March, 1912.] 



241 Agricultural Finance & Co operation. 



There are, doubtless, in'many parts of 

 the Islands, varieties of crops which 

 have been introduced or which may have 

 originated in particular sections that are 

 so much better than the average that 

 they could well be introduced more 

 widely in the same neighborhood and 

 tried in other places where the probabil- 

 ities indicate that they would succeed. 

 The Bureau is desirous of knowing of all 

 such cases as this and of receiving seeds 

 or plants with which it may experiment. 



Such co-operative demonstration work 

 can be carried on most effectively and 

 helpfully whe<! the location is such that 

 the fields may be visited and studied by 

 as many interested people as possible. 

 They should, except under special circum- 

 stances, be located near centres of popu- 

 lation, so that their effect may be made as 

 broad a9 possible through a knowledge 

 of the results coming to many people 

 in the immediate neighbourhood. The 

 Bureau is earnestly desirous of bringing 

 about a large amount of such co-oper- 

 ative work and will particularly welcome 

 helpful suggestions and requests from 

 those who are sufficiently interested to 

 join in such an arrangement. 



CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN BENGAL. 



(From the Indian Agriculturist, 

 Vol. XXXVI., No. 9, September 1, 1911.) 



The Annual Conference. 



The Co-operative Credit Conference 

 which was opened by the Hon. Mr. P. 

 A. Slacke, and which was dissolved into 

 Sub-Committees, resumed its sitting on 

 July 29 in the Committee Room at 

 Writers' Buildings. 



The Hon, Mr. J. G. Cumming in placing 

 the programme before the members 

 spoke as follows :— 



Gentlemen, — Before we proceed to the 

 business of the day, it is my privilege to 

 be permitted to offer to you a few observ- 

 ations on the co-operative movement ; 

 and for these I must ask your indulgence. 

 It is a matter of no small importance 

 that so many have gathered here from 

 all parts of the province to assist, by 

 contributions of individual experience 

 and by discussion of underlying princi- 

 ples in promoting the spread of a know- 

 ledge of the principle of co-operation 

 and the welfare of the people at large. 

 It is an altruistic movement, as there is 

 little to be gained from it beyond a con- 

 sciousness of having done one's duty. Let 

 us consider among the many possible 

 subjects three main heads :— What is the 

 root principle of co-operation ; what has 

 the organisation done so far ; and what 

 it should do in the future. 

 31 



An Illustration prom JEsoi?. 



The principle of the Co-operative move- 

 ment may be explained by any one of 

 you to an enquirer on the lines of 

 iEsop's fable of a bundle of sticks. The 

 total credit of a number of people 

 bended together is greater than the 

 total of their individual credits. It is 

 the watchword of the United States of 

 America—" United we stand, divided we 

 fall." Now while the advance in the 

 direction of urban societies and share 

 banks is to be welcomed, while each 

 little step in co-operation assists the 

 formation of thrift, mutual help and 

 respect for constituted authority, yet it 

 is among the Agriculturists— at least two- 

 thirds of the population of India — that 

 the forward movement is most desirable 

 through the agency of rural societies. 

 The idea is not unfamiliar to the agri- 

 culturists. The system of taccavi loans 

 is well understood, a system under 

 which Government lends money to 

 raiyats on their joint personal security ; 

 a system also which has the supreme 

 advantage of preserving their self-res- 

 pect. Now amongst the agricultural 

 classes of this country, who are not so 

 individualistic as are some membeis of 

 their class in some other parts of the 

 world, you have a congenial and fertile 

 soil in which the seeds of their great 

 movement may be sown. 



Work in the Past. 



The next point of consideration is what 

 has been done ? The movement in Ben- 

 gal is practically only seven years old ; 

 and the name of Mr. Gourlay will be 

 revered in future years as its godfather. 

 Three Provincial Conferences have been 

 held ; delegates have been sent to five 

 All India Conferences. But consider — 

 Bengal, Behar andOrissa have roughly a 

 population of fifty million. The total 

 membership last year was only 35,000, 

 and if rural societies be alone considered, 

 almost 30,000. Now, what is the pro- 

 portion of, say, thirty thousand unites 

 to, say, thirty million agriculturists ? 

 Take again the working capital : the 

 total amount last year was only eleven 

 lakhs. There are many jute mills on the 

 Hoogly whose individual p* id tip capital 

 is far greater than that. The effect on 

 the economic condition of the province 

 is therefore minute. But do not let that 

 discourage you. During the past year 

 there has been in Bengal much praise- 

 worthy progress, on which Mr. Buchan, 

 Babu Jamiui Mohan Mitra and their 

 noble band of co-adjutors throughout 

 the province are to be cordially congratu- 

 lated. There has been an increase 

 in comparison with the previous 



