Mohave County miner., 1916-12-23

the threshold of a new industrial era according to the opinion expressed generally by Indian and British busi- ness men and officials. This country with its vast natural resources, is now in a comparatively undeveloped state industrially, but a great wave of sen timent in favor of instituting meas ures to insure immediate and substan- tial progress along this line appears to be sweeping the nation.
 A concrete indication of the recog- milton of this feeling may be seen ir the recent appointment by the govern ment of an Indian industrial commis-
 sion, made up of prominent British and Indian experts, who are about to
 start out from Simla on a country wide tour for the purpose of investi- gating industrial possibilities and making report upon which the gov ernment can inaugurate measures that will enable India to meet trade con ditions after the war. In appointing this commission the government an- nounced that it believed the time had come to take up in a more comprehen- sive manner the question of the de velopment of Indian industries and manufactures, and expressed sym pathy with the eager desire of large number of the people for advance ment.
 Several reasons are assigned for the seemingly sudden arousal of India from the lethargy which has acted as a damper to progress industrially thus far. The principal causes named are these:
 India today is more prosperous than ever before in it's history, and money is plentiful. This is due largely to the fact that the last fou. monsoon sea- sons, upon which the all important crops depend, have been good.
 The war also has played an impor- tant part in this change of feeling. For one thing, it has taught the peo- pie of India the importance of the world outside their own country. The vast bulk of the population is Hitter ate, and many for the first time are beginning to get an idea of geography, to learn that India is not the hub of the universe and that the world is filled with great nations which depend upon industry and trade for their power. They also have seen that many of the necessities and luxuries which they were wont to get from other countries, and which might have been produced at home, have been cut off by the war.
 Finally, industrial education, which has been increasing slowly but steadi- ly, has had it's effect. Years of labor in the various industrial schools ap- pear now to be bearing considerable fruit.
 The efforts of the government in the past to build up new industries have disclosed the existence of many diff eulties. Indian capital has been un- enterprising and timid, skilled labor has been lacking, and there has been a want of practical information re- garding the commercial potentialities of India's raw products. As a result there are only two manufacturing in dustries of any magnitude. They are jute and cotton.
 Outside these two businesses the country has depended almost entirely on foreign nations or other parts of | the British empire for it's manufac- tured goods. Huge quantities of raw materials of almost every description have been exported annually and many | of them have reappeared on the h. dian markets in the manufactured | form. The same ships which have | brought in leather, oils, paper, iron and steel goods, dyes and various oth- CT products, have reloaded with the raw materials from which these very things were made.
 Industrial experts say that the h. dian consumer probably has bought his goods as cheaply in most cases as he could if they had been manufac- tured at ho but that India has sac rifced the ncial gain and other ad- vantages ruing to the country which has own factories. For one thing, the producer of raw materials, having n yeiternative market, has been force accept the prices quoted | him from Ri, and many times the | figures h excessively low. It | IS held establishment of a | home puld protect him against The Indian work