYING THE CHISEL TO THE REVOLVING VESSEL.

METAL WORK 235

master artisans.' The apprentices belong to all
castes. In one firm I found a Mussulman boy-
filing a cup. I also saw kolhu, bagdi, and kaibartta
master artisans, so that it can be safely said that
the industry is not confined to kansaris. The
artisans told me that the demand for their goods
had been increasing for some time, and so they had
to recruit their workmen from all castes. The
number of kansari families in Khagra and Berham-
pore at present is about sixty ; there has been
an increase of almost twenty-five in recent years.
There are several mahajans in the localities where
bell-metal wares are manufactured, who supply the
artisans with the chips of old vessels from which
to make kansa. These mahajans have their bya-
pariSy or middlemen, in Cuttack, Dainhat, Kharar,
and a few other places, who send them the old
vessels. These are now charged at Re. 1-6 per
seer. The artisans of Khagra prefer the old kansa
of this place to the kansa of Cuttack or Dainhat.
The kansa of Khagra, they say, gets a better
polish. The mahajans pay wages {banee) to the
master artisans at a rate determined per seer of
the metal. The following is a fairly approximate
wages list : —

Banee per seer.

1. Tumbler .... From Re.i-9| as. to Rs. 5-2 as.

2. Cup „ Re. 1-4 as. to Rs. 3-2 as.

3. Cup with Sarposh . „ Re.i-I3|^ as. to Rs. 6-10 as.

4. Thai „ Re.i-i as. to Rs. 4-2 as.

5. Dish „ Re.i-pl as. to Rs. 5-2 as.

6. Dish with nakas . „ Re. 1-9^ as. to Rs. 5-10 as.

7. Dibia, or betel-case „ RS.2-9I as. to Rs. 4-2 as.

The artisans, however, in a few cases get their
wages per piece without any reference to their

236 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

weights, e.g.y in the manufacture of tea-sets, recep-
tacles for ghee, jhinuks, or spoons for children, etc.
This is called the ticca system.

One of the mahajans told me that the banee
has increased by i a. for every rupee during the
last three years. Before this period, for twenty
years, the rate of wages was almost constant. The
mahajans and the artisans live on friendly terms.
The mahajans understand how to sell the wares
to the best advantage. They take the risk of buying
and selling, and give out contracts to different
artisans for making the goods on which they risk
their capital. The artisans supply the mahajans
with the wares in the stipulated time. Though the
mahajans retain a large number of artisans, some-
times fifty or even more, on their books, they never
play off one artisan against another. If bad times
come the capitalist traders might be tempted to do
so, but no pressure has as yet been exercised by
them upon the artisans.

In their retail rates the mahajans take 2 as.
to 4 as. per seer of the wares they sell. From
wholesale dealers they take only i a. for Khagra,
and 2 as. for Calcutta Kansaripara wares. The
fluctuations in the price of the kansa metal effect
only those wares which the mahajans get by
giving banee to the artisans. Those which are
manufactured according to the ticca system are not
so affected.

The following improvements in the mechanical
methods of the industry may be suggested: (i)
Stamping from dies instead of hammering. The
necessary machinery and hydraulic press, however,
can be set up only in small factories, for individual

METAL WORK 237

workmen cannot afford to buy the machinery cost-
ing not less than Rs.300 ; (2) The introduction
of improved hand lathes for chiselling and polish-
ing. In the latter now used, one coolie, pulling
a double-ended rope, gives a reciprocating move-
ment to the axle, and thus there is waste at every
reverse pull. The hand lathe of the Madras
pattern, by which one coolie can turn two lathes
simultaneously, producing a continuous rotatory
motion with the help of the crank-handle and a
rope passing round the shaft of the lathe, is most
useful and easily adaptable under the present con-
ditions of the industry. The adoption of such a
lathe will be quite inexpensive, and at the same
time it will save much time and labour ; (3) The
introduction of punching machines to save the
trouble of cutting with scissors ; (4) The introduc-
tion of better and more permanent plate-moulds.
A copper pattern may be used as a mould, made
in two vertical halves, the pieces being kept together
by four small friction clutches.

But more than any improvements in the me-
chanical processes, the industry needs advertise-
ment. There is a large demand in bell-metal wares
throughout Bengal. The middlemen cannot cope
with the demand, and they charge prices which are
often quite disproportionate to the wages they give
to the artisans. The employment of agencies
which will push on the sale of the wares will
greatly stimulate the industry. Again, most of
the wares manufactured by the artisans have
become stereotyped, the handicraft being degraded
to mere automatic work. The diffusion of technical
and art-education, and the adoption of improved

238 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

artistic patterns and designs will give new life to
the industry, in which art seems to be now almost
extinct.

Tinsmith's work, like bell-metal manufacture,
is also largely carried on in mufussil towns and
villages. Lamps or depias, water-vessels or mugs,
small boxes, etc., are prepared from old tins. These
are chiefly the canisters which the tinsmiths buy
from the people at a small price after the kerosene
oil they contained has been used up. The tin-man
uses a bellow, a bamboo pipe called chong, and also
two iron sticks which serve as handles. He has
his hammer, compass, pincer, and scraper. His
solder is called rang. He uses cotton wool for
melting the solder on a flat-tile.

Gold and silver work is found in most villages.
The poorer classes wear brass, shell, lac, and glass
ornaments. The brass ornaments, being very heavy,
are painful to the wearers, but are worn because
social distinctions require them. Gold and silver
jewellery are made in all villages, and are worn
chiefly by the richer classes.

Indeed, as means increase there is a steady
progression from the plain silver bangle to the
elaborate ornaments in the same metal ; then to
gold trinkets in endless variety, and eventually to
precious stones, the process being inverted as hard
times, or the expenses of social ceremonies, affect
the financial condition of the family.^ The people

^ Journal of Indian Arts and Industries , Vol. IX.

METAL WORK 239

invest all their savings in ornaments by melting
the rupee into silver. The ornaments form a con-
venient reserve of easily realizable capital. When
need arises, they are promptly melted down and
sold. As it has been well said, ''his wife is the
poor man's bank."

The indigenous jewellery of the cottage is
characterized by the purity of the gold and silver
employed, the delicacy and minuteness of the
workmanship, the taste and the skill displayed in
the combination of coloured stones, and the apti-
tude for the imitation of any kind of original on
the part of the workman. The ornaments consist
of nose-rings, ear-pendants, armlets, necklaces,
bracelets, bangles, anklets, etc. The anklets are
never of gold, for gold is a sacred metal. The orna-
ments have usually long-sounding names, sometimes
derived from flowers and plants. Gems are used.
They are hardly ever facetted, but are rounded and
polished. The result is that effects of colour are
produced, rather than the hard and flashy effect
associated with facetted stones. The designs are
always elaborate and the technique magnificent, as
the value of the material is great. This is a
striking contrast to the European fashion. ** The
price of one glittering diamond necklace, such as
European fashion admires, would often buy all
the wrought gold or chains or rings worn by two
or three members of some wealthy Indian family,
though these jewels of less value are to be admired
for beauty of design and workmanship." In recent
years the deterioration of tastes has also affected
the goldsmith's art, though this is the art which
has suffered least of all. The women, who are

240 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

more conservative, still adhere to their traditional
ornaments, and have not favoured European jewel-
lery. In some of the towns, however, there has
been imitation of the patterns that appear in the
trade catalogues of Birmingham and Paris. Several
firms in Calcutta which imitate European designs
have become very popular, and the Indian gold-
smith, artistically speaking, is completely ruined.

The value of the ornaments is regulated accord-
ing to the quantity of gold and silver plus the work-
manship of the Sekra (the bani). The bani varies
from Re. 1-8 to Rs.8 per bhari of gold. The
middle classes generally give Rs.4-5 per bhari.
Certain elaborate ornaments, however, are not
charged per bharee, but according to the ticca
system, a rate is charged on the whole as wages
of the goldsmith and not per bharee. When old
ornaments are sold there is on an average the loss
of five per cent, of the value of the whole as well
as that of the banee. The gold is also examined,
and a deduction is made if the gold does not stand
the test. For testing the quality of gold, the gold-
smith relies mainly on the touchstone, a close-
grained specially prepared stone on which the gold
to be tested is rubbed. The quality is ascertained
from the colour of the deposit it leaves. Pure gold
leaves a reddish deposit, alloyed gold leaves white.

Gold is generally advanced by the customers,
but the people who can afford to pay good prices
order the wares from European firms in the chief
cities. This discourages the workmen, who are
thus compelled to depend on the poor and the
middle classes for their subsistence. This is
another cause of the decline of the art.

METAL WORK 241

The goldsmith's tools consist of a few anvils and
hammers, a perforated plate for wire drawing, a pair
of scissors, pincers and tongs. He has also a crucible,
and some moulds and discs for stamping patterns.

The methods of producing ordinary gold and
silver wares are —

(i) Repoussi hammering, or nakasIiL A thin
sheet of gold or silver is fixed upon a bed of resin,
brick-dust and mustard oil melted together. As
this cools and hardens it holds the sheet in position,
upon which a design had already been traced. A
steel nail, called chheni, and a small hammer are
now used in making depressions on the sheet as
required according to the design. The sheet is
next taken out and remounted inside out, showing
the design in relief. The nail and hammer follow
again, depressing the ground still more and bringing
the design out more clearly in detail.

(2) Engraving, which is done by cutting into
the surface of the metal with small triangular-
pointed chisels according to designs.

(3) Die-stamping, There are steel and bell-
metal dies of various patterns produced by en-
graving. Gold or silver sheets are placed upon
these patterns, and on the top of the sheets a piece
of lead. By gently hammering on the lead the
gold or silver sheet below is pressed out of the
engraved pattern. A plain back is now soldered
on to the stamped sheet and the space between
the front and back filled with shellac, giving the
article a solidarity and enabling it to stand wear
and tear. When the customer can afford to supply
the metal in sufidcient quantity for solid articles,
simple hammering over the die is enough.

242 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

The stamped surface is afterwards variously
ornamented, by repousse hammering in the case of
the thin sheets, or by engraving, and '* diamond "
cutting in the case of the gold. Gold wares are
cleaned by dipping them in a solution of salt one
part, alum one part, and saltpetre two parts, melt-
ing together over a fire. The articles are kept
in the solution for a few minutes, and are washed
with water and burnished with brass wire brushes.
Silver things are cleaned by coating them with a
thin paste of saltpetre and charcoal and then burn-
ing them over a fire. When the silver is not pure
a little borax is added. Sometimes a red colour is
given to the gold articles by the following process.
A few pieces of raw tamarind are boiled in their
shells over a slow fire. The shells are then re-
moved and the pulp. A stock solution of common
salt and alum is next taken and boiled in an earthen
pot. The tamarind water is now added to this,
the requisite strength being ascertained by actual
tasting. A trace of fine sulphur paste is then
added to the solution. After the solution has
boiled for some time the gold articles are placed
in it and stirred with a wooden stick. When the
right colour is obtained the articles are removed
and wiped dry.

CHAPTER XIX

BUILDING AND CARVING

One of the most important occupations vitally
connected with our national life is the building
industry. Though the masses of the people, the
agriculturalists and the artisans of India, live in
thatched huts with bamboo walls supported on
bamboo posts, the construction of temples and
mosques, or of domestic buildings for the richer
people, the mahajans and the better class of artisans
of the village, have created a steady and constant
demand for the services of the masons and brick-
layers. Temples and mosques have for a long time
been built by kings, zamindars and rich merchants,
or by the public, and are now found scattered all
over the country. To antiquarians they are of
interest as marking the sites of places which were
important in the past. Thus in the Maldah district
the remains, though miserable at present, led IVTr.
Fergusson to remark : " It is not, however, in the
dimensions of its buildings, or the beauty of their
details that the glory of Gaur resides ; it is in the
wonderful mass of ruins stretching along what was
once the high bank of the Ganges, for nearly twenty
miles from Maldah to Maddapore, mosques still in
use, mixed with mounds covering ruins, tombs,

244 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

temples, tanks and towers, scattered without order
over an immense distance and half-buried in
luxuriance of vegetation which only this plot of
India can exhibit."

The temples, mosques, and the domestic buildings
are usually in brick. In the plains of Bengal stone
is not available, and if required it has to be brought
from long distances/ The bricks made from the
stiff clay of the plain are fairly lasting, and far
cheaper, and can further at a small cost be moulded
into various neat carvings. Thus on the Bengal
mosques and temples bricks have practically super-
seded stone as building material. Its effects have
thus been pointed out : " The mosque became more
and more long, with numerous domes and a pro-
fusion of curvings, but they could not be made high
with correspondingly imposing openings. The
domes were also low in height in the earliest
mosques partly from the use of horizontal arches.
The pillars were of stone ; but even they, from
scarcity of this material, had to be made sufficiently
low. The pillars were usually of Rajmahal basalt.
In some of the largest mosques of later times the

^ " The geological conditions of Bengal constitute it as essentially
a country of brick and terra-cotta buildings. Excluding the sub-
Himalayan districts, the area where stone becomes the most con-
venient and plentiful building material is only about a fourth of the
province, comprising roughly the divisions of Orissa and Chota
Nagpur. In Orissa, under the flourishing native dynasties first
established in the early centuries of the Christian era, a great style
of stone-architecture and stone-carving has developed. In the orna-
mentation of the hundreds of temples, monasteries, and other works
of stone which were built in the course of many centuries in the
districts of Cuttack and Puri, the Orissa carvers acquired the most
extraordinary technical skill in architecture decoration Hindu art has
known" (E. B. Havell, "Monograph on Stone-carving in Bengal,"
p. 23).

BUILDING AND CARVING 245

walls were, up to a certain height, faced with
stones." ^

During the rule of the independent Sultans of
Bengal a large number 0/ works were constructed,
which created a new style of Indo-Saracenic archi-
tecture— the Bengali style. This style by means of
its massive remains often of excellent workmanship,
its big vaults, wide corridors, numerous domes, pro-
fusely carved brick panels, and beautifully coloured
glazed tiles deeply influenced contemporary archi-
tects.^ Thus, as the '* Ain Akbari" records,
Agra, the royal residence of Akbar, contained
more than 500 buildings of masonry after the
beautiful design of Bengal and Guzrat, which
masterly sculptors and cunning artists of forms
have fashioned as architectural models. A part of
Akbar's new palace in the Agra Fort, as has also
been pointed out, was called specifically the Bengali
Mahal, presumably because it was built after that
style. This style influenced powerfully also the
local masons, although they were Hindu, and Indo-
Saracenic details were adopted wholesale in the
Hindu temples. The adaptations from Musalman
architecture are to be seen in the pointed arch of
the temples with its outside cusps, the short heavy
thick-banded arch pillars, simulating towers at the
corner, the panelled carvings, and the frequency of
rosettes and geometrical patterns in the carvings.
Nor was the Hindu style of architecture without
its influence upon Musalman architecture. This

1 " Pre-Moghul Mosques of Bengal," by Manmohan Chackraverty,
xTi Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal^ Vol. VI., No. i.

2 "Bengali Temples and their Characteristics," Vol. V., No. S,

foiirnal of Asiatic Society of Bengal.

246 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

is quite natural as the first Musalman Governors
of Bengal had to depend almost entirely on Hindu
artisans for the construction of their mosques, and
for materials they often utilized the fragments of
Hindu temples they had demolished. Thus there
was a curious superposition of Hindu details on
general Saracenic plans. The carvings on the
pillars, on the front wall, and round the prayer
niches are more or less copies of Hindu ornamenta-
tions, the tessellated garlands, and the geometrical
inter-twinings being specially noticeable. The
arches spring direct from the pillars, without any
pendents, thus differing from Saracenic examples.
The domes are also built up of concentric rings of
bricks, one ring above the other, each becoming
smaller and smaller in circumference, until the top
opening is closed by stone, just as in Hindu towers,
built on horizontal arches. Early in the fifteenth
century the Hindu revival began with the seizure
of the throne of Bengal by Ganesh. The revivi-
fied spiritual earnestness of the people of Bengal,
specially among the followers of the Sakti cult, and
the disciples of Chaitannya Dev found an expres-
sion in the building of the innumerable temples
that adorned almost every village of Bengal. Thus
the local architecture was greatly influenced by the
religious revival, and its effect is traceable even in
the Musalman edifices. Thus the Eklakhi Tomb
of Hazrat Pandua shows the curved roof of the
Bengali hut and the curved brick tiles. Similar
curved tiles and curved roofs became the peculiar
characteristics of the later Musalman buildings in
Bengal, e.g, the Kutabsahi or Golden Mosque of
Pandua (990 H.), Kadam Rasul Mosque in Gaur

BUILDING AND CARVING 247

(937 H.). The way was thus paved for the pre-
sent Hindu style in Bengal, which, receiving a great
impetus from the religious ferment, spread ulti-
mately from the edifices of Radha Krishna faith to
those of the Saiva and Sakta faiths.

The Bengali temples stand on a raised platform
wide and fairly high. The body of the temple
consists of the sanctum, which is oblong and some-
times cubical, generally with various additions.
The sanctum has, as a rule, a covered verandah
in front, which has usually three arched openings
between two pillars. The arches are pointed,
cusped outside, and generally i6-cusped. The
pillars from which the arches spring are short,
thick, heavy-looking, square above and below, with
two or more thick bands round the central shaft.
The architrave is marked out from the upper part
of the front by a series of curved lines, and the
arched portion is similarly distinguished from the
sides of the front. These side portions end in well-
defined corners whose horizontal bands and vertical
lines or panels simulate the appearance of buttress-
ing towers. In the older brick temples the spaces
between the arches, between the curved lines and
the roof-base, and on the sides are covered with
curvings. The curvings are mostly on brick-
panels : and in the recent ones in lime and plaster.
Panels of processions line the base, panels crowded
with soldiers, horsemen, and elephant riders.
Above them appear square or rectangular panels
depicting in Vaishnava temples Radha- Krishna, or
exploits of Vishnu, and in Saiva or Sakta temples
the exploits of Shiva or Kali and Durga. There
are also mixed panels of rosettes or geometrical

248 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

patterns ; and in some instances miniature temples
are piled one above the other along the arched
openings. Besides the verandah, the inner sanctum
is often covered in front with curved panels, which
are, however, simpler, and less varied.

There is a great variety in the roofs of these
temples. In fact, the diversity is observed with
such large differences that the latter serve to
classify the various temples. They have been
divided into {a) The hut-roofed, the roof modelled
after the ordinary chauchala hut.^ It has coverings
on four sides, which are more or less curved, in
some domical, in others flatter, but never straight
and periodical, and secondly, the coverings have
eaves drawn out lower down to a point at each
corner, thus making the roof-base curved like a
segment of the arch. In the ordinary Bengali huts
the flexible bamboo eaves are drawn out to permit
the rapid draining of the rains so heavy in lower
Bengal. The simplest variety of the hut-roofed
temple is more or less domical, ending in a spire
only. Further development is marked by the sub-
stitution of a spired tower, or of a spired duplicate

^ Curved roofs, as Fergusson observed, while very rare in the rest
of the world, are common in India. We have not only the dome of
the stupa^ but the barrel roof of the chaitya hall or church, the Bengal
cornice and the curvilinear steeple of the Indo-Aryan or Aryabharta
style of temple. Every form of curved roof in India can, I venture to
think, be explained by assuming its derivation from a prototype con-
structed with elastic bamboos. The late Mr. William Simpson, who
successfully applied this explanation to the Bengal cornice, the barrel
roof of the chaitya hall and the Indo-Aryan steeple, truly remarked
that the claims of bamboo to supply a theory of origins for Indian
architecture had been insufficiently considered, but did not proceed
to apply his theory to the case of stupa (W. Simpson, *' Origin and
Mutation in Indian and Eastern Architecture." Quoted in V. Smith's
" History of Fine Arts in India and Ceylon," ch. xii.).

BUILDING AND CARVING 249

on the roof. Single towers gradually develop
into multi-towers, five towers or Pancha-Ratna^
nine towers or Naba-Ratna. There are also some
seventeen or twenty-five towered varieties. The
majority of the Bengali temples, however, belong
to the variety capped with a duplicate. This top
structure is only a repetition of the main hut-roofed
style, with one, three, or five spires. Though
begun later this type has now superseded all the
other varieties, and includes several famous temples,
e.g, the temple of Kali Ghat, Sita Ram Ray's
temple of Dasaabhuja in Muhummadabad, Jessore,
the temple of Syamchand, Santipore, the temple of
Baidyanathpore, Kalna, the temple of Tarakeswara.
In the duplicated variety, the temples, instead of
the structures above the roof, are sometimes multi-
plied, increased to 12 or to 108. (b) The bungalow
roofed, where the roof is adopted from bungalows,
cottages with roofs having two sloping sides ending
on a ridge. In the existing temples the triangular
roofs are doubled, and the buildings are called /^r-
bangala. A hut-roofed structure is sometimes
added on to the top. Several jor-bangalas, again,
are grouped together, e.g. Rani Bhavani's temples
at Baranagar, Murshidabad.^

No large temple has been built since the begin-
ning of the last century. The temples that are
built now are generally very small and have usually
the hut-roof with simple spire. Some are more or
less conical, ending in spires, or have elongated

1 The above account is derived mostly from the articles *' Pre-
Moghul Mosques of Bengal," " Bengali Temples and their Character-
istics," by Mr. Monmohan Chakraverty, Journal of Asiatic Society
of Bengal, Vol. VI., Nos. i and 5.

2SO THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

four-sided roofs with the eaves well drawn out,
others again have pyramidal roofs with one spire.
The hut-roof type with one duplicate on the roof,
which had been very popular in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, has now ceased to exist.
The jor-bangla type is also dead. Thus what had
been a living art for centuries in the past, exercising
its influence on Saracenic architecture, is almost
extinct in our time, and the few temples that are
built now are so many evidences in degeneracy in
style and workmanship. Temples are now being
built with a straight roof and having no arched
verandah or even a plinth, with none of the grandeur
and solemnity associated with the Bengali style of
temple architecture.^

The old domestic buildings that are scattered
all over the country, especially in the districts which
are of historic importance, are clumsy in construc-
tion. The doors, windows, as well as the verandahs
and corridors, were too small, the lighting and venti-
lation being left almost to chance. There is a story
current in the district of Burdwan — and it is testified
to be true — that a man of Herculean strength and
body, when he was married could not enter his
father-in-law's house at all, and had to remain in
the garden in front for the night. The windows
were made small not to allow the women to be seen
from outside, while the construction of small doors
is said to be intended to throw obstacles in the way
of thieves running away from the house! The
stairs were high and steep, and there are very small

^ "A cubical body with arched verandahs, above which rises a
curvilinear roof, drawn down at the ends like a Bengali thatch of
bamboo" {Hooghly District Gazetteer, p. 40-

BUILDING AND CARVING 251

and dark but strong rooms called chore kuturis,
where valuables were kept.

Every house had a quadrangle in the middle,
where the members of the joint family could meet
and discuss questions of common interest, and where
guests and castemen could assemble on the occasion
of social ceremonies like sraddha and marriage, in
which a large number of men has to come to the
house and is fed by the family. The inner and the
outer apartments are separated from one another,
and between them is the chandimandap, where
members of the whole family, male or female, would
assemble to worship. In the houses of the rich
large amounts of money were often lavished in the
construction of the chandimandaps} The bamboo
was cut and smoothed with an incredible amount of
diligence, and beams made of palmyra wood were
prepared with equal care. Talc was first laid on
the whole roof, over it was spread a layer of the
plumage of the so-called Indian jay (nilkantha), and
finally the thatch was put on. Since the introduc-
tion of masonry work in the country, the construc-
tion of the best description of chandimandaps has
fallen into disuse, and in a very short time will be
altogether a thing of the past. Two good speci-
mens are still known to exist, one at Ula, in Nadiya,
the other at Atpur, Hughli. Architectural orna-
ments, generally consisting of conventional lotuses,
geometrical drawings, as well as figures of soldiers,
birds, and animals, were executed on the mud walls

^ Formerly the architectural paintings were executed by common
rajmistris in the mud walls of the chandimandaps, which probably
represent the only indigenous architectural work of Bengal proper,
for masonry work was very scarce in the country last century.

252 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

of the chandimandaps, as well as in the halls or
dalans of the houses of the kings, the court officials,
and of the rich merchants who made their fortunes
in the capital cities, the descriptions of which had
been handed down to us by such national epics
like the Kabikankan or the Monoskarbhashan. The
most common was the Chockmilan house, one with
a square yard in the middle, enclosed on three sides
by the building and its verandah, and one side by
the chandimandap. The walls of the enclosure were
ornamented with beautiful pilasters and nimbs, or
covered with figures and other carvings of luxuriant
variety.^ Good arches were constructed, and there
were excellent carvings made even in domestic
buildings. In all the old towns in domestic archi-
tecture the wood carving is seen on verandahs and
balconies, which often sets off very much the front
of the larger houses, and relieves the monotony of
plain-faced streets. There are projecting balconies
which are very elegant in shape and fashion of
details, while the interior courts also show great
artistic and mechanical skill. It has been observed

1 " In the Kantanagar temple, near Dinajpur, the ornaments consist
of an infinite variety of terra-cotta reliefs, some of a purely decorative
character, some treating mythological subjects in the usual conven-
tional style, but most representing the ordinary pursuits and amuse-
ments of the people of Bengal at the beginning of the last century.
Scenes of agriculture and sports, processions of horses and elephants,
men playing musical instruments, tapping date palms for their sap,
carrying burdens of bamboos balanced on their shoulders, smoking
hookahs, gambling, marrying, feasting, worshipping, and meditating
— the whole panorama of Eastern life. Roughly executed as most of
these small terra-cotta panels may be, we find in them a sense of life
and movement utterly wanting in later productions of a more finished
type. It has been suggested that if Indian art had addressed itself
to the serious study of living form it might have produced something
entitled to rank higher than the most varied series of ornamented
designs "(/.i?. LA.).

BUILDING AND CARVING 253

that wherever one comes upon a row or blocks of
flat-sided, straight-lined buildings of one monoto-
nous, unmeaning pattern, there he has the mark of
a foreign administration. Indeed, the Indian archi-
tects attained to a very high degree of excellence,
and the art continued to thrive till recent times.
Mr. Fergusson, the author of the classical ** History
of Architecture, "remarked: ** Architecture in India
is a still living art, practised on the principles which
caused its wonderful development in Europe in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and there alone
the student of architecture has chance of seeing the
real principles of the art in action." He observed
that if only Indians could be made to take a pride
in their own art, Indian builders were quite capable
of equalling or surpassing the great works of their
forefathers. But the public taste has been vitiated,
and houses in European styles have become fashion-
able. The Public Works Department has ignored
the living traditions of Indian building, though "it
is one of the first principles of architectural practice
that the designer should make use of any tradition
of construction or design." The artisan thus loses
his prestige and occupation, and seeks employment
in the Public Works Departments. Its effects are
twofold. The artisan has no power of initiative,
and having simply to copy the foreign patterns
begins to forget the traditional methods. There
being no demand for the work he cannot go else-
where, and so he becomes a slave of the Public
Works contractor. Good and artistic work takes
time, but the contractor tries his best to finish the
job and to get his profits as soon as possible.
Again, artistic work can be done only with the best

254 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

materials, but the contractor gives the artisan the
worst materials he dares to use under the super-
vision of the Public Works subordinate. Indeed
the Public Works contract system is totally unsuited
for artistic achievements in architecture, and the
sooner it is abandoned the better for the Indian
architecture.

It has sometimes been said that the Indian
style of architecture cannot be adapted to modern
utilitarian needs. This is, however, the dictate of
a dull and utilitarian policy characterized by a
philistine indifference to the originality and genius
of the Indian craftsmen. Architecture is still a
living art in India. Throughout the villages of
India there are still a large number of master-
builders whose ancestors *' built like giants and
finished like jewellers," and who are still maintain-
ing the proud traditions of the noble art^ in the
temples and mosques that are now reared. If this
native genius is utilized and directed by European
experts, the Indian building style will not only be
revived but is sure to be improved and adapted to
the utilitarian needs of modern life. If the Indian
builders have been allowed opportunities to deal
with modern methods of construction, they will be
able to adapt their traditional methods to modern
architectural practice'. It is unfortunate, however,
that they are not thus employed and encouraged
by the Government. As Mr. E. B. Havell has
remarked, **The Public Works Department, by its

* Of these artisans Mr. Fergusson wrote thus : " One was in course
of construction when I was there in 1839, ^nd from its architect I
learned more of the secrets of art as practised in the Middle Ages
than I have learned from all the books I have since read " (" History
of Indian and Eastern Architecture," p. 475).

BUILDING AND CARVING 255

boycott of the Indian artisans and of their art, has
prevented them from learning much of modern
European constructional methods, but on the other
hand, the departmental buildings are no more free
from constructional faults than they are satisfactory
from the purely aesthetic standpoint. They might
be improved as much in construction and technique
as in design by a more general employment of the
simple but sound building tradition of India."
Again, the official neglect of Indian style has led
to the general prevalence of the idea that it is a
mark of enlightenment to prefer European methods.
Thus the public learn to believe that the Indian
style is dead, or useless for modern life. This
neglect of architecture ^ is also responsible, to some
extent, for the decay of the Indian art industries,
for " the building industry embraces nearly all the
most important handicrafts of India, and, as in
every country, its condition is an index of economic
progress and of every kind of artistic development ;
for not only does it fulfil manifold purposes of
practical utility, but in its full development it brings
into play man's highest creative abilities."^

1 In the Native States, however, the artistic traditions of the
builders are still valued, and Mr. Alfred Chatterton, speaking of the
Art Industries of Mysore, said : " There is not the slightest doubt that
the determination of those responsible for the building of the New
Palace at Mysore to have the work carried out by the craftsmen of
the State, has done much to place the Art Industries of Mysore on a
new footing and give them a new lease of life. There is much truth
in the contention which has been put forward that the decadence of
Indian Art Industries is due to the neglect of Indian architecture and
to the adoption of purely utilitarian ideas in regard to both public and
private buildings, since the former were placed under the Public
Works Department" {The Hindu, September, 1910).

2 The transfer of the seat of government from Calcutta to Delhi
led to a discussion about the revival of Indian architecture and of the

256 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

It is, however, not the mere employment of the
Indian builders, but the encouragement of their art
by the Public Works Department,^ that will lead to
the revival and development of our native archi-
tecture. At present a large number of our artisans
are employed in the construction of Public Works
buildings, but, as has been pointed out before, they
simply obey orders and are not allowed to follow
their own methods of construction. Considering
that the Public Works Department is the best
employer and most punctual paymaster, and repre-
sents in the eyes of the mistry the official will, it is
expected that the mistry when left to himself will
produce mere copies of its styles and designs.
Thus the bungalow form of building is gradually
coming into use in the country among the rich
and the middle class. The plan is as simple and
square as possible, and mainly consists of four thick
mud-brick walls pierced by the necessary doors,
surrounded by a verandah carried on pillars, while
the whole is surmounted by a bent roof of thatch.
This comfortable but hideous structure is the type

lesser branches of art in the EngHsh Press. Mr. Havell issued an
eloquent appeal in the London Tz7nes, and wrote a paper on " Indian
Builders and Public Works Architecture for the Industrial Conference,
1912." The Daily Telegraph (London), December 23, 191 1, also
wrote an editorial recommending to the Government a new archi-
tectural policy : *' A wide field presents itself for a revival of Indian
Art in many directions, and though the creation of a new capital at
Delhi makes architecture the first consideration, it is earnestly to be
hoped that a golden opportunity will be seized for improving many
other crafts closely connected with the prosperity of the people,"

^ Mr. E. B. Havell recommends that municipalities should be
encouraged to make a beginning in this direction in giving the Indian
artisans employment in local undertakings now generally entrusted
to the district engineer or to a public works subordinate, who in archi-
tectural matters is entirely an amateur.

BUILDING AND CARVING 257

of Anglo- Indian domestic architecture. We may
concede without hesitation that a more ugly build-
ing could not easily be made. But it answers all
the purposes for which it is intended, giving suffi-
cient accommodation and due ventilation. The
necessity in India for free currents of air dictates a
long building, one room only in width, facing to the
right quarter. It is raised from the ground : the
walls are thick and the roof is sun-proof. European
details are introduced in all buildings. The corru-
gated iron roof, the iron bars of the balcony, the
English windows, the classic ornament over the
lower windows, the door with its upper part iron
barred, the sham quoins at the corners of the walls,
all indicate European influence, while the mere
alignment of the buildings into rectangular lines
and blocks lends an European air to the buildings.
Indigenous traditions, however, like the varied
geometric trellis work and the wood-carving of
the balcony verandah, or the richly carved doorway
and niches between the windows still survive in
these buildings. The indigenous traditions of the
craft are still strong, and in spite of the introduction
of European details the mistry remains intrinsically
oriental in his notions. A writer in xh^ Journal 0/
the Society of Indian Arts and Industries remarks :
'* I think I am justified in contending that the
strongly conservative texture of the native mind is
more efficacious than is generally allowed against
the wholesale adoption of European designs. The
academic traditions that rule our Western studies of
architecture leads us to attach great importance
to purity of style. No such theories trouble the
humble builders, whose work I have described as

258 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

showing the present tendencies of Indian archi-
tecture under the strongest stress of the circum-
stances that we consider most adverse to its natural
development ; and in spite of some incongruities I
venture to think that the indigenous forms endeared
to the people by centuries of tradition will not be
lightly set aside."

Near the towns where the artisans can get em-
ployment throughout the year, there is almost a
whole village inhabited by these artisans. They
are generally classified into three distinct grades :
(i) The Raj or the mason, the bricklayer and
the plasterer. (2) The Majur or the ordinary
labourer, who is engaged in digging earth for
the foundation, in preparing the mortar, i,e, mix-
ing the constituents in proportions fixed by the
masons, and in wetting the bricks. (3) The
Reja^ generally a woman, a boy or a girl, whose
work is simply to carry the mortar and bricks to
the masons. The work of the Reja involves less
muscular strength than that of the Majur, and
sometimes weak and sick men are also employed to
do the women's work. The mistry is the employer
of labour, the Captain of the Building Industry
(mistry, lit. head), who supervises over the work of
the Raj, the Majur and the Reja, The building
industry is the only occupation in our rural tracts
in which women are employed in outdoor work on
a large scale. These Rejas generally come from
lowest grades of the Hindu society, being Doshads,
Chekuiyas and Bagdis. These women maintain
themselves from the wages they earn as Rejas,
sometimes supplementing their earnings by such
indoor work as grinding bricks into Surki, or

BUILDING AND CARVING 259

limestone into lime, etc. The wages of the Reja
are generally three annas, while those of the Majurs
four annas, and of the Raj six annas throughout
the year in Bengal. They work from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. The boys who work with the women as
Rejas become Majurs when they grow old. Occa-
sionally, especially when they are sons of mistrys,
they also rise to the occupation of the Raj, But
only a very clever and experienced Raj can hope
to be the head mistry of the business. He is
a natural leader among his men, possessing not
only technical skill but also shrewd business know-
ledge and the faculties of an organizer. He gets
the capital of the industry from the owner of the
building, and is held responsible by him for the
work. He employs the labourers, and is their pay-
master, daily distributing the wages from the money
supplied to him by the house-owner. He gets a
monthly salary, varying from Rs.15 to Rs.20, or
sometimes daily wages, generally double those of
the ordinary Raj for his work of supervision,
general management and control. Sometimes he
works according to the contract system, under-
taking to finish a building within a fixed time.
The building owner supplies the building materials
while the mistry pays the daily wages to his
labourers. When the building is finished the
mistry gets either a lump sum, fixed beforehand,
or an amount calculated from the cubic feet of
masonry work constructed. What he is able to
keep for himself after paying the wages of his
labourers constitutes his profit. The mistry seldom
works personally. His services are in requisition
when a difficult arch is to be constructed, or fine

26o THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

chiselling and carving are to be made, or the
foundation of the building is to be laid ; generally
his time is spent in supervision.

In many villages there are families of stone-
cutters and stone-carvers who make the ordinary
cups and bowls required by villagers. But the
industry has been specialized, and is found in its
higher developments in the important places of
religious pilgrimage where there is a steady and
constant occupation of these artisans for the con-
struction and repair of idols and temples. In the
districts of Puri and Cuttack, there are a few families
of stone-carvers who have found employment lately
in the building or restoration of the temples. Their
work is considered to be hardly inferior in artistic
perception and technical skill to that of their pre-
decessors. Some of these artisans were employed
in restoring the ancient carvings of Kanarak and
elsewhere and Mr. Marshall remarked : ** The work
of the modern stone-mason, a native of Bhubanes-
war, does not fall much behind the old work,
except that modern restorations of human and
animal figures are less graceful than the older
models." Fifteen or twenty years ago there was
a steady demand for architectural carving. The
artisans were required to carve stone doors or
columns supporting the verandahs of private
houses. Mr. E. B. Havell made the following
observations on the carving in the doorways of
Emar Math, a Vaishnavite monastery in Puri :
**The delicate surface carving in low relief is
admirably contrasted with the bold cutting of the
pilasters supporting the projecting cornice over the
doorway. It is altogether a fine piece of work,

BUILDING AND CARVING 261

worthy of the best traditions of Orissa architec-
ture." The demand for architectural carving, or
for finished sculpture has almost ceased, and the
artisans are now employed in making small soap-
stone carving by the sale of which they now earn
a living. The soap-stone carvings are generally
coloured black to make them resemble the more
expensive work in handstone. Figures of the trio,
Jagannath, Balaram, and Suvadra, as well as of
Ganesh, Vishnu, group of Krishna, and the Gopis,
are carved, and are largely sold at the time of the
festivals of Juggannath. Some of these are full of
life, and show a composition and a combination
of gradations of relief that are admirable. But
the artistic skill and dexterity of the artisans are
worthy of much better work. ** It is deplorable,"
as Mr. Havell has observed, '* that the standard
of public taste in Bengal should have fallen so
low that skilled artists of this stamp have no
employment for their best talent ; whilst the lowest
class of commercial Italian Statuary, incompar-
ably inferior to the art which these men can produce,
is in regular demand at prices which would make
all the sculptors in Orissa rich beyond their wildest
dreams."

Besides stone-carving proper, there is a good
deal of architectural work carried on in Orissa in
a kind of conglomerate stone, too coarse-grained
for fine carving, in which the ornamental details
are roughly blocked out by the chisel, and after-
wards finished by a layer of fine stucco or chunam.
This process of applying fine plaster to stonework
is very ancient, and is used for figure sculpture as
well as for ornamental details. The chunam often

ifa THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

serves as a ground for fresco-painting. Finely
designed pedestals or altars for the tulasi plant
are also executed by this process. It is quite a
distinct art to stone carving, and is not practised by
ordinary stone-masons. For a damp climate, like
that of Bengal, this plaster work has the practical
advantage of preventing moisture from penetrating
through bricks and porous kind of stone.

Stone utensils like trays, cups, bowls, etc., are
made in many villages. These var}' in price from
two pice to 4 as., and are sold chiefly by retail
dealers, or by the artisans themselves, at the time
of meals. Small idols are also made which vary
in pric^ from as. 4 to Rs.5 each.

BOOK III
CREDIT AND TRADE SYSTEMS

CHAPTER I

THE ORGANIZATION OF RURAL CREDIT

Throughout the country the indebtedness of our
agricultural population has now come to be very-
serious. It has been estimated that very nearly
75 per cent, of the agriculturists of our country are
in debt. This figure seems to be not at all exag-
gerated, and should be accepted as long as no
thoroughly statistical inquiries in this direction are
made. The mahajan, however, though ubiquitous,
is not so base and inhuman or a veritable vampire
of the people as many think him to be. Without
his aid, our agricultural operations would be at a
standstill. Again, our people are so poor that
they depend on him not only for cultivation but
also for the very necessaries of life. Thus the
mahajan has to furnish money to the cultivators
before harvests, and forgoing the repayment of
loans he feeds his debtors in the bargain between
the harvests in order to keep alive the hope of
being paid in future. The money-lender is called
by the ryot, the jater and pater mahajan, the
guardian of his honour, and the supplier of his
food. He supplies the cultivator not only with
food at the time of need, but also with hat expenses
every week, with capital for buying stock, and
with cash for providing himself and his family with

266 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

clothes, without which they would fast be reduced
to needy paupers. For all this, the mahajan and
his debtor usually live in friendly terms. Bonds
are executed by the mahajan only when the ryot's
faith is questionable. He also sees that the affairs
of his debtor gradually improve. If he finds him
going down, he makes a further advance in order
to enable him to cultivate a more profitable crop,
like mulberry or sugar-cane, and helps him to
improve his condition. The mahajan further be-
friends him in all zemindary and law suits. Thus
the ryot regards the mahajan with reverence.
Whenever he comes to his house, he brings for
him the first fruits, good fish or milk. The cordial
relations between them continue while faith is kept
by the ryot, and he does not resort to another
mahajan.

There are usually two kinds of loans in
villages : —

(a) Grain Loans, — In Bengal, the cultivator
usually takes paddy from mahajans or zemindars,
for the purpose of sowing, or for food, and repays
the debt at the aush harvest in bhadra^ or at the
aman harvest in magk, usually the same amount of
paddy, with half as much again, is paid back by the
end of the bhadra if it was lent in baisak, i.e. the
interest is 30 per cent. This is called derhi.
Sometimes the interest is 25 per cent, the system
being called Sawai, and also 30 and 35 (six or
seven seers are given as interest, when half a
maund of paddy is borrowed). Often the culti-
vator is compelled to borrow paddy on the con-
dition of repaying twice the amount (100 per cent,
interest). This is called dwigoon by the ryots.

THE ORGANIZATION OF RURAL CREDIT 267

There Is a well-known proverb, Bhojer derhe, bijer
dwigoouy which signifies that the rate of interest is
50 and 100 respectively, when grain is borrowed
for food, or for sowing purposes. The reasons for
the high rate in case of loans for seed are (i) seed
grain is of good quality ; (2) prices of seed time
are much higher than harvest prices ; (3) the
amount that is spent is small ; (4) the loan is used
for productive purposes.

Sometimes the grain is lent, and at harvest
time an equivalent to the real money value of the
grain at the time of borrowing is returned {asalke
asal). Thus one rupee's worth of grain is borrowed,
and after six months one rupee and two annas'
worth of grain is returned.

{b) Money Loans, — When money is lent to culti-
vators the repayment may be in money or in
produce ; the latter is largely if not generally the
case when the mahajans are brokers as well as
lenders. The vast export trades are chiefly carried
on by advances made by middlemen with a view
to securing the crop. This system is called dadan,
and it always prevails in the tracts of special
produce. Money is lent on condition of its being
repaid in the produce at so many seers per rupee,
whatever may be the current rate at the time.
Thus Rs.5 to Rs.5-8as. are advanced to the
jute cultivator in ashar at the time of sowing, and
he repays the debt in aswin in a maund of jute.
Sometimes the terms are modified thus : the culti-
vator borrows Rs.2, and pays back during the
harvest time Rs.2 worth of jute and 5 seers more
as interest. In the case of grain and oil-seeds
Re. I to Re. 1-4, and Rs.2-8 to Rs.3 are usually

268 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

advanced mpaus or magh, and one maund of grain
and oil-seeds are repaid in chait.

The village mahajans and paikars employed by
Indian or European exporting firms, or owners of
silk factories, jute, flour, or oil mills, etc., lend
money in this way. In the silk trade, for example,
the silk-filature owners advance a lump sum to
the paikar for purchasing a specified amount of the
cocoons. The paikar distributes portions of the
money he has got by way of advance (from Indian
or European filatures) among the cocoon-rearers,
either for expenses of growing mulberry or for
purchasing leaves to feed the worms. The cocoon-
rearers cannot carry the produce to distant hats,
and usually they take advances from the paikars.
Thus they have to sell the cocoons to these paikars,
who also deduct from the price a commission for
undertaking the sale. Frequently, again, especially
in the case of such exports as rice, wheat, jute,
tobacco and oilseeds, th^ paikar does not go from
cottage to cottage, but offers dadans through an
arat-dar or owner of a warehouse. The latter gets
a commission as the purchases are made through
him, and is responsible for the loss of money which
the paikar or gumastha has advanced to a defaulting
cultivator through him. This responsibility is
called by the technical name jhonk by the mer-
chants. In the case of the cane-growers, the
makajan usually lends money on condition of
getting it back in seers of gur. The makajan in
this case is usually the sugar-refiner, who finds it
to his advantage to lend money to cane-growers.
He thus becomes certain of a regular supply oi gur
from his creditors during the season, while getting

THE ORGANIZATION OF RURAL CREDIT 269

rates of interest for his money. The gur is usually
charged at rates when it just comes into the market
early in the season. The cultivators have to give
up the gur before the Phalguni purnima day. If
they do not the mahajan will either go to court, or
charge a higher rate of interest, and deduct the gur
at lower prices from his loan.

Money is lent : (i) By oral contract without
security, generally by one ryot to another. Small
sums not exceeding Rs.io are lent on interest at
I anna, 2 annas, or even 4 annas in the rupee per
mensem, payable in advance. No written bond is
usually given in such cases (roka). In the big
towns such petty artisans as cobblers get small
loans (not on bonds) from one of their rich caste-
men at a very high rate of interest, paying back
capital and interest daily after a whole day's work.
In vegetable markets, there are some greengrocers
who daily get loans from a comparatively rich shop-
keeper, and after selling the vegetables pay the
loan back with an interest usually of one or two
pice. (2) By unstamped chit generally by ryots.
(3) By simple bond with or without security.^ The
rate of interest charged is written on the bond,
and it varies from Re. i to Rs.3-2 per cent, per
mensem, i,e. from Rs. 12 to Rs.37-8 per annum.
At every renewal of the bond, the unpaid accumu-
lated interest is added to the capital. Again, the
interest is often deducted in advance to the advan-
tage of the lender, or a premium is added, while
the debt is repayable by instalments, usually

^ Sometimes a third person enters into an agreement at the foot
of the bond accepting the borrower's liability as his own, should he
fail to pay. This is cdXlt^. jamin tamasook.

270 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

monthly over ten months, no counter-interest being
allowed. Sometimes the bonds contain penal
clauses stipulating for additional and heavy rates
of interest {kisti khelapi sud) in case of default.
Other conditions which are stated in the bond are :
{a) The land be not alienated as long as the debtor
does not pay off his debts; {b) The time for
repayment in several kisis is limited to two or three
years. (4) By entry in the moneylender's bakty
dusthabey, or account book. Loans on the bahi are
kept up as a regularly running account made up
and balanced from time to time. The books which
are usually kept by village mahajans are : (a) The
day-book or rojnamcha. The left hand or credit
side of the page is known as jama, and the right or
debit side as nam. {b) The rokar-bahi, which is
exactly the same as the former with this difference,
that it is balanced after each transaction, (c) The
lekha bahiy which is the ledger, and is made up as
time allows from the rojnamcha bahi. It contains
each debtor's account separately with a reference to
the page of the day-book on which each item has
been entered day by day. (d) The jama kharach,
which is an abstract of the day-book, and is hence
also called khatiyan. It shows the totals of receipts
and payments on each page. Gayal khata is the
head under which bad debts are written off.

There are two special classes of money-lending
by bahi in the North-west called Augahi and
Rozahi. Augahi is lending of money to be repaid
with interest at 20 per cent, in monthly instalments.
Rozahi is money lent to be realized in daily instal-
ments with interest at 25 per cent.

The Augahi Bahi is ruled like a chess board

THE ORGANIZATION OF RURAL CREDIT 271

with twelve columns. As each month's instalment
of Re. I is realized it is entered in a square until the
twelve squares are filled. There is also a separate
bahi in which the principal is noted when lent. It
may, however, be noted in the margin of this
check-pattern book.

(5) Pawn-broking, — The cultivator also borrows
by giving up his wife's ornaments as bandak or
pawn. The pawn-broker usually gives only Rs.3
5 as. of the value of the pawned goods. The
charge of interest is either 10 as. or 12 as. or Re.i
per mensem per cent, for rupees lent. The pawn-
broker either numbers the goods and enters them
in a bahi under the pawner's name, and keeps the
account in the bahi as if it were an ordinary bahi-
loan, or he ties a chit or slip of paper with a note
of the loan to the goods pawned, and keeps up the
account on the slip. The note always gives the
weight of the goods, the time for repayment of
the loan as well as the interest.

The women in comparatively rich households
are very fond of lending money on security in this
way. Their operations are almost entirely confined
to women. The borrowers come to them in their
houses, deposit their security, which usually consists
of gold and silver ornaments, and sometimes clothes
and household utensils, and take their money in
silver without any one knowing it. Re. i will be
usually advanced if the pawned silver ornament
weighs 3 bharis. Ten years ago 2 bharis of silver
could have been sufficient for the loan of a rupee.
(The price of silver then ranged from Re.i to
Re. I 2 as., now it ranges from 9 as. to 12 as.)
Again, the women will advance Rs.30, Rs.40, if

272 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

it is a gold ornament weighing 3 bharis. Month
after month the borrower pays interest, and by
the appointed time the principal is paid back, the
security is returned and the matter ends. No
accounts or writings or promissory notes are kept,
the calculations are all made mentally, the creditors
never think of going into court, and they never
lose in the settlement of the accounts.

(6) By Mortgages. — Very frequently the culti-
vator has to borrow to pay his rents. In this case
the mahajan usually brings the ryot to the Zemin-
dar's cutchery and arranges with the gumastha that
he will pay him the ryots' rents directly. When he
pays the rents he keeps the dakhillas (receipts) and
opens an account in his own name in the books.
He holds the land in possession as long as the debt
is not fully repaid, no interest being charged on the
debt. This is called dakhilla bandak. Sometimes
the mahajan enjoys the land for advancing a loan,
while the debtor pays the rents {khaikhalasi).
Thus in the case of a loan of Rs.ioo, the mahajan
would ordinarily enjoy the produce of a land of
ten bighas for five years. The period as well as
the land are determined in baitak, or sitting, where
the local magnates are present. There is also
another condition which is sometimes enforced, that
if the property be not redeemed within a certain
time which is fixed, the property becomes the
mahajan's and the mortgagor has no further claim
on it {kutkabala). If the mahajan institutes a civil
suit for legal possession of the property the court
usually allows six months* time for liquidation of
the debt, failing which the transaction is confirmed,
and the mortgaged property becomes the mahajan's.

THE ORGANIZATION OF RURAL CREDIT 273

There are also other systems of lending money on
security now in vogue in the rural tracts of our
country. In Eastern Bengal there is a system
called gripi which might be thus described. Sup-
pose a ryot wishes to borrow Rs. 20 from a mahajan.
He executes and registers a bond by which he
assigns two pakhis of his land (a pakhi is a little
more than a standard beegha) to the lender in lieu
of paying in cash the interest on Rs.20 (the usual
rate being one pakhi for the interest on Rs.io).
The mahajan always allows the ryot to cultivate
the land, for which the ryot gets half of the crops
raised, and the mahajan takes the other half of the
crops as interest on his capital lent to the ryot.
This is known as the system of Gripi. After the
mahajan has thus enjoyed the land for a sufficient
time, generally about six or seven years, he, as
a matter of favour, makes another agreement with
the ryot by which interest ceases further to accrue
on the capital, and the capital begins to be paid off
at the rate of Rs.3 per pakhi of land enjoyed by
the mahajan per year till the whole debt is ex-
tinguished. This is called daya-sodhi (day a, debt ;
sodhi, to repay).

The loans are usually of very petty sums or
quantities, often only five or ten rupees, or a few
measures of grain, and have been considered to
be amongst the smallest in the world. Loans on
mortgages also are very small, usually amounting to
Rs.40 to Rs.50. Again, the period of these loans
is usually very short. All ordinary village loans
are for a term not exceeding one year, the grain
loans being for six months or the full length of the
crop season. The term of mortgages also is usually

274 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

short. In simple mortgages many are of one year
or less, while almost all are below three years. In
mortgages with possession the average period is
about five years. Ordinary loans or mortgages for
short terms may be real engines of oppression ;
they have to be frequently renewed and the cost of
stamps, writing fees, witnesses, registration, etc.,
which comes to a very large sum, has to be borne
by the debtor, while they can be used to coerce the
debtor into signing any terms on the conclusion of
every period. Again, these loans cannot generally
be used for making permanent improvements : it is
absurd to expect any loan for land improvement or
purchase of cattle to replace itself in two or five
years with the addition of interest at not less than
12 per cent., exclusive of the penalties for short
payments and delays. Thus a loan cannot be
wholly spent on improvement, and is usually the
result of prior debts for maintenance, for expendi-
ture on a Sraddha, or marriage ceremony, liti-
gation, rents, etc. A fresh loan implies simply
more mortgages, deeper entanglement, and finally
ruin.

Cattle and Poultry Loans, — In villages trade in
cattle is very important. Very often young cattle
are purchased at credit, i.e. at very high prices.
The debtor pays by instalments, and if the cattle
die he has to bear the loss. A cow is also fre-
quently given by one person to another on the
condition that the cow will be returned to the
owner after the rearer has taken one calf and en-
joyed the milk also. Fowls are also treated in
this way. The hen and one-half of the brood of
chickens are returned to the owner while the

THE ORGANIZATION OF RURAL CREDIT 275

rearer takes the other half of the chickens. Again,
if the rearer sells the bull or cow the owner and
the rearer get equal shares of the market value, the
owner also getting in excess the original price of
the cost, when he purchased it

Moffussil-town Banking, — Along with the village
mahajans there is also a distinct class of bankers
in muffussil towns whose functions are very im-
portant. Like the village money-lenders, they also
advance money to individual cultivators, mort-
gaging their lands or sometimes binding their pro-
duce. Thus the rates of interest they charge serve
to limit those of the mahajan. They also combine
trade with banking. In fact, the export trade of
the interior district of the country is mostly in their
hands. They also assist a great deal the poorer
middle class as well as the landed families of the
district when they have to pay revenues to
Government.

The most important of the indigenous bankers
are those who carry on their business in the
important trade centres of the country. Their
ancestors in business formerly wielded great political
influence. Thus the influence of Juggatt Sett and
of Umichand on the politics of Bengal in the
Plassey days is well known.^ The reason of this
is not far to seek. Formerly taxes were paid in
kind by the people. Certain transactions, however,
necessitated the employment of metallic and paper

^ Far the most famous of the commercial firms was that of the
Seths of Mathura, who in former days ranked as the Rothschilds or
Barings of Northern India. Founded in the commencement of the
century, this banking house acquired immense wealth, and became
well-known by their distinguished loyalty to the crown and their wide-
spread beneficence (Crook, " The N.W. Provinces of India," p. 167).

276 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

currencies. Thus some officers of the state were
paid in money. Standing armies and mercenaries
also could not be paid in kind. The institution of
banking was therefore developed. The bankers
converted the proceeds of the taxes into a useful
form, either money or paper, and lent money,
whenever necessary, to the state. The same
family having monetary transactions either with the
Emperors or the Subadars for some generations
gradually acquired political influence. Under the
British Government, the bankers gradually lost
this influence. Still their occupation commands
great respect in the eyes of the people. Having
lost their monetary dealings with Government they
are now chiefly engaged in exchange operations and
making advances to commercial establishments.
They possess extensive credit, their bills of ex-
change circulating all over the country. These are
z2i}X^di-^ioondeeSy sl corruption of Hindwior Hindoo —
a Persian word given to them by the Muhamma-
dans. The city bankers have their agents in every
important town of the country who conduct ex-
change operations by means of the hoondees instead
of metallic money. These bankers are thoroughly
honest, the dishonouring of a hoondee being an
event very rare among them. Thus the hoondee
commands wide circulation. A writer has remarked :
'* The circulation of the hoondeeSy the most perfect
portion of the Indian commercial system, is very
great, and although millions are invested in them,
the loss by bad debts arising out of the dishonour
of the instruments at maturity, is a most insignifi-
cant fraction per cent." Discount and brokerage
are charged. Hundiyana or a commission usually

THE ORGANIZATION OF RURAL CREDIT 277

of 3 or 6 pies per cent, is charged by the acceptor
on accepting a hoondee. There is a specialized class
of dalals, or brokers, who live on profits derived from
transaction on koondees, earning even lakhs. The
term for which hoondees are drawn vary a great
deal. Formerly the terms were at Patna, 41 days
after date ; Benares, Mirzapur, Lucknow, Bombay,
51 days; Futteghur, Furrackabad and Delhi, 61
days; Lahore and Multan, 121 days. These
usages, however, have now changed on account
of improvements of the means of communications.
Even many of these historic marts like Mirzapur
and Futteghur have found themselves stranded in
a commercial backwater, and business has sought
more convenient centres like Cawnpore, Agra, or
Hathras. Hoondees 2X^ now payable on the nth,
2 1 St, 41st, or 51st day of their issue. Sometimes
they are payable on call, in which case they are
called darsani. One feature of indigenous banking
is very characteristic. The business is usually carried
on hy gumast has or petty clerks. They are entrusted
with the responsible task of issuing hoondees in
the name of the dhani or the capitalist in the trade,
the dishonouring of which could mean his ruin.
They are often poor men and yet are never called
upon to furnish security. Their remuneration is
not high, and they have often the entire disposal of
the capital of his master ; yet it rarely happens that
he loses anything by his dishonesty.

The system of issuing and discounting koondees
forms the characteristic feature of the business of
indigenous banking, but it cannot be called credit.
It is mere mercantile exchange. The firms or
trading establishments hardly receive any deposits,

278 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

and the issue of notes payable to the bearer or
paper money is unknown. This is the reason why
rates of interest are so different in the town and the
village and everywhere so disproportionate both to
the settled condition of the country and to its needs.
Credit in India is based not upon the rates of the
Indian market merely, but upon those rates, plus
the influence of custom, monopoly, opportunity, the
stint of capital due to the absence of the deposit-
collecting function of banks, and the risk and
trouble of making, booking and collecting small
loans.

Another important business of indigenous bank-
ing is money-changing, the exchanging of one
description of coin for another. This is in the
hands of the class of small bankers generally known
2LSpoddars. The poddar has now greatly declined
in importance. Formerly he was seen in every
rural market with a bag of cowries on his head.
All the early part of the market, he would sell
cowries for silver to the people who wished to
purchase goods, and in the evening, the various
hucksters brought back their cowries and changed
them for silver. In the morning, the money-
changer would usually give 5160 cowries for a
rupee ; and in the evening he would give a rupee
for 5920 cowries, which was a profit of one thirty-
sixth part on every gold mint rupee, besides a
fluctuating barter or exchange on all others. The
money-changers also advanced cowries to servants
who received monthly wages. At the end of the
month they returned the loan in silver. The
money-changer charged seventy puns of cowries
for their rupee, thus realizing four seventy-fourths

THE ORGANIZATION OF RURAL CREDIT 279

per month for the use of money ; but occasionally
he lost the principal. The discount charged could
be taken at about 3 per cent, in each operation. If
the market be held once a week, this gross profit
on the capital is repeated 52 times every year ; and
if it be held twice a week, 104 times.

CHAPTER II

THE ORGANIZATION OF RURAL TRADE AND
TRANSPORT

The want of easy and perennial communications is
a great economic disadvantage of our country.
There are only a few metalled roads in and near
the towns. The whole country is traversed by
cart tracks. Embanked roads or bridges are
seldom found. Thus if a small stream is met with,
it is either crossed in boats, or a track deviates a
dozen miles in order to ford it at some favourable
point. Consideration of economy and convenience
and the physical configuration of the country are
little attended to. Again, the tracks are passable
by carts only for eight months in the year. In the
rainy season, travel or traffic by wheels is entirely
stopped, and loads have to be carried on the heads
by men wading through water or marsh. These
fair-weather village roads, as these are called, cost
little ; they are formed by merely cleaning the
surface of the jungle growth, and leaving the
approaches to the beds of the intervening streams,
without drains or earthworks of any kind. Many
tracks, again, are almost unaided by any labour
whatsoever, the traffic, very much as a natural
stream of water might do, making for itself a
passage along the easiest and least resisting line

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 281

of country. It is, however, only the easiest un-
assisted line, for it is often found that the removal
of a few comparatively small obstacles to a pro-
digious extent, shortens and cheapens a natural
track between two points distant a great many
miles from each other. Thus the surface trade-
tracks, often of great width and deeply fissured with
heavy ruts, scarcely visible, however, through the
thick coating of fine impalpable dust — used for the
transit during the dry season of merchandise carried
on the backs of pack animals or in rude carts
drawn by yokes of bullocks, served probably for
untold centuries all the requirements of the internal
carrying trade of the country, and even still forms
a not inconsiderable portion of the country's high-
ways.

This state of things has to be remedied. If
roads are not good, the traffic goes on lightly laden
carts or on pack bullocks or even on men's heads
instead of on well-laden wheeled carts, thus raising
the cost of carriage. Circuitous roads, again, lead
to great inconvenience and waste of time, and
hamper transit to a considerable extent. Easy
transit aids production. Thus economies in market-
ing have now to be secured in order to stimulate
rural agriculture. Indeed, that trading operations
will be at a standstill during the four rainy months
can no longer be accepted as inevitable. The famines
of the country have also drawn frequent attention
of the people to the want of proper communications.
Again, the development of railways is impeded to a
great extent by the want of good feeder roads.
Without a system of good village roads connecting
all the centres of commerce with the larger markets

282 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

nearest the railway, the latter can confer no
practical benefits to the district through which it
runs only to a small extent. It has been remarked
that the very low cost of inland carriage principally
due to the great cheapness of draft power during
a considerable part of the year, tended in great
measure to divert attention from the importance of
good village and feeder roads in the earlier days of
Indian railroads. Thus the construction of such
roads, serviceable throughout the year, has lament-
ably failed to keep pace with the wants of the
railway system, and there still exists throughout the
country, a large number of railway stations which
are absolutely inaccessible to a loaded cart for five
months in the year.^

But the remedy is not easy. Metalling is very
expensive ; constant repairs are essential, for a
neglected metalled road is far worse in the rainy
season than one quite unmetalled, and, after all,
as it is pointed out, the costly macadamized road is
only worth its price from June to October. But
this is the dull season, when there is no crop to
cart to market, and when all the people are plough-
ing and sowing. As to unmetalled roads, it might
be thought obviously advantageous to demarcate at
least the main routes, and to garnish with sign-
posts and milestones. But if the road is thus
marked out the public must stick to that bargain,
and will not change when the road has got cut into
wrinkles ; whereas now the custom of the country
allows great latitude to travellers in the matter of
short cuts. As a matter of fact in many villages
the tracks are ploughed up by the peasants in

1 McGeorge, " Ways and Works in India."

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 283

the rains ; and en revanche the first cart that
re-opens communication after the season may
select its own line across the field. Again, in some
parts of the country, e.g, in Eastern Bengal, the
many rivers, khals, beels, marshy and low lands,
render it impossible without very great expense to
construct permanent roads. It is, indeed, seldom
that a highway can be constructed between one
important place and another without so large a
break as to render it almost useless. Thus the
roads are often incomplete. The country inter-
vening is too low; during the rains it is flooded
with water, which for many miles is as much as
twenty feet in depth. Indeed, in the riparian
districts the roads without embankment are almost
useless.^

By the imposition of the road-cess the Govern-
ment has introduced a system for providing roads
in the country. It is unfortunate, however, that
the policy of abolishing tolls on the main roads and
the concentration of funds of the District Boards in

^ Formerly the zamindars secured the lands and roads from
inundation by building Bundhs^ or embankments. The cost of
repairing the Bundhs was known as poolbundi^ and was realized by
them from their tenants. Various kinds of embankments have been
built, (i) Ganguria, or river embankments. (2) Surhad, or Purgana,
boundary embankments. (3) Grambheri^ village boundary embank-
ment. (4) Pari, second embankments. (5) Hakiat, creek embank-
ments. (6) Khal^ cross embankments in creeks and nuUas. (7) Jalni-
kasij drainage embankments. (8) Masonry sluices. (9) Bols, or
wooden sluices. The Government has now taken up the task of
maintaining the embankments. In 1846, the committee which was
appointed to report on the subject of embankments of the Bengal
rivers made the drastic recommendation that all existing Bundhs
should be removed entirely, and a system of drainage channels
substituted. The Government has spent large sums in constructing
drainage channels and in repairing or strengthening the embank-
ments of many rivers in the province.

284 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

their interest have led to the neglect of the small
village roads in the interior. Very little of the
road-cess comes near the village, and the road fund
is also diverted to some extent to provide for good
drinking water, hospitals, etc. It has been sug-
gested that the road-cess should be imposed on
special areas for special works benefiting such areas.
The money allotted to the Local Boards being
small in amount, the roads often get out of repairs.
Formerly when the roads became bad, the villagers
co-operated together to patch them, but now
what had been the usual duty of the villagers
ceased to be such when they paid for taxes for
the same purpose. Thus while the new system
failed to provide for good roads, the old sense of
responsibility for the provision of roads was also
destroyed.

The waterways also are very important as
means of communications in our country. Even
now though the railways have stolen much of the
traffic of the Ganges (with its tributaries) it still
carries more boat traffic than any other river in the
world except the Yangtsekiang. In many districts
imports by river are found much in excess of those
by rail and by road. Importers of goods to whom
time is of little value or consequence very naturally
select water carriage as being cheapest and most
convenient, and there are, again, certain classes of
goods such as bamboos, large and small, timber,
firewood, hay and straw, rattans, mats, etc., which
from their bulky nature and comparative small
value will not admit of any other mode of con-
veyance. In the delta lands of East Bengal,
intersected by a network of khals and rivers,

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 285

which break their bounds in the rains, the boat is
the sole conveyance for a few months of the year.
Every house has its own boat, made of long narrow
planks of palm wood, in which seven or eight
people can sit, so long as one or two remain
constantly busied, baling out the water with which
it is constantly filling.^ In the boats the boys go
to school, and men from one farmhouse to another
to see their friends or to the bazaars on market
days. Sometimes the bazaars are laid out in open
boats or the shopkeeper in his palm boat follows
the winding waterways, displaying his things to
intending purchasers, and covering long distances in
a short time soon finishes the sale of his stock-in-
trade. Throughout the year, in the Sunderbuns
the Haturia (bazaar-going) boat is very common.
It is a long-shaped swift-going boat, the fore-deck of
which is laden with the shopkeepers' wares, tobacco,
salt, gur, vegetables, and other articles. Behind this
heap about a dozen men are seated, paddle in
hand, striking the waters at full length in front and
behind as far as the hand can reach, communicating
a motion to the boat by which it outdistances all
ordinary ones. By dusk the wares are all sold, or
the remainder is brought back and the party starts
on their homeward voyage. In Chittagong district,
the earthenware used in every household is dis-
tributed almost from door to door by means of
boats, and it is a common sight to see a boat-load
of earthen pots drawn up at the very end of a small
tidal creek, and an impromptu bazaar established
for a week or two ; the boatmen stock their earthen-
ware on the bank, make a small fenced enclosure

1 Nivedita, " Glimpses of Flood and Famine in Eastern Bengal."

286 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

and a hut of mats to camp in and barter pots for
grain till they have a cargo to take away.

Thus the broad rivers, navigable throughout
the year, have been magnificent highways from very
early times, and leading to the development of an
enormous inland trade indirectly contributed to the
prosperity of the agricultural population. Recently,
however, the railway development has interfered
greatly with this easy means of transport through-
out the country. The craft tonnage has shrunk a
great deal. Even the bulky goods have come to
be carried in railways. Such a tendency is fraught
with grave economic disadvantages. Throughout
Europe the canals and waterways are now looked
upon as a necessary supplement to railways, not
merely as feeders but as supplying a need which
railways cannot satisfy. They are considered to
offer special facilities for the transport of bulky
goods, and the cheaper varieties of raw material,
which do not demand very rapid transit, and which
would be unable to bear the cost of removal by
rail. Waterways have been found indeed to have
been instrumental in actually creating industries in
localities which without them could not have been
exploited, and this development has necessitated
the subsequent construction of railways for the
freights that require to be carried rapidly, in much
the same way that a railway requires the con-
comitant construction of a line of telegraphs. This
principle has been accepted generally in Europe,
but it is in Germany that it has found the most
vigorous expression, and it is said that in that
country the new maxim is not ''railways or
canals," but ** railways and canals." In Belgium,

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 287

also, the Government attribute the commercial
prosperity of the people almost entirely to the
facilities of transport that had been secured by
waterways worked in combination with railways.
It is remarkable that the river traffic there has
grown from two hundred and twenty>five million
tons per mile in 1880 to five hundred and sixty
million tons per mile in 1900. This enormous
expansion has not taken place at the expense of the
railway, as the tonnage of railway freight trebled in
the same period. In India, on the other hand, the
railways are expanding at the expense of the water-
ways, and appropriating a large portion of the
traffic which ought to have been carried on our
rivers and canals. Many of the rivers, again, are
becoming choked and unfit as perennial means of
communication, thus further helping the process
of gradual extinction of the river traffic. In the
district of Burdwan, for example, the importance of
Catwa and Culna, which were formerly regarded as
the ports of the district, has seriously declined on
account of the silting up of the river Ganges near
Catwa. The towns are served by steamers for a
portion of the year when there is sufficient water
in the river. During the rest of the year the trade
is carried by carts or country boats, and a good
deal is sent by the East Indian Railway and the
Ranaghat - Murshidabad lines. In Murshidabad
the river in some years in the dry months has not
even sufficient water to enable even the small
country boats to pass through.

The larger vessels which have been employed
in our rivers from time immemorial are now thrown
out of use. The larger the vessel, the cheaper will

288 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

be the cost of transport, for the cost of the crew
does not increase in direct proportion to an increase
in size, while the dead weight of the hull and the
proportion of the accommodation which must be
set apart for the crew are obviously much greater
in a small than in a large vessel. Again, the
quicker a vessel can travel within reasonable limits
the more economical it is. Where river beds are
not deep, the boats have to travel slowly, so the
cost of transport is increased. Thus the decline of
the rivers has been accompanied by a serious falling
off of the traffic. The following facts will tell their
own dismal tale.

The average annual net surplus of income
over expenditure from the Nuddea rivers, the
Bhagirathi, the Jalangi, and the Mathabhanga, in
the period 1871--81 was Rs.145,918. It came
down to Rs.77,495 in 1881 to 1891, and to
Rs.1,615 i^ 1^91 to 1901. From 1895-1906 there
has been a deficit every year, the deficit being
so large as Rs. 107,804 in 1906-7. In 1907-8,
the total receipts amounted to only Rs.35,229.
Though the falling off in the receipts is due to
some extent to a reduction of the tolls ^ and to the
expansion of the railways, it shows quite clearly
that what had been easy and perennial means of
communications in the past are being lost to the
country now. The minor watercourses again,

^ There seem little justification for the imposition of tolls on rivers
when those on roads have been abolished. The tolls are ultimately
paid by the community like a charge upon the taxes ; but in the one
case a great deal more than the actual cost of the work is paid. An
expensive estabhshment is necessary to collect the tolls, and there is
loss due to delay, which is unavoidable in order to measure each boat
and to assess its toll. Bribery also cannot be prevented.

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 289

which are very convenient means of boat traffic
for jute and paddy, also completely dry up in the
hot months without being longer fed by the main
stream when trade is consequently slackened.^

The decline of rivers is sought to be checked
by the system of bundhals. In the hot months
many of the channels have to be deepened by
means of bundh, A line of bamboo stakes is
driven into the beds of the river, mat screens
(Jhamps) are then laid down and well secured to
the bamboo framework. Thus the current flows
with great velocity through the channel enclosed by
the Bundh, while on each side of it a large collec-
tion of sand takes place, materially narrowing and
deepening the stream. The system of bundhals
under the most favourable conditions is fairly suc-
cessful, and channels that might otherwise have
become completely closed have by means of these
bundhals been kept open. But when conditions are
not favourable, when, for instance, the head of the
river is badly situated to obtain a good supply of
water from the Ganges, the bundhals are not of
much use. During the past two years they have
been adopted successfully on the main channel of
the Ganges itself, and in the absence of dredging
plant they constitute the most efficient and least
expensive means of improving the navigation of the
crossings.

Again, the bundhal cannot produce permanent
results ; the work achieved by bundhals in one season
can scarcely ever be recognized in the next.

Thus the need of a dredging plant can easily be
seen. Whether with the improvement of dredging

1 " Waterways in Bengal," by O. C Lees.

290 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

plant a time will come when the excavated channels
will remain permanently open, is a question which
cannot be answered to-day ; but this much we do
know, and that is that the limit has not as yet been
reached at which it can be said that no further
decrease in the amount of dredging is possible.
The researches of M. Kleiber, the officer in charge
of the Volga dredging operations, appear to indicate
that the quantity of sand to be excavated at the
crossings became less and less each year, until
eventually the total amount of excavation required
was only half that which had been so happily
selected and the soil so judiciously deposited, that
after the ensuing flood season the channel was dis-
covered almost unimpaired and required very little
attention by the dredgers. It is evident, therefore,
that this work is of semi-permanent nature, and it
is not improbable that still greater permanence will
be secured when improvements in dredging plant
have been effected, and when, with more experience,
the laws governing the direction of flow at varying
stages of water-level have been more accurately
determined.

In such work this initial expenditure is the
largest that will have to be faced, if the evidence
afforded by the experience gained on the Volga and
Mississippi can be accepted. It has been calculated
with regard to the Bhagirathi that in a few years the
cost of keeping the river throughout the dry season
will be little if at all in excess of what is paid at
present to prevent the river closing altogether.^

1 Objections are also raised against dredging operations on the
Bhagirathi. In reply to a representation of several steamer com-
panies to Government in 1909, the Chief Engineer estimated that the

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 291

River navigation employs a vast number of boats
of various classes. The following are some of the
main varieties. The malini, which is round both
in the stem and the stern, with stem somewhat
higher than the bow ; it is wider and of greater
draught than most other boats used on the rivers ; the
oars are worked from the roof. The pat It is a flat-
bottomed, clinker-built boat of less width and draught
than the malini ; the oars are worked from the roof.
The bhar is a strong, heavy-built boat, capable of
carrying stone, coal, and similar articles; it is of
equal width for nearly the whole of its length, and
has very blunt stem and stern. The katra is a flat-
bottomed, clinker-built boat, of very light draught
for its size ; when loaded it is generally towed ; when
empty it is driven by oars worked from inside the
roof. This particular type of boat seems to suit
the exigencies of traflic of the Nadia rivers, and the
proportion of them to be seen is yearly increasing.
The above boats have a capacity from 500 to 2,500
maunds. They are used by up-country manjhis, or
oarsmen, and ply only during the rains vid Bhagi-
rathi. The ulak is a long, well-shaped boat covered

initial cost of the plant necessary for dredging the off-take of the river
from the Ganges would be 126 lakhs of rupees, and that, if the scheme
were undertaken, the yearly recurring charge for maintenance would
be very heavy, such as could not possibly be met by any toUage which
the steamer companies could afford to pay ; he also pointed out the
necessity of caution in the execution of any work in these rivers, as it
was possible that any channels which might be made might become
larger and deeper, and that those might eventually lead the main
Ganges into the Hugh, and thereby ruin the port and city of Calcutta.
A further point was that any increase in the volume of water passed
down those rivers must mean a decrease in the volume passing down
the Ganges below their off-takes, and that such decrease would
produce a deterioration in the present navigable channels of the
Ganges.

292 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

with roof throughout its length. The sangri is a
peculiar-shaped boat, with a bottom bulging down-
wards from the keel on each side ; it has a very low
freeboard, and is in consequence liable to be swamped
when the rivers are in flood. The phukni is a big
boat, open with the exception of a small portion in
the stem, which is roofed over. The budgeroWy or
*' green boat," is a flat-bottomed boat with a mast
and low-roofed cabin. The saranga is a dug-out,
sometimes enlarged by side-planks and roofed with
bamboo matting. A small saranga carries up to
eight maunds and can be paddled by one man ; a
big saranga, which is chiefly used for traffic on the
canals and shallow rivers, carries up to lOO maunds
and requires a crew of three men. The oharutya
is of the same type as saranga, but somewhat bigger,
and has a movable roof; it carries lOO to 150
mds., and requires three men to work it. The ad-
balam is a larger dug-out, with a plank bulwark
fastened to the side with cane ; it carries from 1 50
to 200 mds., and requires a crew of five men. The
balam has an extra plank along each side, carries
200 to 300 mds., and requires seven men. The
gadu is larger, having another plank ; it carries from
300 to 600 mds., and requires a crew of thirteen
men. The jalyanois is a larger gadu with an extra
plank, which is used for deep sea fishing.

The bhaule, or the smaller pansi, is a passenger
boat with a cabin. The most common boats, how-
ever, are the dinghi and donga, which have been
in use from time immemorial both for fishing and
carrying passengers and goods. Dongas, or dug-
outs, are scooped out from a single tree-trunk, e.g,
mango, sal-tree, cotton, or palm. They have a

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 293

capacity of 3 to 20 mds., and are managed by one
or two men. They may be as large as 30 feet long
and 2 J feet broad, and can carry, if necessary, more
than fifteen men. The dinghi is 25 or 30 feet by
4 feet, with an arched roof of matting in the middle
and a bamboo mast. It is usually managed by two
men, one at the bow and the other at the stem, and
its average burden is 12 to 15 mds. These small
boats ply in the interior during the rains and for
several months after the rains, until the channels
dry up. In times of flood temporary rafts, made
of three or four plantain stems, are used for passing
over streams.

It is interesting to note that the different classes
of boats are each adapted to the nature of the rivers
which they generally navigate. Thus the flat
clinker-built vessels of the western districts would
be ill-adapted to the stormy navigation of the lower
Ganges. The unwieldy bulk of the lofty boats
which use the Ganges from Patna to Calcutta would
not suit the rapid and shallow rivers of the western
districts, nor the narrow creeks through which
vessels pass in the eastern navigation ; and the low
but deep boats of these districts are not adapted to
the shoals of the western rivers. In one navigation,
wherein vessels descend with the stream and return
by the track-rope, their construction consults neither
aptitude for the sail nor for the oar. In the other,
wherein boats, during the progress of the same
voyage, are assisted by the stream of one creek and
opposed by the current of the next, under banks
impracticable to the track-rope, their principal de-
pendence is on the oar, for a winding navigation in
narrow passages admits of no reliance on the sail.

294 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Often grounding in the shallows, vessels would be
unsafe if built with keels. All the constructions of
Bengal want this addition, so necessary for sailing,
and it is probably owing to the same cause that so
rude a form for the rudder, as that of a large oar,
has been so long retained.

The boats are built very cheaply. A circular
board tied to a bamboo cane forms the oar; a
wooden frame loaded with stones is the anchor;
a few bamboos lashed together supply the mast ; a
cane of the same species serves for a yard to the
sail. The sail is a coarse sackcloth woven from
twine made of the fibrous stem of the rush crota-
lania or of the hemp hibiscus, both of which plants
are abundantly cultivated throughout Bengal. The
trees of the country afford resins to sheath the
vessels, and a straw-thatch supplies the place of a
deck to shelter the merchandise. The boat hire
is determined by the weight loaded and distance
traversed. The boat owner pays the manjhi, or
helmsman, and the gunya (tower) as well as the
khewat (paddler) monthly wages. Sometimes the
manjhi manages in toto for the boat owner, and
gets half receipts, out of which he pays the boatmen
and secures his own remuneration. Goods are
often shipped on co-operative principle, the maha-
jan and the boatmen dividing the profit, and the
other half is divided among the manjhi and his
boatmen, he getting lo annas and the boatmen
6 annas. When boatmen receive wages, they are
also fed by the manjhi.

On land the merchandise is usually transported
upon oxen, and sometimes upon buffaloes and
horses. The buffalo is more sluggish and a slower

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 295

traveller than the ox, and does not carry a much
greater weight. Moreover, the buffalo requires more
substantial pasture than can be gleaned on a journey
from the road-side, and being fond of lying in water
would damage the load in the rivers which they
have frequent occasion to ford. Still, buffaloes are
employed both for draught and carriage throughout
Bengal, especially in the western districts. Horses
are rare, being chiefly used by Muhammadan or up-
country dealers. The hackney carriage, the thickka-
gkariy is largely in use in towns. Donkeys, being
considered unclean animals, are never used except
by washermen in carrying soiled clothes to rivers
and tanks. The sukhasan, or a crescent-shaped
litter covered with coloured cloth and borne on
poles to which they are attached by iron hooks,
were formerly in use among the rich. They
resemble to some extent the modern choturdolas,
in which the bride and the bridegroom are carried
in the marriage procession. The sukhasan has
been replaced by the palki or palanquin. The palki
bearers at present are chiefly Urias and Bagdis.
The palki was once regarded as an insignia of rank
and its use by Hindu Zemindars was forbidden by
Nawab Murshidkuli Khan. It is now becoming
rare except in villages, where they are used by the
well-to-do and for carrying ladies of respectable
families. The most common conveyance, however,
is the buffalo or the bullock cart. Carts without any
covers or with topaSy mat-covers, only are used for
carrying loads to the towns or markets. Those with
covers are still the only conveyance in the villages
in the interior for people going long distances.^

^ In the Sonthal Perganas, the Sagar consists merely of two solid

296 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

The internal trade is mostly carried on at
weekly hats, at fairs, or religious gatherings held
annually at certain places and at the daily bazaars.
There are permanent markets in only a few im-
portant towns of the country on the river banks or
the largest villages where the people can obtain the
necessaries of life whenever they like. The chief
articles sold at these bazaars are food grains, oil,
salt, fish, vegetables, and also coarse bread and con-
fectionery for the use of travellers who might hire
a resting-place at the mudi or confectioner's shops
for the night. Where these bazaars have sprung
up near a law court or a trading centre, the shops
afford shelter to litigants and witnesses or to traders.
The litigants and the witnesses may wait for the
decision of their cases, or stay in the shops for some
time more to enjoy themselves in the town. A
weekly, bi-weekly hat, however, is more common,
being often the sole source from which the villagers
can buy their necessaries, and is a more brisk scene.
The people in the neighbourhood finish their dinner
early, and carefully ascertaining from the housewives
the requirements of the days which intervene be-
tween one hat and another,^ sally forth for the hats.

wheels with bamboos fastened to the axle. They taper to a point at
the other extremity, thus forming a triangle on which the goods are
placed and rest upon a crossbar, which passes over the necks of the
buffaloes or bullocks which draw it. These carts are capable of
travelling over steep hills covered with boulders.

^ Shops are seldom met with in small villages ; when found they
keep but small provisions, which cannot feed even a single family for
a week and are totally unequal to meet the wants of the whole village.
Trade was carried on in hats held once or twice a month from early
times. Caesare de Ferdici, who visited the Satgaon kingdom about
1580, described the system thus : " I was in the kingdom four moneths,
whereas many merchants did buy or fraight boats for their benefite
and with these barkes, they goe up and down the river of Ganges to

THE PHERIWALAH.

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 297

Formerly barter was more common than now.
Thus the peasant as he went to the hat would take
a basket containing some vegetables, a bundle of
jute, or a quantity of coriander seed with which he
exchanged his necessaries. At present, however,
he takes only a few annas in his loin-cloth, or if he
has some garden vegetables he sells these for money
and then buys his stock. The hat usually meets
in the afternoon. The noise from a concourse of
people engaged in simultaneous barter and sale is
heard from a great distance and indicates that the
hat has begun. The fish market, the cloth stalls,
the betel shops are the most noisy, being the most
attractive. The oil man is in the market with his
measures and the oil in pots, carefully placed in a
greasy basket, and the salt vendor sells from heaps
of salt small quantities at four annas a seer. The
Moira, or confectioner, carries on a brisk business.^
The potter sells a large number of his cheap handis.
The druggist, the basket-maker, the pedlar, and
even the shoemaker are also there with their re-
spective commodities, busily engaged in selling
them at a profit sufficient to cover the expense of
purchasing the necessaries. One may also find the
washerman, at the corner of the hat, giving back
the washed clothes to the respective owners for a
pice or two a piece, and receiving and marking with
a vegetable ink a fresh supply of soiled cloth to be

faires, buying their commodities with a great advantage because every
day in the weeke they have a faire now in one place, now in another,
and I also hired a barke and went up and downe the river and did my
businesse " (" Hakluyt's Voyages," Vol. V., p. 41).

^ He is quite well-to-do, and often grows rich and becomes a
money-lender or a land-holder. His prosperity is shown by the fact
that among the villagers he often possesses a pucca house.

298 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

washed and returned on the next hat day. The
purchase and sale continue till sunset, when the
crowd slowly begins to disperse.

The hats are usually under the Izardars, who
have leased them from the Zemindars at a stipu-
lated annual rate. They in their turn levy market
dues in order to derive a profit. These vary at
different hats. The following rates have been
found to prevail in a market in Jessore district : —

1. On river-side huts, or at ghats where boats or
carts exchange their loads for rice or dhan sold, the

rate levied is per maund i pice.

2. Dhan is sold and chilly taken in lieu, per

maund 2 pice.

3. For every cart laden with capsicum .... 2 pice + \ seer

of chilly.

4. For peas exported, for every hundred maunds 1 1 annas.

5. For 7nug and mashkalai beans, for every

hundred maunds Rs.2-4 per

maund.

Hat Rents.

Rs. a. p.

For every boat of pottery 010

For every load of pottery 006

For other shops, each 006

For gur sold, per load 003

Besides these, tolas, or contributions in fruits
and handfuls, are levied for the bazaar god or god-
dess, for the Izardar, for the sweeper, and also for
the drummer who invites people for the hat.

The rates in a market in Berhampore, Mur-
shidabad, are as follows : —

1. For every cart laden with potato, brinjal, potol,
turmeric, as well as mug, mashkhalai, oror and rice . 3 annas.

2. For a head-load of vegetables 2 pice.

3. For every cart laden with mangoes 4 to 5 annas.

4. For a basket of mangoes (formerly I J pice) . . 2 pice.

5. For one bahngi, or load, of fish (formerly 7 pice) 2 annas.

6. For a fish basket (formerly 2 pice) 3^ pice.

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 299

The Stalls are also hired out, a vegetable stall
or fish stall (pat) pays one anna every day. Tolas
are also taken. From each tapa of the cart laden
with mangoes, 20 or 25 mangoes are given to the
zemindar. Handfuls are also taken from vegetable
and fish baskets. Those who cannot sell more than
four annas worth commodities do not pay any rates.
When markets are kept as khash, ix, in possession
of the zemindar, the hulshanas and gomustas of
zemindar are responsible for the collection of the
hat rates and rents.

Considerable inland trade also takes place at
fairs and religious gatherings which are held
periodically at certain spots in most districts.
These are chiefly held at the time of Hindu
festivals, or in honour of peers and fakirs and
Hindu sannyasis, and collect a large number of
traders. Indeed, *' selling plantains on the pretext
of attending the Rathajatra mela " has passed into a
proverb in Bengal. Thus, in Burdwan district the
gatherings at Agradwip and Bagnaparah, important
places of pilgrimage for the Vaishnabs, where about
ten thousand people assemble every year, are mainly
of a religious character, but are also used for trade
purposes. In Midnapore, the principal fairs and
gatherings are held at Tulshichaura, in honour of a
celebrated spiritual preceptor named Gokulanund,
at Kutabpore, in honour of the goddess Brahmani,
which lasts for eight days, and at Gopibullavpore
on the river Suvarnarekha, held in honour of
Chaitanya, an image of whom is installed. A
wealthy rajah of the district made a grant of con-
siderable landed property for the up-keep of the
worship of this image, and a large establishment of

300 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

priests is maintained for the performance of the
ceremonies.^ In the district of Murshidabad one of
the most important melas had for a long time been
the Chaltia-Maltia mela held in honour of Raghu-
nath on the Ramnovomi day. It lasted for a month,
the daily attendance being more than ten thousand
persons. There is no such attendance now. The
most important melas now are the Tulshibihar
mela in Jangipore, which lasts for a month, and is
attended by nine thousand people, the melas of
Gopinath and Shamchand in the Kandi sub-division,
and the Gangasnan mela at Manganpara. Another
mela is held in honour of a Musalman fakir,
Dada Peer, at Nagar Khargram, and lasts for ten
days, in which ten thousand people assemble. The
staple articles of trade at these fairs are country-
made metallic utensils, stone plates, and cups,
** pati " mats, vegetables, etc. Numerous fairs are
also held in Nadia, the chief of which are the Rash
melas at Navadwipa and Santipore. The mela at
Sivnivas on the Bhim-Ekadasi day is attended by
about fifteen thousand persons, while those at
Kusthia and Ghoshpara attract about ten thousand.
In Hughly, a large fair is held at Mahesh at the
time of the Car Festival. People combine busi-
ness with pleasure ; and long lines of booths are
constructed, in which a brisk trade is carried on in
cloths and trinkets, such as looking-glasses, combs,
boxes, caps, mats, hookahs, children's toys, etc.
The crowd is immense, and on some occasions it is
estimated to be a hundred thousand men. At
Panduah there is a shrine of a Muhammadan saint
named Shah Sufi Sultan, where fairs are held every

^ "Midnapore District Gazetteer," p. 129.

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 301

year in the months of Paush, Falgoon, and Chait.
These are well attended, and many shopkeepers
come to them from adjoining places. But perhaps
the most important fair in the whole of Bengal is
that held at the Gungasagar island in the Diamond
Harbour Sub-division. The popularity of this fair
is as great as ever, and some eighty thousand
pilgrims visit it every year. Most of these fairs
mentioned above are held on the banks of the
Bhagirathi or its tributaries, or other minor rivers,
or of big dighies and tanks where good drinking
water is close by. At the time of the mela,
a large number of merchants and shopkeepers
assemble in the places, and, making temporary
sheds, stay there as long as the mela lasts. Various
things are purchased by the pilgrims, sometimes
there is even the purchase and sale of cattle, and
especially by the women, who have, perhaps, for
the first time been away from their homes ; thus
there is a very brisk trade done in all kinds of
commodities. Thus, when the mela breaks up, the
shopkeepers return home with large profits. The
importance of the melas in our rural economy is apt
to be forgotten. The Jatras, or musical plays and
religious songs like the Sankirtan and the Kabi that
accompany a religious festival, have a highly educa-
tive value to people who are not taught in schools.
There is competition between different Jatra parties,
and the judges are the common people. The melas,
again, serve to some extent the purposes of a modern
agricultural and industrial exhibition.^ It will be

* As Mr. Gumming has remarked, melas "in Bengal for some time
must take the place of other forms of advertisements, such as cata-
logues, circulars, and newspapers, among the uneducated public.

302 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

able to perform its functions more fully in this
direction if the modern system of prizes and awards
be introduced, and competition encouraged among
artisans and agriculturists of the different parts of
the country.

Besides these fairs, a large number of pilgrims
gather at all the principal ghats on the banks of
the Bhagirathi on all important bathing occasions,
when crowds of petty traders attend, and miscel-
laneous articles are purchased by the pilgrims
to satisfy alike their curiosity and household
wants.

A considerable portion of the local trade is
also carried on by travelling brokers and agents,
departs or paikars. They are sometimes called in
Eastern Bengal Chasania beparis (because they
travel in boats) and parias. Thus in every village,
however remote from a town or trade centre, the
Muhammadan beparis are seen hawking about
cotton and making it over to katanis, or spinners,
mostly the wives of the peasants. For one powa
of thread which the housewife spins, the trader
give a powa and a half of cotton. This is for the
coarsest quality. For the first quality one and
three-fourths seers of cotton are exchanged for one
seer of thread, and for the second quality two seers
of thread are exchanged for five seers of cotton.
The paikars sell the spun thread to weavers at the
weekly hats. Again, in those parts of the country
where the trade consists chiefly in the export of
agricultural products like rice, jute, silk, oil-seeds,
etc., the big European merchants of the towns have
their kuthis, arhats, or warehouses, where resident
agents, or gumasthas, come into business relations

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 303

with individual agriculturists. They keep a jama-
kharack bahi, or a daily register, giving an account
of the amounts advanced to the agriculturists and
the crop received from them, and a khata, or ledger
book, compiled from the former, showing each
creditor's account separately. No tamashook or
bond is signed by the creditor, the transaction
depending solely on the account-book kept by the
mahajan. The gumasthas offer good prices for
the crop, freely offer and distribute seeds and loans
at a rate lower than what the local mahajan will
charge from the peasant. Sometimes the gumastha
lends money to the agents, dalals, or gives them a
profit for the crop they bring in. The latter, in
their turn, make advances to the agriculturists, the
jute-cultivators, or the cocoon-rearers, as the case
may be, and collecting the crop from them, pay
back the money or divide the profits with the
gomasta. If they fail to get the required quantity
from the cultivators to whom they advanced the
money, they have to frequent other hats and go
about from homestead to homestead making fresh
purchases. Thus the European traders who have
advanced money through the manager, the gumastha
or the dalal, are sure of the quantity of crops they
collect for them. Sometimes, again, the gumastha
comes into temporary business relations with an
aratdar, or owner of warehouse, through whom he
advances to a defaulting cultivator. This responsi-
bility is called by the technical name of jkonke.
The purchases thus made in the interior of a dis-
trict are sent by the gumastha to the gadi, or main
firm, in Calcutta for export. In jute chalani, or
export trade, the moffusil aratdar charges i to

304 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

\\ pice per maund of jute he secures for the
gumastha in the jute-producing districts.

In the case of the import trade in cotton goods,
coals, enamelled ware, umbrellas, cigarettes, and
other small articles of luxury which are in request
among the people, the middle men do not usually
go to every village to deal with the consumers
individually. They carry their goods on pack-
bullocks or carts, and then dispose them off at the
weekly markets or periodical fairs which are held
all over the country. At the close of the year they
return the money they borrowed from the mahajans
of the town and pay a share of their profits. Some-
times the profits are divided between the mahajan,
the paikar, and the owner of the cart or boat used
in conveying the goods from place to place. In-
stances of the trader's individual dealings with the
consumers are, however, not wanting. The kabuli,
with his collection of dried fruits, resins, walnuts,
and even warm clothing, is often seen strolling
across village fields, where he is a terror to the
little folk. The woman depart, with her basket of
glass and lac bangles, is also found pushing the
sale of her wares among the housewives in cot-
tages, who are easily persuaded by her glib and
ready tongue. Sometimes, again, the brass-ware
manufacturers employ paikars, whom they give
large profits. They hawk about, attracting the
notice of the people by the shrill noise of the
kansar.

Mr. M. B. Dadabhoy has made the following
remarks about this system of selling goods through
beparis and paikars. ** As an organization for adver-
tisement in distant parts, and ascertainment of market

RURAL TRADE AND TRANSPORT 305

needs its utility is little. The paikars themselves
are not intelligent and enterprising enough. The
local industries thus languish from isolation. They
have also become more or less effete from absence
of adaptation to popular tastes from ignorance.
The time has come when the Western methods
of exploitation of the market through travel-
ling agents must be adopted by the manufacturer.
The middleman is the relic of an antiquated
system. But there is one serious difficulty, the
isolation of, and the absence of corporate exist-
ence among, the petty manufacturers. India is a
country of cottage industry : every artisan works
in and with the family in utter seclusion from the
commercial world. The paikar is just the agent to
suit him. But change in the modus operandi is
possible."

Again, in the present system the trader exploits
the grain-producer, or the artisan, to an extent
hardly imagined. Both agriculturists and artisans
live more or less at great distances from the markets.
Hence they are at the mercy of the traders, from
whom they get all the information about the com-
mercial world that they can possess. A few
instances will be sufficient to show the exploitation.
The agriculturist gets advances from the trader
for the cultivation of jute in July and he sells in
October. For an advance of Rs.5 to Rs.5 8as.,
he gives a maund worth Rs.9 to Rs.io. For
linseed he would give a maund worth Rs.7 for an
advance of Rs.5, and Rs.2 8as. worth grain for
an advance of Rs.i 8as. three or four months back.
Though the interest for the advances has to be
reckoned, yet the profits of the trader are clearly

3o6 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

much more than are proper. Unless the sale of
agricultural crops and artisans' wares is re-organized,
a large portion of the profits of agriculture and
industry will fill the purse of rapacious middlemen
and intermediaries.

CHAPTER III

THE TRANSITION IN TRADE

The gradual development of trade will bring about
an inevitable change in the methods of trade organi-
zation, which have been indicated in the preceding
chapter. Not only the middleman who carries on
his trade individually with his own small capital,
but also the method of his buying and selling will
be things of the past. The middleman now carries
on his trade on an individual proprietary basis.
Again, he purchases and sells at retail rates, and
he deals only with those commodities which are
purchasable and saleable in a particular locality.
He commands a local area selling all the character-
istic economic products of that area. In India, the
specialization in the trade in the economic products
is not carried to as great an extent as in the West,
but is dominated by the conditions of the local area
exploited and served. Throughout the country no
shop specializes in oil, ghee, sugar, and in food
grains. Very frequently the shop sells all the food
grains, salt, sugar, and all the commodities which
are required for Indian consumption. Only in
towns some specialization has been effected in the
sale of cloth and of toys and trinkets imported from
abroad ; in villages there is little specialization.
All these main features of the present internal trade

3o8 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

of India will disappear as trade increases in volume
and extent. The retail trade will be superseded by
wholesale trade. The trade on an individual pro-
prietary basis will give place to trade on the joint-
stock basis, where gains and losses will be shared
by a few individuals. Again, specialization will be
more fully carried out. As means of communica-
tion are developed, trade will come to be localized.
Each locality will come to specialize in the trade of
commodities for which it has some natural advan-
tages. These changes have already begun. We
are actually in the midst of this transition, and
already some characteristics of a more developed
and better organized trade system have made them-
selves manifest.

The transition is not easy and will take a long
time, and might be accompanied by much suffering,
it may be temporary, of particular classes of traders
and middlemen. Again, the change will lead to
permanent suffering of all classes of people if the
specialization in trade due to an efficient trade
organization is carried beyond proper limits. In
an agricultural country, specialization in agricultural
trade and industry should be limited by the character
of the community's characteristic needs. Each
locality must have the requisite supply of all the
necessary food grains produced by its own agri-
culturists. Where this is not the case, trade
becomes a means, not of service, but of exploita-
tion.

Unfortunately in our country our internal trade
guided by foreign merchants is gradually tending
to exploit our agriculture in the interests of foreign
countries. The exports of rice and wheat have

THE TRANSITION IN TRADE 309

been steadily increasing, while their production has
not extended in the same proportion. On the other
hand, the increasing demand for raw materials of
manufacture, jute and cotton, oil-seeds and dyeing
stuffs, has led in some tracts to the actual contraction
of the areas under rice and wheat. In the eleven
years ending 191 1, the increase of exports of rice
and wheat has been steady and continuous with but
slight fluctuations even in famine years.

Export of rice in million hundredweights —

I90I.

1902.

1903.

1904.

1905.

1906.

1907.

1908.

1909.

1910.

X911.

47-4

49*4

387

38-2

30-2

39-2

52*4

7*3

IO-3

25-9

187

17-6

2-1

25*3

27-2

But the areas under rice and wheat have not
increased in the same proportion.
Area under rice in million acres —

1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 1910.

70 71-6 69-6 73-5 73*4 73'5 75-9 72-8 787 78-5

Area under wheat in million acres —

1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 190S. 1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 1910.

i8-6 19-6 23'6 23-5 22*4 25*1 i8*4 21*2 227 24*4

On the other hand, the area under non-food
products is steadily increasing.

Area under jute in million acres —

1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 1910. 191 1.

2-2 2-1 2*5 2-9 3-1 3-5 3-9 2-85 2-87 2*93 3*1

Area under cotton in million acres —

1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. X907. 1908. 1909. 1910.

io*3 in 11-9 13 13 137 13-9 12-9 13-1 14-4

The area under food grains increased by 7*17
per cent, only, while that under cotton and jute
together increased by 50 per cent, in the ten years
ending in 1906. The total increase in cropped
areas during the twelve years since 1892-3, was

3IO THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

1 7*4 million acres, or about 8 per cent It was thus
distributed —

Food crops ... 5*4 million acres, or about 3 per cent.
Non-food crops . . 12*0 „ „ „ 29 „

Thus more than two-thirds of the added acreage
during the period was for the cultivation of non-food
crops, and less than a third for food grains. But
the most alarming fact of the position is that the
exclusive growth of raw materials for foreign export
is continued in the face of a stationary or falling
range of prices and concurrently with it.

The prices of raw materials show an unmistak-
able tendency to a fall. Jute is an exception, being
our practical monopoly. The price of jute has in-
creased by 100 to 150 per cent. But tea and indigo
have declined, and linseed and raw cotton have

remained nearly the same.

1873. 1883. 1903. 1908. 1912.

Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs.

Jute per bale of 400 lbs. ... i8| 17 J 37 45 55
Cotton candy of 784 lbs. . . . 255 200 192 267 261
Tea, lb 8 as. Sj as. 5 as. 6| as. 7 as.

Thus, in spite of declining or stationary prices,
the Indian cultivator grows more and more raw
materials for foreign export in preference to food-
stuffs ; and yet the home demand for food crops is
continuously increasing on account of the steady
growth of the population, and their prices rising
phenomenally. The Index Numbers of prices of
the principal food grains (rice, wheat, jowar, bajra,
ragi, gram, and barley) have been thus calculated^ —

1873.

1898.

1899.

1900.

I90I.

1902.

1903.

100

139

137

142

157

141

126

1904.

1905.

1906.

1907.

1908.

1909.

1910.

117

147

179

180

131

195

168

^ It is unquestionable that the increased demand for export of rice
and wheat, in face of the contraction of the areas under them due to

THE TRANSITION IN TRADE 311

The reason of the Indian peasant's preference
for the production of non-food products for the
foreign market is his growing dependence on the
foreign trader for his cultivation. We have already
described in the chapter on rural credit the system
under which the foreign exporting firms and their
local agencies supply the cultivator with cash ad-
vances. In tracts where the peasant is hopelessly
poor and indebted, and cannot even procure the
money-lender's aid, he is forced to seek and accept
advances from the agents of the European firms, and
grows raw materials for the European markets in
preference to food- crops consumed in the country.

The case of jute cultivation is exceptional, the
cropping of jute being on the whole more profitable
to the peasant than that of foodstuffs. The peasant
gets ready money in his hands and feels that a bag
of money is worth the same or even more than the
granary of his yard, though he sometimes receives

the foreign demand for non-food products, is one of the important
causes of high prices in the country. The following remarks from the
Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. III., bear on this point: "Rice, of
which the exports have greatly increased during the last two years
(1901-1903), remains extremely dear. Wheat in India proper, like
rice in Burma, is being grown more extensively for export, and the
recent revival of the foreign demand has produced exports bearing a
far larger proportion to the consumption than in the case of rice."
Again, " the demand for export has undoubtedly influenced the price of
rice and wheat directly, and through them the prices of the commoner
food grains." Professor W^illiams, criticising Mr. Datta's Report on
the Rise of Prices in India, says that he does not emphasise this
factor, and takes no pains to point out how important the expansion
of railways has been in sending up the prices of export commodities
in inland stations. He says, " Prices of wheat have risen by a larger
percentage at Karachi than at Liverpool, and by a larger percentage
in the Punjab than at Karachi." So also taking cotton, jute, and rice
into account the effect of railways makes itself clear {Economic
Journal, Vol. XXV.).

312 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

a rude shock when, in a time of scarcity, he has to
realize painfully that money is not grain and jute
cannot satisfy hunger. But the exception in the
case of jute cultivation does not mitigate the gravity
of the general agricultural situation in the country,
the growing subservience of our peasant to the
foreign exporter, and the consequent danger to the
food supply of the people. Our agriculture is
coming gradually under the direction and control
of the foreign merchant, and if the process of ex-
ploitation of our agriculture in the interests of the
foreign merchants continues for long, the whole
nation will be reduced to the condition of serfs on
its own soil.

It is remarkable that the network of railways
in the country helps this process of exploitation.
The railways have, indeed, conferred some im-
portant boons on our society. The growth of
passenger traffic shows the importance of railways
to the people. Pilgrimages have now become
easier, their cost has become trifling and the
journey rapid, and thousands of pilgrims can now
attend religious festivals. The railways are bring-
ing the people of India in different provinces into
more close and intimate connection, the annihila-
tion of distance thus contributing to the forma-
tion and development of an Indian nationality.
Economically, the railways can carry food in time
of need from prosperous districts to famine-stricken
areas. Indeed the function of railways as carriers
limit their use. The railways are not producers,
they cannot create agricultural wealth. Their
function is to distribute the wealth already produced
in the country.

THE TRANSITION IN TRADE S'S

Where the distribution of wealth is carried on in
a way injurious to the real interests of the people,
railways do more harm than good. In India the
effect of railways very often becomes not equal
distribution, but the depletion of wealth. The
railways, guided and controlled by the European
mercantile community, have become agencies of a
trade system which has been exploiting our agri-
culture in their own interests. So far as our
industries are concerned, the railways have not
given them any encouragement. The freight
charges are often too high, and their high rates
prevent the development of our cottage as well as
factory industries. In America and in Europe
cheap freight charges have played a very important
part in developing infant industries. In India the
railways fail to utilize the industrial resources,
while they are exploiting our agriculture in the
interests of the European merchants. These
men are powerful in India and in England,
and are pressing programme after programme
of railway construction in the country. The
Government should resist this pressure in view
of the larger interests of the people. The rail-
ways, indeed, now rest on a sound commercial
basis, and the Government might use loans
raised by it for purposes of railway construction.
But it is not proper that any surpluses left after
public expenditure should be devoted to railway
construction.

Unfortunately the public opinion with regard to
this question is not at all strong. What is wanted in
our country is a clear knowledge of the comparative
economic importance of railways and waterways.

314 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

We have already pointed out in the last chapter
that waterways ought to be looked upon as an
essential and necessary supplement to railways
in this country. Bulky ^raw materials, which are
cheap and cannot bear costs of carriage, com-
modities which need not require rapid transit,
should be transported by waterways. It would be
an economic loss if railways are used for their
transport. Again, in India the rivers are the
easiest and cheapest means of transport to the
small peasant proprietors and petty artisans and
traders.

Where trade has not been centralized, the com-
modities are generally small in bulk and amount,
and the traders and producers can conveniently
hire small boats, consult their individual con-
venience during the journey, and conduct the sale
themselves. Further, the facilities which water-
ways offer for irrigation and drainage purposes
are most important to an agricultural community.
Thus while railways have been mere carriers of
wealth, waterways are carriers as well as producers
of wealth in the country. The railways have been
obstructing drainage in the country. The Indian
Railway Act, indeed, requires railway administra-
tion to provide waterways sufficient to enable the
water to drain off the land near or affected by the
railway as rapidly as before its construction ; but it
is open to question whether it is physically possible
to do so, and there is no doubt that in areas liable
to inundation, the embankment does frequently
alter the drainage of the country. On one side the
floods are deeper and last longer than before, and
soil becomes water-logged ; on the other, the land

THE TRANSITION IN TRADE 315

does not receive the same amount of moisture or
the same fertilising deposit of silt/ This water-
logging is no doubt one of the important causes of
malaria which has resulted in the low vitality
and diminished economic activity of the people.
Waterways, on the other hand, provide facilities
for drainage and irrigation, leading causes of the
prosperity of an agricultural community. We have
already observed the gradual decline of our water-
ways. India is gradually losing her natural facili-
ties for irrigation purposes. Even drainage is
suffering. The river-beds have been heightened
in some tracts to such an extent that the
drainage is away from instead of towards the
river.^ Rivers are silting up at their mouths
and become more and more useless for trade
and irrigation purposes and make a whole dis-
trict malarious. Thus the paramount importance
of the improvement of our waterways is easily
understood.

Not only for the sake of trade and irrigation,
not only for agricultural prosperity, but for the very
health and well-being of the agricultural community,
systematic measures have to be adopted to improve
the irrigation of our waterways. Instead of spend-
ing more and more on the extension of railways,
the Government of India should begin to devote
increased sums of money towards the improvement
of the waterways. The Famine Commission re-
commended that 20,000 miles of railways would
be practically sufficient, so far as protection from
famine was concerned. That limit had long ago

1 "The Census Report," Vol. V., 1913.

2 Ibid,

3i6 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

been reached. But we are still having more railway
lines. From 1890 to 191 2 the mileage of railways
has doubled from 15,860 miles in 1890 to 31,981
miles in 191 2. More lines do not mean greater
immunity from famines, they mean greater facili-
ties for exploitation which is the cause of famines.
More expenditure on waterways means greater
facilities of trade and irrigation, better drainage
and increased agricultural wealth and well-being of
the people.

But the railways are not solely responsible for
this exploitation. The entire organization of trade
in which the peasant is helplessly subservient to
the foreign exporter is, as we have already seen,
responsible for this process. Such a system
requires a thorough modification. Our trade is
now guided by foreign merchants financed and
directed according to their interests. Our system
of transport is made to suit their needs, and our
agriculture, which is our national industry, is now
coming to be exploited for the markets of foreign
countries. A more alarming situation in economic
life can hardly be conceived. In order to prevent
the system of foreign exploitation of our agriculture
which makes us more and more dependent on the
markets of the world and threatens to jeopardise
the food supply in our home market, the present
system of agricultural credit has to be re-organized.
The re-organization of trade must be preceded
by the re- organization of credit. If the peasant
becomes no longer dependent on the European
merchants for the cultivation of his crops, he will
not cultivate such crops which are not more profit-
able and which do not satisfy the hunger of his

THE TRANSITION IN TRADE 317

family, ever on the verge of starvation. How
agricultural credit can be re-organized and the
sale of agricultural crops made to serve the
economic needs of the village, will be discussed
in a later chapter.^

Vzcie especially, pp. 422-434.

BOOK IV
THE ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF INDIA

CHAPTER I

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM AND ITS LINE OF
EVOLUTION

We have studied some main features of the indus-
trial organization of our country. Our study has
revealed some striking phenomena which every
one interested in our industrial development should
always bear in mind. The cottage industries of
our country represent a type of economic organiza-
tion which has been discredited in the West. The
industrial revolution in Europe has initiated the
tendency towards large-scale organization. The
application of steam-power to manufacture was
the main cause of this tendency, the cost of steam
installation being proportionately less the greater
its size. Hence the large establishment could
secure economies of production not within the
reach of small establishments. Thus the cottage
organization greatly declined and became extinct in
many industries, being superseded by the factory.
But the decline and extinction of the cottage
system were not so universal as is very often
supposed. Even in countries like England and
Germany the cottage industry is still maintaining
itself successfully against the large-scale orga-
nization, as will appear from a later chapter. In

322 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

India, the cottage industry is universally regarded
nowadays as a mediaeval form of industry which
has become obsolete, and the modern factory is
idealised. The reason for this general dislike of
the cottage industry is not far to seek. Hand-
loom weaving, which is by far the most important
cottage industry, suddenly and rapidly declined
during the last few decades in competition with the
mill industry, and this illustration is used to show
that the extinction of the cottage system in other
industries as well is inevitable. It is well known
that the decline of our hand-loom weaving was not
due solely to economic causes. The repressive
commercial policy of the East India Company was
an important factor in this decline. As regards the
economic factor, the superior productivity of the
mills in Lancashire, it should be recognized that
the cotton industry in England has advantages
which are by no means shared by all kinds of large
industry. The employment of cheap woman labour
in the cotton mills in England greatly reduced the
expenses of production. Woman labour, however,
cannot be employed in every kind of industry.
Thus the partial absorption of handwork by
machinery in the cotton industry is due to a special
advantage inherent in it, and the supposition that
all small industries are doomed to disappear, like
hand-weaving, is based on a hasty generalization.
A study of the cottage industries of the country
has, on the other hand, shown that many of them
have great vitality even under the present unfavour-
able circumstances. In fact, the cottage industries
are still living forms of economic organization, which,
if certain improvements, both in the mechanical

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM 323

processes as well as in the general character of the
business management, are adopted have a great
future before them.

The reasons for the persistence of such a
type of organization are obvious. It is the pro-
duct at once of our economic environment as well
as of our social and ethical ideals. Agriculture
in all lands is always associated with small indus-
tries carried on in the home, and in our country
the necessity of running small industries in cottages
is easily understood if we remember that for nearly
three months in the year agriculture is almost at
a standstill. Moreover, large-scale farming is un-
known in our country on account of our charac-
teristic system of land tenure, and law of inheritance.
Property being sub-divided amongst a large number
of family members, each person gets only a small
plot of land to cultivate. Thus his family usually
carries on a subsidiary industry to supplement
the income obtained from agriculture. Lastly,
the big industry implies certain social ideals
which are not acceptable to the people. The
methods of Western industrialism cannot be
adopted without the disintegration of caste and
family ; but the Indian people believe in the virtues
of joint family life as well as in the influence of the
social ideal as embodied in caste. Indeed, they
find their work repugnant when it is not also shared
by other members of the family, or at least when it
is not carried in their midst. The caste in their
mind represents the family writ large, and its
influence on the life of the individual, sanctioned
and supported by religion, still persists. The
individual finds in the caste the expression of the

324 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

ideal of a larger unity in society. First the family
and then the caste mould the character of the
individual, checking an anti-social individualism
without interfering with individuality. These are
still the fundamental ideas of the people of India,
and it will be wrong to expect that such ideas will
change very soon even amidst the forces which
have now been working against them.

Another condition which the adoption of
Western industrialism must pre-suppose is the
Western outlook of life. The frugal and uncon-
ventional life of the Indian presents a striking
contrast with the artificial life of the Westerner.
The Indian will be happy if he can satisfy his few
natural wants. The Western people's attitude
towards the satisfaction of wants is different. They
believe in the multiplication of wants. A higher
social position in the West implies a higher grade
of comfort, luxuries and conventional needs. To
the Indian, on the other hand, there is only one
plane of living, one standard of consumption in
theory. In India, comfort and not luxury is sought
for, and the ideal of comfort is the same for all
classes in society. The same ideal of plain living
and high thinking dominates all. The respect for
man as man, and for the ideal of self-denial as the
means for the realization of God-in-man, the two
striking characteristics of the Indian outlook of life,
have their influence on the system of industry.
India has reared a system of economic organization
on the firm basis of social equality and justice. In
the Indian industrial system, no one is master, no
one is servant. Hand-power is more important than
the machine. Artisans work on their own account,

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM 325

and not at the bidding of any masters or employers
or of machinery. It is the production of wealth by
free men. There is real concrete equality between
man and man in the Indian economic organization.
Every one is free to pursue his economic activities
in his own way. No one is forced to be idle,
because no one depends for work on another.
Labour is healthy and pleasant, and there is
sufficient leisure. The end of production in India
is not wealth, but the leisure which wealth brings.
And this leisure the Indian knows to use profitably
in the development of character, in his intellectual
and moral progress. The system of production,
again, allows a large amount of leisure. In India
agriculture is more important than industry, and
industry is carried on at intervals with agri-
culture. Man controls the economic machinery,
the machinery does not control man. Thus the
labourer tills the land which his forefathers tilled
before him. Their wealth he has inherited, and
along with the wealth he has also inherited their
responsibilities, and he will bequeath his wealth with
his responsibilities to his sons and grandsons. Not
only the magic of property but also the duties and
obligations of family life make the Indian peasant
one of the most industrious workers on the sur-
face of the earth. Industries are carried on in
cottages. And there has been developed a system
of industrial credit and trade according to which
the middlemen and traders regularly come to the
artisans' cottages with ready money or with raw
materials of the industries, supply these to the
artisans, and go back to their markets with their
assortment of wares. The organization of home

326 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

industries has thus created an appropriate organiza-
tion of money-lenders, traders, and middlemen. The
moral element involved in the artisan's work in
the home amidst the members of the family is
highly efficacious. The collaboration of the family
members not only economizes expenses but
sweetens labour. Culture and refinement come
easily to the artisan through his work amidst his
kith and kin. Again, in the Indian industrial world
there is no room for hard rivalry and indecent
competition. The people have only one ambition,
that of transmitting their patrimony, their land or
their immaterial wealth, their hereditary skill in
an art or handicraft, to their sons and grandsons,
somehow maintaining themselves and their family
members. They will not work more, in order to
earn more money. They will be satisfied if they
can get a morsel of food twice a day without being
borrowers to any body. This content is born of
racial habit. And to this content, the absence of
any ambition or zeal to amass wealth, is due the
stability of the Indian economic organization. The
Indian economic system never gets out of joint.
Economic disorders are unknown in India. The
Indian economic system is to be figured not as the
temporary equilibrium of rival forces, but rather as
the permanent equilibrium when motion and energy
are restricted in their operation in their proper
spheres. The Indian industrial world does not
therefore engender conflicts and disputes, strikes
and lock-outs. On the other hand, it disciplines
the people in healthy social relations. The crafts-
man's relations with the assistants and apprentices
are most cordial, to which correspond certain well-

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM 327

defined duties and obligations. The middleman,
the trader, or the money-lender in their dealings
with the craftsman are always straightforward.
They do not exploit the labourer but maintain him.
The craftsman also looks towards them with due
reverence. Indeed all the relationships which are
entered into in the industrial world, e,g, between
debtor and creditor, employer and employed, master
artisan and apprentice, artisan and trader, landlord
and tenant, and their respective duties and obliga-
tions, call for a perpetual exercise of the social
virtues and humanities. It is for this reason that
the Indian industrial world is more humanized and
socialized and has lost more of the barbaric self-
assertion and aggressiveness, and acquired more
patient dignity than the industrial world of the
West which is without such discipline. And this
discipline in healthy social intercourse has also
found expression in the proverbially gracious and
dignified manners and frank hospitality of the
people. It has certainly made the life of the
Indian more beautiful and enjoyable. There is no
doubt that the Indian character, which has been
the outcome of the discipline enforced by the
characteristic social structure of the people, can-
not easily be modified in order that Western
industrialism can flourish in India. The con-
tractual type of relations between man and man
which Western industrialism presupposes cannot
soon be substituted for the existing type based on
status, sanctified by traditional customs and usages
and supported by popular songs, romance, and folk-
lore. It will be a miracle if the duties and obliga-
tions involved in our social relations are soon

328 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

forgotten and merely monetary relations established
in society.

It is, indeed, evident that the socio-economic
institutions, laws, customs, and character of the
people cannot change their essential nature in the
near future. The economic activities of the Indians
will be carried on within the limits of the social
environment, and the moral conditions which it
implies. Western industrialism presupposes the
existence of other moral conditions and a different
social environment. As long as there is no funda-
mental agreement of these in India and the West,
the line of economic evolution will be different.
This is the familiar doctrine of the relativity of
social phenomena, the significance of which, how-
ever, is not even now fully understood. Western
sociologists judge the progress of different peoples
by an abstract and arbitrary standard deduced from
the evolution of Western civilization. A recent
writer on economic history asserts : " The essential
condition of all sound sociological inquiry is the
comparative consideration of the entire series of the
most complete evolution known to history, that,
namely of the group of nations forming w^hat is
known as the occidental commonwealth or more
briefly the West." Such a view of social evolution
which regards the Hebraic-Graeco- Romano-Gothic
civilization as representing the culmination of
cultural progress and views the eastern types of
culture " as if they were either monstrous or
defective forms of life, or only primitive ancestral
forms, the earlier steps of the series, that have
found their completion in European society and
civilization," is essentially false. Dr. Brajendra Nath

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM 329

Seal, who corrected this narrow view of human
history, remarked in his Introduction toVaishnavism
and Christianity : " With the ethnological material
at our disposal, it is a gross and stupid blunder to
link on Chinese, Hindu, Semitic, Greek, Roman,
Gothic, Teutonic in one line of filiation, in one
logical (if not chronological) series. No race or
civilization with a continuous history represents a
single point or moment. Hindu culture too has
passed through most of the stages observed in
the growth of the Hebraic-Grseco- Romano-Gothic
civilization. The same may be said of Arabic and
Muhammadan culture. To conceive these statically,
to reduce each living procession to a punctual
moment in a single line is to miss their meaning
and purpose." In fact, the idea that western
humanity represents the culmination of the ideal of
humanity is based on the narrowness and prejudices
of western sociologists. " Universal humanity,"
says Dr. Seal, " is not to be figured as the crest of
an advancing wave, occupying but one place at any
moment and leavino- all behind a dead level. For
universal humanity is immanent everywhere and at
every moment." And he continues, " The diverse
ethnic types are all essential to the full unfolding of
the plan and pattern of universal humanity, under
our multiform geographical and historical conditions.
The ideal of humanity is not completely unfolded
in any race, for each race potentially contains the
fulness of the ideal, but actually or explicitly
renders a few phases only, involving other aspects
more or less implicitly. To trace the outlines of
the universal ideal, we must collate and compare
the fragmentary imperfect reflections not at all in

330 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

eclectic fashion, but as we seek to discover a real
species or genus among individual variations and
modes. The loss of absence or a single note in
this harmony would mar it fatally ; each colour is
complementary to the rest, each geographical and
historical environment requires its own type for
perfect adaptation. The whole system of Nature,
the entire process of history, would show a gap, a
discontinuity, a wound, if one such thoroughbred
type were suppressed or obliterated, and the
recuperative process of evolution would slowly
re-evolve the type, with proper modifications, and
painfully heal the wound in the centuries to come."
From this broad, philosophical view of social
evolution, the question of the adoption in India of
the methods of Western industrialism has to be
solved. The economic institutions of the Western
countries are suited to their characteristic physical
and social environment. They have their origin in
the racial characteristics of the particular peoples
inhabiting them. Similarly, the Indian geographical
and historical environment has evolved its character-
istic type of economic organization, and the future
economic evolution must proceed along the line of
the past. The perfect economic organization is
that which is perfectly adapted to the environment,
and in the forces of adaptation the historical ante-
cedents and the racial characteristics of the people
which have evolved in the past are too strong to be
neglected. Thus, the attempt to force systems
and methods of industrial organization, economic
arrangements, and institutions which have admirably
suited a different geographical environment, will
always be futile. In the first place, the people will

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM 331

not be able to work them successfully. Thus the
struggle and the pain during the period of transition
will be severe. Secondly, the institutions cannot
be adapted to the geographical and historical con-
ditions. Thus economic progress will be retarded,
and in many cases economic activities will be para-
lysed. Lastly, the particular physical and social
environment which requires its characteristic type
of economic organization for perfect adaptation will
re-evolve the type after a period of forced inter-
ference and substitution, and consequent stagnation,
and degeneration.

These will be the inevitable results if the
methods of industrial life in the West are introduced
into the social organization of India and the socio-
economic traditions of our country neglected, on the
pretext of the superior civilization of the West.
There is, indeed, no immutable superiority of
certain racial types over others. Racial differences
are the product of adaptation to different environ-
ments, and every race, even the most backward,
can progress indefinitely, under favourable con-
ditions of environment, physical and social, unfold-
ing a phase of universal humanity, and playing no
small part in the development of humanity.

Such are the fundamental considerations which
should guide a student of Indian economics deter-
mining the course of the future economic evolution
of India. The problem that should be uppermost
in his mind would be this. How should India
modify her present social environment, her existing
socio-economic institutions, and the moral conditions
which these presuppose, in order that she can best

332 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

develop the ethnic or cultural type which she repre-
sents ? India's old-world economic progress has
now been checked. What changes must India's
socio-economic institutions undergo in order that
India shall be economically progressive and shall
yet be India or a better India still, retaining,
developing the Indian type and the Indian spirit?
That is the question which is now crying for solu-
tion. We will attempt an answer.

But before proceeding further let us remind the
theoretical economists who are anxious to see that
the methods of Western industrialism are adopted
wholesale in India, that these themselves are now
being condemned even by Western sociologists.
The Western economic organization, even in the
minds of Western thinkers, is essentially faulty ; and
there is a persistent cry for reform, and even for
destruction. We will indicate in the next chapter
the main points of criticism which have been
levelled against Western industrialism by Western
economists, and show that what has been put
forward as an ideal for imitation in India is itself
discredited in the West.

CHAPTER II

THE COMING CHANGE IN WESTERN
INDUSTRIALISM

India is much more busy with the problem of the
distribution of wealth than with the problem of
production. What wealth she produces she at-
tempts to distribute equitably amongst all classes of
society, and this is the object which her socio-
economic institutions, like the joint family and
caste, her system of land tenure and law of inherit-
ance, her social and ethical ideals, seek to achieve.
In the West the problem of distribution is sub-
ordinated to the problem of the production of
wealth. Thus the industrial revolution of the West
has set out on a wrong path, and hence it is that in
the West, the most brilliant achievements in applied
science and discoveries in mechanical arts have not
increased the general well-being of society. Enor-
mous individual fortunes have no doubt been
produced, middle-class prosperity created, but the
condition of skilled and unskilled labour has only
very tardily been improved, and, generally speak-
ing, life and its higher well-being have been
sacrificed to wealth-making. Wealth has in-
creased, but the increase of wealth is not enough
for social health and well-being ; for everything
depends on how wealth is distributed and what are

334 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

its effects on the culture of the nation. In the
West, the enormous increase of wealth has not been
able to do away with the appalling poverty and
degradation of the labouring classes, who are by
far the most numerous in society, and amongst
all classes of society there has been a decline of
culture. Thus Western society, in its feverish
pursuit of wealth, that is, of the means of luxury,
misses the well-being which is the end and goal.

We will give a few extracts from the writings of
some leading economists and thinkers of the West,
which will testify to the most inequitable distribution
of wealth and also a remission of culture in Western
countries. We have a very good statement of the
modern economic problem of the West in Max
Hirsch s " Democracy versus Socialism." ** The
problem which, with ever increasing urgency, de-
mands a solution at the hands of our society, if
peace and progress are to be preserved, is that
of the persistence of undeserved poverty in the
midst of abundant wealth, and of unemployment in
the midst of unsatisfied desires." ^ In the words of
Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, the same problem has
been thus emphasized : '* Never before in our
history was the misery of the very poor more
intense, or the conditions of their daily life more
hopeless and degraded ; the vast wealth which
modern progress has created has run into pockets ;
individuals and classes have grown rich beyond the
reach of avarice, but the great majority of the toilers
and spinners have derived no proportionate advan-
tage from the prosperity which they helped to create."

The over-crowded, filthy cities, the depopulation

^ Max Hirsch, " Democracy versus Socialism," Introduction.

COMING CHANGE IN WESTERN INDUSTRIALISM 335

of rural districts, the enormous disparity of wealth,
and the consequent conflicts of labour and capital, and
chronic social interest, which are the inevitable evils
of the factory system, have in fact threatened the very
foundations of Western society. The people in the
West have begun to think seriously what the China-
man said to them : ** Your people are no doubt
better equipped than ours with some of the less
important goods of life ; they eat more, they drink
more, but there their superiority ends. They are
less cheerful, less law-abiding ; their occupations
are more unhealthy, both for body and mind ; they
are crowded into factories, divorced from Nature
and from ownership of the soil.'' ^

Thus Western society, in order to secure
economic efficiency has forgotten its real end.
Economic efficiency is required, for efficient pro-
duction alone can give the leisure as well as satisfy
the conditions of healthy and complete living. But
it should always be remembered at the same time
that economic efficiency is not the end of civilization.
It is only a proximate end ; and it should therefore
work within the limits of, and in subordination to,
the governing end, which is complete and healthy
living, culture in the highest sense of the term.
As Professor Henry Jones has remarked, '* The
industrial world presupposes, exists within and in
virtue of, a wider social order whose interests are as
multifarious as the desires of man, and which is
indefinitely richer in ethical content. At its best it
is only a means and instrument, and can supply
man with only the raw material of his real life. Its
value does not lie in itself, but is relative to its use,

' Lowes Dickenson, " Letters from John Chinaman."

336 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

and depends upon the kind of satisfaction which is
sought by means of it." For, after all, the purely
economic man is an academic fiction. After a man
gets his living he has got to live : thus industrialism
does not comprehend the whole of life. Wealth is
not adequate to the perfecting of culture : culture, as
a recent writer puts it, is the appreciation, not con-
templative alone but active and efficient, of the non-
economic values. And if the measure of a nation's
true success is its culture and higher life, the amount
it has contributed to the truth, the moral energy
and intellectual happiness, the spiritual hope and
consolation of mankind, the West cannot face this
just criterion boldly. Wealth has no doubt increased
astoundingly, but has culture increased .^^ It is
significant that many writers in Europe and America
are now dreading a wide remission of enthusiasm
for high moral ideals. In a forcible article on the
decline of American culture, E. Benjamin Andrews
says, ** wealth-gaining is an obtrusive, all-engrossing
phenomenon over-shadowing all else — massive,
ubiquitous, obstreperous, never out of sight or
out of mind. By its size it occludes the sun ; the
noise of it deafens reason's ear. We do not refer
only to those professedly engaged in making riches ;
the frenzy spreads to all. If any perchance ask
how much one must have to live on comfortably,
the chorus answers at once, * The utmost you can
get.* It was said by him of old times, * Life is
more than meat,' the modern criterion would seem
to be that life is identical with meat, and the body
with raiment." There is in Western society not
only a wide-spread contempt for the simple life, a
falling off in men's desire to promote the things of

COMING CHANGE IN WESTERN INDUSTRIALISM 337

the mind, not only less thought than once of ideals,
but less mobility of mind as well. Charles Wagner
says that in ancient society the people had variety
in uniformity ; in modern society they have
monotony in the midst of change. Industrialism
and fashion tend to crush out all originality, and
flatten individuals into specimens. " The city
possessing the engines of civilization floods the
country with its products, beating down and run-
ning out local peculiarities, local manners, costumes,
provincial songs and idioms disappear. Towns and
villages drained, debilitated, each of its individuality
are but the feeble images of cities.'* Professor
Royce rightly argues the mischief of this " bleach-
ing process," pointing out the incalculable benefit
to the national character of local idiosyncrasies.
*' Industrialism, again, involves another curse, the
division of labour, as destructive of spiritual as it is
creative of temporal wealth, and not confined any
longer to mills and shops, but felt as well on 'Change
as at the Bar, in newspaper making, and even in
teaching. Everywhere specialization breeds petti-
ness, an arid mind, thinking with the spinal cord
instead of the brain.'*

Thus the modern phase of industrialism in the
West is tending to destroy the very roots of culture
and originality, and is thus defeating its own ends.
Everywhere in the West there has been a reaction
against the present methods of Western industrialism.
This reaction is comprehended under the general
name of socialism. But side by side with socialism,
which proposes drastic changes and revolutionary
measures, there are also the co-operative move-
ment, the arts and crafts movement, the movement

338 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

for profit sharing and co-partnership, the increasing
desire to once more relate the life of the people to
the land. The Western industrial world is in a
state of transition. A radical change in the Western
industrial organization is inevitable. Beneath the
rush and roar, clash and clamour of the million
horse-power industrialism, new ideals are slowly-
taking shape which will proclaim a more healthy,
a more ethical life of the people. A recent German
economist has thus spoken of the new age of
idealism that is coming, and will satisfy the call of
the fuller and the deeper life : " Mankind up to
now has not known how to put the riches it has
gained to the best possible use. But he who has
eyes to see and ears to hear can feel the new age
approaching, with newer ideals that fall like sun's
rays on the heart of the present generation. We
are tired of the material prosperity which our fathers
made for us, and of which they were so proud.
We want something else. We want a different
kind of culture. In the next age. Idealism will
take the place of Materialism, and mankind will be
healthier in body and soul."

Thus, if Western industrialism is itself in a
process of radical transformation, the necessity for
an independent economic evolution of India, follow-
ing the socio-economic traditions of the country,
cannot be overestimated ; and this not only in the
interests of Indian culture, but also for indicating
the main lines of economic evolution.

CHAPTER III

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA

(a) The Case for the Factory Organization

We have already seen that in India Western indus-
triaHsm is brought face to face with a type of social
organization, the product of many centuries of slow
evolution, whose characteristic features are funda-
mentally different from it. The disparity of wealth,
the luxury of the few capitalists and the appalling
poverty of the labourers, and the consequent chronic
social unrest, present a striking contrast with the
spirit of co-operation which pervades the Indian
industrial organization. In India social institutions,
like the joint family and caste are dominated by the
ideal of an equitable distribution of wealth in the
community. Western industrialism, which has been
built up by individualism very often anti-social in
its character, has become an enemy to these more or
less communalistic associations. The communalistic
ideal is even now very strong in the country, and it
fights shy of the methods of production of the West
in which the excesses of a crass individualism have
threatened the very foundations of social life. Not
only is Western industrialism thus meeting with
resistance in India, but its very roots are now being
sapped by the criticisms directed against it by

340 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

the economists and social philosophers in Europe.
When the West is thus revising her judgments of
her own economic institutions, the questions which
now naturally arise are : Should India adopt the
Western economic institutions in order to repeat in
her own soil the social evils of the West ? Should
the Indian industrial system be a feeble echo of the
Western organization with its trade-union disputes,
strikes, lock-outs, and social crises ? Should India
introduce into her country the conflicts of labour
and capital, and thus destroy for ever the communal
spirit which dominates her economic life even in
the present day ? Should she not, on the other
hand, develop her own economic system, the pro-
duct of centuries of past evolution, and adapt it to
the needs of the times ?

The problem before India is, therefore, this,
How should India modify her own economic insti-
tutions to withstand the economic disintegration
that is going on throughout the land ? Throughout
the country the decay of village agriculture is pro-
ceeding pari passu with the rural exodus. While
agriculture, which is our national industry, is de-
clining, our dependence on foreign manufactures is
only too well known. The extent of our economic
dependence is clearly shown by a study of import
and export figures. The total value of exports in
191 1 was 238.1 crores, and of imports, Rs. 197.51
crores. In 19 13-14 the exports were Rs.244 crores,
and the imports Rs.191 crores. The predominance
of manufactured articles among the exports is quite
as noticeable as their subordinate position among
the imports.

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 34i

Of our Total Exports.

1. Raw materials formed S^'i P-c*

2. Articles of food and drink 26*5 „

3. Indian manufactures 22*4 „

4. Miscellaneous 1*0 >>

There has been a conspicuous increase in the
aggregate value of imports in recent years. It
averaged annually in the five years ending 1909-10
almost Rs.ii6 crores, in the following three years
Rs.143 crores, rising to Rs. 191 crores in 191 3-14.
By far the largest proportion of the increase
occurred in the class of manufactures which con-
stitute nearly 80 per cent, of the imports.

If we look to the principal manufactured articles
of import, we shall at once come to the conclusion that
they are not economically indispensable. The raw
materials of most of them are produced in the country,
but these are exported to foreign countries in order
to be manufactured into finished commodities there.
The reasons for following such a line of action
which involves twofold disadvantages, viz. loss of
wages and profits which have to be paid to foreign
labourers and entrepreneurs, and loss of money due
to freights, is that our industrial organization cannot
efficiently utilize the natural resources of our country.
The small artisans working in their cottages with
small capital, and a few necessary tools and imple-
ments, and no organization for effective sale, cannot
be as efficient as entrepreneurs in Western countries,
producing on a large scale with the most specialized
forms of capital, and commanding a highly special-
ized machinery of sale and exchange. Thus the
small industries of India are being superseded by
the manufacturing industries of the West, whose

342 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

products have been flooding our markets. There is,
therefore, a consensus of opinion for the establish-
ment of new capitalistic industries in our country
similar to those of the West.

The Indian public strongly feels the necessity of
calling into existence the requisite business ability
and technical skill of the people, and the plentiful
capital for manufacturing the commodities, now im-
ported from abroad, in Indian mills and factories.
The demand for technical education is thus strong
and persistent throughout the country. Several
public bodies have been organized in different pro-
vinces for imparting technical education, or for
sending young men to foreign universities to be
educated in polytechnic institutes, or to serve as
apprentices in workshops and industrial establish-
ments. In order that manufacturing industries may
grow in number and in strength within a few years
in the face of the competition with the West, the
Indian public opinion is strongly protectionist.

The industries of the country, says every jour-
nalist and every public man of the country, are
young, and, managed and organized as they are
by men necessarily as yet of lower business experi-
ence and ability than those in the West, need a
definite support from the Indian Government by
means of import duties, or by bounties.

It is, however, a striking limitation of the new
industrial spirit which has been awakened in India
that there is no clear public opinion with regard to
the nature of the industries which ought to be
started in the country and protected by the Govern-
ment. Every new factory established is hailed by
people of all shades of opinion, if it tends to supply

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 343

needs hitherto supplied by the manufacturing in-
dustries of Europe, no matter whether it competes
with the indigenous cottage industries of the country
or not. The cottage industries of India are re-
garded as obsolete, as mediaeval types of industrial
organization which will have no place in the future
economic evolution of the country. They are, it is
said, bound to be superseded by manufacturing
industries sooner or later; and hence it is better
to have their place filled up by Indian manufacturing
industries than allow European industries to take
the lead in the process of supersession, which is
inevitable.

The time has now come when we have to con-
sider seriously the question, What will be the place
of the cottage industry in India's economic evolu-
tion? Is it inevitable that our cottage industry
will be superseded by the modern factory? Is it
desirable? Are there in our industrial life such
features as might lead us to suppose that the growth
of the factory in India is a necessary step towards
the necessary concentration of industry ? Is every
kind of factory industry welcome under the circum-
stances, even if it competes with the cottage industry
of the country scattered throughout the country?
What form of organization of industry, again, will
be the most economical ?

There are certain conditions in which the con-
centration of industry is inevitable. The advan-
tages of centralization from a technical point of
view under these circumstances are so great that
the domestic industry using hand-power cannot live
at all in the competition with the factory industry.
Thus in industries in which a disproportionately

344 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

large amount of durable plant, and the co-operation
of a large number of labourers are necessary, when
huge metals have to be dealt with, large establish-
ments are inevitable. The mining industries, the
iron works, the steamer and ship-building industries
decidedly belong to this category. The small-scale
business under these conditions results in a waste
of efficiency, labour, and skill, which should always
be deprecated. Indeed, in the interest of efficient
production, which alone can give the leisure as well
as satisfy the conditions of healthy and complete
living, production on a large scale under certain
economic conditions, is equally necessary with that
on a small scale. Each has its own appropriate
fields.

Generally, it has been recognized that when com-
modities of the same pattern are produced to meet
a large and continuous demand, e.g, in industries
engaged in supplying the mechanical and routine
needs of men, large-scale production and the use
of machinery are inevitable. In the production of
commodities of precisely the same shape, size,
colour, and material, machinery will always excel,
because of its obvious advantage in the increased
output of motive force it can apply to industry, as
well as the greater precision in the application than
in the case of hand power. It is easily seen that
the satisfaction of the primary animal wants, —
hunger, thirst, cold, etc., is common to all ; in
those purely physical demands there is less quali-
tative difference in different men : as the needs are
the same, the consumption will be the same. The
absence of wide individual differences of taste in-
deed marks out the commodities for routine or

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 345

machine production. As individuals are nearest
alike in their prime physical needs, so, as they
gradually develop higher material wants, and, after
those are satisfied, aesthetic, intellectual, and moral
wants, their individualism becomes more and more
marked. It is therefore in the most highly de-
veloped, or, as they are sometimes called, the more
" artificial " wants of men, that the diversity of
individual nature shows itself most strongly, and
demands a satisfaction peculiar to itself which only
art can give. In a highly evolved society it is
likely that many physical needs, and even some
intellectual needs, will be common to all, and will
engage little individual attention.^ They may be
regarded as routine-wants, and will be satisfied by
machine-made goods. Indeed, it seems reasonable
to expect that on the whole machinery will retain
and even strengthen and expand its hold of those
industries engaged in supplying the primitive needs
of man, his food, clothing, shelter, and other animal
comforts.

If we study the development of Indian manu-
factures, we will find that the industries in which
we have been making the best progress during the
last two decades are the manufacture of cotton and
jute, coal and gold mining, and the petroleum in-
dustries. In 1 90 1 there were 197 cotton mills with
a capital of 16 crores. In 1908 there were 232
cotton mills, and the capital increased to 19 crores.
In 1 9 14 the capital became Rs. 20.07 crores, and
the number of mills was 263. The jute mills also
increased in number from 36 in 1901 to 52 in 1908,
and the capital increased from 4.3 crores to 6.75

* Vide John A. Hobson's " Evolution of Capitalism."

346 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

crores. In 1911-12 the number of jute mills was
45, and the capital 7.29 crores. The number of
looms at work increased from 16,640 and 30,824 in
1901 and 1908 to 37,316 in 1912. The coal in-
dustry has made a phenomenal progress. The
output of coal for the whole of India in 1908 was
12*76 million tons, while it was 6.6 millions in 1901.
In 191 2 it was 1470 million tons as compared
with 12*75 million tons in 191 1. The petroleum
industry has also made rapid strides. The output
has increased from 50 million gallons in 1901 to
176*6 millions in 1908. In 191 2 the output was
nearly 250 millions. We have a few other larger
industrial concerns, but they are either languishing
or insignificant. We have made little progress, for
example, in the sugar industry, the oil-pressing
industry, paper manufacture, and wool and silk
manufactures. While in leather manufacture, glass
manufacture, the manufacture of umbrellas, sta-
tionery, and in metal manufacture, our progress is
insignificant.

In the mining industries the local production on
a small scale was doomed with the development of
metallurgy and chemistry, and the obvious advan-
tages of large-scale processes in Europe. Thus the
European chemist, armed with cheap supplies of
sulphuric acid and alkali, and aided by low
sea freights and increased facilities for internal
distribution by a spreading network of railways,
has been enabled to stamp out, in all but remote
localities, the once flourishing native manufacture
of alum, the various alkali compounds, blue vitriol,
copperas, copper, lead, steel, and iron, and seriously
to curtail the export trade in nitre and borax. The

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 347

potentialities of the mining industry of our country,
conducted on a large scale, are indeed great. The
Tata Iron and Steel Works mark an epoch-making
advance in mining and metallurgy, and are fraught
with immense possibilities in the future. Ship-
building will naturally follow the manufacture of
steel plates, and India might become the workshop
of the East. All this can become possible when
the industry is carried on on an extensive scale with
a large output of capital, and an enormous labour
force.

If we leave aside mining and mineral industries
in which the advantages of a large establishment
are obvious, and study the two other important
manufacturing industries, viz. cotton and jute mill
industries, we find that there is little or no com-
petition with the indigenous industries of the
country in their case, or they are even supported
by the latter. In the cotton mills the cloth goods,
which are mostly manufactured and have a sale in
the country, are produced in the handlooms only
in insignificant quantities. The handlooms may be
said to manufacture only special classes of cloths.
The bulk of the very coarse classes of cloth, warp
counts of 6s. to i6s., 6s. to 20s., is woven on the
handloom from yarn spun in Indian mills. This
cloth has been considered as coming within the
absolute sphere of the handloom. Though foreign
cloth is being imported, the improvement of the
handloom industry, both in the mechanical processes
as well as in the economic organization, will, it is
hoped, tend to check the imports. In the jute
mills, again, there is no competition with handloom
weaving, the products of which consist mostly of

348 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

coarse blankets, carpets, and rugs. The jute mill
industry, again, has some special advantages of its
own. Outside India, the manufacture of jute fabrics
represents a business monopoly. It has also to be
recognized that it is conducted solely by European
capital and business ability.

In the case of the sugar industry, there are only
a few factories in India, and no one of them can be
said to be prosperous. The difficulties of organizing
successfully a modern type sugar factory in India
are very great. It is very difficult to get a sufficient
supply of sugar-cane at a reasonable rate. Half of
the total acreage under cane is in the United Pro-
vinces, and in some districts the sugar-cane area is
sufficiently large and compact to justify the estab-
lishment of large factories like those of Java and
Mauritius. But in other provinces, the sugar-cane
area is not very compact, and if factories can be
started at all they must be of moderate size. Thus
there is ample scope for the indigenous cottage
industry. In Madras and in Bombay especially,
the demand for gur is steady and sometimes greater
than the supply. Hence the cottage industry there
is prosperous. In Bengal, which comes next to the
United Provinces as regards area under cane,
several factories are now running, but they are all
more or less languishing. Big factories cannot get
an adequate supply of cane, and unless they are
economically managed, cannot face the competition
with foreign sugar. The Java sugar especially can
compete successfully, Bengal being on the sea coast,
and it is being recognized that it is the best course,
under the circumstances, to concentrate the efforts
on improving the cottage industry by employing

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 349

better methods instead of introducing the central
factory.

In the case of leather manufacture, the technical
advantages of producing on a large scale and of the
use of electricity in chrome tanning are very great,
and there is no difficulty in getting an adequate
supply of raw hides and skins at reasonable rates.
The field for leather manufacture on a large scale
is, therefore, very extensive, the scope of the
cottage industry in future being, therefore, limited
to repair work, the manufacture of fancy articles,
book-binding, etc. In leather manufacture, as well
as in several other industries, like oil-pressing, flour-
milling, cotton-ginning, wool-weaving, beer-brewing,
and paper-making, the possibilities of success are
very great. In these industries we have not made
any appreciable progress. In glass-making the
factory system has been tried, but the result has
been a failure. In Belgium and Bohemia, the two
centres of glass-making industry in Europe, as well
as in Japan, however, the cottage industry is success-
fully holding its own. It has been proposed that
small beginnings should be made to experiment
in glass manufacture on the lines of the indigenous
cottage system of the country.

We have pointed out the scope of large indus-
trial establishments, and shown how little has been
our progress in this direction. In order that large-
scale establishments can succeed in India, we have
in our country no class of entrepreneurs, or captains
of industry, amongst us. We have only a few big
technical institutes for the training of men in in-
dustries. All our youths are trained in universities,
which impart an over-literary education, with scarcely

350 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

a touch of the " modern side." Thus our middle-
class people usually become schoolmasters, lawyers,
and government servants, and seldom business men
and technical experts. In order that there may be
trained organizers and business men who will be
able to utilize scientifically the material resources of
the country, we have to organize in our country a
system of technical education adjusted to the needs
of our industrial life. As long as such a system is
not devised, we have to send students for industrial
education to Europe, America, and Japan, as we
have been doing. To ensure success, students
should be required to show industrial aptitude and
they should get a first-hand knowledge of small
factories in India by personal inspection and tour
before they go to foreign countries, and they should
be trained only in those industries which have a fair
chance of success in the country. Thus, when they
return from Europe they will not feel disappointed
in the search for employments which cannot be
procured. Industries should be in search of men,
and not men in search of industries, in the initial
stages of a country's industrial career.

It is also essential that they should acquire a
thorough practical training by serving as appren-
tices in workshops and factories of foreign countries
so that when they come back to India they possess
not only the requisite technical knowledge, but also
the practical capacity and business knowledge which
are so essential for the entrepreneur. Too fre-
quently business enterprises have failed in India on
account of the dissociation of business ability from
expert knowledge. If the organizers had acquired
sufficient business knowledge along with scientific

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 351

skill during their stay in foreign countries, many of
our industrial ventures during the last decade would
have been successful.

Along with the training of entrepreneurs, we
need also as a co-ordinate branch a system of com-
mercial education for training bankers, brokers, cor-
respondents, and commercial agents who act as
intermediaries between the producers and the con-
sumers. They will supply business organizers with
information about markets where their wares can
find a ready sale. It is well known that it is a
great disadvantage at present for Indian merchants
to depend for such information solely on the agents
of European firms, who are often apt to mislead
them in the interests of European establishments.
If Indian youths cannot immediately overcome the
traditional prejudice against manual labour, let them
get the requisite education in order to discharge
efficiently the services of commercial agents which
are now undertaken by Europeans. Such training
can well be secured in India, and it therefore
appeals to a much larger section of the people,
amongst whom there still persists the prejudice
against sea-voyage. Again, until technical educa-
tion is more generally diffused among the people,
we cannot expect that our literate classes will devote
themselves to industrial enterprises. In the mean-
while they might secure independent livelihood as
traders, merchants, and bankers. In the modern
world the merchant has become as important if not
more so than the manufacturer. It has been
observed that the Americans and the Germans are
ousting the British out of their markets, not so
much by any superiority in the quality of their

352 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

goods, but by the superior knowledge of the de-
mands of the markets, by better communication
with foreign countries, by establishing regular in-
telligence departments, and, above all, by possessing
and exercising superior commercial knowledge.
Thus there is a rich field for the education of
Indians in this direction, the importance of which,
however, is not fully realized in the country. The
vast internal trades of the country are now left
solely in the hands of illiterate merchants who have
no knowledge of distant markets. They are igno-
rant of modern methods of advertisement. They
are indeed unfit to act as intermediaries in these
days when tastes are so continuously varying among
the people. Again, the exporting trades are con-
centrated in the hands of foreigners who gain by
far the greatest portion of the profits accruing from
them. We want that the brightest of our youths
may be able gradually to take their place. They
should be able to take a comprehensive view of
distant markets, and tell our manufacturers and
craftsmen what style of goods is now in demand.
They will have to read and understand provincial
and imperial trade statistics, agricultural ledgers,
and industrial monographs. They will have to
inspect personally not only the principal industrial
and trade centres of the country, but also the dis-
trict centres and marts as well, in order to seek out
the cheapest sources of supply and the best markets
for different commodities. They will ascertain and
utilize the cheapest means of transport for such
commodities. They will be able to organize sale
agencies and mercantile houses, banks as well as
joint-stock companies, to appreciate the changes in

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 353

the money market, and the fluctuations in export
and import figures, to discuss probable crops, and
to anticipate the output of manufactured products.
Thus, gradually, there will be developed in India a
race of traders and merchants, who will lead India
in the struggle for commercial predominance among
the trading nations of the world.

But these are hopes of the future. The eco-
nomic problem before us at the present day is this,
How we should best utilize the existing technical
and commercial education of the middle classes
in order to achieve the best possible results.
We have to take it that at present technical
education is at a low ebb among our people, and
that commercial education is almost nil. Again,
on account of the rarity of modern technical
skill, of high business capacity, and of shrewd
commercial enterprise, capital in India generally
fights shy of industrial concerns, and a large
portion of it remains idle and unproductive. When
industries have been started in India by the Indians
they have often been started with insufficient
capital. The effects of insufficient capital are often
ruinous. Old and cheap machinery are bought,
and thus efficiency is sacrificed to economy. Again,
the clamour for good dividends after a short interval
also leads to inefficient management when foresight
and provision against losses are no longer the
guiding principles of industrial establishments.

Under these circumstances our object should be
to make the most efficient use of our small capital
by finding and training organizers possessing much
more than the present low standard of technical
skill and business capacity. Our aim should also be

2 A

354 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

to choose those industries in which success is almost
sure : for failures at the beginning of a nation's
industrial career create a widespread pessimism
which is ruinous to industrial development. Thus
instead of attempting all large-scale industries, it
is better for the present to organize such indus-
tries in which there is a better possibility of success
by the utilization of our present resources in labour,
capital, and business enterprise. Iron and steel
works, glass blowing, textile fabrics, and dyeing,
paper-making, alkali works, and the like, are for the
most part too big to be generally attempted with our
present resources. It is better to take up these
industries in some of their under stages. Thus
cutlery, nails, door fittings, etc., may be taken up
under iron working, utilization of breakages of im-
portant crockeries, etc., under glass-blowing ; use of
improved handlooms of all kinds, extraction of
fibres, etc., under textile fabrics ; use of aniline and
country dyes to produce chintz, coloured cloths,
yarns, silk, etc., under dyeing works ; paste board
and card board works under paper-making ; utiliza-
tion of inflorescent earth such as reh to produce
soda, nitre, etc., under alkali making, etc. In this
way manufactures of the cruder qualities may be
taken up, care being taken not so much for ideal
finish at the expense of quantity as for practical
utility coupled with cheapness.^ The quality will
have to be the best possible under these two neces-
sary conditions (viz. cheapness and quantity) of

1 The importance of this principle has been well pointed out in
Dr. Radhakumud Mookerji's lecture on " Lines of Indian Industrial
Advance" (Industrial Conference, Allahabad), from which I have also
derived the above list of industries manufacturing cheap and useful
products of cruder quality.

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 355

Indian consumption, to which the production must
conform. These are therefore the larger industries
which afford a rich field for the probable utilization
of our present resources in business enterprise and
capital.

CHAPTER IV

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF l^TilK— continued

(b) The Case for the Workshop

There is also a rich field for the utilization of our
existing resources in advancing small industries.
The small industries comprehend two types of
organization, (i) the workshop, (2) the cottage
industry. By the side of the industries which are
carried on entirely in the cottage by one or more
members of the family, or a couple of labourers,
there are the industries in which the artisan keeps
a small workshop attached to his house and works
in it with a few apprentices and labourers. Or else,
the artisan has a small workshop, often with hired
wheel-power, in which he employs some ^^^ to ten
artisans, who are paid in wages. The variety of
these small workshops is indeed great, and there is
no reason to suppose that their number will de-
crease as factory organization is more developed.
On the other hand, it is probable that their number
and variety will increase in future.

Even in England, which may be considered to
represent the highest development of large-scale
production, the number of persons employed in
small workshops at the present day continues to be
immense. Two hundred and seventy thousand
work-people are found employed in small factories
having less than fifty and even twenty workers

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 357

each, the result being that the very big industries
(the factories employing more than one thousand
work-people per factory) and the very small ones
(having less than ten workers each) employ nearly
the same number of operatives. Thus the small
industries are as much a distinctive feature of
British industry as its few immense factories and
iron-works. Has not this fact been too much over-
looked even by British economists, as well as by
those who seek to adapt their preference for the
larger industry to India?

In the continent of Europe the small industries
are met with in a much greater variety than in
England. In France it has been estimated that
while one-half of the population live upon agricul-
ture and one-third upon industry, this third part is
equally distributed between the great industry and
the small one. More than 99 per cent, of all the
industrial establishments in France — that is, 571,940
out of 575,529 — have less than 100 workmen each.
They give occupation to 2,000,000 persons, and
represent an army of 571,978 employers. More
than that. The immense majority of that number
(568,075 employers) belongs to the category of those
who employ less than fifty workmen each. Of
these latter 520,000 employers and artisans work
for themselves, or with the aid of a member of the
family. The following figures have been given by
the recent census : —

1896. 1906. Increase.

1. Small establishments (i workman at

most) 290,748 317,933 9P-C.

2. Medium-sized establishments (i to lOo

workmen) 297,964 307,628 3 p.c.

3. Large establishments (over 100 work-

men) 3,649 4,649 28 p.c.

592,361 630,210 6 p.c.

358 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

In Germany out of the 14*3 million people
who live on industry, full 5*4 million belong to the
small industry. Professor W. Sombart, speaking of
the small industries in Germany, says —

"It results from the census of 1907 that the
losses in the small industries are almost exclu-
sively limited to those home industries which are
usually described as the old ones ; while the
increases belong to the home industries of modern
origin."

The statistical data confirm that " at the present
time a sort of rejuvenation is going on in the home
industries; instead of those of them which are
dying out, new ones, almost equal in numbers, are
growing up."

Home industries are also widely spread in Italy,
Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland. In Switzer-
land an official census of the industries, made in
1 905* gave the figure of 92,162 persons employed
in the domestic industries in 70,873 establishments
in the following branches : textiles, watches and
jewellery, straw-plaiting, clothing and dress, wood-
carving, tobacco. They thus represent more than
one-fourth (28-5 per cent) of the 317,027 operatives
employed in Switzerland in these same branches,
and 157 per cent, of all the industrial opera-
tives, who numbered 585,574 in 1905. Thus in
England, as on the continent, the small industries
are an important factor in the industrial life of the
country.

Indeed, the small industry is everywhere ex-
tending side by side with the great industry, and
the reason is not far to seek. It is an economic
necessity. The small industry has always certain

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 359

monopoly advantages, on account of which it has
lived and will continue to thrive side by side with
production on a large scale. As it has been well
observed —

" A study of the evolution of industry will reveal
the fact not sufficiently recognized that pari passu
with the development of scientific industries on a
large scale, there is always a corresponding develop-
ment of subsidiary as well as independent smaller
industries, including handicrafts, art-industries and
home-industries. In fact, it is a fallacy to suppose
that natural selection in industrial evolution is only
a process of larger organizations surviving and
weeding out the smaller; in the struggle for
existence in the industrial world, ' fitness ' does
not depend on size alone, but is determined to a
large extent by adaptability to environment and by
the conjuncture of circumstances which the organiza-
tion has to utilize. In this way there is always a
place for small industries in the course of industrial
development, a place which can never be abolished
but will always continue to exist, simply because it
cannot be filled by large industries." ^

It has always to be borne in mind that a factory
industry presupposes certain economic conditions
which are by no means universally realized. The
demand for the goods must be not only wide and
large, but steady and continuous as well, other-
wise the organization of business will be found
unprofitable. Even the big industry has to pass
through the small workshop stage before the
demand is great enough to make the factory

1 Dr. Radhakumud Mookerji, "Lines of Indian Industrial
Advance."

36o THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

organization profitable. Thus, when new industries
are created, they usually make their start on a
small scale, and as the demand increases they
gradually come to be conducted on a larger scale.
The more active the inventive faculties of the
people the greater is the number of these small-
scale budding industries. Another condition of
factory organization that is presupposed is the
growth of capital, not only in the form of machinery
but also in the form of means of communication and
exchange. Only the improvement in machinery as
well as in the mechanical skill necessary to run it
can make specialization and organization technically
possible, while the railways, telegraph, and the
banks widen the markets and make such organi-
zation economically possible. Again, another main
requirement of the employment of machinery or
large business is that the different processes of
production shall permit of being carried on simul-
taneously. Indeed, this feature of industry is
almost entirely lacking in what may be called the
*' culture" industries, agriculture, sericulture, horti-
culture or pisciculture, which have therefore defied
all attempts at minute specialization.^ It is further
doubtful whether the large-scale producers can
secure that minute and economical supervision
which characterizes the small-scale industry. The

1 Ely and Wicker, "Elementary Economics." Even here also
certain agricultural products have become manufactured products
through the laboratory achievements of organic chemistry. Again, the
production of quickly perishable commodities is of necessity local and
cannot economically be undertaken by machinery. Thus the work of
the dairyman, the baker and the butcher cannot be largely aided by
machinery except when preservative processes have been discovered
or peculiarities of means of transport established.

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 361

ownership and control being combined in a single
man in case of the small industry, the small pro-
ducer shows a zeal in the business which is absent
in the director of a large establishment. Thus it is
sometimes claimed by experts that in many lines of
business, a plant of moderate size is the plant of
really maximum efficiency in regard to capital and
labour costs. The small producer, again, has a
distinct advantage in his greater power to know the
personal wants of his markets.^ He is in a far
better position to satisfy the individual tastes of the
consumers than his greater rival. We have already
pointed out in the preceding chapter that perfection
of routine work being the special faculty of machine
production, machinery cannot undertake the work
where fashion fluctuates or the individual taste of
the consumer is a potent factor. In many industries
this personal element plays so large a part that the
small producer will for a long time hold his own
even if he cannot oust the large producer from the
field. This is especially true of the fine arts and the
decorative industries, which are therefore far more
suitable to hand-labour than to the machine. Again,
even in the region of the ordinary material con-
sumption, the more skilled branches of shoe-making,
tailoring and other clothing trades, the individual
character of the demand, i.e, the element of

* " Of two businesses competing in the same trade, that with the
larger capital can nearly always buy at the cheaper rate, and can avail
itself of many economies in the specialization of skill and machinery,
and in other ways which are out of the reach of the smaller business ;
while the only important special advantage which the latter is likely
to have consists of its greater facilities for getting near its customers,
and consulting their individual wants " (Marshall, " Principles of
Economics," p. 693).

362 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

" irregularity " — has limited the use of machinery. A
similar cause retains human motor power in certain
cases to co-operate with and control machinery, as
in the use of the sewing machine. Once suppose
that this individuality in consumption is absent,
hand-power will be banished from industry. If the
wearing public consent to wear clothes conforming
to certain common patterns and shapes which are
only approximate " fits," machinery can be used to
make these clothes; but if every person requires
his own taste to be consulted and insists upon an
exactitude of fit and conformity to his own special
ideas of comfort, the work can no longer be done
by machinery, and will require the skill of a crafts-
man. It is precisely upon this issue that the
conflict of hand v, machine labour is fought out.
Thus as long as the consumers refuse to conform
to a common standard, hand-labour cannot be
dethroned from industry, and in proportion as they
develop individuality of tastes, hand-work or art
will play a more important part in industry, repel
the further encroachments of machinery, or even
drive it out of some of the industrial territory it has
annexed. But the highest organization of labour
which will apportion machinery to the supply of
individual needs and tastes, constantly growing and
changing in variety, has not been yet attained in
industrial life and organization.

Again, side by side with the independent smaller
industries there also grow up many small industries
which are more or less subsidiary to the big factories.
Such smaller industries are economically indis-
pensable. It is well known that at Sheffield the
big factories let out some part of their work to small

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 363

masters who work in their homes with their
relatives. In the fabrication of clothing also the
big firms in important towns or capital cities take
the measure and make the cutting, and send out the
cloth to be made up, into even remote villages.
Professor Marshall has pointed out : " In the cloth-
ing trades especially we see the revival of what has
been called the * house industry' which prevailed
long ago in the textile industries; that is, the
system in which large undertakers give out work
to be done in cottages and very small workshops
to persons who work alone or with the aid of some
members of their family, or who perhaps employ
two or three hired assistants. In remote villages
in almost every country of England agents of large
undertakers come round to give out to the cottagers
partially prepared materials for goods of all sorts,
but especially clothes such as shirts, collars, and
gloves ; and take back with them the finished
goods. It is, however, in the great capital cities in
the world and in other large towns, especially old
towns, where there is a great deal of unskilled and
unorganized labour, with somewhat low physique
and morale, that the system is most fully developed,
especially in the clothing trades, which employ two
hundred thousand people in London alone, and in
the cheap furniture trades." ^

The evidence given before the *' Sweating
System Committee " has shown how far the furniture
and ready-made clothing palaces and the bazaars of
London are mere exhibitions of samples, or markets
for the sale of the produce of the small industries.
Thousands of sweaters, some of them having their

* " Principles of Economics," p. 295.

364 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

own workshops, and others merely distributing
work to sub-sweaters who distribute it again amidst
the destitute, supply those palaces and bazaars with
goods made in the slums or in very small work-
shops. The commerce is centralized in those
bazaars not the industry.

The small workshops and the cottage indus-
tries may continue to grow and thrive side by side
with the large industries, either independently or as
subsidiary to them. In our country the variety of
the small workshops is best realized in Calcutta,
though it is found in all important provincial towns.
It is well known that some of the finest work in
gold and silver, as well as in wood, is made in small
workshops in Calcutta. Brass and bell-metal manu-
facture is carried on vigorously in workshops in
Kansaripara, Chitpur, and Bhawanipur, while the
carpentry workshops in Bowbazar have attained a
very high standard. Industries like jewellery, the
burnishing and enamelling of metals, lithography,
bookbinding and stationery, basket-making, making
of hats and umbrellas, machine-made lace and me-
chanical knitting, making of ready-made clothing,
and the fabrication of a thousand and one little
things in leather, paper, wood, metal, and so on,
are carried on successfully in small establishments.
As a very small capital is required for the establish-
ment of these industries, they ought to afford an
opening for the middle classes who have realized
that Government service and the learned professions
cannot give employment to all. It is gratifying to
note that in Calcutta, except the jute mills and the
machinery and engineering works, which are large
concerns, the greater number of the smaller

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 365

workshops are owned by Indians. Excluding the
municipal concerns and works belonging to Govern-
ment, there are 367 owned by Indians, 179 by Euro-
peans and Anglo-Indians, four by members of both
communities, and seven by Chinese. Some branches
of industry and manufacture are entirely, or almost
entirely, monopolized by the Indian community,
e.g. they own all, or nearly all, the rope-works,
timber-yards, type-foundries, brass-foundries, oil-
mills, soap-factories, chemical works, flour-mills,
rice-mills, sugar-factories, umbrella-manufactories,
surki-factories, etc. They also own the greater
number of the iron-foundries and iron and steel
works, jute-presses and printing-presses, and have
a considerable interest in chemical works, but they
have no share in such important concerns as jute-
mills, and very little in machinery and engineering
works. That our middle classes are having their
share in manufacturing enterprise is shown by the
following figures : — Altogether, 105, or over a sixth
of the various undertakings are controlled by com-
panies, of which only seven have Indians as directors.
Among private owners there are 360 Indians to
eighty-five Europeans and Anglo-Indians. The
castes from which these private owners are mainly
drawn are the Kayasthas (sixty-five) and Brahmans
(sixty-one), each of them accounting for about one-
sixth of the total number, and then, longo intervallo^
the Telis and Tilis (twenty-eight) and Sadgops
(twenty-six). The Kalus come next on the list,
having twenty oil-presses, but no other works are
in their possession. Though the Shiekhs number
over a quarter of a million, only eighteen of them
are found in the list of owners, or less than those

366 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

shrewd and enterprising up-country merchants, the
Marwaris (nineteen). Of indigenous Bengali castes,
the Baidyas claim sixteen and the Chasi Kaibartas
twelve, but the Subarna Vaniks only ten private
owners ; none of them is in this respect on the same
level as the Sadgops.

The workshop organization is not restricted to
Calcutta alone. It is, indeed, the characteristic
feature of our industrial organization in all the
larger and important industrial centres throughout
the country. The existence of the karkhana, or
workshop, side by side with the cottage industry
in our important industrial centres, however, is not
sufficiently recognized.

In Benares, almost all the brocade weavers work
in karkkanaSy or workshops, under the richer
members of the weaving class. Again, even in
handloom weaving, there exists side by side with
the cottage industry the workshop system, in which
a prosperous weaver employs a large number of
hands, gives them the yarn, and sells the manu-
factured product. In the woollen industry, though
the common type is the cottage, we might often
meet with the workshop, in which some twenty to
thirty weavers are employed on piece-wages. The
workshop system, however, is more general in the
case of brass and copper manufacture. Even in
the semi-barbarous villages in the Santhal Parganas,
the blacksmiths often group themselves into a band
of eight or ten men to conduct a workshop con-
veniently situated under a grove or a shady tree
while another man supplies the implements and
capital. Indeed, not only the industries mentioned
above, but a few others as well, are carried on in

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 367

workshops in the larger centres. In the smaller
towns and villages, the industries adapt themselves
to the family organization, and are carried on in
cottages, the workers being chiefly members of the
family, though a few unskilled labourers are some-
times employed in addition. But in the large, and
especially old, towns the industries are generally in
the hands of some richer artisans who have, on
account of their wealth, risen in the social scale and
become workshop-managers. Poorer and inferior
artisans are employed by them in their establish-
ments and are paid according to the skill and nature
of their work. The ostad, mistri^ or manager pur-
chases the raw materials and the auxiliary machinery
and sells the manufactured products. These small
workshops have, under the present circumstances,
much greater advantages than the cottage industries
in respect especially of credit, the supply of raw
materials and touch with the customers. They can
effect purchases and sell at wholesale rates, and
may adopt more expensive methods and processes
of industry.

There is a rich field for the investment of
capital for our middle classes in these industries.
If the small workshops are controlled by our
educated youths who receive commercial training
and know the art of business-pushing, they will
show much greater vitality and strength than they
have now.

Indeed, the middle classes have been shrewd
enough to realize this, and the workshops
managed by them in Calcutta have already begun
to play their part in the industrial life of the country.
Not only Calcutta, but all the important provincial

368 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

towns in the country afford a very good opening for
the establishment of such workshops. Capital in
our country is now too small for starting large
factories, and it fights shy of joint-stock companies.
Let our young men, therefore, collect their own
capital, however small that may be, and establish
workshops in the important moffusil towns like
those which have been established with a small
capital in Calcutta. The management of such work-
shops will be a good training for larger ventures in
the way of big factories. Business ability and
industrial aptitude will thus gradually be developed
amongst the middle classes. Being themselves the
owners of their small capital, management will be
most efficient under the circumstances. The use of
capital on the individual proprietary basis will carry
with it something of the magic of property, and
will help the growth and accumulation of wealth in
the hands of the middle classes, awaiting in their
hands the best possible utilization. The workers
in the small workshops being drawn from the
hereditary craftsmen, their mechanical ability and
hereditary skill will be best utilized, and there will
be no repetition of those failures of industrial con-
cerns witnessed a few years ago on account of too
much reliance being placed on the literate classes
or on unskilled labour.

CHAPTER V

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA — continued

In the last chapter we have considered the small
workshops and the home industries together, and
pointed out that they possess some special advan-
tages in certain branches of production as compared
with the large industry. In these branches they
show a great life-force and are rapidly increasing in
number. The cottage industries, again, have some
characteristic advantages of their own which the
workshops lack and which are particularly true of
our country. In the rural tracts of the country the
cottage industries are always found going hand in
hand with gardening, poultry-farming, etc. Very
often the cottage industry becomes a by-occupation to
agriculture. The conditions of our agriculture leave
the cultivators out of employment for several months
in the year, the vast amount of surplus labour being
utilized in favour of home industries. Thus during
certain months of the year all the cultivators of the
villages are turned into basket-makers, rope-makers,
and even weavers of coarse cloths. The industry
becomes usually the second string in the bow of the
agriculturist. Moreover, as the industry is carried
on in the midst of the family, the artisans can work
longer hours than an operative in a workshop and

2 B

370 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

factory does. The women also in the interval of
their domestic work assist the artisans materially
in the easier processes of the industry. The artisan
thus finds an energetic support not only in the col-
laboration of the members of his family, but also in
the moral element which is the consequence of the
work in his home.

Both the small workshop and the cottage in-
dustry have been showing great vitality and making
progress throughout the west as the result of the
recent developments in applied science and the
mechanical arts. If we analyse the respective
advantages of both the great and the small industries,
we find that the following three factors are in favour
of the former: — (i) division of labour and its har-
monic organization ; (2) economy in the cost of
motive power ; and (3) the advantages offered for
the purchase of raw materials, tools, etc., and the
sale of the produce. Of these three factors, the
first exists in small industries as well and to the same
extent as in the great ones (watch-making, toy-
making, and so on) ; the second is more and more
eliminated by the progress achieved in applied
science. The recent improvements in applied
science place the artisan in a much better position
to compete with the big manufacturer than was
possible a few years ago.

The modern developments of the use of elec-
tricity might now transmit motive power cheaply to
the cottage of a small producer. The electric in-
stallation is not only less expensive but also relatively
more productive than the steam-installation. The
economic advantage of the larger over smaller in-
stallations is not so great as in the case of steam,

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 371

while the absolute productiveness is greater in the
case of electricity. Thus the electric installation
has no tendency to take large dimensions. The
advantage of storing electric energy in batteries is
considerable especially to a craftsman whose work
is intermittent. Again, the motor can be used even
by the most unintelligent. By the inventor s skill,
the mere pressing of the button sets it going, while
any chance of accident is removed by safety appli-
ances. Again, there have been several petty motors
which have proved very successful in the West. The
most satisfactory types of them are the water-pressure
engines, the gas or oil-engines. The latter have
now become the formidable rivals of the steam-
engines, and even very large sizes are now tried.
It cannot, indeed, be doubted that gas will give
steam only a subsidiary place in future. The small
petrol engines of motor-cars have great advantage,
and they have been improved a great deal. Their
peculiarity of having little bulk and proportionately
large power has made them useful for a variety of
purposes, e.g,y lawn-mowers, pleasure-boats, aero-
planes, etc. As regards the respective advantage
of oil and gas engines, the relative cost of coal and
oil has an important bearing on the question of
economy of the two types. The cost of oil-engines
is five times that of gas-engines, yet the popularity
of the former has been steadily increasing, for reasons
such as ]ess consumption of water, less attendance,
less risk of breakdowns, less space, less upkeep, less
future wastage at starting, and no nuisance of smell,
etc. In industries where continual working is needed,
gas is more convenient. But in most cases, where
the load factor is low, say fifty hours, oil-engines

372 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

are much more suitable. The best oil-engines at
full load use 4 lbs. of oil per brake horse-power,
while the best engines will take about 8 lbs. of coal.
These machines can, in the limited sphere of action
from 6 to 3 horse-power, contend successfully with
the steam engine. Their work is cheap,^ thus they
are the veritable motors of the people carrying with
them the germs of complete transformation of the

^ " If we use the gas in an engine it is possible to get a good
economy. The reason is easily seen, when one realizes that the fuel
is burnt in the cylinder of a gas engine and not under a boiler, which
makes steam to deliver to an engine. In the latter case we have the
inefficiency of the furnace and the inefficiency of the boiler, as well as
the radiation of the steam pipes and cylinders, items which do not
appear in the heat balance sheet of the gas engine. . . . Again, we
may use oil as a fuel for firing a boiler or for driving an engine. The
efficiency of the oil-engine as compared with the steam-engine is
that the one is 34 per cent, as compared with 9 per cent, of the
heat value of the fuel " (" The Choice of Power," by Mr. S. T. A.
Mills, A.M., I.M.E,, Indian Trade Journal^ May 16, 191 2. " Tendencies
of Engineering Science," by Adinath Sen, The Indiaii Guild of Science
and Technology ^ p. 63).

Prince Kropotkin has remarked : —

" The number of motors which were exhibited in the Galerie du
Travail bear a testimony to the fact that a cheap motor for the small
industry is one of the leading problems of the day. Motors weighing
45 lbs., including the boiler, were exhibited in 1899 to answer that
want. Small two-horse-power engines, fabricated by the engineers of
the Jura (formerly watch-makers) in their small workshops, were at
that time another attempt to solve the problem— to say nothing of
water, gas, and electrical motors. The transmission of steam-power
only to 230 small workshops, which was made by the Socidt^ des Im-
meubles Industrielles, was another attempt in the same direction, and
the increasing efforts of the French engineers for finding out the best
means of transmitting and subdividing power by means of compressed
dynamic cables, and electricity as indicative of the endeavours of the
small industry to retain its ground in the face of the competition of the
factories."

*' Every one knows what an immense progress has been realized since
the motors used in motor cars and aeroplanes, and what is achieved
now by the transmission of electrical power. But I leave these lines
as they were written, as a testimony of the way in which the conquest
of air began, and of the part taken in it by the French small industry."

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 373

small cottage domestic industries. By adopting
such motors, we can give our artisans working in
cottages the motive power under fair conditions of
economy, practically equivalent to those which
secure to the capitalist the steam engine of great
power, revive by this means the domestic industry
where it exists and re-establish it where it has dis-
appeared.

Thus the progress achieved in the transmission '
of power and the introduction of cheap motors have
tended greatly to the advantage of the home in-
dustry.

In France this method of production still con-
tinues, and is even on the increase, more particu-
larly in the clothing industry (ready-made clothing,
hosiery, gloves, laces, etc.) and in a few others, such
as toy-making. And yet the clothing industry is
best adapted to the use of machinery, for which,
consequently, the factory method is most suitable.
Among the factors which explain the obstinate
resistance of home industry to absorption by the
factory. Professor Gide notes the advantages from
the use of a sewing-machine or a small gas or
electric motor of a quarter h.p. or less in this
branch of production.^

As regards the third factor, viz. the advantage |
of the large industry in the purchase of the raw I
materials, etc., and the sale of the products, this can
also inhere in the small industry as the artisans
develop among themselves the spirit of association.
In those countries where the small industries are

* " Political Economy," p. 174, in which he also refers to the facts
quoted in Aftalion's " Le developpement de la fabrique et de I'industrie
b. domicile dans I'habillment."

374 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

showing great vitality, the number of artisans who
work single-handed is greatly declining. The
following statistics of the small industries of the
German Empire bear on this question : —

1881.

1895.

1907.

1. Artisans working single-handed

2. From I to 5 employees . . .

3. From 6 to 50 employees . . .

4. Over 50 employees . ...

1,430,000

746,000

85,000

9,000

1,237,000

753,000

139,000

18,000

995,000

875,000

187,000

30,000

With the artisans

830,000
2,270,000

910,000
2,147,000

1,092,000
2,086,000

Kropotkin remarks —

" What appears quite distinctly from the last
census is the rapid decrease in the numbers of
artisans who work single-handed, mostly without
the aid of machinery. Such an individual mode of
production by hand is naturally on the decrease,
even many artisans resorting now to some sort of
motive power, and taking one or two hired aids ;
but this does not prove in the least that the small
industries, carried on with the aid of machinery,
should be on the wane. The census of 1907 proves
quite the contrary, and all those who have studied it
are bound to recognize it."

He then quotes Dr. Zahn —

" Of a pronounced decay of the small establish-
ments in which five or less persons are employed,
there is, of course, no sign. Out of the 14*3 million
people who live on industry, full 5*4 million belong
to the small industry."

Dr. Van der Borght also says —

'* It is true that the numbers of artisans working

THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OF INDIA 375

single-handed have diminished in numbers in most
industries ; but they still represent two-fifths of
industrial establishments, and even more than one-
half in several industries. At the same time, the
small establishments (having from one to five
workers) have increased in numbers, and they
contain nearly one-half of all the industrial estab-
lishments, and even more than that in several
groups."

The isolated artisans and workers are always at
the mercy of the wholesale dealers, who bring their \
wages almost to a starvation level. On the contrary,
when there has been an association of the artisans
and workers for buying the raw materials and sell-
ing the products, the condition of the artisans has j
greatly improved. Kropotkin has come to the ^
following important conclusions after thorough in-
vestigations into the conditions of the small in-
dustries in Germany, in France, and in Russia : —

** In an immense number of trades it is not the
superiority of the technical organization of the trade
in a factory, nor the economies realized in the prime-
motor, which militate against the small industry in
favour of the factories, but the more advantageous 1
conditions for selling the produce and for buying
the raw produce which are at the disposal of big
concerns. Wherever this difficulty has been over-
come, either by means of association, or in con-
sequence of a market being secured for the sale of
the produce, it has always been found — first, that
the condition of the workers has immediately im-
proved ; and next, that a rapid progress was realized
in the technical aspects of the respective industries.
New processes were introduced to improve the

376 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

produce or to increase the rapidity of its fabrication ;
new machine tools were invented ; or new motors
were resorted to ; or the trade was reorganized so
as to diminish the costs of production."

Again —

" The small industries do not perish because a
substantial economy can be realized in the factory
production — in many more cases than is usually
supposed, the fact is even the reverse — but because
the capitalist who establishes a factory emancipates
himself from the buyers of his produce and can deal
directly with the wholesale buyer and exporter ; or
else he concentrates in one concern the different
stages of fabrication of a given produce. The great
concern would thus find its advantages not in such
factors as are imposed by the technical necessities
of the trade at the time being, but in such factors
as could be eliminated by co-operative organization^

Thus the co-operative system will revive the
small industries when they are dying and give a
new life to those which are at present maintaining
themselves with difficulty in the competition with
the large industries.

CHAPTER VI

CO-OPERATION AND THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY

We have indicated in the previous chapter that
co-operative organization removes many of the eco-
nomic disadvantages inherent in the small industry.
While dealing with the cottage industries we have
pointed out the scope for co-operative enterprise
in many cases and the possibilities of improvement
by co-operative methods. In this article we shall
deal with this question more generally and show
what a great future lies before our cottage industries
if they are carried on by co-operative methods.
There are three ways in which co-operation can
relieve our artisan classes —

I. Co-operative finance providing the artisans
with cheap credit.

I I. Co-operation in the purchase of raw materials,
tools, and appliances used in handicrafts.

III. Co-operation in the sale of finished goods.
I. Finance.

Wherever our small industries are suffering, the
main cause is its want of convenient credit. The
poverty of our artisan classes is proverbial, and
their poverty is accompanied by great economic
disadvantages. Not only are the artisans unable
to effect a sale of their wares on account of their
poverty, which forbids them to employ travelling
agents, or otherwise advertise their wares, but the

378 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

very quality of these wares suffers on account of
their financial condition. The artisans are not in-
dependent workmen. Most of them are hopelessly
in debt to the mahajans, and all have to work only
to order. These middlemen, who are anxious only
for their immediate profits and have no interest in
the beauty and excellence of the products, encourage
the production of plain utilitarian and cheap work.
The artisans, who are at their mercy, have to work
solely at their bidding. Under such a system, in
which the artisans have to lie idle except when they
are paid in advance for their products by these
middlemen, and in which they have solely to con-
form to the ever-varying tastes of those who
have ordered them, the art cannot maintain a
high standard for long. Craftsmanship is indeed
sure to decline when the artisans, on account of
their poverty, execute only those things which are
most saleable. Workmanship cannot exist when
there is a demand for cheap production, only the
inferior materials will be produced and art will be
sacrificed to utility. The only remedy would be a
readjustment of the relations of capital and labour.
The task is a difficult one, but it has to be accom-
plished if we are to hope for any progress. It will
be of no use to deprecate the deterioration of our
arts, if, by leaving the artisans entirely at the mercy
of the mahajans, we compel them to turn out things
solely to their order ; or to teach them improved
processes when the greater part of the profits they
themselves cannot reap. Advances of money, tools,
or machinery might be made both by the Govern-
ment as well as by private individuals to deserving
and selected artisans.

CO-OPERATION AND THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY 379

In continental Europe, the governments of
many countries have been developing handicrafts
by encouraging the artisans with grants of machinery.
Thus the Government of Hungary has for some
years been supplying machinery to independent
craftsmen (master workmen). Between 1899 and
1909, about 1922 craftsmen were supplied with
machines of the aggregate value of 3,762,567
crowns. Only in 48 cases had the machines to be
declared forfeited, because the craftsmen in question
were unable to use them or keep them permanently
working. Out of 1922 craftsmen, 434 work in iron
and metal and 390 in the clothing industry. A con-
siderable number of machines has been supplied
also to co-operations, 219 cases in all. The measures
taken by the state for the development of in-
dustry have been remarkably successful, the pro-
portion of failures being a very small one, whether
we take manufacturing industry or independent
craftsmen.^

But self-help in the sphere of industry as well
is the best help. Thus the establishment of co-
operative credit societies amongst the artisans and
the grant of loans from them to the artisans on
a co-operative basis will be much more beneficial
than grants of loans or machinery from Government.

Germany is the model as well as the parent
country for co-operative credit, and it may be
instructive to describe how Germany has been tack-
ling the problem of the poverty of the artisan
classes. As early as 1850, Herr Schulze, Mayor of
Delitzch, founded in Delitzch-Eilenberg his first
loan society with ten members, all artisans, and

* Alexander de Hollan, Economic Journal^ March, 191 1.

38o THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

remodelled it two years later as a self-supporting
institution with capital and shares. He saw that
the lack of convenient credit was at the root of tKe
artisan's helplessness, and that this credit could
easily be provided if the artisan by self-help
organized himself to obtain it. From that year
co-operative credit societies were organized in almost
all countries in Europe, with notable success,
especially in Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland,
and Ireland. Co-operative credit societies are of
two kinds, the town credit-bank and the rural
credit-bank. The first is predominantly an associa-
tion of industrial producers : the second entirely an
association of agricultural producers. We will deal
with the former, basing our description chiefly on
the Schulze-Delitzch model. The Raiffeisen bank
is suited for agriculturists and villagers, and runs on
fundamentally different lines adapted to agricultural
needs and conditions of life.

In the Schulze-Delitzch bank, the necessary
funds are raised by share capital and unlimited
liability. Each member subscribes one share, and
where, as is usually the case, liability is unlimited,
one share only. The share is fixed as high as
possible, i,e, as high as it can be without shutting
out small industrialists, who have credit needs to
satisfy. The object of the large share is twofold,
the provision of a working capital and the encourage-
ment of self-help and thrift. The large share as
well as the unlimited liability constitutes the main
basis on which capital is attracted.

In the Italian town banks the liability of the
shareholders is limited. Signor Luzzatti in Italy
saw that though rural banks with unlimited liability

CO-OPERATION AND THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY 381

was suited to Germany, it was not suitable to Italy,
where there were greater extremes of rich and
poor who could not be induced to co-operate on a
basis of unlimited liability.

The profits of the society are distributed in
two parts : one part goes to the reserve fund, and
the remainder to the shareholders according to the
size of their shares. Deposits in the banks are
also encouraged, and they assume various forms.
Loans are granted by the banks against four dif-
ferent forms of security : {pi) the security of one
or two friends ; (J)) land mortgage, which is not
much offered in banks pre-eminently industrial ;
(c) deposit of collaterals in the form of scrips or
valuables ; and (d) character (no security at all
excepting the good name of the borrower). Another
way in which loans are advanced is by cash-credit.
Credit is also granted by the co-operative bank in
the form of a discount of a trade bill of exchange.^
Banks also lend on invoices, on labour bills, and
on a variety of similar instruments common among
trading and manufacturing folk, but not generally
negotiable except as an act of special consideration
and at a high discount. To be able to borrow
at ordinary rates of interest constitutes a material
convenience to the poor people. Thus, a trades-
man having money owing to him from a customer
needs but obtain the latter's acknowledgment of the
correctness of the debt — provided that the debtor
is "good" or can make him so by security — to
have the account discounted. It is very common
for poor people to buy sewing-machines with
money borrowed from a People's Bank, which

* Fay, "Co-operation at Home and Abroad."

382 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

practice of course they find exceedingly useful ; it
secures them all the conveniences of the "hire-
purchase system " without exacting its extortionate
price. It is doubtful if by any method the banche
have rendered to the humble trading classes and
small folk generally more material and more
welcome service than by this convenient, popu-
larized banking. Again, banks advance money
on any prospective claim sufficiently recognized.
The People's Bank of Bergamo has advanced
money on cocoons, secured by the undertaking
that the spun silk shall not leave the spinner's
house till the debt has been repaid. To the
small silk growers this has proved a substantial
benefit.^

The above is a very rough description of the
machinery of a town bank chiefly for industrialists.
The advantages of such banks are both economic
and moral. If we compare the private money-
lender with the co-operative banker, the advantage
of the latter is at once seen. The resources of the
private money-lender are limited, and he cannot
control individual borrowers. They are at liberty
to make any use of the loan, productive or un-
productive. Thus the private banker runs risks
of losses, and he recoups himself by charging high
rates of interest. In the co-operative bank the
borrowers are themselves the lenders. They know
and trust one another. Thus the personal security
which the small borrowers offer is valued when the
other members are satisfied about its genuineness.
Hence the rates of interest, charged by the banks,
are much lower. Again, the co-operative bank

* Wolff, " People's Banks," p. 275.

CO-OPERATION AND THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY 383

combines saving with credit. Thus, it fosters thrift
among the borrowers. The moral advantages, more-
over, far outweigh the economic gains. The bank
trains the people in habits of self-help, prudence,
and self-discipline. It organizes a democratic com-
munity in which the weak by mutual aid and co-
operation become strong, and use their strength
to lift others out of weakness. It creates a healthy
moral atmosphere in the villages, and, as the centre
of the intellectual and moral life of the villages,
becomes a lever of all kinds of social and educa-
tional movements concerning the masses of the
people.

There are industrial banks in almost all countries
in Europe. But there has been a marked tendency
among these banks to deviate from this starting-
point, and to lose what is felt to be an essential,
the membership of the small producer. In Ger-
many the following table represents the classi-
fication of members of Schulze-Delitzch banks by
occupation : —

1870. 1900.

1. Independent agriculturalists . . 29*0 27-2

2. Hand-workers 27*9 24'o6

3. Shopkeepers and traders ... 87 9*95

4. Wage-earners ii*6 i3'47

5. Doctors, chemists 6*3 7*32

6. Retired persons, etc 7 '6 8*21

The percentage of hand-workers follows that of
the agriculturists, and shows a little decline. In
Belgium the town banks created originally to assist
the artisans have gradually lost this feature, and
neglect the custom of the small men. In Switzer-
land, however, the Swiss Popular Bank is very
important, having branches over the whole of

384 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Switzerland, and its membership is almost ex-
clusively industrial^ The Italian town banks have
combated the general tendency towards the neglect
of the small man by giving preference to smaller
loans, where funds are limited.^ The tendency
towards minimizing the importance of the hand-
workers as elements in the town banks is the result
of the predominance of the factory over the hand-
industry throughout the West, and the increase of
wage-earners who do not want credit. We have
shown in the last chapter that the victory of the
big industry is not so universal as is often sup-
posed even in the West. In many industries hand-
work has revived, and new industries invariably
begin on a small scale in the hands of independent

* It should be noted that domestic trades have in Switzerland a
much greater extension than in any other country of Europe save
Russia. Of the 3,500,000 of the total population in Switzerland, some
100,000 persons are now actively engaged in domestic industries alone,
working on their own account or else on that of some among them-
selves, in 70,873 little establishments, which represent I2'4i of the
entire number of establishments of such particular trades. Its service
to these industries has thus been indicated by Henry W. Wolff in his
" People's Banks " : " It has proved a godsend to those small industries
with whose workshops the Swiss mountain-side and valleys bristle —
watchmakers, makers of musical boxes, weavers, wood-carvers, straw-
plaiters, basket-makers, and the like."

^ The following table represents the classification of members in
the Banche Popolari of Italy, on an average of 639 banks : —

Per cent.

Landed proprietors 6*56

Small cultivators 4* 12

Rural day labourers 4*66

Large manufacturers and merchants . . . 477
Small tradesmen and manufacturers . . . 25-25

Factory hands S'li

Civil servants, clerks, teachers, etc i8-86

Persons without an occupation 7*67

(Wolff, '* People's Banks," p. 314).
The number of small traders, etc., has proportionately declined.

CO-OPERATION AND THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY 385

artisans. But, in spite of the relatively inferior
position of the small artisans in the modern indus-
trial world of the West, the aid which co-operative
banks are still rendering to independent artisans
in different countries in Europe is remarkable.

In our country where domestic industries are
much more universal than in the West, the estab-
lishment of such co-operative banks amongst the
artisans is of first necessity. The idea of co-opera-
tive credit is taking root in our country ; but though
the movement is fostered under the beneficent care
of the Government, and is fraught with immense
possibilities for the regeneration of our indebted
peasantry and artisan population, it has not so far
been able to affect them to any great extent. The
great bulk of the industrial population of the country
is almost untouched by it, all the existing Societies
of the different provinces being mainly composed
of agriculturists. In those industries, particularly
where the raw material is expensive, the artisans, if
anything, are more than other workers under the
thumb of the money-lenders, and will derive the
greatest benefit from co-operative credit. Indeed,
any hand-workers, by organizing themselves in
association, may also obtain credit much more
cheaply and conveniently than they now obtain
from ordinary money-lenders.

There are, indeed, very few societies of crafts-
men in India. Most of them are in the United
Provinces. These are small associations of men of
the same occupation, and generally of the same
caste. Thus there are societies of weavers of
cotton, silk, and wool, fruit and vegetable venders,
carpenters, leather-dealers, leather-manufacturers,

2 c

386 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

ekka-drivers, boatmen, etc. The societies have
unlimited liability ; each member is also required
to take up one share payable in monthly or six-
monthly instalments. In non-seasonable trades
the payments are monthly. Thus in many weavers*
societies the value of a share is Rs.9, and the
amount of the instalment is only i anna, paid every
month for twelve years. These weavers' societies
have been very successful, and their number is
increasing rapidly when once their benefits are
understood. In one small town alone (Tanda, in
the Fyzabad district) there are twenty societies
with 541 weaver members, and a central bank for
finance and organization, while another small town
(Sandila, in the Hardoi district) has combined with
its weaver's credit society a yarn store, which sold
last year yarn to the value of Rs. 46,000, and
paid a bonus of 2 pies in the rupee on purchases.^
In the Benares silk-weaving industry indigenous
co-operative organization has been highly successful.

II. Co-operative Purchase and

III. Co-operative Sale.

As the co-operative bank supplies the artisans
with money, the co-operative supply society supplies
them with tools, appliances, as well as the raw
materials required in the crafts. Similarly the
sale society takes produce from the independent
artisans and sells it in its original form. In Ger-
many these associations of small producers are
called Handwerkgenossenschaften. They buy raw
materials in common, use machines in common,
sell their products in common. The commodities

^ " Co-operation in India," a paper read before the East Indian
Association by S. J. Fremantle.

CO-OPERATION AND THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY 387

raised belong to individuals. In our country the
artisans purchase the raw materials as well as tools
and appliances singly. The shopkeepers or middle-
men from whom they make these purchases very
often deceive them. Again, expenses of transport
are also charged, which make the prices heavy,
especially where the purchases are small, and the
distance from the town is great, which are usually
the case. If the artisans unite together and their
individual requirements grouped together are
ordered in bulk, the advantages of such purchase
will be obvious : (a) the supplies can be bought
cheaper, as the purchases are wholesale ; (b) the
freights are lower ; {c) the supplies are of good
quality. Again, costly machinery, like oil- and gas-
engines, which individual artisans cannot and will
not buy, might be purchased in common by the
society and hired out to the artisans. Thus various
kinds of machinery which the artisans cannot use
otherwise might be made cheaply accessible to
them. The co-operative society will not only bring
the artisans cheaper supplies ; it will also teach them
how to use them. The co-operative society com-
mands confidence from the artisans, and new tools
and implements might easily be introduced through
the co-operative organization. The advantages of
co-operative organization are so great that a
number of small trades, artisan works, and domestic
industries in Europe has revived by this means,
and recent economists anticipate a revival of the
small industry, if co-operative methods become
universal, in spite of the competition with the big
industry. Thus Professor Gide has remarked —
** Co-operative association — under the different

388 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

forms of productive association, societies for the
purchase of raw materials or for the sale of finished
goods, or societies for mutual credit, aided by
mechanical inventions that are substituting electric
power for steam, and enabling us to transport
motive power from the place of its generation to
the place of its application, will permit new forms
of industrial enterprise capable of resisting success-
fully the encroachments of large-scale industry."
Co-operative societies possessing their own machines,
oil- and gas-engines, and providing electric light and
power for the artisans (by the employment of a rapid
in the river as motive force) will secure the same
economies of production and opportunities as to
invention and improvement of processes and utiliza-
tion of work which regularly inhere in the large-
scale industry.

In connection with the working of industrial
credit societies as well as societies for the common
purchase of raw material or for common sale, certain
difficulties have arisen. It might be profitable to
indicate how these difficulties have been overcome
in the West, notably in Germany.

Credit societies for special trades and industries
have usually failed in Europe. The idea of forming
special credit societies for certain industries has been
abandoned. An industrial credit society now com-
prises the most diverse elements of self-dependent
industry, so that all may find in the credit society a
ready support.

Co-operative credit societies have now found a
secure basis for granting loans in the acceptance of
outstanding or recently incurred claims, upon safe
debtors, which the borrower transfers to the society.

CO-OPERATION AND THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY 389

In simple business dealings amongst artisans this
form of security, however, cannot often be used
because there is the danger of offending a customer
by transferring the claim. It may be assumed as a
fact that a well-managed credit society can meet
all reasonable applications for credit made by its
members.

In the case of societies for the common purchase
of raw material or for common sale, a combination
of the various groups of artisans is advisable or
rather essential. The industrial co-operative society
is often led to fix the price of raw material, the use
of machines, etc., considerably below current prices.
But the duty of such a society should be to make it
possible for the artisan to perfect his trade and to
modernize it on good commercial lines. If the price
of raw material, semi-manufactured articles, and the
use of machines is fixed under current prices, ex-
perience has shown that the resultant economies
are not to the advantage of the workers, but to that
of the customers. This important point, however,
is frequently misunderstood. Another great danger
of the supply societies lies in allowing too extended
credit. It is a matter for serious consideration
when artisans get machines on credit whose full
employment in the undertaking is not assured.

As regards the common sale societies, it is, of
course, self-evident that they can only be of service
in industries which can manufacture for stocking.
The area of utility of a common sale society is, from
the nature of things, very limited. On this account
such societies have to exercise great caution in
admitting new members. In these sale societies the
warehoused goods are not regarded as specie, but

390 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

rather as industrial produce, the value of which
is often decided by the special circumstances and
wishes of the purchaser. Whether the asso-
ciated sale societies should accept the products
brought to them on their own account or whether
they shall only exhibit them and sell them on ac-
count of another is a question that has to be decided
on the merits of cases as they arise. Products whose
value is largely a question of public taste, should
not be purchased by a society. It has been found
practicable to hire things which have come into a
selling society's possession. But here, too, the
utmost caution is essential. Specialized knowledge
on the part of the manager is essential if the society
is not to suffer loss.^ The advantages of organizing
co-operative sale-societies for the marketing and
sale of the finished products of the artisans are also
obvious. The artisans who live isolated from the
market and from one another have a very imperfect
knowledge of the special needs of the consumer.
Their contact with the consumer is also very fre-
quently obstructed by the interposition of middle-
men. The co-operative sale society not only inter-
cepts the profits of the middlemen, but it advertises
the wares effectively and sells them conveniently in
the interests of the artisans.

Not only the co-operative banks, but also the
co-operative supply and co-operative sale societies
will revolutionize the condition of our artisan classes
if they are introduced in India with due precautions
necessitated by experience in the West. There are

* Vide the paper on " Credit and Industrial Co-operation," read
before the International Co-operative Congress at Hamburg, 1910, by
M. C. Korthaus, Berlin, Director of the Principal Union of German
Industrial Co-operative Societies.

CO-OPERATION AND THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY 391

certain special circumstances which distinctly favour
the introduction of industrial co-operation amongst
our artisans. Our industrial population is organized
Into castes, marked by a spirit of association, soli-
darity, and co-operation in social dealings. The
caste traditions and the character of the people are
thus distinctly favourable to co-operation for in-
dustrial purposes. Again, the form of Industrial
co-operation, though very recent in Europe, Is struc-
turally akin to the economic methods of our village
community. In the village community, the village
Industrials are paid by the villagers, and the com-
munal ownership of land, typical in the Indian
village community, links Itself naturally to the com-
munal ownership of machinery and the Implements
of production, as well as of the marketable wares,
which is the object of industrial co-operation.
Indeed, there are the seeds In the Indian soil.
The co-operator's labour and cultivation are re-
quired In order that this soil may yield a harvest
possibly more abundant than that of the West.

CHAPTER VII

TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND THE COTTAGE
INDUSTRY

One of the important causes of the decline of our
cottage industries is the inadequate industrial
education of our craftsmen. The caste, indeed,
provide an excellent system of training them at the
minimum of cost, but the system has to be improved
to meet the present requirements of industry. In
the existing system of industrial education, the boy
learns the rudiments of his craft from the family
members at a very early age. When he is five or six
years old, he is apprenticed at the shop of his father
or of a caste relation and acts as his menial servant
to begin with. He cleans the tools, supplies them
to the master workmen while they are at work and
thus gradually knows their names and begins to
understand their use. He is then given the rougher
and the elementary portions of the craft and gradu-
ally becomes useful to the master. At this stage
he gets a stipend which rises from Re,i to Rs.io
per month according to his ability. As he advances
in knowledge he is given the finer portions of the
craft till he becomes a skilled artisan and chalks out
his career independently.

The masters seek to develop in the pupils
character, professional and general aptitude for their

TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY 393

work, and efficiency and skill receive ample recog-
nition in the shape of the increased amount of the
stipend. The secrets of the trade are in the air
of the household and are imbibed by the appren-
tice according to his receptive capacity. Thus
the admirably vitalized teaching tends to train a
class of skilled workmen and conscientious artisans
which, adding to the wealth and well-being of the
people, hands down to posterity the hereditary
knowledge of the craft accumulated for centuries/
But the indigenous system labours under one great
short-coming, — the apprentice gets no liberal educa- v^
tion. There is a pitiable lack even of the most
ordinary education in the vast majority of those
who ply their crafts in workshops. Imitation and
not training being the principle, the pupil cannot
be more skilful than the master, so the art soon
becomes stereotyped. In fact, the same uniform
and uninteresting patterns are often reproduced
and handicraft is degraded to the level of manu-
facture. Again, competition being restricted only j
to the same castemen, the stimulus for improve-
ment is to a certain extent removed. The

^ It is acknowledged by industrial experts that social heredity is ot
immeasurable value in the maintenance of high excellence in the
practice of the artistic industries, or the applied arts generally. With '
regard to our artisans, Sir G. Birdwood has remarked, heredity is the
secret of the Hindu's excellence in the industrial arts ; and when you
praise a goldsmith, or wood- or stone-carver, or weaver, or potter for
his work, he would reply that he was but handing down the ever
accumulating merit of his forefathers through nearly three thousand
years past to his children and children's children, and he prayed it
might so accumulate through them for yet three thousand years to
come. Such facts should not be overlooked when considering the
pressing problem of technical education in every department of indus-
trial activity and enterprise throughout the United Kingdom (Sir
G. Birdwood, m Journal of the Royal Society of Arts ^ 191 1)*

394 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

isolation of the craft tends to narrowness and con-
sequent stagnation. The artisans adhere too closely
to a few old patterns and seldom adopt new imple-
ments or new methods of manufacture.

It is well-known that a very large proportion of
the things turned out by our craftsmen are made by
methods that should be obsolete and with old and
very defective tools. All this reduces the profits
of the craftsman and prevents him from spending
what he ought to do on new tools and appliances.
Worse than this, he has now too often not learned
his craft properly and has too little of the mechanical
resource and dexterity of his equals in Europe. Thus
the brass founder sticks to his traditional Indian ways
by means of which he makes good single castings
while his rival with just the same amount of pre-
paratory work turns out twelve. The Indian cleans
his cardings by hand ; the European puts them in
an iron box and makes them clean each other, and
finally the European deals with them in clusters
on a machine or grinds them to shape with emery
or other wheels, while the Indian laboriously
finishes them singly with a blunt file and a hand
burnisher. All this has to be remedied by a well-
organized system of education.

It would not do, however, if we merely imitate
the methods of the West, for they have their charac-
teristic defects. There are two methods of in-
dustrial instruction which now prevail in Europe,
viz. the workshop and the school method. The
former emphasizes trade interests. The apprentices
and artisans get their art and technical lessons in
and through work. Great attention is paid that
the commodities are saleable : art-considerations are

TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY 395

often neglected to make the commodities market-
able and cheap. Thus the workshop method
hampers the growth of those industries in which
the beauty of product rather than the utility is
sought for, it will be found to be decidedly inferior
to the indigenous method where patience and
aesthetic perception are more valuable than clever-
ness and utility. Indeed, the popular art — the art
of the people, hand in hand with every handicraft
inseparable from life and use, the spontaneous art
of the cottage artisans will be altogether crushed
out of existence if the workshop method of indus-
trial education is introduced. Already the work-
shop method has been discredited in Europe and
preference is shown to the school of art.

The school of art attaches no importance to
commercial interests. It seeks to diffuse art educa-
tion among the artisans and considers that the mere
teaching of art will be sufficient to make their
handiwork artistic. As a result of this the artisans
become mere receptacles of some abstract ideas and
cannot utilize them in their everyday work.

In many cases they cannot work on their own
account and thus become almost useless so far as
their trade is concerned. They may become good
hack designers, but never artists. '' Whatever the
cause, there seems no doubt that at the present
time comparatively little attention is being paid
by the schools to design for manufacture. Until
some years ago the artistic crafts had been neg-
lected ; now, they are not only considered, but
they take the first place. It is a pity, not indeed
that students should design for the crafts, but a
greater number of both teachers and taught do not

396 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

realize how necessary it is that design for manu-
facture should be our consideration. It is wrong to
ignore the artistic possibilities of the more ordinary
objects. It would surely be a higher aim to try to
make manufacture artistic as far as may be than it
is to turn one*s back on it or stand aloof in proud
superiority."

Many of the continental schools have striven to
attain the two objects together. The apprentice
turns out the goods themselves and learns the
processes of manufacture necessary to guide them
in connection with the designs. He understands
the limitations of his design which are necessary
for its adaptation to his own handiwork, and thus
the more effective co-operation between the design
and the work, the ideal and the real, is secured.
The teaching of art thus goes hand in hand with
the proper teaching of a trade. The art flourishes
all the more healthily from the fact that the student
looks upon it as part of the necessary working
equipments for his trade and has not much tempta-
tion to consider his immature efforts at design or
adoption in the light of artistic achievement. The
continental system reaches its perfection in the
School of Industrial Arts, Geneva, which is *' setting
a great and salutary example to Europe, giving a
new life to art and a new tone to that life through-
out the world. The students in this school are
practically apprentices, paying no premium, re-
ceiving no remuneration, and turning out excellent
work under the direction of experts. All materials
— such as marble, gold, silver — are supplied free;
the articles produced become the property of the
school and their sale is a source of revenue. A

TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY 397

pupil of talent is even assisted in his living ex-
penses, so that he may not be hindered on the
road to success by extraneous worries. The con-
ditions differ entirely from those which obtain in
our English Schools of Arts. There is no pre-
ponderance of immature learners acting as a drag
on the class work, no attendance merely to pass the
time ; the single endeavour is to teach and to learn
some art trade in the most perfect manner. Com-
plete and saleable work is insisted upon in every
department, nothing sketchy and unfinished is
allowed to pass ; every trained student can com-
mand his price in the market, and on leaving the
school can immediately command a fair salary." ^

Thus in the School of Industrial Arts, Geneva,
the defect of the Indian apprentice system is re-
moved by insisting that pupils must have passed
the primary schools in order to qualify for entry.
Theoretical lessons are also imparted in the school.
The school for teaching decorative art directs
special attention to theoretical work ; the school
of industrial art devotes itself exclusively to the
practical side, but does not allow pupils to neglect
those studies in design, modelling and composition
which are indispensable for the successful practical
pursuit of any artistic craft. Thus when a pupil
has selected a craft — enamelling for example —
he must study several subjects which will bear
upon it from an artistic point of view. At the
finish of his time he is an artist, and is looked
upon by employers as better than one who has been
apprenticed in a workshop. Evening classes are
also held for artisans, who cannot attend instruction

^ Journal of the Royal Society of Arts ^ 191 1.

398 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

in the day time at which instruction is given in
freehand drawing. Geometry, modelling, drawing,
with short lectures on the history and develop-
ment of art ; finally designing and painting enter
into the curriculum in addition to the ordinary
course of technical education and practical work
in evening classes. The aim has been to direct
the pupils to consider wherein beauty consists, and
to encourage their individual artistic expression of
it. Drawing is thus the basis from which the
edifice is reared ; art training begins with the
lessons in drawing.

The Indian system ought to adopt these prin-
ciples of industrial education and organize instruc-
tion in drawing and designing on a large scale and
on a serious footing as its fundamental basis. It is
high time that we should endeavour to improve the
artistic education of our young apprentices by
adopting the Western system of teaching which will
cultivate the taste for beauty and diffuse sound know-
ledge of its rules. Again the artisans have to be
lifted out of their narrow groove and their natural
horizon improved if they are to produce fine work.
With the lessons on drawing and designing,
following the traditions of Indian art and crafts-
manship, arrangement has also to be made for im-
parting such general education as will enlarge the
mental vision of the artisan while preventing him
from falling into a clerical groove. The handicraft
side of training should not also be neglected. In
order to encourage industries, the institutions for
industrial instruction must make it their concern
to promote industrial and artistic activity not alone
by theory but chiefly in a practical direction.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY 399

This would strengthen the intimate connection
between trade and educational interests which
characterizes our industrial life. It would reinforce
most of the dying art industries by giving them fresh
life, through the adoption of the modern methods
or organization and of systematic teaching of the
trade. The old organization will be redeemed and
purified and be more efficient for the long-known
uses of its own evolution.

CHAPTER VIII

THE RESTORATION OF THE VILLAGE

No scheme for the resuscitation of the small in-
dustries is complete unless it includes measures for
the improvement of village life. Whether in India
or in the West the decline of the small industries
goes on pari passu with the decline of small-scale
farming. On the other hand, in countries where
the number of small proprietors multiplies small
industries grow and develop. In England the de-
struction of the home-industries is more due to the
rural exodus and agricultural decline than to any
other causes. On the other hand, the prosperous
and energetic agriculture in France has been a
support to the village industries. The number of
small cultivators in France turn to various small
industries in addition to agriculture as supple-
mentary sources of living. Thus small industries
in France represent a valuable characteristic feature
of the economic organization. Indeed any steps
taken towards the improvement of agriculture of
assuring the peasant's rights on the land, or for
creating an intellectual life in the village, will
always tend to promote the growth of the small
industries.

One of the most important economic problems
of India is the decline of the village. Unhappily

THE RESTORATION OF THE VILLAGE ^o\

this problem has not sufficiently attracted the atten-
tion of the educated Indians. And yet India is
the land where the village and not the city has
been the centre of civilization in the past. In
India more than in any other country the great
intellectual, social, and religious movements have
originated in villages, and, nurtured by their
thoughts and aspirations, at last reached the cities.
The soul of India is to be found in the village, not
in the city. In modern Europe, on the other hand,
the discoveries in intellectual or social life are
made in the city and are then communicated to the
village, which receive them as gospel truths. The
city sets the example. The village imitates. The
city in the West controls all the springs of social
life. The village has no separate social life of its
own. The city has its own fads, crazes and " isms,"
and these are accepted by the whole country at
large. The tastes and fashions of the village are
regarded as idiosyncrasies, and therefore checked.
Thus every trace of individuality of the village,
every local peculiarity of life and thought are de-
stroyed. Village arts and industries, village customs
and ceremonies, village pleasures and amusements,
village dialects and folk-lore, popular tales and
songs, — all these which tend to give expression to
the individuality and the peculiar temperament of
the village are all discarded. Village habits of life
go out of fashion. The village loses its indi-
viduality, its soul. The note of village life is
drowned amidst the loud echoes from the city.

When one phase of social life tends to control
the other phases, civilization is in danger ; for life
implies variety, and culture consists in the blending

2 D

402 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

of diverse types. If one type predominates, and
the other types are not developed, culture declines.
This has been the result of what Professor Royce
calls " the bleaching process " in the West. There
the characteristic habits of life and thought of the
village are now being superseded by urban ways.
Life in the village tends to correspond to the life
in the city. Instead of diversity a dull uniformity
devoid of life is attacking society. Society, instead
of being enriched by a homogeneous blending of
diverse types, is developing a single type. The
approximation towards a single type is sapping the
roots of life and culture. Thus Society is becoming
all the poorer.

The questions that present themselves to an
Indian sociologist in this connection are these.
What should be the relation between the city and
the village '^ What are their respective lines of
development .'* The West in its mad exaggeration
of the division of labour has created a distinc-
tion in type between rural and urban life. The
village produces the food of the nation and all the
raw materials of industry. The city manufactures
in its factories and sells the finished product in its
shops. The village gives birth to population and
energy. The city uses the raw materials of social
life ; the village is a field for exploitation. Rural
life has no separate existence of its own, its existence
is for the city. The modern industrial and social
ideal is to suck out everything that is best from the
village into the city. As in the system of produc-
tion the worker is a mere servant to machinery, so
in the system of social organization the village has
submitted itself to be a slave of the city. An

THE RESTORATION OF THE VILLAGE 403

undue division of functions has thus been estab-
lished in Western society. It is not good for a
man to be riveted for all his life to a given spot
for making **the eighteenth part of a pin." It
is not also good for the village to be specialized
permanently. There has been an increase of urban
gains as the result of the division of functions
between city and village. But true efficiency,
culture, and well-being are sacrificed.

The village, like the city, should live a life of its
own. The village should be a living, self-conscious
part in the social organization, a partner with the city
in the highest enjoyments of art and science, of
creation and use. Technical knowledge and indus-
trial commercial organizing capacities should not be
the monoply of the townsmen. Each village must
cultivate scientific knowledge, together with the
knowledge of agriculture. It should develop in-
dustrial aptitudes, together with the patience and
assiduity required in the work in the field. Thus
some manufacture or industrial art should be com-
bined with agriculture in order that the rural
economic organization, while creating wealth for
the community may also develop the industrial
qualities which it really needs. In the industrial
world of the West the disparity of wealth and
technical skill between town and village is striking.
There is a superabundance of capital and mechani-
cal skill in the town ; while the village suffers for
want of capital and business knowledge. The city
almost monopolizes science and enterprise ; the
village is backward because of the ignorance and
lack of enterprise of the people. Such are the
inevitable results of a too rigid adherence to the

404 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

principle of division of labour. It is not to
the interests of culture that the village should
permanently be the hewer of wood and the drawer
of water for the city.

In the system of production, the permanent
division of functions between producers and
consumers, and amongst the former between
capitalists and labourers, has led to grave social
evils. A protest against this has given birth to
socialism. Socialism aims to establish the inte-
gration of functions. In the socialistic order the
watchword is not division but in,tegration of labour.
Differentiation has been the watchword of orthodox
economics. Socialism proclaims combination. In
the socialist state the consumers are their own
producers, themselves jointly owning the means of
production. Thus socialism abolishes the ortho-
dox division of people into well-defined classes or
new ''castes," such as producers and consumers,
labourers and capitalists. Industrial co-operation,
again, is a step in the process of integration inas-
much as it effaces the distinction between labourers
and employing capitalists. Distributive co-opera-
tion is a further step in the same process. It
affords the basis for organizing distribution and
production with labourers working under the control
of the consuming members. Not only socialism
but co-operation as well will profoundly affect the
present industrial system based on the principle
of divison of labour. They will usher in a new
industrial organization whose watchword will be
integration of labour. Both the social organization
and the industrial system of the West represents
the second stage in the process of evolution. From

THE RESTORATION OF THE VILLAGE ^o%

homogeneity the progress has been towards differen-
tiation. Integration will represent the final term
of the progression. In industry, after a period of '>
an ever-increasing division and sub-division of
functions, the tendency towards a synthesis is
apparent nowadays in socialism, as well as dis-
tributive and industrial co-operation. In the social
organization also, the same tendency is manifest
in the growing interest in village life, a fuller ap-
preciation of the immense value of agriculture and
village industries, the arts and crafts movement and
co-operative work. In cities the tendency of bring-
ing the factories to the villages, which has found
expression in the " Garden Cities " movement, is
also significant, representing another phase of the
integration process. In future the rigid differen-
tiation of functions between city and village will
be checked. Science and art, mechanical skill
and business enterprise, will not be confined to the
city. Industrial arts and handicrafts will flourish
in the village side by side with agriculture. In-
dustries in the city will not have to be fed by
hands taken from agriculture in the village. The
countryside will utilize the labours of engineers and
inventors. Knowledge and capital will be dis-
tributed throughout the country.

As the process of integration in the industrial)
system represented in socialism and co-operation
removes the unequal distribution of wealth among
producers and consumers, integration in the social
organization represented in rural movements will
abate the disparity of wealth and culture between
city and village.

In India the differentiation between city and

4o6 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

village life was not sharp. Here the unit was and
to a great extent is still the family, sociologically
speaking, and the land territorially. Our industrial
structure rests on the family and land basis.
Thus India's economic unit has been the family of
small cultivators. India is the land of small hold-
ings. The joint family, the system of land tenure
and the law of inheritance have all combined to make
our country essentially the land of small tenantry.
Here the land is not left in the hands of great
landowners, who are often more busy with their
shooting preserves than with their tenants' holdings.
The small cultivators here enjoy the land and the
fruits thereof. The proprietary instinct of the
individual in India, again, is much weaker than in
the West. Its aggressive character has been
tempered by our law and social institutions. In
fact, the Roman Jurisprudence, by its emphasis on
private property and by its law of the sacredness
of creditors' rights over and against debtors, and the
Gothic and Prankish customaries, by the feudal
organization of land tenure, have given a dispro-
portionate importance to the proprietary instinct ;
indeed, in some ways, a wrong direction to the
development of Western nations and states. India,
therefore, has not yet experienced to the same
degree the evils of the disparity of wealth and
property. The repression of the proprietary instinct
and the communistic sense as well as the basal
facts of our family and social life have checked
the concentration of capital in fewer hands. In-
dustry, therefore, has not been highly specialized.
The factory has not developed. Agriculture
has been more important than manufacture, in

THE RESTORATION OF THE VILLAGE 407

agriculture the small peasant proprietor is more im-
portant than the landowner and cottage industries
supported by agriculture have flourished. Where
the ideal of " specialization," " centralization/' and
*' concentration '* does not dominate industry, we
have not to witness the unfortunate spectacle of
rich pampered cities, the seats of prosperous
manufacture side by side with deserted villages
** where men decay/' In India villages like cities
have been the repositories of knowledge and wealth,
of science and technics. City and village have
progressed on nearly the same lines. There has
been no difference of type between city and village.
Both have lived and progressed by mutual aid and
association.

But a profound change has now affected the
Indian village. The Indian village is no longer
full of life and vigour, supported by an energetic
agriculture. It is fast becoming a scene of
dreariness and desolation, while the city is being
congested with the influx of population from the
village. Life and progress are manifest only in the
city. Capital, mechanical skill and knowledge are
monopolized by the city, the village is suffering
from dearth of knowledge and skill. The impact
with the Western civilization has raised the standard
of consumption of all classes of society : but pro-
ductive activity has not increased in proportion.
A system of over-literary education introduced into
the country with a view to satisfy administrative
needs has created, on the other hand, a dislike for
manual labour, handicraft or trade. The middle
classes are flocking into the government service,
or any sort of clerical or semi-intellectual occupation.

4o8 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

There has been engendered a feeling of con-
tempt for manual labourers, whether skilled or un-
skilled, and a demarcation of social feeling which
does not correspond to differences in wages. For
the rate of pay of the middle classes is very often
little different from that of the skilled labouring
class. In India specialized skill and general
mechanical ability are in constantly growing de-
mand as manufactures are being developed ; while
the constant or ever-increasing stream of the
middle class which aims at the clerical occupation
is gradually lowering the rate of pay of this class.
Unfortunately the prejudice that manual labour is
degrading to it is very strong, and in consequence
those who had previously remained in the village
managing and directing its agriculture, industry or
trade are now leaving the village in large numbers
in search of intellectual occupations in the town.
More than any other cause, the migration of this
class has created the unfortunate contrast between
the stagnation and decline of the village with the life
and progress of the city. For it was this middle
class which guided and controlled the social and
intellectual life of the village peasantry. When
they have gone there are none to look after the
common interests of the villagers.

The common pasture land is wrested by the land-
lord from the hands of the villages, and there are none
to protest. The village money and grain lending
trade is transferred from the hands of local people to
those of outsiders, Kabulis, baparies or middlemen,
who are agents of big European exporting firms.
These come gradually to control the distribution of
food grains. Their sale of crops to outside markets

THE RESTORATION OF THE VILLAGE 409

is guided by no reference to the interests of villagers.
The rates of interest are often exorbitant and the
relations between debtor and creditor which were
formerly based on status now rest on a competitive
basis. Food crops are exported from the village
even if a famine be imminent or actually raging
in it. Thus the village industry is exploited by
outsiders when the middle class has left the village
to look for their own prospects in the city. The
peasantry instead of growing food grains are
encouraged by payments in advance from merchants
and middlemen to grow raw materials for export,
and are thus left without any reserve of grain to
tide over periods of scarcity or famine. Not only
is industry now diverted from its natural course
of conducing to the welfare of the village, but its
intellectual and social life also are now jeopardized
on account of the migration of the flower of the
rural population to the city. The communal gather-
ing in the hall of the village temple has declined in
importance and strength for want of patronage
and support. Perhaps the villagers used to meet
previously in the audience hall of a rich magnate ;
his building is now deserted and has become
a haunted house where owls and pigeons live
together. The recitation of the Ramayana, the
Mahabharata, the Bhagabata and the Chandi,
which was usual every evening in the village hall,
has to be discontinued for want of funds. The
Yatra, or musical play, which along with the
sankirton, or singing of God's praise, and the
kathakata, or story telling, played such an important
part in educating the masses, has also declined due
to want of patronage. There was a time when even

4IO THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

the Yatra or the Kabigan or popular songs uniformly
reflected the principal trends and tendencies of the
thoughts and aspirations of our people. But they
are losing touch with the national life. Cowherds
and confectioners, boatmen and fishermen, common
peasants and artisans thought so deeply and sang so
well that they drew, evening after evening, crowds
more enormous than which now gather around
the modern stage. These men were unlettered,
yet it would be a sin to call them uneducated.
These plays and songs have now degenerated both
in form and in spirit. The character of a play or
a song depends to a very great extent on the
character of the audience. When the upper middle
class has left the village and lost any interest in
musical plays and parties, the musicians and actors
have depended on the support of the populace.
The withdrawal of the patronage of the middle
class and of its moral influence has forced to lower
the standard of the plays and songs. Their sub-
jects also are becoming more and more of village
interest as the middle class ceases to have social
intercourse with village playwrights. Again, the
village Kathakatay or story-telling, which is the
traditional vehicle of popular instruction, has also
fallen into neglect ; yet it goes without saying that
popular education is better imparted by means of
oral lessons than otherwise. The kathak, or the
village story-teller, is adept in the art of public
speaking, and the songs which are interspersed
between his lively discourse have a very impressive
effect on the village audience. This excellent
method of popular education is now almost extinct
for want of patronage. Nor can we over-estimate

THE RESTORATION OF THE VILLAGE ^\\

the evil effects of the migration of the middle class
on the social life of the village. There was in every
village an arbitration court conducted by men
of leading in the village which decided petty
quarrels and disputes and even contributed very
largely to promote amity and fellow-feeling among
the villagers. The arbitration court has been
dissolved as the influential persons have left the
village and party feeling and animosity have be-
come rife in the village. The spirit of association
and fellow-feeling which characterized our village
population is disappearing. Large sums are now
squandered away to fight law-suits which could
easily have been decided by the arbitration court.
Again, village institutions which were previously
supported by village funds and labour are decaying.
Village temples are without repairs, sankirton or
musical parties have become irregular in their
sittings. Rivers have silted up and weeds have
grown thick on them. No new tanks or wells are
dug, and good drinking water is scarce. Cattle die
by hundreds and cholera rages as an epidemic even
in the hot season. Schools have been closed. The
householder's habit of setting apart a handful of
alms every day to defray the cost of a school or
a religious festival is being discontinued. The
middle class has left the village for good, and there
are none to teach the value of self-help and co-
operation, and to fight against mutual distrust and
apathy. Those who keenly looked after the welfare
of every villager, shared their joy with him on
a merry occasion and consoled him in his sorrow,
whom every villager regarded with a feeling both
of awe and reverence, are now gone for ever. To

412 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

whom shall the villager now turn in his need ?
Who will now tide him over his bad times by giving
him a loan free of any interest, or give him an
employment when he wants such ? From whom
shall they seek consolation in sickness, or in
despondency, who will be their refuge in a great
bereavement ? Who will look after the aged
widow, the solitary grandfather or the helpless
orphan ? Who will administer medicine and tend
the sick with the most assiduous care however
humble they may be ? Who will arrange sankirton
parties, lead them round the village during an
epidemic and give peace to the panic-stricken
people ? Who will conduct the village religious
festival and feed the poor and the forlorn, having
always a kind word for each ? " Who will help
the man with the hoe, bowed by the weight of
centuries he leans, the emptiness of Ages in his
face, and on his back the burden of the world ? "
Who will exchange smilingly a few encouraging
words with the careworn peasant heavily in debt
as he plods his weary way homeward after a
hard day's work ? And again, who will act as
the censor of the village, punishing moral delin-
quencies, omissions of duty towards the family or
the caste ? Who will insist on the performance
of social duties by example and by precept, lead
the villagers to build or repair a thoroughfare,
or an embankment, or improve the course of a
river that has silted up ? Who will look after
the drainage and irrigation of the village, prevent
malaria, or check the spread of an epidemic by
taking wise precautionary measures beforehand?
And who will see that no villager commits any

THE RESTORATION OF THE VILLAGE 413

indiscretion that might endanger the health of the
whole village ?

The middle class, indeed, was the repository
of the people's confidence. It was this class
which led them, initiated their movements, and
taught them to work for common objects. They
undertook the noble task of helping the people
to help themselves, and they achieved their
object. Real leaders of the people as they '
were, they did not check the initiative and in-
dependence of the people, but encouraged free
activities. Smiles has said, ''the highest patriotism
and philanthropy consist not so much in altering
laws and modifying institutions as in helping and
stimulating men to devote and improve themselves
by their own free and independent individual
action." Thus the middle-class performed the
noble mission of elevating the social and intellectual
condition of the villagers.

And the middle class was not unproductive.
It was this class which planned and directed the
work in the field, managed and organized the
rural trade, and to a great extent financed village
agriculture and industries. In fact it formed the
very backbone of the agricultural community. But
the work of directing rural agriculture, trade, and
industry has now ceased to have any attraction
for it. The ideas and ideals of Western life, which
are not altogether conducive to our social well-
being, have created a profound revolution in the
minds of the middle class. The standard of con-
sumption has certainly been raised, and none have
waited to consider whether the rise in the standard
in imitation of the West implies an increase of

414 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

culture and well-being or not. The pleasures
of town-life have been too fascinating. Men prefer
semi-starvation in the town to a competent living
in the village. The cost of living in the city is
more than twice that in the village. Still, a position
in the city with no prospects, and a pay hardly
sufficient to defray the expenses of a single in-
dividual is more alluring, and the paternal property
and orchards are all neglected. The joint family
system is broken up, and the individualistic system of
the West is adopted. The small earnings of clerks,
railway officials, book-keepers, and the like cannot be
shared by all the members of the family. Thus the
family is becoming individualistic. The individual-
ism of the West at its best has been a stimulus
to productive activity, and a nurse of manliness,
initiative, and enterprise, virtues which are so con-
ducive to the industrial success of a nation. The in-
dividualism of India is becoming too much a mask
of selfishness, a desire to shirk the responsibilities
of the joint family life in order to enjoy selfishly
the pleasures and luxuries of the city. It has
not created any new independent careers of live-
lihood; it rests on service of the government,
and it has diminished productive activity. Not
deriving its strength from productive enterprise,
our individualism is not only militating against our
joint family, but threatening family life itself to
a grave extent. In the chief cities people flock in
large numbers for service and employment, and
they annually leave their families in native villages.
In the whole population of Calcutta there are only
half as many women as men. This is due to the
large number of immigrants, among whom there

THE RESTORATION OF THE VILLAGE 415

are only 279 females to 1000 males; the majority
of these are temporary settlers, who leave their
families at home. Another result of the large
volume of immigration is that 44 per cent, of the
entire population are male adults, which is double
the proportion for the whole of Bengal. It is 1
unquestionable that the disproportionate excess of
adult males over females is one of the causes of
city vice and immorality ; and Calcutta is not free
from this grave, social evil.

Such are in general the effects of the immigra-
tion of the middle class on our villages, and also
on our life and activities. People speak of the
" drain " to England ; few, however, dwell on the
economic effects of the drain of all skill, enterprise,
knowledge, and wealth, from the village to the city. ;
The drain from the village to the city has paralyzed
all economic activities in the village, and has diverted
the enterprise of the middle class to an unfruitful
channel. Our cities have grown enormously, but
they are becoming too much mere excrescences on
our body politic, the character of which is still
essentially agricultural. In the city, though the
middle class is gradually coming to participate in its
trade and manufacture, yet the number of persons
that is engaged in government service, professions,
and in lower intellectual occupations is unfor-
tunately quite disproportionate. In the village, 1
agriculture is declining, and agriculturists are be-
coming day labourers. Our peasants are unfit for
strenuous and sustained work in the factory. In
Bengal and Madras, which are the most pros-
perous provinces, the factory hands have to be re-
cruited from elsewhere. Thus the factory industries

4i6 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

of the province do not offer means of livelihood
for local peasants. They therefore migrate to the
cities to become domestic servants, or cling to their
native village, however harder be their lot there,
working on the land of richer cultivators or land-
lords during the busy seasons of the year. The
incapacity of local labourers for factory work in
Bengal has not only impeded the progress of
factory industries, but has indirectly contributed
to lower the factory environment. The demand
for factory labour is met by immigration, chiefly
from up-country, the United Provinces, and Behar.
Among these foreigners there is an enormous
excess of males, who outnumber the females in the
ratio of two to one. They migrate to Bengal to
work in the factory, and live like beasts, huddled
together in crowded lodging-houses. Their poverty
leaves them little to spare for rent, and in the
argain the pressure of municipal taxation, which
jfalls heaviest on huts, is heavy enough. Under
these circumstances it is no wonder that the modern
factory life here is becoming associated with every
kind of vice and brutality.

Thus in India the village is being destroyed and
the poverty of the agricultural population becom-
ing intense. In the West the depopulation of the
rural areas has been accompanied by an enormous
growth of manufactures. In India the desertion of
the land and the ruin of orchards have not been
accompanied by any proportionate advance of manu-
facturing industries. Only the passion for govern-
jment service and urban employment has increased.
Towns have become the fields for such occupations
as well as the centres of that education which opens

THE RESTORATION OF THE VILLAGE \\'j

them up for the middle class. The villages are no
longer centres of intellectual activity ; they have
become associated with all what isolation and decay
usually imply. How to bring back life and pro-
gress to our village is one of the most serious
economic problems of the day. In the West they
have their schemes for the regeneration of rural
life, the small holdings movement, " inner coloniza-
tion," etc. In India the land is held by small
farmers. The number of small cultivators has
been estimated to be about 26,000,000. Thus in
India a modification of the system of land tenure
is a far less important question than it is in the
West. Not a change in the social structure, but a
change of character, a higher economic, social, and
moral standard of life of the rural people is what
is required in India. No movement is fraught with
greater potentialities for the moral and economic
betterment of villages than co-operation. Co-opera-
tion not only leads to economic progress, it creates
greater social force through mutual effort, and
greater economic knowledge through practical in-
struction. It offers fields of work and employment
for the intelligent middle class in village life, and
gives them opportunities to work in the village for
common ends. Moreover, it leads to a higher
moral development through the need of being
equitable. Not only rural economy, but rural social
and moral life have been revolutionized by the
co-operative movement in Europe. Co-operation
has been introduced in India. It would be in-
teresting to know what progress this movement
has made in India, what have been its effects on
our rural life, and what are the possibilities of its
development in future.

2 E

CHAPTER IX

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE

The Co-operative movement has been making
great headway in our country, though the move-
ment is still in its infancy. The main form of co-
operation known is credit-banking. Few people
think of any other forms. Even in respect of
credit-banking the success of the movement falls
far below the expectations of level-headed business
men. The opportunities for its progress are indeed
many. There is absolutely no other convenient
source of credit open to our peasantry and artisans
than the Co-operative Credit Societies where these
have been organized. The Post Office Savings
Banks do not touch the masses of our people. It
has been estimated that hardly 2 per cent, of the
depositors in the Savings Banks belong to the
agricultural classes, although they constitute 90
per cent, of the total population. As for the
utilization of capital, it is confined to loans on
mortgage on large estates of the zemindars, leaving
the great masses of our people at the mercy of the
usurer. In spite, however, of these opportunities,
the movement is still desultory in its character.
Co-operative Societies are being established every-
where. Co-operative credit has so far proved its
utility ; but the intelligent and the upper class

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 419

Still hold aloof. Again, the Co-operative Societies
which spring up here and there in our province
have no connection with one another. They are
marked by no uniformity and lack anything like a
certain aim. Sometimes the societies are governed
by a coterie who refuse to admit new members, the
difference between a Joint Stock Association and
a Co-operative Society being thus forgotten. In
order to remedy these defects, and systematize the
work of the different Co-operative Societies, the
necessity of a central organization cannot be over-
estimated. A central organization will no doubt
stimulate the movement, and lay the basis of a
great improvement in future. We want Central
Banks in every district built up by Co-operative
Societies, and having a three-fold task to discharge :
(i) To receive deposits from the affiliated societies,
(2) To lend them money, and (3) To inspect and
audit their accounts and give them advice. The
last function will be bound to prove very valuable.
Managers of local societies often show lack of
knowledge and experience. The Central Bank
will be to them a veritable information office, and
such reserve of available business knowledge as it
might command might surely be prized by the
local societies. The Central Bank will also serve
as a general Banker, and equalizer of local excess
and want of cash, and an intermediary for obtaining
credit from outside sources. The Central Bank
might also provide money to lend on mortgage.
Mortgage credit has been organized both more
simply and more effectively on co-operative lines,
than on any other basis in such countries in Europe
as Prussia, Bulgaria and Hungary. Money is

420 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

required for agricultural purposes for a sufficiently
long time, for twenty or even thirty years. The
Central Bank cannot possibly lock up its ordinary
funds for so long ; but it might raise the requisite
money by debentures. The money raised by such
financial transactions may be locked up with im-
punity. The borrower should apply for his loan
to the local society which knows his property.
The local society if it approves sends the applica-
tion to the Central Bank. The Central Bank
advances the money on the joint security of the
local society's endorsement and the applicant's
property. This system has been adopted with
great success in Europe. The Hungarian land
Credit Bank is a great national mortgage bank in
the country. Up to the close of 1903 the Bank
advanced no less than 662,500,000 Crowns on
mortgage, and in addition 74,100,000 for improve-
ment purposes. The State endowed the Bank
with a loan of one million Crowns free of interest.
The Bank makes advances on agricultural real
property at a moderate rate of interest, up to half
the ascertained value of the property, repaying
itself gradually by a sinking fund. The system,
shaped on the model of the Prussian Landschaften,
is genuinely co-operative because all the proprietors
stand together pledging all their property in
common as security. Thus the Central Bank has
kept Co-operative Societies supplied with cash on
reasonable terms, and for long periods even in
times of severe stringency. Again a further most
valuable service that the Central Bank can perform
is in the direction of propagandism. The Central
Bank can collect the statistical data relating to

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 421

co-operation, circulate them freely, and endeavour
to attract the attention of the upper classes and
especially of the students of the universities. In
the Bombay presidency, capitalist banks have been
organized in the cities to finance the Co-operative
Societies. The State guarantees interest on deben-
tures raised by the bank, and loans are granted only
on the advice of the Registrar. This is indeed a
development in the wrong direction. If facilities
are given to societies to borrow from outside
capitalists the need for federation and combination
will be obscured. Thus the full development of
the co-operative organization will be retarded.
Again, Central Banks organized by the Co-operative
Societies themselves know fully their local require-
ments and can effectively supervise over them. Thus
the financial business Is conducted on much sounder
lines than If the outside banks manage the finance.

The following table would roughly show the
main sources of capital of the Co-operative Societies
In different Provinces : —

I.Bengal .... Zamindars, local capitalists, and joint-stock
banks through central banking unions.

2. United Provinces District banks supplied with capital by

local capitalists, and joint-stock banks.

3. Central Provinces Central banks, which are financed by the

provincial co-operative bank and district
capitalists.

4. Bombay .... Provincial bank and some of the urban

banks.

5. Punjab .... The societies themselves from deposits, and

central banks supplied with capital by
local capitalists, and joint-stock banks.

6. Behar and Orissa Central banks, which are financed by the

provincial bank and district capitalists.

7. Burma .... Upper Burma Central Bank through local

unions and the Registrar.

8. Madras .... Madras urban bank on the recommenda-

tion of the Registrar.

422 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

The proportion of funds provided by the State
is only 4 per cent, of the whole and is steadily
decreasing.

In Bengal, Behar, Bombay and the Central
Provinces the rural co-operative societies are usually
organized on pure Raiffeisen lines. In the Raiffeisen
system the members are not required to subscribe
any shares ; there is nothing but the universal
unlimited liability of the associated members. In
the Punjab, United Provinces and Burma this
system has been modified. The principle of un-
limited liability is accepted ; yet each member is
required to subscribe a share of a substantial
amount. The share varies in amount from Rs.io
to Rs.20o, according to the circumstances of the
society, and is payable by six-monthly instalments
spread over ten or twelve years. Shares do not
get any dividend till they are fully paid up. In the
Punjab and Burma, the share capital is withdraw-
able at the end of this period, but the profit, after
provision has been made for reserve, is to be
divided among the members in proportion to their
shares, and credited to them as non-withdrawable
shares on which dividend will be paid. In the
United Provinces the shares are not withdrawable
at all, and the dividend is by the bye-laws limited
to TO per cent. Mr. S. H. Freemantle, L.C.S.,
sometimes registrar of co-operative societies, United
Provinces, considers that if the amount of the
half-yearly payment is kept down to such a
sum as any person otherwise eligible can afford
to pay, the type is better suited to Indian con-
ditions than the pure Raiffeisen type, which has
no shares. Its advantages are, he says, (i) the

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 423

mere fact that members are required to make
some small sacrifice in order to join the society
is a good guarantee that they have some appre-
ciation of the advantages to be derived from
it ; (2) the possession by each member of a stake
in society proportionate to his status gives him a
substantial and positive interest in it, in addition to
the somewhat shadowy and negative interest which
his unlimited liability for its debts implies ; (3) the
practice of saving, enforced over a period of years,
should go far to encourage the habit of investment
and use of capital.^ In spite of the above advan-
tages the defects of this type of rural credit banks
are obvious. A share-bank is always in danger
of being run solely for the benefit of a few non-
borrowing shareholders rather than that of the
general credit-needing members. When the bank
is mature there is the tendency of shutting it against
the poorer people and pursuing strength at the
price of their neglect. The ultimate test of genuine
co-operation is \^hether the members are prepared
to admit new members who are as weak or weaker
than themselves. Judged by this test, the Punjab
and the U. P. type of rural bank cannot always be
called co-operative. Again, it is argued that un-
limited liability is not a safe guarantee; a share
capital is considered to be a material ecuri for indi-
vidual and corporate debts. But for villagers and
agriculturists, the farm, the cattle and the imple-
ments are a material guarantee much safer than
any subscribed share. In Germany *Hhe willing-
ness with which the peasants bring their savings to

^ " Co-operation in India," a paper read before the East India
Association.

424 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

the bank is a triumphant proof of Raififeisen's con-
tention that the small agriculturalists by a combina-
tion of unlimited liability and close supervision can
become absolutely credit worthy. No savings since
the foundation of the first village bank have ever

\ been lost through bankruptcy." Though saving is
not enforced, the Raiffeisen banks encourage in-
vestment, and many of them are able to dispense
with the outside capital from the collection of

. deposits. Thus, on the whole, Raiffeisen co-opera-
tion is much more suitable to Indian conditions than
the type of banks in the Punjab and the United
Provinces. In Bengal the Raiffeisen system has
worked very well, creating a new life among the
peasants and linking them together with a new
bond of union which has brought hope and pros-
perity in the midst of agricultural depression. A
trial of Raiffeisen co-operation is required before
any attempt to modify its application is made.
Indeed, there is no special reason why the system
will be found unsuccessful in the United Provinces
and the Punjab if it has shown great progress in
Bengal. No one doubts that the pure Raiffeisen
system is a school of discipline in self-help, thrift
and solidarity of interests, virtues which tend to
be obscured if it is modified.

Co-operative credit, as we have already said, is
the only form of co-operation which India knows.
There are other forms of co-operation which are
very important in the economic life of Western
villages. These forms have generally developed
independently on account of peculiar local con-
ditions and circumstances of economic life. We
will describe the chief forms of co-operative enter-

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 425

prise in the West, and indicate what forms are
applicable to the conditions of Indian village life.
Little attempt has been made in the West, except
to some extent in Great Britain, to co-ordinate the
different forms of co-operative activity and organize
a complete system of co-operative industry. In India
the movement has begun only recently, and the
socio-economic conditions of Indian village life are
highly favourable to co-operation, the Indian village
community closely resembling in its economic struc-
ture a self-sufficient system of well-developed co-
operative industrial organization. India therefore
affords an excellent field of experiment towards co-
ordinating the different phases of co-operation which
have grown and developed on independent lines in
different countries in Europe. We will show at the
end of this chapter that the Indian village com-
munity, rehabilitated in a new form, may realize
the ideal of an industrial organization in which
every phase of co-operation receives its due im-
portance, thus forming a well- organized co-operative
state within the state.

One of the most important phases of the co- ^
operative movement in the West besides finance is
agricultural co-operation. In addition to credit
societies there is in the Continent of Europe a
considerable number of co-operative societies for
carrying on particular forms of agricultural enter-
prise in common. There are societies of one sort
or another for the purchase of agricultural imple-
ments, seeds, manures, etc., or the production of
agricultural commodities, and finally their sale.
The advantages to the individual cultivator from
such co-operative purchases are ( i ) wholesale prices

426 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

instead of retail, (2) lower railway rates. Again,
implements which are too costly for the individual
peasant can be purchased in common. The spirit
of association has always been strong among our
people, and there are many instances of co-opera-
tive enterprises which are traditional. The manu-
facture of Gur is perhaps the best example of the
application of co-operative methods in our rural
tracts. The fact that the sugar-cane growers are
in one locality, where a large contiguous acreage
makes the average supply of cane juice large in
amount, contributes to develop the spirit of co-
operation. In villages we usually find that the
cultivators who grow sugar-cane own one or two
cane mills together. If the cultivators do not own
the mills themselves, they hire it in common and
pay, say, Re.i per day's work of the mill. The
canes are not allowed to lie in the fields for long,
but are crushed in the common mill as soon as they
are cut. Each of the cultivators has a pair of
bullocks which drives the cane mill by turns. All
the cultivators are engaged in one kind of work or
another. Some assist in the boiling process, one
taking out the scum in Karahi, another stirring the
liquid in another Karaki, while the rest control the
fire in the furnaces or are engaged in crushing
sugar-cane. Thus the manufacture of Gur is
carried on efficiently in the traditional system of
co-operation.^

Such co-operative enterprises have to be multi-
plied in our country. The sizes of our farms are
small, and it is easy to organize them on a co-
operative basis. The cultivators being mostly

^ Vide chapter on the Sugar Industry, ante.

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 427

tenants with secure tenure can be more easily
organized than farmers, e.g., in England, who move
from district to district, having little practical owner-
ship of the lands they till. Thus agricultural co-
operation is bound to take firm roots in rural tracts,
and work should be begun in a spirit of earnestness
amongst the villagers. Everywhere we should
establish, as they have done in the West, co-opera-
tive sugar and oil presses, co-operative threshing
and milling machines, co-operative dairies and co-
operative fisheries. Co-operative societies com-
posed of fishermen for the combined equipment
of boats and nets and of means for the preservation
of fish are especially required in our country, the
fishermen being now entirely in the hands of
the middlemen, the Nikaris and the Guris. We
need co-operative societies for preserving mangoes,
jack-fruits, apples and lichis in common, societies
for turning honey, fruit and vegetables to better
account. There should also be cow-testing societies
employing men to go round the farms and record
the milk given by individual cows, and control
societies whose employees keep the farmers*
records of the money returns from each kind of
crop, and advice as to rotation and seeds. Co-opera-
tive societies for the purchase of manure, feeding
stuff, machinery and implements, for the preven-
tion of malaria, for jungle clearing, for the improve-
ment of land by drainage and irrigation, for the
supply of water, and even gas and electricity. Co-
operative societies for the sale of produce and live
stock, for the mutual insurance of cattle from acci-
dent and disease, and of crops, for the maintenance
of bulls for breeding purposes, are not only most

428 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

desirable but are actually indispensable to restore
our agriculture. In Holland, Belgium, Germany,
Lower Austria, Bohemia and Moravia such co-
operative enterprises have proved very successful.
Co-operative enterprises there are exceedingly varied
in form and character, and they show how wonder-
fully adaptable co-operation is in connection with
agriculture. The reason of this is not far to seek.
It is a sound teaching of the science of economics
that specialization and organization or large busi-
ness are possible where the different processes of
production permit of being carried on simul-
taneously. This feature of industry is almost en-
tirely lacking in what may be called the ** culture
industries," agriculture, sericulture, horticulture or
pisciculture, which have therefore defied all attempts
at minute specialization. Only by a system of co-
operation the small industry in these cases can
secure the economies of production without which
it cannot survive in the stress of economic struggle.
There is, indeed, no other means by which our
villagers, thrown into the whirl of economic
struggles, can resist the economic disruption and
gather strength than by uniting all the forces and
cultivating all the energies of the people by adopting
not merely the form but the spirit of co-operation.

In the matter of sale, co-operative marketing
ensures a stable and permanent market and checks
the evils of individual competition which are ruinous
in the case of fresh fruits and vegetables. In our
country the agriculturists have very frequently to
go to the markets in the working season to sell the
agricultural products. This causes an enormous
waste of labour, the significance of which is often

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 429

forgotten. The system of co-operative marketing
will not only prevent this loss of labour but will
also ensure the sale at a more remunerative price.
Already a few grain storage societies have been
started in the country. They have proved to be
extremely useful for the sale of corn, and they bid
fair to make the agriculturalists to some extent in-
dependent of the middlemen. In some cases where,
on account of the monopoly of production, the
advantage of co-operative sale is very great, the
Government should intervene if the people are
absolutely lacking in all aptitude for co-operation.
In Greece, in spite of national monopoly of currants,
the currant grower could not sell currants with
advantage. The state has now compelled the pro-
ducers to stock a fixed portion of the crop (20 per
cent.) in Government warehouses. The stock so
returned, becomes ipso facto the property of a bank.
Such stock is not sold except to large industrial
establishments, whose owners enter into a covenant
not to export any of it, but to consume it all under
state supervision in their own establishments. The
yield of such sale, after deducting management
expenses, becomes the working capital of the bank,
which is in truth nothing but an enforced co-opera-
tive society of producers distributing the dividend
among them. In our country a co-operative society
for the sale of jute will be most beneficial, jute
being our monopoly. The profit of the paikars
and beparis will be intercepted, the jute growers
will be able to sell with the greatest advantage,
while the cultivation might also improve if the
society makes advances to the jute growers and
supplies them with necessary materials.

430 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Not only in the cultivation of jute but also in
that of ordinary crops, such as grain, oil-seeds, etc.,
the agriculturist, as we have already seen, is at the
mercy of the trader or travelling agent who gives
him advances. The middleman's charges on food
coming into the markets vary from 20 to 200 per
cent, of the price which the agriculturists receive.
Co-operative sale will at once intercept the ex-
orbitant profits made by the bepari, while co-opera-
tive credit at the outset will check the abuses of the
system of money advances in anticipation of crops.

Another shape in which co-operation has borne
rich fruit, and is full of the highest promise in
Western countries is in the common purchase of
the necessaries of life. Distributive societies have
been organized in different parts of our country,
and they have served to cheapen commodities as
well as to improve their quality. In Italy and
Switzerland there are also co-operative societies
which let out their labour and undertake contracts
for public service in common, such as laying stones
and doing other road work, agricultural labourers'
societies producing or else letting out their land in
common, educational societies promoting all kinds
of educational work among the labouring classes,
such as instruction in music, technical, and other
instruction out of school hours, provident societies
and pharmaceutical societies.

Such societies, if organized in our country, will
prove the most efficient means as in the continent
of Europe for the economic reorganization of
society.

But the economic results of co-operation are far
less important than its general effect on the rural

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 431

life. Co-operation constitutes an admirable means
of popular social improvement. It tends to check
the petty quarrels and bitternesses of village life,
binds together men into friendly relationship, and
trains the people to work in consort for a common
end. Co-operation in Europe is not only recreating
agriculture and the small industry ; it is helping to
recreate society. The co-operative society tends
to become the very centre of a social and economic
movement by means of which the rural life is
revolutionized, and the lower strata of society raised
from their position of misery and stagnation. And
these results can easily be accomplished if co-opera-
tion is associated with rural education. It should
also be observed, on the other hand, that no scheme
of popular industrial or agricultural education in our
country can be successful, if it is not associated
with co-operation. The necessity of new manure
or up-to-date industrial tools and appliances might
be taught, but these cannot be cheaply introduced
among working folk without co-operative finance.
Indeed, without the spread of popular education
with special reference to the facts of rural economy,
the co-operative character cannot be formed, and
co-operative work becomes meaningless. We want
not only the form, but the spirit of co-operation.
Unfortunately in our country the people do not
know the most elementary matters of business.
Very few if any of the co-operators have attended
secondary or primary schools of the Government,
and even if they have attended the schools, the
books which are used as well as the schoolmasters
tell them nothing about co-operation. The general
press takes no interest in it, and the Government

432 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

also has not yet taken any action to propagate co-
operative education. The object of co-operative
education should be the formation of co-operative
character and opinion by teaching the history, the
principles of co-operation, and also the training of
men to take part in industrial and social reforms.
Such work has to be undertaken immediately if we
hope for any progress. As we have no Education
Act in force in our country let us organize Co-
operative Educational Committees in centres where
co-operative work is undertaken. Let these co-
operative educational committees organize free
night schools and technical classes, establish general
libraries, and circulate books free of cost and
pamphlets bearing on co-operation. Let them
invite teachers, Schoolmasters, and Professors of
our schools and colleges to address the working
folk on subjects connected with co-operation and
its social and economic importance. The students
of the university should also be encouraged to take
part in the work of co-operative education. As long
as there is no wide diffusion of popular education
it must be plainly owned by all honorary organizers
of our co-operative credit societies, that their work
of teaching is far more important than organizational
work, their chief task is not so much to swell up
the co-operative credit business to the biggest
possible bulk, as to make the agriculturists under-
stand the principles of co-operation and credit.
Where the educational work has been neglected
credit banks are organized on unsound co-operative
principles, and the progress of the movement is
retarded. Unfortunately there has been but little
attempt to associate educational work with the co-

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 433

operative movement in our country. Even many
of the organizers of the co-operative societies do
not possess the necessary knowledge of the aims
and ideals of true co-operation.

Co-operation is becoming a science in the West.
In India, however, it seems that we have not
gained much both from the practical experience as
well as the theoretical study of the subject in
Western countries. Though the co-operative move-
ment has taken a firm hold in Indian soil, there
has been little attempt to utilize the existing village
social structure. To this extent the movement is
not organic, a growth from within. Indeed, con-
ducted as the movement is by the initiative of the
Government, it does not reflect the spontaneous
development of the co-operative spirit among the
people, the agriculturists and artisans who are its
ultimate guardians. To this is coupled the lack of
a broad philosophy and statesmanlike vision of the
Government officials, who have originally deter-
mined the course of the movement. In India, the
Government has carried Sir Frederick Nicholson's
remedy, ** Find Raiffeisen," too far. Co-operative
credit has been unduly emphasized, while agri-
cultural co-operation, co-operative purchase, and
co-operative sale have been left in the background.
Raiffeisen alone could not save the German
peasants. There was need also of Dr. Haas.
Even Raiffeisen himself organized agencies for the
business of supply. The supply of cheap credit is
not enough for the peasant. The peasant might
lose all in marketing the produce what he has
gained from cheap and easy credit. Again, the
materials of agriculture might be in the hands of

2 F

434 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

ignorant and dishonest middlemen. Thus the
benefits of co-operative finance are counteracted
when manure, seeds and machinery have to be
purchased dearly. Indeed, co-operative purchase
and co-operative sale societies are as essential as
co-operative credit societies.

In Europe co-operative credit and agricultural
co-operation have progressed together, each de-
riving its strength from the other. The following
table gives the birth dates of credit and agricultural
co-operation in different countries in Europe : —

1. Germany .

2. Denmark .

3. Ireland . .

4. England .

5. Switzerland

6. France . .

7. Belgium .

8. Italy. . .

Credit.

1850-60

1895

1890
1885
1892
1865

Supply.

i860 (about)

1866

1890
1900

1886
1884

1890

1884 (about)

Production (dairy
being usually

187I
1882
1889
1900

In India, though the co-operative credit move-
ment was initiated in 1907, it was not till 191 2
that the necessity of organizing co-operative societies
other than credit societies was felt. The Co-
operative Societies Act of 191 2 has widened the
scope of co-operation, and reconstructed the Co-
operative Credit Societies Act of 1904, being now
extended to co-operative societies other than credit
associations. Even now societies other than credit
societies are classed on the Government monographs
under the colourless heading, *' Other Forms of
Co-operation." This is indeed a striking proof
of the artificial character of the movement. The

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 435

Mahajan's usury has been dilated upon, but the \
peasants feel as keenly the rapacity of the corn-
dealer who has given them advances. Unless we
save the peasants from these exacting middlemen,
we cannot expect that they will reap the best fruits
of co-operative credit. As it is co-operation has
touched only the fringe of the economic life of our
poor peasantry. Not only co-operative purchase
and sale societies, but also stores, co-operative
production, insurance, in fact all the forms of co-
operative activity described above which have con-
tributed to raise the tone of rural life in Europe,
have altogether been neglected. Credit has been
unduly emphasized as a factor of production.
While the organization of agriculture which has
enabled the small farmer to oust his rivals in
Europe is up to now entirely ignored.

The problem before the Indian co-operator in
future would be to give its due importance to every
branch of co-operative activity and to co-ordinate
the different forms of co-operation in subordination
to the co-operative ideal in view. His aim would
be to utilize the existing social structure of the
Indian village for this purpose : otherwise the
movement will not touch the hearts of the people.
And he will not fail to profit by the lessons derived
from the growth and progress of the co-operative
movement in all its phases in the West. In India,
where the traditions of the village community still
persist, the village artisans serve the whole village
or a fixed circle of from thirty to fifty families, and
receive small monthly payments of grain and money
with other customary perquisites. They often hold
in addition a small plot of land rent free, in

436 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

remuneration for services rendered to the villagers.
The village community is thus to some extent an
association of consumers, and is itself directing village
production. On account of the combination of
a group of consumers, production is carried on in
the interests of the consumers. And this repre-
\ sents the highest co-operative ideal. The village

community cannot be revived in India, but the

, economic ideal which underlay it can be revived.

' That ideal may be expressed in the modern
language of co-operation thus, ethically the con-
sumer transcends the producer. The consumer's
interest is actually the common interest of all
members of society. The producers represent
one class of society, but all classes are consumers.
The village community represents the interests of
consumers, and if these interests differ from those
of the producers, the former prevail. Thus if the
producers combine and misuse their monopoly
power by forcing heavy prices, the village com-
munity is a most valuable defence of the consumers.
The counterpart of the village community in the
modern economic world is the village store. Though
in the countries in Europe where the co-operative
movement is in an advanced stage of development,
the store organization forms but a small part of
the movement as a whole, its social and economic
significance far outweighs the inferior numerical
position with regard to other forms of co-operation.

; The distributive society in the West has been found
to possess much greater life and vitality than other
forms of co-operation. Its activity gradually en-
compasses the sphere of other phases of co-operative
enterprise, and it seems in future that there will

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 437

hardly be a social problem which the distributive
societies will not be able to solve or help in the j
solution. The distributive society indeed gradually )
becomes more and more differentiated and forces its
way into new economic and social fields. The
little grocery store in the village not only becomes a
spacious shop, but new branches are opened through-
out the district. All these branches are grouped
round central premises and warehouses from which
they are controlled. Gradually, when the sale of
the articles of daily use increases, separate depart-
ments for the supply of coal and wood, boots and
shoes, etc., are opened. A large distributive trade \
leads to the establishment of productive depart-
ments. Thus the distribution of milk leads to the
establishment of creameries and under favourable
conditions to the starting of dairy farms. The
trade in vegetables leads to their cultivation, the
boot trade to a repairing workshop and even to
a boot factory, the sale of ready-made clothes to
tailoring, dressmaking and millinery.^ The great
wholesale societies in Great Britain and some of the
individual retail societies, have established factories
and workshops of their own for making shoes, cloth-
ing, hardware, biscuits, jams and pickles ; they
have even tried tea-planting in Ceylon, and farming
on their own account in Great Britain and Ireland.^
The amount of production carried on in con-
nection with the store forms the characteristic
feature of the British store movement. Several
distributive societies have exceeded this list of

^ Dr. Hans Miillers paper, " Report of the Proceedings of the
Eighth Congress of the International Co-operative Alliance," 1910.
2 Tausig, "Principles of Economics," p. 357.

438 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

industrial undertakings, and begun to provide their
members with housing accommodation. They
either erect dwelling houses, the management of
which they keep in their own hands, or make it
possible for their members to build cottages for
the accommodation of one family for themselves
by granting them loans ; in a few instances, indeed,
distributive societies have actually founded towns,
and ventured to cover large areas with buildings
erected on some well-designed plan, they them-
selves erecting the building through the medium of
their own architect, and building offices and a large
staff of work-people who are constantly employed.
Here and there, too, distributive societies have suc-
cessfully undertaken the care of the sick and the
maintenance of public health by the establishment
of dispensaries, creches, and convalescent homes,
insurance institutions, etc., while the cause of
education has found within their ranks many enthu-
siastic supporters and pioneers.^ They have
opened libraries and reading rooms, arranged
lectures and courses of study, and counteracted
the reading of harmful novels, etc., by circulating
good literature, accomplishing not a little in educat-
ing the masses in co-operative and social modes
of thought. Finally, they have taken their share
in philanthropic work, either by subscribing to
the support of public institutions or in founding

^ The first rule of the Rochdale pioneers laid down "that a
definite percentage of profits should be allotted to education." And,
faithful to this example, the model rules of the co-operative union
recommend the putting aside of a 2\ per cent, of the profits as a fund,
and the election of a special committee for its management. In 1906
the educational grants of the societies amounted to ;^83,ooo (Fay,
" Co-operation at Home and Abroad," p. 332).

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 439

new ones. They have started ** people's houses "
{Maisons du peuple), taken part in the fight against
alcoholism, and also established lodging houses and
shelters of the poor/

Such has been the encouraging expansion of the
scope and ideals of co-operative distribution in the
West. The association of consumers, for the satis-
faction of the varied wants of social existence, has
not only contributed to raise the standard of satis-
faction, but has actually created new and higher
wants. When commodities are produced and dis-
tributed from the standpoint of the consumer, the
economic advantages are manifold. The con-
sumers are able to obtain what they want in the
amount and quality in which they want it, and by
the machinery which seems to them most suitable.
Production becomes an easy process due to the '
elimination of the risk which inheres when the
makers of articles are separate from the consumers
of them. Again, in the business of sale, important
economies are effected. No sums need be spent
for show and advertisement, for the sale organiza-
tion belongs to the consumers, and the consumers,
being their own shopkeepers, the expenses of
management, supervision, and control are econo-
mized. Again, the consumers create a cheap and
effective agency for the supply of daily perquisites,
which is entirely under their own control. They
buy commodities direct from the wholesaler or
producer, and thus have not to find the profit for
a series of middlemen and intermediaries. Thus
commodities will sell cheap. Again, when the

1 Dr. Hans Miiller's paper, " Hamburg International Co-operative
Alliance."

440 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

demand for commodities of the united body of
consumers is sufficiently strong, the consumers will
be their own producers, financiers, and landowners,
and will appropriate for themselves ^the entire
benefit accrued from the association of demand
with land, labour, and capital, which alone can be
conducive to maximum economy.

But the co-operative store is not merely a trading
association. Through its trade it confers important
social boons. The store induces the working classes
to form the habit of "cash-payments.*' It stimu-
lates thrift among the working class by encouraging
investments. In Great Britain, frequently in large
societies, a first subscription of one shilling is the
only payment in cash required, the balance due
in respect of the member's liability in respect of his
share being provided by crediting his share account
with the sum to which he becomes from time to
time entitled as his share in the profits. Again,
the dividend is generally used productively ; either
for further purchases at the store, or for the
acquisition of house-properties, or for re-invest-
ment with the stores as share or loan capital. In
Great Britain, in many towns, building societies
grant loans to working men for the purpose of
purchasing their houses. The profit from the co-
operative store is frequently used to meet the
instruments of the loan. Many have in this way
become the proprietors of their own houses with-
out effort. Not a few of the co-operative societies
have a building department which lends to their
members, the profits being simply transferred to
repay the loan. The store thus stimulates thrift
by opening up different fields of investment for the

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 441

working class. It also disciplines the working
class in habits of patience when the reward of
labour is sure. It opens upon new vision for the
workman, and kindles him in a real desire for a
happier and a nobler living. It provides a field in
which any workman can rise by his knowledge and
intelligence to the highest position of leadership
and responsibility. It is a democratic organization
ennobled by its moral purpose, embodied in the co-
operative principle of " all for each, and each for all,"

In India the village community will have to be
rehabilitated in the organization of the village store.
Village stores have to be organized in every village.
The Indian villagers' needs are calculable with a
fair degree of exactness. Thus there will be little
difficulty to adjust the resources of the store to
the village requirements. All the villagers will
contribute each a small sum as subscription, and
hand over the amount to a committee of leading
and influential men selected by the villagers to look
after rural economy. The committee will then
make arrangements for the establishment of a store
for the sale of provisions, clothing, groceries, etc.
Sale at market prices with cash payments and dis-
tribution of profits among villagers in proportion
to the amount of their purchases will be insisted
upon. As sales become large the village store
will give employment to village artisans, the
weavers, the blacksmiths, the potters, the bell-
metal workers, etc., as well as the cultivators.

Not only peasants and handicraftsmen but the
middle classes, those who have obtained higher
education, might have employment in any one of
the departments managed by the co-operative store.

442 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

For the central co-operative distributive society
will conduct institutions like schools for agricultural
and technical education, circulating libraries, and
reading-rooms. And not only schools, agricultural
and industrial institutes for imparting literary, agri-
cultural and technical education to the villagers,
and conducting researches and experiments on the
spot with the object of utilizing the natural resources
of the village, but also factories, aided by up-to-
date machinery and motive force, which will also
belong to the village community, In fact, all the
village requirements will be supplied from the
resources of the village in land, labour, capital, as
well as knowledge and skill through the co-opera-
tive society. The villagers who gain some technical
knowledge will work in the factories under the
guidance of the middle class without, however,
giving up possession of the soil. Thus the schools
and factories of the village, while providing scope
for the activity of the middle classes will satisfy
some of the more important needs of the village.
These present needs of Indian villagers may be
roughly classed under the following heads : —

Food, clothing, shelter.

Medical aid.

Education.

Religious instruction through musical play
(Jatra), story-telling (Kathakata), songs and recita-
tions, social amusements, and festivals.

Arbitration and protection.

Drainage and sanitation.

Money and the mechanism of exchange.

Conveyance ; maintenance of roads, canals, and
waterways, irrigation.

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 443

Storage of rain water and of crops.

Insurance of life, of crop, of live stock against
disease and deterioration.

All the above needs will be attended to by the
distributive society of the village through its
different departments. The store will not only
satisfy the hunger of the community, it will also
keep in view its intellectual and spiritual food.

Every villager will have to do some kind of
work in any one of these departments, and he will
have his requirements satisfied by the village
commonwealth in proportion to his service to the
society. Thus the whole body of people will work,
each man in the sphere he most likes, accepting
with determination and intelligence their place as
members of the co-operative system of industry
which would represent in its development the fine
picture of " a state within the State." The village
commonwealth will manage the finance of the
village, its income and expenditure, and lead the
village to progress and prosperity. The system
will be conducted for the people and by the people,
ensuring the development of their intelligence, self-
help, and independence. Each of these co-opera-
tive commonwealths in the village will gradually
become associated with other societies, assuming
provincial and ultimately national dimensions. The
federation of the distributive societies will im-
mensely strengthen the idea underlying the move-
ment, and lead it with certainty and force to the
ideal of the emancipation of the masses.

Such a system would continue in its working the
traditions of our old village community. It would
emphasize the economic ideal which dominated

444 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

the village community that the consumers* inte-
rests are prior to those of the producers, that
consumption being the end and goal of economic
activity, production is subservient to it. It would
also be consistent with the process of historic evolu-
tion of the Indian village. In India the village
has an independent development of its own. Its
social and intellectual activity has not been deter-
mined from without. The political organization
in India has never been able to control every
sphere of Indian life. Decentralization has been
the spirit of the Indian social system. To the
state has been entrusted the task only of pro-
tecting the people from foreign invasion, and
internal discord and anarchy. The administra-
tion of justice, education, and the preservation of
peace, and the suppression of crime have been
left to a great extent in the hands of the people.
And it is for this reason that the Indian social
system has lived and progressed irrespective of the
vicissitudes in the Indian political life. The state
in India has touched only the hem of Indian life ;
the Indian village has been more or less a state
within the state. Thus the villagers have been dis-
ciplined in the virtues of citizenship. The leading
villagers, who are men of public spirit, have under-
taken unpaid work in the community, and been
rewarded with prestige and privileges. The head-
man of the village has decided family quarrels,
caste troubles, and petty village disputes. None
have gone to court before first consulting him, for
none have doubted that the headman in giving
advice has never been guided by petty considera-
tions. When the headman has decided petty

CO-OPERATION AND THE VILLAGE LIFE 445

cases his impartiality has been proverbial, and his
decisions have always been accepted with a good
grace. The law of the land can never act into the
domain of family morality ; the headman, however,
has been called upon to decide cases of immorality
and breaches of discipline not cognizable in law.
And the punishments which he has meted out in
these cases have been feared more than any punish-
ments in law courts. The civic activities of the
village, the joint enterprise towards the promotion
of social well-being have, however, as we have
already seen, been jeopardized by the migration
of the middle classes from the village to the city.
The system of co-operation will stir up the intellec-
tual and social life of the village, direct its activities
which have hitherto been more or less disorganized,
into well-defined and fruitful channels, and also
provide work and employment for the middle class
which has grown tired of the languor and monotony
of village life. Thus the village community will
be rehabilitated, and guided and controlled by its
natural guardians, the middle class, in which the
lessons of co-operation in the West will not be lost,
will become as of old centres of intellectual and
social activities, enriching the inheritance of the past.
We have indicated in an outline the sugges-
tions as to the future development of co-operation
in our villages. Some of these suggestions indeed
appear to be dreams to many. But it is time for
us to cherish dreams. The crying need of the
movement at the present day are the dreamers and
the idealists, men who are inspired with the co-
operative faith, like the faith of a missionary, in
whom a religious and social enthusiasm is mingled

446 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

with a sound business knowledge and practical
skill, who continually preach the co-operative ideal
from village to village, and from door to door,
and live unseen and unknown amongst humble
villagers in order to soothe their woes and suffer-
ings. It was one or two men who made English
savings banks what they are ; it was a few
artisans at Rochdale who laid the basis of co-
operative distribution, and one or two enthusiastic
men in France have revolutionized French agricul-
ture by organizing the co-operative supply societies.
Of the work of Sir Horace Plunkett in Ireland a
whole chapter might be written. In Japan, too, it
was the devotion and martyrdom of one man, the
philanthropist Sontoku, which built up the Hotoku-
shas. There is no doubt that such men will be found
in our country too. Some day, in the near future,
the zamindar, who has seen his peasantry impover-
ished and overwhelmed with debts borne from
generation to generation, and his lands deserted and
overgrown with weeds, and soon too the student
of the university, who has watched closely and
thought deeply about the economic evil which is
fast disintegrating our rural life, will be fired with
enthusiasm and philanthropic fervour, and bestow
their time, money, and energies freely upon this
good cause of helping the poor to help themselves.
With such men lies the future of this movement.
It is only the idealism of those who are intellectually
aroused, or are placed by fortune in easy circum-
stances, that can solve the social and economic
problems of raising morally and materially the
impoverished industrial and agricultural population
of our country.

CHAPTER X

THE ETHICS OF INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM, AND ITS
LESSONS FOR THE WEST

Though the line of the future industrial evolution
of our country cannot be anticipated in all its de-
tails, we have in a measure indicated its general
trend. The Indian industrial organization will be
profoundly affected by its coming into contact with
the methods of Western industrialism ; but its
evolution will on the whole naturally be circum-
scribed by the environment, both physical and
psychological, the socio-economic traditions of
Indian life, thought and experience. There are
certain elements in this environment which will
assuredly tend towards the conservation of the
present economic system, while there are others
which will themselves be greatly modified, nay,
which will entirely disappear, leading to the creation
of a new economic order. Between these two limits,
the Indian industrial system will pursue its line of
evolution : unless we suppose that the whole system
entirely collapses by the shock and collision of alien
forces and tendencies, working ruthlessly with a
sudden and irresistible strength and violence — a
supposition which is untenable if we remember the

448 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

solidarity of our social organization, the strength
of our social forces, and the tendency at present
conscious in society of rightly estimating social
values due to a growing regional and national
idealism.

India will not adopt Western industrialism in its
modern phase with its too exclusive adherence to the
principle of division of labour, its deficient organiza-
tion towards general well-being. In the system of
social organization, India will proclaim the principle
of integration. India will not divide society into
a number of distinct groups or classes, with their
divergent and even conflicting interests, and thus
endanger her social stability. She will, on the
other hand, devise fresh bonds of union between
man and man, class and class, so that man and
man, class and class, live and thrive for each
other's sake. She will not exaggerate the division
of labour, when its differentiation means life within
a narrow groove, monotony, narrowness and loss
of culture. She will, on the other hand, co-ordinate
the different types of economic and social life,
allowing each type to develop itself in har-
mony with other types. In her social economy,
India will have specialization, but will not allow
specialization to overstep its limits. Specialization
in India will mean social service as well as indi-
vidual initiative, socialization as well as differentia-
tion. Thus the narrowness of individualistic social
organization will be overcome. The family will be
a social institution ; caste will represent a larger
unity than the family. Religion and morality will
be shorn of their individualistic tendencies. Society
will be permeated by a spirit of social service. It

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM AND ITS LESSONS 449

will not be dominated by the ideal of profits for the
individual. Industry and education, amusements
and recreations, ownership and enjoyment will be
regulated in the larger interests of social well-being.
Modern industrial society has created a sharp dis-
tinction between the urban and the rural population,
between producers and consumers, between special-
ists and ordinary men. India will tend to establish
a solidarity between the village and the city, the
labourer and the employer, the specialist and the
layman, the multitude and the genius, the brain
worker and the manual labourer. In the system of
social organization India will not allow the city to
exploit the village, she will retain the vitality of life
and culture of the village. She will not suck out
the blood of one part of society to feed another
part. She will not nourish one organ exclusively, \
and allow another organ to be atrophied, but she
will feel the pulsations of life deep and strong in
her throbbing veins in every part of her social
system. In the employment of man, she will limit
division of labour when it is destructive of culture
and social ethics ; she will not sacrifice real well-being
in the interests of concentrated production. She will
not adopt the Western system of concentrated pro-
duction when it will not be conducive to the social
health.

The excessive centralization of industry into the
big towns and its control by a few capitalists, —
characteristics of Western industrialism, — have their
warning lessons for India, and India will pre-
vent the centralization of industry in her own soil
except in the few cases like mining, railways and
transport industries, where they are economically

2 G

450 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

inevitable. In these industries, again, India will not
dehumanize her labourer. She will give the family
of each labourer a plot of land where it can work at
intervals, thus preventing the monotony of work in
the factory which is so exhausting and demoralizing.
Manufacture will be combined with agriculture, the
work in the field with the work in the factory.
Labour in the factory will thus be relieved of its
drudgery, while the work in fields and gardens will
be more enjoyable as a change of occupation. She
will introduce the co-operative system by which each
labourer will have some share both in the control
and in the profits- of the industries. Thus the
object of industry will be not to make unlimited
wealth for the few capitalists ; but to make un-
limited wealth and distribute it at the same time
amongst all classes, not to encourage the growth of
business ability and power of control amongst one
class, but to extend opportunities as far as possible
whereby more labourers may become business
managers. The Indian labourers, again, will not
have to live in hovels and cellars huddled and
crowded together where life cannot but be unworthy
of man. There will be built adequate homes for the
labourers family, the influence of the family in
moulding the human character being thus fully
recognized. The sanctity of family will be pre-
served when each family has its own homestead,
and still as far as may be a hereditary one.
Not only is there moral gain in consequence of the
maintenance of family integrity but there is also an
increase of general well-being. The affection of the
mother and the unceasing devotion of the wife are
indeed powerful aids to a noble and happy life. The

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM AND ITS LESSONS 451

labourer will be stimulated to work by the needs of
the family. He will fashion his life according to
his own ideas, or those suggested by the ambitions
of his mother and his wife. Thus he will be saved
not only from the monotony of work but also from
the monotony of life. And the influence of social
amusements and caste-dinners in this connection
will not be discontinued. In those fields of industrial
life where centralization is not necessary, India will
be more free to follow the line of her past industrial
evolution. She will revive the cottage industry
where it is being annihilated : and in this process of
revival the best methods of applied and mechanical
science of the West will be adopted by her. Her
cottage industry will always be aided by agriculture
on a small scale, poultry farming, dairying, vege-
table gardening, etc. Thus the family will be more
or less self-supporting. There is the small plot of
land where the vegetables of the season are grown,
the women of the house nurturing them at their
leisure. There will be two or three looms, often
driven by a cheap small motor, or by means of
electricity supplied from the central dep6t of the
village, whose expenses may be met jointly by all the
villagers, — a co-operative enterprise the village will
be justly proud of. Thus the recent improvements
of applied science in the West are within the
reach of the village weaver. The boys and girls
in the weaver's cottage help their father by manipu-
lating the strings and arranging the threads auto-
matically, while he is weaving. The women manage
the household and spend their leisure profitably.
They work in the vegetable garden, feed the cattle
or poultry, make cowdung, spin cotton or weave

452 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

baskets. Homes are beautified by the handiwork
of the family and the popular art Is encouraged.
Life Is strong, beautiful, and noble. Work is a
pleasure, a joy. Industry is thus united to art and
ethics supported by her handmaids, science and
technics.

Industry in India will flourish throughout
the country in villages and be not confined to
a few rich cities. The villages will share with
the cities the Industrial activities and technical
and scientific achievements of the nation. Thus
science and knowledge, labour and wealth will
be distributed all over the land. Every part of
the country, and not merely the big centres of
manufacture, will throb with the pulsation of a deep
and full intellectual and industrial life. Resting on
the joint family life and the land basis, our village
communal life will develop, invigorated and en-
riched by the lessons of co-operation in the West.
Co-operative banking and other forms of agricultural
and industrial co-operation, as well as associations
for the joint promotion of objects conducive to
social well-being, will flourish as In the West, being
readily assimilated by an easy process into the
structure of our traditional village community,
naturally imbued with a strong communistic
sense.

Again, in the village commonwealth industrialism
will not comprehend the whole of life. The mani-
fold social and intellectual activities of the village,
the village musical parties, plays, recitations and
religious festivals, feasts and amusements, will con-
tribute to give a healthy tone to the industrial life.
The excesses of industrialism will be tempered.

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM AND ITS LESSONS 453

Industrialism will be subordinated to the ends of
real social progress.

Such are in general the economic methods and
practices of India of the future as we anticipate
them. It is unquestionable that they will have a
deep significance for the modern industrial world
of the West. The last word of the Western indus-
trialism has been said. Its doom has been sounded.
The reaction to socialism has been strong, persis-
tent and widespread. A crass individualism, un-
restrained by morality or religion, has produced
untold-of wealth, but in the very process of the
creation of wealth it has sapped the foundations of
society. Society cannot be stable when individual-
ism implies license. The vast wealth that has been
produced by the nation is enjoyed only by the few,
and is spent by them not in the interests of social
welfare, but lavishly squandered away in a spirit of
extreme selfishness and shortsightedness to satisfy
their personal whims and caprices. Modern Western
society will not tolerate this any longer : the hard
discipline of the working democracy has had its
lessons.

Men are coming to know that wealth is neces-
sary for all in order to make life more enjoyable.
The intelligence of working men has been aroused.
They have come to understand that the capitalist
employer has subordinated their well-being to his
own desire for gain, and they are demanding social
re-organization accordingly. A universal system
of education is making these demands universally
popular. The cry for socialism is now universal in
the West.

But socialism cannot reform Western society.

454 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

On the other hand, it will destroy it. What
Western society is now in the greatest need of is
not socialism, but a re-constructive social idealism.
Individual initiative, genius and enterprise are
the source of all social progress. Individualism
must not be neglected as a formative element
in society. But at the same time, its acerbities
have to be smoothed down by an ennobling
idealism. The ideal industrial order will be con-
ducive to the maximum social welfare, while giving
the maximum individual liberty, and will appear
to be comparable, in the words of Prof, Huxley,
** not so much to the process of organic develop-
ment, as to the synthesis of the chemist, by which
independent elements are gradually built up into
complex aggregations in which each element retains
an independent individuality though held in sub-
ordination to the whole/' The due maintenance
of individual liberty, and the subordination of in-
dividual needs to social welfare should be the
objective of a scheme for social regeneration. The
consummation of social progress, says Fiske, is
the thorough adaptation of individual desires to the
requirements arising from the co-existent desires of
all other individuals. The fundamental weakness
of Western socialism has been that its roots lie in
a bare materialistic conception of life. The nobility
and grandeur of individual development, the
respect for human personality, are therefore missed
in such individualism after all.

In a merely socialistic organization, however much
the socialists say that they intend to ''rationalize"
individualism, and to create a nobler type of in-
dividualism, individuality will be curtailed. InteUi-

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM AND ITS LESSONS 455

gence and character, higher than the average,
genius and inspiration, the personaHty of those
who in the existing social organization become
heroes, seers and prophets will be deadened in the
socialistic regime.^

India, with her transcendental ideals of life, has
long set up a type of social organization which, though
expressly directed to the ultimate end of self-realiza-
tion and emancipation for the individual, never
missed sight of the unity of all individual selves
in society. Society to the Hindu is the Divine
Prakriti made manifest. The absolute working
through Maya has this mediate existence, society.

^ Professor F. W. Tausig, in an excellent chapter on socialism,
in his " Principles of Economics," remarks : " There is no such thing
as unrestrained freedom. Men live now within limits set not only by
the need of earning their living, but by law, by custom, by the environ-
ment. In the socialist state there would be necessary restrictions
also, in some respects similar, in some respects different. A bureau-
cratic and semi-military socialism is conceivable which would crush
individuality. A regulated and refined system of private property is
conceivable, with unfettered freedom of opportunity in which there
would be a completeness of liberty hardly to be attained in any
socialist state." Later on, however, he puts forward serious objections
against socialism. " It is well-nigh impossible to conceive that any
governmental organization, democratic or autocratic, will be able to
pick out the men of originating ability. A vast coUectivist organiza-
tion would hardly fail to be deadening to genius of all kinds. Would
not its selection of leaders be at best a recognition of ability to do
well?" He applies considerations of a similar sort to the develop-
ment of capital, and thinks there will be no increase of effective
capital, no improvements of tools and machines in the socialistic
regime. " The increase of effective capital is closely interwoven with
the selection of capable leaders. Both are essential for continued
progress. For both, existing society offers the bait of riches. With
an ideally perfected community with ideal leaders, spontaneously
chosen, all things are indeed possible. But under a non-competitive
organization, even in a community far advanced in intelHgence and
character, there would seem to be but slender prospect for sustained
material advance" ("Principles of Economics," Vol. II. p. 469).

456 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

The duty of man to society is governed by his
relation to the Absolute as the self of all selves.
Thus every service to society is self-dedication, a
step in the realization of God-in-man. Such is the
ideal which has dominated, or still dominates, all
relations of man to man in Hindu society. And
such ideal has left its permanent marks on the
outward structure of Hindu society. The best
ideals and ends of the socialism of the West
are already held in solution in the Indian social
organization.

The communal holding of land in the typical vil-
lage community is superior to any state organization
along one line ; and the organization of co-operative
village industries paid by the village community
would contain all that is most vital in schemes of
state organization of industry. Besides, the Hindu
joint family gives full scope to co-partnership in the
family life, on a co-operative basis, and thus tempers
the harshness and excesses of individualism. Simi-
larly the caste system also represents one step in
advance of the joint family towards a larger unity in
society. The communistic and collectivistic sense,
the implied socialisms and humanisms, are much
stronger in India than in the West. The basal
facts of the Indian social and family life furnish
occasion for a perpetual discipline in human and
social sympathies, and in the repression of the
aggressive instinct of the individual which is so
strong in the peoples of the West. Thus the
Hindu social organization, while checking the
excesses of individualism, does not obscure its
glories. The Hindu society establishes a system
of communism, but does not sacrifice individual

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM AND ITS LESSONS 457

initiative. To the Hindu individualism and com-
munism are not ends in themselves. They work
within the limits of, and are controlled by, the
governing end — the development of individuality
of every member of society. Thus India holds
the scales even between these two extremes.
The individual cannot realize his particular ends
without a similar realization of the particular ends
of other individuals and classes in society. For
the realization of the collective ends of society, on
which depends the realization of the particular ends
of individuals or classes, every individual or class
should work. Such an organic conception of society
supplies the ground and the philosophy of Hindu
communism.

This philosophy of communism is strengthened
by our transcendental ideals of life. The grada-
tion of social values in India is not according to
land or other wealth, or rank or political office,
but in theory according to a man's spiritual
strength, and the degree of his realization of the
Divine. This was the principle underlying the
Varna-ashrama-dharma, the sacred code of duty
of the Hindus through ages. Even now the
respect for learning, for character, for spirituality,
are still living forces amidst us. Plain living and
high thinking is not a distant ideal, but an actuality
very often realized. Poverty and self-denial are
still striven after. Poverty being thus sanctified
has no such brutalizing, degrading anti-social in-
fluences as it has in the West. The poor need
not necessarily be degraded. On the other hand,
the poor man often obtains the whole nation's
devout worship and homage. This idea is fixed

458 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

in the regular institution of almsgiving enjoined
on every grihastha, or householder, by the social
code.

Lastly, along with the socialization of moral
standards and ideals, the respect for virtue and
piety — the ideal of poverty and self-denial, there
is the element of mysticism pervading every aspect
of Hindu life. This mysticism determines the
Hindu's attitude towards the satisfaction of wants.
The West believes in the multiplicity of wants, in
the progressive expansion of wants serving as a
spur and stimulus to creative and productive
activity, and to further mastery. India practises
the art of simplifying her natural wants, so that
she may be more self-centred and self-sufficient,
and may cultivate her moral and spiritual life with
greater leisure and assiduity. The West begins
to feel the pressure of her multiplying wants,
and in the feverish pursuit of the materials and
instruments of satisfaction she begins to realize
that she is missing that inward satisfaction which
is the end and goal India can never wholly
lose her discipline of the limitation of wants
and the concentration of activities for the develop-
ment of the soul. To India the mystery and
grandeur of the limitless vistas of the development
of the soul are far more inspiring and fascinat-
ing than the mastery over external physical nature.
She is not, therefore, in the habit of constantly
creating new wants, and of thus concentrating upon
the adaptation of Nature to her ever-multiplying
needs. Not that India does not seek mastery over
Nature. India adapts Nature to the essential needs
of life, and these as much as the West. Witness

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM AND ITS LESSONS 459

her successful agriculture, her skilled handicrafts,
and her artistic industries. But the sense of the
mysterious and stupendous life which transcends
Nature always predominates. The searching gaze
of man is, therefore, directed less to the system of
Nature than to the Life which is at once immanent
and transcendent in it, the Self of all that lives and
moves, which is beyond the bounds of Space and
Time, Matter and Energy.

Such is the Indian conscience and the Indiani
spirit. The underlying and essential note for this
spirit and this conscience is the profound respect
for Personality, for the Spirit, for the Life eternal.
The Indian social organization is so framed as to
lead the individual through the successive statuses
and stages of life to the Life Eternal, in which alone
he finds Rest and Peace. Such a fair fabric of
society with its ideal as the realization of God-
in-man for every individual cannot wholly be
shattered by the collision and shock of the forces
of mechanism and monetarism that have fast
grown in strength, and are now in evident con-
flict in the Western world. If the progress of the
world is to be believed in, the social organization
conceived by the genius, the intuition and the vision
of the land and the people of the Himalayas and
the Ganges has a message to the West which
shall be heard. It is from materialism, from the
bondage of the Life Eternal to blind matter, that
it hopes to bring salvation. Where industrialism
sees wealth in things rather than in men, where
machinery instead of aiding the development of
personality promotes inhumanity, India still stands
for a loftier idealism, a profounder respect for

46o THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Personality, a deeper message for Humanity. In
the real interest of Personality and Humanity
it will control mechanical production, so that
machinery and mechanism will not retard culture
and refinement, but foster them. Where appalling
poverty is persisting betwixt abundant wealth and
unemployment, and in the midst of unsatisfied
desires of the rich and poor alike, it will renew its
ancient example of the profound regard for Man as
man. The love of ease and luxury will be kept
in its place by a keener sense of brotherhood, and
the possession of wealth will be seen as enlarging
the sphere of duty towards society. Where the
conflicts between labour and capital have destroyed
social stability, it will prove the necessity and
paramount importance of their co-operation. In
the interests of social peace it will maintain an
equitable distribution of wealth in the community
by checking the excessive concentration of capital,
and thus subordinate the ideal of mere mechanical
efficiency to the ends of real social progress. With-
out retarding individual genius and initiative, it will
prevent the excesses of individualism by infusing
into society a spirit of co-operation and communism,
by working on a more rational and spiritual con-
ception of life. Turning away from the mad and
all-engrossing pursuit of wealth, with its life at high
pressure, and the growing bitterness of struggle
for existence, it will distinguish between wealth as
a means and wealth as an end, and restore and
maintain respect for a life of poverty and self-
denial. Above all, it will establish that true wel-
fare does not depend upon the possession of wealth,
and the satisfaction of desires. It will find for an

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISM AND ITS LESSONS 461

unsatisfied restive Humanity that the best wealth
by gaining which one finds complete satisfaction is
gained not from without but from within, not in
feverish activity for selfish and personal ends, but
in the consecration of life in the service of society
and Humanity.

CHAPTER XI

CONCLUSION

We have now seen that our economic organisation
is not primitive and mediaeval. It does not represent
a crude stage in the process of Western industrial
development; but it is an adaptation to our own
environment, and this in the light of our own social
and ethical ideals, our own life-values. Our life
estimates and aims have been different from those
of the West, and hence we have evolved a different
social structure. To regard our economic structure
as either mediaeval or obsolete would be a gross and
inexcusable blunder. Our economic structure is as
** modern " as that of the West, and it will pursue
a line of evolution not towards the so-called
" modern " or Western industrialism, but towards
a fuller and more determinate Indian industrial
order. This characteristic line of Indian economic
evolution and these ends of Indian economic order
I have attempted to indicate in the previous chapter.
India will thus pursue its own lines of economic
evolution and will conserve and develop her
characteristic ideals of art, ethics, and social life.
The growing regional and national idealisms that
are becoming manifest amongst us all point towards
this.

In the interests not only of Indian culture but

CONCLUSION 463

also of Universal Humanity, India must have her
o>yn industrial life and destiny. On one side there
is now coming upon India the dominant Western
industrial civilisation, with its sharp distinction
between the village and the city, between labourer,
landowner, and capitalist, between hand-labourer
and brain-worker, between specialist and layman.
Not merely in the social organisation but in science
as well, this has exaggerated the division between
industry and art, between the sciences of the in-
organic and organic, of the living and the non-living.
The same mechanical principle of distinction has
created the modern contrasts between ethics and
business morality, between ethics and state-craft or
diplomacy. In socio-legal relations it has unduly
emphasised individual proprietary rights, and with
these the individualistic conception of the marital
relation which is the basis of the family.

This order of things with its exclusive adherence
to the principle of the division of labour, with its
deficient organisation towards general and vital
efficiency, is avowedly mechanical ; and hence, in
spite of its boast of modernity, and progress, has
done very little in developing life and well-being.

The synthetic vision of India will be the sorely
needed corrective of the rigid, analytical, mechano-
centric standpoint. In its social reorganisation,
India will not allow differentiation to go beyond its
due limits. Specialisation in India will imply social
inspiration as well as individual purpose. Division
of labour will be towards social welfare as well as
towards individual efficiency. In the field of pro-
duction mechanism will not militate against the
interests of vital efficiency and social well-being.

464 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

The small industry will be more favourable to an
equitable distribution of wealth and hence to social
stability. The large industry implies an army of
intermediaries and middlemen. The small industry
by the extreme simplicity of its organisation
diminishes economic friction and avoids the conflicts
between the different classes which share in dis-
tribution, e.g., between the labourers and the
capitalists, which have destroyed social peace in
the West. The locale of that industry will be the
cottage. The home, and the family, the caste and
the social environment humanise and socialise the
labourer. In agriculture, on account of the peasant's
rights in the soil, the family as the sociological unit
and the small holding of land as the economic unit
will assert their full social values. The family
develops sympathy and personal relations. It
combats brutishness, the nomadic or caravan spirit,
vagabondage, ferocity, predatoriness : in short, it
destroys the spell of monetarism and militarism.
The family, and then the caste, Jati or Saniaj,
ethical and social, are the basal factors in eugenic
and eupsychic reconstruction. The land basis —
work in direct touch with nature — is healthy and
educative, that is eupsychic. There is no doubt
that agriculture is a school of the virtues of sobriety,
forethought, and mutual helpfulness. Success in
agriculture implies only the exploitation of nature.
Urban economic prosperity, on the other hand, is
based on exploitation of man. Cities thus hold
a large proportion of parasitic population. Rural
economy prevents the waste of friction due to
conflicts of interest among individuals and groups,
and brings about social harmony in industry. The

CONCLUSION 465

land as the basal factor of economic life is the best
insurance against class warfare and the consequent
economic unstability due to the irregular and in-
equitable distribution of income. That is endemic.
India is seeking this ideal in society and is preparing
its renewed expression in the community, in the
city and the village, in the family and the caste, in
her industrial life as well.

The communistic spirit of Indian social life and
the communal institutions like family and caste,yij?//
and Samajy all tend to regulate the aggressive pro-
prietary rights, and to smooth the acerbities of a
violent and venal individualism, which seems to too
many in the West the fruition of civilisation. In
politics the election by the caste as an industrial or
functional group would imply a representation of
separate industrial or functional interests and solve
what has been an insoluble problem as regards the
representation of minorities in a working democracy.
In social life, there will be no semi-military organisa-
tion to check the development of individuality,
while at the same time there will be none of the
license and abuses of a sordid individualism. In
civilisation India stands for a loftier ideal of com-
munism. Not state-socialism with its bureau-
cratic methods, inspection and inspectors, but a
regulated and refined system of private property
with an unfettered freedom of opportunity for all,
is the Indian conception of economic organisation.
There is no doubt that there will be a completeness
of individual liberty here which can hardly be
attained in a socialist state, while at the same time
individual industry will be applied to socially
serviceable uses and individual income shorn of the

2 H

466 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

unearned and excessive elements which by their
appropriation and expenditure have represented
social waste in the West. Herein lie the essential
significance and value of the Indian economic order
— its contribution to the more socialised and more
humanised art of wealth. This wider art of wealth
which communism in India represents implies
a re-statement of the fundamental axioms and
postulates of Western industrial life. In India
communism is encouraged and developed by the
ideal of plain -living and high-thinking, by the
religious respect for the virtues of poverty and
self-denial. This calls for a revision of the Western
economic theory of wants which implies their in-
definite multiplication for individual ends. India
has her discipline of the limitation of personal
wants. She recognises the primacy of the primary
wants, but she duly regulates the secondary and
tertiary wants. This involves a radical change in
the motives of economic life. The Indian ideal
of subordination of the material wants to the needs
of the higher life is the only corrective of Western
unrest. Neither a competitive and contentious
individualism with its motto of ** Laissez-faire," nor
state-socialism with its semi-military control of
private industry, neither trades-unionism and in-
dustrial democracy nor the central direction of
industry by trusts or cartels, neither the peaceful
political methods of the Labour Party nor the
revolutionary ideals of Larkinism or syndicalism,
neither the allurements of a sense-born art nor the
bargainings of an utilitarian ethics can bring peace
to the restless, unstable, and " morally crude " world
of Western industrialism. Carlyle's sarcasm and

CONCLUSION i,(fj

Ruskin's idealism, William Morris's earnestness and
Toynbee's sympathy, have failed to arrest the tide
of corruption and de-humanisation of the industrial
world. It is only the old-world Indian ideal of self-
denial and the Indian discipline of the limitation of
non-social wants that can radically cure the ills of
the industrial life of the West. It would subordinate
the mere physical and artificial wants to the higher
spiritual and social needs, moralise the industrial
world where greed has become the first law, and
regulate it in the interests of the higher ethical and
spiritual life whose demands are ultimately more
compelling than those of the former. The conflicts
of labour and capital, of individualism and socialism
in every field of life, will vanish before the dawn of
this inner vision, and the industrial world will then
have peace and stability ; and industry, re-united to
art and ethics, will foster culture, refinement, and
the real well-being of society.

Such are the economic ideals of India and such
their meaning and value for the West. Such ideals
should always be present in the mind of the Indian
economist and aimed at in all practical work of
social reconstruction. The economist should no
longer confine himself to the study or the lecture-
room with its window only upon the market-place.
The time for action has begun. If he has so long
spent his life within this narrowed range, let him
now emerge into the world. For are not the grim
poverty, the squalor and degradation, the dirt and
disease of the coolies of the uninhabitable bustis of
our sordid cities, and the mute despair, helplessness,
and bankruptcy of our deserted villages alike calling
on him to be ready with a programme and a policy ?

468 THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIAN ECONOMICS

Broken homesteads and disjointed families, bank-
rupt zamindars and ill-fed middle class, debilitated
crafts and wasted lands, increased death-rate and
greater criminality, are not these all alike demanding
not vague Utopias of good wishes for the country at
large but definite plans of regional survey and of
corresponding reconstruction ?

The field of the student's survey and reconstruc-
tion is that of our deserted villages and vampire
cities. Let the Indian sociologist come out of his
seclusion, and, facing these mean bustis and these
derelict lands, exclaim in his highest moment of
inspiration and resolve, ** My Utopia is here and
nowhere else." The history that is recorded in our
Puranas and Itihashas is but the drama of the
accomplishments and failures of our race to deter-
mine its material environment and create its own
spiritual conditions, as it would have them be.
What are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, what
is our whole classical literature, but the accumulated
ethical and spiritual wisdom of the race, by and
through which the Indian prepared himself for the
highest duties to society ? What are Indian art,
Indian sculpture, and Indian architecture but the
effort to make the material shell of the Indian town
symbolise the ideals of the best citizens of our
community from age to age ? What is Indian
religion itself but the recurrent effort to establish
on earth here and now the paradise of the gods ?
And what is Indian sociology, Arthashastra-
Sukraniti-Manara Dharmashastra — but the peren-
nial effort to construct, improve, and develop cities
and villages according to the cultural aspirations
of the best citizens of India in different ages .'*

CONCLUSION 469

That is Indian wisdom, and that is now calling to
the theoretical student, disciplined in Western
learning, and with him to Western thought and
learning as well, to rise beyond the futile specialisms,
historical and scientific, of an age which has nor-
malised the subordination of morals and politics
to expediency, arid isolated them both from science
and from life. This re-orientation of life and
thought will rescue the energies which are now
being dissipated here and there between factory and
art-school, waste land and laboratory, slum and
mansion, and bring about a synthesis of the science
and the humanities in the art of regional recon-
struction, rural and urban alike.

INDEX I

SUBJECTS

Agricultural co-operation in the West, 425-6, 434, 435
Agriculture, Indian —

A school of virtues, 464

Areas under rice, wheat, jute, and cotton, 309

Complete study of, reserved for a future work, vi

Conditions now adverse to small farmer, 29

Dependent on loans, 4, 10

Deserted by field labourers, 6, 7

Exploited by foreign merchants, 312-3, 316, 409

Family co-operation in, 29, 30, 31

Impeded by emigration in Madras, 7

Imperilled by migration to towns, 9, 340

Importance of waterways to, 314-5

More important than industry, 325, 406

Resorted to by displaced artisans, 5

Small estates unfavourable to, 27, 28

Supports and supplements industries, 400, 450, 45 1
Agriculturist, the village —

Attracted by town life, 8

Becoming a day-labourer, 415

Feeds the village, paid in kind, 3

Hand to mouth existence, 4

Stages of advance in status, 39
Animals in Indian economy —

Buffalo, 92, 294, 295

Bullock, ox, 96, 281, 294-5

Cow, 92

Donkey, 295

Horse, 294, 295
Aniline and ahzarine dyes, demoralize home textile and dyeingMndustries,

205 (note), 208
Apiculture —

Carried on in hills and forests, 73

Crude methods of honey-separation and wax-refining, 73-4

Honey as food, medicine, and substitute for sugar, 75

Honey-gatherers of the plains, 74

Indian apiary described, 73

Industry neglected and left to lowest castes, 75

472 INDEX I

Apiculture {continued) —

Suggestions for improvement —

Better methods of collection and manufacture, 75

Closer study of wild bees and their favourite flowers, 76

Concentration on honey production, ']^

Use of modern appliances, 76, 'j'j
Wax used in moulding, 75
Architecture^ —

A living art in India, and with encouragement would equal or excel

its best traditions, 254
Bengali style, a mixture of Hindu and Muhammadan, 245-7

modified by Hindu religious revival, 246

temples, 247

Blighting effect of Government policy on Indian architecture and

building, 253-8
Degeneracy of modern temples, 249-50
Indian curved roof design derived from primitive bamboo roofs,

248 (note)

' details inserted in European designs, 257

Muhammadan plans, Hindu details, 246
Official neglect of Indian style creates false impression, 255
Old Indian houses, 250-3
Art-
Bangle ornamentation, 227

Dyeing, injured by cheap chemical dyes, 205 (note)
Embroidery in metal, 223-4

Goldsmith's, debased by cheap imported ornaments, 239-40
Hand-loom weaving, fine fabrics, 157
Individuality in, 224
Pottery, image-making, 141 -3
Silk-weaving, decline due to commercialism, 190-1
Artist, the Hindu —

Finds inspiration in devout exercises and dreams, 52
Idealistic, 47

Regards art as interpreting God, 49
Relies on inspiration, 47, 52
Worships Viswakarma, 48
Attar of roses, 132-3
Author's conclusions —

Differ from current theories, viii

Fruit principally of first-hand study, vi, vii-viii

Bam BOO- WORK and Basket-making —

Bagdis, BhuimaHs, Domes, low-caste workers in bamboo, 79-80

Bamboo's many uses, 78

Bamboo vessels and baskets, 79

weaving an important rural occupation, 79

left to the lowest classes, 79

work respectable in certain districts, 79

Cottages of bamboo, 78

Muhammadans better bamboo-weavers than Hindus, 80
Bangle-making —

From conch-shell —
Kinds of bangles, 226

INDEX I 473

Bangle-making {continued^ —

From conch shell {continued) —
Often beautifully ornamented, 226
Processes and tools, 226
Sankhari (shell-cutter) quarter in Dacca, 227
Shells all imported, 226
From Lac —
A profitable village industry — to the middleman, 225-6
Producers' profits small, hence industry often left to women, 225
Tools, materials, prices, 225

Bankers and banking —

Honesty of Indian bankers and their clerks, 276-7
Influential in politics formerly, 275
Loss of influence under British rule, 276

Operations in hoondees or bills of exchange the chief feature of
Indian banking, 276-8

Banya —

Lends seeds at enormous interest, 4
Mainstay of village agriculture, 4 (note)

Banyan design, characteristic of Ahmedabad art, 52, 53

Barter—

A feature of village life, 3, 4, 13

Being supplanted by money-economy, 9, 10

Conserved by village lenders, 10

Bee-keeping. See Apiculture.

Beer brewing possibilities, 349

Bell-metal. See Metal Industries.

Bills of Exchange —

HooJtdees, exchange medium of Indian bankers, 276-8
Very rarely dishonoured, 276, 277

Birth-rate-
Checks theoretical rather than practical, 16
Encouraged by family sentiment and tradition, 17
High, formerly an advantage when Hindus surrounded by foes, 17
Increase regulated by the family, 16
Increased by poverty, diminished by prosperity, 16
Now too high in relation to economic conditions, 17

Boat-building —

Centres and their specialities, 148 (note)
Dacca, famous for house-boats, 148 (note)
Simple construction of river-boats, 294

Boats, varieties used for River Navigation —

Adbalam, 292 Haturia, 285 Phukni, 292

Balam, 292 House, 148 (note) Reel, 148 (note)

Bhar, 291 Jalyanois, 292 Sampan, 148 (note)

Bhaule, 292 Katra, 291 Sangri, 292

Budgerow, 292 Konda, 148 (note) Saranga, 148 (note),

Dinghi, 292, 293 Malini, 291 292

Donga, 292-3 Oharutya, 292 Ulak, 291

Gadu, 292 Patli, 291

Book-keeping —

Gumasthas\ 303
Money-lenders', 270-1
Bounties demanded for Indian industries, 342

474 INDEX I

Boys —

Assist in agriculture, 31

bell-metal work, 234-5

building, 258-9

silk-weaving, 196

Early craft-training and apprenticeship, 31-2, 392-3

Require improved technical and artistic training, 398
Brahmins —

Eat unboiled rice, 97

Not all priests now, 6

Owners of manufacturing concerns, 365

Taking city occupations, 6
Bricks and tiles —

Calcutta the chief centre, 146

Difficulties of climate, 146

Furnaces superseding kilns, 146

Hand-made bricks usually made near building site, 146

Hand manufacture declining, 146

How made by village potters, 140
British initiative in co-operation, 425, 437-8, 440-1
Buddhism, original strength of, in Bengal, 36 (note)
Building Industry —

Bengal a brick-building country, 244

Bengali style of Indo-Saracenic architecture, 245-7

modified by Hindu religious revival, 246

temples, 247

Blight of foreign influence, 253

Bricklayers and masons in steady demand, 243

Bricks as material — effect on architecture, 244

Bungalow — a hideous Anglo-Indian type, but practical, 256-7

Carved panels in brickwork, 247

Evil effects of Public Works contract system on artisan, 253-4

Genius of Indian master-builders still available, 254, 256

Gaur, glorious ruins of, 243

Government neglect of native building art injures other Indian art
industries, 255

Modern temples small and degenerate, 249-50

Old Indian houses, 250-3

Ornamented mud walls, 251-2

Public Works Department employs native artisans, but on ugly and
uninspiring work, 256

Rajmistri^ or head builder, and his methods, 259

Roofs of temples, 248-9

Roofs — the Hindu curved roof probably derived from that of bamboo
huts, 248 (note)

Sub-divisions of the building caste, 258

Terra-cotta panels, 252 (note)

Villages of builders, 258

Wages, 259

Women employed in carrying materials, 258
Business openings for Indians —

As commercial agents, 351

bankers, merchants and traders, 351-2

owner-managers of town workshops, 367

INDEX I 475

Business openings for Indians {continued) —
In co-operative undertakings, 441-2

Capital —

Constantly disintegrated under Hindu law of succession, 27

Insufficiently capitalized industries, 353

Limited outlets for, 32

Organizers required, to make most of small capital, 353

Sources of, tapped by Indian co-operative societies, 421

Suggested industries workable on small capital, 354

Workshops in towns, 367-8
Carpentry —

Articles made by village carpenter, 148

Co-operative societies, 385

Decay of wood-carving, 148-9

Divisions of the industry, 149-50

Peculiarities of Indian saw and lathe, 150

Roughness of tools and workmanship, 1 50

Suggestions for improvement —
Better tools, machine plant, more adaptability and enterprise, 1 5 1

Tools and their names, 1 50

Woods and their uses, 150

Workshops of Bowbazar and Calcutta, 364
Carving —

Carvers employed largely in idol and temple work, 260

Demand for finished sculpture and architectural carving almost
ceased, 261

Figures in soapstone made by unemployed sculptors, 261

Modern work not much inferior to ancient, 260-1

Orissa, Bengal stone district and famous carving centre, 244 (note)

Plaster work, or imitation sculpture, 261-2

Prices of stoneware and small idols, 262
Cash payments —

Fostered by co-operative stores, 440

Insisted upon by middlemen, 9

Promoted by revenue-collectors, 10
Caste —

A social unit larger than the family, based on kinship or race,

33,45
Determines marriage area and partially defines occupation, 33
Examples of caste restrictions, 44-5
Facihtates introduction of co-operative methods, 214
Great lever for industrial improvements, 192 (note)
Grows by accretion, proselytizes, 33, 34, 36 (note), 37 (note)
Hinduizes aboriginal races, 35, 37 (note)
More or less a trades-union, 6r
New blood prevents deterioration from inter-marriage, 34

castes added for aborigines, 34, 35

Replaces totemism and the matriarchate, 35

Represents a social ideal, 45

Rigid differentiation of, an evil, 41 (note), 42, 43

Scope for advancement in, 37, 44

Trading castes higher than working castes, 37, 38

Trains, feeds and protects the artisan, 45-6, 392-4

476 INDEX I

Caste {continued) —

Upward movement in, leading to sub-division and social differentia-
tion, 37-41
Castes engaged in manufacturing enterprise, 365-6
Castes, some illustrations of —

Muhammadan : Bhistis, Darzis, Jolahas, 43-4

Nabasakha, or New Branch (highest Hinduized artisan or trading
castes) : Gandhabaniks, Kamars, Kansaris, Kayasthas, Kumars,
Moyras, Napils, Sadgops, Tamulis, Tantis, Telis, Tilis, Vaidyas,

35-37

Semi-Hinduized aboriginal (higher grade) : Bagdis, Chandals,
Khoyras, Lobars, Meleyas, 35 ; Moulays, 74

(lower grade, without recognized priests) : Bauris, Haris, 35

Sub-divided artisan castes—
Fishers, 38
Goldsmiths, 37-8

Oil manufacturers, 38, 128, 129, 131
Shell-cutters, 38
Weavers, 39

Sundry, unclassified, low grade: Bhuimalis, Domes, 79

" Untouchables": Chamars, 40-1, 214-15 ; Muchis, 214-15
Cattle deteriorate through labour migration, 9, 411
Cereals —

Areas under, 309

Exports increasing, 309

Prices rising, 310

Production relatively declining, 8, 309
Ceremonies, religious and social —

A feature of Indian life, 59

Expenditure on, not wasteful, 59
Chemicals in Indian economy —

Alum, 242, 346 Lime, 206

Arsenic, 140 Proto -sulphate of iron, 207

Borax, 242, 346 Salt, 242

Blue vitriol, 346 Saltpetre (nitre), 242, 346

Carbonate of soda, 140 Sulphur, 242

Copperas, 346
Child, the centre of the ideal family, 26
City or urban India —

A contrast to rural India, 3

Competition spreading rapidly, 3

Middle class engaging in trade and manufacture, 415

Professional, clerical and Government occupations excessive, 415
City's prosperity based on exploitation of man, 464
City, Western glorification of, 401
Cloth-
Cotton fabrics of India, 157-9

Home-woven displaced by imported, 5
Clothing Industries —

Individual demands limit use of machinery, 361-2

Successfully carried on in French homes, 373
Coal Industry —

Labour difficulties in, 13 (note)

Phenomenal progress of, 346

INDEX I 477

Confectioner, a prosperous tradesman, 297 (note)

Commercialism, disastrous to art in the silk-weaving industry, 190-1

Communism, Indian —

An idealized and spiritualized communism, 466-7

Communistic spirit and communal institutions check and temper

individualism, 465
India's ideal not state-socialism, but a regulated and refined system

of private property, 465
Competition —

Absent from villages, 4
Conquering cities rapidly, 3
Effects of, on village industries, 5
Facilitated by steamships and railways, 5
Tastes altered by, 5
Conch-shell work, 226
Co-operation in the family circle —
Instances in industry, 29-32
Scale too small for important results, 32
System discourages initiative, 32
Co-operative building enterprise, 437-8, 440
Co-operative Credit —

A first essential to Indian domestic industry, 385

Among weavers, a success, 193, 386

Co-operative Credit Societies Act (India), 1904... 434

Credit -banking, main form of co-operation known in India, 418,

424
, only convenient source of credit to peasantry where

organized, 418
German initiative in, 379
model credit-bank (Schulze-Delitzch) ; funds raised by share

capital and unlimited liability, 380
Italian model : limited liability, 380-1
Kinds of business transacted by credit-banks, 381-2

of loan security accepted, 381-2, 388-9

Moral and economic advantages of co-operative banks, 382-3
Mortgage credit in Europe — Hungarian system, 419-21
Occupations of members in German and Italian credit-banks, 383,

384 (note)
Outside borrowing in Bombay, a retrograde step, 421
Profits divided between reserve fund and shareholders, 381
Purchase by instalments through a credit-bank, 381-2
Raiffeisen system of unlimited liability —

Adapted for agriculturists and villages, 380

Modified in Burma, Punjab, and U. P., 422

type, with shares, pros and cons of, 422-4

Pure in Behar, Bengal, Bombay and Central Provinces, 422

type triumphant in Germany and works well in Bengal,

423-4
View taken that the pure type is best for India, and should be

tried before modification attempted, 424
Small producer neglected by credit-banks, a danger, 383-4, 423
Sources of capital of provincial societies, 421
Specialist credit societies a failure in Europe, 388
Spread and development of Western co-operative credit, 380, 383-4

478 INDEX I

Co-operative Credit {continued) —

Suggestions for improvement —

More centralization : central banks in every district, 419
Should be associated with educational work and the other forms
of co-operation, 432, 434-S

Taking root among Indian agriculturists, but bulk of industrial
population almost untouched, 385

Unduly emphasized as a factor of production, 435

United Provinces the chief centre of co-operation among Indian
craftsmen, 385-6
Co-operative education —

Co-operation becoming a science in the West, 433

Educative and moral effects in Europe, 431

Need for popular instruction in co-operation, 431-3

Organization of co-operative educational committees suggested, 432

Press and Government indifference, 431-2

Promotion by distributive societies in Great Britain, 438
Co-operative ideal — The coftsumer transcends the producer^ 436

illustrated, 439

Co-operative industry —

Among sugar-growers, 117, 426

Other industries to which co-operation should be applied, 426-8
Co-operative movement in India —

Co-operative Credit Societies Act of 1904... 434

Societies Act of 191 2. ..434

Credit banking the main or only form known, 418, 424

Field for experiment offered by India, 425

Great headway made in India, though movement in its infancy, 418

Many opportunities but progress desultory, 418

Retrograde step in Bombay, where co-operative societies may borrow
from outside capitalists, 421

Societies lack unity — more centralization desirable, 419
Co-operative organization —

Akin to economic methods of Indian village community, 391, 425

Congenial to Indian caste traditions and character, 391

Co-operative Societies Act (India), 1912...434

Stores in Great Britain, 436-7, 440-1

Co-ordination of co-operative effort little attempted in the West,
excepting to some extent in Great Britain, 425

Has revived small industries in Europe, 387

If carefully introduced will revolutionize condition of Indian artisan
classes, 390

Land credit bank, how organized in Hungary, 420

Peculiarly applicable to culture industries, 428

Possibilities of co-operation in restoring Indian village, 417, 425

of co-operative societies in competition with large-scale in-
dividualist industries, 388

State-aided co-operation, 420, 421, 422

Town bank, how organized in Europe, 380-2
Co-operative philanthropy in the West, 438-9
Co-operative production —

Characteristic of British stores movement, 437

Develops naturally from the co-operative store, 339-40

Free from competitive risk, 439

INDEX I 479

Co-operative sale —

Advantages include better knowledge of markets and elimination of
the middleman, 390, 428-9

Caution needed in admitting new members, 389

in hiring out articles owned by a society, 390

Greek currant monopoly, how organized by Government, 429

Jute monopoly of India would benefit by co-operative sale, 429

Other industries that might be benefited, 430

Question whether society should act as dealer or as agent best
decided on merits of each case, 390 v

Co-operative service societies, 430
Co-operative supply —

Advantages — cheapness, lower freights, better quality, joint purchase
and use of costly machinery, etc., 387, 430, 439

Dangers of —

(i) Allowing too long credit, 389
(2) Fixing prices too low, 389

Development in productive directions in Europe, 436-9

More vital than other forms of co-operation, 436

Need for realized by Raiffeisen, 433
Copper. See Metal Industries.
Cottage Industries —

Being supplanted by Western factory industries, 341

Congenial to Indian social ideals, 323-4

Decline of in England due chiefly to rural exodus, 400

Discredited but not entirely superseded in the West, 321, 373

Economic disadvantages of can be overcome by co-operation, 373,
.375-6

Fill up spare time of agriculturists, 369

Flourishing French agriculture a support to village industries,
400

Have characteristic advantages, especially in India, 369

Held by Indian opinion to be obsolete, 322, 343

Lend themselves to long hours, 369

Modem cheap power of great assistance, 370-3

Permit of family collaboration, 370

Pessimistic view suggested by decline of handloom-weaving, 322

Reasons for discounting this view, 322

Revival possible, 322-3

should harmonize with Indian social ideas, 331-2

Small-scale agriculture necessitates subsidiary industries, 323

Western statistics show decline in one-man industries but increase
in all others, 374
Cotton-ginning suitable for factory industry, 349
Cotton manufacture (and see Handloom-Weaving) —

Figures of progress, 345

Mills do not compete with handloom-weaving, 347
Credit. See Co-operative Credit, Money-lending, Rural

Credit.
Culture-
Consists in a blending of diverse types, 401

Eastern, has passed through all the stages of Western, 329

Measure of national success, 336

Western, too much urbanized, 401-2

48o INDEX I

Culture Industries, why better adapted to co-operative than to factory

organization, 360, 428
Currant monopoly of Greece, State-controlled, 429

Dairying—

Churns of bamboo, and process of churning, 94

Ghee^ eaten daily by the rich ; to the poor a luxury, 95

how made from butter, 94-5

production declined, being less profitable than fresh milk and

butter, 95

Milk in special demand at festivals, 92

preparations — khir^ dahi and chenna^ 93

, both eaten by themselves and made into sweetmeats, 93

Milking done by men and milk preparations made by women, 92

Precautions against souring, 92

Prices of butter and ghee compared, 95

Vegetable oils used by poor in place of butter or ghee, 95
Dayabhaga system, 21

Decentralization the spirit of the Indian social system, 444
Democratic basis of Indian society, 444
" Depressed Classes " of Bengal —

Depressed through loss of a glorious tradition, 36 (note)

Survivals of the golden age of Buddhism, 36 (note)
Division of labour —

As between city and village, a feature of Western civilization, 402-3,

463

Avowedly mechanical, not life-building, 463

Destructive of spiritual wealth, 337

In Indian dyeing industry, abandoned through cheap imported
easily-worked dyes, 208

Opposed by co-operators and socialists, who promote integration
of labour, 404-5

Will be humanized and socialized by India, 463
Divorce, a consequence of unstable social conditions, 19
Drainage, of land —

Obstructed by railways, 314

Suffering from silting up of rivers, 315
Dravidian element improves manual skill of Hindu race, 36
Dreamers and idealists needed in India, 445-6
Dredging proposed of Indian rivers, 289-90
Dumb bargaining, 71
Dyeing Industry —

Decline through imported cheap, easily-worked dyes, 205, 208

Demand for coloured cloth, 207-8

Dyes, native, and their preparation, 206-7

Indigo extraction and use, 206

Kusum, lac and al reds, 206-7

Kanthal^ bilati-haldi and turmeric yellows, 206-7

Haritaki black, 207

LocaHties where native dyes still prevail, 209

Native dyes not all fast, chemical dyes not all fugitive, 207

Prices charged by dyers, 209

Printing of textiles, 209

Women, skilled as home dyers, 209

INDEX I 481

East and West-
Differences in moral conditions and social environment involve

different economic evolution, 328
Eastern culture has passed through all stages of Western, 329
industrial world more humanized than Western, 327

mode of life not essentially affected by Western civilization,

58,59
Easterns not anxious for wealth, 326

restrict wants; Westerns multiply them, 324, 458

Mysticism of the East as opposed to the materialism of the West,

45-89
Proprietary instinct encouraged in the West, repressed in the East,

406
Social differences account for industrial differences, 15

ideal of East being slowly supplanted by individualistic ideal

of West, 46

Wealth distribution of greater interest to East ; production to West,

333, 450 . .
Western civilization starts in the city ; Eastern in the village, 401

industrialism a contrast to Eastern, 339

sacrifices to individualism, 19, 22-3

sociologists err in judging the East by Western standards,

328-30

Economic ideals of India, 462-7

practical in character, 468-9

should now be expressed in action, 467-8

Economic organization, Indian —

As modern as that of the West, 462

Will evolve on Indian lines, 462
Economic progress tends to disintegrate the family, 20

research, difficulties of, vii, viii

Education —

Literary training overdone in India, 349-50

More technical education required, 342, 350

System of commercial training also necessary, 351
Educational activities of British co-operative societies, 438
Embroidery in gold and silver, 223-4
Emigration —

Inland Emigration Acts, 12

Madras denuded of labour, 7

Of coolies, almost counter-balanced by those who return, 12

State-aided, 12
Endi and Eri weaving. See SiLK INDUSTRY.
Engines for small industries —

Modern cheap engines enable small industries to compete better
with large, 370-1

Relative advantages of electric, gas, and oil engines, 370-3
Enthusiasts, practical —

Called to action, 467-8

Illustrations of their work, 446

Need of, in India, 445-6
Estates, small, disadvantages of, 27, 28

a result of the Hindu law of succession, 27, 28

disadvantages of overcome in Belgium, 29 (note)

2 I

482 INDEX I

Exchange, bills of, 276-8

rates of the money-changer, 278-9

Exports : total Indian, 340-1

Hides, 215 Tassar silk, 200

Leather, 219 Wheat, 309

Oil-seeds, 125, 126 Wheat-flour, 105

Rice, 309

Factories and workshops, co-operative, 437

Factory hand, the Indian, primarily an agriculturist, 13

Factory system —

Appropriate for —

(i) Industries requiring large plant and many labourers ;

(2) Industries supplying steady and continuous routine needs,
344-5, 349
Demands for labour in Bengal met by immigration, 416
* Disliked by Indian workmen, 13 (note)
Economic advantages of, 370

can be assured to small men by co-operation, 376

Grows from small workshop beginnings, 359

Has largely superseded cottage industry in the West, 321

Idealized by public opinion, 322, 342-3

Impeded by labour shortage, 13

In cotton and jute industries, a success, 347

glass-making, a failure, 349

leather, oil-pressing, flour-milling, cotton-ginning, wool- weaving,

beer-brewing and paper-making, possibiHties very great, 349

sugar industry, a failure, 348

Need for entrepreneurs^ or industrial leaders, 349, 353

Secondary conditions of success : growth of capital ; simultaneous

processes, 360
Suggested factory industries that might be started with small

resources, 354
Wisdom of small beginnings in the most hopeful directions, 353-4
Family budgets —

Dr. Engels's general deductions from, 58
Hindu, collected first-hand, viii

compared with American and European, 57

show relative poverty, with inordinate expenditure on religious

and social functions and on luxuries, 58
Family, the Hindu —

Co-operates in industry, 29-32, 326

Develops sympathy and personal relations, 464

Economic unit of Hindu society, 15

Encourages family increase, though now disadvantageous, 17

Ennobling conception of marriage, 18, 19, 23

Fosters mutuality, checks individualism, 15

Humanizes and socializes the labourer, 464

Provides for orphans, widows and aged, 16

Quarrels, a symptom of growing economic stress and individualism,

25-6
Regulates population, 15-6
System, based on personal ties, has been the very inspiration of

society in India, 23

INDEX I 483

Family, the Hindu {continued) —

System nevertheless has promoted stagnation and idleness and
diminished the sense of responsibility, the result being poverty and
all its evils, 24-25

Threatened by individualistic tendencies, 20, 22, 26

Traditional prejudice in favour of birth of sons, 17
Family, the ideal —

Not yet evolved. East or West, 26

Regards duty as sacred, 26

Serves humanity in serving the child, 27
Fish in Indian economy —

Barsha khulsa, 86 Hilsa, 85, 89 (note)

Bhetki, 89 Magur, 86, 90

Calbaus, 90 Mirgel, 90 ^

Catla, 90 Puti, 86

Coi, climbing fish, 86, 90 Rui, 90

Ghuntel, 86
Fishing industry —

A universal subsidiary occupation in districts subject to flood, 81-2

Decline of boat traffic leads to cargo-men entering fishing trade, 88
(note)

Fish, a favourite and important food in India, 81, 91

breeding obstructed by weirs, 91

kinds generally reared, 90

propagation in Bengal, 90

reared in tanks, 81

sent to distant markets in cold season, 89

supply declining in Bengal, 89

impoverished by slaughter of breeding fish and fry and

neglect of village tanks, 89

not equal to demand, 81

tanks, leased by fishers, Z'j

neglected by absentee landlords, 89

traps, names, and uses, 86

Fishermen turn boatmen in slack season, 88

Fishing castes proper include finest examples of manhood, 81

implements most varied, 82

methods classed as foul, 83, 86

nets, made of cotton and hemp, and dyed brown, 82

various kinds and their uses, 83-5

rod and line, 86

spears, 87

togi or sheresta^ and baits, 86-7

Fishwives accomplished in abuse, 88

Incomes of fishermen and middlemen compared, 88

Price of fish doubled or trebled in last few years, 89

of fry in Bengal, 90

Quarrelling as an aid to net-making, 82
River fisheries almost neglected, 90
Suggestions for improvement —

Improved methods of pisciculture, 90, 91

Prohibition of weirs, 90

Protection of immature fish, as in America, 89
Wholesale vendors as middlemen, 87

484 INDEX I

Fishing industry {continued) —

Women-folk hawk and sell fish not sold to dealers, 88
Floral patterns in textiles, 5 1

Flour-milling suitable for factory organization, 349
Flowers, scented, India renowned for, 131
Food-stuffs —

Demand increased, 8

Price 32 per cent, higher, 8

Supply jeopardized by migration of labour, 8, 9
Foreign trade —

Exporting trades mostly in hands of foreigners, 352

Scope for Indians who will pursue the necessary studies, 352
Freights, cheap, develop infant industries, 313

Garden cities, an expression of the movement towards industrial inte-
gration, 405
Gems, Indian and European, 239
Girls —

Early trained to artisanship, 31

Not required to work much, 31
Glass-making, 346

As a cottage industry a success in Belgium, Bohemia, and Japan, 349

As a factory industry a failure, 349
Gold. See Metal Industries.
Gold and silver embroidery, 223-4
Government indifference to co-operative education, 431-2

monographs on industries and handicrafts very useful, but too

few, vii
or state aid —

Alternative to co-operation in relieving artisan classes, 378-9

Successfully adopted in Hungary, 379
Government Works Department — »

Boycotts Indian artisans and their art, 255

Departmental buildings not beyond criticism, even constructionally,
254, 255

Effect of official neglect is to debase the native building craft and
lower the status of the native builder, 253-8

Other native handicrafts suffer in consequence, 255
Grain storage societies, 429
Gun-making, 229

Hand labour v. machinery —

Element of "irregularity" limits use of machinery, e.g,^ in skilled

shoemaking and tailoring, 361-2
In lac manufacture, 71

— mining industries, 346-7

— rice manufacture — comparison of cost and advantages, 98, 10 1

— weaving, 162-6, 347

Province of large-scale machine or factory production, 343-5, 359-62

of small-scale or handicraft production, 358-9, 360-2

Handloom-weaving —

India's most important cottage industry, 152
Kinds of cotton fabrics — local specialities, 157-8
Machine in serious competition with handloom, 161

INDEX I 485

Handloom weaving {continued) —
Machine v. handloom —

Advantage of cheap female labour in English mills, 322

Failure of machine with Indian mill-yarn, success with coarse
medium yarn, 164-6

Theoretical views in favour of machine modified by experience,
leading to conclusion that hand and machine do not compete but
supplement each other, 162-4, 347
Middlemen as money-lenders, 161
Possibilities of fine cotton-growing, 153 (note)
Preparation of cotton, imported and home-grown, 153-5
Prices of hand and machine woven cloth compared, 161-2
Public ginning and pressing mills, 154
Recovery of handloom industry after decline, 162
Repressive commercial policy of East India Company a cause of

decline, 322
Rope-twisting machine, 158

Spinning by hand — a skilled trade almost ousted by machine-
spinning, 155-6
Statistics of cloth production, import and consumption, 152-3
Suggestions for improvement —

Central bleaching and finishing factories, 166

Co-operative credit and kindred means to free the weaver from
the money-lender and to improve his lot, 168-70

Cultivation of Egyptian cotton in India, 161

Lighter, stronger and faster handlooms, 166-8
Tailoring not usually required, but demand increasing, 158-9
Want of capital and its results— weavers perpetually in debt to

lenders and dealers, 161
Weavers' co-operative societies — a success, 168-9, 3^5"^
Weaving castes, 159, 169
Weaving demands family co-operation, 160-1

process, 156-7

Women's share in the work— cotton picking, cleaning and spinning ;

weaving, 154, 156, 159
Workshop system co-exists with cottage industry, 366

on trial in Madras, 170-2

Hereditary occupations —

Dexterity in, facilitated by inheritance, 46, 393 (note)
Hereditary craftsmen best utilized in small workshops, 368
Illustration in silk-rearing, 174-5
In villages, 4

Voluntary departures from, 6
Hindus —

How affected by admixture with aborigines, 34
Influence of the Dravidian element, 36
Mysticism of, 458-9
Religious idealism, 47

Social organization communistic but retains individual initiative, 456
Transcendental ideals of life, 455-8
Wonderful power of racial assimilation, 36
Home —

India's great sanctuary, 24

Inspires Indian poetry and romance, 23

486 INDEX I

Home {continued) —

Peasantry's love for, 12, 13
Home-life, ruinous effect upon of modern economic stress, 25-6
Honey. See Apiculture.

Humanity, ideal of, not completely unfolded in any race, 329
Hungarian Land Credit Bank, a genuinely co-operative concern, 420

Idealists and dreamers needed in India, 445-6

Idol or image making, 53, 14 1-2, 260-2

Immigration, evil social results of in Bengal, 416

Import duties demanded for Indian manufactures, 342

Imports of articles manufactured from Indian raw materials due to
insufficient industrial organization, 341

Imports : total Indian, 341

Cane-sugar, 106, 108, 112 Manufactures, 80% of all Indian

Cloth, 153, 164 imports, 341

Kerosene, 133, 134 Silks, 194

India —

A field for experiment in co-ordinated co-operation, 425

A land of cottages, 1 1

A land of small holdings, 406 .

India's message to the West, 459-61, 465-7 ^

Indigo dye and dyeing, 206, 208

Individualism —

A mask for selfishness, 414

Needed for social progress, but a socialized individualism, 450, 465

Regulated and refined under Indian communism, 465-7

Individuality in Indian art, 224

Industrial development —

Small beginnings in selected industries advisable, 353-4
Suggested industries that might be started with small resources,

354
Utihty combined with cheapness the first aim, 354

Industrial ideals, Indian, 324-8. See East and West.

Industrial organization for India, the ideal-
Acceptance of Western models will be limited by native traditions,

.447
Cities and villages will share the national culture and achievement,

452
Co-operative institutions of all kinds will flourish, 452
Cottage industry will be revived by improved methods and by

co-operation, 451
Division of labour will not be pushed to extremes, 448
Excessive centralization and capitalistic control will be avoided, 450
Home and family life will be maintained and social recreation

promoted, 450-1, 452
Individual profit will be subordinated to social welfare, 449
Labour will not be dehumanized ; variety of occupation will be

encouraged, 450
One part of society will not be sacrificed to another : all-round social
development will be the aim, 448-9

Industrial religious festivals, 54-5

Industries owned by Indians, 365

Industry of the Indian peasant, 325

INDEX I 487

Inheritance v. Succession. See Property Law.

Hindu succession law leads to over-division of property, 27, 28
Muhammadan and French laws of inheritance have similar results,

but Belgian an exception, 27 (note), 29
Right of inheritance fundamental in the Hindu joint-stock family,
20, 27

Insects in Indian economy —

Bee, 73, 75-7 Muga, 203-4

Eri, 200-3 Silkworm, 173-9

Lac, 67-70 Tassar, 198-200

Integration of labour —

Basis of the coming industrial organization, 404, 448-9
Exemplified by industrial and distributive co-operation, 404
Indications of its coming in the West, 405

Interest —

On loans, 266, 267, 269, 274, 305

— mortgages, 272-3

— pledges, 271-2

Iron and steel works in Bengal, 229-30

Ironware, enamelled, threatens native brass and copper ware, 5

Isolated workers at the mercy of wholesale dealers, 375

Jewellery, Indian and European, 239

Joint-family system, its merits and defects, 23-6

Jute Manufacture —

Figures of progress, 345-6

Mills not in competition with handlooms, 347

Outside India, jute manufacture a business monopoly, 348

Karma, doctrine of, beneficial to craftsmanship, 49
Kerosene —

Ousting native oils for lighting, 5, 125, 133

Popularized by cheap German lamps, 125

Rate war and its effect on consumption, 133-4

Russia the chief source, 134

Statistics of consumption, 133-4

Labour —

Attracted to towns, 8

Conservative, 13 (note)

Displaced in villages by competition, 5, 6

Diverted from agriculture, 6, 8

Family co-operation in, 29-32

Immobility of, shaken by Government public works, etc., 7

Migration of, 7, 8

Scarce in Madras and the Punjab, 7, 12
Lac Industry —

Almost monopolized by India, 66

Coloured lac in India used as oil and paint are in Europe, 65

Lac, a secretion from branches wounded by a red insect, 67

, artificial substitute not yet on market, 66

, culture described, 67-8

dye, a by-product, now superseded by chemical dyes, 68

, hand-made better than machine-made, 71-2

488 INDEX I

Lac Industry {continued) —

Lac, in great demand in the West, 66

, manifold uses of, 65-6

, manufacture described, 70-1

, methyl alcohol process of refining, 72

, prices of, 66, 71

, quality varies with the tree, 67

, sales conducted in silence, 71

, scope for improvement in quality of, 68

Lac-insect, offensive odour of, 68
Middlemen in almost entire control, 70
Seed-lac, how marketed, 71
Suggestions for improvement —

Best lac-rearing trees to be sought and used, 69

Change of collecting seasons, 68

Evolution of white insect, 68

Forest nurseries, 69-70

More methodical culture, 69
Lamps, cheap German, help to popularize kerosene, 125
Landless class —

Development of, shown by Census Returns, 7
Still relatively small, 12
Landlord and tenant, relations of, worse on small than on large estates,

27
Landlords, absentee, 8

Landowners and tenants greatly outnumber labourers in the Punjab, 12
Land system, Indian, leads to too minute subdivision, 28
Lead. See Metal Industries.
Leather Industry —

Carried on by " untouchables," 210, 214-15

Co-operative societies in, 385

Includes harness-makers ; leather-dyers ; shoe, boot and sandal

makers ; tanners and curriers ; water-bag, well-bag, basket and

^^^^-pot makers, 210
Muchi^ or leather-worker —

Bargains for animals that die naturally, 211

Borrows from the mahajan, 213

Materials and methods of tanning, 212

Purchases imported leather, 212

Wages for piece-work, 214

Workmanship and enterprise, 215
Ornamented shoes and slippers forsaken for imported footwear, 211
Other occupations followed by leather-workers, 210, 216
Prices of leather articles, 210-1
Principal centres of the industry, 211
Recent revival, 219
Statistics show that the native trade is losing ground through foreign

competition, 215-6
Suggestions for improvement—

Capitalization, 218

Co-operation, 214

Cottage system restricted to ornamental and artistic work, 216

Factory methods in tanning and ordinary boot and shoe making,
216-7, 349

INDEX I 489

Leather Industry {continued)

Suggestions for improvement {continued) —

Removal of social degradation associated with the industry, 218

Science and technical skill to be applied, 218
Leisure, more valuable than wealth to the Indian, 325
Local government in the Indian village, 444-5
Lotus pattern, the Hindu symbol of life, 50

M/ARKETS and marketing —

Barter less common now than formerly, 297

of thread for cotton, 302

Buying and selling in country chiefly at periodical hats (markets),
fairs and festivals, and daily bazaars, 296

Fairs as a means of publicity, developments suggested, 301-2

combine business and pleasure, 300

in Bengal, 299-302

Few permanent markets, 296

Imported goods usually disposed of by middlemen at markets and
fairs, 304

Individual traders, hawkers and peddlers, 304

Market {hat') described : brisk business, much noise, 296-7

rates and stall rents, 298-9

Markets leased by zemindars to izardarSy who levy rates and dues,
298

Resident agents of town firms {gumasthas') supplanting country
money-lenders, 302-3

Shops as places of resort and waiting, 296

Travelling agents, brokers and hawkers a feature of local trade, 302

system should be modernized, 305

traders exploit the producers by charging exorbitant interest

for advances, 305-6
Marriage, Hindu —

Arranged and regulated by the family, 16, 18

Compulsory, 15

Contributes to a high standard of morality and real contentment, 20

Indissoluble in the interests of the children, 19

Mixed marriages checked by Christian proselytism, 37

not unusual, 34, 35, 36

Personal inchnations unimportant, 18

Regarded as a sacrament, 18

Stability of, compared with Western individualistic marriage, 19

Unaffected by economic considerations, 18
Message of the Eastern to the Western World —

India stands for living Humanity as against inert matter ; for more
equitable distribution of wealth ; for less luxury and more brother-
hood ; for less industrial conflict and more co-operation ; for
wealth as a means as against wealth as an end ; and for finding
happiness not in restless self-serving but in the consecration of
life to the welfare of Society and Humanity, 459-61, 465-7
Metal Industries —
Bell-metal —

A thriving industry carried on chiefly by kansaris, a sub-caste of the
kamars, or smiths, 231

Bell-metal, an inferior alloy of copper, tin and zinc, 233

490 INDEX I

Metal Industries {continued) —
Bell-metal {continued) —

Carried on vigorously in workshops, 364

Hammering process, utilizing old metal, much less risky than

moulding, hence preferred, 232
Manufacturing processes described, 232r-4
Many apprentices ; their wages, 234
Suggestions for improvement —

Advertising and selling agencies, 237

Better and more lasting moulds, 237

Improved hand-lathes, 237

Punching machines instead of scissors, 237

Stamping instead of hammering, 236

Technical and artistic education and fresh patterns and designs, 238
Tools, 234
Wages by weight, sometimes by piece, 235-6

recently increased, 236

Workers fairly treated by middlemen, 236
Copper and lead, almost destroyed by foreign competition, 346
Gold and silver —

Fine work in small Calcutta workshops, 364

Gold and .silver jewellery made in all villages, chiefly for the richer

classes, 238
Goldsmith's simple kit, 241
Indian jewellery more artistic than showy, 239
Methods : repouss^, hammering, engraving, die-stamping, 242
Native industry not encouraged by the rich, 240
Precious stones rounded and polished, not facetted, 239
Purity and taste of native work, 239

Recent decadence of taste through cheap imported jewellery, 239-40
Recipe for dyeing gold, 242
Recipes for cleaning gold and silver, 242
Touchstone for gold, 240
Value, how determined, 240
Iron and steel —
Blacksmith, an important village artisan, 228
Independent of the money-lender, 230
Maker of metal articles for all purposes, 228-9
Making of guns now a factory industry, 229
Pig-iron production in Bengal, 230
Prices, profits and wages, 230

Scope of smith reduced by factory-made and imported goods, 229-30
Villages speciaHzing in cutlery and locksmith's work, 229
Workshops co-operatively conducted, 366

in Bengal, 229-30

Tin-
Tinsmith a worker in old tin, 238
Tools and solder, 238
Uses chiefly old kerosene canisters, 238
Middle Classes-
Attracted by towns, 8
Becoming individualistic, but not with the noble individualism of the

West, 414
Formerly guided and controlled village life, 408, 41 1-3, 444-5

INDEX I 491

Middle Classes {continued) —

Independence lost by migration, 9, 408, 414

Migration of, chief cause of stagnation and decline of the village,
408-9

Not unproductive, 413

Now fascinated by Western standards, 413-4

Real leaders of the people, 413

Scattered by competition, 6

Scope for, under co-operation, 441-2, 445

Some business openings for, 364-5 , 367-8
Middleman, the —

Created by railways, 9

Lends at exorbitant interest, 305-6, 409

Profits by difference of price in town and village, 14

Promotes circulation of money, 9

Sometimes employed by manufacturers, 304

Trades at country markets and fairs, 302, 304

independently on a retail and local basis, 307

Transition in progress involving his disappearance, 307-8
Migration of labour —

Effects far-reaching, 8

Evils and perils of, 9

Instances, 7

Small In scale, 1 1

Usually temporary, 12
Milk distribution, co-operative, leads to dairy farms, 437
Minerals in Indian economy —

Chalk, 141 Mica, 140

Clay, 138 Petroleum, 346

Coal, 13 (note), 346 Soapstone, 261

Coarse conglomerate, 261 Yellow earth, 140

Gems, 239
Mining Industries —

Labour difficulties, 13 (note)

Small local production in India ruined by large-scale processes of
Europe, 346

Tata Iron and Steel Works epochal in Indian mining and metallurgy,
347
Molasses sugar threatened by cheap imported, 107, 112
Money —

Dispensed with in villages, 4, 13, 14

Use of promoted by employment in towns, 10

railways and travellers, 9

raised prices, 10

revenue collection in cash, 10

Money-changing, 278

Money-lenders, village. See Rural Credit.

Charge enormous interest, 4, 213

Conserve barter economy, 4, 10

Encourage utilitarian and cheap work, 378

Indispensable to agriculture, 4

Supplanted by clerks of exporting firms, 10, 302-3, 408
Money-lending —

In cash, by foreign exporting firms, 10, 303, 305-6

492 INDEX 1

Money-lending {continued) —

In kind, by village lenders, 4, 10

Indirectly, through dalals, 303
Muga weaving. See Silk Industry.

Muhammadans as specialists in the perfume-making industry, 13 1-3
Musical parties {sankirton) —

Educative, 301

Held in God's praise, 409

Now irregular, 411

Used to be led round the village during an epidemic to calm the
people, 412
Musical plays (jatra, Yatra) —

Formerly helped to educate the masses, 301, 409

Now degenerated through lack of patronage, 410

Proposed revival under co-operation, 442-3
Mysticism inherent in Indian character and outlook, 458-9
Mythological figures in wood and ivory, 53

Oil-engines, advantages of, 371-2
Oilman, the village —

Assisted by his family, 30, 31, 131

Castes and status, 42, 129, 131

Recompensed by mutual services, 3

Threatened by cheap kerosene, 5

Tills his land in slack season, 130
Oil-pressing industry —

Adulteration of oil, 128

Bengal, principal receiving province for oil-seeds, 126

Calcutta, important centre of native oil manufacture and export
trade, 126

Castes in oil industry, 38, 42, 129, 131

Dietary uses of oil more important than lighting, 134

Factory possibilities very great, 349

Flowers used in perfumery, 132

Ghani^ native oil-mill, 127-8

Legend of invention of hole in mill, 128-9

Mustard-seed, sources and qualities, 130 (note)

Native oil-pressing industry declining, 135

— ; process in the villages, 127-8

Oil of flowers, how extracted, 132

used by all Hindus, 125

Oilcake, value as manure, 134

Oil-seed export, a loss to the country, 134, 136

Oil-seeds, chief sources and traffic, 126

— exported, oil imported, 134

very largely, chiefly linseed, 125-6

Perfumes from essential oils of flowers, a Muhammadan industry,

1 3 1-3

Prices, mustard-seed and oil, 130 (note)

, of oils and attars of flowers, 132 (note), 133

Suggestions for improvement-
Better appliances and methods of manufacture, 135
Co-operative organization, 136

7y/ oil extraction in Eastern Bengal, 129

INDEX I 493

Oil-pressing industry {continued) —

Wages for oil manufacture, 130

Yield of oil from seed, 129-30
Oils and their uses —

Castor and cocoanut for lighting, 125

Cocoanutfor cooking, toilet purposes and soap-making, 125

Kerosene, superseding dearer native oils for lighting, 125

Linseed, chiefly for export, 126

Mustard and rape, chiefly for cooking, 126

oilcake, for fodder and manure, 130 (note)

Petroleum, for power, 371-2

Poppy and sarson, for adulteration, 128

Rape, largely for anointing the body, 126

Sandal-wood, for perfumery, 133

Scented flower, for perfumery, 132-3

7>7, most popular native oil, 125
Old and infirm, occupations for —

Matka-spinning, 179 Silk-rearing, 176

Muga-rearing, 201, 204 Tassar-rearing, 200

One-man industries declining in number, 374
Organization, Indian industrial —

Insufficiently developed, 341

Not troubled by disputes, 326

StabiUty due to absence of ambition or zeal to amass wealth, 326
Output, figures of —

Coal, 346

Cotton cloth, 153

Petroleum, 346
Over-population, a cause of Hindu poverty, enfeeblement and disease,
17-8

Paper manufacture —

Factory possibilities, 349

Little progress made in, 346
Pawnbroking, 271-2
Peasant proprietors —

Attachment to their holdings, 28

Independence killed by migration, 9

Industrious, 325
Peasant, the Indian, a home-lover, 12, 13, 326
Petroleum industry, rapid progress of, 346
Pilgrimages assisted by railways, 312
Pith work {Sola industry), 221-3
Plants in Indian economy —
Dye-yielding —

Al wood, 207 Indigo, 206

Babul bark, 207 Kanthal or Jack wood sawdust,

Bakash leaves, 207 207

Bilati-haldi seeds, 206 Kusum flowers, 206

Harasinghar flowers, 207 Palas flowers, 207

Haritaki fruit, 207 Turmeric, 206

Food-giving —

Cocoanut-pahn — nuts, oil, 125-6

494 INDEX 1

Plants in Indian economy {continued) —
Food-giving {continued}-—

Castor-oil plant — eri-feeding, 201

Date-palm — sugar, 122-4

Mulberry — silkworm -feeding, 173-4

Rice — grain, 96-103

Sugar-cane — sugar, 106-22

Wheat— grain, 103-5
Lac producing—

Acacia arabica (Babul), 69 Ficus religiosa, 69

(note) Kusumb-tree (best), 67

Cajanusindicus (Arhardal), 69 Palas-tree (poorest but most

Ficus altissima, 69 used), 67

„ cordifolia, 69 Phalsa-tree (good), 67

,, elastica, 69 Zizyphus jujuba, 69

Oil-yielding —

Castor-plant, 125, 126-7 Rape, 126

Cocoanut-palm, 125 Rye, 129-30 (note)

Linseed, 126, 130, 136 Til, 125, 126

Mustard, 126, 129 (note), 136
Perfume-yielding —

Flowers of Bela, Chameli, Henna, Keora, Kamini, Rose, 132

Sandalwood, 133

Sesamum seeds, 132
Thread or yarn producing —

Cotton, 153-5 Jute, 305, 311, 429

Hemp, 82 Rhea, 82

Useful in other directions —

Bamboo, various uses, 78-80; leaves used for pottery polishing,
141

Bashak leaves, for pottery polishing, 141

Betel, used with tobacco, 132 (note)

Date-palm leaves, for keeping milk sweet, 92 ; thatching, 78

Gourds as floats for nets, 83

Mango bark for pottery polishing, 140

Rattans, for basketware, 79

Rice for starch-making and distillation, 102 ; cement, 103

Rice-husk as fuel, in pottery and in dye-making, 102

Rice-straw for basketware, fodder and paper-making, 102 ; thatching,
78,96

Sola, or pith-plant, for hats, toys, flowers, etc., 221-3

Tamarind-seed for mucilage, 140

Tensa bark for pottery polishing, 141

Tulasi plant, 262

Vindi, used in sugar-refining, 119
Population (and see Birth-rate) —

Country, nearly 85 per cent, of all India, 1 1

Excess of males in Bengal due to immigration and a cause of vice,
414-5, 416

Increased three-fold in nineteenth century, 17

Movement between different parts of India usually temporary, 12

from village to city has revolutionary tendency, 9

Self-checking by pestilence and famine, 17
Post Office Savings Bank hardly touches agricultural classes, 418

INDEX I 495

Potter, the village —

Assisted by his family, 31, 138

Dependent upon weather, 138

Earnings, 138

Makes toy gods and goddesses, 53

Poorly paid but respected, 137

Recompensed by mutual services, 3

Scope likely to be limited to cheap earthenware, 147
Pottery Industry —

A seasonal trade, 138

Artistic pottery of Krishnagore and Santipore modellers, 141, 142,

143 ...

China, enamelled iron and tin competmg with native ware, 147

Clay, preparation of, 138

Dangers of the wheel, 144

Difficulties due to Hindu observance and custom, 143

Gods and goddesses, 141-2

Implements — the native wheel and its use, 138-9

Ornamentation, polishing, firing, 140-I

Prices of Krishnagore models, 143

Principal articles made, 137

Religious inspiration of the higher branches, 142

Scientific methods coming into use, 147

Shapes and ornamentation, significance of, 137-8

Suggestions for improvement —
Improved wheel, 139 (note), 145
Pug-mill for tempering the clay, 144

Tiles and bricks, 140, 146

Toys, 141

Vegetable ingredients supposed to impart polishing properties, 141

Wasted time, 144, 145
Poverty —

A cause of increased birth-rate, 16

Fostered by the Hindu joint-family system, 25

Hindu family budgets prove relative poverty as compared with
Americans and Europeans, 57-8

Of Western labourers, 334, 339

Leads to debt, and debt to the decline of craftsmanship, 377-8

Not degrading in India, 457
Power, cheap, 370-3

Practical character of Indian ideals, 468-9
Prices —

Disparity of, between villages and towns, 14

Of foodstuffs, risen by 32 per cent, in 16 years, 8, 107

Of necessities, rise in, a feature of recent economic history, 10

Stationary, in villages, not due to ignorance, 14
Prices of sundry articles —

Artistic pottery, 143

Attar of roses, 133

Attars and scented oils, 132 (note)

Bangles, lac and conch, 225, 227

Bee-keeping appHances, 76, ^^

Bell-metal, 232, 236

, old, 235

496 INDEX 1

Prices of sundry articles {continued) —

Butter and ghee^ 95

Cloth, machine- and hand-woven, 161 -2

Cotton, 310

Dyeing, rates or charges for, 209

Endi fabric, 202

Fish fry, for stocking tanks, etc., 90

Fishing-nets, 83, 84, 85

Gur (crude sugar), in Bengal, 117

House-boat in Dacca, 148 (note)

Iron and steel, 230

Jute, 310

Lac, 66, 71, 225

Molasses, in United Provinces, 115

Moulds for bangle -making, 225

Mustard seed, oil and oilcake, 130 (note)

Silk, weft and warp, 183

Silver, 271

Smith's work, 230

Stone idols and utensils, 262

Sugar, cane (United Provinces) 115

, date, 123 ^

Tassar cocoons and silk, 199

Tea, 310

Thread, in exchange for cotton, 302

Wheat flour, 105
Primogeniture, Western law of —

Though a stimulus to younger sons, tends to unsettle the solidarity
of family life, to restrict social well-being and to promote dis-
content among the poor, 28
Printing on textiles, 209
Property Law —

Differentiation between inherited and self-acquired property, 20

Individualism gave head of family power to ahenate family property,
21

Individualistic excesses checked in Bengal by Jimutbahana's re-
statement of Samudaya theory, 2 1

Modern legal decisions relax position by declaring joint-family of
father and sons impossible, 22

Position anomalous, but evil consequences prevented by family
affection, 22
Protection —

Demanded strongly by Indian public opinion, 342

Doubts as to which industries should be protected, 342

Quarrelling as a stimulus to industry, 82

Race mixture —

Improves natural endowments, 36

Levelling effect of, 34

Saves from deterioration, 34
Railways —

A help to Indian nationality and a boon to pilgrims, 313

INDEX I

497

Railways {continued) —

Create wants and industries, 9

Destroy village self-sufficiency, 9

Developed to the neglect of waterways, 313-6

Facilitate competition, 5

High freights of, check industrial development, 313

Obstruct drainage, causing unequal irrigation, 314-5

Should supplement instead of supplanting waterways, 286-7, 314

Soundly based commercially, 313

Used for exploitation of agriculture, 313

Wealth distributors, not producers, 312
Refinement fostered by competition, 5
Religion and craftsmanship —

All life a sacrament to Hindus, hence work performed religiously, 47

Artisan's work considered sacred, 49

Arts and crafts of the Hindu essentially idealistic and religious, 47,

Banyan design of Ahmedabad, 52-3

Consecration or worship of tools, 49, 54, 55

Familiar flower, bird and animal patterns, 50-1

Favourite mythological representations, 53

Holiness of nature a fundamental thought of Hindu religion, arts
and crafts, 50

Implements of worship represented in decorative art, 54

Karma doctrine influences craftsmanship beneficially, 49

Living religion reflected in living art, 5 1

Lotus pattern, religious significance of, 50

Religious exercises of the craftsman, 52

festivals of the industrial castes, 54-5

invocations of the industrial Brahmin, 48

Variety of localized patterns, 52

Viswakarma, the god of artists and craftsmen, 48
Rent, paid in crop in many villages, 13
Revolution, economic, in India —

Fundamental in character, 3

Not yet complete, 1 1
Rice manufacture : India's most important industry —

Finer qualities used for table ; inferior for distillation, starch and
cement making, 102-3

Hand and machine manufacture : relative cost, 98, loi

Manufactured by the growers owing to cheapness of labour, 96, 99

Primitive Indian methods, 96-8

Rice-milling processes of Rangoon, Burma, loo-i

Rice-mills of Burma originated in dear labour, 99

Uses of the husk, straw and waste rice, 99, 102
Risk in production eliminated by co-operation, 439
Rivers, silting up at their mouths, 315
Road transport —

Beasts of burden usually oxen, 294-5

Buffaloes and horses used sometimes, 295

Bullock-cart the principal country conveyance, 295

Donkeys considered unclean, 295

Hackney carriage largely used in towns, 295

Native vehicles, 295

2 K

498 INDEX I

Roads —

Cart-tracks the only trade-roads in rural India, 280
Communication by road paralysed during the four rainy months, 280
Difficulties due to bad and circuitous roads ; road-making not kept

pace with needs of railway system, 280-2
of road-making in India ; heavy expense of making and repair,

282-3
Drainage channels substituted for embankments in the lowlands,

283 (note)
Government road-tax insufficient to provide good roads and destroys

local responsibility, 283-4
Rural Credit —

Agriculture dependent on the mahajan or money-lender, 265

Agriculturists nearly 75 per cent, in debt, 265

Bankers in jnofussil towns a check on the village lender, 275

Bankers' methods — bills of exchange, 276-8

Cattle and poultry loans, 274

Friendly relations of village lender and borrower ; lender helps and

maintains his debtors, 265-6, 327
Grain loans and rates of interest, 266-7
Gumasthas^ or resident agents of town firms, lend on better terms

than mahajans, 302-4
Honesty a feature of Indian banking, 276, 277
Interest on grain loans higher when grain is borrowed for seed, 267
Methods of money-lending, 270
Money-changing, 278-9
Money-lender's set of books, 270-1
Money-loans — dadan system of advances on crop by middlemen

chiefly maintains the export trade ; terms, 267-9, 3^5
Mortgage systems of dakhilla bandak and gripi^ 272-3
Mortgages usually for small sums for short terms, 273-4
Pawnbroking, 271-2

Traders' exploitation of peasants, 305-6, 409
Women as pawnbrokers and pawners, 271-2
Rural depopulation —

In India accompanied by increased passion for Government service

and town employment, 416
In the West accompanied by enormous growth of manufacture, 416
Rural India —

Economic contrast to city India, 3

Represents nearly 85 per cent, of the population, 1 1

Static rather than competitive, 3

Samudaya^ theory of, 20, 21
School of Industrial Arts, Geneva —

A model art and craft school, 396

Students must have passed the primary schools before admission,
397

Students work under expert direction on lines that ensure fair
salaries on leaving, 397

Theoretical studies not neglected, 397

Training based on drawing, 398

Well-balanced all-round technical-artistic training the ideal, 396
Self-denial and self-discipline the only corrective of Western unrest, 466-7

INDEX I

499

Sewing-machine, helps home clothing industry to survive factory com-
petition, 373
Shops —

Seldom seen in small villages, 296 (note)
Specialist shops almost confined to towns, 307
Used as places of resort, 296
Silk Industry —

Endi and Eri weaving —
Employs old and infirm, 201
Endi fabrics and prices, 202
Eri worm easily reared, 201
Large scope in castor-growing districts, 202-3
Silk twisted direct from cocoon, 201
Spinning process too primitive, 202
Muga Weaving —
Muga worm rearing and precautions against enemies, 204
Muga silk superior to Endi, 203
Silkworm Rearing and Silk Spinning and Weaving —
{a) Mulberry growing —

Industry declining, 184, 185

Tree diseases and chief remedy, 173
{b) Cocoon Rearing —

Breeding the silkworms, 175

Diseases and conditions of health, 174

Distribution by Government of approved seed cocoons, 179

Hired labour should have hereditary skill, 174-5

Houses for rearing, 175

Manipulation and hatching of eggs, 175-6

Rearing and feeding — women's work, 176

industry declining in Bengal, 177, 185

Status of rearers respectable, but poor and harassed by debt, 177

Suggestions of Special Silk Committee, 177-9
[c) Carding and Spinning —

Cocoons, difficulty of marketing, 184-5

, modes of disposal, 179

, pierced, spun by poor and old women, usually Muham-

madans, 179-80

, whole, how killed and reeled, 180-1

Reeling industry, declining generally, 183

, differences between cottage and factory methods, 182

, export trade affected by foreign competition, 183-4

, improvements suggested in native process, 181

Silk reelers also agriculturists, 183
{d) Weaving — ^

Bleaching and dyeing, 188

Co-operative societies for weavers, a success, 193, 385, 386

Dubraj, a famous weaver, 191 (note), 194

Importance of financing the weaving industry, 190-2

Murshidabad, centre of the industry in Bengal, 193

Setting the loom : highly complex process, 189

Silk fabrics, 193-4

Silk-twisters {chainbidias) differ in method from weavers who
twist their own thread, 187

Silk Weavers' Association of Benares, 192

500 INDEX I

Silk Industry {continued) —

Silkworm Rearing and Silk Spinning and Weaving {continued) —
{d) Weaving {continued) —

Silk-weavers of Benares, decline in status, 190

require to assure sales in advance, 189

superior to agriculturists and more prosperous than

cotton- weavers, 187-8

weaving a male occupation, with detail assistance from

women and children, 188

decline in art value through commercialism and

poverty, 190-1
Thread unwound before being put in loom, 185
Twisting the thread for the warp, 186-7
Weaving figured silks — elaborate process, 194-7
Tassar Weaving —
A considerable village industry, 198
Causes of decline, 198-9
Cocoon-rearing, yield of the trees, 199
Degeneracy through semi-domestication of the worm, 199
Fabrics in demand, 200
Silver. See Metal Industries.
Skill in art and industry —

Fostered by Hindu land and village system, 29 (note)
Inherited or empirical, may be an obstacle under changing con-
ditions, 29
Manual, improved in Hindus by introduction of Dravidian element,
36
Smith, the village. See Metal Industries, Iron and Steel—
Recompensed by mutual services, 3
Superseded by competition, 5
Social evil, in Calcutta, due to excessive male immigration, 415

evolution —

In India, must harmonise with and develop the Indian type and

Indian spirit, 331-2, 463-5
Narrow views of Western sociologists corrected, 328-30
No stage final or permanently representative of any race, 329

organization, Indian, fundamentally different from Western, 339,

462

relationships in India, 326-7

Socialism —

A protest against permanent division of functions in production, 404
Aims to establish the integration of functions, 404
No cure for society, 454

Western, rooted in a materialistic conception of life, 454
Would limit individuality too much, 454-5, 465
Sola and Tinsel Industry —

A decorative industry in great request at festival-time, 220
Hereditary industry of the Malakars^ 220
How tinsel designs are carried out, 220-1
Making spangles, tinsel crowns and hats, 221
Preparing stems of the sola pith plant, 221
Sola flower-making, highly artistic, 222-3

hat-making, a skilled industry, 221-2

Tools, few and simple, 223

INDEX I 501

Sola and Tinsel Industry {continued) —
Toys in sola, 221
Wages, 223

Wire-work and embroidery in gold and silver, 223-4
Sons, birth of, importance attached to by Hindus, 17
Soul, development of, more inspiring to Indians than mastery over

external nature, 458
Standard of living —

Affects birth-rate, 16

Determined by joint-family, caste and by religious ideas and ideals,

56
Raised by town-life, 8

Relatively low in India, compared with the West, 5-78
Religious and social functions still a main feature of Indian life, 59
State, function of, in the Indian social system, 444
State-socialism, not desired in India, 465
Stationery manufacture, making little progress, 346
Steamships, facilitate competition, 5
Steel. See Metal Industries.
Story-teller, the village {Kathak) —
Apt at public speaking, 409
Helped to educate the masses, 409
His art almost extinct for want of patronage, 410
Intersperses speech with song, 410
Suffragists from the Hindu standpoint, 19
Sugar Industry —
Cane-sugar —
A food of which India is the largest single producing country, 106
A unique luxury of the Indian peasant, 106
Demand for refined sugar increasing, but production declining, 106

met by imports, 106

Diminished production due to scattered holdings, antiquated
methods and to relative cheapness of the imported white sugars
rendering refining unprofitable, 5, 107-8, 112
Drawbacks of centralized production discussed, 108-13, 348
Edible crude sugar unsuitable for refineries, i lo-i
Growers of sugar-cane mostly the manufacturers, 113

_ co-operate in the manufacture, 117

Growing of sugar-cane distinctly a business for the small farmer,

109
Handicap of debt, 121
Manufacture of molasses described : peeling the canes, milling and

boiling, 1 1 3-4
Molasses, crude, how disposed of, 115 '

, re-boiled to obtain white sugar, 115

Preference increasing for imported sugars, 5, 106, 112

Price of Indian sugar risen less than that of other foodstuffs owing

to cheap imported sugar, 107, 112
Profits of manufacturers — United Provinces, Bengal, 11 5-7
Scum of boiled cane-juice made into a cattle-food, 114
Suggestions for improvement —
Better attention to details, 118
Cast-iron boiling-pans, 118
Co-operation extended to credit and cultivation, 121

502 INDEX I

Sugar Industry {continued) —
Cane-sugar {continued) —

Suggestions for improvement {continued) —
Improved milling machinery, 120

Metal instead of earthenware vessels and greater cleanliness, 118
Wider furnace, 118
System devised by Mr. Muhammed Hadi, 119
Date-sugar —
Date-palm systematically cultivated on land too high for rice, 122
Juice removed by tapping, 122
Molasses manufacture from date-juice, 123

sold to consumers and refiners, 123

Separation and refining of the sugar, 123-4

Waste molasses boiled down to treacle for mixing with hookah

tobacco, 124
Yield of the date-palm, 123
Sweating System Committee, 363-4

Tassar Weaving. See Silk Industry.

Tastes altered by competition, 5, 112

Tea-gardens, Assam, worked by coolies recruited by State Emigration

system, 12
Tea-planting, co-operative, 437
Technical Education —

At a low ebb in India, 353

Caste training admirable to a point, but narrow and unprogressive,

392-4 '
Conservatism of Indian artisans, 394
Decline in cottage industries due largely to inadequate industrial

education, 392
Demand for technical education in India strong and persistent, 342
Few large technical institutes in India, 349

Industrial training being sought in Europe, America, and Japan, 330
abroad must keep home practice in view, and be combined

with business training, 350
Model training given by the Industrial Arts School of Geneva, 396-8
Need for commercial school education, 351, 353
Openings for Indian youths, as commercial agents at home and

abroad, 351-2
School of art training in Europe too theoretical, 395-6
Successes gained by Americans and Germans through commercial

knowledge, 352
Technical training on the Geneva model advocated for Indians,

398-9

Workshop training in Europe too commercial, 394-5
Textiles. See Handloom Weaving and Silk Industry.
Timbers in Indian economy —

Cotton, Mango, Palm, Sal, used in dug-out boat-building, 292

Jack-fruit for khats, chests, toktaposh, etc., 150

Jarul, in boat-building, 148 (note)

Palmyra, for beams in house-building, 25 1

Plantain-stems used for rafts, 293

Sagun, for doors, windows, furniture, chests, etc., 150

INDEX I 503

Timbers in Indian economy {continued) —

Sal, for woodwork of houses, 150

Sisoo, for oil-mills, 127 ; bedsteads, 150

Tamarind, for fuel, 93 ; oil-mills, 127 ; potter's wheel pins, 139
Tin. See Metal Industries.
Tinsel Industry, 220-1. See SOLA AND TiNSEL.

ornaments, made by lower castes in the pottery trade, 142

Totemism superseded by caste, 35
Towns —

Advantages, 8

Draw labour from the country, 7, 8

Generally small in India, ii

Illustrative figures, Bengal, 11
Toy gods and goddesses, 53
Toy- making survives as a home industry against factory competition,

373
Toys in pottery ware, 141, 147

^ in pith {sold), 221

/ Trade Guild {Punchayet) —

I Analogous to European trade union, 45

Governs caste and trade customs, 44, 45
Organizes strikes, 45

Sometimes regulates manufacturing details, 45
Trade, in villages a calling, not a source of profit, 4
Trade, Internal —

Changing from retail to wholesale and becoming more specialized,

308
Dangers of transition, 308
Exploitation of agriculture by the foreign merchant threatens the food

supply, 312
Exploitation promoted by the railways, 312-3
Increase in food-grain exports outpacing increase in production, 309

in raw material production greater than that in foodstuffs

production, 309-10
Increased export demand for food-grains, with insufficient increase

in production, raises prices, 310
Indian peasant's preference for growing non-food products due to his
growing dependence on the foreign trader who demands them,
302-3, 311
Jute a more paying crop than foodstuffs, 311
Prices of raw materials (excepting jute) almost stationary or

declining, 310
Railways a boon to the people but do not encourage industries, 313

developed to the neglect of waterways, 315-6

Urgency of improvement of the waterways, 316

of reorganization in credit and trade, 316

Transcendental ideals of India —

Individualism retained in socialism, 455
Samudaya theory, 20-1

Social duty governed by relation to the Absolute as self of all selves,
456

service thus self-dedication, 456

Socialistic ideals contained in solution in the Indian social order,
456-7

504 INDEX I

Transcendental ideals of India {continued) —

Soul, development of, more inspiring to Indians than mastery over

external or physical nature, 458
Spiritual strength the theoretical measure of social value in India, 457
Underlying and essential note of Indian conscience and spirit is

profound respect for Personality, Spirit, and the Life Eternal, 459

Umbrella manufacture, insignificant progress in, 46

Unrest, industrial — the remedy, 466-7

Urban prosperity based on human exploitation, 464

Vehicles, Indian-
Buffalo or bullock cart, 295
Choturdola, 295
Palki or palanquin, 295
Sukhasan, 295
Village, the Indian —

A state within a state, 444

An economic and social unit, 3, 1 2

Centre of Indian civilization in the past, 401, 407

Common or pasture land now seized by landlords, 408

Communal gatherings and recreations now declined for lack of

support, 409-10
Competition, first effects of, 5
Conditions of, favour co-operation, 425
Conservative, 14
Contented, but unprogressive, 4
Courts of arbitration now dissolved, and quarrelling has become

rife, 411
Decline of the village in Bengal, 6
Deserted for the town, 9, 407

Drain from village to city has paralysed the village, 415
Home of the Indian labourer, 13
Local institutions decaying, 411
Migration of middle classes, who guided village life, chief cause of

decay, 408, 411
Money almost dispensed with, 4, 13, 14

economy superseding barter, 9-10

lending passed from local lenders to outsiders, 409

Mutuality in the village economy, 3, 43$

Peasants, being unfit for factory work, become menials or labourers

on the land, 415-6
Rivers, tanks and wells now neglected, cattle die and cholera rages,

411
Schools closed and alms-giving discontinued, 411
Transformation begun, 4, 407
Village community past revival, 436

economic ideal can be revived, 436

should have a complete well-balanced life of its own, 403-4

Villagers' needs, which can be met co-operatively, 442-3

Western small holdings movement no solution in India, already a

country of small holdings, 417
Wonderful possibilities of village rehabilitation from the starting-
point of the village co-operative stores, 441-5

INDEX I 505

Village, the Western —

Produces food and raw materials for the city, 402

Revolutionized by co-operative movement in Europe, 417

Subordinated and sacrificed to the city, 402-3
Village Co-operative Store —

A starting-point in co-operative effort, 436

Development possibilities, 439-42, 443

Disciplines, educates and inspires, 440-1

Dividends can be used productively, 440

Fosters good social habits, 440

Scope for middle classes, 441-2, 445

village labour, 442-3

Wider possibilities, 443
Village Industries —

Decayed through migration to towns, 8, 9

Decline of in England due chiefly to rural exodus and agricultural
depression, 400

How affected by competition, 5

Stereotyped, 4

Supported in France by a flourishing agriculture, 400

Wages and Income —

High, in Burma, caused resort to machinery in rice-milling, 99

, in factories, no inducement to Indian workmen, 13 (note)

Of bell-metal workers, 234, 235

— blacksmiths, 230

— boatmen, 294

— builders, 259

— fishermen and fish traders, 88

— oil-pressers, 130

— potters, 138

— rice manufacturers, 98

— shoemakers, 214

— silk spinners and winders, 183 (note)

— sola and tinsel workers, 223

— tassar reelers, 199

Paid in grain in many villages, 13, 14
Wants, limited by East, multiplied by West, 324, 458, 466

, non-social, limitation the only remedy for industrial unrest, 466-7

Waterways —

Boat traffic very important in India, 284

Boats of many types, 291-4

the sole conveyance in delta lands in rainy season, 284-5

Domestic boats of East Bengal, 285

Enormous inland trade developed by the rivers, 286

Hattiria (bazaar-going) boat of the Sunderbuns, 285

Interference of railways with waterways, 286-7

Railways and waterways should supplement each other, 286-7, 3^4

Rivers silting up, impeding navigation and seriously affecting traffic
receipts, 287-8

System of bimdhs (embankments) not permanent ; dredging recom-
mended, 289-90

Tolls, objections to, 288 (note)

Wages of boatmen and hire of boats, 294

2 K 3

5o6 INDEX I

Wealth-
Equitable distribution of, favoured by the small industry, 464
Not the end of production in India, 325
Weaver, the village —

Assisted by wife and children, 30, 31, 32
Children of, trained at a very early age, 31-2
Festival day of, how observed, 5 5
Ousted by Manchester goods, 5
Perpetually in debt, 161
Recompensed by mutual services, 3
Resorting to agriculture, 5
Some possibilities of the future, 451
Western Industrialism —

Alien to Indian character, 324-8

Antagonistic to Indian communistic ideals, 339

Cannot flourish permanently in East, 330-1

Concentrates too much on wealth-production, 333

Distribution even more important than production, as shown in

poverty problems of the West, 333-4
Evidence of Western critics —

Chamberlain and Hirsch on poverty in midst of abundance, 334
Charles Wagner on civilization destroying individuality, 337
Dickenson on misery of Western working classes, 335
E. Benjamin Andrews on the frenzy of wealth-gaining, 336
Prof. Henry Jones on industrialism a means, not an end, 335

Royce on the curse of specialization, 337

Measure of national success not wealth but culture, 336

Reaction everywhere in the West, 337

Socialism, co-operation and other movements symptoms of changing

ideals in the West, 338, 453
Wealth for the few an exploded ideal ; wealth for all is the new

demand, 453
Western ideahsm, the coming, 338

industrialism therefore is in a state of flux, and India's economic

salvation must be sought at home, 338, 340
Wheat Manufacture —

Agriculture and manufacture separated, 103
Flour products — bread and biscuits, 104
Hand-mill for wheat, two-handed, 103
Kinds or grades of flour, 103-4
Mixed flour of barley and wheat, 104
Modern flour-mills — 42 in India in 1906.. .104
Water-power used in some cases, 104
Wheat-flour export not very profitable, 105
Women —

Artisans' wives assist husbands in their work, 30, 31
Assistance also given in agriculture, 29, 30
Domestic occupations, 30, 160

Not free to choose their occupations excepting in lowest grades, 31
Secluded life of in Behar, 30
Women's occupations —

Basket-making, 31 Dyeing, 209

Carriers of materials in building Endi and muga silk weaving, 200
trades, 258-9 Eri silk industry, 203

INDEX I 507

Women's occupations {continued) —

Factory work, 160 Silkworm rearing, 176

Lac bangle-making, 225 Sola and tinsel industry, 223

Laundry work, 31 Spinning, 30 (note), 156, 159

Marketing and trading, 31 Tassar winding and warping, 200

Matka-spinning, 179-80
Women, status of —

Disadvantages of economical independence, 19

Spinning as a source of pin-money — decay of this industry increases
economic dependence of women, 1 59-60

Women and marriage, East and West compared, 18-9

Young wives protected by the family, 16, 18, 1 9
Wood-carving, a moribund industry, 148-9
Wool-weaving —

Co-operative societies, 385

Factory possibilities very great, 349

Frequently carried on in workshops on piece wages, 366
Workshops, Small —

Afford scope to small capitalists, 368

Comprise handicrafts, art-industries and home industries, 359

Hand-loom —
Labour scarce despite high wages, 13 (note)
Promising experiment in Madras, 170-2

In England and France, employ as many workers as do the factories,

356-7

— Germany, new home industries replacing old, 358

— Italy, Belguim, Austria and Switzerland, widely spread, 358
Kinds of, 356

Likely to increase in number and variety, 356

Small industry lives and thrives everywhere side by side with large,

because it fills a place which the large cannot, 359
Small-scale beginnings the rule in new industries, 360
producer can attend better to personal tastes and needs, 361

production secures the minute and economical supervision

important in many lines of business, 360

Small subsidiary industries, or " sweat-shops," in England, 362-4

workshops of Calcutta, owned mostly by Indians, 364-5

offer good openings to the middle classes, 364-5

Trades suitable for small workshop industry, 364

Undertakings owned by Indians, 365

Workshop system co-exists with cottage industry, 366

Numbers
Lakh = 100,000 Crore =100 lakhs

Money
I anna = i penny
16 annas = i rupee = \s. \d.
15 rupees = £1 sterling

Weight {Bengal)
I seer = 2 lbs. avoirdupois
40 seers = i maund = Zo lbs.
28 maunds = i ton

INDEX II

PROPER NAMES AND LITERARY REFERENCES

Africa, South, 7

Aftalion, " Le developpement de la
fabrique et de I'industrie k domi-
cile dans I'habillment," 373 (note)

Agra, 183, 212, 245, 277

Agradwip, 299

Agricultural Journal of India, 69
(note), 115, 119 (note), 130 (note),
174 (note)

Ledger, 66 (note), 68 (note), 75

(note), 223

Ahmedabad, 52, 53, 112

Ahmednagar, 167

** Ain Akbari," 245

Akbar, 245

Akra, 146

Allahabad, 100, 120, 354 (note)

America, 15, 17, 19, 66, 76, 91
(note), 98, 175 (note), 313, 35°

Americans, 351

Andrews, E. Benjamin, 336

Anglo-Indians, 365

Annet, H. E. 115

Aryans, 36 (note)

Assam, 7, 12, 69, 74, 113, 126, 148
(note), 177, 189 (note), 200, 204,
215

Assamese, 113

Atpur, 251

Austria, 108 (note), 112, 192, 358

Avasia, Mr., 72

Bagnaparah, 299
Baidyanathpore, 249
Bakarganj, 113
Baku, 5
Balaram, 261

Baluchar, 191 (note), 193, 194
Banerji, N. N., 156
Bankura, 231

Barakar, 230

Baranagar, 249

Barber, Mr., 112 (note)

Barings, 275 (note)

Bamagore, 157

Baroda, 164

Baroda, H.H. the Maharajah
Gaekwar of, " Inaugural Ad-
dress," Industrial Conference,
Calcutta, 1906... 135 (note)

Basu, Mr., " Report on the Sugar-
cane Industry of Bengal," 119
(note)

Behar, 29, 107, 121, 130 (note), 139
(note), 158, 207, 416, 421, 422

Behula, 23

Belgium, 29 (note), 286, 349, 358,
383, 434

Benares, 31, 149, 183, 190, 191
(note), 192, 193, 194, 202, 223, 277,
366, 386

Bengal, ix, 6, 7, 11, 21, 22, 30, 36
(note), 43, 53, 54, 55, 81, 84, 86,
89^90, 91, 98, 99, 102, 104, III
(note), 115, 116, 118, 119 (note),
126, 127, 131, 139 (note), 142,
149 (note), 150 (note), 156, 157,
158, 162, 166, 174, 177, 179, 180,
181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 193, 194,
198, 199 (note), 200, 207, 210,
215, 217, 223 (note), 227, 229,
230, 231, 237, 244, 245, 246, 247,
248, 249 (note), 252 (note), 261,
262, 275, 283 (note), 294, 295,
299, 301, 348, 4i5> 416, 421, 422,
424

Bengal, Central, 83

Bengal, Eastern, 44, 54, 81, 113,
126, 128, 148 (note), 177, 189
(note), 208, 215, 273, 283, 284, 302

INDEX II

509

Bengal Iron and Steel Co., 230

Bengalee, The, 6 (note)

Bengalis, 366

Bergamo, 382

Berhampore,viii, ix, 183, 191 (note),

235, 298
Berlin, 390 (note)
" Bhagabata," 409
Bhagabati, 128
Bhagalpur, 79, 102, 210
Bhagirathi, 85, 89, 288, 290, 291,

301,302
Bhattacharjee, " The Law relating

to the Joint-Family," 15 (note)
Bhattacharyee, Gurubandhu," Bis-

wakarma Brata," 55 (note)
Bhavani, Rani, 249
Bhawanipur, 364
Bhubaneswar, 260
Birbhoom, 185, 194
Birdwood, Sir George, 29 (note),

393 (note)
Birmingham, 240
Blair, Campbell and Maclean,

Messrs., 120
Board of Agriculture, India, 116
Bogra, 185, 194
Bohemia, 349
Bombay, 104, 112, 114, 164 (note),

165, 181, 193, 218, 277,348,421,

422
Borobodur, 36 (note)
Bowbazar, 364
Brahma, 51
Brahmani, 299
British, 351
British Guiana, 7
Bulgaria, 419
Burdwan, 118, 210, 229, 231, 250,

287, 299
Burma, 7, 99, 100, 102, 134, 311

(note), 421, 422
Burn and Co., Messrs., 230

Cachar, 113

Calcutta, ix, 39, 88, iii (note),
126, 130 (note), 135 (note), 146,
147, 151, 204, 209, 211, 212, 215,
216, 223, 236, 240, 255 (note),
291 (note), 293, 303, 364, 366,
367, 368,414,415

Calcutta Review, 41 (note)

Calcutta University, ix

Calcutta University Magazine, ix

California, 175 (note)

Cambodia, 36 (note)

Canada, 89

Canton, 184

Carlyle, 466

Cassier's Magazine, 150 (note)

Catwa, 287

Cawnpore, 118, 130 (note), 212, 218,

277
Census Report^ 315 (note)
Central Provinces, 7, 104, 126, 198,

421, 422
Ceylon, 7, 36 (note), 437
Chaibassa, 198 (note), 199
Chaitannya Dev, 246, 299
Chakravarti, Manmohan, " Bengali

Temples and their Character-
istics," 249 (note)
, " Pre-Moghul Mosques of

Bengal," 245 (note), 249 (note)
Chaltia-Maltia, 300
Chamberlain, Joseph, 334
Chamunda, 53
Chanda, 53
Chandernagore, 39
" Chandi," 409
Chandrakona, 157
Chatterji, A. C, I.C.S., " Report on

the Industries in the United

Provinces," 169 (note), 170, 208

, Ramananda, M.A., ix

Chatterton, Alfred, 163, 166, 167,

255 (note)
China, 36 (note), 200
Chinese, 151, 365
Chitpur, 364
Chittagong, 7, 79, 113, 148 (note),

156,285
Chotanagpur, 156, 244 (note)
Churchill, Mr., 167
Coimbatore, 170
Collegian, The, ix
Colhns, C. W. E., "Report on

Arts and Manufactures," 102
, " Review of the Trade of

India," 1909-10... 108 (note)
Comilla, 158, 162
Coomaraswamy, Dr. A. K.,

" Indian Craftsmen," 50 (note)
Cossipore, iii, 229
Crooke, William, " Northern

India," 44 (note)
, "The N.W. Provinces

of India," 275 (note)

5IO

INDEX II

Crooke, William, "Tribes and
Castes of United Provinces," 42

Culna, 287

Gumming, J. C, 139, 301 (note)

, " Industrial Survey of Bengal,"

162 (note)

, " Special Report on In-
dustries in Bengal," 1 50 (note)

Curzon, Lord, 162

Cuttack, 211, 235, 244 (note), 260

Dacca, 38, 43, 87, 131, 148 (note),

156, 157, 163, 204, 211,227
Dacca Review^ ix
Dada Peer, 300
Dadabhay, M. B., 27, 304
Daily Telegraphy 256 (note)
Dainhat, 231, 235
Damayanti, 23
Darbhanga, 158
Darrah, Mr., 200
Dasaabhuja, 249
Datta, Mr., "Report on the Rise

of Prices in India," 311 (note)
De Ferdici, Csesare, 296 (note)
De Hollan, Alexander, 379
Delhi, 112, 130 (note), 162, 255

(note), 256 (note), 277
Delitzch, 379
Delitzch-Eilenberg, 379
Denmark, 434
Dhappa, 88

Diamond Harbour, 301
Dickenson, Lowes, " Letters from

John Chinaman," 335
Dinajpur, 252 (note)
Dravidians, 17
Dubraj, 191 (note), 193, 194
Durga, 53, 55, 247

East India Company, 322

East Indian Railway, 287

East Indies, 33 (note)

Economic journal^ 311 (note)

Eklabya, 23

Eklakhi Tomb, 246

Ely and Wicker, " Elementary

Economics," 360 (note)
Emar Math, 260
Engels, Dr., viii, 58
England, ^d, 103, 201, 229, 313,

321, 322, 356, 357, 358, 363, 400,

434

Europe, 5, 15, 17, i9' 22,65,66,76,
91 (note), 135, 177 (note), 191,
192, 193, 200, 203, 211, 229, 253,
286, 313, 321, 346, 349, 35o» 357,
379, 380, 383, 384 (note), 385,

387, 388, 391, 394, 395, 396, 401,
417, 419,420, 425, 430, 431, 434,
435» 436

Europeans, 80, 151, 240, 302, 303,
311,316,351,365

Farashdanga, 517

Faridpore, 88, 113, 162

Fay, " Co-operation at Home and

Abroad," 381 (note), 438 (note)
Fergusson, James, " History of

Architecture," 253
, " History of Indian and

Eastern Architecture," 243, 248

(note), 253, 254 (note)
Fiske, 454

Fletcher, F., 153 (note)
Formosa, 108
France, 29, 182, 357, 373, 375, 380,

400, 434, 446
Fremantle, S. J., "Co-operation

in India," 386 (note), 423 (note)
French, 372 (note)
Fullara, 23
Furrackabad, 277
Futteghur, 277
Fyzabad, 386

Gait, " Census of India," 1901,

28 (note), 44, 45 (note)
Gandheswari, 55
Ganesh, 53, 246, 261
Gangasnan, 300
Ganges, 54, 88, 89, 243, 284, 287,

289, 291 (note), 293, 459
Gankar, 191
Gaur, 243, 246
Gaya, 209
Geneva, 396, 397
Germans, 351
Germany, 66, 102, 286, 321, 358,

374, 375, 379, 380, 381, 383, 386,

388, 423, 434
Ghatal, 231

Ghilardi, Chevalier O., "Mono-
graph on Wood-carving in
Bengal," 149 (note)

Ghoshe, H., " Rice Manufacture,"
99 (note)

INDEX II

511

Ghoshpara, 300

Ghurni, 141

Giddings, " Principles of Soci-
ology," 19 (note)

Gide, Professor, " Political Econo-
my," 373, 387

Gokulanund, 299

Gomnati, 231

Gopibullavpore, 299

Gopinath, 300

Gopis, 261

Govindapur, 39

Great Britain, 425, 437, 440

Greece, 429

Greenwood and Batley, Messrs., 135

Gujrat (or Guzrat), 112, 245

Gungasagar, 301

Gupta, G. N., M.A., I.C.S., "Survey
of the Industries of Eastern
Bengal and Assam," 148 (note),
189 (note), 193, 202 (note), 208

Haas, Dr., 433

Habiganj, 148

Hadi, Mr. Mohammed, Khan Ba-
hadur, 119

" Hakluyt's Voyages," 297 (note)

Hamburg, 100, 390 (note), 439
(note)

Hanuman, 23

Hardoi, 386

Hart, Mr., 177

Hathras, 277

Havell, E.B., 163, 166, 254, 260, 261

, " Indian Builders and Public

Works Architecture," 256 (note)

, " Monograph on Stone-
carving in Bengal," 244 (note)

Hawaii, 108

Hazrat Pandua, 246

Hedaya, 27

Himalayas, 459

Hindu, The, 255 (note)

Hindusthan Review, ix

Hindusthanis, 207

Hirsch, Max, " Democracy versus
Socialism," 334

Hobson, John A., " Evolution of
Capitalism," 345 (note)

Holland, 102

Hooghly (or Hughly, Hughli), 39,
86,89, 251, 300

Hooghly District Gazetteer, 250
(note)

Hooper, David, F.C.S., I.C.S., 75
Howrah, 39, 230
Hungary, 379, 419
Huxley, 454

Imperial Gazetteer of India, 7, 12

(note), 311 (note)
** Improvements in Native Methods

of Sugar Manufacture," 119 (note)
Indian Antiquary, 35 (note)
" Indian Guild of Science and

Technology," 372 (note)
India?i Review, ix, 167 (note)
Indian Trade Journal, yji. (note)
Indo-China, 66
Ireland, 380, 434, 437, 446
Ishapore, 229
Islampur, 231
Italy, 182, 358, 380, 381, 384, 430,

434
Iyer, G. S., "Some Economic
Aspects of British Rule in India,"
7 (note), 12 (note)

Jagannath (or Juggannath), 261

Jalangi, 288

Jalpaiguri, 158

Jamalpur, 229

Jangipore, 300

Japan, 36 (note), 91 (note), 175
(note), 349, 350, 446

Java, 36 (note), 107, 108, 112, 348

Jelangi, 89

Jessore, 86, 88, 115, 129 (note), 13d
(note), 249, 298

Jimutbahana, 21

Jones, Prof. Henry, 335

Journal of Indian Arts and In-
dustries, 238 (note)

Journal of the Royal Institute of
Architects, 252 (note)

Journal of the Royal Society of
Arts, 393 (note), 397 (note)

Journal of the Society of Indian
Arts and Industries, 257

Jura, 372 (note)

Kabikankan, 252

Kadam Rasul Mosque, 246

Kalam, 231

Kali, 247

KaH Ghat, 249

Kalna, 89 (note), 157, 249

Kamarpara, 231

512

INDEX II

Kanarak, 260

Kanchenagore, 229

Kandi, 300

Kansaripara, 364

Kantanagar, 252 (note)

Karachi, 311 (note)

Karnafuli, 148

Kashmir (Cashmere), 51, 75, 163,
194

Khagra, 231, 232, 235, 236

Kharar, 231, 235

Khashi Hills, 209

Khulna, ZZ, 138

Kleiber, M., 190

Kolharians, 36 (note)

Koran, 50 (note)

Korthaus, M. C, " Credit and In-
dustrial Co-operation," 390 (note)

Kotwal, T. N., " Lac Cultivation,"
67 (note)

Kropotkin, Prince, 372 (note), 374,

375
Krishna, 45, 51, 142, 261
Krishnagar (Krishnagore), 141,

143
Krishnath College, viii
Kumartali, 223
Kuram Valley, 75
Kusthia, 300
Kutabpore, 299
Kutabsahi Mosque, 246

Lahore, 277

Lakshmi, 53

Laksmana, 23

Lai, Lala Mukundi, "Prize Essay-
on Trade Guilds in India," 45
(note), 190 (note), 192 (note)

Lalbagh, 132

Lancashire, 322

Langstroth, Rev. L., 76

Leather, Dr. J. W., 107

Lees, O. C, " Waterways in Ben-
gal," 289 (note)

Lefroy, H. Maxwell, 72, 173, 202

Liverpool, 311 (note)

London, 363

Lucknow, 277

Luzzatti, Signor, 380

Madanapur, 191 (note)
Madanpura, 31
Maddapore, 243
Madhubani, 158

Madhumati, 89

Madras, 7, 104, 112 (note), 166, 170,
193,217, 218, 237, 348,415,421

Madura, 170

Mahabharata^ 23, 48, 409, 468

Mahesh, 300

Mahishasur, 53

Malda, 86, 88, 148 (note), 177, 179,
182, 183, 185, 194, 209, 231, 243

Manchester, 4

Manganpara, 300

Manickgunge, 156

Manipuris, 209

Manu, 20, 49

Marshall, Mr., 260

, Prof., " Principles of Econo-
mics," 361 (note), 363

Mathabhanga, 89, 288

Mathura, 275 (note)

Mauritius, 7, 108, 348

Mayamatya, 50 (note)

McGeorge, '' Ways and Works in
India," 282

Mechuabazar, 223

Meghna, 84

Midnapore, 130 (note), 231, 299

Midnapore District Gazetteer^ 300
(note)

Mills, S. T. A., A.M., L.M.E.,
"The Choice of Power," 372
(note)

Mirzapore, 183, 191 (note), 277

Mississippi, 290

Modern Review^ ix, 45 (note), 190
(note)

World, ix

Moghuls, 131

Monghyr, 209, 229

" Monosharbhashan," 252

Mookerji, Dr. Radhakumud, M.A.,
Ph.D., vii, ix

, " A History of Indian

Shipping," vii

, "An Introduction to

Indian Economics," vii

, " Lines of Indian In-
dustrial Advance," vii, 354 (note),
359 (note)

Moreland, W. H., " Sugar Industry
in the United Provinces," 119
(note), 120

Morison, Sir Theodore, " Industrial
Organization of an Indian Pro-
vince," vii

INDEX II

513

Morris, William, 467

Muhammadans (Musalmans), 27,
43, 44, 50 (note), 80, 81, 129, 131,
132 (note), 158, 159, 180, 183,
207, 210, 231, 246, 276, 295, 300,
302

Muhummadabad, 249

Mukherjee, N. G., " Handbook of
Indian Agriculture," 67 (note),
174, 180, 181, 191 (note)

, " Inquiry into the State of the

Tassar Silk Industry, Bengal,"
198, 199 (note)

, "Monograph on the Silk

Fabrics of Bengal," 192 (note),
194

Miiller, Dr. Hans, " Hamburg
International Co-operative Alli-
ance," 439 (note)

, " Report of the Proceedings

of the Eighth Congress of the
International Co-operative Alli-
ance," 437 (note)

Multan, 277

Munda, 53

Murshidabad, viii, ix, 45, 131,
132, 179, 185, 191 (note), 193,
209, 211, 231, 232, 249, 287, 298,
300

Murshidkuli Khan, Nawab, 295

Mysore, 118, 255 (note)

Nadia (Nadiya), 130 (note), 251,

291, 300
Nagar Khargram, 300
Nagel Kaemp, Messrs., 100
Nagpur, 183

Native States, 255 (note)
Navadwipa, 300
Nepalese, 113
Nesfield, 33 (note)
New York, 5
Nicholson, Prof., 20

• , Sir Frederick, 433

Nivedita, Sister, " Glimpses of

Flood and Famine in Eastern

Bengal," 285 (note)
, " The Position of Women in

the East," 159
Noakhali, 148, 162
Northern India, 41, 275 (note)
North -Western Provinces, 107
Nuddea, 229, 288

O'Connor, J. E., "Review of the

Trade of India," 218 (note)
Orissa, 156, 244 (note), 261, 421

Pagna, 157, 162

Pandua, 246, 300

Paris, 240

Patel, Raoji B.,M.R.A.C., 164, 165

, " Handloom Weaving in

India," 167 (note)
Patna, 79, 102, 209, 210, 211, 231,

277, 293
Paton, F. Noel, "Review of the

Trade of India," 1910-11...107,

108 (note), 154 (note)
Paton, G. P., " Report on the Raw

Silk Industry," 175 (note)
Plassey, 275

Plunkett, Sir Horace, 446
Porto Rico, III
Pratzva, 55 (note)
" Proceedings of the Board of

Agriculture in India," 118
Prussia, 419
Pubna, 208
Punjab, 12, 44, 104, 130 (note), 311

(note), 421, 422, 423, 424
Purbasthali, 231
Puri, 244 (note), 260
Purnea (Purneah), 79, 88, 102, 130

(note), 158

Quarterly Journal of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Bengal^ 89
(note)

Radha, 53
Raghunath, 300
RaifFeisen, 380, 422, 424, 433
Raja Sibi, 23
Rajbari, 231
Rajmahal, 244
Rajputs, 40 (note), 42 (note)
Rajshahi, 113, 183, 185, 194, 232
Ramayana^ 23, 409, 468
Ramchandra, 142
Ranade's " Essays," vii
Ranaghat, 287
Rangoon, 98, 99, 100, 10 1
Rangpur, 158
Ranigunge, 13 (note)
Ransomes, Sims and Jeflferies,
Messrs., loi

514

INDEX II

Rash, 300

Rathajatra, 299

" Report of Factory Commission,"

1908... 13
" Report of the Chief Inspector of

Mines," 1905... 13 (note)
Risley, Sir H., 33 (note), 35, 129
, " Tribes and Castes of

Bengal," 43
Rochdale, 436, 446
Rothschilds, 275 (note)
Roy, M., " Tinsel Work in Bengal,"

223 (note)
Royce, Prof., 337
Rungpur, 231
Rupavalia, 48
Ruskin, 467
Russia, 375, 384 (note)

Sabitri, 23

Saibya, 23

Salem, 166, 170, 171

Sandila, 386

Santipore, 141, 157, 231, 249, 300

Saran, 211

Saraswati, 53

Sarkar, G., Hindu Law, 18 (note)

, Mrittunjoy, 191 (note), 192

(note)

, Prof. Benoy Kuix.ar, M.A.,

" Science of Education," ix

Satgaon, 296 (note)

Sati, 24

Schulze, Herr, 379

Seal, Dr. Brajendra Nath, M.A.,
Ph.D., ix, 328, 329

, "Vaishnavism and Christi-
anity," 329

Secunderpore, 132 (note)

Sen, Adinath, " Tendencies of
Engineering Science," 372 (note)

Senart, " Des Castes dans I'lnde,"
35 (note)

Senhat, 229

Serampore, 39

Seths of Mathura, 275 (note)

Sett, Juggatt, 275

Sewan, 138, 141

Shah Sufi Sultan, 300

Shahpore, 209

Shamchand, 300

Shanghai, 184

Shastras, 52, 147

Shaw, Dr. G. W., M. A., Ph.D.,

" California Sugar Industry," 109

(note)
Sheffield, 362
Sherring, M. M., " The Unity of

the Indian Race," 41 (note)
Shiva (Siva), 24, 247
Siam, 36 (note)
Sibgunj, 209
Sibpore, 118
Simpson, William, " Origin and

Mutation in Indian and Eastern

Architecture," 248 (note)
Sindh (Sind), 104, 153 (note)
Sing, Mr. Puran, F.C.S., 72
Sita, 23

, Ram Ray, 249

Sivnivas, 300

Smith, F., B.Sc, "Tassar Silk

Cocoon Rearing at Chaibassa,"

198 (note), 199
, Prof. Lees, " India and

Tariff Problem," 13 (note)
, Prof., "The Importance of

Developing the Handloom In-
dustry in India," 164
, v., " History of Fine Arts

in India and Ceylon," 248 (note)
Socidtd des Immeubles Industri,

372 (note)
Solapur, 193
Sombart, Prof. W., 358
Sonthal (Santhal), 295 (note), 366
Sontoku, 446
Stebbing, Mr., " Notes on Lac

Insect," 68 (note), 70 (note)
"Sugar-cane and Sugar Industry

in India and other Countries,"

III
Sukker, 153 (note)
Sunderbuns, 285
Surat, 112
Sutanati, 39
Suvadra, 261
Suvamarekha, 299
Switzerland, 358, 380, 383, 384,

430, 434
Syamchand, 249
Sylhet, 148

Tanda, 386

Tanjore, 170

Tarakeswara, 249

Tata Iron and Steel Works, 347

INDEX II

515

Tausig, Prof. F. W., "Principles
of Economics," 437 (note), 455
(note)

Tibet, 36 (note)

Times, The, 256 (note)

Tippera, 148, 156

Toynbee, 467

Tulshibihar, 300

Tulshichaura, 299

Turungs, 209

Ula, 251

Umichand, 275

United Provinces, 7, 42, 100, 104,
III (note), 115, 119 (note), 120,
126, 135, 348, 385, 416, 421, 422,
423, 424

*' United Provinces Sugar In-
dustry," III

United States, 89, 153 (note), 184,
217

Upper India, 104, 126

Van der Borght, Dr., 374
Vedic Magazine and Gurukula
Samachar^ ix

Vishnu, 247, 261
Vishnupur, 211
Viswakarma, 47, 48, 54, 55
Voelcker, Dr., 134
Volga, 290

Wagner, Charles, 337
Wallace, Mr., 150 (note)
Watson, Mr., 207
, " Iron and Steel Work in

Bengal," 230 (note)
Watt, Sir G., 68, 71, 163, 224
, " Dictionary of Economic

Products," 66 (note), 138 (note)
" Wealth of India, The," ix
WiUiams, Prof., 311 (note)
Wise, Dr., 129
Woodworth, C. W., " Silk Culture,"

175 (note), 177 (note)
Wolff, Henry W., "People's

Banks," 382 (note), 384 (note)

Yang-tse-Kiang, 284
Zahn, Dr., 374

THE END

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