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- CHAPTER IL Aon 8 
lation divorced from the villages, or should the existing contact be main- 
tained and stimulated ¢ This is a question which must be faced in any 
intelligent attempt to view the problems of Indian labour as a whole, and 
we were surprised to find how little attention it had received. It is true 
that no wholesale or sudden change in the existing system is practicable : 
whatever view is reached industry must depend for a long time on the 
villages and the tenacity with which many industrial workers, with little 
encouragement, have retained their village connections shows that the 
system has deep roots. But the nature and extent of the contact with 
the villages can be powerfully affected, both locally and generally, by 
different policies and it is of importance to have a clear aim. Our con- 
sidered opinion is that, in present circumstances, the link with the 
village is a distinct asset and that the general aim should be, not to 
undermine it, but to encourage it and, as far as possible, to regularise 
it. We have not reached this conclusion without a clear recogni- 
tion of the evils attendant on the industrial system as it stands to-day ; 
but we believe that, by thoughtful and sustained effort, many of its de- 
fects can be eliminated or minimised and that the advantages of the village 
connection can be conserved and, indeed, increased. In special areas 
and for special purposes, the growth of a purely industrial population is 
inevitable. There are classes to whom the village can offer little, and 
a definite severing of the connection may be advantageous in the 
end. Further, if, as we hope, a substantial improvement is secured 
in the conditions prevailing in the factory areas, this is bound to 
encourage the growth of a definitely urban class of factory workers. It 
is arguable that the present conditions represent merely a transition- 
al stage, which is bound to be replaced by conditions more resembling 
those of Western countries. But it is doubtful if it is legitimate to des- 
eribe as transitional the connection with the villages, which has lasted 
so long and which, in the most important centres, certainly has not 
weakened in the last generation. Whatever view be taken of the 
distant future, we believe that, at the present stage, it is not advisable 
that this striking feature, which marked the beginnings of Indian industry 
and has shown such persistence during its steady advance, should be 
discouraged.