with accuracy as many of the unions, owing to their poverty, ignorance, lack of experience and absence of indigenous labor leadership are little more than strike committees. When we visited the Government Labor Office in Bombay in 1923 we found five blue flags locating on the map the five strikes then in progress. Only three weeks during the previous ten months had been free from strikes in that city.

There is almost a complete absence in India of radical and especially of Bolshevik influence which one finds in Japan and China. A wise and generous attitude on the part of the Government and employers may win the whole movement to a fair policy of constitutional co-operation, while a selfish and reactionary policy will drive it toward radicalism as in other countries.

The Trade Union Movement is in its infancy in India and the great mass of the workers are too illiterate and untrained to be leaders. During this period many barristers, philanthropists and others are leading the movement. These men are of two kinds: interested and disinterested. Self-appointed labor leaders who are seeking personal notoriety are not only exploiting labor but deeply wronging this needy cause and bringing it into ill repute.

On the other hand we cannot agree with the employers, like those of several other countries we have visited, who refuse to see or recognize any but their own employees. Labor is now in a vicious circle of low wages, illiteracy and unorganized helplessness. If we wait till labor is able to furnish its own leadership for how many generations will it be exploited? The employers are strongly organized and financed and they can afford the best legal counsel. Are the impotent workers alone to be denied all help from outside?

Article 427 of the Peace Treaty, to which India was a signatory, lays down "the right of association for all lawful purposes by the employed as well as by the employers." The right of collective bargaining and trade union organization has long been recognized in Great Britain.1

Lord Reading in September, 1922, said: "We hope to place our considered decision regarding the protection and legal status of trade unions before you." In considering the question of labor legislation, full credit should be given to the Government of India for its wise and generous policy for the protection of labor. India was almost the first country in the world to ratify the action of the Washington Labor Conference. No other country has been more responsive to world public opinion regarding industrial conditions or has more improved its labor legislation since the war. In the debates in the Council of State in Delhi, we heard repeated assurances of India's loyalty to the Labor Organization of the League of Nations. India has far surpassed Japan and has set a shining example to China in her labor legislation.

The outstanding achievements of India's industrial legislation since the war have been the Indian Factories Act

1 The Industrial Disputes Committee appointed by the Government of Bombay expresses the "sincere hope that there will be, neither on the part of the State nor of industry, any hostility to the free evolution of the Trade Union Movement The outside friend of labor, if he is a genuine friend of labor and is not using his influence for other purposes, is in present conditions a necessity As soon as a genuine Trade Union organization emerges it should be officially recognized as the channel of communication between employers and employed." They further recommend Works' Committees, welfare work which they regard as "efficiency work," medical attendance, maternity benefits, créches for children of working mothers, workers' education, cloth shops for employees, tea shops and restaurants for the sale of cooked food at cost, better housing, the removal of liquor and bucket shops, and, when all other agencies fail, an Industrial Court of Inquiry to be followed by an Industrial Court of Conciliation, half representing the employers and half the operatives, with a neutral chairman. Altogether their report is most wise, just and statesmanlike. Bombay Labor Gazette, April, 1922, p. 23-31,

which was followed by the Mines Act and the Workmen's Compensation Act.1

India has increased her trade about ten-fold in half a century, built 37,700 miles of railway, and improved 27,000,000 acres of land by the most colossal system of irrigation in the world.

The present political situation affects industrial conditions. India today is swept by a vast revolution of thought affecting one-fifth of the human race. The 320 millions of India are divided between some four thousand different castes. Yet in spite of being the most divided country in the world, the leaders of India after the war were forged and fused into one burning unit of new national aspiration. Under the leadership of Mr. Gandhi they demanded "swaraj," or complete self-determination, the majority preferring home rule within the Empire. They proposed to attain this not by violence or military force but by moral suasion or "soul-force," by non-violent, noncooperation with the government. They demand economic self-determination under their own self-government.

India, like China, has large undeveloped resources. Her output of coal has doubled since 1910 with an annual production of over 22,500,000 tons, or a little greater than that

1 The Indian Factories (Amendment) Act, 1922, provides for a maximum 11-hour working day and a 60-hour week, which was allowed to India by the Washington Labor Conference, as against 48 hours for Europe, or an average of six days of 10 hours each; for one rest day in seven; for fixed hours of employment and periods of rest. Work is forbidden for children under 12, those from 12 to 15 may work half time, not exceeding 6 hours a day. There is no night work for women. We only wish that every state in America had such a law.

The Indian Mines Act of 1924 provides for one day's rest in seven, work above ground limited to 60 hours a week, below ground to 54 hours, no children under 13 to be employed either below or above ground; with provisions for inspectors, health and safety of workers, etc. The Workmen's Compensation Act provides for compensation for injury and death to cover over 3,000,000 workers in factories, mines, railways, ships, etc. This is most important as in Bombay alone during the last decade 12,000 workers were incapacitated permanently or temporarily by accidents; in many cases without any compensation from their employers.

of China and nearly equal to Japan.1 She has large deposits of iron ore which are among the best in the world. India is the fourth country in the world in her railway mileage, exceeding that of France or Great Britain. Her cotton industry exceeds that of Italy, Belgium or Japan. She has a monopoly of jute which supplies the world with sacking and packing materials. India stands first in the world in her production of rice, sugar, tea and jute; second in production of wheat and cotton, with a large production of manganese, oil, etc.

Why is it then, though India has large natural resources and next to China the largest supply of cheap labor in the world, that she is very backward in her industrial development? India's stores of money have lain idle and Indian capital has been shy of industrial investment. Her labor has been inefficient though capable of great improvement. She has been dependent on foreign leadership in commerce and industry and her own intelligentsia had no taste for industrialism.

Nine-tenths of India's teeming population is in her 737,000 villages. Each is a small isolated self-sufficient community surrounded by farm land owned individually or collectively. The land is sub-divided in minute fragmentation like a checker board. The size of an average farm is from one to five acres, though sometimes an acre is cut up into more than a score of small holdings. About 72 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture or pasture.2

The coal production of the world in millions of tons is approximately 1,500, of which the United States produce 550 to 650, Great Britain 300, France 50, Belgium 25, Japan 30, India 22, China 20, Canada 15, etc. World Almanac, 1923, p. 758.

By the Census of 1921, India has more than 220 millions engaged in Agriculture and 220 million acres of land under cultivation, or one acre per person. The Cooperative Movement is one of the chief factors of progress in India. Beginning in 1904, it has increased rapidly in recent years until in 1921 there were 47,000 societies with 1,750,000 members and active adherents, with a collective capital of about $417,000.

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Following Japan's victory over Russia in 1906 the Swadeshi Movement, supported by the educated classes for the patriotic patronage of home production, was the first sign of the industrial awakening of the Indian people. It was the war, however, that did most to revolutionize industry. It showed clearly the danger of India's reliance on imports from overseas and forced the Government to take vigorous measures to make the country more selfcontained, both economically and for purposes of defence. The appointment of the Industrial Commission, 1916-1918, marked a change in public opinion.

During the past few years the industrial development of the country has made rapid progress. Amongst the numerous activities of the Central and Provincial Departments of Industries, might be mentioned the opening of a number of trades schools and training centres, and the financing of numerous pioneer industries such as the manufacture of glassware, rubber goods, soap, ink, aluminum, pencils, condensed milk, matches, etc. In other directions Indian industry has made rapid strides. The high protective duties of the past few years have considerably increased the demand for Indian and woolen goods, steel and iron ware, but high tariffs will make the rich richer and the poor poorer in India.

With her vast supply of cheap labor, which can be obtained at from ten to twenty cents a day, with her large resources in raw materials and the new nationalistic demand for the fostering of her own industries, India will take an important place in the industrial world. Already

As it brings together a whole village in economic solidarity and is the people's own affair, it has possibilities for rural reorganization and adult education that are of great promise for India. It has made a spendid beginning in co-operative credit and will doubtless soon extend in productive and distributive developments as in Europe. See Co-operative Movement, International Labor Review, February, 1922, pp. 229-250, and Indian Co-operative Studies by R. B. Eubank.