tend to catalogue them. These educational institutions financed, managed and conducted by the natives of Hindostan, point out that East Indians are determined to disseminate education along their own lines and for their own people.

These institutes, while steering clear of the rules and regulations laid down by the Government and endeavoring to propagate a system of national education, make a strong feature of instructing the pupil in Western science and methods. On the one hand the purpose is to produce a well-balanced young man capable of supporting himself and his family; on the other, the effort is made to enthuse him to make his life directly and indirectly tend toward the uplift of his neighbors and relatives. The endeavor is made to take everything good from Western nations and influence the malleable minds of young men to become practical; but the instructors constantly bear in mind to accomplish this without losing the national entity of the pupil.

India's rehabilitation hinges solely on the children of the country being given the right kind of preparation for fulfiling the duties that are to fall to them when they step into the shoes of the present generation. It is worthy of remark that the leaders of India have awakened to an animated appreciation of this fact. It is touching to note the spirit of abnegation which both the students and their teachers are displaying. In certain parts of India the people seem to be mad for obtaining knowledge. They are making greater sacrifices to equip themselves with modern education than any other people in the world, with the possible exception of the Japanese.

As a direct result of the demands for instruction made by the natives of India, even the British Government is being goaded into increasing its equipment. Probably within the next decade provision may be made for free and compulsory education throughout India, and the native East Indians may find better

facilities provided in the shape of technical and agricultural institutions.

Awakened India has not only turned its attention towards educating its people, but is also seeking to improve the physiques of its embryonic men and women and adults. With the exception of a limited number of martial people, East Indians possess frail constitutions. If the new spirit which already has given birth to the establishment of athletic clubs for physical exercise keeps growing, the result is sure to be a manly and independent generation.

Probably the most assuring sign of India's coming greatness lies in the fact that the intelligent East Indians have realized the true meaning of the old adage, "Uplift the mass to uplift the country," and have not failed to provide for the advance of womanhood. Girls' schools have been established by philanthropists where they can learn domestic arts, cooking, sewing, nursing and the care of children, and at the same time can pursue academic courses. The best class of educated Hindoos is coming to realize that India's well-being and future prosperity depend more upon the education of women than any other factor. Rulers of native states, especially, are displaying a great deal of interest in female education and the general elevation of East-Indian womanhood. The native chief of the State of Baroda, Sayaji Rao, has introduced what is admitted to be the best educational system for girls in India, both in inception and administration. In this work the Maharajah of Baroda is ably assisted by his consort, the Maharini, who is a splendid type of advanced womanhood, and who takes a foremost place in the work of securing greater liberty for the women of Hindostan.

A great change has taken place in the home life of the natives of India in the last few years. Morning and evening the children of East-Indian gentlemen are taken out for an airing by ayahs (nurses). Some men have become so stirred by

the new spirit that is swaying the whole nation that they drive out in open vehicles in the evening accompanied by their wives. The editor of an EastIndian vernacular journal declares:

"A week ago we saw the daughter of a man of position walking with her father on the railway platform at Lahore. She was dressed in what seemed like an English gown, had English shoes on, and when her husband came up left her father and walked with him. Her face was quite uncovered."

Wives go out shoulder to shoulder with their husbands and seemingly have completely cast off the old restrictions. So imbued have many East-Indian women become with the desire for liberty of action that it would be a bold man who would dare to attempt once more to force the old customs on his woman-kind.

The era of reconstruction in India has commenced but recently and only the foundations have been laid in the matter of providing mass and industrial education and uplifting women. Side by side with the uplift in these directions it is interesting to note that, in the ten years ending 1905-1906, the number of registered presses in India increased from 1,966 to 2,380. During the same period the number of newspapers increased from 674 to 747 while periodical publications other than newspapers increased from 510 to 793. The number of books published in English or some other European language grew from 1,067 to 1,411 while a total of 7,644 modern and classical books in the Indian language were published, showing an increase during the ten years of 28 per cent. Books were published in about fifty languages, and there were 777 bi-lingual, 74 tri-lingual and 3 polyglot books in the list.

Considerable effort is being made in India to establish a Lingua Franca for the whole country. As it is to-day, a native East-Indian can go from one end of the land to the other without experiencing much difficulty in making himself

understood through the medium of the English language. This is a very hopeful sign. English, being the commerical lingo of two hemispheres, through its agency India will be enabled to come in contact with the outside world. Be this as it may, Hindi and Urdu are becoming the common mediums of exchange of thought throughout India. It is certain that Hindostan, within a brief term of years, will have a Lingua Franca of its own, besides the English, since a strong movement is already on foot to effect this, and is meeting with gratifying success.

This leads up to a word or two about the much-talked-of banes of caste and racial prejudice. Educated East Indians are learning that the present-day exigencies make it necessary for them to be tolerant of one another's religious opinions and descent. They are fast recognizing that the woe of one constitutes the grief of the other, and the weal of one forms the welfare of the other. Community of interests is inciting the native East Indians to strive to have a common language for their use and a common foundation upon which political and economic prosperity may be reared.

At the time of the present writing it happens that the Hindus and Mahommedans, the two largest communities in India in the proportion of 4 to 1 respectively, are showing bitter animosity toward each other. This is ascribed to the political moves of the English people whose salvation, it is claimed by East-Indian writers, depends on their ability to keep the native population divided, thus making it possible for 150,000 foreigners to keep 300,000,000 people in subjugation. Be this as it may, the dissensions amongst Hindus and Mahommedans, calmly considered, are merely extraneous and superficial. They are an indication that race and religious hostility have been doomed to death. A wound always looks ugliest just as it is about to heal, and the present

virulence is but an indication that the breach between the two factions in Hindostan is about to be permanently closed

up.

But a few years are needed for the adjustment of the Hindu and Mahomedan interests; and even as it stands to-day, the coming greatness of India is not at all jeopardized by their feuds. If an adjustment could take place in a country such as Canada with its warring elements, the French and English Canadians, there is a strong presumption that history will repeat itself and the discordant parties in India will bury the hatchet.

One sure sign that the caste regulations are losing their grip on the peoples of Hindostan is that from the most remote districts East Indians have commenced to emigrate to far-distant countries. The impression has prevailed that the Native of Hindostan is chained to the home of his ancestors by caste regulations, family ties and village economy. It has come to pass, however, that the Indian, influenced by Western ideals that have drifted to him, finds intolerable the precarious living he is able to eke out, by hard and unremitting labor from his exhausted land or dying industry. The one-time fatalistic native of Hindostan is becoming tainted with discontent and is possessed with a yearning to break through the shell of his limitations which hampers him from achieving, and seek new scenes. The literate and illiterate are being seized with a passion to find new spheres where their work will bring richer results.

While caste prejudices are on the wane amongst the Hindostanees, unfortunately a new caste has sprung up. The rulers and the ruled in India, coming from different continents, speaking different languages, live, as it were, in two distinct worlds. The Englishman, supercilious by nature and training, and the Hindu, polite and cringing in character, have met in India, but have not mixed. A sharp demarcation has grown up,

giving birth to a baneful caste the caste of the ruler and the ruled. The Englishman in India has remained untouched by the spirit of our times. But the native East Indian is becoming more and more steeped in the democratic spirit. He is growing ashamed of having allowed the Englishman to misconstrue his politeness into abject slavishness.

The educated East Indians demand reciprocity of relations of the Englishman in India. They are ready to prostrate themselves before the Britisher as was their wont, provided the Englishman is willing to respect the Oriental institutions and do the same thing by the natives of the land. The Englishman's unwillingness to meet squarely this new consciousness of Democracy in India is producing much chaos and tribulation.

The ultimate influence of even this new caste, however, is tending toward the uplift of the Hindostanees. It is making the East Indian demand that if the British colonists exclude natives of Hindostan from their soul, the latter ought to

pay the same compliment to the British who go to India for the purposes of monetary gain. The spirit engendered by this may bring the people of India in violent collision with the Britishers, but it cannot be denied that it is helping them to awaken to the consciousness that they should be men and not mere cringing slaves. It is also responsible for the wave of material prosperity which is spreading throughout the length and breadth of the land. Mention has already been made of the boycott of English goods instituted in many parts of India and still vigorously pursued, which, in a measure has been brought on by this refusal of the Englishman to listen to the fair demands of the Native East Indians. The writer does not have at hand figures to prove that the boycott has had a crippling effect on British trade with India; but it certainly has been instrumental in opening the eyes of East Indians and enlisting their eager interest in the reorganization of their industries

and trades. Reference has already been made to this spirit being at the bottom of the sending of East-Indian students to foreign countries for the purpose of learning scientific salesmanship and the most economical and improved methods of agriculture and manufacture. This sentiment has done even more. It has made the natives of India realize that so long as they continue to be hewers of wood and drawers of water, there is no hope for their future existence, much less prosperity-so long as they merely concern themselves with producing raw materials, shipping them to England and other European countries and then buying the finished product, the Indian manufacturers and craftsmen cannot but starve. What this spirit has done for the East Indian may be described in the words of Mr. R. C. Dutt, an East-Indian publicist of note:

"History will record in future ages how the people of India in the commencement of the twentieth century effected their own industrial salvation. Without any control over their own tariff or financial arrangements, without any effective voice over our own legislation or our administration-such as every other civilized nation on earth possesses to-day-without any of these privileges which are the birthright of nations, we have determined, simply by giving preference to our home manufactures, to revive the industrial activities of this vast country and to improve the condition of our industrial population. The call has gone forth from province to province and from village to village; and unnumbered millions are responding to the call with almost religious fervor. The womanhood of India has nobly joined in this patriotic work; and every true Indian, Hindu or Mussulman, Parsi, Jain or Christian, coöperates in the Swadeshi movement and exerts himself for the industrial progress of his Fatherland. We are yet far, very far, from success, but in our heart of hearts we have taken a solemn vow to work together towards

this great object. And when we have passed away, our sons and grandsons will take up this holy work and will accomplish what we have begun, giving our country her rightful, her ancient place among the industrial nations of the earth."

As a result of this "India-made" sentiment, throughout Hindostan all classes and sections of people are reviving old industries and adding new to the list. Improved hand-looms are being installed everywhere, and the sentiment for "Indiamade" goods is actuating the people to use coarser cloth and pay more for it, in preference to buying finer and cheaper products of alien looms. It may be mentioned that the main motive power for the Swadeshi movement has come from Hindu sources; but Mohammedans, forming the bulk of Indian weavers, are receiving the benefit from the propaganda.

It is not the weaving industry alone which is receiving a new impetus, but the same is equally true of other handicrafts and trades. As an instance it may be mentioned that the sugar industry in Hindostan has been quickened. New refining processes are being utilized and the deprecation of using imported sugar is leading to a wonderful regeneration of the industry. Cotton growing also has received a new lease of life. Successful experiments have been made with Egyptian cotton, and there is the bright prospect of India's being able to improve the quality of the cotton crop in the very near future by the proper selection of seed, and increase the quantity by intensive methods of cultivation.

Great innovations are taking place in the industrial realms of India. The dreamy Hindoo at last is coming to the realization that crafts should be pursued not only with the altruistic and artistic ends in view, but the commercial aspect should be strictly kept in mind.

The erstwhile spiritualistic East Indian is, in a sense, becoming materialistic. He is discovering that he should curb

some of his artistic temperament and give the primary place to material prosperity. He is finding that hereafter will take care of itself so long as he carefully looks after the here and now. It is likely that through this new consciousness in India the world may not hear much of India's grand religions, philosophies and arts; but it is also notable that Hindostan will no longer be regarded by the outside world as a land of eternal famine.

As a sign of the times, the Indians are learning the necessity of harnessing their rivers and waterfalls, of superseding hand industries with machinery. In the Bombay Presidency alone wonderful progress has been made in this direction. The following table shows the number of factories and their population in this province:

8; and those for both processes, 92. The yarns produced totaled over 655,500,000 pounds mostly of low counts. Woven goods totaled over 156,500,000 pounds, the bulk of which was gray goods. The amount of capital and debentures involved is nearly 20 crores of rupees, of which 16 crores, or $53,335,000 is paid up. These factories, thanks to the Swadeshi spirit, are not dying of ennui. On the contrary they are not able to meet the demand for their products.

To show that India is not undertaking these enterprises on a baby scale, it may be mentioned that the well-known Indian firm of Tatta & Company is now engaged in establishing an iron foundry which will be the second largest in the world, the largest being in the United States.

The new spirit has also led the people to take care of their finances. Banks and insurance companies have been established all over the country and are being successfully operated under native management. The All-India United Insurance Company of Bombay, which was organized twelve months ago, recently announced a dividend of 34 per cent. on the first year's work, starting from the day of registration. This is after putting Rs. 40,000 into the premium reserve fund. SAINT NIHAL SING. Chicago, Illinois.

D

URING several months of 1903-4 the country quivered on the brink of a commercial panic; since then, ominous tremors have repeatedly startled business circles; and, as I write (March, 1907) anxious eyes are fixed on financial clouds, and people are saying, "Yes: the storm may burst on us almost any

moment-and I am not ready." It is, therefore, a fitting time to consider the cause of these financial convulsionsand how to prevent them. But, before doing this, I wish to emphasize a few groups of facts and deductions that long study of this problem has shown to be as important as they are incontrovertible.