Feb. 1908.J 



149 



Miscellaneous. 



the sincerity and thoroughness of this 

 desire. In discussing the work of an 

 organiser he says: — "It is essential 

 that its character should be non-official 

 as far as possible. Formal inspections 

 made with the object of detecting 

 petty mistakes in the accounts are not 

 wanted. Such inspections would do 

 harm rather than good." The note of 

 sincerity is manifest here, for if there is 

 one thing dearer to the official soul than 

 any other, it is the detection of " petty 

 mistakes in the accounts." Another indi- 

 cation of the wish of the Government to 

 respect the independence of these Socie- 

 ties is to be found in their finances. The 

 report of the Registrar shows that only 

 26 per cent, of the capital of the Societies 

 comes from Government sources, the rest 

 being derived from zemindars, from 

 investors, and from the locality. Insti- 

 tutions which obtain three-fourths of 

 their capital without Government help 

 are surely not to be banned as official 

 proteges, especially as the State woidd 

 offer no opposition if its small share in 

 the undertaking were to be paid off. 

 We can only hope that, as the real 

 character of the Societies becomes better 

 known, Raiffeisens may be forthcoming 

 by the score in rural Bengal. Failing a 

 supply of suitable organisers, Sir Andrew 

 Fraser's suggestion of grouping village 

 societies in District Unions may supply 

 the necessary control over individual 

 Societies. But the Co-operative Society 

 should be strictly local, and it would be 

 a great pity if this characteristic were 

 marred by lack of public spirit among 

 those competent to help. 



II. 



At first sight nothing could be more 

 improbable than that Co-operative 

 Credit Societies would prove successful 

 in India, for, though the ryots are 

 accustomed to a good deal of common 

 action in the regulation of village life, 

 they have not the reputation of reposing 

 much trust in one another. But the 

 unlikely has happened, and from Eastern- 

 Bengal, as from other provinces, there 

 come glowing accounts of the very 

 promising character of this new move- 

 ment. In fact one is almost led to fear 

 that the official view ot the nascent 

 institutions is somewhat too optimistic 

 and to urge the need of a more cautious 

 estimate of their success. One cannot 

 but remember that at one time it was 

 hoped that Co-operative Societies would 

 work the economic salvation of the 

 English labouring classes. But though 

 the Co-operative movement in England 

 has grown to great dimensions and has 

 undoubtedly contributed largely to- 

 wards making provident men more 

 prosperous and independent, it has not 

 20 



yet abolished the middle-man and his 

 profit. The difficulties which Co-oper- 

 ative Societies in India have to overcome 

 are still greater. To one of these ob- 

 stacles the Lieutenant-Governor of 

 Eastern-Bengal draws attention in the 

 Resolution on the subject, when he says 

 that it cannot yet be predicted in all 

 cases how far the Societies " will be able 

 to withstand the determined opposition, 

 evident through the report, which is 

 being offered to them by that class of 

 money-lenders who have for many 

 years kept the cultivating classes in 

 their clutches by a system of loans which 

 forever preclude any chance of repay- 

 ment." The position of the bannia is 

 one which is hard to assail. Extor- 

 tionate as his exactions are, he has, 

 unhappily, for a long period been abso- 

 lutely essential to the villager, acting, in 

 short, as a kind of minor Providence who 

 charges highly for his services. In 

 hundreds of villages the ryot could not 

 maintain himself until the harvest with- 

 out the assistance of the bannia, and to 

 get his daily food he is content to see 

 himself becoming more and more in- 

 volved in debt until his land, if he has 

 any, passes out of his hands and he is 

 reduced to the level of a labourer. The 

 bannia is not likely to surrender with 

 out a hard fight the profitable pro- 

 fession which he carries on, and it is 

 obvious that in the precarious position 

 of the ryot and his existing indebtedness 

 he has the means of applying almost 

 irresistible pressure. Strange to say, 

 however, though he has been to some 

 extent successful in preventing the for- 

 mation of Co-operative Societies, he has 

 not contrived to break up any already 

 formed. " The usual tactics to break 

 the Societies have been employed," ob- 

 serves the Lieutenant-Governor, "and 

 mony-lenders have refused to lend to the 

 members in times of hardship, but in 

 spite of this they have stood their 

 ground, and, except in two cases, have 

 worked at a profit," This is one of the 

 most satisfactory features of the Reso- 

 lution. Apparently it is to be explained 

 by admirable qualities which the ryot 

 reveals in the new experiment. He is 

 learning to trust his neighbour, while at 

 the same time he is evincing a business- 

 like caution which leads him to take 

 prompt measures against defaulters. 

 That the Societies are well managed is 

 shown by their financial result. They 

 have not all been able to pay a dividend 

 of 15 per cent, like the Shillong Society, 

 but, as already indicated, all have 

 worked at a profit with the exception of 

 two which, through some misappre- 

 hension, made no use of their capital for 

 a large part of the year. The movement 

 is, of course, at present in its infancy. 



