44 



of cattle and cereals have risen there is no corresponding 

 rise in the price of meat. There are also indications, though 

 information is difficult to obtain, of a trade in dried meat for 

 export. The reason appears to be that the scarcity of grazing 

 and the rise in the price of hides are responsible for the slaughter 

 of many cattle which, though no doubt useless or past work, 

 would otherwise have been preserved. A larger quantity of 

 meat i8 rendered available while the local demand has hardly 

 increased at all. The trade in hides as the cause of this and 

 other important developments deserves separate treatment. 



XVIII. TRADE IN HIDES AND BONES. 



Before the development of the foreign export trade in hides 

 the skins of dead cattle were considered to belong by right 

 to the Oharnar or Mochi, who in return was bound to provide 

 the zamindar with shoes and small leather articles used in 

 husbandry without farther payment. The rise in the prices of 

 hides owing to the growing demand for export has changed the 

 relations between the zamindar and the menial in this respect. 

 In many districts the old custom still survives but not without 

 constant disputes. Where Oliamars and Mochis were powerful 

 and disposed to violence the new conditions occasioned out- 

 breaks of cattle poisoning. The result has not been altogether 

 in favour of the Chamar. In Gujranwala, Gurdaspur and Lahore, 

 and in other districts, especially in Muhamrnadan villages, the 

 old custom has been abandoned and the zamindars now sell the 

 hide to the Chamar or Chuhra at the market rate. In these districts 

 cattle poisoning has ceased. 



Jt may be generally asserted that in normal seasons even 

 the high prices now obtained for hides do not tempt the zamindar 

 to sell off any but his most worthless cattle. The export trade 

 has undoubtedly stimulated the trade in old and worn out cattle 

 which are worthless except for their hide. But the comparative 

 cheapness of hides in time of scarcity shows that far too many 

 animals, besides those which actually die of privation, find their 

 way to the butcher an<"l the hide merchant. The recent increase 

 in prices, due amongst other causes, to the development of the 

 motor industry, and the fact that the hide of a slaughtered animal 

 ib more valuable than that of an animal dying in the ordinary 

 course of nature, have been responsible for unpleasant incidents. 

 Slaughterings of cattle (chiefly young buffaloes) on a considerable 

 scale are known to have taken place in some districts, necessitating 

 the interference of the district authorities. The increasing demand 

 for the male buffalo as a draught animal will no doubt operate to 

 check such incidents. But in default of an export duty on hides, it 



