INDIA. 





guaraiil <<! fit; 



":.'!. 

 ,ii.-a-.- * a - '":> i .'., ' '.v. | 



ml uf 1 896 WS* 



.f whi. ' 



M9.- 



-ii- 



.H net earnings were Id 14.U7.WO. giv- 



vested. The state and guaranteed 



ten years ending th l*U7 have been 



d at an average pr- i.ut. 



.nip-, a total n.-l ha of 



-'6 the Government decided to eont 



three rears 5.000 miles of state rail- 

 costing Rx 99.665.OOO. ami to -a; 

 notion of 9,696 miles by private companies at 



v 16.18U.OOO. It was subsequently decided 

 Ipone this programme of . as to 



I the outlay for 1897-*96 by Kx 10.000,000. 

 t- .iii.l I < lefrraphs, The pwt ..Hi.-.- m 1896 



nled :I74.^J.4'J . ..,.1 i^ml.-nnU and 



1.71;!.- 



WM more 



*'- 



taMfraphe in IMiNi 



^^Katcbee was 4,766.81'" 



. - , 



-ive than that of twenty years ago. affecting 

 rt-a of 882,000 square miles, inhabit. 

 6B.000.000 persons, compared with 

 ^B ami .V4.IMlO.iiOO ,....,-! ii 



<; in 

 1.984.000. Incliidin. ive states. 



<iOO persons were n .run; 



if 1897 was an almost universal nhortnens of rain. 



^^K was a i-oinjil.-t.- fai. it few 



und and in th.- (Vnlral 

 .ilnio-t evi was a partial 



failurv. i ' 



than 115 were 



classified an fan. in.- 1 1 i-tricl *, although none to so 

 elassified unless 10.000 JH -r-.n- at 1, -a 

 on relief work*. Of th.- ili-trioU outride few. ex- 

 cept those in Biirmah. had an\ 

 soar*-, large HIM .line from 



to the 



lead one to e\ 



I a falling off in railroad receipts, 



. of the van-it v a lari^' -liipnn-nt 



in AiiH-rn-a at Calcutta and 



.iv. i>ut ultimately a large part of it was re- 



.-land. When U-IUT price* and a 



-re found. Ili^h prices according 



Indian standard \>: ttiona 



Jt, i , ly high when com- 



. and even 



at th. -:,M\ of the famine th. low 



to encourage imports of food except at very low 



The area of total failure was much smaller 

 felt the drain rate 



ovincos and in the Central 1 

 in th. _-al. MadrM. and the 



Punjab the rate was general!) 



mal. and in tlo*r .Itriri.-t^ h.-r .'. aei ! ' fr 



i it a too late, or to < 



rhulrra. 

 e v er. prv vailed over an enormous area. There 



.--...' 



was given to every men and to ev*ry member of his 

 family who applied for relief. and thto allowance to 

 tfc MBumjii | ksfrua ..,/., .,,,..;. : 



that thr man alone could ofeain for his labor to 



< nix. ary employment. Hence it was 



great diH 



of uu.r for arrying on the work of om- 



the greatly enlarged Government railroad pro- 



," H : 



The apiieal made at the beginning of the year for 

 subscriptions in (irr.t lintain and the rest of the 



ItritiMi Kmp.r, n.,t .(h a 



oollaction in 

 . rr of the largest sum tree ratonl for any 

 Indiai 



Great Britain by the Mansion House Commit !-. 

 Lanoat I * 



rhich Lancashire contributed 

 urns were rained in the British colonies, the 

 1 States, Prance, and German v. and India alw 

 contributed a large sum. so that the total amount 

 place.! t..- muter in : 



was Kx 1.650.000. Grain and clothing were sent 

 from 1 States, and money was collected to 



be disbursed by various benevolent agencies to 

 ging the total contributions up to Rx 



J.I IN,. MI. 'It.. eOSt Of III. :.:.' r- . ' VM -. 



i at Kx 6.000.000. the remissions of taxation 

 and of revenue to an equal sum. and advances to 



14.000.000 given by the Government, or Rx 16.000.. 

 000 altogether, including the t>mate contributk 

 Mit half went toward 



I>l\ing cattle, 

 ators 



tie 



SUD- 



, seed, and implements to enable the 

 to resuscitate themselves after the 



The Indian Government declined to accept any 



!* ration from charitable organ i- 



famine-stricken 

 .ng to do with an ap* 

 ripiions, declaring that its 



n.!. rf, r, ., . DT< 



peal for pr 



own means were ami4e. 



The inahilitv of UM Imiian |^.|.|- l tide over a 



single failure of crops was attributed by many to 



n.|*>verihment and debt. In one or two of 



dales agricultural Unk. founded by the 



rpsopleootofUibbelp- 



In the British pnTincr nine tenths 



of th < in the hands of the village usurers. 



charged 6 j-rr cent, a month and 



; h |*>wrr . f oppression under the Kng- 



li-h lawn that they did not formerly priest under 



t he am -t.-n t 1 ml ian system, when payment was made 



br a nhare of the crop and their claims were snb- 



t he village MrarAaysf. or court 



of ariutration. The great native capitalists who 



discount bills of exchange average 4 per crnt. a 



a month. Rxtsssive ta\ , iered by r> 



!. chief cause of th. 



Imlian cultirator. wh i on the verge of starvation 

 iinarvt imes, The tax on **li i twentv 

 times itscost. They regard the expenditure on rail- 

 roads as beyond the resource* of the people, and 

 that on the Afghan 



and Burmese wars and the 



