Page:The Marquess Cornwallis and the Consolidation of British Rule.djvu/67

Rh important benefits may be expected from this decision. The proprietor, stimulated by self-interest, will improve his estate to the utmost of his ability, without apprehension of losing the fruits of his improvements from an increase in his payments to Government; and without fear of dispossession from the management of another being more likely to augment the produce of his lands to the State.' About the same time the editor observed that a Settlement of the revenues of this country for a long term of years would produce greater advantages than those which had been inferred. 'By allowing a certain return to industry, free from any deduction for the public tax, it is probable that extensive plans of improvement would be undertaken, agriculture increase, and commerce flourish. The landlord, secure in the enjoyment of his profits, would be averse to rack-rent his under-tenants, and these in a country where cultivators, not employers, are sought for, would be interested in encouraging the peasantry. In short, a permanent system promises ease to the lower order of subjects, opulence to the middle and higher ranks, and a punctual realisation of the tax of Government.'

The editor also stated that the Governor-General had come to the important resolution of taking into the immediate charge of Government the collection of the Ganj, Bázár, Hát, and other duties generally denominated Sáyer, both in the estates paying revenue and in the Altamghá, Aima, Jágírs,