209 



general community. In this country, on the contrary, property 

 in land is diffused throughout the population almost to an 

 inconvenient extent, so much so that landed properties consist 

 mostly of "five-acre farms" and there are nearly as many 

 properties as there are families. The rent of land, therefore, 

 instead of going to swell the fortunes of a few is distributed 

 over the whole population and the objection to raising the 

 funds required for the purposes of Government by taxation 

 of earnings instead of by appropriating the " unearned rent " 

 is deprived of much of its force. The right of Government 

 to increased revenue from waste lands brought under culti- 

 vation will, under the ryotwar system in force in this Presi- 

 dency, of course remain intact. Fourthly, the limitation of 

 the land-tax will allow large scope for the development of 

 taxation ^^ for local and provincial purposes on lines deter- 

 mined with reference to the wants and requirements of the 

 several provinces or districts, and will, subject to the condi- 

 tion of contributing to the common expenses of the Empire 

 according to actual needs, enable Local Governments to 

 devote their energies to the improvement of the provinces 

 committed to their care in the way best calculated to secure 

 it, without being subjected to external interference. In this 

 connection it must be remembered that, when the principle 

 regulating the share of the net produce which was to repre- 

 sent the land tax was settled in 1856, it was intended that 

 the charges for the maintenance of roads and of village 

 establishments should be met out of the Government assess- 

 ment, and accordingly it was declared that the assessment 

 included a percentage set apart for these purposes. The 

 original principle has since so far been departed from by the 

 development of the system of local taxation that, as regards 

 the local land-cess at all events, the charges which it was 

 intended should be met from the Government share of the 

 produce are now practically met out of the ryot's share. 

 Various proposals on an extensive scale, such as, the im- 

 provement of village sanitation and water-supply, extension 

 of elementary education, relief of the poor and distressed 

 not merely in times of famine but in years of partial 

 failure of crops, are being pressed on the attention of Local 

 Governments, and the work and responsibilities of these 

 Governments are being enormously increased in various direc- 

 tions ; and if these responsibilities are to be adequately 

 discharged, it can be done only by widening the basis of local 



r ' ~~" ~~ ' 



*^ lu this connection the remarks of Mr. GifEen on the development of local rates in 

 England in his " Ep^ay on Taxes on Land" (see Essays on Finance, 1st Series) are 80 

 apposite that I have ventured to extract them in the appendix VI.-A. (3). 



27 



