3
This record ought to prove encouraging enough to candidates for entry into
the veterinary profession and to enable it to compete fairly well with other pro-
fessions in solution of the important question of employment for the growing
and energetic section of young men who cannot find a place in offices because
they are unfit for occupations purely sedentary.
Employment for Graduates has been to me the subject of much anxious
thought in the past year. Either in consequence of the habit of thought in
this country or because the veterinary profession as such is quite new here,
probably as the effect of both causes, almost each of the Graduates has to be
" placed " by the Principal of the College, whose duties do not, therefore, end in the
case of each individual on his graduation but assume a specially grave aspect
then. A little reflection will show that this is not altogether surprising. It is
gratifying that about twenty-five per cent. of the Graduates have shown an inde-
pendent spirit, and those of them who have gone into private practice will pro-
bably, after the usual initial struggles, find themselves much better off than those
who have been less independent. Yet there can be no doubt the process of
veterinary education in India comprises not only the instruction of students up
to the practitioner stage, but also the instruction of employers of various kinds,
from rája to rayat, as to the insufficiency and harmfulness of empirical practice,
whether carried on by owners or uneducated salutries, farriers, cowleaches, or any
one else devoid of professional education. To add to the difficulty in this matter
many of the empirics are men who, by years of experience, and as the outcome
of some surface education, have much practical skill in dealing with routine cases
and some dim idea of the why and wherefore of practice. At any rate they,
if less sure in diagnosis, are more prompt and confident in manner than many of
the Graduates fresh from College, and so inspire owners with an undue belief in
them. As we cannot put old heads on young shoulders during three years at
College, we must trust to time to improve our Graduates in promptitude of
practice and calm confidence in results of proper treatment; in the meanwhile we
must replace empirics by Graduates where we can, and exert ourselves to the
utmost to make practical men out of candidates who, before they enter the College,
have seldom had anything to do with either horse or ox. Out of all the
Graduates placed in the past year not one has displaced a qualified Veterinary
Practitioner, that is, each is a distinct gain in the professional strength of the
country and in its efficiency to meet emergencies of war and disease. This
throwing of light into the dark places of India must be a source of gratification
to Government and the public, and of encouragement to the College officers. On
every side evidences of the necessity for it constantly crop up.
* He has since returned
after not proving a thorough
success though no fault was
found with his professional
abilities.
As regards appointments for Graduates, we have to note with satisfaction
that His Highness the Thákor Sáheb of Morvi has given the lead in securing
a good man on liberal terms for his State stables, and that the Bikaneer Darbár
has engaged a veterinarian for its troops who will mainly have to treat camels.
There has been in some cases a little tendency of the States not to employ their
own men on graduation ; but I believe they are now seeing the advisability of
doing so. A good man has, under orders of the Government of India been sent
to the Andamans, and one has been supplied to the
Military Police of Upper Burma. Bombay, Bangalore,
and Surat have engaged Graduates for municipal duties,
and Ahmedabad also has under consideration the employ-
ment of one. Penang, Burma, Ceylon, and other places
have been in correspondence with me concerning our men. Thus the influence
of the College is over a wide range. The Government Departments, either
through want of funds or from other causes, are slow to employ Graduates. The
late Colonel Heyland made a bid for a man for the First Lancers, but could not
make the post attractive enough; the Transport Department has applied for a man
but cannot offer more than Rs. 25 per mensem which will not tempt a man who
can earn Rs. 40 per mensem as a clerk but who has graduated with a view to im-
prove his position. The Police is willing to employ men, but has no vacancies.
The Remount Department needed one for its new depôt at Ahmednagar, but, I
believe, ended by placing a farrier in veterinary charge. The Horse Breeding
Operations Department is inclined to make use of Graduates, and I am led to
believe will shortly submit proposals to Government on the subject. Those Gradu-
ates who are in charge of the local Veterinary Hospitals and Dispensaries are under