Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/204

 152 THE BRITISH EMPIRE: — INDIA. AND DEPENDENCIES

in 1920, against 10,858,3792. in 1918-19. The railway staff in 1919-20 numbered 6,941 Europeans, 10,865 Anglo-Indians, and 693,884 Indians ; total, 711,690.

India and Ceylon haye been connected by rail and steamer ferry combined, the steamers plying between Dhanushkodi Point on Rameswaram Island and Talaimannar in Ceylon. A project has also been prepared for replacing the ferry by a railway, to be constructed on a causeway laid over the reef known as Adam's Bridge.

III. Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones.

In 1920 there were 69,494 post-offices and letter-boxes, against 753 in 1856.

In the fiscal year ended March 31, 1920, the number of letters, post-cards, and money -orders passing through the post-offices was 1,225,047,599 ; of newspapers 61,918,287 ; of parcels 11,389,643 ; and of packets 68,384,861 ; being a total of 1,366,740,393. The following table gives statistics for five years : —

Letter Boxes

Total Revenue

Tear ended Number of L*tterg> March 31 Newspapers, Ac.

Post Offices

Total Expenditure

1916 1,082,984,058

1917 1,120,235,120

1918 1,147,922,768

1919 1,229,355.641

1920 1,306,740,393

19,328 19,409 19,410 19,445 19,439

49,684 49,763 49,749 49,838 50,055

& 2,450,883 2,622,493 2,774,015 3,020,187 3,550,973

£

2,110,253 2,114,737 2,361,631 2,643,965 2,995,903

The following are statistics of the Government telegraphs for five years : —

Tear ended

Number of

Number of

Revenue

Revenue

Number of

March 31

Miles of Wire

Miles of Line

Receipts

Charges

Paid Messages

1916

337,720

86.067

£

1,238,517

£

948,452

18,129,748

1917

343,487

87,480

1,385,499

911,601

19,297,692

1918

347,906

87,714

1,645,683

848,197

19,897,787

1919

357,472

87,814

2,157,348

980,821

21,314,943

1920

369,273

88,417

2,515,321

1,435,324

20,275,352

There were 10,440 telegraph offices in India on March 31, 1920.

There are several wireless telegraph installations under tho Government of India.

The telephone system is in the hands of the Post and Telegraph Department, but telephone exchanges have been established in Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Ahinedabad, Karachi, Rangoon, and Moulinein, by private companies, under licences from the Government. At the eud of 1919 than were 13 telephone exchanges, with 17,810 connections, established by companies, and 245 exchanges, with 8,975 connections established by the Department.

Money and Credit.

The total value of the silver, nickel, copper, and bronze coined in British India from 1835-36 to 1919-20 inclnsive was Rs. 7,53,29,03,895, includ- ing Rs. 50,14,78,068, the value of 221,003,960 British dollars ; Rs. 8,02,68,091, the value of 35,374,655 Straits dollais ; Rs. 92,74,505 and Rs. 23,17,847, the value of subsidiary silver coinage for the Straits Settlements and Ceylon respectively ; Rs. 2,43,47,157, the value of ooinage for the Egyptian Govern- ment ; Rs. 10,10,700, the value of pennies and halfpennies for the Australian Commonwealth ; Rs. 74,86,672, representing the value of cents and fractions