RESTRICTIONS ON THE ALIENATION OF LANDS. 215 



nor have they as yet any idea how they will be affected by the 

 measure. Nor, I venture to say, has any Member of Your Excel- 

 lency's Council. It is only when the provisions of the Bill come to 

 be applied that we shall learn the effect of the experiment. How far 

 they will depreciate the value of land, how far they will be disregarded, 

 how far they will be evaded, how far they will pinch the borrower, 

 or make the lender's trade impossible, will only be revealed by degrees. 

 The venture, which is a bold one, may be successful, or it may 

 be a failure. But failure in legislation is of two kinds. A law may 

 be more honoured in the breach than in the observance, and no great 

 harm is done, though such laws are to some extent a source of weak- 

 ness to the Administration. But if it actually results in injury to any 

 class of persons, the failure is more serious. And the question 

 whether this measure will cause injury or not depends very largely on 

 the way in which it is worked. The Government of India has re- 

 tained in its own hands to a large extent the working of the Act. 

 This seems to me not unreasonable in view of the fact that it is the 

 Government of India which is responsible for the enactment. But, 

 when the Local Government proposes rules or notifications under the 

 Act, I hope it will be remembered that the Punjab Committee con- 

 sidered that their proposals embodied the maximum in the direction 

 of restrictions on alienation which could be regarded as either safe 

 or desirable in the interests of the Province, and that, although a 

 strong body of opinion exists in the Province, that interference with 

 the right of alienation is possible and justifiable, those most nearly 

 affected cannot be said to have manifested any desire for such legis- 

 lation, while the Head of the Local Government, concurring with his 

 predecessors, would have preferred a less drastic measure to that now 

 before the Council. 



And now, my Lord, having explained the limitations under which 

 my vote in favour of this measure will be recorded, I propose to make 

 only a few remarks in regard to its provisions. As explained by the 

 Hon'ble Mover in introducing the Bill, the proposals of the Punjab 

 Committee constituted the foundation of the scheme which it then 

 embodied. And subsequent alterations have still further assimiliated 

 it to those proposals, while other important additions have been 

 * made which in no way militate against them and have my entire 

 concurrence. In one respect, however, the Bill departs from the 

 distinct recommendations made by the Punjab Committee, That 



