148 THE HUMAN FACTOK 



arrangement is not conducive to progress, though it, 

 no doubt, has its advantages from the point of view 

 of an easy-going cultivator with simple tastes and 

 no ambition. These have not the incentive or the 

 organisation that would make them really effective 

 either as peasant proprietors or as paid labourers, 

 and it is the case with them in at least as marked a 

 degree as with the land-holders or labourers that they 

 do less work than they formerly used' to do. This 

 general tendency is a matter for serious consideration. 

 In one way it is satisfactory, in another way it is not 

 so. We may rejoice that the raiyat no longer lives 

 in the hand-to-mouth condition of former days when 

 numbers of men were available in any village at a few 

 minutes notice for a wage of 4 annas a day, and 

 when a single crop failure sent a large part of the 

 population flocking to relief works ; but we should 

 like to see him use his advantage to strengthen his 

 position. The victory is not yet won, and he cannot 

 afford to stand still while his rivals in other countries 

 are progressing. If each economic advantage gained 

 is to be the signal for a relaxation of effort, if improved 

 methods of farming are to serve not only to increase 

 the crop but also to swell the ranks of non-workers, 

 is any marked progress possible ? The question is one 

 which will repay consideration, but in propounding the 

 question it is not intended to suggest pessimism. The 

 economic position of the labouring classes in many 

 countries has changed greatly for the better during 

 the past century, and they have used their advantage, 



