36 



possible impediment to a nation's progress. On the 

 contrary, I advocate what appears to me to be the 

 most practical, and only practicable, method of 

 obtaining* the end all interested in India must have 

 in view, the development of her great natural 

 resources, in a manner, at once, the most expedi- 

 tious, and most beneficial to the country. 



For, to take an illustration from common life, let 

 us suppose our old acquaintance Jones, to come into 

 the possession of an estate as large as Yorkshire. 

 His first business would naturally be to have his 

 property surveyed. His next probably to ascertain 

 its value, i.e. its capabilities for production, and 

 natural sources of wealth. Well, let us further 

 suppose him to discover that his property not only 

 contains the fine arable land in possession of the 

 tenantry already established on the estate; but large 

 tracts of virgin soil suitable for growing tea, coffee, 

 cotton, flax, hemp, &c. &c., lying waste and un- 

 cultivated; rich mines of coal, iron, copper, salt; 

 dense forests of valuable timber, &c. Now what 

 would be the proper course for Jones,* or any wise 

 man of business, under the circumstances, to pursue, 

 for the improvement of his property, the welfare of 

 his tenantry, and his own advantage ? 



This seems a very simple question. It is one, at 

 least, that individuals find little difficulty in solving 

 daily, very much to their own and their country's 

 benefit. But let us follow the fortunes of Jones and 

 his estate. What will he do with it ? Well, having 



