The Wheel of Fortune Part 5

Mrs. Jaiji Pet.i.t has sent the following notes of an experiment being conducted in spinning among the famine-stricken people at Miri near Ahmednagar. I gladly publish the notes as the experiment is being conducted under the supervision of an Englishwoman. The reader will not fail to observe the methodical manner in which the work is being done.

All the difficulties have been met and provided for. Even the very small experiment shows what a potent instrument the spinning wheel is for famine relief. Properly organised it cannot but yield startling results.--M. K. G.

In the month of August 1920, when the severity of the famine was being felt, the idea of introducing spinning as a famine relief to respectable middle cla.s.s people was started and Miss Latham kindly gave a spinning wheel to introduce the work. Attempts were made to introduce the work especially among the Dhangars who were used to spinning wool but they proved futile. Spinning a thin thread of cotton was thought an impossibility in a village which did not know anything about it. Doubts were also entertained as to whether the work if taken up would be paying or at least helpful. In such different difficulties and objections, the wheel remained idle for nearly three months, and in spite of vigorous efforts no body seemed willing to take up the work. In December 1920, Miss Latham again sent four more wheels through the kindness of Mrs. J. Pet.i.t and some cotton. They were given for trial to different persons. Signs now seemed a little hopeful and at last one Ramos.h.i.+ woman was prevailed upon to take up the work seriously. This was about the 20th of January 1921, since when the work has a.s.sumed a different shape.

The example of this woman was copied by two more who undertook to take the work. Through great perseverance 4 lbs. of yarn were prepared by these three spinners and it was sent for sale. In the meantime many women began to make the inquiries and expressed a desire to take it up if it helped them financially in some way. A rate of spinning 6 as. a lb. was therefore fixed and it helped other spinners to join the work.

Here another difficulty viz. that of funds came in the way. All the five wheels were engaged and five more prepared locally were also engaged.

The stock of cotton was also exhausted. It seemed that the work would suffer for want of funds to prepare wheels, purchase cotton, and pay the workers. Rao Bahadur Chitale personally saw this difficulty and helped the work with a grant of Rs. 100. Miss Latham, when she knew of this difficulty, kindly sent another hundred. These two grants came at the right time and gave a stimulus to the work. Local gentlemen helped with their own cotton.

The demand for wheels went on increasing day by day. People being too poor to pay for the wheels, it became necessary to get the wheels prepared locally and lend them to the workers. Twenty seven more wheels were prepared which also gave work to local carpenters who had no work on account of famine. One carpenter improved the wheel by making it more light and useful for finer yarn. The prices of the wheel were paid at Rs. 3, Rs. 3-8, and Rs. 4 per wheel according to the quality. Three of these wheels have been sold for Rs. 9-8. The total sum spent on these wheels is Rs. 103-8-0 which includes the sum for the wheels kindly sent by Mrs. Pet.i.t.

Though local cotton was secured for the work, it proved too bad for beginners. A new method therefore was introduced to improve the local cotton, which not only helped the work but also provided work for a few more persons. Raw cotton was secured and the dirt and the dry leaves in it were carefully removed before it was ginned. The rate for this work was fixed at one pice per lb. Any old man who did this work got an opportunity of earning one anna a day, by cleaning 4 lbs. of raw cotton. After it was thus cleaned, it was ginned with a hand-gin which gave work to some women who ginned, at the rate of one anna per 10 lbs.

One woman could thus earn 2 as. and 6 pies each day. This ginned cotton was then cleaned by a _pinjari_ who charged at the rate of one anna per pound and earned about 8 as. per day. It would have been better and easier too, if cotton had been purchased from the mills, but as this cleaning process of the local cotton provided work for a few workers, it was thought the more desirable in these days. A major portion of these cleaning charges is however made up by the sale of cotton seed secured after ginning. The following statement will show the expenses incurred for this and the price of raw cotton for every 60 lbs.

RS. A. P.

Price of 60 lbs. of raw cotton @ 20 Rs. a patia (240 lbs.). 5--0--0

Removal of dirt, waste and dry leaves @ 1 pice per pound 0-15--0

Ginning of 52 lbs. of raw clean cotton @ 1 an. per 10 lbs. 0--5--3

Cleaning the Lint (17 lbs.) by a pinjari @ 1 Anna per lb. 1--1--0 -------- Total 7--4--3

Deduct price of cotton seed 35 lbs.

@ 20 lbs. per Re. 1-12--0 -------- Net charges for 17 lbs. of clean cotton 5--9--3

Thus the cost of one pound of cotton comes to 5 as. and 3 pies only. The proportion of waste viz. 8 lbs. in 60 lbs. of raw cotton is too high and could be avoided by securing better and cleaner cotton.

There are at present 29 wheels going and there is still a great demand for wheels. But the funds being limited, more wheels could not be prepared and provided. Spinning is done by those who absolutely knew nothing about it previously. Consequently the yarn is still of an inferior sort. It is improving day by day but if a competent teacher could be secured, it would improve rapidly. Amongst the spinners, some are full-time workers and others are leisure-time workers.

About two lbs. of yarn are now prepared every day and the quant.i.ty will increase as the spinners get used to the work. The rate for spinning is fixed at 6 as. a lb., though many workers complain that it is not enough. As the yarn sent for sale realised a price of As. 12 a pound, the spinning charges could not be increased without a loss. Every lb. of yarn requires Annas 11 pies 3 for expenses, as 0-5-3 for cotton and 0-6-0 for spinning. Thus every lb. leaves a profit of 9 pies only. The establishment and other charges are not calculated. With the present rate of spinning at 6 as. a lb., one spinner earns 3 as. per day by spinning 20 to 24 tolas, more earn 2 as. a day by spinning 15 tolas and the rest 1-1/2 as. a day for 10 tolas, the beginners excluded. The more the spinner is used to the work, the more he will earn.

An attempt was made to prepare cloth out of the yarn and three and a half lbs. of yarn were given to a weaver for weaving. He however charged an exorbitant rate for weaving. He prepared nine and a half yards of cloth and charged Rs. 3-9 for it, practically 1 rupee a lb. The cloth cost Rs. 6-0-6 and was sold at Rs. 6-3-0, with a profit of as. 2 and pies 6 only. To obviate the difficulty about weaving, a separate loom with one teacher to teach weaving to local persons is urgently required.

Many local people wish to learn this art. A separate loom will reduce the cost of the cloth prepared on it below the prevailing market rate.

About 6 lbs. of yarn are given to different weavers to ascertain the exact charges, but all this difficulty can only be removed by having a special loom.

When there was a shortage of cotton and the workers had no work, wool was introduced for spinning till cotton was ready. This work was willingly taken up by the Dhangar. They were however required to spin finer thread of wool than they usually prepared. They took some time to pick up the work, and now there are 10 wool spinners working fine thread. They are also paid at 6 as. a lb. for spinning. Wool worth Rs. 31 @ 2 lbs. a rupee was purchased, and though the cotton was ready, the wool spinning was continued by starting a separate department, as the Dhangars readily took up the work. The whole process of cleaning the wool is also done by the Dhangar women, who get an extra anna per lb.

for it. The sorting of wool is carefully looked to. The majority of wool spinners use their own spinning wheels but a few are now asking for the improved wheel for preparing finer threads.

Dhangar weavers being locally available blankets after the Pandharpur and Daw.a.n.giri pattern are being prepared from this finer thread and different designs have been suggested to them. The Dhangars being a stubborn race do not readily adopt the new improvement. But this work has set them to work up new designs of blankets which will permanently help them in their own profession. They now require a broader and improved loom and instruction in colouring wool. Efforts are made to secure a clever full time weaver who will introduce a better method of weaving. Two blankets were prepared and sold at cost price, one for Rs. 5-13-6 and the other for Rs. 6-6-0. Orders are being received for blankets now, but to continue the work would require some funds.

To keep so many persons working is not only an ideal form of famine relief, but a means to promote village industries, and remove the demoralising effects of successive famines. Thus stands the work of about one month. It now requires an improved handloom, a good teacher, a special loom for wool, more spinning wheels (which the neighbouring villagers are also demanding) and many other things. The work is going on vigorously and it is hoped will not be allowed to suffer for want of funds.

_Y. I.--11th May 1921._

THE POTENCY OF THE SPINNING-WHEEL

No amount of human ingenuity can manage to distribute water over the whole land, as a shower of rain can. No irrigation department, no rules of precedence, no inspection and no water-cess. Every thing is done with an ease and a gentleness that by their very perfection evade notice. The spinning-wheel, too, has got the same power of distributing work and wealth in millions of houses in the simplest way imaginable. Those of us who do not know what it is to earn a livelihood by the sweat of one's brow, may consider the three annas a day as a pittance beneath the consideration of any man. They do not know that even in these days of high prices, there are districts in India where even three annas a day would be a boon to the poor. But we must not consider the question of the spinning-wheel merely from the point of individual earnings. The spinning-wheel is a force in national regeneration. If we wish for real Swaraj, we must achieve economic independence. Boycott of foreign cloth is its negative aspect. For this we must produce cloth sufficient to clothe the country. This can only be done by hand-spinning. All the mills that we have got, will not be able together to cope with the situation. If all rush for the thin mill-made cloth, it will rise in price beyond the capacity of the poor, and the experience of 1907-08 will be repeated. Moreover, the cloth best suited for the three seasons of India is _Khadi_. Those who have used _Khadi_ during this summer, have come to realise, that after the soft clean touch of _Khadi_ it is impossible to use sticky Malmal or twills. _Khadi_ can enable its wearer to withstand the cold of an average winter as even wool cannot. The climate of India demands that clothes be washed as often as possible.

Only _Khadi_ can stand this constant wash. _Khadi_ was once the dress of the nation at large. One must see to believe how venerable the old Patels and Deshmukhs looked when dressed in home-spun _Khadi_. There are instances of whole villages taking a legitimate pride in the fact that they had to import nothing but salt in the whole round of the six seasons. With such conditions, there could be no drain, no exploitation and therefore no Para-raj. A little village could make terms with the rulers of the land consistent with its self-respect, dignity and independence. Is our love of luxury so inveterate, that we cannot control it even for the sake of Swaraj?

_Y. I.--6th July 1921._

THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE

[A certain correspondent from Sindh writing to Mahatma Gandhi puts the question, "Will the spinning wheel solve the problem of India's poverty?

If it will, how?" Here is his answer.]

I am more than ever convinced that without the spinning wheel the problem of India's poverty cannot be solved. Millions of India's peasants starve for want of supplementary occupation. If they have spinning to add to their slender resources, they can fight successfully against pauperism and famine. Mills cannot solve the problem. Only hand-spinning--and nothing else--can. When India was forced to give up hand-spinning, she had no other occupation in return. Imagine what would happen to a man who found himself suddenly deprived of a quarter of his bare livelihood. Over eighty-five percent of Her population have more than a quarter of their time lying idle. And, therefore, even apart from the terrible drain rightly pointed out by the Grand Old Man of India, she has steadily grown poorer because of this enforced idleness. The problem is how to utilise these billions of hours of the nation without disturbing the rest. Restoration of the spinning wheel is the only possible answer. This has nothing to do with my special views on machinery or with the boycott of foreign goods in general, India is likely to accept the answer in full during this year. It is madness to tinker with the problem. I am writing this in Puri in front of the murmuring waves. The picture of the crowd of men, women, and children, with their fleshless ribs under the very shadow of Jagannath, haunts me.

If I had the power, I would suspend every other activity in schools, and colleges, and everywhere else, and popularise spinning; prepare out of these lads and la.s.ses spinning teachers: inspire every carpenter to prepare spinning wheels; and ask the teachers to take these life-going machines to every home, and teach them spinning. If I had the power, I would stop an ounce of cotton from being exported and would have it turned into yarn in these homes. I would dot India with depots for receiving this yarn and distributing it among weavers. Given sufficient steady and trained workers, I would undertake to drive pauperism out of India during this year. This undoubtedly requires a change in the angle of vision and in the national taste. I regard the Reforms and everything else in the nature of opiates to deaden our conscience. We must refuse to wait for generations to furnish us with a patient solution of a problem which is ever-growing in seriousness. Nature knows no mercy in dealing stern justice. If we do not wake up before long, we shall be wiped out of existence. I invite the sceptics to visit Orissa, penetrate its villages, and find out for themselves where India stands. They will then believe with me that to possess, or to wear, an ounce of foreign cloth is a crime against India and humanity. I am able to restrain myself from committing suicide by starvation, only because I have faith in India's awakening, and her ability to put herself on the way to freedom from this desolating pauperism. Without faith in such a possibility, I should cease to take interest in living. I invite the questioner, and every other intelligent lover of his country, to take part in this privileged national service in making spinning universal by introducing it in every home, and make it profitable for the nation by helping to bring about a complete boycott of foreign cloth during this year. I have finished the questions and endeavoured to answer them. The most important from the practical stand-point was the one regarding spinning. I hope, I have demonstrated the necessity of home-spinning as the only means of dealing with India's poverty. I know, however, that innumerable difficulties face a worker in putting the doctrine into execution. The most difficult, perhaps, is that of getting a proper wheel. Save in the Punjab where the art is still alive, the difficulty is very real. The carpenters have forgotten the construction and the innocent workers are at their wit's end. The chief thing undoubtedly, therefore, is for the worker to make himself acquainted with the art and the handling of spinning wheels. I lay down some simple tests for testing them. No machine that fails to satisfy the tests should be accepted or distributed.

(1) The wheel must turn easily, freely, and noiselessly.

(2) The turning handle must be rigidly fixed to the axle.

(3) The post must be properly driven home and joints well-fixed.

(4) The spindle must turn noiselessly and without a throb in its holders. Jarring sound cannot be avoided unless the holders are made of knit straw as in the Punjab, or of tough leather.

(5) No machine is properly made unless it manufactures in the hands of a practised spinner at least 2-1/2 tolas of even and properly twisted yarn of six counts in an hour. I know a youngster, who has not had more than perhaps three months'

practice, having been able to spin 2-1/2 tolas of the above quality of yarn in 35 minutes. No machine should be given until it has been worked at least full one hour in the manner suggested and found satisfactory.

_Y. I.--6th April 1921._

THE SPINNING WHEEL

[On February 15, 1922, Mahatma Gandhi has addressed the following letter to Sir Daniel Hamilton from Bardoli on the Spinning Wheel.]

DEAR SIR,

Mr. Hodge writes to me to say that you would like to have an hour's chat with me, and he has suggested that I should open the ground which I gladly do. I will not take up your time by trying to interest you in any other activity of mine except the spinning wheel. Of all my outward activities, I do believe that the spinning wheel is of the most permanent and the most beneficial. I have abundant proof now to support my statement that the spinning wheel will solve the problem of economic distress in millions of India's homes, and it const.i.tutes an effective insurance, against famines.

You know the great Scientist Dr. P. C. Ray, but you may not know that he has also become an enthusiast on behalf of the spinning wheel. India does not need to be industrialized in the modern sense of the term. It has 7,50,000 villages scattered over a vast area 1,900 miles long, 1,500 miles broad. The people are rooted to the soil, and the vast majority are living a hand-to-mouth life. Whatever may be said to the contrary, having travelled throughout the length and breadth of the land with eyes open, and having mixed with millions, there can be no doubt that pauperism is growing. There is no doubt also that the millions are living in enforced idleness for at least 4 months in the year.

Agriculture does not need revolutionary changes. The Indian peasant requires a supplementary industry. The most natural is the introduction of the spinning wheel, not the hand-loom. The latter cannot be introduced in every home, whereas the former can, and it used to be so even a century ago. It was driven out not by economic pressure but by force deliberately used as can be proved from authentic records. The restoration, therefore, of the spinning wheel solves the economic problem of India at a stroke. I know that you are a lover of India, that you are deeply interested in the economic and moral uplift of my country. I know too that you have great influence. I would like to enlist it on behalf of the spinning wheel. It is the most effective force for introducing successful Co-Operative Societies. Without honest co-operation of the millions, the enterprise can never be successful, and as it is already proving a means of weaning thousands of women from a life of shame, it is as moral an instrument as it is economic.

I hope you will not allow yourself to be prejudiced by anything you might have heard about my strange views about machinery. I have nothing to say against the development of any other industry in India by means of machinery but I do say that to supply India with cloth manufactured either outside or inside through gigantic mills is an economic blunder of the first magnitude just as it would be to supply cheap bread through huge bakeries established in the chief centres in India and to destroy the family stove.