Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/117

 REVIEWS OF BOOKS RELATING TO INDIA The Ecomomc L/e o/ t Be,t Dt,ct. A Study by J. C. JACK. X.C.8. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 158. Pri ?s. 6d. net. It is a eommonpla remark to make that seenernie eon- ditious vary widely from distrier to distet in India, yet the number of studies eonfined to a district, the purpose of whieh "is to explain how the people live, to analyse their income and expenditure, and to examine the burden of taxation and indebtnsss which they bear" is remark- ably small. It is refreshing to read a book on Indian seenernie eonditions whieh does not lose point and life in the hazy eeonomic generalizations of an Empire. Mr. Jaek was settlement officer in Paridpur from 1906 to 1910 where he had ample opportunity of making the investigations, and it is the eeonomist's good fortune that he made good use of his opportunities. The book was written in 1915 on the eve of his taking up duties as an offieer in the artillery. "The staff by which the record- of-rights was prepared in the district of Faridpur, eonsisting almost entirely of young and eger graduates of the univer- sities, 'was well fitted to supplement its task by such eeonomie investigations. Eaeh of these young graduates spent several months at one spot in the eourse of duties which euSSged him in enquiries into the holdings of all tim eultivators, into the eapability of the soil and into the rela- tiens of tenants, both legal lamllords. He obtained a vast townrag all the  of the ttm village.rs mmdm visits to titmir kernssteads." aud oustomary, with their amount of information eon- illage and frluently saw