Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/586

 N. $TBLEF JEON8 railways and justification from borrowed fands. works such as roads, bridges, teohnical colleges, etc., and get just as good a return by means of increased taxation, as it can get from the direct revenue of other reproductive works. This is the for constructing non-reproductive works There s no time for me to deal with the character of the public works and other measures of develop- meat required. It s generally admitbad that India is extr.emely ill-provid.ed with roads: new trunk roads are wanted, and feeder roads to railway stations, and a complete network of intervillage roads, all metalled. In the villages themselves wanted, which should reform of reconstituting out. Altogether at be spent upon roads be unmetalled planned when scattered holdings field roads are the great s earri least 200 crores of rupees could before the limit of remunerative investment of capital would have been reached,. Raft- ways in India need enormous expenditure. Sever new main lines are required, and innumerable feeder tines and cross laid out whole of connections, all of now according to a general India. It is interesting to which plum find mistake o! allowing railways to be built by competitive companies is being realism United States, where s complete replanning should be for the that the piece-meal in the of the entire transport system is being suggested. In India we. shall require a total of frcm 70 to 80 thousand miles of railway before we can say that the country is at all well developed; that is to say, we require at least double the present mileage. But not only is there the cost of many new lines to be faced; the existing ones ned improvement. Single lines must be doubled, metre-gauge must be converted to broad-gauge, tracks must be regraded over '(hat sec- tions, and bridges 'must. everywhere be strengthened