64 GRANT OF LOANS AND ADVANCES TO AGRICULTURISTS. 



the imposition of a permanent charge on the land irrigated 

 from the well. 



320. In the course of a Resolution of the Bombay Government, 

 dated 25th July 1884, justifying the policy of charging an increased 

 revenue on land which possessed the advantage of sub-soil water, it 

 was stated, that the cultivator would be "stimulated to utilise the 

 sub-soil water by this method of assessment." The evidence that we 

 have taken indicates that this hope has not been realised. Indeed, 

 this method of assessment has apparently created much dissatisfac- 

 tion in Guzerat. It was pointed out that the incidence of a "water 

 advantage" rate is unequal and unfair ; for, while the rich and large 

 land-holders can construct wells and recoup themselves, the poor 

 cultivator, with a small holding and without capital to construct a 

 well, must pay the rate without hope of recoupment. It was said, 

 moreover, that the holdings of cultivators even when they are not 

 poor and unable to build wells, frequently consist of patches of land 

 situated in many 'fields', widely scattered over the village, and that it 

 could not possibly pay to construct a well for any one patch. In 

 these cases it is urged, that a "water advantage" rate is a mere addition 

 to the assessment with no fair justification. These objections to a 

 "water advantage" rate seem to us to be very weighty, and we are 

 unable, in the face of the results, to reconcile its existence with 

 the liberal policy of the Bombay Government in foregoing all 

 additional assessments on account of wells constructed by private 

 enterprise. 



321. The reclamation of waste land is of less importance from 

 the protective point of view than the extension of irrigation, but we 

 consider that this also is a factor of protection. We recommend that 

 in the case of reclamation, exemption, should be granted for the term 

 of the current settlement, or for the term of 15 years, whichever last 

 expires ; and that in the succeeding settlement, or for the remainder 

 of the succeeding settlement, assessment at half-rates should be 

 allowed. 



322. Our recommendations apply with equal, if not greater, 

 force, to improvements made directly by private capital. Such im- 

 provements are apt to escape notice in the absence of a proper system 

 of registration ; and no effort should be spared to make the rules, for 

 concessions to improvements made from private capital, and for their 

 registration, widely known. 



