The annual congress for social and political reform meets generally about Christmas, and before it commences the various Provincial branches hold their meetings so as draw up a programme. During the past fortnight the Bombay Provincial Congress has met and has discussed several points of public importance. The Congress has been in existence for about 15 years and has passed through various stages. It was organised with the idea of forming a medium through which the wants and wishes of the people could be represented to the Government of India, and all the principal towns and districts are represented by delegates elected by the local Committees. At first the tone of the Congress was fairly moderate. The members ara for the most part Hindus and chiefly from the lawyer class. In course of time a considerable amount of Bradlaughism crept in and the resolutions were apt to become captious and revolutionary. This led to the formation of an anti-league, constituted principally by Mahomedans under the leadership of the late Sir Sod Ahmed. This still exists, but has not very great influence. Of late years the Congress, having passed through its "Sturm und Drang" period, has considerably sobered down. Aboro all things it professes the utmost loyalty to the Crown, but exercises the same amount of criticism of Government measures as the Opposition does to the Government in Parliament. This of course is quite justifiable, and it must be owned that the Congress rarely goes so far as even the legitimate Opposition does, and never as far as the extreme Radicals and the Irish obstructionists. In_ the Bombay meeting the President, a Hindu named Mr. Sctalvad, in his opening ad-ress enumerated several heads for discussion. One of the first of these was the matter of the guests invited to attend the London Coronation, and the attempt—happily frustrated—of Lord George Hamilton to make India pay for their cost. Public opinion at home and in India was so strong that Lord George had to climb down, but the attempt, and especially the answer of the Secretary for India when questioned in Parliament that: "It is not a question of consulting the Indian Government, the Indian Council is supreme," caused a good deal of indignation. Even the "Pioneer," the leader of Indian newspapers, remarked "that it was answers of this kind which are calculated to do a vast amount of mi chief politically, for they show cynical i difference to Indian interests and make it appear that the Secretary of State can squander our revenues without the slightest check from this side." The manner in which the English public opinion expressed itself leads the President of the Congress to the very proper conclusion that the English are 2 justice-loving people if only they are rightly informed, and that there fore there is cause for encouragement to carry on a political campaign for rousing British public opinion on Indian questions. Regarding True Imperialism and the Delhi Durbar, the president made some sensible remarks regarding the inflated enthusiasm in many quarters in respect to this great function, the preparations for which now overshadow every other question. It has been said that the ceremony will exemplify India's "new found solidarity" and " will mark her entry into her proper place in international affairs," and " the fruition of those aspirations towards unity which her own people were never able to fulfil" and will give expression to her "real emergence from provincialism." The President, alluding to Lord Curzon's masterly defence of the Durbar, to which I have already alluded, points out that these expressions convey noble and lofty sentiments and aspirations that are dear to the heart of many an Indian. But, he very pointedly adds, India, in taking her part in the burden and responsibilities of the empire, has a right to expect ber share in the corresponding rights and privileges. He trusts that these noble sentiments will not be confined to words, and asks whether it is in keeping with them that Indians should have not only absolutely no voice in the administration of their country, but that the~ should be excluded from all the responsible and higher posts of the administration? This it appears to mo is fair, honest critiesm, and as such deserves every consideration and respect. The other heads of discussion refer to topical subjects which I do not propose to discuss at present. Ho dwells also at some length on the much vexed question of University Reform, and with some reason, whilst admitting the laudable motives of the Commission to improve the standard of education, finds fault with the meagre constitution of the Commission and with its hurried and brief work, the whole infor-motion having been gathered in the space of two months. This also is a subject which I shall reserve for future consideration. and West."
At the commencement of this year a new magazine was started in Bomba} under the title of "East and West," the editor being the well-known Parsee journalist Mr. Malabari, a man of broad and enlightened views. The magazine has on its staff some well-known writers both in England and India and seems likely to prove a success, as far at least as a magazine in this country can be suc cessful. In the October number there is a very pertinent though short paper by Dr. Murdoch on "the Indian ryots," in which he makes the suggestion that the real reason of the ryots' indebtedness: is to be found in our having abolished the old system of Turkkcavi, or advances. There is very sound sense in this. For more than 25 years public attention has been drawn to the growing indebtedness of the Indian ryot, or land-holder to the village soucar, The evil has at len assumed such huge dimensions that Government is at a loss to find a remedy for it. In many districts and provinces, a great proportion of the land has pra' tically passed out of the ryot's hands, for though he may still be' the registered holder it is the soucar who pays his rent and who takes his produce ihiist the nominal owner is little more than an unpaid servant of the money-lender, to whom he is bound to give his crop at a price far below its actual value. Of late Fears a great deal has been said of agricultural banks as the only panacea for this evil, and in many districts they have been actually introduced. But they have not as a rule obtained the success that was anticipated, and in many parts they have actually proved a failure. The fact is that a bank, however benevolent may be its intention, must have certain fixed rules; it cannot go on giving advances without security, and there must be a punctuality of repayment on the part of the debtors to enable the bank to carry on its business or else it will find itself saddled with a lot of a land which it is unable to do anything with. The agricultural bank in stich' a condition would collapse in the same way as some years ago the banks which had advanced so largely to coffee plantations had to suspend payment. Now, this punctuality of repayment is just what the Indian ryot does not like. There is an elasticity about the village money-lender's rules—up to a certain point—which enables the cureless and shortsighted ryot to go on borrowing for years, until at last tholimit is reached and he finds himself body and soul in the grip of the money-lender, to whom he has to look for his very subsistence in ordi ary years. This no doubt is why with each' succeeding famine we find an ever increasing proportion of the people haviog recourse to famine relief. But when we commenced to assume the trid revenue administration of the country we found a long established custom in force, under which the ryot received annually' an advance for the coming year after his crop had been reaped and the rent for the past season had been adjusted. This is what is called Turkkavi, and when it was properly administered there was not much room for the money-lender. The Government was the chief creditor and being the owner of the land had always a sw%icient security in the crop raised by mean-of the advance. This system, like so many other of the old systems, such as the village self-government system, we have done away with. This is how the great Sir Thomas Munro describes the mode of administering a province just taken over from a native Government 102 years ago. I quote from Mr. Gribble's genual of the Cuddapah district, publish ed under the auspices of the Madras Government. Writing on the 10th January, 1801, he says: "I have resolved to adopt four per cent of the gross settlement of the current year as the standard for granting tuckari (advance). By the gross settlement, I mean the sum total of land rent before deducting the collections under the Nizam's government. No district is in any instance to receive a greater proportion than four prr cent, though some may receive less when it does not appear that. the ryots stand in need of so nich." The distribution was left to. the Amildar (native revenue officer) and the purposes for which the advances were to be given were " various: the purchase of seed, of the implements
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.