Lord Ronaldshay''s Village Inspection

WE are sure Lord Ronaldshay's system of personal inspection of villages in Eastern Bengal will be widely appreciated though it is somewhat of a novelty after a century and a half of British rule. His Excellency is reported to have met among others the president of a Panchayat and the chairman of the village bank and ascertained from them where people obtained their water from and the purposes for which loans were obtained by ryots from the bank were put. Undoubtedly these are matters of interest and information obtained at first hand is helpful in introducing administrative reforms. But we may be permitted to suggest that after all the president of the Panchayat and chairman of the bank are later additions to Mr. Malabari's "seven tyrants of the village" and a better mode of finding the soul of the village is by going straight to the unofficial villager who is unaffected by bureaucratic influence.