Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/485

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addition, reVcmie amoiiuting to Rx. 1,S.JO,000 was susiicndod, find about Rx. 1,. ^70,600 wa.^ lent to cultivator.s for tlio imrchasu of seed, &c. The 13ud;,'et istiniates for 18'JS-l)'J provide for the full amount Hx. l.r.OO.OOO of Hie fHiuine tyrant, namely Rx. l,(i'.i't,20, under the liea<l • Fauiine Relief and Insurance," antl Rx. 4O0.8UO under ' ;JS State railways,' chargeable to tliat grant, as representing the net charge on account of the liengal-Nagpur and tliu India i Midland Railways.

Ill addition to the expenditure shown in the above table, a capital expen- diture not charged against revenue on railway and irrigation works is set down for 1897-98 at Kx. 4,604,600, and for 1898-99 at Kx. 5,749,300.

The following table exhibits the growth of the three most important ."sources of the public revenue of India, namely land, opium, and .salt, in the rinancial years 1888 and 1893-98 :—

Ifear ended March 31

Landi

Opium

Salt

Rx.

Rx.

Rx.

1888

23,189,292

8,515,462

6,670,728

1893

24,905,328

7,993,180

8,556,104

1894

25,589,609

6,627,571

8,288,876

1895

25,408,272

7,323,757

8,665,749

1896

26,200,955

7,123,922

8,861,845

1897

23,974,489

6,409,238

8,421,705

189S

25,732,000

5,179,700

8,592,400

(Approximate.)

1 Exclusive of Portion of Land Revenue due to IrriKation.

The most important source of public income is the land. The land revenue is levied according to an assessment on estates or holdings. In the greater ])art of Bengal, about one-fourth of Madras and some districts of the North- West Provinces, the assessment was fixed permanently one hundred years ago ; while it is fixed periodically at intervals of from twelve to thirty years over the rest of India. In the permanently settled tracts the land revenue falls at a rate of about two-thirds of a rupee per acre of cultivated land, and represents on an average about one-fifth of the rental, or about one twenty-fourth of the gross value of the produce. In the temporarily settled tracts the land revenue averages about U rupee per acre of cultivated land, represents something less than one-half of the actual or estimated rental, and is probably about one- tenth or one-twelfth of the gross value of the produce. For details as to the nature of the dilferent tenures of land that prevail in India ,vec the Ykau- BooK for 1886, p. 799. Sec also under Agriculture.

The land revenue w'as contributed in 1896-97 as follows : —

Administrations Rx.

India .... 147,471

Central Provinces. 660,493

Burma. , . 2,396,961

Assam. . ' . 606,231

Bengal ... 3,876,838 Nortli-West Provinces

and Oudh. . 4,986,876

Administrations Punjab Madras Bombay

Total

Rx

2,276,630 4,646,065 4,376,924

23,974,489

In British territory the cultivation of the poppy is only permitted in