74 



If then the intentions of the Indian Government 

 were pure and disinterested in this matter, and this 

 I think will not be questioned, it is abundantly clear 

 that the regulations for the disposal of waste lands 

 required most careful revision, and some modification. 

 This appears, moreover, to have been for some time 

 felt by the Government of India ; and, that atten- 

 tion was not earlier directed to the subject^ was 

 probably attributable to the total absence of settlers, 

 or to circumstances, before alluded to, which com- 

 bined to keep the hands of the supreme authorities 

 ever full with matters affecting- the stability of the 

 British rule, or having* for their object the consolida- 

 tion of the Indian Empire. The time, however, had 

 now come for seriously considering 1 the question of 

 waste lands in India. Tea cultivation in Assam, 

 Cachar, and the N. W. Himalayas, and Coffee cul- 

 tivation in the Wynaad district of Madras, had 

 made considerable progress, and were found to offer, 

 not only safe, but hig-hly profitable investments for 

 capital. It was, moreover, essential to the success 

 of these undertaking's, that the operations should be 

 carried on under the superintendence of Europeans. 

 Enquiries, also, had, from time to time, been made 

 of Her Majesty's Secretary of State for information 

 regarding* these lands ; and Lord Stanley, on the 



Blue Book, 16th June 1862. In forwarding the letter from 

 which the above is extracted to Government, the Superin- 

 tendent made no comments. I assume therefore that he was 

 satisfied to allow judgment to go by default ; otherwise I should 

 not have reprinted the passage. 



