Transport.
Reduced rates to and from ports have been prejudicial to industrial development, and the position requires careful examination with a view to the removal of existing anomalies. In particular, it should be possible to increase the rates on raw produce for export and on imports other than machinery and stores for industrial use. The addition of a commercial member to the Railway Board and the better representation of commercial and industrial interests at the Railway Conference would help to secure a more equable system of rating. The improvement of waterways and the formation of a Waterways Trust at Calcutta are also proposed.
Finance.
The disorganization of Indian capital and its shyness in coming forward for industrial development are discussed, also the necessity for the extension of banking facilities in the Mofussil. The Commission are disposed to favor the establishment of an industrial bank or banks, but consider that the appointment of an expert committee is necessary to deal with this subject, and asks Government to take action at an early date. As an interim measure a scheme is propounded for the provision of current finance to middle-class industrialists by which the banks would open cash credits in favor of applicants approved by the Department of Industries on the guarantee of Government. Other methods of financial assistance by Government suggested, in particular, are the provision of plant for small and cottage industries on the hire-purchase system.
Cost of Proposals.
The recurring cost of the proposals is estimated at Rs 86,00,000 (about $2,800,000), and they involve a capital expenditure of Rs 1,50,00,000 (about $5,000,000), mainly on education institutions, and a further capital outlay of Rs 66,00,000 (about $2,000,000) is anticipated for future developments. The Commission consider that this expenditure may be worked up to at the end of a period of seven years.
NOTES ON THE EPICS II
Mahabharata: Bhagavat Gita
By ANANDA COOMARASWAMY
An intensely interesting and very “modern” problem in ethics is raised at the commencement of the Bhagavat Gita. For a discussion of this situation, we may take for granted the essential doctrines of the Gita—first, the unity of all life, that all of its manifold forms are but temporal manifestation of a single timeless energy, and secondly, of the spiritual value of a life determined by vocation. The former dogma is put forward as a consolation for the suffering consequentially involved in all activity (life can only be preserved at the cost of other lives), and particularly, the suffering or apparent evil arising out of warfare.
But the most advanced of men invariably recoil from the infliction of any avoidable suffering. Arjuna was such, and it is on the field of battle, at the dramatic moment when the hosts are face to face, that he speaks, what Krishna dismisses as “words of seeming wisdom,” in the sense of a modern humanitarian and pacifist. “I see no blessing from the slaying of kinsfolk in strife: I desire not victory, O Krishna, nor empire, nor delights. . . . These though they smite me I would not smite, even for the sake of empire over heaven, much less for the sake of earth. ... A heavy sin have we resolved upon, striving to slay our fellowmen from lust after the sweets of empire. . . . We know not which is the better for us, whether we should overcome them or they overcome us. ... I will not fight."
In considering the reply of Krishna—apart from the high philosophy enunciated—we are disconcerted by the practical arguments he puts forward. “The lords of great chariots will deem thee to have held back through fear, and thou shalt come to be lightly esteemed. ... If thou he slain, thou wilt win Paradise, and if thou conquer, the joys of earth. . . . It is the high vocation of a knight to fight in a righteous cause.”
What should Arjuna have cared for what was said of him? Indifference to reputation is one of the first and
