102 NOTICES REIvATlXG TO AGRlCULTUEAIv ECONOMY IX GENERAL 



It must not be thought that no mistakes were made, for the problems 

 were novel and at times very difficult. Nor must it be thought that there 

 were no setbacks. Plague invaded the province in 1897 and broke out 

 virulently in the canal districts in 1904 and 1907. Outbreaks of cholera 

 were also frequent. In 1905 crops were injured by frost and almost the 

 whole crop of cotton was destroyed by the boll-worm. 



The settlement scheme has now passed the experimental stage and 

 stands out as one of the most notable achievements of British administra- 

 tion in India. 



Sir James I/yaU's name will always be associated with this work. He 

 gave his conception of a scheme of colonization thus : — " An attempt 

 should be made to establish estates owned by bodies of peasant propietors. 

 [The Punjab is chiefly a country of small holdings]. In the eastern part 

 of the Punjab and in the sub-Himalayan tracts there are found not infre- 

 quently villages peopled by agrictdturists of the best type, who have in- 

 creased in numbers until the lands which they own are insufficient for their 

 support ; often the owners of such estates have been accustomed to culti- 

 vate as tenants in neighbouring villages. But, owing to the owners of 

 those villages now requiring the lands for themselves, (they) are gradually 

 being ejected. It would improve the general condition... if some of the 

 proprietors would emigrate to other countries... A number of men of 

 this class might be induced to settle in the Gujranwala Bar by being allowed 

 to migrate in bodies... formed by themselves, and by the promise on cer- 

 tain conditions of grants of land ... The experiment might be tried in the 

 following way.... Go to places in the thickl}' populated districts, where 

 groups of adjacent villages are owned by men of the same clan, and.... search 

 among them for men of some amount of enterprise, capital and influence, 

 and ask such men..... to lead down bodies of men of their own clan to the 

 government lands irrigated by the canal. Well selected blocks would be 

 made over to the bodies so migrating. The leader of the colony would 

 be given an interest in its success not only by receiving a share in the pro- 

 prietorship but also by his being made headman of the new estate ". 



Sir James Lyall thought it " essential to preserve the tradition of the 

 Punjab as a country of peasant farmers ". He however made three kinds 

 of grants. " Yeoman grants " were to attract a class above the ordinary 

 peasantrj^ — the middle class. " Capitalist " holdings were granted so as 

 to supply " natural leaders for the new society ". It is interesting to note 

 that yeoman and capitalist grants have been given up. Grants of land 

 to native officials for meritorious service are condemned as a result of ex- 

 perience. Grants are occasionally made, however, to members of the her- 

 editary landed gentry. The peasant farmers' settlements were most suc- 

 cessful, and from settlers on them leaders and captains of industry are 

 gradually arising. 



The system of allocating land now approved is to give each peasant 

 a rectangle of twenty-five acres. On fulfilling the conditions of the lease 

 he can, after five years, acquire a permanent right of occupancy, which can 

 be converted into ownership if he pay the market value of the land, as de- 



