262 



half- starving — a condition which is enough to induce an 

 ordinary observer to think that we could not have been 

 worse before." The growth of a money economy and the 

 new wants created by it have not only deprived the classes, 

 which had hitherto benefited at the expense of the working 

 classes, of much profit which they had formerly enjoyed, but 

 also by placing temptations in their way to adopt a more 

 expensive style of living than they had been accustomed to, 

 have diminished a large portion of their accumulated wealth 

 which has been distributed among the earning classes. The 

 condition of the working classes has improved to some extent 

 by means having been placed within their reach of engaging 

 in occupations for which they may be qualified, while the 

 creation of new wants and the easy means available of satis- 

 fying them have to some extent improved the standard of 

 living. So far as land is concerned, the tendency has been 

 to' transfer it to actual cultivators or to persons who, in addi- 

 tion to capital, have sufficient education and intelligence to 

 adopt improved methods of cultivation when they are found 

 to be profitable. The changes which have taken place, so 

 far as this presidency is concerned, have, therefore, on the 

 whole, been beneficial, though possibly it may be that the 

 diminution of dependence of the lower on the higher classes 

 has to some extent had the natural result of diminishing 

 the protection aff'orded by the latter to the former. 



92. Various measures were suggested for remedying the 



evils of agricultural indebtedness, some 



Some remedies sug- gf them of a drastic character, in con- 

 gested for mitigating; .. '.i ,i • • - • i-i j. j i 



the evils of agricultural ucction With the mquirics mstituted by 

 indebtedness retrogres- the Famine Commissiou of 1878. The 



sive and inapplicable to , , ^n, . ^ r^ • ^ i c .li 



this presidency. l^tc hir J amcs Oaird, a member or the 



commission, recommended a reversion to 

 the old system of dividing the produce of land in defined 

 proportions between the ryot and the Government, which he 

 considered to be sound in principle, suited to the circum- 

 stances of small cultivators, and calculated to make them 

 independent of the money-lenders, by taking from them a 

 large quantity of produce by way of tax in years of abund- 

 ance and a small quantity in years of scanty produce. The 

 proposal was rejected by the Famine Commission as alto- 

 gether impracticable. The " Fifth Report " of the Parlia- 

 mentary Committee on Indian Affairs, 1812, shows that even 

 under the old native governments, the principle of collecting 

 the Government tax in kind by taking a share of the produce 

 was adopted only in the case of lands irrigated by river 

 channels and tanks. The lands cultivated with unirrigated 



