cotton and the excessive damping of the same before the cotton is pressed, the cotton seed that is now exported to Europe, the 50 per cent, interest taken by sowcars in the cotton districts, and many kindred subjects.
There are in the State three large spinning and weaving mills and about 90 small ginning and pressing factories. The population supported by cotton spinning, sizing, and weaving is 69,943 persons; and by cotton ginning, cleaning, and pressing, 517,750 men, women, and children. The wages paid to the employes in these places are good, but the cost of living in Marathwara is very high, owing to the many holdings that are put down in cotton, and the uncertainty of the rainfall, and nowhere are the people more at the mercy of the money-lender than in the cotton country.
The Agricultural Department has opened some small State banks, and these, too, might form a part of the work of the special commission, for the principles on which they have been based are open to comment.
