LABOUR IN MADRAS 215 labourer. I beg to submit that the masses in India - and among them are the factory labourers-have a culture of their own. Their power of understanding political and economical issues and suggesting proper remedies in a practical man ner is well-known to those who have worked for and with them. Their political instincts are clear and strong. The factor to be borne in mind is that the Indian labourers loathe the idea of slavery in any form or shape, and they want to have schools for their children, houses for themselves, better wages and shorter hours-all as a matter of right and justice. The efforts on the part of the employer or the Government to patronise them are disliked and resented. The Indian labourer feels that he is not only a "hand" but also that he has a head and a heart, and he aspires to come into his own. Now under the proposed scheme a factory manager, a shop-owner, a planter can not only vote but get elected to the Council Chamber from his Chamber of Commerce, his trades association, or his planter's association. In Madras 13 seats are unalloyed capitalist seats. Take Bombay: The Millowners Association returns a member, but their employees have no representation. Under the system of Franchise recommended by the Southborough Committee the labourers will pot be able to influence the election. The Joint Committee should enable the Indian labourer to send his own representatives to the Provincial Legislatures. To include him or his brother on the land or in the mine in a general electorate would be the best plan. A suggestion was made by a society in Madras on this basis, and the number worked out at
