by the village agency to induce the villagers to give one half day in a week, for work connected with the improvement of the village, such as cleaning and improving the village site, constructing and repairing village tracks, levelling roads, filling holes and hollows, providing or improving water supply and drainage, repairing tank embankments and irrigation channels and other similar works of general utility.

Every family in a village may be induced to contribute one adult worker and those which are not accustomed to manual work may be induced to give for the one half day in the week the services of a hired labourer, or contribute, in lieu, an anna or two at their option.

Again, on some one evening every week, all the leading villagers and communities night assemble in the village Chavdi, or at any other convenient place of meeting. At the meeting, a few rules on sanitation and other matters conducive to their wellbeing might be recited by any one of the members who is able to read, after which extracts from the week's newspaper might be read and perhaps also from religious texts like the Ramayana or the Koran. The meeting may be followed, wherever possible, by some wholesome recreation or amusement.

People should be taught the dignity of labour. They should also be taught to esteem it a special honour to be called upon by the leaders to co-operate in carying out works of public utility in the village.

It should be possible to get the residents of half a dozen important villages in each taluk at once to agree to such weekly co-operative work and meetings. If the scheme is worked with success in some villages, other villages are likely to follow their example and in this way a useful system of co-operative village enterprise may be gradually brought into existence.

Most of the works needed to improve villages can be carried out at little cost, if the villagers concerned learn to co-operate and provide for their common

wants.

A programme of all works of local improvement which may be carried out by the villagers themselves during the next five years should be maintained and the works to be taken up for each year should be selected before the beginning of the year, by the committee or other agency concerned.

The Mysore Government does not rest satisfied with merely preaching the gospel of self-help. It is prepared to shoulder its own burden.

As regards improvements which involve the employment of outside agency, such as sinking drinking water wells, execution of masonry drains and constructing buildings, school houses, etc.. Government will be prepared to sanction one-half of the amount locally raised towards objects approved by them.

A sum of Rs. 2 lakhs will be provided annually in the Budget for sanctioning grants in aid of such works, chiefly in villages which are not Unions and as such have no funds at their disposal to spend. This will be exclusive of the Budget provision for the restoration of minor tanks which is being dealt with as an independent scheme.

Education in Bengal.

The population of Bengal is 45,483,077 and that of Great Britain and Ireland, 45,369,090; that is to say, about equal.

In 1912-13 there were in Bengal 15,738 collegiate students, and in 1912 in Great Britain and Ireland there were approximately 26,800 students in universities. In 1912-13 in Bengal there were 1,718,623 pupils in all classes of institutions. But in England and Wales alone (population 36,070,492) in 1913 the number of pupils only in elementary schools was 6,085,828.

a

In Bengal in 1912-13 "there was decrease of 36 educational institutions and an increase of 20,909 pupils." If36 schools had not ceased to exist, the "increase" in the number of pupils would have been greater. But the increase that has taken place is more apparent than real, as we shall presently show.

Or in

It is usual in India to take the popula tion of school-going age to form 15 per cent. of the the total population. Now in Bengal the natural increase in the popu lation was 250,556 in the year 1912. Fifteen per cent. of this increase is 37,583. The increase in the number of pupils in 1912-13 was only 20,909. This shows that this increase is not at all commensurate with the increase of the population. other words, the spread of education lags far behind the rate of increase of the popu lation; which means that the percentage of illiteracy, instead of decreasing, is on the increase. This is certainly a sorry performance for the Bengal Education Department. For in a country of which the vast majority of the people are illiterate and where the majority of the population of school-going age have no schools to attend, if illiteracy is gradually to disappear, not only should the spread of education keep pace with the growth of population but schools and pupils must increase much faster than the general population. How otherwise can education make inroads into the domains of ignorance and kill the enemy?

Education of Indian girls and women in Bengal.

In the year 1912-13, "the number of girls, girls, including those reading in mixed schools, rose by only 173;"-a most remarkable achievement. "It is, however, interesting to note that "the number of Mahomedan girls increased by 1,423." As the total increase is only 173, and the increase in the number of Mahomedan girls 1,423, it comes to this that the decrease in the number of Hindu girls was 1,250.

It is possible that Mussalmans have grown more keen to educate their girls than Hindus, but it does not seem probable that Hindus have grown more indifferent to female education than before. Have there been any specially discouraging circumstances in their case recently? Among a total female population of 23 millions only 252, 036 are literate. In other words one female in every 99 is literate. Female literacy has increased in Bengal in the year 1912-13 by about 0008 per cent!

It is said that "secondary schools are hampered by lack of trained teachers and suitable buildings. Primary schools also suffer from similar defects." But we suppose the greatest hampering cause is the utter absence of enthusiasm, among those who control education, for the education of girls and women. An inadequate supply of trained teachers has not stood in the way of great educational progress in England. We do not know why trained teachers should be considered a sine qua non in an illiterate country. In faminestricken areas, would it be considered either wise or humane not to feed the famishing multitude because of an insufficient supply of expert cooks?

As a proof of the encouragement that the education of girls and women has received we may quote the statement that "the value of scholarships awarded decreased by Rs. 2084." As girls and women are also subjects of His Majesty King George V, as much ought to be spent for their education as for that of boys and men.

Bethune College.

"The Bethune College still lacks accommodation." As if that were the only thing that that College lacked.

In the resolution on the educational policy of the Government of India it is laid down that "the services of women should be more freely enlisted for instruction.' In high schools for girls great stress is laid on the employment of women teachers. Mathematics is one of the ordinary subjects taught in them. But Bethune College does not teach mathematics. The urgent need of appointing a professor of mathematics has been repeatedly and year after year pointed out in the press, by the University Inspectors of Colleges and by the Governing Body of the College. Many girls, including Miss Tatini Gupta, who heads the list of successful I. A. candidates

this year, have passed the Intermediate Examination in mathematics by private study at home. But the Bengal education department department remains stolidly indifferent. It does not seem to see the absurdity of requiring the employment of women teachers in high schools for girls without making arrangements for the teaching of such an important and ordinary subject as mathematics in the only Government College for women in Bengal.

Though many girl students have shown remarkable intellectual capacity, Bethune College does not teach the B.A. Honour course in a single subject. The professors of English of that College with commendable zeal and devotion taught the Honours course in English for some time by voluntarily working extra hours; but, they were, it is said, actually ordered to.close the Honours class. That is how the education department encourages the higher education of women.

Except a little botany, the College does not teach any science; and the teaching of botany in the I. A. Examination is practically useless, because there is no arrangement for the teaching of that subject in the B. A. classes. There is no reason why the only Government College for women in Bengal should not have a science department.

Government spends lakhs of rupees every year on the upkeep and improvement of the 8 State Colleges for malestudents in Bengal. It would be only bare justice if it kept its only woman's College in a sufficiently efficient condition.

M.SC.'s feel obliged to pass the B.L. examination also and become lawyers. The ideal of acquisition of knowledge for its own sake does not mean either that comparatively ignorant men are to have the rewards of learning to the exclusion of their betters, or that those who preach this ideal are privileged not to practise what they what they preach. preach. In every modern country the many learn in order to earn, and the few pursue knowledge because they are enamoured of it. India objects to be compelled to become an exception to this rule. Those of us who are to pursue knowledge for its own sake want to do so voluntarily. The compulsory pursuit of an high ideal is an absurdity.

Officials dislike education, because, among other reasons it increases the number of candidates for Government posts. But in other civilized countries the number of candidates is far larger, though there the number of careers is much greater than here. It is no doubt true that Government cannot and is not bound to provide posts in offices for all educated persons. But we cannot admit that it is not one of the duties of the State to reduce unemployment in the country by opening out new avenues of employment. The people themselves must also chalk out new careers for themselves. But Government also have a duty to perform in this respect. The problem of the unemployed occupies the attention of the Cabinet in Great Britain from year's end to year's end. For here people die of starvation quietly, there hunger and cold lead people to break windows,-and heads. too, sometimes.

Up to a certain standard every one should have literary education. For every one must be roused to become a man, and literary education helps him to realise that object. In addition to the literary education, men should have the special education that is to fit them for their particular work or career in life.

In India every one should have a literary education to open his eyes to the realities of his existence and the facts of the modern world.

Prof. J. C. Bose.

Before an audience of leading physiologists and advanced students of the Oxford University, Prof. J C. Bose gave on May 20th, a lecture on his electrical investigations on the Irritability of Plants. The

The

results announced were regarded as of great importance in the elucidation of many phenomena connected with life. automatic instruments invented by the lecturer were shown in operation. In the opinion of the physiologists present, these instruments and the novel methods of investigation, marked a great advance in the progress of physiological inquiry.

The Amrita Bazar Patrika has received the following letter from London:

"Dr. Bose gave his first lecture at Oxford on the 20th. The most distinguished scientists were present. When they saw the experiments they were convinced that 'Life is one'. Before this the results of Dr. Bose's enquiry were so astonishing to them as to challenge their belief. Nothing short of actual visualisation could convince them. It was a great success. They all unanimously said that the significance of Dr. Bose's discoveries was very far-reaching. Indeed, they do appreciate him As regards his instruments, they simply marvel at their ingenuity. They all ask where did you get them made'; and, with real pride did Dr. Bose reply, 'In India'' To-morrow the President of the Royal Society is coming to his house to see some of his experiments,"

now.

We, too have received a private letter speaking of the wonder which the apparatus invented by Dr. Bose have excited.

The "Malay" Dreadnought.

The Nation writes:

"A correspondent from the Federated Malay States asks the following very pertinent question: "When may we expect to hear of some M. P. asking in the House if it is true that the F. M. S. has been forced to raise a £5,000,000 loan in London to pay for the Dreadnought? He describes the country as 'groaning and cursing at the Dreadnought gift,' and explains that 'huge iteins are being cut off this year's estimates' of urgently needed expenditure in consequence of the extorted 'generosity.' The other day we heard the manager of a large rubber estate bemoaning the fact that the Dreadnought extortion had put a stop to all plans for draining the land, and thus staying the scourge of malaria. What explanation have the Colonial Office and the Admiralty to give for forcing this burden of indebtedness upon a people who certainly gave no sanction to the extravagance of their rulers? It is certainly the meanest item in the modern annals of the Empire."

Village schools and simplicity.

It is not at all difficult for a wise and truly sympathetic administrator to understand that in a poor and illiterate country like India simplicity must be the key-note in village education. Thus Sir Frederic Lely, who rose to be Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces and was a member of the Royal Commission on Indian Decentralisation, Decentralisation, writes in his "The Better Governing of India" on

the subject of simplicity in village education:

UNIVERSAL EDUCATION-THE GREAT TASK

The great task which lies at the doors of every provincial Administration is that of universal

eduction.

The Government are committed to it. The only real difficulty is the cost.

GIVE UP BUILDING PRETENTIOUS SCHOOL HOUSES.

A step which would at once set free a useful sum for education proper would be to abandon once for all the system under which Government takes upon itself through its Public Works department to build standard school houses. It will be possible to supply every village with one and a very good thing, too, for there is no sound sense in erecting for the children's school a building so much more pretentious than the houses in which the parents live, in which they themselves were born and marry, and live and die.

WHAT FORBES SAYS.

"Nothing can be more simple than a Hindu school," says Forbes in his "Oriental Memoirs" at the beginning of last century, "which is usually under a thatched shed open on three sides" (vol, i. p. 75) or "in the open air on" the shady side of the house. The scholars sit on mats or on cow-dung floors" (vol. ii. p. 506). . . . If there is one thing in which the commune could and would unite spontaneously, conveniently, and effectively, it is the provision of shelter for their boys when learning their lessons.

WHAT HAPPENS AT PRESENT.

What happens at present is that when a school is to be established the Assistant Deputy Inspector (as if it was his business!) comes to the village and in consultation with the headman hires a house at an exorbitant rent (which is only what is expected for a Government purpose, but is strangely out of place in a village concern), to be followed sometime after, if the village is lucky, by a building of finished masonry at any cost from Re. 1,000 upwards.

WHAT OUGHT TO HAPPEN.

What ought to happen is that the department should pay and assign a master and staff to every village where the people undertake to provide a house. If properly handled the poorest community will only need a grant of timber to help them through. This division of the burden would be resented at first by the larger and well-to-do villages which now get accommodation at the public expense, but wisely and firmly carried out it would stimulate both interest education and corporate life. For the villagers, if left to themselves, could provide a house at a traction of what the Government Department has to pay. It also stands to reason that they would under such circtmstances be allowed an absolutely free hand to make their own arrangement without fussy interference, the Deputy Inspector having no word in the matter unless only he found the conditions were insanitary. The teaching would be under the control of the department, the premises under that of the village on the understanding that, if the latter were not kept up to a fair standard the former would be stopped. The results would shock an Inspector straight from Europe, just as if he walked in the fields he would look with pity on a aseful native plough; but to the villagers the school would become a valued possession to be proud of. Like most things worth doing the introduction of

the system would not be easy, the chief hindrance to it, as to all attempts to trust the people, coming not so much from high officers as from subordinates who hate to surrender their power of meddling. . . . It might be at first made known that no new schools would be sanctioned except on condition of the people being responsible for the house, and this would pave the way for on extension of the principle to all. Its great merit, besides harmony, is a personal concern of the people themselves, is that it would help the financing of universal instruction.

The fundamental reason why this scheme would, with patience and tact, succeed is that parents are eager to educate their boys.

If the people of a village are too poor to erect a school house, the state ought to provide at its own cost "a thatched shed open on three sides."

MORE HELP NEEDED FOR EDUCATION OF GIRLS.

They are not so to educate their girls, and hence, for a long time to come, female schools will have to be housed at the expense of the State. It is also, I am sure, recognised that in every detail native sentiment will have to be carefully studied, and it is with a desire to help, not criticise, that I invite attention to the girls' school-house. It is usually in a public situation, with front doors and windows on a high road or in a compound adjacent. It is thus at all times, and especially on the occasion of an event such as a lady's visit, in full view of every passer by and of every loafer who chooses to stand and stare. So long as this is so the school will never be a resort for girls up to the age of fifteen or sixteen, and for respectable ladies of the village to go in and out as visitors. The possibilities of it as a rallyingground for the children, young wives, and mothers are great but they will never come within sight unless the right building is provided. It should be on the simple plan of an old-time native house-a square of unadorned brick or mud, with a door in front, the outer walls without any other opening except perhaps ventilators high up, and the inner sides open to the light and air of a centre courtyard, which should be bright with a few flowers, and contain space for simple gymnastics. It would be cool, healthy, and free from outside interference. It might be cheap also, for there need be no floor of stone, or roof. of cut timber, or compound walls. A few chicks to protect against the sun and rain when necessary, would complete the simple equipment. Chairs, benches, and tables at the public expense would be as much out of place as high-heeled shoes. So also ostentatious prize-givings, open to everyone of whatever sex and position. All that is really wanted is a homely building in which the mistress and her staff may carry on their work under the eyes of the neighbouring ladies, with the retirement and outward decorum so dear to the respectable native.

With regard to the education of girls we note with pleasure that the Bengal Government resolution on the report on Public Instruction for the year 1912-13 says that "a hopeful sign is the increasing readiness on the part of the public to repair and erect school houses."

Some Prize Essays.

The following notification appears in the Calcutta Gazette :

can an

The Royal Colonial Institute, London, will award prizes for the best essays on "In what sense Empire prove itself to be great," and a gold medal with a grant of 100 guineas for the best monograph on "The applicability of the dictum that ‘A democracy cannot manage an Empire' to the present conditions and future problems of the British Empire, particularly the question of the future of India." The competition is open to British subjects of either sex. A copy of the Regulations governing the competition can be had on application to the Registrar, Calcutta University.

An empire can not prove itself great without securing for all its parts equal rights, equal opportunities and equal liberties. It ceases to be an empire in anything but the name if one part wars on another without the latter being protected or allowed to retaliate, if necessary.

A democracy can manage an empire. only by establishing democracy in all its parts. But if it tries to keep one part as a cattle farm for the rest, either the democracy must cease to be a democracy or the empire gradually fall to pieces.

Competitive Examination.

The Royal Commission on the (British) Civil Service was appointed in 1912 to inquire into the methods of making appointments to and promotions in the Civil Service, and to investigate the working and efficiency of the system of competitive examination for those appointments. The chairman of the commission was Lord Macdonnell, and among the members were the Duke of Devonshire (Chancellor of the University of Leeds); Dr. Burge, Bishop of Southwark and formerly Headmaster of Winchester; Sir Donald MacAlister, Principal of the University of Glasgow: Mr. P. E. Matheson, one of the Secretaries of the Oxford and Cambridge. Joint Examinations Board: Mr. A. E. Shipley, Master of Christ's College, Cambridge; Mr. Graham Wallas; Mr. Philip Snowden; and Miss Haldane. The Commission consisted of nineteen members. The Fourth Report of this Commission has just been published by Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode. Sixteen have signed the majority report. "But on

the

crucial educational issue raised by the enquiry, the authors of the university report do not express themselves in opposition to the views of the majority of their colleagues."

In Indian Education for June Prof. M. E. Sadler thus summarises the views of the Commission on the efficiency of the system of competitive examination for appointments in the civil service:

The Commissioners refer in eulogistic terms to the growth of the efficiency of the Civil Service since the establishment of the competitive system of recruiting its ranks. They say that the system of competitive examination has, in their opinion, entirely justified the expectations of its originators, It is true, they add, that it never has been and is not now exempt from hostile criticism. They do not affirm that the written examination is an infallible or a final test of the best results of education. They think that the defects attaching to the system may be in some degree mitigated. The Commissioners believe that. at any rate, in existing political conditions and in such developments of them as can be reasonably anticipated, the advantages of the system of competitive examination as a means of recruitment for the Civil Service far outweigh any defects which have come to their notice, and they are convinced of the importance not only of adhering to the system but of extending it whenever possible. The three members who sign the Minority Report touch briefly on the same point. They admit that the system of competitive examination has obvious and admitted imperfections as a test of capacity for the practical business of life; but they can neither see any other system which could be put in its place, consistently with keeping the door of the Civil Service open to all qualified persons, nor can they suggest any alterations in the system that would remove its imperfections without at the same time creating others that would be even more open to objection.

The Commissioners "are convinced of the importance not only of adhering to the system but of extending it whenever possible." The Indian bureaucracy seem to be of a different opinion, ostensibly because human nature in India is different from what it is in other civilized countries. The real reason we suspect is that they are unwilling to part with patronage. It is so nice to be flattered and to feel that one has powers to dispense favours. Moreover, the men who receive appointments from the hands of patrons are never inconveniently independent. Men who get in by ability are conscious of that fact and are likely to be somewhat independent. But how can Burra Sahibs tolerate such a nuisance as independence springing from a sense of possessing ability?

There was a time when some Deputy and Sub-deputy Collectors were appointed on the result of a competitive examination. But it is a thing of the past.

The "Komagata Maru."

A motion for "Habeas corpus" on behalf of the Indian passengers on board the