345
laws of society, into the right path, or even remon-
strate with them for their unlawful conduct. Fur-
ther, they themselves don't care about the laws of
society as far as decency and caste prejudices are
concerned. I am therefore of impression that they
lose all idea of morality, and don't feel the moral
responsibility which one ought to have towards
society.
49. It is, as in the case of puranthy lagyam.
51. The use of this drug here is not so very
common as to draw any such conclusions.
54. I have not heard of any such case here.
56. I am not able to answer this.
59. The effects of ganja and opium is not
much felt here. It is the toddy and country
arrack that is the chief cause of all poverty and
crime. If the Government should really have
the elevation of the lower classes, such as Paryahs,
at heart, they should with a strong hand prevent
the use of these cheap liquors by them. The
Government need not be afraid of it. This drink
is not a necessity here, but it is an immoral luxury.
The climatic conditions don't require it. The
abolition of this, and the extension of primary
education following in its trail, will, I am certain,
elevate them to an inconceivably better position in
an incredibly short time, It is not the want of
means of subsistence that makes the Paryah the
degraded creature he is ; but it is this tempting
cheap drink near at hand that drains all he has,
and leaves him the miserable wretch that he now
is. Government may modify the Darkhast rules
in any manner they like; and the executives may,
in conjunction with those rules, adopt means to
deprive the mirasidar of his other property besides
to enrich the Paryah. All this will only be the
additional means given to an unrighteous and
intellectually degraded class to proceed in their
iniquitous course with more facility than before.
If the missionaries who justly raised the cry
against the present degrade i condition of the
lower classes, especially Paryahs, suggested first
the prohibition of this drink as the chief remedy
against the continuance, if not the furtherance, of
this degradation, and then based their elevation on
(I) education, and (2) facilities to acquire lands for
cultivation, the intelligent rural population would
have given them credit for sincere philanthro-
pic effort. Since not a word was said by them
about this pernicious habit of drinking, where
the missionaries themselves seldom set a good
example, their present agitation to elevate the lower classes is viewed very much with sus-
picion ; for such facilities to acquire lands, in
the absence of an effectual check to their usual
work, will, without giving them the benefit
sought for, only tend to facilitate the work of the
local missionaries, who have to show a good out-
turn of their work to the mission that pay them
in the shape of more evangelisation ; inasmuch as
it is a patent fact that it is more the hopes of
material help held out to them rather than real
conviction in Christianity that brings converts
from the lower classes, especially Paryahs, who
are admitted by the missionaries themselves as
a class intellectually low at present.
Since the cause of all the misery here is the
cheap drink of toddy and arrack within an easy
reach of the lower classes, I earnestly request that
steps may be taken, as early as practicable, to pro-
hibit the use of this drink as effectually as possible,
and save the lower classes from their present miser-
able state. Since the absence of one form of in-
toxicating drink or drug will only incite people to
the adoption of another unrestricted one, I think
the use of all sorts of intoxicating drink or drug
ought to be strictly prohibited by law, except in
cases of maladies, where the doctors can find no
other means of relieving the patient.
132. Evidence of M. ETHERAGULU PILLAY, Land-owner, Bezwada, Kistna District .
1. I have been a resident of the Kistna district
for the last 26 years, and as I am myself a land-
owner, I possess general information of the pro-
ducts of this district.
2. To the best of my information, no narcotic
drugs are obtained from hemp plant in this dis-
trict. Dr. Prain's report, I presume, applies to
Northern India very probably. The stem of the
hemp plant here is converted into fibre, and the
leaves are use as cattle fodder.
3. The hemp plant is cultivated throughout the
Kistna district generally, but it grows luxuriously
in the part of the district lying south of Bezwada.
4. Janapanaroo and Gogunaroo. They are two
kinds, as shown above.
5. Hot climate. Black cotton-soil. Rains,
average quantity. Elevation unknown.
6. Dense in some parts.
7. (a ) to (c) No.
( d) Yes.
Hemp is cultivated extensively in parts of the
district, more especially south of Bezwada.
8. The area of hemp cultivation is on the in-
crease owing to demands for the fibre.
9. No special method is adopted. The ground
is ploughed up, as is done for other dry crop
seeds.
vol. vi.
10. Tile hemp is not cultivated for narcotic
properties. The agricultural cultivators grow
hemp also.
11 and 12. I do not know.
13. See my answer to Question 2.
14. No.
15. No kind of narcotic drugs are prepared
from hemp.
17. See answer to Question 15.
19. Ganja is prepared from plant specially
grown for that purpose. Ganja is used for smok-
ing, and also forms an ingredient in the prepara-
tion of bhang, which is drunk. Charas, which
is a very strong narcotic drug, is used for smok-
ing. Ganja is prevalent in these parts, but cha-
ras is unknown here.
20. The lower classes, especially Muhammadans,
smoke ganja. The percentage, as compared with
the population of a gi ven place, is very small.
21. Round kind is used in these parts.
22. Charas unknown here.
23. No.
24. See answer to Question 20.
25. On the increase.
29. Bhang is prepared with the following
3 A