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tion as to which purse is the longest, the Thakore of Palitana's, or the Jains'; nor even a question as to whose cupidity is most insatiable, -the Press agitators' (according to Mr. Watson) or their detractors'. The issue simply is that the Palitana Durbar is endeavouring to sqeeze the Jains of all India by means of pilgrim taxes on them, which, according to well-established agreements and conventions in this particular case, it has no right to levy, even supposing there was no essential and inherent objection to pilgrim taxes as such. The Durbar have found an unexpected ally in the Agent to the Governor-General in the Western India States. He has mistaken his metier, and misunderstood his duties as a judge in the dispute. It is not enough for the Jains to realise that what has happened has happened because of the peculiar temperament and prejudice of the "judge." What has happened has happened and will happen so long as the Jains permit themselves to be exploited according to the exigencies of the Palitana people. Every time the Palitana Durbar has demanded an increase, the British Government have awarded it to it, though of course the present prodigious award is in a super extraordinary class by itself. The only reply of the Jains to this egregious award must be a determined refusal to accept it; a firm resolve to forego pilgrimage until this injustice is can
