141 



produce of the soil to the King, as the trustee for 

 the Community^ which is his rightful property, and 

 not a tax ; and it is essential to the right under- 

 standing of this question that this point be kept 

 prominently in view. For, if it be set aside, and 

 the question be argued as if the land was the pro- 

 perty of individuals, or in other words, from an 

 English point of view, the error of the premises 

 will inevitably appear in the conclusion, and vitiate 

 the result. To make any such attempt, moreover, 

 would be at once to overturn the main principle on 

 which the fiscal system of India has from time im- 

 memorial been based and to cut from under the 

 Government of India, as it were, the solid ground 

 on which it has always justified its right to derive 

 so large a portion of its revenue from the land. 

 Strong- in the sense that it was dealing with the 

 property of the State, and not taxing the property 

 of individuals the Government of India, as the 

 necessities of the Community in regard to protection 

 and good Government increased, has always had the 

 power, within fair limits, to increase, concurrently, 

 its demand on the produce of the soil ; and if, in a 

 country where it is of paramount importance that 

 the Government should be based on the support of a 

 contented people, the destruction of this ancient 

 principle, and the substitution for it of a grinding 

 system of taxation, can be considered an advantage, \ 

 it is certainly an advantage, the results of which 

 will not be unaccompanied with some evil. 



