Miscellaneous. 



■129 



[May, 1910. 



Now I waut to give even Blue Thistle 

 its due, and if any one will show cause 

 why this weed should not be extermin- 

 ated, I shall be very glad to hear it. I 

 particularly desire evidence that stock 

 eat it, not an odd nibble, but use it as 

 food. 



[This is the yellow llowei^ed thistle- 

 like poppy, not infrequent as a weed in 

 the dry country, e.g., about Elephant 

 Pass.— Ed.] 



CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIETIES: 



Proceedings of the Fourth Con- 

 ference of Registrars. 



(Prom the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. 

 XXXV,, No. 2, February 1, 1910.) 

 One of the most interesting chapters 

 of the Proceedings of the Fourth Con- 

 ference of Registrars of Co-operative 

 Credit Societies is the report of the 

 discussion on the question how best to 

 encourage the assistance of non-officials. 

 In some parts of India this problem 

 has not to be faced. Mr. Ramachandra 

 Rao, of Madras, stated that he had 

 more offers of non-official aid than he 

 could make use of. But iu Bengal and 

 in some other Proviuces public spirit 

 among leading men has apparently not 

 risen to the level which it has attained 

 in Madras, and it has become necessary 

 to consider seriously how the help which 

 is ungrudgingly given in European coun- 

 tries and in Madras can be secured. 

 The discussion was opened by Mr. 

 Buchan, who in a brief paper described 

 the present condition of affairs. The 

 Registrar in most Provinces is no longer 

 able to undertake the very important 

 work of propaganda. It is as much 

 as he cau do to supervise the societies 

 already in existence. Owiug to the lack 

 of local organisers he has been put in 

 the position of a financing agency, an 

 arrangement which Mr. Buchan rightly 

 declares to be unsound. If the Co-oper- 

 ative Societies are to have any life in 

 them, and to embody a healthy spirit 

 of self-help, they must be able to attract 

 local capital instead of relying upon 

 such loans as the Registrar is able to 

 arrange with the aid of a few philan- 

 thropists, and obviously if a loan to a 

 Co-operative Society is a safe investment 

 yielding a reasonable return on the 

 security, money ought to be forthcom- 

 ing locally from those who know the 

 society and its work. Further, agricul- 

 tural co-operation admits of many varie- 

 ties of form, which are indeed neces- 

 sary if full advantage is to be taken 

 of its principles. One locality needs one 



kind of co-operation, a second locality 

 requires another. Different forms are 

 indeed in vogue in almost every Pro- 

 vince in India. So much depends, how- 

 ever, on the locality and its special 

 needs that for the successful adaptation 

 of co-operative credit to local peculiar- 

 ities the assistance of local men is 

 essential. All these facts points to the 

 necessity of enlisting the aid of a suffi- 

 cient number of voluntary organisers. 

 But the main ground upon which 

 such help must be obtained is that 

 tersely stated by Mr. Buchan : — " In 

 no country has co-operation become 

 a force until it has become a popular 

 movement. And so it will be in India." 

 Believing, as we do, that in the adop- 

 tion, on a national scale, of the prin- 

 ciples of co-operative credit will be 

 found the remedy for the want of 

 capital and the heavy indebtedness 

 from which Indian Agriculture is suffer- 

 ing, and recognising that only by means 

 of the assistance of the educated classes 

 can the movement become popular in 

 India, we are convinced that nc effort 

 should be spared to make the work of 

 superintending societies attractive to 

 men who have the requisite education 

 and leisure. Mr. Buchan's suggestion 

 is that District Co-operative Committees 

 should be formed, composed of members 

 really interested in co-operative credit, 

 whose object it should be to spread 

 co-operative principles, work out schemes 

 for the formation of new societies, and 

 supervise these societies when formed. 

 It is not improbable that this idea 

 would prove effective. This disinclin- 

 ation to personal service may be in some 

 measure due to ignorance of what res- 

 ponsibility is involed and of what 

 should be done. A committee would 

 remove these difficulties and be a means 

 of training uew members in the prac- 

 tical application of co- operative princi- 

 ples. Mr. Buchan proposes that the 

 District Officer should be honorary 

 president of the District Committee. 

 This feature of his scheme is scarcely 

 necessary, and lays it open to the criti- 

 cism offered by Mr. Fremantle that 

 <! societies started by promineut men 

 in order to please the Collector would 

 not do any useful work." There is no 

 reason why the District Officer should 

 not give all the aid that he can, but it 

 should be distinctly understood that 

 only willing helpers are wanted, and 

 that those who are not interested are 

 disqualified. Two Indian Registrars are 

 of opinion that the Government ought 

 to recognise the work of the honorary 

 organisers in some appropriate manner. 

 They may be presumed to know the 

 failings of their own men of light and 



