Date: December 1909
Location: London
Speaker: Aga Khan III
Source: Speeches of Aga Khan III – K K Aziz
Full Text
Many writers on India have only a superficial knowledge of Indian problems – the political structure of the Indian government blessings brought by British rule -yet discontent exists- Indians would prefer British to German rule – possibility of German expan sion – impact of British rule – ambitions of the Indians – state of education and literacy-condition of agriculture – agricultural edu cation – systematic elementary education needed – the credit system in rural areas-agricultural indebtedness-how the standard of living of the farmers might be raised – travelling agricultural lecturers – cheap credit – co-operatives – political stability and capital investment – the role of the press – education will eliminate prejudice and bridge gulfs.
The complexity of modern life and the multiplicity of subjects which form the range of modern politics prevent the systematic study of some of the questions which cluster round the Imperial burden of Great Britain.
And whilst I make no apology for addressing my fellow citizens within that Empire, I do sincerely enter a caveat against one novel feature, unfortunately present to-day. It is the custom for persons all and sundry to visit the various districts of the Empire, and on returning home to publish a book upon their experiences of two or three months. No sane man can say that it is a bad thing for such journeys to take place. But equally no sane person can believe that two or three months’ tour can give more than a most cursory knowledge of the problems and history of the area visited.
Perhaps no portion of the Empire has suffered more in this respect than India. Almost every year there are issued to the British people what purport to be up-to-date books on India, containing crudely formed opinions set out with all the zeal of the enthusiastic traveller, but with little or none of the sifted knowledge of such a person as the trained Civil Servant, to whom the problems of India present most difficulty.
Much of the information is culled from the annual·’ Govern ment Reports, which the travellers, alas, in so many cases, read for the first time in India – yet of which the supply presented annually to the British Houses of Parliament shows a steady increase. If the same attention to these excellent annual reports were a tithe of that which is given to those of Canada and New Zealand, we of the Indian Empire would indeed be proud. It is not my intention within the compass of this short article to deal with more than one or two points, but I hope to direct British attention to some of the real problems of India.
It is hardly disputable that where discontent is constantly showing itself, there must be some cause for it. Just as restlessness in a human being indicates the approach of some ailment, so discontent points to some rankling sense of unfairness. IndiCi: as we know it to-day has been governed and developed under what is known as the Government of India Act of 1858, by which the Secretary of State for India is invested with all the powers of the old East India Company, being assisted in his Administrative work by a Council of not less than ten persons. This Council has no initiative authority. In all matters relating to foreign policy, or policy towards native States, or in matters in which secrecy is necessary, the Secretary of State can act on his own authority.
The Secretary of State is thus the supreme power as regards India, and being at a distance from the Dependency for which he is responsible, must consequently act on the information which reports give him, with such assistance as the members of his Council can supply.
This system in the hands of the present Secretary of State [Morley] has been slightly altered by the addition of one Indian gentleman to. the Viceroy’s Council, and of two others to the Secretary of State’s Council.
It is undeniable that India has under the system of 1858 made great progress, and has, whilst making progress, been learning something of the art of government. She has also learnt that under the rule of Great Britain property is secure -justice is meted out to all, while the Indian frontiers have not been crossed by a hostile foe. Peace, security, and justice are no mean achievements for any system of Government. But when there is allied to this a sympathetic and powerful Government, a condition of affairs exists for a series of Dependent States unprecedented in history.
Yet, in spite of all this, restlessness and discontent exist. What are the causes of this? And what can be done to avert the causes which have produced these feelings of irritation?
One obvious question is whether the inhabitants of India could expect better treatment from any other European nation? Would they, for instance, be better off under German administration with all its cast-iron regulations in matters of health, police, law and military organisation; would they be happier under a German official who would have to learn all the intricacies of native custom and caste, and native law, who would bring to the consideration of these questions no knowledge, no experience, such as the Civil Servants of India now possess. They could not for one moment prefer such a prospect to the system now existing – yet the Germans are a most methodical, most persevering race, who could undoubtedly hold India and most certainly would rule India with skill and determination.
But the moment we consider the possibility of a change of Government in India from one set of European to another set of European rules and codes -we are dismayed at the thought of such a change. It would be a change from the known to the unknown, from rule by a race which has been identified with the East in general and with India in particular for centuries to the rule of a nation whose knowledge of the East is as limited as her hold on India is unknown. Yet there is a danger that a power like Germany, even though largely ignorant of Indian customs, might because of her man-power be able to supplant the present European rulers. Man-power is after all the final arbiter of any question. The capacity to bring up more men for a final tussle must ultimately control any situation.
Germany with sixty-six millions within her own Imperial sway, but having in all about eighty millions of children in the world, has a larger capacity in numbers than Great Britain with her forty-five millions in own Island sway, and some fifty-five millions in all within her Imperial Dominions. Is such a fort new to Imperial Britain, or is it spurned as an impossible one? As race power grows, as commerce demands new openings, as the ambition of a people swells, so surely does the consideration of such possibilities commence. The great Powers of the world are those whose population increases. These are: The Chinese Empire; the United States of America; the German Empire; the Russian Empire. The day of monster States has come and monster States mean vast numbers of men of the same thoughts, same interests, same principles, same desires. Are the interests, the desires of Indians as recently expressed, the same as those which are now expressed on behalf of Great Britain? If the interests and the desires of the governed and Governors are hostile, then some collision must take place, a collision that will, whatever its immediate results, end disastrously for both.
The form in which this collision will take place is more or less immaterial. The paramount question is why affairs have drifted into the position in which they now are.
To the writer the outlook on the future is not gloomy; the present troubles rather appear to be the outcome of certain characteristics of the British system and these characteristics are not necessarily permanent. The interests and desires of the two parties are not irreconcilable. The Indian, taken as a whole, is a man of sensitive nature, open to persuasion, responsive to sym pathy, wishful to be friendly, and desirous to be taught. He resents strongly any action or treatment which seems to indicate that he is of an inferior race – or a negligible quantity – but fifty years of life under British institutions has made him trust in the inherent justice and fairness of British rule.
The flight of time has been rapid in India’s history, and it is still too little realised that each succeeding generation demands an advance on what its predecessor knew and enjoyed. It is this advance or progress which India has achieved under British rule that creates one of the problems for British policy. British law protects the moral and social types that have grown out of the native religions, and has paid and does still pay respect .to the Hindu conception of the family, a conception which differs widely from that of European nations. The prohibition of suttee and of infanticide has no doubt introduced changes of a grave character into Indian life, whilst Government action has been exercised in native States in the direction of putting down like practices, in addition to slavery, torture, and mutilation. The tendency of these interventions is to raise the standard of humanitarian feeling and sentiment. It is thus idle to express surprise when the Indian himself having imbibed these feelings, shows in his Press and in his life, that he wishes to live up to Western standards. The educational policy of the Government of India adopted in response to the persistent urgings of Sir Charles Wood, and dating from 1854, is largely responsible for modern ambitions and the longing for a larger place in the government of their own country.
It should not, however, be thought that the educational advancement of the Indians is solely due to the work of the colleges and schools. Railways, telegraphs, posts and good main roads have each done their part in bringing about this feeling of national unity.
The universities, which form the pinnacle of the educational system, are largely modelled on the methods that once obtained in the University of London, which means that they are merely examining boards in secular subjects, and do not take up much active work outside the examination room. College life in India may be said not to exist as it is known at Oxford or Cambridge.
Hence one of the main features, and perhaps the most effective method, of education is not given to the Indian student. It is true that education at present only touches the fringe of the great population of India. The total number of graduates and under-graduates in arts, law, medicine, engineering and Oriental languages for all the Provinces of India was, in 1906-07, only 9457, of which number 3306 were in the Madras Province, 2124 were in the Bombay Province, giving a total for the two Provinces of 5430, or more than half the total number of graduates and under-graduates for the whole of India. This is a ridiculously small number out of a population of 293,000,000 of people.
In considering the education question in India, regard must be had to the end at which we are aiming. In Western lands the cry is almost universal that the only way in which any nation can hope to maintain its position is by the application of science to industry, a phrase which may be understood to mean that industry, to be successfully carried on, must be managed by skilled men, not only in the administrative department, but also in the manufacturing and distributive departments.
What is being done in India is to harness science to production, by giving her people a sound elementary education, and then selecting from the pupils those whom it would be beneficial to train for technical trades, and those whom it would be better to send to professional callings.
It will have been noticed that as regards university graduates the numbers proceeding to the degree stage is very small. From which it may be deduced that the numbers of pupils in other classes of education must also be small. This unfortunately is the case. The total population of India is 293,000,000, of which there were in 1901 between the ages of five and twenty, the following:
Age Males Females Total 5-10 20,831,085 19,895,462 40,726,547 10-15 18,880,658 15,568,718 34,447,376 15-20 12,942,322 12,017,853 24,960,155 Totals 52,654,065 47,480,033 100,134,078 This Table shows us that more than a third of the population is of school age, yet the number of children attending the primary schools is under 4,000,000; that is only one child in twenty-five is being educated during that period of its life when it is most open to receive instruction, and when its mind is in the most plastic condition. Similar information is also disclosed in the census of 1901, which tells us as follows:
Total Illiterate Literate Males 149,442,106 134,752,026 14,690,080 Females 143,972,800 142,976,459 996,341 Total 293,414,906 277,728,485 15,686,421 This Table shows that only one person in every eighteen of the population is literate.
It must not be thought that these figures can be -construed into an attack on the Government of India. The contrary is the real fact – the number of schools is increasing, the number of scholars attending is on the up grade. But the task is gigantic and needs much detailed organisation, much expenditure of money, both of which are not at the present moment beyond the reach of the Indian Government. But certain results must nat urally follow from such a position as is disclosed here. The industries of the country cannot progress so rapidly as they might, because of the lack of education of those engaged in them. It is impossible to harness science to industry until the workers are possessed of scientific training.
Take the greatest industry of the country, agriculture, and compare the position as it is and as it might be. Much light is let in upon the question of education from the following quotation: “One of the hindrances to the further progress of technical education arises from the deficiencies in the system of general education upon which it must rest and for which it cannot be substituted.” (Page 3, C.D. 4635, “Education in India.”) This general criticism shows that India suffers as Great Britain did a few years ago, and indicates also that much of her higher education must suffer from the inability of her students adequately to benefit from it, by reason of their bad grounding in elementary subjects. Unfortunate as this may be, even in the higher forms of agricultural education, what must be the position of those vast numbers of illiterate persons engaged in agriculture _ India’s largest and most important industry. It appears that agriculture supports 191,691,731 of the total population of India, of which number over 155,000,000 are in the Provinces immedi ately under British rule – and 36,000,000 are found within the areas controlled by the native States. If these figures are analysed more minutely it will be found that 88,000,000 are actual workers in agricultural pursuits, and 103,000,000 are dependent on agri culture for their existence.
Put in another way, out of the total population of India, 65.16 per cent. are supported by, and are dependent on, agriculture for their living. Obviously then the prosperity of India must largely depend on the prosperity of agriculture. Much has been done in recent years for agricultural education, but much of the trouble to-day is due to the vacillating policy of early years.
It was in 1871 that the Land Revenue and Agricultural Depart ment was established by Lord Mayo, but in 1879 it was abolished on financial grounds, only to be reconstituted in 1881 after the disastrous famine of 1880. But as it had no funds, it contented itself with collecting records. It was not until1892 that an agricul tural chemist was appointed on the recommendation of Dr.
Volcker.
From this date agricultural education, and the shepherding of it, has commenced in real earnest. Now this department has a civilian Director in each Province, under whom there works an expert Deputy Director, whilst in 1901 the Government of India appointed an Inspector-General of Agriculture. So that the Board of Agriculture, if that term really accurately describes the Agricul tural Committee, consists of experts from all over India under the Director. Slight as this sketch is of the development of the department, it will serve to indicate that once the central Govern ment realised what agriculture meant to India, they worked thoroughly and persistently to develop that industry. Side by side with this central development there has been an attempt to found colleges and schools in which agricultural methods and science shall be taught. These colleges exist at Poona, Coimbatore, Sabour, Cawnpore, Nagpur, Lyallpur, whilst in Burmah, at Man dalay, an agricultural college is being built to which there will be attached an experimental farm. Furthermore owing to the munificent generosity of Mr. Henry Phipps, an American gentleman, who gave a donation of £30,000, an Imperial Agricul tural College Research Institute has been established at Pusa in Bihar; in 1905 the Indian Government announced their intention of setting aside 20 lakhs of rupees annually for the develop ment of agricultural experiment, research, demonstration, and instruction; and there.are not wanting signs that the Government have also larger schemes of development in view. But in order that these beneficent and enlightened methods may have full effect, it is necessary that the elementary education of children of school age should be more systematic. The teaching of the child of elementary subjects such as reading, writing and arith metic, even if only in his own vernacular, will give him or her, when of an age to work, that little equipment which enables him or her to understand the elements of bargaining and business.
To-day the Indian ryot is in many instances utterly unable to appreciate the liabilities he has incurred owing to his want of education, and owing to the same wants many naturally able youths never get an opportunity of improving their position in life.
The agricultural industry of India is financed by two classes of institutions: (1) the native banker, (2) the banks run on Euro pean models.
The wealth of the native banker varies according to his environ ment, and he must not be confused with the banker of the larger towns. The village banker, who advances small sums or sometimes small quantities of grain to the Indian ryots, is a man who as a rule does not seek the fierce glare of publicity which attends modern banking; he prefers to carry on his business in private; this is because he knows full well the condition of his clients, and charges a high rate of interest which frequently borders on the exorbitant.
It must not be imagined that there is only an evil side to these petty bankers’ proceedings. The system is suitable to Indian agriculture inasmuch as it enables money to come in small doses to the land – it is unsuitable because of the high interest which is demanded. But mixed up inextricably with the system is the absurd action of the ignorant peasant who insists upon indulging in wild extravagance in connection with marriage ceremonies, and who contracts loans for these purposes at a rate of interest which jeopardises his financial position, and thus prevents him from developing his land and crops as might be done.
The ryot’s adhesion to old custom, and his ignorance of business frequently result in the profits of a good year going wholly into the pockets of the local banker, in order that the peasant may clear his indebtedness or at least reduce the outstanding liabilities.
The agricultural indebtedness of India in certain areas has grown to be an evil and consequently has forced the Government to introduce special legislation. One of the most important of these is the granting to the cultivators Government Loans at much lower rates of interest – sometimes made on the joint responsibility of the villagers. These amounted in total to more than two crores of rupees in 1900-01. Good as this policy is, it after all only touches the fringe of the evil because until the ryot can write and read for himself and thus to some extent appreciate the meaning of the contract he is making, little can be done to stop the exorbitant charges of the bankers. Thus if Indian representatives could combine to lay a scheme before the Govern ment which had for its aim and object the lessening of the rate of interest, the increase of education in its elementary forms, and possibly some introduction of the principle of co-operation in distributing the products of agriculture, much would be done to raise the standard of comfort of the Indian ryot, to increase the output of agriculture, to augment the prosperity of agricul tural India. This is the more necessary because of the Government’s own record, which though good in the past can be expanded and developed on broader lines when the Indian ryot has by education been placed in a position to judge of the blessings of British rule, which once appreciated will give to the Government that support necessary to enable them to proceed once more along the admirable lines of policy which they after years of forethought and consideration have adopted on behalf of the teeming millions which Providence has com mitted to their care.
Perhaps it would be possible for the Indian Government to adopt the plan which it is understood finds some favour in Great Britain, and also in some Continental countries. Some of the County Councils have appointed agricultural lecturers who tour round a certain fixed area giving addresses or lectures upon agricultural matters. Would it be possible for the Indian ryot to have the benefit of such a class of agricultural lecturers, who would give in popular language, and in the ryot’s own vernacular, the latest developments in, and the most recent practices con nected with, wheat-growing, cotton, jute, and sugar cultivation?
Such lecturers could also give advice as to the use of manures, and how to get the best results from their application to the soil.
In addition to these technical advisers, it should be· possible to have another class of travelling lecturers, who would explain the commercial and business side of agriculture – such as how by co-operation the ryots might be able to sell their products in commercial quantities to the large buyers, and by this means save some of the costs which are imposed upon them by the present system. This is only put forward as a suggestion – but as the practice of selling in commercial quantities is already in oper ation in Canada and other large wheat-growing areas, and as the English County Councils do now supply lecturers on the points indicated above, it is submitted that what is possible in Canada and the United Kingdom should not be wholly impracticable within the Indian Empire.
Another suggestion which is put forward for the consideration of the Indian Government and the Indian people is that possibly they might arrange some such plan as follows in order to deal with the present unsatisfactory conditions which impede the ryot from obtaining financial assistance. It is recognised that_ it is almost impossible for the Indian Government to le~d to indi vidual ryots. The difficulty of book-keeping and collecting the capital sum and the interest thereon would be enormous. But no such plan is suggested here, but rather that the Indian Govern ment should approach the co-operative societies, or such kindred bodies, and come to an agreement with them that, on condition that these companies or bodies lend money at a cheap rate to the Indian ryot, they, the Government, will be prepared to lend money to the societies or bodies themselves.
Perhaps something like the following might be adopted. The Indian Government, through its agents in each Province, might meet the central board or committee of the local co-operative society, or land company, and ascertain from them how much money the Indian ryots would require for the coming year.
Suppose this co-operative society or land company had ascer tained that a quarter of a million sterling was required in any district, it should be arranged that the ryot should have the money lent to him at say 71 / 2 per cent., the Government under taking to lend the quarter of a million to the society or company for say 4lj per cent. The land company or society would be 2 responsible for the collection of the interest and capital of such loan by Government after the sale of the crop.
The reason why the high rate of interest – high that is if judged by Western standards – is suggested, is because the Indian Government would have to borrow for the whole of India possibly two or three millions, and the Government could not borrow under 31 per cent. / 2 The first effect of such a plan would be that the bankers would be compelled by competition to lower their rate of interest to the ryot, in order that they might continue in the business of money-lending. This plan would be better from the statesmen’s point of view because it avoids the necessity of direct legislation by the Government of India, having as its object the compulsory lowering of the Mahajans’ rate of interest.
This policy, coupled with a system of co-operation in the sale of the products of the soil, should place the Indian ryot in a far more prosperous position. And, if at the same time the Govern ment could see their way to adopt a system of agricultural lectures in each Presidency at the spot where the ryot does his work, there would flow from increased knowledge of agriculture, from better organisation in the collection and the distribution of the crops, coupled with easier financial methods of borrowing the necessary capital, that prosperity which would in itself largely mitigate the effects of a famine and certainly lessen the expendi ture on famine should that unfortunately occur.
It is from the adoption of such a policy that the prosperity of the bulk of the Indian population can be secured, but it cannot be all give on the side of the Government and all take on the side of the governed.
Those who benefit from the Government’s beneficial legis lation must do their part. This was summed up as excellently put by Mr. Gokhale when speaking recently at Poona when he said:
That the patriotism which in other countries assumes other forms, in India must lead to the loyal co-operation with the Government.
The citizens of India must realise that peace and security can be maintained by two methods: ( 1) The ruthless and the relentless sweeping of obstacles from its path; (2) by complete confidence between those who work for the Government and those who work for the country.
Confidence is the touchstone of commerce, whilst nothing is so easily frightened as capital. It is capital that India wants, capital for the development of railways, capital for the increase of canals, capital for the augmentation of irrigation. But capital will not go to a country where unrest or discontent is present. Capital has no confidence in a community which is influenced by violent and vehement scribbling in the Press.
It is not unfair to say that the standard of education· of a nation or a people is judged by the style and the form of its Press. No greater dis-service is done to a country than for a local or a national Press to continually write in biassed [sic] .and hyper critical tone – because in time the irritation which ·the writer betrays is silently communicated to his readers. The more so is this the case in a country where education is still in a backward condition. It is to the Press in such a country that the Government must look for the spread of those ideas which are sound in policy and fair in the presentation of particular matters of information.
If the Press of India seek now by unfair means to embitter the relations between the Government and the multitude over which it watches, they must not at the same time grumble that the condition of the Indian peasantry is not what it should be.
This condition can scarcely be altered until education in all its forms has been more widely diffused, not only in agricultural areas, but also in the centres of population. The ignorance of the people, the absence of education, are the prime causes of discontent, because when persons do not understand they so easily misrepresent. I am the more confirmed in this view when so distinguished a ruler and Indian as His Highness the Gaekwar of Baroda says: “Sedition and anarchy are due to the absence of education.” Anarchy can only bring in its train misery for the millions of India – therefore it is the duty of every citizen to co operate with the Govemment in promoting those measures which will once and for all free India from the propagation of its noxious tenets.
The last and most important benefit would be that as education became general caste and religious prejudices would gradually die out. The greatest misfortune of India is that its peoples are divided into compartments and live in compartments. Mohame dans and Hindus, owing to ignorance, and owing to religious and social prejudices due to ignorance, are like two nations apart.
The Hindus of the upper and lower castes are equally separated.
This division is not only ruinous to the people but in the long run will make peaceful administration impossible. This gulf cannot be bridged by force. No, the work must be done through education, general, elementary and scientific. Religious difficulties and caste disabilities will only become the minor things they are in Europe , .. and America when education teaches the public that such differ ences are not to be allowed to interfere in their daily lives.
Source: National Review, London, December 1909, pp. 577-89.