';'- 163 Court's Orders of 2d June, 1852 B - 165 Likely to be defeated - ' - 167 Moturpha 168 171 Compulsory labour - 172 Salt monopoly 173 Resume - - 173 176 IV. What is the Remedy 1 - - ' 176 - 216 Subdivision of property - 177 Real evils of Ryotwar - 178 The Cinderella of the East ! - 179 1st. Scientific Revenue Survey wanted - 180 VJii CONTENT^. Page. Assessment too high - - - 1 8 1 Theory and Practice 183 2d. Assessment must be lowered - - 185 Zemindaree System - - 186 Mr. Fischer's Zemindaree - 187 Effects of personal supervision 189 Mr. Fischer, an exception - 190 Mr. Fischer's own opinion - - 191 Zemindaries of Northern Circars - 192 Sooryanarrain Row - 193 Salem Zemindars - 194 Middlemen, how they can he created 195 Do. how they cannot - - 196 Vencatachellum Moodelliar, a Ryot-born middleman - - - 197 3d. Native interference, the grand evil - 198 Leases; real ground for - 199 Village systems - 202 209 Do the People desire the village system ? 203 North West system inapplicable - 204 Arguments in support of - - 205 Joint-rent system in N. Circars - 206 How it works 207 Junction of Police and Revenue powers 208 "Driving" - - 209 4th. The Ryotwar the best system - - 210 The Deccan - - 210 Canara - - 2 1 1 " Sacrifices" - - - 212 V. -The Revenue question of secondary importance - - 215 "Koompani" an illustration - - 216 VI. The capabilities of Madras - 217 Its natural advantages - - 218 Its products - - 219 The character of the People - - 220 CONTEKIS. IX Page. Unjust accusation of apathy 221 Their love of parents and home - 222 Their unfitness for Council - 213 VII. What has England done for India ? 225 The real charge against the Government 225 Fallacy of the Government supporters exposed - 226 Mr. Kaye's book - 226 235 Note on Mr. Marshman - 227 VIII. The Eemedy -- - - 236 240 Varieties of industry not to be looked for 236 We must turn industry on the soil - 237 Views of the Madras Council 238 Views of the Honorable Mr. Eliott - 239 IX. Communications, the question - 240 291 Public Works Commissioners' scheme - 241 Civil Engineers must be augmented 244 History of Madras Road-making - 247 250 Tax on the country from want of transit 250 Cost of transit compared with that of England - - - 251 How traffic increases when cost of tran- sit is diminished s - - 254 Instances - - - 256 Tanjore and Guntoor contrasted - 257 259 Tanjore with more lavish expenditure 260 Effect of roads on Revenue of districts - 261 Instances W. Road, Cochrane's Canal 262 Mysore, a centre - - 263 Canals versus Railroads - - 264 2d. Berar, the proper route to - 265 275 3d. Railways as now constructed, not the remedy - 275 Time lost in making high speed Railways 276 Time, the vital point - - 278 Railways, how fa^ mischievous CONTENTS. Page. Money, how most beneficially applied - 281 Railways will not sufficiently reduce cost of transit - - 282 Governor General's Minute - - 283 Best means of communication - . 285 Rails rivers canals - 286 General conclusions - - - 288 X. Who is to do the work - - 291 Mistaken views of the Indian Government 292 Loans should be raised - 293 Native ideas - - . 294 Government should do the work - 295 Instances - 296 318 XL What Madras wants - - -319 323 Official Secrecy - - . 320 Death of " Double Government" - 321 European agency - 322 XII. Conclusions - 322 325 The Road . 323 Light, Ventilation, Publicity - . 324 The Navvy's mattock, and the Woodman's axe - . . . . 325 To ROBERT LOWE, ESQUIRE, Joint Secretary of the Board of Controul. SIR, To whom more fitly, more hopefully, than to yourself, whose rapid rise among the statesmen of England has de- lighted rather than surprized those who have marked your previous career, can the well-wishers of India carry their facts and their conclusions ? We congratulate ourselves, and the country in which our lot is cast, that you have been selected to fill your present post of all others at this junc- ture ; because we believe firmly in your honesty, your li- berality, your strength. Never was there a Country offering so spacious a field for good as this, because hitherto so little has been done ; never was there a more legitimate object of man's noblest ambition than that offered by the present crisis ; because one hundred and fifty millions of our fellow men have to be elevated in social and moral worth, and their state changed from want to plenty ; while a territory as large as half Europe lies teeming with wealth upon its surface which will cast into oblivion the gold of California and Australia. Never was there so strong an incentive to the task as now ; because large as the question is, its solution is by no means difficult : never was the call of duty so imperative ; because if the present opportunity which leads on to fortune be neg- B Reasons for writing. lected, it may not again return ; and the cry of Brazen Head will irrevocably be " Time has been." Never was there so holy a motive for firm friendly interference, because we shall only be discharging a sacred duty to the Nations whom we have subjected to our rule ; a duty if not hitherto wil- fully forgotten or neglected, at any rate not fulfilled; or at best but very partially and imperfectly so ; probably not even rightly understood. Never was there more need for patient consideration, and sound judgment, because all de- pends upon our first steps being taken in the right direction : never was there more call for prompt action and execution, because the case is one of such grievous necessity and sick- ness, that if assistance be not speedily extended to her, the patient will expire during her physicians consultation. Therefore it is that our most sanguine expectations have been excited by the knowledge that we can address our- selves to one in the management of Indian affairs who has capacity to master the subject on the one hand ; and on the other the facility to explain, the strength to enforce, the honesty to advocate the remedy, when once his conviction has led him to the certainty that the right, safe, broad path is found. India, fainting in the wilderness for thirst, cries aloud to the man who shall strike the rock, and give her the gushing waters of life and strength ; she herself indicates the spot where the effective blow may be struck ; though she is so spell-bound and nigh-bowed to death that she can- not herself cleave the stone ; and assuredly never before were deathless fame and a nation's gratitude offered at so cheap a rate to him, be he who he may, who shall put forth his hand to take them. But nothing not of a temporary, piecemeal, expediential character will be performed ; nothing upon an enlarged, uni- form, universal plan, unless England can first be made to feel and admit how wofully she has hitherto neglected her bound- en duty, not to say her natural policy towards India. That is England must admit her neglect. 3 the first step ; and until that be taken ; till that confession is most freely, candidly, conscientiously, manfully made, all expectation of real substantial reform is hopeless. You may keep, or abolish, or modify the form of double Government at home ; you may experimentalize on the Courts of Justice out here ; you may clip or extend the powers of the local Governments ; you may introduce a hundred other uncon- nected changes, each better or worse in its immediate kind and operation, but all is as a feather in the scale, a drop in the ocean. Neither can this feeling be of sudden growth : or if it were, would it be other than mushroom and ephemeral. If it is to be of an abiding, living nature, producing fruits ; it must be the result, not of a momentary interest, springing from the excitement of a party contest ; it must be the sober offspring of conscience and self-condemnation; of conviction, not of persuasion; of Logic, not of Rhetoric: and whatever may be the merits or demerits of the India Bill lately intro- duced, you have enunciated the one great principle on which we pin our faith and our hope, that henceforth India is never more to be a forgotten country shelved for five and twenty years ; and in gaining this, we gain every thing : for it gives us time to impress upon the people of England the real state of the case; if necessary, over and over again; if at first feebly and unsuccessfully, yet by reiteration and ever accumulating facts non vi sed scepe cadendo until our im- portunity becomes irresistible. You ask for facts ; and wisely so : but facts are of shy growth : they are modest and retiring, as he knows best who has most sought for them. In periods of excitement and hurry, they shut themselves up like flowers before a passing storm ; and shrouded in invisibility, elude our utmost search. They are only to be gathered in calm seasons of quiet and repose. The very worst of all times for their collection is one like 4 Exaggeration the characteristic of the crisis. the present, of hurry and bustle, amid the clash of jarring interests, and the clamour of discussion, too often lost in angry recrimination, or a struggle for victory, ever naturally attendant upon a renewal of the Charter. The very charac- teristic of such a period necessarily is exaggeration ; and, given the most favorable possible combination of circum- stances; to wit, that there shall neither be an European war, nor fear, nor rumour of war ; that there shall not be above two, or three, or four vital English questions, Free-trade, Education, Income-tax, Parliamentary Eeform, to divide public attention with India ; that all public men are honest- ly combined to do their duty by us, and that India shall be as little as possible a party question, still each man who comes forward to give his quota of information is, perhaps unconsciously and with all singleness of intention, neverthe- less guilty of exaggeration. It must be so. We wake from our quarter century's repose ; we shake off our twenty years accumulated rust. An unnatural state of feverish anxiety and eagerness succeeds. Every man protrudes those griev- ances over which he has specially brooded ; each one offers his nostrum and his specific : all alike know that they have not a minute's time to spare ; and that if they would command even a momentary attention, they must put their matter in the strongest and most effective light. No one sees beyond his own immediate department. In that lies the evil if we may believe him ; and that remedied, all else will speedily rectify itself. At home the one great ques- tion seems to be the continuance of a double form of Go- vernment in Leadenhall Street and Cannon Row here, Calcutta would urge increased centralization, while the sister Presidencies complain that their efforts for good are paralyzed by the Supreme Government, and are fain to snatch an increase of power, influence, and indepen- dence. The Civilian stands up for the integrity of his Order, and " Regulation" is his panacea for all ills. The Reflexion impossible. 5 merchant, anxious to find an increased field for the employ- ment of his enterprize and capital, declaims against the Re- venue system ; and sighing over the tribute which his cotton, pays to the brambles on the trackless wastes between Kan- deish and Bombay, roars aloud for railroads. The Lawyer comes out like a goul from the sepulchres ; fixes his talons upon the bloated carcass of injustice ; and jibes and jeers over the blunders of the amateur professors of the Law. Addresses are poured in from the Presidency Towns ; all complaining of a host of grievances. Astonishment is in the first instance provoked at such productions emanating from those who have been considered as little better than bar- barians : suspicion may for a moment be excited as to their genuineness and authenticity ; but Sympathy is ever the short-lived handmaid of Novelty ; and the Legislator fondly flatters himself that he has at last the people of India before him, pleading their own cause. Men's minds are agitated ; they are thrown out of themselves : they know not what to believe where so many conflicting statements are put forward with all the vehemence of authority and truth ; when igno- rance invites imposition ; and while the Press keeps up a constant clatter on one and all subjects alike. The whole scene is delusive, shifting, fragmentary, kaleidoscopic. Ask for facts in such confusion ? try to consider them in such a conflict ? As reasonably might you retire to some monster factory to meditate divine philosophy amid the thumping and whizzing of wheels ; while blasts are blowing, fires roar- ing ; men, women and children rushing to and fro ; and a gigantic Steam Engine throb-throbbing, thud-thudding in the centre ! When all this is over ; when India shall have ceased to be the nine days wonder of London, and we pamphleteers shall have sunk into our former insignificance, authentic in- formation may be hoped for : and as the vital principle has been secured in affording time and opportunity for this, the 6 Reciprocal ivants of England and India. question of a deferred or immediate Legislation upon other topics, the issue of a commission on the spot, and the merits or demerits of the present India Bill are really matters of comparatively very little importance. What we want from England is sympathy, light, air, ventilation, publicity. What England requires from us is facts ; not that she must accept them indolently and with the insouciance of a fine lady receiving such of her morn- ing visitors as may happen to drop in ; but rather she must be active, stirring, inquiring, like a merchant striv- ing to establish correspondents and constituents in foreign parts. Then facts will flow in fast enough. Not that there may not be more or less of truth in the various repre- sentations which have already reached Parliament : what I contend for is that there must be exaggeration. But if year by year and day by day the channels of communication be kept open, a constant current of information will flow in on all topics connected with the welfare of India. Now all is perturbation and mud : only if the stream be kept peren- nially flowing will it filter itself free from impurities and obscurity, and become Bandusian in its crystal transparency. Only when the surface of men's minds is not agitated, can they receive the perfect impress of truth ; and behold it unexaggerated on the one hand, unextenuated on the other. Only then should we find the Public not compelled to swal- low the nauseous stuff palmed upon the Committees under the misnomer of evidence : only then would interested wit- nesses be rated at their true value : only then should we not find " nothing like leather" the motto under which almost every individual deposes : superannuated Civilians, looking to the Court of Directors for the provision of their third and fourth generations, unable to see aught faulty in their Order : emerited Generals praising the troops of those Pre- sidencies in which they happened to have personally served : one Officer apparently thinking that an additional Subaltern " Nothing like leather." 7 to each troop of the Madras Artillery was about the ne plus ultra of Indian wants ; Supreme Court Judges lauding their own Courts ; declaring that they had gained the confidence and admiration of the people, and suggesting a plentiful sprinkling of Barrister-Judges over the face of the Mofus- sil : Indian Law Commissioners and Privy Councillors hint- ing that the preparation of Codes (in which they might pro- bably be employed ?) had better take place in England : a Calcutta Lawyer, who perhaps hardly ever got farther from the Presidency than Barrackpore, and who left India, I be- lieve, before the Sudder was open to Barristers, giving a ge- neral picture, couleur de rose, of the Mofussil system and the working of the Courts : an ex-editor speaking, as he ever wrote, Seramporically : a Collector publishing the fancy portrait of the " Indian cottage smiling out from the distant fields ;" one gentleman attributing our absence of Politics to the excellent distribution of the Directors' patronage ; another informing us that there are not more Scotch than English or Irish in the services ; and a third with the pro- foundest effrontery declaring that the reason why people stay so long in India is because they like it ! Every one speaks . according to his cloth : every one says just what he likes, secure of impunity through the ignorance or partiality of his audience. But we can now afford to look upon the past as an amus- ing exhibition, since we are secure from its repetition or re- vival : and feel that we have only to lay impartially the facts of our case open, be it the work of one, or five, or seven, or ten years, in order to impress upon the good sense of England the neglect of her duty hitherto, and to extort from. * her justice a free admission and honest confession of her sins of omission towards India. That once acknowledged, the application of a remedy will speedily follow : and it shall be my task now, removed as I am from the excitement of the passing scene, first, to show 8 Difficulty of getting at facts. what is the present state of this country after a hundred years of British rule ; whence you can judge whether we have, or not, performed our duty by the people committed to our charge ; and secondly, to hint at what, unless I am grievously mistaken, are apparent, efficacious, speedy, prac- tical remedies for the present state of things. Perhaps I need scarcely point out to you the exceeding difficulty of obtaining trustworthy evidence upon the con- dition of this Country and its people. You have truly re- marked that, paradoxical as it may seem, information is more readily gathered in England than in India on Indian topics. Those who could give the most complete informa- tion are gagged effectually : the Civilians must not speak out :* the Revenue Board hoards its stores of communi- cations closely enough : wiser in its generation than the Sudder Court, it publishes no " Reports." Men are all so completely engrossed in the occupations of the hour, that they have neither the time nor the taste for such inqui- ries : the necessary labours of the day are so exhausting, that in the evening the mind is glad to revive itself by the lightest possible recreations, and the body " plenus Bacchi pinguisque ferinse" is consigned to attitudes of repose com- mon only to India and America. Small-talk moves in a cycle of tittle tattle, scandal, Mount-road dust, punkahs, and musquitoes. I have not six times during my residence in In- dia listened to any thing which I would dignify by the name of " conversation ;" generally it is fatiguing from its unsup- portable sameness, one does not require, with the thermo- meter ranging from 84 to 90, to be informed twenty times * The terms of the Court's Dispatch to Madras, No. 6 of 4th April 1848, are as follows : ^ I* The Government shall remove from Office any person who in oppo- sition to orders which have been repeatedly given, no less than to the most obvious principles of duty shall be known to publish the Official Records to which he has access ; or even his own writings for the pur- pose of thwarting the views of the Government which he serves." First Report on Indian Territories, 1853. Little locomotion. 9 a day that the land wind is very hot, or that the sea breeze is comparatively cool : the musquitoes are very capable of ad- vocating their own cause : and Mount road dust would red- den whiskers and spoil bonnets, even were the fact not nightly chronicled at every dinner table in Madras : neither can one listen for ever to the hair -breadth scapes of Smith, whose arm the wounded tiger munched ; or Jones, on either side whose prostrate body the infuriated Elephant dug deep his tusks into the soil ; or of Robinson, half whose breech was saved from the searching claws of the too-closely-hugging bear, only by the interposition of the providential mass of " whitey brown" wherewith his shooting jacket pocket was stuffed. Existence in India is encrinitic, or at the best, ostre- al. Each man vegetates where he happens to root ; or if he moves, his power of locomotion is very circumscribed. No one travels for pleasure ; ,the climate, the roads, the means of conveyance, all conspire against that. In cases of sickness a journey is perhaps taken to the Neilgherry Hills; but the mind is then too prostrated to inquire or observe, even supposing that the country or its people could be seen ; not a very likely circumstance, when the whole distance is travelled in portable coffins, borne on the shoulders of hu- man beasts of burthen, and in the night season ; the heat of the day being escaped under the shelter of some gloomy Bungalow, where not unfrequently the only objects to be seen are some few swelling mounds or rough headstones within the enclosure walls, marking where the poor traveller succumbed to the dysentery or fever, to escape which he was vainly struggling towards the coast. So even with the Ci- vilians themselves, whether of the Revenue or Judicial branch ; they seldom move from one district to another ; and they are so overwhelmed with the amount of their daily work, which must be got through, that little is to be expect- ed from them beyond the merest details of routine ; nor C 10 Civil Engineers our lest authorities. have they, generally speaking, ever risen to consider the great question of the condition of the people as a whole. It may safely be affirmed that in no country in the world is it more difficult than in India to get access to really valuable statistical information; medical men have done something for its botany, its geology, its mineralogy : the Engineers are probably as a class the best men to go to. They are select- ed for superior ability ; their scientific qualifications give them a natural bent for statistical inquiries : 160 lacks of Revenue depend directly or indirectly on their skill ; they receive the most minute details of all the cultivation to be supplied with water ; they move freely about among the people at large, unattended by a host of followers ; they are looked upon by the Ryots as benefactors, inasmuch as their visits to the villages are connected with the repairs of roads, tanks, and water-courses ; they communicate freely with the people touching their wants, their state, their wish- es. They are looked to for labour and employment ; with- out any of that jealousy and guarded caution which marks the intercourse of the Natives with the Collector : who, com- ing to gather money, is naturally regarded with suspicion if not dislike. Access indeed is difficult to him surrounded as he is by a retinue of official dependents, whose interest it is in many cases to keep the Ryot from laying bare his griev- ances. At the entrance to the Collector's tent as he moves about on Jumabundy, and at his Cutcherry, when stationary, many a " Surly porter stands in guilty state To spurn imploring famine from his gate."* But generally speaking profound ignorance, or, at best, but a partial glimmering of the actual condition of the peo- * Mr. Bourdillon is inclined to think this evil somewhat overstated : but I am afraid he and other Collectors judge only from their own con- sciousness of being accessible to all complaints which come before them. Their wish is father to the thought. The question is whether the Native subordinates who stand between them and the people do not prevent the Byot from lodging his complaints. Our ignorance of India. 11 pie is the characteristic of our rule. It was so in Sir Thomas Munro's time, as he himself informs us ; and let me ask what advance have we made since the death of that great man ? How much closer has the great body of the English people drawn to its Indian fellow subjects during the last twenty years ? What superiority do even the statesmen and the le- gislators of the present day possess over those who last con- sidered the renewal of the Charter ? What has the Court of Directors done in the way of digesting, arranging, render- ing accessible to the Public, the masses of statistical reports which have since accumulated in their dusty archives ? So various are the nations of India, so distinct their ha- bits, so innumerable their customs ; so complicated their so- cial relations on the one hand ; and so scanty is our commu- Lieutenant Tyrrell at present employed in laying out the line of Rail through Salem ; and consequently striking out into parts far away from the high road and comparatively little known or visited, writes as follows : " These people are sunk in such depths of ignorance and superstition that I could not have believed it unless I had myself been thrown into a position in which I could remark their habits and manner of living. I have made my notes while exploring the country in every direction ; some seldom visited by a Collector, and most of it never, but entirely under Native rule. The difference between the country around large stations under the Collector's eye and that under Native rule can hardly be believed. " An Engineer in this country is furnished with a Delayet, a sort of Lieutenant of Peons, and two Peons for the sake of procuring supplies. I mention this in order to show that the rottenness of the system lies in leaving too much to Native rule. They are corrupt to the core, and there must be much more active and extensive European controul before the frightful corruption now in existence can be eradicated. " The system is this. You arrive at a village. The Peons go to all the neighbouring villages to procure supplies ; that is ; they seize on fowls, ghee, milk, &c. &c. The liead man of the village gives you the account of what has been furnished. The money is divided between the Delayet, the Monaghar (or head man of the village) and your servant. The poor Ryot never gets a cash. It may seem surprizing to those unac- quainted with Native rule that there are no complaints, but they know little of the difficulty of approaching the Collector with a whole tribe of Brahmins between them, as the Government now is. I am certain it is impossible. " To show the inutility I will relate what happened to myself. I ad- dressed an independent looking cooly who was carrying some of my things. His having gold earrings and a sort of independent look about him struck me. I asked : what quantity of land do you cultivate. He said (I forget exactly it might be about 20 acres.) I asked ; are you 12 Our " caster nication with them, so comparatively narrow and circum- scribed each man's area of observation ; so gross our self esteem ; so intense our prejudices, and so exclusive our caste on the other ; that he who trusts to any one, or even to any twenty informants, will fall into the most egregious error if he dreams that he has got sufficient materials before him on which to form a general judgment on the state of the peo- ple of India, or their requirements. Not only do the various races differ : but narratives de- rived from personal observation of one district, and faithful- ly detailing its experiences, would be found almost totally inapplicable to the next ; and this though the observer may have been intelligent, accurate, pains-taking, unprejudiced, honest ; and have lived the better part of his life upon the spot. Look for instance at the accounts given by Mr. Dyke and Mr. Fischer of the condition of the Ryots in Salem can pretty rich. Yes : pretty well. Peon chimes in and says : If you are well off why do you take up Master's box ? Ryot loquitur ; why did you come yesterday and take four fowls and a sheep out of our village and not pay for them ? Peon is shut up ! " This man and about ten more from the same village told me they would give me the statement in writing. When I sent for them at the next village they were not to be found. They dare not, they cannot bring their complaints before the Collector ; they would never be allowed to come before him, these Peons, Delayets, Sheristadars, Tahsildars, &c. in the way. Even if they were to complain, which is sometimes the case with Christians who complain through their pastors, they are generally turned out of their villages, and ruined by some false charge. Of this there are many instances. Such is what I am persuaded from my obser- vation is Native rule ; extortion and corruption at all points upon a most ignorant superstitious people." Mr. Fischer, the well known Zemindar of Salem, writes as follows : " This poor Ryot is human he has his enemies, he has his quarrels- he must expect his share of accidents. To seek justice is ruin to him. He can ill afford to quit his family and his work at any time : but that is nothing to what he has to go through. He has to follow the Collector long distances ; for the Collector is constantly moving about he has to dance attendance on him for weeks and months. The Collector is too much engaged, and in more important matters, to listen to his petty case. He is writing his Jumabundy report ; or answering the correspondence with the different Departments of Government or attending to matters connected with the well-being of the Revenue ; and he (the Ryot) has to meet the extortionate demands of the Subordinates before his case is heard, and the chance is he may not get justice after all ; but even if he does it is at a ruinous sacrifice." Prejudiced witnesses. 13 any thing be more conflicting ; more directly contradicting ? Yet both have passed many years in the same district ; both have ample means of observation : both have made ample use of their means both have mingled with the people : yet as one is a Collector, the other a Zemindar ; they look at the matter from different points of view ; and the result is before you. Apply these observations to the question of the condition of the people. To put at once out of sight the total differences which must exist upon this topic with reference to the differ- ent Presidencies ; the North West Provinces ; the Punjaub ; newly acquired, or newly ceded districts ; lapsed or annexed Principalities ; and States still under Native Princes ; let us come to the Madras Presidency alone ; for after all I cannot profess to carry my own views further. Even there let us disregard the difference of the Ryot's condition as it is affect- ed by the various kinds of settlement ; the Zemindaree, the Village, the Ryotwaree ; and let us confine our view of it to this last aspect alone. What a multitude of embarrassing distinctions meet us at the outset : what a conflict of opi- nions, how many volumes of dissentient statements : how many contradictory tales do we hear of the working and operation of the system. How very seldom do we meet with an informer totally unbiassed on one side or the other. Is he a Collector, he can scarcely but be prejudiced in favor of things as they are. Is he a Thasildar ? True, we have here the testimony of a Native, and he a Collector of the Revenue too but is he to be trusted ? is he not necessa- rily prejudiced, even if he be uneorrupt ; and if he tell us the truth, will he tell us the whole truth ? Is he a Zemindar ? he is probably in constant conflict with the Courts and the Revenue officers, and he is soured and prejudiced thereby. Is he a planter ; he has been forced to pay court to the lo- cal authorities to maintain his footing in the country at all ; and we may be very sure that his tendencies one way are at 14 Conflict of testimony. least as strong as those of the Government officials are the other above all, is not all this exparte, and on one side ? Who hears the poor Ryot himself speak ? He could tell us a tale probably very different from all the others ; but would even he, supposing access to him were possible, give us the truth ? can he be unprejudiced ? Alas ! steeped as he is in ignorance ; little raised above the brute that draws his light plough ; we may be very sure that we should gather from him only a crop of that lying and deceit which are his ordi- nary, his only weapons of defence against his host of oppres- sors and extortioners. But supposing these difficulties got over, how shall we re- concile the conflicting stories which this man from the North and that man from the South tells us ? which the East and "West Coasts bring us ? To render this even intelligible how minutely must we not inquire into the peculiarities which affect the different provinces of this Presidency ? To instance only a few. In Cuddapah and Bellary, the Ceded Districts, where Sir Thomas Munro most completely carried out the E-yotwaree Settlement according to his own ideas of what it should be, he also carried out that all-important item of his plan, which has been denied to less favoured districts, and without which the system can scarcely be said to have been tried at all, a reduction of 25 per cent, upon the permanent assessment. How different must be the condition of the Ryot in Malabar, dependent upon the rains for his cultivation, from that of the inhabitant of Arcot who has to pay Government for every drop of water supplied his field by costly works of artificial irrigation ? How much must his circumstances vary accord- ing to the caprice, the whim, the feelings, the generosity, the ability, the activity, the integrity of the particular Re- venue officers who temporarily rule his fate ; how much on the accident of a more or less honest Thasildar ! Look at the inhabitant of Tanjore with its roads ; and at Guntoor with- Best mode of handling the subject. 15 out a road. Take the dweller on the seaboard who has a port for his rice, and him who dwells inland, where no outlet exists for carrying off the superfluous products of the soil. But why multiply instances ? These surely are suffi- cient to suggest the true nature and extent of the difficulties of the case and these observations must plead my excuse on any man's, if he fall into errors and mistakes ; if his in- information be scanty; if he be unable to generalize correct- ly. I am but a humble pioneer ; my task will be complete if I can only succeed in cutting away some of the thick jungle which obstructs the eyes of the British public. Still, as I have before observed, every man in India must independently of the Government records which are inacessi- ble, have greater or less opportunities for acquiring living information, if he only choose to use them, instead of con- fining himself to turning over the pages of dead books ; a practice so general, that opinion is handed down from one generation to another until it has become almost hereditary. The present paramount object of a writer on this subject should be, as I have stated, to impress upon the people of England the conviction that hitherto they have neglected the discharge of their duty towards India ; and as we are a practical, matter-of-fact nation, the most sure as well > as the most sensible way to effect this is, not by indulg- ing in invective or declamation, or even by appealing ad misericordiam ; but by placing in the hands of the People a statement of the actual condition of the Na- tives, based upon facts ; as temperate, as unexaggerat- ed, unbiassed, impartial, as circumstances will admit of. Then Englishmen will be able to think, and to judge for themselves ; and it is with this view that I have com- municated with friends in various ranks, professions, and positions of life, whose kindness has enabled me to place in your hands a mass of information and opinion by which you can verify and check whatever assertions I may make. 16 Fallacy of judging by English standard. I shall endeavour to be as little antiquarian and historical as possible, because the books on which I should draw, are as available to others as myself ; although it is indispensably necessary that in examining the condition of the People some account should be given of the Ryotwaree System, which I believe has principally made them what they are. But there is one caution which cannot be too constantly borne in mind one fallacy too sedulously guarded against ; the all-fatal error of looking at Indian affairs with purely English eyes. To give but one or two instances. An English statist finding the Revenue of a district on the increase, would triumphantly point to it as a conclusive proof of the increas- ing prosperity of the inhabitants one more accustomed to India would ominously shake his head, and first inquire whether some " crack Collector" had not got charge of the district ; and whether the screw might not have been at work. So the Court of Directors in their Financial Dispatch of 1848 say of this Presidency: " The Madras Land Revenue exhibits a considerable improve- " ment since 1845. In the ten years from 1830 to 1839, the " depression in this most important branch of Revenue was such as " to occasion us great anxiety, the average receipts during that " period having been upwards of 24 lacks per annum less than the " average of the preceding 15 years. Since 1839, the aspect has " considerably brightened. In 1845 the receipts more than equal- " led the average amount realized from. 25 to 30 years ago, or " before the deterioration already alluded to commenced ; and in " 1846 there was a further improvement of eight lacks, while the " actual receipts of 1847, and the estimate for 1847 were still " more favorable. We therefore hope that we may safely pro- " nounce the condition of the great bulk of the people employed " under the Presidency of Madras in agriculture to have been " much improved of late, and our anxiety for the permanent pros- " perity of the Land Revenue is consequently relieved." On this Colonel Cotton remarks " Not one word is said to show whether this increase is owing to increased severity of Instances of this fallacy. 17 taxation, or to increased ability to pay. We make a tenant pay us 10 instead of 8, and say, see how much richer he is!" The Financial Dispatch of 1852 affords another instance in point. Again: when I find Sir Thomas Munro in his Minute of the 31st December 1824, para. 35 referring to the fact that on the 30th September in that year only two Ryots were in Jail in the whole of this Presidency for arrears of rent, I am sceptical enough to attribute such a startling fact less to the promptness with which the land-tax had been paid, or the leniency of the Collectors, than to the use of those fearful means known to the Thasildar and his understrappers for literally screwing the money out of the people. Let me ask you whether the statistical tables of the Madras Judicial system would not have given you a perfectly erro- neous idea of the state of the administration of Justice in this Presidency, unless some one had come forward, as I happen- ed to do, to expose the one element which those voluminous tables would never have disclosed to the most scrutinizing inquiry ? What idea does the term " made Roads" convey to an English reader's mind ? Somewhat different I apprehend from the term as it is understood in this Presidency ! Once more ; it is the fashion to talk of the insufficiency of Native official's pay. In the lower grades of life, the Revenue peons for instance, and even the Thasildars this is so ; but those who raise this outcry are too apt to forget and overlook the difference of the value of money here and in England. The Court of Directors in the statistical papers laid before the House on the motion of Mr. Bright estimates it at seven times the value of money in England. Colonel Cotton estimates it at six times : another friend of mine at four. We may be safe therefore in taking it at five.* A Native * See a very useful comparative table of salaries given by Holt Mac- kenzie, Esq., in his Minute of 1st October 1850, vide page 199, Appendix III. of General Appendix to Report of House of Commons Inquiries, 1852. D 18 Physical condition of the Agricultural class. Principal Sudder Ameen is in reality probably better off than his European equivalent, a subordinate Judge : for we must take into consideration the little or no state he has to maintain. His wants are few : his habits simple : his very luxuries inexpensive : his children's education cheap. Sick- ness does not send him in search of a more genial clime : he has no establishment to keep up or to break up : the calls upon his charity are comparatively few. It will not do to measure Indian affairs by an English standard. Bearing all this in mind, let us apply ourselves at once to the task of explaining the present circumstances and condition of Madras ; and not to dally longer on the outskirts, what are they ? The territories of the Madras Presidency in round num- bers comprise an area of 140,000 square miles ; divided into twenty districts or Collectorates, containing each on an aver- age within a fraction of 7,000 square miles, being nearly equal to the whole of North and South "Wales, which con- tain 7,425 square miles. The population averages 11,00,000 aouls to a district, being nearly equal to that of Wales, which by the returns of 1851 was 11,88,821. The population of this Presidency is therefore about 22 millions : and of this three-fourths are agricultural. Now what is the condition of these people, first, physi- cally. I quote the words of Mr. Bourdillon, one Authority of Mr. , .. _ _ . . ,, n Bourdillon. f the ablest Revenue Officers in the Mad- ras Civil Service, and a Member of the Commission on Public Works : " The Ryots may be divided into two principal classes ; those " who are comparatively well off, the few, and those who are poor, " the many. The former in general are either those whose villages " or lands were from any cause favorably assessed at the first ; " or those who have Enam or rent free land in addition to their " rent paying land ; or those who have more extensive holdings ^ than common, all of whom have good land, and have more or less The wealthier Ryots. 19 " Enam. Individuals of the favored classes a they are called, " who hold their land on easier terms than usual, because belonging " to certain castes, are also necessarily better off than others ; and " lastly personal character has its own influence here as elsewhere ; " the careful and frugal will get rich, and so will the crafty and " subtle, skilful to gain the favor of a Tahsildar, or to supplant a " rival. " Even among this more wealthy class of agriculturists, the " number of those who possess any considerable amount of pro- " perty is very small. It is difficult to form or to convey an exact " idea of their real means, but I will attempt it. I should say " that if a man of this class is able to spend 15 or 20 Kupees a " month, or rather if he can command a value equal to that, for he " will rarely see so much money, such a man I say may be account- " ed to be very well off ; and that a net income from all sources to " the value of from 30 to 50 Rupees a month is very rare among " the agricultural class. Such an income indeed is far more in " this country than the money amount indicates to English ears. " The actual purchasing power of money in this country is some- " times estimated at four times what it is in England, sometimes at " six times. Assuming the intermediate proportion of five to one, " an income of 20 Rupees a month will be equal to one of 120 a " year in England ; and 30 Rupees and 50 Rupees a month in this " country, will be the respective equivalents of 180, and 300 a " year in England. In point of fact indeed the difference is greater, " both because from the nature of the climate, the range of absolute " necessaries is here much abridged ; and also because the general " scale of incomes and style of living throughout all grades of society, " are so much lower here than they are in our own country. But " though the incomes above specified undoubtedly raise their po- " sessors far above want ; still they appear small in the extreme, " when regarded as the highest incomes from the possession of land " in a very extensive country, and the largest of them certainly con- " fined to an extremely limited number of instances. " The dwellings of this class certainly do not indicate much wealth : " tiled houses are rarely seen, and masonry walls are still much " more rare. The almost universal habitation has mud walls and a " thatched roof ; the latter of a very flimsy order, and both often 20 Their dwellings. " mucli dilapidated. And both walls and roof are the same within " as without ; the rooms have no ceiling, and their walls no sort of " ornament or decoration, rarely even Avhite wash, and the floor is " of simple earth beaten hard. The value of the residence of a Ryot " of the more wealthy class, of whom I am now speaking, probably " rarely exceeds 200 Rupees or 20. It may be urged that the " habits of the people do not incline them to spend money on im- " proving their dwellings, but that they rather invest savings in " jewels or rich cloths for great occasions, or in cattle ; or expend " them on marriages and other family occasions. There is some " truth in this ; but though every family above actual poverty " possesses some jewels, yet probably very few agricultural families " possess to so large a value as 1,000 Rupees or 100 for both " jewels and clothes ; and even supposing an equal value in agri- " cultural stock, and so much would very rarely be met with, the " whole aggregate value, 220, equal to 1,100 in England, is ex- " tremely small to represent the whole property (exclusive of land) " of one of the most wealthy members of the land-holding class; " and it is the most wealthy only, who possess as much as this. " And if we look within their houses we still find few evidences " of wealth, or even of what we should consider comfort. I have " already described the interior of the house itself; and as to its " contents there is nothing of what is commonly called furniture. " There are no chairs, or tables, or couches, or beds; sometimes " there is seen a single rude cot which would be dear at two Ru- *' pees. The inmates for the most part sleep on the earthen floor, *' with nothing else below them but a mat or a small cotton carpet. " They sit on the floor, and from it take their food, which is served " in a few brass dishes; or perhaps by preference, and not from " poverty, on a simple plaintain leaf. Their usual clothes are sim- " ply of cotton, and cost little ; and when going a distance, to the " Tahsildar's or Collector's Cutcherry for example, they generally " travel on foot; or in exceptional cases, usually of age or infirmity, " on a pony not worth above 7 or 8 Rupees. " It may perhaps be replied to all this that such are the simple " habits of the country, and that the people are satisfied and re- " quire no more. This is no doubt true as a fact; to this extent at " least, that in the absence of sufficient promise of success, these The poorer Ryots. 21 " people abstain from active effort to better their circumstances. " But if it be meant that they choose to be poor when they might " be rich; that they are satisfied with the necessaries of life when " they might command some of the comforts and luxuries; that " they are content to have only their physical wants supplied when " they might rise to the perception and enjoyment of intellectual " pleasures ; then I deny the truth of the assertion. And I must " add that, if true in any degree, it would only prove the ignorance " and debasement of the people to whom it relates. " The foregoing description refers to the better class of Ryots, " men who are above the world and well off; but the condition of " the great majority is much worse. From the official list of put- " tahs for the Revenue year 1848-9 it is seen that out of 10,71,588 " the total number of puttahs (excluding joint puttahs) in the four- " teen principal Ryotwar Districts,* no fewer than 589,932, being " considerably more than half, are under ten Rupees each, and in " fact average only a small fraction above four Rupees each ; that " 201,065 are for amounts ranging from 10 Rupees to 20, and in " fact averaging less than 14 Rupees each; and that 97,891 are " for amounts between 20 Rupees and 30, and in fact averaging " only 24-i- Rupees; and thus that 888,888 puttahs, out of a total of " 10,71,588 or considerably more than three-fourths, are for amounts " under 30 Rupees, and in fact averaging less than 8~ Rupees. " Now it may certainly be said of almost the whole of the Ryots " paying even the highest of these sums, and even of many holding " to a much larger amount, that they are always in poverty and ge- " nerally in debt. Perhaps one of this class obtains a small sum " out of the Government advances for cultivation, but even if he " does, the trouble that he has to take and the time he loses, in " getting it, as well as the deduction to which it is liable, render " this a questionable gain. For the rest of his wants he is depen- " dent on the bazaarman. To him his crops are generally hypothe- " cated before they are reaped, and it is he who redeems them from " the possession of the village watcher, by pledging himself for the * Chingleput, South Arcot, Cuddapah, Salem, Tanjore, Coimbatore, Madura, Trichinopoly, Canara, Nellore, Tinnevelly, Kurnool. North Arcot, Bellary, 22 Their means, implements) huts. " payment of the kist. These transactions pass without any written " engagements or memoranda between the parties, and the only " evidence is the Chetty's own accounts. In general there is an " adjustment of the accounts once a year, but sometimes not for " several years. In all these accounts interest is charged on the " advances made to the Ryot on the balance against him. The rate " of interest varies with the circumstances of the case, and the ne- " cessities of the borrower; it is probably seldom or never less than "12 per cent, per annum, and not often above 24 per cent. ; of " course the poorest and most necessitous Ryots have to pay " the highest. "A Ryot of this class of course lives from hand to mouth; he " rarely sees money except that obtained from the Chetty to pay his " kist; the exchanges in the out-villages are very few and they are " usually conducted by barter. His ploughing cattle are wretched " animals not worth more than from three and a half to six Rupees " each, (seven to twelve shillings,) and those perhaps not his own, " because not paid for. His rude and feeble plough costs when " new no more than two or three shillings; and all the rest of his " few agricultural implements are equally primitive and inefficient. " His dwelling is a hut of mud walls and thatched roofs, far ruder, " smaller, and more dilapidated than those of the better classes of " Ryots above spoken of, and still more destitute if possible of any " thing that can be called furniture. His food and that of his fa- " mily is partly their porridge made of the meal of grain boiled in " water, and partly boiled rice with a little condiment. And gene- " rally the only vessels for cooking and eating from, are of the " coarsest earthenware, much inferior in grain to a good tile or " brick in England, and unglazed; brass vessels though not wholly " unknown among this class are rare. " The scale of the Ryots descends to those who possess a small " patch of land, cultivated sometimes by the aid of borrowed cattle, " but whose chief subsistence is derived from cooly labour, either " cutting firewood and carrying it for sale to a neighbouring town, " or in field labour. The purely labouring classes are below these " again, worse off indeed, but with no very broad distinction in " condition. The earnings of a man employed in agricultural " labour cannot be quoted at more than 20 Rupees a year including Labourers. 23 " every thing; and this is not paid in money, but in commodities. " As respects food, houses, and clothing, they are in a worse condi- " tion than the class of poor Ryots above spoken of. But I will en- " deavour to describe their circumstances a little more particularly. " The regular agricultural labourers are usually engaged at the " commencement of the season, for the whole year. It is customa- " ry to advance them a small sum, about five or ten Rupees, as a " sort of retainer, which however is to be repaid when the connec- " tion ceases. Frequently they remain without change for years; " when a man desires to engage with another master, as he will " rarely have been able to accumulate money to pay off the advance " received, the sum advanced by the new master goes to pay the old " one. These yearly labourers receive a certain allowance of grain " every month, which is usually fixed by the custom of the locality; " and at particular seasons, some regular, others occasional, the " master makes the servant a small present, also fixed by the local " custom. When the wife or children of the labourer work in the . " fields at weeding, &c., they receive daily hire in grain; and la- " bourers not engaged for the whole year, but only at particular " times, are paid in the same manner. The rates of hire are very " low. The daily rate varies in different parts of the country, from " eight pice (one penny) to one anna (three half pence;) it is rarely " or never above the latter sum for purely agricultural labour, and " this is paid not in money but in grain. The occasional presents " to the yearly labourers are partly in money, and partly in cloths ; " the entire earnings of a labourer engaged for a year do not exceed " from 16 to 20 Rupees for that whole term. " It appears from the foregoing detail that the condition of the " agricultural labourer in this country is very poor. Taking his " earnings at the highest rate, viz. 20 Rupees a year, this would be " equivalent in real value, using the same standard of comparison as " above, to 10 a year in England. The English field labourer " earns on the average not less than 28 a year, including his extra " gains in harvest time ; and thus it appears that the real wages of " a field labourer in regular employ, his command of the necessaries " and conveniences of life, are in this country little more than a " third of what they are in England. It is no doubt true that some " things are necessaries there which are not so in so high a degree 84 Moral condition of the People. " here ; the labourer in this country does not need to spend so much " on firing, clothing, or shelter from the weather, as in England; in " other words, an equal amount of physical comfort in those respects " may be purchased here at a smaller outlay. But making full al- " lowance for this difference, the labourer here will still be found " to be much the worse off. In fact almost the whole of his earn- " ings must necessarily be consumed in a spare allowance of coarse " and unvaried food, and a bare sufficiency of clothing. The " wretched hut he lives in can hardly be valued at all. As to any- " thing in the way of education or mental culture, he is utterly des- " titute of it." After this let us hear no more of Mr Dykes' Paul-and- Virginia picture of the Indian cottage smiling out from the fields! Such are the people in the Country. Let us now see what they are in the Towns. Mr. Fischer writes : " Some years ago, in 1829-30, when cholera was very bad at Sa- " lem, and there were 40 or 50 deaths (per day?) in the Town of " Salem alone, I gave up my business for some months, and devoted " myself to the sick : and I feel a proud satisfaction in having saved " many lives. Every house was open to me without distinction of " rank or caste : and too glad were they to receive me when every " man shunned his neighbour. It was then I first learnt the abject " poverty of the agricultural classes. Sometimes I had 4 or 5 pa- " tients in the same house : and not a spare rag in the house more " than the inmates had on their persons, and not more than a few " days food. They were utterly destitute of means to purchase " medicine or comfort." Next what is their condition, morally. Sir Henry Pottinger, the present Governor of Madras, in his Education Minute of the 1st November 1852 speaks of " their foul vices of untruthfulness and dishonesty, which are '' hardly now held by the great masses to be a reflection, " unless discovered." I cannot stop, where so much is to be said, to quote other authorities for the truth of this position. But assuming its truth, what has the English Government done, I will not Education. 25 say, to make the people what they are, for their moral state is the necessary result of centuries of despotism and slavery ; but what has it done to remedy this evil ? Mr. Bourdillon, from whom I have above Mr. Bourdillon. quoted, thus speaks of the state oi popular Education, if it be not a mockery in me to call it so. " As to anything like education or mental culture they are wholly " destitute of it. Even among the more wealthy Ryots, and indeed " among all ranks throughout the country with the few and rare " exceptions where there is a Missionary school, the whole educa- " tion consists in learning to read and write with a little arithmetic; " the only books read are foolish and trifling, not to add immoral " legends; there is no true knowledge communicated even on mat- " ters of physical science, or any useful training of the mind. " Such is the education at the very best among the Native middle " ranks, but the poorer classes of Ryots of whom I am now speak- " ing are wholly destitute even of this. Very few of them can " read; and their minds, growing up to maturity in a very narrow " circle, and with nothing to rouse their powers, remain in deep " ignorance and superstition. But the most painful part of their " character is the entire want of independence, or what is called " 'honest pride.' A common Talook peon is to them a terrible " personage, and the Bramins of the Cutcherry the objects of the " greatest terror, as well as suspicion and dislike." In April 1828 the Court of Directors sanctioned an annual grant of 50,000 Rupees for the educational wants of the whole of this Presidency : but up to the present moment only one school has been founded, which, under the name of the Madras High School or University, has been attended by an annual average of 160 pupils, and turned out an average of 16 educated boys, at a cost of from 25 to 30,000 Rupees, the surplus not being appropriated to any other educational purpose whatsoever. Sir J. W. Hogg Sir James Weir Hogg in his speech quoted. in p ar iiament on the 6th of June 1853, says, as follows : 35 26 One Government School. " Since 1833 a vast deal had been done to promote education in " India, but he would only give an abstract. There were in Ben- " gal, of English and mixed Schools, 37; vernacular, 104. In the " North- West Provinces, of English and mixed Schools there were " seven; in Madras, one (! ) In Bombay, of English and mixed " Schools, 14; vernacular, 233. The number of scholars was " 26,000, and the amount expended 66,000. He admitted that ** this was a small sum, but a great deal more would yet be ex- " pended for this important object. Let those who found fault " with the slow progress made in education in India reflect how " slow were our own improvements at home in the matters of pri- " sons, and houses of correction, and the administration of justice." So that with, a real surplus of 73 lacks, as shall be proved hereafter, an area of 140,000 square miles, and a population of 22 Tnillion living souls, the Government has applied only 5,000 Rupees per annum in education (out of 50,000 appli- cable), has erected one Seminary, and turns out on an aver- age sixteen educated boys a year ! Having been for several years a Governor of the Madras University, I could say much on this pitiable topic ; but having lately felt constrained in common with my namesake the President, and the whole body of Hindu Governors, save one, to resign, I fear that whatever I might write would be attributed to partial motives ; and indeed it would compel me to enter too much into detail, when my object is to group together large startling results and facts ; but this I will per- mit myself to say, that it has been through no lack of energy, desire, entreaty, importunities, on the part of the Governors of the Institution, that a well considered comprehensive scheme of general education has not long since been in full operation ; and that the annals of the University are about among the saddest of the many sad proofs of Government procrastination in carrying out the most necessary measures for the amelioration of the condition of the people. Not to mention Calcutta ; look for a moment at Bombay. With her Reyenue annually deficient to the extent of 50 lacks We have partly made the People what they are. 7 of Rupees ; with her comparatively small territory ; and half the population of Madras ; she can afford one lack and a quarter for education ; she has 185 Schools ; and has educated 12,712 boys ! I come back again to Madras with her one School ! Yet I am not aware that any one sound reason can be found for the marked difference thus shown between Madras and the other Presidencies in the matter of Education. No one has yet ventured to assert that the Natives of this Presi- dency are more careless about or less forward to take ad- vantage of opportunities offered them than their brethren in other parts of India : physically and morally I believe they are not behind their fellow subjects ; nor is there anything peculiar in our atmosphere so affecting the Madrassee intel- lectually, that you would swear he was a. Bseotian at first sight. The system which is found to answer in Bengal and Bombay ought in justice and on principle to be extended to us, and one and the same scheme embrace all India ; though sooth to say, we have not in this instance, as in so many others, to attribute our backwardness to apathy from without, so much as to the obstructions from within, offered by a sect of society to advancement. If the people, so far as our experience of them in our Courts of Justice is a safe criterion, are desperately deceitful, forgers, perjurers, and suborners of perjury, assuredly we have not only our sins of omission ; what we have not done for them, to answer for ; but I much fear that our rule has in no mean degree contributed to make them what they are. No doubt such a character is in a great measure the natural, necessary result of centuries of despotism : but we have taxed them beyond their strength and means, and let loose a whole plague of corrupt tax-gatherers upon them, against whose extortions and corruption, bribery and deception are the only weapons of defence ; whilst in. our Courts of Jus- 28 Shore Campbell Dykes. tice we have another fertile source of deterioration to Native character. TheHon'ble Mr. Shore, writing in 1837 Shore. . uses almost the words in which writers of the present day describe those officinse and emporia of cor- ruption. " Few persons," he says, " are I believe sufficiently aware of the " impunity with which under our rule the most gross cases of for- " gery, perjury, and false accusations may be committed, and the " little disgrace or punishment which is attached to them. The " people themselves are lost in amazement at the practices which " they daily witness in our Courts and offices ; and do not fail to " draw comparisons to our disadvantage between what they there " see and what would have occurred under their own tribunals, " where such proceedings, they remark, would never have been " tolerated." Lest it should be said that I have vouched a writer describ- ing a state of things not applicable to the present day, let us hear what the most recent writers, all Indian Civilians, say. Mr. Campbell in his " Modern India" (page 486) writes : " The longer we possess any province, the more common and tl graver does perjury become, and the more difficult to deal " with ;" startling testimony truly against the quality of the Courts we have established. Mr. Dykes in his " Salem" hints at the cause of this seemingly somewhat inexplicable asser- tion (page 337). "Well, a clue is got by the Police; the evidence gradually col- " lected; and in time the gang is arrested, and the case committed " to Court. At the robbery the witnesses were half stupified with " fear; they have been questioned in their village; they have been " examined by the Police, and before they may give their evidence " in the final trial on so difficult and complicated a subject, they " will probably be closely cross-questioned by the Subordinate " Court also. An educated Englishman would find it difficult to " depose minutely on any point four times over, without some dis- " crepancies creeping into his testimony. But this is all lost sight Holloway. 9 " of, and the gang, should the ordeal of the Subordinate Court be " successfully passed, but too often is acquitted and released on this " very account by the Sessions Judge; probably with a sweeping de- " nunciation against the worthlessness of Native evidence." And in page 538 : " The tutored perjurer will stand the test, but the man who * would give honest testimony if he could, will most probably break " down. The life of a fellow creature may be trembling in his ba- " lance, and yet not one witness dares speak out freely before that " Sessions Judge. They have been examined, re-examined and " cross-examined. All their recollections, if not practised witness- " es, are now confused, and every word, for aught they know, will " be what the English Judge will call another discrepancy. " This is no theoretical fancy, but a fact borne out by the Criminal " Statistics of the whole Presidency. In 1850, in the district of Sa- " lem, 364 prisoners were committed to the Subordinate Court, of " whom 33 per cent, were released. This seems a large number, " and it might have been thought that convictions would have fol- " lowed in most of the cases which had been sent up for final trials, " as beyond the jurisdiction of the Subordinate Judge ; but in the " Sessions Court the acquittals for the same year averaged as much " as 41 per cent." But it remained for Mr. Holloway, one of the Registers of our Sudder Court, who attempted an answer to my Pam- phlet, to let out the entire secret. In page 52 of his Pam- phlet he says : " Falsehood mingles more or less with every " case. Many a great offender has been allowed to escape " by bribing one or two of the witnesses for the prosecution. :c These then purposely make false statements, a discrepancy <( is established ; and with a perfect consciousness of the " real state of the case, the Judge is compelled (! ! !) to turn " loose upon society the man who has added subornation of " perjury to his former offence." So he describes the practice of the Mofussil Judges. Hear now what he says of the Sudder. " English Vakeels are " employed to point out discrepancies of a trivial nature ; " and prisoners concerning whose guilt there cannot be a 30 Physical condition of the Country. " shadow of doubt, are constantly acquitted on the most 11 frivolous pretences." An appalling disclosure truly ! If such be the Judges' sense of their necessities and obligations, what is the practice of our Criminal Courts but a proemium for, and nursing mother of national degradation ? Whether we look to what we have done in the way of Education ; or at what we have done in the Judicial or Re- venue lines, assuredly we have much to answer for with re- gard to the present state of Native character : we cannot fail to be startled alike at our sins of omission and commission. Next, what is the physical condition of the Country ? First, as to its irrigation. Is it, on the whole, better or worse since the commence- ment of our rule ? It is certain, that in the absence of roads, it is on this that the main Revenue of this Presidency de- pends ; and that Revenue must rise or fall accordingly as the works of irrigation are in a more or less perfect state, and more enlarged or circumscribed in extent. It is clear that the old works of irrigation are not kept in a sufficient state of repair. Their original cost is estimated at 1,500 lacks of Rupees : their repairs cost annually 7 lacks ; less than | per cent, on the prime cost. The estimated re- turn to Government in the shape of assessment is 135 lacks annually ; the whole returns shared between Government and Cultivators are 375 lacks, so that under 2 per cent, of their yearly return ; and but 4| per cent, of the Revenues derived from them by Government, are expended in keeping them in order. This is evidently insufficient :* and the result is that the works not being in proper repair, so large a space of land is not now cultivated as formerly : and it is reckoned that in the 12 chief irrigation districts there are 12,62,906 acres * Colonel Sim is of this opinion see his evidence before the Lords' Committee. Q. 8736-7. Old irrigation works out of repair. 31 of land, with an assessment of Rupees 47,54,802 once ir- rigated and cultivated, now lying waste, but capable of being again brought into cultivation, if the tanks and chan- nels were put into proper repair : and many works are classed as in proper repair, though in fact they are not supplied with the full amount of water which they are capable of con- taining. Mr. Dykes. Mr. Dykes in his " Salem" informs us (page 391) that there are in that district alone at the present time 8,864 wells, 218 dams, 164 small channels, and 1,017 small tanks of which no use whatever is made. Lieutenant Tyrrell writes as follows : " Regarding the present state of the country, it is deplorable to " one who compares this old country with England or any country " on the continent; particularly when he comes to examine it at- " tentively, and finds that there are tracts of ground formerly culti- " vated lying waste, and overgrown with dense jungles ; that brok- " en tanks are met with constantly: and villages formerly large " and flourishing are now perfectly deserted. The country here " (Salem) is generally very fertile, and a good deal of grain is sown, " but not one half the quantity that might be raised. There are at " least eight or ten broken or disused tanks that I have passed in a " distance of thirty miles. One must have been of considerable " size; the bund being about eighteen feet high. Towards the " ghauts particularly are large tracts of land now deserted: the soil " is particularly fertile. They say that fever is the cause : but I am " disposed to think that it is not so, as there are still some good " villages who do not complain. Tengericottah is the most lament- " able place ; formerly a flourishing village; every requisite for ex- " tensive cultivation, now a perfect wilderness. A little engineer- " ing might supply an immense amount of water for irrigation." This is no isolated picture applicable only to a peculiarly unfavourable district. Lieut. Tyrrell is speaking of Salem, one of the finest Collectorates in the Presidency ; and there is no doubt that in whatever direction men push their inqui- ries away from the high roads into the less frequented tracts of the Mofussil, similar reports will be the necessary result. 3g Col. Cotton P. W. Commissioners. Colonel Cotton speaking of the first En- Colonel Cotton. . . . gmeering Division, says : " I have reason to believe that most of the tanks are in want of " complete revision; they have no proper calingalahs, sluices, sup- " plying channels, &c., and the drainage of the country is in many " places as bad as the supply. Below the Colar, numbers of villa- " ges are submerged till the rains are over, and begin to cultivate " when they have hardly any hope of rain enough to secure a crop. " Late last year, at the very end of the rains, I passed in my boat " over a great extent of water, many miles together, and if I had " not been assured that there was a Talook underneath, I should " have supposed I was in the Colar Lake. In one place I saw the " people punting in a piece of water, which I was informed, they " were going to bale out, that they might begin to cultivate; this " was the only sign of land and cultivation that I saw in 15 or 20 " villages that I passed over." And the Commissioners come to the following general conclusion : P. W. B,. Sec. 240. " In short, all the works in the country, with a few exceptions, " are in a state that may be called ' below par,' that is, they are " below their state of full efficiency, and incapable of effecting their " proper amount of irrigation. The tanks are in want of sluices, or " such as they have are out of order; or they have no calingalahs, " or such as they have are too small or too high, and so the stabi- " lity of the tank is in danger; or the bank is low or weak, and the " Ryots are afraid to store a full tank ; or their channels of supply " have become choked up, and no longer bring a full supply of " water. And as to the irrigating channels, many of them are in " the condition described by Lieutenant Rundall, from the want of " regulating works at their head; or they have become filled up by " deposit, or the river has thrown up a bank in front of them, and " they get no water ; or they have too few outlets for irrigation and " the Ryots cut through the bank; or the outlets are too large, and " a vast quantity of water is wasted. Such is unfortunately the " description which now applies to a very large proportion of all " the works of irrigation throughout the country, with the partial " exception of the favoured districts of Tanjore and a part of " Trichinopoly." Returns from repairing ancient works. SB It may be well to dispose at once here of the whole ques- tion of irrigation. Nothing can be more satisfactorily proved by experience than the advantage of a liberal expenditure in repairing ancient works. For instance in Tinnevelly where operations have been confined to increasing the efficiency of existing works, and no attempt has been made to extend irri- gation by new works. There (see P. "W. R. Sec. 243) an outlay of Rupees 3,23,419 in 15 years produced a direct return in Revenue of Rupees 19,74,803, or about six for one, besides an addition of 30 lacks to the income of the people. 7 Again in South Arcot in 14 years we have the following results : " Adding together the results on both sides of the river, the fol- " lowing are the facts. The total cost of the anicut and all the " connected works, inclusive of all repairs to the end of 1850, is " Rupees 4,56,678. The total aggregate excess of collections sub- " sequently, over what they would have been in the same period, at " the average obtained before the improvements, is Rs. 18,00,298. " Thus within the short period of 14 years there has been a return " of Rs. 375 for every Rs. 100 expended; while the anicut and " channels remain permanently valuable works. And taking their " total original cost at Rs. 3,50,000, and assuming that annual re- " pairs to the amount of even as much as two per cent, on that will " be required to keep them in good order, we have the cost of these " annual repairs Rs. 7,000, and 17,500, being interest at the rate of " 5 per cent, on the original outlay, total Rs. 24,500, to set off against " an annual gain of Rs. 1,28,756, being a net annual gain of above " one lack of Rupees, clear of all expenses, obtained by an outlay of " three and a half lacks. And to this large gain to the Government " must be added the share of the Ryot to the amount yearly of " Rs. 1,93,000 more; being an aggregate yearly net return of nearly " three lacks of Rupees, for an outlay of three and a half lacks." Next to test the effect of money laid out in new works ; take the Godavery anicut and system of works in connection therewith up to the close of 1850-1 the total expenditure on the works was Rupees 12,65,361, the total increase of F 34 Returns from new works. Revenue above the previous average was Rupees 19,54,802 leaving a net surplus gain of Rupees 6,89,391. The works are not yet complete, and time has not elapsed to allow us to judge of the ultimate increase of Revenue from these works ; but Colonel Cotton estimated the net gain in 10 years from the commencement of the works at Rs. 28,14,802, and the Commissioners anticipate that it " will be even larger than he expected ;" and they draw the following pic- ture of the promising future P. ~W. R. Sec. 264-5: " The tract capable of being watered from the anicut is 3,000 " square miles, or two million acres ; and there is more than suffi- " cient water for this extent. But as a part of it is capable of " being watered also from the Kistna, by means of the anicut to be " constructed at Bezwarrah, Colonel Cotton takes 12,00,000 acres " as the actual extent to be irrigated. And out of this there will " be water for about 100,000 acres all tbrougb the dry season, " which will probably be all cultivated eventually with sugar cane, " betel, chillies, plantains, and other valuable products. The rich- " ness of the soil adapts it admirably for the sugar cane, the culti- " vation of which has very much extended since the anicut was " built; and a Madras mercantile house bas a large sugar factory " very near Rajahmundry, as already noticed. The growth and " manufacture of sugar are likely to increase immensely. Colonel " Cotton reckons that after the works bave been completed, a yearly " outlay of Rs. 120,000 will be fully sufficient to maintain tbese " works in good order; and adding to this sum Rs. 50,000 for the " yearly cost of tbe engineering and maramut establishments, being " on a liberal scale and at an outside estimate, and the further sum *' of Rs. 120,000 as the interest at 5 per cent, on the capital in- " vested, 24 lacks, the total annual charge will be Rs. 290,000, " which will give less than four annas per acre as the yearly cost of " conveying water to the land. Tbe increased income to Govern- " ment is reckoned at only 2 J Rupees an acre, tbougb it will bardly *' any where be less, and will be very much more over a great part " of the tract, because a large part of tbe newly irrigated land will " be such as was never cultivated at all before, and never paid any " thing. Even at that moderate rate, however, the total increase of Godarery Anicttt. 35 " revenue will not be less than 30 lacks annually; being more than " cent, per cent, annually, on the outlay, after deducting all charg- " es; and large as this appears, there seems nothing impossible or " incredible in it, if we look at Tanjore, which now actually pays " with ease and alacrity a revenue of 47 lacks. " And this triumphant success, this magnificent addition to the " revenue, is not to be gained by exaction, by trenching on the fair " rights of property or industry; on the contrary, the noblest feature " of all is that this vast gain to the Government is to be obtained " by adding in a far higher degree to the wealth, comfort and hap- " piness of the people. The value of the crop on an acre of dry " land does not exceed Rs. 6, but that of an acre of rice is Us. 20, " and of an acre of sugar cane it is Rs. 230; being a gain of Rs. 14 " an acre in the former case, and Rs. 224 in the latter. The gain " to the producer therefore, by the improvements in question, may " be stated as follows, at a low estimate : " 100,000 acres of sugar cane and other valuable products, at Rs. 200 Rs. 200,00,000 " 11,00,000 acres of rice, at Rs. 12 . 132,00,000 " Total Rupees 332,00,000 " Reckoning the value of the crops at these moderate rates, and " taking no notice of the fact that much of this will be land now " altogether waste and unproductive, or of the certainty of the crops " under river irrigation, compared with their precariousness at pre- " sent, we find that the gain to the Ryot is 332 lacks, and if he pays " 30 lacks in revenue, he will still be a clear gainer of 300 lacks a " year. It is no wonder that the greatest anxiety is displayed to " get a share of the irrigation, or the greatest alacrity to use the " water when so obtained ; nor is there any thing surprizing in the " striking change which Colonel Cotton so prominently -remarks on " in his later reports, as exhibiting itself in the character of the " people, activity, enterprise and life, having taken the place of " their former apathy and despondence." Other instances, the Samulcottah channel and the "Woondy talook, not less surprizing, are given in detail : and in the Appendix Z. to the P. W. Report, will be found a tabular 36 Other instances. statement of all the undertakings within the last 14 years, which shows a clear return to Government of 69| per cent, per annum on the cost of outlay ; and the following table of thirteen of such works is thus given in Sec. 273 of the Report. " With the exception of the three works above noticed, all the " others in the list exhibit a profit in revenue, and some an enor- " mous profit. The following are those which display the highest " rates of return on the capital invested, and among them are " several of the largest works in the whole list. DISTRICT. Works, First Cost. Average yearly out- lay in repairs and minor improve- ments. a ,* " > t< . a> o -btf a s> -S $** C3 w 0) M 9 S gfcrt < si 53 XT) *> P^ ^* O CO . 3-S 2 60 3 2S6C& g.S.S 4 Rs. 10,449 17,613 25,841 22,710 722 6,290 2,310 98,786 1,20,702 5,614 2,211 1,048 3,061 Per centage of the yearly net gain to the first cost. Rajahmundry.. Masulipatam. . Guntoor ...... Samulcottah Chan- Rs. 13,472 19,259 13,713 8,756 366 7,087 1,751 74,234 83,401 6,511 2,466 643 3,242 Rs. 2,840 1,362 1,759 577 459 723 83 2,855 18,159 248 470 623 Rs. 13,289 18,975 27,600 23,287 1,181 7,013 2,393 1,01,641 138,861 5,862 2,681 1,048 3,684 Rs. 77T 9 (T 91 T 7 o 188 259| 197i 88f 132 133 T ' 6 144H 86 T V 89| 163 94| Boopiah Calway and other Works Pullairoo Channel. . . Apparow Channel. . . 3oochinapoody Tank Channel .. .... Nellore Vellatoor Channel . . Veroor River Chan- nel South Arcot... Tanjore.. . ... Lower Coleroon Ani- cut and connected Works Upper Coleroon Ani- Coimbatore Madura Tinnevelly .... Pillioor Tank and other Works Improvement to a small Anicut on the Vigay River. . Teroo ve n gadanada- poorum Tank Total Rupees 2,34,901 30,158 3,47,515 3,17,357 134 " Thus the aggregate cost of those thirteen improvements was " Rs. 2,34,901, and the total net annual gain in revenue, after deduct- " ing the annual charges, was Rs. 3,17,357, being at the rate of " 134 per cent, per annum on the capital expended." Prime cost to Government, nothing ! 37 Colonel Sim, many years the Chief Engineer of Madras, and a most competent witness in every respect, in his evi- dence before the Lords' Committee estimates the return upon the improvements in Tanjore at 300 per cent.! " Q. 8751. What increase of revenue has the Indian Govern- " ment obtained in consequence of this increased cultivation ? " A. I mentioned before that during the last 20 years there has " been an increase of collections of 270,000. " Q. 8752. What per centage do you apprehend that would re- " present upon the outlay ? " A. About 300 per cent., from which however is to be deduct- " ed the cost of superintendence. A statement was prepared by " the Board of Revenue three years ago, giving the amount of mo- " ney spent in new works during thirteen years ; the amount was " 54,000: the increased revenue derived from that expenditure " was 37,000: amounting to 70 per cent., and if from that the " expense of superintendence be deducted, it may be reckoned at " from 40 to 50 per cent." Another matter for consideration, paradoxical as it may seem, is the fact, that the very circumstance of employing a number of labourers on a large work in a poor country, itself raises the Revenue ; and it is shown that the Godavery works have in point of fact cost the Government nothing. Col. Cotton's sin- Colonel Cotton in his first report on the gular prediction. Godavery made the following singular prediction. " In examining the question of the propriety of such an outlay " as this, there is one point which I consider deserving of particular " attention ; we are apt, generally, to think of a Government ex- " penditure as if it were precisely similar to one made by a private " individual; but in countries circumstanced as these are*, there is a " vast difference, and especially in this particular case of Rajahmun- " dry. A lack of Rupees annot be spent in any district without a " large portion of it immediately finding its way back to the treasury; " but in this district, which is now suffering such difficulties from " the immense diminution of specie, probably the greater part will " be paid back in the course of the year. This additional circulation 38 Singular prediction. " will enable many to pay their kists who would otherwise not have " done so ; and perhaps there would be little more difference made " by its disbursements, in respect of the state of the treasury, than " that such portion of the population as would otherwise have been " either not at all employed, or to little effect, would thus be usefully " occupied. During three or four months the great bulk of the popu- " lation are employed to very little purpose, where there is almost " literally no capital to enable the landowners to make improve- " ments ; but an expenditure of three or four lacks a year would put " life and activity into the whole district. That part of the popula- " tion which are just now, from the impoverished state of the district, " a dead weight upon the rest, from want of employment, would be " provided for, and the supply of specie would give a great stimulus " to the remainder. Indeed, I would state it as my opinion, that, " independently of the ultimate returns, the treasury would not be " at all the poorer at the end of the year ; for such a disburse- " ment, in the present state of the district, such an outlay seems " to me more nearly allied to a loan from a landlord to his tenant, " to be expended in improving his farm, than to a simple expendi- " ture." " The revenue accounts of recent years," say the Public Work Commissioners, " show how singularly accurate this " prediction was." The Commissioners themselves observe P. W. R. Sec. 269 : " Even while the works are in progress and far from being com- " plete, and while a large part of their effect is of necessity still un- " developed, the direct returns in revenue have amounted, taking " each year's increase of revenue in comparison with the whole ex- " penditure up to that time, to above 62 per cent, per annum on " the capital laid out; and there is no doubt whatever that the " future returns will be enormously larger. While to the people " the change may be described as one from death to life : at so low " a point were they before in poverty and indifference ; so great is " the contrast now in activity and energy. And all this has been " obtained, it should be remembered, literally without any outlay, " without any sacrifice of income whatever: for in every year of the " progress of the work, the increase of revenue has been materially Distinction between Madras and Bengal. 39 " in excess of the expenditure. It would be unsafe to reckon upon " an equal measure of success in every instance, for the circum- " stances of Rajahmundry were peculiarly favorable; but we are " bold to declare our firm conviction that there is no district in the " country in which a similar expenditure would not be largely re- " munerative to the Government and a blessing to the people, " though not in all in the same degree." Again : there is a wide distinction to be observed between the circumstances of Madras and other Presidencies : for in Bengal and the North West Provinces the Government has either permanently or temporarily alienated its right to share in improvements of the whole surface of the land ; for there respectively exists either the Zemindaree ; or the long lease sys- tem; while in Madras the settlement is an- P. W. B. Sec. 285. nual ; and again in Madras only one-fifth of the ivhole area is cultivated ; and of the whole cultivation one-fourth is irrigated artificially. Immense volumes of water, liquid gold it should be called, flow forth unproductive to the sea ; it only requires labour to turn all these on the soil ; when millions of acres of good land would forthwith come under cultivation ; and the Government is so situated as to share in the profit of every additional acre of which the Ryot shall turn the soil. But another point of view remains, the moral obligation under which the Government lies of keeping existing irriga- tion works in repair ; for the Ryot has embarked his capital in cultivation on the faith that Government will supply him with water ; and for every 100 Rupees lost to the Govern- ment by its own neglect, an additional loss of 150 Rupees is entailed upon the Ryot, The Commissioners write as follows P.W. R. Sec. 277: " In connexion with the subject of the loss of revenue from " neglect to repair works of irrigation, it must never be forgotten " that for every hundred Rupees of revenue so sacrificed, a further " loss of fully Rs. 150 is entailed on the Ryot ; indeed the loss to 40 Moral obligation of Government " him is often total ruin, in cases which the Government only re- " gard as a decline of revenue to the amount of a few hundred or a " few thousands of Rupees out of their hundreds of lacks. For if " the tank or channel on which the value of his land depends is " permitted to fall to decay, he has no resource, he cannot even, " under the existing revenue arrangements, cultivate it with dry " crops, for if he did so he would have to pay the full rent for irri- " gated land, and the ground is therefore left untilled." And again P. W. R. Sec. 280 : " The sanction of the Government of India or of the Home au- " thorities, may or may not be necessary for an outlay actually re- " quired for ordinary repairs ; the estimates may or may not be ex- " orbitant, as the Right Honorable the Governor in Council is under " the impression they are ; but what we wish earnestly to call " attention to, is the fact that in the consideration of the question " of their repair, the question indeed whether they shall be repaired " at all, or allowed to lie in ruins, no account whatever is taken of " the saleable and heritable property of the Ryots, in the lands de- " pendent on the tanks. " The lands cultivated by means of the water of these * tanks com- " prise about 3,200 acres, and are probably owned by above 600 " separate proprietors. They have for ages been irrigated by the " tanks, and derive almost the whole of their value from that capa- " bility and right of irrigation; they have been inherited through " many generations, and have been purchased probably again and " again in dependence on that right. If they are now left without " irrigation, they become utterly valueless under the existing reve- " nue settlement; and even if the assessment is re-adjusted to suit " them as dry land, still at least three-fourths of their value will be " annihilated. And yet the question of restoring the tanks is dis- " cussed, as far as appears, without any reference to these interests. " We cannot but declare that this appears to us too contracted a " view. We think that in all cases of a proposed work the views " of Government should not be limited to the direct revenue return, *' but should comprehend and allow some value to the addition " made to the public wealth in the Ryot's share of the increase ; * Two tanks referred to in Sec. 278. to keep existing icorks in repair. 41 " and further, that in the case of existing works the Government is *' in a degree morally bound to maintain them in repair, indepen- " dently of, and in addition to the consideration of revenue, for the " sake of the capital, which, on the faith of their virtual agreement " to do so, has been invested in the land under such works. " The Native princes who constructed the P. "VV. R. Sec. 454. " tanks and channels of irrigation, knew quite " well that from their very nature they must " stand in need of constant repair. They therefore made a special " provision for this necessity, by subjecting every acre of land irri- " gated to a special cess for this particular purpose, which was in " some instances contributed by the Ryots, and in others, in equal " parts from the Ryots' share, and the Government share of the " produce, the revenue being in those times received in kind. We " have not the means of determining whether this constitution of " things was universal in all the provinces now forming this Presi- " dency ; but it certainly prevailed generally throughout many of " those in which irrigation is the most common, and it was proba- " bly universal all over the Carnatic at least. " After the assumption of the government by the English, it was " determined to consolidate all the items, making up the land reve- " nue into a single demand, and for the most part this was a fixed " sum in money for each acre or each cawny, the revenue in kind " being commuted. In that operation the tank cess was included " in the settlement, and was merged in the revenue ; and the cor- " relative duty of maintaining the works of irrigation in efficiency " was fully recognized on the part of the Government. The only " exception to this arrangement, we believe, was Tinnevelly, where, " though the tank cess was commuted into money, and the proceeds " included in the general revenue, a separate account of its amount " has always been kept. " These facts place the Government in a new P. W. R. Sec. 465. position as to the works of irrigation. It now " appears that these works are not by any means " generally maintained out of the State revenue. As regards " a large proportion of them, the Government are in the position " of trustees of a special fund, contributed wholly or in part Q 42 Prevention of Famine. " by the holders of irrigated land, over and above, and indepen- " dently of the Government rent of the land, which latter was at " first actually, and still is, theoretically, a certain proportion of the " year's produce for the maintenance of those works, originally con- " structed at the cost of the Government, by which the additional " value was given to their property. Or even granting that Go- " vernment may be regarded as having contracted to maintain the " works in consideration of these fees, and so as not responsible for " the unexpended amount, even then the condition of their title to " the money is that they shall keep the works in good repair. It " thus appears that it is not simply a question of policy whether the " Government shall keep the works in repair, nor even that there is " a merely implied engagement to do so ; but that it is a positive " and express obligation to be fulfilled in return for an equivalent " received. It must be admitted that this duty has not been per- " formed, and private property has suffered great damage in conse- " quence ; and it now remains, therefore, to retrieve past neglect, " and bring up the works into a state of full efficiency as rapidly as " possible." But the last, not least consideration is behind. The cer- tainty of preventing the awful recurrence of famine. In 1832, in one district alone, Guntoor, and in one year, 200,000 souls out of a population of 512,617 perished by famine, and the total loss to the Government Revenue in consequence up to the present time is reckoned at the enormous sum of 2| millions sterling. A.t this very moment we stand upon the verge of that most awful of all Indian calamities, a famine. The Government has suspended its demand of duty on imported rice ; the march of Regiments has been countermanded because their route would take them through districts, ordinarily fertile, where now no food could be found for their support. Already the tocsin has sounded. Agrarian disturbances are reported from the provinces ; rice warehouses have been broken into and gutted in Nellore : but the famine's full effect will not be felt until April next. Setting apart the misery it will entail Effects of the Famine should be watched. 43 upon thousands, and the loss it must cause to the Government Revenues, its statistics, carefully watched, will afford several very instructive points of comparison, whereby the value and efficacy of works of irrigation may be most irrefragably test- ed : for we shall be able to contrast Vizagapatam, where there are no such works, with Raj ahmundry where the anicut across the Godavery has saved the people ; and these dis- tricts again with Guntoor and Masulipatam, where the same effects might have been secured as in Raj ahmundry, had there been no unnecessary delay in sanctioning and com- mencing the works which are to bridle the Kistnah. So again we may compare Raj ahmundry as it now is, with an abundance of grain, with Raj ahmundry such as it was in the great famine of 1792. Further it will afford us an opportunity of estimating the full value of works of communication, as the vehicles of food from districts where it is superabundant into those where it has failed. In Tanjore there is at present plenty of grain ; yet the price has not risen in consequence of the approach- ing dearth : since the surplus cannot be moved Northward during the continuance of the present monsoon, and there exist no internal means of its transport. I trust that a care- ful eye may be kept upon the facts which Providence is about to bring under our contemplation, and that the lesson they teach us will not be lost. Is it not surprising, is it not truly wonderful, does it not surpass all belief, and confound the ordinary understanding, that with these facts patent before them, the benefits to the people, and to the Revenue, proved over and over again in the shape of returns from to 100 per cent., the Govern- ment should still be blind to the policy and expediency, not to say higher motives, of keeping up and extending works of artificial irrigation in the most efficient possible manner ? Colonel Cotton Colonel Cotton has the following striking remarks : 44 Madras and Port Philip " The savages of Australia trod upon gold for hundreds of years, " while they were often in want of food, and always without a rag " of clothing. And very similar has hitherto been the state of " things in India. With an unlimited supply of water within " reach which would more than provide for every possible want, the " people of India have been generally barely supplied with the ne- " cessaries of life, and often so entirely without them as to perish " by hundreds of thousands : and their European rulers with this " treasure within their reach, of far greater value in proportion to " the cost of obtaining it than the richest gold mine in the world, " have been unable to make their income equal their expenditure. " Now if a community can purchase water at a certain price, and " sell it again in the shape of rice, sugar, indigo, tobacco, pulse, " cotton, &c., in unlimited quantities for fifty times as much, one " would suppose that the question of how to make both ends meet " was settled. Such is undoubtedly the actual state of things in " India. The prices of all exportable articles, whether rice or cotton " for instance, are equally made of the cost of food and clothing. " And if water be applied to diminish labour in raising articles of " food, the portion of the population thereby set free, will of course " employ themselves in raising whatever their country is best suited " to produce for foreign countries ; and any amount of cotton and " other things can be sold to Europe, China, &c. " Port Philip has been loaded with wealth by discovering a thing " which can be obtained at one-fourth its value, while India con- " tinues poor with a thing which can be obtained at one-fortieth of " its value. What is the difference between the two countries that " produces such a strange anomaly ? The sole reason is, that the " P. Philippians make use of their treasure, which the Indians, or " rather their European rulers, do not. A man in P. Philip who " could earn previously 40 a year on an average, went to the " diggings and obtained in one year about 140 worth of gold. " As soon as this was known, more than half the population were " employed in digging gold, and the first year they obtained about " 14 millions sterling. In India, supposing that at this moment 25 " lacks a year are being spent on new hydraulic works, we may " calculate that about 60,000 people are so employed ; or not more contrasted. 45 " than a-yVtfth part of the population, and not a thousandth part of " the population employed in P. Philip, in securing the treasures " there discovered. " Nothing therefore can be more evident than that it is not the " having a treasure in the country that makes it rich, but the taking " every advantage of it. It was not the gold under ground that " made Port Philip rich, for it was not a bit the better for it for many " years, but the digging it up and giving it in exchange for con- " sumable things, &c. In the same way India will continue poor, " even if water were ten times its present value, as long as it is not " made the best use of, but still allowed to flow into the sea by " millions of tons per second. The water that flows off in this way " in an hour by the Godavery, is sometimes as much as 4,000 mil- " lion cubic yards, and it is worth 80 lacks of Rupees ; or three " times the whole revenue of Rajahmundry for a year ; but till it is " made use of, the country continues just the same as if it had no " such treasure. " How strange it seems that whilst the dullest labourer can per- " fectly understand the value of gold, the wisest statesman cannot " perceive the value of that which is exchangeable for gold; so " that though a hundred pounds worth of gold in the form of water " can be obtained in India for 2 10s., no Indian statesman has " yet been found wise enough to set a thousandth part of the popu- " lation at work to obtain it ; whereas in P. Philip, when it was " discovered that 100 of gold could be obtained for 25 worth " of labour, more than half the population were immediately em- " ployed in digging it up. Whenever the subject is stated, the de- " fence is, ' but see what we are now doing ; look at the Ganges " * canal and the Godavery and Kistnah works.' Suppose the P. " Philippians had continued as poor as they were, and upon some- " body taunting them with neglecting their great treasure, they " were to say in defence ; ' what shameful misrepresentations ! Out " * of our 60,000 people, we have got twelve people digging at Bal- " ' larat, and twelve at Mount Alexander ;' what should we think of " their sense and activity ? Yet, 24 diggers bear the same propor- " tion to the population of Port Philip, as the 60,000 employed in " hydraulic works, bear to the >vhole population of India. 46 Tanjore. " Upon what imaginable principle is it then, that only certain " parts of three or four districts out of one hundred, are to be thus " improved? The objection of want of money, has been shown " over and over again to be without vestige of foundation. Did the " P. Philippians wait till they were rich before they went to the " diggings ? How many of those who traversed the country to " reach the spots where this treasure was known to be, had any " surplus cash ? They went there because they were poor, not be- " cause they were rich. The case is exactly the same in India. " How much surplus revenue has it taken to furnish Rajahmundry " with hydraulic works ? While 20 lacks have been spent, 30 have " been obtained. The same with Tanjore. While 40,000 Rupees " a year were spent, a permanent increase of revenue of 40,000 " Rupees a year was obtained, so that in ten years, 4 lacks had been " paid and 20 lacks received. How astonishing it is then that in " the face of these notorious facts, this plea of want of money should " be continually advanced without shame, just as if nobody knew " of them. " There is one district in the whole Indian empire (Tanjore) that " has never for more than 20 years past caused the Government an " anxious thought about finance ; that has from the first up to the " present time been a source of real satisfaction in this respect ; " about which nobody has ever had to say, ' how shall we make " * both ends meet ?' and that has even provided in its increase of " revenue, ten or twenty times its share of the war expense of In- " dia. And this is the only one where money has been spent " throughout in increasing its supply of water. Has this district " in any one single year been a drain on the treasury ? Has any " one yet been heard to say, ' these are certainly grand and profita- " ' ble works, but how can we find money for them ? No doubt, at " * some future time, they will pay well, but in the meantime what " ' possible contrivance can we discover to enable us to provide the " ' money.' Nothing of this sort has ever been thought of. The " district itself has throughout provided the money for every thing " from year to year, and an enormous surplus besides. And yet the " moment it is proposed to do the same thing in other districts, it " is said, * these ruinous wars keep us so poor that we cannot afford " ' it ; and not only so, we cannot even afford to have the old works Water, the universal solvent. 47 " ' kept in repair.' For there is not a district in the Madras Presi- " dency except Tanjore, in which the old works are all in good " repair. " It is not the ruinous wars that have kept us poor, but the most " unaccountable neglect ; a neglect the more extraordinary because " it is not endured for a moment in other things. Let any man pro- " pose to provide money for wars, by leaving buildings to go to " ruin, and he would be thought mad ; and yet this is only what is " systematically done with works upon which the food of the peo- " pie and the revenue depend. " India is like the field after an Indian battle ; there is but one " cry, * water, water.' All that is wanted is water ; and this want " supplied, every thing else will almost follow of course. Water " for irrigation, and water for transit, will provide for every thing " else. Water is the universal solvent, and can solve that which " has puzzled all the Indian wise men from Lord Cornwallis down " to the present time, viz. the Revenue settlement question. It has " solved that question in Tanjore, the only district where it has been " tried. When a man has to pay only 6 Rupees a year for an acre " of land saleable at 45 Rupees, the question is substantially solved. " There may be of course a thousand questions of trifling importance " about that, as there are about every thing else ; but the essential " difficulty is gone. The real difficulty all along has been this, how " to get 6 Rupees of revenue out of a land on which the total profit " was only 5 Rupees, and nothing but water could solve this ; and " it will assuredly do the same in every district of India where it is " applied, by the simple process of making the profit on the land 10 " or 15 Rupees per acre." Secondly as to our means of communication. The importance of facile communications cannot be over- rated or overstated. Macaulay most philosophically remarks VOl. 1, p. 3<0. e ' /-nil IM in his History of England, while speaking of the roads of the 17th century : " The chief cause which made the fusion of the different ele- " ments of society so imperfect, was the extreme difficulty which " our ancestors found in passing from place to place. Of all in- 48 Our Roads. " ventions, the alphabet and the printing press alone excepted, " those inventions which abridge distances have done most for the " civilization of our species. Every improvement of the means of " locomotion benefits mankind generally and intellectually as well " as materially, and not only facilitates the interchange of the va- " rious productions of nature and art, but tends to remove national " and provincial antipathies, and to bind together all the branches " of the great human family." Of the present condition of this Presi- Mr. Bourdillon. * dency Mr. >ourdiilon speaks as follows : " At present the very extensive territories of this Presidency are " almost entirely without roads or other means of communication. " The united extent of the two districts of Bellary and Cuddapah " is 26,000 square miles, being more than half the area of England. " In the whole of that large country containing nearly three mil- " lions of people there are only thirty miles of made road ; and a " very large part of the surface of the country is of the very worst " character for traffic without a road. Again in the whole district " of Bellary, nearly double the extent of Wales, there is not a sin- " gle bridge exceeding two yards span. Thus even on main lines, " the whole of the traffic that can exist where the roads are so bad, " is sometimes brought to a stand for days together in time of rain, " by the swelling of the numerous unbridged streams. Nor is this " confined to districts where the communications have been so en- " tirely neglected as in Bellary ; the same thing occurs even in " Salem, the roads of which district are so much lauded. Even " there the roads are not by any means fully bridged, and in the " rainy season, both sides of a trifling nullah may be seen lined " with carts, bullocks, drivers, and foot passengers waiting in the " rain till the stream subsides. " Speaking generally, and with allowance for some few excep- " tions, the effect of the want of roads is that the country is cut up " into small sections, each of which must consume its own produce. " I say this is the case in a general view. In certain districts, as " in Salem and Tanjore the roads are somewhat better ; and even " on the worst roads, some of the more valuable kinds of produce " are able to bear the cost of transport to a more distant market, Effect of the state of the Roads. 49 " though even then the additional cost much restricts the demand ; " as for instance in the case of the betel-nut of the Mysore coun- " try, or the indigo of Cuddapah. Still in general terms the pro- " position is true ; and the effect is exactly the same as if each " such limited tract of country belonged to a petty chieftain, who " levied heavy duties on all goods passing in or out ; and much " heavier on the more bulky than on the valuable. I may go even " farther, and say that even the very best roads in the country, " those of Salem or Tanjore, (which after all are unequal to bear a " heavy traffic), and even the much vaunted Western Trunk road " from Madras to Bangalore, are all far inferior in quality to what " the commerce of the country demands, and to what it would well " pay for." " The effect of this want of means of transport is not only that " the quantity of produce raised of all kinds is restricted to the " measure of the local demand, but that various kinds which might " be raised in unlimited quantities, are not produced at all. The " production of goods for export, sugar,* cotton, grain, oil seeds, &c. " is greatly restricted because the cost of transport to the coast is " so heavy." Colonel Sim deposes before the Lords' Committee as follows : Q. 8779. " Experience has shown that in proportion as the Public Works " and roads have been improved, the circumstances of the people " and the public revenue have also improved. Cultivation has been " extended ; manufactures have increased, and the price of food has " been cheapened. I may instance Tanjore especially, where the " value of land has been raised, cultivation generally extended, and " the condition of the people ameliorated materially. Madras Petition. The followin g account is extracted from the Madras Native Petition, a very able* though in parts overstated account of the condition of Mad- ras but with reference to these particular paragraphs the authority is an article in No. 32 of the Calcutta Review, written by one well acquainted with his subject: * See Mr. Boothby's letter in Appendix P. to the P. W. Report. H 50 Madras Petition. " That the condition of the roads at Madras however bad, is just " what could be expected under such circumstances, but as it is " impossible for your Petitioners to get at official documents on this " head, the Government having declined complying with the request " of the Association, and all public officers, Civil and Military, " being prohibited to communicate official information, they will " draw upon an article contributed to the " Calcutta Review,' No. " XXXII. for a few facts by way of elucidation. The number of " principal or trunk roads as set down in the Return of Public " Works, printed by order of your Honorable House, in 1851, is " only 11 ; but very few of these are finished, and not one of them " is kept in a state of efficient repair ; the only road that is always " in good order is that leading from Fort Saint George to the head " quarters of the Artillery at Saint Thomas's Mount, a distance of " about eight miles : the longest road is that from Madras to Cal- " cutta, 900 miles estimated length, but it has never been complet- " ed ; and although it is called the Great North Road, and is used " by all travellers proceeding to the northern parts of the Presiden- " c y? y et even a few miles from Madras it is not distinguishable " from paddy fields ; and piece goods have to be brought on the " heads of coolies from Nellore, 110 miles distant, and situated on " this very road : fifty miles farther it passes over a wide swamp, " causing carts and travellers to skirt its edge in mud and water, as " well as they can during six months of the year: on another part " of the same line near Rajahmundry, a gentleman was lately four " hours in travelling seven miles on horseback : parts of this road " have been at various times repaired, but these portions have af- " terwards been totally neglected and allowed to fall again into " ruin: for the most part the line is unbridged, and in the places " where bridges have been constructed they have been neglected, " till the approaches have been wholly cut away by the rains ; " leaving the bridges inaccessible and consequently useless. From " this road another branches off towards Hyderabad and Nagpore ; " but though it is only 22 miles in length, the money expended " upon it has been thrown away; and it is never in a fit state for " traffic, and such is the general condition of all the rest of the " trunk roads, with the exception of that leading to Bangalore, *' which, and which alone, is practicable, and that only latterly for District Roads. 51 " post carriages and horses, proceeding at the rate of 4 or 5 miles " per hour. " That the country is in an equally desperate condition as regards " district roads. The district of Cuddapah, measuring 13,000 " square miles, has nothing that deserves the name of road; there " are tracks impassable after a little rain ; and every where carts, " when used, carry half their proper load, and proceed by stages of " half the usual length: while the trunk road from this district is " so notoriously bad, that the Military Board use it as a trial ground *' to test the powers of new gun carriages, which are pronounced " safe if they pass over this severe ordeal. This district is one of " the finest cotton fields in South India, but has its prosperity im- " peded and kept down by the wretched state of its internal roads, " and of its communication with the coast, the natural outlet for its " commerce. Other districts might be named only second to this " in extent and hardly inferior in capabilities, in which the internal " communications are no better ; and there are few districts in which " country roads, as distinguished from the chief trunk roads, have " received any attention whatever, and to all but these few the des- " cription of Cuddapah is applicable : the principal exception being " the Collectorate of Salem, which as it is a level country, without " any large rivers has, under Mr. Orr, received considerable im- " provement at a trifling expense of about 4,000, and the forced " labour of the district: but it is still without main routes of com- " munication with the surrounding districts. "That the entire extent of road practicable for bullock carts " scarcely exceeds 3,000 miles, for the entire Presidency ; mostly " without bridges, impracticable in wet weather, tedious and dan- " gerous in the dry season; not an individual talook possesses " roads correspondent to the number of its population, and where " there is the greatest improvement, as at Salem, it is of no benefit " to the other parts of the country, and to them is all the same as " if it had no existence." Little more than half per cent, on the total Revenue is al- lotted to the making and maintenance of Roads in this Pre- sidency : and all that a Collector can lay out without re- porting and sanction is the magnificent sum of l|c?. the square mile ! 52 Public Works Report. But here we are fortunately supplied with a mass of de- tails compiled from the most authentic information, laborious- ly and luminously drawn up by Mr. Bourdillon, Major Cotton, and Major Balfour, the Commissioners appointed for inquir- ing into the state of the Public Works of Madras ; and all ho- nour be to this triumvirate for their honest, fearless, able discharge of their duty. It is indeed impossible to insist too much upon the positive necessity which exists for a perfect mastery of the late Mad- ras Public Works Keport to any one who wishes to under- stand the condition of this Presidency. It is one of the most remarkable works which has emanated from India, whether we look to its honesty, its fearlessness, its comprehensiveness, its conclusiveness, its wisdom, or its truth. The Government evidently selected the wrong men : and the reception of such a document appears to have proved not a little startling, for we find that although it is dated 23rd Dec. 1852, it was not resolved until the 13th of April 1853 to forward the Report, thus giving the Court of Directors a fair chance of tiding over the all-important Sessions of 1853 before it could be laid before Parliament ; and even then it appears to have been thought necessary to append a dishclout to its tail, in the shape of a bundle of Minutes, in which one Member of Council declares it to be " misrepresentation," the result of " ignorance ;" and the President, admitting that some of the facts may be supported, records his entire concurrence in his colleagues' views, although he has not had time to make himself completely master of the Commis- sioners' statements. But it is worthy of remark that these depreciatory Minutes refer only to the supposed inclination of the Commissioners to find fault with the " motives" and real "feelings of Go- vernment," while they leave the mass of carefully collected facts, and the luminous arguments and conclusions formed upon them, unchallenged, and untouched. Government Minutes. 53 This petulance on the part of the local Government, may be natural enough, although we cannot admit in the absence of all refutation of the facts set forth, that this Report is " not entitled to that confidence which such a document should command to render it of any general practical use."* * Since the above was written all three Members of Council have, I understand, recorded voluminous Minutes on the subject of this celebrat- ed P eport. Though printed and pretty freely circulated, thy have not fallen hi my way. It is reported, however, that the main charges against the Commissioners are ; first, that they have couched their Report in dis- respectful terms ; secondly, that they have misrepresented the feelings of the Madras Government, as certain papers which were before them should have satisfied them that the local Government at any rate is not responsible for the procrastination which has taken place with respect to the Public Works. As to the first of these charges ; any unprejudic- ed reader is capable of judging for himself whether the Commissioners have overstepped the bounds of temperate and honest indignation. I for one after two careful perusals of their work fully absolve them. Whether or no they have misunderstood the position of the local Go- vernment is a matter .probably of some importance to the Council; although for my own part I cannot see that they have done so : for whilst the Commissioners make every allowance for the stoppages put by the Supreme Government to the extension of useful works in this Presidency, they charge the local Government with supineness inasmuch as it has not even exercised those powers which it unquestionably does possess, independent of the Government of India. This Government is by no means so powerless as it would wish to be thought. I believe it is legally empowered to keep up all existing irrigation works in an efficient state of repair. I know that it has the power of spending up to 10,000 Rupees without any question or reference to the Supreme Government. Before the blame is shifted to the shoulders of the Supreme Government, let it be shown that this power has been exercised, and that in seeking for more, the local Government has met with denials or refusals from the Government of India. If this be so, then let our Government further point to any remonstrance which has been made to the Supreme Govern- ment against such treatment, any reference of the matter to the Court of Directors, any indignant protest entered on its own records : to anything in short, except to an easy acquiescence and submission to the obstacles thrown in its way, while seeking the means of improving the country. If the Commissioners have wilfully misrepresented anything it is of importance to their own characters, and to a certain extent to the Public, so far as it will be calculated to cast discredit upon their Report. But knowing those gentlemen as I do, I shall not only sus- pend my judgment until I shall have seen their rejoinder to these Minutes, as well as the Minutes themselves ; but shall even take liberty to doubt their complicity until it is fully proved. But truly the Public has very little to do with all this, which is rather a question between this Government and the Court's Commissioners. The only issue which the Public has to try is, whether or no the/acfo as to works of irrigation and communication can be controverted. If they cannot, it strikes me that Minutes defending motives, whatever may be the ability displayed, are very much beside the point, and will deserve very little notice. 54 " Made Roads." I wonder if any similar complaint would have been made, had the Report found that although there was certainly room for improvement here and there, the Government had in the main been " paternal ;" and had liberally as well as wisely discharged its functions in aiding to develop the resources of the country ? Whether or no, I can only say that this invaluable exposition of things as they are ought to be in the hands of every one anxious to make himself acquainted with the necessities of this Presidency. Ind ,ed I must assume that it has been carefully read ; and can only for my present purpose extract some of the more startling facts and illustra- tions, referring my reader, nay, anxiously entreating him to peruse and digest the whole of this important, well reasoned compilation from beginning to end. It will richly repay any amount of labour bestowed upon it. It offers a fund of information not procurable elsewhere ; it will indeed open an entirely new light to him, and effec- tually and for ever silence the vague generalities and de- clarations that " though it may seem strange, the system works well," under which the Indian sins of omission are cloaked : and by which the eyes of England have been hitherto so completely blinded. What then is the testimony which this record bears against the condition of the Ro ads of this Presidency. The extent of "made" roads in 1846 is stated to have been as follows. In the Board's Report of March 1847 P. W. K. Sec. 327. a statement is given of the " made roads," which, however, includes certain spaces where the natural surface was so favorable, that no dis- bursement was considered necessary for the formation of a road. The roads mentioned in the list being in fact only such as were considered worthy of repair. What the term means in Madras. 55 Extent of made roads (or roads naturally practicable for carts) in 1846. No. of Miles. 1 . Ganjam 40 2. Vizagapatam 3. Rajahmundry 8^ 4. Masulipatam 2 5. Guntoor 39 6. Nellore M 15 7. Bellary 9 8. Cuddapah 3$ 9. Kurnool 10. North Arcot 36| 11. Chingleput 11| 12. South Arcot 9f 13. Tanjore 533f 14. Trichinopoly 50f 15. Safem. . . 400 No. of Miles. 16. Coimbatore, Neilgher- ry Ghauts 49| Low Country 482 17. Canara 80 18. Malabar, Neilgherry Ghauts, 63| Low Country 70 19. Madura 682| 20. Tinnevelly 293 \ 2,8801 Made roads under the Road Department, about. . . 230 Total.. ,.3,110l But here it is especially necessary to guard against the fallacy of judging of Indian matters by European ideas, for the term " made" roads would convey a totally erroneous view of their state to any English reader without the follow- ing explanation P. W. K. Sec. 328 : " They admit of carts moving in dry weather, with light loads, at " a very slow rate, and by very short stages. But by far the great- " er portion of these roads are unbridged, and a heavy shower cuts " off the communication wherever a stream crosses the line, and " they are, in many cases, so unfit to stand the effect of wheels " while the surface is wet, that in the monsoon months they are out " of use except for cattle or foot passengers. The draft on such " roads is far greater than on the most ordinary roads and lanes in " England ; and we need not observe how great a decrease in the " expense of transport is effected there, when such ordinary roads " or lanes are brought by bridges and a surface of metal, into the " condition of the turnpike roads, a condition in which we have " scarcely a mile of road in the whole Peninsula." 56 Ganjam Vizagapatam. Now to give a few of the specific instances which, this Report furnishs us. In 1848 the CoUector of Ganjam reports P.W.R. Sec. 329 : " With the exception of what is called the Northern Trunk Road, " upon which a considerable sum has been frittered away in the " last 6 or 8 years, there is not a single yard of made road in the " Ganjam district." In 1851, he reports that no alteration has been made " except in the trimming of an avenue, ichich he considers " objectionable" In 1851 the Commissioner, Mr. Elliot, states that the road from Calingapatam to Chicacole, the largest Town in the district, only 12 or 14 miles distant, " passes through a (( swamp about 4 miles broad, which is impassable for carts " or beasts of burthen for several months in the year, and is " traversed with difficulty by unencumbered travellers, al- " though it forms a part of the old line of the great north " road to within a mile of the Port." P. W. R. Sec.. 332. " Throughout Vizagapatam there is nothing" says Mr. Smollet, the Collector " which deserves the name of a good " road; that is to say, that except in Cantonments, there is no " road or highway from one station to another, along which " a carriage or a pig could be driven for a mile." On this the Commissioners remark P. W. R. Sec. 334 : " Here again, we find a whole Collectorate without any tolerable " approach to either of its shipping ports, or any single road practi- ". cable for carts leading into the interior. And this district (Vi- " zagapatam) has a coast line above 100 miles in length, and con- " tains above 7,650 square miles. It materially exceeds in extent " the united counties of Northumberland and Durham, with the " North and East Ridings of Yorkshire. That populous and busy " tract resembles it in position, and would resemble it also in con- " dition, if its ports and its admirable internal communications were " totally destroyed, and it were separated from the rest of England " by a mountain barrier." In Rajahmundry, with the exception of ten miles of convict- made road, the Northern Trunk Road is described as " in a Rajahmundry Masulipatam Guntoor. 57 " wretched state, in some parts sandy, in others passing " over black soil, crossed by bridgeless nullahs, and some " parts so deep as to be almost impassable after a heavy " shower. Irrigation channels are recklessly cut across the " road, rendering it dangerous at night" P. W.R. Sec. 335. Of the two roads at Masulipatam ; the Collector, Mr. Porter, in 1847, reports on " the lamentable state" of the Northern Trunk road. Of the other, from Masulipatam to Hyderabad, (a most important Military road) he says " it may with truth " be said to be in many parts impassable in the rains ; and not " to be traversed without difficulty and danger in the dry " weather." Between Masulipatam, the seaport, and Ellore, an impor- tant commercial Town with 30,000 inhabitants, the distance is but 50 miles, yet in consequence of the badness of the roads and the want of means for crossing the water-courses which intersect it, detours have to be made increasing the distance, in one case to 67, and the other, to 87 miles : and even these circuitous routes are only just passable. In his subsequent reports he speaks of the prickly-pear bush which covered the road from Masulipatam to Weyoor having been removed, at an expense of Rupees 275-2-2, de- frayed out of a total of 400 Rupees, allowed annually for the ichole district. The Civil Engineer of the 1st Division thus speaks of the three Collectorates of Guntoor, Masulipatam, and Rajahmun- dry P.W.R. Sec. 338: " There is a very small extent of road in this division that is in a " practicable state in the monsoon ; a very large part of the Great " Northern Road is quite impassable in wet weather, most of it " neither metalled, nor bridged, nor drained ; and in the Delta the " roads are in the same state ; indeed they are not in general even " marked out for bandies, so that there is scarcely any bandy traffic " even in the dry season ; t\yice I have been able to average only a I 58 Guntoor Nellore Cuddapah. " mile an hour in a palanquin ; on the Great Northern Road I have " known a gentleman take four hours to travel seven miles on " horseback." In Guntoor, the Collector, Mr. Stokes, specifies four roads P. W. R. Sec. 339 : " Of these," he says, " only one has been regularly made, and " while in good order the advantages were very great, but in its " present state, from the month of June till October, bandies can " only pass with very great difficulty, if at all." Of the second, he states that it " was improved when Mr. Whish was Collector (about " 20 years ago), since which, little or nothing has been done to it. " In parts it was still pretty good, but in others almost impassable. " The road, running directly inland, is of the greatest importance to " the trade of the district, and although it appears never to have " been repaired, running over a tolerably hard soil, bandies pass " without difficulty." The fourth " is a sandy track, which has had " an avenue planted along it, but has received no other outlay." In Nellore, Mr. Smyth, the Collector, speaking in proof of improvements, dwells more than once, with some satisfaction, upon the fact of his being able to move his records and tents in certain parts of his district on carts ; such a mode of conveyance being apparently a novelty : the Nellore road is impracticable for carts except in fine weather to within ten miles of the Presidency ; and piece goods are carried down to Madras on the backs of men.* P. "W. R. Sec. 340. In Cuddapah, Mr. Cochrane writes in 1847 P. W. R. Sec. 342 : " As with the exception of a small portion of the road leading to " Cumbum in the sub-division (the formation of which has lately " been undertaken on an estimate of Rs. 1,867-8-0) there is not a " made road of any description throughout the whole length and " breadth of this extensive province, in which so much trade and " commerce are carried on, particularly in cotton, sugar, and indigo; " and as the great difficulty of transport, occasioned by the total " absence of good roads, must necessarily, in a great measure, con- * Appendix II. to Public Works Report, p. 385. Cuddapah. 59 " sume, in the mere cost of transit, the value of the goods at the " port of export, it is most probable that no district in the Presi- " dency is in greater need of improved means of transport being " afforded for its produce for exportation." In 1851, Mr. Forbes, the then Collector, writes P. W. R. Sec. 343 : " The Board are well aware that, with the exception of the work " on the Goolcherroo Ghaut, nothing whatever has been done to im- " prove the communications in the past year, and they will, there- " fore, be prepared for my stating that roads, properly so called, can " hardly be said to exist ; and that in Cuddapah the communications " have not to be repaired, but made." And again : " My Cutcherry has been for some days at Koilgoontah, and it is " only necessary that I should join it, for the settlement to commence " at once. There is nothing whatever to detain me in Cuddapah, " but the impossibility of moving my tents after some very heavy " rain which has lately fallen, and if this be the case with all the " means and appliances at the Collector's disposal, the Board may " conclude what is the obstruction offered by the state of the roads " to the ordinary traffic of the country." The first Assistant Civil Engineer reports P. W.R. Sec. 344 : " The state of the roads in the Cuddapah district is execrable. " The most important line from Bellary passing through the town " of Cuddapah to Madras (which is the tappal road from Bombay " to Madras) is allowed by all travellers to be the very worst in the " Presidency. Within the last 10 years it has been surveyed and " reported on by a Head Maistry, by Captains Buckle, and Lawford ; " and again in 1849, by Captain DeButts and myself; but nothing " has been done to improve it, although large quantities of cotton, " indigo, and other valuable products of this and the Bellary dis- " tricts are sent yearly by this road to Madras. When treasure par- " ties are sent by this road to the Presidency, 10 per cent, of the " bandies break down daily." And again, " In the Cuddapah dis- " trict, nothing has ever been done to the roads beyond marking " out the Madras and Cuddapah line by an avenue of trees, which " was done when Sir Thomas Munro was Collector (about 50 years 60 Bellary. " ago), the Goolcherroo Pass opened and improved last year, and *' still further improved this year." The Commissioners add : " It only remains for us to point out the facts, that the district of " which we are treating, the largest but one in the Madras Presi- " dency, contains 13,000 square miles, being nearly twice the size " of the whole of Wales, and with a population larger by nearly " one-half; that it is at a distance from the sea, with no navigable " stream or other natural facility for transport, and that its products " are of the most valuable description. It is famous for its cotton, " sugar, and indigo, commodities which form no slight portion of " the exports of Madras, in spite of the heavy expense of carriage " they are subjected to, and the deterioration they frequently suffer " in the journey. It is quite impossible to overrate the benefits " which would result from opening good and direct roads from all " parts of fine districts to the port of Madras." Of Bellary the Commissioners write as follows Sec. 347 : " Bellary is in extent rather larger than Cuddapah : in fertility " and natural resources it is not less important ; and being farther " from the sea, and equally difficult of access, it has the greater oc- " casion for a reduction in the cost of carriage : it is one of the " greatest cotton producing districts in the Madras Presidency. It " is of such a district, be it observed, a country measuring 13,000 " square miles, or nearly double the size of the whole of Wales, and " containing a population of 1,250,000, that the Collector states " that there is but one arched bridge throughout the whole country, " out of the town of Bellary. " The loss and impediment to trade resulting from the absence of " a road from this immense district to the port of Madras, was " strikingly exemplified a few months ago, when freight having " fallen to an extremely low point, the cotton of BeHary was in " great demand as an article of profitable shipment. There was " abundance of cotton in the district ; but in consequence of the " tardy and uncertain means of transport to the port, the merchants " could not venture to send for it, lest shipping should have become " scarce and dear before it could arrive ; and yet the distance from. KurnooL 61 " Madras to the very centre of the cotton country is not more than " 250 miles." In Kurnool the roads are said (P. W. R. Sec. 348) " To show no indication of ever having had any money spent on " them, and are now for the most part, ' little better than tracks " ' through the fields, marked out principally hy their being worn " ' down to a lower level than the surrounding country, though " ' here and there the hedge of a field or a few trees mark the line. " ' In dry weather these roads are said to be easily travelled, but " * in wet weather, where the soil is rich, the roads have little ad- " ' vantage over the field, to which, in many places, they form the " ' channels for drainage' " In 1851, Mr. Lushington reports P. W. R. Sec. 349 : " Eleven years have elapsed since Kurnool became a British pro- " vince, and I believe I am correct in declaring that during the " whole of that period nothing has been done towards the improve- " ment of the existing lines of communication, beyond the con- " struction of two single-arch bridges over two nullahs, involving " an outlay of Rs. 5,186. On that point no steps have been taken " to show the people that they have fallen under the rule of a Go- " vernment possessing a higher degree of civilization and skill than " did their late Patan rulers, of one which attaches importance to " the improvement of the means of commercial intercourse, and " which has at heart the interest of its subjects." And again, " It " is difficult to conceive a district running almost parallel to the " coast, and only 80 miles in a direct line from the nearest point, " more entirely cut off from all such communication with it as the " requirements of progressive civilization demand, than the district " of Kurnool." In North Arcot there are no cross roads. In 1848, Mr. BourdiUon writes P. W. R. Sec. 351 : " They are in truth not roads, but mere tracks, picking the best " way they can through the obstacles they meet with, swamps, " quagmires, rocks, or jungles ; many parts in all of them may be " fairly styled impassable in the wet season, and even for half the " year or more, as long as the nunjah lands which they pass are " under cultivation ; and though such parts are comparatively firm 62 North Arcot. " and level when dry, the rocky and stony parts are equally bad all " the year round." He proposes the gradual repair of the roads at an outlay of 20,000 Rupees a year, which " Would be less than one per cent, on the revenue of the district ; " and that, or double that, would be no extravagant outlay on the " communications of the district, from a Government which for " nearly half a century has done scarcely any thing for them, though " it has received revenue from the district during that period to " the amount of 10,000,000 sterling." In 1851 he says P. W. E. Sec. 253 : " In my letter of the 26th April 1849, I gave a general view of " the existing condition of the roads ; it would be superfluous to re- " peat it here, as no change has taken place, except that the alrea- " dy bad state of the communications is daily becoming worse, " under the influence of the usual deteriorating causes, and in the " absence of measures to arrest such deterioration." The Engineer of North Arcot writes as follows in the present year : " The communications, save the trunk roads, are very bad, but " though they he, they are made still worse hy the Ryots. If a " man makes a hedge to his field, he cribs the earth from the road : " if he digs a well near the road, he throws the earth on to it ; and " he makes no hesitation of ploughing it up and cropping it. Many " are so to my knowledge : and not one of 999 in the village roads " which has not been reduced by them to a quarter of the width in " the pimash accounts ; and generally that which is left is swamp- " ed; invariably so when situated in rice cultivation." In Chingleput the Collector writes that four miles of roads from the Elphinstone Bridge are in good order and that the cross roads are generally in good repair ; the necessary repairs " Being performed out of the discretionary sum placed at my dis- " posal. This sum," says the Commissioners, " amounts to 40 " a year, for an area of 3,000 square miles, containing half a mil- " lion of inhabitants and several large towns. If the roads of Chingleput South Arcot Trichinopoly. 63 " Chingleput could indeed be kept in good order* at so moderate a " cost, the wants of the country, in general, might be supplied at a " small expenditure ; but we have ample proof under our own im- " mediate observation that it is not so ; even if the very fact that " the Collector names four particular miles as being in good repair, " did not lead to the interference that the roads of his district ge- " nerally are out of order. We find that with the exception of the " two trunk roads, all the roads leading into Madras (the whole of " which lie in the Chingleput Collectorate), are in wretched condi- " tion ; and as to the very four miles specially stated to be in repair, " the driver of a country cart is liable to a fine if he uses the only " portion of the road which is gravelled ; and it is hardly possible " to conceive a worse road in a flat country, than that used by the " carts approaching the Elphinstone Bridge, to within 400 yards of " the bridge itself. " The line leading direct to Cuddapah, which is the same already " spoken of among the roads of the Cuddapah and North Arcot " districts, is in some parts in even a worse condition in Chingleput " than in those Collectorates, and very much worse, considering the " level character of the country. The ruts are in many places a " foot deep ; and although it leads through the quarry that supplies " Madras with material, and is the very road by which that material " is brought in, it has never been metalled. Indeed when the na- " ture of the country is considered, there is not a Collectorate in " the Presidency where the traffic is carried on under greater dis- " advantages than Chingleput, as respects all roads, except the two " trunk lines above spoken of." In South Arcot the burthen of the Collector's song over each road is ever, " but it is not impassable." The Civil Engineer says " they are totally neglected." P. W. R. Sec. 355. The reports from Trichinopoly seem very unsatisfactory ; but the Commissioners state that they " show clearly that " the roads in general are in a very neglected state." -P. W. R. Sec. 361. Mr. Wroughton's report for 1846 shows that in the last ten years Us. 2-11-9 only had been spent in the repairs of 64 Coimlatore Malalar. the so-called mecle roads of Coimbatore ! He says " the " roads of this District are not in good condition ; and pro- " bably not worse than the general run of roads in India, or " so bad as seriously to obstruct the passage of wheeled car- riages except in a very few places" P. W. R. Sec. 364. Mr. C. J. Bird says, carts proceed " without much diffi- " culty ;" and that " by far the greater number of villages " are approached by narrow lanes between thorn hedges, " many of which are so narrow that even a loaded bullock " cannot pass along without brushing his pack against the " thorns on both sides." In~ Malabar, Mr. Conolly, in 1848, speaks of the secondary roads as follows ; " very few, if any of these are however " practicable for carts." P. W. E. Sec. 370. The Commissioners make the following remarks Sec. 371 : " We will here conclude our remarks on the roads of Malabar, by " observing that the present state of that district brings before us " in a painful way the consequences of omitting to use this or their " other means to open the interior of the country ; and were the " Government under the necessity of sending troops through the " district to overawe the Moplah population, they would find that " the want of roads added a hundred-fold to the difficulties and " losses. From its steep wooded knolls and deep swamps, Malabar " is naturally one of the most difficult countries in the world to " march any army through ; and as each considerable house is sur- " rounded by a wall, and each garden by a ditch of great depth, it " is hardly possible to imagine a country where troops would move " to greater disadvantage. As it now stands, it is almost every " where inaccessible to artillery, from want of roads of sufficient " breadth for the axle of a gun carriage ; cavalry could not be em- " ployed ; and infantry would in many parts be obliged to advance " in single file, commanded on all sides by jungle-covered eminen- " ces. But a still more important consideration is, that if the " country had thus been opened by good roads, the likelihood of " any military operations would have been very much diminished ; " for the same national energy of character which now impels the Parallel cases. 65 " Moplali cultivator of the secluded village to martyrdom, would " then have been turned into the peaceful and beneficial channel of " active enterprise in trade, as we find so eminently the case with " their brethren on the coast ; and the ignorant and mad enthusiasts " of the Ernaud Talook would be found displaying the same care " for security of life and property, as the thriving inhabitants of the " coast towns." Is it possible to conceive anything more deplorable than this picture ? The Commissioners in vain endeavour to find illustrations drawn from other countries. They take Arthur Younge's account of the road at "Wigan in 1780 ; and McCulloch's account of Scotland in middle of the last cen- tury. Nothing nearer in point of time would offer the faint- est resemblance to the present condition of this Presidency. The extracts above given take us back beyond Humphry Clinker's time ; and indeed, as the Commissioners once say, to the age of Charles the 2nd : of which Macaulay gives the following lively picture only too favourable a likeness of our present condition, though containing some points of fright- ful resemblance : " On the best lines of communication the ruts were deep, the " descents precipitous, and the way often such as it was hardly " possible to distinguish, in the dusk, from the uninclosed heath and ' fen which lay on both sides. It was only in fine weather that " the whole of the road was available for wheeled vehicles. Often " the mud lay on the right and the left ; and only a narrow track of " firm ground rose above the quagmire. At such times obstrac- " tions and quarrels were frequent, and the path was sometimes " blocked up during a long time by carriers, neither of whom would " break the way. It happened, almost every day, that coaches " stuck fast until a train of cattle could be procured from some " neighbouring farm, to tug them out of the slough. But in bad " seasons the traveller had to encounter inconveniences still more " serious. Thoresby, who was in the habit of travelling between " Leeds and the Capital, has recorded, in his Diary, such a series " of perils and disasters as might suffice for a journey to the Frozen " t Ocean, or to the Desert of Sahara. On one occasion he learned K 66 English Roads in Charles II.' s time. " that the floods were out between Ware and London, that passen- " gers had to swim for their lives, and that a higgler had perished "in the attempt to cross. In consequence of these tidings he " turned out of the high road, and was conducted across some mea- " dows, when it was necessary for him to ride to the saddle skirts " in waters. In the course of another journey he narrowly escaped " being swept away by an inundation of the Trent. He was after- " wards detained at Stamford four days, on Account of the state of " the roads, and then ventured to proceed only because fourteen " Members of the House of Commons, who were going up in a " body to Parliament with guides and numerous attendants, took " him into their company. On the roads of Derbyshire, travellers " were in constant fear for their necks, and were frequently com- " pelled to alight and lead their beasts. The great route through " Wales to Holyhead was in such a state that, in 1658, a Viceroy, " going to Ireland, was five hours in travelling fourteen miles, from " Saint Asaph to Conway. Between Conway and Beaumaris he was " forced to walk great part of the way ; and his lady was carried in " a litter. His coach was, with great difficulty, and by the help of " many hands, brought after him entire. In general, carriages " were taken to pieces at Conway, and borne, on the shoulders of " stout Welsh peasants, to the Menai Straits. In some parts of " Kent and Sussex none but the strongest horses could, in winter, " get through the bog, in which, at every step, they sank deep. " The markets were often inaccessible during several months. It " is said that the fruits of the earth were [sometimes suffered to rot " in one place, while in another place, distant only a few miles, the " supply fell far short of the demand. The wheeled carriages " were, in this district, generally pulled open. When Prince George " of Denmark visited the stately mansion of Petworth in wet wea- " ther, he was six hours in going nine miles; and it was necessary " that a body of sturdy hinds should be on each side of his coach, " in order to prop it. Of the carriages which conveyed his retinue, " several were upset and injured. A letter from one of his gentle- " men in waiting has been preserved, in which the unfortunate " courtier complains that, during fourteen hours, he never once " alighted, except when his coach was overturned, or stuck fast in " the mud." Four districts better off Tan/ore. 67 But I doubt whether we should not find more apt exam- ples in fiction than history : for as we read of straggling through quagmires, and grinding over rocks, the early part of the road in old Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is brought most vividly before the mind's eye ; or Milton's picture of Satan struggling to the upper world Quench'd in a boggy Syrtis, neither sea Nor good dry land ; nigh founder'd on he fares, Treading the crude consistence, half a-foot, Half flying ; behoves him now both oar and sail. O'er bog, or steep, through straits, rough, dense, or rare, With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way ; And sinks, or swims, or wades, or creeps, or flies. Turn we now to the only four districts which afford a comparative complacency in the contemplation. The roads of Tanjore are comparatively good, but by no means complete. This has ever been the most favoured district of the Madras Presidency. It has had a series of able Collectors. It is very lightly assessed. It has had com- paratively large sums expended on its works of irrigation and communication. Sums from 30 to 40,000 Rupees are annually expended in keeping the roads in repair. The people, feeling the benefit, lend their assistance. The Rajah has lately expended 18,000 Rupees upon a single bridge : the country from its flat character and soil presents no diffi- culties in the way of making roads, which are only raised a little above the soil, and sprinkled with sand, which is every where procurable within a short distance ; and perhaps the main cause of improvement is to be found in the application of the surplus Pagoda Funds, peculiarly wealthy in Tanjore from endowments and management, and from which Go- vernment has sanctioned disbursements for roadmaking, as the Commissioners remark " with a liberality which might " laudably have been extended to its grants from its own " funds." P. W. E. Sec. 357. 68 Salem. The roads of Salem are much, vaunted, and always pointed to. The country is peculiarly favourable in a large part of the district for making such roads as suffice for rude traffic ; and certainly, compared with the districts wherein no roads can be said, properly speaking, to exist, Salem shows very favourably. But more credit must not be given to the Salem roads than is their just due. The soil is in many parts hard and gravelly ; and nothing more has been thought necessary for making a road than planting a wide avenue of trees, and digging a shallow ditch at each side of the line to carry off the water. The roads are unmetalled and unbridged. A trifling nullah thus makes many a spot impassable during the monsoon, as I know to my own personal cost. After all, the carts can only carry light loads, and by short stages ; the load in Mysore being 1,000 Ibs. weight, against 1,600 Ibs. on the metalled Western Road, of which say the Com- missioners " if it were in really good order the same <{ cattle would draw 200 Ibs. more, and fully half as far " again as they could the lighter load on the unmetalled " roads of Salem." P. W. R. Sec. 362. Again the dis- trict being central, is cut " off from all intercommunica- eo to 01 T 1 IO 1 CO & *- T 1 oo I-H 01 eo o * I o co 1 1 co 3 01 CO ua OJ oo CO (N O CJ CD OO CD T-H ** 01 co 01 4 T I CO * 00 S CO CO CO CO CO CO GO co" CO l-H GO of CJ oo co oo" eo T-H 00^ O CO CO i-< eo o eo oo CD -r 1 CO 93 DO CO CO CO eo CO IO 00 00 0 OJ 1 C co CO 01 of t-H CJ o" CO co eo CN CO O CO eo m OJ O CJ * 5 o V & CQ a 0) I -5 ^ d s i 6 n 03 M d OJ HH c: M D DQ ^c g" -* g, c5 o tt> ro c i i COTTON WESTERN. England candies. .S o 1 -4-> TINNETELLY. England China 2 ^ 5 | ^ H - 94 Comparative Table of Exports and Imports. The accompanying table of Exports and Imports in which Bengal, Madras, and Bombay are compared, show a great depression of this Presidency : ^-iOO 'COCO "Q CO CO O 5 CO_ O t>^ E-i _"_."."_ " . _ " _ ^ CO t* *O *O ^* l* t" t~ O 00 OO !> t* OO O OOCOCOCOOOCOi ICOCOCOU3COCOO->*< JH j ooCi'HiO'OCMCO' it CN . 5 t^. CO ^ CM CC O 11 co* ^i? in* co* co" c All these matters are " adjusted, and the defaulters enter into engagemen ts to pay their " balances within certain times. Then come the cases of those " who from any cause are unable to pay their dues. The circum- " stances of these men are rigorously scrutinized : all the possible " means of paying which they possess are investigated and put in " operation, they are obliged to mortgage or sell their jewels, if. " they have any, (and if a Native has any property at all, he has at " least some jewels,) their houses, their cattle ; and if all will not " suffice, some one is found who will take their land and pay the " balance or a part of it ; and the amount still remaining unpaid is " ultimately struck off as ' irrecoverable.' In some such cases land " is worth nothing, and the Ryot is then allowed to retain it, and " cultivate it next year if he can get the means. " Besides this it is customary at the close of the revenue year to " require the Tahsildar and other Talook officers to inspect the " whole of the Curnum's accounts of sums received from individual " Ryots, and compare them with the receipts given to the Ryots. Curnums' accounts. ' This is ordered as a protection to the Ryots. But it need hardly " be said that this inspection, like the Dittum and the inspection of " cultivation before the. settlement already spoken of, is in most " districts a physical impossibility from the paucity of officers, and " is at all events very carelessly performed. A cursory and nominal " inspection indeed is made, but it is rarely more than a name. " And even such as it is, it is not made bona fide : the inspecting " officer probably points out a few trifling oversights or even small " frauds on the part of the Curnum, and reports that with these " exceptions the accounts are all correct, and that no collections " above the amounts of the Ryots' puttahs have been made. And " yet it is a matter of universal notoriety that in every village with- " out exception collections are made from the Ryots for various " common objects, and among others for that of making presents " to the Native revenue officers. Either these extra collections " were entered in the Ryots' receipts or they were not : if they " were, then the inspecting officer has suppressed the fact ; if, as " is more common, they were not, the value of the receipt as a " guarantee against extra collection, is nought. In either case, " the pretended inspection of the receipts and accounts by the " Talook officer as a security is a delusion. " This enormous amount of constant inquisitorial interference u is an evil of great magnitude, even by itself, especially as it fre- " quently obliges the Ryots to leave their houses and occupa- " tions. It would be intolerable to a people of independent cha- " racter ; and to those of a contrary temper, it must for ever " prevent any approach to s\ich a character. But the evil is " very much aggravated by the great amount of power lodged, " and necessarily under the system, in the hands of very subordi- " nate and ill-paid revenue officers, and the very bad use made of " it by them. The Talook servants are the Collector's means of " getting information, and this more particularly as respects remis- " sions claimed at the Jummabundy, and all the particulars then " determined. These officers as already mentioned, are employed " to inspect the villages prior to the settlement, and it is their duty " then especially to ascertain all facts connected with claims to re- " mission or other disputed questions. It is true that in all such " cases the officer will associate with himself two or more village 144 Collector forced to rely on his Talook servants. " officers whose report will confirm his ; but practically the value " of this security is not very great. " Upon information thus obtained, the Collector necessarily " places much reliance, in practice. He may be, and probably is, " aware that these servants are as a class radically bad and un- " worthy of trust ; still he is without the means of correcting their " information ; in particular cases he can and does, but it is impos- " sible that he should do it in more than a few. He cannot get " better information ; he cannot be perpetually doubting and deli- " berating, he must act, and act on the best information before " him, and on such as comes in the usual course. In making re- " missions at the settlement, in relinquishing balances afterwards, " in determining the proper demand in the several items of re- " venue which vary from year to year, in investigating charges " or suspicions of fraudulent concealment of cultivation, in de- " termining disputes between Ryot and Ryot respecting rights " to lands, crops, wells, &c. ; in all these and other classes of cases " the Talook servants, even those of a subordinate grade must be " employed in the first instance, simply because there are no others " to employ, and virtually their word must be credited to a consi- " derable extent. When the dispute is between individuals, the " injured party may sometimes appeal direct to the Collector but " the distance, the loss of time, and after all the uncertainty makes " such appeals unfrequent ; whenever individuals are benefited at " the cost of the State, of course there is no one to complain. And when the character of Revenue servants is taken into consideration, we may picture to ourselves what takes place on these occasions. The pamphlet quoted in the Madras Petition says : " It is not possible to conceive a system more adapted than the " Ryotwar to place the Ryots at the mercy of Government servants, " or one under which they are more continually subjected to every " species of extortion and oppression, compared with which the " supposed tyranny of their own head of the village is but a name. " Their inquisitorial interference, as observed by the Madras Go- " vernment, is a perpetual engine of fraud and oppression. From " first to last, the Tahsildar has means of annoying and oppressing Bribery Extortion. 145 " the Ryot. First in the engagement for the lands he is to culti- " vate for the year, and subsequently through every process of his " husbandry; in fact, his means of annoyance are unlimited, and " much too numerous to allow of being particularly stated here. " The Ryot consequently finds a bribe his best and only resource, " and pays it to prevent persecution. He is obliged to pursue the " same course with other influential servants in the Talook Cutcher- " ry, and with the Government officer of the village, who is more " immediately over him. The Ryots know and feel that unless the " Tahsildar's good offices are secured, he will be arrayed against " them at the settlement, when much in the matter of the state of " their crops, their cultivation, the detection of frauds upon the re- " venue by concealed cultivation, and the grant of authorized re- " missions for perished crops, must necessarily depend upon the " statement of the Tahsildar. His good offices are therefore secur- " ed by an annual payment proportionate to the size of the village; " nor is this all, his own expenses in his constant visits, as well as " those of his subordinate officers, to the villages, are borne exclu- " sively by the Ryots. No Tahsildar ever thinks of paying for his " own expenses when at a village. " But perhaps the greatest engine of oppression in the hands of " a Tahsildar, arises out of the injudicious system established in " 1816 by Sir T. Munro, of arming him with police powers; any " Ryot whom he wishes to oppress, and when he cannot sufficiently " do so in his revenue capacity, is sure to be summoned before him " on some police charge, brought at his secret instigation by some " of his friends in the village. Here the Ryot is perhaps detained " from his home and his village, on some idle pretext of the ab- " sence of a witness, or other cause, and it is this power of annoy- " ance which more than any other cause probably deters a Ryot " from daring to become the Tahsildar's accuser before the Col- " lector. The system is a most mistaken one. When there were " heads of police in each district separate and distinct from the " Tahsildar, there always existed a feeling of jealousy between the " two authorities, and the one was a salutary check upon the other. " This check is completely removed tinder the present system. " The reason for its adoption was, I believe, mainly that the Tah- V 146 Abuse of Police authority. " sildar, through his influence as such, could secure the co-opera- " tion of the people generally for police purposes, better than that " of a head of police. Practically, however, little is gained in this " way, to compensate for the great evil inherent in the system in " other respects. In addition to that already mentioned, one seri- " ous disadvantage is the facility the Tahsildar has of suppressing " information of crimes committed (a most common practice), with " the view of keeping from sight his own want of success in the " detection and apprehension of offenders, and often from a corrupt " motive to screen the parties concerned. With a separate head of " police this could rarely he done, for crime committed could not be " kept from the knowledge of the Tahsildar, and unless the two " authorities acted in collusion, which is very unlikely, the head of " police would never feel secure of its not coming to the knowledge " of the Collector, and leading to his dismissal from office. " There is scarcely a revenue authority who has not looked upon " the oppressions and interference of the Government officers, as " the great bane of the Ryotwar system." Mr. Tucker. Mr. Tucker in a pamphlet in 184 says as follows : " My wish is not to exaggerate, but when I find a system requir- " ing a multiplicity of instruments, surveyors and inspectors, assess- " ors ordinary and extraordinary, potails, curnums, tahsildars, and " cutcherry servants, and when I read the description given of these " officers by the most zealous advocates of the system, their periodi- " cal visitations are pictured in my imagination as the passage of a " flight of locusts, devouring in their course the fruits of the earth. " Can it be doubted that the people are oppressed and plundered " by these multiform agents ? The fruits of industry are nipped in " the bud, and if one-man produce more than hrs fellows, there is " a public servant at hand always ready to snatch the superfluity." I shall here give you a curious document which was sent me by an anonymous correspondent from Vizagapatam a few days ago. It reached me through the post, and pur- ports to be a copy of a Petition presented to the Governor in Council. Anonymous Petition. I cannot of course tell whether or no it ever reached the Council ; and I am far from attaching any very great weight to it, as it is, according to custom, anonymous, and evidently exhibits no small animosity against those whom it designates the " infidel Brahmins," but at the same time it gives so likely an account of the various methods of extortion, that it is probably not very far from a true picture of what is every day and every where taking place around us : " To THE RIGHT HON'BLE THE GOVEENOE IN COUNCIL Of Fort Saint George, " That from the circumstance of all the Revenue and Magistrate " places in this Zillah being filled up by the infidel Brahmins ex- " elusive of people of all other caste, the inhabitants are daily ex- " periencing instances of robbery accompanied with the most abo- " minable acts of cruelty and oppression. " These officers whose chief aim is to obtain money, do not he- " sitate to commit whatever is most unjust, to meet their wishes. " The Sheristadar and his subordinates, the Tahsildar and his " subordinate, all being infidel Brahmins are in tbe habit of extort- " ing considerable bribes from the Zemindars, Ryots, and other " people. In case these helpless men refuse to bribe them, they " oppress them, and employ measures to rob them of their money " and grain. From these and many other reasons, some of the " Ryots of this Zillah. being reduced^to beggary, go to other places " to live at ease ; and others being unable to undergo the punish- " ments invariably inflicted upon them, destroy themselves. " "We shall in the following paras, mention some of the methods " which the revenue officers employ to draw money. "I. Every Tahsildar takes 10 Rupees per cent, annually from " every Ryot. The money thus collected is divided among him- " self, the Sheristadar, and other Revenue officers. " II. The Tasildar annually takes 25 Rupees per cent, out of " the Tuccavy (or the sum given in advance to the Ryots by the " Circar) and obliges them to execute Sunnuds or documents for " the whole amount. But he collects for the Circar from the " Ryots as much sum as would be payable by them, where the " whole Tuccavy given to them. And as for the money that is 1'48 Various extortionate " taken out of this, it is shared by himself, the Sheristadar, and " other Revenue officers. " III. The Tahsildar collects the assessment in full according to " settlement, from every Ryot, whether the season be or not be " favorable, and at the instigation of the Sheristadar, reports to the " Collector that the whole amount of revenue was not collected, " embezzling a part of it, of which he allows a share to the Sheris- " tadar, &cc. " IV. The Tahsildar to cover this fraud, gives receipts only for " a part of the amount which he collected in full. If the Ryots " demand receipts for the whole sum they paid, the Tahsildar not " only refuses to comply with their request, but collects money a " second time, taking advantage of the Ryots having no receipt and " though these poor fellows complain of this injustice to the Col- " lector and Sheristadar both personally, and through petitions, " they find no redress. The Sheristadar keeps the Collector blind " to all this, and orders his peons to drive out the complainants ; " These men though thus ill-treated, wait at the Cutcherry for a " great length of time expecting justice, but at last despairing of " obtaining it, retire to their respective villages, and are thus " obliged to submit themselves to the will of the Tahsildar and " others. " V. Though a whole Talpok yielded produce, the Tahsildar re- " ports to the Collector that some villages failed. The Collector " then sends revenue officers from the Hoozoor to inspect into the " truth of the report. These officers of the Hoozoor and the subor- " dinates of the Tahsildar, all of them being infidel Brahmins join " together, and take bribes of two or three Rupees from each Ryot, " should any refuse to pay the same, they threaten him that " they will add in report to the real produce of his land ; and as " for such as agree to satisfy them, they promise to report less of " the produce of their field. " VI. Whenever the Collector goes on circuit, the Tahsildar un- " justly takes rice, ghee, firewood, and batta for bearers and servants " from the Ryots, and presents them to the Sheristadar, and his " subordinates. It is on this account that revenue officers of small " salaries are able to employ palankeen bearers and two or three practices detailed. " servants to attend on them in time of circuit. The Samoodar also " from time to time takes provisions by force from the villages. " VII. Whenever the Collector goes to the Talooks on Jumma- " bundy rounds, the Tahsildar at the advice of the Sheristadar " orders his peons to bring plantains, sweet pumpkins, See., from the " gardens and fields of the Ryots, as well as milk, curds and butter " from their houses, without paying their value. These articles thus " openly robbed, he sends to the Sheristadar and other revenue " officers. " VIII. Whenever any feasts take place at the houses of the " Sheristadar and Tahsildar and other revenue officers, the Samoo- " dar and the Curnum extort money, rice, ghee, and other eatable " things from the Ryots, and send them to the said officers. " IX. If any Ryot leave this district, unable to bear the oppres- ' ' sion of the revenue officers, the Tahsildar enters his field in the " Circar accounts as being barren ground, and privately rents them " out to the rich Ryots promising these to reduce 20 or 30 rupees " from the regular assessment, but at the time of collection he takes " the whole kist without granting the promised remission which is " "divided among himself, the Sheristadar,and other revenue officers, " without being credited to the Circar. " X. The Sheristadar and other revenue officers combine toge- " ther to oppress the Ryots by different kinds of bribes, and not t being satisfied with this unjust acquisition, the Tahsildar, though " he collects the assessment under the terms of settlement without " leaving out even a single pie, reports to the Collector, at the in- " stigation of the Sheristadar, that the harvest in some villages was " ruined by the abundant fall of rain, and that others failed for " want of rain, so that even one-half of the assessment was not " collected according to settlement, and when the Collector goes " on Jummabundy, the Sheristadar prevails upon him to allow the " remission of 1 or 2 hundred rupees for each village, out of which " remission they give only one-fourth, and sometimes less than that " to the Ryots and the remainder they pocket themselves. " XI. The Tahsildar with the knowledge of the Sheristadar, " takes a month's pay from every revenue peon annually. In case " the peon complain of this injustice to the Collector, and produce Torture. " strong proofs against the oppressors, the Collector is never able " to learn the truth on account of the infidel Brahmins concealing " it ; he neither causes the sums to be refunded to the peons, nor " does he restrain the said revenue officers from further committing " such atrocious deeds. " XII. The Sheristadar and other revenue officers take one or " two thousand Rupees from every Zemindar every year through " the medium of his Vakeel, according to the condition of the " Zemindar, whom, should he refuse to pay the said sum, they " threaten to bring him into some harm or other, and thus reduce " to poverty. Even when the Collector goes to see the Zemindars " every year, the Sheristadar and other revenue officers, not only " extort money from them, but also obtain batta for themselves " while in the district, and at their departure gratis bearers whom " they oppress exceedingly. " XIII. The Circar annually sends money to the revenue of- " ficers to repair tanks, channels, and gutters, out of the said sum " the Sheristadar, and other revenue officers sent from the Hoozoor " from time to time to examine these works, pocket a part and " with the remainder repair the said tanks, &c., giving only a part " of the hire to the workmen, and sometimes nothing at all. The " workmen do not consequently repair them properly, on which ac- " count the poor Ryots are not able to reap a good harvest. The " Tahsildar, &c., sometime employ in those works the poor and " helpless people of the talook against their will, and without pay- " ing them any thing for their trouble. " XIV. When the people of the Talook do not choose to pay " the promised bribes in full to the Sheristadar, the Tahsildar causes " his peons and village servants to squeeze their fingers with a " wooden instrument intended for that purpose, to put heavy stones " upon their backs, to pull off the hair of their beards and whis- *' kers ; as also to put their feet and hands in the stocks ; and to " put them in prison without food for two or three days, and to " reproach them in all sorts of abusive language, in order to in- " duce them to meet their own wishes, and sometimes the Tahsil- " dar himself seizes upon a cudgel or a slipper and beats the poor " Ryots. Under these tortures, some expire ; some being unable Complaints hushed up. 151 " to bear these cruelties, fall into wells, and some poison, and " others stab themselves. " XV. If by the oppression of the Tahsildar or the peons under " his order, the helpless Ryots die the Curnum and Nayudoo as " well as the people never report the circumstance to the autho- " rities, for fear of the Tahsildar, although they are well acquainted " with the fact, if any of the relations of the murdered people " brings charges against the murderers before the Collector, the " Cutcherry servants (all being Brahmins) procure false witnesses " proving contrary to the charges, while the Tahsildar, &c. under " some picture or other reports to the Collector that the offence is " only trivial, and then from malice get the complainers severely " punished. " XVI. The reason why the people of this zillah are exposed to " such unjust and cruel oppression, is, in consequence of the infidel " Brahmins being entrusted with all revenue and magistrate duties. " They from pride of these high employments look down upon the " people of other castes with contempt and hatred, and commit all " sorts of cruel and oppressive deeds on these. " We therefore humbly beg you of your clemency to remove the " abovementioned monsters from revenue and magistrate duties, " and to fill up the vacancies, as they occur, with men of other " castes ; of superior merit and qualities, and to deliver the oppress- " ed from the unrelenting tyranny of the said infidel Brahmins. " As we purpose to lay before you the bad usages of the infidel " Brahmins in connection with the Magistrate's department, we " have not specified them here. " Should proof be required in regard to the abovementioned par- " ticulars, it can be obtained from the depositions of the Nayadoos " and Curnums of the different villages in the district, and from an " inspection of their accounts. " NORTHERN CIRCARS, 2d March, 1852." These statements are singularly corroborated by other independent testimony. Mr. Fischer of Salem writes as follows : " If a Ryot is unable from any cause to pay his rent, little consi- " deration is paid to it as of old: every species of severity is prac- 15 Mr. Fischer Madeira Roic. " tised to force payment. He is summoned and dragged from his " village and kept at the Cutcherry for weeks and months. The " kitty (thumbscrew) and annunthal (bending the head down to " the feet and tieing in that position, and making the party stand in " the sun, adding a big stone to his back sometimes) being employ- " ed upon him occasionally between beatings and abuse. All which " failing, his property is sequestered and sold, and himself ruined, " and he is let loose upon society to live as he can, by begging, " borrowing, or stealing. There are thousands of Ryots ruined in " this way, and tens of thousands of acres of fine land left waste " in consequence." And again : " Besides his regular and established kist, and the bribes he has " to give in seeking justice and redress, the following are some of " the exactions the Ryot is liable to. He -has to feed all officials " from the peon to the Sheristadar who come to his village on duty, " he has to contribute to their marriages and feastings. Supplies " are taken from him for troops moving about, and seldom, or only " partially paid for; as also for Collectors and their retinues. He " has to pay black mail to any robber chief who holds supremacy " in his part of the country. He has to pay sevanthrum, or a small " per centage, at harvest time to the nine Koothens, or professional " men of the village, viz., washerman, barber, blacksmith, carpen- " ter,cavidicaren,thundulcaren, thotty, madien, andpungargacaren." Madava Row, a Native whom I am proud to call my friend, the most distinguished of our University scholars, a man as unassuming as he is learned, for some years the Tutor of the young Travancore Princes, and now advanced to still higher employment, writes from Travancore as follows : " It has been stated as an advantage of the Ryotwar system that " by not interposing any middleman between the Ryot and the Go- " vernment, the former is far less liable to be oppressed than other- " wise. But experience shows that such is not the case. The " Tahsildar is often a far greater and bolder oppressor. The Ryot " in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, has no means of obtaining " redress by an appeal, because the Tahsildar is in league with all the " officers immediately round the Collector, who cannot but see through General corruption. 153 " them. In most instances, the Tahsildar makes an annual fixed " payment to all these officers according to a known and graduated " scale. Such being the case, the Ryot dares not complain against " the Tahsildar. The Tahsildar in his turn exacts as much as he " can from the Ryots, who often agree to pay so much for each " measure of land. Even this private assessment, often levied with " as much regularity and strictness as the public, is not always a " fixed one. It often varies. A Tahsildar who happens to be any " relation of the Sheristadar, or had been the butler of the Collec- " tor, and as such enjoying the favour of his lady, is of course enti- " tied to higher payment. It needs no extraordinary penetration to " understand that the Tahsildar's private gains often far surpass his " salary. You will see him living in a style of splendour really " astonishing. His salary is hardly enough to pay for the establish- " ment of his conveyances! A Tahsildar with a salary of Rs. 100 " a month, easily spends twice his salary in an entertainment or " nautch, while I, with double that pay, cannot without some diffi- " culty contribute 100 Rupees to the fund destined to institute a medal " in the University, in honour of Mr. Norton,* to testify our respect " and gratitude to that high-minded gentleman. There is not the least " doubt but that corruption exists to a fearful extent in each district " all unlawful gains generally proceeding from the pockets of the " poor oppressed Ryots. Thus though the Ryot is immediately sub- " ject to Government, without the intervention of any middle man, he " is exposed to rapacious exactions without the means of obtaining " redress by complaint. But this is not all. When he professes hi* " inability to meet the demands of Government, his person is sub- " jected to torture. Incredible as this may seem to an Englishman, " it is nevertheless true. Hardly any other .course is open to the " Tahsildar. If he leaves balances outstanding, he is forthwith " convicted of negligence and deemed unfit for his post. He can- " not resort to the more lawful course of distraining the property of " such Ryots as withhold their dues, because the Collector is ever " most anxious that as few instances as possible of this mode of re- " alising revenue should be carried to the notice of the higher au- " thorities, who in the plenitude of their benevolence, are ready to " express strong disapprobation of frequent recourse to 'o severe * The late Advocate General. vr 154 Other authorities. " a measure.' What is the Tahsildar then to do? The Ryot will " not pay. His property should not be distrained, and yet the *' dues must be recovered. The only course open to him is to tor- *' ture the Ryot till he is induced to sell his all and ruin himself; " perhaps never to recover. Ruin himself he may, provided he " does it all himself. His family and children become beggars. " His means of continuing cultivation are utterly destroyed : but the " Tahsildar cares not. From all this what extent of exemption " from oppression the Ryot experiences immediately under the pro- " tecting wings of Government, can be well conceived. There are " several other sources of oppression also : because the remissions " to be allowed, advances to cultivation to be made, and some other " equally important favours are in the gifts of the Sheristadars and " Tahsildars, whose discretionary power in this respect cannot be " said to be under any efficient control." Mr. Morrison, an enterprizing merchant of Madras, much about in the interior, informs me that he has himself witness- ed torture practised ; and successfully too ; since the gentle pressure of a heavy stone on a man's head in the sun for some hours, actually ended in his surrendering the Rupee whose possession he had up to that moment stoutly denied. A Civil Engineer lately assured me that he had asked a Thasildar of North Arcot if he ever practised torture. The answer was No ; we have a better plan in this district : we threaten defaulters with the Court ! and I can easily imagine how an ingenious operator might apportion out this novel substitute for the old forms of torture with much prac- tical fairness. A mere threat would perhaps be equivalent to unroofing : making a man a witness might supplant his standing in the sun with a stone on his head : preferring a criminal charge against him would supersede the thumb screw ; whilst a " regular" civil suit can only be compared to the actual slow cautery. In a previous work I have spoken of the Kyotwaree sys- tem as " the boast and failure" of Sir Thomas Munro ; but Sir Thomas Munro is not altogether answerable for the pre- Sir Thomas Munrcfs system. 155 sent state of things ; as his system in many respects may be said never to have been tried. He appears to have based the success of the Ryotwaree upon a consideration of the follow- ing suppositions. 1st. That there was to be a considerable reduction upon the permanent assessment, which, except in a few districts, has never taken place. Even in the Ceded districts, where the re- duction was, after many years, carried out, I am informed on authority which can safely be trusted, that the measure was executed in a way productive of the least possible practi- cal good : for that no inquiry was set afoot to ascertain what lands were too highly taxed, to which alone it is obvious the reduction should have been confined ; but it was spread equally over the whole, so that the rich and powerful, who at the original settlement had contrived by bribery and such like means to get their own rich land lightly assessed, now largely benefited, while the heavily assessed lands in the hands of the poorer classes, though benefited to an equal pe- cuniary amount, were of course very far from receiving a bonus of proportionate worth or value. 2nd. On an idea that it would very largely bring waste land into cultivation. How it has brought waste land into cultivation, how differ- ently from what Sir Thomas Munro expected ; how only at the expense of the rich highly assessed soils, which have been thrown out of cultivation, has been already explained ; but whether this would have been the result had his system been followed, is another question. 3rd. That the perfect freedom of the Ryot to cultivate just as much or as little as he pleased, would enable him ex- actly to suit his own convenience in respect to his wants and purse. How far the Ryot is practically allowed this free option is doubtful. I need only refer to Mr. Dykes' chapter on " good and bad," a system which seems only to have been partially 156 " Good and bad." amended. The passage in Mr. Dykes' book is too long for insertion ; but he gives the whole matter briefly in his evi- dence before the Committee : " The rule as to giving up land has been repeatedly altered. For " some time the rule was that if a man came forward and wished " to give up any of his fields, the Government, in addition to the " field which he wished to give up to suit his own convenience, se- " lected one of the best fields in his holding; and said to prove that " it is a matter of necessity on your part, you must give up this " good field along with the worst field which you give up to suit " yourself, so that the man becomes still more impoverished by " giving up the land: that rule however has been a little modified. " Now, if a man wishes to alter the extent of his holding he can " give up any fields he has taken in one particular year, but if he " took up a field in 1849 and another in 1850, and in 1853 he " wishes to give up those two fields together because he finds them " unprofitable, he cannot do so ; he can only give up one of them." And in a letter from the Revenue Board to the Govern- ment, dated 30th Sept.* 1852, commenting upon the orders of the Court of Directors of 2nd June 1852, intended to allow the Ryots " the full benefit of improvement made by their own capital without additional assessment," I find as follows. Para. 4th. " The Board would not specially repeat the order that no part of a Ryot's ordinary holding should be given up ; but the general rules in the Hookumnamah which re- quire that good and bad land shall be relinquished in like proportion, that the separated field or fields shall form a pro- fitable holding for another occupant will still remain in force." 4th. That it would call into being a necessary class of independent small farmers. This seems to have been a favorite idea of Sir Thomas Munro. We find him harping on it constantly in his letters to Col. Read, before he was what Mr. Dykes calls " converted to the Ryotwar faith," and * Compare with this Read's 19th rule (Dykes, p. 101) and Munro 's com- ment (Dyke, p. 153.) Pauper farmers. 157 much later in life in his Minute of 31st December 1824, para. 14, he says : " There are many Ryots who fail from another cause which no " abatement of assessment can remove : and which it is not desira- " ble should be removed : it is occasioned by a spirit of indepen- " dence among the caste of husbandmen which urges every labour- " ing servant who can buy a pair of bullocks to quit his master " and to take land and cultivate for himself." This spirit of independence, totally unchecked, coupled with the facility afforded by Collectors, anxious to show a good return, in letting land to any applicant, has covered the surface with a race of pauper cultivators who never ought to have risen above the rank of labourers, and who would better themselves and their country, had they never emerged from, or were they to return to that state. They have no capital ; frequently their bullocks are only hired : they cannot afford to manure, or even properly plough the soil ; they have no stock ; they act with perfect impunity, from a knowledge of the ease with which they can escape from their engagement. All their farming operations are necessarily sloven in the extreme ; and the land, not pro- perly cleaned or tilled, refuses to yield a good return even in fovorable seasons. Let us arrange the leases of the Ryots into classes accord- ing to the amount of their payments, and this truth becomes apparent. The Census of 1850-1 gave a return of 22 millions of souls for the Madras Presidency, of whom three-fourths are agri- cultural. The number of Ryots holding leases for the same year was 11,81,130, besides which 143,481 joint leases were issued to two or more cultivating in partnership. But as these often hold separate leases in their own names the joint leases are not reckoned to have added more than one person for each such joint lease. Thus we have a total of 1/34,611 158 Ryots classed. persons paying land tax directly to the State, and allowing 5 persons to a family they may be estimated to represent 6,623,055 souls; or we may fairly say 7 millions or nearly one-half the agricultural population. The other half com- prises the Ryots of Jummabundy estates, Jagheers, and Vil- lages paying quit-rents : those cultivating rent free, and other favorable revenues, and agricultural labourers. The annex- ed table shows a division into the classes, from those paying above 1,000 Rs. rent down to those paying below 10 Rs. "3 Average 3 per head. a 1-1 a 1 Ryots paying upwards of 1000 Rs. 332 485,433 1,462 2 4 2 Do. do. do. 750 323 270,969 838 14 7 3 Do. do. do. 500 959 564,141 588 4 2 4 Do. do. do. 250 50,29 1,645,898 328 14 5 Do. do. do. 200 35,06 770,337 219 11 6 6 Do. do. do. 150 73,60 1,245,096 169 2 8 7 Do. do. do. 100 18,664 2,225,906 119 4 3 8 Do. do. do. 75 23,044 1,966,941 85 5 8 9 Do. do. do. 50 50,924 3,061,959 60 1 10 10 Do. do. do. 40 40,072 1,774,713 44 4 7 11 Do. do. do. 30 63,983 2,194,762 34 4 10 12 Do. do. do. 20 112,092 2,728,090 24 5 4 13 Do. do. do. 10 , 224,138 3,194,500 14 4 14 Do. do. do. 10 , 630,704 2,590,697 4 1 11 Total. 1181,130 24,719,442 20 14 9 143,481 2,954,588 20 9 5 Grand Total 1324,611 27,674,030 20 14 3 Omitting the joint leases, which have not been classed, we find that of the remainder, amounting to Ijth millions, some- thing less than 1 per cent, hold farms paying a rent of 20 a year and upwards, their joint contributions equalling 15 per cent, of the Revenue: 2| per cent, pay from10 to 20 = 14 per cent, of the Revenue ; 6 per cent, pay from 5 to 10, 20 Paupers swarm in the Southern Districts. 159 per cent, of the Revenue ; 37 per cent, pay from 1 to 5, 40 per cent, of the Revenue ; and 53 per cent, pay less than 1 annually, but their joint quotas only amount to 10j per cent, of the Revenue. A considerable portion of the last class or about 630,000 per- sons paying an annual average tax of 8 shillings each may be considered as pauper farmers whose true vocation should be that of day labourers and to which condition they would in- evitably return but for balances and remissions of the Re- venue claim upon them.* These pauper farmers appear to prevail more in some dis- tricts than in others : and greatly to preponderate in the Southern districts. No. of acres. Unde^ 1. In South Arcot 133,480 76,317 Cuddapah 121,640 70,238 Salem 107,847 72,985 Coimbatore 87,281 54,688 Tinnevelly 85,702 53,165 Madura 80,942 51,086 5th. He thought that the price of grain would not fall materially below that which obtained at the time of the permanent assessment : though he admitted that in event of its falling, every fall must make the condition of the Ryots worse. Now it has fallen in a most surprizing degree ; although it may perhaps for various reasons be thought to have again an upward tendency. * Mr. Bourdillon differs from this statement. He is of opinion that the small farmers do not receive generally large remissions of rent, and that they pay their assessment with as much exactness as those higher on the scale : but that they eke out a subsistence by hiring out them- selves to labour in their odds and ends of his use. I think it fair to state his opinion, as entitled to much weight : and in an article in the last Calcutta Review just come to hand, I find it stated that in Canara out of 55,442 puttahs, 19,182, are under 10 Rupees ; and that the land revenue is punctually paid ; but I must add that I hear of large re- missions from many other sources besides that which is my authority for the position in the text. 160 Fall in price of (/rains. I have before me a table showing the fall in the prices in the Northern Circars from 1808 up to 1851. The fall, it may be observed, has been very great in all districts. AVERAGE or 10 Years 1808-18 GANJAM. VlZAOA- PATAM. RAJAH- MUNDRY. MASULI- PATAM. GUN- TOOR. PQ P. Rs. 65 67 66 63 43 P. Rs. 83 84 83 77 58 g 34 fe a P. Rs. 70 91 75 79 48 9 Pi Rs. 80 100 80 79 60 " c -v '>- 25 c8 * S M P. Rs. 101 101 91 84 65 >>S < . an " outlay of capital, either in the sinking of these wells, or on the " planting of those trees, there has been an additional assessment " imposed in recent days. That is a tax on capital, which was not " contemplated in the original system. I believe these alterations " in the original system are general throughout the Presidency. " Q. Suppose the case of land capable of irrigation; if a man " alters his produce upon that land and grows the sugar-cane, would " he be assessed more highly ? "A. In Salem the sugar-cane is not more highly assessed: in " some districts it is. " Q, Are you aware that the Government of India in all other Late orders. 165 " parts of India have pointedly prohibited that system of imposing " additional revenue upon certain crops ? " A. I cannot speak as to the directions of the Government. I " can only speak as to what is in practice." I know that the answer will be to me what was attempted with Mr. Dykes before the Committee ; a reference to the late orders for the abolition of these restrictions and hin- drances to improvement issued in the Directors' dispatch of the 3d June 1852. These were placed in Mr. Dykes' hand, and he was cross- examined upon them by Mr. Mangles. Q. Would these orders remove the evils of which you com- plain ? A. No, it is here stated that the measures " are to be carried out under such precautions only as may be requisite to prevent abuse of the indulgence." Of course it would depend upon what those precautions were. They are to be carried out under the system which prevails in the districts noted in the margin, which are Bellary, Cuddapah, South Arcot, Salem and Tinnevelly. Salem is the district to which I have particularly referred on this subject. The precau- tions which are taken there are mixed up with some 70 rules regarding the cultivation of land ; and these I have already described as exceedingly intricate and impolitic. Q. Do those 70 rules refer to the cultivation of land ? A. They dovetail into one another. I have described the specific precautions as to all cultivations. This order goes on farther to say " we added however that we did not consider it rea- " sonable that the Government should forego all chance of " prospective advantage by limiting its claim on the land in " perpetuity." The Ryotwaree system as originally pro- posed and established in Salem by order of the officer who took charge of the district, Col. Read, was in perpetuity. Q. You will observe that there is an intermediate sentence stating what the Court of Directors had done upon some for- mer occasion, and then they proceed to say, " But now we 166 Mr. Dykes' opinion. give that up ?" A. That is with regard simply to well cultiva- tion ; but it has no bearing upon planting an orchard for example ; nor has it any bearing upon planting cocoanut topes on wet land. Q. Do you think that order would remove the evils as re- gards well cultivation ? A. No, well cultivation in Salem at present is carried to comparatively a small extent : the amount of capital laid out in sinking wells is a mere tittle of what it must be were the provisions more liberal. Mr. Dykes here clearly points out two things : first, that the order does not refer to other improvements than sinking wells : secondly, that it will not be effectual to cause much increase even in the number of wells. It may be here as well to give Mr. Dykes' account of the obstructions which exist at present in the way of a Hyot anxious to sink a well. " As regards the practice no charge is made for the sinking of wells, if a number of conditions are complied with which I have mentioned. It is the most sure mode of improving the cultivations to sink wells ; but if a man wishes to lay out his capital in sinking a well, he must apply for per- mission to do so. Then the land must be inspected by the village authorities, which of course is tantamount to a pre- sent to those gentlemen. Then it must be inspected by the local Thasildar : and when he has satisfied himself of the propriety of the man laying out his capital to this extent, he reports it to the Collector. The Collector considers the matter and he sends down leave ; but if otherwise satisfac- tory, he can only grant leave if there is no old well in the field. If there is an old well the man must improve that well, and though he may get a temporary reduction, a higher assessment will be ultimately imposed as it is, should he give up any of his other fields." Now precisely what Mr. Dykes has anticipated is likely to happen ; and unless good care be taken, this order of the Orders likely to le defeated. 167 Court of Directors will in the course of time become a mere dead letter like so many of their other orders ; or at best, the benefits from it will be nothing commensurate with what they reasonably enough anticipate. First of all, observe how the order is clogged with direc- tions that it is to be carried out only under the same rules as prevail at present in certain districts : then consider what the nature of those rules is, as shown by Mr. Dykes : and last- ly note how partial the order is at the best, affecting rather wells only, than embracing all kinds of improvements in its scope. Unquestionably this order has been felt by the Ryots to be a great benefit already : and will lead to much improve- ment : what I contend for, is that the order is in itself not sufficiently extensive ; and that from the steps which have been taken out here to put it in force, its beneficent charac- ter has been still more confined and cramped. The local Government took this order into consideration on the 2d November 1852, and referred its execution to the Revenue Board, who issued their circular order on the 25th November 1852, and it is remarkable that although the or- ders of the Court are positive and direct, that the carrying out of their intentions shall be left to the Collectors of dis- tricts, the spirit of centralization has prevailed, and the Col- lectors are to do nothing without farther reference back to the Board of Revenue. That the order is not carried out to the extent contem- plated by the Directors the following facts may testify. A wealthy Ryot of Coimbatore writes me that the order does not affect old wells. Mr. Morrison informs me that he has been called upon to pay extra assessment for a small well which he has dug : and Mr. Fischer in September last writes as follows : " Not many months ago in May last (some months subsequent " to the Revenue Board's order) garden rent was demanded of me 168 Munro's system not, tried. " for a small bit of my compound at Madura in which I had dug " a pot well and which I had converted into a kitchen garden ; " and the village authorities declared such was the practice of the dis- " trict." I believe the truth is that the Ryotwar such as it now stands, is not only a failure, but admitted to be so by almost all the best men in the service. Sir Thomas Munro's deservedly great name has been so identified with the Madras Ryotwar, that of itself it has been sufficient to protect and prolong all those vicious excrescences which have been grafted upon his original stock, of which they certainly formed no original portion ; as well as to defend those departures and omis- sions from his and Read's system, which, now that they come to be sifted, entitle us to say in fairness that Munro's system has in reality never been tried. He anticipated a large de- duction from the assessment ; it has never been granted. He promised the Ryot all the fruits of his labour and capital, after the assessment originally fixed had been paid. The rule has been to lay an additional tax upon the most minute improvement. He declared that the farmer should have perfect freedom in cultivating as much or as little as he pleased. The practice has been compulsory labour ; and a most universe feller on this privilege. For none of these changes is Sir T. Munro fairly answerable. The radical errors of his system appear to have been ; first, his defective survey ; secondly, a permanent assessment ; and lastly, the enormous amount of native agency which it required. I have no wish to pursue this part of the subject farther, but to complete the picture one or two words must be added respecting the tax called Moturpha, now peculiar to this Presidency. It is described as follows : " The moturpha is a direct tax levied exclusively on tradesmen " and artizans; directly therefore it does not affect the Ryot, but " indirectly it does, for whatever discourages the trading classes or " impedes their activity lessens the market for agricultural produce. Moturpha. 169 " In particular a large part of the moturpha is paid by the weavers, " and adds to the difficulties with which their simple and patriar- " chal looms have to contend in competing with the machinery of " England; but it is certain that te diminish the operations of the " weavers, lessens the demand for the cotton grown by the Ryots. " This tax is even far more inquisitorial than the land assessment ; " the houses of weavers are entered without scruple to search for " looms supposed to be concealed. It is also variable and arbitra- " ry; and a threat to get it raised on any payer, or a promise to get " it lowered, is an easy means of extortion. It is also very unequal, " and always bears harder on the poor than on the rich; and in " many cases it takes much more from the payer than its own " amount, from the loss of time in going a distance of many miles " to the cutcherry to pay the amount or to receive the puttah. It " does not appear that the moturpha tax ever existed in the N. W. " Provinces; and it was abolished in Bengal in 1793, and in the " Bombay territories in 1844. This Presidency is therefore the " only part of India in which it now exists. It is very trifling in " amount; being only about 1,16,000 though levied from nearly a " million individual contributors."* Report informs us that the fiat has already gone forth from the India House for the abolition of it here too : I have no desire to lay myself open to the charge of fighting dead giants, and thrice slaying slain gunpowder Percies, but as long experience has shown us that a Madras grievance is only scotched, not killed, by the issue of an order from the Court of Directors ; and that it still, for years after the blow has been aimed, like a wounded snake drags its slow length along ; and as the generality of my readers may neither know much about the strange term * Moturpha,' nor care to seek for its explanation in the repulsive mysteries of Parlia- mentary Blue Books, I will even dig a little in those mines ; and excerpt therefrom Mr. Dykes' evidence respecting this tax. He says as follows : " The tax I believe varies in every district, and in each district it " varies in every village : so that it is difficult to give any accurate * Madras Native Petitiou. 170 Mr. Dykes' evidence " description of it. As regards its principle, it consists in every " Native merchant being taxed so many Rupees ; but there is no " fixed per centage, and there are no fixed rates. A man's father " perhaps paid it before him, and that probably is the general rea- " son for the amount which is paid, and for his being assessed at " 10*. or 12s. as the case may be. If he is an energetic man, and " is considered to drive a better trade, it is reported to the Collector " the next time he visits that sub-division of his district : and the " rate is raised. There is no per centage with reference to the " extent of the man's trading. No per centage is fixed as in the " case of an income tax, or anything of that sort. It is a hap-hazard " assessment. The Native authorities come forward and say, this " man has been prosperous ; he has been trading to a great extent " and we think his assessment ought to be raised. The Collector " is obliged to raise it. If the man has any sense he buys off the " village authorities, and does not get his assessment raised, the " extent of his dealings not being reported. Occasionally the vil- " lage authorities may come forward, and say, the man has been " unfortunate, which perhaps is true and perhaps is not : but if the " Collector thinks fit he reduces the man's rate. It is levied upon " every one almost who does not cultivate land. In one way or " another it is brought to bear on every man. If a man cultivates " land in another's name, he has to pay a chimney tax. If an old " woman takes vegetables to market and sells them at the corner " of the street, she is assessed for selling vegetables. If a man is " a cloth merchant he is assessed : but no tax is levied on the Eu- " ropean traders. Perhaps next door to this man who is making a " few Rupees a year, there is a European trader who is making " hundreds, but he pays nothing. The Collector has not the slight- " est power of checking imposition ; he does not know whether the " rate fixed is just or unjust. A weaver pays very highly indeed. " The weavers' tax was abolished when we first came into the " country, and it was resumed I think in 1820, on the principle es- " tablished by Tippoo. It has been levied ever since, and very " heavily indeed ; but it is no where alike. In one village a weaver " is taxed at 10s., in the next a larger sum. The village officers " get a per centage upon the sum collected from each village under " that particular head generally, they are, however, respectable respecting the Moturpha. 171 " men. If a man happens to be in ill odour with his neighbours, " they can pay him out immediately by going to the Collector at " the next annual gathering, and saying, that the man whom they " dislike has been successful : his assessment is raised. The sum " raised in Salem is about 8,000 a year : but its arbitrary nature " renders it the means of oppression. The sum actually collected " for the Government is small ; but the sum paid in addition to that " in the shape of bribes to persons in authority is perhaps three " times that amount. The tax is collected from the lowest classes. " Thousands pay only a shilling. Thousands more may pay 2s. and " 3s., small sums which in themselves are nothing, but which as a " means of intimidation in the hands of the petty village officers, " affect the well being of the people very differently. I have had " innumerable cases where men have been reported to me as trad- " ing very extensively, and that their assessment should be raised. " The man has immediately said, ' It is all false : I have not had any " * more extensive dealings. It is only because they are at enmity " ' with me,' or, ' I have not bribed them:' but it would be impos- " sible to prove it. The abolition of the tax, as has been done in " the other two Presidencies, is the best remedy: unless it is abo- " lished, the whole of the mercantile transactions of the Native " community of the Madras Presidency must suffer. There is the " chimney tax : then there is a tax on weaving : a tax on the man " who sells cattle : a tax on the old woman who sells vegetables : " there is a tax on every description of shop : there is a tax on every " barber: a tax on every artizan: it is impossible to describe the " whole. " Here Mr. Mangles asks, ' Is not the barber a village servant " ' (who is not liable to the tax) ?' * Yes,' says Mr. Dykes, ' he is ; " ' but there is a tax upon his razor nevertheless.' " The Moturpha produces only an annual Revenue of Rs. 11,55,194 ; and the " small Farms and Licences," producing only about 3,500 per annum, comes in just to make a clean sweep of whatever may by any possibility have escaped the meshes of the Moturpha. There are many minor grievances of which the people may justly complain besides the Moturpha, and the small farms 172 Compulsory labour. and licences. There is the Abkaree, the tobacco duty, the export charges, the sayer, compulsory labour,* and last not least the salt monopoly : for such notwithstanding argu- ments to the contrary, brought before the House of Commons, it most unquestionably is, as he who studies Regulation I. of 1805 '"for establishing a monopoly of that article;" and learns the heavy penalties attaching to the manufacture of salt, except under Government supervision ; or to its sale, when manufactured, to any purchaser except Government, will probably admit. * The subject of compulsory labour calls for investigation and remedy. I believe it will be found to be very widely spread; made use of in trifling works as well as large ; that it is a source of much extortion, oppression, and complaint, and that it is altogether unnecessary. Many years since, while travelling in upper Egypt I saw whole villages deserted ; the popu- lation having taken refuge in the mountain-tombs, and soon afterwards, as we descended the river, we came upon what James would call sundry ' plumps of spears,' the rapscallionly ragged cavalry of the Pasha, driv- ing the unfortunate Fellahs before them in bodies, and this at harvest time too. Upon ascending the temple at Edfou, we saw, far as the eye could reach, what looked like a long train of black ants, magnified ; and upon our subsequently visiting the spot I saw ' compulsory labour' in its perfection. Mahomet Ali was cutting a canal ; and the scene I then witnessed, while it gave me a hint touching the building of Pyramids and other gigantic works of antiquity, has left upon my mind an ineffaceable reminiscence of the horrors of the process. I do not mean to say that ' compulsory labour' here is carried on with similar atrocity : but it unquestionably is the cause of much petty annoyance, unfairness, trum- pery exaction, and subdued complaint. It may be urged that such works as the Godavery Anicut could not be carried on otherwise : that Col. Cotton had not only to create the work but the workmen : that he went among a rude population of agricultu- ralists, who had in the first instance to be persuaded into employment foreign to their habits and prejudices ; and to be fashioned into stone- cutters, masons, ironsmiths, bricklayers, carpenters ; that they were as fairly used as possible ; that their means were sensibly bettered ; that it has had the effect of raising up a useful class of artizans ; and that the benefits conferred upon the population at large for all time to come, by the temporary compulsion of a comparative fraction of their number ; far outweigh the inconvenience which the few may probably have sufficed. I know that after the anicut had been completed, a good system of re- gular payment having been introduced, wiDing workmen in numbers more than sufficient for the work, presented themselves when required for the Channels ; and I believe that if labour be paid for at as high a rate by the Government as by private individuals, and if the money be handed to the labourer directly by the European, abundance of willing cheerful labour will be forthcoming for every work which is to be undertaken. This subject is ably discussed in the Public Works Report, Sec. 66 74 and their viewt on this point have been acquiesced in by the local Government. Salt. 173 " The salt revenue," say the Public Works Commission, " at this " Presidency is levied by means of a monopoly. The salt is made " by a simple process in the open air ; the water of the sea is let " into square beds, the ground having previously been prepared and " levelled, and the heat of the sun evaporates the water, and leaves " the salt. These ' pans,' as they are called, are private property, " like cultivated land, but they can only be used under regulation . " the Government officers fix the quantity of salt to be made by " each owner, and all the salt that is made is required to be deli- " vered at the Government salt store. A price is paid for it to the '' makers, varying from about Rs. 7 a garce to Rs. 15 at the seve- " ral stations ; and it is sold to the public by officers of the Go- " vernment at Rs. 120 a garce. The quantity allowed to be made " every year at each station is fixed with reference to the expected " sales, and with the object of having always a quantity on hand, " so as to meet a sudden increase of demand." To this it may be only necessary to add, that if this mo- nopoly on this prime necessary of life were abolished, salt could be made and sold at a profit at eighteen pence per ton. But really it is impolitic to fritter away strength on such comparatively trifling grievances, when so much remains to be told that must be said. Nay it is not even wise to divert public attention from the main point, by pausing to notice those far greater evils, the state of Public education, and the Administration of Justice. Here let us .again pause awhile. I have before said that the picture was only in outline. We have now ample ma- terials for its completion. Let us endeavour to fill it in, and realize it in all its shadows and proportions. Fancy then a whole Country and three-fourths of its popu- lation groaning under an assessment so heavy, that in many places it entirely precludes cultivation, throws the best soils out of farming, (" a wild speculation,") and compels the agri- culturist to eke out a scanty subsistence by having recourse, in the recesses of the jungles, to concealed cultivation ; for the discovery of which, so important is it to the Government, 174 General Resume the informer is entitled to a reward of fifty per cent. Con- ceive every individual subject to annual settlements with the Collector, and subjected to monthly visitations from the Na- tive revenue servants ; and that every such occasion is made the season of extortion by the officials on the one hand, or of bribery by the Ryots on the other, to such an extent that it is questionable whether the cultivator or the Government is most cheated. Imagine a system of taxation based upon the price of grain when it was worth perhaps as much again as it is now : and yet the assessment knowing no fluctuations with the market : the classifications of land so minute that there are twenty classes for dry land, and fourteen for wet : accounts so wearisome in their detail as to comprise fourteen hundred columns in their descriptions : and to be carried on in a foreign language, equally unintelligible to the Ruler and the Ryot ; seventy rules laid down by the Revenue Board for the guidance and instruction of the Collector in the manage- ment of his district ; these only made known as this or that comes into fiscal operation ; and even these varying ; having been already changed more than once, and with no guarantee against further change. Picture to yourself a host of pauper farmers, dependent for their existence on remis- sions and balances; or upon letting out their odds and ends of labour to their more wealthy competitors : so poor that they cannot do justice to the land in their dressing and farming; men who never ought to have arisen above the condition of day labourers. Recollect that there is no exit for produce, and consequently no object or stimulus to the people to raise more than sufficient for their daily wants ; that our internal communications are in such a state that with rice in abundance in one district, a famine may be raging in the next, without the possibility of moving a single grain : and as if all this were not enough, bear well in mind that produce is taxed as well as the land : that a man cannot by the outlay of his own capital or the exertions of of facts before detailed. 175 his own skill, the toil of his hands and the sweat of his brow improve waste land, or raise a superior crop without an in- crease of his assessment, before ruinously high ; and that all exported produce undergoes a second taxation. Reflect that with an entirely exclusive proprietorship in the soil, such as perhaps no other country ever enjoyed land, except under very favourable circumstances, is confessedly unsaleable : that compulsion is necessary to keep even the present breadth under cultivation : that a whole swarm of confessedly cor- rupt officials, receiving little more than nominal pay, is let loose upon the entire surface of the earth, to worry, annoy, extort, torment : that the villagers are swept off in droves to labour at the Government works, when an anicut is to be built or other great work executed, on the miserably false plea of necessity. Look at the physical condition of the whole people. Fol- low them into their wretched huts, in the country with Mr. Bourdillion ; in the towns with Mr. Fischer, consider their moral state ; such as we found, such as we have left, such as we have partially even made it. For one moment think upon the Moturpha ! such as Mr. Dykes describes it ; de- scending alike upon the old woman's fruit-stall, and the bar- ber's razor ; at once a fertile field for corruption, bribery, extortion, gratification of enmity ; and a scarcely less pro- lific source of perjury and subornation. Do not forget that the attempt to seek justice is little short of ruin to the Ryot, whose crop rots in the ground while he is dancing at- tendance upon the Courts of Law: and lastly regard the Government, taxing even salt, one of the prime necessaries of life ; the practical monopolists, and sole sellers of that ar- ticle to the people, at a profit to themselves of something like eleven hundred per cent. An appalling picture, if true, surely ! Though it sounds exaggerated, perhaps incredible, I believe that I have not ia the above resume inserted a single statement for which 176 What is the remedy ? The N. W. system ? ample authority has not been previously vouched in these sheets : or over-coloured or overdrawn a single feature. It is the naked truthfulness of the likeness which renders it so aw- fully startling. I will add not a single comment : but I must ask, to what reflexions, or rather what instantaneous irresistible conclu- sions does a consideration of the above details lead us ? Improvement is hopeles under such a system utter ruin a mere question of time. Some remedy must be applied, and that without loss of time ; nor, in my opinion, is that reme- dy difficult to be found. I have already detailed my reasons for deprecating any sweeping change : such for instance as a total disruption be- tween the present relations of the Government and people, as landlords and tenants. The introduction of the North West system seems very plausible and taking at first sight, because it has answered so well there. It is the fashion to point to the North West as a sort of model farm : and well may the Government be proud of their achievements there but it by no means fol- lows that the same system would work equally well here ; and I apprehend that the secret of the success of the Agra Presidency lies much deeper than the comparatively super- ficial question of settlement. If we were to have transplant- ed here all the advantages which have been bestowed upon that Presidency ; if we had a Governor of peculiar zeal, ability, habits of labour ; thoroughly understanding his work and the people ; devoting the whole of his energies, thought, time, to that which had, as it were, become the one grand object of his own existence; if the Collector ates were reduc- ed to the size of those of Agra ; if similar sums were ex- pended in internal improvements, works of irrigation, and communication ; perhaps we might get on very well, without any change at all in our Revenue system : but I do not think it necessary to introduce such an extensive change as even. Subdivision, of property. 177 that of transplanting the North West Settlement would be. I entreat attention to this portion of the subject; because from all we can learn, the Madras Ryotwaree system appears to be almost unanimously condemned in England ;* and the idea of superseding it by the North West system or some modification of it seems very generally prevalent. The ap- pointment of the late Mr. Thomason to the Governorship of this Presidency points strongly in that direction ; yet I much question if the difference which exists between the state of the village communities there and here has been fully consi- dered, or even prominently brought forward. Yet it is such as very possibly may entirely preclude all reasonable expectation of a successful application of that system to this Presidency ; sure I am that the facts at my disposal, and which will pre- sently be brought forward, require that there should be the most ample investigation, before we commit ourselves to a change which may involve the misery of nine-tenths of the whole community. An objection often urged against the Ryotwaree system, is the minute subdivision of property to which it is suppos- ed to tend ; but this in truth is rather attributable to the Hindu Law of succession than to any form of settlement. While all the sons are co-parceners, and any one of them can insist u^on a division of the family property, it is manifest that the same evil must equally arise, be the form of settle- ment whatever it may. But it is error to suppose that this di- vision actually takes place upon the death of the Hindu father. I fancy that in the great majority of instances the sons, or such of them as do not push out into the world to seek their fortunes elsewhere, continue to cultivate the paternal acres * Mr Lushington in his smart pamphlet says that Mr. Campbell has made the whole matter clear to every School boy's apprehension ; although in good truth the latter gentleman has not got much below the surface, as the following words which conclude his " India as it may be" show : " All these things may be done if we have money, but without money we can do nothing." 178 Real evils of the Ryotwar. in co-parcenery ; and that although the right to a division ex- ists, it is comparatively but seldom enforced. In the ancient Zemindaries, the law of primogeniture pre- vails ; and were it not so, it is clear that there must ever exist a tendency to destroy the integrity of the estate, which must sooner or later revert either to Government, or the state of Ryotwar ; and this is well exemplified in the Zemin- daries of modern creation, where the right of division is held to prevail. When the Zemindaree system was tried in Salem in 1805, 200 estates were originally created. In 1820 they had been divided and subdivided into 308 separate Zemin- daries ! So that it is a mistake to add this, which is an inhe- rent peculiarity of the people, to the other sins of the Ryot- war system. The real evils of our Madras Ryotwaree settlement, as it presents itself at the present day, are ; first, that for want of an accurate scientific survey the whole system is based upon uncertainty ; secondly, that the rate of assessment is too high, or to speak more accurately, that land is very unequal- ly assessed ; thirdly, that it does not hold out sufficient in- ducement to the cultivator to lay out his capital in improve- ments ; and lastly, what I take to be by far the worst feature ifl the whole scheme, it is of too inquisitorial a nature, and necessitates the employment of a whole army of Native offi- cials, who prey upon the very vitals of prosperity. To these points then should our remedies be applied. Now an accurate survey is very easily to be made, if the Govern- ment do not begrude the necessary funds. The North West Provinces have the advantage of a regular scientific revenue survey, which, exclusive of triangulation, cost 17J lacks of Rupees. In Madras the triangulation is ready to hand, and much detail has been filled in by means of minor triangles. It is estimated that a scientific revenue survey might be completed at a cost of 15 lacks. But here we are met with the usual objection. " It can't be done yet j for our finances The Cinderella of the East. 179 are so embarrassed." Short sighted answer indeed, if true; but unfortunately scarcely warranted in the teeth of the fact that, notwithstanding the Burmese War, there are 13| mil- lions sterling in the Treasury ; and that the Government are paying off their five per cent, loan ; an experiment which has succeeded so well, as to consist of little more than a mere transfer of paper into the 4 per cent, loan ; and as to warrant the prediction that by this time next year there will be no 5 per cent, paper left in existence. But Madras, poor Madras, is and ever has been the Cin- derella of the East : nicknamed and twitted for the benight- ed state in which she has been kept, she is laughed and sneered at by her haughty sisters of Calcutta and Bombay. Expense can be lavished to make them rich and fine ; but poor Madras is snubbed if she asks for any thing, and is kept in the grimy chimney-corner : she works as hard as any of them : nay, her very gains are taken from her, and falsely cre- dited to Calcutta. There are the revenues of Coorg, quite in the South of India, conquered ! by the Madras troops exclu- sively, and ever since occupied by those troops alone, cre- dited entirely to the Presidency of Bengal. Madras bears all the military charges of the Saugur and Nerbudda territory ; of Nagpore and the Tenasserim ; while the whole of the Kevenue derived from those territories, in subsidies paid to the English for the troops, goes entirely into the purse of her all-grasping rival and this, notwithstanding fifty lacks per annum are taken from Madras as her share of the Imperial expenses. But when she asks for a few lacks, nay, even a few rupees for this or that useful project, the invari- able answer is " your finances won't bear it." Poor, snubbed, forgotten, chidden Madras ! All she wants, all she waits for, is one wave of the wand of the good fairy England, to come forth clad from top to toe in a garb of God's own resplendent verdure : she shall foot it with the deftest, and ride in her enchanted vapour coach with the daintiest of them: her head 180 Scientific Revenue Survey. and neck gemmed with her own rich minerals ; her rivers shall become the bonny ribands in her hair ; and the sea which now washes her poor bare feet, shall be transformed into her silver slipper, embroidered with a thousand argosies. Let us hear no more of want of means for a Mr. Bourdillon. Revenue survey. Mr. Bourdillon says as follows : " The irregularities of the assessment can only be remedied by a " good survey and registration ; of which there is not a single ex- " ample yet in any district of this Presidency. It is not intended " that the burden should be exactly the same in every case ; that is " impracticable, because the personal qualities of industry or idle- " ness in the occupier, as well as the outlay of more or less capital, " will speedily create inequalities. But in all cases the assessment " should be moderate, and such as with ordinary skill and industry, " the land can well afford to pay; and further no individuals or " classes should be permitted to obtain exemption or favour, by " reason of wealth, influence, or connection. A good survey, made " under able and careful superintendence, and ascertaining both the " dimensions and qualities of the lands, and the rights of the occu- " piers, is the proper means to this end. And it is necessary under " any revenue system. Whether the settlement be ryotwar, by " village leases, by zemindaries, or other, and whether it be perma- " nent or for a term, a good survey is necessary ; both to ascertain " the resources of the field, village, or district, and fix the demand, " and to determine disputes afterwards. There is no doubt that " under existing circumstances, the Government is defrauded of " lacks of Rupees every year, by the concealment of cultivation, the " falsification of survey and other accounts, and in other ways ; and " all such frauds it must be remembered, as a general rule, unfairly " lighten the pressure of taxation on the wealthy and influential, " while the poor are left to bear the full burden. It would proba- " bly be hopeless to think of entirely stopping such frauds under " the present revenue system ; but a clear survey with field maps, " would make them much more difficult and dangerous than at " present." Assessment too high. 181 2nd. The rate of assessment is too high. This seems now universally admitted ; and if true, must alone, sooner or later r impoverish and beggar the country. Remissions it appears are very scantily made, and not at all with reference to the rate of assessment ; but to fortuitous circumstances such as failure of crops ; insufficient irrigation ; and so forth. The drain is constant ; and the means to meet it gradually and annually growing less. Sufficient proofs of the results of a too high assessment have already been given in this paper. Take the one great fact of land generally speaking not being saleable. Take the other of lowly assessed poor soils being brought into cultivation, while the highly assessed rich soils are abandoned. Look at the physical con- dition of the Hyot : follow him into his miserable habitation : behold him sustaining existence upon the barest necessaries of life ; and mark him, though patient and docile to a de- gree perhaps unparalleled, yet little elevated above the brutes of the field. Mr. Bourdillon. Mr. Bourdillon writes as follows : " In considering the effect of the ryotwar settlement, as it exists, " one very important question is whether the assessment on the " land is generally too high. But here there arises a preliminary " question; viz., what is meant by the term ' too high;' what is the " standard taken. Is it intended to leave the Ryot just enough for " a bare subsistence ; or is he to be allowed to retain so much of " the produce of his industry and capital as shall induce him to ex- " tend his cultivation, as he certainly will if such extension brings " profit to him instead of only entailing loss or risk of loss, or leav- " ing him just where he was before ; again shall he be enabled to " enjoy some of the physical comforts of life instead of only the " mere necessaries, and to become a larger consumer of manufac- " tures ; in short is he to have place for the hope of bettering his " condition by industry, and rising in the social scale, or is it in- " tended that he should merely labour to get strength to labour on. " Again, does the question mean whether the assessment is too 182 Mr. Bourdillon Mr. Fischer. " high under present circumstances, or whether it would be too " high if other social conditions were altered, which though not im- " mediately connected with the mode of receiving the revenue, se- " riously augment its pressure on the Ryot. " It would be long to go fully into this discussion, and I have " not the means of doing it ; but yet I must not wholly pass it by. " I will assume that it is the desire of our rulers that the agricultu- " ral classes should enjoy something more than a bare living ; that " the Ryot should have the possibility of improving his position put " within his reach. Such is the tenor of many of the Despatches " of the Honorable Court of Directors ; and such ought to be their " views, even limiting their regards to the improvement of their own " revenue only. Then I must declare my opinion that under exist- " ing circumstances the assessment on the land is too high." Every one of my correspondents bears him out. It is im- possible indeed that it could be otherwise : for independent- ly of our uncertainty as to the data upon which the standard was fixed, the bare fact that it was permanent ; and that the price of grain has fallen, must make that which might then have been a fair or even light assessment, not only burthen- some now, but ruinous. Mr. Fischer. Mr. Fischer writes as follows : " I attribute all the miseries of India to the selfish, foolish, short- " sighted policy of the Company. The collection of revenue keeps " them fully employed. They could do nothing for the improve- *' ment of the country or the benefit of its people : and they will " allow no one else to do it. My opinion is that the land-tax must " be very much diminished, or the means of the Ryots to pay it im- " proved : or we shall have an universal bankruptcy soon. We are " so near it as to have a ruined and impoverished peasantry who * now pay their rents with the greatest difficulty." Yet the demand is kept up never failing, constantly re- curring : and it must be met. Every Collector knows that benevolent as the Despatches read, the screw must neverthe- less be applied. At home the Government boasts itself Theory and Practice. 183 "paternal" here it is "novercal;" and I never hear the terms so frequently applied of a " mild despotism" without thinking of old Lambro : " the mildest manner' d man afloat, That ever scuttled ship or cut a throat." A Government may issue the most heart-stirring and hu- mane instructions, while it winks at their evasion, without which the Revenue could not he collected. Macauley. Macauley in his Essay on Warren Hast- ings writes as follows : " The Directors dealt with India as the Church in good old times " dealt with a heretic. They delivered the victim over to the exe- " cutioners with an earnest request that all possible tenderness " might be shown. We by no means suspect or accuse those who " framed these Despatches, of hypocrisy. It is probable that writ- " ing 15,000 miles from the place where their orders were to be " carried into effect, they never perceived the gross inconsistency " of which they were guilty. But the inconsistency was at once " manifest to their Lieutenant at Calcutta who, with an empty trea- " sury, with an unpaid army, with his own salary often in arrear, " with deficient crops, with Government tenants daily running " away, was called upon to remit home another half million with- " out fail. Hastings saw that it was absolutely necessary for him " to disregard either the moral discourses or the pecuniary requisi- " tions of his employers. Being forced to disobey them in some- " thing, he had to consider what kind of disobedience they would " most readily pardon, and he correctly judged that the safest course " would be to neglect the sermons and to find the rupees." Making allowance for the change of circumstances, this passage aptly describes what is taking place at the present day ; and explains how it is that the excellent orders passed in Leadenhall Street, are so miserably marred in their exe- cution. Amphora cocpit Instititui, currente rota, cur urceus exit ? Precept and Example. Their instructions are that the Ryot shall have total " free- dom of action;" the practice is compulsory cultivation. Their first, if not their only object is the collection of the revenue. After that ; if there be a surplus ; " when the finances are less involved ;" as soon as their debt is paid off ; then they intend to discharge their obligations to the people whom they rule. That abominable " future in dus" is the curse of India. The poor Ryot, as the Poet says of man in the ag- gregate, never is, but always to be blest ! " Post nummos jus- titia ;" they tell their Collectors to act as humanely to the people as possible, provided always that such humanity be consistent with the constant exhortation to put money in their purse. "Si possisrecte; si non, quo-cunque modo, rem" Accordingly he who screws up the revenue to the highest pitch is the most " crack" Collector : and I am informed by one well able to give an opinion, that in the Northren Districts the annual tribute is in no small measure paid out of the capital of the country, the people actually melting their gold and silver ornaments to meet the Government demand. Mr. Fischer, the Zemindar of Salem, for thirty years a merchant, for seventeen years a mootadar, speaking the languages like a Native, perhaps better acquainted with their peculiarities, wants, wishes, opinions, condition, than any other man in this part of India, and who although a Zemindar himself, is not a warm advocate of the Zemindar system, writes that " we are on the verge of a national bankruptcy ; we have now an impoverished peasantry." What is the remedy : shall we redeem the land tax : or fix a new standard of commutation ? Shall it cease to be per- manent, and shift from year to year, with the current price of grain ? There is no necessity for this. Nothing is more certain than that one main feature of Sir Thomas Munro's plan was a reduction of from 25 to 30 per Assessment must be lowered. 185 cent.* upon the assessment which he fixed ; and that this has been but very partially and imperfectly carried out. Now where this has not been done, his system cannot even be said to have had a fair trial : and justice demands that this at least should be done. What I propose is, that taking all circum- stances into consideration, such a reduction should now be made in the rate of assessment all over the country, regard being had to the soil's capability of production, as shall seem fair between the Government and the people. It is the most miserably short-sighted policy to talk of the decrease of Revenue which this will cause : for the stimulus which it would afford to national industry would soon make up in a hundred different indirect ways the deficiency; aye, yield and increase a surplus four-fold : ten-fold : inconceivably. But this is not all. More is absolutely essential if na- tional industry is to be really stimulated, and means provided for the accumulation of capital ; for, thirdly ; the system does not hold out sufficient inducement to invest capital in agri- culture. Should we then, if we can, introduce wealthy middlemen ? I lately attended a course of Lectures given by a very clever man, Mr. Mead, the Editor of the Athenaeum, well- informed on these topics, and acquainted personally with a considerable portion of India. His scheme was in effect to * Sir Thomas Munro in his evidence before the Commons' Committee in 1831 (vol. 2, p. 284) deposes as follows : " My idea of the Ryotwar Assessment also is this, that the assessment should be so moderate in peace, as by enabling the ryot to become substantial, a war tax in time of necessity of 10, 15, or 20 per cent., may be imposed by Government, to be struck off when the "necessity ceases to exist. / have no doubt that such a war tax could be easily levied." So that he distinctly laid it down as a principle that the cultivator should always be enabied to realize at least 25 per cent profit. And again : he says, " I have also stated in the same report (15th August 1807), that when the rate of taxation exceeds one-third of the produce, land generally speaking, is of little or no value and is often abandoned. " I have also given it as my opinion, that when so high a rate of reve- nue as one-half of the actual produce is exacted, persons who are not ac- tual cultivators, cannot occupy Circar lands without loss" Al 186 Zemindars. introduce great land holders. But from all that we have seen of middlemen, call them Zemindars or what you like, such a scheme can scarcely be' said to have answered : and I fear that this is but another instance of our aptness to look at India through English spectacles. It is customary to cite Mr. Fischer of Salem, whenever a voucher is required, for the good effects of the Zemindary system ; and there can be no question that his estate, a small one, (in extent about eight miles by six), is in the most flourishing condition. I have myself within the last month personally visited and in- spected it ; and although the accompanying account of it, and comparison between it and Government lands, taken from the Madras Aihenceum, may appear couched in somewhat flowery language, its truth in the main has been recognized and admitted by a writer who, unless I err, is better able than any other individual to form an estimate of its correctness : " You ask me to describe a few of the points, the most salient " for comparison, which present themselves for notice in consider- " ing the advantages enjoyed by tenant, landlord and State, on a " Zemindary, or other holding in the Provinces, under the control of " an European Zemindar, viewed in juxta-position with those which. " attend, or are supposed to attend the same constituency when " placed under the ordinary administration of the Civil authorities, " and you refer to Mr. Fischer's Zemindary in Salem, as affording " a favorable case for illustration. Commencing then with the points " which most strikingly arrest the attention in passing through^ the " Zemindary in question, I would first instance the contrast which " is presented between the condition of the peasants or Ryots in the " one and that exhibited in the Collector-ruled Talook. In the " Zemindary you observe an appearance, and on closer examina- " tion, discover a reality of prosperity, comfort and freedom, of ac- " tion and enjoyment which you look in vain for in the other tract. " The aspect of their villages, the substantial style in which their " houses are built, for the most part with good brick or stone walls, " and in many instances with roofs of tiles, the number and appear - " ance of their cattle and cattle sheds, straw ricks, and farm enclo- Mr. Fischer's Zemindary. 187 " sures and appurtenances, the dress which themselves, their wives " and children wear, their cheerful unslavish demeanour, and their " industry and activity in their agricultural avocations, all establish " beyond the limits of controversy that they live and breathe under " a better, more just and more humane system than that which op- " presses their neighbours beyond the Zemindar's boundaries, and " which brings into existence as regards the inhabitants, results " altogether opposite to those which have been just cited. I would " next remark on the admirable state in which the roads, tanks, " irrigation channel, and all matters of outlay depending on the " pleasure of the Zemindar, are kept. The roads surpass any- " thing I have seen in any district of Southern India, intersecting " the Zemindary in all directions as to be available for cart traffic " by the villagers, on all the most useful lines of communication " with the capital of the province, while the character of these high- " ways is so good that a carriage may be driven along any of them " at the fastest pace. And they are not left to take care of them- " selves, or to depend for their maintenance on the forced labour " of unwilling villagers. Repairs are constantly in progress, stores " of metal are conserved for application to the surface where wear- 11 ing becomes apparent, side channels and cross drains are kept " clear, and no reasonable proportion of the rental of the Zeminda- " ry appears in fine to be grudged to keep up this element so vitally " necessary to its prosperity. Looking next to the state of the " works of irrigation in Mr. Fischer's little Principality, I confess " I want words to express my admiration. We observe that no- ' thing is here thrown away : every drop of water which kind " Heaven bestows, which can be retained for the benefit of the soil " to whose use it was destined, by means within the limits of rea- " sonable economy, is arrested in its progress to waste, and turned " to account by means of works which exhibit an appearance of du- " rability, science of construction and liberality in expenditure, " which attest at once the wisdom of the projector, and the confi- " dence which his practical knowledge of the soil and of its denizens " impelled him to feel, as to the result of his undertakings. Upon " some of these projects very large sums must have been expended, " but none fruitlessly : and although I am not in possession of the " actual returns accruing directly from any of. them, I am aware 188 drear land. " that they have been most considerable and advantageous both for " the Zemindar and for his tenants. It would be interesting to you " to be made acquainted with the actual out-turn of the tenure, " exhibited in one general view of expenditure on Maramut, See- " bundy, roads, &c., and amount of rent paid to Government in the " assessed extent of land held, deducted from the aggregate collec- " tions on Jummabundy ; and I will therefore endeavour to obtain " these statements and append them. " Now if we contrast the ordinary territories of the Company in " the same or indeed most other districts of the South, with the " tract which I have described, there is scarcely a point, in fact not " one, in which the advantages obtained are not indisputably on " the side of the Zemindary. And as for the reasons, describere " longum est ! they are indeed many. But I believe the leading one " of all, apart from any question of over or undue taxation, to be " the absence of that many-headed thing which, in the Company's " territories, crawls over the surface of the soil, impairing its whole- " someness, devouring its teeming produce, subduing the energies " and damping the industry of those who would urge it to develop " its resources, and spreading its noxious breath as a veil over its " face to screen from the scrutiny of the landlord, the mischief and " deterioration which are in progress through the means of its evil " agency, Collector, Deputy Collector, Head Sheristadar, Tahsildar, " Peishcar, Sheristadar, Ghomastah, Monegar, Duffadar, Daloyets, " and last, but surely not least belted Talook Peons, that swarm " of locusts which pass over and leave desolate the fair surface of " the Company's lands what an array is this, to stand between " the landlord and his tenant ! How is permanent improvement to " be effected, industry and enterprize to be fostered, and prosperity " to be established under the pressure of such a mighty incubus, " such'a ponderous and complex machinery of wheels within wheels, " as all this host constitutes ? How is a complaint against oppres- " sion or wrong, how is the vindication of a condemned ' innova- " ' tion' on the * system,' or a representation of its evil working, " to reach the Fountain head through all these ' constituted chan- " ' nels ?' and how hopeless must be the vision beyond, to any " bold enterpriser who would venture to travel through them. " Now in the Zemindary of which I am treating the very op- Effects of personal supervision. 189 " posite of all this is witnessed. There is no ' system' no * re- " ' gulations' and no ' regulations amended' to check and crush " every effort at improvement or for the attainment of justice " and support. If a Ryot has a complaint to advance, a sug- " gestion to make, or a request to prefer, he comes without he- " sitation to the presence of the Zemindar and lays it before him, " unawed by the dread array of belted and arrayed locusts which " so often bar the progress of the petitioner to that of the Compa- " ny's representative, and undeterred by any fear that the absence " of an ' entente cordiale' with the harpies who beset him, may mar " the object of his visit. The Zemindar listens to the representa- " tion, and if he deems it deserving of attention, in a few hours he " has driven to the spot indicated for enquiry, has investigated the " proceeding complained of, or the repair required ; has seen that *' the channel represented as obstructed really stands in need of " clearing, that the drain of the village or district road has actually " become choked, or that the remission prayed for is not a frivolous " pretext for evasion : and having satisfied himself of the validity of " the ground of complaint upon one, or probably in the course of a " morning's ride upon all of these points, the remedy is applied at " once. There is no fatal delay here, no sanction to obtain, no ite- " ration of explanation to be gone through, before the progress of " evil can be arrested : the machinery is oiled at once where friction *' is apparent, the salve is applied to the wound before it becomes " corrupt. Who can doubt the good that must inevitably result " from such a system, which is in fact the absence of any systema- *' tized ' system' at all ? Those who are sceptical should visit the " Zemindary I speak of and judge for themselves ; and if after ob- " serving its thriving and fast-increasing population, the augmenta- " tion of its villages, its tanks filled to the uttermost with water, " their bunds as true and even as are the raised and embanked " roads which intersect the district, its anicuts for throwing water " into these reservoirs kept in the most perfect repair, cultivation " pushed to the utmost both wet and dry, produce of all descrip- " tions being carted on metalled roads from tne very fields which " yielded it, to the factories where it is to be manipulated, or the " godowns which are to house it, and in travelling over the length " and breadth of the land hear no complaint of oppression or wrong, 190 Mr. Fischer, an exception. " no cry against the 'grinding dispensation' under which their kist " is exacted from them ; if after all this evidence, there are to be " found those who would accord the preference to the ' system' ob- " taining over the border, it can only be wished that they could for " a brief season, inhabit the mortal tenement and don the soul of a " ' patient Hindoo,' dwelling within the range of its fell influence, " and in returning to a state of light bring with them the experience " gained in their days of ryotwarry vassalage." The truth of the above picture is admitted by the corres- pondent of the Athenceum, in the issue of November 12th, as follows : " I have seen much of the mootah, and can testify that your cor- " respondent's account, though not subdued in tone, is not on the " whole too highly coloured. But Mr. Fischer is an Englishman, " and an enterprising and practical one ; in any country and under " any system, he would be a good and improving landlord. I, for " one, should make no objection to a country filled with Zeminda- " ries conducted like the Salem mootah, but demand that every one " should have an owner like Mr. Fischer; of course my argument " has always looked to Native landholders and Native administra- " tion. You write that you ' will be content to acknowledge a pal- '" ' pable hit, if in the twenty-one districts of the Presidency the " * Salem mootah can be said to have its equal.' Precisely so ; I " say the same ; there is no other estate, owned and directed by " Natives, at all to approach it." In the truth of these remarks I cannot but agree : for the fallacy consists in treating Mr. Fischer as an example of, and and not an exception to, the general run of Zemindars. It should be borne in mind that if a Zemindaree system were to be introduced, almost every Zemindar must necessa- rily be a Native, and not a European : and also that there is nothing in the Kyotwaree system, as it stands at present, to prevent any European so disposed from taking up as much land as he pleases under the Government, precisely as Mr. Fischer does, and either subletting or cultivating it by hired labour. The causes which operate to prevent an influx of Mr. Fischer's own opinion. 191 European capital and skill into this country are of a far dif- ferent order. It may not be uninteresting here to state Mr. Fischer's own opinion ; and to trace the means whereby he has made his Mootah not only what it is to his Ryots, but a profitable speculation to himself. In some remarks with which he fa- voured me on Mr. Dykes' " Salem," he writes as follows : " The ryotivaree system is, I believe, the best for the country under " its present circumstances : from the universal debasement and cor- " ruption of the people, and from the total want of good faith be- " tween man and man : all faults of the Native Governments which " our's has not much mended : indeed, it is the opinion of many, " has made worse, by our rules and regulations, and by the laxity of " our administration. The ryotwaree system is the best : not that " the zemindaree is a bad one ; but it was too much in advance of " the time and the moral condition of the people. What was want- " ing to make good zemindars, was wanting to make good rajahs '* and rulers : and to tbese failings tbe British owe the facility with " which they conquered and retain tbe country. I am a zemindar : " and to show that tbe system is not a bad one, I challenge Mr. " Dykes and tbe Government to show a like tract of country any " where else in the Company's wide dominions, so well cultivated ; " all tbe tanks and dams, water-courses and roads in such perfect " order, and the revenue so well collected as tbe zemindary of Sa- " lem: and tbis witb the zillah, and sub-courts, and tbe cusbah " cutcberry, hot-beds of miscbief in tbe beart of it : and although to " effect and bring about this, I had to remit from 20 to 30 per cent. " of the Government assessment on a great portion of the zemindar- " ree, yet, by bringing all the waste into cultivation, by perfect irriga- " tion, and by converting much dry into wet cultivation, I bave not " only made up the deficiency, but realize a considerable surplus."* * I cannot, at the risk of wearying, refrain from pursuing this topic a little further. In talking over the state of Mr. Fischer's Zemindaree with the authorities at Salem, two remarks were elicited, which made a great impression upon my mind. It was first of all observed, that it was not fair to institute a comparison between the condition of the Zemindaree and the Circar land, because the Zemindar had so much more complete and practical control over his estate than the Government servants could pos- Zemindars of the N. Circars. In Bengal, the Zemindaree system is an admitted failure. In the Northern Circars, where Zemindaries most prevail, success is the exception, not the rule : most of the large estates have reverted to Government : and mismanagement and reckless extravagance are the prevalent conduct of the great landed proprietors. A very well known Native gentle- man, far in advance of the majority of his countrymen, Soor- ryarrain Row, Thasildar of Itchapoor in Ganjam, furnishes me with the following interesting account of the comparative condition of the Ryots under Zemindaree and Government management in that district : " The total land revenue of the whole district is Rs. 934,632-7-5 " per annum, of which Rs. 668,000 is of the country under auma- " ny or immediate management of the Collector, inclusive of estates " elapsed to Government, and of incapacitated Zemindars, and " Rs. 266,632-7-5 of the country under the ancient hill Zemindars, " and proprietors (not ancient). Three quarters of the aumany, or " Government lands inclusive of the estates lapsed to circar for " several reasons rented out individually to Ryots yearly one half " of the other, one quarter nominally to them, and one half to Moos- " tazars, who are no Ryots at all but Banians, and other money " lenders of the country. The Zemindars and proprietors rent the " whole of their country to Moostazars. The rates of assessment " of lands vary according to the nature of the soil and the means of sibly exercise over the enormous districts committed to their charge : an observation undoubtedly true, but as it struck me, a very fatal admission, that the functions of a landlord were not those which a Government could successfully carry on, and that the present European Government agency is infinitely too small. Secondly, I was told, that it would not be worth the while of Europeans, in general, to embark in such speculations, as the returns were so very trifling, compared with the outlay, risk, and trouble, that it would not repay them. I was informed that from this estate, 8 miles by 6, Mr. Fischer did not clear more than 400 per annum in the shape of rent: and upon further enquiry, I found that the Government kist which he had to pay, amounted to 1 7,000 Rupees a year, and that the gross rental which he received was about 25,000. Now as I knew that, in order to induce cultivation, Mr. Fischer had been forced to remit from 20 to 30 per cent, per annum to his Ryots on almost the whole 17,000 Rupees, it struck me that this was a very con- clusive proof that the lion's share demanded by Government requires a very considerable reduction, before European capital would engage itself in agriculture. Soorryanarrain Row. 193 " irrigation. They are, for paddy lands, from Annas 5 to Rs. 2-8, " for an acre; of high land, from Annas 8 to Rs. 5, for an acre, " namely, of dry grain and cotton, from Annas 8 to Rs. 2 ; of to- " bacco, from Annas 8 to Rs. 3 ; sugar-cane, from Rs. 2 to 4 ; co- " coanut topes, from R. 1 to Rs. 3 ; beetle crop, from Rs. 3 to 4, " and areca nut topes, from Rs. 3 to 5. " Ryots living in all the Government talooks (pure), excepting " those of the talooks lapsed to circar like their ryotwar individual " rent system, because they pay their moderate rent money by five " fixed instalments, free of any other extra payments ; and obtain re- " mission for land in their cultivation, on account of failure of crops, " for want of rain, inundations, &c., while those of the zemindary " and proprietary estates are forced by the village renters, or Moos- " tazars to pay half of their rent money about the time the first " kist is collected in Government talooks, and the other half, when " we collect our third kist, or else to share in grain with them at " equal half of the land produce, and also to give them the same " with an unreasonable and exorbitant interest of 4 Annas for a " Rupee of tuccavy, they advance to the Ryots at the commence- " ment of the ploughing, both for getting on with their cultivation " and for their subsistence, all immediately after the crops are cut " and thrashed, or, that is to say, three months after the said ad- " vance is made. The Ryots do not obtain remission for losses, ac- " cidental, in their cultivation, either from the Zemindar or Moosta- " zars, as they were allowed in Government talooks; yet, as the " Moostazars give them liberal tuccavy while it is limited at 15 per " cent, at the largest, a Ryot's rent money, in order to take it with " the above said high interests in grain, and as they are only to " share in halves with the Moostazars in as much grain as the land " will produce, they prefer this Moostazary system and yield to it " until they are reduced to utter poverty and desert the country in *' course of 4 or 5 years, owing to the Moostazars taking one half " of their produce at the circar share, and almost all the other half " of their Ryot's share on account of the tuccavy advances: they " make, independent of the money, extra undue taxes separately " collected from them by the Zemindars under different pretensions. " The Ryots of the zemindary talook even after looking at the ruin Bl 194 Salem Zemindars. *' of several of their families in this way> still stick to the Moosta- " zary system for the reasons above mentioned, and each repent of *' it at the end. They are also got to work frequently as labourers " without payment both for the Moostazar and the Zemindar. The " Zemindars being almost all spendthrifts, particularly the Vadians " of this district, resort to the Moostazars, who are generally mo- " ney lenders, not tradesman, and rents villages to them in order to " obtain loans of money to afford their extravagant charges, but for " his own ruin as well as that of the Ryots of his country, by letting " it to such Moostazarry rents, as the revenue of it gradually falls " short and short in proportion to the wants of Ryots for the " amount abovementioned, and the end of it is that the zemindarry " is sold or lapsed to Government for arrears of Kist, as there " are several instances of it in this and the Vizag districts con- " sequently, I have no doubt that the present system of renting " lands to Ryots individually is the better in preference to the Ze- " mindars Moostazarry rent system, and in eye proof of it I see the " Ryots of the Government talooks, where Ryotwar system is pre- " valent, are in general substantial, contributed with their individual " money rents of land, and exhibit signs of further prosperity in " course of time, while the condition of Ryots in the Zemindary and " proprietary estates is such as abovementioned however, there " are a few and rare exceptions of the Zemindaries because the " Zemindars thereof are sensible and attentive to the interests of " their estates and its Ryots, giving rents to them individually ex- " actly on the terms as in Government talooks, and water reservoirs, " &c. and making moderate expenditures. To the best of my " knowledge and experience as a Tahsildar of 15 years' standing in " this district, and intimate personal acquaintance with the results " of the Ryotwar and Zemindarry systems of land-renting, I am of " opinion that the latter is a bad one." The scheme, when tested at Salem, was most lament- able in its results. In 1802, 205 Zemindaries were created in that district. In a few years only 13 remained in the families of the original purchasers; 195 had changed owners once, and many annually. In 1803, 32 estates had been How to create middlemen. 195 attached for arrears. As early as 1813 there were 197 sales for arrears, at which 39 estates were purchased on behalf of Government. By 1820 the whole 195 Zemindaries which had changed owners were again in the hands of Government. In 1835, 212 estates were purchased for Government, and what the people suffered during this experiment can scarcely be con- ceived. It is stated that since then, the remaining Zemindars have held their own. In Chingleput, lying contiguous to the Town of Madras, many villages are taken up by wealthy Natives of Madras employed in the various Government offices, and by them leased out to the Ryots ; yet here we do not find that the condition of the latter is a whit bettered, by having a sub- stantial middleman between them and the Government. Mr. Mead appeared to me to be moved principally by a wish to introduce European proprietors and capital into the country : and I believe they would confer signal benefits upon the people : but with a liberal policy and a good judi- cial system there can be no reason why European capitalists should not freely embark in farming in the interior, on the same terms as the Ryots under the Ryotwar system, to any extent they please. I hold that any attempt to raise upon the sudden a class of middlemen, call them by whatever name you please, if not chimerical, would throw back the cause of progress fifty years, produce in the interim great suffering to the Ryots, and inevitably end in disappointment and failure. What we must do is to lay down such conditions, as will in- duce capital to invest itself in agriculture : and a middle class will gradually create itself, but it must be of spontaneous and natural, not of forced and artificial growth. If the fiat were to go forth to-morrow for calling into exist- ence a class of middlemen, we should but place a lay figure where we require a living soul, or create a Frankenstein where 196 How Middlemen cannot be created. we fondly flattered ourselves we were evoking a Peri Benou. They would come like shadows, so depart ; and after having for a season been an insubstantial pageant and a show, would dissolve and melt, nor leave a rack of good behind. Middle- men of the stamp we want are no slaves of the lamp and ring to appear at our mere bidding. There lies no royal road to pro sperity. We cannot change the surface of the country by a tap of harlequin's wand, or conjure up our myrmidons from the rocks and ground like the genii in a pantomime. A middle class must follow, as effect does cause ; and can never be the creature of our imperial will. Sic volo, sic jubeo ; stet pro ratione voluntas, is not the form or kind of mandate which will call intermediate landholders into being. We see that wherever such a class has existed, it has produced the most beneficial effects ; and in our hurry to procure a cause so efficient for good, our vaulting ambition doth oerleap itself. We forget that with perhaps the exception of the Zemindars of Bengal and Salem, no middlemen have ever yet been the mere emanation of any political or economical theory. Every thing in India is inverted ; we mistake an effect for its cause, and with all the earnestness of simplicity forthwith busy ourselves in laboriously putting the cart before the horse. In Canara, where the necessary conditions have been par- tially provided, the class required has already commenced to some extent its self-creation, and we can watch the pro- cess as it goes on before our eyes. There, 386 Native ser- vants of Government (exclusive of the heads of villages and other village officers) own ,082 estates of various sizes, the aggregate assessment on which is Rupees 48,958-12-8. But perhaps even such men are not exactly what India requires ; or rather they are not the only men whom we should wish to see become substantial landed proprie- tors. We should give scope to the Eyots themselves to accumulate wealth and invest it in extending estates, until the surface of the land is covered with a class of men like the VencatacheUwn Moodelliar. 197 well known Vencatachellum Moodelliar* of Coimbatore, who, while affording a most cogent proof that there exists nothing in the Ryotwaree system itself to prevent the rise of a middle class, stands forward as a singular example of what energy and a strong will can effect in overcoming the most inveterate ob- stacles. He is what he is in spite of surrounding circum- stances ; the middle class whose growth it is our object to foster must attain its status not in the teeth, but in conse- quence of the conditions under which it will have to labour. " If a landlord class" writes that acute and accurate observer, the late Mr. Mackay,f whose posthumous work has reached me whilst this very sheet is passing through the Press : " If a landlord class is ever to arise, the Ryotwar system would " seem to be the proper basis for it to spring from. Under that " system, no one shares the produce of the soil but the Government " and the Ryot. Let the Government for a time leave the Ryot " his legitimate profits as a farmer, and he will soon collect a sum " which will enable him not only to farm more land than now, * The history of this man is so curious and instructive that I shall give it as it has reached me. Vencatachellum Moodelliar, says my correspondent, is now a man of substance in the Coimbatore district, who pays to Government 1 0,000 Rupees a year for land. His father was an ordinary Ryot, but above the Ryots generally in energy. He made some little money, and when his son became possessed of it, he turned it to still more account. He went on reclaiming land till his estate grew to its present lordly dimen- sions, and where formerly there was nothing but jungle filled with Ele- phants, there are several flourishing villages of Vencatachellum's raising. This Ryotwar-born Zemindar may now be seen, dressed like another Ryot, laying out his irrigating channels which for years be paid for ra- ther than wait till the Circar would assist him. He is respected by his tenants, and feared by the Talook servants, because on him in no slight degree the welfare of the Talook depends. By his energy he has become the thing we want : an influential land owner. He is not the offspring of a thread-bare family, half-witted, or debauched, who has no one idea be- yond that supplied by a parasite Vakeel ; nor is he a Chetty fattening in Madras on his tenant's labours with whom he has no sympathy. t I have written without any knowledge of Mr. Mackay's work ; and the strong similarity which exists between his facts and mine is sure- ly very striking. The two books, written by independent witnesses, not communicating together, afford, each to the other, the strongest corrobo- rative testimony to the truth of the pictures which they profess to draw of the physical state of this country on the one hand, and the policy of the Government which has reduced it to what it is on the other. 198 Native interference, the grand evil. " but also to accumulate land in his hands, which he can in course *' of time let out to others." Let the assessment be fixed upon the most ordinary kind of crops ; and let the Kyot after paying that, cultivate his field as he likes. Let him have the total, entire, exclusive benefit of his labours, without additional taxation. Assess him for paddy ; and if he choose to grow sugar or tobacco, let him pocket the difference. So again let him have the ex- clusive advantage of all improvements which he pays for out of his own pocket. If he take a piece of dry or waste land, and by digging a well or other work of irrigation, bring it into cultivation, and render it productive, don't immediately alter the classification, and from waste, or dry, make him pay for wet, or garden land. Somewhat has been done in this direction by the late Revenue rules ; but as Mr. Dykes points out in his evidence before the Committee, not enough. Let the principle that the Ryot shall have the sole benefit of improvements be recognised and carried out to the fullest extent. Lastly we have to meet the inquisitorial nature of the Ryotwaree. This is the grand evil of the system, and whatever shall tend to diminish it, is, necessarily, a good. At the same time this is the point about which cluster the great- est conflict and diversity of opinions : each side referring to facts, and bringing forward apparently sufficient arguments for the adoption of its own suggestions. It is however the vital question on the just solution of which, so far as it hinges upon a Revenue system at all, the happiness of the agricultural population mainly depends. It cannot therefore be too cautiously approached, too carefully considered, or too tenderly meddled with. It is quite clear that to give the farmer his land for a term of years, instead of constantly interfering with him, as at pre- sent, by annual settlements, must, of itself, go very far to ob- viate the necessity for the employment of a host of Revenue The Ryot's interest in the soil. 199 Native servants. Whether that terra should be 14, 21, or 30 years, is a mere matter of detail. Let me put this matter, the necessity of a term of years, upon its true footing. I do not advocate it from any notion that the Ryot has not now sufficient interest in the soil. This is a common, but, I believe, a most erroneous impression ; for although the settlement is annual, every Ryot knows that so long as he pays his kist, his land will never be taken from him. Land descends for generations from father to son, and no where is it clung too with fonder affection. It is usually the last thing which a Ryot will abandon. No man can interfere with him. He does not pay for it when fallow ; and can reclaim it after years of non-cultivation on this point Mr. Bourdillon writes : " But though in form the title is only yearly, i. e. the document " given to Ryot (the puttah) is only for the year, yet it is a rule " universally recognized and acted on without any exception, that " so long as a Ryot pays the assessment of his land he cannot be " deprived. This rule is so thoroughly established, so antecedent " to all other rules, that I doubt whether it is to be found in terms " in the Hookumnamah or settlement regulations of any district ; " though all such of those regulations in every district as affect the " tenure of land, inevitably imply it. Nor does the right everywhere " cease even with the failure to pay the assessment. Not only is a " Ryot's title reserved over the usual fallow which is allowed after " certain crops, and for which years he does not pay ; but in some " districts a certain term of years is fixed during which a Ryot may " leave his land waste and omit to pay the assessment, and still re- " tain his exclusive title to it ; this term varies in the several dis- " tricts, in some three, in others six, &c. And the practice is even " more liberal than the rule, and there are cases in what are called " Meeras villages in which land is so nominally retained for twenty " or thirty years, paying no revenue to Government and yet the ** original holder being held still to retain his title. " Certainly in practice the formal defect of title is not felt. Land " is freely bought and sold, and capital is freely invested in it, (in " the digging of wells as well as in other improvements) without " the least hesitation on the ground of any supposed absence of 200 True ground of advocating leases. " permanency in the tenure. And I believe it would be impossi- " ble to bring forward a single instance in which a Ryot had for- " borne to make such an outlay, from any apprehension of that " nature." " I'll trouble you" Mr. Fischer writes in answer to a ques- tion of mine, " to give the Ryots a greater interest in the soil " than they possess at present. If a Ryot has 50 acres of land " and only cultivates 10, he only pays for those 10, and no " one dare interfere with the other 40." It is not therefore upon this ground that I would advocate the introduction of leases for a term of years instead of a holding from year to year. But it is in order to do away with much of the minute inquisitorial interference which at present exists ; and this alone would wonderfully diminish the amount of Native agency and the expense of collecting the revenue. At present a standing army of about 40,000 police and revenue servants is kept a-foot, every one of whom it may safely be assumed is more or less corrupt : and it is apparent that if a settlement were made only once every 14 or 21 years instead of annually, there could be no neces- sity for keeping up any longer this formidable array. They would sink into the ground like the armed men in the Lady of the Lake : the whole host would vanish like locusts be- fore a strong East wind. Every thing which tends to decrease the employment of Native agency in the lower departments of the revenue collection should at the same time be attend- ed to. Then the minute and verbose accounts and registers might be advantageously abbreviated: and the farce of " Mahratta" accounts should be forthwith abolished. It is difficult to account for the introduction of this custom ; but it serves to show how tenaciously Indian officials cling to what is useless and detrimental for years after they become aware of its uselessness and folly. The only end it serves to answer is the retention in Government employ, and conse- quently to maintain the influence, of a peculiar caste of Brah- mins, who, if matters were well looked into, -would be found When leases expire, should Govt. demand increased rent? 201 practically to rule this country, and whose authority it should be our primary care to break. Of course the Government need not be shut out any more than any other " landlord," for ever, from participating in the benefits derivable from the improvement of the land ; and it would be open to them at the end of every lease to demand an increased rent in proportion to the increased value of the property. "Whether the Government should so act is an in- dependent question : for it must not escape our notice that the Government though performing the landlord's functions, stands in a different relation to the people from that which an ordinary landlord fills towards his tenant. In the latter case there can be no question of the right and justice of his demanding a higher rent, but it may well be questioned whether the right of the Government to participate in the product of the soil extends further than to just so much as shall pay the expenses of good Government : and if the amount originally settled be found sufficient for all the pur- poses of fitly administering the affairs of the country, the propriety of demanding a larger payment from the people because they have improved the soil seems, to say the least of it, to be very open to argument. Unfortunately however the time is distant when any necessity for considering this question seems likely to arise, especially if the Government does not relinquish those unjust or unwise sources of reve- nue, from which it derives a considerable portion of its pre- sent income. But I am convinced that if this system were introduced, almost all that is objectionable in the Ryotwar system on the score of its inquisitorial character would soon be obsolete and obliterated. The host of Native revenue officials would disappear ; and taking into consideration the stimulus given to industry from this and the other changes above proposed, the Government revenue would be collected as cheaply, and as cheerfully, as it is now the reverse. c i 20 Should we introduce a milage system ? But this by no means exhausts the question. The more difficult point and the most disputed remains behind. If we should introduce terms of years with a view to getting rid of a certain amount of Native agency ; could we not secure this still further by dealing with each village as a community, instead of with each villager as an individual ; in other words would it not be well to revert to the village system, or to in- troduce some such system of joint-renting as prevails in the North West. Unquestionably a village couldbe dealt with through a much smaller number of revenue servants than the present system of dealing with each Ryot entails ; and were there nothing to be considered on the other side, this might at once settle the question. I observe that the wealthy and more influential Natives advocate the village system : for instance, take the views set forth in the Madras Native Petition : but it is precisely be- cause they are wealthy, influential, and of the Presidency, that I distrust the soundness and impartiality of their views. It might suit their interests, and the interests of the wealthy in the Mofussil very well ; but would it be conducive to the happiness of by far the great majority, the poorer Ryots ? May we not recall the fable of the frogs and the bull ; what is sport to you, is death to us ? Would it not be advisable to ascertain the wishes of the people upon this subject ;* * The Civil Engineer of North Arcot writes : " No doubt every -weal- thy Native in Madras would like to have a village given to him on these terms : but not so the Kyot. As a general rule, the cultivators in this di- vision prefer the Ryotwaree system, or at all events the Ryotwaree system, as carried out say in the Arnee Zemindaree : they do not want a milage system, nor do the poorer Ryots want a fixed rent, as I would propose say for ten years ; they want to go on, as they are, with a reduced taxation." The same authority describes the system in the Arnee Zemindaree, as follows : " The vakeel of the Arnee Jagheerdar says, that, with the ex- ception of 2 or 3 villages, the land is let directly to individual ryots, on the ryotwar system, on payment in money the land is lightly assessed that, with the exception of 5 villages, where the assessment is 21 Rupees a cawny, (6,400 superficial yards) the highest assessment is 17 Rupees per cawny ; that he does not trouble himself whether a man raise one crop Do the People desire it ? 203 though I for one should not be much swayed by even the vote of the poor, were it in favour of a return to the village system, or something like it : since in their impatience of the ills they have, they might feel a natural impulse " to fly to others that they know not of." I know it is often argued, and with great ability too, that the rents could not be collected unless the Government had or two ; that the assessment is on the field ; and that he may cultivate two crops if he can ; and that, in the 5 villages above alluded to, they invaria- bly do so. Having an abundant supply of water, and even at the present low selling price of grain, he thinks, judging from the condition of his ryots, that an assessment of o pagodas, where two crops can be obtained, is not too much ; some ryots have 50 cawnies of ground in rice cultiva- tion he considers such a ryot a wealthy man ; a man can live tolerably if he have 5 cawnies ; is very hard put to it, if he have only 2 or 3 ; and with less than this, he must also let himself for hire, as a cooly, for day labour. A man is at liberty to cultivate rice, sugar, or any thing which he consi- ders most profitable, on his rice lands ; but if he convert dry cultivation (poonjah) into wet cultivation (nunjah), he must pay according to its va- lue ; but if he convert dry cultivation into rice cultivation or gardens, by digging a well at his own cost, in a situation where no water can be sup- plied by the Jagheerdar, he enjoys the profits without additional assess- ment : they make occasional remissions as the Government do, to their ryots ; they remit the revenue on seed beds (nutteucal), by which I mean the patches of nursery ground, in which the rice is raised, previous to its being transplanted ; they make no remission on a field half cultivated, Sta- lacoree ; no dittum is made (dittum is the preliminary agreement with a ryot as to the amount of his land which he intends to cultivate), nor are puttahs given, (puttah is an annual written agreement or lease showing the amount which a ryot has to pay for the crop which he rears, and the condition of his holding, and is given by the Collector at the time of Jum- mabundy or settlement,) after the dittum has been made and the ashmaish (or actual measurement of land under crop) has been gone through. If there be any reason to believe that a ryot is cultivating more than he is entitled to, an examination (ashmaish) is made ; comparing the land cul- tivated with the peemash, or survey measurement. If a ryot do not cul- tivate for two successive years, his land is taken away ; if he do not pay his rent, his property is distrained; dry crop land is assessed at from 1| to 4 Rupees a cawny. " The vakeel is in favor of this system, which is, he says, a ryotwar sys- tem, with some modifications; he does not like the village system, or con- tract system ; as he thinks the very poor are more oppressed, than in this. It is the Jagheerdar's business to keep the tanks and water-courses in re- pair ; but his late master was a miser, and would lay out nothing. The water works are in bad order ; and the collection of rent less, in conse- quence, than they ought to be the ryots ought to assist in the repairs, but they never did, and cannot be made to do, any thing ; he hopes to be able to get the young Jagheerdar to spend money on the tanks, &c. The ryots, as far as I can learn, are very well contented under this Jagheerdar, and are, in the main, comfortably off; the village servants have parcels of and assigned them, for their dues," 204 JV. West system inapplicable. the joint responsibility of the whole village for each man's performance of his contract. But I cannot see any just rea- son for making one man responsible for the losses of another, unless he is entitled also to share in his profits : which under the village system he is not. Each man makes the best he can of his separate holding ; and no one can interfere with him. Nor can I see the probability of individual tenants, so situated, not paying up their rents readily, just as in England, provided the Government will take such other measures as will render extortion unnecessary; and by putting money into the Ryot's pocket, enable him to pay his dues with ease to himself. This leads me naturally to a closer consideration of the applicability of the North West system to this Presidency. There is one difference in the circumstances of the two populations which appears to me never to have been sufficient- ly pointed out ; and which, unless I err, is fatal to the intro- duction of the N. W. scheme into this Presidency. In the North West I believe it will be found that each village consists either of a single family, or caste, or brother- hood. They are indeed called " Bhayads." We had for- merly villages of an analogous nature in this Presidency ; and they still exist in Guzerat. Now in such a state of things a community or partnership seems natural and practicable enough ; although it argues a very rude state of society : and Mr. Campbell points this out very forcibly when he tells us that to render the land liable to sale in execution of the judgments of Courts of Law, is destructive of these partner- ships, by the introduction of new parties, without the consent of the old, into the community : that this power never has been extended to the villages in the Punjaub ; and that by thus acting " we have ruined, and are ruining the communi- ties in the Provinces." Now in all our Collectorates we have Civil Courts in full operation, and land has long been freely sold in execution of their decrees, as well as liable to seques- tration for arrears due to Government. Arguments in support of a joint-rent system. 205 On the other hand it may be said that this danger would be obviated by giving the old partners a right of priority of purchase : that we have so far destroyed the village system here, that many castes have long been mingled in each village : that the people being accustomed to see land change hands under executions, would not be startled at the introduction of a compulsory partner. That although we have destroyed the old village system, so far as relates to re- venue purposes, still a good deal of the old communist cha- racter remains; that they still assess themselves by fixed rules for the Durbar kurch : for their festivals, for the repairs of irrigation works, &c. ; and in form each village still remains a perfect municipal community, having its headman and re- cognized officers ; that we should not be so much introducing a totally new system, as reverting to an old, for which society is already partially adapted, and a tender recol- lection of which may still be naturally supposed to exist even among the present generation. It is argued that an annual joint village rent compels the rich Byot to look after the interests of the poor one ; that on the independent system, the rich engross all the best soils : the distant, the poor, the over-assessed lands are cast upon the inferior class of cultivators, and in the end the revenue suffers in the shape of remittances and balances. None of these arguments appear to me incapable of a sa- tisfactory answer. To render land not liable to executions would be impossible, even if it were expedient : and to revert to the joint responsibility system would be, I conceive, a de- cided retrogression towards barbarism. The Civil Engineer of North Arcot writes as follows : " All village systems are not the same ; in some the ground is " held by a joint proprietory ; in others there is a headman or men, " with inferior ryots possessing more or less extensive rights. There " are, no doubt, some advantages in this system. Government " have to deal with one, or a few individuals, as the case may be, 206 Joint-rent system in the N. Circars. " without the intervention of so many subordinate servants ; the " money collected is, probably, as much, or more, than is collected " in ryotwaree, owing to the system of remissions ; but I do not see " how the small holders are a bit better off". What is to prevent the " few, or the one influential person at the head, from giving land to " his relatives, or to any one he chooses, to the exclusion of small " holders or proprietors ? It is easy to accuse a man of idleness ; " thus throwing a larger share of the gross rental on others, and so " forfeiting his holding. I do not mean that if a man is idle, he is " not to suffer for it; but I mean that, under this system, men may " be, and are, bullied, and kept just as poor, as it is possible to do, " under any other. The contract system, or letting a village, ap- " pears to be just introducing a middleman, to squeeze out of the " cultivator as much as he can. I do not see that, in the village " system, there is any encouragement to cultivation, that there is " not in the ryotwarree ; nor do I see that the individual cultivators " are better off. The richer ryots are, as a general rule, as well off, " under the ryotwaree, as under the other systems ; but under vil- " lage, or contract system, they may oppress the poorer, and so be- " come richer ; and they are of more consequence individually." The Commissioner for the Northern Circars has lately in- troduced a joint-rent system in some of those districts ; and the experiment is stated to have met with success: but whether that success means a success so far as the collection or increase of the Government dues is concerned, or a suc- cess with reference to the amelioration of the people's condi- tion, is a matter which may seem to require very careful in- vestigation. The joint-rent system was introduced in Rajahmundry about ten years ago, with the double object; first, of abating the evil of Native interference, which had become unbear- able ; and secondly, to secure the payment of the Govern- ment Revenue. For the first purpose it has utterly failed ; for the second it has answered only too fearfully well. The people were so divided against themselves by the dis- tinctions of caste, that it was quite clear from the very first How the joint responsibility system works. 207 that harmony never could be educed from such discordant elements ; and that the unanimity essentially necessary for a successful village joint-rent system could never result from such antagonistic ingredients. The villages here were not, as in the North West, Brother- hoods ; the Brahmins have in a great part of the district un- bounded influence ; in other parts the Rajahs, or Telingu Rajhpoots are the ruling class. Below these come eighteen different castes of Sudras, each cordially despising the rest ; and below these, though separated by a greater space than divides the lowest of the Sudras from the highest Brahmins, come the Pariahs, among whom are reckoned Native Christ- ian converts. Now all these live huddled together in sepa- rate hovels, although in theory they are on an equality with the rest of the villagers, and form a portion of the community. How could fair play be looked for, if such conflicting in- terests were left to self adjustment? As might have been ex- pected, the most influential usurped the best lands : or those which was moderately assessed. The next classes got soils which would yield a bare return for their labour, and the rest of the land would have beenleft uncultivated, but for the joint responsibility system. The whole soil must be paid for; itmust be cultivated ; but by whom ? The higher classes would not, the lower could not farm it ; at this point therefore non-interfer- ence was abandoned; the Talook officers, working silently, like all perfect machinery, took measures for having the land culti- vated, or if not cultivated, at any rate paid for. Thenceforth the joint-rent system became a source of the gravest oppres- sion ; Ryots were compelled to sign their names in the vil- lage list ; those who had found more profitable employment elsewhere, were taken bodily away by the Revenue officers to cultivate the fields alleged to belong to them ; and in- stances are not wanting of. the poor creatures declaring their willingness to pay the kist out of their earnings in other walks of life, if they might only be spared from cultivating Police revenue powers. land, which could not even return them the bare wages of their labour. But no : a forced show of prosperity was to be kept up ; and such has been the working of the joint-rent system where the assessment is too high. Where it is mo- derate, oppression assumes a modified form : there as the tax admits of a profit, the lower class is compelled to plough, not for themselves, but for others : and I, for one, do not believe that there is a community in India where equal rights for all are recognized. The lower class is powerless : and where the Native revenue officers interfere, there exists in fact a Government enforced serfdom. Mr. Mackay, confirms this view in his account of the village system in Western India ; and I should wish much to ascertain whether a simi- lar state of things does not prevail in the N. West Provinces. Let Government interference be withdrawn, and I believe the joint-rent system will break down of itself; and the poor land will entirely fall out of cultivation. The opinion of many excellent authorities is, that the system is rotten to the core : and I much fear that those who assert that it has admi- rably answered, look rather to its success as a measure for collecting the Government revenue, than for ameliorating the condition of the people. Regarded in the former light, it is no doubt a formidable instrument for screwing up the Government demands. Su- perior as the Collector under the present system is to the Courts of the country, in revenue matters ; armed with the whole power of the police, which by law is made available for collection of revenue ; enabled without recourse to any suit, and in the most summary way, to oust and sell ; he has only quietly to insist that the assessment shall be punc- tually paid, and to fine his Tahsildars in case it be not : and he may be very sure, so long as he does not inquire very strictly into the means employed,, that the land will be culti- vated, or at least paid for as if it were. Compulsion is of course necessary ; and has become so common, that one of " Driving." 209 our stereotyped Indian ideas now is, that the Natives must be driven to cultivate the land ! Some use one whip ; some another: but the whole police force of the country is in a great measure employed in revenue duties. Indeed it is ge- nerally admitted that the revenue could not be collected were it otherwise : a startling fact indeed, hinting at dark disas- trous modes of treatment, and evidencing, were other proof wanting, that all is rotten, wherever such is the case. Men may, nay, must, be driven to cultivate, when the operation cannot be effected but at the cost of their own ruin ; but to tell me that a population, wedded to agricultural pursuits, and to whom no other industry is open, will abandon the soil, and require to be "driven," so long as they can culti- vate it with profit to themselves, is taxing somewhat too much my powers of belief : credat Judseus. The assessment is such, that the land cannot be cultivated, except at a loss to the Ryot ; or at the best it returns him barely the wages of his labour. Wherever assessment has been lowered so as to meet the capability of the soil, and other measures of improvement have been introduced, no police authority is requisite for the collection of the revenue. The assessment in Canara is cheerfully and punctually paid ; and I must confess my own belief that the day which sees the Revenue and Magisterial powers of the Collectors divorced, may be well marked by the Natives with white chalk, because it will afford a conclu- sive proof that the present burthensome and oppressive sys- tem of revenue collection has already passed away from the land. I can see no just reason why a collector of revenue, as such, should, any more than coffee planters and sugar manufacturers, have any other power than that afforded him by the Courts of Justice. On the whole, whether I reason out the matter for myself, or lean upon the authority of those on whose knowledge, judgment and impartiality I can rely, I arrive at the same conclusion, that it is impossible to conceive a situation more favourable for the encouragement of individual industry than Dl 210 The Deccan. such a tenure as that which our Ryotwaree system af- fords, or rather ought to afford. Picture to yourself the position of a man perfectly isolated and protected from all interference on the part of his neighbours and supe- riors : holding his farm for a certain term at a very easy rent, fixed with reference to the capabilities of the soil and the situation of markets ; certain that so long as he continues to pay that rent to the Government, no power can evict him or his children from their holding ; with the knowledge that whatever he can by his capital and labour make out of the land, beyond the Government dues, will go exclusively into his own pocket ; and with a power of temporarily diminish- ing the area of his cultivation with a proportionate diminution of liability, according to the fortuitous variations of seasons and markets. If these be not sufficient conditions to stimulate industry, we may in vain seek for others. Fortunately at this point we are furnished with an expe- riment of sufficient extent in point of territory, and standing in point of time, by which we may fairly judge and test the success likely to attend the introduction of such measures as I have advocated, with reference both to the Government and the people. The Government of Bombay has already lower- ed its assessments in the Deccan as shown before,* and an accurate scientific survey of the whole country has been made. The second Book of Mr. Mackay's volume gives a detailed account of the process ; but the work to be studied on this topic is a pamphlet by Mr. Green, Professor of Lite- rature at Poonah College, " on the Deccan Ryots and their land tenure," in which his facts and figures seem to conclude the question. But we need not travel out of our own Presidency for an example. In the Calcutta Review for December last will be found an article on Canara, the facts and figures of which show that there is nothing inherently vicious in the Ryotwaree system ', * See page 100. Canara. 211 and that where the assessment is lowered (even though there be no correct scientific survey) and other enlightened mea- sures are introduced, the Ryotwar admits of a people rapidly rising, in little more than twenty years, from a state of " in- debtedness and poverty to affluence and content." If it be not theoretically the best system, it is that which is better ; it is, practically, the best system possible. Let us see then what has been done of late years for Ca- nara, and what have been the results. The first measure, (in what year does not appear) was to relieve the estates from a demand of 1,74,000 Rupees, and " at the same time the languishing commerce of the coast was revived by a reduction of the duty on rice from ten to three per cent, at a sacrifice of 1,40,000 Rupees." " In 1833 the demand upon a large number of estates, which " failed to come up to the reduced standard, or to which the pre- " vious revision had not extended, was reduced to an amount ad- " justed to their capabilities. The effect of this has been most " remarkable, and agriculture has made a great advance. The " pressure thus withdrawn, was a sum never really added to the " revenues of the state, while it disheartened the landholder, and " discouraged improvement. From the date of its withdrawal, the " increase of the Government revenue has been unchecked. " The next great measure of relief was the abolition of the transit " duties. With a frontier of 300 miles, these pressed with perhaps " greater severity upon this than upon other districts, and under " this head was included an excise upon the staple products, betel- " nut, pepper, and cardamums. This measure relieved the pro- " vince from taxation to the extent of 3,00,000 rupees, and has " changed the entire state of the garden cultivators, from one of in- " debtedness and proverty, to affluence and content. " The abolition of sea customs from port to port, and of all duty " on cotton in transit to Bombay ,has effected for the sea-borne trade " what the last great measure had done for that of the interior, and " nearly a similar sum of 3,00,000 has been remitted to the traders " of the coast. " A still greater boon has since been conferred. A tobacco mono- " Sacrifices." " poly had been established in this province, and taxation could " not possibly assume a worse form; and not only were its own " inherent evils of the greatest magnitude, but so long as it existed, " the abolition of the transit duties failed of half its advantages. " Search on the frontier, domiciliary visits, and oppression of every " kind, could still be practised under the pretext of zeal for the " interest of Government. This has now been swept away, and " the country is released of a taxation which may be reckoned at " 2,00,000 rupees. " Concurrently with these measures, there has been steady ad- " vance in the recognition of the claims of a large province to the " aid of Government, in the construction of public roads. Since " 1837 above 5,00,000 rupees have been expended, we will not say " on the improvement, but in the creation of public roads, chiefly " from the coast, through the line of mountains, to the table land " of Mysore, Bellary, and Darwar ; and most amply has the expen- " diture been reimbursed. Every year, for the last seventeen years, " has seen many miles of road opened to commerce, and it has seen " them crowded, as soon as made, by thousands of bullocks and " hundreds of carts. In a country where this first duty of the rul- " ing power had been neglected, from a traditionary age to the pre- " sent time, what could be done in fifteen years with small means, " is but a fraction of what is due to the country ; but it marks a " most important era in its progress." This account is the more valuable, as it shows us what is the effect not only of reduction in over assessment ; but how wise is the policy of abandoning oppressive duties and taxes, such as those on tobacco, rice, transport, export ; combined with a simultaneous outlay in the improvement of means of communication: and how triumphant a refutation, Canara which is a " picture in little" of what might be a full length portrait of the whole of this Presidency, affords to those who assert that the Company cannot afford to make what are pleasantly called sacrifices of its Revenue. In all, the remis- sions or sacrifices have been upwards of 11,00,000 Rupees, while 5 lacks of Rupees have been expended in the creation of roads. Results of" Sacrifices" shown in tabular form, The writer of the article in question has thrown the results into the following tabular form : *- OS 1* o oo f 1 1 * oo oo co a- t^ Ci Oi OO K ' 3 "o I 1 "o s^s^ EM I** ^t* "^ OS osrC ^s !"* O OO OO 'a i ( OO CM CO -2 s . p* TtToo"-^oo" 00 9 ,3 <35 O5 kO OO CM (M ^ o oo 00 O O -- OO U3 oo^ oo 1-1 co oo co o o K -T ^ rn" of "S rf 'g 00 OS C^ "5_ o eo t- CD Jj o ~ ~ 49 CN" of V c? 05 5 s o oo eo * Os <}< 00 CN CO ^, 8 co co *o o CO " "13 i^ CD 0* *"".. "^ v !> ^"1 ej oo os i QJ ^^ OH .00" CO" a CIS 2 . 1 o J2 CO C CO CO > t- CO G> CO ** CO CO O oo oo^ (4 |2 ^O CO ^^ OS PC! ^ g . 06" 06" P-, Pi o Q .2 Q k CO CO *O C^ rf CO OO I 1 1 1 o. CD eo co t^ OS CO CO CD . CO CO O TT -o 4 "T oo T S*H o *~i ^1. "^, ^V Q .2 o eo -i CO CO -H 03 c O oo oo oo oo I 1 I I 1 1 1 Present state of Canara. Sine* 1837, or in other words since the aera of" Sacrifices" commenced, population has increased by a third ; exports have nearly doubled, imports nearly trebled themselves ; while every item of Government Revenue, directly from the land, and indirectly from Moturpha, Abkarry, salt, stamps, and Ferry farms, shows a considerable improvement. Under such a state of things, the assessment, as might be expected, is easily collected, and readily paid ; there can be little or no room for extortion on the one hand, or need of bribery on the other. Native agency is rendered harmless. " The collections of the Land revenue says the writer of the " article are made with striking punctuality, and the balances irre- " coverable are of the most trifling amount. Those struck off in the " last five years on account of losses by floods, or fire, or other " causes, contrasted with the settlement of the year, afford con- " vincing proof of this. Year. Assessment. Struck off. 1258 18,85,476 714 1259 18,96,603 986 1260 19,04,731 199 1261 19,14,101 53 1262 174 " There are, at present, in Canara, fifty-five thousand holdings, of " which, nineteen thousand pay less than ten rupees a year, and yet " sales for arrears of revenue are almost unknown, and the reference " to the European officer is as frequently on the question, who shall " be allowed to pay, as who shall be made to pay, the dues of Go- " vernment." Land, where a distinct title can be traced, is easily sale- able at sixteen years purchase, and often even higher ; and this, where fifty years ago, even mortgagees were willing to abandon such land as they could not themselves cultivate, to any who would pay the land-tax. Not that all has been effected in Canara which is required : a scientific survey has yet to be made ; the assessment to be generally reduced: the newly created roads want to be Revenue question of secondary importance. 215 bridged and metalled j many more must be added ; and the backwaters have to be connected. With these improvements plus a systematic system of education, simple codes of cri- minal and civil law, and a better administration of justice, Canara is but an example of what must be the condition of the rest of the Presidency upon similar " sacrifices" being made in our other Collectorates. These are the measures I would advocate : and all this appears to me to be so easy and feasible ; and to promise such great results from such simple means ; that I hope I am not mistaken in my premises, or the conclusions deduced from them. But necessary as some such reform is, it forms but a very small item in the consideration of the general question ; what is to be done for India ? Confining our attention to the working of the revenue ex- clusively, the alterations above pointed out seem of primary importance ; their adoption will sooner or later necessitate the construction of works of communication for the purpose of preventing a glut in the home-markets ; but as soon as we turn to the topic of Public Works, it becomes evident on a little reflexion, that they involve and carry the whole ques- tion of " revenue system" and " collection :" and in truth dwarf it into comparative insignificance ; for if works of communication and irrigation be systematically carried out, the Ryot would soon be able probably to pay even the present high assessment ; although undoubtedly if it be too high, it should be reduced at once, as a measure of bare jus- tice to the people. But the point on which to concentrate attention is that of Public Works and not that of Kevenue collection : for the matter strikes me in this way. The old " Koompani" Ranee has long been seated in Lea- denhall street, in a virgin fortress, time-honoured, and enjoy- ing all the prestige of being impregnable. Weak herself, she has enlisted and relied on the support of her ally, English An illustration. public opinion, which has long availed to protect her from all assault : a few cool, earnest, determined heads having at last got together, coincide in the conclusion that this fortress is not altogether so inaccessible as it is thought. They see that their first measure must be to detach the formidable force of public opinion from the side of the old lady : and for this purpose they feel the necessity of convincing the power aforesaid that there really exists a casus belli ; for this public opinion, though sluggish, and somewhat dull, and hard of hearing, is in the main indifferent honest, and sensible ; and will act justly when once it sees its way clearly. Hitherto what with its own inertness, and the garbled information afforded by the " Koompani," it has been kept in a state of almost total ig- norance. Therefore these few heads have thought that their first steps must be to show public opinion how unworthy a cause it has espoused : and to effect this, their primary care has been to furnish an overwhelming quantity of facts. Let us suppose that they have succeeded in their first hope, and that public opinion has withdrawn from its former alliance, and is now prepared to sit down to beleaguer the very fort it so long defended. Evidently, the next necessity is to ascertain the weakest points of defence : and a little careful reconnoitreing shows that there are two salient points of attack ; let us call the one " Revenue system," the other " Public Works." Itnow be- comes a question whether we shall carry on operations simul- taneously against both ; or against one only, and which. We soon perceive that before a practicable breach can be made in the " system" of the fortifications, should we direct our efforts against " Re venue system," we shall have to sit down to a siege in regular form ; open trenches, and take one defence after another ; whereas " Public Works" offers a fair prospect for a dashing coup de main. If we take Reve- nue system, " Koompani" will in course of time be driven to concede Public Works ; but if we attack Public Works briskly, " Revenue system" becomes a matter of trifling importance, The capabilities of Madras. 217 and must fall as soon as " Public "Works" has been successful- ly stormed. At the same time it would doubtless be desirable, if possible, to steal a march upon Time, by commencing simul- taneously upon both points ; and on the whole the council of war determines to make a strong demonstration against " Re- venue system," to be converted into a real attack, if opportuni- ty offers, and at the same time to prepare to carry " Public Works" by assault. Already the signal gun has fired ; the for- lorn hope has advanced, the ladders are planted, the British cheer is raised; the defence is found unexpectedly weak, and the glorious banner of social advancement, the tri-color of Justice, Liberty, and Truth, which has been carried aloft triumphant in a hundred well-fought fields, ere long will float upon the ram- parts, never again to be plucked down. The poor old Ranee surrendering at discretion at the last moment, and exciting more of pity than anger, will be simply made to feel the treat- ment she has herself extended to so many Nabobs and Rajahs ; that' of being kept for the short remainder of her days a splendid state-prisoner, on a liberal pension, in some place of security, where she can neither do harm : nor pre- vent good. I have endeavoured to draw an unexaggerated picture of things as they are ; and have so,ught to trace the present condition of this Presidency to its true sources : and in doing this I have necessarily relied for my materials upon the statements of others better acquainted with the subject than myself. " Je reprendmon bien ou je le trouve." I would now bespeak your attention, while I endeavour to draw Madras as it may be. What then are our capabilities ? Perhaps there never was a country more favorably circumstanced for the most com- plete development of its resources. Let any one turn to the map of India. He will find that two sides of our triangle are entirely protected by the sea ; while on our base' or Northern frontier we have no fear of hostile tribes. We haye en- 1 218 Its natural advantages. joyed longer and more profound peace than either of the other Presidencies : we have far less chance of its being broken. Our territory presents a continuous sea-board of fif- teen hundred miles in extent, indented with numerous ports, capable of much improvement. The face of the country is intersected by several important rivers, emptying themselves at intervals into the sea; the Godavery, the Kistna, the Penaur, the Cauvery. Mountain chains offer us the prospect of mineral riches. Iron ores lie upon the surface of the soil in inexhaustible quantities. Nature seems by the singular gap in the mountains at Paulghat almost to have provided for the carrying of a railroad to connect the Eastern and Western coasts : we have just had ceded to us the impor- tant province of Berar, lying along the Godavery, which offers convenient and cheap water carriage to the safe port of Coringa for all the products on its banks ; it is estimated that Berar alone is capable of supplying all England with cotton and wheat, and that as a cotton growing district it is equal to any in the world. We have a line of back-waters on both the coasts, which only require connection by canals, to give the cheapest carriage in the world, for passengers and goods. The soil is such, that wherever artificial irrigation is intro- duced, vegetation springs almost spontaneously ; and the re- turns for outlay are astonishing, even to the most sanguine calculation : our vast plains offer millions of acres ready to be reclaimed, and it is melancholy to think that where Na- ture has done so much, Man, the most civilized, energetic, enterprizing in the world, has done so little. Having been one of the Central Committee for obtaining specimens of the products of this Presidency for transmis- sion to the great Exhibition, in active communication with Branch Committees all over the surface of the country, I am able to speak generally of the vast and various resources of Ma- dras, so far as they are at present known : valuable lists have been published under the superintendence of our Secretary, Its products. 219 Dr. Balfour, who has also arranged the lately established-muse- um of Economic Geology : and it is to be hoped that among the glitter, the dazzle, and the show of Eastern arms and ivory, and dyes and jewels, the more sombre but perhaps not less valuable specimens of our minerals and clays attract- ed the attention of the scientific and the thoughtful. I speak not now of the diamonds of the Ceded Districts, the Kistna, the Mahanuddy, and Bundlecund ; the pearls and the rubies which are found in the Corundum districts ; the garnets and cinnamon stones which abound, especially the former, in many localities ; because their value and their bulk both enable them to be carried under even present cir- cumstances : but the heavier minerals used in the arts ; carne- lions, onyxes, bloodstones, jasper, plasma, opals, mica, talc, corundum, emery, graphites, occur in an abundance which no demand could exhaust. Coal is found on the Nerbudda, and the Godavery ; in Cut- tack, and Burdwan : while for want of carriage, all the coals and patent fuel consumed by the Steamers are brought from England. Iron, literally lies upon the surface of almost every district, in one shape or the other ; oxide of iron, mag- netic iron ore, and chrome of iron. Gold has been discover- ed in thirty or forty places in Southern India : lead ore lies in the Ceded Districts, copper in Nellore, and manganese ores in Mysore. Our marbles are most abundant : compact, as well as crystalline, they occupy large tracts. The fossil marbles of Pondicherry and Trichinopoly have long been used in their vicinities for useful and ornamental purposes. Com- pact, crystalline and magnesian marbles extend from the mouths of the Kistna, westward, towards the Gulpurba and Mulpurba in the vicinity of Kulladghee. They are as beau- tiful as they are abundant. Some of them, for instance the" whole of the crystalline marbles of Guntoor, and the green magnesian marbles of Ghooty and the Southern Maharatta Country, are equal to all the purposes of the statuary. 220 The character of the People. Porphyries, talc, granite, and green stone, of every co- lour to please the eye and suit the taste, occur in many pla- ces in the Carnatic, the Ceded Districts, Hyderabad, and Mysore. Clays of every hue and description, kaolin and fine porce- lain, are most profusely scattered over the country. Our immense forests, 800 miles long and 40 wide, on the Western and Eastern ghauts, and those of Orissa, are known to produce woods which for strength and beauty will bear comparison with those of any country in the world: while the most valuable gums used in medicine and the arts, exude and are gathered from their trunks. I need scarcely mention our rice, salt, sugar, cotton, indi- go, wheat of Berar, Coimbatore and Salem; oil-seeds and other articles of ordinary export, and commerce. Such is a popular account of the productions of this Pre- sidency, so far as our present imperfect information enables us to give it : a glance is enough to satisfy us that inexhausti- ble mineral and vegetable wealth is lying useless and unpro- fitable for want of any means of transport : and that our vege- table products may be almost infinitely extended if only cheap means of transit be provided. The people too are the most patient, docile, easily satisfied, ingenious, laborious, temperate, cheerful, in the world. Mr. Bourdillon speaks of them as follows : " They are industrious, drderly and peaceful ; were they other- " wise, with their untutored passions and uneducated moral sense, " the country would not be as quiet and safe as it is. They are " also remarkably sensible of and grateful for any kindness and " attention to their wants and to their grievances, on the part of " those set over them ; yet even their gratitude for such small " kindness has in it something painful, as it shows how little they " have been habituated to kind or considerate treatment." Colonel Sinij a very competent witness, bears the follow- Unjust accusation of apathy. ing testimony in his evidence before the Lords' Committee. (Q. 8848-9) : " I entertain a very favourable opinion of the Natives of India ; " both of their intellectual and moral qualities. I have seen boys " in the High School who entered it without knowing the English " Alphabet, in three or four years studying the higher branches of " Mathematics, and passing an examination which the English " Chaplains who attended, observed would have done credit to the " Universities of Oxford and Cambridge ; and in point of honesty " and even veracity, I think they are not inferior to the people of " other countries. I speak of the people in the interior of the " country ; the agricultural classes chiefly with whom I had much " intercourse. Persons are apt to judge too frequently of the " Natives of India by those whom they find about the precincts " of the different Courts of Justice. There are many temptations " there to mendacity ! and the atmosphere is unfavourable to truth- " fulness ! but probably the same thing will be found in other " countries under the same circumstances. In all the situations in " which the Natives have hitherto been employed, they have proved " very efficient and valuable servants ; and as education advances, " and they become more enlightened and freed from the prejudices ' and customs of the country, and improved by the example of " their European rulers, I believe they will qualify themselves gra- " dually for higher employment and offices than they have yet " filled." It is much the fashion to accuse them of apathy, and to ascribe their present helpless degraded position to their care- lessness about bettering themselves. Certainly if the allega- tion were true, they would be the most singular people in the whole world : but the truth is, I believe, the very re- verse. No man is more awake to his own interest than the mercantile Hindu ; and a very competent authority, Mr. James Thomson, a Merchant, and President of the Madras Chamber of Commerce, puts the matter upon what appear to me its true grounds. Speaking of the state of agriculture, he says : " I have heard this state of things attributed to apathy of the Their affection for relations and home, " Natives, their want of enterprize, and their dislike of change, but " I cannot say that this view of the case is confirmed by my expe- " rience of the Native character. I have generally found them " open to the adoption of any improvements and the introduction of " any change, when satisfied that the same will prove personally " beneficial : but being poor they are naturally very cautious in em- " ploying their labour in channels of which they have no experience. " That the Natives are not enterprizing is true, but it is their po- " verty which is the cause. If they had the means and the educa- " tion necessary, I believe you would not find them one whit behind " ourselves in any enterprize which might be open to them." I have indeed never heard but one opinion of them in res- pect of their docility ; and I am happy to add my own hum- ble testimony to the judgment of others. No people in the world have more affection for their off- spring. Their respect to their parents is equally marked. When a sepoy goes on foreign service, or a domestic servant leaves Madras for up-country service, a family certificate is invari- ably left with his aged mother, entitling her to a consider- able portion of his pay. Whoever has travelled or gone out shooting must have witnessed the ready kindness of the peo- ple in any case of difficulty requiring assistance. Where the Ryots are themselves above want, no small portion of their store of grain is daily expended in charitable donations to the poor and wayfarer : and I have found the chapters of Mr. Shore's work, on Native character, such is the stability of manners and customs in the East, very consonant, even at the present day, to my own personal observation and experi- ence of them. No people are so attached to the soil. The aim of most men is " there to return, and die at home at last ;" and such is the presumption against a man's abandoning his paternal acres, that the Law reserves the right of absentees in family property down to the seventh generation. In the higher walks of life they display great capacities. The artificers and manufactures are particularly ingenious. No merchants in the world are more shrewd than those of Their capacity their witness for Council, India : the whole people are wonderfully ready at accounts : among the children of the higher classes, who have been educated at the High School, I could point to instances of intelligence of which any European might be proud : in the Medical School, now that their caste prejudices have been overcome, they have particularly excelled. Almost the whole original jurisdiction of India has passed into their hands they are admitted to have succeeded better as judges than their European contemporaries : and I see no reason why they should not succeed in every walk and profession of life equally with ourselves, were the opportunities thrown open to them : and they educated to take advantage thereof. At the same time I will not shrink from expressing my honest opinion upon a point which some of the Native community seem to have very much at heart, although I am aware that in so doing I may expose myself, as I have once before from the same cause, to much obloquy. I allude to the immediate promotion of the Natives to seats in the Presidency Councils. Against this I enter unhesitatingly my protest : first, be- cause I believe the Natives are neither morally nor intellec- tually fitted as yet for an office, the due discharge of which requires the exercise of the very highest qualifications of the human mind. Secondly : because it would be inverting the ordinary course of things, were we at once to introduce them, as it were, per saltum to the highest functions of the State, without hav- ing in the first instance gradually opened up to them the in- termediate professions of life, and carefully watched how they comported themselves and succeeded therein. Thirdly : because I believe the clamour raised upon this point emanates only from a few educated Natives at the se- veral Presidency towns, with whom such an elevation is na- turally an object of ambition ; and that it does not represent the wishes of the great body of the people. Advice to the Natives. Fourthly : because I think that the people at large are not prepared for so a sudden elevation of any of their countrymen ; and that while it would probably create much heart burning in many quarters, the great body of the peo- ple is totally indifferent upon the subject ; if indeed, which I doubt, it has ever been mooted among them. Lastly : because so far as this Presidency is concerned, I think the second Madras Petition, emanating from the very class which claims to supply the Council, is of itself a con- clusive proof against the qualifications of those who signed it, for the task of administering the Government. The Natives ought to be well satisfied with the progress which they have made, and are making : and the great fact that within the last twenty years almost the entire original jurisdiction of the country has passed into their hands ought to satisfy them of the honesty of our intentions by them. Let them study the evidence of Sir Charles Trevelyan, that really sound friend of India ; and let them lay to heart the pregnant words of Lord Elphinstone, uttered before the as- sembled Directors, and the President of Board of Controul, who declared that the noble Lord had properly conceived and laid down the three prominent objects of his approach- ing Government at Bombay. They were as follows : first, to develop the resources of the country ; secondly, to promote the sound and practical secular education of the Natives ; and thirdly, to advance and promote, as opportunities might offer, those Natives who might qualify themselves for situa- tions of trust in the public service. Let the Natives remember this ; which they seem singu- larly to have forgotten, that qualification must precede ad- vancement : and let their agitation take the legitimate direc- tion of compelling the Government to grant them liberally extended, systematic means and opportunities of acquiring qualifications, instead of pressing prematurely for admission to the highest offices for which they are certainly unfitted, The real charge against the Indian Government. 225 though they possibly might not be so, had we honestly dis- charged our educational duties towards them. Now what has England done for this Country and this People ? Nothing is more easy or plausible, but at the same time nothing is more fallacious, than for some gentleman in Par- liament, who has been well primed with figures, and cram- med with statistics at the India House, to get up in his place and mystify the House with an impressive array of expenditure ; pointing out sundry magnificent works erect- ed at much outlay ; referring to enlarging exports and im- ports, and an increasing population, in a fashion which quite staggers and bafEes the uninitiated ; and admits of no reply, when he asks triumphantly, and with all the strength of maligned integrity and injured honesty, venerable as his own white hairs, and with an air of innocence spotless as his own white waistcoat, who dare throw a stone at the Indian Go- vernment in the teeth of these facts and so the real matter at issue is evaded ; for it cannot be too fully borne in mind that the charge against the Indian Government is not that it has done nothing ; (it has indeed done much ; and let its just meed of praise be awarded) but that it has left so much undone : that the little, comparatively speaking which has been effected, has only been attempted after the most unrea- sonable delay, and almost upon compulsion ; and that we have no right to expect better treatment for the future at its hands, than we have experienced in times gone by. As a good instance of the use of the fallacious argument above adverted to, among many during the last sessions of Parliament, take the following. When an honourable member had been inveighing against the Indian Government's sins of omission, one of their supporters got up and by way of answer, asserted, with some indignation, that the charge was unfounded, because a man might now a days travel from Fi 226 Mr. Kaye's Book. Agra to Delhi, and not meet a lion in the way ! If this be not throwing India a stone, when she asks for bread, I know not what is. We say there are no roads ; the answer is " there are no Pindarrees." We allege facilities and oppor- tunities of good neglected " Circumspice," cries the defender of Indian Government, and Indian abuses, " Behold this or that great work just completed or now in progress ; and pray remember that from the very commencement of our rule we have had a most uphill task" " sublimes scandere Rupes" a paronomasiast might be tempted to reply. We ask that the condition of the rising generation may be ameli- orated : we are reminded that infanticide has been checked ; we call for improved education, we are informed that there is a school of industry at Jubbulpore for little Thuglings. We complain of the defective state of the administration of Justice, and the Statute Book we are referred to the abolition of Sut- tee, and the measures in force for the suppression of dakoits ; we demand better qualified judges ; their short-comings are slurred over as " betises." We require a better system of land Revenue j we are reminded that the Company has been fully occupied in acquiring additional territory ; we claim an outlay in the construction of roads : we are told that the money has been expended in wars': we supplicate for a reduction of post- age; we are bid admire the Electric Telegraph ; we desire a systematic plan of irrigation ; some two or three exceptional works in Kajahmundry and Tanjore are ostentatiously pa- raded over and over again till we are sick of them ; and so on to the end of the chapter. Mr. Kaye's book has gained great reputation and deser- vedly : for it is very charmingly written ; so as to captivate the general reader, while it makes the best possible case on behalf of the Company. We may legitimately assume that h.e has said all that can be said for them : but after all, what js his book but a clever illustration of the oft-repeated fallacy, A word to Mr. Marshman. forcibly urged by Mr. Marshman* in his letter to Mr. Bright, that we are to try the Directors by what they have done ; not by what they might have done, and have left undone. * Mr. Marshman, the ex-Friend of India, than whom no man now in England knows better the truth of my charges, I see, repeats this cuckoo note ; for which purpose he lugs my name into a Pamphlet, entitled " How wars arise in India !" Mr. Marshman is a man of ability and great Indian knowledge : though I find him tripping in his evidence before the Lords, when he touches on Madras, thus verifying the old adage, " ne sutor ultra." His name is at least as well known in India as in England ; perhaps better : he was for many years the Bengalee Translator to Government, on a salary of 800 Rupees a month ; and he still holds the lucrative Government contract for paper ; the recipient of past, the holder of present, the expectant of future favours, he may probably be regarded as a better advocate than witness. He is, I learn, now a high authority in high quarters ; advising, writing, deposing ; if he will be less of the Bezonian, and declaring under which king he fights, openly take up the cause of the Indian Judges, I will break a lance, nay, go to the death with him on such a quarrel ; for he is at any rate beyond all champions who have yet entered the lists, a foeman worthy of my steel-pen. He talks, forsooth, of " Arabiniana" (p. 667), Election Committees' decisions (!) and Justice's justice; but his comparison carries its death wound on its face : for the decisions I quoted are not from Petty or Uuar- ter Sessions ; not mere night cases, and trumpery fines by Magistrates ; but emanating from Courts of the highest civil and criminal jurisdiction, pre- siding over territories, each on an average nearly as large as North and South Wales together, with a population of 11,00,000 souls. Let Mr. Marshman study a picture drawn much about the time when his Pamphlet appeared. The artist is Mr. Francis Horsley Robinson, a Bengal Civilian, and who has been himself a Judge in the North West. In his late Pamphlet, " What good may come out of the India Bill," he writes as follows, (p. 97) : " In the third place, the Courts are inefficient ; I was myself appointed to the Chief Court, though I had been a Revenue officer all my life, be- cause it had got into such confusion, that it was thought necessary to no- minate some one unconnected with the squabbles existing in it, to make the machine work at all. / have seen many men sitting in that Court as incompetent and more incompetent than myself. The Lower Courts are of course of no better composition ; and if they were, they have no certain law to administer. There is no code but a code of Procedure ; and that is most complex and obstructive of the course of justice. The rights in land are undefined by statute; there is absolutely no commercial law: there is no law of inheritance, marriage, or divorce for Indian Christians, not British subjects ;" and he adds, as I have before remarked, that any stranger settling in India far from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court would be a fool for his pains. The two Dromios were not more of a stature than the twins of Justice in Bengal and Madras, according to this account. " A bad Collector," says Mr. Henry Lushington in his " Double Government," " is a worse Mr. Kaye's silence as to Madras. What praise is fairly the Company's he has bestowed upon them: what arguments he could use 'in their support, he has made use of ; and therefore his almost total omission of the state of the Madras Presidency is a virtual admission that the truth of our representations of its condition cannot be disputed. thing than a bad Judge ; and accordingly the bad bargains are shelved on the Bench, comparatively out of harm's way." One of our own Mofussil Judges writes to me, " I am as free as any man to admit, that our system of practice and law is rotten from head to foot ; and that the utmost absurdities and iniquities are daily perpetrated ; but how could it be otherwise ? I hold that it is the system that is in fault, and not individual men, who can only walk by the light that is in them." Once and for all, I hereby challenge Mr. Marshman, and even " one of the most eminent and venerable of the Judges of England" to boot, to produce decisions at all approximating in folly to those which I have, and can extract from the Reports of the Indian Courts. By way of commencement let them match the two following, one taken from the Company's highest Court of Appeal in Bombay, the other from the corresponding Court at Calcutta ; and both passed in the year of grace 1853. They may be regarded as Indian judicial readings on the two law maxims " Volenti non fit injuria," and " Non culpa, nisi mens sit rea." " The first case is extracted from the Bombay Telegraph and Courier of the 20th of January last. " The case was this : " Poolchund Nulchund, by caste a Banian, was charged with wilful murder, with having made three of his children (Duvalu and Goslub, daughters, and Ambaram, a son) drink bhang, and when the children were intoxicated, placed them on a pile of wood, and set fire to the wood, whereby the children were burnt to death. The case was tried by Mr. Frere. The prisoner was found guilty. The sentence was as follows : ' You, Poolchund Nulchund, being found guilty of murder, the sentence ' of the Court upon you is, that you be imprisoned in solitary confinement ' for eighteen months, and that you be twice flogged, receiving each time 1 twenty-five stripes, once on the commencement of the execution of this 1 sentence, and once on your release from goal ! ! ! " In handing up the case for confirmation of the sentence to the Sud- der, Mr. Frere observes : ' The only difficult feature presented in this ' case is the punishment that ought to be awarded. The convict pleads ' guilty, and there is no doubt of his having committed the murders with ' which he stands charged, and also having attempted suicide. It is never ' even suggested that he was deranged ; and the crimes he has committed ' appear to have been caused by a kind of religious fanaticism alone. " ' A sentence of death would have been no punishment to the prison- 4 er, nor wonld the execution of it have served as an example to others ' if others could be found likely to commit a similar crime. Nor didtrans- ' portation appear to me a more fitting sentence to pass than death. I ' however thought that actual, not mere nominal flogging, and a long ' period of solitary confinement, in which the prisoner's health as well as Mr. Kaye on Madras Justice. 229 Thus on the subject of the administration of Justice; in thirteen lines, he slurs . over the exposures of the Madras Courts, by playfully terming them betises; (p. 429), and says, there would be no difficulty in compiling an equal number of proofs of incapacity and corruption (which by the way was never charged) out of the Assize Intelligence contained in a six months' file of a London journal. But the problem to be solved is, not to find a number of absurd decisions of Jurymen; or ridiculous scenes in Court; but to convict the Judges of England of an equal amount of betises I will give him the whole series of Eeports, and any time he may require, and defy him. Whoever, be he high ' his own life would be taken care of, would have a more salutary effect ' upon the prisoner as well as the public than any other sentence I could ' pass.' " The case was considered in the Sudder on the 23rd December, 1852, before Messrs. Legeyt, Grant, and Warden. " Mr. Warden in his minute observes, on the exculpatory circum- stances' urged by the prisoner in his confessions, which are, ' that the ' destruction of his children and the attempt to destroy himself, were the ' solemnization of a religious rite performed on a day when a passage to ' heaven was believed to be open to all who died on that day, and with ' the consent of such children as were old enough to express a consent ;' whence, says Mr. Warden, ' it is to be deduced, that he believed the third, ' had he been old enough, icould have consented also, and that the father 1 consented on the child's behalf .' ! ! " ' Mr. Legeyt thinks the case should be sent back for inquiry as to ' the prisoner's state of mind.' " Mr. Grant argues as follows : ' The sessions judge has undoubtedly ' embarrassed the Court. He has forgotten that punishment is not in- ' tended to be malicious. If the culprit courted death and received it ' from justice, the latter would have been saved from the imputation of ' being biassed, by the presumed devices of the culprit. The sentence is ' unquestionably an inadequate one ; but it is considered also an unsuitable ' one, because the effect of solitary confinement upon such a mind would ' probably be insanity. If, then, solitary imprisonment will drive Pool- ' chund mad, would not transportation be a mitigation f " Such is the Bombay case. " The Calcutta case is this. It is taken from the Englishman of the 16th March, 1853. " Nurst Jerghia was tried by Mr. Garstin, the session judge of Sarum, for the murder of an infant named Tughroo, aged four months. " The facts are as follows : On the 22nd of December last, the prison- er desired the prosecutrix, her sister-in-law, the mother of the child, to take some rice to her brother in the fields. She did so ; leaving the infant in prisoner's charge. On her return she found the child in the prisoner's 230 Mr. Kaye on Madras Education. or low, asserts such a proposition, is, I say, with Mr. Philli- more, guilty of a gross calumny. So again in his Chapter on Native Education (page 615), he devotes nearly four whole lines to Madras, and taking re- fuge in the imperfect state of the Madras returns, by some legerdemain which is not very clear to my apprehension, es- timates the number of pupils in our Government Schools at 30,000 ! What is the fact ? Sir James Weir Hogg, in his speech of 6th June, 1853, tells us, there is but one School in Madras ; and I, who Was for many years a Governor of the Institution, know that the average number of pupils, until the present year, never exceeded 160 boys, and that only 16 per annum were turned out educated ! But his Chapter on the Madras Revenue system is a really valuable mine of admissions ; as indeed are all the works of the defenders or the apologists of the Company. I shall take advantage of this by and bye. For the present, I only wish to point out the fallacy with which this Chapter con- cludes. arms much scratched, and swollen about the neck. The child died at eight o'clock on the eve of the same day. The prisoner admitted that she had squeezed the child's throat, and that it was her fate to destroy it. The evidence of the surgeon showed that the child had died by pressure, strangulation. The prisoner's father-in-law deposed to the women having had frequent quarrels, and to the prisoner's threatening to kill the child if the mother did not leave the house. " The Mahommedan law officer was for acquittal. Mr. Garstin differing from him, the case was referred to the Sudder. " Mr. Dunbar of the Sudder observes as follows : ' Considering the ' ease with which she might have completed her purpose, had her inten- 1 tion been to kill the child, I think it reasonable to infer she meant no- ' thing more than to do such hurt to the child as would seriously alarm ' the mother, and compel her to leave the house. The depositions of the ' medical officer show that the congestion of the organs caused by the ' strangulation was greater than so young a child could bear. It is to be ' inferred from this, that if the child had been older, or the strangulation ' somewhat less, death would probably not have ensued. The prisoner could ' not of course be aware of the exact degree of violence which she could use ' without danger to life, and therefore probably injured the child to a 1 greater extent than she contemplated. Giving her the benefit of the ' doubts which fairly arise in this case,' &c. When these two cases have been successfully capped, I shall be happy to furnish my antagonists with more work of a still tougher description. Mr. Kaye on Madras Revenue. 231 Mr. Kaye admits the Ryotwaree to be a failure, but lie says " unsuccessful experiments are no uncommon things in " the history of human administration." (page 232) Un- questionably not ; but generally speaking, when an experi- ment has been tried and found useless or -worse, it is remedi- ed or rejected; and not allowed to be carried on for a quar- ter of a century or more, inflicting injury, loss, ruin, on all concerned in it. Be it remembered that the " experiment" here spoken of vitally concerns the welfare of a whole population of some 22 millions : that its failure has been admitted by the ablest of the Company's own servants ; and the source of failure pointed out over and over again. Munro from the commencement advocated, as a necessa- ry part of the Eyotwar system, a reduction of 25 per cent, on the original settlement. In 1798 he says the rent is too high. Col. Read reported that while the rent in Bengal was forty-seven Pagodas the square mile, in Madras it was seventy. In 1807 Munro wrote to the Board of Revenue that a re- duction of 25 per cent, should be made. Mr. Kaye says, " These surveys had been somewhat loose- " ly conducted. There was an entire want of uniformity in " them except in one particular that all the lands were " more or less over-assessed." " The early Ryotwaree men " had greatly over-assessed the land, and no system could " have borne up against such an exorbitant valuation." In 1818 the Board of Revenue urged that the lands were subjected to an over-assessment, founded upon the fallacious data of the Ryotwar collections. In fact it was nearly every where they said " a mere rack rent." In 1821 Munro acknowledged that there were no means of bringing more land under cultivation except by reducing the Mr. Kaye's " Experiment." assessment. And twenty years afterwards Lord Elphinstone enunciated the same truth. The experiment is not abandoned yet. Mr. Kaye tells us further on " the assessments made, under " the circumstances were extremely unequal : but excessive- " ness was their general character. These excessive assess- " ments were the curse of the country. They brought " everything to ruin. First, one system was tried then " another. But over-assessment brought them all to the " ground." True, Mr. Kaye (page 228) hopes that the assessments may be lowered, and that the people will soon reap the benefit of the change ; but what is to be said in defence of a Government, which, with the vital radical error of a system of taxation that was slowly ruining the people, pointed out to them over and over again by their best and ablest officers, nevertheless has continued, to allow the " ex- periment" to be carried on for upwards of half a century ? But even this is not all ; for Mr. Kaye lets us behind the cur- tain as to two very important facts ; first, how the revenue was increased, above what it had been in Tippoo's time, by the Company ; secondly, how the people have additional tax- ation to bear. As to the first, he tells us that Graham wrote to the Chief as follows : " The increase to the public revenues, has been obtained in " consequence of Government having added thereto that portion " of the produce which is the life of future exertions in husbandry, " and, as a compensation for a variety of disasters peculiar to the " country, ought undoubtedly to go to the farmer. Upon this view " of the subject, although it may be deemed unusual official lan- " guage, yet I hesitate not to regret every pagoda that'has been " thus added to the Jumma, because I am sensible of its evil " tendency, and because I have ever been taught to believe that *' the affairs of Government flourish in proportion to the prosperity " of its servants." Torture. As to the second he tells us that Munro wrote in 1798 : " They (the rents) are on an average nearly what they were " under Tippoo. The inhabitants paid the same then as now; but " the deficiency of his receipts arose from the peculations of a host " of revenue servants." Now the Company will not stand this. The full amount of their fixed revenue must be paid up : no margin is allow- ed for the peculations of the Native Collectors ; and we are reduced to the alternative of believing either that the reve- nue servants have suddenly become immaculate, or that the amount of customary peculations is extorted from the Ryots in addition to their dues to the Government. All probability is against the first conclusion : so is all actual experience. It is universally asserted that torture is extensively resorted to for the purpose of extracting dues from the Ryots. Mr. Morrison informs me he has himself seen it, in the form of making a man sit with a heavy stone on his head in the sun for some two hours, at the expiration of which the " experiment," was successful ; as the debtor unfastened his girdle and paid his Rupee. What must be the poverty-stricken state of the Ryot before such practices are necessary to squeeze a single Rupee out of him ! Torture, sounds so strange to English ears that it is diffi- cult to impress a belief in its existence upon the public but when Mr. Kaye informs us that only so late as 1802 trie re- gulations of Lord Cornwallis took from the Native revenue officers the power to punish and confine, which they had ex- ercised to coerce the Ryot to cultivate, and annually to take from him all that he was able to pay : and when in a foot note he quotes a Minute of the Madras^Board of Revenue, whence we learn what those means of " coercion" were ; we may be prepared to expect even now their occasional use, not- withstanding they are forbidden by the Law. " The Tahsildar (f was stripped of the ketticole or hand torture, the stone plac- " ed on the head under a burning sun, the stocks, and other of Gl 234 Futuro in dies:' " his former insignia of office, by the display and occasional " use of which he had been enabled to saddle the Ryots " with the rents of such lands as he deemed proper. The " lictor deprived of his fasces was no longer terrible to the " people." Every day's conversation here teaches us that the " insig- nia of office" though no longer openly borne, are very far from being either forgotten or laid aside. We may have robbed the lictor of his rods, but he has still got the axe in his pocket. Nothing can be more cautiously guarded than the whole of Mr. Kaye's language in this chapter. Take for instance the passage (page 225) in which he de- scribes the change which Lord Cornwallis' Regulations were calculated to introduce : " Under the improved Ryotwar system this mighty oppression ivas " now to be formally repudiated and renounced. All compulsion " or restraint on the free labor of the Ryot was to cease under the " new system, and the native revenue officers were to be especially " warned against the assumption and exercise of improper power. " Freedom of labor was declared by the Court of Directors to be " the basis of the new settlement, and the Madras Board of Reve- " nue enforced upon the Collectors the paramount duty of restrain- " ing their native underlings, and protecting the liberties of the " people. Under the new system, too, proprietary rights were to " be recognized, which had not been recognized before ; and above " all, the heavy assessment, which had pressed so severely on the " industrial energies of the Ryots, was to be considerably reduced. " The Orders of Government were ' to fix such a rate of assessment' as was calcidated to give encouragement to agricultural industry, " and thereby promote the general prosperity of the country." Throughout he tells us what was to be : does he venture to say that one of these results has been realised ? "Whenever he speaks of grievances the language is, not that they have been, but that they may be, or are to be remedied : and would he not have triumphantly appealed to any instances of grievances redressed, had it been in his power ? What has England done for Madras ? 235 Read by these lights, Mr. Kaye seems as much entitled to Indian thanks for his book as any other of the Civilians who have come forward at this crisis ; and as I am writing solely about Madras, I can, in return for his admissions, conceded openly or tacitly, by his language or his silence, make the Court of Directors a present of all the eulogies which he justly enough bestows, and all the praise which he claims for their good actions in regard to more favoured or more for- tunate Presidencies. Once again, what has England done for this Country and this People ? Independently of fettering them with a Revenue system, the most grinding and ruinous that the ingenuity of man could devise, she has left things much as she found them, except indeed where she has let ancient works of irriga- tion become useless from want of repair. She can scarcely be said to have opened up any communication between the interior and the coast, or between the various districts of the interior with one another. The effect has been described in these pages. In Bellary and Cuddapah, half as big as Eng- land, there are only 30 miles of made road. In Bellary double the extent of Wales there is not a bridge of two yards span. In Rajahmundry the Collector informed me that hav- ing, I think he said, only 400 Rupees a year allowed for that item of expense, he ignored the fact of there being any road in his district, whenever the matter was brought to his notice. Indeed a penny half penny the square mile is all that a Collector is permitted to apply to the roads in his district without references, estimates, sanctions, and so forth. In Ganjam, my brother informs me, there are not 10 miles of made road. In Salem, often quoted for the excellence of its roads, I have myself seen the effect of the rains upon the traffic, which was put a stop to by a trifling unbridged nullah : and indeed though there the roads are broad, well denned, and shaded by noble avenues of trees, they are unmettled, and 236 Varieties of industry not to be looked for. consequently become almost impassable in the monsoons and though they afford the means of intercommunication to the district, they are useless as a medium of external traffic, from the want of roads connecting them with other districts. Mr. Dykes' evidence concerning the present state of the roads in Salem may be consulted with advantage. Even there, where the best roads in the Presidency are supposed to exist, they are gradually going out of repair ; and the Go- vernment having appropriated to their own uses the toll which the people in the first instance voluntarily contributed for the specific purpose of the roads, the Ryots are getting naturally disgusted at this patent breach of faith, and refuse any longer to afford their so-called voluntary labour in mend- ing the ways : and as Mr. Dykes observes that the trunk roads are of comparatively little value for want of a net work of cross roads connecting the villages with each other and the Towns. Only the most valuable products such as beetle and indigo will bear the cost of transport ; and the effect is, as has been described " exactly the same as if each limited tract of " country belonged to some petty Chieftain who levied heavy " duties on all goods passing in or out ; and much heavier " on the more bulky than on the valuable." It is chimerical to suppose that with such a population as the Indian, chiefly agricultural, wedded to caste, uneducated, we can by any legislative measures at once raise up any great varieties of new industry. We must deal with the people as we find them : and, like all other nations, they will have to go through a long and varied process, before they will work out among themselves such a spontaneous re-distribu- tion of industry as will meet the necessities of the case. The farmer and the offspring of the farmer continue farmers to the end of the chapter ; it is to the soil therefore that we must seek in the first instance to apply the increased industrial powers of the people ; or in other words, we must afford the greatest possible facilities and inducements to the We must turn industry upon the soil : hoiv. 231 Ryots to make the land more productive. Now it is clear that the land will be pecuniarily most productive when it raises, not mere grains for home consumption, but those crops which are adapted for export to foreign markets : such as indigd, cotton, sugar, spices, tobacco and the like ; and this is precisely the change into which the Native cultivator would, from his habit, most readily fall. In point of fact it would be scarcely any change at all, so far as his habits, cus- toms and prejudies are concerned; since it would consist only in the substitution of a more for a less valuable descrip- tion of crop. But it is quite clear that however we may better the phy- sical condition of the Ryot by such improvements in the revenue system as have been above pointed out ; however we may enable him to supply himself more abundantly with actual food ; yet it will be vain to expect that he will em- bark in the cultivation of the more costly description of crops, unless a means of exit for such produce be at the same time afforded him : and whatever shall make this means of exit more cheap and safe, becomes at once of primary import- ance. This question of carrying therefore, or in other words, our communications, is, after all, the vital point to be attended to : for it includes and carries in itself the germ and enforcement of all other improvements, physical, moral, and intellectual, which, roads once carried out, become a cer- tainty, and thenceforth may be regarded as a mere question of more or less time. Indeed the members of our local Government seem at last awake to this truth ; although I much fear that their ad- missions on paper will serve the country very little in prac- tice, if the views of the President, that " Public "Works will progress as fast as is desirable through the operation of the surplus or available revenue," and his Excellency's opposition to loans being taken up for such purposes, are permitted to prevail. 238 Views of the Madras Council. Since the note at page 53 was printed, I have carefully perused the Minutes of the Members of Council on the Pub- lic Works Report ; and abstracted therefrom the views of all three on this vital point ; those of the Governor are given above. The Hon'ble Mr. Thomas thinks that there should be a large expenditure in Public Works, as compared with form- er years, even though there should not be a surplus revenue. He is of opinion that irrigation works should be carried on to such a point as to secure the people against famine ; and that after this, the want of this Presidency is not so much the further extension of irrigation, as the formation of roads and other facilities for the distribution of the produce of the land ; as otherwise the production of grain increases ; there is no outlet ; a glut ensues ; prices fall ; and either the Ryot is ruined, or Government is forced to lower its rate of as- sessment : and he argues that works of irrigation and com- munication should be carried on simultaneously. " Those," says the Hon'ble Mr. Eliott " who have a strong apprehension that the improvement of irrigation gives too great a stimulus to the production of grain, ought most stre- nuously to support a very liberal expenditure in roads, with a view to give the greatest possible vent and diffusion to produce, as the only means of preventing the glut they anti- cipate ;" and again, after an honourable admission that the facts and arguments of the Commissioners with respect to maintaining and increasing works of irrigation, have led him " to take a larger view of the duty of Government in this be- half than he had previously entertained." Mr. Eliott proceeds as follows : " I must say the same with regard to roads and communications : " I have become more sensible of the importance of opening up the " country by these means, as the most effectual method of drawing " out its resources : and more conscious of the obligation of Govern- " ment to lay out money liberally in the formation of roads and The Hon'ble Mr. Eliott. 239 " canals with a view to the promotion of commerce : more confident " at the same time of return for the expense in the improvement of " the revenue : an improvement distinctly appreciable in the case " of the revenue from salt ; and not less certain, though not so ob- " vious, as produced indirectly on the revenue from the land, the " grand resource of Indian finance. I am persuaded that it is only " by simultaneous efforts on a great scale in the improvement and " extension of irrigation ; and facilitating the transport of produce, " by making good roads and other communications leading to the " principal marts, and especially from the heart of the country " coastward, that we have any reason to expect any augmenta- " tions of the present revenue, if indeed without such means it can " be maintained at the present standard. By such efforts I am con- " vinced that we may not only maintain it, but largely augment it, " with infinite relief to those from whom it is raised ; that not only " will the cost be recovered, and the revenue permanently secured, " while the people will be raised and put in the way of acquiring " wealth ; but that with the same benefit to the people, the finances " will be growing, and a large profit accruing." Words, these, which can afford to be written in letters of gold* * It may seem strange to a reader in England that I should set such store by principles which will probably be accepted there as self-evident truisms; and many of my own opinions and conclusions in these pages are, I am painfully aware, open to the charge of being trite ; but the fact is, that in India, as Mr. Danby Seymour will proba- bly vouch, we are compelled to contest first principles ; and the very rudi- ments of political economy are every day stoutly fought, repudiated, or denied. One would almost be tempted to think that the mind grows gra- dually blackened by constant intercourse with Natives ; as the complexion becomes tanned by exposure to the sun. We undergo a process of Cayenne- izing, by long residence in India ; and our European ideas assume, shade upon shade, an ever deepening Brahminical tint. Hence it is, that attention has been exclusively devoted to the " collection" of the revenue. Hither we trace the necessity for " driving" and " compulsory labour :" and a host of other purely Native ideas. Indeed, the whole " Revenue System" ap- pears to me to be inverted. It is like a reversed pyramid standing on its apex ; which consequently requires to be propped up on all sides ; on this, by balances and remissions ; on that, by Native extortion and oppression ; here, by forced labour ; there, by taxation on produce and capital. In this abnormal state of mind originate the notions that improvements must proceed only from surplus revenue ; that burthensome duties cannot be safely abandoned ; that public works are of secondary consideration ; and that there is one kind of human nature in England, another in India, vary- 240 Col Cotton's work. Now on this subject there are two works which should be in the hands of every body who wishes to master it. The one, the Report of the Commissioners of Public Works be- fore spoken of and extracted from; the other by Colonel Arthur Cotton, a man whose name is synonymous with all that is enlightened, humane, brilliant. The latter of these books cannot be too carefully studied. It embodies the experience and conclusions of thirty years ' active practice and observation : it is written in the happi- est style : its illustrations are most felicitous ; and I think few persons will peruse it, without exclaiming as I myself did, when I closed it, and laid my hand upon the cover, " EYPHKEN" he hath found it for it appears to me to car- ry conviction with it ; it is the one thing wanting the reme- dy is complete ; and although it has been often hinted, it has never been proved before. Like almost all great discoveries and inventions, it is so startling in its simplicity that the only wonder which strikes the mind is how no body has before expounded so easy and plain a theory. The Commissioners propose their scheme for a system of communications. Roads are to be divided into three classes. The 1st class; or arterial; some running from the interior to the coast ; at a cost of 3,500 per mile ; and others parallel to the ing so diametrically, that even Justice is not suited for the Native. Nor is this disease peculiar to the ruling class : all Europeans seem to fall under its influence more or less. For instance, a few days since I drew up a petition at the request of the Manager of the Beypoor iron-works, praying Government to introduce some Law of Master and Servant, for the summary adjustment of deser- tion, or dismissal without notice ; as it was justly thought that the absence of all other remedy than " a regular Civil suit" in such cases is one of the principal obstacles to the embarkation of European capital in manufactur- ing and agricultural operations. A law, somewhat analogous to the old statute of Elizabeth, has, for many years, prevailed in Bengal : and it was only necessary to pray that the Legislature should extend that Regula- tion to this Presidency. The petition was accordingly prepared ; but the merchants on the Ma- labar Coast refused to sign it almost to a man, because, forsooth, the pro- posed Law was mutual and reciprocal, and gave the Servant protection against the Master, as well as the Master against the man ! The P. W. Commissioners' scheme. 241 coast : of which many will be canals, effected by the junction of backwaters, at a cost of 3,000 per mile ; and of these it is estimated that 8,000 miles will be required at a total outlay of Rupees 274,00,000. The 2nd class, connecting towns with each other, and with the main lines, at a cost of 2,000 per mile, of which 20,000 will be required, at an outlay of 500,00,000 making with the 1st class a total outlay of Rupees 774,00,000. The 3rd class is to connect villages ; but as these are to be made by the villagers themselves, it is unnecessary to notice them further here, than to mention that 150,000 miles will be ultimately required. These figures at first sight certainly seem to be startling ; but the comparison with what actually exists in England at the present time shows us that no extravagance really is propos- ed : " We find" say the P.W. Comissioners (Sec. 468) " from McCul- " loch's statistical account that England and Wales contain above " 23,000 miles of Turnpike-road, and 104,000 miles of cross roads " and other highways, besides 2,400 miles of canals, and navigable " rivers to about the same extent ; and, in addition to all this, " about 5,000 miles of railways. Even putting aside the railways, " we have thus, in the Turnpike-roads and in land navigation 28,000 " miles of internal communication, which may be regarded as cor- " responding to the roads of the first and second classes proposed " by us, though in fact very greatly superior to them. " England and Wales contain an area of 57,812 square miles, and, " by the census of 1851, a population of 17,922,768 persons, being " 310 to asquare mile; the Madras territories measure 138,279square " miles, and according to the census also taken in 1851, have a po- ** pulation of 22,281,572, being 161 to the square mile. It is cer- " tain that equal areas require more or fewer roads in proportion " to the density of their population ; but it is also true, that equal " populations require more or fewer roads in proportion to the H l 242 Annual sating. " greater or less area of the country which they occupy ; and it " cannot be considered extravagant to require for this country an " extent of main lines of communication, no greater than is found " in a country only two-fifths of this in extent, and inhabited by a " people less numerous by one-fifth." The amount required for the formation of the proposed 1st and 2nd class roads is 7,750,030 sterling : and it is shown by the Commissioners that the saving annually in the cost of carriage, would be as the difference between the charge of Sd. per ton and 1^ the actual reduction ; 961,01,000 Rupees, " being a much larger gain in each year than the whole capital laid out in forming the roads, or more than cent, per cent, profit to the community." And again in para. 7 13 they revert to this : " In a former part of this report (para. 470) we attempted to es- " timate the gain from such system of communications as we advo- " cate, when fully in operation ; and we found it to amount to 960 " lacks of rupees yearly, (clear of the costs of maintenance,) in the " saving of the expense of conveyance. Comparing the amount of " our proposed establishment for the roads with this yearly profit " from the works to be effected by their means, we find that its " whole yearly cost is less than three-fifths per cent, upon such an- " nual value. And in thus speaking of the value of cheap and rapid " means of transport, we cannot but add our opinion that compared " with this, even the maintenance and extension of irrigation is of " secondary importance. Irrigation, like machinery, multiplies the " produce of the soil and of labour, and provides a fund for the em- " ployment of labour on other objects besides the production of " food, and so it tends to soften and humanize the character ; " but its influence can only be felt in a limited degree without good " roads. While the latter, though they do not directly increase the " produce of food or of commodities, yet give to industry and mate- " rials a higher exchangeable value, call out the peculiar resources " of all localities, spread civilization and improvement into deserts, " and by cheapening production, give all classes a larger command of " food, as well as of all other commodities of necessity or conveni- " ence." Electric Telegraph, an omen. 243 And the Commissioners conclude this part of their subject with the following striking remarks : " If any one will attempt to image to himself what the social " state of England would be, if her magnificent railways, canals, " bridges and roads were annihilated, and her commuinications " brought back to their condition two centuries ago, he will obtain " some idea of the impediments now opposed to the prosperity and " advancement of this country, and which the Government can only " remove. " But we trust that now at last the commencement of a new era is " at hand : the sanction of the project of an electric telegraph com- " munication throughout India encourage this hope. We cannot " believe that with an electric telegraph established, the roads of " the country will be left in their present condition. It seems in- " incredible that things so incongruous should co-exist in the same " country ; that a message should be sent with the speed of light, " while the ordinary mail travels five miles an hour, and that uncer- " tainly ; that the Government should be able to send an order a " thousand miles in a second of time, while it could not march a regi- " ment ten miles along a main road, without risk of its being stop- " ped by an unbridged nullah ; that a merchant at Madras should " receive a reply in a few minutes, to a communication sent to " Calcutta or Bombay, but should be unable to order down a cart " load of sugar from Palmanair, with any certainty as to time of its *' arrival, or even as to its safety. It is fair to conclude, that the " same large and liberal conceptions which gave the one improve- " ment will not long withhold the other." They dwell with much force upon the necessity of having these important works not only systematically carried on, but systematically and scientifically laid out* before their * A good instance of this necessity presents itself in the late Report of the Madras Railway Papers and other communications on Indian Rail- ways presented to the House of Commons. Major Kennedy, it appears, had submitted to the Court of Directors a plan tor a system of Railways for the whole of India. Unacquainted ap- parently with the Presidencies of Madras and Bombay, he must have 44 Engineer agency requires augmentation. execution is entered upon : and for this purpose among others they advocate a very considerable increase in the Corps of Engineers : and when we recollect that the present average of an Engineer's division is about 16,000 square miles, that over this are scattered some 10,000 works of irrigation, whose maintenance and repair depends upon him, besides the con- struction and repair of roads, it seems impossible to arrive at any other conclusion than that a great increase of Engi- neering skill is required, and must be given before any sys- tem of roads is even attempted. Here we shall be met again, as usual, with the pretext of expense : and although some- thing will doubtless be done, it will be on such a petty, nig- gardly scale as to render it simply abortive. The recom- mendations of Sir Henry Pottinger and the Hon'ble Mr. Thomas in their late Minutes seem to foreshadow this. The whole Establishment is starved, and consequently inefficient : but if the European agency is too small in amount in the Re- venue and Judicial departments, in consequence of the enor- mous extent of the districts, the crippled state of the Engi- neering agency is best realised by a consideration of the sim- ple fact that two or more Revenue districts or Collectorates laid down his lines according to the geographical index afforded him by the map. For this Presidency he proposed that the Railways should fol- low the lines of the various rivers, which he assumed to be the natural exits of traffic, and further traced a Coast Railway along the whole extent of our Eastern shore. Major Pears of the Madras Engineers, and Consulting Engineer of the Madras Railway, well acquainted of course with the nature of this Presi- dency, points out in his able Minute of 1st February 1853, that some of the rivers from their very nature never can be lines of traffic, and that others never have been, and flow for hundreds of miles through deserts or jungles uninhabited by man : and as to the Coast Railway he observes para. 28. " I have only further to remark that the line proposed on the East Coast of Madras lies over a country singularly adapted for the con- struction and supply of canals." Captain Crawford of the Bombay Engineers, and Superintendent of the Bombay Railway in his Minute of 31st January 1853, shows Major Ken- nedy's views to be equally erroneous with respect to Bombay. Civil Engineer Divisions. 245 from one Engineering district : and the following table will render this apparent at a glance. COLLECTORATES. CIVIL ENGINEER DIVISIONS. NAMES. Extent in square Miles. NAMES. Extent in square Miles. Ganjam 6,400 7,650 6,050 5,000 4,960 7,930 12,970 13,056 7,720 3,243 3,020 6,800 8,200 7,610 3,900 3,000 6,060 8,280 10,700 5,700 f Sub-Division.. . . > \lsi Division .... | 2d Division .... \ 3d Division .... | 4th Division.. . . 1 5th Division > 6th Division | 7th Division | 8th Division 14,050 16,010 20,900 24,019 9,820 15,810 6,900 14,340 16,400 Vizagapatam. . . Rajahmundry. . . Masulipatam.. . . Guntoor Nellore Cuddapah Bellary Canara Kurnool Chingleput .... North Arcot .... Salem South Arcot .... Tanjore Trichinopoly Malabar Coimhatore Madura Tinnevelly It is unnecessary to follow them into the details of their plan : because agreeing as they do, mainly, with Colonel Cotton, his work here comes in most opportunely to develop their and his views more fully and in greater detail. We must now therefore turn to him. His plan is simply to open up the country ; to give it cheap, extensive means of communication, not taken up piece meal and at random, but upon a general well digested 246 Colonel Cotton's plan. scheme and plan : and he shows first of all, after giving a short history of the formation and state of the roads in this Presidency, what is the effect of the want of communication on the prosperity of the country : how large a tax it pays an- nually in the shape of cost of transit ; and how materially that may be reduced by good communications. That time is a great element in this question : that it is the greatest mistake to suppose that what India wants is very high speed in communication ; that speed in execution, not speed in carriage should be our object : and that the Railroads if they blind the eyes of the Public to this fact are likely to do more evil than good. That we cannot afford to wait until the amount of surplus revenue should be able to pay for the works : a period which will never arise ; but that capital should be borrowed and sunk in them. Now the effect of the present want of roads has been al- ready well described by Mr. Bourdillon in these pages. I will repeat a portion of the passage. At present the very extensive territories of this Presidency are almost entirely without roads or means of communication. Once more : " The effect is exactly the same as if each such limited " tract of country belonged to a petty chieftain who levied " heavy duties on all goods passing in or out : and much " heavier on the more bulky than on the valuable." Colonel Cotton gives the following lively sketch of the way in which things have been managed in this Presidency up to the present time : " The history of communications in the Madras Presidency is " one of the most curious of all the odd things that have occurred " in the management of India. A sketch of this may be of great " use as a warning to us in our future proceedings. The first roads " made probably were those in Tanjore. When it was proposed " to open one or two lines in that impassable sheet of irrigation " it was immediately objected : History of Madras road-making. 247 " ' Well this is a fine proposition ; to make fine roads where " ' there is not a horse or a cart to he found.' There was not a " mile in the whole Delta along which a horse or a cart could have " moved. After some struggling however, a first attempt was made, " and it was discovered that when there were cart roads, carts were " used. But what was done in Tanjore was done without the least " reference to any other part of the country. The questions were " never asked ; ' But if roads are to he made, where are they " ' most wanted, where will capital so expended produce the great- " ' est results, which ought to be made first, &cc. &c. ?' Tanjore " possessing the most active Government Officers got roads, and " the rest of the country generally remained without, as it is to " this day. The next roads were probably those made by the " Pioneers. The arrangements for these works were as follows : " some lady at Madras having a favorite brother or cousin in one " of the Native Regiments, took an opportunity at a pleasure ball " given by the Quarter Master General, to ask him if he could not do " something for her relation. Upon this he is put into the Pioneers, " and in a few years he gets the command of a Battalion. In the " course of time some great public functionary being detained for " weeks on an impassable line of country in his palanquin, be- " comes very sensible of the sufferings of the people in that neigh- " bourhood from want of roads, and persuades the Government to " send a battalion of Pioneers to make one. The whole manage- " ment of the work of course falls to the Officer so carefully se- *' lected to command them. He has never seen a made road ; he " left England before he was old enough to entertain a thought " about the roads he travelled over there. He has not an idea on " the whole subject, nor a book to refer to. Of the principles on " which the lines should be selected, as well as those on which " the roads should be constructed, he is as utterly ignorant as the " lady who recommended him for his appointment. He soon finds " that 1,000 men are lost upon a hundred miles of road, and ob- " tains permission to employ a few thousand coolies, and thus " besides the cost of the Pioneers a few lacks of Rupees are spent " by a man who has not the slightest knowledge of, or even natu- " ral turn for, the work he is employed upon, and perhaps a low ' degree of general ability or zeal. 248 Heaven-born Road-makers. " There is not the slightest exaggeration in this ; it is a literal " statement of the usual course of proceedings, in times past. No " check of the remotest kind was exercised over these works, not " a single professional Officer had any thing whatever to do with " them. The Quarter Master General under whom they were " carried on was as perfectly ignorant of the matter and probably " at least as indifferent about it, as the Executive Officers. Of the " state of things a very distinct idea may be formed by the follow- " ing anecdote. One of the Officers commanding the Pioneers " employed as above described, drew up a Memo, on the best con- " struction for a road on cotton soil, (black alluvial mud without " sand or gravel mixed with it,) and highly pleased with the know- " ledge he had attained, he sent it to the Quarter Master General. " Struck by the remarkable talent displayed in the paper, the Quar- " ter Master General sent a copy of it to all Officers employed in " that Department ; and that the utmost possible use might be " made of it, he also sent a copy to the Chief Engineer, that he " might circulate it through that corps. The plan was this ; first " a complete layer of large stones about a foot or a foot and a half " thick were to be laid over the whole surface to be occupied by " the road, and over them was then to be laid 3 feet thick of the " black cotton soil, to raise the road to a sufficient height and pre- " vent its being flooded. By this admirable arrangement almost " any amount of money might be spent, as in such a situation the " stones would have to be brought several miles, and at the same " time the surface of the road being formed of the natural soil, " but thoroughly loosened by being dug and thrown up, would be " ten times worse than the original surface of the country. Such " was the state of knowledge of road making among those who " conducted the undertakings and who were entrusted without " check or supervision with the expenditure of many lacks. " The road from Masulipatam on the Coast 300 miles north of " Madras to Hyderabad, a distance of 220 miles, was one of those " executed in this manner. When about eight lacks of Rupees " had been spent upon it, besides the pay of the Pioneers, the " Court of Directors put a stop to it ; and as no metal of any kind " was put on most of it, the road has never yet been practicable in " the wet season, and even in the dry season, the communication The Court of Directors applies a remedy. 249 " is very little better, if at all. Then only about 120 miles of " the whole distance were meddled with ; the money spent was " therefore nearly 7,000 Rupees before the work was begun a mile, " or twice as much as would make an excellent metalled road, and " quite as much as would have made a good horse Railroad, (for " there is not a single difficulty on the line,) which would have re- " duced the cost of transit to one-twelfth of what it was and still " is. The road from Madras to Poonamallee, eleven miles, was a " similar case, and as in this case the Pioneer Officer was able to " communicate constantly with the authorities in person, he was " not so restricted about expenditure as in the other case, and ac- " cordingly 450,000 Rs. was spent on this line, or 50,000 Rs. a " mile. The Court of Directors now saw that it was necessary to " apply a remedy ; and it was, to order that no more roads should " be made. This was simple and effective. " However, after some years another line of road was neverthe- " less commenced by the Government ; and" this time the really " most important direction in the Presidency was selected, viz., that " leading from Madras directly into the interior 120 miles. But " exactly the same mistakes were made about its execution. It " was put under a non-professional Officer, not a single Engineer " was employed upon it, there was no open discussion about it, the " line was badly selected, enormous labour was wasted on it, and " it was not in any sense completed. The whole evil is in the " snug way that things are done. In England no work is under- " taken without discussions. The wits and experience of hun- " dreds of professional Engineers are brought to bear upon it, and " of tens of thousands of others, men of common sense and local " knowledge, and yet after all, great mistakes are often made ; " what must be the case, when not a single man of professional " knowledge and experience is employed upon a work, and not the " least attempt is made to get the opinions and help of the public " generally. This road cost 10,000 Rs. a mile, much more than a " horse Railroad need have cost. The Court repeated their former " orders with much more determination when they heard of this " work. It was however a work of immense value, imperfect as it " was ; there has been an enormous traffic on it, and it has saved " in the cost of traffic, much more than 100 per cent, per annum II 250 Result of want of transit. " on its cost ; the rate of transit has been reduced to ahout one- " third of what it was previously. " These desultory proceedings however of course upon the whole " only retarded the general improvement of the communications. " At length something like a systematic attempt was made to in- " troduce roads into Madras. A Road Department was formed " with the approval of the Court ; but the same error was com- " mitted of having no thorough investigation or open discussion. " A professional Officer was indeed appointed ; but as he had " charge of all the main roads of the Presidency and only two as- " sistants, he was completely lost in his duties ; and every thing " was still done in the same way without open discussion. Some " work however was really done. The great road from Madras " abovementioned was much improved, and some other lines com- " menced. But now a new difficulty arose. The local Govern- " ment would not sanction the expenditure which the Court had " authorized ; and the Superintendent of Roads was so cramped " in every way, that though he wore himself out in his work, but " little was effected." The result of this state of things is necessarily two-fold ; first, to lay an enormous tax upon goods in the shape of cost of transit, which, is estimated at 15 millions per annum ; se- condly, to prevent the cultivation of those products which will not bear the cost of transit. Now as to the cost of transit. Col. Cotton takes the ele- ments of the charge to pieces ; and shows that in consider- ing it, regard must be had, in comparing it with a similar charge in the mother country, to the difference which exists between the value of money : the distance carried : the va- lue of the goods : the time, and risk. He writes as follows : " We may therefore reckon the Indian rates of transit as equiva- " lent in England to " 6d. per ton per mile by sea. " & do. do. by river. " 9 do. do. by good roads. " Is. 6 do. do. by imperfect roads. " 2s. 7| do. do. on unimproved tracks. Cost of transit compared with that of England. 51 " Is not this alone quite sufficient without a word more to account " for the impoverished and backward state of India ? The average " of all the traffic of India cannot be less than 1 shilling per ton " per mile, allowing for the difference in the value of money, while in " England the average may probably be taken at l^d. or one-eighth " of that of India ; it must indeed certainly be at least eight times " as great in India as in England taking it only mile for mile. " The following are some of the English rates : " Liverpool to Manchester . . 3d. a mile per ton, Railway. " London to Birmingham. . . d. do. do. Canal. " Liverpool to do. . . l^d. do. do. Railway. " What would be the reduction in the traffic of England if the " cost were suddenly increased eight-fold ; perphaps nine-tenths " of it would be stopped.* But this calculation still does not give " by any means a correct view of the case. We must compare also " the comparative distances that goods must be carried in the two " countries. In India the extreme distance that goods must be car- " ried to reach the port is 1,200 miles ; in England it is about 60 " miles. The average distance that exports and imports are carried " in India may be 250 miles, in England it cannot exceed 40. We " may safely allow that in general goods are carried six times as " far in India from the place of production to that of consumption " or of export, as they are in England ; so that combining this with " the cost, there is thirty-six times as heavy a charge upon transit " here as in England. But there is yet a third consideration ; the " average value of the commodities moved in India is far below " that of England. By far the greater proportion of all that is " moved in India is coarse goods ; Taw produce and such things ; " while in England a very large proportion is manufactured goods " and other valuable articles. If for instance we take a ton of " Berar cotton, the charge of transit compared with its value will " be as follows : " Cost of 1 ton in Berar 120 Rs. "Do. of carriage 350 miles to Bombay | " at 3 Ans. per mile ) " or 55 per cent. * In America the cost of traffic may be taken on the railways at \\d., and on the river navigation at ^d. the average being considerably below that of England. Annual amount of transit-tax. " Cost of 1 ton at Liverpool at 4%d. a Ib . . 40 " Carriage of do. to Manchester 30 miles " at 3d " or 1 per cent. " and in its manufactured state the cost of transit would bear a still " less proportion to its value. Again we may take a ton of sugar " brought from the Upper Provinces to Calcutta. " Cost where produced 120 Us. " Do. of transit to the Coast by river 20 " or 17 per cent. " Value of do. in London 40 " Cost of conveying 50 miles to place of } g " consumption ' " or 1 per cent. " If we take the average value of goods conveyed in England, and " compare it with that of- India, we shall find that the per centage " is higher than the highest of these.* We shall probably be safe " in concluding that the cost of transit in India is equal to an ad- " valorem tax on the goods conveyed, fully fifty times that of Eng- " land. We cannot form a correct judgment of the expense of the " transit upon India as compared with that of other countries, with- " out taking all these things into consideration. What would Eng- " land be with such an incubus upon it as this tremendous transit " tax in India!" He proceeds to form a rough calculation of the amount paid by India for annual transit : " We may now try to form an estimate of the actual amount of " this tax, as now paid in money. Our data for this are very im- " perfect, yet we may easily satisfy ourselves that it cannot be less " than a certain sum. We may take first some well established " instances of the cost of traffic. " It has been estimated that the amount of inland traffic at Cal- " cutta is 2,000,000 tons per annum. If we take the average be- " tween the N. W. Provinces and that port at 1,200,000 tons, and " the cost at 25 Rupees a ton (4 Pice a ton per mile per 1,200 * And to all these we must still add the cost in time and risk, supposing that cotton is two months travelling to Bombay, the interest at 12 per cent, per annum would be 2 per cent, and the insurance could not be less than 2 per cent. Specific instances. 253 " miles), the total cost on this line of transit will be 300 lacks a " year for goods only. The rate is stated much higher than this " in the railway Pamphlets, but there are evident mistakes in them. " The total cost including interest and insurance is there calculat- " ed at 9 Pice a ton per mile, which would give a total of 648 " lacks besides the sums paid by passengers. If we allow 500 lacks " including every thing I think we shall be under the mark for the " river expenses. If we suppose this 2 million tons to be brought " on an average 50 miles by land to the river at 3 Annas per ton " per mile, it will add 180 lacks to the above, making a total of " 680 lacks or nearly 7 millions sterling, equal to one-fourth of " the amount of the whole revenue of India, expended on this one " line of transit. " We have an instance of the coasting trade in the case of the " Paumbam Pass. The traffic through it is at present 1,48,000 " tons including empty vessels ; perhaps 1,20,020 tons of freight, " allowing for loaded vessels carrying more than their tonnage. " This is mostly carried between Ceylon or the Western Coast and " Tanjore or Madras at about 10 Rupees a ton, and therefore costs " 12 lacks besides interest and insurance, perhaps 20 lacks in all, " on a distance of about 500 miles. The traffic on the Western " Coast is far greater than this ; and the cost of that of the whole " 3,500 miles of coast round the Peninsula cannot be less than " 200 lacks. " Of the traffic by land we have one instance in the great West- " ern road from Madras. The traffic on the first 125 miles of this " is about 100,000 tons a year at l Anna per ton per mile, or in " all 10 lacks besides passengers and interest and insurance. " Allowing then 900 lacks for the Ganges and the coast traffic " alone, besides all the vast land traffic of the interior ; we surely " cannot over-estimate the sum actually paid in India for transit at " 1,500 lacks, or 15 millions sterling and hence if the average cost " of transit could be reduced to one-fifth of what it is at present " the country would be relieved of a direct tax of 12 millions " sterling equal to a diminution of the present taxes by one-half. On the other hand if such is the charge on transit, what is the loss sustained by things which are moved: " But this is only a small part of the effect of opening the coun- How traffic increases ichen cost " try generally, and giving it cheap, safe and expeditious transit. " The great loss is not in what is paid for goods carried, but in " what is never received, things that are not carried. Of the im- " mense traffic that there would be if the cost were diminished, we " have the strongest proof in the Paumbam Pass where in conse- " quence of the reduction of freight to one-third of what it was, " and to the diminution of time and risk, it has actually increased " nine-fold, though the cotton that used to pass through that chan- " nel, is now shipped at the ports of Tinnevelly. What is the " traffic of England now compared with what it was before there " were either canals or railways or even turnpike roads ? It must " certainly have increased a hundred-fold, and I have no doubt that " it would increase in India in something like the same degree " particularly considering that the proportion of cost of transit to " the value of the goods, is, as I have shown above, so much greater " than it ever was in England, on account of the much greater dis- " tances carried, as well as the inferior value of the goods. There " can be no doubt that a transit charge of 50 per cent, on the " value of the goods must be a much greater check to traffic than " one of 5 ; and that if it is reduced from 50 to 10, the increase " of traffic will be much greater than when it is reduced from 5 to "1. It is in fact absolutely incalculable what the traffic would in- " crease to, if goods could be moved at 100 miles a day for 1 Pie " a ton instead of 10 miles a day for l Annas. But I have no " doubt that by due improvement of the rivers a very large propor- " tion of the traffic would be conveyed at 1 Pie a ton per mile." " "We see how it is that on every diminution of cost of transit " the amount of traffic increases so surprisingly. Again if one " part of the country is particularly favorable for the growth of " some article of produce, the extension of it will depend not only " upon the cost of its transit when produced, but upon the cheap- " ness with which food and other necessaries of life can be brought " to those who are employed in producing. Thus in a good cotton " district, at present they must grow their food on the spot because " the great cost of transit utterly precludes the conveyance of such " a bulky thing as grain from any distance. But if this were re- " duced, the land peculiarly favorable for cotton would all be given " up to that culture, and the food for the cultivators would be of transit is diminished. ' brought from where cotton could not be grown so profitably. " At present it costs ^d. a pound to convey rice 180 miles, thus " doubling its cost, or the food of a man for a year if conveyed " that distance would cost in carriage 10 Rupees, or nearly 1 " Rupee a month, half a man's wages ; but if the transit were re- " duced to one-fifth or to one-twentieth, as it might be where there " is water carriage, it might be brought that distance for 1 Anna a " month, and thus in such soil and climate the produce most suited " to it would be grown. How immense the traffic would thus be- " come. Perhaps for instance the principal part of the agricultu- " ral population of Berar would be employed in growing cotton, " while their food would be grown in the irrigated lands of the " Delta of the Godavery. If only two millions of people were so " provided with food, there would be a traffic up the Godavery in " food alone of 700,000 tons a year. " Not a ton of anything but timber is carried by the Godavery, " though it is now navigable for at least six months in the year. " A comparatively moderate outlay would make it navigable " throughout the year. If it were navigated goods could be carri- " ed between the Coast and Berar for from 1 to 5 Rs. a ton, " whereas the present difference of value of rice, cotton, salt, and " wheat, is on an average about 100 Rs. a ton in the two places. " The Berar people grow their own rice at four times the price " they could get it for from Rajahmundry, and they also pay four " times as much for salt, as they could get it for by the Godavery, " while they have no sale at all for their wheat, and comparatively " little for their cotton, because of the cost of transit to the coast. " They could supply Manchester with cotton and wheat at 25 per " cent, less than it pays to America for the same things, and if " thus provided with a market for its staples, and relieved from the ' ' high cost of food and salt, it could afford to purchase the manu- " factures of Manchester, Birmingham, Yorkshire and indeed of all " parts of England. In this way it is easy to see what immense traffic " there may be in the country when the cost of transit is greatly " reduced. And hence we see how absurd all calculations are of " the traffic on a proposed line of communication based entirely " on the present amount. It is not that the traffic may be doubled " or trebled, it may easily be increased ten or fifty- fold. In fact 56 Results proved. " a reduction of cost of transit may produce any extent of traffic. " A reduction of 5 Us. a ton may make difference of a trade in " some vast and bulky staple where before not a ton was moved, " and consequently it may cause a sale of goods to the extent of 20 " times the amount saved in transit. The opening of the Goda- " very may on the most moderate calculations raise the sale of " cotton and wheat grown in Berar to the amount of a million " sterling, of rice and salt produced in Rajahmundry to half that " amount, and of English manufactured goods of the value of a " another half million. At present only comparatively valuable " things are moved, and the bulky things of small value, such as " building materials, food, manure, See., are scarcely moved at all. " While the towns are polluted by the accumulation of filth, the " fields are barren for want of it ; and while the towns are with- " out good building materials, the country is full of them, where " they are of no value." Is it possible to put this matter more clearly, more con- clusively, more irresistably, more unanswerably ? But we have fortunately ready to our hand proof positive of the effect produced by opening up communication. The improvements of the Paumbam Pass between India and Cey- lon has already been noticed ; but we have a favoured dis- trict of this Presidency, Tanjore, in which improvements, such as are advocated, have been carried out : and we see their effects. Tanjore is known as the garden of Southern India, not because its soil is peculiarly fertile ; but because it has been rendered so by works of irrigation, and 1,000 miles of road run through it in various directions : " In one solitary district, Tanjore, a system of moderate but ac- " tual improvement had been steadily pursued for fifty years, with " the most extraordinary and unvarying success, by which the re- " venue had been increased from 32 to 52 lacks a year, while the " saleable value of the land had equally advanced, till it is now (allow- " ing for the difference in the value of money) equal to the value of " land in England ; and that this had been accomplished without " any sudden extensive outlay of Capital, producing a temporary " difficulty, but by an average annual expenditure of about 40,000 Tanjore. 257 " Rupees a year, besides the current expenses for the repair of ex- " isting works. The total sum so expended is almost 20 lacks, and " the increase of revenue per annum is the same ; the increase of " private property in the value of the land is also about 3 or 3^ " crores, indicating an addition of private income of 18 or 20 lacks " a year. This money was expended in embanking the rivers, cutting " channels for the distribution of water and for drainage ; construct- " ing weirs, sluices, aqueducts and other masonry works connected " with the irrigation and drainage ; in building many hundred " bridges, and making 1,000 miles of common road for facilitating " transit. " All the districts around it have remained almost or quite sta- " tionary, excepting in so far as they have, though in a minor degree, " had similar advantages granted to them. And still the expendi- " ture in Tanjore has been so inadequate, that the whole of its im- " mense traffic is carried by common roads ; had a system of canals " been added to the other works, it would have probably been be- " nefited to the extent of another 20 lacks a year." Again : " The district of Tanjore is taken care of, irrigated, protected " from floods, drained, and provided with common roads, (though " not with better communications) and the revenue steadily rises " till from 30 it becomes 50 lacks a year ; the population increases " from 7 or 8 lacks and the land reaches a saleable value of at least " 4 millions sterling, equal to 24 millions in England." And again, for Tanjore is naturally enough a fertile source of illustration to Colonel Cotton : " Let us suppose this district though possessing a fertile soil and " partial supplies of water, to be yet in a great measure liable to " lose its crops from the irregularity of the seasons, sometimes from " floods, sometimes from drought ; and also suppose it to be with- " out any means of transporting its produce during the principal " part of the year, from the soil being alluvial and the rivers un- " bridged. Government on taking possession of this district begin " to expend on it a sum of money annually in such a way either by " keeping off the floods, leading water to new portions of it, or Kl 258 Guntoor. " opening communications, as to make it yield a return in all of " 200 per cent. We will suppose that 30 lacks is the revenue at " first, and that 40,000 Rupees are laid out annually on improve- " ments (besides a like amount which is necessary to preserve the " ground already gained) and that by this means a progressive in- " crease of income of 80,000 Rupees a year is obtained in the dis- " trict. Let us suppose this continued for fifty years, making a " total increase of income of 40 lacks a year. The revenue taken " from the district has increased to 50 lacks, and as it is actually " counted into the treasury there is no question about that. The " remaining 20 lacks of income retained by the people is shown by " the saleable value of the land having increased by 300 or 400 " lacks of Rupees ; yielding interest to the proprietors at 5 or 6 " per cent. One of the ways in which this return for outlay has " been obtained, is by landing 7,500 cubic yards of water to an " acre of land at a cost of 5 Rupees of Capital, by which an in- " crease of produce over the former value is obtained to the extent " of 10 Rupees a year. Another is by laying out 1,000 Rupees on " a mile of road, by means of which 50 tons of goods per day are " conveyed all the year round, at one Anna less per ton per mile " than they could previously be carried in the dry season only, be- " ing a saving of 1,000 Rupees a year, besides the gain by being able " to convey the goods in the wet season. Let us suppose the dis- " trict thus provided with 1,000 miles of road, causing a saving of " 10 lacks a year on this item of transit alone. This, which is a " correct statement of what has been done in Tanjore." But, what is still more fortunate, we have also ready to hand another district, wherein nothing has been done, Gun- toor, affording us the strongest contrast to Tanjore, dark sha- dow indeed to its light ; hut most useful as showing conclu- sively the necessary results of the other system of manage- ment, the system of doing nothing ; neglect. " In the district of Guntoor all such works are utterly neglected ; " and in one year a famine occurs which sweeps away 2,50,000 " people out of 500,000 and causes a loss of revenue in the next " 10 or 12 years of 80 lacks, while not an acre of land is saleable. " The sole cause which has made this difference between these two This picture, and that. 259 " districts is the different degrees of attention given to Public " Works. " On the other hand let us suppose another district under a Ze- " mindary and village settlement from which almost every farthing " that is collected, (besides what is expended on the collection,) is " sent out of the district; the old and partial means of securing it " a supply of food left to go to ruin, and not a mile of road made " in it ; not a reservoir of water constructed, not an embankment " thrown up to prevent the river drowning any extent of crop, not a " stream bridged, so that almost all its produce except what can " be consumed in the village where it grew, is utterly valueless ; " besides this ordinary state of things, let us suppose a failure of " local rains to occur, which in consequence of its being unmitigat- " ed by a single tank of water, which borders the district for 80 " miles, or a single channel leading water from an unfailing river, " produces the utmost horrors of famine, sweeping off fully half of " the population, and reducing the revenue at once by 14 lacks a " year, which is not fully recovered for twelve years. Now this is " a correct statement of the progress of Guntoor." Tanjore and Guntoor Look upon this picture and on that ! But to carry this matter still further : great as are the ad- vantages which Tanjore possesses over the other districts of Southern India, let us next suppose that instead of a compa- ratively scanty expenditure on her public works, a really liberal outlay had been made, upon a well considered syste- matic plan, with a view still further to reduce the cost of transit ; what would then have been her position ? It is high- ly important to ascertain this, because in the pictures above drawn, much of her prosperity must undoubtedly be attribut- ed to the improvement of works of irrigation what follows applies mainly to means of communication : " Now let us suppose in the case of Tanjore that instead of the " petty trifling way in which it has been improved, a really intelli- " gent and vigorous system had been pursued. Suppose for instance " that instead of 40,000 Rupees a'year, even one lack only had been " spent in the irrigation improvement, so that the district had " been brought into tolerable order in that respect in 20 years in- 260 Wliat 'Tanjore might hace been. " stead of 50, and that by continuing the expenditure, water had " been stored so as to supply it throughout the dry season, instead " of having it, as now, without water for 4 months, so that it " might have grown sugar and other valuable products instead of " rice only. And thus that long before this, the district might " have been exporting 100,000 tons of sugar a year, worth 200 " lacks ; besides various other things. Let us suppose further, " that instead of merely in the course of the last 30 years of the " 50, constructing very imperfect unmetalled roads worked at 3 " Annas per ton per mile, they had from the first commenced a " system of steam canals, by which the transit could have been " carried on at half a pice, or one sixteenth of a penny " per ton per mile. At present there are just 1,000 miles " of road in the district ; if the average traffic is equal to " 50 tons of goods a day, the daily cost must be 3,000 Rupees " or 32 lacks a year. The steam canals providing for the great " bulk of this would have relieved the district from an expenditure " of 25 lacks a year on the goods and passengers now moved ; be- " sides probably at least an equal sum gained in the additional " value given to goods which are not moved at all at the present " high rates. With these additional helps, an additional income " in more valuable products of at least 100 lacks and advantages " in the transit, worth 50 lacks a year, the revenue might now be "101 lacks instead of 50, and the net income of the people also "100 lacks more than it is at present. And all this might have " been done without a Rupee being paid out of the general trea- " sury ; the district would itself have paid for all these improve- " ments from year to year out of the additional revenue it would " have been yielding, just as of late in the Rajahmundry district " where, while 20 lacks has been spent in 8 years, 30 lacks of ad- " ditional revenue have been received. No reason whatever can " be assigned why this should not have been done, and thus this " one district instead of paying 200,000 a year in mere revenue " towards the late annual deficit of a million might have paid " 700,000 or seven-tenths of the whole deficit ; and two dis- " tricts so improved would have made the difference of our having " for the last 30 years a surplus revenue upon all India of half a " million, instead of a deficit of a million. And I think we may Revemie of Districts wherein Roads exist. 261 " venture to say this would have been the case under that revenue " system which is the worst in India according to Mr. Campbell, " that is, even if every land owner had been compelled to manage " his own land in his own way, and without the interferen ce of his " neighbours." So again, let us remember what has been the effect of roads, in those four districts wherein they may be said comparatively to exist, Tanjore, Salem, Canara, and Madura ; for they teach us different lessons, each profitable after its kind. Tanjore, having a seaboard, shows us more prominently than any other district, the advantage to be derived from possessing external communication. Salem is an instance of the con- verse. There, though the roads are made at a comparatively trifling cost, and though the country is naturally far more fertile than Tanjore, yet as its roads end abruptly with its own confines, it is almost as much isolated and restrained from the benefits of foreign or rather external commerce, as though its surface was not intersected by a net- work of tolerable roads. Canara has a seaboard, and passable communications internally with other districts ; Madura gives us the result of the compulsory labour system. In Canara the Government has in Salt revenue alone re- ceived 10 per cent, on the outlay of roads (besides 10| per cent, in land revenue) or in the words of the Commission ; In 13 years " the short period that has elapsed since the " roads were opened or more possibly, even while the works " have been in progress, their whole cost has been repaid to " the Government once and a half times over in the single " item of salt revenue." The decrease on the salt revenue of Ganjam and Vizaga- patam is nearly five per cent. : " And yet" say the Commissioners, " it needs only glance at the " Map to perceive that the sales of salt in these districts would far " exceed those of Canara, if proper roads were opened. Canara, " it is true is backed by the Mysore country, and supplies that coun- " try with salt and other articles in exchange for its inland pro- Western Road Cochrane's Canal. " ducts ; but passes through the mountains behind the northern " districts would put them in immediate communication with the " vast territory of Nagpore, a country producing all the inland pro- " ducts, and especially abundance of excellent cotton, and where " sea salt is a rarer luxury than even in our own district of Bellary. " Passable communications between the two countries would give " value to the peculiar products of both, and the people of both " would be vastly benefited, while the example of Canara justifies " the undoubting conviction that the cost to Government would be " abundantly repaid in augmented revenue. The increase might " not indeed be so great, because the good internal communications " of Mysore are wanting in Nagpore ; but they might be very much " less, and still abundantly repay the cost. We have already ad- " verted to the pressing necessity for roads through these mountains " for political and military purposes, and to the fearful expenditure " of life and treasure which the want of them has occasioned ; to " those considerations we have now to add the large gain to the " revenue to be secured by their formation." But we have also to hand other instances of the effect of cheapening transit : hitherto our attention has been directed to large districts ; let us now take two cases .of improved lines of communication ; one a road, the other a canal ; the Western road leading to Bangalore ; and Cochrane's canal, connecting Madras with the Pulicat lake. The Western road, imperfect as it is, has reduced the cost of transit from 4| Annas per ton per mile to 1| Annas ; Coch- rane's ten miles of canal, which brings only firewood, chunam, and a little fruit and vegetables, yields the Government a profit of 30,000 Rupees a year : " The Western road from Madras constructed by Lord Elphin- " stone cost about 10,000 Rupees a mile ( with a great waste of " money), and the rate of transit has been reduced from 4^ Annas " per ton per mile to 1 j Annas, and as there are now about 300 " tons a day carried along it (besides travellers) there is a saving " to the country from this work of 18,500 Rupees a mile or nearly " 200 per cent., and had a canal been cut on the same line for " 20,000 Rupees a mile, probably the traffic would have been in- Mysore, a centre. 263 " creased five-fold, for the cost would have been reduced to y 1 ^ "of what it is now. Again, Cochrane's canal about 10 miles of " communication, costing perhaps 30,000 Rupees, yields 30,000 " Rupees a year, or 100 per cent, to Government, besides the saving " to the community." Now, if Sir, you will take the Map of India, and placing one point of your compass on the Town of Mysore, draw a circle with a radius of 00 miles, you will find that your circumfer- ence touches both the Eastern and Western Coasts ; and North and South, embraces by far the most important parts of this Presidency : and taking this as your central starting-point you may draw as many straightly radiating roads as you will through all the important districts of Madras. I do not mean to say that Mysore should be our centre, though it is very well placed for it ; because by far the greater number of trunk or arterial lines of road must run East and West, and not North and South ; but the experiment is curious. But if roads will afford so great relief to the community, what will not water carriage, wherever it can be effected ? There is no medium of carriage so cheap as water ; and again you have only to look at the Map to see what great facilities the numerous backwaters on the coast afford for cheap and speedy lines of canals. And this seems the proper place to draw particular attention to the comparative value of railways and canals in India, as both are novel methods of communica- tion in this country. The real merits of this all-important question have not hitherto been considered : " Not a single paper says Colonel Cotton has yet been written " about canals and railways in India, that does not show a funda- " mental misapprehension of this subject. Universally, railways " are spoken of as substitutes for canals ; though nothing can be " more false than this idea. Canals as at present worked, even " where steam is not used, are the cheapest of all communications ; " but railways afford the highest speed. There is not the slightest " probability of railways ever beating canals in cheapness, nor of 264 Canals versus Railroads. ""canals beating railways in speed. This at once reduces the " question between the two works to this ; which in any particular " circumstances is most required, speed or cheapness ? or in other " words, which is the most serious loss, that of time, or that of " the increased cost of transit?" And perhaps in considering this question, more than in any "other, is the caution hereinbefore given to be had in re- membrance ; I mean that it is not to be looked on with pure- ly English eyes ; and it will be necessary therefore to observe the great differences which exist in the cases of India and England. In the first place, even in England railways are not sub- stitutes for canals. The question whether railways or canals should be constructed has never been discussed. The ques- tion has always been there whether railways should be added to a cheap system of canal communications already in exist- ence. In the second, there are no steam canals in England, as it is proposed there should be here : so that in England, in a question between railways and canals, it is a question between steam and animal power, not steam and steam. Thirdly : we have no frosts to impede navigation for a single day. Fourthly : England had no natural facilities of any im- portance for forming internal water communications ; having only a few short lines of improvable rivers. Fifthly : the surface of Madras is incomparably easier for canals than that of England. So that the cost in the former is reckoned at not more than T Vth of what it would be in England. Sixthly : the cost of earth, masonry, &c., is greatly in favour of India. Seventhly : in consequence of the great profits on canals in England, their saleable value in many cases rose to 3 or 4 times their cost. Thus the canals were saddled with a great The proper route to Berar. 265 burthen in the hands of purchasers : for if a man paid 800 for what had originally cost 200, the canal must yield 20 per cent, upon its cost to give the modern shareholder 5 per cent, for his money. Eighthly : the greater distance which goods have to be carried in India from their place of production to that of consumption, or export, ought not to be lost sight of. All these points and others, the reader will find lucidly car- ried out to conviction in Colonel Cotton's work, whence I have taken them ; because they show more clearly than any other line of argument or statement how true it is that we must not judge India by the standard of English ideas. With reference to this particular branch of the question there is one point on which the eye cannot be too steadily riveted ; and it is especially for the men of Manchester to look to this : I mean the proper line of communication be- tween Berar and the sea. Hitherto for want of any communication between this Pro- vince and the Coast of Madras attention has been exclusively* turned to improving the communication between Berar and Bombay. Mr. Chapman's work had that object. Now that can only be effected by either improving the present track into a passable road, or by laying down a railroad : for at present 47 per cent, is added to the cost of the production of cotton by its transit from Berar to Bombay. In Berar the cost of cotton is 140 Rupees per ton, cost of carriage^ 350 miles to Bombay, at 3 Annas a ton per mile, Rupees 66. The journey takes 70 days. The loss runs from 2 to S^per cent, from damage, and it has been calculated by Mr. Thornton that it might be carried by railroad at a cost of two pence three farthings per mile, and he concludes therefore that a railway is the one thing needful. It is broadly so stated in the Statistical Papers lately prepared for the Court of Directors. f * I find that a letter was addressed by the Chairman of the Madras Chamber of Commerce to the Secretary of the Board of Revenue 011 this subject on the 4th March 1852 ; and Mr. Green cursorily glances at it in his Pamphlet on the Deccan. t See page ] 74 of Appendix to 3rd Rport of Lords' Committee. L 1 266 Eastward ho ! Sir James Weir Hogg in his speech of the 6th June 1853, points expressly to a Railway between Berar and Bombay as the only method of enabling the Berar cotton to compete with that of America; and Major French in his evidence be- fore the Lords' Committee (Q. 8959-60) states that the Di- rectors and the President of the Board of Controulhave lately sanctioned the .Baroda and Central India Railway Companies sending out a staff of officers to survey their pro- posed line, one of their branches being into Berar by the valley of the Taptee. All eyes are turned in that direction. Now it is scarcely possible to conceive a more woefully false step than that of investing capital in such an undertaking ; for if the Map be again looked to, it will be found that Berar lies along the magnificent Godavery ; and that this must be not only the easiest, but the natural exit for its produce. The river has been navigated : it is capable of being render- ed perfectly and continuously navigable, at a comparatively trifling outlay ; certainly at much less cost than a railroad to Bombay : and it would take the produce of Berar down to Coringa, a safe port for loading, at one-tenth the expense of railway transit ! Let the Manchester men think of this, and I reckon their eyes will be turned in quite a different direction from what they have hitherto been when considering this to them vital question. They will see speedily enough that the true exit for the products of Berar lies to the East not the "West ; to Madras not to the Bombay coast : and if no other improvements be insisted on, I doubt not they will speedily and effectually at any rate agitate this. Berar has just been ceded to us by the Nizam. The valley of Berar, the whole of which has now fallen to us by the death of the Rajah of Nagpore* without heirs, is admitted to be as fine a cotton-growing country as any in the world. Open up a communication with it, and of course the cheap- * The territory of Nagpore has an area of 76,432 square miles ,- a po- pulation of 4,650,000, and a revenue of 49,08,560 Rupees. How Berar cotton can compete with American. 267 est, and it cannot only compete with, but undersell the slave- groivn cotton of America. It can supply the whole demands of Manchester in wheat and cotton : and if a fair chance be given it, will ; and will receive in return the manufactures " of Manchester, Birmingham, Yorkshire, indeed of all parts of England." Now hear Col. Cotton on this topic : " What we have now to do is to discover means whereby the " cost of transit may be reduced materially, so as to give a real re- " lief to the country and enable it to compete with, other countries. " Till this is accomplished nothing is done. All our immense ad- " vantages of soil and climate and cheapness and abundance of la- " bour are lost, or at least the greatest part of them. This is well " shown in the state of the Berar cotton trade ; it is stated by tbose " who have the best means of knowing, that cotton is actually " grown and sold at f anna or \\d. a Ib ; to this about f d. (half an " anna) is added in bringing it into the great cotton marts of the " district where it is cultivated. Fully Id. or f anna is added in " conveying it to Bombay, and more in taking it to Calcutta ; another " penny is added to it in bringing it into the English markets, and " thus it arrives at Manchester at a cost that only puts it on a par " with American cotton grown by slave labour at an enormous ex- " pense. At least 1 anna per Ib. could be taken off this cost by " improved communications, and by throwing open the country " where so favorable a climate and soil are found for its growth. " It is not merely that for want of cheap transit a direct charge of " a penny or more is added to the cost of the cotton, but for the " same reason food, salt, &c. are three or four times the price they " need to be. This is only one of many ways that the price of the " cotton is indirectly augmented. At present the purchasing of the " cotton from the cultivators is entirely in the hands of the ignorant " short-sighted oppressive Native merchants. The Natives begin " to be very sensible of the advantage that it would be to deal with " the European ; but nothing can deliver them from the present " system, without an open communication with the ports, giving " Europeans free access to the districts, and gradually removing " the absurd fancies that mercantile men have about living in the " interior of the Peninsula, as if they could not do it without great " risk of their lives. 268 The Godavery evidently " In the present great question of the cotton supply, there seem* " to be scarcely any point more worth investigation than this open- " ing of the fine cotton countries of Nagpore to the coast. No " doubt the cultivation would extend rapidly along the whole line " of the Godavery. It seems now to be generally acknowledged " that Berar is naturally the most suitable climate and soil for cotton " for the English market, and that therefore we should make it " our grand effort to open a cheap line of communication with it, " and it is certain, that no other line can possibly compare with " that of the Godavery for bringing this cotton to the coast. Captain " Fenwick tells me that during the three years Palmer's house " brought their capital to bear on this tract, the cultivation of cotton " and the general welfare of the people increased surprisingly. There " is thus a line of 500 miles of the cheapest communication, leading " into the very heart of the country, to be had almost for nothing ; " even if 5 lacks were spent in improving it, it would still only cost " 1,000 Rupees a mile. " In the paper on the Berar cotton by Mr. Ashburner, read " before the Asiatic Society in 1837, the importance of the subject " is shown on the very best authority. He states that cotton can " be cultivated at 30 Rupees for a Bombay candy (less than Id. a " Ib.) and that the only obstacle to its unlimited production is the " cost of transport ; that it is sent to Bombay on bullocks at 24 " Rupees a candy (less than 3 farthings a Ib.) taking 70 days on the " journey ; that large quantities cannot reach Bombay before the " monsoon, which is consequently liable to be damaged or destroy- " ed, that there was at that time a traffic of 20,000 tons a year in salt " and Berar cotton, that if a good bandy road were made there " would be a saving of sixteen lacks a year. He then goes on to say. " ' It may be as well, however, to show the productive powers of " * the country more clearly, to instance the increase which has lately " ' taken place in the amount of cotton exported from Bombay. " ' From 1828 to 1835 the exports averaged 178,000 bales a year, " ' and remained nearly stationary. But the high prices of the latter " ' year led to more extensive cultivation, and notwithstanding nu- " * merous obstacles to production, the Presi dency of Bombay last " * year produced and exported no less than 290,000 bales of cotton, " ' being an increase of 112,000 bales within the year. Some por- " * tion of this increase no doubt is attributable to an unusually the proper route. 269 " ' good season, but by far the largest share arose, as the reports " ' of the revenue Collectors show, from extension of cultivation " ' alone.' Here, then, is a specimen of what India is capable of " doing under favorable circumstances, and there can be no qnes- " tion whatever that the production of the cotton would, with good " roads to the interior, go on increasing as rapidly as it increas- " ed during the last twelvemonth ; for the stimulus to cultivation " would be as great from decreased expenses as it has lately been " from increased prices. " Thus with proper management we might reasonably expect " to see the exports of the country in this staple alone, swelling at " the rate of 100,000 bales per annum, and amounting probably at " no distant period to a million of bales. And what would be the " consequence in other respects ? Besides benefiting the revenue, " and improving the condition of the people of India. Such a " trade would give employment to a vast amount of British ship- " ping (400,000 tons) at the same time that it created a greater de- " mand for the manufactures of the mother country." " Now if this cotton instead of being carried, as Mr. Ashburner " proposed by a bandy road, were conveyed down the Godavery at " the rate at which goods are carried on the Mississipi, or 1 pie per " ton per mile, or about 2| Rupees per ton for the whole distance, " there would be a saving of 70 Rupees a ton or of 21 lacks on the " traffic of 200,000 tons, besides saving the interest, insurance, " waste, &c." " Think of a great portion of this cotton being carried from the " banks of the Godavery 500 miles from the sea, by a land carriage " of 500 miles to Mirzapoor, to be embarked on the Ganges a point " 550 miles from Calcutta. But the important point in Mr. Ash- " burner's paper, is his testimony to the astonishing increase of pro- " duction consequent on an increase of price ; showing clearly the " grand fact, that everything within that tract of country is in a com- " plete state of preparation, and that nothing is wanting, but a re- " lief in the cost of transit to England, to make the cultivation " spring up to almost any extent. There are the climate and soil " required for a good marketable cotton for England, and there are " the people, the cattle, the enterprize and all other requisites. " This line of transit would probably cause a saving of full 270 Godavery may be rendered navigable, ' a Ib. five times as much as would be sufficient to give a material " stimulus to the trade. " There seems thus to be no reason why the Godavery may not " become the line of a trade of a million tons a year, when once " the pent-up treasures of its basin effect a breach in the barriers " which have hitherto shut it up. " India can supply Manchester fully, abundantly, cheaply, with " its two essentials, flour and cotton, and nothing whatever pre- " vents its doing so, but the want of Public Works. If only the " country is by means of irrigation supplied abundantly and cheap- " ly with food, and by means of communications, its produce can " be cheaply conveyed to the Coast, Manchester is safe ; its supply " with the two things upon which its very existence depends can- " not fail. But while three-fourths of the people of India are " raising food and an eighth are carrying their produce over the un- " improved face of the country at a cost that would instantly pa- " ralize England, if it were subjected to such an incubus, this " magnificent appendage to England must be comparatively thrown " away upon her, and the prodigious, the incalculable stimulus that " it might give to her manufacturing and general prosperity must " be in a great measure lost." And again : " I have before reckoned that a stream of a million cubic yards " an hour would secure a depth of 3 or 4 feet every where in the " Godavery, and that tanks containing 3,000 millions of cubic " yards would be ample for this purpose, and would cost about 15 " lacks. If treble this quantity were stored, so as to give a depth " of full 6 feet, and the bed were perfectly cleared of rocks so as " to allow of the freest passage for steamers, then vessels of any " power might be used, and I have little doubt that if kept at this " regulated depth excepting during the freshes, it could be worked " by night as well as by day ; and if very high speed were re- " quired, a mean current of suppose 2 miles an hour would be no " obstacle to such vessels as would be worked. A vessel with a " speed of 20 miles an hour for instance, would go up 18 and come " down at 22 miles."^ The cost of storing 9,000 millions of cubic " yards might be 45 lacks ; and allowing 5 lacks to be spent on " the bed of the river, &c., we should have half a million sterling cheaply and speedily. 271 " as the cost of at least 700 miles of such navigation, (besides " making the same rivers available for small vessels to a much " higher point), which would be at the rate of only 7,000 Rupees " a mile, against 20,000 for a steam canal, or 70,000 for a railway. " And it would have this vast advantage, that in the very first year " the river would be available throughout, and each year the whole " navigation would be improved to the full extent of the amount " expended. This is precisely what India wants, viz. to have " whole lines of transit at once improved to a certain extent. If " a high speed railway were laid on this line, it would be many " years before the cotton country would be really accessible ; and " in the meantime at least ten times the whole cost of the work " would be lost for the want of the means of transit. Five lacks " laid out in the river, would in the first year, provide a thorough- " ly good and exceedingly cheap communication from the heart of " Berar to the Coast, while five lacks laid out on even a single high " speed railway, would provide for only perhaps 7 miles out of the " 450 ; if only 100,000 tons were carried per annum, there would " be a loss of 50 lacks for every year that the opening of the com- " munication was delayed. " This shows the real state of the case between the Bombay " railway and the Godavery. To reach the centre of the cotton " country will require 400 miles of railway. What has already " been done, has been at the rate of 10 miles a year, and 70,000 " Rupees a mile ; and continuing at the same rate, they would, if " it were not for those plaguy ghauts, reach the Wurdah in 40 " years, after spending about 280 lacks on the road ; and allowing " only a traffic of 100,000 tons a year for half the time, or 20 " years, at 60 Rupees per ton, there would be an outlay of 1,200 " lacks on transit alone. And the account would stand thus at the " end of 40 years, even supposing the trade did not increase on " the Godavery, and that goods were carried for nothing by the " railroad. " RAILWAY. " 400 miles at 70,000 Rupees 280 lacks. " 100,000 tons per annum for 20 years at 60 Rs. a ton 1,200 " Total expenditure 1,480 272 Coringa versus Bombay. " GODAVEEY. " Improving rivers to give a constant depth of 6 feet. . . 50 lacks. " 100,000 tons for 40 years at 3 Rupees 120 " Total expenditure . . 170 " But the railways expect to be able to carry goods at If Annas " per ton, (equivalent to 2|e?.) which for 400 miles would be 40 " Rupees or | of what it now is, in which case 800 lacks more " must be placed against the railway, making the expenditure on "that line 2,300 lacks, against 170 by the river; or 13 times " as much as the latter. Even allowing the railway to be worked " for nothing, there would be a difference of 1,200 lacks." Does this admit of answer ? Yet we find that with a natural slope from Berar to the Eastern Coast, and a river, which has now been proved to be easily navigable,* leading down to the smooth water harbour at Coringa, every argument has been used to drive traffic Westward. Indeed it has been throughout assumed that Bombay was the only feasible route by which to convey the cotton of Berar to England ; and this, notwithstanding the whole country slopes up westward ; so that a railway would have to be even ascending an inclined plain until it reached a wall of ghauts, up which it must be forced 3,000 feet in order to be dropped 2,400 feet on the other side into the waters of Bombay ! Can any thing be more conclusive than this ? Yes : says Colonel Cotton ; this : and returns in the margin of these sheets the following diagram,f which I take the liberty of transferring, as it graphically, succinctly, and conclusively tells the whole story and embraces the whole question : * See AthentBitm, October.25th,[for an account of exploration. f Mr. Mackay has made use of the same illustration in his work on Western India ; but has failed to draw the legitimate conclusion, because he was'mistaken in one of his premises. He assumed that the Godavery is not navigable. Had Mr. Mackay's health not failed and his travels extended into Berar. there can be little doubt that his keen penetration would have seen the unquestionable supe- riority of the eastward river route over that of the westward railway. The point (Ungrammatically put. 273 [ooz 019 ooo'e II o s * s 1 1 H o j: o >. 1 "S CO . So . . * X a> 'O r ^ O s | - 1 T "3 ja S *S g S a ^ S S ~* o> o .' O H ! Ml 274 Experimentum crucis. The acute people of America appear far more alive than ourselves to the result fairly to be expected from open- ing up the cotton producing countries of India ; and alrea- dy they see looming on the far horizon what seems clouds to them, but to us brightness, the supply of all England with Indian grown cotton, and the consequent abolition of slavery in the Southern states. Upon this topic it will be sufficient to point to a letter from the Times' correspondent in New York, dated September 17th, 1853. But there is nothing like an argumentum ad hominem or an experimentum crucis in cases like the present. Sidney Smith used to long for the burning of a Bishop on some railway in England, with a view to give people a thoroughly practical realization of the dangers of that mode of travelling. In a similar spirit Col. Cotton writes thus : " If we could have a ship load of Directors, Manchester Mer- " chants, Indian Reformers, and others interested in this matter " landed at Bombay, carried 20 miles by the railway and then on " horses, and in palanqueens three-hundred miles to the Wurdah, a " journey of from 8 to 20 days at an expense of 100 Rupees each : " and on arriving there placed on a steamer and floated down to " Coringa in 30 or 40 hours, for a Rupee each, then they would " probably return to England with a more correct notion of the " real state of the case : particularly as on the way up they would " have met thousands of worn out bullocks and drivers carrying " cotton at the rate of 10 miles a day and a cost of 60 Rupees per " ton, whilst on the boats in which they descended the river there " would probably be 100 tons of cotton on freight, at 5 Rupees a " ton. Reaching the end of the railway after a journey of 20 " miles when it had already been two years in progress, and then " seeing the frowning ghauts immediately above them would also " be a highly instructive circumstance, which would tend greatly " to clear their sight ; and there would also be plenty of time for " true impressions to be received while on their long weary journey " of ten or 20 days to the Wurdah through a country without roads, " and across rivers without bridges. What a lively idea they The Rail is not the remedy. 275 " would have of the advantage of inland steam communication " long before they reached the Wurdah : and with what entire " satisfaction would they resign themselves to the sofas in the " steamer, and consider themselves as good as at their journey's " end." Can anything be more striking than this ? I cannot but apprehend that the immediate opening of Berar, by render- ing the Godavery permanently navigable, will be insisted upon without hesitation or delay, whatever becomes of the Remainder of the question. To show however this matter in the strongest contrast, let us take the present condition of Berar : " A million of people in Berar are paying annually 200 or 300 " lacks a year for rice which they grow themselves, while they " could obtain it from Rajahmundry for 50 or 70 lacks, if the " Godavery navigation were opened ; no wonder they cannot bear " the burthen of their taxes when they have to bear this load of " 150 or 200 lacks unnecessarily. If they could get their food so " cheap from Rajahmundry they might employ their labourers in " growing cotton for Manchester." However, this though a matter of the very gravest import- ance, is but one portion out of the general subject of com- munications. If such would be the effect in one district, we may fairly argue that a similar effect, varying only in de- gree, would be produced in other districts, by similar means : the more so as we have already seen what are the results where they have been applied as in Tanjore. What then are the means ? Kailways, such as those now in progress will not do. The incubus of cost of transit is calculated at 15 millions sterling a year in actual payments, besides as much more lost from inability to move produce which will not bear the charge. The railways, constructed at an enormous cost, very slug- glishly, grasping but a small portion of the country, laid down with a view to a very high rate of speed, and utterly 276 Time lost in making high speed Railways. unable, when completed, to carry the traffic of the country, are certainly not the means : and indeed, although they are themselves a good so far as they go, they will be productive of evil if they blind the eyes of the public, and make them fancy that they are really applying the remedy which India requires. Into all these points Colonel Cotton very minute- ly goes. My limits will not permit me to follow him, nor can justice be done his work except by reading it through- out ; but I will venture to give extracts on one or two of the points connected with this portion of the case. In the first place then, at the rate at which railways are proceeding, they will not be completed for 200 years : " This brings us to the second fundamental point in the general " enquiry about communications in India, viz., the time in which " extensive lines can be opened throughout India. And this in " my opinion has been the grand evil of all arising out of this un- " fortunate mania for English railways in India, viz., that in follow- " ing this illusion of high speed of transit, we have been effectually " turned off from the great object of all, viz., speed in executing " communications. No man can be more sensible than myself of " the advantages of speed of transit, and in England it was a vital " point ; but it is utterly insignificant in this country in comparison " with the importance of quickly laying open the whole country. In " this respect then high speed railways are in fact what the Austra- " lians called their bullock waggons, ' crawling nuisances,' crawling " across the country at the rate of ten miles a year, while we ought " to be getting over 5,000 miles in that time. What will be the " results even in respect of speed of this mode of proceeding ? that " at the end of ten years we shall be able to travel at thirty or forty " miles an hour from Calcutta towards Lahore 100 miles, and to ' " creep over the other 20,000 miles of main lines as we do now. " In the meantime what are we spending on transit throughout the " country ? perhaps fifteen millions a year. " If instead of taking hold of a little strip of the country and set- " ting ourselves to ascertain whether a railway will pay, we take " the whole country from the Himalaya to Cape Comorin and How to arrive at high speed. 277 " consider what it requires and how the greatest ad vantage maybe " obtained in the least time, there will be no sort of doubt as to the " main point, that grand railways will not answer our purpose. No " body is more sensible than I am that complete railways are the most " perfect communications and are invaluable in an advanced country " where there is a vast number of people whose time is extreme- " ly valuable ; and to this we hope India will come in time ; but " what is most wise in a rich man, is utter ruin to a poor one ; " and to lay 100 miles of railway, and leave 10,000 miles of trunk " lines unimproved, is beyond all possible reach of doubt as great " a mistake as could be made. If we want fine railways as soon as " possible, the best way to obtain them is to take the shortest courses " to throw open the country in order to remove the insufferable " burthen under which it noAV groans, and allow it to put forth its " energies. Every mile of railway costs not only what is expend- " ed on it, but what is expended also on the cost of transit on the " 50 miles of land transit for which as much river navigation might " be substituted. Thus if instead of spending 10 lacks on the Goda- " very, the improvement of that line be delayed for 20 years, and 10 " miles of fine railway executed instead, there would be a loss on " only 50,000 tons carried by land from the basin of that river at " 60 Rupees a ton the 400 miles, of 30 lacks a year for 20 years, " or 600 lacks. So that the actual cost of the railways, great as " it is, is a mere trifle in comparison of the loss that it causes. And " this calculation of 600 lacks in money is a trifle compared with " the full amount of loss to this vast tract that will thus remain " closed against all the refreshing influences that a free communica- ," tion through it would inevitably bring in. Who can form an es- " timate of the mischief thus done ? " During the 20 years that it took to throw a net work of railways " over England, that country had the advantage of a complete sys- " tern of both canals and good turnpike roads. How totally differ- " ent is the state of India, and what will it do during the 200 years " it will take, at the present rate of progress to provide it with " railways. But the fact is, it will never be done. While people " delude themselves with those railways ; they will fancy they are " actually supplying the wants of India while they are in reality do- " ing nothing in comparison of what it wants." Time, the vital point. In point of faet this question of time is all-important, it is the vital question of the whole. India is famishing, and with good wholesome bread at hand, we prefer to let her starve outright while we run to the Restaurateur's to order her the most expensive French dinner of made dishes. She is dying, and with a specific in his pocket, her Doctor will return home to compound her a costly Rosicrucian me- decine; which might or might not have answered its purpose, had not the patient unfortunately expired in the interim. Instead of this slow method of opening up strips of the country, our object and our efforts should be directed to opening up the whole of it at the greatest speed, and the cheapest rate. As Colonel Cotton says, when we are complet- ing ten miles a year we ought to be getting over 5,000 ! It is not speed in the rate of travelling, but speed in the production of the means of travelling that India wants what an absurdity it will be if at the end of ten years 100 miles only of high speed railway shall have been constructed ; so that we may travel 100 miles of our thousand mile journey at the rate of 40 miles an hour ; having to complete the other 900 at 3 miles an hour ! especially, if during the same period we might have laid down communications by which we could travel the whole journey at the rate of nine or ten miles an hour ! It is cheapness, not quickness, which India wants : " The great difference between England and India in this res- " pect has certainly not been considered in planning the railways. " Both the proportion of wealthy people whose time is of consi- " derable value is prodigiously less than in England, and also the " average value of goods carried is very much less. The fact is " that while a very high speed in a country so wealthy and so far " advanced as England is of the very greatest importance, it is in " a poor country like India very secondary to cheapness. It is " jus"t the same with individuals. If a poor man insists upon tra- " veiling quickly before his circumstances admit of it, he may re- " main a poor man all his life, but if he will be content to econo- English notions at fault. 279 " mize in this as well as other things at first, he may in time be " able to travel as quick as he likes. " But this is comparatively a very insignificant part of the ques- " tion. The main point is, that in thus aiming at a very high " speed at once, we certainly delude ourselves completely and lose " the very thing we are aiming at. The advocates for high speed " say, ' Let us have a thoroughly good speed at once,' and then " proceed to attain their end by laying down in one corner of India " a few miles of their grand railroad, along which you may travel " your first stage at 30 miles an hour, and then continue along the " remaining 1,000 miles of your journey at 3 miles an hour if the " mpnsoon permits you to move at all. They have laid ten miles " a year at Bombay, so that ten years hence if a gentleman wanted " to go from thence to Calcutta, he might go the first 100 miles in " 3 hours and the remaining 1,200 in 17 days, travelling night and " day ; or his average speed would be 85 miles. The extent of " the spaces for which we have to provide communications is total - " ly lost sight of, and in consequence of this the whole system is " without a foundation. " No doubt this is greatly owing to the system having been plan- " ned chiefly by men full of English ideas. There, by the time a " man has laid 50 miles of railroad from a part he has arrived at " what may be called the traffic-shed of the country, the point from " which he finds the traffic moving to the opposite coast of the "island; but from Calcutta to Lahore is 1,300 miles and even " from Bombay to the centre of the Peninsula is 400 miles. In " England there are 5,000 miles of railway or about 1 to 12 square " miles. Taking the area of India at a million and a quarter of " square miles, it would require in the same proportion 120,000 " miles, and allowing only one-sixth of this, there will be at least " 20,000 miles of main communication required to open India ; " and 4,000 will be required merely to connect Lahore, Calcutta, " Bombay and Madras even without a line from Madras to Calcutta " direct, so that if railroads were commenced at all the four points ' ' at once and carried on as at Bombay at the rate of ten miles a " year, it would take 100 years merely to lay these few lines which ' * would have a very small effect upon the whole traffic of India." 280 Our Railways, how far mischievous. Now the same money which gives us 10 miles of railway will give 700 of river navigation, and the same money which gives us 50 miles of high speed railway will give us 500 miles of low speed; and hence it is that Col. Cotton says, " This in my opinion has been the grand evil of all arising out of this unfortunate mania for English railways in India, viz., that in following the illusion of high speed of transit, we have been effectually turned off from the great object of all, viz. speed in execution of communications." " The present high speed railways are most important works, but " like every thing else they may be proportionately mischievous, if " perversely used. Assuredly up to this time they have done no- " thing but mischief in this country. They have only made people " suppose that they were doing something, and have thus lost many " years, and prevented any thing being done which would really " throw open India. It is just as if a man took wheat out of a bushel " grain by grain to eat, and so died of starvation while he was con- " stantly employed in eating. Suppose that in ten years from the " commencement, there were in all 500 miles finished (and one of " them too on the present cheapest line of transit in India), half a " million a year might be saved to the country out of the 20 or 30 " millions that want of communications now costs her. Whereas " within the same ten years, the whole of India might with the " greatest ease have been pervaded by lines of cheap transit. But " only two of these are yet begun. In point of fact as to really and " effectually opening India, we are doing nothing, and indeed worse " than nothing. It is a mere delusion, because it makes people " imagine that they are doing what has to be done, and thus pre- " vents them setting about any thing in earnest. If the construc- " tion of a few hundred miles of grand railroad in the course of 20 " years so blinds people as to prevent any thing effectual being " done to open India, it will, instead of a blessing, be the greatest " curse which in the prese nt state of things, the country could " suffer." Let me use another illustration. Tanjore is intersected by a thousand miles of tolerable road and a system of irrigation canals and other water -works. Most beneficial outlay of our money. 281 Col. Cotton lately proposed to store its water for the whole year instead of eight months as at present; and to render the present canals fit for purposes of navigation. If this were carried out, the saving to Tanjore annually between the cost of road and canal transit would be very great. The cost of this undertaking was estimated at 7 lacks or 70,000. Lay out the same sum instead in 14 miles of high speed railway; and calculate the comparatively insignificant amount of be- nefit conferred upon the country. Again: there is in the treasuries a surplus of 7J millions sterling, lying positively idle. The Court of Directors, in their Financial letter, express their dissatisfaction at this, and point to its appropriation towards liquidating so much of their debt, as the best means of lightening the burthens of the country. Now the debt bears 5 per cent, per annum inter- est; and probably before this time next year, will only bear 4. Instead of sinking the 7|- millions in the payment of a portion of the debt, apply it to furthering works of irrigation and communication, whose return is from 20 to 100 per cent. ; and which, let me ask, is the more profitable investment to the Company, and which most effectually and in reality lightens the load of the community ? Again, the reduction which the railways propose to make in the cost of transit, is as nothing, compared with the re- quirements of India : " If the grand railways effect nothing more than what their ad- " vocates state, they will do nothing to any purpose. In the Pam- " phlets and Reports about the Bengal and Bombay Railroads " they talk of a charge of 8 P. to 2 As. or Id. to 3d. per ton per " mile. If this is all that the most perfect railways can do for In- " dia and there were no other means by which something could be " accomplished, our case would be hopeless indeed. If India is to " advance in any thing, it must have cheap transit, really cheap " transit at rates one-tenth or one-twentieth of those at present " prevailing. In planning the great railways the real points to be " attended to, have been entirely lost sight of, and this, the first Nl Cost of transit not sufficiently reduced by Raihvay. " especially. When the projectors talk of Id. to Zd. per ton per " mile, they do not consider the fact that a good common road will " carry at l^d. and that the imperfect unimproved natural water " transit where it exists cost only ^d. In the Bengal Reports, they " make out that the river transit costs 9 Pice (1^?.) per ton, but " this is more than double the real cost. One of the fallacies in " the calculation is that interest is charged on goods at 40 a ton, " whereas the great bulk of the traffic is in grain, value 3 a ton, " salt 3; sugar 12 or 15, saltpetre 18; iron 10, and pro- " bably not one-twentieth of the goods is worth 4 a ton." " What we have now to do is to discover means whereby the " cost of transit may be reduced materially, so as to give a real " relief to the country and enable it to compete with other coun- " tries. Till this is accomplished nothing is done. All our im- " mense advantages of soil and climate and cheapness and abund- " ance of labour are lost, or at least the greatest part of them." I assume, as a matter of course, that the question of ex- tending railways throughout India, is conclusively settled. The extension of the Madras line recently granted, and the increase of that Company's capital from 600,000 to four mil- lions, already sanctioned by the Court of Directors, puts that beyond doubt: and were argument required, it seems summed up in the following extract from the Minute of Lord Dal- housie, of whom it has been well observed, that he thinks like a Statesman and works like a Secretary. " It cannot be necessary for me to insist upon the importance of " a speedy and wide introduction of railway or water communication " throughout the length and breadth of India. A single glance " cast upon the map recalling to mind the vast extent of the Empire " we hold ; the various classes and interests it includes ; the wide " distances which separate the several points at which a hostile attack " may at any time be expected ; the perpetual risk of such hostility " appearing in quarters where it is the least expected ; and the ex- " penditure of time, of treasure, and of life, that are involved in even " the ordinary routine of military movements over such a tract, and " the comparative handful of men scattered over its surface, who " have been the conquerors of the country, and now hold it in sub- Governor General's Minute 83 " jection : a single glance upon these things will suffice to show " how immeasurable are the political advantages to be derived from " a system of internal communication which would admit of full in- " telligence of every event being transmitted to the Government " under all circumstances, at a speed exceeding five-fold its pre- " sent rate ; and would enable the Government to bring the main " bulk of its military strength to bear upon any given point, in as " many days as it would now require months, and to an extent which " at present is physically impossible. " And if the political interests of the State would be promoted " by the power which enlarged means of conveyance would confer " upon it of increasing its military strength, even while it diminish- " ed the numbers and cost of its army, the commercial and social " advantages which India would derive from their establishment " are, I truly believe, beyond all present calculation, Great tracts ' are teeming with produce they cannot dispose of. Others are " scantily bearing what they would carry in abundance, if only it " could be conveyed whither it is needed. England is calling aloud " for the cotton which India does already produce in some degree, " and would produce sufficient in quality, and plentiful in quantity, " if only there were provided the fitting means of conveyance for it, " from distant plains, to the several ports adapted for its shipment. " Every increase of facilities for trade has been attended, as we have " seen, with an increased demand for articles of European produce " in the most distant markets of India, and we have yet to learn the " extent and value of the interchange which may be established with " people beyond our present frontier, and which is yearly and rapidly " increasing. " Ships from every part of the world crowd our ports in search of " produce which we have or could obtain in the interior, but which " at present we cannot profitably fetch to them, and new markets " are opening to us on this side of the globe under circumstances " which defy the foresight of the wisest to estimate their probable " value, or calculate their future extent. " It needs but little reflection on such facts to lead us to the con- " elusion that the establishment of a system of railways in India, " judiciously selected and formed, would surely and rapidly give " rise within this empire to the same encouragement of enterprise, 284 Mr. Finlay. " the same multiplication of produce, the same discovery of latent " resources, to the same increase of national wealth, and to some " similar progress in social improvement, that have marked the " introduction of improved and extended communication in various " kingdoms of the Western world." If further illustration of these advantages be sought, they will be found in the documents laid before the Honora- ble Court. " The Court itself has recorded its desire, that India may, without unnecessary loss of time, possess the im- mense advantage "of a regular and well- devised system of railway communication." The only danger to be feared from these truly "admirable observations is, that they may tend still farther to increase the popular feeling in favour of expensive or high speed railways without reference to the evils pointed out above, and somewhat unjustly to advance their expediency at the expense of the cheaper communication by canals and train- ways. Mr. Finlay in his evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons, in July last, says as follows : " What appears to me most advantageous for India at present is " the formation of iron tram-railways, to be worked by cattle. " Neither roads nor locomotive railways, I think, will answer so " well. There is not sufficient passenger traffic at present in India " generally, to support locomotive railways. A tram-railway has " great advantages over a common road ; in the first place, you can " travel along it during all seasons of the year ; in the next place, " the conveyance is quicker and cheaper ; you can get a profit by " it, whereas you can get no return from common roads, the outlay " upon them being so much money sunk. Tramroads will give a " very good return, according to the estimates I have made. You " can cross large rivers much more easily by merely having beams " put across, upon which the trucks may be drawn by means of " ropes ; the cattle would not require to cross them. The advan- " tages over locomotive railways are, that the cost is very much " less ; the management is a great deal more easy ; they can be " made more quickly, and by less experienced hands, and the risk of What are the best means of Communication ? 285 " accidents is very much less. You will have less injury to your " plant, and the plant is much cheaper. The trucks for tram-rail- " ways can be obtained for 8/. or 101. a-piece, while for locomotive " railways they would cost from 60/. to 80. a-piece, and the de- " struction of the plant in the case of tramways will he very much " less ; few experienced workmen will be required. From the ex- " perience that I have had of locomotive railways in this country, " I do not believe it is practicable to work them through India ge- " nerally now to advantage. They may be worked near the Pre- " sidencies, but not throughout India generally." What then are the means of giving this Presidency, indeed India, at large the cheapest, speediest means of communica- tion ? Obviously there is first the improvement of her rivers* secondly, the formation of canals, where the country is favorable to them thirdly, the construction of roads. With * Sir Henry Pottinger, in his Minute on the Public Works Report, doubts whether the Godavery will ever be found navigable. I believe that doubt has been already practically solved, and that an insignificant outlay -will remove all natural difficulties which present themselves up as high as the heart of Berar. The river does not offer a tithe of tbe diffi- culties of the Mississippi ; and it may be instructive here to quote the ac- count which Babbage, in his " Economy of Manufacture," gives of the re- sults of navigating that river : " Manufactures, commerce, and civilization, always follow the line of new and cheap communications. Twenty years ago, the Mississippi poured the vast volume of its waters in lavish profusion through thousands of miles of countries, which scarcely supported a few wandering and unci- vilized tribes of Indians. The power of the stream seemed to set at defi- ance the efforts of man to ascend its course ; and, as if to render the task still more hopeless, large trees, torn from the surrounding forests, were planted like stakes in its bottom, forming in some places barriers, in others the nucleus of banks ; and accumulating in the same spot, which but for accident would have been free from both, the difficulties and dangers of shoals and of rocks. Four months of incessant toil could scarcely con- vey a small bark with its worn-out crew, two thousand miles up this stream. The same voyage is now performed in fifteen days by large ves- sels impelled by steam, carrying hundreds of passengers enjoying all the comforts and luxuries of civilized life. Instead of the hut of the Indian, and the far more unfrequent log-house of the thinly scattered settlers, villages, towns, and cities, have arisen on its banks ; and the same engine which stems the force of these powerful waters, will probably tear from their bottom the obstructions which have hitherto impeded and rendered dangerous their navigation." American enterprise, as Mr. Ellett's admirable work informs us, is now busying itself in taking advantage of streams only a foot and a half deep, for the purposes of transit. 86 Rails Rivers Canals. regard to the last, Col. Cotton proposes to throw over the whole face of the country a net-work of light rails, which can be laid down very expeditiously and economically. For the details of his plan his book must be referred to. As to rivers, he calculates that there may be found about 5,000 miles thoroughly convenient (in all India) at the cost of one million sterling. Major Pears in his Minute above referred to, para. 7, ob- serves : " In the case of navigable rivers, such as the Godavery, which it " appears probable might at no great cost be rendered navigable, " that part of the country to which they already furnish a cheap and " ready means of transport may as a general rule be left without a " railway till the more pressing necessities of other portions of the " country have been provided for." As to canals, Col. Cotton writes thus : " When the rivers are thus turned to account, the next question " is, whether on any lines canals could not be constructed so as to " give still the cheapest possible lines of transit. Whenever good " steam canals can be obtained they will of course be preferable " in some respects to rivers. The principal reason is, that they can " be worked day and night, so as to give a speed of 300 miles a day " with fast steamers. For a chiefly down trade, as that of India is " on all the lines of the rivers, there will of course be an advantage " in the current if not too great, which still water canals would not " have. But yet the transit on steam canals would be exceedingly " cheap, certainly not exceeding half pice per ton per mile. On the " channels in Rajahmundry in their present incomplete state, " 3 Pice a ton per mile is paid for short trips of 10 or 20 miles, " according to which the rate would certainly be greatly less for " long voyages of 100 to 500 miles, in canals completed in every " way and with suitable boats, for the boats now used on these " channels are the boats formerly used for the river navigation, " and by no means the most suitable ones for canals. The cargo " boats used on the Godavery works, cost including the aid of " two small steam tugs, half Anna per ton per day, for all ex- " penses, which if they passed over 20 miles a day would give Steam Canals. 287 " one-third Pie per ton per day, and these boats carry twice the " crew they would if working only on canals. And for the car- " riage of the coarsest goods, such as building materials, &c., " for which a very low speed would be sufficient, the cost of transit " would be still lower. It must be observed that the transit on " Government canals would be greatly more extensive in this coun- " try than in England for these two reasons ; " 1st. On private canals, it is not for the interest of the owners " that an extremely low rate of transit should be charged ; the fear " of crowding the canal and consuming water, prevents their re- " ducing the tolls beyond a certain point ; whereas it would be the " interest of Government to encourage the utmost possible use of " the canals, and if tolls were taken on the more valuable goods, it " would be advisable to let all the coarser goods go free, rather " than in the least diminish the traffic. When the Government " have executed such a work, it is their interest that the greatest " possible use be made of it, and probably it would be better not to " levy any toll, as there would be no doubt that the indirect returns " from it, in increase of taxes from land and other things already " taxed, would much more than yield the Government interest for " money so expended." " 2nd. If they are made expressly to allow of their being navi- " gated by steam they will of course be used for many things that " the canals in England cannot often be used for. With capacious " locks, so made as to be rapidly filled and emptied, and the canal " itself both broad and deep, they will be admirable passenger " lines. The locks on the Rajahmundry channel will admit vessels " of more than 100 tons, and if the canals are ultimately kept six " feet deep as intended, they will admit iron vessels of 140 tons. " They will therefore admit of the highest speed. The steamers " on the Hudson draw only four feet with a speed of 18 or 20 " miles an hour. The passenger traffic at slow speed will be im- " mense, because they can be carried at an expense much below *' that of walking. The 20 H. steamer on the Godavery worked " at a low speed 6 miles an hour, costs 2 Annas per mile, and in- " eluding wear and tear, &c., 4 Annas ; when tugging with 100 " passengers she would cost less per mile, as she would go faster, " and the charge would thus be only half Pice per man per mile, 288 General Conclusions " even if there were no 1st class passengers on board to pay a " larger share of the expenses. Such canals could undoubtedly " be navigated in this country at 8 miles an hour and at a charge " of 1 Rupee for 400 miles for the lowest class of passengers. " How great the number of passengers would be on such line is " curiously shown in the case of the Pulicat canal. Though this " line forms at present no part of any great line of communication, " but merely extends 30 or 40 miles from Madras to a part of the " country, where there are no great towns, there are more than " 100 travellers a day paying about one Pice per mile, though " they actually travel slower than a man walks. Were this line " extended to the Northward so as to form part of the main " Northern approach to Madras by land, connecting that city with " all Hyderabad, Nagpore and the Northern Circars, there could " not be less than 1,000 passengers a day, probably several thou- " sands in steamers moving at a moderate speed, and charging from " one-third Anna down to half Pice per mile." The following then seem some of the most prominent con- clusions to which we are naturally led by a consideration of the foregoing statements. First : That the main obstacle to improvement in India is the want of communications between her interior and her ports. Secondly : That by the want of this she is actually pre- vented from producing more than barely sufficient her own maintenance, instead of supplying Manchester with cotton and wheat, and pouring her natural riches upon the whole world on the one hand, and receiving the manufactures of England on the other to an almost boundless extent. Thirdly : That by the defective nature of such communi- cations as now exist, India pays an actual tax upon transit of 15 millions sterling, equal to three-fifths of the whole taxes. Fourthly : That this tax may be reduced to one-tenth or one-twelfth its present amount. Fifthly : That this is to be effected by a well considered from the foregoing premises. 289 systematic scheme of roads and water carriage, which shall be spread like a net-work over the whole face of the country. Sixthly : That time is an element of the gravest import- ance in this matter. Seventhly : That railways, as they are now conducted, can never be completed in sufficient time to render an effectual remedy. Eighthly: That there is no greater mistake than suppos- ing that high speed of carriage is what is required : that it is speed in the execution of the works which is all important. Ninthly : That if the railways divert public attention from this great fact, they are positively injurious. Tenthly : That we have ready to hand in this Presidency rivers and backwaters which will afford us many hundred miles of the cheapest carriage in the world. Eleventhly : That these rivers may be rendered navigable, and the canals cut at the comparatively trifling cost of from 1 to 3,000 Rupees a mile, and in a very short time. Twelfthly : That the same amount of money which will give us one mile of high speed railway, will give us V 24 of river, 24 of canal navigation, 12 miles of cheap railway ; or 40 miles of common road. Thirteenthly : That we may construct cheap railways at an expense of 6,000 Rupees per mile, and at the rate of 5,000 miles a year. Fourteenthly : That if we are content with a speed of 200 miles a day, we may have railroads all over India in five years. Fifteenthly : That as the present rate of 10 miles a year, the railway between Bombay and Madras will not be com- plete for 40 years. Sixteenthly : That capital laid out in cheap communication will return ten times that laid out in expensive. Seventeenthly : The profit would be as great on common roads, and much greater on canals. 01 290 What makes England rich and India poor ? Eighteenthly : That whatever else be done, the men of Manchester should look to the immediate opening of the Godavery for the carriage of the produce of Berar to the port of Coringa. Nineteenthly : That if they are so deluded as to turn their attention to railway carriage for cotton from Berar to Bombay, it will be the most fatal error that ever a body of acute commercial men made in this world. Such then is the proposed remedy for the present state of the country. Can anything be more intelligible, more sensi- ble, more practicable ? That it ought to be put in execution forthwith there can be, I apprehend, no doubt : that it sinks the whole " Revenue settlement" question into the most dwarfish insignificance cannot be disputed. What makes India a poor, and England a rich country ? hear Col. Cotton : " Why are the people poor ? because, being entirely without any " means (excepting bullocks,) which can be substituted for human *' labour it is as much as they can do to feed, clothe and shelter them- " selves ; or rather I should say, more than they can do, at least " while they have to keep their rulers in luxury. This is the plain " indisputable answer to the question. Why is England rich ? that " is, why has it the means of supplying itself with a thousand things " beyond the mere necessaries of life ? because though it contains " only 25 millions of people, there is as much done by the aid of " steam, water, roads, canals, railways, ports, docks, &c., as could " be effected by the labour of perhaps 200 millions of people with- " out those aids, and having therefore the work of that number, while " the necessaries of life are required for only one-eighth, there is " of course an enormous surplus for other things. And this is not " peculiar for one country ; for if besides the labour of 140 millions " in India, we had the work of another 500 millions performed by " roads, canals, railways, water, steam, &cc., there would be in India " also abundance of labour available for other things beyond the " necessaries of life." Why and how is it that English statesmen never will or Wlio is to do the work ? 291 can apply the same course of reasoning to India that they do to England ? If these improvements were once carried out, the question would no longer be how the " Revenue" is to be collected, or in other words how to screw it out of a pea- santry annually growing more and more unable to pay it, but what to do with the surplus revenues of the country.* If it be conceded that it should be done, the next question is, who is to do it ? Nothing is clearer to my mind than that the Indian Go- vernment will not do it. 'Twere almost pity on my life they should if only for consistency's sake. " Servetur ad imum Qualis ab incepto processerit et sibi constet." Their whole history shows that they have done nothing for this country but upon compulsion : that even after they have before their eyes the practical, unequivocal, undeniable, results of money spent in Public Works, they still hesitate and doubt and procrastinate. Never to do to-day what can be put off till to-morrow, is their unvarying system : and although it is shown to them beyond the possibility of con- tradiction that a certain outlay will yield not only the great- est possible benefits to the people, but an incredible return to themselves, their answer still is " It can't be done now" " the state of the Revenue cannot afford it at present." " Our financial affairs are too embarrassed." Like Festus they put off the consideration to a more convenient season. Indeed they seem to labour under the strangest delusions upon fundamental points, so that putting for the present out of all consideration the cumbrous machinery by which the Government is carried on, and which alone is an almost in- * Mr. Mackay whose life was not spared to draw the conclusions to which the mass of facts collected by him point, seems as it were with his dying breath to have delivered emphatically his testimony against the Company that " whilst it uses without scruple all its powers to enforce " its rights as a landlord, it has been uniformly and notoriously negligent " of its plainest duties as such." Those are the concluding words of his volume. 292 Mistaken views of the Indian Government. superable bar to action, I should conceive the mere thought of applying to them the most Quixotic in the world ; and did not the present crisis offer a more likely opening for the expla- nation of grievances, the suggestion for improvements ; for prayers for the redress of the one, and the execution of the other ; I, for one, certainly should esteem it the most love's labour lost in the whole world to take the trouble of laying this statement before the feet of the worshipful Directors ; and though I might brood over these matters in silence ; cer- tainly I should have never have dreamt of the folly of putting them on paper. Now the mistakes they labour under are ; first, an idea that the real way to relieve this country is, not by opening up communications and expending money in public works ; but by economizing, so as to effect " such reduction of charges " and debt, as may conduce to the restoration of a favorable " balance between the receipt and expenditure of the In- " dian finances," which Colonel Cotton remarks is interpret- ed to mean " stop the Public Works ;" and again they talk of "your applying the excess of your account balance to the " liquidation of a portion of your debt; or to an extensive re- " duction of the rate of interest upon it." Upon which Colonel Cotton has the following remarks : " With respect to the second point, there being no way of reliev- " ing the country but by paying off the debt, let us suppose, that we " met a poor famished cooly fainting under a load of 20lbs. from. " want of food, and we have it in our power either to carry his load " for him, or by feeding him, restore him to his full strength, and " enable him to carry 80lbs. with ease ; which would be the best " thing to do for him ? Even if you were to take off the whole of " the taxes of India, it would still be in a miserable state without " irrigation, communication, ports, &c., and. to increase its income " by 25 millions sterling by means of these, would be an incompa- " rably greater benefit to it, than to take off the present 25 millions " of taxes. A complete system of communication throughout India, " would undoubtedly increase the income of the country by far more Loans should be raised. 293 " than 25 millions a year. Let us take again the case of Tanjore ; " supposing instead of spending 40,000 Rupees a year on improve- " ments, the same amount of taxes had been remitted ; it would " have had 40,000 Rupees a year less to pay, but it would have " been without those works which have raised the value of its " land 3 or 3 crores, indicating an increase of income of 18 or 20 " lacks a year. Ask a sick man which he would rather a doctor " would do for him, relieve him from a small part of his work, or " restore him to his full health, so that his labour would be a plea- " sure to him ; can there be any question which he would prefer ? " The present debt of India is utterly insignificant to a fertile coun- " try containing 100 millions of people in a state of perfect peace, " if only they had the means of transit. It only amounts to half a " Rupee per head per annum. The improvement in the revenue of " Tanjore alone, pays one-tenth of it, trifling as the works are that " have been executed there, and the increase of private property " there is equal to more than another tenth ; if five districts out of " the 90 or 100, were thus partially improved, it would be equal to " the wiping off of the whole debt." The other point on which tnis strange delusion exists is the idea that these improvements, if undertaken at all, must be paid for out of that rainbow-like apparition, which never can be reached, a surplus Revenue. "Why must ? Why is the necessary capital not to be raised by loan forthwith. 1 Reason seems rather to suggest that it should be so, than that the funds should be taken out of a surplus Revenue for why is the present generation to pay the whole cost of benefits in which their posterity will share far more largely than themselves why is not the next gene- ration to pay in the shape of interest for a portion of the bur- then by which they will benefit so incalculably I What difficulty is there in the way of raising any amount of money required 1 Here is the Government with 13| crores of Rupees in its treasury, the Burmese war concluded ; and money to be had for the asking to any amount they choose at 4 per cent. 294 Native ideas. Again, hear Colonel Cotton : " Now where is the difficulty ? Thousands want to lend money " at 4 per cent., thousands of Europeans and Natives want employ- " ment as Superintendents of Works, Sec., thousands of iron manu- " facturers and others in England want a sale for their goods, lacks " of people in India want employment as labourers and artificers, " millions of Ryots want water for millions of acres ; tens of thou- " sands of miles of communication and the means of carrying pro- " duce, need to be constructed, and thus millions might be expend- " ed so as to yield 10, 20, or 50 times the interest paid for them. " Every thing is ready except one thing. But there is, indeed, a " difficulty, the difficulty which has kept India immersed in igno- " ranee and poverty from the day we commenced our rule up to this " day. It is this, that Englishmen, instead of coming to India to " teach the Natives the things which make us what we are, sit down " to learn of the Natives the things that make them what they " are. How wonderful it is, that the man who, if he were in Eng- " land, would be certainly engaged in furthering every thing in which " England glories, should in India, occupy himself from morning " to night with this notable subject ; the settlement of the land re- " venue of his district. He sees, for instance, that his district is " paying 10 or 20 lacks a year for the transit of goods, and that it " cannot find a sale for what it produces, for want of the means of " sending it to places where saleable ; and yet he is completely at " a loss as to what can be done to relieve and improve it. He turns " again to the ' settlement,' and tries once more what he knows has " been tried a thousand times before in vain, how to make a dis- " trict, steeped in poverty, pay additional revenue without increas- " ing its resources. He sees and hears of capital employed in al- " most every kind of Public Works, yielding 50 or 100 per cent. ; " he sees that his own district in producing certain articles of food, " clothing, &c., pays double or treble what they could be procured " for from another part of the country, if there were but cheap " transit ; whilst other districts are wanting, and paying double or " treble for things which could be got for more cheaply from his " district ; and yet he cannot think of anything to enrich his dis- " trict except giving a little more time to the ' settlement,' or read- " ing a few more thousand sheets of paper on that everlasting sub- Government should do the loork. 295 " ject. Here is the real and the sole difficulty. To remove it, one " word from our rulers is all that is required ; every thing else is " ready, and has long been ready. Let them only open a Loan for " 20 millions to begin with, order the expenditure of three lacks a " year in every district, purchase a million tons of rails and such " other things as can be got at once for money, and will help to- " wards the improvement of the resources of the country ; and the " whole difficulty is got over. This might be done to-morrow ; " nothing is required but that what has been so well done by the Go- " vernor General, about the Telegraph, be applied to every thing " else of this kind ; that is to say, ' Let it be done.' But like every " thing else that has ever been done to promote the real welfare of " India, it must come from without ; it will never come from within, " neither from the Court nor the Civil Service. Every step in ad- " vance has been made not only without emanating from within, " but in direct opposition to the utmost efforts of the Court as for- " merly constituted. The freedom of the Press, the abolition of " Suttee, the admission of European Merchants, Missionaries, &c., " Steam Communication, and now the Electric Telegraph, &c. &c., " every one without exception, has been hitherto, in some way or ' ' other, really forced upon the India House." But, it may be asked, is it even necessary for the Govern- ment to undertake this work ? Would not capital he readily found by private individuals for a scheme which will render farming instead of " a wild speculation" the most profitable investment in the world ? I think, however, that for very many sound reasons this measure ought to be undertaken by the Government, and not by any Joint Stock Company. Let the Madras Railway Manager be asked if he could have carried the rail a mile without the assistance of Government in obtaining the land from the Natives. But there is another obstacle in the way of leaving this vital question to the energies of the Indian Government for its completion. I speak of the cumbrous nature of its ma- chinery. Let any Englishman read the following account 296 Cumbrous Government machinery. of the great 7 putty case, and imagine for himself how any enormous scheme, embracing a host of details would be smothered under the load of communications which it would entail. The great Putty case is given in extenso by Colonel Cot- ton* as follows : "A range of barracks is built by an Engineer at a cost of " 30,000 or 40,000 ; there is a large saving on the estimate " sanctioned, for which he officially receives the thanks of the " Court of Directors. Some time afterwards a storm occurs which " breaks a few panes of glass valued at 7. The whole Presi- " dency is at once in a state of excitement. The heads of that " Division of the Army are directed to assemble a committee of " Officers to investigate this matter. Their report is referred to " the Military Board, who after patiently examining all the papers, " and referring to all their records, forward all the documents to " the Governor in Council, with a deliberate and elaborate report ; " in which they assure the Government, that they have not hastily " come to a decision, but have given their best energies to the in- " vestigation, and they conclude that the cause of the windows " being broken was the inferior quality of the putty, and that *' therefore the Engineer ought to pay for them. All the papers " connected with this intricate and vital matter are now examined " by the Secretary to Government, "who sends them in circulation " to the Governor and the other three Members of Council. After " a sufficient time has been given them to consider this weighty " subject, and to record their individual sentiments in writing, the " important day at length arrives, when the whole is to be reviewed " and discussed in Council. The flag is hoisted, His Excellency's " carriage with two troopers with drawn swords in front, and three " behind, enters the Fort, and is drawn up at the gate of the Go- * Many of the passages which are given by me as extracts from Colonel Cotton will not be found in his work. I had taken my selections with his kind permission from one of a few printed copies which he circulated among his friends for observations, before the edition was struck off. During a short visit which I paid to Salem a castrating committee sat upon Colonel Cotton's work ; and I shall think my book of no little value if it only succeeds in saving some of his suppressed passages. The great 7 Putty case. 297 " vernment Offices. It is followed by the Commander-in-Chief, " and the two^Councillors with their silver sticks. The Secretaries " are summoned, and this solemn investigation is proceeded with, " upon which the fate of 7 depends. It is however discovered " that the decision of such an important question by an assembly " drawing among them salaries amounting to 40,000 or 50,000 " a year, and the cost of whose weekly meetings in Council may be " calculated at about 1,000, would be too presumptuous. After " much discussion therefore and probably a second or third set of " Minutes, it is decided that the Secretary shall draw up a report " embodying the opinions of the Council, to be submitted with all " the important documents connected therewith, to the Hon'ble " Court of Directors, and the Board of Controul. " The thoughtless Mail Agent little thinks what he has got un- " der his charge, when he receives the box containing this Despatch " in the cabin on board the Steamer. After many months, during " which these papers have been the frequent subject of communi- " cation and discussion among the Secretaries, Directors, &c. &c., " in London, another Steamer proceeds with the freight of these " papers, greatly increased in bulk and value by the opinions and " decision of the august Boards at home. They reach Madras ; " the Council is again assembled ; the Despatch is considered ; a " copy with resolutions, &c., is sent to the Military Board, and af- " ter having been circulated, considered, discussed, &c., by them, " instructions are issued announcing that the Hon'ble Court, of " course with the concurrence of the Board of Controul, have de- " cided for reasons duly stated that the windows shall be mended, " at the expense of the Engineer. If a wing of the barracks had " fallen down, of course as a Subaltern could not pay a lack of " Rupees there would be no alternative but to re-build it at the " public expense ; but as he can pay 7, justice to the public ser- " vice requires that he should be made an example of. In the mean- " time as the officer is not in India, the matter lies over for a year " or two. On his return, being surprised at the receipt of these or- " ders, after having been officially thanked by the Court for having " acquitted himself so well in the construction of this large building, " he addresses the Chief Engineer, giving him in a few words reasons " why he ought not to be held responsible for the loss of the 7, PI 98 Madras Railway machinery. " and as he has not previously had an opportunity of speaking in " his own hehalf, the Chief Engineer draws up a Minute on the sub- " ject, which is laid before the Military Board, who again considers " the question and once more report to Government. Nothing can " exceed the condescending and unwearied patience of all the au- " thorities. The Governor once more records a Minute, the second " Member of Council Minutes, the third Member Minutes, the Go- " vernor winds up by a fourth Minute : by which time the subject " is ripe for discussion. Again the Council assemble, consider, de- " cide, and issue instructions to the Military Board ; and, finally, " the officer is told that he may keep his 7. And so ends the " affair; till the report of the Governor in Council reaches the " Court, when they will possibly order the matter to be taken up " de novo, and thoroughly investigated. It should be mentioned, " that it was discovered at last that some brads had been omitted " in fixing the glass, which was not likely to be discovered either " by the President of the Board of Controul, the 24 Directors and " their Secretary, the Governor and Council of Madras and their " Secretaries, the Military Board, the Chief Engineer, the General " of the Division, the Committee of Officers, or the Engineer him- " self; as none of them had ever served an apprenticeship to a " glazier. " This is the literal history of an Indian question, which has re- " cently been agitated. The following is the list of different authorities through whom our little Madras railway has to struggle forward: 1st, The Board of Controul, " 2d, The Court of Directors, " 3d, The Government of India, " 4th, The Local Government, " 5th, The Shareholders, " 6th, The Managing Committee at Home, " 7th, The Consulting Engineer at Home, " 8th, The Manager in India, " 9th, The Government Inspecting Engineer, " 10th, The Local Engineer." The Godavery works. 299 The noble works which now bridle the Godavery,* are spreading wealth and happiness over the Delta, and have for ever annihilated faminef in those parts, were first advocated in 1779 ! yet only in 1847 were they commenced. The whole story is so instructive that I cannot refrain from giving it a little more at large. J In 1779 Mr. John Sullivan, in his letter of the 3rd Fe- bruary, fully explained to the Court of Directors the neces- sity of storing the waters of the Kistnah and the Godavery. In 1788 Lieut. Lennon represented to the then Governor of Madras that he had in 1786 at his own expense made a survey of the Godavery : he went up the Godavery as far as where the Shevaroy falls into it. In 1792, the Court of Directors in their letter to Fort St. George recognize the expediency of surveying the Kistnah and Godavery, both with a view to irrigation and navigation. About 30 years since, the enterprizing firm of Messrs. Palmer * Mr. Chapman in the third Chapter of his second Book appears to me to have undervalued the works on the Godavery ; perhaps because he never saw them. They are probably, as Sir Henry Pottinger observes in his Minute on the P. Works Report, without parallel in the world. They are in truth as gigantic in conception as in execution. A river two miles broad, occasionally rising forty feet in a few hours, pouring down with tremendous force over a sandy bed, and between banks of rotten alluvial soil, cannot be bridled as the Godavery has been, without the exercise of the highest human genius, skill, and perseverance. All honour therefore be to him who planned and carried out these magnifi- cent works. At the same time they have certainly done the Court of Directors good service in the past Sessions, for speakers, writers, witnesses, all alike thrust them prominently forward whenever any accusation of do-nothingness or do-littleness was urged against the Company. Mr. Mackay likens this to the act of a man who by holding a six-penny piece close to the eye, excludes the whole firmament from view. To me it seems more like the first effort of a patient who has recently gained his sight by the operation of couching ; and who for want of any means of measuring distances, mistakes that which is nearest, comparatively small as it may be, for the most important object of nature. t Since the earlier sheets of this work were printed, Reports from the different Collectorates have been published, which foster the hope that although the approaching season will be one of great scarcity, famine, will, under Providence, be averted. t Oriental Repertory, Vol. 2, page 61. 300 An illustration of Horace. at Hyderabad attempted to navigate the Godavery as a pri- vate speculation, but were compelled to relinquish it, princi- pally on account of the exactions of the various petty chief- tains on the banks. It is only in 1847 that an anicut is com- menced across the Godavery ; the paltry sum of 10,000 Rs. has only just been sanctioned by the Supreme Government for the survey of the Godavery, after a former refusal ; and the last issue of the Athenceum* contains an account of the progress of the expedition of discovery as high as Chinnoor, 250 miles from the Port of Coringa. In spite of this, our present Governor, in his Minute on the Public Works Re- port, still continues to doubt whether the river will prove navigable, or the anicut stand. What an illustration of Horace does the Government afford ; standing on the Goda- very banks, with hands in pocket, and staring at the passing stream in stupid apathy since 1779. Rusticus expectat dum defluit amnis ; at ille Labitur, et labetur in omne volubilis annum. To furnish a case within my own immediate knowledge, let me give the history of the Madras House of Correction. In the town of Madras there is, as might be naturally ex- pected, a House of Correction. Run not away, Sir, with the idea which this name excites. It is no airy, spacious pri- son, wherein prisoners can be classified ; or any measures taken for their moral improvement. It is such that Euro- peans cannot be sent there with safety to their lives ; and ac- cordingly those convicted at the Sessions are invariably sen- tenced to confinement in Her Majesty's Gaol, where there exist no means of employing them, and so they saunter out their turn without labour, and are a constant object of terror and anxiety to the authorities of the Gaol. The House of Correction is an old bomb-proof, saved from an angle of the Black Town wall where it is pierced by a gate ! and there * October 24th, 1853. Madras House of Correction. 301 are huddled together, the wretched Natives ; young and old ; the hardened felon and the juvenile offender ; in such a manner as has not only excited the commiseration of the beholder, but cries shame upon the Government. At the last January Sessions, the Chief Justice at the conclusion of his charge to the Grand Jury, made the following remarks : " I find, but cannot attempt to explain the reason, that bad as is " the state of the House of Correction, and often as the evil has " been pointed out to the Government, not a single step had been " taken towards removing or alleviating it. On the very last occa- " sion on which I presided at the Sessions, the Grand Jury made " me a presentment complaining, in very strong language, of the " utter unfitness of that prison as a place of correction. The views " expressed by the Grand Jury were fully concurred in by myself, " and I urged the matter upon the attention of the authorities. No " good result has followed. On consulting the records of the Court, " I find that for the last ten years, the Grand Jury has been in the " habit of presenting to the notice of the Court the necessity for a " better House of Correction ; at first in mild terms, but latterly, as " they found their remonstrances unheeded, in stronger language. " It is indeed to be deplored that unsatisfactory relations between " the local Government and the home authorities, or any other " cause, should be allowed to interfere with the efficient adminis- " tration of justice ; for that was the consequence of the existing " state of things. The situation and accommodations of the House " of Correction are such, as the gentlemen before me know from " personal inspection, that it is an act of gross inhumanity to con- " fine a European there for any length of time. To Keep a man in " a place of that kind for a number of months would positively en- " danger his life" The Grand Jury made their presentment, in no milder terms than their predecessors. This was duly forwarded by the Chief Justice to the local Government with his own comments. At the July Sessions 1853, the Chief Justice in charging the Grand Jury spoke as follows : " Numerous presentations had been made, at successive sessions 30:2 Charge of the Chief Justice. " by Grand Juries upon the state of the House of Correction, and " at this time last year he had reported to the Grand Jury that their " suggestions were in course of being attended to. He regretted *' to say that he did not know that the matter was one step advanced " beyond what it was that day. Grand Juries had for 10 successive " sessions presented strongly on the incompleteness of the arrange- " ments for the confinement of prisoners in the House of Correction, " and these presentations had all been duly forwarded to Govern- " ment. " There must be something exceedingly cumbersome and clumsy " about the machinery by means of which the public matters were " managed by the Government ; for presentation after presentation " had been sent in, and there had been references to boards, and " references back again, but what good effect did these produce in " the meantime for unfortunate creatures confined in a place unfit, " and on this point the Judge would add his own testimony in " addition to that of the ten or twelve successive juries who had " reported unfit for them to be kept in. A better time was how- " ever, his Lordship believed at hand, a time when a state of matters " like this could not be permitted to continue from year to year, " he trusted that the jury would make all the efforts within their " power to remedy the evils complained of, and that they would " not be deterred from giving the disgrace the utmost publicity. " There were those who had said that the House of Correction had " been visited by Europeans, who had little idea what sort of places " Natives could live in. A young Native confined for his first of- " fence would be as much likely to suffer corruption by contact " with ten or a dozen notorious criminals, as would a European " under the same circumstances : indeed so far as their ability to " learn went, Natives were, he believed sharper than the generality " of Europeans. With regard to the jail, he was pleased to see " from the report of the Chief Magistrate that one great drawback " to the efficiency of that institution was about to be removed. He " would say about to be removed, because there was a prospect of " its being done soon. The unfortunate Capt. Campbell, by whom " a large portion of the place had been hitherto taken up, was " about to be removed to England. There were one or two other " improvements, of the most simple kind, which had not been yet Government its own Satyrist. 303 " effected, although these were recommended long since. One of " these was the construction of a few small cells for the confine- " ment of violent Europeans. He had not been able to ascertain " why these had not been erected ; it was however he supposed " owing to the cumbrous nature of the Government machinery to " which he had before adverted. There would b a vast amount of " correspondence on the subject, and multitudinous references here " and there, while one would fancy that half aniiour would be time " enough to consider the matter and issue the order, and half a " dozen days would certainly suffice to build them. He merely " drew their attention to these matters. His Lordship had no doubt " that before the completion of their labours they would visit both " places ; but as he had observed he would not advise them so far " as he was concerned to report with reference to the House of Cor- " rection. No grand jury could have stronger feelings on the sub- " ject than himself nor stronger than had been already frequently " expressed by grand juries, nor than he had himself expressed, " but to no avail." The Grand Jury again made a strong presentation, which has been duly forwarded by the Chief Justice to the local Government. But this is not all. For fifteen years, our energetic Chief Magistrate has been bringing the House of Correction to the notice of the Government, and on one occasion expressed his opinion that it was not a Jit place to keep a pack of hounds in ! yet nothing has been done ; the old condemned dog-kennel continues as of yore ; and as if to give a ludi- cious term to the whole affair, the Government has positively become its own satyrist ; for in Act 23 of 1840, Sec. 8, it is provided as follows. " Whereas it is expedient, that offen- " ders sentenced by the Mofussil authorities to imprisonment " with or without hard labour, should be subjected to the " most improved rules of prison-discipline, which cannot in " all cases be conveniently done except in the prisons locally " situate within the jurisdiction of H. M.'s Supreme Courts, " it is hereby enacted, &c. !" 304 Enormous mass of correspondence. If Parliament were to call for the correspondence on this one trumpery concern, there would probably be produced a cart load of references backwards and forwards, between the Governor in Council and the Military Board, the Supreme Government, the Magistracy, the Jury, the Judges, the Me- dical Board, the Engineers, the Court of Directors ; in short the usual round of procrastination and delay. True, in their justification the Government might be induced to point to a gaunt unfinished mass of brick yclept the Penitentiary, which was at length commenced some seven years since, but on a report of its unhealthy situation suddenly stopped ; until it has lately been determined, as it is not fitted for a Gaol, to convert it into a University ! They might point to this damp erection as a proof of their good intention. Let them point. I on the other hand point to the old bomb-proof, where the prisoners are still rotting ; and say again, nothing has been done. But I will ask, if things can continue in this way in the open eye of day, in the centre of its chief city, with a Public, a Press, a Grand Jury, a Chief Magistrate, Queen's Judge, all in vain re- presenting a nuisance unsuccessfully for at least fifteen years, what hope is there of extorting from Government any improvement in the dark corners of the Mofussil, where it is absolutely despotic, and no voice can be raised against it? To take at random a few instances of the dilatory policy of Government from the lately published Public Works Report, as peculiarly affecting this question. In para. 462, the Commissioners say as follows : " The splendid instances which we have quoted are only excep- " tional ; the general tone of feeling in the Government is still nar- " row ; there is still the same confined view of the field of opera- " tions : still the same feeling, clearly apparent, though not avow- " ed, that every outlay is an evil, no matter what and how great is " the benefit to be so secured ; still there is the narrowest and " strictest economy in refusing trifling outgoings from the Treasu- Spirit of the Collectors. 305 " ry, combined with the same practical disbelief, as of old, in those " general truths which point to the sure means of vastly augment- " ing the income." In para. 3S, we learn how little we may expect from the Collectors as a body : " Among the Collectors we find one here and there who evident- " ly understands the full value of roads, and is urgent that some- " thing decisive should be done to improve those of his district ; " but in general there is a want of a full apprehension of the im- " portance of the subject; some officers speak of some few lines as " though those constituted the whole roads of their districts res- " pectively which need attention ; one gentleman describes ' his " ' roads as not worse than the general run of toads in India ;' ano- " ther admits that all his roads are in a ruinous state, but every " year he is unprepared to suggest improvement; a third states " that the roads of his district, 3,000 square miles in extent, are " kept in good repair at an outlay of 40 a year. In general there " is no attempt to take up the subject as a whole, or to exhibit the " actual state of the roads as they are, prominent mention being " only made of some one or two lines, of the sums that have been " expended, and of the small improvement thereby effected. We " find no comparison -attempted between the roads here and in " other countries, nor are any statistics given, except in a very few " instances, of the traffic on different lines, or any data by which " to judge of the rise or decline of trade, as roads are improved " or neglected." And in the following para, how very little we may hope from the Government : " And the tone of the orders of Government on these reports is " still less satisfactory ; still less encourages any hope of decisive " improvement hereafter. The object most conspicuously observ- " able in them is to get rid of the papers. No real interest is exhi- " bited in the question ; no anxiety is evinced to call forth the zeal " of officers, or to promote improvement ; no help is offered to those " officers who display a strong desire for the improvement of their " districts in this respect; no interest is manifested in the pictures " which they draw of the want of roads, or any sympathy in the Ql 306 Government ; Local, and Supreme. " feelings with which they cannot but look on the reality daily be- " fore their eyes ; and on the other hand there is no word of disap- " proval, of admonition, or of instruction, for those who have no " eyes for these vital wants of their districts, or who, seeing them, " are indifferent, and make no effort or suggestion for their remov- " al. In short, these orders afford no evidence of any real sense on " the part of the Government, of the entire absence of roads, or of " the social backwardness and disability which such a state neces- " sarily implies, or of the intimate connexion between the state of " the communications and the revenue, or any real anxiety to pro- " mote their improvement. On the contrary, there is a manifest " unwillingness to recognize the real wretched state of the commu- " nications as detailed by some Collectors a disposition to make the " most of the very small improvements reported, or aid afforded by " Government, and an anxiety to throw upon the people themselves " the task to which they are utterly unequal, of improving the " roads." In para. 454 we have an instance of the apathy of the Su- preme Government: " The history of the endeavours made by the Madras Government " to obtain power to prevent such offences, well exemplifies the " mode in which the interests of this Presidency suffer from their " state of dependence on a distant and indifferent authority. On " the 25th October, 1842, the Madras Government sent up to Cal- " cutta a draft Act for preventing and punishing the throwing over " of ballast in the inner harbour of Mangalore. The Government " of India objected to such partial legislation; and ultimately it was " resolved to extend the Act to other ports, and on the 31st May, " 1834, a list of those to which it ought to be extended was sent to " Calcutta. In November, 1848, the attention of the Government " was recalled to the subject by a letter from the Marine Board, " bringing to notice the necessity of putting a stop to the danger- " ous and injurious practice of throwing over stone ballast in the " harbour of Tuticorin. The Government forwarded the papers to " Calcutta, and requested that the proposed Act might be passed as " speedily as possible. In November, 1849, the same evil was again " pressingly brought before Government ; and on the 4th Decem- Broken faith. 307 " ber, the Government of Bengal was again requested to hasten the " enactment; on the 4th April 1851, this request was urged a third " time, and, lastly, on the 10th February 1852, and all without " any effect. " Thus the draft of this law, which appears to be simple and easy " to decide upon, has been before the Government at Calcutta above " nine years and a half; and four times since it was first sent up, it " has been pressed on their attention as urgently required ; and yet, " up to the present time, not only has the Act not been passed, but " we believe not a single word of reply or acknowledgment has " been elicited. "In August 1849, this Government sent up to Calcutta, draft of " an Act for regulating the pilots in the Paumbam Channel ; and " later in the same year another draft Act, drawn up at the sugges- " tion of the Supreme Government, for the regulation of emigrant " vessels. No notice appears to have been yet taken of either of " these subjects, though three years have elapsed." In para. 5, we have an instance of faith broken either through indifference, or, what is more prohable, a dislike to increase expenditure, whereby a deserving body of men have been disgusted : " We have mentioned above (para. 45), that the Overseers are " disheartened by the withholding of promotion ; and we will state " the circumstances which have occasioned that feeling. When " their employment was first authorized, it was ordered that they " should be in four classes : the civil pay of the first and of the " fourth class were provisionally settled, the former at Rupees 43 " 15 Annas 1 Pie, and the latter at Rs. 90 a month; that of the " two intermediate grades was left for after consideration. All men " transferred to the Maramut Department were properly placed in " the lowest grade, with the prospect and promise of promotion ; " but up to this time nothing has been done towards completing " the arrangements, or fulfilling the expectations then held out. " Some men have been in the department nearly five years, giving " uniform satisfaction to their superiors, and have been again and " again strongly recommended for promotion, both by their imme- 308 Board of Revenue Court of Directors. " diate superiors and by the Board of Revenue ; but not one man " has yet been advanced from the lowest step of rank and pay." In much the same spirit the Government has appropriated the money voluntarily contributed by the people of Salem, on the faith of its being applied to the repair of their roads ; a policy which it has also displayed -with reference to the " ferry funds" every where. In para. 113, we find the Board of Revenue objecting to good roads on the old score of want of commerce, because they would " involve the disbursement of a large portion of " the Eevenue of Government ; and considering the existing " state of inland commerce, would perhaps be as unnecessary " as it would prove expensive." In para. 115, the Court of Directors say " the finances are " obviously inadequate, did not the nature of the soil and sea- " sons oppose insurmountable obstacles." In para. 249, we have a point-blank refusal of the Supreme Government to a most useful proposal of the Board of Reve- nue, strongly recommended of this Government : " In 1841, indeed, a proposal was made to construct a road from " the town of Manargoody to Chillumbrum, and another from the " latter place to Bowangherry, the chief town of an adjoining talook. " The total length of the two roads was 18 miles, and the estimated " cost Rupees 27,276 including a number of bridges. It was stated " by the Board in sending up the project to Government that there " were no regular roads between the three places ; that the country " was swampy, and intercommunication consequently most diffi- " cult ; and for a considerable part of the year impossible ; and " that this state of things was very inconvenient, as the roads were " much used during the dry weather in spite of their bad condition. " They added that the large irrigation channels which intersect this " part of the country at short intervals greatly impeded traffic, and " ought to be abridged ; that the anicut, which had largely augment- " ed the revenue, had added extremely by the increased irrigation " to the difficulty of travelling ; and that a good road connecting " the three chief towns was therefore very much required. The pro- Revenue lost by stoppage of repairs. 309 " ject was sent up to Bengal with the strong recommendation of " this Government in its favour ; but sanction was refused, and the " chief roads in the talooks still remain nearly in the disgraceful " state above described." In para. 278, the Government of Madras stop the progress of repairs, whereby a total annual loss of 7,500 Rupees is entailed : " We are induced to dwell more on this point, in consequence of " the order recently passed by Government (Revenue Department, " 6th September 1851, No. 905), directing the stoppage of the " repair of two very large tanks in the Bellary district, which were " much damaged in the gale in May last. One of these tanks, that " of Darajee, yields an average revenue of Rupees 7,524, and the " estimated cost of repairing the damage done by the gale is Rupees " 37,998, the other, that of Singanamully, yields an average revenue " of Rupees 12,239 to Government, besides revenue alienated as " enam, to the amount of about Rupees 10,000, being a total of " Rupees 22,000. The estimate for the repair of the tanks amounts " to Rupees 60,500. The Right Honourable the Governor in Council " considers the amount of the estimates enormous, with reference " to the revenue at stake, calls for information whether that amount " cannot be diminished, and directs that pending the receipt of " orders, on reference hereafter to be made to the Government of " India or to the Home authorities, the repairs which have been " some time in progress shall be stopped. The annual revenue from " the two works, including that portion which has been alienated or " granted to private persons, is Rupees 3,000 ; the Ryot's share of " the produce of the land, assuming the proportion before taken, " viz., two-fifths to the Government and three-fifths to the Ryot, is " Rupees 4,500, being a total annual value of Rupees 7,500. The " expenditure necessary to repair the tanks, that is, to recover this " amount of income now lost, is Rupees 9,850 less than one year " and a quarter's purchase ; and this is withheld." Let para. 333 speak for itself : " Lieutenant Rundall, the first Assistant Civil Engineer, has lately " made an estimate for a new road from Berhampore, through Aska " to Russelcondah, to ihe amount of Rs. 142,246 for 45 miles. 310 Bcrhampore Road. " The road form part of a main line between the coast and Nagpore. " It would pass through the most fertile part of the Ganjam district ; " would give the extensive sugar works established by Messrs. Binny " and Co. at Aska, an uninterrupted communication with the ship- " ping port, and would enable troops at any season to move rapidly " on Goomsoor. If extended to the Westward it would supply the " long required passage through the country of the Khoonds, open " a most extensive market in the Nagpore country* for our salt, give " a direct road from the sea to the capital of that territory, and would " raise a traffic between the interior and the coast, to the benefit of " a vast population both within and beyond the Company's frontier. " The value of a free communication in this direction would be " incalculable : and in forwarding the estimate, both the Collector " and the Engineer would most strongly recommend it. The " Government, however, considered that so expensive a road was " not necessary, and ordered the estimate to be amended for a " second class road ; and this term signifies a road without bridges " or a surface of metal, which, in the locality in question, where " there is a long season of rain, would be out of use four or five " months of the year. " While writing on the roads of Ganjam we had the advantage " of a conversation with Mr. Boothby, then just arrived from " Aska, where he has the management of the sugar manufactory * This road was wisely projected by Lord Elphinstone in 1841 as one of his proposed measures for the suppression of the Meeriah sacrifices. Upon this Mr. Kaye flippantly remarks " I cannot say much for this pro- ject. The idea seems to have been that of a road leading from nowhere to nowhere." Commercially, it would open the sea to the markets of Nagpore ; in a military point of view, a glance at the map is sufficient to decide upon this road's importance ; and had it not been put aside on the usual plea of expense, it would have done more to civilize the Khonds and suppress infanticide than all the military movements which have been made against them from that time to this. Lately however the road has been commenced, and is now completed from Ilusselcondah at the foot, to Sohnpoor on the top of the Ghauts. Stacks of grain have been seen rotting on the hills for want of any exit ; and Mr. Boothby says that there are numerous articles which might be brought down as articles of commerce. Within a few months from the opening of the Ghaut 1 2,000 laden bullocks passed through it. Instead of calling it a road " from nowhere to nowhere," Mr. Kaye had better have designated it a road leading from child-murder to humanity. This is the fashion in which in- quiry is put aside in England. Let Mr. Kaye before he reaches a second edition peruse the 333rd para, of the Public Works Report ! Samulcottah Road. 311 " above alluded to. This gentleman pointed out forcibly the ad- " vantage that would be derived, not only to the undertaking in " which he is engaged, but to the country generally, by this road " being opened and rendered efficient through the year. We have " since received from Messrs. Binny and Co. a letter addressed to " them, by Mr. Boothby on the same subject, which so clearly illus- " trates the stagnation resulting from the want of roads in the " country, that we have thought it advisable to print it with this " Report (Appendix P.), and we would call attention to it as con- " taining matter of the deepest importance. We find from it, that " when in full operation the manufactory at Aska will annually " spend a sum equal to half the revenue of the district. The effect " on the prosperity of that collectorate from the circulation of so " much capital, can only fully be realized by those who know the " universal want of employment for labour and of a market for " produce. It will be seen that Mr. Boothby's operations would " not be limited to sugar, if other and more bulky commodities " could be transported to the coast at a moderate cost." So also : "In one case (the road from Samulcottah to Cocanada) Mr. " Prendergast had pointed out the urgent necessity for a road, " and the Civil Engineer's Department had prepared an estimate " for it to the amount of Us. 9,796, the Government withheld its " sanction for two reasons (extract Minutes of Consultation, 30th "March 1849). One was 'The absolute necessity for limiting " expenditure, especially in Rajahmundry, with advertence to the " works of the Godavery Anicut ;' the other, disapproval of Captain " Orr's attention being occupied by any other duty than the Ani- " cut. The road was earnestly petitioned for by all the most " wealthy and influential Native merchants and others in the " neighbouring towns of Cocanada, Samulcottah, Peddapoor, &c. ; " and their representations of its necessity were fully vouch- " ed by the Collector and the Civil Engineer. It was only eight " miles long, and was to costless than 1,000, and it would have " completed the connexion between the grain growing parts of the " Delta of the Godavery and the shipping port ; and at that time " there was nothing in the shape of a road ' on the line ;' it Government orders. " lay ' across swamps and nullahs and could not be used even " ' by common bullock bandies, except at the driest season of the " ' year :' the grain for exportation was all brought to the port on " pack-bullocks, and the road was ' often impassable, even for them, " ' for weeks together ;' yet this road was refused. Towards the " end of the same year the Civil Engineer, the Collector, and the " Board of Revenue, again brought the subject before the Govern- " ment, praying that at least sanction might be given for the earth- " work, leaving the bridges to be constructed afterwards ; but " even this request was rejected. The Government simply quoted " their previous order, and intimated to the Board ' that no expense " ' of this nature will be sanctioned in Rajahmundry, until the " ' works of the Godavery anicut are completed.' " In para. 339 the Engineer prepared estimates for two " very bad pieces of road," but these were " not sanctioned," and the orders of Government 18th November 1848 prohibiting all but necessary disbursements, were thought " unfavourable to further recommendations." In para. 346, I find as follows : " In November 1850, Mr. Pelly says, in the annual report, ' I " ' have nothing further to add to my report, dated 22d October, " ' 1849, the orders of Government on which, I am still expecting.' " He refers to some repairs on a small part of the Bellary and " Dharwar road, on an estimate to the amount of Rs. 6,177-13-0, " as on the point of completion ; and notices that the further esti- " mate (for Rs. 25,200) for this road had not yet received the sanc- " tion of Government. He closes his short and hopeless report, " with a repetition of his request, ' that some plan for making roads " ' through Bellary may be authorized and commenced upon.' " In para. 348, Mr. Scott says : " That there is not a single bridge in the whole country, and as " no sanction has yet been received for the two small ones which I " submitted 20 months ago, I have abstained from recommending " any other improvements." In para. 370 : " It was a part of the original design to unite in one continued " navigation the back-waters of Malabar, Cochin and Travancore, Funds usurped. 313 " from Baragherry to Quilon, a distance of above 200 miles ; and " the project for this purpose was sent in by the Board of Revenue " for the approval of the present Government. It consisted of the " cutting of a canal, and the improvement of a back-water, for a " distance of 15 miles, involving an expense of Rs. 8,995 (900 ), " but the Right Honorable the Governor in Council saw ' no suffi- " ' cient reason for incurring the expense.' He was also of opinion, " ' that the time and attention of the Civil Engineer should not be " ' called off from more important works by projects of this charac- " ' ter ;' but it would be difficult to find a project holding out more " important results than this, and at such an utterly inconsiderable " cost of either time or money." In paras. 392-3, we find that Government has usurped the whole of the ferry funds which so long ago as 1817, the Court of Directors appropriated as follows : " The tolls which are collected at ferries, and which in some dis- " tricts are brought to account as an article of revenue, should be " set apart as a fund for providing ferry boats, and building bridges " over rivers and nullahs ; and in the event of the tolls yielding " more than what may be sufficient for these accommodations, the " surplus may be appropriated to the repair of the public highways " in those districts." And in para. 720, even the little sum of 30,000 Rupees a year derived from Cochrane's Canal is described as " re- morselessly swallowed up by the exchequer." In paras. 429-31, we have the following pitiable history : " In 1847, the extension of the mud bank in front of Cocanada, " had proceeded so far as very seriously to interfere with the grow- " ing trade of that place, by the increased tediousness and expen- " siveness of communicating with the shipping. The merchants " brought the subject to the notice of the same officer, as Civil " Engineer of the Division, and he, with the concurrence of the " Collector, commenced to re-open the direct passage by a cut " through the bank, on an estimate of Rupees 1,500. While the " work was in progress, it became evident that the cut could not " be kept open under the action of the tides and surf, without an " artificial work at its outer end. For forming such a defence or lil 314 Cocanada Harbour. " breakwater, the merchants interested in the port subscribed a " sum of nearly Rupees 800, and with this sum a groin of rough " stone was commenced ; but the funds were insufficient either to " complete the cut or to construct a sufficient breakwater. " When the bills for the work of the year went in, explanation " of this item was asked for, and it was supplied by Captain Orr, ' the Acting Civil Engineer, in the absence of Major Cotton on " sick certificate. Captain Orr stated that the work was undoubt- " edly correct in principle, and it has answered the end sought, as far " as could be expected from it in the imperfect condition in which " it had been left from the want of sufficient funds. He also " stated, that from the extension of the bank, a boat could hardly " make one trip to and from the shipping in a day ; whereas, if the " direct passage were opened, larger boats might be employed, and " might make three trips a day. Hereupon the Board of Revenue " recommended the expenditure for the sanction of Government, " but it was refused till further detailed information should be re- " ceived. " In replying to the requisitions for this information, Captain Orr " reported, that since his former letter the cut had been made com- " pletely effective by turning into it the whole stream of the river, " by the expenditure of a small sum of money liberally contributed " by the Collector personally ; and he solicited the sanction of Go- " vernment to a small estimate of 1,526 Rupees to close the old '* channel. This request was warmly supported by the Board of " Revenue in the public works department, who represented the " work as ' indispensably necessary to keep the new passage open ;' " but it was refused by the Right Honorable the Governor in " Council (llth January 1850), on two grounds ; 1st, That until " the irrigation works in connection with the annicut were com- " pleted he would sanction no other work in Rajahmundry ; and " 2d, That he would ' concur in no scheme for improving the port " ' of Cocanada, until complete plans, specifications and estimates " ' of the entire project are submitted.' The first of these reasons " is the same on which we have already remarked (para. 336), in " speaking of a similar refusal of a road ; it is, if possible, even lesa " logical here, because of the extremely small amount of the sum asked for. As to the second reason, plan, specification and esti- Government rebuked ly its own Servants. 315 *' mate of the work contemplated had been furnished, and no addi- " tional documents of the kind could make it more plain than it was. " It did not pretend to be a general scheme to improve the river, " but a merely temporary and emergent work, until the Engineer " officers could find time amid their pressing engagements, to in- " vestigate the whole subject. " This order was effectual to stop all attempt at improvement ; " for such complete investigation and report as it required was " necessarily quite impracticable, from the want of officers with the " necessary leisure. The progress of injury was, therefore, left to " take its course for nearly three years more ; till, in September of " the present year, the state of the bar had become such as nearly " to close the port altogether. The Collector and the Civil Engineer " then conferred together ; and the latter, Major F. Cotton, having " prepared an estimate to a trifling amount (only 427 Rupees) for " work absolutely necessary, the Collector undertook its immediate " execution, purposing to bear the charge himself, if Government " should persist in its former refusal ; a responsibility in which the " Civil Engineer joined him. " In his letter to the Marine Board, forwarding that estimate, " Major Cotton thus describes the necessity for the work proposed, " and its nature : ' The case is this ; the entrance to the port of Co- " ' canada is now almost inaccessible, while there are more ships " ' in the roadstead than have been seen at anchor there before.* " ' The entrance used at present is only practicable for loaded cargo " ' boats, about the time of high water, and while the old entrance " ' draws'off half the drainage water of the country, the scour will " ' be insufficient to improve it. The season has arrived for the " * great scour of the year by the freshes of the Yalairoo river ; and " ' if this chance is lost, we may feel sure that the water over the " * bar will be as bad during the ensuing year as it has ever been " ' known, perhaps even worse. " ' Under these circumstances, I made the proposal to Mr. Pren- " ' dergast, that the old entrance should be closed, that we might " ' ensure the full advantage of the freshes in the Yalairoo ; and the * When I was there last year I counted sixteen vessels of various sizes from 300 to 700 tons burden lying in the harbour at one time. 316 Procrastination. " * operation of throwing a dam across the old outlet is now in pro- " * gress by the means above mentioned. To have waited for an " * answer from Madras would have been to lose the season, which " * must account for my having commenced the work before sanc- " ' tion is received for the estimate.' " In another passage, he thus speaks of the port : ' Had the mem- " * bers of your Board seen the roadstead of Cocanada, as I did a " ' few days ago, with 14 European ships and a number of coasting " ' craft waiting for their cargoes from this wretchedly neglected " * and all but inaccessible port, I am sure you would agree with " ' me in thinking that every effort to facilitate the passage between '' * the landing place and anchorage was worth the 100 I ask for.' " He here alludes to a request which he had just made that Us. " 1,000 should be deposited with the Master Attendant, to be " promptly expended when required in removing obstacles to the " flow of the stream, which thus guided will be useful in keeping " the entrance open. " It is painful to see the great natural advantages of this place " thus sadly neglected. No wonder the local authorities were rea- " dy even to lay out their own money in arresting the progress of " destruction ; and truly it may be said that their liberality and " public spirit pointedly rebuke the inaction of the Government." Call to mind Mr. Kaye's " experiment ;" and remember that the vital mistake of over-assessment has been repeatedly pressed upon the Court of Directors from 1798 to the pre- sent time, by their ablest servants from Sir Thomas Munro to Lord Elphinstone. Consider how long since the Court of Directors and the Governor General pointed out the suicidal impolicy of levy- ing export duties ; yet they remain to the present day in full operation, a blot upon our administration. Bear in mind that so long back as 1838 the evil likely to follow on the abolition of the Registerships, and the destruc- tion of the only school in which a Judge could learn his business was forcibly pointed out by the authorities of Ben- gal ; and that with matters growing daily worse, no remedy Justice Education. 317 has ever been attempted up to the present year 1854. For seventeen years have Governors, Members of Council, Law Commissioners, Judicial Commissioners, Secretaries, seen and pointed out the growing evil, but beyond " Minuting" what has been done ? * Look at Lord Hardinge's Education Minute of 1844. I remember what hope and encouragement it inspired ; yet from that day to this, what with the apathy of the Govern- ment, and the jealousy of the Civil Service, it has remained a dead letter, and has passed into the limbo of all other Indian forgotten improvements. Reflect a moment on the state of Government education ; 50,000 Us. a year granted in 1828 : about Rs. 35,000 per annum expended ; the balance appropriated to other uses, or idle ; the question taken up during the Government of Lord Elphinstone ; a scheme for the whole of these territories then digested ; remonstrances, representations, reports made year by year to the Government by the Governors of the High School; all unattended to, or insultingly replied to ; and after a lapse of eleven most valuable years parturiunt montes one school actually in existence ! Then refer to the treatment of the Public Works Com- missioners ; what thanks they received ; how their honest labours were treated by the local Government ; how distaste- ful any such exposure of the shortcomings of our Rulers are to them, let the Minutes appended to that Report tell. Lastly ; to show that precisely the same spirit, policy, rea- soning exist in the very heart, core, and centre of the Indian Government, take the examination of Mr. C. J. Melville be- * I take this opportunity of respectfully pressing upon the notice of the Indian Law Commission the expediency of restoring a Registrar- ship to each Civil Court, partly to relieve the Judge from a mass of overwhelming work which he should not be called on to perform, but principally as a preparatory school for the Bench. Public attention in England seems some how or other to have let this important improvement slip. There is but one opinion here of its propriety among all the Civilians whom I have consulted. 318 ' Help me, Cassias, or I sink.' fore the Commons' Committee on the 14th of July last. Speaking of the abolition of the Transit duties, which was ef- fected in 1843-4, he says that the Court of Directors has been unjustly subjected to odium on this account ; because so early as 1823 they had in a Despatch advocated this measure : nay they had actually " referred" to it again in 1829-30 ! "What right has the Public to complain in this instance for- sooth ! An impost which was fettering the resources of the country, and a fertile source of extortion and corruption was only permitted to exist for one and twenty years after it had been denounced by the Court of Directors. The bant- ling born in 1813 came of full age in 1844 ! What other conclusion then can be arrived at than that this vital matter, the decision of the " to be or not to be" of communications, must not be consigned to the Indian Go- vernment ; that it must be positively taken from them : or such constraint be brought to bear upon them by the Public, the Press, and the Parliament as shall leave no room for procrastination, or revision. Drive us not to the " Council Chambers;" over their portals is inscribed, Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch' entrate. These everlasting consultations, and minutings, and refer- ences, are about as graceful, and as useful as Swift's dog- latin consultation of the Doctors ; and if care be not now taken, there will be another point of similarity for some future pamphleteer or historian to notice and record. The patient will have died during the consultation. Therefore, Sir, let all due deliberation be conceded : but when once the judgment is satisfied, let action follow with the swiftness of a feathered Mercury : or rather I would ad- vocate in the present state of things in India, " a word and a blow, and the blow first" This then appears to be what Madras now requires ; first, that there should be a reduction of the assessment, which is on all hands admitted to be too high ; for which purpose What Madras wants. 319 there must be forthwith put in hand a scientific survey of the country : the Ryot should have his land on a term of years, not from any mistaken idea of giving him a greater interest in" the soil, but with a view to get rid of the array of revenue officers who now prey upon him : the rule should be imperative, that the Ryot shall be free to pocket all gains which he may make over and above the assessment, either by better farming ; sowing more costly crops ; or spend- ing capital in improvements such as wells, channels, and the like. The Moturpha tax should be forthwith abolished : The administration of Justice be made stronger; and the Substantive Law of the land be simplified by codification. The cause of education should be taken up, and a systematic general scheme for it be laid down. Men should be put more on the qui vive by being freed from the casting -net of centra- lization which has been gradually closing around them, until an up-country Collector dare hardly shave without a circu- lar order authorizing him in the Gazette. They should be made free agents ; more being left to their own judgment and abilities than under the present system ; so as to give them a greater interest in the success of their labours. So again they should be made to feel their own responsibilities by additional publicity ; each man should do his own work and be answerable for it in the eyes of the Public, as well as of the Government, by the knowledge that his acts and reports will no longer be hidden in impenetrable secrecy. So again the measures of Government, not requiring secrecy from their nature, should be made obnoxious to public criticism at stated periods. At present this or that functionary imparts a scanty modicum of oral intelligence to this or that Edi- tor, whose communication of it to the Public, being often not quite correct from the very meagreness of his informa- tion, the public organs are proclaimed untrustworthy ; the Press is vilified for its misrepresentations, and the sphere of its utility necessarily abridged and circumscribed. Again 320 Official secrecy. for want of a full and continuous supply of public matters to write upon, our Newspapers sometimes descend to matters of a personal nature, which had far better never appear in any local journal. But I have no hesitation in asserting that calumniated as the Indian Press has been in England, it is nevertheless in the main honest and intelligent, and cer- tainly growing every day more powerful. How much longer this system of secrecy is to be kept up I know not: but it is not difficult to guess its origin. The Company started here as mere traders ; they conducted their mercantile affairs with that privacy which is essential to the success of such speculations. They were soon involved in ex- tensive wars, and in delicate operations and negotiations of a political character, of which secrecy was the very life ; but now that they have the entire territory under their peaceful controul, and their original character of merchants has been sunk in that of rulers, their old habits still stick inveterate- ly by them, and they have carried into their present Council Chamber the piddling closeness of their former Counting- house. But the doom of the present system is sealed. It is mere- ly a question of time ; official secrecy must go down before the advancing influence and power of the Public Journals. A Governor General in Calcutta has not disdained to commit the merits of his quarrel to the discussion of the " fourth estate." A Governor in Bombay has dismissed Sudder Judges on complaints urged by the Newspapers ; in Madras the Minutes upon the Public Works Report have been, in- tentionally, so carelessly guarded, that they have found their way into the Atlienceum; and the Councils will soon feel the necessity of defending their measures either by permitting their servants to communicate with the existing public or- gans, or by recognizing one of their own. Sir C. Trevelyaii observes, " if you gag your garrison, and bind them hand and foot the enemy will prevail ; but if the servants of the Go- Death of " Double Government." vernment are set free to defend the Government on all ne- cessary points, it will stand perfectly well in this respect." Indeed the existence of even a " paternal despotism," is in- compatible with that of a really free Press. Thanks to steam and electricity, India and England are daily converging. The Cyanean rocks are closing together, and the rotten old Government Argo will be crushed in the shock.* * The extirpation of some of the -H^^ ^T ^ I -n*ji