On the day following, October 15th, the Assembly was formally opened at twelve, when the Dewan presided at a table on the raised platform. He was backed and flanked by the principal European and native officers of State, while on his right sat Sir Harry Prendergast, V.C., the Resident at the Court of Mysore. The English representatives, five in all, one of them representing the gold mining interests of the province, had seats on the platform, and so had as many representatives as there was room for. The remainder occupied the body of the hall. The Dewan then opened the tenth annual meeting of the Representative Assembly of Mysore, by reading the already printed annual administration Report of the Province, and it may not be uninteresting to quote the opening sentences of it:
"Gentlemen,
"By command of His Highness the Maharajah, I have much pleasure in welcoming you to this Assembly, which meets here to-day for the first time under the election system sanctioned last year. You come here as the duly elected representatives of the agricultural, the industrial, and the commercial interests of the State. Last year, when His Highness was pleased to grant the valued privilege of election, he was not without some misgivings as to how the experiment would succeed, but it is most gratifying to His Highness that, though unused to the system, the electoral body has been able, in the very first year of its existence, to exercise the privilege with so much judgment and sense of responsibility as to send to this Assembly men in every way qualified to speak on their behalf. That men representing the industry and the intellect of the country should have already taken so much interest in the scheme augurs well for the future of the institution. His Highness asks me to take this opportunity publicly to acknowledge the expressions of warm gratitude which have reached him from all sides for the privilege of election granted last year."
The Dewan then proceeded to make his statement of the Revenue and Expenditure of 1890-91, by which it appeared that the Revenue for that period—the largest ever realized by the State—was 145 lakhs of rupees, or, at par,[[12]] £1,450,000, and the account showed a surplus of 23 lakhs, or £230,000; but from this had to be deducted a sum for expenditure on new railways, which reduced the surplus, or rather, disposed of it to such an amount as to leave a balance of 12½ lakhs, or £125,000. The budget was then taken up in detail, and the Dewan showed in the most lucid manner the financial position as regards the various heads of receipts and expenditure, all of which I shall pass over except that relating to gold, which the reader will probably find interesting, for, as the Kanarese proverb says, "If gold is to be seen, even a corpse will open its mouth." There was, then, an increase in State receipts from gold mining dues to the extent of 37,000 rupees in the amount of royalty, while "Premia and deposits on leases" brought in 71,000 rupees. The mines in the Kolar gold field during 1890 extracted 106,903 ounces of gold. Three of them—the Mysore, Ooregum, and Nundydroog—showed a considerable increase in production over the previous year. The first increased from 49,238 oz. to 58,183 oz.; the second from 16,437 oz. to 27,351 oz., and the third from 6,129 oz. to 15,637 oz.
The Dewan then called the attention of the Assembly to the working of some of the principal departments of the State, beginning with the railways, and, after giving a very satisfactory account of the progress made, concluded this branch of his subject by observing that "As regards our main railway policy there will be no pause in the course of development, and should our financial condition continue to improve, the next decade will see the Province intersected with lines which, in the decade preceding the rendition, were only thought of as remote possibilities." He next remarked on other public works, and showed that in the last ten years no less than 471 miles of entirely new roads had been opened up, while 218 miles of incomplete roads, which had been inherited at the time of the rendition, had been brought up to standard. Then he turned to irrigation, and stated that the large irrigation works commenced in former years were advancing towards completion. And here the Dewan alluded to a matter of the greatest importance, and to which I shall again return further on. It appears that the Supreme Government had actually put a stop to certain irrigation works begun by the Mysore Government on the ground that these would lessen the supply of water from Mysore to British territory. As to this the Dewan now observed on "The difference which had arisen with the Madras authorities as to the rights of Mysore to the full use of its drainage areas." The case had been laid before the Government of India, and the Dewan said that "the basis for a solution of the difficulty has been arranged with the Madras Government in a way that is likely to remove to a considerable extent the check that the progress of our irrigation works had received in tracts bordering upon the Madras Presidency."
The subject of well irrigation too had not been neglected, and the Dewan pointed out that its protective value in times of drought is far superior to tank irrigation, and observed that, "During the last famine the only oases in the midst of the general desolate appearance of the country were, besides the tracts watered by our river channels, those special regions favoured with well irrigation." So important was well irrigation, that the Government had resolved to make advances to ryots willing to construct them, at a low rate of interest, and repayable by easy instalments in a long series of years. In the event of water not being found, or found in insufficient quantity, the Government had undertaken the risk of failure, so that the farmer was placed beyond all risk of loss. And, in order to facilitate the progress of such works, a special officer had been appointed to give the advances on the spot, so as to avoid the delay caused by the usual circuitous official correspondence.
I may here pause for one moment to remark on the great value of the Assembly as regards any new measure like the one just alluded to, for it often happens that from the scarcity of newspapers, and the inability of the poorer ryots to purchase them, measures of great value are not taken advantage of, or only are so after a long delay. Now an assembly like that of Mysore provides an excellent means for distributing information on all Government matters, and in one part of his address the Dewan particularly requested the representatives from two important districts to explain fully to the people certain matters, the particulars of which I cannot, for want of space, give here.
The Dewan then went into the interesting subject of Forests, and it was satisfactory to notice the progress that had been made in planting, and that sandal wood had year after year been yielding an increased revenue. The transition from forests to elephants was natural, and during the year 70 had been caught. Some died after capture and others were liberated. Of the 44 retained, 41, of which 14 were tuskers, were sold for 50,705 rupees. Having fully discussed the elephants, the Dewan turned next to education, and here he was able to record marked progress in every direction, and especially in female instruction. There were now 97 girls' schools in the province, and an important change had been made as regards their immediate supervision, which was now exercised by local committees. "The committees," said the Dewan, "have been given large powers of management, and the initiative rests, in almost all cases, with them, subject to the approval of Government." The object of this of course was to interest the people in the subject, and the Dewan observed that "Female education cannot become firmly established in the country until the people begin to look upon the education of their girls, whether children or adults, as necessary, and as obligatory as that of their boys. The Government have thought that the best way of securing this result in the infancy of female education is to leave as much as possible to the intelligent and sympathetic guidance of local committees." After alluding to the results of the archæological survey, and dwelling on the fact that during the past year 1,500 inscriptions were secured, some of which were of great value and interest, the Dewan then took up the subject of excise, and went into the reforms he proposed to institute as regards that department. The census of Feb. 26th, 1891, was next alluded to, and by this it appeared that, including the civil and military' station of Bangalore, the population returned was 4,943,079 as compared with 4,183,188 in 1881, and 5,055,412 in 1871. The increase during the last decade was thus very considerable, but Mysore has still some progress to make before it can bring up its numbers to the census return of 1871, nearly a million of persons having been swept away in the disastrous famine of 1876-77. The municipal elections were next alluded to, and it was announced that the cities of Bangalore and Mysore were to have an extension of the electoral system. The important subject of the reform of religious and charitable institutions (there had been several representations made as regards these in previous years by members of the Assembly) was next taken up, and it was announced that a specially qualified officer had been appointed to "inquire into the subject on the spot, and to carry out the needed reform in the case of each institution under the general and special orders of Government, and, when once all institutions are thoroughly reformed and placed upon a sound and efficient footing, the future management of them on the lines laid down will, as heretofore, have to be carried on by the local executive authorities." After alluding to some contemplated reforms in the Civil Service of the province, the Dewan concluded his able address by alluding to the apprehensions of famine which had been consequent on the failure of the rains, and congratulating the members on the fact that owing to good rain having fallen only a fortnight ago, the threatened danger had now passed away.
After the conclusion of the Dewan's address I then rose, and, as chairman of the preliminary meetings of representatives, alluded to the subject of the organization of committees which we desired to carry into effect, and urged that, as far as possible, members should avoid going into petty local grievances, and devote their attention to those large general questions which affect the whole province. After I had sat down a translation of the Dewan's address was then delivered in Kanarese, for the benefit of the representatives who did not understand English, and the Assembly afterwards adjourned till the following morning.
After the Assembly had adjourned the members of the central committee met in a private room, and we agreed on the terms of the address to the Maharajah. Then we returned to the Hall, as it had been thought advisable to take up several matters which had not been discussed at our first preliminary meeting, and it was again proposed that I should take the chair. The first proposal made was that members, instead of being annually elected to the Assembly, should be elected for three years, and this was unanimously carried. A leading native member next rose and proposed that no girl under ten years of age should be given in marriage. Then ensued a scene of excitement that baffles description. The representatives who, the moment before, had been quite calm and collected, and who looked so passive that it seemed that nothing could have aroused them from a condition of profound composure, became suddenly electrified. A burst of tongues arose simultaneously all over the Assembly. Several members got up and tried to speak at once, and one of these (I think I see him now), a tall, stout, elderly man with a voice of thunder, and his appearance much accentuated by an enormous bamboo pen which he had thrust behind his ear, entered into an altercation with the proposer of the motion. I had no president's bell, and if I had had one I am sure I might have rung it in vain, and I thought it best to sit still for a little time, and let the representatives liberate their minds. Presently, and the moment I saw the first signs of an abatement of the excitement, I rose, and, with a slight signal of my hand quieted the audience, and observed that, as this was a subject as to which there was evidently much difference of opinion, and as it was very desirable that, as regards the measures proposed at our preliminary meetings,[[13]] there should be a complete unanimity of opinion, I begged leave to suggest to the meeting that the subject might be adjourned, and, if desired, brought up at the next day's meeting of the full Assembly. This was agreed to, and a member then proposed that two seers of grain (about equal to four lbs.) should be contributed yearly by each ryot, and stored up in a public granary against times of famine. This, I confess, I thought, and still think, a sensible proposal, as, in the first burst of a famine it is very desirable, till trade operations from a distance get under weigh, that local supplies should exist, but, after some discussion, I found that the proposal met with such small approval, that I did not think of putting it to the meeting. It was next proposed, and as can easily be imagined, carried unanimously, that where, from the failure of the rains, there was absolutely no crop whatever, a remission of the assessment should be granted. Finally it was agreed that, at the opening of the Assembly on the following morning, I should bring up and speak on all the points that had been agreed to at the meetings over which I had presided, and the meeting broke up at three o'clock. After it was over several of the representatives expressed to me their gratitude for the interest I had shown in the affairs of Mysore, and from the numerous evidences I subsequently had of the appreciation of the natives, I felt most amply repaid for the trouble I had taken.