69 



Certainly he will do so, if the danger to be appre- 

 hended is from something- that he may kill, tigers, 

 elephants, buffaloes, rlrinoceri, game birds, and the 

 like. 



The waste-land question in India, therefore, I am 

 justified in saying, was one of profit and not one 

 of tenure. 



It is quite true that the great liberality of the 

 rules for the grant of waste lands above cited, was 

 qualified by conditions, some of which were obstruc- 

 tive. Grantees, for instance, were bound to clear 

 and render fit for cultivation one eighth of the grant 

 in five years, one fourth in ten years, one half in 

 twenty years, and three fourths in thirty years. 

 Government, again, reserved to itself the right of 

 making such roads and bridges as it might think 

 proper, on lands so granted, and also the right to 

 all such timber, stone, and other materials as might 

 be necessary for keeping the said roads and bridges 

 in repair. Objection was taken to these conditions, 

 and when we come to look at the penalty involved in 

 non-compliance with the first mentioned, I am not 

 at all surprised. 



In Assam, Dacca, Cachar, Silchar, and the Soon- 

 derbuns, in regard to clearances, it was provided : 



"That on failure of all or any of these four 

 conditions the fact of which failure shall after local 

 enquiry conducted by the Collector (Soonderbuns 

 Commissioner) or other officer, be finally determined 

 by the Board of Revenue- the entire grant shall be 



