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Without undervaluing anything that has been done, 

 above all in the direction of education, it can scarcely 

 be denied that the first essential is to fill the stomachs 

 of the people, and that a certain degree of material 

 comfort, considerably in excess of what the masses of 

 the population now enjoy, must be attained before 

 any real necessity can exist for elaborate* systems of 

 civil administration. That we have spent our money 

 in these rather than in promoting what would have 

 simultaneously enriched the people and the Govern- 

 ment, in a degree that no other conceivable measure 

 could approach, must be held to have been a most 

 grievous error. 



That with proper manuring and proper tillage, 

 every acre, broadly speaking, of land in the country 

 can be made to yield 30, 50, 70 per cent, (according 



* In a recent debate (7tli May 1879) in the Imperial Legislative 

 Council, the Hon. Mr. Cockerell remarked: — 



" For an elaborate Code of Procedure naturally not only pro- 

 moted an increase of litigation, but also tended in a still more 

 marked degree to enhance the time occupied in the disposal of 

 every contested suit. The Secretary to the Government of the 

 North-West Provinces, in a letter addressed to the Grovernment of 

 India relating to this measure, wrote : — 



" ' Although /Sir George Couper has always been strongly in favour 

 of the non-regulation system, he must admit that, owing to various 

 causes, it is now out of date. It is enough to mention one fact; 

 and that is, the number of legal practitioners who practise in our 

 Courts. Formerly the parties appeared in person, and the Judge 

 had little difficulty in ascertaining the facts of the case. Now, in a 

 great number of suits, the parties are represented by barristers or 

 pleaders ; it is not only much more difficult to get at the bottom of 

 the case, but a great deal of time is tahen up by the arguments of the 

 lawyers ; and it is no exaggeration to say that a case which would 

 formerly have been disposed of in one hour now often occupies the 

 Court for two days.' " 



3 



