196 



called. The original instructions prescribing the procedure 

 for determining the land revenue rates, already quoted, make 

 it clear that the right of Government is to a land revenue 

 which " ought to be so lightly assessed as to leave a surplus 

 or rent to the occupier, whether he in fact let the land to 

 others or retain it in his own hands." Now, ryots are of 

 three classes, viz., first, land-owners, who do not farm their 

 lands but lease them to farmers ; second, ryots, who farm 

 their own lands employing hired labour for performing the 

 manual operations of cultivation ; and third, peasant proprie- 

 tors, who cultivate their lands themselves with the aid of the 

 members of their families without employing hired labour. 

 In the first case, the rent is the payment made by the farmer 

 to the land-owner minus the cultivation expenses borne by 

 the latter and the return for such permanent improvements 

 to the land as might have been made by him. In the second 

 and third cases, the rent would be what the land would fetch 

 annually, had the land been let to a tenant instead of 

 being cultivated by the owner. Where the rent is not ascer- 

 tainable in this way, it must be taken to be the surplus produce 

 left after paying the cost of hired labour, other expenses of 

 cultivation, interest on stock and farming profits, which last 

 must at least be sufficient for the subsistence of the farmer's 

 family, according to the standard of comfort prevailing in the 

 class to which it belongs. In this Presidency, owing to the 

 prevalence of peasant properties, the letting value of lands is 

 not in the majority of cases ascertainable, and consequently 

 the distribution of the gross produce into its three compo- 

 nents, viz., rent, farmer's profits and expenses of cultivation, 

 has to be arrived at by estimating separately the several 

 items of cost. In doing this, the settlement calculations 

 make no special allowance for farming profits. 



73. In a previous portion of this memorandum, I have 



The enhancement of adduccd evidence to show that, notwith- 



revenue in districts set- standing the difficulties abovc alluded to 



the^srctrofth^Tet i^ making even approximately correct 



tiements, growth of the land Valuations, the assessments imposed 



TyanVHsShe^standi by the Settlement department have not 



ard of living among been cxcessivc, but ou the contrary have 



the agricultural classes. v ^ j. j -j. r j.u i 



^ been such as to admit oi the large increase 



which has actually taken place in the money value of landed 

 property — an increase which is considerably higher than the 

 increase in the prices of agricultural produce. This result is 

 due to the fact that the Grovernment has in all settlements 

 hitherto made taken care to see that the aggregate revenue of the 



