195 



who was entrusted with the duty of introducing the settlement 

 rates, succeeded soon after in getting Government to recon- 

 sider its decision and consent to impose higher rates. Whether 

 Mr. Goodrich or Mr. Puckle was right may be judged from 

 the fact bhat, in the famine of 1876-78, the mortality was the 

 heaviest in the Salem district, next after Kurnool and Bellary, 

 amounting to 18-7 per cent, of the population. The Salem 

 district is one of the poorest in the Presidency, and in fixing 

 the land tax it is necessary that the actual conditions of the 

 case should not be lost sight of and that the scheme should 

 not be based on mere theoretic considerations. In the above 

 remarks, I have assumed that the data made use of in settle- 

 ment calculations are fairly trustworthy, but for forming an 

 idea of how extremely difficult it is to obtain even approxi- 

 mately correct data, and with what imperfect materials Set- 

 tlement officers have to deal, some further particulars given 

 in the appendix ^^ may be referred to. There is, however, a 

 curious proposal in Mr. Goodrich's article which completely 

 neutralizes his suggestion that the land assessments should 

 be considerably enhanced at each revision of settlement. It 

 is this, viz., that in settlement calculations allowance should 

 be made for the interest on the purchase value of the ryot's 

 holding, which he estimates as being generally thirty times 

 its assessment. The purchase money is, of course, the capi- 

 talized annual value of the holding at the current rate of 

 interest, and if the annual value of the holding prior to the 

 revision of the settlement is to be secured to the ryot under 

 all circumstances, it is obvious that the land-tax cannot be 

 enhanced at all. Though the interest on the purchase money 

 of the ryot's holding cannot be taken into account, there is 

 one important item which is omitted from the estimates of 

 expenses of cultivation framed by the Settlement department, 

 but which ought, properly speaking, to find a place in them, 

 viz., farming profits as distinguished from rent properly so 



81 Vide Sectiou VI.-A. (1). Compare also Mr. Benson's remarks on settlement 

 calculations in his Analysis^ of the Agricultural Statistics of the Kurnool District. He 

 says as regards the commutation rate, " it is doubtful whether full allowance has been 

 made in considering this matter for all the deductions made to arrive at the commu- 

 tation rate and to compare that with the prices at which the ryot may be forced to 

 dispose of his produce. If therefore the estimated outturn and the calculations of the cost of 

 cultivation are accurate, the commutation rate for Pattikonda should be lowered at least 

 to that adopted for Kurnool proper, and that followed in Koilkuntla to not more than 

 Bs. 125 per garce. Nevertheless, it does not appear that the assessments are more than 

 the land can in general be made to bear, nor more than the people will pay as is evidenced 

 by the great recovery of the holdings since the famine ; but, though the people may exist 

 under such ai burden, it must prevent their making any accumulations, such as would 

 enable the ryots to form a reserve store on which to support themselves during an 

 unfavorable seasoja." 



