waste and unoccupied land of India, as they choose 

 )\ to pay for, at whatever rate, over 5s an acre, the 

 ) market of the day shall decide them to be worth. 

 Time will satisfy all parties as to the quantity, 

 out of the tea districts, the}^ will take. 



My own opinion on the general question, viewing 

 it both from the settler's or self-interest stand-point, 

 and from a higher point of view, is, that the sale of 

 all the waste lands in India was altogether unneces- 

 sary, that the agitation for it was mischievous, 

 and that its concession was inexpedient. 



I think that the sale of these lands in fee-simple 

 was unnecessary, first, because, as regards security 

 of title and right of property, the only essential 

 points involved in the question, all the advantage 

 that could possibly result to a settler or capitalist, 

 could have been obtained by other means, without 

 raising a question which in India must always be 

 involved in difficulties. Secondly, I think that it 

 was unnecessary, because nobody wanted it ; if we 

 except a few persons in two divisions of Bengal, 

 who wished to dispose of some tea estates in the 

 London Market, and who believed that this kind of 

 title best suited English ideas and would conse- 

 quently take more readily with buyers, and some 

 others interested in tea land in the same districts, 

 who, not understanding their own interests, were 

 led away by popular excitement. And thirdly, I 

 think that the measure was unnecessary, because, 

 if the object of the Government consisted in attract- 



