Page:The Earl of Mayo.djvu/146

138 Alike in regard to the amount of the Public Debt of British India and to the burden of taxation upon the people, the finances of that country may seem to compare favourably with those of almost any State in the world. But a nearer examination discloses a different aspect. Small as were the demands of the Treasury upon the tax-payer, it had been found impossible to augment them to the level required for the maintenance of efficient administration. Several of the highest of our Indian authorities believed that it would be perilous to do so. The half-century which preceded Lord Mayo's arrival in India had presented a long series of financial shortcomings. Of the fifty-five years beginning with 1814-15, and ending with 1868-69, only sixteen had shown a surplus, while thirty-nine had been years of deficit. The total of the surplus amounted to about 12½ millions sterling; the deficits exceeded 75½ millions of pounds. The period immediately preceding Lord Mayo's arrival was, if possible, even more discouraging. The last three years from 1866 to 1869, had left behind deficits aggregating 5¾ millions sterling. This was for 'ordinary' expenditure alone. If we add the outlay on 'extraordinary' (or reproductive) public works, the total excess of expenditure over revenue in the three years preceding Lord Mayo's first Budget amounted to the vast sum of 11 millions sterling.

Nor was the chronic inadequacy of the Revenue the gravest source of disquietude. The Budget estimates, although framed with the utmost care which the then