civilisation continue to be lost upon us ?

The very facts that foreign capitalists are making so much profit, even with the Rupee down to a shilling, out of the

various investments in India, and that often-times mere adventurous and intelligent loafers manage to become rich after only a few years' sojourn in this country, ought to open the eyes of us all to the situation we find ourselves placed in today. A little bit of enterprise, some amount of pluck and go, considerable sacrifice and hard labour, with a good deal of mutual confidence (which alas! is a rare plant in India) and, above all, honesty, are all that: may be required to begin with. But the public have to be educated before one can expect these things from them.

And this-the work of proselytismought to be the primary endeavour of our Indian patriots and reformers. How sadly behind the times are our moneyed classes, how unwittingly are we all taxed by our pride, neglect, and folly, and how greatly the whole country lacks the knowledge of the true uses of money! It is indeed a sad comment on our enlightenment that while we hold about 96 crores worth of Government papers and stocks in our hands, only 271⁄2 crores represent the total paid-up capital which has been invested in joint-stock companies in this country up to date, and of this sum by far the greater portion belongs to foreign countries.

And now is the time most favorable for the development of Indian industries, and if we don't take it by the forelock

we shall hardly ever find better opportunities for success. An all-round duty of 5 per cent. ad valorem is being levied at the present day on all customs. This is prac tically a decided, though a reluctant, step towards protection. The Indian producer may turn it into a splendid occasion to undersell foreign goods. Then there is the fall in the exchange value of the rupee. It has dislocated foreign commerce to a very considerable extent, and many capitalists rue the day for having invested their money in Indian trade at all. It is a fact that with the fall in exchange the demand for foreign goods is appreciably lessening, and if it goes still lower, people will find articles of foreign manufacture selling at almost prohibitive rates. In the struggle which has already set in for the survival of the

fittest, many banks and firms have stopped payments and winded up business, and many more contemplate diverting their capital to other countries. In fact, India is fast becoming a very uninviting place for English capital. And last, though not the least, the conversion of all the 4 per cent. loans ought to lead people to think of embarking their surplus funds on trading concerns which, carefully managed, may easily pay an interest at least double than what has been decided upon for the 4 per cent. rupee debt.

Though the circumstances are a little favourable, yet the need of protective measures is sadly felt for creating and fostering new manufactures. As Mill has said-to quote again what we have quoted in the previous chapter,-'individuals cannot be

expected, to their certain loss, to introduce any new manufacture and bear the burden of carrying it on until the producers have been educated up to the level of those with whom the processes are traditional.' Nor do joint-stock companies stand in better stead. But in pleading for protection, it is impossible to lose sight of the fact that the result of it would be to raise the price of all cotton goods and such other necessaries of life that are imported from foreign countries. a poor country like India, it would be urged against us, such a thing would be extremely undesirable. It is idle cant not to admit this to be far and away the strongest argument against following a policy of protection in countries so peculiarly conditioned like India. But

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