S~r\1ant of India

Editor: S. G. VAS. 0fIiee : 8:uvloll"l'S 01" lJrnu 800Il1'l"1", POOl<. f.

IlIDIAN Ra. 6. VOL, XXII. No. 16.} POONA-THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1939. { FOREIGN SUlI8N. ISs.

CON T li: N T S. Kolhapur Administration will no~ be so foolish aa p_ to reject the offer of ~ration whioh has been ... 117 eDended nnder sucb difficult cirC1lll1StaDces. -!'oPlO. 0" lrD WIlD: _ • • .AB1'IOUS :- • araod .AlII ...... _ A"""BOD. ••• IO~ MYSOBB which olaims to be one of tbe moat advanced of the Iudian States, is following a BoU.. Bo,oe aod Bunoot CarL B,. B. G. B. lOS policy of late wblch bas completely alienated the CoIlUlfT COIlJOlIIT: 104 eympathiea of the Stata people towards the State. The Myeora State Congrees bas dissociated itself Bnawl- from ~e Stat... Legislature as also from tbe Mysore ladle.. Elotorl.et CODII"'.... BJ M. V. Reforma Enquiry Committee. We fan to under­ 8ubrahma..,am. JO'I stand wbal; good it will serve the Mysore Goveru­ ment to alienate the eympethiea of ita own people. hORT NOTte.. •.. 108 The reeommendations of the Myaora Reform Com­ KIIOBLL&lfZOOS :- mittee will have no value indeed if tbey are not The Bomba,. Laud TeDa""" BilJ, backed up by the support of the people of the I Tb. De ..... Sebba·. Vie •• I ••• 108 State. It is troe that Mysore is much better, governed than most other Indian States, but this is aD additional reason wby It should take the lead of establishingresponeible government in tbe l"pitS of the Uttek. State. .. The Present Government of Mysore are never tired of broadc88ting" said Mr. Dasappa, the President of the Myaore State People's Confer­ State.' People In Conference. ence .. tbat Mysore is fa. in advance of British TEB demand of tbe States people for full India. Where then ia the justification for delay­ relponaible government baa reoeived furthe" power­ ing the introduction of responsible government." ful IUPPOr1l from the Statee' People'l Conferenoee W 8 think tbat the' legitimacy of the claim of of MYBore and Kolbapur. Unfortunately in both Mr. Dasappa oannot be denied by any right­ these Statel, the relations 0 between the rulers ~ink.ingman. In short, thinge have come to such and tbe ruled have been atrained almost to tbe a pass in the Indian States that nothing sbort of breaking point by the bigh.handed aolioue of the responsible government oal! satisfy the political 8tate authorltiel. The Kolbapur State did not aspirations of tbe people. The States muet choose allow 11.11· people to meet in Conference witbin the therefore between granting responsible government borders of the State, thougb the State people bad and ensuring peace and proeperity in their domi­ done notbing to delerve this shabby treatment at nions or resisting the demand of the people whioh tbe hands of the governmenL The Kolhapur Admi­ can only result in oontinuous strife and .disorder. nistratioli deolared a truce with Us people and promised to fulfil their legitimate demands on tbe • • • eve of the Vlceroy'R tou. in the Kolbapur State. Zamlndars and Kisans. But the momen' the viceregal tour was over, it went baok. on ita own promise. and launohed on THB lasi Easter holidays witnessed the _ions a oareer of terrible repression. The leadere of the of i.m very eignifioant oonferenoes of an all-India

State people were put under imprisonment and a oharacter. The fourth eession 0 of the All-India ban was plaoed On the meetinge and proc... iona Kisan Sabha was held at Gaya under the presidenoy of the State peopl... No one oan view, without of Acharya Narendra Dev and was attended fee1iql of absolute annoyance, this rutbl... by thousands of delegates coming from all over luppreaeion of oivil liber,>, in the Kolhapur state. India; and the lirat aession of what ia now styled Still, the Kolhapur people have shown remarkable the All-Iudia Landboldere Federation W88 held at powera of fortitude and tolerance in the midst of Luok.now under the presldentship of the Maharaja­ thaae annoying provooatiollll. The,. are wming to dhiraj of Darbhanga and was attended by about oo-operate with the State if only the State takes 1,600 delegates coming from all the provinoes of ~em into lte confidence. .. While welooming the India. announoement of the Maharaja to grant political reforms in the State" runa a reeolution of the • • • Jrolhapur People'. Conference, it .. Heluaata him to NATURALLY enougb, moat of the queations on BnlllN the «»operation of the State'. paople'a re- wblch these two oonferencee passed resolutiona o preaenta\lvaa in their formulation." ThWl, II; will be were of oommon and also vital interest to both; ..en thai tbe Kolhapur people are, as it were, and significantly enongh the reepeotive reaolutiona .. dyiu8 for CIO!'Operati0u." and ?8 bope that the paaeed by them, OD these questio~ were, in all 198 THE SERVANT 011' INDIA r APRn. 20. 19S9. ------.~------essentials, mutuaIly contradictory. While the Landholders' delusion. Kisan Sabha passed a resolution advocating the complete abolition of the zamindari system with­ THE All-India Landholders' Conference which out any compensation to the zamind",rs, the Land­ met last week a.t Luc~now . hB!' had the unique holders' Conference,· by means of a resolution, set advantage of beIng gUided ID lts deliberations by up a sort of standing committee to watch the t~o eminently reasonable landbolders, tbe Maharaja­ interests of the zamindars all over India and to dhirai _ of Darbhanga and the N awab of Chhatari. protect them even from minor encroach mente. Speaking about the future role of the zamindars in While the KiEan Sabha severely criticized India tbe Maharajadhiraj of Darbhanga said" we even the Congress Governments for not going far must, however, recognise that we cannot stand enough or fast enough in the matter of ameliora­ aloof from the factors governing tbe tendencies of tive agrarian legislation, the landholders equally the new world in which we find ourselves ...... severely criticized them as also other provincial we must think how best we can fit ourselves in governments for curtailing, what they called, ths the general scheme of national regeneration wbioh age-long and inherent privileges of the zamindars. i~ t~; most vital problem of the present genera­ W:h!le the K;isan Sa?ba advocated an uncompro­ tion. It was expected that after this sound piece miSIng offensive agamst the impending federal of advice from the President of tbe Conference scheme, the landbolders, while considering the tbe landholders of India would so conduct theU: imposition of agricultural income-tax, thought of proceedings as not to give rise to any suspicion seeking protection against the popular Governments that they would block the progress of tbe ameliora­ from tbe Governors, the Viceroy and even the tive measures of tbe provincial governments. But, Sec~etary of State for India by bringing to their unfortunately the landholders of India could not notice, by means. of memoranda and deputations, rise equal to the occasion and chalked out for the relevant sections of the Government of India themselves Ii course of action by which they will Act and the Instrument of Instruction hy which only range themselves against the progressive and the interests of the.. zamindars are to he safeguarded. democratic elements.. of the.. country... .. IT is sufficient to give only one instance to THE moral of the situation is not far to seek illustrate the "reactionary attitude of the Indian The Kisans and the Zamindars, by their very landholders. Under the new reforins, the imposition positi~n in !he econom!c stru,ctu,re of our country, of agricultural income-tax has been deliberately ar<; v!tally l,nterested. ID achieVIng contradictory assigned to the provincial governments with the obJectives. 'I he zammdars, as a class, certainly view that the popular governments sbould make stand to lose exactly to the extent to wbich a use of it. Accordingly, both the Provincial Govern­ change in favour of the Kisans is effected in the ments of Bihar and Assam have paRsed laws slatus quo and the Kisane believe that the zamin­ imposing agricultural income-tax and the· other dari system is very largely responsible for their provinces are thinking of following suit. But the present state of misery and destitution. Conse­ Landholders' Conference in its recent session at quently one class wants the perpetuation and the Lucknow has not only .. emphatically protested" other the abolition of the existing system of against the imposition of tbis tax, but has also landholding. This antagonism between the interests appealed to the Crown representative to invoke his of t bese two classe~ was, for all practical pur­ prerogative to veto tbis measure of taxation, poses, dormant untIl very recently though it because "it is in direct contravention of the manifested itself in sporadic revolts of the Kisans guarantee given by the Governor-General in Council against the oppression of their masters. It is now at the time of the permanent settlement." It is developing into a veritable struggle between the sure that the Crown representative will not pay two classes and the signs of the times are such any heed to this fantastic appeal of the land­ tbat it will continue to rage in a more or less holders. The only resuU of this attitude of the bitter form. landholders will be to antagonise them with the .. .. progressive and popular elements of the conntry. " " " IN India, under the present circumstances' IT is curions that the Indian landbolders putting the hands of tbe clock back is certainly have discovered now that the imposition of agri­ out of the question. The country is certainly cultural income-tax contravenes the provisions of not going to revert. Of late, it has made the permanent settlement. As early as 1860, when some advance towards tbe achievement of political income-tax was first imposed in India, agricultural democracy and this advance is bound to be utilized income was liable to taxation. Mr. James Wilson for bringing into being its proportionate counter­ who was then the Finance Member of India, justified part in the social and eoonomic sphers. As Prof. the inclusion of incomes from lands under the Laski observers, .. a political democracy seeks, by permanent settlement by saying: "I hold him its own inner impUlses, to become a social and (tbe Zamindar) to be exempt from any speCial charge economic democracy." In the same strain he says upon his land, but to be liable to any general elsewhere: tax that applies to all others". Thus, as early A demooratiC" political system will always seek in as 1860 It was declared by the Government tbat the long run to beoome a demooratio sooiety. It will agricultural income was not exempt from taxation. seek, that is, Buob 8 distribution of reward as will The landholders who swear by permanent settle­ recngnize either equality of claim or suob differentia­ ment had been given a fitting reply then. It is tions in the olaim as caD prove their relevance to a impossible to understand what good purpose will conception of justice framed in terms of an insistent be served by raking up" a controversy which had drive to equa.lity. been settled as early as 1860. Surely tbe Indian Will our ••mindare, in view of these considera­ landholders cannot argue that Mr. James Wilson tions, grow wise and thus help the inevitable was unaware of the implications of permanent ohange to come over witbout trouble or will they settlement or that he was imposing a tax on agricul­ prefer to die only in the last ditch? tural inoome in wanton disregard of the guaranteea .. given" by the framers of permanent settlement...... " .. APBIL %0, 1939.)' THE SERVANT-Olr: INDIA 199

BUT it in not only Mr.' James Wilson whll oitizenship of Ceylon, had no constitutional or held that agrienl tural income wsa liable to legitimate' right to appeal to Delhi at all evente sa taxation. The Indian Tuation Enquiry Committee the Ceylonese have not. But he does not, perhaps which eumined the whole question of the liability' he dare not, take up that aUitude. He does not of agricultural income to Income-tax arrived at consider appeal to Delhi eilher unconstitutional or the following conolusion: illegitimate. If it is legitimate, it is beet. resorted It will thu. be •••n tbat, In tb. ~ ..t lnalano., to when it Is likely to be most effeotive with agrioul'ural Inoom.. w.r. a...... d to InoomM"", and 'least irritatiOli, and that, is before Colombo and tbal whon tho lnoomo-tal< woo roplaa.d by a lio.no. 'Loudon make -up their minds· finally, tax, the,. were aBBelled t:-o 8 oorrespondinl borden in .,.. tho ohap. of a 0.... I. woo .h. oontinuing exiotenoo ,YET another argument is 'often used against of thl. oorr ••pondlng bord.n that wa., reopon.ibl. Indian's claim for equality in Ceylon. Critics have for .holo ....mptlon i.. .he Aot of ,1886. Tho urged that Indians should not claim special status . oorr ••ponding harden haa now be... rODiovod ond •• a • in Ceylon and at thEl same time olaim equality .,..Iom ond.. whioh th... 10 no ohargo on tho land . with the Ceylonese. They resent the Royal excopt .ho land r.v.nuo and tho looal rato, Con- : Instrtiotion to the Governor forbidding him from .equaDtl". there .. nothiug in the history of the giving his assent to , " , .',' 088., to justify the oontinued exemption. of this .AJJy bill dim.iDia~ing or prejudioing an,. of -,the righ'ts 01818 of inoome from inoome-'tax.' " .. or privileges to whioh at' the date 'of 'these Oar- With all the authorUies on. Indian ~uation and I -:Instructions persons .migra.ing or who have .migrat.d: the Government of India arrayed against them, lo tbe leland from India may be entitled by ....on n was expected that the Indian ~~dholders .would, of ouoh ODIigration.' , follow the wise polioy of Bubmlthng to thIS tu: : It would' appear froOl this thl\t Indian emigrants. with a good grace rather tban oreate a furore per lIS have certain privileges which are not shared whloh would Berve no . purpose. • But ,the.y .are by the Cey lonese. It is then argued that Indians evidently bent upon oreatmg a factltio¥s agitation. 'in Ce Ion oannot. legitimately olaim- both special · *.. " andY·vU equal prl eges. A'art'aln lm;l I , examination.. Indiana In Ceylon. of the relevant faots will show that there is no TH1II hab.!t of' Indians in Ceylon' oflookirigup justifioation for this proposition. In the first place, to the Government Bnd -the people of India for the speoial status does not' apply to all Indian assistance in redressing their grievances' has some-' ,emigrants, but only to estate labourers. The non­ times been adversely oritioised by both Ceylonese estate, emigrant, aooording tQ Sir Edward Jackson, and Europeans in Ceylon. The latest to advance in his Report on Immigration into Ceylon, 1938, 8110h oritioism is Mr. C. G. O. Kerr, the President .. holds DO speoial place undEll the law, of Ceylon of the European Assooiation in Ceylon. Speaking and. shares only in the general care of the Govern­ on the 5th April in Colombo st the annual meet- ment (of Ceylon) for ,workerein the Island. irle­ Ing of the AsSOCiation, Mr.' Kerr is reported to speotive of race... , have said:' -, !' .. A fealure'whloh" he ..a. Inolin.d to think tho THB speoial status' of the estate-immigrant is majority oommunlty mlgbt Dot'b. altogh .. unjuatl1l.d thus desoribed 'by 'Sil' Edward Jaokson'> • ' In critioising was tbe frequent referenoe to Delhi The' immigrant:· estat8 worker aomeS to Eleyloli for- by uationals at India In th, proteotioD of tbeir the purpose 'only 'of "orting on organised 'estates ••otional inqrel~ It leemed t<;) him that their pfope, Be ill' speoi ally reoruite~ at an,. rate OD' his first; fint. oourle of aotion ia,. in the more oout1tutional aoming, and i. ,: brought to tbe leland and oared for method ,of representaDon. through B. B. the Governor OD his Journey. tree of oharge to himself. by a Tel'7" to the Seoret&rJ' of Stlte: for, the Oolonies. and elaborate organization eltablisbed Ind supervised under bavlng aoooptod, oltizonahip In Ceylon. tb.y should tho la... of, India and, onde. th. law of Ceylon. Tho abide by tbe. more ••iUmate aTenUN of app1'oaoh to lame organization give. him 'speolal faoilities for bis proteoti.. e meaaure'l at an,. rate. pUl all elle failed" ret.urn. Hil numbers' are subjected to olose Govern- 'IT wlll be notioed that Mr. Kerr's orltioism mont oontrol and hi. wag.o and liviDg oonditions Is that Indians appealed to Delhi even before they are a ap.oial oonoer .. of tho Gov.lDDlont of India II ezhausted. Colombo and London. We are, at the won ao of tho Governm.nt of Ceylon. He has, I.. moment, unable to affirm or deny if Mr. Kerr's oome reapoota, a apeoial poaition ond.r tho I.... of ltatement is true. to faota. But granting that it Ceylon and h. is .:

Ceylonese estate-labourer does not reoeive. And it an end. In 1929 the Government of India is so with the non-estate Indian labourer also; he passed certain Orders on the recommendatioDl receives no protection, even &II the non-estate of the Claw Committee, but they, being of a Ceylonese labourer does not. Such un-uniform very general oharaccer, wars not able to check protection of the eoonomically weak: is not special the evils of bribery and favouritism ~ any to Ceylon. In many countri~s laboure!,! in certain appreciable extent. industries are proteoted while those 10 others are not, at any rate not yet. The remedy is to univer­ • • salise the protection needed hy labourers, and give IT is, however, becoming more and more the benefit of the labour laws in Ceylon not only evident that these evils, though allowed to Indian estate-labourers but to all labourers, to continue by the Government, can be Indian and Ceylonese, estate and non-estate. It checked by the seamen themselves if only they is incorrect to assert that Indian immigrants in organise themselves into strong Unions. In Ceylon have a special status, and unfair to argue Calcutta, under the vigorous guidance of Mr. therefrom that they should be treated as aliens. Aftab All, the Indian Seamen's Union has gone from strength to strength during the last few .. .. years and the evil of hribery has been ohecked The Bombay Seamen. in considerable measure. In Bombay, during the last few months, the crew of the Saloon Depart­ IT is a matter of satisfaction that the ment have shown great energy and strength and Bombay Seamen's Union, after a somewhat pro­ solidarity, and did even conduct a successful longed spell of moribund state, is coming into strike against the recalcitrant shipping companies active life again under the leadersbip of Mr. with the enoouraging result that the recruitment S. V. Parulekar. In the course of the last year of the Saloon crew is now made by rotation, and and particularly during the last three or four what is more, through the Seamen's Union. The crew months the Union has gathered considerable belong[ng to the Engine and the Deck Depart­ strength and there is every ground to hope that, ments, encouraged by this spectacular sucoess of before long, it will be one of the most formid­ their comrades, are now mustering strong under able of the organizations of Indian seamen. the Red Banner of the Union and making similar ...... demands on the Government and the shipping companies. It was only the other day that a huge THE two immediate demands on whioh the procession of about 3000 seamen of the Engine Union is laying special emphasis for the moment and Deck Departments, most of whom are Pathans are really of a very elementary nature. Both of from the Punjab, went to the Secretariat to lay them relate to the method of seamen's recruit­ before the Government their grievances and demand ment by the varioue shipping companies. The their immediate redress. The Government of Bombay, seamen demand in the first place that an effective after a prolonged shilly-shallying of the question, stop be immediatelY put to the present system have, it is understood; now promised to take up of recruitment through serangs which leads to this question with the shipping companies and grave abuses and corruption and in the second with the Government of India to the extent to place that the available volume of employment he which it is neoessary to do so. made available, as far as possible, to all seamen in equal measure by means of the method of . .. . employment by rotation. Corruption and .the THE seamen have informed the Government consequent favouritism in the matter of employ­ of Bombay that, if an amioable settlement of their ment have been the two most deeply resented vital questions is not arrived at soon, they would grievances of Indian seamen for long years. As be forced to have recourse to their final weapons far back as 1921, the Government of India. though of strike and pioketting. The last strike conducted unfortunately it failed to ratify the Placing of by the comparatively mild Goan crew of the Seamen Convention passed by the International Saloon Department also was marked by a bitter Labour Conference in 1920, appointed the Seamen's conflict between the leamen and the shipping Recruiting Committee under the chairmanship of companies as also between the Police and the the Hon'ble Mr. A. G. Claw. After investig­ seamen. There was a spate of prosecutions in­ ations in Bombay and Calcutta, the Committee cluding one on an officet on the 8. 8. Strathmore. arrived at the finding that "the existing system The Bombay Polioe seem to be partioularly soli­ had led to grave abuses" and recommended an citous of the Bombay seamen. The procession entirely new system with a view to eliminating referred to above is reported to have been intermediaries and also to the setting up of an escorted by three hundred constables with employment bureau under officers with lathis, twenty Police sub-Inspectors, two practical maritime experience. The suggested Assistant Superintendents of Police and also employment bureau never came into being a van-load of polioemen armed with rifles. A. though, in 1924, an officer of the Merchant Marine resolution passed by a meeting of the seamen was appointed as Shipping Master to organise the has rightly characterised these attentions as "an Shipping Office at Caloutta and "to examine the entirely unnecessary and wanton display of polioe question of the establishment of an employment foroe" made "iust with a view to terrorising the bureau." Some time later an assistant to the peaoeful and innocent procession of seamen which Shipping Master was appointed in Bombay to was organised only to urge upon Government deal with the question of recruitment. The Govern­ the necessity of taking immediate steps to stop ment of India "considered that it would be in­ bribery and oorruption among the recraiting advisable to proceed further with the recom­ agencies of various shipping compauies." We mendations of the Committee until the shipping earnestly hope that, in spite of what the Bombay masters had gained some experience of the system Police are doing at present, the Government of recruitment and had made some progress of Bombay will do their best to avoid. anot~er with the registration of seamen." Twelve years strike of the Pathan seamen by complymg With and more have passed and these prooesses of their very reasonable requsets before it is too late_ gaining experience and making progress with « the registration have not apparently oome to .. APRIL 20, 1939. ) THE SERVANT 0:11' INDIA 201 
A GRAND ALLIANCE AGAINST AGGRESSION. 
T would be bard w believe.' in view of the which proposed the dismembermen' of Czecho· I pBSt record of Mr. Chamberlain, Sir John slovakia even before Herr mUer, Herr Henlien or Simon an'd Sir Samuel Hoare, that a Govem­ Lord Runciman had proposed it. Rauter too a\ ment of which theae sta\aamen form an inner the time published &endencioos news suggesting Cabinet can be aerlouslY engaged' in building up thet the Prime Minlster·s declaration' was made a Peace Front against the aggreaaive Powers of with mental raaervations, and thet the Poles Germany and Italy who bave been enabled by would be wid that they must make substantial the acquiaaC8nce of this Govemment to destroy concessions w Hitler 811 a condition of Grea. the Independence of Abyssinia, Czechoslovakia. Britain giving them military aid in ihe event of Albania and Spain. But If the protestations by their being attacked. No doubt the Foreign Offioe thase stataamen sbout their conversion can be Issued .. derMnA afterwards; but suob a denial had accepted as genuine, Great Britain seems w be bean made in September too, and we know tbat completely reversing her International policy. The with all this the sa.orifice of the Czechs had been • ocoapation of Memel Territory by German troops pre-ordained. And there Is no knowing when the has led tbe British Government to oonclude British Govemment constituted 88 at present will an offensive and defensive alliance with not again be aeized with the desire to appease Poland and the oocupation of Albania. by Italian' the Nazi diotator, being oonvinced of the mal­ troops had led it w give a. unilateral guara.ntee treatment of the Polish minorities and of the w Ruma.nia and Greece. The Govemment·s policy necessity .of bringing the principle of .el~eter_ since the last war ha.s been to ha.ve no commit­ mination Inw play to put an end w this mal;. ments in Eastern Europe; it was thia policy which treatment. There Is no ~eason why there will not was mainly responsible for the Na.zi Powers· be a second Munich again. Sir Archibald Sinclair eoon(llllio and to a large ment politioal domina­ drew. attention to this danger in ·his speech in tion of the Danube Basin from the Ba.ltlo w the the Commons on 3rd April In forceful terms: Biack Sea. The famous Leamington pronounce­ n was laid Ialt autmDD. that OUIohoslov&tia was a ment defined the purposaa for which British arms oomposite Slate 'Whioh contained large minorities, bull would be Ulled ; they were liret, the defenoe &0 does Poland; 31 per oeuL of the population of of the British Isles; secondly, the defence of the Poland ia Don·Polish. n was said that die c.ech British Empire; thirdly, the defence of France minorities were discontented; they were not; half 10 diaooDtented 81 the Ukrainian minorities or the German­ and Belgium; a.nd fourthly, the defenoe of Iraq BUsaiaD miDoritielt are in Poland; aud the treatment and Egypt. It Is no doubt true thet the pronounce­ afforded &0 tile German minority in Poland - and ment went on W say thet .. In addition, our the 8ame .baarYatioD applies '0 the Polisb miDoritlt armamente may be used in bringing help w a tn German,. - ia not nearly 10 genefOua as tha" victim of aggr_lon in· any 0&88 where, In our which was aocorded to the Getman: minority in judgment, It would he proper under the provisions Czeohoslovakia. U Herr Bitler ohallenges the Prime of the (League) covenllnt to do so." But the :MiDi.ter to apt)ly to the Polish minorities tbe prinoiple of oolf.de&ermlaatloD, 10 tbe Prima MiDist"" going &0 agree League obligation. were 80 Interpreted In aotual to i\ as be agreed at BerobteagacieD to apply it; iD its practice by the Inner Cabinet of . the British erudest form to the Czech minorities? Tha i phrase Ganrnment as to leave the whole of Eastern ...elf-deiermmanOD," wbioh the Prime Minister oon .. Europe open to the march of the N ad Power. It sented to repeat; after Berr Bitler at Berohtesgaden, almost seemed as If Great Britain would not raise II polltloal dynamite, and it would explode with the lame devastating e1feot in Poland oD'the GermaD. White her little finger If Hitler only committed aggres­ RUBBian and Ukrainian minorities. 88 it: did ill Czeaho­ alon in the East and left the West alone. The slovakia on the German. Hungarian and Polish minorities. policy of appeasement mea.nt nothing le89 fhan Danzig and the Corridor are, vital ileues for Poland.. this, and It alone explains the sacrifice of Czecho­ The ViRula comes inm ilie sea .through 'the territory alovakia. But Hitler always kept Great Britain of Danzig. The possession _. of Danzig and. the Corridor, and France guessing as to when he would turn witho\1t the most loUd guaranlees of Polish interests, against the West Instead of oontinuing his push would give Germany a stranglehold on t;he eaoDomia and therefore on 'be political. independence of Poland~ wward the East. And this a.t last has induoed fas' .a 'lb.e possession of the Sude1ieDland gaT. Germt1D.; \hese oountries, If in f&ot it has done so even • ItraDglebold on Cztloboaloyakia. I am far frolQ at ihls stage, to try conolusions with Hitler even la:r1DI that the existing statUI quo in Dan.ig mus' If he oonfined his aggression for the moment io be preserved for all t;ime, but I would 8ay ,hil: if we IIr. entitled to la1 in this aOUD.tl'1-as I tbink 'he East, ourblng his power there 80 that he may not use it against themaelves later, we are -that we wiD not abandon our righ. and I'elpollsi.bili'ies in fibe Mandaled Tenitoriea except iD Even so, It Is doubtful If the gnarantee given return for lolid guarantees. not onl7 for the righ" Of \0 Poland covers nanllg a.nd the Corridor; The the nativel but allo for world peaoe and order f'imes, the very day following tbe Prime Minlster·s inoluding dinrmament a& part of • general .,&tlemen' with German,.. 10 Poland is full, enUded to tate a 1Indertaklng in this behalf, published an artiole limilar line in. respeat of questions with which her 'Whloh oan only be compared w the shameful .el7 existenoe Is boud up. IUch as Dauzig and tba article In thet paper of the 7th September la.at Corridor. If we are to aonviDCe' H8l"I' Bitl.r of our 202 THE SERVANT 011' INDIA ( APRIL 20, 1939. 
 inflexible defermination 'to resist aggression henoe­ conquest of the Ukraine by Nazi Germany, upon forward,. there must be no hedging in the polioy of His Majesty·s Government and no whittling down of which such covetous eyes have been avowedly set, their pronouncements. would be a direct assault upon the life of the And although the Government has dissociated itself Russian Soviet State. Then again in the Far East from the declaration in the newspapers which the aggression of Japan upon China has brought support it that Denzig and the Corridor were Japan at this moment into close grips with the intended to be excluded from the scope of the Eastern Russian Power." An alliance with Russia new guarantee, the public is not yet reassured on is as indispensable for success as it is easy the point. On this issue the Government must to bring about. Mr. Lloyd George urged the take a firm stand, for after ali it must be rem­ Prime Minister to secure the adhesion of Russia embered, as Mr. Price said in the debate, that immediately. He said: "The Corridor is an economic lifeline to Poland, If we are going in without the help of Russia We are walking into a trap. It is the only oountry whose which it is not to Germany. The economic con­ armies caD get there (to Poland). She is the only nection between East Pruss ia and the rest of country whose air fleet can matoh the German-some Germany is not so vital to Germany as the out­ people Bay it i. beUer. Our air fleet may be quite let to the sea via the Corridor is to Poland" And adequate at the present time for defensive purposes. the Government must not capitulate, as it did in I am expressing no opinion on that because I have not examined it. but it is Dot equal to the German the case of Czechoslovakia, to the new German fleet. I have heard a Prime Minister in this House technique of the BJitzkreig, of a sudden surprise not long ago saY-Dot the present Prime Minister_ and attack on the country to be intimidated. that our air fleet was 50 per cent. better than the Nor can the Government stop with a guarantee German and that the Government has resolved to keep it at that figure. Nobody now doubts that the German to Poland; to do so would be, as Mr. Churchill air fleet is OVerwhelmingly stronger than it was, but remarked, "to halt in no man's land." Having here you have on the eastern borders of Poland aD begun to create a Grand Allianoe against aggres­ air fleet which is equal to the best the Germans can sion, it must carry it to a conclusion, so that put forth and with the help of the French and our­ peace will be regarded as indivisible and collective selves would quite neutralile the superiority the Germans possess. security made as comprehensive as it may (The Russian army has been greatly improved since be. Mr. Greenwood, who spoke for the the Great War in whioh it played such an important Leader of the Opposition in the debate of 3rd role.) By their invasion of East Prussia (in the lalt April, described this policy as one of international War) they sa.ved Paris, and but for the sacrifice they neighbourliness and urged the formation of the then made the Germans would not only have got broadest possible brotherhood of nations to stand Paris but now might have been garrisoning the Channel ports and the Belgian ports. That was the against aggre.sion. He used a very homely simile work of an inefficient army. I do not sa) it is (now) in doing so. "Among the poorest, when a family a perfeot army. but it is an army of 18,000,000 trained suffers trial, misfortune or distress, there are no me~ and of the bravest men in the world. It is a. formal and polite expressions of sympathy, but much more eduoated army. We were dealing (before) with a people 80 per cent. of whom were illiterat.e. there is active and willing help and real sa orifice The people who afe now in the army are no longer in order to be of practical use. In the case of Bo. Their equipment was despioable, but it is sickness neighbours will, if need be, keep watch immeasurably superior now. Look at what they are in the night, lend their bed linen, run errands and turning out in iron and; steel and eleotrioity, tbe look after the children, each neighbour giving as imprOVements in their transport;. It is an immeasurably superior army to that of 1914- much help as she can. In this connection it is I ask the Government to take immediate step. to nearly always "she." This is true neighbourli­ Becure the adhesion of Russia in a fraternity, 8n ness, and what is needed now is that everyone alliance, an agreement, a paot; it does not matter in the same street should stand together to aid what it is oalled so long as it i. an understanding any neighbour in his hour of trial and adversity." to stand together against the aggressor. Apart from that we have undertaken a frightful gamble, a very Regard for one's national interests alone, which risky gamble. With Russia you have overwhelming is guiding the policies of the States, must give forces whioh Germany with her inferior cannot stand place to a greater regard for the interests of peace­ up against;. loving countries as a whole, But even in order Why is it necessary to ensure beforehand that to make the limited guarantee to Poland effective, Russia will come in? Because neither Great an alliance with Soviet Russi" is necessary. Apart Britain nor France would be able to reach and from Russia's well-known fidelity to the League help Poland if attacked. Great Brit9.in would only obligation to resist aggression, there is a solid blockade Germany, but Germany has, by her identity of interests" belween the Western demo­ successes so far, supplied herself with food and cracies and her. As Mr. Churcilill said: "Soviet oil to a much larger extent than in the last War. Russin. is profoundly affected by the German Nazi France, Mr. Lloyd George said, "would be con­ ambitions. A Nazi advanoe down the Danube fronted with fortifications which are infinitely more Valley to the Black Sea, and the creation which formidable than the Hindenburg line, which took would soon follow there of a Nazi Black Sea us four years to break through, with casualties Fleet, would be a deadly blolV at the integrity of running into millions." Germany, on the other Russia, and also a deadly blow at Turkey, The hand, has been able to set free for use elsewhere. APRIL 20, 1939. J THE SERVANT OF INDIA 203 
1hanks to the policy of appeasement followed by along the path towards neighbourly oo-operation with Mr. Chamberlain, 35 divisions of the army which the democratio peaae-loving States of the world." would have had to fight on the Czeoh front, and Even suoh an Isolationist paper as the New Republic bas secured besides all the war material of the expresses itself in favour of Senator Pittman's Czech army after taking over Bohemia and Moravia- proposed revision of the Neutrality Aot, under whioh The British Government has deolared that it would be possible for France and Britain to Ideologioal differenoes would not prevent it from buy munitions from U. S. aftar they went to oomlng to an arrangement with Russia, and it Is war, just as under the present law they> oould suggested that it Is really the distrust which buy food and other supplies. But the New Republic Poland and Rumania feel for her that Is holding Is suspiolous of the policies of these nations and the British Government back. It Is true says it might be wise to help them if they could that both in Poland and Rumania the traditional be relied upon. If France and Britain stand firm feeling is against Russia. In Rumania It goes they will receive help not only from the moral baok to the Russo.Turkish War of 1877, when force but from the material power of the United Bessarabia was taken from her. In Poland It goes States. back to the days of partition when Russia grossly misgoverned her, and it was revived in 1920 when the Poles invaded Russia and attempted to seize ROLLS ROYCE AND BULLOCK CART. the Ukraine. But this Pilsudski trad ition of N an editorial notice of a reoent publication friendliness towards Germany Is giving place to I ("The Present {Condition of India" by Leonard an opposite tendency. The well·known Polish Sohiff) in the issue of 30th ·March and while leader, M. Roman Dmowskl, was reported to have oommenting on the U. P. Employment Tax a. said In the last War, "We are fighting along couple of weeks ago, the Editor has had oooa. with Russia to-day beoause we really do not fear sion to say something on the· well·worn griev­ Russia; we know that we are strong enough to ance of high salaries of publio offioials ill India. get and maintain our Independenoe. We do not While I substantially agree with the Editor in know that about Germany. We are resisting Ger. the remark that we have a Rolls Royoe admi. many to-day beoause we fear her." And this repre­ nistration in a bullock oart country, I . wish to sents the general sentiment of the Poles to-day, put forth oertain other aspeotsof the problem and It ought to be possible for Mr. Chamberlain, that are relevant to the Issue but· not so if he Is as aotive in securing the help' of non. generally appreoiated. aggressive Powers as he Is in offering other peoples' saorlfioes to the. aggressive, to bring Russia into The soheme of salaries, partioularly of the a system of mutual defenoe that he says he Is Imperial Servloes, in this country is inconsonant organising in Eastern Europe. Not only Is with the appalling poverty of the millions of ita RUBsia'a help indlspenBable to save Poland if inhabitants. Suoh salaries,· whether or not they attacked, but she can play a big role In helping were neoessary In the past .to obtain talent of to proteot Rumania by helping with her air foroe the right oalibre from abroad, are obviously to defend the mountain passes of TransylVania. extravagant fo~ the purchase of looal talent to­ And the Peaoe Bloc will have to be further day whioh Is forthooming in abundant: measure extended by bringing in the Balkan Powers­ to till almost all (at least) of the oivil offices Turkey, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia -the Baltio States of the State. The total salary.bill of the nation, the Boandin.vian States, and the small Powers t~ if one oounts in the emoluments of the heads the West-Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, some of of Provinoes and the Viceroy also, for civil whloh are following a polioy of neutrality, seeing adm.inistration Is oonsiderable, and a fundamental how Great Powers like Great Britain were running reoasting of this bill will affcrd a most welcome away from their obligations. The United States relief to the finanoes of the' country. Again, the of America have also to be wooed. The western argument that the salaries of offioials should be • democracies have almost oompletely forfeited the such as to make them above temptation Is trans­ oonfidence of this great oountry sinoe they threw parently disingenuous. I do not know that Czeohoslo~skla to the wolves, but President temptation Is ohecked and not pampered by a Roosevelt s message to Hitler and Mussolini shows high salary. And even if small salaries orea te that they oan stUl retrieve it if only they show irresistible temptation (which can be true in the themselves genuinely andous to form· a great case of very low.paid offioials only, . whose sala.· new oombination to reslat aggression. At present ries are not in question in thl's argume nt), the not SO much the immense material power as the position that you should be blackmailed into enormous moral foroe of the United States will be extravaganoe by the threat of bribery is an 2f help to Buoh a oombination. As, Mr. Dalton said, intolerable position for any State. This argument Although it Is only a simpleton or an ignoramus of keeping services above temptation, I olass with who believes that the U niled SlateS oan be brought an equally ingenious argumant once seriously Into a tight oontraot for mutual aid at this time advanoed against me by a friead of mine who against possible aggt1lSSion in Europe, nonetheless fa an honours graduate of Cambridge and W&8 PresldenG Roosevelt Is leading them gallantly then shortly to prooeed to his highly·p:l.id job 204 THE SERVANT OF INDIA ( ApRIL %0, \939, in India. "Of course", he said, "why the Imperial all get from the annual national dividend an services must be so highly paid is because equally alarming share. The faot of the matter Government oan then get such a lot of income­ is that our economic system and the system of tax from their salaries, which they would lose taxation result in a disproportionately large volume if they cut the salaries"! of our national income being made over to these There is no valid argument tbat I know of professional classes. The principle of equality in against a radical recasting of the scheme of civil the sense that similar persons should, other things salaries in India. There may be something to being equal, be similarly treated, is an import,mt say against such radical change in so far as it element of justice. This demands that the rates affects old members of the services whose rea­ of remuneration obtained or left to these classes should also be cut in proportion to the outs in sonable expect~tions may thus be said to be defested, although I think the argument is salaries of those in Government employ, The State which daily supports by its legal decisions greatly exaggerated. But apart from legal and civil authority the existing system of economio objections, which are of course technical merely, life in our country, cannot escape the responsi­ there is no case whatsoever to resist such a bility for the emergence of these extravagant recasting in the case of the conditions of employ­ rates of remuneration. You cannot treat the ment heresfter. revenues of a doctor or a lawyer as natural The following two criteria appear to me to phenomena independent of the State and there­ be the only valid ones in the determination of fore outside the orbit of the King's Government. the appropriate amount of salary. (1) The salary They are the direct consequence of the organiza­ should always be sufficient to enable the Govern­ tion of a legal and medical profession on the ment servant to perform his duties satisfactorily basis of private enterprise. Justice demands that in reasonable comfort. (2) The remuneration he where such gross inequalities occur they should gets should, all things counted in, be comparable be attacked by the State as being incompatible to the remuneration the same class and oalibre with the life of the generality of the people, of talent would get in other employments and equally in its servants as among others. The walks of life. methods of achieving the end may, however, be While not attempting to state specifically different according to convenience· what would be the incidence of these criteria on The objeotion against the U, P. Employment any civil officer or service in our country, I Tax is not thRt it taxes certain persons to find hazard to mention one peculiarity of our salary money for essential services, but that it omits to scale which is not adequately appreciated.' While tax certain others who deserve to be taxed equally the salaries in the beginning of the time-scale with the former olass. For this reason if the in the case of even the members of Imperial present income tax is steeply arranged, death Services are not so greatly out of proportion with duties of an equally steep nature imposed, a. the requirements in view of the above criteria, further tax on a graduated basis on inoome from the salaries of senior officers and senior appoint­ land and other property levied, then ampler ments are extravagantly liberal. The salary­ finances will be forthcoming without injury to scheme is peaky and very steeply progressive, the principle of equality. Any arbitrary selection more steeply progressive than the greater needs of the rich on the ground that their remunera­ and responsibilities of advanced age and wider tion is fixed and not variable like profits of spheres of duty would appear to justify. This business, as in the case of the U. P. Tax, or­ steepness of the salary-scheme is in marked and that tbey are in the employ of the State or local signifioant contrast to the comparative lack of bodies, is naturallY resented. It is not this resent­ progression in the rate of income-tax_ In this ment that so greatly matters; H is the fact that peakiness and also in this absence of progression the central cruoial issue is evaded and merely the Indian Budget is in sharp contrast with that the uninstructed popular will enforced; it is the of advanced countries. Incidentally, because of fact that the Government show themselves willing· the sensational extravagance of the salaries of a and ready to tax those one of whose conditions few posts, brought out so sharply by such com­ of service is silence, whereas they let alone those parisons as made by Mr. Schiff, the Indian wbo are three-fourths of the organs of public publicist and citizen is led to expect from a opinion and discussion in the country, that is so> modification of the nation's salary-bill a greater depressing and damaging to the cause. amount of relief to the Exchequer than any S. G. B. actual proposals would bring about. When all tbis is said, it must also be remem_ CURRENT COMJIENT. bered that the wages of other professional classes in our country are Equally out of propor­ FUNDAMENTALISM AMONG MUSLIMS. tion to the earnings of tbe masses, out of whose The Legislative Assembly aocepted without income tbey, equally with civil salaries, must division the amendment of Dr. Deshmukh to Mr. come. The successful lawyer, doctor, businessman, Hegde's resoln tion regarding the setting up of a banker, manager, landlord, mercbant, money-lender, committee to enquire into the status of women APmL 20, 1939. } THE 8ERVANT OF INDIA 205 in oertaIn respeota. The resolntioD; u finally p_ BBCrilelre, only If the Koranic Iews are not to be ·8811, reskicta Ihe seope of the committee to an modified in the light of publio opinion. If, on ·enquiry into the status of Hindu women only, the other band, modification Ie permissIble, an .and deliberately exolude. thI~ of Muslim women. enquiry is ileceesaty regarding the modifications Mr. N. Ml. JOIIhI objeoted to BUoh limitation. He demanded by publie opinion. The, 'M nelim speakers 'Wished that publie opinion tram all communitiea In the Assembly have taken a mosr regrettable ·sbonld be ascertained tegarciln, the reforms thae and reactionary and 1nconsietent' ~ltuda. might be Il8OII8IIIQ'J' with respect to' the· women of. every oommunlty. The attitude taken up by If, as the MDBlim legielatOre declared,. the all the MDBlIm membera who spoke on the BUbject Koran bad mid, everything Olll every subject for however iB mOlt dieheartenlng to the BOOIaI reformer all time, what ue legialatlll'l!ll ~or io 'wch Isla­ and orael to the Muslim womeD; and humiliating mic CCIjUltriea as' Turk.,.., Ughanistan, Persia, to· India. 8yed Mortua Sahib l& reported to have Iraq, etc.? l'ha interpretaUoli pf law l& the funo- ·eaid the Muslims bad to follow the law' enun· · tion of the. judioiary and not of the legielat1ne. . ,elated by the holy Koran and that, therefore, there · And as comprehensive law wu alreadl' there in could be no enquiry into the atBtUB' of Muslim ,the Koran, there Ie absolute~. no need for any women I 81r Ziauddln Ahmed lit reported to have ,Ieglelatures at all. And yet the .Ieglelaturea in aaid that they did not want any leglelatwe to · IsIamio' countries are busy' .pouring out fresh make any change in the Koranlo' laws, which : laws every season,. every one of' which ohange. 'were oomplete in themselves and were good for the exiRing sltuat.iorl. .in some me~e. . all time I 8ir Abdnl Hallm Ghuslaavi . said that the Muslilllll had everything In the Koran and -they wanted nothing more I Moulana ZafarAli· Fundamentallsta and reaotionariesi IIIlJ'Vive Ie reported to have said that the Koran was fun. among all peoples in all colllltrieai But in most damentally correct tni Doolllllday and wail \In­ conntries, amOJlg most· l'81igioaa commun.ities, the changeable. .. We believe In Ii as the fina1 word s.ituation is l'811eved, sOmetlm.. dominated,. by ·of God to man. It was the loolal, moral, econo­ sooial reformers. There' may; be MllSlim fund.. mlo and religious code which was given to them m'entalists in Turkey, but the reformel'Bl are. also 1.300 years ago, and it contained everytbing that there, and the lattH dominate thll' situation. It .they wanted... II88DlII that' it is the speoial miefortulle of, India that: not onll' Muslim· reformers are Dot domi~ . nant, bui that they do not even' exist .among the lbe Hon. Sir Mubammad .Zafrulla Khan, leaders. All are fundamentalists; noni' a :reformer. 'the Muslim member of the. Government of India, was perhaps only a' ahade . leas . funda­ DEBT REDii1HPTION IlI'BRAvNAGAR. mental let. He averred 'bat the questions whioh " . iIle committee' was asked to enquire into were The adminletration report of Bhavuagar part of the persQual law of the Muslims, which State for 1935-3& contains' informaoon about was based on the Koran, the revealed word of the working of the Deht Redemption'. Soheme God. While the other lpeakers save the Imprea­ which has been In force in thjI Slate now sion that no change in the Muslim personal law for nearly five years. As the informaoon ...... permiesible and that, therefore, tbere was no would be of wider interest it is intended to . need for enquiry into the present slate of things, Sir refer to it in some detaU here. The object of Muhammad Zafrulla nail admitted the possibi. the scheme Ie, as oan be easily seSD; to settle the llty of ohenge. He Ie reported to have mid that debts of the farmers in such a walf that the the development of the Muslim personal law shoulc\ money·lender wonld get baok the amount of the be len IiO take place along certain defined linea. loan together with a moderate amount of interest. Whloh iB very different from saying that since lbe amount to be paid to the creditors was, it W8S' tlie Koran WBI the revealed word of God and w" final, laid down, to be subject to . two limitations: (1) oomprehensive and good for all time. there was no that it sbould 'never exceed a BUill equa1 to three need fml the development of Muelim pereon law. He limes ths annual. aniount of BBSesement payable wae on more IIODslble ground when he said that by. the farmer, and (2) that the total amOunt paid one consideration wblch welgbed with him was on account of .. particnlar Tappa should noe whether the overwhelming majority of the repre­ exceed one-fourth of the total outstandings of that .entatives of the MDBlIma were or were not in Tappa. lbese Dominal outetandinga mostly' oon­ favour of reform. Thla again conceded tbe possi. slst of additions by way of intereel, premia, eto., bility of change, in splta of the Koran. In faot, while the amount of the original loan awaiting the committee contemplated in the reeoiution was paymen$ Ie .. ssIdom very large." In fixing the Baked mers1y '0 enquire If publio opinion was in amount for which the debt Ie finalll' compounded. fevolll of any changa. If publio opinion wal agalnat the capacity of the farmer to pay and his sol· it, the oommittee would ao· report. There wae ab­ vency are taken Into BOoount, wl:ioh is as it lIhonld . .• alutely no need IiO pre-judse the Issue. All be. lbe work of debt redempl!oD WBIJ over bl" .enquiry wUl be unneceesary, will, in faot, b. a the end of March 1934., whell debt. of a total· 206 THE 8ERVANT OF INDIA [APRIL 20, 1939. 
--- ~~--~ ~ ~ --~~-~ ---- value of over Rs 86~~ lakhs wete compromised panchayats, the latter are allowed some latitude-· for a sum of a little in excess of RS: 2~H lakhs. in framing constitutions suited to their peoullar When the report was written the sc)leme had been in . copditione. force only for two years so that it is too early to say with any degree of . certainty how the The problem of the depressed olasses is being scheme has worked. Nevertheless it is a fact that tackled in Bhavnagar in a prac·tical manner. Every revenue collections have improved considerably year a sum of Re. 5,000 is provided in the budget and nearly 28 per cent. of the compounded debt for digging wells for these classes, the amount has been recovered, which in view of the prevail. SPent for the purpose in 1935-36 being Rs. 4,982, ing economic depression "cannot be considered out of which 28 new wells were constructed In bad." But this is not all. "The khedut instead this manner, the total number of wells construoted of being a listless indifferent cultivator, beset with for the Harijans during the last eight years standa tbe ever-present fear of his creditor attaching his at 139 at a cost of Rs. 21,512. Besides this, a sum harvested crops, has now begu n to put more heart of Rs. 15,000 was provided for digging and deepen­ and industry into his work ·owing to a sense of ing village tanks with the result that 20 old; greater security." tanks have been dredged at a cost of Rs. U.926. The efforts of the State to wean the Hariians from. All tb is is satisfactory so far as it their detestable habit of eating the flesh of dead. goes. But the real problem cannot be said animals have unfortunately not come. to muoh. to have been solved unless ste:ps are These efforts now take the shape of finding an taken to prevent the farmer from contract­ alternative use for carrion. To this end the Hari­ ing fresh debts, and those too at exorbitant jans are being persuaded to use carrion as manure. rates of interest. So long as the ryot on We hope the next report will tell us something. aocount of his ignorance is unable to understand about the Harijans' reactions t9 this well-meant his own interest and to do without borrowing, move on the part of the State. oases of the redeemed debtors themselves taking debts anew cannot in the nature of things be The State's cruaade against" hotels "-we sup­ altogether a thing of the ~ past. And the report pose the authorities mean restaurants-in villages says that .. there have been stray cases might appear to be somewhat startling to people~ of borrowing at usurious rates. " " But not familiar with the bad use that is made of protection against such practices is given by them. The following justification for the step the Khedut Protection Act which has been given in the report will be found interesting: passed simultaneously with the scheme, while Hotels in villages were a growing naisanoe. They many farmers have been permanently persuaded to frequently beoame the haunts of the rough. and,' abandon their habit of incurring debt ..... (Our vagabonds of :the village. and occasionally beoame gambling dens. They encouraged unDeoessary and italics). We wish the report had told us more about frequent drinking of the jnjurious stuff, offered under the means adopted to bring about this consummation the name of tea whioh undermined the villager's of a permanent change in the habits of the farmer. physique, rendering him unfit for a hard and' It may be that the money-lender is now under industrious life so essential for suooessful agriculture a legal obligation to charge only moderate rates of They made the villager &. waster and an idler. . interest and is consequently very sparing in giving Orders have, we read, been passed for closing all credit to the farmer. And this curtailment in the existing hotels and prohibiting the opening of farmer's credit can by no means be looked upon new ones in non-municipal villages. as· an unmixed evil. Be that as it may, suffice it to note that, this aspect of the farmer's debt As is well-known, Bhavnagar has distinguish­ redemption problem is being kept constantly in view ed itself by introducing prohibition of drink~ by the authorities of the State. within the State some years ago. Cologne water and some medical tinctures came subsequently to~ be used as substitutes for liquor. Their misuse BHAVNAGAR'S PROGRESS. as a drink is now prevented by making cologne At the end of the year to wbich the report water available only from the Medical department relates, the number of village panchayats in and medical tinctures from licensed chemists and Bbavnagar was 69, and 12 applications for the druggists only for medicinalpurposee. 80 far grant of village panchaYlits were under considera­ so good. An objection usually urged against tion. These village bodies differ from those in prohibition is that it leads to a growth British India in this, that wherever they are illicit distillation. Has prohibition in Bhavnagar formed. they take over the whole of the village led to such undesirable results? The State would administration including even the colleotion of land belp the cause of prohibition.in a practical manner· revenue, which, it is interesting to note, is "more if it teck the public into its confidence on this prompt and regular" in the case of panchayat point. villages than in those of non-panchayat ones. As regards their constitution. while the State has Attempts to deal with the nuisance of stray flamed a standard; one for adoption by village ·dogs are generally recognised to be a part of APRIL 20, 1939, ] THE SERVANT OF INDIA :07 
: ,municipal duties. So they are. in BhaVnag81' too, the Paramount. Power. ,This.'it seems to us, Ie a · Bue the methods of dealing with' the nuisance necessary ooping Jlt!>ne to the eoonomlo and oth,er · '-adopted in the State differ ftom those adopted reforms .. whioIi the: State has I!-lready introduCed ~lsewhere. While in British India stray dogs are and pr~poses tq" introduce. far ,the' ben~fit of · destroyed, though, to one's regret, not to the IIxtent its people. -desired, in Bhavnagar they are caught and tra~ ;'ported to·, different parts' of. the State. whioh , means, not the oomplete. elimination. of the nui. ~tvitw •. "sance but merely, its transfer", from one. locality r · ·to another, The; difference In methods is to be' traced to the strong aversion to killing :prevailing' INDIAN HISTORICAL CQNGRESS, .J • I',' ! I, j' in Gujerat and Kathiaw81' which does not allow ALL INDIA MODERN HISTORY CONGRESS. ;the killing even of such 'dangerous animals as; FIRST' SESSION. POONA,. 1936•. PRO· ~snakes. But. if things are to go on as. they ar~ CEEDINGS. (General Searetary, BharalJ Itih..sa ',going on. the question for practical consideration; Samshodhaka Mandala.Poonal, 1938, 210m , , '." . '.. ' t is whether' if the nuisance is merely to" be tran8-1 .Ra. 3. . . , '1erred from one locality to another and not to bel IT was a happy idea .whioh suggested itself Ito ~ completely eliminated. it is worth whiI~ spending the Bharat Itihasa Samsbodhaka Mandala, Poona, ~~ny part of public funds on t.hat account. Does, an organisation whioh through the. researoheS'" of It not amount to waste? its scholars has been richly oontributing to the.field , of Indian ·historical scienoe, to have organised the All India Modern History Congress; on the ooca. Eduoation is fairly widespread in Bhavnagar\ 'sian of its Silver Jubilee Celebrations. The objeot al will be seen from the following figures ... ,T\le of the Congress whioh was held at Poona 'in JUlle, 1935 was to organise a body that will number of eduoatlonal institutions in the State: serve as the focus of Indian historioal research irose' by; 11 to' 496, while the number' of pupils oonducted in several parts of India. The period rose by nearly 2,000 to over 42,000, thl! primar,. to whloh' the Congress oonfined Its attention was · stage acoounting for more tha n a haJf of the the period of Indian History from the Muham. · rise In number. It is well that the State shows madan invasion!!, that is, the modern period of no tendenoy to be satisfied with the progress so Indian history. The book before us contains the speeohes- delivered,~ the ~ papers read and the Te80' ·f81' made or to rest on its oars, but is taking lutions passeciat the. Qonferenoe.- , . further steps : towards greater- eduoatlonar·· expan, It was in the fitness. of things that Dr. Sir ; sian. But such steps being ()n' a voluntary basis Shafaat Ahmed Khan WIIS chosen BB the Presi­ · oannot go far enough. It seems essential, spe~ dent, of the Congress. Dr. Khan belongs to the I ciaJly in view of the active interest of the State band of earnest scholars who have done, so much in the eoonomio improvement of the farmer, that to elucidate the annals of India either 'by their own oontributions or by training research workers. · the whole field of universalisation Ofedlloation · The suggestions that he has made to improve the should bs oovered as soon as possible, and the. • methods, c( historical res981'oh will therefore oarry only handy and also remunerative remedy from greatweight.·•. LimitaUons of space forbid', ,UB from that point of view is oompulsory eduoation. And enumerating' all his IlUggestions; we theref~e .J:ive lit is a. matter of surprise to' us. that a propserous a few of them. " . ..sla~e like Bhavnagar, whloh oan easily afford the .He wants research scholars not to be swayed ,additional expense, should have so long delayed its by' considerations of oommunity, creed or province introduotlon. We hopa it will not ba long before · in interpreting' historical faots; he wants them,•. te rise above' seotarian prejudices. He disoourages ;we are In a' position to copgratulata Bhavnagar the attempts 'of some soholars to trace the genea­ 'upon the, Introduotion of. such aver".. neOessary logy of a partioular royal family. Specialisation .and desirable reform. has its own advantages; but too nanow a speoia. lisation is bad. ., HiSt~ should; be written in .. relation to It Is matter for great regret, that:' though India as a whole. He also wants scholars to 13havnagar 10 otherwise so progressive, politically throw more light on periods 8uoh as the Post­ jt i. very backward. So far as oan be seen from AUrang£eb Mughal period, the Arab oonquest of the report, there is no legislative oounoil or even Sindh, Muhamud Ghar!, the Sayyids and Lodle a representative assembly in the State and even and Mughal Administration. He' suggests the pUblioation of a new and revised edition' of Elliot 'the munlolpalities, barring tbat of Bhavnag81' and Downson's "History of India" for he feels that whloh has an eleotive majority of a sort; oontinu~ oertain passages of that history have not been to be mera State departments. No better proof properly . translated. The Presidential' Address Ie of the. politloal bsokwardness of th~ Kathiawar full of many more useful suggestions and we would :States is needed th"n the fact that. even ~ State request the reader to go through them carefully. We would also draw the attention of the reader ·llke . Bhavnagar does not yet see the 'need of to Dr. S. Kriehnaswamy Aiyangar's address at the 09stabliahlng a legislative oounoil. We hope the opening of the Historical Exhibition. as well aa ~tate wlll 8ee .the wiodom and far-sightedness of to the papers read at the Historical Congress. establishing one In the Ilear future without wait-. M. V, SUlIlU.HMANY£lI. Jug for the neoessary pressure .being applied by . 208 THE aERVANT OJ!' INDIA r APRIL to. 1939~ SHORT NOTICE. dMerminaUon of reasonable rent .hould< be made applicabla \0 all tenant. tn URBAN WORKING CLASS COST OF LIVING general and should not be restrioted to. INDEX NUMBERS(1937) INTHE PUNJAB. proteoted tenants. By RAM LA!. (Board of Economio Inquiry, Punjab, Labore.) 1938. 2'cm. lOp. As. 8. (v) A new olause should be Inserted giving· power to a civn court, on an applioa-· THE Publication under review is the second year's tion being made to it, to declare a issue dealing with the cost of living at Sialkot, tenant to have acquired the status of Ludhiana, Rohtak, Labore and Multan. It is a a proteoted tenant if he can establish result of tbeCOooperatiQ!l 9f the Board with the the fact of his landlord being a habitua}. Director of Industries. It is a small but usefnl rant-receiver and having no other Interest publication of ten pages with oharts and tables. The method of computing the index numbers is in the land. simple and explained in detail. It is a matter (vi) A provision should be inserted in· of common knowledge that the working classes the Bill giving a tenant the right have some debt. Payment of interest on this oompulsorily to acquire by purohase debt is I/o regular item of cost ~o them, from ownership of land from the landowner their scanty wages. Yet the payment on this at a price to be fixed at a reasonable aooount does not figure in the cost of living. multiple of the ren*- Similarly a provi­ Though payment of interest is not an item· of sion should be made securing to the direct oost of living, it is certainly so indirectly tenant the right of pre-emption in case as the debt is incurred not for productive purposes, the landlord should wish to sell away but for consumption. his land. The publication is very handy and is bound to be useful to all interested in the problems of ------industrial labour. K. M. SHAH, JUST OUT! JUST OUT I Primary Education In India ~i.Gttllant.ou.G. From the Poor Man's Point of View By DINKAR DESAI, M.A., LL.B. Member, Servants of India Society THE BOMBAY LAND TENANCY BILL. Fine get-up .. Antique Paper ::Pages 128 THE DECOAN SABRA'S VIEws. Price Reo 1/4 net. The Council of the Deccan Sabha welcomes o an "" had of:- tbe Bill as an attempt on the part of the local (I) Servants 01ln41a Society, Bombay ... . Government to do justice to the long-suffering l-______(:0) International Book Service, Poona ... . =-'., class of tenants in this Presidency. But, in the opinion of the Council, the Bill does _not go far enough. The aims ma.inly kept in VI~W by t~e Council in recommending the cbanges In the Bill are three: (1) Enlargment of the class. of protect­ ed tenants to be newlY created and Increase of the amount of proteotion to be afforded to them ; BHULABHAI DESAI'S (2) Improvement of the conditions of tenants in general; and (3) Provision of faoilities for the SPEECHES tenant acquiring ownership of the land. ~e more Published in Book Form. Of parti­ important of the ch~nges proposed With these cular interest to students of Politics. objeots are the follOWing: Law. Economics and Commerce. ( i) The status of a proteoted tenant should The Book contains the great leader's be accorded to the tenants of all land­ lectures on these and other subjects lords, irresp~ctive of the size of the of national interest. latter's holding. Price: ( ii) A larger element of elastioUy should be introduced in the payment of rent Rs. 3/8/- India and provision made for a court's deoree Sh. 7/6/- Foreign before a tenant loses his protected status. PostOflB e:r:tra. ( iii ) A landlord should be given the right to Can be had of all leading booksellers, resume land let .to a protected tenant for personal cultivation only if the total WHEELERS BOOK STALLS. I, holding of the landlord does not exceed 01' please write to: five acres in extent. G. A. NATESAN & COMPANY, ( iv) The provisions concerning oompensation Publishers. MADRAS. for improvements made by a tenant and .- --- _. - --- Printed and PubUah.dby M;'-V1th.;) Ha~i Ba-.... at th~-A.."abhuohan Pr.... 915/1 Bhamburda PIth, Poona CI"" Edii.d ai ih. "Sernlli ofIndia" om •• , S.... anu of India 8001.",'. Home, Poona" by Mr. S. G. Vue.