192 



tions," he goes on to say, " Siicli is the th eory of the Madras 

 settlement. In practice, however, it has been found impos- 

 sible or dangerous to adhere to it strictly. In the first place, 

 the difficulty of determining with accuracy the average yield 

 of land is great ; next, the only way of finding the average 

 cost of cultivation is to ascertain what it would cost to 

 cultivate a given holding by hired labour, and, as this labour 

 would be needed for only a certain number of weeks or 

 months, it is obvious that nothing would be allowed as wage 

 for the subsistence of the cultivator and his family during 

 the rest of the year. Hence, the first step in a Madras 

 settlement practically is to determine, on general considera- 

 tions (such as those described under Bombay), whether the 

 tract coming under settlement requires a decrease or will 

 bear an enhancement of its land revenue, and to what extent. 

 The total amount of assessment to be imposed having thus 

 been decided on, the results of the process above described 

 are adjusted so as to yield it. The estimates of average 

 yield are reduced to allow for error, or for exceptionally bad 

 seasons, and the commutation rate is lowered io cover pos- 

 sible fluctuations of prices in the future. In practice, there- 

 fore, the elaborate process above described determines rather 

 the relative than the absolute assessments of diff'erent classes 

 of land, and the Madras method does not really differ very 

 widely from that of Bombay." 



71. An idea may be formed as to how greatly the rates 

 imposed by the Settlement department 



In Madras, as in Bom- ^ , -. *'-, ,, -,. .. t-t 



bay, valuation of soil must depend upon the discretion and ]udg- 

 dependant greatly on ment of individual oflBccrs and how little 



judgment and discretion -, ,ii iiit ^, p 



of individual assessors upou demonstrable calculated results, rrom 

 and has no claim to ]^\q followiug instaucc taken from the 

 accuracy. galcm Settlement. The calculated dry rates 



for black loam are in the first group Rs. 3, Rs. 2-8-0 and 

 Re. 1 per acre, respectively, according as the land is placed 

 under the sorts " good,^' " middling " or " bad or indifferent 

 The classification under these " sorts " depends not only 

 upon the quality of the soil but also upon the distance of the 

 land from the village site and other circumstances, some of 

 which affect the gross produce of the land and others the net 

 produce or rent value, by increasing or diminishing the 

 cultivation expenses or the cost of bringing the produce to 

 market. It can be readily conceived what great difference 

 it would make to the ryot whether his land is classified 

 under class 4, sort 3 or class 4, sort 2, the assessment in the 

 latter case being 150 per cent, greater than in the former; 

 and yet in many cases it would be difficult 'to say whether 



