Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/45

 to be able to tell the truth, on his own village platform, surrounded by his neighbours, no villager in personal questions like these seems able to tell an untruth. Everybody knows everybody else's affairs ; let the speaker deviate perceptibly from the facts, and immediately out go tongues all round, and jeers and cries of 'Wah,' 'Wah,' remind him that he is not in court, and that that kind of thing will not go down at home." In 1879 a detailed scheme on these lines was formulated for the benefit of the distressed Deccan ryot, but it was disallowed by the Bombay Government.

These brief extracts show how fully he was in sympathy with the ryot, and how peculiarly his past experience had qualified him to direct the work of agricultural reform. But in addition to this, he possessed scientific qualifications : he was well versed in practical European agriculture ; he was conversant with the more modern German and English writings on agriculture, both theory and practice ; and he had, for his own information and amusement, farmed in an experimental way throughout his many years of service in India as a District Officer. Moreover, at this time he was residing with Lord Mayo, and had discussed repeatedly with him all the details of his scheme. Add to this Mr. Hume's boundless energy and enthusiasm, and we can see what a hopeful prospect would have been opened out for the relief of the peasantry, and the development of the State's interest in the land, had he been placed at the head of a genuine Agricultural Bureau.

Unhappily, Lord Mayo was not able to carry out his scheme. Adverse influences, too powerful to resist, arose both at Simla and at the India Office in London. To meet financial objections. Lord Mayo modified his scheme, to its serious detriment. Yet even this modi-