The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-07-13

British occupation Of the coast
provinces, and one that remains y live
issue today, IL that Of land settlements,
corresponding to land tax In western
countries. Nine-tenths OF the popula-
tion Of India 10 dependent. directly or
indirectly. upon agriculture. 1t 10 In
sisted by Indians that the policy OF the
British government In India has tented
to eliminate Industries that formerly
gave occupation to large numbers Of
natives, and that millions now turn to
agriculture 40 o last resource. Census
figures show that, whatever the reason,
there is an increase in the proportion
OF the population engaged in farming
pursuits.
In India a. q whole there are about
zoe. 100000 farmers and cattle raisers.
These, ana natives whose employment
depends upon the cutiivator. mako up
nine-tenths Of the people residing out
side of cities. An increase OF 16.00o.-
600 in the number Of landless farm
laborers within ten years IL an tndica-
tion Of the tendencies of the times.
When American farmers meet In town
and discuss crops the topic 10 not so
vital az II 10 In India where o short
crop means famine. and whore enor-
nous numbers OF the farming popula-
tion are actually without sufficient
nourishmept even during years Of good
yield.
Land tenure in India 10 based upon
q theory very nearly the opposite OF
the theory upon which taxes are fixed
In western countries. For unnumbered
centuries the assumption has been that
the Crown owns the land and the people
are granted the products Of tillage less
the amount needed by the government.
In ancient times the division OF profits
was made in the field. the crop being
divided between the farmer and q
representative Of the Crown at harvest
time. the proportion fixed by the gov
eminent arbitrarily. Akbar. the great
Mogul Emperor who reisned In the last
half of the sixteenth century. was the
first land tax reformer in Indian his
tory. with his Hindu Minister, Todar
Nal, he instituted q system Of cash
payments in lieu Of the division OF grain
In the field, fixing the tax for period
OF years instead Of deciding each year
the amount to be demanded of the
farmer. The system In vogue at pres
emit IL an evolution Of Akbar's reform,
although that reform extended over but
small part of the empire, and al
though there are still some remote dis
tricts in which payment in kind is
exacted.
In the province Of Bengal. In 1873,
Lord CORVALLIS, who came to India as
Governor General after Yorktown. and
covered himself with glory as an ad-
ministrator. granted the cultivators
what is known as permanent settle
ments." That 10 to say the land tax
was virtually fixed regardless Of the
increase In values due to improvements
OF other causes. Prosperity In Bengal
resulted, and Indian politicians, insist
ing that nothing more than Justice was
done by CORVALLIS. urge that the same
system should obtain all over India.
Upon the other hand It is argued
that the Bengalese have an advantage
as cultivators which makes them PEN
sioners upon the farmers OF the rest of
the country. Endless discussion of the
question 10 a feature Of Indian politics,
and thick books have been written by
politicians filing briefs in support of
their views and by economists striv.
ing to arrive at q solution or the land
revenue problem. The large result ID
that the tendency Is toward reduc-
advocates of the cause Of the farmers
is that the reforms do not proceed fast
enough nor go far enough, and that the
burden of Great Britain's maintenance
of a large military force on the From
tiers for purposes other than keeping
peace in India, IL milestone about
the neck Of the man with the hoe In
the Indian Empire.
Whatever the greater OF the COM
bined causes which have kept him back,
the Indian farmer is in q state of power
ty unknown in even the crowded Euro
pean countries. In other countries bad
crops mean financial misfortune, but in
India a failure OF the farms to produce
the expected crops means the death by
starvation of hundreds Of thousands,
ana sometimes millions, of the rural
10 fnafatAA nv Indiana
Of the educated and agitating class that
the density Of population by no means
accounts for the degree OF restitution
among cultivators. The poorer farmers
are constantly in the hands OF money
lenders. and the money lender 10 often
a dealer in grain who takes over a por-
ton of the crop. Out OF the unsoli
the next crop. Often the unsold por-
ton Is inferior. The result is. natural
ly, further impoverishment of the far
mer.
The traveller passing through India
sees the OK treading out the corn. The
methods Of threshing are those that
were employed in biblical times.
Grain is piled in heaps. raised from
the ground in scoops and poured to the
AWAY as Il falls. When there Is not
enough wind to use the winnowing
scoop, bamboo sleeves are employed to
sift the grain from the chaff. The In
dian farmers cultivating implements
are as archaic as his manner of thresh-
ing in the open field. His pillow IL a
wedge -shaped block Of hard wood faced
with iron, in front of which projects
a draught-pole attached to the neck
yoke of a pair OF bumped bullocks.
whose horns are almost as long as
those of the cattle that ranged the
plaina of the Southwest In the old days.
AS a handle for the pillow there is an
awkward single upright piece behind.
Unlike the plows used in more progress
sive countries for following. the Indian
plow does not turn the soil over. but
merely loosens 1t, the effect being
somewhat similar to that of small
double shovel plow used to split
mIddles" between corn rows in the Ohio
and Mississippi valleys.
When a light pillow Is used several
plowings are necessary to sufficiently
break UP the soil for tillage, but all
plows are not light. Some are borne
to the field upon the farmers shoulder
or carried under his arm. Others are
drawn by six yoke" OF oxen ami break
the soil to a depth OF a foot. Two OBJ
stacles stand in the way of introducing
modern turn furrow plows in India.
First, the Indian Is averse to showing
disrespect to his most remote ancestor
by introducing Innovations, and in the
second place he has little money with
which to buy the implements offered
bv American and European manufac-
turers Despite this there Is growing