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Mysore and Communal Representation In the rules prescribing the qualifications of voters and candidates at the Municipal elections in Mysore State under new Regulations extending the scope of local Self-Government in the State, some recognition has been accorded to the principle of communal representation. At first, the Government vigorously opposed communal representation in local bodies and municipalities. The present rule states that, if in any division of the municipality divided for electoral purposes into divisions under the foregoing rule, not less than 50 percent and in a municipality not so divided not less than 25 percent of the total number of persons eligible to vote belong to any one section of the inhabitants, then such voters may apply to the Government, provided that application is made by not less than three-fourths of the then total number for permission to elect one or more members of such section, and the Government may, thereupon, pass such orders as they deem fit.

Travancore State Finances

An official memorandum on the Travancore State's transactions of the year 1093 corresponding to 1917-1918 shows that in spite of war conditions the year was a prosperous one. The revenue was Rs. 1,65,90,000 and the ordinary expenditure Rs. 1,61,56,000, resulting in a surplus of Rs. 4,34,000. If the capital expenditure on the railway extension to Trivandrum be included in the last year's disbursement, the result is a deficit of Rs. 4,36,000. The Darbar balance has thus fallen from Rs. 43,83,000 at the beginning of the year to Rs. 39,47,000.

The total assets of the Darbar amount to Rs. 1,34,36,000 and the liabilities to Rs. 94,90,000 excluding the closing balance. These figures do not include the Darbar's liability till March last of Rs. 1,18,56,000 on account of the ShencottahQuilon Railway and also Rs. 80 lakhs invested on the Kodayayar irrigation works. Another Rs.50

lakhs incurred by the Daibar is the extension of the railway from Quilon to Trivandrum.

Last year's income exceeded that of the previous year by Rs. 246,000 and the expenditure last year was Rs. 832,000 more than the year previous. Co-operation in Travancore

The Travancore Government have issued a review of the work done by the Department of Co-operation during the past official year. There were 44 societies of which 33 were agricultural, Owing to the rush of applicants to join the nonagricultural credit societies and also to avoid the danger of permitting such credit associations to assume an unmanageable size, action was taken to prescribe a limit to the membership of some primary societies till they were able to establish a good busines reputation. A co-operative conference was held last year with the Dewan as president. The Government observe that the Department continued to progress during the past year. Iron Works in Mysore

Mr. Perlin, the Iron Expert, is expected next month in India when he will work out details of the Mysore Government iron scheme and carry out the installation of machinery at Bankipur where the Mysore Government iron works will be located. The scheme, it is understood, is entirely financed by the Mysore Government and its management will be under the control of a Board of three representatives of the Mysore Government and two of the Tata Iron and Steel Co. The Company will act as agents of the Mysore Government for the manufacture of pig-iron.

A Weaving School for Pulayas His Highness the Maharajah of Travancore has sanctioned a separate weaving school for Pulayas. This school will be under the management of a European Missionary of C. M. Society working in Travancore. Two other schools also for fibre and yarn industries were opened in pursuance of a scheme by the Travancore Government for the promotion of cottage industries,

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Indian Merchants in S. Africa Mr. E. J. Asvat, Chairman of the Transvaal British Indian Association, has sent the following cable dated February 11, to Mr. G. A. Natesan, Editor, "The Indian Review": Legal proceedings under the precious Base Metals Act of 1898 resulted against Indian merchants of long standing at Krugersdorp area. The effect of judgment is the virtual ruination of the mercantile community throughout Wit Waters Rand. The Transvaal Ordinance IX of 1912, the Relief Act and other laws affecting Indian community are being rigorously enforced, the object being the elimination of Indian trade to the benefit of European competitors. The British Indian community emphatically protest against this cruel reactionary policy, It is significant that action had been taken almost simultaneously with the armstice. The community submits such policy as a poor mark of appreciation of Indian sacrifices for the Empire during the war. The community earnestly appeals for protection, meanwhile endeavouring to get the matter ventilated before the bar of the Assembly of Capetown. Please help in every possible way. South African Indian Congress

The South African Indian Congress representing the Transvaal, Natal, and the Cape Province, passed a resolution asking the Government to amend the laws which were operating oppressively against them, including the Act prohibiting free movement of Indians throughout the Union. The Congress decided to send at least two delegates each from the Transvaal, Natal and the Cape Province to attend a special session of the Indian National Congress in London in order to support the claims for Indian autonomy. The delegates will also be authorised to plead the cause of South African Indians, The Congress passed a further resolution to urge the Imperial Government not to cede German South-West Africa to the Union until "the obnoxious laws" in the Union were repealed,

Indian Troops in Africa

On the termination of his command of the East Van African Expeditionary Force, General Deventer, Commander-in-Chief, sent the following message to His Excellency the Commanderin-Chief in India :

"On the termination of my command of the East African Force, I tender you my sincerest thanks for your ungrudging assistance and constant co-operation. The troops sent from India have borne their full share of the hardships of a campaign in which the fighting has been severe and the physical difficulties enormous and have played a gallant part in the conquest of German East Africa, I am proud to have had them under my command. I beg that you will convey my warmest gratitude to those who by their generous gifts have allieviated the sufferings of the sick and wounded and contributed to the comfort of those in the field."

His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief replied: "I thank you for your cordial message. it has always been a pleasure to us to help you whenever we could. The troops sent from India are pround to have had the opportunity of taking part in these ably conducted operations upon the successful conclusion of which the army in India tender you their heartiest congratulations."

Transvaal British Indians

At the annual general meeting of the Transvaal British Indian association, at which some 800 were present, including representatives of the various bodies in the Transvaal, N. A. Cama, who presided, gave a brief resume of the association's activities during the previous year, and dwelt upon the loss sustained by the community in the death of A. M. Cachalia, Sorabjee, Esuph Hassim and other stauch supporters of the association.

An Industrial Charter

The important features of a proposal submitted by Dr. Sidney Webb for industrial reconstruc tion are:

1. The prevention of unemployment by a programme of public works undertaken in periods of slack private industry.

II. The maintenance of the standard rates of wages which shall be a minimum and not a maximum, and which shall be decided by a "joint board of employers and employees, to which all employers in the industry and all trade unions claiming to include any considerable number of workers in it should be invited to take part."

III. A constitution for factory and industry in which there shall be written guarantees of universal acceptance of trade unionism and provision for Conference with workshop committees on technical problems.

IV. No limitation of output.

V. Freedom for every worker to take or leave employment and freedom for the employer to use any and all machinery and to hire any employee, provided that the new employee will immediately join the union.

The Fibre Possibilities of India

The sowing conditions created by the war have emphasised the great importance of the investigation of fibre resources of the Empire, and India with its present monopoly of jute cultiva tion and its wide variety of climatic conditions offers a compromising field for investigation. It has accordingly been decided to extend the scope of Mr. Fillow's work (Fibre Expert) with a view to the thorough exploitation of the fibre possibilities of India. His investigations will extend throughout India, but his duties under the scheme will be purely advisory and his headquarters will remain at Dacea in order that his important work in connection with Bengal jute may not be interrupted.

Development of Indian Industries

The proposal put forward by the Indian Industries Commission to set up an Industrial Board to undertake the responsibility for framing and carrying out a programme of industrial development in India, will, if adopted, lay the foundation of a new scheme, in which Engineers will play a leading part. It is suggested, indeed, that the actual administrative work of the new organisation, which would be entirely decentralised, would be in the hands of officers whose qualifications would be gauged by their knowledge of mechanical engineering. The proposal has been received with much interest, and it is good news to those who have worked with the object of improving the status of the Engineer that the dis: adv utages of casual recruiting for these Indian appointments are to be overcome by the formation of an Imperial Industrial Service. The field to be covered is very wide, and its extent is hardly more than suggested by the summary of the Report of the Commission, which is all that is at present available; but it is clear that attention is being focussed on the development of industries, the absence of which has been shown to be a grave danger in time of War, and that industrial and technical education and training, research work, the collection and circulation of commercial intelligence, housing and welfare schemes, and the improvement of transport, are included in the other provisional plans. Other important questions which are raised are the extent to which the State should participate in manufacturing operations, under which head a policy of severe restriction is recommended, and the reform of the system on which Government stores have been purchased in the past. It is admitted that the old method of making such purchases has tended to retard industrial development in India.-The Times.

Agricultural Education in India Mr. H. M. Leake, M.A., F.L.S., Principal, Agricultural College, Cawnpore, contributes a very informing article of practical interest in the January quarterly number of The Agricultural Journal of India, wherein he collects and analyses all the materials available for a policy of agricltural education.

One of the functions of education ought to be, Mr. Leake points out, to render the individual a useful citizen. Education, considered from a national aspect, must be diverse, and, in its praetical aspect, consists in placing before the youth of the country the essentials for the development of the mind in a form which will leave the individual in a condition in which he will render useful service as a citizen. After dealing in detail on various ideals that should form the main objects of educational policy, the writer takes up the subject of agricultural education and the facilities there are for its future progress. He observes that true attempts have been made to introduce agriculture in the school curriculum and have come to grief from failure to distinguish between teaching agriculture and supplying an education suiting the pupil to return to the land. The first conclusion, therefore, arrived at is that "the present educational system totally fails to satisfy the needs of the largest single element, if not the major portion of the community. It is true there is an agricultural college, but that is a coping stone without the underlying structure." After referring to the importance of agricultural education, and legitimate functions of agricultural institutions, Mr. Leake points out that "the primary object of such schools will be to raise the receptivity of the younger generation of agriculturists and the method of attainment must be through education under conditions which retain the association with the land." As regards the organisation of an agricultural school of this type, he atates that "the courses of instruction are to be

educational and the students are to be introduced to an appreciation of a standard of country life, something superior to the ordinary village life they have known, by a process of familiarity." He then describes the main features of such an organisation by a description of such a school as he conceived it, its educational and environmental aspects and its provisions for a ladder by which those intellectually qualified can arise. He winds up his interesting article with the remark that "it is essentially a case for trial and experiment, the establishment of a few schools of the type described and their gradual extension in that direction which experience shows to be most desirable. What is essential is a clear comprehension of the fundamental principles which underlie the problem-a comprehension so sharp that it can be used as a test during each stage in the experi

ments."

Agricultural Banks.

H. H. the Aga Khan writes in his new book on India in Transition :

In the autonomous provinces of the India of to-morrow the great work of the 1.C.S. ought to be not alone the carrying on of surveys for settlement of the so-called land-tax or rent, but still more, that of guiding and assisting the agricultural banks in making the necessary advances for legitimate and long-overdue improvements. And these banks must constitute, far more than at present, a vitalising agency, ready to advance money, ready to advise improvement, ready to bring the surveyor and the expert to the help of the peasant. In each district there should be a central institution with touring specialists working in hearty co-operation with the agricultural department, and ready to advance money for necessary improvements at quite moderate rates. The advances they make should have a statutory relation to the rates at which Government borrows from the public,

[SHORT NOTICES ONLY APPEAR IN THIS SECTION.]

Indian Women and War. By John Travers (Mrs. G. H. Bell.)Oxford University Press. In this book John Travers treats mainly with the glorious part that Indian women took in the great War in sending their sons, brothers and husbands to the battlefields of Europe. In the chapter on 66 Great Women and War," there is a very good survey of the military achievements of some Indian women of old.

Cartoons from "Hindi Punch" for 1918.
The Hindi Punch office, Bombay. (Can be
had of G. A. Natesan & Co.,
Price Rs. 1-12.

Madras.)

The nineteenth annual publication of the Cartoons from "The Hindi Punch" contains a varied collection of humorous pictures depicting the political and social history of the country during the year. This enlivening publication always maintains its high reputation for cartoon-representation of live topics, and is certainly a storehouse of genial laughter and vivid humour. The Silken Tassel. By Ardeshir F. Khabardar. Theosophical publishing House, Adyar. Mr. F. K. Khabardar, reputed to be a very gifted poet in Guzerati language, has attempted in this little volume to find expression to his wealth of ideas and richness of imagination in a foreign tongue. Indian ideas dressed in delicate English verses and shaped accurately to metrical rules are specially characteristic of his songs, and we commend them heartily to the public. The Vedic Law of Marriage by A. Mahadeva Šastri, B.A. V. Ramaswami Sastrulu & Sons, Madras.

This is the second edition of the book published in 1908. Deeply versed in Sanskrit Smritis and other well known ancient treatises, Pandit A. Mahadeva Sastri has added to this new volume his original studies of marriage and other socio-religious institutions, and we hope the book will have a hearty welcome from all.

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By

"From a Kindergarten Window" Corrie Gorden. Srinivasa Varadachari & Co., Madras. Price 1-8-0.

This small book contains a collection of essays on educational subjects for teachers and students, prepared on various occasions by Mr. Corrie Gordon, Lectuter, Teachers' College, Saidapet. The topics discussed in this book deal mainly with education for children, the Kindergarten, moral teaching, physical training and other instructive subjects.

President Wilson. (Speeches on World's

Freedom). Ganesh & Co., Madras. Price Re. 1. This book which contains a valuable collection of speeches delivered on various occasions by President Wilson, has a foreword by Dr. S. Subramania Aiyar and a life sketch by Mr. K. Vyasa Rao. President Wilson has won international reputation as a preacher of political morality and liberty, and a collection of the thoughts of such a great man cannot but be a document of the highest human interest.

BOOKS RECEIVED
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS. By Sir Arunachalam
Kt, M A., The Ceylon Reform League, Colombo.
SHORT STORIES. By Mrs. Ghosal, Ganesh & Co.,
Madras.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIC INDIAN DIRECTORY: Delhi.
Edited by Harnarayan Prasad, B.A., The Encyclo-
pædic Indian Directory Co., Allahabad.
GUTTILA: THE DIVINE MINSTREL. By Lucy & Gor-
don Pearce, Ganesh & Co., Madras.

THE NEXT WAR: WILSON AND ANTI-WILSONISM.
By Sir Charles Walston, University Press, Cam-
bridge.

THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY: AN ADDRESS. By
Lord Haldane, Headby Bros. Ltd. London.

ODE TO TRUTH. By James H. Cousins, Ganesh & Co.,
Madras.

PROGRESSIVE INDIA. By Akshaya K. Ghose, S. C.
Sanial & Co., 26, Shampuker St., Calcutta.

THE GOSPEL OF GRACE VOL I. By N. Swaminadha,
Post Box 28, Madras.

IF ZOROASTER WENT TO BERLIN. By Maneck Pitha-
Walla, B.A., B.SC., Poona.

NATIONAL EDUCATION. By V. B. Metta, B.A., (contd.)
Barrister-at-Law, Bombay.

SHRI RUPKALA. By A. B. Narayan Sinha. The
Khadga Vilas Press, Bankipora.

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