GOLD, SPORT, AND COFFEE PLANTING IN MYSORE
WITH CHAPTERS ON
COFFEE PLANTING IN COORG, THE MYSORE REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY, THE INDIAN
CONGRESS, CASTE, AND THE INDIAN SILVER QUESTION
BEING THE 38 YEARS' EXPERIENCES OF A MYSORE PLANTER
BY
ROBERT H. ELLIOT
AUTHOR OF "EXPERIENCES OF A PLANTER," "WRITTEN ON THEIR FOREHEADS," ETC.
_WITH A MAP IN COLOURS_
WESTMINSTER
1898.
DEDICATION.
I have much pleasure in dedicating this book to my friend SIR K.
SHESHADRI IYER, K.C.S.I., Dewan of Mysore, and trust that it may
be useful in making more fully known the resources of the State
whose affairs he has for many years so wisely and ably
administered.
PREFACE.
In the year 1871 I published "The Experiences of a Planter in the Jungles
of Mysore," and had intended to bring out a new edition of it, but, from
various causes, the project was delayed, and when I at last took the
matter in hand, I found that so many things had happened since 1871 that
it was necessary to write a new book. In this, hardly anything of the
"Experiences" has been reproduced, except a very few natural history notes
and the chapter on Caste, a subject to which I would particularly call the
attention of those interested in Indian missions.
I have been much assisted by informants too numerous for mention here, and
can only allude to those who have most conspicuously aided me. Amongst
these I am much indebted to my friend Sir K. Sheshadri Iyer, K.C.S.I.,
Dewan of Mysore, for access given me to information in the possession of
the Government, and for returns specially prepared for the book. From my
friends Mr. Graham Anderson and Mr. Brooke Mockett, two of the most able
and experienced planters in Mysore, I have derived much information and
assistance. I am particularly obliged to my friend Dr. Voelcker[1] for
many valuable hints, and the chapter on manures has had the advantage of
being read by him. For information as regards the history of coffee in
Coorg I am much indebted to Mr. Meynell, who represents the large
interests of Messrs. Matheson and Co. in that province, and indeed,
without his aid, I could not at all have done full justice to the subject.
To Mr. Grey, manager of the Nundydroog mine, I am indebted for information
as regards the gold mines, and for the kind assistance he in many ways
afforded me when I visited them last January. I am also obliged to Colonel
Grant, Superintendent of the Mysore Revenue, Survey and Settlement
Department, for information as regards game, and the proposed Game Act for
Mysore.
I had intended to add a chapter on the cultivation of cardamoms and
pepper, but have not done so, because, for the want of recent information
from those specially engaged in these cultivations, I could not feel
confident of doing full justice to the subject. I may, however, say that
as regards cardamoms, I have good reason for supposing that there is not
much to be added to the chapter on them which appeared in the
"Experiences."
Though I have collected many experiences, I am of course aware that many
more remain to be collected, and I should feel particularly obliged if
planters and those who have any experiences to give me (natural history
and sporting information would be very welcome) would be kind enough to do
so. These I would propose to incorporate in an improved edition, which I
look forward to bringing out when a sufficient amount of additional
information has been collected. If those who have any information to give,
suggestions to make, or criticisms to offer, would be kind enough to
communicate with me, an improved edition might be brought out which would
be highly valuable to all tropical agriculturists, and all those
interested in the various subjects on which I have written.
My Indian address is Bartchinhulla, Saklaspur, Mysore State, and home
address, Clifton Park, Kelso, Roxburghshire.
ROBERT H. ELLIOT.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Dr. Voelcker, Consulting Chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society of
England, was, by the permission of the Society, employed for upwards of a
year by the Government in India; and his "Report on the Improvement of
Indian Agriculture" is an elaborate, work, of upwards of 400 pages, and
contains a large body of carefully digested information, remarks, and
opinions which will be of great value to the Government, and of much
practical value to planters, and all tropical agriculturists.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.--INTRODUCTORY.
Myself and the route to Mysore in 1855.
The pioneer planters of Southern Mysore.
The life of a planter by no means a dull one.
Effects of English capital on the progress of the people and the
finances of the State.
The value, in times of famine, of European settlers.
A deferred native message of thanks to the English public.
The causes that have led to an increase of famine and scarcities.
Measures to promote the digging of wells by the people.
A line of railway from Mysore to the western coast sanctioned.
Wanted, land tenures which will promote well digging and other
irrigation works.
The late Dewan's opinions in favour of a fixed land tax.
Evidences of irrigation works made by occupiers being promoted by
a fixed land tax.
Famine question of great importance to settlers in India.
The number of European and native coffee plantations in Mysore.
Probable annual value of coffee produced in Mysore. Manufactures
in India.
Manufactures in Mysore.
Endeavours by the Dewan to develop the iron wealth of the
province.
"The Mysore and Coorg Directory." Value of the Dewan's annual
addresses in the Representative Assembly.
The Dewan's efforts to promote improvements of all kinds.
European settlers favourably received by officials of all
classes.
Hints as to representing any matter to a Government official.
Native officials are polite and obliging.
CHAPTER II.--THE SCENERY AND WATERFALLS OF MYSORE.
General description of the Mysore country.
The climate. A healthy one for Europeans.
The beautiful scenery of the western borderlands.
The falls of Gairsoppa.
Height of the falls; difficulty of getting at them; the
Lushington, Lalgali, and Majod Falls might be visited-when on the
way to Gairsoppa Falls.
The best time for visiting the falls.
Description of the falls.
Startling sounds to be heard at the falls.
To the bottom of the gorge below the falls.
Wonderful combinations of sights and sounds.
The scene on the pool above the falls.
The beautiful moonlight effects.
A flying squirrel; a tiger bounding across the road.
The Cauvery Falls and the route to them.
General description of the falls.
The Gangana Chuckee Falls.
The Bar Chuckee Falls.
The Gairsoppa and Cauvery Falls contrasted.
Interesting bridges built by native engineers.
Leisure, solitude, and repose necessary to enjoy scenery.
CHAPTER III.--MYSORE--ITS GOVERNMENT AND REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY.
The early history of Mysore.
The Hindoo and Mahometan lines.
The Hindoo line restored by us in 1799.
The insurrection of 1830.
The Maharajah deposed and the country in 1831 administered by the
British.
The State restored to native administration in 1881.
The people at first generally disliked the change; causes of
this.
Value of an admixture of Europeans in the Mysore service.
The alleged breach of good faith as regards conferring
appointments on natives in British territory.
The constitution of Mysore; terms on which it was transferred not
to native rule but to native administration.
Mysore as practically under British rule as any part of British
India.
After deducting sum allotted for Maharajah's personal
expenditure, the remaining revenues to be spent on public
purposes only.
The advantages possessed by settlers in Mysore.
The Mysore Representative Assembly.
The notification by which the Assembly was established, and the
system of nominating members.
Contrast between it and the Egyptian General Assembly of the
Legislative Council.
First meeting of the Assembly, Oct. 7th, 1881.
Rules of 1890 announcing a system of electing members in future.
My election in 1891 as a member of the Assembly.
Am appointed chairman of preliminary meetings.
Measures agreed to at the preliminary meetings.
Rules to regulate discussions in preliminary meetings.
Organization desired to be established; funds for working the
proposed organization.
The lady students of the Maharanee's College.
The Assembly formally opened; the Dewan's address.
Gold mines, railways, roads; interference of Madras Government
with proposed Mysore Irrigation Works.
Measure to promote digging of wells.
Value of the Assembly as a means of communicating intelligence
amongst the people.
Forests. Elephants. Female education.
The Archæological Survey. The Census. The municipal elections.
Reform of religious and charitable institutions. An irregular
meeting of members.
A marriage law proposed. Great excitement caused thereby.
Proposal adjourned.
Proposal to store grain against times of famine.
Revenue should be remitted in full when there is no crop.
My speech in the Assembly as chairman of preliminary meetings.
Members called up in order to represent grievances and wants. The
marriage question again.
Influence of public opinion as regards age for consummation of
marriages.
Opinion of two native gentlemen as regards my speech.
An important concession gained by the representatives.
The admirable working of the Mysore Government. General
appreciation of the Dewan's administration.
Representatives have no power and do not want any. Causes of the
absence of any demand for parliamentary institutions such as
those in England.
Absence of general interest in the Assembly. Causes of this.
Great value of Assembly in bringing rulers and ruled together.
Such Assembly more necessary now than formerly. Causes of this.
The Indian Congress. Causes of the creation of.
Started in 1885 by a small number of the educated classes.
Seditious pamphlets circulated by the Congress.
Copies bought for the Athenæum Club.
Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, M.P. one of the sellers of the pamphlets.
Proceedings of the Congress legitimate till it fell under
guidance of Mr. Hume. Excuses for Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji.
The composition of the first and second Congresses.
The third Congress. The members desire to make the laws and
control the finances of India.
The Congress declares that as Indians in rural districts are not
qualified to elect members, these should be elected by an
electoral college composed of the flower of the educated classes.
As the desired powers are not likely to be obtained in India, the
people of England must be made to believe that India is being
misgoverned.
The Congress' schemes for bringing about a revolution in India.
Native volunteers to be enrolled to bring pressure to bear on the
Government. The Repeal of the Arms Act demanded.
The seditious pamphlets issued by the Congress.
The sums of money collected with the aid of the pamphlets.
Opinions of Congress that natives are wanting in the qualities
necessary for governing India.
CHAPTER IV.--NATURAL HISTORY AND SPORT.
The advantages and pleasures of big game shooting.
Comparative risks from tigers, bears, and panthers.
Boars and other wild animals more dangerous now than formerly.
Advantages of this for sportsmen.
The natural history of Mysore.
Elephants. Tigers much more numerous in former times in Mysore.
In a short time 118 caught in traps. Remarkable cessation of such
captures. The balance of nature destroyed.
The spread of intelligence amongst wild animals. Tiger passes.
Difference of opinion as to how tigers seize their prey.
The use of the paw in killing animals and people.
The carrying powers of tigers and panthers.
Reasons for not sitting on the ground when tiger shooting.
Illustration of risk of sitting on the ground.
Caution should be exercised when approaching a tiger supposed to
be dead.
Another illustration of the risk of sitting on the ground.
Illustration of the importance of sitting motionless when obliged
to sit on the ground.
An exciting rush after a wounded tiger.
Coolness and courage exhibited by a native.
Estimate of danger of tiger shooting on foot. Should not be
pursued by those whoso lives are of cash value to their families.
People killed by wounded tigers. Difficulty of seeing a tiger in
the jungle.
Distinguishing sight of natives superior to that of Europeans.
Tigers easily recover from wounds.
Effects on the nerves and heart from the roar of a wounded tiger.
Precautions that should be exercised by sportsmen with damaged
hearts.
The lame tiger. Met in the road at night.
Tying out live baits for tigers.
Interesting instance of tiger stalking up to a live bait.
Another illustration of risk of approaching a tiger apparently
dead.
Importance of using a chain when tying out a bait. Sport spoiled
from a chain not being used.
Tigers eat tigers sometimes. Illustration of this.
The tiger's power of ascending trees.
Interesting instance of a jackal warning tigers of danger.
Tiger put to flight by the rearing of a horse.
Effect on a tiger of the human voice. Tigers often undecided how
to act.
Tigers form plans and act in concert. Illustration of this.
Tigers of Western Ghaut forests, if unmolested, rarely dangerous
to man.
Very dangerous man-eating tigers have existed in the interior of
Mysore. Man-eaters enter villages. A tiger tearing off the thatch
of a hut.
Great courage and determination shown by natives in connection
with tigers. Illustrations of this.
The life of a planter saved by a dog attacking the tiger.
Interesting behaviour of the dog after Mr. A. was wounded.
Treatment of wounds from tigers. A native recovers from thirteen
lacerated wounds and two on the head.
A mad tiger. Position of body that should be adopted when waiting
for a tiger. Importance of this.
Tiger purring with evident satisfaction after having killed a
man.
CHAPTER V.--BEARS, PANTHERS, JUNGLE DOGS, SNAKES, JUNGLE PETS.
Bear has two cubs at a time. Bears rapidly decreasing. Said by
natives to be killed and eaten by tigers. Instances of tigers
killing bears.
Bears dreaded by natives more than any animal in the jungle.
Probable cause of their often attacking people. Illustration of
this.
Attacked by an unwounded and unprovoked bear.
If suddenly attacked by an animal at close quarters rush towards
it.
Wanton attacks made by bears on people. Approaching caves and
getting bears out of them.
Great value of stink balls.
How not to attempt to get a bear out of a cave. Am caught by a
hill fire.
Amusing incident at a bear's cave. A man wounded.
Value of having a good dog when out bear shooting. Am knocked
down by a bear.
Panthers. Should be hunted with dogs.
Panther probably feigning death. A man killed.
The wild boar the most daring animal in the jungles. Illustration
in point.
The great power of the wild boar. My manager charged by one.
Boars make shelters for themselves in the rains. The flesh of the
boar not a safe food.
Jungle dogs. Said by natives to kill tigers.
The use, said by the natives to be made by the dogs, of their
acrid urine.
A cross between the jungle and the domestic dog.
Curious incident connected with jungle dogs.
Great increase of jungle dogs. A reward should be offered for
their destruction.
Many reported deaths from snake bites probably poisoning cases.
Reasons in support of this view. From 1855 to 1893 only one death
from snake bite in my neighbourhood.
The cobra not an aggressive snake. Unless hurt or provoked will
probably never bite. Illustrations in support of this view.
Snakes keep a good look out. Tigers and snakes run away.
Many snakes are harmless, and some useful.
Wild animals probably require to be taught by their parents to
dread man.
A tame stag. A tame flying squirrel.
A tame hornbill.
Probable cause of pets not caring to rejoin their wild congeners.
Some remarks on guns. The Paradox.
CHAPTER VI.--BISON SHOOTING.
Unless molested the bison never attacks man.
An attempt to photograph a solitary bull.
Description of the bison.
Height of bull bison. Account of an interesting friendship
between a tame sambur deer and a bull bison.
Bison are often attacked by tigers.
Interesting instance of a tiger stalking up to a solitary bull.
The tiger and bull knocked over right and left.
Precautions that should be taken when following up a wounded
bull.
A tracker killed by a bull. Following a wounded bull.
Stalking up to a herd. The value of peppermint lozenges.
How a wounded bull may be lost.
The value of a dog when following up a wounded bull.
Wonderful bounding power of the bison. A narrow escape from a
charging bull.
Special Act required for preservation of cow bison.
CHAPTER VII.--GOLD.
The earliest tradition as regards gold in Mysore.
Explanation of gold being found on the ears of corn. Lieutenant
Warren's investigations in 1800.
Native methods of procuring gold by washing and mining.
Depths to which old native pits were sunk.
Probable cause of the cessation of mining at considerable depths.
In 1873 leave first given to a European to mine for gold.
Remarkable absence in Mysore of old records or inscriptions
relating to gold mining.
Mr. Lavelle in 1873 applied for right to mine in Kolar.
Of the mines subsequently started all practically closed in 1882,
except the Mysore mine, which began to get gold in end of 1884.
Had the Mysore Company not persevered the Kolar field would
probably have been closed. Depths to which mines have been sunk.
The Champion Lode.
General description of the Kolar field. Notes by a lady resident.
Life on the field. Gardening. Visitors from England.
The volunteers at the mines. Sport near the field.
Servants and supplies. Elevation and the climate. A healthy one.
Mining and the extraction of gold.
The rates of wages. No advances given to labourers.
Expenditure by the companies in Mysore in wages. Consequential
results therefrom on the prosperity of the people.
Measures which the State should take to encourage the opening of
new mines.
Royalty on mines that are not paying should be reduced or
abolished. Act required to check gold stealing.
Some summary process should be adopted to check gold thefts.
Want of water on the field. Measures proposed for conserving it.
The want of tree planting. Other auriferous tracts in Mysore. Mr.
R. Bruce Foote's report.
Brief analysis of Mr. Bruce Foote's report on the various
auriferous tracts. The central group of auriferous rocks.
The west-central group.
The western group. Expects that many other old abandoned workings
will be discovered in the jungly tracts.
An inexhaustible supply of beautiful porphyry near Seringapatam
and close to a railway.
CHAPTER VIII.--CASTE.
Valuable to rural populations.
My inquiry limited to its rural and practical effects on life.
Its moral effects as regards the connection of the sexes.
Its value in limiting the use of alcohol.
Morality in Manjarabad superior to that of England.
Widows may contract a kind of marriage. The value of caste in
socially segregating inferior from superior races.
The mental value of the separation caused by caste.
The separation caused by caste has not hindered advancement
amongst the rural population. The Coorgs an instance of this.
Disadvantages of caste as regards town populations.
Instances of the evils of caste amongst the higher classes in the
towns.
Inquiry as to how far caste has acted beneficially in opposing
the existing interpretation of Christianity.
Worthlessness of pure dogmas when adopted by a degraded people.
Native Christians readily revert to devil worship in cases of
danger or sickness.
Native Christians neither better nor worse than the low-classes
from which they are usually drawn. Experience of the Abbé Dubois.
The upper class peasantry having to give up caste would be
injured by being converted.
The town population would not be injured by conversion.
Causes of the outcry against caste.
Its alleged tendencies.
The way to retain the good and lessen the evil of caste.
To become a Christian our missionaries compel the entire
abandonment of caste. Their version of Christianity wisely
rejected.
Mischievous action of our missionaries as regards caste. Their
erroneous views a bar to the progress of Christianity.
Bishop Heber's "Letter on Caste."
Bishop Wilson's fatal "Circular" requiring absolute abandonment
of caste by Christians.
Secession of native Christians in consequence of the "Circular."
Erroneous views contained in the Report of the Madras
Commissioners.
Views of the Tanjore missionaries as regards caste.
Mr. Schwartz's opinions.
The Tanjore missionaries not unfavourable to the retention of
caste by their converts.
Inquiry into the origin of caste.
No connection between caste and idolatry. They may and do exist
apart.
Caste as it exists in Ceylon.
The way in which caste probably did originate.
The Jews a strictly guarded caste.
Caste difficulties as regards taking the Sacrament.
Its sanitary advantages.
Caste no bar to the exercise of hospitality and charity.
Advantages of caste in increasing hospitality and charity.
Caste has a levelling as well as a keeping down tendency.
Instances of people rising into a superior caste.
Rigidity of caste laws much exaggerated. They vary in different
places. Occasional violations of caste law condoned. Remarkable
instance of this.
Infringement of caste when out tiger shooting.
Instance of variation in caste law. Caste apt to be made the
scapegoat of every Indian difficulty.
Mr. Pope's remarks on the effects of caste.
Mr. Raikes's remarks on the evil effects of caste. Thinks that it
is the cause of infanticide.
Instance to show that infanticide can exist amongst people free
from caste. Polyandrous habits not necessarily a cause of
infanticide.
Summary of principal conclusions arrived at.
Curious customs of the Marasa Wokul tribe in Mysore.
The effect of caste on the transmission of acquired aptitudes.
CHAPTER IX.--COFFEE PLANTING IN COORG.
Description and the history of Coorg.
Conquered and annexed by us in 1834. My first visit to Coorg in
1857. The pioneer planters.
Planting without shade caused the failure of many of the
plantations.
After shade was introduced coffee flourished.
European and native plantations. Their number and the probable
yield from them. Expenditure per acre.
The kinds of manure used. Experiments by an analytical chemist.
Proportions of manure varied according to the condition of the
coffee. The time in which manure should be applied. Applications
of burnt earth.
Widespread results arising from the expenditure on plantations in
Coorg.
Rates of wages, and system of procuring labourers. Leaf disease
and Borer.
Remedies experimented on as regards leaf disease and Borer.
Primary cause of the existence of so much Borer. The terms on
which Government lands are sold for planting.
Reasons why certain of the reserved State forests should be given
out for planting.
Cinchona and Ceara rubber planting tried and abandoned. Coffee
seed introduced from Brazil, and other countries, without any
apparent advantage. Liberian coffee tried experimentally.
The capital spent on labour and the consequential results of this
on agriculture. My visit to Coorg in 1891.
The route from Mysore. The coffee works at Hunsur. Interesting
adventure with a panther.
To Mr. Rose's estate near Polibetta. Description of Bamboo
district.
Life in the Bamboo district. The club, church, and co-operative
store.
Visits to plantations. Left for Mercara.
The Retreat. Mr. Meynell's house. Its kitchen arrangements, etc.
Mr. Mann's coffee garden at Mercara. The large profits from it.
To the Hallery estate six miles from Mercara.
Visits to several estates. To the Coovercolley estate. Mr.
Mangles's.
Left Coovercolley for Manjarabad in Mysore.
General observations on coffee planting in Coorg. Its flourishing
condition. More attention should be paid to shade.
Defects as regards shade. More attention to it would lessen
Borer.
Manures used on the best kept up estates.
The profits that may be expected from good, well-managed estates.
The great want of a Game Preservation Act.
CHAPTER X.--COFFEE PLANTING IN MYSORE.
An agreeable life for an active intelligent man who must work
somewhere.
Qualities necessary to make a successful planter.
The work not hard. The climate agreeable and healthy. The
elevation of the coffee districts above sea level.
The changes that may be taken in the slack season by planters.
The durability of well-shaded plantations.
Shaded plantations a very permanent property. The profits of
coffee. Case of an estate bought with borrowed money.
Analysis of yield, expenses, and profits on a Manjarabad estate.
Probable profits on estates in the northern part of Mysore.
From want of information coffee plantations in Mysore not
saleable at good prices. Failure of coffee in Ceylon. This gave
coffee generally an undeservedly bad name.
Early notices of coffee in India. Its early history in Mysore.
Failure of the variety of coffee first introduced.
The successful introduction of the Coorg variety of coffee.
Mysore coffee fetches the highest price in the London market.
Original Mysore coffee land tenures.
The new Coffee Land Rules introduced in 1885.
In the south of Mysore all coffee land probably taken up. In
north, land reported to be still available. Planters well
satisfied with the Government.
Advances to labourers. Legislation as regards them much needed.
Proposed measure to meet the advances to labourers difficulty.
Legislation required to amend the extraditions laws.
The New Cattle Trespass Act. The want of a Wild Birds' Protection
Act. The neglect of game preservation.
In consequence of game destruction tigers forced to prey heavily
on village cattle. Great losses in consequence.
Cruelty of native hunters. Evidences of extermination of game
birds.
The want of a Government Agricultural Chemist. The discovery of a
new hybrid coffee plant.
Enormous yield from it.
CHAPTER XI.--SHADE.
General remarks on the importance of shade.
The governing principle as regards shade for coffee.
The most desirable kinds of shade trees. Those of less desirable
kinds.
The Jack. Its merits and defects.
The Attí. Good when young, less desirable when old.
The Noga. The objections to relying on this tree.
Other kinds of less desirable shade trees.
_Albizzia Moluccana._ Said to be a valuable tree for shade.
Methods adopted when forming a shaded plantation.
Great advantages of clearing without burning the forest.
The order in which shade trees should be planted.
The young shade trees require shade. The charcoal tree a good
nurse.
The management of young shade trees.
The evils arising from excessive trimming of side branches of
shade trees. Planting under the shade of the original forest
trees.
The value of leaving marginal belts of forest. The danger of a
running fire.
The quantity of shade required for varying aspects and gradients.
The great differences between northern and southern aspects as
regards heat.
Western and eastern aspects.
Importance of attending to the gradients, the quality of the
soil, and its exposure to drying winds.
Elevation and rainfall govern quantity of shade that should be
kept. The thinning, and lopping lower boughs of shade trees.
Much knowledge and experience required in judicious thinning.
More shade will be required as trees become lofty.
Importance of at once planting up spots where shade is deficient,
in order to keep out the Borer insect.
Planting out young shade trees. The removal of parasites from
shade trees.
Preparation of shade tree cuttings before planting out. How to
grow young charcoal-tree plants. Valuable as nurses.
CHAPTER XII.--MANURE.
How shade complicates the economical and effective manuring of
coffee.
Bulk manures as a rule should not be applied to land directly
under shade trees, but to more open spaces.
Less manure should be applied to coffee directly under shade
trees.
Manure should be varied on different aspects. The quantity that
should be annually supplied.
Bones may be seldom used if lime is regularly applied.
A considerable amount of manure required even though the loss
from crops is small.
A test of land being sufficiently supplied with manure. The
quantity of manure probably required.
The quantity of manure that should be put down at a time.
Danger from over-manuring, especially in ease of light soils.
Ridges should be more heavily manured than hollows. The time of
year when manures should be applied.
Advantages of manuring at the end of the monsoon.
Bearing that the time of applying manures has on leaf disease.
Mr. Marshall Ward's remarks as to this.
The various methods of applying manures.
In the case of steep land the manure should be buried in
trenches. Farmyard manure. Its great value for coffee.
Substitutes for farmyard manure.
Value of forest land top soil as a manure, and as a substitute
for farmyard manure.
The comparative cost of farmyard manure and top soil. Remarkable
result from an application of pink-coloured soil.
If top soil costs the same as farmyard manure the former is
better. Reasons for this being so. A compost of pink soil and
manures may be made, which will equal good farmyard manure, and
cost but little more.
The manurial value of pulp, and of dry fallen leaves.
Manurial value of green twigs of trees, ferns and wood ashes.
Night soil. Lime.
Bonedust. Fish manure.
Oil-cakes. Proportion of phosphate of lime in castor cake.
Nitrates of potash and soda.
Potash. A manure of doubtful value in the case of Mysore soils.
Attempt to ascertain value of potash as a manure for coffee.
How to grow young plants in old soils. Coprolites, discovery of,
in Mysore.
An agricultural chemist wanted for the province. A careful record
should be kept of manure applied.
Bringing round a neglected plantation. Steps that should be
taken.
Manurial experiments.
Native manurial practises should be studied. Application of
various soils as top dressing by native cultivators. The best and
most economical way of manuring coffee has yet to be discovered.
Manurial experiments need not be costly.
CHAPTER XIII.--NURSERIES, TOPPING, HANDLING, PRUNING, ETC.
The selection of seed.
Irrigated coffee near Bangalore. Mr. Meenakshia's gardens. The
selection of a site for a nursery.
The best time for putting down the seed.
Plants should be grown in baskets. The pits for vacancy plants.
Topping. The best heights for.
The time when trees should be topped.
Handling and the removal of suckers. Its importance as regards
rot and leaf disease.
Pruning.
Management of pruning, with reference to rot and leaf disease.
The removal of moss and rubbing down the trees. The cultivation
of the soil.
Difficulties connected with the proper cultivation of the soil.
The best tools for digging. Renovation pits.
Renovation pits valuable as water-holes. Their value in
connection with water conservation.
CHAPTER XIV.--THE DISEASES OF COFFEE.
Leaf disease, or attacks of _Hemeleïa Vastatrix_.
Mr. Marshall Ward's report on leaf disease in Ceylon. Leaf
disease probably always existed in Mysore. Said to have caused
much loss on some estates.
Losses of leaves from other causes commonly attributed to leaf
disease. No reason to fear it if land is well cultivated,
manured, and shaded. Evidence that shade can control leaf
disease.
Bad kinds of shade trees cannot control, but increase leaf
disease.
Conditions under which leaf disease is liable to occur in the
cases of good soil under good shade trees.
The importance of manure and cultivation with reference to leaf
disease. Mr. Graham Anderson's, Mr. Marshall Ward's and Mr.
Brooke Mockett's opinions. The Coorg plant not so liable to be
attacked as the Chick plant.
The Borer insect.
Borer is worst under bad kinds of shade trees, but can be
controlled by good caste trees.
Conditions favorable to attacks of the Borer.
Reasons for thinking that the usual practice of destroying all
bored trees is of little use.
The Borer can only be suppressed by adequate shade. Rot, or
_pellicularia koleroga_. Aggravated by want of free circulation
of air.
Measures for lessening rot. Importance of meeting monsoon with
mature leaves on the coffee trees.
Green-bugs. None in Mysore, Receipt for killing them used on
Nilgiri Hills.
CHAPTER XV.--THE SELECTION OF LAND FOR PLANTATIONS, AND THE VALUATION OF
COFFEE PROPERTY.
Much uncleared land available in northern part of Mysore.
The various classes of forest lands.
Much land unsuitable from over heavy rainfall. Mr. Graham
Anderson's return of rainfall. His interesting memorandum.
Elevation of plantations above sea level. With a few exceptions
not much difference in value of the coffee of various estates.
The especial importance of aspect in Mysore.
The most favourable gradients. Various kinds of soil.
Comparative healthiness of the different coffee districts in
Mysore.
Various considerations to be taken into account when valuing
land.
An old established estate may not necessarily be an old
plantation.
The quality of the shade ought largely to affect a valuation of a
property.
Facilities that should be considered when valuing a property.
Impossible to offer opinion as to value of coffee property, till
facts as regard it are widely known, and the line is opened to
western coast.
CHAPTER XVI.--HOW TO MAKE AN ESTATE PAY, AND THE ORDER OF THE WORK.
Inferior parts of estates should be thrown out of cultivation.
The losses caused by giving advances.
Advances not so necessary as formerly, as labour rates are higher
now.
Advances to Maistries to bring labour.
Minor sources of loss. The order in which the various works
should be performed.
CHAPTER XVII.--THE MANAGEMENT OF ABSENTEE ESTATES.
"The fact is, we all require a little looking after."
Advisable to give manager an interest in the estate. Managers for
estates in Mysore require to be very carefully selected.
A clear understanding essential between proprietor and manager.
Powers of attorney should be carefully drawn up. The proprietor
entirely in the power of the manager.
The value of the eye of the owner. Every estate should have an
information book.
Points to be entered in the information book.
Hints to managers.
CHAPTER XVIII.--THE PLANTER'S BUNGALOW AND THE AMENITIES OF AN ESTATE.
The best form of bungalow.
The kitchen arrangements.
The aspect of the bungalow and ground around it.
Cash value of the amenities of an estate. The flower garden.
Building materials.
How to keep out white ants.
Coolie lines.
Tree planting for timber and fuel.
Precautions for the conservation of health.
Hints as regards food, and the table generally.
Suggestions as to books and newspapers.
Importance of having some interesting pursuit.
The minor amenities of an estate.
The conditions of a planter's life now ameliorated by railways.
Mysore out of the reach of House of Commons faddists. Advantages
of this.
CHAPTER XIX.--THE INDIAN SILVER QUESTION.
On June 26th, 1893, gold standard introduced and mints closed to
free coinage of silver.
Movement originated in India by the servants of Government, and
from no other class whatever.
Some merchants afterwards joined in the agitation. Gold to be
received at the mints at a ratio of 1s. 4d. per rupee.
Sovereigns in payment of sums due to Government to be received at
the rate of fifteen rupees a sovereign.
Cash effects of the measure. For benefit of English reader
figures given in pounds sterling, a rupee taken at 2s. Rupee
prices little changed in India, China and Ceylon. Difficulty of
forming exact estimates as to this.
If gold value of silver can be forced up from 1s. 3d. to 1s.
4d., Indian Government will gain about one and a half million
sterling on its home remittances, and the people lose about seven
millions on their exports.
The Indian Finance Minister contemplates a rise to 1s. 6d.
eventually.
A rise to 1s. 6d. would give the Exchequer a gain on home
remittances of £4,500,000 and entail on the people a loss
£21,000,000, equal to a tax of 21 per cent. on the exports of
India. Effects of this on the producers.
The producers of coffee in Mysore alone would lose £56,000 a year
were exchange forced up to 1s. 4d., and £156,000 a year were it
raised to 1s. 6d. All producers in other parts of India of
articles of export would be similarly affected.
If the rupee is artificially forced up by the State, the shock to
confidence will repel capital and injure credit. The first effect
will show itself in a lessened demand for labour.
The effects of increased employment on the finances. The bearing
of the measure on famines and scarcity. It will intensify the
effects of both, and make them more costly to the State.
The measure has arrayed all classes against the Government,
except its own servants and a very few of the merchants.
The effects of the measure on the tea-planters of India and
Ceylon. It must heavily affect both. If Ceylon establishes a
mint, tea-planters there will have advantages over their rivals
in India.
Coffee planters of India and Ceylon will he prejudicially
affected in their competition with silver-using countries. Evil
effects of the measure on the trade, manufactures, and railways
of India.
The measure rotten from financial, political, and economical
points of view.
The Viceroy and the supporters of the measure have admitted that
it must be injurious to the producers of India. Sir William
Hunter's admirable survey of the former and present financial
condition of India.
The Viceroy has publicly declared that cheap silver has acted as
"a stimulus" to the progress of India.
The unfair action of Lord Herschell's Committee. Not a single
representative of the producing classes examined. But the
majority of witnesses were dead against the monetary policy of
the Government. The Currency Committee reported against the
weight of the evidence. The most important points not inquired
into at all by the Committee.
The Indian Government and Currency Committee financially
panic-stricken, and in dread of effects of repeal of Sherman Act.
The financial condition not such as to warrant panic. Taxational
resources not exhausted.
Sir William Hunter's statement proves that the financial
conditions were full of hope. The dread that the repeal of the
Sherman Act might reduce rupee to 1s. Examination of the
subject on that supposition.
By a rate of 1s. a rupee the Government would lose about seven
millions on its home remittances, and the people of India gain
fourteen millions on their exports. Mr. Gladstone's Government
adopted Home Rule Bill, and Currency Measure in one year. Both
forced on by tyrannical action. Gladstonian action as to Opium
Commission equally tyrannical.
The monetary measure a policy of protection for the benefit of
the silver-using countries that compete with India.
Some of the evils the measure, if successful, must cause. The
Indian Finance Minister declared that "it ought not to be
attempted unless under the pressure of necessity." No necessity
arisen. An independent body wanted to efficiently check the
Government. The Duke of Wellington's opinion.
India and Mexico compared. Mr. Carden's Consular Report.
Cheap silver advantageous to Mexico. The losses to the Government
and railways which arise from gold payments are, comparatively
speaking, a fixed quantity, while the gain to the people from
cheap silver, produces consequential benefits far beyond reach of
calculation. These remarks equally applicable to India. Wanted, a
Government that can see this.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.--PROGRESS IN MYSORE.
As I now turn my thoughts back to the year 1855, when, being then in my
eighteenth year, I sailed for India to seek my fortunes in the jungles of
Mysore, it is difficult to believe that the journey is still the same, or
that India is still the same country on the shores of which I landed so
long ago. But after all, as a matter of fact, the journey is, practically
speaking, not the same, and still less is India the same India which I
knew in 1855. For the route across Egypt, which was then partly by rail,
partly by water, and partly across the desert in transits, the bumping of
which I even now distinctly remember, has been exchanged for the Suez
Canal, and the frequent steamers with their accelerated rate of speed have
altered all the relations of distances, and on landing at Bombay the
traveller of 1855 would now find it difficult to recognize the place. For
then there were the old fort walls and ditches, and narrow streets filled
with a straggling throng of carts and people, while now the fort walls and
ditches no longer exist, and the traveller drives into a city with public
buildings, broad roads and beautiful squares and gardens, that would do
credit to any capital in the world, and sees around him all the signs of
advanced and advancing civilization. Then as, perhaps, he views the scene
from the Tower of the Elphinstone College, and looks down on the
beautiful city, on the masts of the shipping lying in the splendid
harbour, and on the moving throngs of people to whom we have given peace
and order, what thoughts must fill his mind! And what thoughts further, as
on turning to view the scene without the city he sees on one side of it
the tall chimneys of the numerous mills which have sprung up in recent
times, and which tell of the conjunction of English skill and capital with
the cheap hand-labour of the East--a combination that is destined, and at
no very distant period ahead, to produce remarkable effects. But I must
not wander here into the consideration of matters to which I shall again
have occasion to refer when I come to remark on the wonderful progress
made in India in recent years owing to the introduction of English skill
and capital, and shall now briefly describe my route to the western
jungles of Mysore.
When I landed in Bombay, in 1855, the journey to the Native State of
Mysore, now so easy and simple, was one requiring much time and no small
degree of trouble, for the railway lines had then advanced but little--the
first twenty miles in all India having been only opened near Bombay in
1853. A land journey then was not to be thought of, and as there were no
coasting-steamers, I was compelled to take a passage in a Patama (native
sailing craft) which was proceeding down the western coast with a cargo of
salt which was stowed away in the after-part of the vessel. Over this was
a low roofed and thatched house, the flooring of which was composed of
strips of split bamboo laid upon the salt. On this I placed my mattress
and bedding. My provisions for the voyage were very simple--a coop with
some fowls, some tea, sugar, cooking utensils, and other small necessaries
of life. A Portuguese servant I had hired in Bombay cooked my dinner and
looked after me generally. We sailed along the sometimes bare, and
occasionally palm-fringed, shores with that indifference to time and
progress which is often the despair and not unfrequently the envy of
Europeans. The hubble-bubble passed from mouth to mouth, and the crew
whiled away the evening hours with their monotonous chants. We always
anchored at night; sometimes we stopped for fishing, and once ran into a
small bay--one of those charming scenic gems which can only be found in
the eastern seas--to land some salt and take in cocoa-nuts and other
items. As for the port of Mangalore, for which I was bound, it seemed to
be, though only about 450 miles from Bombay, an immense distance away, and
practically was nearly as far as Bombay is from Suez. At last, after a
nine days' sail, we lay to off the mouth of the harbour into which, for
reasons best known to himself, the captain of the craft did not choose to
enter, and I was taken ashore in a canoe to be kindly received by the
judge of the collectorate of South Kanara, to whom I had a letter of
introduction.
After spending some pleasant days at Mangalore I set out for Manjarabad,
the talook or county which borders on the South Kanara district--in what
is called a manshiel--a kind of open-sided cot slung to a bamboo pole
which projects far enough in front and rear to be placed with ease on the
shoulders of the bearers. Four of these men are brought into play at once,
while four others run along to relieve their fellows at intervals. I
started in the afternoon, and was carried up the banks of a broad river by
the side of which hero and there the road wound pleasantly along. In the
course of a few hours night fell, and then all nature seemed to come into
active life with the hum of insects, the croaking of frogs, and various
other indications of an abounding animal life. Presently I was lulled to
sleep by the monotonous chant of the bearers--sleep only partially broken
when changes of the whole set of bearers had to be made--and awoke the
following morning to find myself some fifty miles from the coast, and
amidst the gorges of the Ghauts, with vast heights towering upwards, and
almost all around, while the river, which had now sunk to what in English
ideas would still seem to be one of considerable size, appeared as if it
had just emerged from the navel of a mountain-barrier some miles ahead.
After a few miles more we passed the last hamlet of what was then called
the Company's Country, and leaving the inhabited lands--if indeed in a
European sense they may be called so--behind us, began to ascend the
twenty miles of forest-clad gorges which lead up into the tableland of
Mysore. The ascent was necessarily slow, and it was not till late in the
afternoon that I saw, some 500 feet above me, and at a total elevation of
about 3,200 feet above sea-level, the white walls of the only planter's
bungalow in the southern part of Mysore. To this pioneer of our
civilization--Mr. Frederick Green, who had begun work in 1843--I had a
letter of introduction, and was most kindly received, and put in the way
of acquiring land which I started on and still hold. To the south, in the
adjacent little province of Coorg--now, as we shall afterwards see, an
extensive coffee-field--the first European plantation had been started the
year before, i.e., 1854, while to the north some fifty to seventy miles
away the country was, in a European sense, occupied by only three English,
or, to be exact, Scotch planters. In 1856 I started active life as a
planter on my own account, about twelve miles away from the estate of Mr.
Green, while in the same year two other planters--Scotchmen by the
way--made their appearance. The southern part of Mysore was thus occupied
by four planters, and we were all about twelve miles from each other. It
is difficult to conceive the state of isolation in which we lived, and as
we were all Europeanly speaking single handed, and could seldom leave
home, we often had not for weeks together an opportunity of seeing a
single white face, and so rare indeed was a visit from a neighbour that,
when one was coming to see me, I used to sit on a hill watching for the
first glimpse of him, like a shipwrecked mariner on a desert island
watching for the glimpse of a sail on the horizon. As for the Indian
mutinies, which broke out the year after I had started work, they might
have been going on in Norway as far as we were concerned; none of us at
all appreciated the importance and gravity of the events that were
occurring, and one of my neighbours said that it was not worth while
trying to understand the situation, and that we had better wait for the
book that would be sure to come out when things had settled down. And the
native population around us appeared to know as little of the mutinies as
we did. They seemed to be aware that some disturbance was going on
somewhere in the north, and that represented the whole extent of their
knowledge of the subject.
I have described our life as having been one of great isolation so far as
European society was concerned, but I never felt it to be a dull one, nor
did my neighbours ever complain of it, though we only took a holiday of a
few weeks in the year. But we had plenty of work, and big game shooting,
and the occupation was an interesting one, and as I even now return with
pleasure every winter to my planter's life, this proves that my earlier
days must have left behind them many pleasant associations. And the
occupation and sport were really all we had to depend on. We had few
books, nor any means of getting them, for I need hardly say that pioneer
planters, who have to keep themselves and their coffee till the latter
comes into bearing, cannot afford to buy anything that can be dispensed
with. But after all this perhaps was no disadvantage, for, as a great
moral philosopher has pointed out, nothing tends to weaken the resources
of the mind so much as a miscellaneous course of reading unaccompanied (as
it usually is, I may remark) by reflection. The management of people, the
business of an estate, the exercise of the inventive powers, the
cultivation of method, the sharpening of the observing and combining
faculties, which are so well developed by big game shooting, yield real
education, or the leading out and development of the mental resources,
while books provide the individual merely with instruction which has often
a tendency to cramp and even to fossilize the mind.
I have said at the outset, that the journey to India is not the same as it
was in 1855, and that still less is India the same India, and I may
certainly say that still less is Western Mysore the Western Mysore of
1855, except that its beautiful scenery is as beautiful as ever. For our
planting is not like that of Ceylon, where the planter, like the locust,
finds a paradise in front to leave a desert in his rear--a desert of bare
lull sides from which the beautiful forest has been entirely swept away,
while the most valuable constituents of the soil have been washed down to
the river beds. And when standing in 1893 on a lull in my district of
Manjarabad, and looking around, I can see no sign of change in the
landscape from the days of 1855, except that the woodland paths leading
from village to village are much more distinctly marked, owing to the
great increase of labourers employed in the numerous native and European
plantations, which now stretch in an unbroken line along all the western
border of Mysore. And no sign of change is apparent, because all the
coffee is planted either under the shade of the original forest trees, or
under the shade of trees which have been planted to take their place. But
all else is practically and largely changed by the agency of a universal
progress, which has been brought about by British government and the
introduction of British capital, skill, and energy. And this progress, I
am glad to be able to say, has benefited all classes of the community, and
the labouring classes by far the most of all, and the results as regards
those are so striking, so interesting, and so much more widely diffused
than could at first sight be thought possible, and are, as I shall show,
of such vast importance to the finances of the State, that they are well
worthy of special attention. Had the Government been aware of the enormous
financial value to the State of the introduction of English capital, I
feel sure that much greater efforts would have been made to stimulate
European enterprise, and that the progress of India would have been much
accelerated all along the line.
When I started my plantation in 1858, the pay of a labourer was 2 rupees 4
annas (4s. 6d.) a month. It is now, throughout the numerous plantations
in Mysore, from six to seven rupees a month, and a labourer can live on
about two rupees a month. Such a statement made of any country would
indicate a satisfactory degree of progress; but whereas in England it
would simply mean a greater ability in the working classes to live in an
improved condition, and perhaps some improvement in the condition of the
shopkeepers with whom they dealt, in India it means the creation of a
social and ever wide-spreading revolution. For when in India capital is
introduced, and employment on a large scale is afforded to the people, the
poorer of the peasant classes are at once able to free themselves from
debt, and the labourers soon save enough money to enable them to start in
agriculture, coffee culture, or any culture within, their reach. The
result of this, in my experience, has been most remarkable. When I started
in Manjarabad, for instance, the planters relied solely on labour procured
from the adjacent villages. But now the local labourer is almost a thing
of the past, for he has taken to agriculture and coffee culture, and now
only occasionally works for a short time to earn some money to pay his
taxes. When this change began, the planters had of course to go further
afield for labour, but merely to produce over again a similar result by
enabling labourers from distant villages to do what the local labourers in
the coffee districts had done, and thus for labour we have to operate on
ever-widening circles, till at last I have heard it remarked that the
Kanarese language is often of little use, and the native overseers on my
estate have complained that they now often cannot make the labourers
understand them. And this of course is not surprising, as at one moment
the overseer may have to deal with labourers from any one of the villages
between Mysore and the Western Sea, and at another with people from
villages in the Madras Presidency, far away on the route to the Bay of
Bengal. Field after field, and village after village, has thus been
irrigated by that capital for which India thirsts, and which, as we have
seen, produces such wide-spreading social effects on the welfare of the
people, and, consequently, on the resources of the State--enabling land to
be more largely and fully developed, wells to be dug, gardens to be made,
and the people to pay with greater ease the demands of the Government. But
there is yet another point of great importance to notice as regards the
introduction into India of European capital, with its accompanying
effects--effects which largely enhance its value--namely, those arising
from setting the natives practical examples of both method, skill, and
energetic action. I allude to the bearing of these forces upon famine--a
subject well worthy of some passing remarks, more especially because in
Mysore we can furnish proofs of the value in times of famine of having
Europeans settled in the country.
The actual money value of the infuse of English capitalists, and its
bearing on the resources of the State, and in enabling the people the
better to contest with famine and scarcity, is sufficiently apparent, but
it was only when the terrible famine of 1876-77 (which cost Mysore the
loss of about a fifth of its population, an immense sum of money, and
crippled its resources for years) broke out that the value of having a
European agency ready at hand to grapple with famine, and honestly
administer the funds available, was absolutely proved. It would be tedious
to go into this subject at any length, indeed I have not space to do so,
and I can only say that, as far as I could learn, the only satisfactory
treatment of the great famine was that initiated and carried out by the
planters, or, to be at once just and exact, I should rather say that the
system adopted was initiated by one of our leading planters--Mr. Graham
Anderson--who, and entirely at his own cost, was the first to start and
maintain on his estate a nursery for children. He saw that if the parents
could only be relieved of their children the former could work and be able
to maintain themselves, while all their efforts would be insufficient to
maintain at once themselves and their children. The nursery system that
was then initiated by Mr. Anderson, was adopted by other planters who were
subsequently aided by the assistance of money from the Mansion House Fund,
and Mr. Anderson was formally appointed by the Government as President of
the relief operations in the Southern Mysore coffee district, and, owing
to his energy, example, and administrative still, most satisfactory
results were obtained. I have before me, and written by Mr. Anderson, a
full account of all the famine relief operations he had charge of, showing
the assistance afforded by the planters in employing labour from which,
owing to the weakness of the people, very little return could be got; and
moreover by sheltering in their lines the wandering starvelings who were
moving about the country. I can only regret that want of space prevents my
going into the subject more in detail. I must, however, at least find room
for his concluding remarks, in order to deliver for him a message he has
long been desirous of sending to those of the English public who
subscribed to the Mansion House Fund.
"If there is one thing," writes Mr. Anderson, "I am certain of it is this,
that although some people think that natives have no gratitude, there has
never been anything concerning which the natives have been so loud in
their praise as the unbounded generosity of the London public, who in time
of fearful distress came forward with money to feed and clothe hundreds
and thousands of starving poor. Many a poor woman and man have asked me to
express blessings to 'the people of my village' who rescued them in their
dire distress. Perhaps you can give this message, which, as an outsider, I
have never had an opportunity of doing." I only wish I could add that the
gratitude of the Government was equal to that of the natives. Yes, Mr.
Graham Anderson was an outsider, and the Government (Mysore was under
British rule at the time) was evidently determined that he should remain
so in the fullest sense of the word, for he never even received a letter
of thanks for his valuable and gratuitous services, or the smallest notice
of any kind. I have no hesitation in praising most highly the action of
the planters, because, though one of them, I was not in India at the time,
and, though my estate manager took an early and active part in relief
operations, I had nothing personally to do with the famine relief work.
The subject of famines is of such vast importance to the people, the
Government, and all who have any stake in India, that I think it well to
offer here some remarks on them, and also suggest some measures for their
prevention, or perhaps I should rather say for their mitigation.
The causes that would lead to an increase of famines in India were fully
pointed out by me in 1871 in the "Experiences of a Planter," in letters to
the "Times," and in the evidence I gave when examined by the India
Finance Committee of the House of Commons in 1872. There were two
principal causes--the spread of the use of money instead of grain as a
medium of exchange, and such a restricted development of communications
that, while these were sufficient to drain the countries in the interior
of their grain, they were not sufficiently developed to enable the grain
to be brought back again in sufficient quantities when it was necessary to
do so in times of famine. Till, then, communications were developed to an
adequate extent, it was quite clear that India would be much more exposed
to risk from famines than she was in the days when grain was largely used
as a medium of exchange, and when, besides, grain, from the want of
communication, was largely kept in the country. The people, in short, in
the olden days, and even for some time after I landed in India, hoarded
grain, and in times of scarcity they encroached upon their supplies of
buried grain, whereas now they hoard money, which in time of famine can go
but a very short way in buying grain. The statement that an increase of
famines would be sure to ensue from the causes above indicated is amply
corroborated by the facts. There is no evidence to show that droughts have
increased, but there can be no doubt that in comparatively recent times
famines and scarcities have. And in looking over the list of famines from
1769 to 1877, I find that, comparing the first 84 years of the period in
question with the years from then up to 1877, famines have more than
doubled in number, and scarcities, causing great anxiety to the State,
seem certainly to be increasing. That the latter are so we have strong
evidence in Mysore, and in looking over the annual addresses of the Dewan
at the meeting of the Representative Assembly of Mysore, I am struck with
the frequent allusion to scarcities and grave apprehensions of famine. In
his address of 1881, only four years after the great famine of 1876-77,
the Dewan refers to "the period of intense anxiety through which the
Government and the people have passed owing to the recent failure of the
rains. But," he adds, "such occasional failure of rains is almost a normal
condition of the Province, and the Government must always remain in
constant anxiety as to the fearful results which must follow from them."
In his address of 1884 the Dewan says that "the condition of the Province
is again causing grave anxiety." In the address of 1886 the Dewan says
"this is the first year since the rendition of the Province (in 1881) in
which the prospects of the season have caused no anxiety to the
Government." But in the address of 1891 lamentations again occur, and we
find the Dewan congratulating the members on the narrow escape, owing to
rain having fallen just in time, they had had from famine. But our able
Dewan--Sir K. Sheshadri Iyer, K.C.I.E.--has taken measures which must
ultimately place the Province in a safe position, or at least in as safe a
position as it can be placed. He has seen, and it has been amply proved by
our experience in the Madras Presidency during the famine of 1876-77, that
the only irrigation work that can withstand a serious drought is a deep
well, and he has brought out a most admirable measure for encouraging the
making of them by the ryots. The principal features of this are that
money, to be repaid gradually over a long series of years, is to be
advanced by the State on the most easy terms, and that, in the event of a
ryot taking a loan, and water not being found, or found in inadequate
quantity, the Government takes upon itself the entire loss. But the
results from this highly liberal and valuable measure cannot be adequately
arrived at for many years to come, and in the meanwhile the risks from
famine go on, and as the Dewan has seen that these can only be immediately
grappled with by an extension of the railway system, he has always been,
anxious to make a line to the western frontier of Mysore, if the Madras
Government would agree to carry it on to Mangalore on the western coast.
But the Madras Government felt itself unable to find funds to carry out
the project, and hence Mysore, all along its western frontier, was, from a
railway point of view, completely imprisoned, and there seemed to be no
prospect of anything being done to connect the Province with the western
seaboard for many years to come. However, a Mysore planter last year
sought a personal interview with Viscount Cross, the Secretary of State
for India, who has always taken a great interest in railway extensions,
and the result of this was that Lord Cross initiated action which resulted
in prompt steps being taken. Early this year a preliminary survey of the
route from a point on the line in the interior of Mysore, _viâ_ the
Manjarabad Ghaut, to Mangalore was made, and I am in a position to state
that the completion of this much and long-wanted line may be regarded as a
thing of the near future. After this line has been made a line will be
constructed from Hassan to Mysore, _viâ_ Holî Nursipur, and Yedatora, and
from Mysore a line will be run, _viâ_ Nunjengode[2] to Erode, the junction
of the Madras and South Indian Railways. I may mention here that Sir
Andrew Clarke, in his able Minute of 1879 on Indian Harbours, says that
"Mangalore undoubtedly admits of being converted into a useful harbour,"
though he adds that "the project may lie over until the prospects of a
railway connecting it with the interior are better than at present." As
the immediate prospects of a line being made are quite secure, it is of
great importance to call attention to this matter now, as it is to the
manifest interest of both Governments that the harbour of Mangalore should
be improved as soon as possible.
After having done so much to contend against famine-producing causes, it
may seem that the Dewan might rest and be thankful; but it must be
considered that, though railways will undoubtedly enable the State to save
life, it will have to pay a ruinously heavy charge whenever a widespread
and serious drought occurs, and, sooner or later, it seems inevitable that
such a drought must occur. And it is therefore perfectly evident, that
without the extension of deep wells the province cannot be placed in a
thoroughly sound financial position. It is, then, of obvious importance to
remove at once the great obstacle that stands in the way of the rapid
addition to the number of deep wells. That obstacle, and a most formidable
obstacle it is, as I shall fully show, lies in the fact that the present
form of land tenure in Mysore (under which also about four-fifths of the
land of British India are held) does not provide a sufficient security for
investors in landed improvements. By the existing tenure the land is held
by the occupier from the State at a rental which is fixed for thirty
years, and after that it is liable to augmentation. The Government, it is
true, has declared that it will not tax improvements, and that, for
instance, if a man digs a well no augmentation of rent will be demanded
for the productive power thus added to the land, but it has reserved to
itself wide powers of enhancing the rent on general grounds, such as a
rise in prices, improved communication, etc., and to what amount the
enhancement may go the ryot cannot tell. And hence we find that the
representatives in the Mysore Assembly have repeatedly argued that it is
owing to the uncertainty as to what the rise of rent may be at the close
of each thirty years' period that improvements are not more largely made,
and have therefore prayed for a permanently fixed assessment. Now I am not
prepared to say that, for the present at any rate, it would be wise to
grant a fixed assessment on all lands, but I am quite sure that it would
be wise to grant, for the irrigable area watered by a well dug at an
occupier's expense, a permanent assessment at the rent now charged on the
land. The Government, it is true, would sacrifice the rise it might obtain
on the land at the close of each lease, but, as a compensation for
this--and an ample compensation I feel sure it would be--the State would
save in two ways, for it would never have to grant remissions of revenue
on such lands, as it now often has to do in the case of dry lands, and
with every well dug the expenditure in time of famine would be diminished.
Such a measure, then, as I have proposed, would at once benefit the State
and draw out for profitable investment much capital that is now lying
idle. There is nothing new, I may add, in this proposal, for it was
adopted by the old native rulers, who granted fixed tenures on favourable
terms to those making irrigation works at their own expense. An
English-speaking Mysore landholder once said to me, "I will not dig wells
on my lands under my present tenure, but give me an assessment fixed for
ever, and I will dig lots of wells." The present landed policy of the
Indian Government[3] is as shallow as it is hide-bound. It wants, like a
child, to eat its cake and still remain in possession of the article. It
is most anxious to see private capital invested in land, and it still
wants to retain the power of every thirty years indefinitely augmenting
the land revenue on general grounds. Surely it must be apparent to minds
of even the humblest calibre that these two things are utterly
incompatible!
I may mention that there is a strong party in India in favour of granting
at once a permanent assessment at the existing rate of rent for all lands,
and in reference to this point it may be interesting to give the following
passage from a letter I once received from the late Prime Minister of
Mysore, Mr. Rungacharlu, the minister who started the first Representative
Assembly that ever sat in India:
"As you know," he wrote, "I hold decided views on the subject, and the
withholding of the permanent assessment is a serious injury to the
extensive petty landed interests in the country, and is no gain whatever
to the Government. Nearly the whole population of the country are
agriculturists, and live in one way or another upon the cultivation of the
land. The effect of a permanent settlement will therefore create a greater
feeling of security, and to encourage the outlay of capital and labour on
land will be beneficial to the entire population. It will thus be quite a
national measure reaching all, and not in the interests of a few, and is
calculated to develop the capabilities of the land to the utmost. The
prospect of the Government ever being benefited by the reservation of an
increase of assessment on the unearned increment is a mere dream. Such
increase is sure to be resisted or evaded, occasioning meanwhile great
discontent. The Government may confidently look to the development of
other sources of revenue from the increased prosperity of the people."
But whether the best remedy lies in granting, as I have proposed, a fixed
assessment on land brought under well-irrigation at owners' expense, or in
granting a permanent assessment for all lands, or, perhaps, in extending
the period of lease from thirty to sixty years (and the last proposal
would answer fairly well), one thing is certain, and that is, that under
the thirty years' tenure system it is impossible to expect such a
development of the landed resources of India as will secure the Government
from the vast financial losses caused by famine, or at least reduce these
losses to a moderate amount. And we have ample evidence to prove that,
where adequate security exists, private enterprise will be sure to step in
and carry out most extensive and important irrigation works. This has
been particularly shown in the proceedings of the Government of the
North-West Provinces and Oudh, where the condition of things in the
permanently settled districts has been contrasted with that in the
temporarily settled, or thirty year leasehold districts. I have no space
to go into the details. They would only weary the general reader, and it
is sufficient to say that in the permanently settled districts there has
been an immense progress in irrigation carried out by private enterprise;
and that, to quote from the proceedings:--"Throughout the whole tract
there have been occasional periods of agricultural distress, but it has
always been in a mild form, and for a century famines such as have
occurred in other parts of India have been unknown." In short, private
enterprise, backed by a fair assessment fixed for ever, has driven famine
from the tract in question, and this will occur in other parts of India if
the Government will only grant tenures sufficiently safe to induce the
people to invest their money in wells and permanent improvements. And if
further proofs are needed, we have only to turn to Mr. Gribble's valuable
memorandum on well irrigation, which is published in the proceedings of
the Famine Commission.
In concluding my remarks on famines, I may say that the whole question
regarding them is of the greatest practical importance to all employers of
labour in India. Our labour market in Mysore was enormously injured by the
great famine of 1876-77, when the loss of population amounted to about a
million, and when, through the agency of railways, loss of life can be
averted in the future, it will only be averted at such a cost as will
cripple the resources of the State for years to come, and so lessen its
powers for maintaining roads and other works in an efficient state, and
developing the resources of the country. The whole of the evils arising
from famine then can only be averted by a full development of well
irrigation, and this and the development of the landed resources of the
country in general can only be effected through the agency of improved
tenures. This is a point which all individuals having a stake in India
should continuously urge on the attention of the Government.
The reader will remember that when I started in Mysore in 1856, there were
only seven European planters in the province. I have lately endeavoured to
ascertain the number there are at present, and the Dewan, to whose
kindness I have been much indebted for information when writing this book,
has supplied me with a specially drawn up return, showing all the
information available as regards coffee from the year 1831 up to 1890-91,
and by this it seems that there were in 1890-91 662 plantations held by
Europeans in Mysore, but there are no means of ascertaining the number of
planters. I have referred the return to one of the oldest and most
advanced planters, and in his reply he says, "It is impossible to say
exactly how many landowners the 662 plantations represent, as several of
the plantations in many cases go to make up what we call an estate, but I
should not imagine that the number would be more than 300, and in that
calculation I have allowed for there being partners in many of the
properties." The area held by Europeans was 49,862 acres, and some
increase has no doubt since been made to this.
The native plantations amounted to 27,180 in number in 1890-91, with an
area of 96,814 acres, but many of these so-called plantations only consist
of small patches of coffee. The total area of European and native holdings
in 1890-91 was 146,676 acres. There are no means whatever of ascertaining
from the returns at my command even approximately the amount of coffee
produced. A reasonable calculation, however, based on a general knowledge
of the circumstances, makes it probable that the European production of
coffee may be put down at about an average of 120,000 cwts. a-year, and
the native production at about 172,000 cwts., and if we put the average
value of both as low as £3 a cwt. this would make the annual value of the
coffee amount to £876,000. I now proceed to close this chapter with some
remarks on manufactures in Mysore.
Many years ago I heard the late Mr. Hugh Mason (formerly President of the
Manchester Chamber of Commerce) speak at a meeting of the Society of Arts
on the manufacturing prospects of India, and, after reviewing the general
situation, he said that it is difficult to see what other advantages India
could require in order to raise itself into the position of a great
manufacturing country. It is true, he said, that the operative there
cannot do as much as the operative hero, but, he continued, I can remember
the time when the operative here could not do nearly as much as he can do
now, and there is no reason to doubt but that a similar improvement would
take place in the case of the Indian operative. And when this improvement
takes place, and India becomes more known and developed, her great
manufacturing capabilities will become fully apparent. India has two very
great advantages. She has an abundant, docile, and orderly population, and
she obtains from the sun an ample supply of that heat which has to be paid
largely for here. When, then, the Indian operative attains to an advanced
degree of proficiency--and to this he undoubtedly will attain--the
greatest labour competition that the world has ever seen will begin--a
competition between the white labourer who requires to be expensively fed,
warmly clothed, and well shod, and housed, and the black or brown skinned
man who can live cheaply, and work naked, and who is as physically
comfortable in a mere shelter as his rival is in a well built dwelling.
The Indian peasant already, in the case of wheat, undersells the English
farmer, and it seems merely a question of time as to when the Indian
operative will undersell his Lancashire rival, and when perhaps calico
will come to England, as it once did, from Calicut. And no doubt, some
such thoughts were passing through Cobden's mind when he once said, "What
ugly ruins our mills will make." We are, however, a considerable way from
such remains as the reader will see if he consults the interesting paper
on "The Manufactures of India," read by Sir Juland Danvers at a meeting of
the Society of Arts on the 24th of April last, and by this it appears that
the imports of cloths of English manufacture have increased in recent
years. Still India is progressing, and there are now a total of 126 cotton
mills in all India. Of these one is in Bangalore, and was opened in 1885.
The Mysore Government took 250 shares in it, and to enable the Company to
extend the buildings, subsequently lent it on easy terms two lakhs of
rupees. There is also another company at work in Bangalore which started
as a woollen factory, but which has now set up machines for spinning
cotton. The efforts made to push forward industries of all kinds in Mysore
are highly creditable to the administration, and I find numerous
references in the annual addresses made by the Dewan at the meeting of the
Representative Assembly to the desire of the Government to foster any kind
of industry that is likely to afford increased employment to the people. A
long reference is made in the Dewan's address of 1890, to the endeavours
made by the Government to open up the iron wealth of the province, and it
was then in correspondence with a native gentleman who had proposed to
start iron works in the Malvalli Talook of the Mysore district. The
Government, it appears, were prepared to grant most liberal concessions as
regards the supply of fuel. But I regret that I have no information as to
whether these proposed works have or have not been started. For the
information of those who might be inclined to embark in this industry I
may mention that a copy of the Dewan's annual addresses always appears in
the "Mysore and Coorg Directory," which is a most valuable compilation on
all points of importance relating to those provinces. These annual
addresses are admirably drawn up and are most interesting to read. The
attention shown to the many various points treated of is most remarkable.
Nothing seems too great and nothing too small for notice by the Dewan, and
it is this even attention all along the line that shows the fine
administrator. As one instance to the point I may mention that when
attending as a member of the Representative Assembly at Mysore in 1891, I
happened to meet the Dewan and some of his officers in the veranda outside
the great hall where our meetings were held, and his attention was
attracted to a coffee peeler--the invention of a native who thought this a
good opportunity for introducing his machines to the notice of the public,
and had some cherry coffee at hand to show how they worked. The Dewan at
once inspected the machine, saw the coffee put through, and himself turned
the handle, and was so satisfied that he ordered some of the machines to
be bought and sent for exhibition to the head-quarters of the coffee
growing Talooks, or counties, and in his address of 1892 he reports that
the machines had been found to be much in favour with the planters who had
used them. The state of the box is the best evidence of the goodness of
the gardener. But it is time now to draw this chapter to a close. I must,
however, find room for a few remarks which will show those who might be
inclined to settle in India that their interests are sure to be well
attended to by the Government.
During my long Indian experience I have had occasion to represent
grievances and wants to Government officers, from district officers to
high Indian officials, to officials at the India office, and to more than
one Secretary of State for India, and am therefore able to testify
directly to their admirable courtesy, patience, and consideration. In the
ordinary sense of the word, the planters in the various parts of India are
not represented, but as a matter of fact their interests are most
efficiently represented, for the officers of the Government, whether
civilians or soldier-civilians (and when Mysore was under British rule I
had practical experience of both), are distinguished by an amount of
energy, industry, and ability, to which I believe it is impossible to find
a parallel in the world, and combined with these qualities there is
everywhere exhibited a conscientious zeal in promoting in every possible
way the interests of the countries committed to their charge. And these
officers know that they are at once the administrators and rulers of the
land, and, as there is no representative system such as we have in
England, freely admit that to them the people have a right to appeal in
all matters affecting their interests. This right of personal appeal
planters most freely exercise, and in this way are sure, sooner or later,
and often with very little delay, to obtain the supply of wants or the
redress of grievances. And here I may offer in conclusion one useful hint.
The time of officials, and especially of high officials, is very valuable,
and every effort should be made to avoid putting them to trouble that can
be avoided. The subject to be brought forward should be carefully thought
out, and put in the form of a memorandum. This in some cases it is
advisable to forward by letter when asking for an interview, while in
other cases I have thought it more advisable that the memorandum should be
taken with one and read to the official, as this gives a good opportunity
for discussing the points in regular order. In the latter case, at the
close of the interview, the official will probably ask that the memorandum
may be left with him for reference, but it is then better to ask to be
allowed to send a well-written copy by post, as this gives an opportunity
for making clearer any points that may have been discussed at the
interview, and which may require further explanation. It is well always to
bear in mind that all high officials, and the heads of districts, are
representatives of the Crown, and as such are entitled to a due amount of
deference and formality when being personally addressed, or addressed by
letter. These are points which are sometimes not sufficiently taken into
account by inexperienced persons.
I need hardly say that the remarks last made apply equally to native
officials either in Mysore or elsewhere.
In conclusion, I may mention that I have always found the native officials
to be most polite, considerate, and obliging, and such, I feel sure, is
the general experience of those who have been brought in contact with
them.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] When this line is finished the planters of Mysore will have an easy
and very direct route by rail to the Nilgiri Hills, and this will be of
immense advantage to themselves, and especially to their families.
[3] It has imposed this policy on Mysore, and by the terms of the deed of
transfer to the Rajah, no alteration in the tenures can be made without
the consent of the Supreme Government.