cTL/.^. 
 
 
OUR ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
OUR 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA 
 
 BEING A COMPLETE ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 REVENUE AND COLLECTORATE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 IN ALL DEPARTMENTS, 
 
 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE WORK AND 
 DUTIES OF A DISTRICT OFFICER IN BENGAL. 
 
 BY 
 
 H. A. D. PHILLIPS, 
 
 BENGAL CIVIL SERVICE, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "MANUAL OF INDIAN CRIMINAL LAW," "MANUAL OF REVENUE AND 
 COLLECTORATE LAW," ETC. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 W. THACKER & Co., 87, NEWGATE STREET. 
 
 CALCUTTA : THACKER, SPINK & CO. 
 
 Bombay : THACKER Co., Lim. Madras : HIGGINBOTHAM & Co. 
 
 1886. 
 
H715IO 
 
 LONDON I 
 W. I. RK HARDSON, PRINTER, 4 AND 5, GREAT QUEEN STREET, 
 
 LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, w.c. 
 
gtlmaieb, 
 
 BY PERMISSION, TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL, 
 
 0f jitate for 
 
 IN RECOGNITION 
 OF HIS INTEREST IN INDIA AND SOLICITUDE 
 
 FOR THE WELFARE OF 
 TWO HUNDRED MILLION BRITISH INDIAN SUBJECTS. 
 
 513252 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE Chief Executive Officer of a Bengal district is 
 styled the District Officer or Magistrate-Collector. 
 As Collector, he supervises the collection of the various 
 branches of the revenue ; as Magistrate, he exercises 
 original, appellate, and revisional powers in criminal 
 and quasi-criminal matters. So far, the distinction is 
 plain and easy to perceive. But there are certain 
 departments of the administration, with respect to 
 which the District Officer is styled Magistrate or 
 Collector, as the case may be, in a more or less 
 arbitrary manner. For instance, quoad the postal and 
 telegraph administration, he is styled Magistrate, and, 
 in the same capacity, he is the Head of the Police 
 and Jail Departments, and Chairman of the Municipal 
 Commissioners. Then, again, it is as Magistrate that 
 he supervises education, the collection of vital statistics, 
 emigration, sanitation, and vaccination. These magis- 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 terial and quasi-magisterial duties are not touched on 
 in the present work, which is confined to a review of 
 the revenue and collectorate administration ( l ). 
 
 The interest in India is becoming stronger every 
 year, and at the present moment it is a matter of vital 
 mportance that the British Parliament and the British 
 public should have before them a correct and truthful 
 account of our administration in India. Hitherto, 
 they have had little else but articles cavilling at Anglo- 
 Indian officials and their administration articles 
 which appear to be written in a spirit of disloyalty 
 and hostility to the Government, as assertions are 
 recklessly made which indicate that the writers have 
 not even taken the trouble to look into Blue-Books 
 and Administration Reports. It is a matter for deep 
 regret that those who have special means of know- 
 ledge seldom or never take the trouble to write and 
 correct the numerous erroneous statements and sensa- 
 tional descriptions from time to time put forward. 
 Palpable as the errors are, and transparent the mis- 
 statements, they are so only to those who have some 
 knowledge of the country ; and it is surely no matter 
 for surprise that these articles should gain some 
 
 0) Should the present volume be favourably received, it is 
 my intention to publish another on the same lines, treating of 
 the criminal and magisterial duties of the District Officer. 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 credence, so long as they remain uncontradicted. It 
 is said that " magna est veritas, et prcevalebit ;" but 
 history teaches us that truth is sometimes strangled 
 and suppressed for centuries, whereas it is often very 
 important that truth should prevail at once. Truth 
 may be great and powerful ; but I do not think it is 
 likely to prevail, if hidden in Blue-Books and Ad- 
 ministration Reports and stowed away in the pigeon- 
 holes of the India Office and Bengal Secretariats. 
 Such books are doubtless dry reading ; but there is 
 no reason why their results should not be placed 
 before English readers in a light and popular form. 
 
 Having had ten years' experience of various districts 
 in the Mofussil, I have had some opportunities of 
 seeing the life and learning something of the wishes 
 and feelings of the natives and by natives I mean 
 the great body of landowners, cultivators, shop-keepers, 
 artizans and labourers, and not a small section of 
 pleaders, students, schoolmasters, and newspaper 
 editors. It may be said that natives are very prone 
 to give such information as they think their interro- 
 gators wish to receive. But if that fact lessens the 
 value of my assertions (which I deny), does it not 
 damage and almost destroy the allegations of such 
 writers as Messrs. Hyndman, Seymour Keay, W. S. 
 Blunt, Osborne, Digby, et hoc genus omne f 
 
 These writers appear to be jealous of the civilian 
 

 x PREFACE. 
 
 Aristides, and would ostracise him, because they are 
 tired of hearing him called " The Just." If it be said 
 that, as an official, I am prejudiced in favour of the 
 administration, I venture to think that the writings of 
 all or most of the above writers evince the existence 
 of prejudice and bias in the opposite direction ; and 
 it is probable that the educated English-speaking* 
 natives with whom they came in contact were fully 
 aware of such bias. The civilian is constantly brought 
 into contact with every class of the people, and his 
 information is gained, not solely from English-speak- 
 ing natives, but from the daily routine of his life and 
 work, supplemented by inspections and tours through- 
 out every part of his district. He is not compelled 
 to employ set forms of interrogatories, and even the 
 veriest Rhadamanthus must, from his daily revenue, 
 judicial and miscellaneous duties, gain a considerable 
 insight into the life of the people, their ways, thoughts, 
 and ideas, and their opinions regarding such portions 
 of the administration as affect themselves. But the 
 majority of civilians, while possessing the Rhadaman- 
 thine attributes of justice and impartiality, are neither 
 stern, inaccessible, nor unsympathetic ; and there are 
 many whose knowledge of the people and the country 
 is far more accurate and intimate than that of a 
 Calcutta Babu. If a Frenchman or a German were 
 to hold important administrative posts in half the 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 counties of England, his opinion would be more 
 valuable than that of a Londoner, who seldom or 
 never visits the country. 
 
 I have endeavoured to give a correct, fair, and 
 impartial account of our administration in India. I 
 hold no brief from the Bengal Government, or any 
 other authority, but have written the following chapters 
 entirely meo mottt, and solely from a desire to place 
 an accurate and truthful picture before the English 
 public. I have honestly pointed out such flaws, 
 defects, and abuses as I believe to exist ; and if they 
 are few in number, such fact should in fairness be 
 attributed, not to a bias which does not exist (and 
 for the existence of which I can see no possible 
 grounds), but to the general excellence of the adminis- 
 tration. I am perfectly aware that the following 
 pages do amount to a vindication of the Indian 
 administration from the attacks of pessimist de- 
 tractors ; but there is plenty of material, in the shape 
 of unassailable facts and figures, from which readers 
 can draw their own inferences and conclusions. Here- 
 tofore, they have had pictures of Cimmerian darkness, 
 alleging the existence of excessive taxation, oppressive 
 land settlements, and general mal-administration. 
 Having looked on that picture, I ask them to look on 
 this, in which more roseate hues predominate, and to 
 decide for themselves which is the more faithful repre- 
 
xii PREFACE. 
 
 sentation of actual facts. Is taxation heavy, or is it 
 not so light as to be scarcely felt by the mass of the 
 people? Are the people, as a body, discontented 
 with our rule, or have they not a firm belief in our 
 sympathy and consideration towards them? Does 
 not their faith in the justice and impartiality of 
 their European rulers remain unshaken ( 1 ), in spite 
 of the cowardly ( 2 ) attacks and misrepresenta- 
 tions of hostile native newspapers? Are they 
 subject to misrule or capricious oppressions, or 
 under the aegis of the Pax Britannica, do they not 
 enjoy a security for person and property ( l ) even 
 
 (*) These points will be fully illustrated when I come to treat 
 of the criminal and magisterial administration. 
 
 ( 2 ) I use the epithet "cowardly," as native papers are not 
 , subject to the same obligations as English papers are. If the 
 "Pioneer" of Allahabad, or the "Englishman" of Calcutta 
 were to defame officials, they would be sued for damages, or 
 prosecuted for defamation. But officials (European or native) 
 are not allowed to prosecute the native papers. The native 
 editors know this, and recklessly write as they please with 
 impunity. The disgraceful license of the press is seriously im- 
 pairing the efficiency of the administration. European officers 
 do not feel these attacks so keenly as native officials, who dread 
 them, as they live and move in the society in which these 
 papers circulate. European officials, when made the object of 
 attacks, get quizzed by a few brother officials, who treat the 
 matter as a joke. But I have heard of a European who, when 
 attacked, actually asked (pro pudor) the native editor to leave 
 him alone. However, some men must be of weaker fibre and 
 inferior calibre to others, and, in the interests of the administra- 
 
PREFACE. xiii 
 
 greater than that enjoyed in European countries ? 
 Are they ever laboriously climbing the unadvancing 
 treadmill of unchanging poverty, of a hard and hope- 
 less existence, or are they not rapidly mounting the 
 ladder of new occupations and professions, of greater 
 comfort, of diffused wealth, of material progress, and 
 increasing prosperity? 
 
 It is probable that the question of appointing a 
 Commission of Inquiry on India will come before the 
 next Parliament. Whether such Commission be 
 necessary or otherwise, its labours will at least be of 
 
 tion, they should be protected from wanton and malicious 
 attacks. It is a (rebuttable) presumption that the officer, who is 
 attacked in a native paper, is an exceptionally good officer; but 
 that there is something radically wrong, weak, or inefficient 
 about the officer who is besmeared with adulatory praise, is 
 unanimously regarded as an irrebuttable presumption of law. 
 Native editors have themselves to thank for this. They are so 
 constantly and notoriously crying out " wolf" without any cause 
 or provocation, that their motives are suspected even when they 
 may bond-fide point out some official blunder or mistake. The 
 recent rejection of the self-styled Indian members, Messrs. Ghose, j 
 Keay, and Digby, is due to the same fatuous policy. These I 
 men have made mountains out of molehills, and have denounced 
 Indian administration in matters where there was really not a 
 fault to find. Grievances have been alleged where none exist ; 
 and the English people, who are impervious to humbug, have 
 been simply disgusted with so conspicuous an absence of good 
 faith. The people of India are to be congratulated on the 
 rejection of these self-constituted champions, and on the election 
 of men who are really friendly to them. 
 
xiv PREFACE. 
 
 great service in the decision of vexed questions and 
 in embodying its opinions in an authoritative report, 
 which should be accepted as conclusive by officials 
 and non-officials alike. 
 
 H. A. D. PHILLIPS, 
 
 Bengal Civil Service. 
 
 E. I. UNITED SERVICE CLUB, LONDON, 
 Oct. 30//&, 1885. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 FORM OF ADMINISTRATION, CHARACTER OF LAND 
 TENURES, AND RELATIONS OF LANDLORD AND 
 TENANT . i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 LAND REVENUE SETTLEMENTS 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 GOVERNMENT ESTATES, WARDS' ESTATES, AND FOREST 
 
 ADMINISTRATION 41 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES OF COLLECTORS: ALLUVION, 
 
 DILUVION, AND ISLANDS 62 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE EXCISE REVENUE AND OPIUM . . 79 
 
xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CENSUS OPERATIONS AND THE CENSUS OF 1881 . in 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ROAD CESS AND PUBLIC WORKS CESS, DRAINAGE, 
 
 EMBANKMENTS, AND IRRIGATION . . . 134 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 LAND ACQUISITION, LAND REGISTRATION, AND 
 
 LEGAL PRACTITIONERS . . . . . 147 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 THE SALT REVENUE AND THE LICENSE TAX . .161 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 STAMP REVENUE, NOTARIAL REGISTRATION, AND 
 
 TREASURIES 179 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 AGRICULTURAL AND MANUFACTURING SKETCH. . 198 
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 216 
 
OUR ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FORM OF ADMINISTRATION, CHARACTER OF LAND 
 TENURES, AND RELATIONS OF LANDLORD AND 
 TENANT. 
 
 Administrative System District Collectors Divisional Com- 
 missioners Sub-divisions Revenue Administration 
 Sources of Revenue Permanent Settlement Increase in 
 Number of Estates Comparison with other Countries 
 Different Kinds of Estatts Sale Law Sub-infeudation of 
 Tenures Theory and Object of Permanent Settlement 
 Kanungos and Patwaris Oppression of Tenantry Act X. 
 of 1859, the Ryots' Magna Charta Tenancy Legislation in 
 other Provinces Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 Incidence 
 of Assessment under Native Rule compared with to-day 
 Indebtedness of Madras and Bombay Peasant Proprietors 
 greatly exaggerated Great Increase of Cultivation Vast 
 Increase of the Rental of the Zemindars Comparison of 
 Bengal and Egypt. 
 
 THE Province of Bengal is divided into (i) Regula- 
 tion Districts, or districts subject to the general 
 Regulations and Acts ; (2) Non-Regulation Districts, 
 to which the Regulations and Acts do not apply of 
 
OF INDIA. 
 
 their own force, but to which they may be extended 
 at the discretion of Government; and (3) Semi-Inde- 
 pendent and Tributary States, administered, or partly 
 administered, by British officers. 
 
 The form of land revenue administration and 
 character of land tenures may with advantage be 
 noticed in brief outline, as it will conduce to a better 
 understanding of portions of the subsequent chapters. 
 The unit of the executive administration is the 
 District Officer styled Magistrate-Collector in the 
 Regulation Districts, and Deputy Commissioner in 
 the Non-Regulation Districts. The District Officer 
 is the executive chief and administrator of the tract 
 of country committed to him, and is, or ought to be, 
 supreme over every one and everything, except the 
 proceedings of the courts of justice. It is not pro- 
 posed in this work to say anything of his magisterial 
 functions. 
 
 Above the District Officers are the Divisional 
 Commissioners. A Division comprises from four to 
 six districts, and there are nine such Divisions under 
 the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. The duties of 
 Commissioners are principally those of supervision. 
 In almost all matters they exercise a general super- 
 intendence, and especially in revenue matters. They 
 are the channels of communication between the local 
 officers and Government, sifting, collating, and 
 bringing together, in a compact form, the information 
 they receive. In revenue matters the Commissioners 
 
ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM". 3 
 
 are in their turn subject to the orders of the Board of 
 Revenue in Calcutta; in other matters they are 
 directly under the Government. 
 
 The Districts are divided into Sub-divisions, at 
 the head of which are sub-divisional Officers. There 
 are 45 districts, and 8 1 sub-divisions, excluding head- 
 quarters' divisions. 
 
 For the purposes of revenue administration the 
 country was divided by the Mogul Government into 
 pergunnahSy each pergunnah comprising a certain 
 number of villages with their lands. But the per- 
 gunnah divisions are not compact, and are only kept 
 up for purposes of land revenue payments. For all 
 other purposes the tJianah, or police station, is the 
 unit. The tJianahs are divided again for police 
 purposes into out-posts. The average area of a 
 thanah is 236 square miles, with an average popula- 
 tion of 108,026. 
 
 The principal sources of the provincial revenues of 
 Bengal are the land revenue, the monopoly of opium, 
 excise on liquors and intoxicating drugs, stamps, salt, 
 license tax, the customs duties, and the public works 
 cess. All departments are managed by the District 
 Collector and his establishments, except the opium 
 and customs revenue. The customs duties were, at 
 the close of 1881-82, abolished upon all articles 
 except arms and ammunition, liquors, opium, and 
 salt. 
 
 Bengal was permanently settled in 1793. But the 
 
 B 2 
 
4 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 province of Orissa proper, which Avas conquered from 
 the Maharattas in 1803, is subject to a temporary 
 settlement, of which the current term of thirty years 
 will not expire until 1897. In 1867 Orissa was just 
 recovering from a terrible famine; so the former 
 settlement was left untouched, and renewed for 
 another thirty years. The total assessment in 1793, 
 which was made permanent, was about 286 lakhs of 
 rupees ( a ). The total assessment of the same 
 provinces during the year 1882-83 amounted to 
 about 363 lakhs. There* has been no increase what- 
 ever in the incidence of assessment, but additions were 
 made to the revenue demand, when the zemindars 
 were relieved of police and other charges. Moreover, 
 from 1824 the revenue has expanded owing to 
 resumptions of invalid revenue-free tenures under 
 Regulation II. of 1819. The revenue has also been 
 increased by escheats, by the assessment of new 
 lands brought to light by survey, and by resettle- 
 ments of Government estates. The land revenue 
 for the whole of British India in 1881-82 was 
 21,948,022. 
 
 The number of estates has a tendency to increase 
 owing to the sub-division of property by partition. 
 Out of a total number of 110,456 estates at present 
 borne on the revenue-roll of the 39 districts of Bengal 
 proper and Behar, only 41 per cent, are great 
 
 (*) A lakh of rupees =; 1 0,000. 
 
NUMBER OF ESTATES. 5 
 
 properties with an area of 20,000 acres and upwards ; 
 in per cent, range from 500 to 20,000 acres in area; 
 while the number of estates which fall short of 500 
 acres is no less than 88'4 per cent. (*) of the whole. 
 
 (*) A comparison with the number of owners in other countries 
 may be of interest : 
 
 UNITED KINGDOM (OWNERS). 
 
 Total Acres. 
 
 130,000 small owners, averaging 13 acres - 1,750,000 
 50,000 medium-sized owners, with an average 
 
 of 1 80 acres - - 9,000,000 
 
 15,000 large owners, averaging 4,260 acres - 64,000,000 
 
 74,750,000 
 
 FRANCE (OWNERSHIPS). 
 
 5,000,000 owners, averaging 7^ acres - 37,000,000 
 
 500,000 medium-sized owners, averaging 
 
 75 acres - - 37,000,000 
 
 50,000 large proprietors, averaging 750 acres 37,000,000 
 
 1 1 1 ,000,000 
 
 Switzerland, the Rhine provinces of Prussia, Bavaria, Sweden, 
 and Norway, are almost wholly owned and farmed by their 
 cultivators, while Belgium is so held in respect of about one-half 
 of its area. In France, as in Bengal, there is equal division of 
 property among children. In Prussia one-third of the property 
 must go to the children if there be two, and one-half if there be 
 more than two. Out of 1,300,000 proprietors, about 16,000 are 
 large proprietors of over 400 acres ; 350,000 are medium-sized 
 proprietors ; and 925,000 are small proprietors. In the United 
 States ownership everywhere prevails as opposed to tenancy. 
 Bengal resembles continental countries in the absence of any 
 laws of primogeniture and entail, in the clear and indefeasible 
 titles to land, and in the extreme cheapness and facility for its 
 mortgage and sale. 
 
6 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA, 
 
 Partitions have occurred in two ways, first, by the 
 act of Government or the courts of law, the object 
 being to bring portions of estates to sale for arrears 
 of revenue or for private debts due from the pro- 
 prietors; and secondly, at the instance of the 
 proprietors themselves under the Partition Act. 
 Partitions of the latter class have been so numerous 
 in the Patna Division, that the number of estates has 
 nearly doubled in twenty years. These partitions 
 have caused so much work that it has been proposed 
 to amend the law in such a way that no estate shall 
 be created with a smaller revenue than Rs. 10 (=1). 
 Estates are divided for fiscal purposes into four 
 classes : Permanently settled, temporarily settled, 
 Government estates, and ryotwari tracts. The 
 revenue of the permanently settled estates is realized 
 with great punctuality. Under the sale law ( : ), if the 
 revenue be not paid in by sunset of the last day of 
 payment, the estate is liable to be sold. Losses 
 sometimes occur through famine, epidemics, the 
 devastations of cyclones, floods, and other calamities 
 of season; but the large excess of the annual rental 
 over the Government demand enables the land- 
 holders, as a rule, to pay up easily even in the most 
 disastrous years. The average annual number of 
 whole estates and shares of estates, which become 
 liable to sale, is only 9,126 out of a total of 110,456 ; 
 
 (!) Act XI. of 1859 as amended by Act III. (B.C.) of 1862. 
 
SALE LAW. 7 
 
 and of these only 1,624 or 17-8 are actually sold. 
 It is thus apparent that the sale law is not worked 
 with any undue severity or harshness by the Col- 
 lectors. Moreover, some of these defaults are 
 intentional for the following reason. The auction- 
 purchaser of an estate is entitled to void and cancel 
 all encumbrances, exceptis excipiundis ; the most 
 important of such exceptions being leases of lands, 
 whereon dwelling-houses, manufactories, or other 
 permanent buildings have been erected, or whereon 
 gardens, plantations, tanks, wells, canals, places of 
 worship, or burning or burying grounds have been 
 made, or wherein mines have been sunk. Thus an 
 estate will often fetch a higher price at auction-sale 
 than could be realized by private sale; and zemin- 
 dars, desirous of selling their estates, sometimes 
 default on purpose and let them go to the hammer. 
 
 At the permanent settlement Government, by abdi- 
 cating its position as exclusive possessor of the soil, 
 and contenting itself with a permanent rent-charge on 
 f he land, escaped thenceforward the labour and risks 
 of detailed mofussil management. The zemindars 
 were not slow to follow this example. Permanent 
 under-tenures, known as patni tenures, were created 
 in large numbers, and extensive tracts were leased 
 out for long terms. Such alienations were recognized 
 by law in the year 1819, and means were afforded to 
 the zemindar of recovering arrears of rent due from 
 his patnidars almost identical with those by which 
 
8 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 the demands of Government were enforced against 
 himself. The practice of granting such under-tenures 
 has steadily continued, until at the present day, with 
 the patni and subordinate tenures of Bengal proper 
 and the farming system of Behar, but a small propor- 
 tion of the whole permanently-settled area remains 
 in the direct possession of the zemindars. In these 
 alienations the zemindars have made far better terms 
 for themselves than the Government was able to 
 make for itself in 1793. 
 
 The process of sub-infeudation has not terminated 
 with the patnidars and izaradars. These men, in their 
 turn, have sub-let to others. Sometimes these tenures 
 and sub-tenures comprise defined tracts of land ; but 
 a common practice has been to sub-let certain aliquot 
 shares of the whole superior tenure, the consequence 
 of which is that the tenants of any particular village 
 may have to pay rent to several different masters, so 
 many annas in the rupee to each. In addition to all 
 these tenures, the country is dotted over with small 
 plots of land held revenue-free, most of them having 
 been granted by former governments as religious en- 
 dowments grants which have since been recognized 
 and confirmed by the English Government. It is a 
 regrettable fact that there is no complete register of 
 tenures, and no system of compulsory registration of 
 them. The Bengal Tenancy Act passed by the Indian 
 Legislature remedies this defect (!). 
 ( l ) See note, p. 10. 
 
KANOONGOES AND PATWARIS. 9 
 
 The theory of the permanent settlement was to 
 give to all under-holders, down to the ryots, the same 
 security of tenure as against the zemindars as the 
 latter had against the Government. Extra cesses and 
 exactions were abolished, and the zemindars were 
 required to give leases to the ryots specifying the 
 rent payable by them according to the established 
 rates of the pergunnah. The law intended to secure 
 to the ryots fixity of tenure, and perhaps also fixity 
 of rent-rates. Provision was made for the appoint- 
 ment of kanoongoes and patwaris, who, among other 
 duties, were " to prevent oppression of the persons 
 paying rent." 
 
 The kanoongoe was appointed for each estate or 
 pergunnah, and was required to compile information 
 regarding articles of produce, rates of rent, transfers of 
 holdings, the rules and customs established in each 
 pergunnah, and to assist in measurements of lands. 
 The patwari was the village accountant, and was re- 
 quired to keep accounts relating to lands, produce 
 collections and charges. But, unfortunately, English 
 ideas subsequently began to prevail in Bengal re- 
 garding the rights of a landlord, and the advantages 
 of non-interference. The executive by degrees dis- 
 carded the functions of recording rights, and pro- 
 tecting the inferior holders, and left everything to the 
 judicial tribunals. The patwaris fell into disuse, or 
 became the mere servants of the zemindars, and were 
 abolished along with the kanoongoes by Lord Corn- 
 
io ADMINISTRATION, OF INDIA. 
 
 wallis. Attempts have since been made to revive 
 their offices, and place them on a proper footing ; but, 
 owing to the systematic and determined opposition of 
 the landholders, such attempts have not as yet met 
 with much success. The Tenancy Act contains pro- 
 visions, by which the system of record of all rights 
 will again be revived ( 1 ). 
 
 The status of the tenantry, as designed by the 
 Permanent Settlement, was much impaired, and, in a 
 measure, destroyed, by the Huftum (seventh) and 
 
 ( ! ) See Bengal Tenancy Act, VIII. of 1885, ss. lor, \o2,scqq. 
 The Local Government may in certain cases direct a revenue 
 officer to make a survey, and prepare a record of rights, showing 
 the names of tenants, the class to which each belongs, the 
 quantity and boundaries of his land, the rent payable, the 
 special conditions and incidents of the tenancy, etc. On the 
 application of either the landlord or the tenant, or if the latter 
 is holding more or less land than that for which he is paying 
 rent, the revenue officer is to settle a fair and equitable rent, 
 the existing rent being presumed to be fair until the contrary is 
 proved. An appeal lies to a special judge, or special judges, 
 and a second appeal to the High Court, subject to the pro- 
 visions of chap. 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Where the 
 interests of public order, or of the local welfare, require it, the 
 Local Government (with the sanction of the Governor- General 
 in Council) may empower a Revenue Officer to settle all rents, 
 and also to reduce them, if, in his opinion, the maintenance of 
 existing rents would be unfair or inequitable. Such settlement- 
 record must be finally confirmed by the Governor-General in 
 Council. The rents of tenures or occupancy holdings so settled 
 are not to be enhanced (except for a landlord's improvement, or 
 subsequent increase of area) for fifteen years, and, in the case 
 of non-occupancy holdings, for five years. 
 
ACT X.'OF 1&S9- I' 
 
 Panjum (fifth) Regulations, which gave the zemindars 
 power to seize the persons of their ryots, or distrain 
 their property for arrears of rent. The power of 
 ascertaining and settling the rights of the ryots, and 
 of determining the proportion of the produce payable 
 by them, was reserved by the Regulations of 1793 ; 
 but nothing was done until the whole rent law was 
 remodelled by Act X. of 1859. 
 
 By this law the cultivators were divided into four 
 classes : 
 
 1. Those who had held their lands at fixed rates of 
 rent since the permanent settlement. 
 
 2. Those whose rent had not been changed for 
 twenty years. 
 
 3. Those who had held for twelve years. 
 
 4. Those who had held for less than twelve years. 
 The rent of the first class was not to be raised at all ; 
 that of the second class could be enhanced only on 
 proof that the rent had been changed since the per- 
 manent settlement ; the third class were declared to 
 have a right of occupancy, and their rent was to be 
 enhanced only under a certain procedure, and on 
 proof of certain specified reasons ( x ) ; the fourth class 
 
 ( J ) The grounds of enhancement are increase of area found 
 on measurement (the ryot gets abatement for any decrease so 
 found) ; increase in the value or the quantity of the produce 
 otherwise than by the agency of the cultivator ; the fact that 
 the rent is less than the prevailing (pergunnah or customary) 
 rates payable by cultivators of the same class for similar lands 
 in the vicinity. 
 
1 2 A DMINISTRA TION OF INDIA . 
 
 were not protected, and were left in the position of 
 mere tenants-at-will. The new Tenancy Act protects 
 
 Act X. of 1859 gave a start to tenant- legislation in other pro- 
 vinces. Such legislation was not required in the Ryotwari 
 Provinces (Bombay, Madras, the Berars, and, with some modifi- 
 cations, Assam and Burmah). Act X. (the Ryots' Magna 
 Charta) was primarily enacted for Bengal and the North- West 
 Provinces, but was almost immediately extended to the Central 
 Provinces. In some respects it was found unsuitable for the 
 North- West Provinces ; but it was not till 1873 that some ex- 
 tensions were made in favour of the tenant by Act XVIII. of 
 that year. Exproprietary tenants, that is, former proprietors, 
 who had lost their proprietary right, were made occupancy 
 tenants at privileged or favourable rent-rates ; power was given 
 to the settlement officers, on revision of a settlement, to deter- 
 mine the rent of tenants who then possessed occupancy rights ; 
 the occupancy right was declared heritable, but not ordinarily 
 transferable ; and any tenant, if evicted, was to be compensated 
 for his own permanent improvements. 
 
 In the Central Provinces, Act X. has been superseded by an 
 Act of 1883, based on very different principles. It confirms in 
 their occupancy right, at favourable rents, those tenants who 
 already enjoyed it. but abolishes the prospective accrual of such 
 a right, and, in lieu of it, grants to all non-occupancy tenants a 
 protection of another kind. Their rent depends on agreement 
 with their landlords, but once fixed cannot be enhanced for 
 seven years. They can be ejected only through the Court for 
 non-payment of rent, or for refusal to pay the enhanced rent 
 demanded by the landlord, and if ejected on the latter ground, 
 are to receive, besides compensation for their own improve- 
 ments, ten times the amount of enhancement as compensation 
 for ejectment. 
 
 In the Panjab, land is to a very large extent cultivated by its 
 proprietors. Act XXVIII. of 1868 enacts that exproprietary 
 tenants, tenants of very old standing, and tenants recorded as 
 
TENANCY ACT OF 1885. 13 
 
 this class, and secures them against arbitrary rack- 
 renting and eviction. It improves the status of the 
 third class by facilitating proof of the occupancy 
 right, by permitting them to grow any crops they 
 choose, or to use the land in any way that does not 
 materially impair its value, by giving greater protec- 
 tion from eviction, and by placing further restrictions 
 on the enhancement of rent, and at the same time 
 rendering more definite the grounds for such enhance- 
 ment. One of the principal mischiefs of Act X. was 
 the difficulty of proving the occupancy right. The 
 possession of such a right will depend not, as hereto- 
 fore, upon the holding of the very same plots of land 
 for twelve years, but, notwithstanding any contract to 
 the contrary, on the holding of any land in any village 
 
 occupying tenants by the original settlements (unit ss the land- 
 lord can prove by suit that such record was incorrect) shall 
 have occupancy right, but that this privilege shall not for the 
 future be acquired by twelve years' possession ; that occupancy 
 right shall include the right of holding at a rent more or less 
 favourable, according to the class of the tenant ; of hereditary 
 succession ; of sub-letting ; and of transfer, subject to pre-emp- 
 tion by the landlord ; and that all tenants shall be entitled to 
 compensation for their own improvements. 
 
 In Oudh the policy of conciliating the talookdars, or great land- 
 lords, after the reconquest of the province in 1858, has resulted 
 in a less favourable measure of tenant-right. Act XIX. of 1868 
 gives a right of occupancy, at favourable rents, only to expro- 
 prietary tenants ; all other tenants are teti ants- at- will, liable to 
 ejectment or to enhancement of rent on written notice from the 
 landlord ; but all tenants are entitled to compensation for their 
 own improvements. 
 
H ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 for a period of twelve years before or after the passing 
 of the Act. Moreover, a person holding any land as 
 a ryot is to be presumed, until the contrary is proved 
 or admitted, to have held it continuously for twelve 
 years. The rent of an occupancy-ryot may be en- 
 hanced by registered contract, but not so as to exceed 
 the previous rent by more than two annas in the 
 rupee (i2| per cent.), and, when so enhanced, is to 
 remain unaltered for fifteen years. The grounds for 
 enhancement by suit have been slightly narrowed in 
 favour of the ryot. A non-occupancy ryot must pay 
 such rent as may be agreed on between himself and 
 his landlord at the time of his admission to the 
 occupation of the land. He may be ejected for failure 
 to pay rent on an expiry of his lease, but only through 
 the Court. If the landlord wants enhanced rent, he 
 must tender an agreement to the ryot, and in case the 
 latter refuses to execute it, he may institute a suit to 
 eject him, in which case the Court shall determine 
 what rent is fair and equitable for the holding. If 
 the ryot agrees to pay the rent, he is entitled to 
 remain in occupation at that rent for a term of five 
 years from the date of the agreement ; but if he does 
 not agree to pay the rent so determined, the Court 
 must eject him. These provisions are a great im- 
 provement on the previous unprotected state of non- 
 occupancy ryots. The new Act also discourages 
 sub-infeudation, by enacting that an under- ryot or 
 sub-ryot shall not be liable to pay more than 25 per 
 
REMEDIAL PROVISIONS. 15 
 
 cent, in excess of the rent payable by his landlord, or 
 50 per cent, when the rent is payable by the under- 
 ryot under a registered base or agreement. All ryots 
 are declared to be entitled to make certain improve- 
 ments, and the term " improvement " is carefully de- 
 fined. Every ryot who is ejected is entitled to com- 
 pensation for improvements made by him in accord- 
 ance with the Act. Such are the main features of a 
 very excellent measure, which the Legislature has 
 been endeavouring to pass in some shape or another 
 during the last decade. The proposal of the Bengal 
 Government to make the occupancy right transferable 
 by sale and mortgage ( l ) was disallowed by the 
 Government of India ; but, wherever the right is now 
 
 (!) Whatever may be said as to sale, the right of mortgage 
 appears to be objectionable in any view of ownership. It is 
 better that land should be confined to its proper purpose as a 
 means of production, instead of being injured for that purpose 
 by being used as a means of credit. With regard to mortgage, 
 even by owners, an anonymous writer has remarked : " It is of 
 prime importance that the owner should have cash sufficient to 
 make the improvements required, and he cannot do so if 
 already in debt. Mortgages are disadvantageous to the owner, 
 the tenant, and the nation. The law should compel him to sell 
 sufficient land to pay off his debts. He would then relieve him- 
 self of interest at the rate of 4 to 5 per cent, by selling property 
 which gives only 2 or 2^ per cent, on the price that would be 
 obtained. His net income would not only be greater ; but, as 
 his apparent estate would be smaller, he would not be tempted 
 to live in so expensive a style, and he would thus have the 
 means of gaining larger returns from his property by im- 
 proving it." 
 
1 6 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 transferable by custom, such usage will not be affected 
 by the Act (s. 183). Indeed, the Act saves all custom, 
 usage, or customary rights not inconsistent with its 
 provisions. 
 
 Doubtless permanently settled Bengal is better off 
 than Provinces under a temporary settlement. But 
 the difference in the incidence of the land revenue is 
 far less than is ordinarily supposed. The extreme 
 moderation and even indulgence with which tem- 
 porary settlements are carried out will be pointed 
 out in the ensuing chapter. An idea appears to 
 prevail in England that the assessments are always 
 enhanced on the expiry of each settlement term. 
 This is not so, and indeed the assessment of any land 
 is not generally liable to be enhanced on account of 
 improvements made by the owner or tenant, but only 
 on the ground of improvements made at the public 
 expense, or on general considerations, such as a per- 
 manent and considerable rise of prices. Under native 
 rule, the ryotwari revenue was the full rent of the 
 land, a rent limited, under an exacting Government, 
 solely by the endurance of the people. The zemin- 
 dari or village revenue system was the same rent, less 
 a small share, from 3 to 20 per cent, allowed to the 
 superior holder or community for expenses of 
 collection. The revenue fixed in perpetuity under 
 Lord Cornwallis' permanent settlement was then 
 estimated to be about 80 per cent, of the total collec- 
 tions from the cultivators, whereas now it does not 
 
INCIDENCE OF LAND REVENUE. 17 
 
 exceed 15 per cent. According to Mr. H. S. 
 Cunningham, the percentage of land revenue on the 
 estimated gross value of crops is as follows : 
 Panjab . . . . . . . 5-6 
 
 North- Western Provinces and Oudh . 7-8 
 Bengal 0) ...... 3-9 
 
 Central Provinces 3-8 
 
 Berar ....... 4-6 
 
 Bombay ( l ) . . . . . 7-6 
 
 Madras ( l ) 6-3 
 
 Having regard to these figures, ft seems a matter 
 for surprise that, in the ryotwari districts of Madras 
 and Bombay, the State " ryots " or peasant proprietors 
 should ever have been in distressed circumstances or 
 a state of indebtedness. But the fact is that the 
 ryotwari tenure is so valuable a security, and the 
 holdings themselves so valuable, that money-lenders 
 and bankers are only too eager to lend on such 
 security. The most sifting inquiry has clearly shown 
 
 ( x ) Many of the landholders of Bengal sub-lease their estates, 
 and live as mere annuitants on the land, and in some districts 
 there, is a regular chain of sub-lessee middlemen, who live on 
 the land, and do nothing for it. Even if the incidence of land- 
 revenue were the same in Bengal as in Madras and Bombay, 
 Bengal would still be better off, as the soil is more fertile. The 
 districts in Madras and Bombay which lie to the east of the 
 Western Ghats are constantly liable to the failure of the South- 
 western monsoon. In Bengal the rainfall is not only larger, 
 but it seldom fails. In Bombay and Madras it appears to fail 
 every year in some areas in a greater or lesser degree. The 
 "dry" lands of Madras (i.e., lands which cannot be irrigated) 
 are for the most part very poor. 
 
 C 
 
1 8 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 that the land-tax is not to blame ; its incidence could 
 not well be lighter. But many of these proprietors 
 are thriftless and improvident, and it is a notorious 
 fact that they will spend almost their whole income 
 on the marriage of a daughter or some other social 
 festivity. The money is easily to be had, and to 
 ignore caste requirements and customs is to run the 
 risk of social excommunication. The necessity for 
 spending large sums on marriages is one of the curses 
 of the country. A man in receipt of a salary of five 
 or six rupees a month will spend a year's salary on 
 the marriage of his daughter. And this he is in a 
 manner compelled to do rather than incur the 
 indelible disgrace of having in his house a grown-up 
 unmarried daughter. But it is by no means the case 
 that all peasant proprietors are indebted. A special 
 commission in the Deccan ascertained that not more 
 than one-third of the peasantry had become seriously 
 involved. Since then the evils have been in a large 
 measure removed by special legislation and the 
 establishment of special courts of arbitration and 
 conciliation. On the whole it may be said that the 
 land-revenue administration could not be made more 
 considerate and equitable than it is at present. 
 " Whatever faults may exist in it," says Sir Richard 
 Temple in his excellent work "India in 1880," "they 
 are slight as compared with the merits ; whatever 
 shortcomings may still be perceived, they are small 
 relatively to the vast and undoubted achievements. 
 Property in land has been recognized throughout the 
 
INCREASE OF CULTIVATION. 19 
 
 empire with a practical efficacy unknown before. 
 It has been rendered valuable by equity and modera- 
 tion in taxation ; its devolution has been secured by 
 all the forms and processes exemplified in the most 
 advanced nations. Tenant-right has been established 
 for the better classes of husbandmen, and has been so 
 dealt with that its growth and effusion among the 
 humbler peasants may be promoted ( x ). Thus, the 
 landed system becomes a mainstay of the national 
 stability, and a foundation of popular contentment." 
 Owing to the construction of roads and railways, the 
 opening of new markets, and the increased prices of 
 agricultural produce, the land-tax is becoming lighter 
 every year. In some provinces under the Madras 
 Government cultivation has increased 100 per cent. 
 The light incidence of the revenue in the Panjab, 
 North- West Provinces and Oudh as compared with 
 that under the Sikh and Mogul Governments is so 
 notorious that it is needless to adduce figures. In 
 the Bombay Presidency the area of cultivation has 
 increased to such an extent that, notwithstanding a 
 reduction in the rate of assessment per acre, there has 
 been a considerable augmentation of the land 
 revenue. When the permanent settlement was made 
 in Bengal, the total rental of the zemindars was only 
 20 per cent, more than the revenue fixed, whereas it 
 now amounts to at least seven millions sterling ; and 
 the margin for further profit is still enormous, as out 
 
 (*) The growth and effusion of tenant-right has been further 
 promoted by the recent Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885. 
 
 C 2 
 
20 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 of a total area (exclusive of rivers and lakes) of one 
 hundred and one millions of acres, only fifty-four 
 millions are estimated as being under cultivation. 
 Mr. R. Knight in a letter to Lord Dufferin, has 
 contrasted Bengal with Egypt as follows : " What- 
 ever Egypt grows, Bengal grows and much more. 
 Egypt is heavily handicapped by the want of labour ; 
 Bengal teems with it. Five millions of people in 
 Egypt occupy and cultivate five million acres of land. 
 Sixty millions of people in Bengal occupy and 
 
 cultivate sixty to seventy millions In I'ndia 
 
 the aggregate demand averages less than Us. 2 (four 
 shillings) per acre, while in Egypt, without com- 
 plaint of any kind, the land revenue alone, excluding 
 the rents of the private proprietors of the ooshr and 
 abaaieh lands, is 2os. per acre with indefinite addi- 
 tions in the shape of corve'e or forced labour. The 
 State in Egypt takes ^5,000,000 every year as land 
 revenue (khiraj) from the five million acres of land 
 occupied by five millions of people. The State in 
 Bengal takes less than .4,000,000 ( l ) from sixty 
 millions of people, cultivating sixty to seventy million 
 acres, while the whole aggregate demand upon the 
 ryot of land revenue and zemindar's rental together 
 is but 1 1,000,000." 
 
 (*) In 1883-84 the land revenue demand was ^3,793,988. The 
 demand on permanently-settled estates was .3,230,000, the re- 
 mainder being derived from temporarily-settled estates, Govern- 
 ment estates, and ryotwari tracts. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 LAND REVENUE SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 Land-Revenue Settlements Zemindari and Ryotwari Settle- 
 ments Demarcation of Boundaries Survey Inspection 
 and Classification of Soils Assessment Rate of Assess- 
 ment Modus Operand! Fairness of Assessment The 
 Khorda Settlement Reasons for Opposition and Agitation 
 Tendency to Resume Service-Tenures and to Increase 
 Assessment on Privileged Classes Impolicy of such 
 Action Principle for Decision Record of Rights Powers 
 of Settlement Officers in Bengal Curtailed by Calcutta 
 High Court Act III. of 1878 and Act VIII. of 1879 Im- 
 policy of allowing Revision by Civil Courts Remedy 
 provided by New Tenancy Act Elaborate Revenue Ad- 
 ministration Ample Safeguards against Mistakes or In- 
 justice Satisfactory Solution of Land Question in India 
 Aspect of the same Question in the United Kingdom. 
 
 To realize the land-revenue it is essential to make 
 what is technically called a settlement, that is, to 
 determine its amount and who is to pay it. The 
 policy of the British Government has always been to 
 encourage proprietorship, and the person who is made 
 directly responsible for the payment of the State 
 demand on any land is considered to be its owner, 
 
22 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 though his proprietary right is, or may be, limited on 
 the one hand by the right of the State to its revenue, 
 and on the other, by interests on the land subordinate 
 to his. 
 
 The Province of Lower Bengal is, for the most part, 
 permanently settled. But collectors have now and 
 again to settle waste lands, deara ( l ) lands, and Go- 
 vernment estates ( 2 ), which term includes those estates 
 of private parties, which, owing to the recusancy of 
 the proprietors, are managed by Government. 
 
 Land-revenue settlements are divided into two 
 great classes ryotwari and zemindari. The settle- 
 ment of the Khorda Government estate is ryotwari ; 
 that of Orissa is zemindari. The greater portion of 
 the Madras and Bombay Presidencies, and of the 
 Province of Assam, is under a ryotwari settlement ; 
 while in the North- Western Provinces, Oudh, the 
 Central Provinces, and the Panjab, the form of settle- 
 ment is zemindari. 
 
 A ryotwari settlement means the division of all 
 arable land, whether cultivated or waste, into blocks 
 or lots ; the assessment of each block at a fixed rate 
 for a term of years ; and the exaction of revenue from 
 each occupant according to the area of land, thus 
 assessed, which he occupies. That area may either 
 remain constant, or may be varied from year to year, 
 
 (!) Islands thrown up in rivers and lands formed by alluvion 
 on the banks of large rivers. 
 ( 2 ) See chap. III., on Government Estates, etc. 
 

 DESCRIPTION OF SETTLEMENT. 23 
 
 at the occupant's pleasure, by the reliquishment of 
 old blocks or the occupation of new ; the latter being 
 either land hitherto waste, or land which has been 
 relinquished by somebody else. The occupant holds 
 under an annual lease from the Government, and 
 enjoys all the advantages of absolute proprietorship, 
 subject to the payment of revenue due on the lands 
 he holds during the year. Under this system each 
 occupant deals directly with the Government, and is 
 responsible for his own revenue assessment only. It is 
 peculiarly a settlement with the peasantry, as tenants 
 of the State, enjoying a tenant-right which can be in- 
 herited, sold, or burdened for debt in precisely the same 
 manner as a proprietary right, subject always to pay- 
 ment of the revenue, that is, the rent due to the State. 
 In the Madras Presidency there are two millions and 
 a half of such peasant proprietors, with an average 
 holding of eight acres each ; while in Bombay there 
 are about a million and a half, with an average holding 
 of nineteen acres each. 
 
 A zemindari or mauzawar settlement, on the other 
 hand, takes the village (mauza) as the unit of assess- 
 ment, and recognises the proprietary right of the 
 person or persons who hold the village lands, whether 
 in individual or joint possession. It is a settlement 
 by villages, whereas the ryotwari is a settlement by 
 fields. The assessment of the village remains the 
 same during the entire settlement term, whether 
 the zemindar leaves the waste unbroken, or brings 
 
24 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 every inch of arable land under the plough. It follows 
 that reclamation of waste lands under the ryotwari 
 system involves an immediate gain of revenue to the 
 Government, while under the zemindari system the 
 gain is deferred till the next revision of settlement. 
 At the same time contraction of cultivation under the 
 ryotwari system means decrease of the land-revenue 
 demand. 
 
 A land-revenue settlement consists of five opera- 
 tions, viz. : 
 
 1. Demarcation of boundaries. 
 
 2. Survey. 
 
 3. Inspection and classification of soils. 
 
 4. Assessment. 
 
 5. Record of rights. 
 
 Demarcation of boundaries is made in the first 
 instance by the villagers themselves or by certain 
 village officials, who enjoy service lands rent-free in 
 return for the performance of such duties. The officer 
 conducting the demarcation decides the boundary 
 disputes summarily on the basis of possession, leaving 
 the parties to try the question of legal right in the 
 Civil Court. But in the Central Provinces, the 
 Panjab, and Oudh, the decision of the Settlement 
 Officer has the force of a regular judicial proceeding. 
 The boundaries between villages as well as the boun- 
 daries of blocks or survey fields are, under the ryotwari 
 system, denoted by solid and permanent boundary 
 marks ; v/hereas, in a zemindari settlement, the boun- 
 
SETTLEMENT OPERATIONS. 25 
 
 daries of fields are demarcated merely for the purposes 
 of survey, without any restriction upon the owner's 
 or tenant's liberty to alter them subsequently as he 
 pleases. 
 
 The object of the survey is to frame village maps 
 which shall show the position, area, and shape of every 
 field in the village. The survey may be a regular 
 scientific survey, carried out by the Surveyor-General's 
 department, or a rough and unscientific survey by the 
 Settlement Officer. The cadastral field survey is too 
 expensive for ordinary settlements. In Upper India 
 the field survey has been found quite sufficient for the 
 purposes required. It is made by the Settlement 
 Officer, with the help of the patwaris (or village 
 accountants), and of trained native surveyors. It fur- 
 nishes the Settlement Officer with village maps on the 
 scale of 1 6 inches to the mile, plotted out into fields 
 as they actually exist, and showing boundaries and 
 areas with sufficient accuracy for all revenue purposes. 
 
 The next step consists in the inspection of villages 
 and the classification of villages and soils. Where 
 villages differ much in character of soils or in cultiva- 
 tion, they must be divided into groups or assessment 
 circles, with reference to similarity in their general 
 conditions. The Settlement Officer is usually guided 
 by natural conditions, such as broad distinctions of 
 soil, differences between upland and lowland tracts, 
 liability to drought or inundation, differences of rain- 
 fall. Within the group, villages may be classified 
 
26 A D MINIS TRA TION OF INDIA . 
 
 according to artificial conditions, such as proximity to 
 or distance from markets, contiguity to roads or cattle- 
 pastures and consequent liability to cattle-trespass, 
 species of crop grown, style of cultivation, existence of 
 manure, proximity to or distance from the home- 
 steads, nature and quality of water-supply for irriga- 
 tion, proximity to jungle, and consequent probability 
 of destruction of crops by wild beasts, and various other 
 considerations. In Upper India the Settlement Officer 
 gains from experience a most minute knowledge of the 
 differences of soils. Some say that he emulates the tea- 
 taster and goes about biting and tasting the different 
 varieties of soil, and by this means acquires his 
 practical knowledge. However that may be, he cer- 
 tainly digs into the earth and smells it ; and his ability 
 to classify correctly is such as sometimes to astonish 
 even the villagers themselves. In Madras the soil- 
 classes are generally seven in number, and each class 
 has on an average four sub-divisions. Thus every 
 field must, in the first instance, be ranked in one of 
 twenty-eight different grades, though subsequently, 
 when the process of assessment begins, the number 
 can be reduced to nine or ten by amalgamation of 
 grades approximately equal. 
 
 By the time settlement operations enter upon the 
 stage of assessment, the Settlement Officer has before 
 him a number of general statistics collected during 
 the survey, inspection, and classification of each 
 village. What is now wanted is a revenue rate or 
 
MODES OF ASSESSMENT. 27 
 
 rate of assessment per acre. The Madras (*) method 
 of arriving at revenue-rates consists in ascertaining, 
 by actual experiment and all other possible means, 
 the average yield of certain staple crops on each class 
 and grade of land, converting this into cash at the 
 average Jiarvest prices of the last twenty years, 
 deducting the expenses of cultivation, and taking half 
 the remainder, less a fair margin for casual losses, as 
 the Government share, i. e. t as the revenue-rate per 
 acre upon a field of that kind. There is an element 
 of uncertainty in this laborious method, due to the 
 difficulty of ascertaining the exact expenses of culti- 
 
 (*) The rents paid in Madras and Bombay are now very fair 
 and moderate. In the former Presidency the average incidence 
 of assessment is Rs. i. i. 6 per acre of dry land, and Rs. 
 4. 13. 7 per acre of wet land. In Bombay the average assess- 
 ment of all occupied Government land is only about a rupee an 
 acre. But the rents were not always so moderate. In Madras 
 the mistake was made of putting on too high an assessment in 
 the first instance. In my " Blacker Pamphlet " (Higginbotham 
 and Co., Madras, 1878), I took the district of Bellary as a 
 typical example of Madras districts, and showed that the rents 
 now paid are approximately the same as were paid in 1805. 
 They must have been excessive fifty years ago, but have become 
 fair, so to speak, by the lapse of time. Moreover, many harsh 
 and unjust rules, which put obstacles in the way of prosperous 
 and improved cultivation, have since been swept away. The 
 soil in Madras is poorer than that of Bengal, the rainfall is less 
 and more uncertain, and there is from time to time a total 
 failure of the South- West monsoon. These facts necessitate 
 the imposition of very low rents on all lands that are not classed 
 as " wet " or irrigated. 
 
28 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 vation. But, as practically carried out, the method is 
 fair and considerate to the cultivator, and the rents 
 ultimately arrived at never exceed one-tenth of the 
 value of the gross produce. Grain is, of course, very 
 cheap just after harvest, and this time is taken for 
 ascertaining the average prices. The average price 
 found by the Settlement Officer is often just half the 
 ordinary market price at the time of settlement. I 
 was Sub-divisional Officer of Khorda, when the settle- 
 ment of that estate was going on. The ordinary price 
 of rice was about thirty seers per rupee, while the 
 Settlement Officer based his rates on an average price 
 of more than double that amount. The money rents 
 are thus reduced to the benefit of the cultivator. In 
 Bengal there is no uniform process of assessment. 
 The Settlement Officer submits a full and detailed 
 report of his modus operandi for the approval and 
 sanction of the Board of Revenue. The general 
 method is to ascertain the out-turn or quantity of 
 gross produce, to turn this into money on the average 
 prices of a number of years, and then to take a certain 
 proportion of the gross produce as the Government 
 share. In Khorda the Settlement Officer was at first 
 instructed to take one-fourth ; but by order of the 
 Lieutenant-Governor, this was reduced to one-fifth. 
 But, as has been shown above, it must not, for a 
 moment, be supposed that the money rent actually 
 assessed represents as much as this. In Khorda it 
 represented no more than from one-twentieth to one- 
 
THE KHORDA SETTLEMENT. 29 
 
 tenth of the gross produce, and seldom more than 
 one-twentieth. There may have been a time when 
 Settlement Officers had a tendency to screw up rates. 
 That time has long passed away. The tendency is 
 now the other way. Reasons for proposed increase 
 of rates are subjected to rigid scrutiny by the Board 
 of Revenue and the Local Government, even after 
 they have passed the Collector and Commissioner. I 
 am personally acquainted with the details of the 
 Khorda Settlement, and I may, therefore, give that 
 estate as an example. Ex uno disce omnes. The 
 Settlement Officer, Mr. Taylor, had previously been 
 Sub-Divisional Officer of Khorda for eight years. He 
 had a minute knowledge of the estate, and intense 
 sympathy with the people. Indeed, he was loved and 
 revered as a regular "ma-bap,"andwas not a man likely 
 to err in the direction of over-assessment. Owing to 
 peculiar circumstances, he was compelled to raise the 
 rates considerably. The rents had never been altered 
 since 1838, when a settlement was made by Mr. Wil- 
 kinson, whose name in Khorda is a personification of 
 all that is good and beneficent. Whatever "Oolkinson 
 Saheb" did was right, and he is worshipped by the 
 people almost as one of their own deities. Mr. Wil- 
 kinson in his Settlement Report writes : " I am aware 
 that my rates are very low, but I have intentionally 
 made them so, in order that the rents may be easily 
 paid in bad years as well as good!' In fact, in the 
 year 1877, when the late settlement commenced, they 
 
30 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 were, in many cases, pepper-corn rents. Too low 
 rents may be almost as bad as too high rents ; at 
 least in the case of the conservative, unambitious, and 
 somewhat apathetic Hindu cultivator, who then has 
 no incentive to manure and irrigate, to grow more 
 valuable crops, and to get two crops out of the land, 
 where he was before getting only one. If the rents 
 were fair and could be paid in 1840, what were they 
 forty years afterwards, when the circumstances of the 
 country had entirely changed, new roads and markets 
 had been opened, and the value of produce had 
 increased three-fold and four-fold ? An acre of land 
 yielding from 400 to 650 Ibs. of cleaned rice was 
 paying from sixpence to half-a-crown as rent ; while 
 do-fuslee ( l ) irrigated land, bearing excellent crops of 
 oil-seeds, pulses, tobacco, sugarcane ( 2 ), onions, &c., 
 was paying a rent of only four and five shillings an 
 acre. It was rates such as these that the Settlement 
 Officer had to revise. Since the last settlement vast 
 quantities of jungle and waste land had been taken 
 into cultivation ; and it is not to be wondered at that 
 the Settlement Officer found himself unable to pro- 
 
 (*) Do-fuslee land which bears two or more crops within 
 the same year. 
 
 ( 2 ) The value of an acre of sugarcane crop varies in localities 
 near railways from ^8 to 12, the rent taken by a private 
 zemindar varying in different localities from twelve to thirty 
 shillings. The rents in Government estates are notoriously 
 less than those taken by private zemindars. 
 
PRIVILEGED RENT-RATES. 31 
 
 pose a smaller increase than about 85 per cent, on 
 the total rental (not rates) previously paid. 
 
 These rates were further reduced by Government, 
 at the instance of the Board of Revenue, as it was 
 considered somewhat harsh and impolitic to impose 
 any considerable increase uno ictu. While I was Sub- 
 divisional Officer of Khorda, the ryots, as a body, 
 appeared satisfied with the Settlement Officer's pro- 
 ceedings and mode of assessment. I believe the 
 subsequent opposition to the settlement originated in 
 the resumption and assessment of certain rent-free 
 tenures and the increase of assessment on the lands 
 of certain privileged classes, who had hitherto been 
 paying only a nominal rent. These men employed 
 agitation-mongers to stir up discontent among the 
 general body of ryots, and thus the agitation spread 
 from a small and influential class to the whole estate. 
 In Bengal there is no specially-trained Settlement 
 Department, and there is perhaps too great a ten- 
 dency to resume rent-free service-tenures, and to 
 increase the assessment on privileged classes. Of 
 course there is much force in the argument that these 
 men do no service now, and are not required to do any; 
 the circumstances of the country and the march ot 
 civilization having in many instances done away with 
 the necessity for such services. The Settlement 
 Officer of Khorda was of opinion that to continue 
 and stereotype these privileges and favourable con- 
 ditions tended to cause jealousy and discontent 
 
32 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 among the mass of ordinary cultivators. But the 
 application of such ideas of equality is most distaste- 
 ful to the upper classes, and is quite out of place in 
 an Eastern country. In Upper India and Behar, rent- 
 rates vary considerably according to the caste of the 
 tenant, and village assessments, whether calculated on 
 rental value or otherwise, are a good deal modified by 
 the number, caste, and habits of the proprietors. It 
 has not been found that these old and well-established 
 customs have resulted in any jealousy or discontent. 
 To say the least, it is an unwise policy to interfere 
 with customary rights (for rights in many instances 
 they are). The Privy Council has pointed out the 
 distinction between the grant of an estate burdened 
 with a certain service, and the grant of an office, the 
 performance of whose duties are remunerated by the 
 use of certain lands, and have ruled that a tenure of 
 the former description cannot be resumed merely on 
 the ground that the service is no longer required. In 
 one case a rent-free sanad had been granted to a man 
 for having protected an estate from the incursions of 
 wild elephants, and for continuing to do so. The 
 sanad did not state that the tenure was to cease, if 
 the services ceased. The Privy Council held that 
 the grant had been made pro servitiis impensis et 
 impendendis partly as a reward for past, partly as an 
 inducement for future services. " The grantees," said 
 their Lordships, " though bound to protect the per- 
 gunnah from the incursions of wild elephants so long 
 
SERVICE TENURES. 33 
 
 as those incursions lasted, and though still bound to 
 do so, should, by any chance, those' incursions be 
 renewed, and though they may be liable to forfeit the 
 tenure if they wilfully fail in the performance of this 
 duty, are not liable to have their lands resumed, 
 because there is no longer any occasion for the per- 
 formance of this particular service, there being now 
 no fear of the depredations of elephants in those 
 places." These remarks were particularly applicable 
 to the semi-political and military Jagirs in Khorda. 
 The Paiks were the militia of the country, and the 
 Dolais and DulheJuras were their leaders. These 
 men possessed a certain status, of which they were 
 exceedingly proud. Again Brahmans, Mahantees, 
 and some other castes were holding their homesteads 
 rent-free ; an indulgence which might well have been 
 continued. With the exception, perhaps, of the ten- 
 dency to over-look rights, or at any rate, claims based 
 on custom and prescription, temporary settlements in 
 Bengal are conducted with the same minute care and 
 inquiry, with the same indulgence and consideration, 
 as in other parts of India. I have instanced the 
 Khorda settlement to show that the power of en- 
 hancement does not lie in the hands of a single officer. 
 The Settlement Officer's rates have to run the 
 gauntlet of three or four revisional and appellate 
 authorities. 
 
 The record of rights is the final, and perhaps, the 
 most important work of settlement. Under both the 
 
 D 
 
34 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 ryotwari and zemindari systems, it consists primarily 
 of the field map and the field register. The former 
 exhibits the position, number and shape of every 
 field ; the latter gives its number, area, and soil- 
 class, shows whether it is irrigated, unirrigated, and 
 adds all fiscal particulars, viz., in a ryotwari settle- 
 ment, the assessment and the name of the occupant ; 
 and in a zemindari settlement, the rent paid, the 
 tenant's name, and the name of the proprietor. In 
 Bengal the Settlement Officer follows the rule pre- 
 vailing in Bombay and Madras, that is, he enters in 
 the register the name of the party in possession, 
 leaving disputes to be decided in the Civil Court. 
 Where a mortgagee is in possession, the name of the 
 mortgagor and his right to redeem are generally 
 added. There is no fast and rigid rule in Bengal, 
 and in Khorda the Settlement Officer made an 
 attempt to settle all disputes on the merits. In the 
 North-West Provinces the Settlement Officer takes 
 evidence, and records a formal proceeding ; but his 
 order is liable to be changed by the decree of a com- 
 petent Court. Elsewhere in Upper India, the Settle- 
 ment Officer has power to try and decide the question 
 of right, and the entry made by him represents a 
 judicial decision, which the Civil Court cannot 
 modify. 
 
 The Settlement Officer has to record the fullest 
 possible information in regard to landed tenures, local 
 usages connected therewith, and the rights, interests, 
 
HIGH COURT DECISIONS. 35 
 
 and privileges of the various classes of the agricultural 
 community. He also has the power to take cogni- 
 zance of and decide summarily complaints of wrong- 
 ful dispossession from lands, premises, crops, orchards, 
 pasture-grounds, fisheries, wells, water-courses, tanks, 
 reservoirs, &c., where the party dispossessed was in 
 possession in the preceding year. 
 
 Certain rulings of the Calcutta High Court have 
 considerably curtailed the powers of Settlement 
 Officers, and virtually set aside the principle (affirmed 
 in the Regulations) that the State should be un- 
 fettered in the exercise of its paramount right of 
 determining the share of the produce of the soil 
 which should be taken as revenue for State purposes. 
 The moral influence of Revenue Officers was still 
 further diminished by the transfer of rent suits to 
 the Civil Courts. The difficulties of conducting 
 settlements came prominently to notice in the 
 Midnapore district in the case of the Bulrampore, 
 Majnamoota, and Jellamoota estates. Separate suits 
 had to be instituted against a large number of ryots 
 before the rates were established, and the collection 
 of the enhanced rent was delayed for years. Act III. 
 1878, compelled the ryot to take the initiative, and 
 to resort to the Civil Court within a limited period of 
 three, subsequently extended to four, months. But 
 it left unaltered the necessity of giving to each ryot 
 individually specific and technically precise notice of 
 the grounds of enhancement. The difficulties were 
 
 D 2 
 
36 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 found to be so insuperable, that Act VIII., 1879, was 
 passed to remedy them. By this Act the general 
 publication in a village of Vbe jummabundi (rent-roll) 
 was made a sufficient service of the notice of enhance- 
 ment. The specification in the notice of enhancement 
 of the rent previously paid by each ryot was also 
 dispensed with, as in private estates it was often 
 found impossible to ascertain the rents previously 
 paid by the ryots to the landlords. 
 
 Act VIII. of 1879 of the Bengal Council declares 
 that the rents recorded by the Settlement Officer are 
 binding, unless in a civil suit, to be instituted within 
 four months of the publication of the enhanced rent- 
 roll, it is shown that they have not been assessed in 
 accordance with the Act. Thus, there is now no 
 impediment to a trial on the merits. But every ryot 
 in an estate may file a suit to contest the enhanced 
 rent. Thus rates, laboriously and carefully deter- 
 mined by an expert, after a minute and patient in- 
 vestigation made under the most favourable circum- 
 stances, are revised by an officer of no revenue or 
 agricultural experience, conducting the inquiry under 
 circumstances most unfavourable to a sound and 
 correct decision. The power of the Civil Court to 
 revise the Settlement Officer's rates should be taken 
 away. The framers of the Bengal Regulations never 
 intended to give it, and no such power exists in other 
 parts of India (see, for instance, s. 75, Act XIX., 1873, 
 relating to the Nortl -West Provinces). The new 
 
APPEAL TO CIVIL COURTS. 37 
 
 Tenancy Act is a step in the right direction, as 
 sec. 1 08 empowers the Local Government to appoint 
 a special Judge or Judges to decide appeals from the 
 decisions of Settlement Officers. This provision should 
 remove the extraordinary anomaly of permitting the 
 ripe and mature decisions of the best Revenue Officers 
 to be subject to revision by courts of less competence 
 and experience. Quoad land-revenue settlements, the 
 Government is not to be regarded as a petty zemindar, 
 but as a sovereign power ( 1 ). The preamble to Reg. 
 XIX. of 1793 recites that "by the ancient law of the 
 country the ruling power is entitled to a certain pro- 
 portion of the produce of every bigah of land." The 
 
 (*) No suits can be brought against any Government for acts 
 done in exercise of sovereign powers. In the case of the 
 P. and O. Company v. The Secretary of State for India 
 (Bourke's Rep., Pt. vii. 167), it was held that the Government 
 of India were responsible to the plaintiffs upon the express 
 grounds that the negligence complained of was an act d'one by 
 their servants in carrying on the ordinary business of ship- 
 builders (unconnected altogether with the exercise of sovereign 
 powers), and which any firm or individual might have carried 
 on for the same purpose. See I. L. R., i Cal. n (where the 
 suit was brought for an act done in connection with the ad- 
 ministration of the excise revenue). See, also, Moodalay v. 
 The E. I. Company, and Moodalay v. Norton (i Br. Ch. Ca. 
 469). In the case of P. Chitambaram v. The Collector of Sea 
 Customs (10 Mad. Jur. 94), the defendant, an officer of Govern- 
 ment, was made personally liable only because he had been 
 guilty of conduct extravagantly ultra vires and tortious. Had 
 he kept himself within the law and the rules, he could not have 
 been made liable. 
 
38 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 Courts have no jurisdiction to, and do not, meddle 
 with the revenues derived from other sources, such as 
 forests, telegraphs, post-offices, irrigation, salt, license 
 tax, opium, customs, excise. The District Officer is 
 himself the repository of knowledge concerning the 
 revenue matters of his district. His proceedings are 
 controlled and revised by the Commissioner of the 
 Division, against whose orders there is again an appeal 
 to the Board of Revenue. Finally, there is the Local 
 Government. What is the use, then, of having so 
 elaborate a revenue administration, if land-revenue 
 settlements are to be subject to revision by the Civil 
 Courts ? It would be just as consistent to allow all 
 other branches of the revenue to be subject to judicial 
 revision. The absurdity of allowing an appeal to the 
 High Court against the order of the Governor-General 
 in Council fixing the duty on salt, or against a circular 
 of the Local Government or Board of Revenue, fixing 
 the duty on ganja, the selling-price of opium, or de- 
 termining the number of liquor-shops to be allowed 
 in any particular district, is self-apparent and needs 
 no demonstration. In the same way, a land-revenue 
 settlement is purely a fiscal proceeding, and it is 
 difficult to see why it should be singled out from all 
 other fiscal operations and made subject to judicial 
 revision. It is a mistake to make the ladder of 
 appeal and revision too long, especially in a country 
 where litigants will mount every available rung before 
 they desist. 
 
THE LAND QUESTION. 39 
 
 In conclusion, the land question in India has been 
 satisfactorily solved, and presents a striking contrast 
 to the state of the same question in England, Scot- 
 land, or even Ireland. The legal basis of recent land 
 legislation in Ireland is, as in Prussia, the recognition 
 of the fact that prescriptive possession, t/en under a 
 title of mere tenancy, confers a right to continuance 
 of such possession. The same principle, with the 
 addition of the words, "at a fair judicial rent," has 
 been thoroughly recognized and acted on in India. 
 But though the principle has been applied to Ireland, 
 the remedial legislation has so far only succeeded in 
 reaching the stage in which Prussia stood before the 
 reforms of Stein and Hardenberg. The Act of 1870 
 recognized the right of the Irish tenant to compensa- 
 tion for his own outlay, if he should be removed, and 
 imposed a fine on the landlord if he should evict a 
 tenant. But as the Act did not prohibit the landlord 
 from raising the rent, the insecurity remained as great 
 as before. The Act of 1881 therefore proceeded to 
 fix the rent by means of a court of valuation, and by 
 giving the tenant a positive right to permanent 
 occupancy, subject to a valuation every fifteen years. 
 But the tenant can never acquire the right to hold at 
 a fixed rent, and he will abstain from improvements, 
 lest at the next valuation his own outlay be made a 
 ground for raising the rent. The principle above 
 alluded to formed the basis of the conversion of copy- 
 holds in England from being tenancies at will into 
 
40 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 tenancies in perpetuity, and should be applied to check 
 the system of ." clearances " in the Highlands, where 
 the right of the crofters to continue in possession rests 
 on the original community of possession by the tribe, 
 and is fortified by an almost immemorial continuance 
 of possession by each family. Immense areas have 
 been, and are being, converted into grouse shootings, 
 deer forests, &c., a process which involves the removal 
 of the small tenantry, and, in some cases, even puts a 
 stop to grazing of cattle or sheep. The landowners 
 find the game rents more profitable than the farming 
 rents ; but the nation suffers a diminution in the em- 
 ployment of labour and in the production of food. 
 To do Hindu landlords justice, it may be remarked 
 that, whatever their other failings may be, such eject- 
 ments would be utterly repugnant to their ideas and 
 feelings. As for Indian revenue officers, whether 
 sportsmen or no sportsmen, and whatever may be 
 their previous leanings, predilections, and politics, their 
 life, training, and surroundings are such that they 
 cannot but keenly sympathise with the fullest exten- 
 sion of tenancy right. A right to continue in posses- 
 sion at a fair rent is the basis, the prop, the very 
 essence and sine qua non of agricultural life in India. 
 It would be well for the mother country if in this 
 respect she were as far advanced as her Indian de- 
 pendency. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 GOVERNMENT ESTATES, WARDS' ESTATES, AND 
 FOREST ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Government Estates Wards' Estates Careful Management by 
 Collectors Beneficial Results Duties of Collectors 
 Instance of the Durbhanga Raj Forest Department 
 Denudation of the Forests Pasturage and Fuel 
 "Reserved" and "Protected" Forests Tendency to 
 Curtail Customary Rights of Villagers Decisions of 
 Privy Council Easements in India Area under Forest 
 Department Duty of Civil Officers Comparison with 
 European Countries Proportion of Forest to Total Area 
 Reasons for Caution in India Area of Forest in India is 
 exclusive of Private Forests Conservation by Zemindars 
 Easements and Customary Rights enjoyed by Villagers 
 Necessity for ascertaining and defining such Rights. 
 
 IN Bengal estates are sometimes owned by Govern- 
 ment owing to their having been forfeited for rebellion, 
 escheated in default of heirs, or acquired by Govern- 
 ment at sale in default of payment of revenue, &c. 
 But the term "Government estates" is applied not 
 only to estates which, belonging to Government, are 
 under direct official management, but also to estates 
 
42 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 the property of private parties which are, owing to 
 the recusancy of the proprietors, managed by Govern- 
 ment. During 1882-83 ( l ) there were 1,061 estates 
 under direct management, with an annual rental of 
 26,000, the gross cost of management being about 
 1,800. The charges for management were thus 6-9 
 per cent, on the rental, which is a very moderate per- 
 centage, and less than what is spent by the majority 
 of private zemindars. Ten per cent, of the total 
 collections is appropriated to meet the cost of ma- 
 nagement and improvement (including education and 
 roads). 
 
 Wards' and attached estates are also managed by 
 the Collector, subject to the control of the Board of 
 Revenue. There were 206 such estates in 1883-84. 
 The Court of Wards undertakes the management of 
 the estates of minors, persons of unsound mind, and 
 other disqualified proprietors. The Court of Wards 
 was originally established for the security of the 
 Government revenue, but Government interference on 
 this score is no longer necessary, and revenue officers 
 who now take charge of these estates make it their 
 principal business to act the part of good and prudent 
 landlords, to extricate the estate from any difficulties 
 into which it may have fallen, to employ surplus 
 income in improving the estate and the condition of 
 
 ( l ) In 1883-84 the number had risen to 1,323 with an income 
 of ^27, 500. 
 
WARDS' ESTATES. 43 
 
 the tenantry by judicious expenditure on protective 
 embankments, irrigation channels, khals and wells, 
 tanks for the supply of good drinking-water, the 
 introduction of new crops, the clearance of jungle, and 
 the purchase of agricultural implements. The Collec- 
 tor, as manager of a Government estate or a Wards' 
 estate, is in the position of a private zemindar, but he 
 has greater facilities for the recovery of rent by a 
 summary process under the Act for the recovery of 
 Public Demands. 
 
 Wards' estates get the benefit of the services of the 
 Board of Revenue, of the Commissioners and Col- 
 lectors, without any cost. In 1878, the Secretary of 
 State raised the question whether they should not 
 contribute something on this account; but the Govern- 
 ment of Bengal was of opinion that the employment 
 of the revenue officers on wards' work is really of as 
 much value to the Government in its results, and to 
 the officers themselves in the training which it affords, 
 as it is to the wards' estates ; and this view prevailed. 
 There can be no doubt that the management of 
 Wards' and Government estates gives Collectors a 
 clear insight into zemindari matters, and throws much 
 light on the relations of landlord and tenant. The 
 Collector has to collect rents, to settle lands, give 
 leases, and make inquiries as to the advisability for 
 remissions in cases of failure of crops. He also has 
 to settle in some cases the right to cut wood, to take 
 miscellaneous forest produce, to hew laterite stones, 
 
44 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 to quarry limestone and other minerals. Then there 
 are many disputes which he has to decide, and griev- 
 ances which he must listen to patiently and remove so 
 far as he can. He also has to provide for the education 
 of the minor ward, and to see that he is properly brought 
 up. He determines what allowances are to be made 
 to the near relatives of the ward, and also the expendi- 
 ture of the ward himself and his household. If the 
 ward wants a new dress or a horse, if he wishes to pay 
 a visit to Calcutta, or to do anything else requiring ex- 
 penditure, the proposal is laid before the Collector for 
 his sanction, who, with reference to the position of the 
 ward and the rental of the estate, decides exactly how 
 much is to be spent. So numerous are the applica- 
 tions for estates to be brought under the Court of 
 Wards, that many have to be refused. Such applica- 
 tions are usually refused, when an estate is hopelessly 
 involved ; but many an estate has been saved from 
 ruin by the careful management of some district officer. 
 The policy of Government is not to take charge of 
 estates, when such interference would entail additional 
 charges on the property to the detriment of creditors, 
 without facilitating the payment of Government re- 
 venue; or when it is probable that Government revenue 
 will be paid without Government intervention ; or 
 again, where the importance of the estate is not suf- 
 ficient to repay the cost and trouble of working it. 
 
 The Durbhanga Raj was much involved when the 
 Court of Wards took it over. On this point extracts 
 
THE DURBHANGA RAJ. 45 
 
 may well be quoted from the Bengal Administration 
 Report for 1882-83: "The management had for years 
 been left in the hands of underlings. All the villages 
 were leased to farmers, most of them relatives of the 
 Raj servants, who had got their leases on favourable 
 terms. Others were outsiders, men of straw, who had 
 nominally undertaken to pay rents far above the 
 value of the lands, and who made what they could 
 by rack-renting the ryots and levying illegal cesses, 
 without attempting to satisfy the Raj demand." The 
 amount of arrears of rent and of debts due to the 
 estate was enormous. ..." The estates were 
 destitute of roads and bridges. The palace was neg- 
 lected and in ruins ; its court-yards quagmires ; its 
 environs a hopeless waste of jungle, pools, and filth. 
 Notoriously all the epidemics of the town took their 
 rise in the Rajbaree. There were no refuges for the 
 sick ; no resting-places for travellers ; not a school in 
 the whole estate. No productive works of any kind 
 had anywhere been attempted." 
 
 The Government management succeeded in chang- 
 ing all this. Debts were paid off, the rent-roll was 
 re-adjusted, and, in spite of reductions of rentals, the 
 gross rentals had increased. The outstanding arrears 
 were less than a year's demand, and there was a large 
 balance in hand. "Over 150 miles of road had been 
 constructed and bridged (in many places with screw- 
 pile viaducts). Upwards of 20,000 trees had been 
 planted along their sides. Fredcr and village roads 
 
46 A D MINIS TRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 had been made and improved. In Khurukpore 
 extensive irrigation works, securing that property 
 against famine, had been made and opened. A large 
 bazar had been built at Durbhanga, including a hand- 
 some public serai .... In lieu of the ruinous system 
 of farming leases, the whole estate had been brought 
 under direct management. Collections were made 
 without friction or difficulty. The outlying zerat 
 lands had been equitably settled with indigo planters, 
 while those in the vicinity of villages had been 
 reserved for the ryots, thus putting an end to the 
 constant disputes between the factories and the 
 cultivators. Hundreds of small embankments, water- 
 channels, tanks, and wells had been constructed from 
 advances made without interest to the tenants. Com- 
 plete surveys had been made of the greater part of 
 the property, and a considerable area had been 
 re-settled to the advantage both of the estate and the 
 cultivators. Twenty vernacular schools had been 
 established by the Raj, educating 1,000 children ; aid 
 being at the same time given to other educational insti- 
 tutions not belonging to the estate. Three admirable 
 hospitals were kept up for the use of the tenantry, 
 while assistance was also afforded to six charitable 
 dispensaries in various places near. Above all, both 
 the Maharaja and his brother had received a thorough 
 English education, were proficient in manly exercises, 
 and were free from the vices which are too often the 
 ruin of native magnates. The Maharaja had been 
 
TREATMENT OF TENANTRY. 4? 
 
 trained to manage his own affairs, and to take a lively 
 interest in the welfare of his people, while his brother 
 had been deemed fit for appointment to the civil 
 service of the province, in which he is now an 
 assistant magistrate." 
 
 It is probable that the treatment of the tenantry in 
 Wards' estates has been in some respects less con- 
 siderate than that accorded to the tenantry of Govern- 
 ment estates. But even this error has been due, if I 
 may coin a word,to the hyperscrupulosity of Collectors 
 and their unwillingness to damage or sacrifice in any 
 way the supposed interests of the minor landlord. This 
 attitude has perhaps been encouraged by the Court 
 of Wards itself (the Board of Revenue), and has led 
 in some instances to an excessive rigidity and 
 punctuality of collection in unfavourable seasons. 
 Moreover, a desire not to diminish the assets of the 
 estate sometimes leads to the retention of some 
 unjustifiable, if not absolutely illegal, items of rent ( l ). 
 It should be added that these errors no longer exist. 
 In 1882 the attention of both the Local Government 
 and the Government of India was particularly drawn 
 
 (*) I may instance some very doubtful items such as pasture 
 and firewood rents ; also the leasing of " bhagars," bits of waste 
 land near the villages where the carcasses of dead cattle are 
 thrown. The right to take the hides is an easement or profit-a- 
 prendre enjoyed by the Mochee community from time immemo- 
 rial. An imperfect knowledge of law and jurisprudence leads to 
 serious encroachments on customary rights, and sometimes to 
 their total disappearance. 
 
48 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 to this subject, and instructions were issued to treat 
 the tenantry with the same consideration and 
 indulgence which they receive in Government estates. 
 
 There is now a special Forest Department in India ; 
 but in Government estates and Wards' estates the 
 duty of conservation is in the hands of the Collector. 
 Moreover, even where the department exists, it is the 
 duty of civil officers jealously to observe its opera- 
 tions, to see that immemorial rights and privileges 
 are not sacrificed to departmental zeal for satisfactory 
 results, and generally to act as buffers between the 
 forest officers and the people. 
 
 There can be no doubt that, until a comparatively 
 recent period, the country was being steadily denuded 
 of its forests. The amount and due distribution of 
 the rainfall depends to a certain extent on the pre- 
 servation of the woods and forests and the vegeta- 
 tion subsidiary to them. The unrestrained destruction 
 of the forests has not only affected the climate 
 unfavourably, but it has also had a deteriorating 
 effect on the cattle of the country owing to the 
 scarcity of pasturage, and in many places it has 
 compelled the people to use as fuel substances such 
 as cow-dung, which ought to be used for manure. 
 Where forests have been cut down, and hill-sides 
 rendered barren of vegetation, the rains descend 
 unseasonably and irregularly: long droughts are 
 followed by excessive rain. Moreover, in the hot 
 weather streams and springs run dry with greater 
 
FOREST LAW. 49 
 
 rapidity, and wells are liable to failure. In districts, 
 where canals exist, the rivers are unable to afford a 
 sufficient quantity of water for irrigation. Wood is 
 required, too, for building houses, for ploughs ( l ) and 
 other agricultural implements, and for fuel; so that 
 the well-being of the agricultural community depends 
 in a vital measure on the preservation of the forests. 
 
 The Forest Law divides forests into two classes, 
 " reserved " and " protected." The reserved areas are 
 thoroughly and completely conserved ; the protected 
 areas are so in a lesser degree. The forest adminis- 
 tration brings in a certain amount of revenue. Timber 
 is sold, and passes are granted for smaller wood, bam- 
 boos, canes, and miscellaneous forest produce, such as 
 myrabolans, lac dye, forest dyes of sorts, gum, resin, 
 caoutchouc, &c. 
 
 Though he has been guilty of undue exaggeration, 
 there is a certain substratum of truth in what Mr. 
 W. S. Blunt has said about the inconvenience caused 
 to the people by the preservation of forests. This 
 inconvenience is probably greatest in the Bombay 
 Presidency, in which I believe about one-seventh of 
 the whole area is either reserved or protected forest 
 In India, immemorial customary rights are in many 
 
 (*) Returns from the different provinces of India (excluding 
 Bengal, the North- West Provinces, and Oudh), have given a 
 total of nearly eleven and a half million ploughs and 2,815,936 
 carts. The total number of ploughs in British India must be 
 about twenty millions ! 
 
 E 
 
50 ADMINISTRA 77 ON OF INDIA. 
 
 cases treated with the greatest tenderness and respect ; 
 but in some instances there is a tendency to overlook 
 or over-ride them. The fault lies principally with the 
 Civil Courts, who require too strict proof of customs, 
 and frequently ignore the common law of the country, 
 merely because it does not happen to have been em- 
 bodied in any particular statute. The Forest Act 
 contains ample recognition of, and provision for, the 
 customary rights of villagers ; but it may be doubted 
 whether the civil officers have sufficient powers of 
 control over the forest officers to enforce the preser- 
 vation of such rights. Private zemindars also, in 
 imitation of the example set by Government, have 
 taken of recent years to preserving the forests and 
 jungles on their estates. These zemindars, as a rule, 
 do not admit that the villagers have any rights in or 
 to the forests, and they act accordingly. It is very 
 doubtful to what extent owners of land in India can 
 enclose forest and waste land to the detriment of the 
 ancient tenantry. The Civil Courts, headed by the 
 High Court, had too great a tendency to decide 
 according to the ideas and principles of English law. 
 They were inclined to limit the acquisition of ease- 
 ments to the cases specified in the Limitation Act ; 
 but the Privy Council corrected them, and held (*) 
 that that Act did not restrict the acquisition of ease- 
 ments in any other manner. They have held that 
 
 (!) I. L. R., 6 Cal. 374, 812, et aliunde. 
 
AREA OF FOREST. 51 
 
 easements are far wider under Indian than under 
 English law, and include all those rights which are 
 known as " profits-d-prendre in alieno solo!' An ease- 
 ment may even be acquired to fish in another man's 
 water without payment of rent, or to irrigate from 
 another man's tank. The action of the Civil Courts 
 has re-acted on the magistracy, who have hitherto been 
 perhaps too lax in the protection of public rights. An 
 Easement Act has been passed, and it is to be hoped 
 that it will speedily be extended to all Presidencies, 
 and thereby save the Civil Courts from misapplying 
 English law and losing themselves in the labyrinths 
 of prolix and inapplicable works such as Goddard and 
 Gale. 
 
 At the end of the year 1883-84, the total area 
 directly or indirectly under the Forest Depart- 
 ment in Lower Bengal was 1 1,260 square miles, as 
 follows : 
 
 Preserved forests . . 4,638 sq. miles. 
 Protected . . . . 2,300 
 District or unreserved . 4,325 
 The reserved forests in the Sunderbans alone cover 
 an area of 1,581 square miles. During the same year 
 the total number of prosecutions for breaches of the 
 Forest Act and Rules under the Penal Code was 
 413 ( 1 ). Artificial reproduction was carried on to a 
 
 ( J ) Besides the above, 1,816 cases were compounded under 
 s. 67 of the Forest Act. In 1882-83 there were only seventy- 
 three prosecutions. The increase is simply due to the entertain- 
 
 E 2 
 
52 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 considerable extent by regular planting of open areas 
 and filling up of blanks in existing forests. The trees 
 planted are mainly oak, toon, teak, and sal. 
 
 British India (exclusive of the Native States) has 
 an area of one million square miles. The reserved 
 and protected forests represent /| per cent, of this 
 area, or about 75,000 square miles. The forest area 
 in Scotland is only 3^ per cent, on the total area of 
 the country, or 750,000 acres in all. The above figures 
 will probably startle English readers. It will at least 
 give them an idea of the work of the Forest Depart- 
 ment, and it may even be inferred by some that forest 
 conservancy in India has gone too far. But it must 
 be remembered that in India less coal is available ; 
 and, in the construction of houses, wood is to a great 
 extent used where bricks would be used in England. 
 If the area of conservancy is appalling, so also are the 
 following figures appalling. There are nearly forty 
 million houses in India, and Sir Richard Temple 
 estimates the number of ploughs ( T ) all made of wood 
 at fifteen millions. Then there are the carts (*) and 
 the boats and wood for fuel ; so that, if forest con- 
 servancy were not carried on on a gigantic scale, the 
 consequences to the country would be disastrous. 
 The reserved areas are absolutely protected from 
 
 ment of regular establishments in the forests. Considering the 
 vast areas of the forests, the number of prosecutions is very 
 small. 
 
 ( ! ) See note, p. 49, supra. 
 
FOREST AND CIVIL OFFICERS. 53 
 
 cutting, jhooming (*), accidental and intentional fires, 
 and cattle grazing. Besides the 75,000 square miles 
 of Government forests (in portions of which, however, 
 the people have some rights), there are extensive 
 areas of forest, the property of private zemindars, and 
 areas marked off for the use of the villagers under 
 land revenue settlements. On the subject of con- 
 servancy, Sir Richard Temple has said : " Questions 
 arise regarding the restriction of the rights of the 
 people, and there is, to some extent, a slight contest 
 always going on between the forest officers and the 
 ordinary civil officers of the Government. The forest 
 officers, of course, are zealous for preserving the forests, 
 and the civil officers naturally protect the rights of 
 the people. The object is to maintain a judicious 
 compromise. The people who sparsely inhabit the 
 forests have been accustomed to cut, burn, and destroy 
 somewhat recklessly, and they cannot speedily be 
 reclaimed from these evil habits." It is to be hoped 
 that, to adopt a phrase used by a celebrated comedian, 
 there will be "not too much conservation, but just 
 conservation enough." Perhaps this phrase happily 
 
 (*) The essential features of this nomadic cultivation are the 
 burning down of a patch of forest, and sowing the crop with 
 little or no tillage on the clearing thus formed. The following 
 year another patch is burnt down, and so on. This destructive 
 cultivation is called fam on the North-East frontier and in parts 
 of Bengal, dahya in Central India, kit in the Himalayas, and 
 kumari in the Western Ghats. Tacitus says of the Germans : 
 " Arva per annos mutant, et superest ager." 
 
54 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 describes the existing state of forest administration 
 in India. If the control exercised by civil officers 
 were removed or relaxed, there might be a little more 
 than enough. 
 
 It may prove of interest to notice the state of forest 
 preservation and administration in European countries, 
 and to draw such comparative inferences as may ap- 
 pear just, having regard to the differing conditions of 
 a country like India. The following table shows the 
 proportion of forest and woodland to total area : 
 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 Russia 
 
 42-38 
 
 France 
 
 1579 
 
 Sweden 
 
 40-43 
 
 Belgium 
 
 14-82 
 
 Austria 
 
 31-39 
 
 Italy 
 
 12-34 
 
 Prussia 
 
 23-35 
 
 Holland 
 
 6-27 
 
 Norway 
 
 22-30 
 
 Denmark 
 
 4-25 
 
 Switzerland 
 
 18-64 
 
 Great Britain. 
 
 3-29 
 
 The proportion in Bombay is about the same as in 
 Belgium. Indian forest officers may infer from the 
 above figures that the proportional area of forest in 
 India is not so large as, or at any rate not larger 
 than, it ought to be. But facts such as the following 
 must not be lost sight of: 
 
 (i.) The density of the population in India to the 
 square mile ( 1 ). 
 
 (2.) In those countries, where the areas of forest 
 are largest, abundant supplies of wood are 
 
 (*) See Chap. VI., on Census. 
 
COMPARISON WITH EUROPE. 55 
 
 required to ward off the intense cold. In 
 Germany the winters are long and severe, and 
 the necessity for abundunt supplies of fuel, 
 combined with the absence of coal, and a pas- 
 sion for the chase, has led to the preservation 
 of forests, and to the establishment of an 
 admirable system of forest cultivation, almost 
 as carefully conducted as field tillage. It has 
 been estimated that in Russia seven million 
 roubles' worth of wood are required every year 
 for railways. The requirements for fuel may 
 be more easily imagined than estimated. 
 (3.) Indian coal has a great future before it, and it is 
 only on the lines in the vicinity of Bombay 
 and Madras that it cannot compete with the 
 English product. A reduction in the cost of 
 carriage will enable it to do so. The average 
 prices of English coal at Bombay, Madras, and 
 Karachi, are respectively Rs. 15, Rs. 17, per 
 ton, while the values of the country coal at the 
 pits are, Bengal Rs. 3 : 8, Warora Rs. 5, Moh- 
 pani Rs. 9, Rewah-Amaria Rs. 5, Singareni 
 Rs. 5. The quantity of English coal consumed 
 on railways in 1881-82, was 1/5,951 tons, and 
 English patent fuel 9,360 tons, while of Indian 
 coal 383,709 tons were consumed. In 1881 
 the output from the 66 mines in Bengal was 
 930,203 tons against 988,565 tons in 1880. In 
 Assam there is said to exist a procurable 
 
56 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 quantity of coal not less than 40 millions of 
 tons. 
 
 (4.) France has its Code Forestier, and both in 
 France and Germany forest science and litera- 
 ture are far advanced ; but it may be doubted 
 whether the principles of sylviculture adopted 
 by Hartig, Cotta, and others, are entirely 
 applicable to drier climates. Spain has made 
 no provision whatever for the protection of 
 woods, while Italy has allowed its forest area 
 (apparently with deliberate intention) to de- 
 crease from 17-63 to 12-34 per cent. Pasture 
 has been found more profitable on the arid 
 slopes of the Apennines. 
 (5.) The forest area in European countries includes 
 
 all private forests. 
 
 In the greater part of the forest in Norway and 
 Sweden, the people have long-established rights of 
 grazing, timber, and firewood ; and even in tracts 
 in which landowners or the State have a part owner- 
 ship, the rights of the people (where they have any) 
 take precedence of all other claims. In Sweden 
 seventy-six million acres of forest are private pro- 
 perty, and twelve millions public. Of the public 
 forests, only four million acres are under direct State 
 management, the profits being .2 1,020. The State 
 forests in Prussia cover about 6,200,000 acres. The 
 total income for 1871 was .2,000,000, or about six 
 shillings an acre, about half of which went to working 
 
FOREST REVENUE. 57 
 
 expenses, the cost of forest academies, commutation of 
 servitudes, and road taxes. In France the forests are 
 divided into : 
 
 State forests . . . 900,000 hectares (*) 
 Communal forests . . 2,000,000 
 Private . . 6,000,000 
 
 The revenue for 1877 was 38,500,000 francs, and 
 the expenses 13,000,000 francs. No less than 2\ 
 million francs were spent on roads through the forests. 
 In Bengal the net receipts from forests in 1883-84 
 amounted to 3 1,177. About 1,000 was spent 
 on roads. Larger sums are required for making 
 and improving roads through the forests, and for 
 the blasting of rocks in rivers, which, both on the 
 plains and in the Himalayas, are much used for 
 floating logs. 
 
 (6.) Forest preservation increases the number of 
 wild animals, which cause damage to human 
 life, cattle and crops. Two years moderate 
 supervision of the Khorda forests and jungles 
 brought about an enormous increase in the 
 number of wild pigs, which are very destruc- 
 tive to the paddy-crop. Increase of pigs, &c., 
 tends to increase the number of tigers, leo- 
 pards, &c. 
 
 It has been mentioned that private zemindars are 
 beginning to conserve large areas of forest and small 
 
 * A hectare = i acres. 
 
58 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 jungle, and this fact raises questions that will soon 
 force themselves on the attention of the Bengal 
 Government. The Government does not claim any 
 power of regulation in private forests, though in doing 
 so it would only be acting in accordance with the 
 principles adopted in some European countries ( l ). 
 But no time should be lost in carefully ascertaining 
 and recording the customary rights possessed by the 
 villagers in these forests. This may be done under 
 Chapters X. and XL of the New Bengal Tenancy 
 Act. 
 
 Irreparable injury may be inflicted on the agricul- 
 tural community by the limitation of the area now 
 available for grazing. Action should be taken in 
 time to prevent such enclosures of common lands as 
 have taken place in England. 
 
 In India the common law is in favour of the rights 
 of the villagers. In England ( 2 ) the common law 
 was originally against them, and yet the enclosure of 
 commons has at length been successfully resisted, 
 
 (!) Frequent inundations in France were caused by the de- 
 foresting of the sources of the Rhone and Saone. The laws 
 passed for the " reboisement " of the slopes of the mountains 
 take effect on private as well as State property. 
 
 ( 2 ) The king had a common law right to convert any portion 
 of the country into a forest, in which he might enjoy the 
 pleasures of the chase. The first limit on this right was the 
 Charta de Foresta (9 Henry III.), and from that time the pre- 
 rogative of the sovereign gradually declined. 
 
ENCLOSURES. 59 
 
 and arbitrary encroachments have been put a stop 
 to ( 1 ). Indian agricultural communities enjoy nume- 
 
 ( x ) The feudal lords claimed to enclose the common lands, 
 which they termed the waste of their manors. This claim was 
 resisted by the freehold tenants of the manor, who had rights 
 of pasture. It was ultimately decided under the Statute of 
 Merton (20 Hen. III. 1235), that the lords of the manors should 
 have this right of enclosure, provided there was left sufficient 
 pasture for the tenants, with free access thereto. It was not till 
 the fifteenth century that enclosures began to cause general 
 discontent. From that time fresh enclosures began to press 
 most severely upon the smaller yeomen copyholders, and were 
 the principal cause of their extinction. Their holdings were 
 for the most part of such a size that the appurtenant right of 
 turning out cattle on the waste was an almost necessary con- 
 dition of their existence. It is an interesting fact that where 
 this class still exists in Cumberland and Westmoreland, and on 
 the borders of the New Forest, the open commons, and forest 
 also, still exist. It has been ascertained that, between 1700 
 and 1845, 7,175,000 acres were enclosed under about 4,000 
 separate enclosure acts or awards. The Enclosure Act of 
 1845 directed local inquiry, through Enclosure Commissioners, 
 as to the expediency of enclosure ; but, nevertheless, commons 
 continued to be enclosed, which were in no way suitable for 
 cultivation. Between 1865 and 1870 there arose two distinct 
 movements with reference to commons : i. Opposition to their 
 enclosure when within reach of large towns ; 2. In the interests 
 of the agricultural labourer. The lords of manors commenced 
 to make wholesale enclosures, and the result was a course of 
 litigation without parallel for its duration, importance, and 
 historical interest. A general amending Act of 1876 lays 
 down the principle that no enclosure shall be sanctioned without 
 distinct evidence that it will be beneficial to the general 
 interests of the neighbourhood, as well as to the private 
 interests of the persons immediately concerned as lord of the 
 
60 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 rous easements and profits-a-prendre,but the ignorance 
 and poverty of the cultivators tend to their being 
 overlooked and obliterated, a tendency which might 
 be checked and counteracted if the courts (magisterial 
 and civil) had a thorough acquaintance with general 
 jurisprudence and Roman law. The civil courts are 
 the chief sinners in this respect, but magistrates also 
 are by no means free from blame. Common rural 
 servitudes in Roman law were rights of way, rights to 
 take water, to convey water, to water cattle, to pasture 
 cattle, to dig and burn lime, to dig sand, to cut wood. 
 I could enumerate many appurtenant easements (prse- 
 dial servitudes of Roman law), customary easements, 
 and profits-a-prendre ( x ) ; but it will be sufficient to 
 mention a few, such as the right of Sontals to hunt 
 and kill certain animals, the right of potters to take 
 clay, of blacksmiths to take wood for mending the 
 village ploughs, of Bowree women and others to collect 
 sal leaves for use as plates and dishes, of Mochees to 
 take the hides of dead cattle thrown out on the village 
 
 manor and commoners. Mr. Shaw Lefevre thinks it is necessary 
 to prohibit enclosure altogether, except with the sanction of 
 Parliament, as landlords can now take the initiative and en- 
 close, trusting to the unwillingness of commoners to encounter 
 the litigation, which is necessary to defeat such action. See 
 "English and Irish Land Questions," pp. 187 230. 
 
 ( x ) "An easement is a right to do something on, in, or in 
 respect of the servient land, or to prevent the owner of the land 
 doing something on, in, or in respect of his own land. Kprofit- 
 a-prendre is the right to take something irom the servient land." 
 Markby, " Elements of Law," p. 208. 
 
CUSTOM A R Y RIGHTS. 61 
 
 " bhagars," the right to take head-loads of firewood, 
 to take brushwood for fences, to graze cattle, to 
 irrigate from streams and tanks, besides such 
 customary easements as the right to erect booths at 
 fairs, to bathe in tanks, to congregate or worship in 
 certain spots at certain times, to go in procession by 
 certain routes, &c. Of course such rights must be 
 subject to some reasonable limitation, and it is for 
 the Government to inquire (through its revenue and 
 settlement officers) whether such customary rights do 
 or do not exist, and to what extent, and subject to 
 what limits, and then to incorporate all particulars in 
 records of rights to be prepared under s. 101 of the 
 new Tenancy Act (VIII. of 1885). 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES OF COLLECTORS: ALLU- 
 VION, DILUVION, AND ISLANDS. 
 
 Collection of Statistics Weekly Crop Report Rainfall Prices 
 Registration of Trade Tea Indigo Silk Jute In- 
 creased Prosperity of the People Cold-weather Tours- 
 Inspections Alluvion and Diluvion Vagaries of Rivers 
 of Bengal Litigation Deara Lands Boundary Disputes 
 Difficulty of determining Possession Churs or Islands 
 Rights of Government and Riparian Proprietors Assess- 
 ment of Alluvial Accretions. 
 
 ONE of the most difficult duties of the District Officer 
 in a permanently-settled Province is the collection of 
 reliable statistics concerning the material progress of 
 the people, sufficiency of food supply, quantity of land 
 under different crops, expansion of cultivation, internal 
 and frontier trade, emigration and other movements 
 of the people, relation of landlord and tenant, and 
 other similar matters. The Collector has to make 
 himself informed and to report " de omnibus rebus et 
 quibusdam aliis" 
 
 " The crack Collector, man of equal might, 
 Reports all day, and corresponds all night." 
 
CROP REPORTS. 63 
 
 It is from such reports that the qualities of a good 
 officer become known. After all a good style can 
 only proceed from a thorough knowledge and grasp 
 of one's subject; and a hard-working Collector, who 
 has mixed with the people and kept his eyes and ears 
 open, has always something to say that is worth 
 hearing. Much of the amending and remedial legisla- 
 tion, that is passed from time to time, originates in a 
 careful report submitted by some able executive officer. 
 The Collector has to submit a weekly report con- 
 cerning the rainfall, weather, state of crops, and 
 prices. The accuracy of this report is of vital impor- 
 tance when famine or scarcity is apprehended. The 
 Collector then has to make careful inquiries as to the 
 areas on which crops are likely to fail partially or 
 altogether, as to stocks of food-grains, the state of the 
 market, fluctuations in price, and especially whether 
 work is available for the poorer classes. Under native 
 rule, when famine occurred, the people were left to 
 die like rotten sheep ; but under British rule, the 
 obligation of the State to prevent mortality to the 
 utmost of its power has been acknowledged. More- 
 over, owing to the absence of railways, it was not 
 possible for native rulers to effect much in the way of 
 transporting food supplies. The recurrence of famine 
 at periodical intervals augments the financial liabilities 
 of the Empire, and since the famine in Madras pro- 
 vision has been made by the Government of India for 
 the formation of a regular famine fund. 
 
64 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 Prices of course vary very much in different 
 districts. In the Burdwan Division (Western Bengal) 
 the average rainfall is 55 inches. In 1882-83 the 
 price of rice varied from twenty-one to thirty seers 
 per rupee (a seer is equal to two pounds), and the 
 price of wheat from thirteen to sixteen seers. The 
 wages of skilled labour (e.g., masons and carpenters) 
 vary from four to ten annas a day, and those of 
 unskilled labour from two annas (threepence) to five 
 annas. 
 
 There is a regular system for the registration of the 
 sea-borne, river-borne, and canal-borne trade ; and, 
 as far as means permit, the trade with frontier States 
 and the internal trade of districts is also registered. 
 The river-navigation on the large rivers, such as the 
 Ganges, Megna, and Brahmaputra, is enormous. 
 Communications by road, river, rail, and canal, have 
 been vastly improved and rendered secure under 
 British rule. Many millions sterling worth of 
 products, natural, agricultural, and artificial, change 
 hands every month. The marvellous progress and 
 expansion of trade is perhaps the most conclusive 
 proof of the prosperity of the country under British 
 rule. The exports from Bengal comprise cotton, jute, 
 rice, wheat, tea, indigo, oil-seeds, spices, lac dye, silk, 
 sugar, tobaco, hides and skins; the principal imports 
 are cotton manufactures, metals, alcoholic liquors 
 and wines, mineral oils, hardware, salt, coal, and 
 machinery. The foreign trade of India may be 
 
TEA AND INDIGO. 65 
 
 valued at about one hundred and ten million pounds 
 sterling yearly. Sixty per cent, of this trade is with 
 the United Kingdom, and 40 per cent, with foreign 
 countries. This fact shows the extent to which India 
 has direct relations with the rest of the world, and 
 the means she possesses of adjusting the balance of 
 her trade accounts. 
 
 During the year 1883 there were 297 tea-gardens 
 in Bengal, and the area under plant was 49,753 acres. 
 The total yield of tea exceeded 1 1,000,000 Ibs. ; but 
 the prices realised in the Calcutta market were low. 
 In 1 88 1 the area under tea in the whole of British 
 India was 221,671 acres, and the approximate yield, 
 
 In 1883-84 the exports of indigo amounted to 
 110,015 cwts., valued at 3,373,181. The indigo 
 industry has succumbed in Bengal, as the peasants 
 found it unremunerative to grow it But it still 
 flourishes in Behar, where the planters have been wise 
 enough to make timely concessions to the cultivators. 
 The value of food-crops, oil-seeds, and sugarcane has 
 of late years increased to such an extent that the 
 planters will have to make additional concessions. 
 They should bear in mind that the industry must 
 decline and fall, unless it can be made remunerative 
 to the peasant, who is the original producer. The 
 indigo of Behar is as yet unequalled in the markets 
 of the world, though its position is threatened by new 
 chemical dyes. Many officials have been censured 
 
 F 
 
66 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 from time to time on the ground of having taken up 
 an attitude alleged to be hostile to indigo-planting ; 
 but the matter is in no sense a personal one, and 
 there is, probably, no European official who is not 
 willing to say " Floruit, floret, floreat" provided he 
 sees that the cultivator grows indigo willingly, and 
 that it pays him to grow it as well as other crops. 
 The whole matter lies in a nut-shell. 
 
 The silk industry has somewhat declined ; but 
 there appears to be a prosperous future for the pro- 
 duction of the " Tusser," or wild silk, produced by 
 worms which feed, not on the cultivated mulberry, 
 but on the trees of the forests. 
 
 The jute crop in 1882-83 was a very abundant one, 
 the quantity of the raw fibre exported being 9,191, 884 
 cwts. The exports of rice, too, were very large, the 
 shipments to the United Kingdom showing the re- 
 markable advance of 55^ per cent, while those to 
 France rose from 48,055 to 533,998 cwts., owing, it is 
 supposed, to the grain having been largely used for 
 the manufacture of brandy. The number of raw 
 hides shipped during the year exceeded 5J millions, 
 and the number of raw skins 3j millions, besides 
 dressed hides and skins. The quantity of sugar 
 despatched from Calcutta, which was almost entirely 
 consigned to the United Kingdom, rose from 16,133 
 to 85,939 cwts., or by 433^ per cent. The import of 
 umbrellas during 1882-83 indicates the growing 
 prosperity of the middle classes. No fewer than 
 
COLD WEATHER TOURS. 67 
 
 1,590,347 were imported, at an average price of 12 \ 
 annas each. The increase in stamps, excise, and 
 other branches of the revenue, goes to show that the 
 people have more money to spend on luxuries. The 
 value of the entire Calcutta trade, during 1882-83, 
 was 764 crores ( x ) of rupees, of which 49^ crores 
 represented the value of imports, and 27 crores the 
 value of the exports. 
 
 Collectors are obliged to be on tour in the interior 
 of their districts for not less than 90 days, and Sub- 
 Divisional Officers for not less than 120 days, in the 
 year. Government regard these tours as of the 
 greatest importance, from an administrative point of 
 view, as they bring the hakims face to face with the 
 people ; and while they enable the latter to make 
 known their wants, the former can see things for 
 themselves, and can judge what requirements are 
 most urgently needed. The Collector acquires an 
 intimate knowledge of the district and the people, and 
 this serves him in good stead in the ordinary routine 
 of his Cutcherry work. Moreover, searching local 
 inspections are as oil to the machinery of the various 
 departments of the administration, and they tend to 
 instil a wholesome awe in the minds of subordinate 
 officers. The Collector on tour may have to turn his 
 attention to a hundred different things in the course 
 of a single day : the Protean variety of his duties is 
 
 (*) A crore ,100,000. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 such as to excite astonishment. He inspects schools, 
 dispensaries, police-stations, pounds, registry offices ; 
 he observes the condition of the crops, the state of 
 embankments, the progress of irrigation, inquires into 
 the state of public feeling on various subjects, the 
 relations of landlord and tenant, and other matters 
 connected with land revenue and rent administration. 
 He, perhaps, has to overhaul a settlement made by a 
 subordinate officer, and to satisfy himself that the 
 rates imposed are fair and just. He inspects the 
 papers and records of managers' offices in Govern- 
 ment and Court of Wards' estates ; he notes the 
 course and direction of trade, any unusual emigration, 
 immigration, or other internal movements of the 
 people. He pays and receives visits from influential 
 zemindars ; and, perhaps, settles amicably some dis- 
 pute between a landlord and his tenantry. He 
 inquires into the working of the regular and village 
 police, satisfies himself that bad characters and 
 convicted offenders are properly looked after; inspects 
 liquor, opium, and ganja shops ; see sthat roads have 
 been properly repaired; inquires if any well-to-do 
 traders have escaped the license tax. Then he 
 looks after vital and mortuary statistics, vaccination, 
 the sanitation of villages, the state of roads and com- 
 munications, drainage, and other matters almost too 
 numerous to mention. Collectors always have several 
 subordinate Deputy Magistrates and Collectors ; and, 
 perhaps, also, a Joint or an Assistant Magistrate. 
 
RIVERAIN LA W. 69 
 
 Thus the work at headquarters is carried on in their 
 absence. But Sub-Divisional Officers are generally 
 in sole charge of their sub-divisions, and some incon- 
 venience is caused to the public by their long absence 
 in camp. The treasury remains closed, perhaps 
 stamps cannot be procured, and parties in criminal 
 cases may be kept waiting. Again, the Sub- Divisional 
 Officer is often the Sub-Registrar. He has to dispose 
 of all the criminal cases in his sub-division ; and, 
 having regard to all these facts, it would, perhaps, 
 be advisable to limit his tour to 90 days in a year, 
 with the proviso that he should not be continuously 
 absent for more than ten days at a time. No doubt 
 the cold weather tour is of great value, but it may 
 be overdone, especially as the Sub-Divisional 
 Officer has very little control over the expenditure 
 of money. 
 
 This chapter may not unfittingly be concluded 
 with some account of the work thrown on Collectors 
 and their subordinate staff by the enormous rivers of 
 Bengal, as it is during his cold weather tour that the 
 Collector has to attend to such work. 
 
 " In consequence of the frequent changes which 
 take place in the channel of the principal rivers that 
 intersect the provinces subject to the Presidency of 
 Fort William, and the shifting of the sands which lie 
 in the beds those rivers, churs or small islands are 
 often thrown up by alluvion in the midst of the 
 stream, or near one of the banks, and large portions 
 
70 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 of land are carried away by an encroachment of the 
 river on one side, whilst accessions of land are at the 
 same time, or in subsequent years, gained by 
 
 dereliction of water on the opposite side 
 
 The lands gained from the rivers or sea by the 
 means above mentioned are a frequent source of 
 contention and affray/' Preamble to Regulation XI. 
 of 1825. 
 
 The vagaries of the enormous rivers of Bengal con- 
 stitute a most fruitful source of litigation both civil 
 and criminal. A custom sometimes exists that the 
 main channel of a river shall always remain the 
 boundary between two zemindars ; and, where such a 
 custom exists, one or other of the riparian proprietors 
 may be pauperised in a single year. But such a 
 custom savours too much of risk and gambling in land 
 to be generally prevalent. 
 
 The rule generally followed is that when a river, 
 by a sudden change of its course, breaks through 
 and intersects an estate, without any gradual 
 encroachment (incrementum patens), or separates a 
 considerable piece of land from one estate, and 
 joins it to another estate, without destroying the 
 identity and preventing the recognition of the 
 land so removed, in such cases the land, on being 
 clearly recognized, is to remain the property of its 
 original owner. But in cases of gradual accession 
 by alluvion (the incrementum latens of the civil law), 
 the land is considered to be an increment to the 
 
ALLUVIAL ACCRETIONS. 71 
 
 tenure of the person to whose land or estate it is 
 annexed. 
 
 There is another main principle recognized in 
 several leading cases that lands washed away and 
 afterwards reforming on an old site, which can be 
 clearly recognized, are not to become the property of 
 the adjoining owner, but remain the property of the 
 original owner. Their Lordships of the Privy Council 
 remarked : " The site is the property, and the law 
 knows no difference between a site covered by water, 
 and a site covered by crops, provided the ownership 
 of the site be ascertained/' It may be easily 
 imagined that conflicting interests may give rise to 
 very diverse opinions as to whether a piece of new 
 land is or is not identifiable as land formerly in 
 existence. Of course if ownership remains in a sub- 
 merged site, it is difficult to see why a deposit of 
 alluvion directly upon it is not at least as much an 
 accretion and annexation vertically to the site as it 
 would be an accretion and annexation longitudinally 
 to the river frontage of the adjoining property. But 
 the question of fact in each case must necessarily be 
 extremely difficult to ascertain ; and such uncertainty 
 is not conducive to peace, order, and the speedy 
 settlement of opposing claims. 
 
 Deara is the term applied to the comparatively new 
 lands, which are covered by the river-water during 
 the rainy season. When the the river subsides, rival 
 claimants to the land rush to cultivate it, and perhaps 
 
72 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 the dispute may at this stage come before the magis- 
 trate in the shape of a case of assault, wrongful 
 restraint, or riot. But generally nothing is heard of 
 it until one of the rival claimants cuts and carries 
 away the crop ; for it often happens that both parties 
 have sown the crop. On deara lands there is no 
 ploughing, the seed being simply scattered broad- 
 cast. B. may go and scatter seed one day without 
 really knowing that A. has scattered seed the day 
 before. If the dispute is likely to cause a breach of 
 the peace, the magistrate holds a summary inquiry to 
 ascertain the fact of actual possession, and passes an 
 order accordingly, leaving the party, whom he declares 
 to be out of possession, to establish his claim by a 
 regular suit in the Civil Court. The most bitter and 
 keenly-contested disputes are those between neigh- 
 bouring riparian proprietors on the same bank. 
 There is no dispute as to the boundary between their 
 respective villages, quoad the kardri land (i.e., the 
 higher, fixed, and well-established land, not subject 
 to more than very temporary inundation); and one 
 would suppose that there ought to be no dispute as 
 to the boundaries between the new alluvial land 
 forming below. Neither would there be, if a com- 
 petent surveyor were at once available to lay down the 
 boundary by starting his survey from some well- 
 known admitted trijunction pillar. But the Bengalee 
 is very fond of litigation, though one or two high 
 judicial officers have affirmed the contrary. He likes 
 
RIVAL CLAIMS. 73 
 
 to have a case in the courts, and for a family to have 
 a good big mocudduma (case) on is looked upon as a 
 sign of respectability. There is scarcely a man of the 
 higher and middle classes that could not produce one 
 or more feisalas (decrees or orders of a Court) given 
 in cases in which he or his ancestors have figured. 
 What is the percentage of men in England who have 
 ever had a case in any Court ? 
 
 To return to the subject of alluvion, a new bit of 
 land half-a-mile or more in width appears at the 
 end of the rains after the floods have gone down. 
 Owing to the fertilizing nature of the deposit, splendid 
 crops can be grown with a minimum of trouble. 
 The owners of two adjacent villages on the bank, who 
 have perhaps had litigation in other matters, or 
 are hostile to one another for some other reason, 
 determine to appropriate as much of the new alluvial 
 land as they can; and they accordingly send their 
 ryots and labourers to cultivate it. The magistrate 
 gets the benefit of this in the shape of two unwieldly 
 counter-cases of riot, with perhaps a score of defen- 
 dants on either side. 
 
 The Collector, as Settlement Officer, or as manager 
 of Government estate, has sometimes to lay down 
 the boundary between two contiguous villages. In 
 January, 1884, I was directed to ascertain and fix 
 the boundary between a Government estate and a 
 neighbouring zemindari. I had to proceed on the 
 basis of actual possession, and found that various 
 
74 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 plots of land had on the one hand been settled by 
 the zemindar's amla (clerks) with his own ryots, and 
 on the other by the kanungo (a revenue officer under 
 the Collector) with ryots of the Government estate. 
 Both sets of cultivators had sown crops of mustard ; 
 both had cut jungle on the land, and the question was, 
 who was in actual possession. A large portion of the 
 land was uncultivable sand, over which no acts of 
 ownership or possession could have been exercised. 
 Of course a variety of matters had to be considered 
 besides the actual sowing of the particular mustard 
 crop, for it had probably been sown by both parties. 
 To show the keenness with which the rival claims are 
 contested, I may mention one bit of evidence that I 
 had no hesitation in rejecting on the principle that no 
 man may advantage by his own wrong. The zemin- 
 dar's ryots had sown some indigo with the mustard, 
 and it was urged by the zemindar's pleaders that the 
 point up to which indigo had been sown should be 
 taken as the boundary line of de facto possession, as 
 no indigo was ever sown in the Government estate. 
 One of the zemindar's amla had on the spot demar- 
 cated a line from the high land to the river up to 
 which he claimed, and on careful examination I found 
 shoots of indigo some three hundred yards beyond 
 this line, that is, beyond the very utmost boundaiy 
 claimed ! This is an instance of how evidence is 
 made and prepared for litigation both in esse and 
 in future. The zemindar's ryots must have scattered 
 
FABRICATION OF EVIDENCE. 75 
 
 the indigo-seed at night-time, for the Government 
 ryots would never have permitted them to sow indigo 
 on lands admittedly and undoubtedly within the 
 ambit of the Government estate. In another similar 
 case I remember some evidence having been prepared 
 with extreme cunning. The Bengali dearly loves a 
 bit of documentary evidence, and people, not accus- 
 tomed to Oriental cunning and chicanery, would 
 scarcely credit the extent to which resort is had to 
 collusive litigation and the cold-blooded method with 
 which documentary evidence is prepared and collected 
 for some forthcoming case. The point in issue in 
 the case I speak of was the cultivation of certain plots 
 of land near the boundary of two adjacent villages. 
 The dispute was one of old-standing, and, with regard 
 to two of the plots, one party put forward as claimant 
 a wretched man-of-straw, who, on a local investiga- 
 tion, I ascertained had no land whatever. But this 
 was the very reason he had been selected as a 
 claimant namely, that he had no land anywhere else 
 in the village. Now this fellow produced a pound 
 receipt showing that some three months previously 
 he had impounded cattle for trespassing on these 
 very plots of land the fact that he had no land any- 
 where else proved, or was intended to prove, that this 
 was the very land damaged by the cattle ! A 
 beautiful bit of evidence, truly, but so beautiful, so 
 conclusive and symmetrical, that I could not help 
 feeling suspicious. It came out on close investigation 
 
76 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 that the man had never cultivated any land in his 
 life. There had been no cattle-trespass, and the 
 impounding and release of the cattle had been gone 
 through simply to make documentary evidence for 
 the forthcoming litigation ! Ex lino disce omnes. 
 
 Churs, or islands, are sometimes thrown up in rivers. 
 Such islands are at the disposal of Government, if 
 they are thrown up in large navigable rivers (the beds 
 of which are not the property of individuals), or in the 
 sea, and the channel of the river or sea between such 
 island and the shore is not fordable. After the rains 
 it is the duty of the Collector to ascertain if any new 
 islands have been thrown up. If he finds any, it is 
 his duty to take immediate possession of the same 
 on behalf of Government, and to assess and settle the 
 land according to law. Any party aggrieved by the 
 act of the Collector may contest the same by a regular 
 suit in the Civil Court. (Act IV. B. C. of 1868). 
 
 The Collector has to exercise considerable care in 
 deciding whether to take possession of any particular 
 island ; for, on the principle which has been alluded 
 to above, it has been ruled that the Government is 
 not entitled to take possession of land, which has 
 re-formed on an old site of land belonging to another, 
 although the re-formation forms an island, and is 
 surrounded by a channel which is not fordable. As 
 in England, so in India, there is a considerable 
 undergrowth of case-law, which has to be taken into 
 consideration. The task of executive officers in 
 
ISLANDS. 77 
 
 India is more difficult, as the case-law frequently 
 diverges from, and, in a few instances, has absolutely 
 over-ridden, the plain words of the statute-law. It is 
 often a difficult matter for the Collector to decide 
 whether the channel between the island and the main- 
 land is really fordable or not for on this depends the 
 right of Government. There are many rulings giving 
 interpretations of the word " fordable." For instance, 
 it has been held that a riparian proprietor has no 
 right to the island, when the channel which intervenes 
 between his land and the island is, under ordinary 
 circumstances, and at the most favourable seasons, 
 unfordable for sixteen out of twenty-four hours. 
 
 Lands added by alluvial accession to an estate 
 paying revenue to Government become liable to 
 assessment ; and, on the other hand, zemindars are 
 entitled to a proportionate remission for any lands 
 washed away. It is the duty of the Collector to 
 assess or remit such revenue, subject to the control of 
 the Board of Revenue. It often happens that zemin- 
 dars go on steadily paying revenue, year after year, 
 for lands washed away, and refuse to take any remis- 
 sion. Their object in so acting is to be in a better 
 position to claim the lands, should they re-form on 
 the original site. 
 
 The cultivation of churs and deara lands (known as 
 pal or pywustee in Orissa and parts of Western Bengal) 
 forms one of the peculiar features of Bengal life. 
 These lands are only in existence from the end of one 
 
78 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 rains to the beginning of the next, that is, roughly 
 speaking, from about November to the end of June. 
 From July to October they are under water. The deara 
 lands of the Ganges are so extensive that every year 
 temporary villages are built on them for the purposes 
 of cultivation. The habitations are, for the most part, 
 wattle-and-dab huts, or made of reeds and thatching 
 grasses of sorts. All sorts of crops are grown on 
 deara lands, according to the number of years they 
 have been in existence, for each year's river-deposit 
 renders the land richer and more fertile. In an hour's 
 ride through a deara one may see crops of pulses and 
 millets, wheat, barley, pease, linseed, castor-oil, to- 
 bacco, turmeric, onions, brinjals, chillies, &c. 
 
 Of a truth the large rivers of Bengal may be said 
 to be an important factor in the administration. Their 
 action is generally beneficial, but sometimes harmful ; 
 and, in either case, much work is thrown on the Dis- 
 trict Officers in the shape of the establishment and 
 management of ferries, settlements, drainage, embank- 
 ments, and irrigation. In seasons of exceptional rain- 
 fall, the embankments are sometimes breached by 
 floods, which cause considerable temporary and local 
 distress. But such floods are believed to improve the 
 drainage, and the soil is much fertilized by the rich 
 alluvial deposit spread over the lands. 
 
CHAPTER V.O 
 
 THE EXCISE REVENUE AND OPIUM. 
 
 Elasticity and expansion of Excise Revenue Excisable Articles 
 Country Spirit Sudder Distillery and Outstill Systems 
 Superiority of Latter Number of Shops in Proportion to 
 Area and Population Striking Contrast with England- 
 Settlement of all Shops for One Year only Increase of 
 Drinking not entirely attributable to Outstill System 
 Excise Commission Its Conclusions and Suggestions 
 Consumption of Country Spirit confined generally to Lower 
 Castes Number of Drinkers Tart Pachwai Policy of 
 encouraging Consumption of Fermented Liquors Ganja 
 Its deleterious Effects Opium Its Cultivation Retail 
 Vend Its Efficacy in certain Ailments Impolicy of 
 excessive Enhancement of Price Consumption of Liquor 
 versus Drugs Normal Dose of Opium Imperial Opium 
 Revenue Effect of Abandonment of Monopoly Extent of 
 Drinking and Drunkenness in India Comparison with 
 England Comparative Incidence of Revenue Drunken- 
 ness a Savage Vice Drinking in Ancient India. 
 
 THE Indian revenues have frequently been called in- 
 elastic, but the experience of the last few years indicates 
 that such an epithet is not altogether deserved. The 
 excise revenue, in particular, has exhibited a remark- 
 
 C 1 ) The substance of this chapter appeared in " The Dublin 
 Review" for July, 1885. 
 
80 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 able elasticity, and is still capable of indefinite ex- 
 pansion. The net excise revenue for the whole of 
 India exceeds three and a-half millions sterling; in the 
 Province of Bengal alone the revenue has risen from 
 694,457 in 1879-80 to ; i, 000,000 in 1883-84. In 
 another decade it will probably rank in importance 
 with the revenues from salt and opium that is to 
 say, it will not be less than six millions sterling. 
 Some account of this revenue, of the excise system 
 and administration, and of the various excisable articles 
 in the Province of Bengal, may not prove uninteresting 
 for English readers. 
 
 Excisable articles include spirituous and fermented 
 liquors and intoxicating drugs. Spirituous liquor in- 
 cludes what is imported into India as well as what is 
 manufactured in India by any native process of dis- 
 tillation. Fermented liquor includes malt liquor of 
 all kinds, the sap or juice of any kind of palm-tree, 
 and pachwai, which is a sort of rice-beer. Intoxi- 
 cating drugs include opium, ganja, bhang, and all 
 preparations and admixtures of the same. The word 
 " excise " in England is not confined to the duty on 
 intoxicating liquors, but includes a number of other 
 miscellaneous items, such as the duty on chicory and 
 coffee labels, railway passengers, auctioneers, appraisers, 
 game-dealers, hawkers, house-agents, makers and re- 
 tailers of methylated spirit, patent medicine vendors, 
 pawnbrokers, plate dealers, cards, manufacturers and 
 dealers in tobacco, makers of vinegar, dogs, armorial 
 
CO UNTR Y SPIRIT. 8 1 
 
 bearings, male servants, carriages, game, gamekeepers, 
 and guns. No such duties are levied in India, but 
 licenses are required for the possession and use of 
 guns. 
 
 The most important branch of excise is what is 
 called country spirit, or spirit distilled according to 
 the native process. The revenue derived from country 
 spirit in 1883-84 was 522,273. In some localities it 
 is distilled from rice only, in others from sugarcane 
 molasses only, or sometimes from an admixture of 
 both. In Behar, Chota Napore, and parts of Bengal, 
 it is made from the fruit of the ma/ma or mokwa 
 tree (Bassia latifolid], and in some parts of India it 
 is distilled from palm-juice. There are two systems 
 for levying the revenue from country spirits, one 
 being called the sudder distillery, and the other 
 the outstill system. Under the former, all liquor 
 is manufactured in a Government distillery under 
 Government supervision, and duty is levied on the 
 spirit, according to its strength, as it is passed out 
 from the distillery to the various places for retail 
 vend. Under the outstill system, the right to manu- 
 facture and vend within a certain area is put up to 
 auction every year. The outstill-holder pays his 
 monthly fee and may distil as much liquor as he 
 pleases between sunrise and sunset. Under this 
 system liquor can of course be sold more cheaply. 
 No duty is levied, there are no underpaid Govern- 
 ment officials to fee, and the expense of carting the 
 
 G 
 
82 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 liquor long distances from the sudder distilleries to 
 the retail shops is saved. 
 
 It is now almost universally admitted that the out- 
 still sytem is the better. Any evils that may have 
 arisen have been due to its abuse or faulty adminis- 
 tration, and not to the system itself. The object is to 
 establish only just so many outstills as are sufficient 
 to supply the bond fide requirements of consumers. 
 In some districts this number had perhaps been ex- 
 ceeded, but year by year faults are being eliminated, 
 and the system is now almost as perfect as it can be. 
 There were 6,284 shops in 1880-81, 5,780 in 1881 
 -82, and only 4,560 in 1882-83. The Board of 
 Revenue have laid it down as a general rule that 
 there should be only one outstill-shop for an area of 
 twenty square miles and a population of 10,000. 
 This number is of course exceeded in municipal and 
 very populous tracts, but English readers will pro- 
 bably be surprised to hear how few shops there are 
 even in large towns. The town of Bhagulpore in Behar 
 has a population of 6o,ooq, and yet it contains no more 
 than seven outstill-shops. In the town of Burdwan 
 six shops serve a population of 35,000. In Manches- 
 ter, seven or eight years ago, the number of public- 
 houses was 483, or one for every 743 of the population, 
 while the number of beer, wine, &c., houses was 1,939, 
 so that the number of places for the sale of intoxica- 
 ting liquor was one for ever}' 148 of the population ! 
 Over the whole of England the number of public- 
 
"NORMAL NUMBER" PRINCIPLE. 83 
 
 houses varies from 55 to 69 to every 10,000 of the 
 population ; in Bengal the number does not exceed 
 four. 
 
 It has been proposed to establish the principle of 
 the " normal number " in England, but the necessity 
 for remedial legislation is generally admitted for 
 about half a century before the law is actually altered ; 
 in India, on the other hand, where flaws and abuses 
 are detected, the machinery of the administration is 
 such that they can be remedied without delay. The 
 bills of 1876 proposed that no new licenses should be 
 granted till the number of shops had been reduced to 
 I in 500 of the population in towns, and I in 300 in 
 country districts. The existing proportion in the 
 towns of England and Wales is I to 173. Mr. 
 Cowen's Bill of 1877 and Lord Colin Campbell's Bill 
 of 1882 proposed to establish in each locality a sepa- 
 rate licensing board to be elected annually by the rate- 
 payers. Sir Wilfred Lawson's Permissive Bill proposes 
 that two-thirds of the ratepayers may decide that no 
 licenses at all shall be given, a vote to be taken on 
 the subject every three years. Mr. Chamberlain has 
 proposed a modification of the " Gothenberg system," 
 under which the local authorities (subject to confirma- 
 tion by the provincial Governor) fix annually the 
 number of licenses, and sell them for three years on 
 certain conditions to a company or " bolag." There 
 is no dearth of proposals, but nothing is done. In 
 Bengal the Collector fixes annually the number of 
 
 G 2 
 
84 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 shops, and there is no such thing as vested interests 
 in shops or sites. They are settled for one year only, 
 and on the expiry of that period the rights of lessees 
 come to an end. The Collector may reduce or increase 
 the number of shops, subject to the general orders 
 of the Board of Revenue. The settlement is made 
 under the auction system ; and, as a general rule, the 
 shop is given to the highest bidder, but the Collector 
 is entitled to accept any lower bid. A deposit (usually 
 the fees for two months) is paid at the time of settle- 
 ment, and the remainder in monthly instalments, until 
 the whole has been paid. It has been proposed by 
 some native gentlemen to make over the settlement 
 and management of excise shops in municipalities 
 to municipal committees. But it is very doubtful 
 whether such a scheme would succeed, and it would 
 inevitably fail if a portion or the whole of the 
 revenue collected were not devoted to municipal 
 expenditure. This would be almost the only in- 
 centive for good management. The revenue from 
 drink is principally derived from the lower castes, 
 with whom the upper classes have little in common. 
 Brahmos and others are inclined to find faults in 
 the excise system where none exist, and to give 
 such men control over the excise revenue would be 
 like making over the excise administration in 
 England to Sir Wilfrid Lawson with blue ribbonists 
 and heads of temperance societies for a subordinate 
 agency. 
 
OUTS TILL SYSTEM. 85 
 
 To revert to a comparison of the respective merits 
 of the outstill and distillery systems, liquor was 
 dearer under the latter system ; but, owing to this 
 very dearness, illicit distillation prevailed to a large 
 extent, especially in the mohwa-producing tracts. 
 The outstill vendor is an amateur detective, and is 
 urged by the strongest motive of self-interest to do all 
 in his power to put down illicit distillation within the 
 area for the licit supply of which he practically holds 
 a monopoly, while the retail vendor under the central 
 distillery system was often himself the chief illicit 
 distiller, and consequently obliged to wink at similar 
 breaches of the law on the part of others. Indeed, 
 licenses were often taken out merely as a cover for 
 illicit dealings. Under the outstill system, licit liquor 
 has been cheapened, and there is no longer a suffi- 
 cient inducement to incur the risk of illicit distillation. 
 Drinking has perhaps increased, owing to the cheapen- 
 ing of liquor and greater facilities for obtaining it. But 
 such increase is by no means altogether attributable to 
 the extension of the outstill system. Of late years there 
 has been a remarkable increase in the prosperity of 
 the people, who have had more to spend on luxuries of 
 all sorts. The consumption of intoxicating drugs has 
 at the same time increased good crops and the in- 
 creased wages of labourers have not a little to do with 
 the result. Some officers have reported that outstill 
 liquor has to some extent displaced the consumption of 
 deleterious drugs, which is a matter for congratulation. 
 
86 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 One Collector, writing on the subject^), says, "Prosperity 
 leads people to some sort of intoxicating liquors or drugs, 
 and I think that if they would take to drinking the 
 weak country spirits rather than to smoking ganja or 
 eating opium, they would not lose much in health and 
 in wealth." Another officer remarks that the census 
 shows a large increase of population, and therefore 
 some increase in the consumption of liquor must be 
 expected. Again, licit liquor has taken the place of 
 illicit liquor, and it is impossible to know what was 
 the extent of illicit distillation when the distillery 
 system was in force. For every detected case, pro- 
 bably twenty went undetected. Another Collector 
 writes as follows : 
 
 I am persuaded that much of the well-meant agitation against 
 the outstill system, promoted by missionaries and others, is due 
 to a confusion between cause and effect. Post hoc, ergo propter 
 hoc is their cry, and they attribute to the outstill system the in- 
 crease of drunkenness, which is due to good times and low 
 prices. Some evil is inseparable from this branch of the 
 revenue, but it is at least better that the State should obtain its 
 quota of the profits on every gallon consumed than that the 
 miserable farce should be kept up of a sudder distillery gene- 
 rally a mere pretext for illicit operations. 
 
 The correctness of these observations is borne out 
 by the returns from the areas, which are still supplied 
 from sudder distilleries. These returns show that the 
 increase in the consumption of liquor in such areas 
 
 O "Bengal Excise Administration Report for 1882-83." 
 
EXCISE COMMISSION. 87 
 
 has been very considerable, and instances are specified 
 in which such increase has been larger than that in 
 adjoining areas supplied from outstills. There can 
 be no doubt, therefore, that a large increase in the 
 consumption of liquor has taken place altogether 
 independently of any operation of the outstill 
 system. 
 
 A commission was appointed in 1883 for the pur- 
 pose of ascertaining if drinking and drunkenness had 
 increased, and, if so, how far such increase was attri- 
 butable to the outstill system. The Commissioners 
 reported that there was nothing to show that drinking 
 had extended to large sections of the population, who 
 had never been in the habit of drinking; but that 
 there were symtoms of its appearance among certain 
 castes, who had hitherto been precluded from drinking 
 by religious scruples or social sanctions; and that 
 there was a marked increase in the number of drinkers 
 among the drinking castes, and especially among the 
 wage-earning classes in Behar. As a matter of fact 
 there is no difference in principle between the dis- 
 tillery and outstill systems, provided care be taken to 
 limit the producing capacity of the outstills. But it 
 so happened that a rule limiting the capacity of stills 
 was cancelled (I think in 1879) by a member of the 
 Board of Revenue; and the consequent absence of 
 any proportion between the tax paid by the distiller 
 and the quantity of spirit manufactured by him 
 naturally had the effect of cheapening the liquor. 
 
88 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 When a fixed sum is paid for the privilege of manu- 
 facturing spirit in unlimited quantities, the incidence 
 of tax on each gallon decreases with every additional 
 gallon manufactured. Increased sales enable the dis- 
 tillers to reduce prices, and, on the other hand, the 
 reduction of price brings the liquor within reach of a 
 larger number of consumers, and so increases the con- 
 sumption. In this way the two factors act and re-act 
 on one another. If there were a limit on the capacity 
 of the stills, this cheapening process could only be 
 carried on to the point at which the consumption of 
 cheapened liquor reached the point beyond which the 
 production could not be increased. As has been re- 
 marked above, in India mistakes and abuses are, as a 
 rule, rectified as soon as they are brought to light, and 
 the former rule, limiting the capacity of stills, and 
 allowing the use of one still only for each shop, has 
 been revived. At the same time it should be re- 
 marked that the increase of drinking observed by the 
 Commissioners has in a great measure been due to 
 other causes, such as (i) the relaxation of social, moral, 
 and religious restrictions, which at a former period 
 had kept large classes from indulging in spirituous 
 liquors; (2) increase of population, and (3) increase in 
 the earnings of many classes, especially labourers, 
 artisans, and domestic servants, which has left them a 
 greater margin for expenditure on luxuries. The in- 
 crease of drinking has been slight in rural, as compared 
 with urban, tracts; and there has been little or no 
 
DRINKING CLASSES. 89 
 
 increase in those districts in which the lower classes 
 are addicted to the use of opium and ganja. More- 
 over, much of the agitation against the outstill system is 
 misdirected, and due to a misapprehension. Drunken- 
 ness is more common during the taree (toddy) season 
 than at any other time of the year, and the majority 
 of convictions for drunkenness are due to taree, and 
 not country spirit. Drunkenness among the Sontals 
 and other aboriginal people, which missionaries have 
 attributed to outstill liquor, is in reality due to the 
 consumption Q{ pachwaL 
 
 The educated, upper, and middle classes do not as 
 a rule drink ; the consumption of country spirit in 
 Orissa and the greater part of Bengal is almost entirely 
 confined to the lower classes. For instance, the culti- 
 vating classes (quite forty per cent, of the population) 
 do not drink at all. In Behar, drinking appears to have 
 spread upwards a little more, but the chief drinkers 
 still belong to the lower castes. From the Fifth 
 Report of the House of Commons it is clear that 
 among these classes drinking was very prevalent in 
 the year 1805. Drinking is by no means a product 
 of English rule. In a country like India, where in- 
 toxicating drugs grow wild, and the means for distil- 
 lation are everywhere at hand, an excise system is a 
 stern necessity. A system of free trade or prohibition 
 (such as the Maine liquor law) could only have 
 disastrous results. From Behar right across Chota 
 Nagpore and the Sontal Pergunnahs to Western 
 
90 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 Bengal there are vast mohwa forests. Palm-trees 
 abound in all districts, arid rice is of course what 
 bread is in England. 
 
 In India the lower classes appear to drink with the 
 object of getting drunk, or at least of arriving at a 
 pleasing state of semi-intoxication. If a man has 
 hitherto been able to arrive at this state by an ex- 
 penditure of say two pice (three farthings), and he 
 afterwards finds that the liquor purchased for this 
 sum does not produce the same intoxicating effect as 
 heretofore, he feels he has a genuine grievance against 
 the liquor-vendor. It is believed by many that the 
 consumption of liquor or drugs is necessary in a ma- 
 larious and fever-stricken country like Bengal. Cer- 
 tainly those who do not drink appear to eat opium or 
 smoke ganja. Some of the labouring castes both 
 smoke ganja and drink liquor. The total number of 
 consumers of country spirit for the whole Province of 
 Bengal has been estimated at 4,829,000 ; if those who 
 drink imported spirits and country-made fermented 
 liquors be added, the total number of drinkers will be 
 about 9,000,000, or about 1 2 per cent, of the popula- 
 tion. The consumption of various liquors and drugs in 
 Bengal appears to have a regular geographical distri- 
 bution. For instance, in the Patna Division, the 
 number of drinkers has been calulated to be I in 7, 
 and in Orissa only i in 81. In the case of opium, 
 these figures would have to be revised. Speaking 
 broadly, opium and ganja are consumed in damp, low- 
 
PALM TODDY. 91 
 
 lying, and alluvial tracts, and country spirit in the 
 drier and hotter districts. 
 
 Tari is the sap of any kind of palm-tree, and is 
 used either when freshly drawn from the tree or after 
 fermentation. The use of the juice in either condition 
 by the owner of the trees is not in any way restricted 
 or interfered with, if the quantity in his possession 
 does not exceed four seers (*), or if the produce of the 
 date-tree is used by such owner for the manufacture 
 of goor or molasses. The revenue from tari or toddy 
 is derived from the fees paid for licenses for retail 
 vend. The sale of toddy is almost entirely in the 
 hands of one caste, the Pasees ; in Orissa, where 
 only date-palms are tapped, the business is in the 
 hands of the Chamars ( 2 ). The trees belong to the 
 owners of the land, generally zemindars, and Pasees 
 have to arrange with them for leases. The zemin- 
 dars are constantly enhancing the rents for such 
 trees to the detriment both of the Pasee and the 
 Government revenue, for the more the Pasee has to 
 pay in the shape of rent for trees, the less he can 
 afford to pay as fees for the right of retail vend. The 
 consumers of taree are principally Musulmans and 
 low-caste Hindoos. The higher classes of Musulmans 
 do not as a rule indulge ; while no strict and orthodox 
 
 (!) Since July, 1883, unfermented tari has been exempted 
 from the operation of the Excise Act in all the districts of the 
 Dacca division. 
 
 ( 2 ) More strictly, a section of the Chamar caste known as 
 Siol Chamars. 
 
92 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 Musulman will touch liquor and thereby disobey the 
 prohibition contained in the Kuran. The juice, in its 
 unfermented state, is a pleasant, refreshing, and harm- 
 less beverage ; but the vendors often mix drugs with 
 it in its fermented state, in order to make it more 
 intoxicating for consumers. This they especially do 
 during celebrated festivals, such as the Holi and the 
 Mohurrum. Many persons had alleged that drugs 
 were mixed with country spirits; but this is one of 
 several popular errors which have been exploded by 
 the inquiries of the late excise commission. Harmless 
 spices of sorts are mixed with country spirit merely 
 to improve its colour, smell, and taste. The revenue 
 from licenses for the sale of taree in 1883-84 amounted 
 to 66,369. 
 
 Pachwai is a sort of mild rice beer, and the term is 
 applied to all fermented liquors made from any sort 
 of grain. It is chiefly consumed by aboriginal and 
 semi-aboriginal races, and may be called their national 
 drink. Among these classes its use is absolutely 
 necessary in certain social and religious ceremonies. 
 The Excise Commission were of opinion that, wherever 
 fermented liquors come into active competition with 
 country spirit, the proper policy of Government should 
 be so to shape its excise regulations as to encourge the 
 use of the former ( 1 ). Fermented liquors are prefer- 
 
 (!) This has been the policy of the English legislature. The 
 duty on spirits has been IDS. a gallon since 1860, whereas the 
 duty on a gallon of ale is a little less than id. 
 
RICE DEER 93 
 
 able to distilled spirit as being more wholesome, less 
 intoxicating, and not so likely to lead to habits of 
 confirmed drunkenness. The hill-men in all parts of 
 Bengal are hard drinkers ; and Indian literature proves 
 that they were inveterate drinkers long before the date 
 of British rule. The object of the Bengal Govern- 
 ment has always been to encourage the consumption 
 of pachwai among these men, and to prevent their 
 acquiring a taste for the stronger country spirit. In 
 furtherance of such a policy, they are permitted to 
 brew pachwai for home consumption without payment 
 of any fee. Moreover, outstills are not permitted in 
 the territory occupied by Sontals. The distillery 
 system has still kept the country spirit comparatively 
 dear. It may perhaps be observed that this policy 
 is not quite uniform ; for, outside the Sontal Per- 
 gunnahs, there are many Sontals, as, for instance, in 
 portions of the following districts : Bhagulpore, Beer- 
 bhoom, Burdwan, and Midnapore. In these districts 
 Sontals can purchase country spirit for from three 
 pice to one anna (a penny to three halfpence) a 
 quart bottle. But how weak the spirit is may be 
 inferred from the fact that it takes a whole bottle to 
 make an ordinary drinker drunk, and a Sontal cannot 
 as a rule afford to drink more than half a bottle a 
 day. This cheap liquor is distilled from the mohwa 
 fruit : that distilled from rice and molasses sells in 
 various localities from four annas ( l ) (weak quality) 
 
 (!) = sixpence. 
 
94 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 to ten and twelve annas a bottle. The number of 
 licenses taken out for the sale of pachwai in Bengal 
 during the year 1882-83 was 2 , I 59 > the revenue 
 derived from license-fees being 16,400. 
 
 The ganja plant is cultivated under Government 
 supervision by cultivators who hold licenses for such 
 cultivation. They dispose of it to wholesale dealers, 
 who in their turn sell it to retail vendors holding 
 
 o 
 
 licenses from the Collector for such vend. At the 
 time when retail vendors take the drug from the ware- 
 houses of wholesale dealers, a duty is levied by 
 Government of Rs. 4 : 8, and Rs. 5 (*) per seer (accord- 
 ing to the quality of the ganja). There can be no 
 doubt that this drug is most deleterious to consumers, 
 and a large proportion of the admissions into lunatic 
 asylums is due to excessive ganja-smoking. The 
 object of Government is to increase the price of the 
 article to such an extent as is compatible with safety, 
 having regard to the existing opportunities for smug- 
 gling. The administration of the year 1882-83, 
 shows remarkably successful results. The duty was 
 increased by one rupee per seer ; and while the re- 
 ceipts under this head increased by 10,700, there 
 was a decrease of 785 maunds ( 2 ) in the quantity con- 
 sumed. At the same time, although the total number 
 of retail shops was reduced by 217, there was an 
 increase of 4,000 in the amount of license-fees col- 
 lected ; so that the average revenue per maund levied 
 
 (*) Nine shillings and ten shillings. 
 ( 2 ) One maund = 80 Ibs. avoirdupois. 
 
GANJA. 95 
 
 on the drug was 52, as against 26 in 1881-82. 
 Having regard to the pernicious effects of ganja- 
 smoking, some Collectors have recommended a still 
 further increase of the duty ; but the Board of 
 Revenue have thought it prudent to postpone such a 
 measure for the present, lest smuggling should be 
 encouraged. Untaxed ganja both grows wild and is 
 cultivated in the tributary States of Orissa ; and 
 bhang ( x ) grows wild in many districts. The average 
 area per ganja shop throughout Bengal in now forty- 
 six square miles, and the average population supplied 
 by each shop is about 19,000 to over 21,000. 
 
 The Hindoo, as a rule, does not drink the ortho- 
 dox Hindoo never. But in India those who do not 
 consume intoxicating liquors, speaking generally, 
 consume intoxicating drugs ; and many officers are 
 of opinion that it would be a good thing to substitute 
 the consumption of liquor for that of drugs. In 
 Orissa, almost all classes are opium-eaters ; in Behar, 
 the higher castes, such as Brahmans, Babhans, and 
 Rajpoots, are addicted to ganja-smoking. The nature 
 of the climate seems to necessitate the resort to some 
 stimulant : and, from a medical point of view, both 
 country spirit and opium are believed to be very 
 efficacious. The same cannot be alleged of ganja, 
 and it is to be regretted that there is no means of 
 
 (*) Bhang or siddhi consists of the dried leaves and small 
 stalks, with a few fruits ; ganja consists of the flowering and 
 fruiting heads of the female plant ; while charas is the resin 
 itself, collected in various ways as it naturally exudes. 
 
96 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 putting a stop altogether to the consumption of this 
 drug. If the cultivation under Government super- 
 vision were to be abandoned, illicit cultivation would 
 spring up and flourish in a thousand places. Ex- 
 perience has shown in all countries that if preven- 
 tive measures are pursued beyond a certain point, 
 smuggling must inevitably prevail ; and the object of 
 the excise administration is to go as far as, but no 
 further than, that exact point. 
 
 The receipts from opium in 1882-83 amounted to 
 179,592. These are the receipts from abkaree, or 
 excise opium, and have no connection with the im- 
 perial receipts from the sales of the opium exported 
 to China. The receipts are made up of the sales of 
 the drug from collectorate treasuries and of the license- 
 fees levied for the right of retail vend. The opium 
 crop is cultivated under Government supervision, the 
 cultivators being bound to bring in the whole produce 
 to the opium agents and their subordinates, who 
 pay them Rs. 5 (ten shillings) for every seer of the 
 inspissated juice or drug. The duty or the price at 
 which the drug is sold from district treasuries varies 
 from Rs. 22 to Rs. 32 ; so that the cultivators have a 
 great incentive to dispose of a portion of their opium 
 in an illicit manner. 
 
 There are two opium agencies, each under an opium 
 agent, one at Patna in Behar, and the other at Benares 
 in the North-West Provinces. The total quantity of 
 land in both agencies sown with opium in 1883 was 
 876,454 acres. The total out-turn amounted to 
 
OPIUM CULTIVATION. 97 
 
 100,889 maunds of opium at 70 consistence. No 
 compulsion whatever is used to induce cultivators to 
 cultivate opium ; the cultivation has hitherto been so 
 paying and so popular that the sub-deputy opium 
 agents have had little or no difficulty in getting as 
 much land cultivated as they require. A crop of 
 Indian corn generally precedes the opium, which is 
 sown in September or October ; and often a third 
 crop is taken after the opium. If a cultivator gets 
 only four seers of opium per bigah, that is equivalent 
 to twenty rupees, and then he has in addition the 
 value of his Indian corn. But it is now said that 
 the development of communications throughout Behar 
 has rendered it possible to bring the more bulky 
 forms of farm produce to market at a price which 
 renders them formidable rivals to poppy, and pro- 
 bably sugarcane and potatoes are now more remu- 
 nerative crops than poppy. Advances are given to 
 the cultivators for poppy cultivation, and they are 
 deducted from the payments made for the produce 
 brought in. 
 
 The minimum monthly fee for the retail vend of 
 opium or ganja is five rupees. The retail vendor makes 
 a profit of three to five rupees on every seer of opium 
 he sells, so that the selling price per seer varies from 
 about Rs. 23 to Rs. 37. The drug is sold from the 
 collectorate treasuries, and the duty varies in different 
 districts. The limit of retail sale at one time to one 
 customer is five tolas (=t\vo ounces). The license-fees 
 
 H 
 
98 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 in India for the retail vend of opium amount in one 
 year to nearly 5 00,000. Officers who have an in- 
 timate knowledge of the people and their require- 
 ments think that it would be a hardship to enhance 
 the price of opium any farther. Those who inveigh 
 against the opium revenue forget that opium is in 
 India what brandy is in England. A moderate con- 
 sumption of it is believed to ward off fever and to be 
 useful in the case of many other diseases. It finds a 
 frequent place in the prescriptions of native physicians, 
 while the British Pharmacopoeia itself proves that it is 
 extremely efficacious in a number of cases. The drug 
 is not always smoked or eaten. It is sometimes 
 dissolved in water and drunk. In cases of cold and 
 ague it is mixed with oil and rubbed into the body ; 
 and its external application with other ingredients 
 is considered very useful in the case of rheumatism. 
 The excessive opium-eater is quite the exception : 
 the large majority of consumers take it in moderation 
 and with the firm conviction that it does them good. 
 The same can scarcely be said, or at any rate not 
 nearly to the same extent, of those who drink spirits. 
 The Collector of Cuttack writes in 1883: 
 
 The people of Orissa are notoriously addicted to this drug 
 [opium]. From the highest to the lowest caste, and without 
 distinction of age and creed, the drug is taken freely by the 
 people ; caste rules exercise no deterrent influence to check 
 the progress of consumption as they do in the case of spirits. 
 On the other hand, an impression generally prevails that the 
 use of opium has a salutary effect on the health of its con- 
 
OPIUM VERSUS GANJA. 99 
 
 sumers, especially during old age. So long as this idea exists 
 in the minds of the people, the revenue derived from opium will 
 always increase as steadily as it seems to have hitherto done. 
 
 I remember, when I was Sub-divisional Officer of 
 Khorda, that a rise in the rate of duty compelled the 
 retail vendors to raise the price by one or two annas 
 a tola. Most persistent petitions were presented, 
 complaining of this, and asking that the retail vendors 
 should be ordered to sell at the same price as hereto- 
 fore. Neither mukhtars (native bar), amla (ministerial 
 officers), nor the general public, could understand why 
 it was considered necessary to make the drug dearer. 
 Many intelligent men informed me that those who 
 indulged to such an extent as to impair their mental 
 faculties were extremely rare exceptions, and I have 
 certainly never heard of any one going mad from the 
 use of opium. This is what Mr. Grant, who has been 
 Collector of all three districts of Orissa, writes: 
 
 The decrease of ,419 on the sale of opium is due to the fact 
 that the people are generally getting practised to reduce their 
 daily consumption, owing to the increased rate of duty. I am 
 afraid that this is something very like an unmixed evil. It 
 does not mean that the people are beginning to restrict them- 
 selves in the use of deleterious drugs on account of their costli- 
 ness. It means that owing to the greatly enhanced price of 
 opium the people are substituting ganja, a cheaper and in- 
 finitely more mischievous and deleterious drug. I strongly 
 advocate a return to the old rate for opium, not because the 
 new rate has so materially decreased the revenue, but because 
 it is fast driving the people of Balasore to that resort to ganja 
 which we know to be the root of the evils in the Oorya 
 character. 
 
 H 2 
 
ioo ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 With regard to consumption of liquor versus drugs, 
 the same Collector writes : 
 
 In both Balasore and Pooree, it is beyond any doubt that the 
 reigning vice is not drinking, but the enormously more mis- 
 chievous use of ganja. I do not hesitate to say that I most 
 heartily wish that the people would substitute alcohol for ganja, 
 and the only way in which this is likely to be done is by making 
 alcohol easily accessible. It will mark a very great improve- 
 ment in Orissa when the consumption of ganja is diminished 
 considerably, even if this be accompanied by a considerable rise 
 in the use of spirituous liquors. The consumption of ganja is 
 extravagantly large ; that of spirituous liquors remarkably small. 
 The latter might be increased very considerably indeed without 
 causing the least alarm. 
 
 Not a word is said against the use of opium. 
 
 Mr. Vincent Richards, who has made some minute 
 inquiries regarding opium in the Balasore district of 
 Orissa, is of opinion that the excessive use of the 
 drug by the agricultural classes, who are the chief 
 consumers in Orissa, is very rare indeed. The 
 moderate use may be, and is, indulged in for years 
 without producing any decided or appreciable ill- 
 effect, except weakening the reproductive powers. It 
 must have a slightly soporific effect, as opium of good 
 quality contains from 8 to 17 per cent, of morphia, 
 the average amount being 10 per cent. Dr. W. 
 Dymock, of Bombay, speaking of Western India, 
 concurs in Mr. Richards' opinion regarding the 
 moderate use of the drug. He believes that excessive 
 indulgence in it is confined to a comparatively small 
 
OPIUM-EATERS AXD SMOKERS. 101 
 
 number of the wealthier classes. Dr. Moore's ex- 
 perience of Rajpootana strongly supports the same 
 views. It seems probable that the spread of the 
 practice is connected with the Hindoo aversion to 
 drink, the ban imposed in Mahomedan countries on 
 the use of alcoholic beverages, and to some extent with 
 the long religious fasts of the Buddhists, Hindoos, and 
 Moslems, in which opium is used to allay hunger. 
 In Orissa, opium-eaters take their opium twice daily 
 (morning and evening), the quantity taken varying 
 from two to forty-six grains daily, large doses being 
 the exception, and the average five to seven grains 
 daily. In the Brahmaputra valley opium is generally 
 dissolved in water and drunk. The average dose is 
 nine and half grains per diem, or one pound per 
 annum. 
 
 In China, opium is smoked ; in Asia Minor, Persia, 
 and India, it is eaten. Its consumption is not alto- 
 gether confined to the East, for it is eaten both in 
 England and the United States, but more generally 
 smoked in the latter. The number of opium-eaters 
 in the United States has been estimated at 82,696, 
 and the number of opium-smokers at nearly a million. 
 The average amount of opium consumed by each 
 opium-eater in the State of Michigan is estimated at 
 one ounce avoirdupois a week. In India opium is 
 sometimes smoked in the form of a preparation called 
 mudut, formed by mixing the opium with betel-leaf 
 and boiling it in small iron pans. 
 
102 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 The imperial opium revenue yields on the average 
 about seven millions sterling net, after deduction 
 of all expenses. It is levied in two ways one, as 
 above described, on the Bengal side, the other, on the 
 Western or Bombay side, by the levy of duty on the 
 export of the drug made from poppy grown in Native 
 States. If Government were not to maintain its 
 monopoly of opium cultivation, it would immediately 
 be taken up by capitalists, who would supply the 
 wants of China in the same way that Government 
 now supplies them, with the exception that much 
 impure and bad opium would be exported ; for it 
 cannot be expected that private manufacturers would 
 have the conscience to refrain from sending out such 
 opium, and thereby incur loss. Government does and 
 can afford to refrain from doing so. All arguments 
 against the opium monopoly appear to vanish away 
 before this simple but incontrovertible fact. The 
 Government in India taxes opium heavily, just as the 
 Government in England taxes spirits heavily. Surely 
 it cannot for a moment be doubted that, if this fiscal 
 burden were removed, the Chinese would get the 
 opium far more cheaply (and therefore presumably in 
 far greater quantities) than they do at present. Neither 
 can it be urged that Government, if it gave up its 
 monopoly, should suppress altogether poppy cultiva- 
 tion ; for what Government could venture so far to 
 interfere with the liberties of its subjects ? It might 
 as well suppress the cultivation of onions, betel-nut, or 
 
OPIUM MONOPOLY. 103 
 
 tobacco. On this subject Sir Richard Temple has 
 well remarked : 
 
 To abandon the taxation would be to injure the treasury, 
 leaving no check upon the consumption of the drug, but rather 
 
 giving some encouragement thereto The culture is 
 
 very profitable to thousands of cultivators, and as the exporta- 
 tion is still more profitable to traders and capitalists, any 
 attempt on the part of the State at suppression would be futile, 
 and would only lead to dangerous abuses. Nor do the British 
 territories comprise the only area fit for poppy culture, for much 
 of the best soils for the poppy are in the Native States. The 
 question, too, is not confined to the opium exportable to China ; 
 the Indians consume opium to some extent, though much less 
 than the Chinese. At present the drug is taxed for the Indians 
 as for all others, a check being thus imposed on the local 
 taxation. In this respect, then, the Government plays, as levy- 
 ing a tax, the same part in respect to its own subjects as the 
 Chinese C). 
 
 Opium was commonly used in China as a medicine 
 long before the trade with India commenced. In a 
 Chinese herbal compiled more than two centuries ago 
 both the plant and its inspissated juice are described, 
 and in the "General History of the Southern Provinces 
 of Yunnan," revised and published in 1/36, opium is 
 noticed as a common product. At the present time 
 it is estimated that South- Western China produces 
 not less than 224,000 piculs ( 2 ) of opium, while the 
 entire import from India does not exceed 100,000 
 piculs. The total export of opium from India to 
 
 0) "India in 1880." John Murray. 
 ( 2 ) Apicul=i33ilbs. 
 
1 04 A D MINIS TRA TION OF INDIA . 
 
 China and other places during the year 1882-83 
 amounted to 91,798 chests (126,789 cwts.), valued at 
 11,481,376. 
 
 The amount of drinking and drunkenness in India 
 is still infinitesimal as compared with that in European 
 countries. Drunken men are seldom seen, and it is a 
 most rare and unusual thing for a woman to drink. 
 During nearly ten years' residence in the country, I do 
 not think I have seen more than half a dozen drunken 
 persons on the public roads. Drinking is generally 
 considered a vice the same stigma does not attach to 
 the consumption of intoxicating drugs and educated 
 opinion is strongly opposed to any policy the tendency 
 of which is to increase drinking in any shape. It has 
 been said that the wave of intemperance invariably 
 reaches its highest, not when nations are the most 
 highly civilized, but either before they are fairly 
 educated, or during the national decadence. The 
 wave of intemperance appears to have reached its 
 highest in England, and is now receding, as is shown 
 by the diminution in excise receipts. This wave has 
 not reached its highest in Bengal. It is true that 
 among the upper and educated classes temperance 
 societies have been formed, and that they would like 
 to see a system of local management and even local 
 option introduced. But the wave will not recede till 
 primary education has reached the lower castes that 
 is, the principal drinking classes. In England the 
 worst times for intemperance have not been during 
 
DRINKING IN ENGLAND. 105 
 
 the present, but during the eighteenth century, when 
 the people were steeped in ignorance, and even gentle- 
 folk had less education than the artizan of to-day. 
 1736 is considered to have been the annus mirabilis 
 of drink. In that year the consumption of spirits 
 only was nearly a gallon per head of the population. 
 In Macfarlane and Thompson's ''History of England" 
 (vol. iii. p. 258) and Lecky's "Eighteenth Century" 
 (pp. 476-482) it is stated that announcements were 
 hung out before the ginshops informing passers-by 
 that they could get drunk for a penny, dead drunk 
 for twopence, and that when they were in the desired 
 state, clean straw would be gratuitously provided for 
 them in convenient cellars ! The annus mirabilis of 
 drink in Bengal has probably still to come, but the 
 disease will not be very acute, for the reasons above 
 alluded to. It is probable that, for some years to 
 come, more money will be spent on drink, but that is 
 because there will be more money to spend on luxuries 
 generally. In 1860 the expenditure in the United 
 Kingdom on intoxicating liquors was 84,222,172, or 
 ,2 iSs. 6\d. per head of the population; in 1870 it 
 had risen to 118,836,284, or 3 i6s. 2d. per head ; 
 and in 1876 to 147,288,759, or 4 gs. Q\d. per head. 
 Referring to these figures, the Select Committee of 
 the House of Lords on Intemperance ( x ) remarks : 
 
 This increase of expenditure cannot by itself be taken as a 
 proof that drunkenness has increased in the same ratio. It is 
 
 ( l ) " Parliamentary Reports : Intemperance." 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 probable that a large portion represents the moderate consump- 
 tion by the temperate. With increasing incomes the spending 
 power of all classes has grown, and a higher scale of comfort 
 has been gradually introduced. Just as the consumption of 
 meat has increased, so has that of intoxicating liquors, but in 
 neither of these cases does the increased general consumption 
 necessarily imply a proportionate, excess on the part of indi- 
 viduals. Further, it has been shown that the use of tea, sugar, 
 wine and tobacco has increased far more rapidly than the use 
 of spirits or beer. 
 
 It has been shown above that these remarks are to 
 some extent applicable to the increase in the con- 
 sumption of drink in Bengal during the past five 
 years or so. 
 
 It is a patent fact that the amount of drinking and 
 drunkenness in Bengal is infinitesimally small when 
 compared with European countries. The incidence 
 of the excise revenue varies in different divisions of the 
 Province from 12s. to 32^. per 100 of the population, 
 whereas the incidence in the United Kingdom is 
 71 15^.5^. per 100 (1880-81)! In England the 
 single item r>f drink contributes .28,000,000 to the 
 revenue ( l ) ; in India the excise revenue (including 
 
 , (*) The following 'table shows the growth of temperance in 
 England since 1876: 
 
 
 Customs, &c. 
 (Foreign Spirits 
 and Wine). 
 
 Malt, &c., or 
 Beer. 
 
 Excise 
 (British Spirits). 
 
 Total. 
 
 1865-6 
 1875-6 
 
 1884-5 
 
 .4,912,197 
 7,894,373 
 5,547,037 
 
 ,6,793,104 
 8,584,710 
 
 8,544,749 
 
 10,437,168 
 15,154,327 
 13,987,472 
 
 22,142,469 
 31,633,410 
 28,079,258 
 
DRINKING IN INDIA. 107 
 
 drugs) yields only 3^ millions. The population of 
 England is 35,000,000, that of British India nearly 
 200,000,000. There is room for considerable expan- 
 sion of the revenue in Bengal, without any increase of 
 drinking or drunkenness. An able administration of 
 the excise department in any particular district often 
 produces the most brilliant results ; and the report of 
 the Excise Commission and the orders issued on it 
 will doubtless conduce to more uniformity and method 
 and generally to a more efficient administration. For 
 some years to come increased excise receipts may be 
 expected from the increase of wealth and of the ma- 
 terial comfort and prosperity of the people. 
 
 Missionaries, blue ribbonists, Brahmos, and other 
 educated natives sometimes allege that there was no 
 drinking in India before the advent of the British. 
 To refute such an allegation resembles the process of 
 breaking a fly on a wheel ; but it is necessary to do 
 so, as the allegation is sometimes put forward in the 
 columns of the native press. 
 
 It is quite a mistake to suppose that whites have 
 introduced wine among savages. Drunkenness is 
 essentially a savage vice. Tartar tribes have from 
 time immemorial made an intoxicating drink from 
 mare's milk, called " koomiss." The Red Indian 
 tribes have always drunk, while consumption of the 
 juice of the palm-tree is immemorial, both in Asia 
 and Africa (Herodotus, iii. 20-22). 
 
 Untutored races have never been slow to discover 
 
io8 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 intoxicating beverages. Barley and other cereals 
 were used long ago. We have instances in the 
 Hebrew Scriptures, such as that of Noah. The 
 monuments of ancient Egypt are covered with repre- 
 sentations of vineyards and wine-presses. Confucius 
 (478 B.C.) partook liberally of drink ; Mencius men- 
 tions drink as one of the vices of his day (288 B.C.). 
 Gautama Sakya (540 B.C.) enjoined on priests total 
 abstinence from intoxicating drinks. Brahmanical 
 writings show that the god Indra was to be propitiated 
 and made intoxicated with unlimited offerings of 
 brandy ; the nature of the deity was but a reflex of 
 the character of his worshipping multitudes. The 
 Rig-veda abounds with references to the drinking 
 proclivities of the deities, especially of Indra e.g., 
 ''Come hither, O Indra, and intoxicate thyself." Both 
 "soma" and "sura" are mentioned in the Vedas. 
 From the later Sanskrit literature it is clear that, 
 though Manu forbade drinking, intoxication was still 
 rife among the Aryan races. Palastya mentions 
 twelve kinds of liquor as being made from the grape, 
 honey, sugar, dates, the palm, pepper, rice, &c. 
 Large quantities of foreign wines were imported into 
 India 2,000 years ago, such as the wine of Loadicea 
 in Syria, Italian and Arabian wines. There has 
 always been much drunkenness in India in connection 
 with religious observances. (See description of 
 Holi, in "India and its Native Princes," by Louis 
 Rousselet, p. 175.) 
 
EXCISE POLICY. 109 
 
 Coming down to a more modern period, the reports 
 of Collectors and District Judges, published in the 
 Fifth Report of the House of Commons, show that 
 the lower castes had, from time immemorial, been 
 addicted to drink, and in the year 1805 the increase 
 of crime was attributed to the increase of intem- 
 perance. 
 
 At the present time the excise administration is 
 keenly and jealously supervised. Shops are never es- 
 tablished except after a bond fide demand has made 
 itself known, and the object of the administration is to 
 keep the price of liquors and drugs as high as is safe 
 and compatible with the prevention of smuggling. 
 There has perhaps been some lack of discrimination in 
 the application of the " normal number " principle ; I 
 mean that there has been some tendency to reduce 
 the number of shops in populous tracts, containing a 
 number of bond fide consumers, and to increase the 
 number where there is little or less demand ( 1 ). But no 
 
 (*) It has been remarked that there is a regular geographical 
 distribution in the consumption of liquors and drugs. I may 
 perhaps note a few instances in which the " normal number " 
 principle has been appled too rigidly. In Bhagulpore district a 
 number of outstill-shops were opened in the Soopole and 
 Muddehpoorah divisions. Outstills are not required in these 
 two divisions, in the absence of exceptional causes such as the 
 construction of railways or public works, which may attract 
 coolies from other parts. In making the Bhagulpore Settle- 
 ment for 1884-5 I found that these outstills could only be settled 
 by putting them up in one lot with the opium and ganja shops. 
 
1 10 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 administration can be entirely free from faults. Each 
 fresh year gives additional experience, and, wherever 
 faults and flaws are found to exist, no time is lost in 
 remedying or removing them. The appointment of 
 the Excise Commission is but one instance out of 
 many in which the Bengal Government has shown 
 itself ever ready to give an ear to legitimate complaints, 
 and to remedy mistakes and remove abuses, wherever 
 and whenever found to exist. 
 
 A fee of only Rs. 8 or Rs. 9 was paid for the outstill, and if the 
 ganja shop had been put up alone, it would have fetched this 
 additional amount The same remark may be made of a portion 
 of the Durbhanga district. The people are Bhagats, do not 
 drink spirit, but are addicted to ganja. Again I notice from the 
 Administration Report for 1883-84 that Mr. Grant, Collector of 
 Balasore, speaks of a " shopless area," and thinks it is supplied 
 by illicit distillation. The people in this part are strict Vishnu- 
 vites, and I venture to think a very careful inquiry may show 
 that there are really few or no drinkers. They all consume 
 opium. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CENSUS OPERATIONS AND THE CENSUS OF 1 88 1. 
 
 The Census Census Act Taking of Census a Fiscal Opera- 
 tion Modus Operandi Difficulty of getting correct 
 Boundaries and Lists of Villages Circle-Officers and 
 Enumerators House-Lists Preliminary Census Final 
 Enumeration Attitude of the People Wild Rumours 
 Information required Cost of Census Boat-Population 
 Increase of Population since former Census Decrease 
 in Burdvvan Division due to Virulent Fever Density of 
 Population Proportions of Urban and Rural Population 
 Statistics of Religious Belief The Hindu Religion of 
 to-day Conjugal Condition Restrictions on Inter-Mar- 
 riage Disappearance of Polygamy Widow- Re-Marriage 
 / Proportion of Female to Male Births Female Infanti- 
 cide Statistics of Occupations and Castes Infirmities. 
 
 THE District Officer in Bengal is denominated Col- 
 lector in respect of some of his duties, and Magistrate 
 in respect of others. As Collector, he supervises the 
 collection of the various branches of the revenue, and 
 as District Magistrate he is invested with certain well- 
 defined original and appellate criminal powers. So far 
 the distinction between his double offices is easy to 
 
ii2 ADMIMSTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 follow. But there are certain branches of the admi- 
 nistration, with reference to which the District Officer 
 is styled either Collector or Magistrate in a purely 
 arbitrary manner. He is called the Magistrate, in so 
 far as he supervises jails, municipalities, the telegraph 
 and postal administration, emigration, medical relief, 
 sanitation, vaccination, and education. Some of these 
 duties are not so much magisterial as fiscal or collec- 
 torate. As has been said, the distinction is purely 
 arbitrary. The work is done by the District Officer, 
 or, as he is often styled, the Magistrate-Collector. In 
 Acts passed by the Legislature, or in orders and 
 circulars issued by the Executive Government, he is 
 styled either Magistrate or Collector, as the case may 
 be. The Government regards its District Officer as 
 a veritable " rara avis" and whatever new Act is 
 passed, whatever fresh taxation is imposed, the burden 
 of administration, the duties of assessment and collec- 
 tion, are thrown on this hard worked and long-suffer- 
 ing biped. It is assumed that he is " expers utriusqne 
 lingua? though it is often the case that a good 
 Collector is a bad Magistrate, and vice versa. 
 
 In the Census Act the District Officer is called the 
 Magistrate By it he was vested with power to 
 demand and enforce assistance in the census opera- 
 tions, and to punish obstruction or disobedience. As 
 a matter of fact, it was only in two or three instances 
 found necessary to have recourse to the penal clauses 
 of the Act. The taking of a census is in reality a 
 
THAN A BOUNDARIES. 113 
 
 fiscal operation ; the circulars issued by the Deputy 
 Superintendent of Census speak of the District Officer, 
 and not of the Magistrate. This must be my excuse 
 for giving some account of the census in a work which 
 professes to notice only the revenue and collectorate 
 duties of a District Officer. Quoad all the prelimi- 
 nary operations of the census, the District Officer was 
 invariably spoken of as the Collector, though the 
 sunnuds, or letters of appointment, given to supervisors 
 and enumerators were signed by him as Magis- 
 trate 0). 
 
 A district consists of a certain number of Thanas or 
 Police Stations. These thanas were taken as units 
 for the census, each thana being split up into a certain 
 
 (!) A census may be a political necessity in countries like 
 India and the United States, but it is impossible to divest the 
 word entirely of its fiscal element. It is not surprising that 
 natives should connect it with increased taxation, considering 
 that poll-taxes were levied under native rule. In Rome the 
 census was especially devoted to fiscal objects, and it does not 
 appear that the enumeration of the people was then deemed of 
 value as a source of statistical knowledge, which might influence 
 morals or legislation. The Roman census even analyzed landed 
 property into several classes according to its character and 
 produce, and the word was often used to signify the patrimony 
 or property qualification of a particular grade, e.g., census sena- 
 torius, census equester. In later times it is employed to indicate 
 taxation, e.g., census duplicatus, census dominicatus (a feudal 
 tax to the superior); and the word "cense," used by old English 
 writers, was abbreviated in modern use into cess, a word to 
 which the natives are well accustomed. See chap. VII., on 
 Road Cess, etc. 
 
 I 
 
1 14 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 number of circles, and the circles being again subdi- 
 vided into enumerator's blocks. The greatest dif- 
 ficulties were experienced in the matter of boundaries : 
 it was frequently found that the actual boundaries of 
 a thana, that is, the boundaries actually observed for 
 purposes of criminal and police administration, differed 
 considerably from the boundaries as laid down at the 
 previous survey. The de facto differed from the de 
 jure boundary, and they had to be reconciled. Again, 
 it was necessary to see that each circle officer knew 
 the limits of his own circle, so as to prevent any 
 villages from either being omitted or counted twice 
 over. Maps or tracings of their circles were supplied 
 to them, together with extracts from the survey 
 village-lists, and these they had to compare with those 
 of the adjoining circle officers. It was found that 
 many villages had disappeared, while many new ones 
 had sprung up : others had split into several hamlets, 
 each having its own name : local names often differed 
 from survey names : one survey mouzah or village was 
 found to contain several distinct inhabited villages, 
 while other survey numbers were found to be bechapar 
 (Anglice. without roof), i.e., areas of forest or waste 
 or cultivated lands. For purposes of obtaining a 
 complete and accurate record of the existing state of 
 things, duplicate registers were prepared of survey 
 mouzas and inhabited villages, with cross references 
 in each to the other. 
 
 The circles were then subdivided into convenient 
 
PLAN OF ENUMERA TION. 1 1 5 
 
 enumerators' blocks, each enumerator taking from 
 fifty to a hundred houses. Large villages had to be 
 split up into as many as ten or twenty blocks. But 
 for the willing co-operation which was almost every- 
 where rendered gratuitously by the more intelligent 
 inhabitants of the districts, the charge to Government 
 for paid enumerators would have been a very heavy 
 one. The enumerators had to prepare house-lists and 
 to number the houses in their respective blocks ; and 
 they were particularly instructed to number every 
 house, inhabited or uninhabited ; for on the night 
 of the census they were to visit every place where 
 persons might possibly be found taking shelter, 
 such as temples, mosques, serais, shops, dak bunga- 
 lows, &c. The plan of the census was that the 
 enumerators leisurely and completely wrote up their 
 schedules from about the 5th January to the end of 
 the month. Their books were meanwhile examined 
 and corrected by the supervisors, and other superior 
 officers. Finally, on the night of the i/th February, 
 each enumerator visited every house in his block, 
 taking with him the book of schedules prepared 
 during the preliminary enumeration, and then and 
 there corrected and completed it, striking out the 
 entries for those persons who had left the house, and 
 entering those persons who had come to the house 
 since the preliminary counting. Special arrangements 
 were made for the enumeration of the boat popula- 
 tion, those travelling by road or railway, for persons 
 
 I 2 
 
1 1 6 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 in camps or collected at fairs, for jails, hospitals, and 
 other public institutions. 
 
 The demeanour and attitude of the people during 
 the census operations was for the most part all that 
 could be desired. Here and there reluctance was 
 manifested, and in a few isolated instances there was 
 some slight show of resistance ; but there was no 
 actual disturbance anywhere except in the Sontal 
 Pergunnahs. These wild hill-men became very ex- 
 cited, and it was found necessary to march detach- 
 ments of troops through the country to overawe them. 
 Of course the wildest rumours were set afloat in all 
 districts, and were to a certain extent believed by the 
 more ignorant of the population. It was said that the 
 males were required for military service in Afghanis- 
 tan ; that the young women were to be taken to be 
 the wives of British soldiers ; that one family in every 
 ten was to be compelled to emigrate, and so on. In 
 one district an ingenious assistant magistrate gave 
 out that the Government wished to store up a 
 maund of grain per head of the population in case of 
 famine, and it was therefore necessary to count 
 everybody. It is to be hoped that his anemoen 
 phronema did not cause any undue exaggeration of 
 numbers. 
 
 The schedule of 1881 required far more informa- 
 tion than that of 1872, and very minute inquiries 
 were thereby necessitated. The columns were as 
 follows : 
 
COST OF CENSUS. 117 
 
 1. Age (to be given as ex- 5. Caste or Sect. 
 
 actly as possible). 6. Birthplace. 
 
 2. Sex. 7. Mother tongue. 
 
 3. Civil or conjugal condi- 8. Degree of education. 
 
 tion. 9. Occupation. 
 
 4. Religion 10. Infirmities. 
 
 With regard to women, the enumerators were strictly 
 forbidden to ask their names. If names were sponta- 
 neously given, they were to be inserted ; otherwise 
 only the word "female" was to be entered. I found 
 that in the district of Burdwan the names of females 
 were, as a rule, readily given. Burdwan is one of the 
 three or four most advanced and educated districts in 
 Bengal. 
 
 It will be seen from Mr. Bourdillon's Census Report 
 that the census of 69,536,861 persons was taken at a 
 total cost of about eight and a half lakhs of rupees, 
 which gives a rate of a little more than 2 pie a head, 
 or rather more than five persons completely censused 
 for one anna ! " Another calculation," says Mr. 
 Bourdillon, " shows that the cost per 1,000 has been 
 Rs. 12:2:2, and how favourably this compares with 
 the expenditure in England will be evident from the 
 fact that the cost per 1,000 in that country was $ gs. 
 in 1841,^5 4^. in 1851,^4 15^.5^. in i86i,and about 
 S 4 s - 2d. in 1871 ; that is to say, the census of England 
 in 1871 cost, in comparison with the population, about 
 five times as much as that just taken in Bengal ; and 
 although our returns are of course not so elaborate as 
 
1 18 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 those of the English census, they have been prepared 
 in a much shorter time ; both enumeration and com- 
 pliation have been carried out with a vastly inferior 
 agency, and in the face of difficulties to which the 
 Registrar-General of England is a complete stranger." 
 The imaginative crew of Hyndmans, Osbornes, Blunts, 
 et hoc genus omne, would do well to ruminate over 
 quiet facts such as these. 
 
 The extent of the boat-traffic on the navigable 
 rivers of Bengal may be inferred from the fact that 
 the number of persons sleeping in boats on the census 
 night was 309,336 or -44 of the whole population ; 
 and this number probably falls short of the actual 
 boat population, as on the census night many persons 
 purposely stayed in their houses with their families. 
 There was an idea that it would not do to be away 
 from home on the census night, an idea which was 
 fostered by the enumerators, who were very proud of 
 the neatness and accuracy of their preliminary 
 schedules, and did not wish to have to make too 
 many erasures and additions on the census night. 
 Moreover, if there had been many alterations to 
 make, many of them could scarcely have got round 
 their blocks by the morning. It was owing to the 
 same idea that very few persons travelled by rail on 
 the census night. I was at the Burdwan Station 
 myself, and found that those in the trains produced 
 tickets showing they had been censused at the sudder 
 stations of districts higher up the line. No passengers 
 
INCREASE OF POPULATION. 119 
 
 appeared to have got in at intermediate rural stations, 
 and there were fewer passengers than usual. 
 
 The increase of the population of Bengal between 
 1872 and 1 88 1 was 10-89 per cent. Some of this 
 increase may be due to the more elaborate arrange- 
 ments and greater accuracy with which the last census 
 was taken. The increase took place in all divisions 
 except Burdwan, in which the decrease was as much 
 as 3 per cent. In certain areas the decrease varied 
 from 12 to 1 6-86 per cent. This decrease is due to 
 the notorious Burdwan fever, which has ruined 
 populous villages, and left a shattered, asthenic, and 
 anaemic population. It was emphatically declared 
 by the Civil Surgeon of Burdwan and the Sanitary 
 Commissioner that the death-rate from fever in 1872 
 was seventy or eighty per thousand; it is true the 
 recorded death-rate was only twelve per thousand, 
 but vital and mortuary statistics for rural Bengal 
 (excluding municipal areas) are very defective. In 
 the North-Eastern portion of the Midnapore district 
 people are now fleeing from the fever as from a 
 plague. Numbers of abandoned and ruined houses 
 may be seen; tanks are choked with weeds; paths 
 are overgrown with jungle, The true cause of the 
 fever has not been ascertained ; it has attacked with 
 equal virulence jungly and populous areas, the low- 
 lying alluvial thanas, and the loftier laterite soils. 
 
 Only the littoral thanas along the Bay of Bengal 
 have been attacked in a lesser degree. Even where 
 
1 20 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 the fever has disappeared, it has left its victims with 
 permanently enlarged spleens and other complica- 
 tions, which frequently convert ordinary assaults into 
 cases of culpable homicide. If an accused is aware of 
 the prevalence of such disease in a district, and also 
 aware of the risk to life involved in striking a person 
 afflicted with such disease, he may find himself com- 
 mitted for culpable homicide, or at least, under 
 sec. 3O4A of the Penal Code, for causing death by a 
 rash act. In Burdwan and Midnapore it is a common 
 thing to have to postpone cases owing to the parties 
 or their witnesses being down with fever. A Mukhtar 
 commences to shake when addressing the Court, and 
 a witness is often seized with a fit of ague in the 
 witness-box; while the amount of casual and sick 
 leave that has to be given to clerks and ministerial 
 subordinates is heartrending to officers, who feel that 
 they must get through their work and leave no arrears. 
 The area of the Lieutenant-Governorship of Bengal 
 is 193,198 square miles, with a population of 69,536,861, 
 a number which does not fall far short of the total 
 population of France and the United Kingdom added 
 together. There are forty-five districts in Bengal, 
 nine of which have a population of more than two 
 million souls each, while only seven fall below three- 
 quarters of a million. The average size of a district 
 is 3)3 2 3 square miles, which is larger than any county 
 in England and Ireland except Yorkshire. The 
 largest district (Lohardugga) exceeds the area of 
 
DEN SIT Y OF POP ULA TION. 1 2 1 
 
 Wales and the county of York added together. The 
 next largest (Hazaribagh) contains 7,021 square miles, 
 and is larger than the Irish province of Connaught 
 Sub-divisions of districts are a little larger than 
 Middlesex. 
 
 According to the report of the Registrar-General 
 upon the English census of 1871, "any density of a large 
 country approaching 200 to a square mile implies mines, 
 manufactures, or the industry of cities." But in India 
 a density of thrice this limit is often attained through- 
 out large districts which are entirely dependent upon 
 agriculture. The average density of the Valley of the 
 Ganges is 500 to the square mile. The Province of 
 Behar has a mean density of rural inhabitants of 
 499-15 to the square mile, while Bengal proper has 
 371-41. The districts of Sarun and Mozufferpore have 
 more than 800 inhabitants to the square mile, while 
 Howrah (which, however, is not entirely rural) has as 
 many as 1,130. The Cotes du Nord Department of 
 France has only 170, while in the United States of 
 America an average of from 18 to 45 indicates a 
 successful state of agriculture. The Patna Division is 
 the most densely populated, and the Commissioner 
 of this division rules over thrice as many people as 
 the King of the Belgians or the Khedive of Egypt. 
 There may be said to be a " congeries gentium " (or a 
 " colluvies gentium," having regard to the number of 
 thieving castes) at the confluence of the Ganges, the 
 Gogra, the Gunduck, and the Sone. 
 
122 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 A comparison of the respective proportions of, the 
 urban and rural population with European countries is 
 even more striking. In Bengal the urban population 
 is only 5-26 of the whole, while in England and Wales 
 it is 66 per cent, in America 22, and in France 31. In 
 the Province of Orissa only 3 percent, of the population 
 is urban, while in the Feudatory States the proportion 
 is less than one-half per cent. In the whole of British 
 India only forty-four towns have more than 50,000 
 inhabitants, with an aggregate population of five and- 
 a-half millions or less than 3 per cent, of the total popu- 
 lation, whereas the thirty-four towns in England and 
 Wales exceeding the same limit have an aggregate 
 urban population of nearly seven and-a-half millions, 
 or 32 per cent, of the total. 
 
 As regards religious belief, the population of the 
 province has been divided into Hindus (45,452,806), 
 Sikhs, Mahomedans (21,704,724), Christians (128,135), 
 Buddhists, Brahmos, Jains, Jews, Parsees, and " all 
 others " (such as Sontals, Kols, and other aboriginal 
 tribes). It is noteworthy that the number of 
 Christians has increased since 1872 to the extent of 
 40-71 per cent, the increase being partly due to 
 immigration from Europe, and partly to conversions 
 from heathendom, chiefly among the hill-tribes. As 
 to the Hindu religion, the " Sacred Books of the 
 East " and works like " Indian Wisdom " give us no 
 conception of the beliefs of to-day. It may be said 
 roughly that if two Hindus are taken at random, and 
 
MODERN HINDUISM. 1 23 
 
 asked what they believe in, their answers will not be 
 the same. The Hindu religion of to-day is a medley 
 of religions, an olla podrida, a cosmogony rather than 
 a code of ethics. Burning of the dead is not an 
 invariable characteristic of Hinduism, for some Hindu 
 ascetics, such as Boishtoms, are buried. Some of the 
 lower castes burn and bury indifferently, and crema- 
 tion is a common Buddhist practice. Perhaps the 
 cardinal feature of Hinduism is Brahmanism, the 
 receipt of religious services at the hands of Brahmans. 
 Almost every low-caste or outcast tribe has its own 
 priests of undoubted Brahman origin ( x ). Even con- 
 verts to Islamism retain and fee Brahmans as a matter 
 of course, while some actually employ them to conduct 
 their marriages after the Hindu ceremonial, only 
 adding the Mahomedan ritual as a legal precaution. 
 
 But Brahman sacerdotalism is not so exacting as in 
 former days, the instinct of self-preservation having 
 compelled it to allow more latitude. A Hindu must 
 observe caste rules and restrictions, and he must 
 reverence and feed the Brahmans ; but so long as he 
 does this, he may worship what gods he pleases with- 
 out any limit as to number. New gods are constantly 
 being added to the Hindu Pantheon, especially where 
 Hinduism comes into contact with hill-tribes. In this 
 respect the Hindu religion is very accommodating to 
 all beliefs indigenous to India, but draws the line at 
 
 * Even the Domes have Dome Pundits or Dome Brahmans. 
 
124 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 foreign importations (Christianity and Islam). The 
 Hindu gods will brook disbelief and sin, but not 
 neglect ; they are propitiated by sacrifices and cere- 
 monial observances, and so long as they get these, 
 they do not mind if other gods are worshipped as 
 an additional precaution against evil. Indeed, certain 
 gods can only ward off certain sorts of evil. 
 
 Not the least striking feature of Hinduism 
 is Totemism, or nature-worship. It is well known 
 that Hindus worship certain animals and numerous 
 inanimate objects ( 1 ). But, in spite of the above 
 characteristics of Hinduism, there can be no doubt 
 that a strong monotheistic bias is making itself 
 visible not only among educated Hindus, but also 
 among the peasantry. This is due, no doubt, to 
 
 0) "The Hindus," says the Abb6 Dubois, "pay honour and 
 worship, less or more solemn, to almost every living creature, 
 whether quadruped, bird, or reptile. The cow, the ape, the 
 eagle (garuda), and the serpent receive the highest honours." 
 Among the Todas, when the herd of cattle is driven back at 
 evening to the tuel, such of the members of the family as are 
 present assemble and make obeisance to the animals (Trans. 
 Ethn. Soc., N.S., vol. vii., pp. 250, 253). In Pooree, Hindus will 
 not even kill a cobra, when they find one in their houses. They 
 catch it, and let it loose on the sea-shore, whence, of course, it 
 makes its way back to their houses . But it must not be sup- 
 posed that there is everywhere the same veneration for animals. 
 The sacred monkeys of Benares used to do so much damage 
 that the shopkeepers subscribed for their deportation, and many 
 advocated their slaughter. I have had cases before me in 
 which Hindus have sold cows to Musulmans, knowing the latter 
 were going to slaughter them. 
 
CONJUGAL CONDITION. 125 
 
 the juxta-position of Islamism, and, I venture to think, 
 of Christianity, though in a far smaller degree. Low- 
 caste Hindus often become converts to Islamism, as 
 they thereby gain a certain status. A large propor- 
 tion of the Musulmans of Eastern Bengal were origi- 
 nally Hindoos. In the North- Western Provinces, 
 Behar, and some parts of Bengal, the lower classes 
 of the Hindus join in the Mohurrum festivities, and 
 even prepare and carry the taboots and tazeahs^ which 
 are carried in procession, and afterwards thrown into 
 rivers ( 1 ). 
 
 As regards conjugal condition, 4671 of the males 
 are single, 49*30 are married, and 3-98 widowed, while 
 the corresponding figures for females are 2971, 49-00, 
 and 21-27 respectively. Out of every 100 boys below 
 the age of 10 years, rather less than 4 are married, 
 
 (*) I have seen a Hindoo make an obeisance on passing a 
 Mahomedan mosque. In the same way Hindus, who live 
 among aboriginal hill-tribes, sometimes worship their deities. 
 The Sontals worship large trees, and suppose their deities to 
 reside in them, and Hindus located in Sontal villages have a 
 feeling akin to reverence for these trees. Again, Mahomedans 
 are influenced by Hindu religion. I may mention the following 
 remarkable illustration which has come under my notice. When 
 small-pox is prevalent, Hindus fix long bamboos, with bits of 
 cloth attached, near their houses to propitiate the goddess 
 Takurani (the disease itself is known as Takurani}. I have 
 noticed that low-class Musulmans do the same thing. The idea 
 is much the same as that with which a suitor fees the Hakim's 
 amla, constables, or chaprassees. The bestowal of an illegal 
 gratification cannot do any harm, and it may possibly do some 
 good. It is as well to propitiate everybody. 
 
1 26 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 while the number of married girls of the same age is 
 II. From 10 to 20 years of age, 71 boys in 100 
 are still bachelors, while among girls of the same age 
 only 19 are unmarried, 76 being married, and 4 being 
 widows. The marriage ceremony constitutes the 
 marriage, though the bride does not go to her hus- 
 band's house (as a general rule) before reaching the 
 age of puberty. If before that date the husband 
 dies, the girl is a virgin-widow, and remains so for 
 life. Cohabitation is not necessary to consummate 
 marriage consensus, non concubitus, facit matri- 
 monium. 
 
 Restrictions on intermarriage are either religious or 
 social. A man may not marry a woman of the same 
 patronymic (gotra) as his father, or who is descended 
 from his paternal or maternal ancestors within six 
 degrees. Among Musulrnans, only the sister, niece, 
 and aunt are excluded, in addition to those in the 
 direct line of descent. With the exception of the Konds, 
 who consider it more manly to seek their wives in a 
 distant country, I am not aware of the existence in 
 Lower Bengal of any laws of endogamy or exogamy^). 
 Social restrictions may be referred to the laws of 
 
 (!) These words refer to tribal restrictions. An exogamous 
 tribe may not marry within the tribe. Mr. Ibbetson mentions 
 the prevalence of exogamy in the Punjab; for instance, a Man 
 Jat may not marry a Man Jat. The rule obtaining in parts of 
 Bengal that a man must not marry a woman of his own village, 
 or of any conterminous, or even contiguous, village, but must 
 take a wife from a distance, is probably a relic of exogamy. 
 
IN TERM A RRIA GE. 1 27 
 
 isogamy and hypergamy. Those who infringe these 
 rules sink in the social scale, but the marriage is none 
 the less binding. Ordinarily, where a caste consists 
 of several sections or sub-divisions, marriage can only 
 take place between members of the same section. 
 But this is not always so. The father of a Brahman 
 girl (who belongs to the Piroli or Mowlik section) 
 must try and obtain a Kulin for her husband (=hyper- 
 gamy). Kulins are the highest section, and a Kulin 
 girl would be utterly disgraced if she married any 
 man below the rank of Kulin (= isogamy). Kulin 
 bridegrooms often receive large sums of money for 
 marrying girls of inferior caste. A Kulin may perhaps 
 have twenty wives, and live on his fathers-in-law, 
 visiting each in turn, and taking away presents on his 
 departure (*). It is shameful for a nubile daughter 
 not to be married, and it is impossible to marry her to 
 a man of lower caste. 
 
 By law and custom alike a Musulman may marry 
 four, and a Hindu two, wives. But, as a matter of 
 fact, it is very rare for a Hindu to have a second wife, 
 and rare even among Musulmans (except perhaps the 
 more wealthy), unless the first wife proves barren, or 
 
 (*) This practice is disappearing, and is looked on with dis- 
 favour among educated Brahmans. Still poor fathers of high- 
 caste girls often have to marry them to old men, owing to the 
 expense of procuring a young bridegroom of the same caste. 
 There have been instances in which young girls have been 
 married to Kulin octogenarians, just as the latter were stretched 
 on charpoys, and about to expire on the banks of the Ganges. 
 
128 A DMINISTRA TION OF INDIA . 
 
 bears daughters only. The man who marries a second 
 wife, though his first wife is good and faithful and has 
 borne him a son, is a mark for reproach. Among 
 certain castes (notably the cultivators of Orissa) the 
 natural process of devolution, by which the widow of 
 the elder brother descends to the younger brother, 
 leads to a man often having two wives. It must not 
 be supposed from this fact that widow-re-marriage is 
 common or even permitted in Bengal. Though such 
 marriages were declared legal in the viceroyalty of 
 Lord Bentinck, yet there have been very few of them. 
 Among the lower castes, widows are allowed to re- 
 marry, and commonly do so. Among Hindus proper 
 it is not so (*). Having regard to the social life of 
 the natives, I am inclined to think that the circle of 
 widow-re-marriage, so far from increasing, has a ten- 
 dency to become narrower. As any caste or portion 
 of a caste becomes wealthy or influential, the seclusion 
 and jealous appropriation of the weaker sex becomes 
 stricter, and the tendency to enforce perpetual widow- 
 hood becomes stronger. The upper classes of culti- 
 vators are introducing the purdah system more and 
 more, and a low-caste man, on becoming well-to-do, 
 invariably builds his pucka (masonry) house, with a 
 high brick wall surrounding it, constructs a private 
 
 (!) In Bengal, whether a certain caste is or is not within the 
 pale of the Hindu community, might be decided by the fact of 
 prohibition or permission of widow re-marriage. This test 
 would be less satisfactory in Behar and Orissa. 
 
FEMALE INFANTICIDE. . 129 
 
 privy, and has a well dug in his yard, so that his 
 women shall not have to go out for their diurnal 
 ablutions. Even among the higher classes of Maho- 
 medans a prejudice is gaining ground against the re- 
 marriage of widows. These facts show how difficult 
 it is to alter social customs, though a Government 
 may do much in shaping moral and material pro- 
 gress o. 
 
 It is a significant fact that in Bengal the increase in 
 the number of females since the previous census was 
 nearly i per cent, more than that of males ; and in 
 this connection a few remarks as to the disappearance 
 of infanticide may not be inappropriate. Though 
 there is no actual infanticide, there still appears to 
 exist among certain classes a certain depreciation of 
 female child life. This depreciation is confined to 
 certain sections of the upper classes, among whom 
 strict ideas of hypergamy and isogamy prevail, and 
 generally to those castes who have to pay large sums 
 on the marriage of their daughters. On the other 
 hand, among other classes, a girl is a " marketable 
 commodity," which can be disposed of for a price. 
 Many castes depend on their daughters to procure 
 wives for their sons by exchange of betrothal. Among 
 
 (*) Any action taken by Government officials in such matters 
 might be liable to misconstruction. Individuals unconnected 
 with India might do real good by devoting their attention to 
 these and kindred subjects, and leave the Government to look 
 after the revenue administration. 
 
 K 
 
1 30 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 the lower castes especially girls are considered as a 
 valuable property and well taken care of, and large 
 sums are often demanded and paid on their being 
 given in marriage. Darwin has shown that a practice 
 such as female infanticide would result in an hereditary 
 tendency to produce more male than female children, 
 and that this tendency is sufficient of itself to explain 
 any present deficiency of females without supposing 
 that the habit still survives ( 1 ). In India there is an 
 excessive female mortality during middle and mature 
 age, which is to a great extent accounted for by un- 
 healthy confinement and seclusion among the upper 
 classes, and overwork among the lower. 
 
 The statistics of occupation are not altogether re- 
 liable, but a few prominent facts may be briefly noted 
 for the information of English readers in particular. 
 The agricultural class absorbs more than half the popu- 
 lation in every division of the province, ranging from 
 50-12 per cent, in the Presidency Division to 68-56 
 per cent in Rajshaye. The Hindus have altogether 
 outstripped the Mahomedans in the race for Govern- 
 ment and professional employment, and we find that, 
 out of the population capable of work, the number of 
 
 ( x ) Even in the Panjab, where female infanticide was most 
 prevalent, the number of female births per 1,000 male births is 
 948. The number in England is 957 ; in France and Austria, 
 942; in Russia only 91 8; in Philadelphia, 905. Darwin men- 
 tions that the proportion is only 833 among the Livarian Jews, 
 but 962 among Christians in Livaria. 
 
PRINCIPAL CASTES. 131 
 
 Hindoos engaged in agriculture is only 49-28 per 
 cent, while the proportion of Mahomedans is as high 
 as 02-81 per cent. Of the whole female population of 
 the province, 83 per cent, were returned as unem- 
 ployed ; but each of the following occupations has 
 more than 100,000 female followers, namely, cultiva- 
 tors, grain-huskers, thread-spinners, beggars, maid- 
 servants, shop-keepers, agricultural labourers, fish- 
 sellers, and cotton cloth- weavers. It is notorious that 
 numbers of women of easy virtue returned themselves 
 as paddy-huskers or thread-spinners, and perhaps this 
 was half the truth, as paddy-husking is often but an 
 ostensible occupation, adopted by widows as a cover 
 for intrigues and illicit amours. 
 
 Thirteen castes have more than a million represen- 
 tatives each: Gwala (3,992,949), Brahman (2,754,100), 
 Koibortto (2,100,379), Koch, Chandal, Kayasth, Raj- 
 put, Chemar, Teli, Kurmi, Koeri, Dosadh, and Babhan. 
 Thirty castes may be called ubiquitous castes, as they 
 are found in every division of the province, and are all 
 castes of general utility indispensable to the micro- 
 cosm of the Bengal village. The occupations of some 
 of them may be briefly referred to. The Bania sells 
 spices and condiments; the Barui and Tamuli grow 
 and vend pan-leaf and betel-nut; the Madak and 
 Kandu (confectioner) are a necessity among a people 
 whose food is chiefly farinaceous ; the Chemar skins 
 carcasses and makes shoes, while his wife is the mid- 
 wife of the village ; the Dom and Hari are scavengers ; 
 
 K 2 
 
132 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 some Domes weave baskets and are employed at cre- 
 mations to apply the torch to the corpse ; then we 
 have the Dhobi (washerman), Gwala (cow-keeper), 
 Tanti and Jogi (weavers) ; Teli (oil-presser and seller) ; 
 Bhuinya and Kharwar (labourers); Jaliya, Teor, Mallah 
 (fishermen and boatmen); Napit (barber also used 
 at marriage ceremonies) ; Soonri (distiller of country 
 spirit) ; Mali (grower of flowers for the local shrine) ; 
 Karmakar (carpenter); Kumhar (potter); Kahar (palki- 
 carrier); Brahman, Rajput, Kayasth, and Kurmi. It 
 is a noteworthy fact that the castes, who are most 
 required for ordinary village life, have taken least to 
 agriculture, and the restriction of caste to its eponymic 
 occupation is most marked in the case of trades re- 
 quiring special manual training, e.g., weavers, tailors, 
 goldsmiths, coppersmiths, &c. The large body of 
 artisans is due, not to any special addiction to indus- 
 trial enterprise, but to the self-sufficing constitution of 
 the Indian village. That the goldsmiths should out- 
 number the blacksmiths appears somewhat extraordi- 
 nary; but the fact is due to the unsettled state of the 
 country in former times, which led to hoarding and 
 to the investment of savings in jewellery, habits which 
 are still strong even now. Moreover, even among the 
 poorest castes, the endowment of the bride with fresh 
 ornaments constitutes a leading feature of the marriage 
 ceremonial. 
 
 As regards infirmities, Bengal has four insanes, 
 icurteen blind persons, twelve deaf-mutes, and eight 
 
INFIRMITIES. 133 
 
 lepers, for every 10,000 of its population. The number 
 of lepers has probably been understated. Insanity is 
 most prevalent in the Rajshaye division, where the 
 population is largely Mahomedan, and where the 
 pernicious drug ganja with its various preparations is 
 largely consumed. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ROAD CESS AND PUBLIC WORKS CESS, DRAINAGE, 
 EMBANKMENTS, AND IRRIGATION. 
 
 Road Cess and Public Works Cess Mode and Rate of Assess- 
 ment Application of District Road Fund Road Cess 
 Committees Village Roads and Communications Tree- 
 Planting Various Sorts of Irrigation Tank- Irrigation 
 Duties of Zemindars Embankments Drainage Variance 
 in Rainfall Distribution of Rainfall Canal Irrigation in 
 Bengal Compulsory and Voluntary Systems Surreptitious 
 Irrigation Well Irrigation Mileage of Canals Direct 
 and indirect Benefits of Canals. 
 
 " THE CESS ACT, 1880," is an Act which provides for 
 the construction and maintenance of district roads 
 and other means of communication, and of provincial 
 public works, and for the levy of a road cess and a 
 public works cess on immoveable property, and for 
 the constitution of local committees for the manage- 
 ment and expenditure of the proceeds of the road 
 cess. The public works cess is paid into Govern- 
 ment, and the local committees have nothing to do 
 with its expenditure. 
 
RATE Of CESS. 135 
 
 These cesses are assessed on the annual value of 
 lands and on the annual net profits from mines, 
 quarries, tramways, railways, and other immoveable 
 property. The rate for each cess may not exceed 3J- 
 per cent. It is the duty of the Collector to make a 
 valuation of his district from time to time. Proclama- 
 tions are issued calling on landholders to lodge certain 
 returns, and if they omit to furnish the necessary 
 information within the time allowed, they may be fined 
 by the Collector, and they are, moreover precluded from 
 suing for or recovering rent until the return has been 
 lodged. The Collector sends a list of defaulters to the 
 Civil Court, and such Court is bound to take judicial 
 notice of the same. When once a valuation or re- 
 valuation has been made, it remains in force for five 
 years ; but, with the sanction of the Board of Revenue, 
 the Collector may, at any time, reduce it. 
 
 The rate at which the road cess is to be levied for 
 any particular year is fixed by the Road Cess Com- 
 mittee. The majority of the Committee are native 
 members, some of them being landholders, and, in 
 their own interests as well as those of the public, they 
 generally advocate the imposition of the maximum 
 rate, which is barely sufficient for the thorough main- 
 tenance of existing communications. Landholders 
 are allowed to recover from subordinate tenure-holders 
 and ryots one-half of the entire amount of cesses pay- 
 able by them. As a matter of fact, in districts where 
 the zemindars are powerful (in perhaps twenty-five 
 
136 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 or thirty out of forty-five districts) they recover much 
 more and sometimes even the whole amount. Sitting 
 as a Civil Court, I have often had plaints for arrears 
 of rent presented, in which the plaintiff actually 
 claimed the whole amount of cesses. It is facts such 
 as these that prove the necessity for a revision of the 
 rent law. The Tenancy Bills first drawn up may 
 have gone a little too far in curtailing the rights and 
 privileges of the zemindar class; but all men who 
 know the country and have studied the subject are 
 agreed that the ryots require further security and pro- 
 tection from eviction, arbitrary enhancement, and 
 imposition of illegal cesses ( 1 ). 
 
 The District Road Fund of a district is applicable 
 to the payment of establishments, to the repair, main- 
 tenance, and construction of roads, bridges, water- 
 channels, and other means of communication, to the 
 planting of trees by the road side, and to the construc- 
 tion and maintenance of any means and appliances 
 for improving the supply of drinking-water, or for 
 providing or improving drainage. All works are 
 carried out by the District Engineer and his subordi- 
 nate staff. The District Committee frame estimates of 
 income and expenditure for each year; which, with 
 certain exceptions, have to be sanctioned by the 
 Commissioner and Superintending Engineer of the 
 Division. The Committee meets once or twice a 
 
 (!) The Tenancy Bill has since become law. (Act VIII. of 
 1885). 
 
THE CESS DEMAND. 13? 
 
 month, and the accounts are audited monthly by a 
 Sub-Committee especially appointed for the purpose. 
 In India the ordinary official year commences on 
 the ist April. During this month the multifarious 
 annual reports for the previous year are submitted. 
 The police and criminal year, however, corresponds 
 with the calendar year, while the cess year commences 
 on the ist October. Works cannot ordinarily be 
 commenced till after the cutting of the paddy crop in 
 December, and contractors are generally given up to 
 July or August to complete their contracts. This 
 leaves time for the auditing of accounts, and for the 
 preparation and sanction of estimates for the new 
 year. The current demand -of the cess year, 1883-84, 
 in respect of both road cess and public works cess 
 rose from 701,099 to 731,081, the total increase 
 amounting to 29,986. This was wholly due to 
 re-valuations, no change having been made in the 
 rates at which either of the cesses was levied. Only 
 half the above amount (i. e., the road cess only), is 
 available for expenditure on roads. The average size 
 of a district in Bengal is 3,323 square miles, and each 
 district has, on an average, about 8,000 a year to 
 spend on its roads. About 15 per cent of this is 
 swallowed up by cost of establisments. Small village 
 roads and communications are generally made under 
 the direct supervision of the Joint Magistrate or 
 Assistant Magistrate. Often small sums are made 
 over to indigo-planters, trustworthy zemindars, village- 
 
138 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 headmen, or committee members on their personal 
 receipt and undertaking that they will execute some 
 particular work during the coming season ; oftener, 
 half is given as an advance, and half on the completion 
 of the work, which is inspected by the Joint or Assistant 
 Magistrate. In the advanced districts, near Calcutta, 
 the applications made by villagers for the repair and 
 improvement of their village roads are very numerous. 
 Some Collectors discourage such applications, think- 
 ing that money is frittered away and wasted ; but 
 the proclamation issued in 1873, after the passing of 
 the Road Cess Act, stated that " every taxpayer is 
 encouraged and invited to claim that the tax shall be 
 fairly applied to the village roads and local paths or 
 water-channels in which he is interested. The Govern- 
 ment will use every effort to see that such local claims 
 are fairly met, and that every taxpayer derives a fair 
 benefit from the tax which he pays." Whether the 
 money is wasted or not depends very much on indi- 
 vidual energy and activity. If the officer in charge of 
 village roads is lazy or apathetic, the money is very 
 probably wasted. On the other hand, if he is an 
 active and energetic officer, rides out and inspects 75 
 per cent, of the work, not only are the sums allotted 
 fully spent, but those who receive them often add 
 money of their own to make a better show, and to get 
 some words of praise or acknowledgment from the 
 hakim. In the advanced districts, near Calcutta, 
 there is very little opportunity for peculation. There 
 
TREE-PLANTING. 139 
 
 are dola-dolees or rival factions in almost every village, 
 and if the man who receives the money delays in 
 spending it, or does not do the work properly, some 
 member of the opposite faction very quickly brings 
 his shortcomings to the notice of the officer in charge 
 of village roads. 
 
 Tree-planting is carried on to a great extent. Some 
 Collectors have been particularly energetic in this 
 respect, and have planted hundreds of miles of roads 
 in their districts with beautiful trees. Where these 
 trees are fruit trees, such as mango, jack, and even 
 tamarind, they are likely to be of great service in 
 times of scarcity ; and at all times they afford a 
 welcome shade for the weary traveller. Regular nur- 
 series of trees have been established at most head- 
 quarter stations, under the charge of the District 
 Engineer, who every year plants a few additional 
 miles of road with trees. 
 
 The country is still backward in the matter of com- 
 munications, both by road and railway. Under native 
 rule, the absence of roads and the impassability of the 
 country were regarded as a sort of natural defence 
 against the incursions of neighbours ; and, even at the 
 present time, such ideas prevail among many of the 
 Rajas and zemindars of tributary States, such as 
 those to the west and south of Orissa. For a long 
 time the English were too much taken up with the 
 pacification of the country to turn their attention 
 to systematic road-making ; and it was only during 
 
140 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 the last thirty years of their existence that the East 
 India Company keenly realized the importance of 
 having good lines of road, and took action accordingly. 
 Still, even at the present time, very much remains to 
 be done. There are thousands of miles of unmetalled 
 roads, which are almost impassable during the rainy 
 season, and in many districts almost the whole of the 
 available road cess money is swallowed up in the 
 maintenance of existing metalled roads. Pack-bullocks 
 have not been entirely superseded by carts, and there 
 are vast areas of country inaccessible even to pack- 
 bullocks during the rains. Local taxation in India is 
 very light, but it is, perhaps, better that the country 
 should be backward than that the popularity of our 
 rule should be endangered by additional taxation. 
 
 There are special Acts dealing with drainage, em- 
 bankments, and irrigation, which are administered by 
 the Collectors. Irrigation is of three sorts, from tanks, 
 from wells, and from canals. In the first case, the 
 works either impound a supply from rivers, or small 
 catchment areas, or collect a supply by means of 
 embankments thrown across valleys or gorges. Tank- 
 irrigation is of especial importance in the Madras 
 Presidency. The public duty of maintaining ancient 
 tanks, and of constructing new ones, was originally 
 undertaken by the Government of India ; and, upon 
 the settlement of the country has, in many instances, 
 devolved upon zemindars. Such zemindars have no 
 power to do away with these tanks, in the maintenance 
 
TANKS AND EMBANKMENTS. 141 
 
 of which large numbers of people are interested, but 
 are charged under Indian law, by reason of their 
 tenure, with the duty of preserving and repairing 
 them. The question often arises how far a zemindar 
 is liable for damage caused by the breach of the banks 
 of any tank in his possession. It has been held by 
 the Privy Council that the rights and liabilities of 
 zemindars, in such a case, are analogous to those of 
 persons or corporations on whom statutory powers 
 have been conferred and statutory duties imposed ; 
 that is, they are not liable unless negligence can be 
 proved. It was held by the Exchequer Chamber in 
 the case of Vaughan v. The Taff Railway Company, 
 that a railway company are not responsible for 
 damage from fire kindled by sparks from their loco- 
 motive engine, in the absence of negligence, because 
 they are authorized by statute to use locomotive 
 engines. The same principle has very properly been 
 applied to public tanks and embankments in India. 
 
 In the lower valleys of the Ganges and Brahma- 
 putra, and along the deltaic sea-board, flood is a more 
 formidable enemy than drought, and embankments 
 there take the place of canals. There is an important 
 schedule attached to the Embankment Act for Lower 
 Bengal, which shows that the total length of embank- 
 ments under State control is 1,170 miles. But the 
 Public Works Department actually inspects and looks 
 after some 2,800 miles of embankments, including all 
 those that are repaired by zemindars. There are 
 
142 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 embankments 130 miles long on both sides of the river 
 Gunduck in Behar ; and there are extensive lines of 
 embankments along the principal rivers in Orissa, such 
 as the Mahanadi and Brahmini. On the security of 
 these embankments depends the safety and welfare of 
 teeming populations ; and when breaches are caused 
 by unusual floods and inundations, and the low-lying 
 country becomes one vast lagoon, it is to these em- 
 bankments that the villagers repair for safety until the 
 floods subside. In Lower Bengal, with its plenteous 
 rainfall, there is perhaps more need of drainage than 
 of irrigation. In 1875, the Bengal Government esti- 
 mated the area under swamps, needing drainage and 
 reclamation,- at full half a million of acres, and much 
 of this is being gradually reclaimed. During the year 
 1882-83 more than five lakhs of rupees were spent 
 from Imperial funds on drainage and embankment 
 works. 
 
 Though there is no demand for irrigation in the 
 greater part of Bengal, still a benevolent Government 
 has constructed works in a few exceptional tracts 
 where experience has shown that occasional drought 
 has to be feared. Not only does the amount of rain- 
 fall differ considerably in different districts, but it 
 varies not a little from year to year even in the same 
 district. Moreover, even when the number of inches 
 does not fall short of the average, the distribution may 
 be so irregular as to cause a partial or total failure of 
 the crops. India has been divided into twenty-two 
 
ANNUAL RAINFALL. 143 
 
 " meteorological tracts ;" and the following extract 
 from a table of average annual rainfall (*) illustrates 
 the above remarks : 
 
 Rainfall in inches. 
 Sind and Cutch .... 9 
 
 Punjab plains 22 
 
 South Deccan . . . 25 
 
 North Deccan plateau . . . 28 
 Upper Ganges plains, N.W.P. . 38 
 Central Provinces (South) . . 49 
 Western Bengal .... 56 
 Lower Ganges plains . . . 68 
 Assam and East Bengal . .96 
 Malabar and Ghats . . ..112 
 Concan and Ghats . . .145 
 
 Arakan 193 
 
 The above table shows how the Madras Govern- 
 ment has been able to make irrigation compulsory, 
 while the Bengal Government has not ventured to 
 doso( 2 ). 
 
 In Bengal, the ryots may take the water or not, as 
 they please. If they take it, they pay an irrigation 
 rate of three shillings per acre. The battle of com- 
 pulsory versus voluntary rates has never troubled 
 the Madras Government. A "wet" assessment is 
 
 ( x ) Report for 1879 of the Select Committee on Indian Public 
 Works. 
 
 ( 2 ) Perhaps irrigation might safely be made compulsory in the 
 case of the Sone canals. 
 
144 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 imposed on what is known as the irrigable ayacut, that 
 is, the total area capable of being irrigated. In this 
 matter the Madras Government have perhaps shown 
 good sense, and at any rate they have saved them- 
 selves an infinity of trouble. In Bengal, villages 
 sometimes intentionally abstain from taking out leases 
 for water, knowing that they will have many opportu- 
 nities of getting it surreptitiously. For instance, the 
 village A adjoins a canal. The village B lies beyond 
 A, and the villagers take leases for water. The culti- 
 vators of A know that, to get to B, the water must be 
 conveyed by a channel through their village. They 
 therefore abstain from leasing themselves, in the hope 
 of getting the water for nothing. Some fine morning 
 a canal overseer or patrol sees that the bunds of the 
 distributary channel have been cut in several places, 
 and that the lands of A, which sadly needed water, 
 have now got all they require. Such an act of course 
 amounts to the offence of mischief under the Penal 
 Code ; but the bunds are cut at night, and nothing 
 can be proved against any particular individuals. 
 Sometimes a patrol swears to having seen parti- 
 cular persons do the act, but the villagers are com- 
 bined, and it is impossible to procure any independent 
 evidence to corroborate him. For these reasons the 
 Collector is empowered to impose a penalty rate of 
 assessment on all lands surreptitiously irrigated. He 
 must of course find that the villagers have cut the 
 bund, or have actively taken the water in some other 
 
IRRIGATION. 145 
 
 way. If the water has made its way on to their lands 
 by overflow or percolation, or without any contribu- 
 tive action on their part, they cannot be assessed. 
 When there is any doubt, the cultivators get the 
 benefit of it, and in this way a certain amount of 
 revenue is lost to Government Five-yearly leases 
 are granted at reduced rates to induce the cultivators 
 to lease. Under the optional and voluntary system it 
 is of course very aggravating for a canal officer to find 
 that a number of villagers half a mile distant from the 
 canal have all leased, while the intermediate villages 
 hold back and refuse to. This renders it necessary to 
 make irrigation as popular as possible by cheapening 
 it and holding out special inducements to lease. It 
 sometimes happens (notably in the case of the Mid- 
 napore canal) that in some particular year the rainfall 
 is considerably above the average, and that, owing to 
 the want of drainage, lands that have leased get 
 more water than they require, and the crops suffer 
 in consequence. In such cases the Collector, after 
 satisfying himself by due inquiry, remits the water- 
 rate. 
 
 A vast amount of irrigation is carried on by means 
 of wells, which are often mere holes in the earth sunk 
 at a cost of four or five rupees. Some of the very 
 best cultivation is carried on by well-irrigation, for 
 instance, the wheat of Northern India, the sugar-cane 
 and poppy of Behar, the potato and other vegetable 
 crops of Bengal, the turmeric and tobacco of Orissa. 
 
 L 
 
146 ADMINISTRA TlON OF INDIA. 
 
 The cultivators appear to think that well-water is 
 warmer and more fertilizing than canal water. 
 
 There are altogether about 18,000 miles of canals 
 and branches in India, not counting the length of 
 distributing channels. The area irrigated amounts to 
 !>935>ooo acres in Madras, 41 1,000 acres in Bengal, 
 Behar and Orissa, 1, 811,000 acres in the North- 
 Western Provinces and Oudh, 668,000 acres in the 
 Panjab, and 324,000 in Bombay and Sind, in all more 
 than five millions of acres. This is the irrigated area, 
 the irrigable area being even larger. The capital out- 
 lay by the State on this canal system may be set 
 down at 20^ millions sterling, on which the net returns 
 yield an interest of 6 per cent. " Apart from the 
 direct receipts from the canals," says Sir Richard 
 Temple, "there are many indirect benefits which 
 accrue in all cases. These benefits are represented 
 by the security afforded to agriculture, the insurance 
 provided for the people against the extremities of 
 drought and famine, the protection of the land 
 revenue, the instruction of the husbandmen by the 
 example of the superior husbandry established, and 
 the introduction of superior products. The value of 
 the canals during the recent famines has been inesti- 
 mable; without the irrigation, these calamities, great 
 as they were, would have been indefinitely greater. 
 The value of the produce which the canals saved in 
 order to feed a famishing people, equalled the capital 
 outlay on their construction." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LAND ACQUISITION, LAND REGISTRATION, AND 
 LEGAL PRACTITIONERS. 
 
 Land Acquisition Procedure Rules for awarding Compensa- 
 tion Fairness of Collectors Appeal to Civil Court a 
 Mistake Difficulty of apportioning Compensation Land 
 Registration Register of Estates and Revenue-free Lands 
 Mutations Prevention of Litigation Advantage of 
 Collector's Inquiry Legal Practitioners Insolence of 
 Native Bar towards the Bench Introduction of irrelevant 
 Matter Prolix Cross-Examinations Contempt of Court 
 The Native Press Persistent Defamation of Government 
 Officers Invidious Position of Subordinate Courts Diffi- 
 cult Position of Judicial Officers Revenue Agents 
 Conclusion. 
 
 IN some districts the Collector has a good deal of 
 work in connection with the acquisition of land for 
 public purposes. Land may be required for a rail- 
 way, a new road, a police station, a dispensary, a 
 staging bungalow, or a post-office ; and the duty of 
 taking up the land in accordance with the Land 
 Acquisition Act (X. of 1870) devolves on the Collec- 
 tor. A declaration of the intended acquisition is 
 
 L 2 
 
148 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 published in the local Official Gazette, and the Col- 
 lector, or a Deputy Collector working under his 
 orders, then proceeds to mark out and measure the 
 land, and to ascertain the names of all persons pos- 
 sessing any interests therein. He then proceeds to 
 find out the value of the land, and having determined 
 the amount of compensation which should be allowed 
 to each of such persons, he tenders such amount If 
 the persons interested agree, the Collector makes an 
 award under his hand. If they do not agree, he refers 
 the matter for the determinaton of the District Judge. 
 Two assessors are appointed to aid the Judge, one 
 being nominated by the Collector, and the other by 
 the persons interested. 
 
 The law lays down what matters are, and what 
 matters are not, to be taken into consideration in 
 determining compensation. In the former category 
 are the damage sustained by the person interested by 
 reason of severing the land acquired from his other 
 land ( x ), or, if he is compelled to change his residence, 
 the reasonable expenses incidental to such change. 
 In the latter category are the degree of urgency which 
 has led to the acquisition, any disinclination of the 
 person interested to part with the land acquired, any 
 increase to the value of the land acquired likely to 
 accrue from the use to which it will be put when ac- 
 
 ( J ) In England this is called intersectional or severance 
 damage. Compensation is also given for the damage done to 
 the beauty or amenity of the place. 
 
LAND ACQUISITION. 149 
 
 quired, any outlay or improvements on such land 
 made with the intention of enhancing the compensa- 
 tion. This last provision is very necessary, as land is 
 sometimes purchased simply with the intention of 
 getting compensation. In the year 1880 or 1881 the 
 Sub-divisional Officer of Raneegunge reported a 
 remarkable instance of this. It has long been in- 
 tended to shorten the route from Calcutta to Bombay 
 by extending eastwards the line which has already 
 reached Raipur. Several rival routes were advocated, 
 but immediately it was known that the Government 
 of India had decided in favour of the route from 
 Barrakur through Chota Nagpore, indigo planters and 
 others began to buy up land (then almost valueless) 
 along the line of survey in the hope that it would be 
 required for the railway: of course, even if not actually 
 required for the line of railway, stations, or the like, it 
 would become more and more valuable, as being in 
 the vicinity of a railway. 
 
 If the Judge and one of the assessors agree, their 
 decision is final. If the Judge differs from both asses- 
 sors, his decision prevails, but either the Collector or the 
 person interested may appeal to the next higher 
 Court. Fifteen per cent, over and above the market 
 value of the land is always awarded in consideration 
 of the compulsory nature of the acquisition. If the 
 award of the Civil Court exceeds the amount tendered 
 by the Collector, Government pays all costs ; other- 
 wise they are paid by the parties interested. 
 
ISO ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 It is no easy matter to apportion the compensation, 
 when there are different persons interested in the land. 
 In some parts of Eastern Bengal there are found no 
 fewer than six or seven grades of intermediate tenure- 
 holders between the zemindar and the actual cultivator 
 such is the extent to which sub-infeudation has pro- 
 ceeded. But even when there are only the zemindar 
 annuitant, the putneedar (permanent lease-holder), and 
 the cultivator, it is very difficult to decide what pro- 
 portion of the total compensation each should receive. 
 The Calcutta High Court have laid it down that, as 
 a rule, ryots having a right of occupancy, and the 
 holders of the permanent interest next above the 
 occupancy ryots, are the persons entitled to the larger 
 portion of the compensation-money (I. L. R. 7 Calc. 
 585). In Orissa the Deputy Superintendent of canals, 
 when taking up land for irrigation canals and channels, 
 dealt only with the zemindars,and gave nothing to the 
 ryots, who in many instances were compelled to go on 
 paying rent for lands they had lost. I quote this as 
 an instance of hardship, but I should add that the 
 Deputy Superintendent was neither a civilian nor one 
 of the regular uncovenanted Deputy Collectors, and 
 therefore so important a revenue duty as land acquisi- 
 tion should never have been entrusted to him. The 
 Collector's award must of course cover all interests in 
 land ; and, generally speaking, his awards are fair, and 
 usually accepted. In such a matter as compulsory 
 acquisition of land, it may be advisable and politic to 
 
AWARDS OF COLLECTOR. 151 
 
 allow an appeal to the Civil Courts ; but, as a matter 
 of fact, experience has in not a few cases shown that 
 it is an appeal, if I may so term it, from Philip sober 
 to Philip drunk, in short an appeal from a more com- 
 petent to a less competent tribunal. The Collector is 
 the fiscal authority, he submits weekly reports con- 
 cerning the crops, prices of grain, and similar matters, 
 and he, par excellence, is best able to ascertain the 
 market value of land. If he errs, it is better that his 
 proceedings should be revised by the superior fiscal 
 authorities, namely, the Commissioners and the Board 
 of Revenue. In the Patna District the Judge in a 
 number of cases made some very high awards, con- 
 siderably in excess of the amounts tendered by the 
 Collector. It so happened that soon afterwards the 
 lands were no longer required, and were re-sold by 
 the Collector for Government. The prices realized 
 amounted to less than one-half of the amount tendered 
 by the Collector. This showed that the award of the 
 Collector had at least been sufficiently liberal. In 
 fact, in matters that affect the welfare of the peopl e 
 the District Officer is kind, sympathetic, and (if indigo- 
 planters and other non-officials are to be believed) too 
 considerate and hyper-sensitive. The District Officer 
 does not oppress, grind down, or ride rough-shod over 
 the people, as certain venomous and rabid native 
 prints would have their readers believe. The adminis- 
 tration is so ordered and regulated, there are so 
 many checks in the shape of review, revision, appeal, 
 
1 52 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 and general control, that he has not the means or 
 opportunity to do so, even supposing he had the 
 inclination. 
 
 Another of the duties of a Collector is to prepare 
 and maintain Registers of Revenue-paying and 
 Revenue-free lands, showing the names of the pro- 
 prietors and managers thereof. This work is called 
 Land Registration. Where there is more than one 
 proprietor, the names of all, and the extent of interest 
 possessed by each, have to be entered. Changes of 
 proprietorship by purchase, gift, inheritance, or other- 
 wise, are entered in the registers as they occur ( 1 ). 
 Thus the task of keeping up correct registers is for- 
 midable and laborious. Of course there are rules 
 requiring proprietors to give the necessary informa- 
 tion, and penalties for their failure to do so ; and 
 
 (*) In India the system of land transfer is exceedingly simple 
 and cheap. A proprietor can sell an acre of his land almost as 
 easily as he can sell a bit of furniture or a sack of potatoes. 
 Mortgages are effected with the greatest ease, and at a trifling 
 cost. Sales and mortgages are often carried out without even 
 the aid or intervention of a revenue agent (lowest grade of 
 lawyer on the revenue or collectorate side). "No country in 
 the civilized or uncivilized world possesses so barbarous and 
 extravagant a system of land transfer as this country (England). 
 A brokerage of 10 to 15 per cent, and a delay of three to six 
 months, weigh like a tombstone on every transfer operation in 
 the land market." Duke of Marlborough's letter, Times^ Sept. 
 22nd, 1885. Title has to be investigated, at considerable cost, 
 by regular conveyancers, and purchasers and mortgagees are 
 exposed to fraud, owing to the artificial distinction of legal and 
 equitable estates, and the want of registration. 
 
LAND REGISTRATION. 153 
 
 persons succeeding to or purchasing estates have to 
 register their names within six months from the date 
 of such succession or purchase. 
 
 Frequently the applicant's possession of, succession 
 to, or acquisition by transfer of, the extent of interest 
 in respect of which he has applied to be registered, is 
 disputed by some other person or persons making a 
 conflicting claim. In such a case the Collector tries 
 to find out who is in possession of the interest in 
 dispute ; and if he cannot find that out, he determines 
 summarily the right to possession of the same, and 
 delivers possession accordingly (*). If the question of 
 
 (*) It is somewhat unfortunate that much of the benefit to be 
 expected from a system of land registration should have been 
 nullified by a decision of the High Court (Sir Richard Garth 
 was one of the Judges) that the Collector's order in a land 
 registration case is not even to be regarded as presumptive 
 evidence of the title of the person registered. In Bengal regis- 
 tration of land transfers is compulsory. Therefore if A. is 
 registered as owner in the year 1876, he at any rate becomes 
 indefeasible owner on the lapse of twelve years from the date 
 of registration. As a matter of fact, Collectors and their assis- 
 tants go very thoroughly into contested cases, and such labour 
 is mere waste of time, if their decisions are to have no weight in 
 the Civil Courts. In England, the object of the Land Transfer 
 Acts of 1862 was to give to the person appearing upon the 
 register an indefeasible title to the property or estate, in respect 
 of which he was registered, and to dispense with the necessity, 
 in all future transactions, of tracing the history of previous 
 transactions. The Act of 1875 (the failure of which has been 
 ascribed to professional opposition) provides two main methods 
 for property coming on the register : one with an absolute title, 
 
1 54 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA . 
 
 title is intricate, he refers it for the determination of 
 the principal Civil Court of the district 
 
 There can be no doubt that the Land Registration 
 work, performed by Collectors and Deputy Collectors, 
 saves the Civil Courts an immense amount of litiga- 
 tion. Owing to the fact that persons acquiring any 
 interest in any property are bound to register it within 
 six months, disputes generally come before the Collector 
 when they are fresh, the matter is thoroughly gone 
 into, documents are examined, and evidence is re- 
 corded ; so that, even if the unsuccessful party is not 
 satisfied, but subsequently goes to the Civil Court, 
 the ground has been cleared away, so to speak, and 
 the fact that the dispute has been in Court before 
 prevents to a great extent the fabrication of evidence, 
 the setting up of new claims, the subornation of false 
 witnesses, the forgery of documents, and other similar 
 manoeuvres, which are the characteristic disgrace of civil 
 litigation in Bengal. Not only many litigants, but the 
 residuum of the native bar, look upon the use of such 
 weapons as a sort of legitimate pastime. The amount 
 of perjury and forgery in the criminal and revenue 
 Courts is very small when compared with that in the 
 Civil Courts. The latter (I allude to Moonsiffs) appear 
 to have no control over the pleaders that practise 
 
 after examination and certificate by the registrar; the other 
 with a possessory title, where no investigation is made by the 
 registrar of the past title. In the latter case the title only 
 becomes indefeasible by lapse of time. 
 
THE NATIVE BAR. 155 
 
 before them : trumpery and trivial cases are spun out 
 to an inordinate length, the witnesses have not the 
 same awe of the Court, and the wrangling and jangling 
 of the opposing pleaders turns the Court into a Babel 
 of confusion. This is why the Civil Courts cannot 
 get through their work. It is a fact that a petty case, 
 involving perhaps ten rupees, sometimes takes up two 
 days. The present staff of Moonsiffs ought to get 
 through twice the work they do, and in half the time. 
 As it is, they often allow the pleaders practising before 
 them to be noisy, insolent, and insubordinate ; they 
 do not enforce their rulings on points of law or 
 evidence ; they allow the introduction of masses of 
 irrelevant matter, and the same arguments are re- 
 peated a hundred times over, so that the clients suffer, 
 and the public time is disgracefully wasted. 
 
 Those who decry Anglo -Indian administration 
 appear to be animated by the sole desire of bringing 
 discredit on Indian officials. There are several glaring 
 abuses, which could not exist in any country but 
 India ; but they have nothing to say against such 
 abuses, because, in the first place, they would be 
 censuring the educated class of natives ; and, secondly, 
 they would be helping to ameliorate the administra- 
 tion and to lighten the hard task of Indian officials. 
 One of these abuses is the disgraceful license and dis- 
 loyalty of the native press ( 1 ). Nothing but extracts 
 
 ( l ) Sometimes articles appear almost, if not quite, as bad as the 
 worst utterances of the worst Irish papers. The repeal of the 
 
1 56 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 could give the English reader any idea of its slanderous 
 imputations, its deliberate falsehoods, its rabid viru- 
 lence, and its rank sedition. Another abuse is the 
 insubordinate and insolent behaviour of a portion of 
 the native bar towards the Bench. Witnesses are 
 annoyed, insulted, brow-beaten and bullied ; so much 
 so that no respectable man likes to be a witness. 
 Nay, more, the dread of being cited as a witness is so 
 great with men of good caste and position, that they 
 are willing to pay money rather than subject them- 
 selves to the improper and disgraceful cross-examina- 
 tions that native pleaders delight in. Under the 
 
 Vernacular Press Act was perhaps advisable, but something should 
 have been substituted for it. In India, native newspapers are 
 seldom or never prosecuted. They possess all the advantages, 
 without being under the obligations, of English papers. Govern- 
 ment officials, European and natives, are persistently maligned, 
 and, in the case of the latter at any rate, the administration is 
 being seriously weakened. Native Deputy Magistrates work in 
 the society in which these papers circulate, and they feel such 
 attacks very keenly. They often apply for leave to prosecute, 
 but are generally refused on the ground that a prosecution 
 would give the paper an undue importance. They are thereby 
 discouraged and rendered timid, and the result is that their 
 work is done less fearlessly and impartially than it otherwise 
 would be. These local papers have now a circulation that is 
 practically very wide. There are twenty readers at least for 
 every subscriber, and in the villages even the illiterate portion 
 of the community hears the paper read out. Dripping water 
 wears away a stone, and it seems a pity to allow false statements 
 to be constantly dinned into the ears of ryots and others, who 
 are loyal to us and firmly believe in our impartiality. The 
 administration is thereby rendered all the more difficult. 
 
BENCH AND BAR. 157 
 
 Evidence Act, the Court of course has to decide on 
 the relevancy or otherwise of questions, and to prevent 
 the admission of irrelevant matter. Questions are not 
 to be asked without reasonable grounds, and the Court 
 may also forbid indecent and scandalous questions, 
 and questions intended to insult or annoy, or which, 
 though proper in themselves, are needlessly offensive 
 in form. Pleaders asking such questions may be 
 reported to the High Court. But time is only wasted 
 in trying to check the introduction of irrelevant matter, 
 or by refusing to allow irrelevant questions to be put. 
 The pleaders wrangle and argue apparently with the set 
 purpose of causing delay or creating a scene ( 1 ). It may 
 
 ( l ) Distinguished visitors to India should go and take a seat 
 on the Bench during the trial of an important civil suit in the 
 Court of a Subordinate Judge. The proceedings may remind 
 them in some respects of the operetta "Trial by Jury." District 
 Judges have informed me that the waste of the public time is 
 scandalous, and that unpleasant scenes are avoided only because 
 the presiding Judge allows himself to become a nonentity, and 
 does not venture to enforce his authority. If he allows or 
 forbids any particular question, the pleader on one side or the 
 other asks him to make a note of the objection. If wearied out 
 with making notes, he refuses to make any more, and tries to 
 insist on his ruling being accepted, the facts are detailed in a 
 long petition, which is handed up to be filed with the record, 
 and the unfortunate Judge is asked and compelled to record on 
 the back of the petition his reasons for allowing or disallowing 
 the question. There is a growing conviction that trials are too 
 long in England, and that some check should be put on prolix 
 and irrelevant cross-examinations. The evil in India is ten times 
 greater. 
 
158 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 be said, why does not the Court uphold its authority 
 in the manner provided by law ? Why does it not 
 punish for contempt of Court ? And here we come 
 to the reason why such scandals can exist, the real 
 "fons et origo mali" The subordinate Courts are not 
 sufficiently supported by the High Court ! Herein 
 lies the explanation. Magistrates and Moonsiffs have 
 fined for contempt of Court, and have suspended 
 and reported pleaders ; but, on the matter coming 
 before the High Court, such orders are, as a rule, 
 upset. With all respect and reverence for the High 
 Court, it is a matter of common knowledge that it 
 does not sufficiently uphold, support, and vindicate the 
 authority of the subordinate Courts against the bar. 
 While it will act itself as a superior Court of record, 
 and punish summarily even for external contempt ( 1 ), 
 it appears to be chary of allowing its subordinates to 
 punish even the grossest cases of immediate internal 
 contempt ( 2 ). The bar have come to see this, and act 
 accordingly. However insolent a judge's pleader may 
 be and they are often insolent to the last degree a 
 
 (!) Case of Norris, 7., v. Surendranath Banerjea, Editor of 
 Bengalee newspaper. 
 
 ( 2 ) I make these remarks with all respect and deference for 
 the High Court, and, of course, I am unaware of any reasons by 
 which their policy may be dictated. My object in this work is 
 to place Indian administration, as it actually exists, before 
 English readers. If I were to be silent as to any points that I 
 may consider to be flaws or defects^ I may be taunted with 
 writing a mere apology for the administration, and so my work 
 would be deprived of half its value. 
 
CONTEMPT OF COURT. 159 
 
 Moonsiff does not dare to fine him ; nay, scarcely 
 ventures to rebuke him. He feels and knows he will not 
 be supported, and he therefore fears to make his position 
 worse than it already is. Perhaps some Moonsiff or 
 Deputy Magistrate of exceptional moral courage and 
 strength of character may try to vindicate his authority. 
 If in so doing he quarrels with or offends any pleader, 
 his position at once becomes very invidious. The 
 pleaders combine and make a dead set to annoy him 
 and harm him. Petitions are presented against him 
 to some superior Court, making imputations against 
 his efficiency, his temper, his conduct, and even his 
 honesty and impartiality. Strength of character and 
 moral courage are exceptional qualities ; and no 
 wonder that most Courts prefer to leave matters in 
 statu quo rather than subject themselves to such 
 attacks. In this way cases are spun out to an in- 
 ordinate length, the time of the Court is wasted in 
 prolix and irrelevant cross-examinations, and in hear- 
 ing arguments which are repeated a hundred times 
 over usque ad nauseam. The correction of these 
 abuses lies in the hands of the High Court, and it is 
 to be hoped that they will free the administration of 
 justice from the shackles that now delay and impede 
 its course. Paterson, speaking of imprisonment for 
 contempt of Court, says : " There are superior and 
 inferior Courts of record. Where an inferior Court 
 commits for contempt, a superior Court will not 
 interfere with its action, except only to see that the 
 
160 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 inferior Court has not travelled beyond its jurisdiction, 
 for such inferior Court must be credited with t/ie 
 knowledge of its own business!' In the case of in- 
 tentional insults and interruptions, there should be no 
 appeal on the facts ; the Court's record should be 
 accepted in toto. No Court likes to punish for con- 
 tempt until absolutely compelled to do so in self- 
 defence, and there is no likelihood that the absence of 
 appeal would lead to any abuse. 
 
 Legal practitioners who practise in revenue, collec- 
 torate, and rent cases are called Revenue Agents ; 
 those who practise in Subordinate Criminal Courts are 
 called Mukhtars. The Collector conducts the exami- 
 nation for the admission of Revenue Agents, and they 
 are subordinate to him, subject to the general control 
 of the Board of Revenue. 
 
 In conclusion, if writers about India require/tffo////?;/ 
 for their articles, if they would really expose abuses 
 and help to ameliorate the administration, let them 
 denounce the rank sedition and disgraceful rabies of 
 the native press ; let them support the Bench against 
 the insubordination and insolent behaviour of the 
 Native Bar. In this way they will be conferring a 
 real benefit on the country, and will be rendering a 
 little more pleasant the arduous duties of judicial 
 officers. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SALT REVENUE AND THE LICENSE TAX. 
 
 Salt Revenue Unlicensed Manufacture prohibited Reduction 
 of Duty on Salt Mode of Levy Import Local Manu- 
 facture Illicit Manufacture Prosecutions Price and Con- 
 sumption of Salt Salt Tax not felt by the People, and 
 popular with Educated Classes Abolition of Salt Line 
 Light Incidence of Taxation in British India as compared 
 with England License Tax Assessment Its Light 
 Incidence A Small Number of Assessees Comparison 
 with English Income Tax Objections and Appeals against 
 Assessment Trading Classes under-assessed Op- 
 portunities for Oppression vastly exaggerated Justice of 
 License Tax Does not affect Bulk of Population or 
 ordinary Wants of Agricultural Community Reaches 
 Trading Classes who contribute to Revenue in no other 
 Way. 
 
 THE salt tax, often levied in the shape of a transit 
 duty, was only one of the many vexatious imposts on 
 trade which existed under the Native Governments ; 
 under British administration it has increased, it is true, 
 but all other imposts of the kind were abolished, so 
 that the net gain to the country and the people has 
 been considerable. 
 
 M 
 
1 62 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 The unlicensed manufacture of salt is prohibited 
 throughout the provinces under the control of the 
 Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, the maximum penalty 
 for such manufacture being a fine of 50, or simple 
 imprisonment for six months. All materials and 
 implements used in manufacturing salt without a 
 license, and all salt so manufactured, is liable to con- 
 fiscation. Landowners are bound to give notice to 
 the police of any unlicensed salt-works established on 
 their lands. Licenses to manufacture salt are granted 
 by the Board of Revenue, after the Collector has 
 reported that a proper and secure warehouse has been 
 provided for storing the salt. The salt is manufactured, 
 deposited, transported, and duty paid thereon under 
 certain rules prescribed by the Local Government. 
 Rowannahs (written or printed permissions to possess 
 or transport salt) are granted on the payment of 
 certain fees. No person is allowed to possess 
 more than five seers of salt, unless the same is 
 specified in a rowannah, or deposited in an 
 approved warehouse, or has been imported by sea. 
 Certain penalties are prescribed for possessing 
 or transporting salt without a rowannah. On the 
 application of police-officers, the Magistrate of a 
 district or division of a district may issue search- 
 warrants for contraband salt, and may confiscate the 
 same, if found. Police-officers are liable to a heavy 
 fine and six .months imprisonment for vexatious 
 seizures and arrests. 
 
DUTY ON SALT. 163 
 
 On the 10th March, 1882, the duty 0) on salt, which 
 was at that time Rs. 2 : 14 per maund on imported 
 salt, and Rs. 2 : 8 to Rs. 2: 12 on salt manufactured in 
 Orissa, Midnapore, and the 24 Pergunnahs, was, in 
 furtherance of the policy initiated by Lord Lytton and 
 Sir John Strachey, reduced to a uniform rate of Rs. 2 
 per manud of 82f pounds avoirdupois. The stocks 
 of salt in hand at the commencement of the year 1882- 
 83 amounted to 23,18,543 maunds, and during the year 
 84,46,014 maunds were imported and 2,87,846 maunds 
 manufactured locally, making a total of 1,10,52,403 
 maunds available for the whole year ( 2 ). Duty was 
 paid on 95,45,913 maunds, 2,500 maunds were passed 
 free of duty, and 87,353 maunds were written off on 
 
 (!) The duty on salt is levied in different ways in the different 
 provinces of India. In Bengal nearly all salt is imported, and 
 the tax is an import duty. In the case of private manufacture 
 the duty is levied as in Bombay. In Upper India salt is usually 
 taxed at the places of manufacture, most of which are in Raj- 
 putana. Here natural brine is manufactured into salt by solar 
 evaporation. In Madras and Bombay salt is obtained by the 
 solar evaporation of sea- water. In the former Presidency the 
 manufacture is almost entirely a Government monopoly, and in 
 the latter the revenue is collected by excise ; i.e., salt is made 
 by private manufacturers, and the duty is paid by purchasers on 
 removal of the salt from the works. Some of the salt imported 
 into Bengal comes from Bombay and Madras, the remaining 
 chief sources of supply being the United Kingdom, France, the 
 Arabian and Persian Gulfs, and Italy. 
 
 ( 2 ) During the year 1883-84,94,62,565 maunds were imported 
 and 6,37,672 maunds were manufactured locally, so that there 
 has been an increase both in importation and manufacture. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 account of wastage and destroyed. The net revenue 
 was 1,802,659, or a decrease of 26 per cent, on the 
 receipts of the former year. 
 
 The number of seizures of salt in all districts during 
 the year 1882-83 was 432, and the quantity of salt 
 attached 4,780 maunds, but the bulk of this was released 
 after seizure. Prosecutions for offences against the 
 salt laws were 1,173 against 1,262 in 1881-82 ( x ). The 
 most important offences against the salt law are illicit 
 manufacture and illicit possession or transport of 
 salt, which almost invariably implies previous illicit 
 manufacture. The total number of rates under these 
 heads fell from 608 to 470, " a decrease which," it is ob- 
 served in the Government resolution on the subject, "is 
 sufficiently large to justify the conclusion that there was 
 a real diminution of illicit manufacture, due, probably, 
 to greater watchfulness on the part of the police, and 
 to the fact that the cheapening of salt caused by the 
 reduction of the duty, weakened the temptation to 
 resort to such manufacture." 
 
 Prior to the reduction of the salt duty, the wholesale 
 price of salt, including duty in the Panjab, North- 
 Western Provinces, Oudh and Berar, varied from 5^. 
 to 7s. $d. per maund, that is, from 22 Ibs. to 30 Ibs. 
 could be purchased for two shillings. After all, a 
 penny a pound is not a prohibitive price, even for the 
 poorest. The average price at the railway stations in 
 
 (!) In 1883-84 there were 459 seizures, but the quantity of 
 salt attached was only 697 maunds. 
 
CONSUMPTION OF SALT. 165 
 
 Central India was two shillings for 29 Ibs. In Madras 
 the cost of salt varied from $s. id. to 5^. lid. for 
 80 Ibs. The average annual licit consumption was a" 
 follows : 
 
 Ibs. per head. 
 
 Madras 12 
 
 Bombay lof 
 
 Bengal 9t 
 
 Panjab 7-5 
 
 North- West Provinces and Oudh 6 
 
 Sind 5 
 
 Dr. Lyon, Chemical Analyser of Bombay, states 
 that the average consumption of salt by human beings 
 is only 7^ Ibs. ; this leaves a considerable margin for 
 the food of cattle in Madras, Bombay, and Bengal. 
 The comparatively small consumption in Northern 
 India is, perhaps, due to the fact that the food of the 
 natives consists chiefly of wheat and pulse. Moreover, 
 the existence of illicit salt must not be lost sight of. 
 It is possible that some salt is smuggled from the 
 Trans-Indus districts of the Panjab, where salt is pro- 
 duced at the Kohat mines, on which a duty of only 
 3 or 4 annas is levied. A preventive line extends 
 for some 320 miles along the Indus. I have no figures 
 for the consumption since the reduction of duty ; but 
 before I left India on furlough in April, 1884, the 
 retail prices had decreased, and the consumption was 
 steadily increasing. 
 
 In the saliferous districts of Bengal and Orissa 
 
1 66 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 great facilities exist for manufacturing salt from 
 brine. Poor people often collect small quantities, and 
 so long as they do so only for their own consumption, 
 and not for sale, they are not interfered with. Petty 
 and vexatious prosecutions are deprecated by Col- 
 lectors, and the police act accordingly. It has been 
 alleged that there has been some oppression in this 
 respect in the Presidency of Madras ; but I observe 
 that a Full Bench of the Madras High Court (I. L. R. 
 3 Mad. 17), has ruled that to collect spontaneous earth 
 for domestic consumption, or to be found in possession 
 of it for that purpose, are not, per se, acts prohibited 
 by Reg. I. of 1805. Since that ruling, however, has 
 been passed the Salt Laws Amendment Act I. 
 (Madras) of 1882, according to which the definition of 
 " Salt " includes salt earth, and that of "manufacture" 
 includes collection. It is possible that the Salt Re- 
 venue, being under a special department, is worked 
 more rigorously in Madras ; but I am not aware 
 whether the policy as to prosecutions differs from that 
 in Bengal. 
 
 It has been proposed to place the manufacture and 
 sale of excise salt in Orissa under the supervision of 
 the Commissioner of Salt Revenue, Madras ; but, if 
 this is done, the Bengal Government should retain a 
 strong control in its own hands. An experiment of 
 this kind has already been made in placing the manu- 
 facture of crude and refined saltpetre in Behar under 
 the Governmentof the North- West Provinces (Act XII. 
 
SALTPETRE MANUFACTURE. 167 
 
 of 1882, Northern India Salt Revenue). This was 
 done in consequence of complaints that the untaxed 
 salt educed from saltpetre caused a loss to Govern- 
 ment, by displacing a corresponding amount of taxed 
 salt ; but it seems very doubtful whether the amount 
 of salt educed will cover the cost of establishment and 
 make up for the harassment and injury it inflicts on 
 the Nunias ( x ) and refiners. 
 
 With regard to the general denunciations of the 
 salt tax, those who call it iniquitous and demand its 
 abolition should bear in mind that India is the most 
 lightly taxed country in the world. What other taxa- 
 tion is to be substituted for the seven millions sterling 
 yielded by the salt tax ? This tax is the only tax 
 that affects all classes. It is imperceptible to the 
 upper and middle classes, and the natives are in 
 
 (*) The Nunias are a poor and hardy race, who manufacture 
 crude saltpetre. They rent a piece of saliferous soil from the 
 zemindar at a very high rent. Earth which evidently contains 
 nitre is scraped together, and conveyed to the place of manu- 
 facture {ph&r or dih], and the processes of lixiviation and 
 evaporation are carried on from November to May. The 
 amount of salt educed is only about one-sixth of the saltpetre, 
 and it is of a very coarse description. The Nunias sell the 
 saltpetre to refiners at about 5.?. 9^. a maund. One hundred 
 maunds of refined saltpetre yield about two maunds of salt fit 
 for human consumption. The price of a maund of refined salt- 
 petre is about 12s. 6d. The refiners experience some difficulty 
 in selling the salt educed. Although the Nunias work very hard, 
 their profits do not exceed six or seven shillings a month. 
 During 1883-84 the imports and exports of saltpetre to and from 
 Calcutta were respectively 756,350 and 682,688 maunds. 
 
1 68 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 favour of it, because it is not felt. Writers like the 
 late Babu Kristodas Pal, Editor of the Hindu Patriot, 
 declare that even the poorer classes do not feel it, 
 that it is the very best tax possible, and should on no 
 account be abolished. It is certain that uneducated 
 natives are not even aware that there is a tax on salt. 
 Moreover, it is the only tax they pay, and represents 
 the only contribution which they make towards the 
 State revenues. Its incidence per head of the popu- 
 lation is *jd. per annum. In Bengal, at any rate, the 
 tax is not felt, and several native newspapers depre- 
 cated the reduction of the duty from Rs. 2. .14 to 
 Rs. 2 per maund. But it was very necessary to carry 
 out the policy of equalizing the rate of duty all over 
 India, as it was principally the variations in such rate 
 that necessitated the keeping up of the stupendous 
 salt preventive line. This line stretched for about two 
 thousand miles, beginning from near the Satlej in the 
 north, and passing through Central India, down to 
 the Godavery, in the south. It was manned with 
 native sentinels all the way, under the control and 
 supervision of European officials, at an annual cost of 
 162,000. 
 
 The people of British India are taxed so lightly, 
 that it is impossible to do away with items of the 
 revenue, such as salt and opium, unless it is proposed 
 to impose some of the numerous taxes that owners of 
 property in England have to pay. Those who decry 
 the salt and opium revenue would do well to look 
 
LICENSE TAX. 169 
 
 nearer home, and vent their spleen against the exces- 
 sive amount of taxation in England. The incidence 
 of the total taxation in British India is only $s. qd. 
 per head per annum. On this subject Mr. H. S. 
 Cunningham remarks : " The landowner pays for 
 land revenue an amount ranging from 3 to 7 per cent, 
 on the gross produce of his lands, and a further 
 fraction by way of provincial rates. If he goes to 
 law, he may contribute something to stamps ; if he 
 drinks, to excise ; and if he prefers English to native 
 cloth, to customs (the duty on cloth has since been 
 abolished) ; but when he has paid his land revenue, 
 his only imperative tax is jd. per annum for salt. . . . 
 The owner of personal property, though a millionaire, 
 may under like conditions of abstinence from the 
 luxuries of drink, litigation, and English cloth, contri- 
 bute nothing but the jd. for salt to the expenses of the 
 State. The artisan's position is the same. The 
 trader, when he has paid his *jd. on salt, and, if his 
 gains are over 50 per annum, his licence tax, may go 
 free of further taxation. The only imperative tax on 
 the agricultural labourer is the annual ?d. for salt" 
 
 The only really direct taxation in India outside 
 municipal areas is the License Tax. The present 
 License Act was passed in 1880, repealing the Act of 
 1878. The assessment is imposed on " trades, dealings, 
 and industries," which words do not include agriculture, 
 or any process employed by cultivators or receivers of 
 rent to render the produce fit to be taken to market, 
 
1 70 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 or the sale by such persons of their produce, provided 
 they do not keep a shop or stall for such purpose. 
 Moreover, all incomes of less than 50 per annum are 
 exempt from the tax, so that in a country like India 
 the bulk of the population has no concern with 
 the tax. 
 
 The License Tax was imposed in 1877-78. It has 
 no analogy with the license duties levied in England, 
 but is a limited income tax assessed on a system of 
 classification according to approximate income. In 
 Bengal, the taxpayers are divided, for purposes of 
 assessment, into six classes, all the persons included in 
 one class paying the same tax. 
 
 As soon as possible after the 1st day of January in 
 each year, the Collector has to prepare a list of the 
 persons in his district liable to take out licenses, and 
 to classify them according to the amount they have to 
 pay. The assessment is generally made in the first 
 instance by assessors, and objections to such assess- 
 ment are heard and disposed of by the Assistant or 
 Deputy Collector in charge of License Tax opera- 
 tions. There is again an appeal from his order to the 
 Collector ; and, on the application of any person 
 deeming himself aggrieved by the Collector's order, 
 the Commissioner of Revenue of the Division may, 
 subject to the control of the Lieutenant-Governor, call 
 for the record of the case, and pass such order thereon 
 as he thinks fit. As a result of these objections and 
 appeals, assessees in numerous instances get them- 
 
INCIDENCE OF TAX. 171 
 
 selves transferred to a lower class than that in which 
 they really ought to be. The Collector is directed to 
 endeavour so to regulate the incidence of the tax that 
 the fee payable by any person shall not exceed 2 per 
 cent upon his annual earnings. The following table 
 will show the excessive consideration and even leniency 
 with which the tax is assessed and levied : 
 
 Minimum taxable Rate of Number of 
 
 income. tax. assessees. 
 
 Class I. . Rs. 25,000 Rs. 500 388 
 
 II. . IO,OOO 200 689 
 
 III. . 5,OOO 100 1,417 
 
 IV. . 2,500 50 3,581 
 V. . 1,000 20 i4>79 
 
 VI. . 500 10 48,976 
 
 These figures for 1882-83 m themselves are a suffi- 
 cient answer to those pessimist monomaniacs, who 
 appear to take a sort of malignant pleasure in dispa- 
 raging Anglo-Indian officials and carping at Anglo- 
 Indian administration. These figures show that about 
 one person in every 1,000 pays the tax! Out of a 
 population of nearly 67 millions, some 70,000 only are 
 concerned with this tax, the average incidence of 
 which is Re. I to every 46 persons, or (if Calcutta be 
 excluded) only Re. I to every 64 persons ! The 
 masses of the people scarcely know of the existence 
 of the tax, and care less. As the Lieutenant-Governor 
 has appositely remarked, the tax is of course unpopu- 
 lar with those who pay it or who fear they may have 
 
172 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 to pay it ; no one has yet discovered a tax which ar. 
 assessee would take a pleasure in paying. The License 
 Tax yields only 145,000, so that Bengal pays less in 
 proportion to its population than Bombay, Central 
 Provinces, North- Western Provinces, or the Panjab. 
 
 The proceeds of the License Tax for the whole of 
 India do not exceed half a million sterling. A compa- 
 rison with the figures of the English Income Tax is 
 both significant and instructive. The limit of total 
 exemption is 150, while an abatement of 120 is 
 allowed on all incomes between 150 and 400 per 
 annum. The following table shows the results of the 
 operations of the tax for 1883-84 : 
 
 Net amount of Income Total Duty 
 
 Schedule and Property charged charged at $d. 
 
 of Tax. to Duty. in the 
 
 A .... 175,555,583 3,65/401 
 
 B . . . . 33,460,049 295,096 
 
 C . . . . 40,580,574 850,604 
 
 D . . . . 252,022,971 5,252,774 
 
 E . . . . 29,510,323 614,761 
 
 Total . 531,129,500 10,670,636 
 
 The number of persons taxed under Schedule D 
 (trade and professional profits) was 447,768. Each 
 penny of the Income Tax produces nearly two 
 millions sterling. 
 
 Out of 76,903 assessments, 7,064, or 9-1 per cent, 
 were cancelled on objection or appeal, and 2,531, 
 or 3-2 per cent, were modified. It has been argued 
 
ASSESSMENT. 173, 
 
 by the opponents of the tax that the number of 
 objections and appeals allowed shows that the work 
 of assessment is carelessly done in the first instance. 
 It would be very unsafe to draw such a sweeping 
 inference. The assessors are selected for their trust- 
 worthiness and experience, and their sympathies are 
 entirely with the people. In matters of taxation, the 
 tendency of revisional and appellate authorities is 
 to reduce ; they require something approaching to 
 mathematical demonstration, where at most only 
 moral certainty is attainable. Although the rules 
 framed under the Act state that the licensee must 
 show that he has been improperly assessed, yet, as a 
 matter of fact, he always gets the benefit of the 
 slightest doubt. The sympathy of civilians for the 
 people is too well known to need my testimony, and 
 such sympathy grows keener and more intense the 
 longer an officer stays in the country. As the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor has indicated in his Resolution on 
 the License Tax Report for 1882-83, there are good 
 grounds for believing that many districts are still 
 under-assessed ( 1 ). There can be no doubt whatever 
 that a great many persons pay less than they ought 
 
 (!) I notice the same allegation in the reports of other pro- 
 vinces. The richest districts of the Panjab are said to be 
 " evidently inadequately assessed," the average incidence of the 
 tax (2 : 6s. per 1,000 persons) bearing witness to the leniency of 
 the assessments. In Bombay the exemption of incomes under 
 relieved eleven-thirteenths of the people taxed. 
 
1/4 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 to, and a great many more escape assessment alto- 
 gether. The assessors have no time to visit every 
 village ( 1 ), nor to make thorough inquiry throughout 
 the areas entrusted to their charge. Wherever minute 
 and careful inquiry has been made in selected areas, a 
 number of new assessees have always come to light. 
 As for oppression and extortion, an assessor is very 
 rarely guilty of such malpractices. The peons under him 
 may get some small fees ; but if they get anything sub- 
 stantial, it is because some cunning well-to-do trader 
 gives it of his own accord. It is quite a mistake to 
 suppose that a petty peon can now-a-days extort money 
 when and as he pleases. The people know the law 
 too well ; moreover justice is cheap, and a remedy is 
 brought to their very doors, which is not the case in 
 England. I have frequently had petitions presented 
 to me complaining of assaults committed perhaps an 
 hour or so before. The Courts are well known, and 
 there is not the same reluctance as in England to 
 resort to them. How many affronts and insults are 
 
 C) In 1883-84, out of a total number of 248,128 villages in the 
 province, 27,067 were visited by the assessing officers against 
 27,081 in the preceding year. Concealment of income is an 
 ingrained habit, engendered by centuries of extortion under 
 native rule. Inquisitorial proceedings are not permitted, and 
 hence many petty traders, whose income exceeds $o, escape 
 the tax. Examination of accounts and ledgers often shows that 
 traders, known to be wealthy, are losing large sums p.nnually. 
 The khattas of a Marwaree would puzzle and bewilder the most 
 clear-headed accountant. 
 
JUSTICE OF TAX. 175 
 
 pocketed in England, because a man shrinks from the 
 trouble and expense of obtaining redress, and really 
 in a number of cases scarcely knows how to set 
 about it. 
 
 The licence tax is a just tax, in that it reaches a 
 well-to-do class, that was heretofore contributing 
 nothing to the revenue. Landowners and cultivators 
 pay road cess and public works cess, and there is no 
 reason why commerce and trade should escape. The 
 classes of incidence are so few and well-defined, that 
 no honest man can have any difficulty in ascertaining 
 exactly what he has to pay. The license tax is an 
 income tax with all its most objectionable features 
 eliminated. The trading classes of India are remark- 
 ably shrewd and well able to take care of themselves. 
 If they are oppressed or unfairly treated, they can and 
 will make it known. There is a vast difference 
 between extortion and voluntary tampering with low- 
 paid public servants. In an appeal I had before me 
 as Collector, a fairly well-to-do trader had been 
 assessed at Rs. 10, and declared that he had paid the 
 money to the Assessor's peons. It turned out that, 
 on the Assessor visiting the village, he had given the 
 peons Rs. 5 apiece as an inducement to conceal his 
 name and business from the Assessor. The latter, 
 however, soon found out about the man in the course 
 of inquiry from respectable neighbours and assessed 
 him. The man was angry at having reaped no benefit 
 from his bribe; and falsely stated that he had paid 
 
i;6 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 the peons Rs. 10 as his tax. The peons of course 
 were guilty of receiving an illegal gratification, but 
 the trader was also guilty of abetting the offence. 
 
 The license tax does not touch the castes of general 
 utility, whose services support the microcosm of a 
 Bengal village ( 1 ). The minimum taxable income 
 being Rs. 500, the ordinary wants of an agricultural 
 community are in no way affected. The tax does 
 not, and is not intended to, reach the following large 
 classes, namely: barbers, sellers of fish, potters, black- 
 smiths, washermen, milk-sellers, vegetable- sellers, 
 boatmen, cartmen, oil-sellers, weavers, grain-parchers, 
 pan-sellers, petty sellers of spices, confectioners, 
 basket-makers, workers in bamboo, cane, rush, &c., 
 carpenters, rope-makers, net-makers, sellers of palm- 
 juice, manufacturers of crude saltpetre, cobblers, 
 midwives, scavengers, palki- carriers, and others. 
 Moreover, the majority of goldsmiths and cloth- 
 sellers escape the tax. I thirtk the experience of 
 those who have had much to do with the administra- 
 tion of the license tax will bear me out in the assertion 
 that the profits of those assessed in the last class are 
 generally much nearer Rs. 1,000 than Rs. 500, and 
 that the incidence is little more than one per cent, on 
 annual earnings, or less than threepence in the pound, 
 
 (*) It may be mentioned that out of 42,000 assessors in the 
 North- Western Provinces, 22,189 are taxed as professional 
 money-lenders, 5,415 as retail dealers in grain, and 4,003 as 
 ugar manufacturers. 
 
ASSESSED ON PROFITS. 177 
 
 which, it must be borne in mind, is not a pound of 
 income but a pound of profits. The following is Rule 5 
 of the Rules framed under the License Act: " In 
 estimating the amount of profits derived from any 
 trade, dealing, or industry, the expenses incurred in 
 carrying it on must be excluded, but the maintenance 
 of the license on his family must not be excluded, 
 as that forms part of the taxable profits of the 
 licensee " ( 1 ). The administration of the license tax 
 is now in thorough working order; the tax is fair and 
 just in itself, and is administered with excessive 
 leniency and consideration. It reaches a class that 
 contributes in no other way to the revenue, and it is 
 to be hoped that the Act will not be removed from 
 the Statute-Book as a sop to an influential class or in 
 deference to the puerile drivellings of jaundiced 
 agitation-mongers. Sir Richard Temple, who has 
 had experience of every part of India, says in his 
 "India in 1880": "If financial requirements necessi- 
 
 (*) Schedule D of the Income tax in England is a charge on 
 trade and professional profits. In estimating profits and gains 
 for assessment, certain deductions from the gross profits are 
 allowed, of which the following are the most important : (i) for 
 repairs of premises occupied for the purposes of trade or manu- 
 facture, and for supply or repairs of implements, utensils, or 
 articles employed ; (2) for bad debts satisfactorily proved ; (3) 
 for the sum representing diminished value by reason of wear 
 and tear of machinery or plant. In 1883-84 the gross amount 
 of profits assessed under Schedule D (after allowing for deduc- 
 tions, exemptions, and abatements, mainly in respect of the 
 small incomes under ^150 or ,400) was ^252,022,971. 
 
 N 
 
178 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 tate the imposition of direct taxation, then a license 
 tax on trades, with an approximate and easy assess- 
 ment upon graduated classes, is much the best, or the 
 least objectionable, form of tax. Such a measure 
 does tend to remedy the acknowledged flaw in the 
 fiscal system, namely, the fact that the mercantile 
 classes for the most part escape taxation by the State ; 
 they pay municipal taxes, indeed (this only in munici- 
 palities), but no appreciable taxes to the Government. 
 In England it were easy to show how the merchant 
 contributes to the public revenues; but it would be 
 difficult to prove anything of the sort in India." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 STAMP REVENUE, NOTARIAL REGISTRATION, AND 
 TREASURIES. 
 
 Stamp Revenue Duties of Collector Procedure in case of 
 Unstamped or Insufficiently Stamped Documents Stamp 
 Prosecutions Question of Ignorance and Intention Inci- 
 dence of Stamp Revenue Great Differences in different 
 Districts Evasion of Duty on Probates and Letters of 
 Administration Court Fees Collector as Registrar 
 Compulsory and Optional Registration Sub-Registrars 
 Chicanery, False Personation, and Forgery Increasing 
 Resort to Registration Decrease in Number of Perpetual 
 Leases Receipts Treasury Savings Banks Stock 
 Notes and Currency Notes. 
 
 THE stamp duties are regulated by the Court Fees 
 Act VII. of 1870, and Act I (Stamp Act) of 1879. 
 The former deals with judicial stamps, that is, stamps 
 on the institution of suits and criminal cases, on 
 documents and exhibits filed in such suits, process 
 fees, &c. The latter Act deals with instruments of 
 commercial value, which are chargeable in some cases 
 with an ad valorem, and in others with a fixed, duty. 
 One of the most important duties of a Collector is 
 
 N 2 
 
i8o ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 the supervision of the stamp revenue, subject to the 
 general control and directions of the Board of 
 Revenue. All stamps are kept in the District 
 Treasury, and issued to licensed stamp-vendors, who 
 supply the various courts, the bar, and the public 
 generally. The value of stamps in the Treasury often 
 amounts to lakhs of rupees, and the Collector is 
 responsible for their safe custody, even having to 
 count twice a year with his own hands all stamps over 
 a certain value. 
 
 The Collector has various duties in connection with 
 the stamping of instruments and the impounding of 
 unstamped or insufficiently stamped documents. It 
 has been remarked elsewhere that law and justice are 
 within the reach of the masses to a far greater extent 
 than is the case in England. This is true of all 
 departments of the administration. On payment of a 
 fee of not less than one shilling and not more than 
 ten shillings, any person may produce before the 
 Collector any instrument, whether executed or not, 
 and whether previously stamped or not, and apply to 
 have that officer's opinion as to the duty (if any) with 
 which the instrument is chargeable. The Collector is 
 bound, after such inquiry as may be necessary, to 
 determine the duty. When he has certified by 
 endorsement on the instrument that the full duty has 
 been paid, or that the instrument is not chargeable 
 with duty, such instrument is deemed to be duly 
 stamped, or to be not chargeable, as the case may 
 
DUTIES OF COLLECTOR. 181 
 
 be ( l ). But the Collector can only make such endorse- 
 ment, when the instrument is produced within one 
 month from execution (if executed in British India), 
 or three months (if executed out of British India). 
 Nor has he such a power in the case of bills of 
 exchange or other instruments chargeable with the 
 duty of one anna, if brought to him after the drawing 
 or execution thereof on paper not duly stamped. The 
 reason for this is that it is notorious that in India the 
 stamp revenue is persistently and systematically 
 defrauded by the omission to stamp receipts ( 2 ) 
 
 (*) In England persons can bring their own blank forms or 
 unexecuted instruments to any of the principal Inland Revenue 
 offices, or transmit them through the local stamp officers, and 
 get them impressed with a stamp of whatever value they 
 require. 
 
 ( 2 ) There has been the same experience in England. In 1853 
 Mr. Gladstone introduced the adhesive stamp on receipts and 
 drafts, and reduced the limit of exemption from $ to 2. 
 Before 1853 the stamp duty on receipts was ad valorem, the 
 lowest duty being $d. for sums of ^5 and under 10. In 1881 
 Mr. Gladstone permitted an adhesive penny stamp to be used 
 indifferently for both postage and Inland Revenue purposes, and 
 since then the principle has been extended to almost all Inland 
 Revenue adhesive stamps not exceeding 2s. 6d. in value. Act 
 33 & 34 Viet. c. 97 enacts that adhesive stamps must be can- 
 celled by writing name or initials on or across the stamp, 
 together with the true date. It is difficult to enforce such a 
 rule in India, where receipts have frequently to be given by 
 people who can neither read nor write. In the Province of Orissa 
 almost all documents are still written with the stylus on palm 
 leaves, and the Government would do well to make the use of 
 paper compulsory. This is not a change that would be un- 
 
182 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 acknowledgments, and other instruments requiring a 
 stamp of one anna only. Civil Courts and other 
 persons, such as Registrars, having by law or consent 
 of parties authority to receive evidence, are bound to 
 impound insufficiently stamped instruments that come 
 before them; but this rule does not apply to Criminal 
 Courts, except in certain proceedings under the 
 Criminal Procedure Code, which savour more of a 
 civil than a criminal nature. If the deficient duty, 
 together with a certain penalty, is paid, the document 
 is, subject to all just exceptions, admitted in evidence, 
 and the person impounding it has to send a copy to 
 the Collector together with the duty and penalty 
 paid. If the duty be not paid, the document is sent 
 in original. The Collector may refund the whole of 
 or any portion of the penalty. If he requires it to be 
 paid, and it is not paid, he generally directs a criminal 
 prosecution ; and such a prosecution may be instituted 
 even after payment of penalty and duty, if he is of 
 opinion that there was an intention to evade payment 
 of the proper duty. 
 
 Any person executing, or signing, otherwise than 
 as a witness, any instrument chargeable with duty 
 without the same being duly stamped, is liable to a 
 
 popular, or in any way shock public sentiment. Rough paper is 
 as cheap as in England, and, if so ordered, the obodhans 
 (teachers) of village schools would be quite ready to use it. It 
 might be proclaimed that talpotra documents, written after a 
 certain date, would not be received in courts of law. 
 
STAMP PROSECUTIONS. 183 
 
 fine, which may extend to 50. Prosecutions are 
 instituted by the Collector, and the cases are gene- 
 rally tried by the Joint Magistrate. The Board of 
 Revenue appear to be of opinion that substantial fines 
 (in no case less than the duty and penalty adjudged 
 by the Collector) should be inflicted in all cases, 
 irrespective of the existence or absence of any inten- 
 tion to defraud. But where the offence has proceeded 
 from ignorance, magistrates are naturally inclined to 
 inflict nominal fines only. Phillimore, in his " Juris- 
 prudence," has shown that the maxim, " Ignorantia 
 legis neminem excusat," though necessary as obviating 
 lengthened inquiries as to state of mind, must not be 
 pushed too far, but must be tempered with other 
 maxims, such as " Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit 
 rea." Laws for the protection of the revenue are no 
 doubt intentionally strict, e.g salt, excise, opium, and 
 post-office laws ; and there are many offences, irre- 
 spective of intention, e.g., offences under Cotton Frauds 
 Act in Bombay, and under Game Laws in England. 
 (See " Maxwell on Statutes," p. 80.) But as to the 
 question of intention, it is extremely unfortunate that 
 the Calcutta High Court have left the matter in doubt 
 by a full Bench judgment, which appears to con- 
 tradict itself. They have held that a magistrate is 
 bound, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any 
 and what penalty should be imposed, to consider 
 whether the accused had any intention to defraud by 
 evading payment of stamp duty (I. L. R, 2 Calc. 399). 
 
1 84 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 But the judgment in another part states that the 
 magistrate is bound to record a conviction, provided 
 he finds that there has been a making, etc., of an un- 
 stamped or insufficiently stamped instrument, and 
 that the amount of the fine only is left entirely to his 
 discretion. The true rule appears to be that, in cases 
 where the penalty has not been paid, the magistrate 
 is bound to convict, and inflict a fine not less in 
 amount than the penalty demanded by the Collector ; 
 but, where the penalty has been paid, the magistrate 
 must be satisfied independently that there was an 
 intention to evade the proper duty before he can 
 convict ; he is not bound to accept the Collector's 
 opinion on this point. Indeed, he is at least as likely 
 as the Collector to arrive at a correct decision on this 
 point, as he makes a thorough inquiry into the matter 
 in a judicial capacity. Moreover, ignorance of the 
 law is at least to be taken into consideration in the 
 amount of the fine C 1 ). Lolly's case ( 2 ) is one in 
 point. He was assured by several lawyers that his 
 divorce was valid, married again, was tried for bigamy, 
 and convicted. "His crime," says Mr. J. G. Phillimore, 
 "which he had done all he could to guard against, was 
 venial ignorance of positive law the crime of the 
 judges who punished him was inexcusable ignorance 
 of natural justice, and indifference to common 
 
 (!) See R. v. Esop, 7 C. & P. 456, and a recent decision of 
 Mr. Justice Stephen. 
 ( 2 ) R. v. Lolly, R. R. C. C. R. 237. 
 
INCIDENCE OF REVENUE. 185 
 
 humanity." This fierce denunciation is scarcely de- 
 served, as the judges only administered the law as 
 they found it. Still it may be doubted whether the 
 riper jurists of to-day would not show a greater con- 
 sideration for ignorance of positive law ( 1 ), especially 
 if it is at all ambiguous or difficult to ascertain. Lolly 
 got his divorce from the Commissary or Consistorial 
 Court of Scotland, and it had been actually held that 
 even a divorce a mensd et tJwro in England was 
 sufficient to bar a prosecution for bigamy ( 2 ). 
 
 During the year* 1882-83 the net revenue from 
 stamps was 1,167,597 ( 3 ). All stamps are either 
 judicial (court fees) or non-judicial, which include im- 
 pressed stamps, bills of exchange, receipt, postal, 
 telegraph, notarial, advocate and vakeel stamps. Ex- 
 cluding the town of Calcutta, the incidence of the 
 stamp revenue ranges from Re. .01 in the district of 
 Singbhoom to Re. .3 per head of the population in the 
 twenty-four Pergunnahs and two other districts. The 
 general incidence is only 2 annas 1 1 pie (less than 
 
 ( x ) A man must be a good jurist, as well as a good lawyer, to 
 make a good criminal judge. Grotius has well remarked : 
 " Ignorantia legis sicut inevitabilis si sit, tollit peccatum ita cum 
 aliqua negligentia delictum minuit." It requires a tine discrimi- 
 nation and profound knowledge of the civil law to determine in 
 what cases and to what extent intention may properly be 
 ignored. 
 
 ( 2 ) This was held under stat. 2 Jac. I. c. n, which has since 
 been repealed by 9 Geo. 4, c. 34. 
 
 ( 3 ) In 1883-84 it was 1,195,546. 
 
1 86 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 fourpence-halfpenny) per head, or at the rate of 
 Rs. 18:3:8 per 100 of the population. 
 
 The total stamp revenue for the whole of India in 
 1881-82 was 3,233,042. The revenue from the sale 
 of commercial stamps was 1,019,891, as compared 
 with 1,811,945 received from the same source in the 
 United Kingdom during 1884-85. Bengal contributes 
 more than any other province to the stamp revenue 
 in proportion to its population and area. But the 
 varying degrees of civilization to be met with in 
 different parts of the province may be inferred from 
 the fact that four districts contributed more than 
 50,000 each, while twelve districts contributed less 
 than 10,000 each. The revenue in the district of 
 Singhbhoom (inhabited almost entirely by jungly hill- 
 tribes), was 703 ; the revenue in Calcutta was 
 186,71 ! Much revenue ought to be collected in the 
 shape of duty on probates and letters of administra- 
 tion. But in this matter the Civil Courts are very 
 lax, and it is necessary that the Government of India 
 should take steps to see that the provisions of the 
 stamp law are not evaded. The amount received 
 from the probate duties in the United Kingdom in 
 1884-85 was 3,947,094. This is apart from the 
 account, legacy, and succession duties. The Act of 
 1 88 1 (44 Viet. c. 12, ss. 27-43) transferred the stamp 
 from the grant itself to the affidavit and inventory of 
 the estate, and provides that no grant shall be made 
 unless it bears a certificate in writing that the affidavit 
 
STAMPS ON PROBATES. 187 
 
 has been delivered, and is duly stamped, and mentions 
 the gross value of the estate as shown by the accounts 
 annexed to the affidavit. Real estate (freehold and 
 copyhold) is not liable to the tax. In India a law 
 should be passed directing the District Judge not to 
 grant probates and letters of administration except on 
 affidavits and inventories sworn before the Collector, 
 and approved of by him. 
 
 The stamp revenue under certain heads sometimes 
 fluctuates in a remarkable manner from year to year, 
 and the Collector has to explain, to the best of his 
 ability, the causes of such fluctuation. 
 
 " Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas ! " 
 
 The increase or decrease, as the case may be, is per- 
 haps attributed to improvement of business, stagnation 
 of business, increased number of bonds and mortgages 
 owing to bad crops, decrease of the same owing to 
 good harvest, and consequent prosperity of agri- 
 cultural community, renewal of a number of zemindari 
 leases or agreements to grow indigo, which have all 
 happened to expire in the particular year under re- 
 port, wide prevalence of epidemic fever, low prices of 
 agricultural produce, the settlement of some particular 
 estate, and other causes too numerous to mention, 
 which readily suggest themselves to the ripe ex- 
 perience and fertile resource of men who for years 
 have been occupied in thinking and reporting " de 
 omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis." 
 
i88 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 It had been alleged by some judicial officers that 
 the ad valorem Court fees levied on the institution of 
 rent and civil suits are somewhat too high, and that 
 the fees for authenticated copies are excessive. Some 
 reduction might perhaps be made in these directions. 
 Stamps filed on suits vary from ninepence, where the 
 claim does not exceed ten shillings in value, up to a 
 maximum of ^300. The stamps on non-judicial docu- 
 ments are not excessive, but I think it may fairly be 
 argued that they are perhaps a little too heavy when 
 compared with the corresponding duties levied in 
 England. In England a bond for 50 requires a 
 stamp of is. ^d. only, whereas in India it requires a 
 stamp of 5^. But in England a bond for any smaller 
 sum than 50 requires the same stamp, whereas in 
 India a bond for \ requires a stamp of ^d. only, 
 for $ a stamp of 6d., for 10 a stamp of u., and so 
 on. The stamps on conveyances, again, are smaller 
 in England than in India; but the graduated scale 
 for the smaller amounts suits the requirements of 
 the latter country. In India a stamp of 6s. is re- 
 quired for a conveyance of 25, while in England 
 the stamp is only 2s. 6d. The following table shows 
 the differences : 
 
 (!) County Court procedure in England is not cheap. In the 
 year 1884^557,067 was spent in costs and fees for the recovery 
 of ,1,545,682. More than a third is a heavy percentage. Times 
 leader, Sept. 17, 1885. 
 
DUTIES IN ENGLAND AND INDIA. 189 
 
 England. India. 
 
 Conveyance when con- Ditto not exceeding 
 
 sideration money does $ . .is. od. 
 
 not exceed 2$ 2s. 6d. 
 
 Exceeding 2$, and not Exceeding 5 and not 
 
 exceeding 50 $s. od. exceeding 10 2s. od. 
 
 For every additional For every additional 10 
 
 2$ up to 600 2s. 6d. upto^ioo. 2s. od. 
 
 For every 100 over For every additional 
 
 ^600 . . los. od. $o . . los. od. 
 
 In England the stamp is 6d. on a lease for not 
 more than 35 years, where the rent does not exceed 
 $ ; in India it would be is. But a Schedule is 
 attached to the Stamp Act exempting certain instru- 
 ments from stamp-duty, and among them are (i) Leases 
 executed in the case of a cultivator without the pay- 
 ment of any fine or premium, when a definite term is 
 expressed and such term does not exceed one year, or 
 when the annual rent reserved does not exceed 10 ; 
 (2) Counterpart of any lease granted to a cultivator. 
 The last part of the first clause exempts perhaps 
 99 per cent, of all agricultural leases. It should be 
 added that in India the stamp duties are systemati- 
 cally evaded, and unstamped or insufficiently-stamped 
 documents frequently come to light in cases and other 
 proceedings. This and other facts, such as the noto- 
 rious litigiousness of the people, are important factors 
 in the consideration of the question whether the stamp 
 duties should be reduced. I have heard complaints 
 
190 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 regarding Court fees in civil ( x ) and revenue cases ; 
 but I have never heard that the stamps on non-judi- 
 cial documents press heavily on the people. A 
 reduction of the duties, along with an increase in the 
 number of licensed stamp-vendors, would lessen the 
 incentive for defrauding and evading the revenue, and 
 might result in increased receipts. 
 
 There are very minute rules as to the punching of 
 Court fee stamps in order to prevent their fraudulent 
 abstraction, or being used again. The Collector is 
 responsible for the proper observance of these rules. 
 
 The Collector is also the Registrar of his district, 
 and has a number of Sub-Registrars subordinate to 
 him. The Registration Act III. of 1877 applies to 
 the whole of India. Under its provisions registration 
 is compulsory for (i) Instruments of gift of im- 
 movable property ; (2) Other non-testamentary in- 
 struments affecting the disposal of property to the 
 value of 10 and upwards ; (3) Non-testamentary 
 instruments which acknowledge the receipt of any 
 right so conveyed ; (4) Leases of immovable pro- 
 perty for any term exceeding one year. Optional 
 registration is extended to the above instruments 
 when the interest involved is below 10, to leases of 
 
 ( ! ) The same complaint does not apply to criminal cases. In 
 petty summons cases the complainant pays process fees, and his 
 petition requires a stamp of one shilling. But no stamps or fees 
 are levied in warrant cases (/.<?., cases punishable with more 
 than six months imprisonment). 
 
REGISTRATION OF DOCUMENTS. 191 
 
 immovable property for one year or less, instruments 
 affecting the disposal of movable property, wills, and 
 all other documents not compulsorily registrable. 
 
 The forging of documents, and the tampering with 
 unregistered documents of private transfers, has always 
 been one of the most disgraceful characteristics of the 
 social life of the natives. The Penal Code has done 
 much to mitigate this evil, and the Registration Acts 
 have done still more. The land revenue administra- 
 tion provides for the registration of landed tenures, 
 and for mutations of ownership and occupancy by 
 succession and transfer. But for a long time no 
 adequate measures were taken for notarial registra- 
 tion. Since 1866, however, there has been a regular 
 department of registration. Registration offices, secure 
 against fire and other elements of destruction, have 
 been established not only in every town, but in many 
 rural villages also. The registering officers are for 
 the most part natives of good family and education, 
 who command the confidence of the public. The 
 Collector closely supervises their proceedings, and 
 there is a regular staff of inspecting officers, with the 
 Inspector-General of Registration at their head. Fees 
 are levied to cover the cost of registration and estab- 
 lishments, but not with the view of yielding any fiscal 
 profit to the State. The registration of documents 
 affecting immovable property over a certain value is 
 made compulsory ; the registration of most other 
 documents is optional. Documents, which require to 
 
192 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 be registered, cannot be received in evidence, or affect 
 any immovable property comprised therein, unless 
 registered in accordance with the Act. 
 
 There is a considerable amount of false personation 
 in connection with the registration of documents, which, 
 however, is not always fraudulent. Perhaps the exe- 
 cutant is too ill to come to the registration-office, and 
 his father, brother, or son comes in his place to admit 
 execution. Such an offence is punishable with seven 
 years imprisonment, but so low is the standard of 
 morality in India, that even educated natives regard 
 such an act as excusable and not deserving of punish- 
 ment. At the same time such personation is some- 
 times fraudulent. An old man of property may be 
 about to die, and two or three of his relatives or 
 neighbours conspire and forge a deed of conveyance. 
 One represents the old man, and in such capacity, 
 admits execution before the registering officer; another 
 identifies him, and perhaps two others are witnesses to 
 the deed. The old man dies, and then these villains 
 produce the document and try to deprive the real 
 heirs of the property. The latter perhaps give up a 
 portion to avoid litigation ; or more probably the rival 
 claimants go to the Civil Court at the instigation of 
 village ' torneys ' and case-mongers ; and if they return 
 from that bourne with half the property left, they are 
 lucky. It is the duty of the registering officer to en- 
 quire whether the document has been executed by the 
 persons by whom it purports to have been executed, 
 
DENIAL OF EXECUTION. 193 
 
 and to satisfy himself as to their identity. But he 
 has a large number of documents to register in a day, 
 and it is quite possible for a fraud to go undetected 
 at this stage. 
 
 If execution is denied, the registering officer must 
 refuse to register the document. But there is an 
 appeal against such refusal to the Registrar (Collector). 
 The latter summons the parties before him, and if he 
 finds that the document has really been executed, he 
 orders registration. If he refuses to order registration, 
 any person claiming under the document may within 
 thirty days institute in the Civil Court a suit for a 
 decree directing the registration of the document. It 
 sometimes happens that persons, who have executed 
 documents, regret having done so, and, when sum- 
 moned before the Registering Officer, deny execution. 
 Sometimes they say they have not received any or 
 the whole of the consideration money. 
 
 Conspiracies to defraud purda nishin ( l ) ladies are 
 not unknown. In such a case no attempt is made to 
 personate the lady, but one of the conspirators appears 
 as her representative, and produces a power-of-attorney 
 alleged to have been executed by her. Perhaps the 
 lady or her friends hear of it, and then the matter comes 
 before the Registrar, who, on finding a primd facie 
 case of some criminal offence, sends the parties to the 
 
 (*) Ladies, who, according to the custom of the country are 
 not allowed to be seen or appear in public. 
 
 O 
 
194 ADMINISTRA T10N OF INDIA. 
 
 Criminal Court. It is often very difficult to get at 
 the truth owing to the fact of the parties being near 
 relatives, which fact renders possible the truth of 
 either conflicting set of allegations. In rare cases the 
 fraud is facilitated by collusion on the part of the Sub- 
 Registrar himself. Forgeries are sometimes com- 
 mitted in India with a reckless stupidity that is simply 
 marvellous. To give an instance, A. has executed a 
 bond in favour of B. in presence of three witnesses, 
 and the bond is duly registered. A. does not pay up 
 and B. makes up his mind to sue in the Civil Court, 
 but in the meantime two of the original witnesses 
 have died. Just like a native, B. thinks he must 
 make his case stronger by having more witnesses, and 
 foolishly adds two more names on the margin of the 
 document. This addition is of course found out at 
 once on reference to the register of documents in the 
 Registry-office. I have even known of cases in which 
 all the registration endorsements together with the 
 seal of the Sub-Registrar had been forged on a docu- 
 ment which had really been executed, but had not 
 been registered. But forgers are not always so clumsy 
 or ignorant. In a similar case to that mentioned 
 above, which came before me, the forger not only 
 added names of more witnesses on the margin of the 
 document in his possession, but, by tampering with 
 the clerk in charge of the records, succeeded in adding 
 the names also to the copy of the document in the 
 Registrar's books ! The forgery was proved by the 
 
OPTIONAL REGISTRATION. 195 
 
 difference in the colour of the ink, the appearance of 
 the interpolation, together with the evidence of wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 Registration is largely resorted to in the case of 
 documents, of which the registration is optional, as 
 in Courts of law registered documents take priority 
 over unregistered documents. There are 285 regis- 
 tration offices in Bengal. During the years 1882-83 
 and 1883-84 the number of registrations was as 
 follows: 
 
 1882-83. 1883-84. 
 
 Compulsory registrations affect- ") 
 
 \ 307,609 331,706 
 ing immovable property . ) 
 
 Optional registrations, ditto .. 454,130 495,670 
 
 Registrations other than those) 
 
 h 555, 141 601,002 
 affecting immovable property 3 
 
 The increasing popularity of registration may be 
 inferred from the fact that the increase in the number 
 of optional registrations of all kinds of instruments 
 amounted to nearly 10 per cent. It is worthy of 
 notice that for some years the number of perpetual 
 leases has been decreasing. Perhaps the landlords are 
 becoming averse to parting with their interest in the 
 land ; and it is to be hoped that both they and the 
 cultivators are becoming alive to the evils of sub- 
 infeudation. The diminution of available land may 
 partially account for the decrease ; but the real reason 
 is probably that, so long as it remains uncertain in 
 
 O 2 
 
1 96 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA . 
 
 what form the Tenancy Bill (*) will eventually become 
 law, neither landlords nor tenants are willing to bind 
 themselves in perpetuity. 
 
 The gross receipts of the Registration Department 
 during the year 1883-84 were Rs. 9,74,711 almost 
 equal to the receipts of all other provinces put together. 
 As the expenditure was only Rs. 5,04,755, the regis- 
 tration fees may with advantage be lowered, unless it 
 is proposed to utilise the surplus in building better 
 rural offices and in increasing the pay of the special 
 and rural sub-registrars. The Collector, as Registrar, 
 has to make periodical inspections of all the special 
 andrural sub-registry offices in his district. 
 
 The charge of the Treasury entails on the Collector 
 a considerable amount of very responsible work. 
 Currency notes, cash, stamps, and opium are kept in 
 the Treasury ; and the cash balance has to be per- 
 sonally verified by the Collector once a month. The 
 Treasury is in immediate charge of a Deputy Collector, 
 who is styled the Treasury Officer ; but this in no 
 way relieves the Collector from any portion of his 
 responsibility. During the year 1882-83 two schemes 
 were introduced by the Government of India with a 
 view to affording safe investments for the poorer 
 classes of the people, namely, the issue of stock-notes, 
 and the establishment of Post Office Savings Banks 
 The stock-notes have not been a success. The 
 
 The Bill has since become law. Act VIII. of 1885. 
 
CURRENCY NOTES. 197 
 
 people, however, are thoroughly familiar with currency 
 notes, as is evident from the fact that the total issues 
 of notes from treasuries during the year 1882-83 
 amounted to 3,880,000, while the receipts of currency 
 notes from the public amounted to 3,600,000. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 AN AGRICULTURAL SKETCH, MANUFACTURES, AND 
 TRADES 
 
 Agriculture Millets Oilseeds, Vegetables, Fruits and Spices 
 Rice-Crop Description of a Deltaic District The Palms 
 of Bengal A Bengal Village Tanks The Homestead- 
 High Lands Low Rice- Lands Wheat Cotton Jute 
 Indigo Other Products Tobacco Sericulture Con- 
 dition of Cattle Manure Rotation of Crops Wages, 
 Prices, and Rents Manufactures Manual Dexterity 
 Decay of Weaver Class Gold and Silver Jewellery Em- 
 broidery Cutlery Mineral Products Internal Trade 
 Local Trade Hdts and Melas Material Progress and 
 Increased Comfort of People. 
 
 IT has been mentioned in Chapter IV that one of 
 the duties of the District Collector is the collection of 
 information and reliable statistics on almost every 
 conceivable topic, including especially agriculture and 
 manufactures, and all questions connected therewith. 
 During his cold weather tour the Collector is enabled 
 to see a good deal of village life, and learns much 
 concerning the material condition and progress of the 
 people, crops and cultivation, wages, prices and rents, 
 course and direction of internal trade, local markets 
 
AGRICULTURE. 159 
 
 and manufactures. As a good portion of the cold 
 weather tour is devoted to the collection of accurate 
 and reliable information on these subjects, which are, 
 moreover, fully treated in the Annual Administration 
 Reports, a brief agricultural and manufacturing sketch 
 will be a fitting conclusion to the foregoing chapters. 
 
 Taking India as a whole, it may be affirmed that 
 the staple food-grain is neither rice, nor wheat, but 
 millet. The two commonest kinds are great millet 
 (Sorghum vulgare), known as joar or jawari in the 
 languages derived from the Sanskrit, as jonna in 
 Telugu, and as cholam in Tamil; and spiked millet 
 (Holcus spicatus), called bajra in the north and kambu 
 in the south. The oil-seeds most cultivated are 
 mustard or rape seed, linseed, ///or gingelly (sesamum), 
 and castor-oil. The commonest vegetables are 
 the egg-plant, called brinjal or baigan (Solanum 
 melongina), potatoes, cabbages, radishes, onions, garlic, 
 turnips, yams, and a great variety of cucurbitaceous 
 plants. Potatoes, cabbages, and turnips are of com- 
 .paratively recent introduction. The ordinary fruits 
 are the mango, plaintain, jack, pine-apple, pome- 
 granate, guava, tamarind, custard -apple, papaia, 
 shaddock, and several varieties of fig, melon, orange, 
 lime, and citron. The most important spices are 
 turmeric and chillies; then come ginger, coriander, 
 aniseed, black cummin, and fenugreek. 
 
 In the absence of irrigation, a rice crop requires an 
 annual rainfall of at least 36 inches, and- a province 
 
200 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 requires an average fall of 50 to 60 inches in order to 
 grow rice as its staple crop. Where grown, it is 
 generally to the exclusion of other crops, in the deltas 
 of great rivers and the long strip of land fringing the 
 Western Coast of India. In Burmah 90 per cent, of 
 the cultivated land is under rice ; in Bengal and 
 Orissa the proportion is perhaps 85 per cent, and 
 about the same in the deltas of the Godaveri, Kistna, 
 and Cauveri, and the lowlands of Travancore, Malabar, 
 Canara, and the Concan. In the year 1877-78, when 
 famine was raging in Southern India, the exports of 
 rice from Calcutta exceeded sixteen million cwts. The 
 annual exports from Burmah are about twelve 
 million cwts. An acre of paddy-land yields about 
 15 maunds or 1,200 Ibs. of cleaned rice: Mr. A. P. 
 Macdonell's estimate for Behar is 1,120 Ibs. The 
 worst sort of land yields 500 Ibs. 
 
 The ordinary scenic aspect of a deltaic district in 
 Bengal is a vast expanse of paddy-cultivation, con- 
 sisting of small fields separated by ails (small bunds 
 or ridges of earth), with villages dotted here and there, 
 the houses being entirely, or almost entirely, concealed 
 from view by clumps of luxuriant bamboos and palm- 
 trees. The monotony of this expanse of rice is also 
 broken here and there by tanks, fringed round with 
 palmyra trees, strips of waste land running from one 
 village to another, scattered date-palms, and, more 
 occasionally, by topes or groves of mango-trees. Here 
 and there, too, may be seen the many-branching, 
 
A BENGAL VILLAGE. 201 
 
 many-rooted banyan, the sacred peepul (ficus religiosa), 
 the leafless wild cotton-tree, with its red flowers, the 
 tall feathery tamarind, the hardy quick -growing 
 babool. The palms of Bengal are very varied, 
 including the betel-nut or areca, cocoa-nut, bastard- 
 date, palmyra, and true date-palm. The bastard- 
 date supplies the jaggery sugar of commerce, and 
 both it and the palmyra furnish intoxicating liquors. 
 The palmyra is a great favourite of the Bengal 
 ryot and is a source of much profit to him. If 
 he digs a tank, he almost invariably plants it round 
 with palmyras, and he also plants them on his home- 
 stead land, as they are supposed to absorb much of 
 the moisture in the air, and to drink up the noxious 
 exhalations of the soil. Coming to the village itself, 
 most of the houses are mud cottages thatched with 
 paddy-straw, but in the larger villages there is a con- 
 siderable sprinkling of brick houses ( x ). In the centre 
 of the village is generally a large tree, the trunk of 
 which is built round with a platform of solid masonry, 
 on which, of an afternoon or evening, the bhadra lok 
 (gentlemen) of the village sit and smoke and gossip, 
 or play at cards or chess. As far as the talk goes, 
 such words as jami, jama, dakhila, taka,paisa t mokud- 
 
 (!) While taking the census of Burdwan in 1881, I found the 
 proportion of brick houses in many villages to be as much as ten 
 per cent. The increasing number of brick houses is a sure and 
 safe criterion of the diffusion of wealth among the agricultural 
 community. 
 
202 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 duma, feisala (land, rent, receipt, rupees, pice, case; 
 decree, document) may often be heard. On these 
 occasions extracts are read out from the native news- 
 paper published at the Sudder Station, and give rise 
 to varied discussion. Another characteristic feature 
 of Bengali villages is the extraordinary number of 
 tanks, in a great measure due to the fact that it is 
 considered a work of religious merit to dig a tank for 
 the use of the public. These tanks are often covered 
 with aquatic plants, lotuses, and water-lilies ; still the 
 water appears to be clear and wholesome. Some! 
 have magnificent flights of stone steps leading down 
 to them which serve as bathing ghats, that for males 
 being separate from that for females, though this dis- 
 tinction is less observed in towns. Those who are 
 well-off often have a pond behind their houses, to 
 which their females go by the back door (k/iirki) fort 
 the sake of privacy. Excluding the very poorest, 
 each house has a front (sudder) as well as a back 
 entrance, a verandah, an open yard inside, and two or 
 three rooms (store-room, cook-room, sleeping-room, 
 &c.). The inner rooms also have a verandah running 
 in front of them, in which the inmates sleep in hot 
 weather. On this verandah is placed the dhenki 
 (pedal for husking paddy). The gohl-gJiar (cow- 
 house) is situate on the yard. The cattle feed from 
 large earthen troughs buried in the ground, and are 
 tethered to bamboo posts. Outside is the sarkoot 
 (dust-pit), the contents of which are used to manure 
 
THE HOMESTEAD. 203 
 
 the fields. Some officers regard these ash heaps as 
 hurtful from a sanitary point of view, but it should be 
 recollected that they are outside the house, and that 
 the ryot leads a healthy out-of-door life. Jackals and 
 huge domestic pigs of repulsive appearance (kept by 
 Domes and other outcastes) often perform the work of 
 village scavengers. It is a most rare thing to find offen- 
 sive matter on roads or paths in the village, though the 
 spots used for the worship of the Goddess Ananke 
 are often objectionably near to the homesteads, or to 
 tanks used for bathing and drinking. A large village 
 generally has several temples, and a sprig of the 
 sacred toolsee plant may be seen outside the houses 
 planted in the verandah or in a masonry vase. 
 Melons and yellow pumpkins are trailed over the 
 thatched roofs of the houses; and the lands adjoining 
 the homesteads are planted with bamboo topes, plain- 
 tain-groves, or vegetables of various sorts. Beyond 
 the actual homestead lands, the lower lands round 
 the village produce aus (early or autumn paddy), 
 followed by a second crop of mustard, linseed, gram, 
 pease, or barley. Sometimes sugarcane, mulberry, 
 hemp and flax are grown on these lands. The lands 
 .situate on a still lower level and farther from the 
 village produce a single yearly crop of dmun or 
 winter-rice. Sir Henry Maine's " common mark " 
 (waste lands. for pasturage) often does not exist. 
 Sheep are seldom kept (the Bengali" prefers goati 
 flesh), and the cows and bullocks are grazed along the 
 
204 ADMINISTRA TION OF JNDIA. 
 
 roadsides, on the slopes of tanks, in mango topes and 
 orchards, on patches of waste near jheels (pools or 
 swamps of water), and, when the crops are off the 
 ground, indiscriminately over the fields. 
 
 Wheat is an exceptional crop in Bengal and Orissa. 
 In the Panjab seven million acres, or 37 per cent, of 
 the cultivated area, is under wheat: in the central 
 provinces the proportion is 23 per cent. The average 
 out-turn of wheat per acre in England is (according 
 to Mr. Caird) 26^ bushels, in France 15^, and in the 
 
 P aijil 13. 
 
 The principal fibre crops are cotton, jute, hemp 
 (pat), and flax (son). Prior to 1860 the exports of 
 raw cotton from India used to average less than three 
 millions sterling a year ; but after that date they rose 
 by leaps, until in 1866 they reached the enormous 
 total of thirty-seven millions. Then came the crash 
 caused by the restoration of peace in the United 
 States, and the exports fell until they now average 
 little more than eight millions a year. The area 
 under cotton cultivation in 1881 was a little over 
 eleven million acres. 
 
 The cultivation of jute is confined to Northern and 
 Eastern Bengal. The cultivator, practically a peasant 
 proprietor, increases or diminishes his cultivation 
 according to the state of the market, and manages 
 to keep the profits in his own hands. In 1878-79 
 the export of raw jute from Calcutta amounted to 
 6,021,382 cwts., valued at 3,800,426, besides jute 
 
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 205 
 
 manufactures to the value of ,1,098,434. The ex- 
 ports of indigo in the same year were 105,051 cwts., 
 valued at 2,960,463. This industry flourishes in 
 Behar. It is still carried on in some districts of 
 Bengal ; but it has not recovered from the de- 
 pression caused by the indigo riots of 1860 and the 
 emancipation of the peasantry by the Land Act 
 of 1859. 
 
 Other important products are sugarcane, opium, 
 ganja, tobacco, pan, coffee, tea, cinchona, silk, and lac. 
 The forests produce excellent timber, such as sal, 
 sisii, and teak, while fields and forests alike produce 
 various resins, gums, varnishes, and scents. A whole 
 pharmacopoeia of native medicines, from the well- 
 known aloe and castor-oil, to obscure but valuable 
 febrifuges, is derived from shrubs, herbs, and roots. 
 Nor should I omit to mention the maJiua tree, pro- 
 ducing the fleshy flowers which form a staple article 
 of food among the hill-tribes, and, when distilled, 
 supply a cheap spirit. Tobacco is grown in almost 
 every district for local consumption. The produc- 
 tion for the whole of India has been estimated at 
 218,750,000 Ibs. Tobacco was taxed, like everything 
 else, under native rule. During toil and after toil the 
 dear huka, or hubble-bubble, is a precious treasure 
 and unfailing solace alike for high-born and low- 
 caste, zemindar and ryot, artizan and ploughman, 
 shop-keeper and labourer ; and the Bengalee may 
 well congratulate himself that his two chief luxuries, 
 
206 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 tobacco and pan, are both untaxed and comparatively 
 cheap. Certainly he is an object of envy to smokers 
 in England, who pay a sum of nine millions towards 
 the revenue. 
 
 Sericulture is a declining industry in India. Besides 
 the silk-worm proper, fed upon the mulberry, several 
 other species of silk-yielding worms abound in the 
 jungles of India, and are utilised, and in some cases 
 domesticated, by the natives. These "wild silks" are 
 known under the generic name of " tasar " (tusser). 
 Moorshedabad is still famous for its kincobs (gold 
 brocades); but the manufacture is losing its import- 
 ance. It is also a matter for regret that the silk 
 filatures of Rajshaye are declining ; but it is possible 
 that the decline may be checked by lowering the rents 
 on mulberry lands. It is recorded that in the year 
 1577 three ships laden with Maldahi cloth were sent 
 from Maldah to Russia. The lac insect abounds on 
 certain jungle trees, and from time immemorial it has 
 been collected by the wild tribes and worked up into 
 lacquered ware. It is known to commerce both as a 
 gum (shellac) and as a dye. 
 
 The general condition of the cattle is poor, owing 
 to (i) unfavourable conditions of climate and soil ; 
 (2) insufficiency of grazing ground ; and (3) want of 
 care and selection in breeding. In the matter of 
 irrigation, native patience and ingenuity have devised 
 means and schemes, which in some respects compare 
 not unfavourably with the more ambitious projects of 
 
MANURE AND FALLOWS. 207 
 
 Government. Manure is copiously applied to the 
 more valuable crops, its use being limited by poverty 
 and not by ignorance. Cow-dung is used for rice 
 and miscellaneous crops, and kJwl or oil-cake (refuse 
 of oil-seeds after oil has been extracted) for sugarcane 
 and pan. Ryots also utilise the contents of their 
 ash-pits, and rich mud dug from the bottom of tanks. 
 The principle of rotation of crops is understood, and 
 the advantage of fallows is widely recognised. The 
 low lands, on which winter rice is grown, are recruited 
 by floods and inundations, and do not require fallows. 
 Lands adjacent to rivers do not even require manure. 
 In some districts, when the land is thoroughly ex- 
 hausted by over-cropping, groves of the quick-grow- 
 ing bdbla (acacia arabica) are sown. These trees 
 attain a height of fifteen feet in about five years, and 
 are then cut down and sold at remunerative prices 
 for firewood. A mild and beneficial rule, ensuring an 
 even more absolute security of person and property 
 than exists in European countries, causes a rapid in- 
 crease of population ; but there are still vast tracts of 
 untenanted and untilled lands awaiting the plough, 
 and these lands are in some cases situate within a 
 few miles of those parts where the density of popula- 
 tion is greatest. 
 
 Wages, prices, and rents differ much in different 
 districts. Taking Burdwan as a typical district of 
 Western Bengal, a coolie earns from ^\d. to 6d. per 
 diem ; agricultural labourers a little less ; but then in 
 
208 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 times of scarcity and slack seasons they have some 
 claim on their regular employers. 
 
 Smiths and carpenters earn from 6d. to yd.; brick- 
 layers from gd. to is. A domestic servant gets four or 
 five shillings a month, besides her keep. Rates of 
 rent in Burdwan are as follows : 
 
 Per acre. 
 Sona or high lands, yielding the early \ 
 
 paddy followed by a second crop of > 8s. to 36^. 
 pulses, vegetables, or oil-seeds . . j 
 The higher rents are taken only 
 when especially valuable crops are 
 grown, such as sugarcane, cotton, 
 mulberry. 
 Salt or low land yielding ordinarily \ 
 
 one crop of late rice, but sometimes 
 
 , c . jj . \4s. 6d. to iSs. 
 
 a second crop of gingelly or khesart ( 
 
 under favourable circumstances . } 
 
 Sugarcane . . . . . . iSs. to 305. 
 
 Cotton i2s. to 3OJ. 
 
 Potato . . . iSs. to 3OJ-. 
 
 Mulberry . ... 24^. to 48^. 
 
 Pan .... . . 40.5". to 6os. 
 
 Garden lands . . . . 4^. 6d. to 12s. 
 
 Grass lands . . . is. 6d. to 3J-. 
 
 But rents are much lower in Northern Bengal and a 
 large portion of Eastern Bengal, as there are large 
 
RENTS. 209 
 
 areas of cultivable waste, owing to the existence 
 of which there is little or no competition for land, 
 and customary rents still prevail. Even in Nuddea 
 (Central Bengal) rents appear to be lower than in 
 Burdwan or Hooghly. In Nuddea the average 
 rent of sdli land is 5^. or 6s. an acre ; of sond 
 land, 6s.; sugarcane, lOs.; tobacco, pan, mulberry, 
 cotton, turmeric, garden produce, &c., 15^.; plaintain 
 gardens, gs.; orchards of jack, mango, tamarind, 
 bamboo-topes, 22s. The average price of rice is 
 about 20 seers (40 Ibs. avoirdupois) per rupee. 
 Where common rice sells at ten or eleven seers, 
 or los. 2d. a hundredweight, prices may be said 
 to have reached famine rates ; or at least there 
 is intense scarcity, which makes itself severely felt by 
 the labouring classes, petty cultivators and artizans. 
 Enormous sums have been spent for the relief of the 
 people in times of famine, a fact which is probably 
 well known in England ; a native manifesto recently 
 sent home states that " the visitations of famine are 
 unchecked in their severity." 
 
 Though India has not reached that modern stage of 
 industrial development, which is based upon the use 
 of coal and the discoveries of physical science, yet, in 
 all manufactures requiring manual dexterity and 
 artistic taste, she may challenge comparison with 
 England in the eighteenth century. The necessary 
 arts, such as the weaver, potter, and the smith, are 
 practised in every village ; and the number of jewellers 
 
210 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 js remarkably large for a comparatively poor country. 
 Indian women are passionately fond of jewellery, and 
 the ryots are fond of investing their savings in this 
 way. The vast quantities of bullion imported inta 
 India, of which no positive account can be rendered, 
 are doubtless made into personal ornaments. Gold 
 and silver work and jewellery are, next to cotton, the 
 most important products of the Panjab. In the Delhi 
 district alone the estimated out-turn in jewellery in the 
 year 1881-82 was 550,070, and the number of hands 
 employed in the industry is calculated at 50,000. It 
 is said that the best workman cannot earn more than 
 sixpence a-day. In the sixteenth century, the people 
 of -India were unsurpassed in architecture, fabrics of 
 cotton and silk, goldsmith's work and jewellery. But 
 the English capitalist has now enlisted in his service 
 the forces of nature, against which Indian village 
 artizans in vain try to compete. The terrible compe- 
 tition of Manchester has crushed out a multitude of 
 minor handicrafts, and cotton manufacture especially 
 has declined and deteriorated. It is melancholy to 
 contemplate the decay of the weaver class, and their 
 struggles to bear up against the inevitable. The 
 abolition of all import duties has doubtless benefited 
 the general consumer, but it has ruined the weavers (*) 
 and a few other castes. 
 
 ( J ) The number of weavers in most districts is very large. 
 In Nuddea there are 14,000 weavers, the total number of skilled 
 
MANUFA CTURES. 2 1 1 
 
 Gold and silver jewellery of good original design 
 and excellent workmanship are made at Dacca in 
 Bengal and Cuttack in Orissa. Other artistic indus- 
 tries in Bengal are brass and bell-metal work, damas- 
 kening in silver, blackwood furniture, shellac, pottery, 
 and manufacture of bracelets from chank shells. 
 Among commercial manufactures may be mentioned 
 indigo, sugar, rice, castor-oil, mustard-oil, and jute 
 baling. The famous embroidery work of India is 
 somewhat declining. The groundwork may be silk, 
 wool, cotton, or leather. In some of the historical 
 capitals of the Deccan velvet is gorgeously embroi- 
 dered with gold to make canopies, umbrellas, &c. 
 Carpets and rugs are manufactured in a few places 
 equal, in thickness and closeness of texture, to the 
 best products of Persia. Fire-arms are made in 
 Monghyr, and the cutlery of Kanchannugger (Burd- 
 wan) promises to become famous. An excellent pair 
 of scissors may be purchased for eight annas (one 
 shilling). The work in brass and copper is more 
 varied than the pottery, which is not very artistic. 
 Coloured clay figures, manufactured by the potters of 
 Kishnagur, have received medals at the London and 
 Paris Exhibitions. 
 
 workers, mechanics and artizans being about 42,000. The 
 potters number 4,063 (census of 1871), goldsmiths 3,023, 
 thatchers 3,223, brick-masons 2,244, tailors 1,321, mat-makers 
 1,086, carpenters 2,836, basket-makers 1,009. The population 
 of the district was 1,812,795 in 1871. 
 
 P 2 
 
212 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 The mineral products in India are iron, salt, rock- 
 salt, saltpetre, gold, copper, lead, tin, antimony (which, 
 in the form of surma is largely used by the natives as 
 a cosmetic), petroleum (in British Burmah), limestone, 
 kankar (a nodular form of impure lime, which is found 
 in almost every river-valley, and universally used for 
 metalling the roads), marble, trap, sandstone, granite, 
 slate, chalk, mica, talc, &c. 
 
 Broadly speaking, the greater part of the internal 
 trade is in the hands of the natives of the country. 
 Most castes appear to have an aptitude for trade and 
 commerce, for buying and selling, but the chief trading 
 classes are the. Banias of Guzerat, the Marwaris of 
 Rajpootana, and the Lingaits, Chetties, and Koomties 
 of the South. In Bengal the Jain Marwaris occupy the 
 first rank. Like their confreres in England, these men 
 are very religious or at least outwardly pious, and 
 they spend large sums in erecting temples of worship 
 wherever they settle down ( x ). Local trade is carried 
 on in the permanent bazars of towns, and also at 
 weekly and bi-weekly hats (markets) and annual 
 
 (!) Even a secular Jain must visit the temple daily, must 
 abstain from flesh, drink water thrice strained, and never leave 
 a liquid uncovered, lest insects should fall into it. The Yati, or 
 religious Jain, leads a life of abstinence and continence, wears a 
 thin cloth over his mouth to prevent his unwittingly swallowing 
 any insect, and carries a brush, with which he sweeps any place 
 he is about to sit on, lest he should crush or hurt any living 
 creature. 
 
MATERIAL PROGRESS. 213 
 
 gatherings (melas) primarily held for religious, 
 purposes, though religion is often a mere excuse 
 for, or at least a subsidiary adjunct of, the secular 
 business of buying, selling, sight-seeing, and amuse- 
 ment 
 
 In conclusion, though wealth is still hoarded to 
 some extent, the natives have become fully alive to, 
 and are enjoying the benefits of, trade, commerce, and 
 investment of capital, as is proved by their holding 
 twenty millions sterling of the national debt of India, 
 by the increase of deposits in savings banks, by 
 increased receipts and issues of currency notes, and 
 more indirectly by the expansion of the postal and 
 telegraphic transactions of the country, and similar 
 marks of progress. The material progress and 
 increased comfort of the people makes itself manifest 
 in many ways. District Officers are unanimous 
 in their reports on this subject ( J ). More masonry 
 houses are being built; substantial tanks and 
 wells are excavated ; orchards of fruit trees are being 
 planted in large numbers; more valuable crops are 
 grown, there are more roads and better markets, and 
 the prices of agricultural produce have a constant 
 tendency to rise; stone and earthenware vessels are 
 giving way to brass utensils; wooden bedsteads 
 
 ( J ) The National Review for November, 1855, contains an 
 instructive and typical article on the history of an Indian district 
 to which I would refer my readers. 
 
214 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 chairs, and stools are to be seen in the houses of all 
 but the very poorest classes. The number of carts 
 for transport and boats on the rivers has increased by 
 thousands, and the number of draught bullocks by 
 tens of thousands. The ryot wears better clothes, has 
 shoes, and carries an umbrella. In the cold weather 
 he has a substantial shawl or wrapper. Expensive 
 sarees are no longer confined to the women of the 
 upper classes, while tusser sarees are somewhat despised, 
 as they are worn even by women of the lowest castes. 
 Brass ornaments are giving way to silver and silver 
 to gold; even women of the lowest classes may be 
 seen with silver bracelets, armlets, waistlets, and 
 anklets. As has been remarked elsewhere, the quality 
 and quantity of jewellery worn by the women is a 
 very sure and safe criterion of the prosperity of the 
 people, as it is notorious that they like to invest a 
 great portion of their savings in this way. Of course 
 Indians, as compared with Europeans, are poor, and 
 must remain so for a long time to come; but their 
 wants in the shape of food, housing, and clothing, are 
 smaller and more easily and cheaply satisfied. The 
 private charity shown towards the old, infirm, and 
 helpless, as well as towards religious mendicants and 
 professional beggars, has hitherto obviated the 
 necessity for any poor law, and is one of the best 
 elements of the native character. Dr. Birdwood 
 Ascribes the comfort and happiness of the agricultural 
 classes to the happy administration of the land, and 
 
LAND QUESTION. 215 
 
 the excellent character of the landed tenures. 
 Certainly the land question seems to have been 
 solved in India in a satisfactory manner, while its 
 solution is as yet incomplete in Ireland, and is only 
 beginning in England and Scotland. 
 
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. 
 
 IT may be useful, for purposes of ready reference, to 
 recapitulate and summarize in a few paragraphs some 
 of the most salient facts, which have been detailed and 
 illustrated in the preceding chapters. 
 
 1. India (including native states) covers an area of 
 1,383,504 square miles with a population of 253,906,409. 
 The area of the province of Bengal is 193,000 square 
 miles with a population of 69,536,861 (45,452,806 
 Hindus and 21,704,724 Mahomedans), shewing an in- 
 crease of 10-89 P er cent, on the former census of 1871. 
 The average density of population to the square mile 
 is 184 for the whole of India ; it is 371-41 for Bengal, 
 and 500 for Behar. The average size of a district 
 administered by a Bengal Magistrate-Collector is 3,323 
 square miles. 
 
 2. In England and Wales the urban population is 
 66 per cent of the whole; in France 31, in Bengal 
 only 5-26. The agricultural class absorbs more than 
 half the population in every division of the Province. 
 As regards conjugal condition, eleven girls out of 
 every 100 are married before they are ten years of age, 
 while from ten to twenty, only 19 are unmarried, 76 
 
LAND REVENUE. ' 217 
 
 being married, and four being widows. Female 
 infanticide has disappeared, and polygamy is regarded 
 with increasing disfavour ; but widow re-marriage is 
 not making much progress. 
 
 3. The percentage of the permanently-settled land 
 revenue of Bengal on the estimated gross value of 
 crops is only 3-9. It does not now exceed 15 percent, 
 on the zemindars' rental, whereas, when fixed in 1793, 
 it was estimated to be 80 per cent. The State in 
 Egypt takes 5,000,000 every year from the 5,000,000 
 acres of land occupied by 5,000,000 people, whereas 
 the State in Bengal takes less than 4,000,000 from 
 60,000,000 of people, cultivating 60 to 70 million acres. 
 As to the tenants, speaking broadly, there can be no 
 ejectment except through a court of law, and all they 
 have to pay is a fair and equitable rent (to be fixed, in 
 cases of dispute, by Revenue Courts). Occupancy- 
 ryots enjoy special privileges, and are in reality co- 
 proprietors. 
 
 4. Land-revenue settlements in all parts of India are 
 conducted with scrupulous fairness and moderation (*). 
 The money rents are never more than one-tenth, and 
 seldom more than one-twentieth of the gross produce. 
 
 (i) In the National Review for November, 1885, Mr. J. 
 Wilson gives a picture of the settlement of the Sirsa district 
 (Panjab). Population in 1858, 152,182 ; in 1881, 253,275 ; area 
 under cultivation in 1860, 700,000 acres; in 1881, 1,050,000 acres. 
 Prices of agricultural produce have risen 50 per cent, during 
 last 30 years; land revenue has increased, while its proportion 
 
2 1 8 ADMINISTRA T10N OF INDIA. 
 
 5. In Bengal, the amount of drinking is infinitesimal 
 as compared with England. In England and Wales 
 there is one place for the sale of liquor to every 173 of 
 the population. In Bengal there are not more than a 
 dozen shops (including shops for the sale of palm- 
 juice) to every 10,000 of the population. The inci- 
 dence of the excise revenue varies from 12s. to 32^. 
 per loo, whereas the incidence per 100 in the United 
 Kingdom is ^71 15^. 5^. In England (population 
 35,000,000) the single item of drink contributes 
 ^28,000,000 to the revenue ; in India (population 
 nearly 200,000,000) the excise revenue (including 
 drugs) yields only 3^ millions. 
 
 6. There is no compulsory irrigation-rate in Bengal. 
 If the ryots like to take the canal-water, they can do 
 so on payment of three shillings an acre. Sometimes, 
 in cases of unusual drought, the government directs 
 
 to the gross produce has been rapidly diminishing. Under 
 native rule the demand of the State practically absorbed the 
 whole of the net profits. In 1850 (the year after the annexation 
 of the Panjab) the average selling price of land was ^d. an acre; 
 in 1880, 8j-. to I2J-. Census of 1881 shows that of the present 
 population of 253,275, no fewer than 94,894 have immigrated 
 into the district, chiefly from the native states to the north and 
 south. Interesting details are given as to the lawlessness, 
 robberies, and murders under native rule as contrasted with the 
 present absolute security of life and property. Accumulation of 
 capital, improvement of communications, and the organization 
 of trade have made famine almost impossible. Many men now 
 hold land and live stock worth over ,1,000, whose grandfathers 
 were often on the verge of starvation. 
 
TAXATION. 219. 
 
 that the water be given for nothing. The canals are 
 used for navigation also, and their bunds form 
 excellent roads. The indirect benefits of canals are 
 inestimable. It has been calculated that the value of 
 the produce saved in times of scarcity has equalled the 
 capital outlay on their construction. 
 
 7. The total stamp revenue (including stamps on 
 litigation) for the whole of India in 1881-82 was 
 ^3,233,042, shewing an incidence of ^\d. per head of 
 the population. In England in 1884-85 the stamp 
 revenue proper (excluding court fees) amounted to 
 ^4,000,723, and the probate, legacy, and succession 
 duties to .7,720,195, shewing an incidence of over 6s. 
 per head. 
 
 8. The Salt Tax was levied under native rule. The 
 educated classes are in favour of it, while the poorer 
 classes do not even know of its existence. It is the 
 only tax that affects all classes, and its incidence per 
 head of the population is yd. per annum. The owner of 
 personal property, though a millionaire, need contri- 
 bute nothing to the State revenues except this 7^., if 
 he chooses to abstain from the luxuries of liquor and. 
 litigation. 
 
 9. The License Tax is a limited income tax 
 imposed on "trades, dealings, and industries," and 
 assessed on a system of classification according to 
 approximate income. About one person in every 
 iooo pays the tax, its average incidence being (ex- 
 cluding Calcutta) R. i to every 64 persons. It 
 
220 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 reaches a well-to-do class of traders, who were hereto- 
 fore contributing nothing to the revenue. The classes 
 of incidence are so few and well defined, that inquisito- 
 rial investigations are neither permitted nor necessary. 
 The tax does not touch the castes of general utility, 
 whose services support the microcosm of a Bengal 
 village, the minimum assessable income being 50 
 per annum. The incidence of the tax is about three- 
 pence on a pound of profits, and, as the tax is in 
 reality administered, the profits of those assessed in the 
 last class are much nearer Rs. 1000 than Rs. 500. 
 The proceeds for the whole of India do not exceed 
 half a million, whereas, when the income tax is at $d. 
 in the i, Schedule D (trade and professional profits) 
 produces 5j millions sterling. 
 
 10. In 1882 the Indian revenue was 73,695,806. 
 The land revenue yielded 21,948,022 ; opium, 
 
 9,862,444 ; and salt, ^7,375,620. The revenue 
 from Bengal was 19,562,182, or more than one- 
 fourth of the whole. Half the Indian revenue is not 
 taxation at all. Public works (including railways) 
 yield 7^ millions. The post-office and telegraph 
 revenues represent payments for work done. The 
 6J millions net derived from opium represents a 
 voluntary contribution by the Chinese consumer. The 
 taxes proper, namely, excise, customs, salt, stamps, 
 license tax, yield less than 15 millions, or about is. jd. 
 per head. The total revenue shows an incidence of 
 about 3.$-. i or/, per head, against an incidence in the 
 
DEFECTS OF ADMINISTRA TION. 221 
 
 United Kingdom of 2 9^. per head. The income 
 tax alone shows an incidence of over 6.r. per head. 
 As for the multifarious local taxation in England, I 
 will refrain from details which might appal Indian 
 readers. 
 
 As regards matters, which call for amelioration, 
 remedial action, or more cautious administration, I 
 may note the following, and at the same time take 
 this opportunity of making a few humble suggestions, 
 which might be taken into consideration by the 
 Government : 
 
 (i.) The uncurbed license of the native press, and 
 the persistent defamation of Government 
 officers, are seriously impairing the efficiency 
 of the administration. Injured parties should 
 not be denied their legitimate remedies. The 
 ordinary law (s. 500 of the Penal Code read 
 with ss. 191, 198 of the Criminal Procedure 
 Code) should be left to take its course. 
 (2.) The insubordinate behaviour of a portion of the 
 Native Bar leads to a scandalous waste of the 
 public time, especially in the Courts of Moon- 
 siffs (Civil Courts of first instance). The 
 remedy lies in the hands of the High Court. 
 (3.,) The decisions of revenue officers, making settle- 
 ments of land, should not be subject to revision 
 by the Civil Courts, but only by the higher 
 revenue authorities, Collectors, Commissioners, 
 Boards of Revenue, and Local Government. 
 
222 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 The Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 makes a 
 step in the right direction by empov/ering the 
 Local Government to appoint Special Revenue 
 Appellate Courts. 
 
 (4.) As regards forest-administration, it should be 
 recognised that there is a rock ahead in the 
 shape of hyper-preservation, which should be 
 steered clear of. Measures should be taken to 
 prevent any encroachment on, or destruction 
 of, public or customary rights. 
 
 (5.) Should the stamp duties be lowered ? The 
 matter is worthy of consideration. 
 
 (6.) The abolition of customs duties and the com- 
 petition of Manchester has ruined the weavers 
 and crushed out some minor handicrafts. 
 Should any portion of such duties be re-im- 
 posed ? This is a broad question of Imperial 
 policy, which can only be fitly decided by the 
 Government of India. 
 
 (7.) If extra taxation is required, pan and tobacco 
 should be avoided. But I think a tax on 
 marriages would not be unpopular. It would 
 produce at least ^"1,000,000 without any hard- 
 ship. To make the tax higher in an inverse pro- 
 portion to the ages of the bride and bridegroom 
 would probably be in accord with native 
 educated opinion, and would discourage very 
 early marriages. At the same time the 
 opportunity might be taken of enforcing civil 
 
SUGGESTIONS. 223 
 
 registration of marriages. Such a measure 
 would not only be a boon to the criminal 
 courts, but it would prevent the spread of 
 those lax notions and practices, which already 
 render so many marriages of doubtful validity. 
 The work of registration might be performed 
 by district registrars and their subordinates. 
 
 (8.) Should official salaries and professional earnings 
 be included in the license tax assessments? 
 The chief objection raised is that these classes 
 always live in municipalities, and pay muni- 
 cipal taxes, whereas traders are not confined 
 to towns. Moreover, as their salaries and 
 earnings are exactly or pretty accurately 
 known, they would pay more than traders, 
 who manage to conceal their income, and 
 thereby pay less than they ought to. It is 
 difficult to come to a decided opinion, but at 
 any rate the percentage of assessment should 
 be I per cent, only or half what is nominally 
 levied from traders. 
 
 (9.) Frequent re-surveys and re-settlements of small 
 Government estates and petty alluvial accre- 
 tions are to be deprecated. Waste, taken into 
 cultivation, should not be settled until it 
 amounts to 25 per cent, on the settled area. 
 If, on the expiry of a settlement, there are 
 valid grounds for enhancement, such as a 
 general and permanent increase of prices, 
 
224 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 arbitration should first be resorted to. The 
 
 ryots would probably agree to pay \2\ per cent. 
 
 (2 annas in rupee) more, and the cost of 
 
 survey and settlement would thus be saved. 
 
 Both the State and the ryot would benefit. 
 (10.) It would perhaps be advisable that the 
 
 native members of legislative councils should 
 
 be elected by the people. 
 
 I cannot conclude without noticing briefly 
 Mr. H. J. S. Cotton's " New India" O, which I have 
 seen while the last pages of this work were passing 
 through the press. I venture to think that much of 
 its effect is due to a dazzling deus ex machind style. 
 Certainly many of its assertions, positions, and 
 conclusions fail to carry conviction owing to the 
 absence of detail and illustration (for which the 
 author says he had no leisure), to a visible vein of 
 petitio principii, and above all to the discontented 
 and pessimistic tone with which it is pervaded ( 2 ). 
 Europeans are blamed for not knowing the best and 
 most independent natives, and yet the writer states 
 
 0) " New India." Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. 1885. 
 
 ( 2 ) I trust the writer, who is considerably my senior in the 
 service, and for whom I have the greatest respect, will pardon 
 my criticisms. Though his evident sympathy for writers hostile 
 to the Government, and dislike of those he calls "official 
 apologists " (e.g.) the un-called for disparagement of Sir James 
 Stephen and Sir Lepel Griffin at p. 92,), weakens and destroys 
 the value of his assertions ; still I cannot but admire his out- 
 spokenness and courageous independence of thought. 
 
HOSTILE CRITICISM. 
 
 225 
 
 that the latter avoid officials, and hold aloof from 
 Europeans (p. 14). Again the writer says that "he 
 would be a bold man who would unhesitating affirm 
 that the people of India are friendly to the British 
 Government" I would affirm this fact at the risk of 
 being called bold, but perhaps we may differ as to 
 what constitutes " the people of India." The educated 
 classes no more represent the people of India than 
 Mr. Hyndman's band of socialists or the Birmingham 
 Caucus represents the people of England. It will be 
 convenient to notice some other allegations in parallel 
 columns: 
 
 Civilians have assaulted 
 respectable residents of 
 the country because on 
 passing a European in 
 the road they have not 
 dismounted from their 
 horses in token of their 
 inferiority. " New India," 
 p. 42. 
 
 I am unaware of any such case. 
 It may have been done in the days 
 when Mr. Cotton first joined the 
 service, but it is unknown now. 
 Mr. Cotton knows very well that 
 even a district magistrate would in- 
 evitably be prosecuted for such an 
 act. But the real issues regarding 
 our administration are only obscured 
 by such side-allegations as this. It 
 is impossible uno ictu to convert 
 Eastern life and ideas into Western 
 life and ideas. Mr. Cotton is 
 possibly unaware that omission to 
 dismount from one's horse on pass- 
 ing a superior in the road is an 
 offence punishable in China. I am 
 not defending this particular section 
 of the Chinese Penal Code; I 
 merely indicate what would happen 
 if we left India to-morrow. The 
 
226 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 "The Bengal Tenancy 
 Act takes no regard of 
 the social and political 
 conditions of the provinces 
 where it will be in force," 
 p. 48. " There is no sense 
 of security which alone 
 will attract capital and 
 intelligence to agriculture. 
 A bare margin for sub- 
 sistence alone remains 
 (the writer does not refer 
 to permanently - settled 
 Bengal), and the result is 
 that indebtedness extends 
 year by year, and that 
 famines recur with ever- 
 increasing frequency and 
 severity," p. 55. 
 
 native officials would be the first to 
 introduce some such rule. The 
 only men who commit (or rather 
 order the commission of) such as- 
 saults now-a-days are native rajas 
 or influential zemindars. I do not 
 believe that Indigo planters would 
 commit such an assault. Certainly 
 if they did, they would receive a 
 summons within a very few days. 
 Sensational exaggeration can only 
 serve to weaken the cause it is 
 intended to prop up. 
 
 The Bengal Tenancy Act is the 
 result of ten years' thorough inquiry. 
 Various bills were several times 
 reported on by every experienced 
 officer in the service, as well as by 
 every class of non-official. It was 
 not, as Mr. Cotton affirms, " the 
 result of ignorance and disorderly 
 
 investigation. 
 
 No Act in 
 
 any 
 
 country ever received such com- 
 plete, exhaustive, and voluminous 
 discussion. Mr. Cotton urges the 
 need for abstention from inter- 
 ference ; but he will be the first to 
 admit that such non-interference 
 during the first half of this century 
 left the ryots at the mercy of their 
 zemindars. The security and pros- 
 perity of the agricultural community 
 dates from the Land Act of 1859. 
 As to temporarily-settled provinces, 
 it has been shown that rents are 
 low, and are noi ordinarily en- 
 
COST OF ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 227 
 
 " The administration of 
 India by Englishmen is 
 too expensive," p. 59. 
 "The cost of British 
 officers is too great ; their 
 salaries are too high ; and 
 the blessings of European 
 civilisation that they intro- 
 duce are luxuries beyond 
 the means of the people," 
 p. 68. " The natives are 
 deeply embittered at their 
 exclusion from power," p. 
 25. 
 
 hanced on the expiry of settlements. 
 (Chap. II.). I deny the truth of 
 the unsupported assertions as to 
 bare margin for subsistence, in- 
 debtedness, and famines. 
 
 Natives get exactly the same 
 scale of salaries as Europeans, 
 though it may be fairly argued that 
 living in their own country, and 
 having fewer expenses, they should 
 get less. Let it even be admitted 
 that, ceteris paribu r, a native should 
 be chosen in pre f erence to a 
 European ; but the complaint now- 
 a-days is that, ceteris non paribus, 
 still the native is chosen, that a 
 native is appointed to a post, though 
 more competent Europeans have 
 applied for it. There is nothing 
 that is not open to the natives, ex- 
 cept the very highest administrative 
 posts. With a few exceptions, all 
 depu'y magistrates and collectors 
 are natives. There is not a depart- 
 ment closed against them. Apart 
 from Government service, the arts 
 and learned professions and com- 
 merce give an ample scope for 
 ability and ambition. It is not true 
 that the natives are excluded from 
 power. I have shown in the fore- 
 going pages that the average 
 European has a far greater capacity 
 for work than a native, and that he 
 actually accomplishes far more 
 work, and that, too, in a lesser time 
 Q 2 
 
228 ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. 
 
 He is therefore, at least, as cheap 
 as a native officer. He is constitu- 
 tionally stronger, more active and 
 energetic, and therefore more fitted 
 for executive and administrative 
 work. The uncovenanted service 
 contains some excellent native 
 officers, hard and conscientious 
 workers, who keep their sub-divisions 
 in first-rate order. But, speaking 
 generally, why does a district 
 collector prefer to have his sub- 
 divisions in charge of civilian 
 assistant magistrates ? Because, 
 among other reasons, their out-turn 
 of work is much larger, and they 
 take a keener interest in general 
 administration. The roads are kept 
 in better order, the police are kept 
 more in hand, the excise revenue is 
 more thoroughly supervised, and 
 more valuable reports are submitted. 
 If English readers wish to ascertain 
 the exact proportions of European 
 and native gazetted officers, I refer 
 them to the India List of 1885. As 
 to salaries being too high, many a 
 civilian regrets the abandonment 
 of home life and the sacrifice of his 
 health for the sake of a salary 
 slightly, or not at all, higher than 
 he might have got in England. The 
 ever-decreasing value of the rupee 
 makes his position worse. Mr. 
 Cotton himself thus portrays the 
 dark side of the picture. " Draw 
 back the curtain, and beneath the 
 
CARPING PESSIMISM. 
 
 229 
 
 glamour of the East behold a young 
 English lad full of health, and hope, 
 and heart, who has complacently 
 sold his birthright for voluntary 
 exile. His youth, his manhood, his 
 (p>emature) age are bartered for a 
 moderate income of money, a career 
 which involves existence in a detest- 
 able and enervating climate, a life 
 which brings with it the laceration 
 of every domestic feeling, and the 
 enforced separation from every 
 home influence intended to soothe, 
 to soften, and ameliorate man's 
 nature." 
 
 " The educated classes 
 know that, if we were 
 voluntarily to retire from 
 India, they would instantly 
 be subjugated by fierce 
 and unlettered warriors," 
 p. 23. 
 
 Such a result is scarcely con- 
 sistent with the allegation in 
 another place that the Bengalee 
 Baboos now rule public opinion 
 from Peshawar to Chittagong (p. 15). 
 So great a moral force should have 
 some authority over the masses 
 (regarded as a portion of the same 
 nation). 
 
 Mr. Cotton's querulous remarks regarding the 
 tinkering of the Stamp Acts and the recasting of 
 assessed taxes are most unreasonable. After all, there 
 cannot be anything so very rotten in the state of 
 Denmark, if such petty matters as these are singled 
 out for denunciation. The addition of, or deduction 
 of a penny from, the income tax cannot be called 
 fiscal disquietude ; and> as a matter of fact, the Stamp 
 and License Tax Acts have been recast in the interests 
 
ll 
 
 230 ADMINISTRA TION OF INDIA. 
 
 of tax-payers so as to reduce taxation and to release 
 classes heretofore paying the tax. As to the imposition 
 of local cesses being regarded as a breach of faith, it 
 is neither wise nor generous to drag forward a matter, 
 which has been thoroughly threshed out and settled, 
 and regarding which the greatest statesmen, lawyers, 
 and jurists are unanimous. Such an attitude is 
 scarcely consonant with the assertion made in another 
 place (p. 115) that the writer is a "humble and loyal 
 servant of government, and duly conscious of the 
 responsibilities of his official position." 
 
 Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona and the civil 
 service contains many silent workers, who are fond of 
 India and her people, treat them with affection and 
 consideration, and are ever ready to do all they can 
 to further their interests. To them the unlettered hind 
 is no less an object of sympathy than the educated 
 Babu. They are not to blame, if they have not had 
 the good fortune to live in Calcutta and know " the 
 really best men among the natives of India, who do 
 not care to make tJie acquaintance of government 
 officials if they can help it" But they may be excused 
 for thinking that this very attitude of the best men, 
 which Mr. Cotton applauds, betrays a studied hostility 
 to government and prejudice against all its officials. 
 Like a Jogi, surrounded by a circle of smouldering 
 cow-dung cakes, Mr. Cotton sits, enveloped in his own 
 smoke, with no eyes or ears for aught else, but lost in 
 meditation and admiration of the educated English- 
 
THE BENGALI BABU. 231 
 
 speaking Bengali Babu. English education has done 
 a "great deal for them, but it has not yet produced 
 qualities of discretion, common sense, breadth of 
 view, and sound judgment. For instance, it has not 
 prevented the principal native associations in the 
 Presidency towns from issuing an appeal to the electors 
 of Great Britain, replete with weak arguments and in- 
 accurate facts, an appeal which rejects true and tried 
 servants of India such as Sir Richard Temple and Sir 
 James Fergusson, and selects men such as Sir J.B.Phear, 
 Messrs. Ghose, Digby, Keay, and Blunt, as " deserving 
 of the support of the Indian public." The significance 
 of this rejection of men who know India cannot and will 
 not be lost on the English public. Regarding the 
 selection of Mr. Seymour Keay, Mr. G. A. Kitteridge, 
 a leading Bombay merchant, writes to the Times 
 of India : "It would appear that to the most 
 intelligent of our native community what is needed 
 to stamp a man as India's friend is unbridled 
 denunciation of England and all her works, &c." 
 Mr. Lai Mohon Ghose's speeches contained some 
 grossly insulting and offensive remarks regarding 
 English men and English women, which I am in- 
 formed were carefully excised before the book was 
 published in England. Mr. Digby has made some 
 gross mis-statements^) regarding the License Tax, and 
 
 ( l ) Mr. Digby's mis-statements on Indian matters are so 
 gross, that he has fairly laid himself open to a charge of inten- 
 tional misrepresentation, or at least of bad faith. " Nothing can 
 
232 A D MINIS TRA TION OF INDIA . 
 
 Sir George Birdword, while ruthlessly exposing him, 
 has severely condemned his action in bringing Indian 
 subjects into the "rough and tumble arena" of a 
 political election. The allegations of Messrs. Blunt 
 and Keay have been sufficiently refuted in the fore- 
 going pages. Sir J. Phear is well known in India 
 
 /as the judge whose rulings and decisions brought 
 criminal administration in the Mofussil almost to a 
 tdead-lock, and necessitated the passing of the code 
 of 1872, in connection with which the name of 
 Sir James Stephen will always be gratefully and 
 honourably remembered. Educated natives would 
 do well to pause and consider whether their inte- 
 rests will in any way be furthered by making India 
 a ground of party strife. The pursuit of politics 
 is not a panacea for every evil. Government service 
 is after all but a very narrow sphere; and if every 
 
 / administrative post were filled by a native, there 
 would still remain thousands of disappointed and 
 discontented men. The wealthiest and most famous 
 
 be said to be done in good faith which is done without due care 
 and caution." If Mr. Digby had used even ordinary care and 
 caution, if he had taken the trouble to look into Blue Books or 
 Administration Reports, he could not have made such mis- 
 statements, unless, of course, he intended to do so. Such 
 recklessness of assertion does not, in my opinion, say much for 
 his fitness to sit in Parliament. It may be mentioned that 
 Mr. Digby did not scruple to accept a C. I. E. from the Indian 
 Government for services rendered in connection with the 
 Madras famine. 
 
ENFORCED WIDOWHOOD. 233 
 
 men in England arc not in Government service. The 
 true Indophile should regard English education, not 
 as an end in itself, but as a means to other ends, and 
 foremost the improvement and happiness of the two 
 hundred millions of their Indian brethren. Of what 
 use is the intellectual activity of the men, if it be not 
 recognized that the true development of a nation 
 depends on home surroundings, home training, and 
 home education ? None can appreciate the fact 
 more than myself that there are many advantages 
 attached to the caste system, the joint family, the 
 zenana system ; but educated natives will admit that 
 they have their evils also. The caste system prevents 
 the educated classes from becoming in any way the 
 leaders or representatives of the people ; there can be 
 no overpowering bond of sympathy between high 
 caste and low caste. The joint family encourages 
 and stereotypes habits of dependence and idleness, and 
 pro tanto lessens the wealth of the nation. Human 
 sacrifices, self-immolation, self- mutilation, Suttee, 
 female infanticide, sitting dhurna, practices sanctioned 
 by religion or immemorial usage, have all disappeared. 
 Why should infant marriage and enforced widowhood 
 be permitted to remain ? It is a sad reflection that 
 in these matters the lower castes are more and more 
 imitating the higher castes. There are 20,000,000 
 widows in the Indian Empire (census of 1881), and 
 the frightful evils consequent on this fact are readily 
 admitted in private intercourse by every sensible 
 
234 ADMINISTRA TION OF IXDIA. 
 
 Hindu ; but the extent, variety, and wide ramification 
 of these evils, the corrupting influences on the village 
 life, can only be adequately realised by those who are 
 brought face to face with them, the Sessions Judge, 
 the Magistrate, and the Officer in charge of the Police 
 Station. Foreign rulers can do little for the abolition 
 of perpetual widowhood ; it must be effected by disin- 
 terested patriots of high moral purpose, and excep- 
 tional moral courage men who have something more 
 than sharp wit and intellectual acumen, men who 
 have been nobly educated in the true sense of the 
 term. 
 
 In conclusion, I may repeat the remark made in the 
 Preface, that, though a Commission of Inquiry may 
 not be called for, so far as the Administration is con- 
 cerned, yet none would welcome it more than officials, 
 as tending to set at rest vexed questions and to decide 
 between conflicting sets of allegations, as indicating 
 the policy to be pursued in the future, and as laying 
 down authoritative conclusions and instructions, which 
 should be unreservedly accepted and faithfully carried 
 out by all who are loyal servants of Government. 
 TO S'eu vucdrw. 
 
 THE END. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 ACQUISITION OF LAND, 147 
 
 ACT X. of 1859. ..ii, 12 
 
 IV. 1868, B. C, 76 
 
 XXVIII. 1868. ..12 
 
 XVIII. 1873.. .12 
 
 XIX. 1873-- -36 
 
 III. 1878, B. C., 35 
 
 VIII. 1879, B - c -> 36 
 
 AGRICULTURE, 198 207 
 ALLUVION, 70 
 ARBITRATION COURTS, 18 
 
 ASSESSMENT. See LAND RE- 
 VENUE AND SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 AUCTION PURCHASER, 7 
 
 B. 
 
 BAR, 
 
 behaviour of native, 1 56 
 
 BENGALI, 
 
 cunning of, 75 
 forgery, 189, 192 
 
 BHANG, 95 
 BOAT-TRAFFIC, 118 
 BOMBAY RYOTWARI, 17 
 BOND, 188 
 BRAHMANISM, 123 
 
 CANALS, 146 
 CASTE SYSTEM, 233 
 CASTES, 131 
 CATTLE, 206 
 CENSUS, CHAP. VI. 
 
 CESSES, ROAD AND PUBLIC 
 WORKS, CHAP. VII. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY, 124 
 CHINESE PENAL CODE, 225 
 
 CIVIL COURTS, 
 
 land acquisition, 149 
 settlement appeals, 37 
 
2 3 6 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CIVIL COURTS, 
 
 tendency to ignore cus- 
 tom, 50, 60 
 
 waste of time in, 155 
 registration suits, 191 
 
 CLEARANCES IN HIGHLANDS, 
 
 40 
 
 COAL IN INDIA, 55 
 
 COLLECTOR, 
 miscellaneous duties of, 
 
 62 seg. 
 
 tours, 67, 199 
 as stamp officer, 180 
 as registrar, 188 
 as treasuiy officer, 194 
 
 COMMISSION, 
 Deccan, 18 
 
 COMMISSIONER, 
 duties of, 2 
 
 CONVEYANCE, 188 
 COTTON, 204 
 
 COTTON'S NEW INDIA, 224 
 COUNTRY SPIRIT, Si 
 CROP REPORTS, 63 
 CURRENCY NOTES, 197 
 CUSTOM, 16, 70 
 CUSTOMARY RIGHTS, 50, 60 
 
 CUSTOMS DUTIES, 
 abolition of, 3 
 
 D. 
 
 DATE-PALM, 91 
 DEAR A, 71, 77 
 
 DILUVION, 70 
 DISTILLERY, SUDDER, 81 
 
 DISTRICT OFFICFR, 2, 151 
 road fund, 136 
 
 DIVISION, 2 
 DRAINAGE, 142 
 
 DRINKING, INCREASE OF, 85 
 
 confined to lower castes, 
 
 89,95 
 
 comparison with Europe, 
 104 
 
 immemorial in India, 107 
 
 DRUGS, 80 
 
 consumption of, 90, 95 
 
 DURBHANGA RAJ, 44 
 
 E. 
 
 EASEMENTS, 47, 50, 60 
 
 EGYPT, 
 
 comparison with Bengal, 20 
 
 EJECTMENT, 12, 14 
 EMBANKMENTS, 141 
 ENCLOSURES, 59 
 ENDOGAMY, 126 
 ENHANCEMENT, 11, 13, 16 
 
 ESTATE, 4, 5, 6 
 sale of, 7 
 
 EXCISE COMMISSION, 87, 92 
 revenue, Chap. V. 
 
 incidence of, 106 
 
 EXOGAMY, 126 
 EXPORT?, 64 
 
INDEX. 
 
 237 
 
 FALLOWS. 207 
 
 FOREST ADMINISTRATION, 
 
 Chap. iii. 
 area under forest, 49, 5 T > 54 
 
 FRUITS, 199 
 
 G. 
 
 GANJA, 94 
 
 GOLDSMITHS, number of, 1 32 
 
 GOVERNMENT ESTATES, Chap, 
 iii. 
 
 H. 
 
 HIGH COURTS, 
 
 excessive adherence to 
 
 English law, 50 
 treatment of contempts, 
 157 
 
 HINDUISM, 123 
 HOMESTEADS, 203 
 HOUSE, 202 
 HYPERGAMY, 127 
 
 I. 
 
 IMPORT DUTIES, 210 
 IMPORTS, 64 
 IMPROVEMENT, 15 
 
 INCIDENCE. See LAND REVE- 
 NUE AND RENT. 
 
 INDIAN REVENUES, 220 
 INDIGO, 65, 205 
 
 IRELAND, 
 tenant legislation in, 39 
 
 IRRIGATION, 140, seq. 
 ISLAMISM, 125 
 ISLANDS, 69, 76, 77 
 
 ISOGAMY, 127 
 IZARADAR, 8 
 
 J- 
 
 JEWELLERS, 210 
 JEWELLERY, 214 
 JOINT FAMILY, 233 
 JUTE, 66, 204 
 
 K. 
 
 KANUNGO, 9 
 KHORDA SETTLEMENT, 2833 
 
 LAND, 
 
 acquisition, 147 
 legislation, 12, 39 
 question, 39, 215 
 registration, 152 
 transfer, 153 
 
 LAND REVENUE, 4 
 
 incidence, 16, 18 
 
 percentage on gross value 
 
 of crops, 17 
 
 LICENSE TAX, 169, seq. 
 as-essment, 171 
 incidence, 171, 176 
 
 iustice of, 175 
 
INDEX. 
 
 LIQUOR, 80 
 
 shops, 82 
 local option, 83 
 illicit, 85 
 
 consumption of, 105 
 
 M. 
 
 MADRAS, 
 
 irrigation, 143 
 
 ryotwari system, 17 
 
 MAHUA TREE, 81, 205 
 MANCHESTER, 210 
 MANUFACTURES, 210 
 MANURE, 207 
 
 MARRIAGE, 
 
 infant, 233 
 statistics, 125 
 
 tax on, 222 
 
 MATERIAL PROGRESS, 213 
 MIDNAPORE SETTLEMENTS, 35 
 MINERALS, 212 
 MILLETS, 199 
 MORTGAGE, 15 
 
 N. 
 
 NATIVES, 
 
 administration of 227 
 
 charity of, 214 
 
 NOMADIC CULTIVATION, 53 
 
 O. 
 
 OCCUPANCY RIGHT, 13 
 
 sale of, 1 5 
 
 OCCUPVTIOVS, 131 
 OILSEEDS, 199 
 
 OPIUM, 96, seq. 
 eaters, 101 
 monopoly, 102 
 export from India, 103 
 
 ORISSA, 4 
 
 addiction of Oorias to 
 opium, 98 
 
 OUTSTILL SYSTEM, 81, seq. 
 P. 
 
 PACHWAI, 92 
 
 PALMS, 200 
 PARTITION, 6 
 PATNI TENURES, 7 
 PATWARI, 9 
 PERGUNNAH, 3 
 
 PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS^ 
 theory of, 9 
 
 POLYGAMY, 127 
 
 POPULATION OF BENGAL, 120 
 of India, 217 
 density of, 121, 216 
 increase of, 119 
 urban and rural, 122, 216 
 
 PRESS, 
 
 license of native, 155 
 
 PRICES, 64 
 
 PUBLIC WORKS CESS, 134 
 
 R. 
 
 RAINFALL, 64, 143 
 
INDEX. 
 
 239 
 
 RECORD OF RIGHTS, 10 
 
 REGISTRATION, 
 land, 152 
 notarial, 188 
 receipts, 194 
 
 REGULATION XIX., 1793, 37 
 XI., 1825, 70 
 
 RELIGIONS, 122 
 
 nature- worship, 124 
 
 RENT, 11, 14, 32, 208 
 
 enhancement of, 12, 14 
 failure to pay, 14 
 incidence in Bombay and 
 Madras, 27 
 
 RE-SETTLEMENTS, 223 
 REVENUE ROLL, 4 
 
 RICE CRrp, 199 
 lands, 203 
 price of, 209 
 
 ROAD CESS, 135 
 
 ROADS, EXPENDITURE ON, 137 
 village, 139 
 
 ROTATION OF CROPS, 207 
 
 S. 
 
 SALE LAW, 6 
 
 of tenant-right, 15 
 
 SALT LINE, 168 
 
 SALT R* VENUE, 161 
 
 consumption of, 165 
 duty on, 163 
 incidence, 167 
 manufacture, 162 
 prosecutions, 164, 166 
 
 SALTPETRE, 167 
 
 SAVINGS BANKS, 194 
 
 SETTLEMENT OFFICER, 
 decisions of, 24, 36 
 in Upper India, 34 
 powers of, 35 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF LIQUOR 
 SHOPS, 84 
 
 SETTLEMENTS, 21 40 
 
 incidence of assessment, 
 
 16 
 
 ryotwari, 22 
 
 zemindari, 23 
 demarcation of bound- 
 aries, 24 
 
 survey, 25 
 inspection of soils, 25 
 assessment, 27 
 record of rights, 33 
 
 in Midnapore, 35 
 appeal to Civil Court, 37 
 
 SERVICE TENURES, 31 
 
 Privy Council decisions, 
 32 
 
 SILK, 66, 206 
 SPICES, 199 
 
 STAMP REVENUE, 179, seq. 
 duties, 183 
 offences, 182 
 
 revenue, 185 
 
 STOCK-NOTES, 195 
 SUB-DIVISION, 3 
 SUB-DIVISIONAL OFFICERS, 69 
 
 SUB-lNFEUDATION, 8 
 
 T. 
 
 TANKS, 141, 202 
 
240 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 TAREE, 9T 
 
 TAXATION IN INDIA, 169 
 TEA, 65 
 
 TENANCY ACT, 8, 10, 15, 16, 37, 
 58, 136, 226 
 legislation, 12, 19, 39 
 
 THANAH, 3 
 TOBACCO, 205, 222 
 TOURS. See COLLECTOR 
 TRADE, 64, 212 
 
 TREASURY, 194 
 TREE-PLANTING, 139 
 TUSSER SILK, 66 
 
 U. 
 UNDER-RYOT, 15 
 
 V. 
 VEGETABLES, 199 
 
 W. 
 
 WAGES, 64, 207 
 WARDS' ESTATES, Chap. iii. 
 WEAVERS, 210 
 WELL- IRRIGATION, 145 
 WHEAT, 204 
 
 WIDOW REMARRIAGE, 128 
 WIDOWS, number of, 233 
 
 Z. 
 
 ZEMINDARS, 7, 11 
 rental of, 19 
 
 W. I. RICHARDSON, PRINTER, 4 AND 5, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C. 
 
SELECTED LIST 
 
 OP 
 
 ILLUSTRATED & GENERAL PUBLICATIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 Tkacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta, 
 
 Sold by W. THACKER & Co., 87, Newgate Street, London* 
 and THACKER & Co., Limited, Bombay. 
 
 WORKS BY H. A. D. PHILLIPS, B C.S. 
 
 Manual of Revenue and Collectorate Law : with 
 Important Killings and Annotations. By H. A. D. 
 PHILLIPS, Bengal Civil Service. Crown 8vo. cloth. 
 Es. 10 (21s.) 
 
 CONTENTS : Alluvion and Diluvion, Certificate, Cesses, Road and 
 Public Works, Collectors, Assistant Collectors, Drainage, Embank- 
 ments, Evidence, Excise, Lakhiraj Grants and Service Tenures, 
 Land Acquisition, Land Registration, Legal Practitioners, License 
 Tax, Limitation, Mortgages, Opium, Partition, Public Demands 
 Recovery, Putni Sales, Registration, Revenue Sales, Salt, Settlement, 
 Stamps, Survey, and Wards. 
 
 Manual of Indian Criminal Law : being the Penal 
 Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Evidence, Whipping, 
 General Clauses, Police, &c., Acts, with Penal Clauses 
 of Legal Practitioners' Act, Registration, Arms, Stamp, 
 <fcc., Acts. Fully Annotated, and containing all applicable 
 Killings of all High Courts arranged under the appropriate 
 Sections up to date. By H. A. I>. PHILLIPS. Thick 
 crown 8vo. (Reprinting.) 
 
ii Thacker, Spink Co., Calcutta. 
 
 Our Administration of India : being a complete Ac- 
 count of the Revenue and Collectorate Administration in 
 all Departments, with special reference to the Work and 
 Duties of a District Officer in Bengal. By H. A. D. 
 PHILLIPS. Rs. 4-4. (6s.) 
 
 Comparative Criminal Jurisprudence, being a 
 synopsis of the law, procedure, and case law of other 
 countries, arranged as far as possible under the correspond- 
 ing sections of the Indian Codes. By H. A. D. PHILLIPS. 
 
 (In the Press.) 
 
 Vol. I. Crimes and Punishments. 
 Vol. II. Procedure and Police. 
 
 This work will include extracts from the Penal and Criminal Procedure 
 Codes of the State of New York, of Louisiana, of France, Belgium, and 
 Germany, the English statute-law and case-law (up to date), as well as the 
 most important decisions <-f the Courts of various American States, the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, and the Court of Cassation in Paris ; 
 also extracts from the best works on criminal law and jurisprudence. 
 
 Tales from Indian History : being the Annals of 
 India retold m Narratives. By J. TALBOYS WHEELER. 
 Crown 8vo., cloth gilt. Es. 3-4. (5s.) 
 
 " No young reader who revolts at the ordinary history presented to him 
 in his school books will hesitate to take up this. No one can read a volume 
 such as this without being deeply interested." Scotsman. 
 
 " While the work has been written for them (natives), it has also been 
 written for the people of England, who will find in the volume, perhaps for 
 the first time, the history of our great dependency made extremely attractive 
 reading. Mr. Wheeler's narrative is written in a most careful style ; 
 indeed, he is master of the English language. He does not confine himself 
 to the mere dry details of history, but tells the adventures of Indian heroes 
 and heroines in legends of love and war ; describes the village communities 
 of India, their organization and self-government ; delineates the results of 
 caste, infant marriage, and other Hindu institutions and usages as seen in 
 the family and social life of the people in villages and towns, as well as in 
 courts and palaces. . . . The work also contains valuable observations 
 on the foreign relations of the Indian Empire with Persia, Russia, Turkey, 
 and China. Altogether this is a work of rare merit." Broad Arrow. 
 
 " In going through an interesting book, the reader will be furnished with 
 a good general notion of Indian history, and learn besides something about 
 Indian modes of life." Qu^en. 
 
 " Will absorb the attention of all who delight in thrilling records of 
 adventure and daring. It is no mere compilation, but an earnest and 
 brightly-written book." Daily Chronicle. 
 
 " This little volume contains a history of India in the form of tales and 
 narratives, intended by the author for the people of India as well as for 
 those of the British Isles." Army and Navy Gazette. 
 
W. Tkacke)' & Co., London. 
 
 111 
 
 The Tribes on My Frontier : an Indian Natural- 
 ist's Foreign Policy. By EH A. With 50 Illustrations by 
 F. C. MACRAE. In Imperial 16mo. Uniform with " Lays 
 of Ind," "Riding," "Hindu Mythology," &c. Second 
 Edition, Rs. 5-8 (8s. 6d.) 
 
 This remarkably clever work most graphically and humourously 
 describes the surroundings of a country bungalow. The twenty 
 chapters embrace a year's experiences, and provide endless 
 sources of amusement and suggestion. The numerous able illus- 
 trations add very greatly to the interest of the volume, which 
 will find a place on every table. 
 
 Butterfly : 
 
 I. A Durbar. 
 IL The Rats. 
 III. The Mosquitos. 
 iv. The Lizards, 
 v. The Ants, 
 vi. The Crows, 
 vn The Bats, 
 vin. Bees, Wasps, et 
 
 omne. 
 
 IX. The Spiders, 
 x. The Butterfly : 
 Him. 
 
 hoc 
 
 genus 
 
 Hunting 
 
 XL The Butterfly : Contem- 
 plating Him. 
 xn. The Frogs. 
 xni. The Bug.s. 
 xiv. The Bir is of the Garden, 
 xv. The Birds at the Mango 
 
 Tope. 
 
 xvi. The Birds at the Tank, 
 xvn. The Poultry Yard. 
 XVIIL The White Ants, 
 xix. The Hypodermatikosyringo- 
 
 phoroi. 
 xx. Etcetera. 
 
 " It is a very clever record of a year's observations round the bungalow 
 
 in ' Dustypore.' . . . . It is by no means a mere travesty 
 
 The writer is always amusing, and never dull." Field. 
 
 " The book is cleverly illustrated by Mr. F. C. Macrae. We have only 
 to thank our Anglo-Indian naturalist for the delightful book which he ha* 
 sent home to his countrymen in Britain. May he live to give us another 
 such." C/i ambers' Journal. 
 
 " A most charming series of sprightly and entertaining essays on what 
 
 may be termed the fauna of the Indian bungalow We have 
 
 no doubt that this amusing book will find its way into every Anglo-Indian's 
 library." Allen's Indian Mail. 
 
 " This is a delightful book, irresistibly funny in description and illustra- 
 tion, but full of genuine science too There is not a dull or 
 
 uninstructive page in the whole book." Knowledge. 
 
 " It is a pleasantly-written book about the insects and other torments of 
 India which make Anglo-Indian life unpleasant, and which can be read 
 with pleasure even by those beyond the reach of the tormenting things 
 ' Eha ' describes." Graphic. 
 
 "The volume is full of accurate and unfamiliar observation, and the 
 illustrations prove to be by no means without their value." Saturday 
 Review . 
 
 a 2 
 
iv Tl lacker i Spink $ Co., Calcutta. 
 
 Sterndale. A Natural History of the Mammalia 
 of India, Burmah and Ceylon. By R. A. STERNDALE, 
 F.K.G-.S., F.Z.S., &c., Author of " Seonee," "The Deni- 
 zens of the Jungle," "The Afghan Knife," &c. With 170 
 Illustrations by the Author and Others. In Imperial 16mo. 
 Uniform with "Riding," " Hindu Mythology," and "In- 
 dian Ferns." Rs. 12-8 (18s.) 
 
 " It is the very model of what a popular natural history should be." 
 Knowledge. 
 
 ''An amusing work with good illustrations." Nature. 
 
 " Full of accurate observation, brightly told." Saturday Review. 
 
 " The results of a close and sympathetic observation." Athenceum. 
 
 " It has the brevity which is the soul of wit, and a delicacy of allusion 
 which charms the literary critic." Academy. 
 
 " The notices of each animal are, as a rule, short, though on some of the 
 larger mammals the lion, tiger, paid, boar, &c. ample and interesting 
 de. ails are given, including occasional anecdotes of adventure. The book 
 will, no doubt, be specially useful to the sportsman, and, indeed, has been 
 extended so as to include all territories likely to be reached by the sports- 
 man from India. . . . Those who desire to obtain some general infor- 
 mation, popularly conveyed, on the subject with which the book deals, will, 
 we believe, find it useful." The Times. 
 
 " Has contrived to hit a happy mean between the stiff scientific treatise 
 and the bosh of what may be called anecdotal zoology." The Daily News. 
 
 Handbook to the Ferns of India, Ceylon, and 
 
 the Malay Peninsula. By Colonel K. H. BEDDOME, Author 
 of the " Ferns of British India," " The Ferns of Southern 
 India." Three hundred Illustrations by the Author. 
 Uniform with "Lays of Ind," ''Hindu Mythology," 
 "Riding," "Natural History of the Mammalia of India," 
 &c. Imperial 16mo. Us. 12-8 (18s.) 
 
 " The great amount of care observed in its compilation makes it a most 
 valuib'e work of reference, especially to non scientific readers ; for, in pre- 
 paring it, as many of the technicalities as could be safely dispensed with are 
 left aside A magnificent volume of nearly 500 pages, illus- 
 trated with 300 admirable woodcuts." Garden. 
 
 ." It is the first special book of portable size and moderate price which 
 has been devoted to Indian Ferns, and is in every way deserving of the ex- 
 tensive circulation it is sure to obtain." Nature. 
 
 " Will prove vastly interesting, not only to the Indian people, but to the 
 botanists of this couutry." Indian Daily Neivs. 
 
 " This is a good book, being of a useful and trustworthy character. The 
 species are familiarly described, and most of them illustrated by small 
 hg u res. ' ' Gardeners' Chronicle. 
 
 "Those interested in botany will do well to procure a new work on the 
 ' Ferns of British India.' The work will prove a first-class text- book." 
 Free Press. 
 
W. Thacker & Co., London. 
 
 Lilys of Ini. By ALIPH GHEEM. Comic, Satirical, and 
 Descriptive Poems illustrative of Anglo-Indian Life. 
 Seventh Edition. Enlarged. With 70 Illustrations. 
 Cloth elegant, gilt edges. Es. 7 (10s. 6d.) 
 
 " Aliph Cheem presents us in this volume with some highly amusing 
 ballads and songs, which have already in a former edition wanned the 
 hearts and chaered the lonely hours of many an Anglo-Indian, the pictures 
 being chiefly those of Indian life. There is no mistaking the humour, and 
 at times, indeed, the fun is both ' fast and furious.' One can readily 
 imagine the merriment created round t e camp fire by the recitation of 
 * The Two Thumpers,' which is irresistibly droll. . . . The edition 
 bef re us is enlarged, and contains illustrations by the author, in addition 
 to which it is beautifully printed and handsomely got up, all which recom- 
 mendations are sure to make the name of Aliph Cheem more popular in 
 India than ever." Liverpool Mercury. 
 
 " The ' Lays ' are not only Anglo-Indian in origin, but out-and-out 
 Anglo-Indian in subject and colour. To one who knows something of 
 life at an Indian 'station' th.-y will be especially amusing. Their 
 exuberant fun at the same time may well attract the attention of the ill- 
 defined individual known as the * general reader.' " Scotsman. 
 
 lt This is a remarkably bright little book. ' Aliph Cheem,' supposed to 
 be the nom de plume of an officer in the 18th Hussars, is, after his 
 fashion, an Indian Bon Gaultier. In a few of the poems the jokes, 
 turning on local names and customs, are somewhat esoteric ; but taken 
 throughout, the verses are characterised by high animal spirits, great 
 cleverness, and most excellent fooling." World. 
 
 " To many Anglo-Indians the lively verses of ' Aliph Cheein ' must be 
 very well known ; while to those who have not yet become acquainted 
 with them we can only say, read them on the first opportunity. To those 
 not familiar with Indian life they may be specially commended for the 
 pictu e which they give of many of its lighter incidents and conditions, 
 arid of several of its ordinary personages." Bath Chronicle. 
 
 " Satire of the most amusing and inoffensive kind, humour the most 
 genuine, and pathos the m<>st touch' ng pervade these 'Lays of Ind.' 
 
 . . . From Indian iriends we have heard of the popularity these 
 ' Lays ' have obtained in the land where they were written, and we 
 predict for them a popularity equally great at home." Monthly Homoeo- 
 pathic Review. 
 
 " Former editions of this entertaining book having been received with 
 great favour by the public and by the press, a new edition has been issued 
 in elegant type and binding. The Author, although assuming a no in dc 
 plume, is recognised as a distinguished cavalry officer, possessed of a vivid 
 imagination and a sense of humour amounting sometimes to rollicking and 
 contagious fun." Capital and Labour. 
 
vi Thacker, SpinJc $ Co., Calcutta. 
 
 Riding : On the Flat and Across Country. A Guide 
 to Practical Horsemanship. By Capt. M. H. HAYES. 
 Illustrated by Sturgess. Second Edition. Revised and 
 Enlarged. Imperial 16mo. Rs. 7 (10s. 6d.) 
 
 " The book is one that no man who has ever sat in a saddle can fail to 
 read with interest." Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic New*. 
 
 "An excellent book on riding." Truth. 
 
 " Mr. Hayes has supplemented his own experience on race-riding by 
 resorting to Tom Cannon, Fordham, and other well-known jockeys for 
 illustration. 'The Guide' is, on the whole, thoroughly reliable ; and both 
 the illustrations and the printing do credit to the publishers." F>eld. 
 
 " It has, however, been reserved for Captain Hayes to write what in our 
 opinion will be generally accepted as the most comprehensive, enlightened, 
 and ' all round ' work on riding, bringing to bear as he does not only his 
 own great experience, but the advice and practice of many of the best 
 recognised horsemen of the period." Sporting Life. 
 
 "An eminently practical teacher, whose theories are the outcome of 
 experience, learned not in the study, but on the road, in the hunting fiel d 
 and on the racecourse." Baily's Magazine. 
 
 "Is as practical as Captain Horace Hayes' 'Veterinary Notes' and 
 ' Guide to Horse Management in India.' Greater praise than this it is 
 impossible to give." Graph-is,. 
 
 " To possess knowledge, and to succeed in imparting it, are two different 
 things; but Captain Hayes is not only a master of his subject, but he 
 knows how to aid others in gaining such a mastery as may be obtained by 
 the study of a book." The Standard. 
 
 " We heartily commend it to our readers." Sporting Times. 
 
 COMPANION VOLUME TO THE ABOVE. 
 
 Riding for Ladies, with Hints on the Stable. 
 
 A Lady's Horse Book. By Mrs. POWER O'DoNOGHUE. 
 Author of " A Beggar on Horseback," " Ladies on Horse- 
 back," " Unfairly Won," &c. With 75 Illustrations, by 
 A. CHANTRY CORBOULD. Elegantly printed and bound. 
 Uniform with " Kiding : On the Flat and Across 
 Country." (In the Press.) 
 
 New Edition, Revised. 
 
 Training and Horse MRnagement in India. By 
 
 Captain M. HORACE HAYES, author of " Veterinary Notes 
 for Horse Owners," " Biding," &c. Third Edition. Crown 
 8vo. Es. 5. (8s. 6d.) 
 
 " No better guide could be placed in the hands of either amateur horse- 
 man or veterinary surgeon." The Veterinary Journal. 
 
 " A useful guide in regard to horses anywhere Concise, 
 
 practical, and portable." Saturday Revieio. 
 
W. Thacker & Co., London. vii 
 
 Third Edition, revised, enlarged, and newly Illustrated. 
 Crown 8vo. Rs. 7. (10*. 6d.) 
 
 Veterinary Notes for Horse- Owners. An every- 
 day Horse Book. By Captain M. HORACE HAYES. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PBFSS 
 
 " The work is written in a clear and practical way." Saturday Review. 
 
 " Of the many popular veterinary books which have come under our 
 notice, this is certainly one of the most scientific and reliable. . . . 
 Some notice is accorded to nearly all the disease swhich are common to 
 horses in this country, and the writer takes advantage of his Indian experi- 
 ence to touch upon several maladies of horses in that country, where 
 veterinary surgeons are few and far between. The description of symptoms 
 and the directions for the application of remedies are givsn in perfectly 
 plain terms, which the tyro will find no difficulty in comprehending : and, 
 for the purpose of further smoothing his path, a chapter is given on veterin- 
 ary medicines, their actions, uses, and doses." The Field. 
 
 "Simplicity is one of the most commendable features in the book. 
 What Captain Hayes has to say he says in plain terms, and the book is a 
 very useful one for everybody who is concerned with horses." Illustrated 
 Sporting and Dramatic News. 
 
 "We heartily welcome the second edition of this exceedingly useful 
 book. The first edition was brought out about two years since, but the 
 work now under notice is fully double the size of its predecessor, and, as a 
 matter of course, contains more information. Captain Hayes, the author, 
 is not only a practical man in all things connected with the horse, but has 
 also studied his subject from a scientific point of view." The Sporting Life. 
 
 " Captain Hayes, in the new edition of ' Veterinary Notes,' has added 
 considerably to its value by including matter which was omitted in the 
 former editions, and rendered the book, if larger, at any rate more useful 
 to those non-professional people who may be inclined or compelled to treat 
 their own horses when sick or injured. So far as we are able to judge, the 
 book leaves nothing to be desired on the score of lucidity and comprehen- 
 siveness." Veterinary Journal. 
 
 " Captain Hayes has succeeded in disposing of two editions of his manual 
 since it was issued in 1877 a sufficient proof of its usefulness to horse- 
 owners. The present edition is nearly double the size of the first one, and 
 the additional articles are well and clearly written, and much increase the 
 value of the work. We do not think that horse-owners in general are 
 likely to find a more reliable and useful book for guidance in an emergency." 
 Tfo Field. 
 
 Merces' Indian and English Exchange Tables 
 
 from Is. 6d. to 2s. per Kupee. New Edition. In this 
 Edition the rate rises by 32nds of a penny, to meet the 
 requirements of Financiers. The progression of the numbers 
 is by units ; thus, in most instances, saving a line of 
 calculation. Facility of reference and accuracy render it 
 the most perfect work in existence. Demy 8vo. Es. 12. (21s.) 
 " In this new edition of Mr. Merces' useful work, the calculations have 
 
 been extended to thirty-seconds of a penny, and all sums from 1 to 100, 
 
 and from 1 to 100 rupees, are made to advance by units." Economist. 
 " We heartily recommend these tables, both for their reliability and 
 
 for the great saving in time that will be gained by their employment." 
 
 Financier." 
 
viii ThacJcer, Spink $ Co., Calcutta. 
 
 Indian Racing Reminiscences. Being Entertaining 
 Narratives and Anecdotes of Men, Horses, and Sport. 
 Illustrated with 22 Portraits and 20 Engravings. Imperial 
 16mo. Ks. 5-12 (8s. 6d.) 
 
 " Captain Hayes has done wisely in publishing these lively sketches of 
 life in India. The book is full of racy anecdote." Sell's Life. 
 
 "All sportsmen who can appreciate a book on racing, written in a 
 chatty style, and full of anecdote, will like Captain Hayes's latest work."- 
 Fidd. 
 
 " It is a safe prediction that this work is certain to have a wide circle 
 of readers." Broad Arrow. 
 
 "The book is valuable from the fact that many hints on the treatment of 
 horses are included, and the accuracy and extent of Captain Hayes's veter- 
 inary skill and knowledge are well known to experts." Illustrated Sporting 
 and Dramatic News. 
 
 " Many a racing anecdote and many a curious character our readers will 
 find in the book, which is very well got up, and embellished with nany 
 portraits." Baily's Magazine. 
 
 The Student's Manual of Tactics. By Capt. M. 
 HORACE HAYES. Specially written for the use of candidates 
 preparing for the Militia, Military Competitive Examina- 
 tions, and for promotion. Crown 8vo. Es. 4-4 (6s.) 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 .Definitions. 
 
 I. Composition of an Army, 
 ir. Infantry, 
 in. Artillery, 
 iv. Cavalry. 
 
 v. Formations : Time and Space, 
 vi. Outposts. 
 VII. Screening and Reconnoitring. 
 
 viii. Advanced Guards. 
 
 ix. Rear Guards. 
 x. Marches. 
 
 XL The Attack, 
 xn. The Defence, 
 xin. Villages, 
 xiv. Woods. 
 
 xv. Machine Guns. 
 
 " There is no better' Manual on Tactics than the one which Captain 
 Hayes has written." Naval and Military Gazette. 
 
 " ' The Student's Manual of Tactics ' is an excellent book. Principles are 
 reasoned out, and details explained in such a way that the student cannot 
 fail to get a good grasp of the subject. Having served in both the artillery 
 a,nd infantry, and being a practical writer, as well as ' a coach,' the author 
 of this manual had exceptional qualifications for the task he has accom- 
 plished." Broad Arrow. 
 
 A Complete List of Indian Tea Gardens, Indigo 
 
 Concerns, Silk Filatures, Sugar Factories, Cinchona 
 Concerns, and Coffee Estates. With their Capital, 
 Directors, Proprietors, Agents, Managers, Assistants, &c., 
 and their Factory Marks by which the chests may be 
 identified in the market. Rs. 3-8. (5s.) 
 
W. Tkacker & Co., London. ix 
 
 Splendidly Illustrated book of Sport. Just published ; in Demy 4to ; 
 Rs. 25 ; elegantly bound. (2 2s.) 
 
 Large Game Shooting in Thibet, the Hima- 
 layas, and Northern India. By Colonel ALEXANDER A. KIN- 
 LOCH. Containing descriptions of the country and of the 
 various animals to be found ; together with extracts from a 
 journal of several years' standing. With thirty illustrations 
 and map of the district. 
 
 "An attractive volume, full of sporting adventures in the valleys and 
 forest hills extending along the foot of the Himalayas. Its pages are also 
 interesting for the graphic description they give of the beasts of the field, 
 the cunning instinct which they show in guarding their safety, the places 
 which they choose for their lair, and the way in which they show their 
 anger when at bay. < olonel Kinloch writes on all these subjects in a 
 genuine and straightforward style, aiming at giving a complete description 
 of the habits and movements of the game." British Mail. 
 
 " If Carlyle had ever condescended to notice sport and sportsmen he might 
 probably have invented some curious and expressive phrase for the author 
 
 of this book. It is the work of a genuine The heads have 
 
 been admirably reproduced by the photograph. The spiral or curved horns, 
 the silky hair, the fierce glance, the massive jaws, the thick neck of deer, 
 antelope, yak or bison, are realistic and superior to anything that we can 
 remember in any bookshelf full of Indian sport." Saturday Review. 
 
 "The splendidly illustrated record of sport. The photo-gravures, es- 
 pecially the heads of the various antelopes, are lifelike ; and the letterpress 
 is very pleasant reading." Graphic. 
 
 Denizens of the Jungles ; a series of Sketches of Wild 
 Animals, illustrating their form and natural attitude. With 
 letterpress description of each plate. By R. A. STERNDALE, 
 F.R.G.S., F.Z.S. Author of "Natural History of the Mam- 
 malia of India," "Seonee," &c. Oblong folio. (Nearly 
 ready.) 
 
 i. Denizens of the Jungles. 
 Aborigines Deer Mon- 
 keys. 
 
 II." On the Watch." Tiger. 
 in. "Not so Fast Asleep as he 
 Looks." Panther Mon- 
 keys. 
 IV ._ " Waiting for Father." Black 
 
 Bears of the Plains. 
 v. " Rival Monarchs." Tiger 
 
 and Elephant. 
 
 VI. "Hors de Combat." Indian 
 Wild Boar and Tiger. 
 
 Seonee : or, Camp Life on the Satpura Range. A Tale of 
 Indian Adventure. By R. A. STERNDALE, Author of 
 "Mammalia of India," "Denizens of the Jungles." Illus- 
 trated by the Author. With a Map and an Appendix con- 
 taining a brief Topographical and Historical account of the 
 District of Seonee in the Central Provinces of India. 
 (Reprinting.) 
 
 vil. "A Race for Life." Blue 
 
 Bull and Wild Dogs. 
 vin. " Meaning Mischief." The 
 
 Gaur Indian Bison, 
 ix. "More than His Match." 
 
 Buffalo and Rhinoceros. 
 x. "A Critical Moment." 
 Spotted Deer and Leo- 
 pard. 
 
 xi. Hard Hit." The Sambur. 
 xii. "Mountain Monarchs." 
 Marco Polo's Sheep. 
 
Thaeker, Spink $ Co., Calcutta. 
 
 Barker. A Tea Planter's Life in Assam By 
 
 GEORGE M. BARKER. With Seventy-five Illustrations by 
 the Author. Crown 8vo. Us. 5. (7s. 6d.) 
 
 This book aims at conveying to all interested in India and the Tea 
 industry an entertaining and useful account of the topographical features 
 of Assam ; the strange surroundings human and animal of the European 
 resident ; the trying climate ; the daily life of the planter ; and general 
 details of the formation and working of Tea Gardens. 
 
 The Illustrations, hy the Author, add greatly to the interest of the work. 
 
 " Mr. Barker has supplied us with a very good and readable description, 
 accompanied by numerous illustrations drawn by himself. What may be 
 called the business parts of the book are of most value." Contemporary 
 Review, 
 
 "Cheery, well-written little book." Graphic. 
 
 " A very interesting and amusing book, artistically illustrated from 
 sketches drawn by the Author." Mark Lane Express. 
 
 Soundness in Horses. With one hundred and seventy 
 illustrations. A Complete Guide to all those features 
 which require attention when purchasing Horses, distin- 
 guishing mere defects from the symptoms of unsoundness 
 with explicit instructions how to conduct an examination of 
 the various parts. By Capt. M. H. HAYES. (In the press.) 
 
 VI. Examination <>f the Mouth. 
 
 VII. Examination of the Eyes, 
 viu. Examination of the Head, 
 
 Neck, and Trunk, 
 ix. Examination of the Limbs. 
 x. Lameness. 
 
 I. Soundness. 
 
 ii. Defects which are Absolute 
 
 Unsoundness. 
 
 in. Defects which are not neces- 
 sarily Unsoundness. 
 
 iv. Method of Examination. 
 
 v. How to Handle a Horse. 
 
 The Points of th ^ Horse. A Familiar Treatise on Equine 
 Conformation. By Capt. M. H. HAYES. Illustrated by J. H. 
 OSWALD BROWN. Describing the points in which the perf ec 
 tion of each class of horses consists; illustrated by very numer- 
 ous reproductions of Photographs of Living Typical Animals : 
 forming an invaluable guide to owners of horses. 
 
 (In the pre.ss.) 
 
 I. Names of the Different Parts 
 of the Horse. 
 
 II. Structures of the Body. 
 
 in. Sketch of the Anatomy of the 
 
 Horse. 
 
 iv. Heart and Lungs. 
 v. Mechanism of Breathing. 
 
 vi. Levers, 
 vn. Distribution of Weight, 
 vn r. Paces of the Horse, 
 ix. Mechanism of Locomotion. 
 
 x. Proportions of the Horse, 
 xi. Head and Neck. 
 xn. Fore Limb. 
 XTII. Trunk, 
 xiv. Hind Limb, 
 xv. Weight Carrying and Staying 
 
 Power. 
 
 xvi. Skin and Hair. 
 XVII. Characteristics of the Various 
 Classes of Horses. 
 
W. Thacker & Co., London. xi 
 
 UNDER PATRONAGE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 
 In Royal 8vo. Us. 22. (31s. 6d.) 
 
 Statistics of Hydraulic Works, and Hydrology 
 
 of England, Canada, Egypt, and India. Collected and 
 reduced by Lowis D'A. JACKSON, C.E., Author of "Canal 
 and Culvert Tables," "Hydraulic Manual," "Aid to 
 Engineering Solution," &c. 
 
 "... The intention of the author being apparently to bring together in a 
 compact and easily accessible form a mass of information, which is for the 
 most part at present buried in official archives, or not readily attainable 
 even to professional men. Though apparently compiled primarily for the 
 benefit of the India Public Works' Department, the book contains much in - 
 formation which is not generally known in England even amongst engineers, 
 especially as regards the gigantic scale on which hydraulic works are 
 carried out in foreign countries. Mr. Jackson's book concludes with a 
 short account of the works carried out in Ceylon." The Builder. 
 
 " In this work a successful attempt has been made to collect and arrange 
 in a systematic order facts and data. . . . The order in which the 
 subjects are arranged being river basins : their area in square miles, 
 geology and rainfall, canals and navigation, storage works, irrigation with 
 sewage, analysis of water and of factory effluents, &c. The statistics 
 relating to canals have been compiled with much care. Irrigation with 
 sewage is a full 'and complete chapter. The analysis of water will be 
 welcomed as a very useful summary. The hydrology of Canada, Egypt, 
 and India, especially the latter, is very carefully tabulated. The latter 
 portion of Mr. Jackson's laborious work will be of considerable value to 
 engineers of the Indian Public Works' Department. Building News. 
 
 Eighth Edition. Crown 8vo. 
 
 Hints for the Management and Medical Treat- 
 ment of Children in India. By EDWARD A. BIRCH, M.D., 
 Surgeon-Major Bengal Establishment. Second Edition, 
 Revised. Being the Eighth Edition of " Goodeve's Hints 
 for the Management of Children in India." (In the Press.) 
 Dr. Goodeve."! have no hesitation in saying that the present edition 
 is for many reasons superior to its predecessors. It is written very care- 
 fully, and with much knowledge and experience on the author's part, 
 whilst it possesses the great advantage of bringing up the subject to the 
 present level of Medical Science." 
 
 The Medical Times and Gazette, in an article upon this work and 
 Moore's "Family Medicine for India," says: The two works before 
 vis are in themselves probably about the best examples of medical 
 works written for non-professional readers. The style of each is simple, 
 and as free as possible from technical expressions. The modes of treat- 
 ment recommended are generally those most likely to yield good results in 
 the hands of laymen ; and throughoTit each volume the important fact is 
 kept constantly before the mind of the reader, that the volume he is using 
 is but a poor substitute for personal professional advice, for which it 
 must be discarded whenever there is the opportunity. 
 
xii W. Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta. 
 
 Wilkins. Hindu Mythology : Vedic and 
 
 Puranic. By Eev. W. J. WILKINS, of the London 
 Missionary Society, Calcutta. Illustrated by very 
 numerous Engravings from Drawings by Native Artists. 
 Uniform with "Lays of Ind," " Riding," &c. Rs. 7. 
 (10s. 6d.) 
 
 " His aim has been to give a faithfiil account of the Hindu deities such 
 as an intelligent native would himself give, and he has endeavoured, in 
 order to achieve his purpose, to keep his mind free from prejudice or 
 theological bias. To help to completeness he has included a number of 
 drawings of the principal deities, ext-cut^d by native artists. The author 
 has attempted a work of no little ambition and has succeeded in his 
 attempt, the volume being one of great interest and usefulness; and n< t 
 the less so because he has strictly refrained from diluting his facts w.th 
 comments <>f his own. It has numerous illustrations." Home News. 
 
 " Mr. Wilkins has done his work well, with an honest desire to state 
 facts apart from all theological prepossession, and his volume is likely to 
 .be a useful book of reference." Guardian. 
 
 " In Mr. Wilkins's book we have an illustrated manual, the study of 
 which will lay a solid foundation for more advanced knowledge, while it 
 will furnish those who may have the desire without having the time or 
 opportunity to go further into the subject, with a really extensive stock of 
 accurate information." Indian Daily News. 
 
 Bose. The Hindoos as they are : a description of the 
 Manners, Customs, and Inner Life of Hindoo Society. 
 Bengal. By SHIB CHUNDER BOSE. Second Edition. 
 Revised. Crown 8vo. Rs. 5. Shib Chunder Bose is an 
 enlightened Bengali of matured conviction and character, 
 and his extended and varied experience eminently qualify 
 him for lifting the veil from the inner domestic life of his 
 countrymen. 
 
 Busteed. Echoes from Old Calcutta : being chiefly 
 Reminiscences of the days of Warren Hastings, Francis, 
 and Impey. By H. E. BUSTEED. Crown 8vo. Re. 1-8. 
 " Dr. Busteed has made an eminently readable, entertaining, and by no 
 means uninstructive volume ; there is not a dull page in the whole book." 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 " The book will be read by all interested in India." Army and Navy 
 Magazine. 
 
 Mookerjee. A Memoir of the late Justice 
 
 Onoocool Chunder Mookerjee. By M. MOOKERJEE. Third 
 Edition. 12mo. Re. 1. (2s. 6d.) 
 
 The Biography of a Native Judge, by a native, forming a most 
 interesting and amusing illustration of Hindoo life and character. 
 " The reader is earnestly advised to procure the life of tbia gentleman, 
 written by his nephew, and read it." The Tribes on my Frontier. 
 
W. Tkacker & Co., London. xiii 
 
 Hints on the Study of English. By F. J. ROWE, 
 M.A., and W. T. WEBB, M.A., Professors of English Litera- 
 ture, Presidency College, Calcutta. .New Edition. In 
 crown 8vo., cloth. Rs. 2-8. 
 
 This Edition has been carefully revised throughout, and con- 
 tains a large amount of new matter, specially adapted to the 
 requirements of Native Students and Candidates for Uni- 
 versity Examination. 
 
 " Messrs. Rowe and Webb have thoroughly grasped not only the rela- 
 tions between the Engli-h tongue and other tongues, but the fact that 
 then is an English tongue. . . . We are thoroughly glad to see native 
 Indian students of English taught the history and nature of our language 
 in a way in which, only a few years back, no one would have been taught 
 at home." Saturday Review. 
 
 " In the work before iis, Messrs. Rowe and Webb have produced what, 
 for the special purpose for which it is intended, viz. the instruction of 
 native and Eurasian students is by far the best manual of the English 
 language we have yet seen." Englishman. 
 
 " So far as it goes this is one of the most satisfactory books of the kind 
 that we have seen. No point t >uched upon is slurred over ; a great deal 
 of matter is condensed into a small compass, and at the same time expressed 
 in a simple, easy style. . . . Taking it as a whole, this is a scholarly little 
 work ; and, as such, it-* usefulness will n -t be limited to oue simall class of 
 students." Times of India. 
 
 " I wish to say that the book shows wonderful toil and care, and is above 
 the average even for purely English readers: for the particular purpose, it 
 is, I should suppose, admirable." Extract from a letter from the Rev. W. W. 
 Skeat, W.A., Professor of An<-il)- Saxon in the University of Cambridge. 
 
 A Companion Reader to "Hints on the Study of English." 
 (Eighteenth Thousand.) Demy 8vo. Price Us. 1-4. 
 
 "The passages selected are, in most cases, admirably adapted for the 
 purpose in view, and the notes generally give the student neither less than 
 he ought to expect, nor more than he ought to get." Englishman. 
 
 " We have no hesitation in saying that Messrs. Rowe and Webb have 
 rendered excellent service to the c*us of education in their selections and 
 their method of treating them for the purpose intended." Indian Daily 
 News. 
 
 '.* The authors of the ' Hints ' have rendered an additional service to the 
 cause of English education, by supp ymg a ' Companion Reader,' of whose 
 merits it woul 1 not be easy to speak too highly. ... It is not merely a 
 Reader, but a most suggestive and judicious guide to teachers and students." 
 Friend of India. 
 
 Banting in India, with some Remarks on Diet 
 
 and Things in General. By Surgeon-Major JOSHUA L>UKE. 
 Third Edition. Cloth. Re. 1-8. 
 
xiv T hacker, Spink fy Co., Calcutta. 
 
 The Steeplechase Horse : how to Select, Train, and Ride' 
 Him, with notes on Accidents and Diseases, and their Treat- 
 ment. By Capt. J. HUMFREY. In post 8vo., cloth limp. 
 Rs. 5. (7s. 6d.) 
 
 CHAPTERS. 
 
 I. General Remarks. 
 II. How to select Steeple- 
 chase Horses. 
 
 VIIL Stables and Stable 
 
 Management. 
 IX. How to Ride. 
 X. Accidents and Dis- 
 eases. 
 
 XL Medicines Recipes 
 to Improve Condi- 
 tion Shoeing. 
 
 III. Age. 
 
 IV. How to put in con- 
 dition. 
 
 V. How to Break In. 
 VI. Schooling. 
 VII. Training. 
 
 Indian Horse Notes : an Epitome of useful Information 
 arranged for ready reference on Emergencies, and specially 
 adapted for Officers and Mofussil Residents. All Technical 
 Terms explained and Simplest Remedies selected. By 
 
 Major C , Author of "Indian Notes about Dogs;" 
 
 " Military Law, its Defects and their Correctives;" "Ninety 
 Days to Australasia," <fec. Second Edition, Revised and 
 considerably Enlarged. Ecap. 8vo., cloth. Rs. 2. 
 
 Indian Notes about Dogs : their Diseases and Treat- 
 ment. By Major C . Third Edition, Revised. Ecap. 
 
 8vo., cloth. Re. 1-8. 
 
 Culinary Jottings. A Treatise in Thirty Chapters, on 
 Reformed Cookery for Anglo-Indian Exiles. Based upon 
 Modern English and Continental principles. "With thirty 
 Menus of Little Dinners worked out in detail, and an 
 Essay on our kitchens in India. By " WYVERN." 8vo., 
 cloth. Rs. 5-8 ; cash, 5. 
 
 A Primer Catechisn of Sanitation for Indian 
 
 Schools, founded 011 Dr. Cuningham's Sanitary Primer. 
 By L. A. STAPLEY. Ecap. 8vo. As. 4. 
 
 A Text-Book of Indian Botany, Morphological, 
 
 Physiological, and Systematic. Profusely Illustrated. By 
 "W. H. GKEGG, B.M.S., Lecturer on Botany at the Hugh 
 Government College. Cr. 8vo. Rs. 5 ; interleaved, Rs. 5-8. 
 
W. Thacker & Co., London. xv 
 
 Landholding- ; and the Relation of Landlord and 
 
 Tenant in Various Countries of the World. By. C. D. 
 FIELD, M.A., LL.D. 8vo, cloth. Rs. 17-12. (36s.) 
 
 " The latter half of this bulky volume is devoted to an exhaustive des- 
 cription and examination of the various systems of Land Tenure that have 
 existed or which now exist in British India. . . . We may take it 
 that as regards Indian laws and customs Mr Field shows himself to be 
 at once an able and skilled authority. In order, however, to render his 
 work more complete, he has compiled, chi-fly from Blue-books and f-imilar 
 public sources, a mass of information having reference to the land laws of 
 most European countries, of the United States of Ameiica, and our 
 Australasian colonies. . . . The points of comparison between the 
 systems of land tenure existing- up till recently in Ireland and the system 
 of land tenure introduced into India by the English under a mistaken 
 impression as to the relative position of ryots atd zemindars are well brought 
 out by Mr. Field. He indicates clearly the imminence of a Land Question 
 ol immense magnitude in India, and indicates pretty plainly his belief that 
 a system of tenancy based on contract is unstated to the habits of the 
 Indian population, and that it must be abolished in favour of a system 
 the main features of which w* uld be fa'xity of tenure and judicial rents." 
 Field. 
 
 " A work such as this was urgently required at the present junction of 
 discussion upon the landowning question. Mr. Justice Field has treated 
 his subject with judicial impartiality, and his style of writing is power- 
 ful and perspicuous." Nttes and Queries. 
 
 " Mr. Justice Field's new work on ' LANDHOLDTNG, AND THE RELATION 
 OF LANDLORD AND TENAIST IN VARIOUS COUJSTMKS,' supplies a want 
 much felt by the leading public men in Bengal. . . . He gives 
 a complete account of the agrarian question in Ireland up to the present 
 day, which is the best thing on the subject we have hitherto 
 seen. Then he has chapters as to the Roman law, the Feudal 
 system, English law, Prussian, French, German, Belgium, Ducth, Danish, 
 Swedish, Swiss, Austrian, Itnlian Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian 
 and Turkish land laws, which . . . will enable controversialists to 
 appear omniscient. On the Indian law he tells us all that is known in 
 Bengal or applicable in this province." Frle d of India and Statesman. 
 
 Crown 8vo, Rs. 4. (7s. 6d.) 
 
 Indian Lyrics. By W. TREGO WEBB, Bengal Educatio 
 Service. 
 
 " He presents the various sorts and coi ditions of humanity that comprise 
 
 the round of life in Bengal in a series of vivid vignettes He 
 
 writes with scholarly directness and finish." Saturday Review. 
 
 "A pleasant book to read." Suffolk Chronicle. 
 
 " The style is pretty pleas-ant, and the verges run smooth arid melodious.'' 
 
 Indian, Mail. 
 
xvi Thacker, Spink fy Co., Calcutta. 
 
 Manual of Agriculture for India. By Lt. FREDERICK 
 POGSON. Illustrated. Crown 8vo., cloth, gilt. Es. 5 ; 
 cash 4-8 (7s. 6d.) 
 
 CONTENTS. Origin and general character of soils Ploughing and 
 Preparing the ground for sowing seed Manures and Composts Wheat 
 cultivation Barley Oats Eye Rice Maize Sugar - producing 
 Sorghums Common, or non-sugar-producing Sorghums Sugar-cane Cr- pa 
 Oil-seed Crops Field Pea, Japan Pea, and Bean Crops Dall. or Pnlse 
 Crops Root Crops fold Spice Crops Fodder Plants Water-nut Crops 
 Ground-nut Crops The Rush-nut, vel Chufas Cotton Crops Tobacco 
 Cro^s Mensuration Appendix. 
 
 Roxburgh's Flora Indica ; or, Description of 
 
 Indian Plants. Eeprinted literatim from Gary's Edition. 
 8vo., cloth, Ks. 5 (10s. 6d.) 
 
 The Future of the Date Palm in India. (Phoenix 
 Dactylifera.) By E. BONAVIA, M.D., Brigade-Surgeon, 
 Indian Medical Department. Crown 8vo., cloth. Es. 2-8. 
 
 A Dictionary of the Economic Products of 
 
 India. By G. WATT, M.B., F.L.S., assisted by numerous 
 Contributors. In Six Volumes. Vol. I. Abaca to Buxus. 
 Eoyal 8vo., half calf. Each Vol. Es. 8. 
 
 Litholapaxy (Modern Lithotrity): One Hundred 
 and Eleven Cases. By P. J. FREYER, M.A., M.D., M.Cn., 
 Bengal Medical Service. Ee. 1. 
 
 Kashgaria (Eastern or Chinese Turkestan), 
 
 Historical, Geographical, Military, and Industrial. By Col. 
 KUROPATKIN, Eussian Army. Translated by Major GOVAN, 
 H.M's. Indian Army. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 Anderson (John M. D.) Mandalay to Momien : 
 
 a Narrative of the two Expeditions to Western China of 
 1868 and 1875, under Cols. E. B. Sladen and H. Browne. 
 Three Maps, numerous Views and Wood-cuts Thick 
 demy 8vo., cloth. Es. 5. [1876. 
 
 Forbes (Capt. C. J. F. S.) British Bur ma and its 
 
 People : being Sketches of Native Manners, Customs, and 
 Eeligion. 8 vo., cloth. Es. 4-2 ; cash 3-12. [1878. 
 
W. Tf Lacker & Co., London. xvii 
 
 Life : An Explanation of it. By W. SEDGWICK, Major, 
 R.E. Crown 8m, cloth. Rs. 2. 
 
 A Critical Exposition of the Popular " Jihad," 
 
 showing that all the Wars of Mohammad were defensive, 
 and that Aggressive War or Compulsory Conversion is not 
 allowed in the Koran, &c. By Moulavi CHERAGH ALT, 
 Author of " Reforms under Moslem Rule," " Hyderabad 
 under Sir Salar Jung." 8vo. Rs. 6. 
 
 Ancient India as described by Ptolemy : Being a 
 Translation of the Chapters on India and on Central and 
 Eastern Asia in the Treatise on Geography by Klaudios 
 Ptolemaios, the celebrated Astronomer : with Introduction, 
 Commentary, Map of India according to Ptolemy, and 
 a very copious Index. 8vo., cloth, lettered. Rs. 4-4. 
 
 Calcutta to Liverpool by China, Japan, and 
 
 America, in 1877. By Lieut .-General Sir HENRY NORMAN. 
 Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo., cloth. Rs. 2-8. 
 The only book published on this interesting route between 
 India and England. 
 
 The Bengal Medical Service, Apri, 1885. Com- 
 piled by G. F. A. HARRIS, Surgeon, Bengal Medical Service. 
 Royal 8vo. Rs. 2. 
 
 A Gradation List giving Medical and Surgical Degrees and 
 Diplomas, and Universities, Colleges, Hospitals, and War 
 Services, etc., etc. 
 
 Ague ; or Intermittent Fever. By M. D. O'CONNELL, 
 M.D. 8vo., sewed. Rs. 2. 
 
 The Beconnoitrer's Guide and Field Book, 
 
 adapted for India. By Major M. J. KING-HARMAN, 
 B.S.C. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. In roan. 
 Rs. 3. 
 
 It contains all that is required for the guidance of the Military 
 Reconnoitrer in India : it can be used as an ordinary Pocket Note 
 Book, or as a Field Message Book; the pages are ruled as a 
 Field Book, and in sections, for written description or 
 sketch. 
 
 " To officers serving in India this guide will be invaluable." Broad 
 Arrow. 
 
 Letters to Eminent Indians. By SADYK DOST. Crown 
 8vo. cloth, lis. 3. 
 
xviii Thacker, Spink fy Co., Calcutta. 
 
 Guide to Masuri, Landaur, Dehra Dun and the 
 
 Hills North of Dehra; including Koutes to the Snows 
 and other places of note ; with Chapters on Garhwal 
 (Tehri), Hardwar, Eurki, and Chakrata. By JOHN 
 NORTHAM. Es. 2-8. 
 
 A Handbook lor Visitors to Agra and its Neigh- 
 bourhood. By H. G. KEENE, C.S. Fourth Edition. 
 Eevised. Maps, Plans, &c. Fcap. 8vo, cloth. Es. 2-8 
 
 A Handbook for Visitors to Delhi and its Neigh- 
 bourhood. By H. G. KEENE, C.S. Third Edition. Maps. 
 Fcap. 8vo, cloth. Es. 2-8 
 
 A Handbook for Visitors to Allahabad, Cawn- 
 
 pore, and Lucknow. By H. G. KEENE, C.S. Second 
 Edition, re- written and enlarged. Fcap. 8vo. Es. 2-8. 
 
 Hills beyond Simla. Three Months' Tour from Simla, 
 through Bussahir, Kunowar, and Spiti, to Lahoul. ("In 
 the Footsteps of the Few.") By Mrs. J. C. MURRAY- 
 AYNSLEY. Crown 8vo, cloth. Es. 3. 
 
 An Analysis of Sir William Hamilton's Lectures 
 
 on Metaphysics, with Dissertations and Copious Notes. 
 By W. CAREY FINK. 8vo, stiff boards. Es. 2. 
 
 An Analysis of Dr. Thomas Reid's "Inquiry into 
 
 the Human Mind," on the Principles of Common Sense. 
 With Critical and Explanatory Notes, and an Appendix 
 containing a Synopsis of the various Theories of External 
 Perception as explained in the Writings of Sir William 
 Hamilton. By W. CAREY FINK. Second Edition. 8vo, 
 sewed. Es. 1-2. 
 
 LAW. 
 Chalmers The Negotiable Instruments Act, 
 
 1881 : being an Act to define and amend the Law relating 
 to Promissory Motes, Bills of Exchange and Cheques! 
 Edited by M. D. CHALMERS, Esq., M.A., Barrister-at-Law, 
 Author of " A Digest of the Law of Bills of Exchange/' 
 &c., and Editor of Wilson's "Judicature Acts" 8vo 
 cloth. Es. 7. (10s. 6d.) 
 
W. Thacker <$c Co., London. xix 
 
 The Inland Emigration Act ; with Orders by the 
 Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal ; Forms by Government of 
 Bengal ; Eesolution of the Government of India ; Resolu- 
 tion of the Government of Assam ; Kules made by the 
 Chief Commissioner of Assam, and Orders by the Lieutenant- 
 Go venor, .N. W. P. Interpaged with blank pages for notes. 
 Crown 8vo. Us. 2-4 ; cash 2. 
 
 An Historical Account of "The Calcutta Collec- 
 
 torate," " Collectors Cutcherry, or Calcutta Pottah Office," 
 from the days of the Zemindars to the present time, with a 
 brief notice of the Zemindars and Collectors of Calcutta, 
 the Ground Tenure or Land Revenue System, Town Duties, 
 Excise and Stamp Revenue. By REGINALD C. STERNDALE. 
 8vo., cloth. Rs. 2. 
 
 The Hindu Law of Inheritance, Partition, and 
 
 Adoption according to the Smritis. By Dr. JULIUS JOLLY, 
 Tagore Law Lecturer, 1883. Rs. 10. 
 
 The Law of Limitation and Prescription in 
 
 British India. Including Easements, with references to 
 Reported Cases up to June 1885. By UPENDRA NATH 
 MITTER, Tagore Lecturer, 1882. Rs. 12*. 
 
 A Commentary on Hindu Law of Inheritance, 
 
 Succession, Partition, Adoption, Marriage, Stridhan, and 
 Testamentary Disposition. By Pundit JOGENDRO .NATH 
 SMARTO SIROMANI. M.A., B.L. 8vo. Rs. 12. 
 
 The Pocket Criminal Procedure and Police 
 
 Codes; also the Whipping Act and the Railway Servants' 
 Act. With General Index. 1 Vol. Rs. 4. 
 
 The Pocket Civil Procedure Code, with Court Fee, 
 Indian Evidence, Specific Relief, Indian Registration, 
 Limitation, and Stamp Acts. With General Index. 
 1 Yol. Rs, 4. 
 
 COLLIER. The Bengal Municipal Act ; being B. C. Act III 
 of 1884, with Notes by F. R. STANLEY COLLIER, C.S. Crown 8vo, 
 cloth. Rs. 3-8. 
 
 A Review of the Procedure Sections of the Bengal Tenancy 
 Bill, and a few Suggestions for the Simplification of Procedure. By 
 MOHINI MOHUN ROY. 8vo, sewed. Ans. 8. 
 
xx Thacker, Spink fy Co., Calcutta. 
 
 ALEXANDER Indian Case-Law on Torts. By K. D. 
 ALEXANDER, Bengal Civil Service. Crown 8vo., cloth. Rs. 4. 
 
 FIELD. Introduction to the Kegiilation of the Bengal Code 
 (specially reprinted for the use of students, etc.). In crown 8vo, 
 cloth. Rs. 3. 
 
 ALEX ANDEK. The Indian Limitation Act, XV. of 1877. 
 Edited, with Notes of Cases, by R. D. ALEXANDER, Esq., C.S., 
 Judge, Allahabad. Crown 8vo. Rs. 2-4 ; cash 2. 
 
 CUNNINGHAM & SHEPHARD. The Indian Contract Act, 
 No. IX. of 1872. Together with an Introduction and Explma 
 tory Note J , Table of Contents, Appendix, &c. By H. S. CUNNINGHAM, 
 Esq., M.A., one of the Judges of H.M.'s High Court of Judicature, 
 Calcutta; and H. H. SHEPHARD, Esq., M.A., Barrister -at-Law. 
 Fourth Edition. Rs. J5-8; cash 14. 
 
 MACE WEN. The Practice of the Presidency Court of 
 Small Causes of Calcutta. The Presidency Small Cause Courts 
 Act (XV. of 1882), with Copious Notes; the Code of Civil Procedure, 
 with Notes and References ; the Rules of Practice, Institution and 
 Court Fees; and a complete Irdex. By R. S. T. MxcEwEN, Esq., 
 Barrister- at-Law, one of the Judges of the Presidency Court of Small 
 Causes of Calcutta. Thick 8vo. Rs. 11 ; cash 10. 
 
 CUNNINGHAM. The Indian Evidence Act; together 
 with Introduction and Explanatory Notes, Rulings of the Courts, and 
 Index. By HENRY STEWART CUNNINGHAM, Esq., M.A. Sixth 
 Edition. 8vo. Rs. 8. 
 
 AGNEW & HENDEKSON. The Code of Criminal 
 Procedure. Together with Rulings, Circular Orders, Notifications, 
 &c., of all the High Courts in India, and Notifications and Orders of 
 the Government of India and the Local Governments. Edited, with 
 Copious Notes and full Index, by W. F. AGNEW, Esq., and GILBERT 
 S. HENDERSON, Esq., M.A., Barristers-at-Law. Price Rs. 18. 
 
 COLLETT. The Law of Specific Belief in India; being 
 a Commentary on Act I. of 1877. By CHARLES COLLETT, Esq., 
 late of the Madras Civil Service, of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law, 
 and formerly a Judge of the High Court at Madras. Demy 8vo. 
 Rs. 10 ; cash 9. (14s.) 
 
 CHALMEES. The Indian Negotiable Instruments Act, 
 1881. With Explanatory Commentary. By M. D. CHALMERS, Esq., 
 M. A., Author of " A Digest of the Law of Bills of Exchange, Promis- 
 sory Notes and Cheques." 8vo. Rs. 7. (10s. 6d.) 
 
 HENDERSON. The Law of Intestate and Testamen- 
 tary Succession in India ; including the Indian Succession Act, &c.- 
 with a Commentary. With Notes and Cross References. By GIL. 
 BERT S. HENDERSON, Esq., M.A, Barrister-at-Law. Royal 8vo 
 Rs. 16. 
 
W. Thacker & Co., London. xxi 
 
 TAGORE LAW LECTURES. 
 
 The Hindu Law ; being a Treatise on the Law administered 
 exclusively to Hindus by the British Courts in India. 
 (1870.) By HERBERT Co WELL. Eoyal 8 vo., cloth. Es. 8. 
 
 The Hindu Law ; being a Treatise on the Law administered 
 exclusively to Hindus by the British Courts in India. 
 (1871.) By HERBERT COWELL. Royal 8vo., cloth. Rs. 8. 
 
 History and Constitution of the Courts and 
 
 Legislative Authorities. (1872.) By HERBERT COWELL. 
 Royal 8vo., cloth. Rs. 8. New Edition. (1884). Demy 
 8vo. Rs. 6. 
 
 Mahomed an Law ; a Digest of the Laws applicable to 
 the Sunnis of India. (1873.) By SHAMA CHURN SIRCAR. 
 Royal 8vo., cloth. Rs. 9. 
 
 Mahomedan Law ; being a Digest of the Sunni Code in 
 part, and of the Imarnyah Code. (1874.) By SHAMA 
 CHURN SIRCAR. Royal 8vo., cloth. Rs. 9. 
 
 The Law relating to the Land Tenures of Lower 
 
 Bengal. (1875.) By ARTHUR PHILLIPS. Royal 8vo., 
 cloth. Rs. 10. 
 
 The Law relating to Mortgage in India. (1876.) 
 By RASH BEHARI GHOSE. Royal 8vo., cloth. Rs. 10. 
 
 The Law relating to Minors in Bengal. (1877.) 
 By E. J. TREVELYAN. Royal 8vo. } cloth. Rs. 10. 
 
 The Hindu Law of Marriage and Stridhana. 
 
 (1878.) By GOOROO Doss BANERJEE. Royal 8vo., cloth. 
 Rs. 10. 
 
 The Law relating to the Hindu Widow. By 
 
 TRAILOKYANATH MITTRA, M.A., D.L. Royal 8vo., cloth. 
 Rs. 10. (1879.) 
 
 The Principles of the Hindu Law of Inheritance. 
 
 By RAJCOOMAR SARVADHICARI, B.L. Rs. 16. (1880.) 
 
 The Law of Trusts in British India. By W. F. 
 
 AGNEW, Esq. Rs. 12. (1881). 
 
 The Law of Limitation and Prescription in 
 
 British India. By OPENDRA NATH MITTER. (1882.) 
 
 The Hindu Law of Inheritance, Partition, and 
 
 Adoption, according to the Smritis. By Dr. JULIUS JOLLY. 
 (1883.) 
 
Thacker, Spink $ Co., Calcutta. 
 
 NEW WORKS & NEW EDITIONS IN THE PRESS. 
 
 Riding for Ladies ; with Hints on the Stable. By Mrs 
 POWER O'DoNOGHUE. Illustrated hy Chantry Corbould. 
 Companion volume to " Hayes' Riding : on the Flat and 
 Across Country." 
 
 The Stamp Law of British India, as constituted by 
 the Indian Stamp Act (I. of 1879). Rulings and Circular 
 Orders of the four High Courts; Notifications; Resolutions; 
 Rules ; and Orders of the Government of India and of the 
 various Local Governments ; together with Schedules of all 
 the stamp duties chargeable on Instruments in India from 
 the earliest times. Edited, with Notes and Index, by 
 WALTER R. DONOGH, M.A., of the Inner Temple, Barrister- 
 at-Law. Demy 8vo. 
 
 Sketchy Memories of Eton, 1866-1872. By "MAC." 
 Fcap 8vo. 
 
 Lon Gruel ; or, What he met i' the Mofussil (after two 
 Noble Lords). Canto I. Fcap 8vo. 
 
 Indian-English and Indian Character. By ELLIS 
 UNDERWOOD. Fcap 8vo. 
 
 Useful Hints to Young Shikaris on the Gun and 
 Rifle. By "THE LITTLE OLD BEAR." Papers con- 
 tributed to the Asian. 
 
 The Bengal Tenancy Act. Being Act VIII. of 1885. 
 With Notes and Annotations, Judicial Rulings, and the 
 Rules framed by the Local Government and the High Court 
 under the Act. For the guidance of Revenue Officers and 
 the Civil Courts. By M. FINUOANE, M.A., C.S., Director 
 of the Agricultural Department, Government of Bengal, and 
 R. F. RAMPINI, M.A., C.S., Barrister-at-Law, District and 
 Session Judge, Dacca, 
 
 Indigo Sketches in Indian Ink. By WALTER MAC- 
 LAGAN REID. Crown 8vo. With twenty full-page Illus- 
 trations by the Author. 
 
 " It is proposed in the following Sketches of Indigo Life in Tirhoot and 
 Lower Bengal to give those who have never witnessed the manufacture of 
 Indigo, or seen an Indigo Factory in this country, an idea of how the finished 
 marketable article is produced : together with other phases and incidents 
 of an Indigo Planter's life, such as may be interesting and amusing to 
 friends at home." Introduction. 
 
W. Thacker & Co., London. xxiii 
 
 Works in the Press continued. 
 
 Elementary Statics and Dynamics. By W. N. 
 
 BOUTFLOWEB, B.A., late Scholar of St. John's College, 
 Cambridge, and Professor of Mathematics, Muir Central 
 College, Allahabad. Crown 8vo. 
 
 The Indian Penal Code and other Laws and Acts 
 
 of Parliament relating to the Criminal Courts of India. 
 With Notes, &c. By the Hon'ble J. O'KINEALY. 
 
 The Code of Civil Procedure, Act XIV. of 1882. 
 
 With Notes, Appendices, &c. By the Honourable J. 
 
 O'KlNEALY. 
 
 Comparative Criminal Jurisprudence of Indian 
 
 and other Nations. By H. A. D. PHILLIPS. 2 vols. 
 
 Seonee ; or Camp Life in the Satpura Range. 
 
 By E. A. STERN DALE. Illustrated. 
 
 Points of the Hors*. By Capt. M. H. HAYES. Illus- 
 trated by OSWALD BROWN. 
 
 Soundness in Horses-. By Capt. M. H. HAYES. 170 
 
 Illustrations. 
 
 Hints for the Management and Medical Treat- 
 ment of Children in India. By E, A. BIRCH, M.D., 
 Surgeon-Major. Second Edition on the lines of " Go<^ "" 
 eve's Hints.'" Eight Edition. 
 
xxiv Thacker, 8pink & Co., Calcutta. 
 
 PUBLISHED ANNUALLY IN JANUARY. 
 
 Super Royal Svo. Leather backs, 36s. 
 
 TRACKER'S INDIAN DIRECTORY, 
 
 Embracing the Provinces of 
 
 BENGAL, BOMBAY, MADRAS, K W. PROVINCES, PUNJAB, 
 
 CENTRAL PROVINCES, BRITISH BURMA, ASSAM, 
 
 NATIVE STATES OF INDIA. 
 
 With complete and detailed information of the Cities of 
 CALCUTTA, BOMBAY AND MADRAS*? 
 
 With Almanac, Army List, and General Information. 
 
 " The work now ' includes in the Mof ussil Directory an acccount of every 
 district and principal town in British and Foreign India and every native 
 State,' thus forming a complete guide to the whole of our possessions in the 
 East. The value of such a work, if it is accurate and trustworthy, is 
 obvious and almost goes without saying ; and, after putting its pages to the 
 test of a careful scrutiny where our personal experience enables us to do so, 
 we are able to pronounce it apparently deserving of all commendation. 
 The separate directories of Madras and Bombay are given here, on the 
 same lines and plan as that of Calcutta, and to each city is appended a street 
 directory. In the Military Directory are incorporated complete Army 
 Lists for each of the three Presidencies, and the same is the case with 
 respect to the ecclesiastical establishment. The lists of indigo factories, 
 coffee estates, and tea gardens, with their managers, agents, postal addresses, 
 and trade marks, will strike an English eye as somewhat singular ; and the 
 alphabetical list of residents throughout India in the three great province?, 
 with their addresses, must be of great service to those who have business 
 with our Eastern Empire.'' The Times (London). 
 
 " The Directory now includes every district and principal town in British 
 and Foreign India, every native State, and in fact aims at being a 
 directory to the whole of India. It contains separate classified and street 
 directories of each of the cities of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras, a remark- 
 ably comprehensive and detailed Mofus-il directory, and a vast amount of 
 general information relating to India, its government, commerce, postal 
 
 arrangements, festivals, and official establishments The expansion 
 
 of the work will be welcomed as a response to the growing requirements of 
 commerce with India." Manchester Guardian. 
 
 W. I Richardson, Printer, 4 and 5, Great Queen Street, W.C. 
 
 2250 | 12 | 85. 
 
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any 
 University of California Library 
 or to the 
 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 
 (415)642-6233 
 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books 
 
 to NRLF 
 Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days 
 
 prior to due date 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 I 7 i 989 
 
 OCCIRC MAY 2 2 1989 
 
'13252 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY