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ment of this land is 11 annas 6 pies, and it is therefore pre- 

 sumably not inferior in quality to the land now under 

 occupation. This shows that the poverty of the district and 

 the low condition of the population are due to the precarious- 

 ness of the seasons and sterile soil, and that the state of 

 things was just the same or even worse when the population 

 was only one-half of what it is now. It must at the same 

 time be admitted that, while it is undoubtedly true that the 

 population has not so far trenched upon the meaas of sub- 

 sistence, it is equally true that if the population increases in 

 anything like the rate at which it has been doing during the 

 last ten years without not only a corresponding increase in the 

 productive powers of lands but also in habits of thrift and pru- 

 dence among the ryots themselves, every effort to ameliorate 

 the condition of the masses must sisyphus-like end where it 

 began. During the last ten years, there is no doubt that pro- 

 duction has increased in a greater ratio than the population 

 by the extension of irrigation as is evidenced by the fact 

 that, while the land revenue demand prior to 1876 was about 

 450 lakhs, it is now 490 lakhs, or 40 lakhs in excess, inclu- 

 sive of allowances to Hindu religious institutions deducted 

 from the beriz or the demand. Of these 40 lakhs, only about 

 5 lakhs represent the increase due to enhancement of the 

 settlement rates, the remainder being due either to extension 

 of irrigation or to cultivation of superior soils which has 

 become profitable owing to the opening up of remote tracts 

 by means of communications. The land revenue is also 

 collected with the greatest ease; the area of land sold for 

 arrears of revenue is hardly 1 per cent, of the total area of 

 holdings, and the greater portion of such lands as are sold are 

 generally those on the margin of cultivation, which are taken 

 up by the ryots or relinquished at their pleasure. Till before 

 the last two years the ryots of the greater portion of the 

 Presidency had a run of good seasons, and the creditable self- 

 reliance which they have shown under the adverse circum- 

 stances of the last two years affords satisfactory proof of the 

 fact that their position has materially improved. Their 

 resources, however, have been already strained a great deal, 

 and another bad season next year may bring them down, and 

 we can only hope that this may not occur. The Government 

 has already now done nearly all that it is possible for it to do 

 in the way of extending irrigational facilities and opening 

 up the country by the extension of railways and other com- 

 munications. When the Periyar project is completed, more 

 than 100,000 acres in the Madura district will be efficiently 

 irrigated, and the Meliir taluk, notoriously the poorest taluk 



