Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXXIV No. 8, August 1-15, 2024
A Madras magazine devoted to Commerce and Industry
Out of Print – an occasional series by Karthik A Bhatt
July 1,2024 marks the completion of seventy-five years of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the apex body governing the accounting and audit profession in the country. It is hence appropriate that the magazine featured in this edition of Out of Print is one that was run by a pioneering auditor from Madras.
As seen in an earlier issue of this fortnightly (Nov 16-30,2022), one of the lesser talked about aspects of Madras is its contribution to the development of commercial education. It has been home to several stalwarts from the accounting and audit profession, one of whom was Narasimham.Hailing from the village of Podalada in the Razole Taluk in Godavari district, Narasimham had his early education at the Raja Chellayamma Rao High School, Pithapuram, wherefrom he matriculated in 1904. He then joined the Public Works Department and worked in the Northern Circars for about five years, before quitting and joining the Davar’s College of Commerce in Bombay. He received commercial instruction and training at this institution for over one year and passed the final exams of the Central Association of Accountants, London and was later elected a Fellow of the institution. He setup practice as a public accountant and auditor in Madras in 1911. His clientele included several Estates, Joint Stock Companies, Banks and Devasthanams of temples such as Tirumala and Tirupathi and those administered by the Madras Devasthanam Committee.
G. Narasimham.Narasimham was driven by a desire to work for the encouragement of Indian Industries and Commerce. In 1917, he began the Bureau of Commerce and Industries, with a view to supply information to persons interested in trade and industries. The objects of the Bureau included establishing a library and reading room, creating openings for the employment of capital and labour and introducing enterprises to capitalists for potential investment opportunities. The idea of such an organization came in for praise from the likes of R.W. Davies and C.A. Innes, both of whom had served as Director of Industries, Government of Madras.
The Bureau had two other important objectives. The first was to start a journal, which led to the founding of the Commerce and Industries magazine.
The first issue of the magazine came out in July 1919. It was described a monthly journal “for the promotion of Indian Commerce, Industries and Material Progress.” A single copy was priced at Re 1, with subscriptions available at Rs 10 per annum for subscribers in India, Burma and Ceylon and Rs 12 per annum elsewhere. It was published by Narasimham himself, from his premises at No 5, Mount Road, Madras. A short while later, the magazine metamorphosed into a fortnightly bulletin.
A perusal of a few issues of the magazine reflects a wide number of topics covered. Sector specific articles such as handloom weaving in Madras, the paper pulp industry, the soap industry in India, the sugar industry etc are a regular feature. It had sections dedicated to motor transport, agriculture, research and inventions, foreign trade, and finance, where developments in the respective fields were discussed. Interestingly, it also reported on proceedings of meetings of Madras based organisations such as the South Indian Chamber of Commerce, the United India Life Assurance company, and the Madras Stock Exchange (whose opening is covered in detail).
The other important objective of the Bureau of Commerce and Industries was the establishment of a commercial museum in Madras. The concept was not a novelty, for similar establishments existed in Calcutta (where it was run by the Government) and Bombay (a private enterprise). Narasimham proposed that the one to be established by the Bureau be run as a private enterprise. Its functions would include exhibition of samples of indigenous and foreign products, raw materials, tools and designs, demonstrations of manufacturing processes, sale of articles and maintaining an enquiry department to supply information pertaining to trade. Narasimham estimated that the cost of setting up the museum at a central location like Mount Road would be Rs 2 Lakhs. Interestingly, two years later, in August 1919, the Government of Madras published a letter from the Director of Industries regarding the establishment of such an organisation pursuant to the industrial policy laid out in the report on Indian Constitutional Reforms.
Nothing is known today about the progress of the Commerce and Industries magazine, or Narasimham’s idea of establishing a commercial museum. It is however interesting to note that in August 1939, a good two decades after these ideations, an industrial museum was indeed established in Madras. This was the Central Industrial Museum, which was run under the auspices of the Madras Industries Association. Its location was where Narasimham had envisaged his Bureau’s Museum to be, in Mount Road.
