WORK IN NATIVE STATES 99 



lift up hearts in gratitude to the Maharajah for the gen- 

 erous service rendered by this ship. He equipped and 

 maintained a hospital in equatorial Africa. He sent all 

 kinds of comforts to the troops. His own army, with 

 equipment, was placed at the disposal of the British and 

 maintained by him all during the war and was out of In- 

 dia for a good part of the war. His generosity was gen- 

 uine and very far reaching. His example did a great 

 deal to keep India loyal all through the dark days of the 

 war. When the British government was very short of 

 gold and silver coins the Maharajah let them have large 

 amounts from his state treasury which helped to avert 

 a financial panic. He is said to keep more small change 

 on hand than any other person on earth. 



The Maharajah is not only a generous ruler but ex- 

 ceedingly wise and sagacious and generally takes the 

 long view. When he came to the throne his state was 

 one of the most precarious, agriculturally, in the whole 

 of India, and, because of the uncertain rainfall, more 

 subject to famine than almost any other part of India. 

 He called in the leading irrigation engineer of India 

 then at the height of his fame. This engineer spent 

 several years in working out an irrigation program 

 which would protect the state in years when the rain- 

 fall was deficient or entirely lacking. This program is 

 being carried out very successfully by an Indian engi- 

 neer. This program has involved the building of enor- 

 mous storage reservoirs and the laying of hundreds of 

 miles of canals. The whole has cost approximately 

 eleven million dollars and the end is not yet. The pro- 

 gram is still going on. When this program is completed 

 this state will then be the most secure of all the Indian 

 states, instead of one of the most precarious. The main 



