May, 1910.] 



120 



Miscellaneous, 



were famines in the pre-British days, 

 the helpless mouths to be fed were not 

 as bewilderingly numerous as they are 

 now —and that there were no exports 

 of food grains in those days — neither 

 Railways nor Ralli Brothers. So, to no 

 small extent, both the combatants may 

 be said to have been arguing in a circle — 

 losing complete sight of the essential 

 necessities of the situation. The people 

 must accept the inevitable— the existence 

 of British supremacy, and cultivate the 

 art of adapting themselves to existent 

 circumstances. Since irrigation on any 

 colossal scale is non est, and so the 

 expansion of the area cultivated im- 

 possible, their only salvation lies in 

 eking out the maximum of product from 

 the land already under cultivation, by 

 nourishing it with artificial means and 

 scientific luethods and make it yield far 

 more than it has hitherto or ever before 

 done. On the other hand, the British 

 authorities should also remember that 

 since Railway extension, heavy land 

 assessment, Income and Salt taxes, a 

 perfect but ruinously costly system of 

 administration, a heavy military outlay, 

 etc., are unavoidable in the circumstances 

 of the case, their best genius, bona fides 

 and energy should be directed towards 

 helping the productive capacity of the 

 agriculturist, who represents more than 

 eighty per cent, of the population, in 

 order that he may be able simultaneously 

 to support his aggravatingly multiplied 

 brood, as also to meet the demands made 

 upon him by the exigencies of a foreign 

 domination. It will thus be seen that 

 the unprofitable process of arguing in a 

 circle has gone on too long. The people 

 must do a good deal in the matter and 

 the Government a great deal more. 

 "What Government ought to do in the 

 matter has been stated so unequivocally 

 and so repeatedly by responsible Indian 

 thinkers and politicians, that we will not 

 to-day look into this side of the question. 

 We have no doubt, that with the pro- 

 mising era of reform that will shortly 

 open, Government will do the needful in 

 the matter of lessening the burden of 

 the Land-tax, taking up in hand, more 

 seriously than hitherto, the question of 

 irrigation, and providing every possible 

 facility to the ignorant Indian agri- 

 culturist for improving his own lot. 

 But, on the other hand, the Indian culti- 

 vator must be made to realise that his 

 beloved " mother earth " loves him as 

 much as she did his forefathers, but that 

 she is completely exhausted, through 

 more than the proverbial thousand and 

 one causes, and that she cannot now 

 provide for him and his brood of un- 

 earning and unheeding progeny, unless 

 she is better taken eare of. Herein lies 



the crux of the question. There has 

 been so much talk lately about ideals — 

 Swadeshi and others — that absolutely 

 nothing has been done towards, what we 

 may call, a practical awakening — parti- 

 cularly in the matter of an agricultural 

 revival. Efforts in this direction have 

 spasmodically been made, in a dilettante 

 sort of manner. But unless the country, 

 as a whole, realises the necessity of 

 introducing such reforms as can alone 

 make the land yield enough to meet the 

 needs of the ever-increasing population, 

 it is bootless to hope that the prospects 

 of the " staple " industry of the land 

 can in any way improve. 



But, to come to the point. Since 

 " passive resistance," and such other 

 shiboleths have reached a high level of 

 suicidal aggressiveness, and have proved 

 miserable failures, does it not behove all 

 honest patriots to try their best to 

 inspire, encourage and revive the agri- 

 cultural industry ? So far as the 

 Bombay Presidency is concerned, the 

 Hon. Sir Muir Mackenzie has been try- 

 ing all along his best. He may be said 

 to have been the father of agricultural 

 conferences in this presidency. That his 

 interest in this important question has 

 not a bit abated can best be gathered 

 from the fact, that he presided this week 

 at the inauguration of the Deccan Agri- 

 cultural Association in Poona. The 

 remarkable speech which the Senior 

 Member of the Bombay Couucil made 

 on the occasion should be most carefully 

 studied by everybody interested in the 

 improvement of agriculture. The Agri- 

 cultural Association just started in the 

 capital of the Deccan is a move in the 

 right direction. We have pointed out 

 above how, through various causes, the 

 productiveness of the land has deterior- 

 ated- The only remedy for improving 

 the position lies in bringing home to the 

 ryot the importance and paramount 

 necessity of adopting latest scientific 

 methods. There must, in fact, be a 

 regular and continuous campaign of 

 agricultural education. In this respect 

 it must be admitted that the Bombay 

 Government have done a good deal. 

 Thanks to the living interest taken in 

 the subject by the Plon. Sir Muir 

 Mackenzie, an Agricultural College has 

 been established and a number of scho- 

 larships offered. The various Govern- 

 ment farms also practically illustrate 

 what can be done in the matter of 

 improved agriculture. But these .in- 

 stitutions cannot possibly reach the gen- 

 eral mass of cultivators. This work must 

 be undertaken by local bodies like 

 the Association just started at Poona — 

 there must be at least one for each 



