Page:The Marquess Cornwallis and the Consolidation of British Rule.djvu/74

68 creating a new race of landlords; giving to property another title than the sword of its owner or the favour of a Viceroy; and content to leave to the Zamíndárs the whole profit resulting from increased population and undisturbed peace. At this distance of time it is not very easy to estimate the exact effect of such abnegation on the minds of the great Zamíndárs of Bengal and Behar as well as on the Chiefs and Princes of neighbouring States. It is sometimes said that a policy of this kind is ascribed by natives to weakness and fear. Whatever may be the case in other instances, and however necessary it may be to rule Orientals by firmness and strict justice quite as much as by conciliation, it can hardly be said that the moderation of Cornwallis was considered as a sign of impotence. It must have been felt all over the Province as a relief, if not a blessing. And though several of the solid fruits of the Settlement in perpetuity might have been equally attained by a Settlement for a long period, it may be argued that periodical assessments might in Bengal have been productive of other evils. Bengal is, more than any other Province in India, the scene of that evasion and subterfuge which are the proverbial resources of the weak. In other Provinces, as the period for revision draws nigh, a certain amount of distrust and disquietude arises in the minds of the population. Wealth is concealed; lands are purposely thrown out of cultivation; and many unfair means are resorted to in order to avoid an increase of rental.