Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/167

Rh (4) Madras claims the honour of providing in Sir Frederick Nicholson the great pioneer of Indian co-operative credit banking. Much however has to be done before the credit banks are sufficiently developed to make it unnecessary for the great bulk of the ryots to apply to exorbitant money lenders. Further the co-operative credit banking is in my opinion only one of the developments of banking which are necessary to fully utilise and develop the capital resources in the service of agriculture and other industries.

(5) A great deal has been done in the making of roads and railways. But a great deal remains to be done. Consider, for example, the case of a village in the black cotton earth district at a distance of two or three miles from the nearest metalled highroad. The economic benefit to such a village of a good connecting road can be worked out in actual figures of increased efficiency of oxen and is far greater than the necessary cost.

(6) I understand that when Lord Pentland first became Governor of Madras, he made up his mind to do something to improve the cows; and after some four years he succeeded in effecting the first steps which will probably not reach their full utility in less than a hundred years. A good Madras cow will yield about five times as much milk as many of the cows used in some country districts; but then a good Madras cow will not yield one-fourth of the amount of milk supplied by a good English cow. The possibility for improvement here is very great and in my opinion an increased supply of milk would have a very definite result in increasing the physical vigor of the rising generation.

(7) The last subject on which I must touch is a very delicate one. It is notorious that there has been a considerable amount of trouble in the most southerly part of India over the adulteration of cotton. A