336 



from Chittoor to Vdyalpdd and Dharmavaram was opened 

 in February and March 1892. There was a gi^eat drought 

 and failure of crops in those places at the time, and prices of 

 food-grains were ruling very high ; but as soon as the railway 

 was opened prices fell at once largely. The last season was a 

 splendid one in most parts of the Ceded districts and ryots 

 had a bumper crop, while in the southern districts, viz., 

 Madura and Tinnevelly, there was failure of harvests. Large 

 quantities of rice from Dharmavaram were exported to 

 Tinnevelly for the first time within the memory of the ryots 

 of the former place, bringing them a large profit* If a 

 famine, such as that of 1876-77, should again unfortunately 

 occur, its effects will not be as disastrous as on the last 

 occasion, though in any case it would cause great suffering. 

 If, however, by some unfortunate combination of circum- 

 stances famines should occur in quick succession, no amount 

 of good administration could make head against such calami- 

 ties. On the other hand, if there is no famine of a very severe 

 type for the next half a century, the measures in progress 

 would have had time to produce their effect and the suffering 

 caused by failure of crops over large areas in consecutive 

 years would not probably be much greater than in European 

 countries. 



Thirdhj, we have to take into account the limitation to 

 the action of Government imposed by the necessities of the 

 situation, in considering the rate of progress. The zemindars 

 and poligars were most of them the terror of the country in 

 the beginning of the century, and they were with difficulty 

 reduced to submission. To have utilized them for purposes 

 of government would have been dangerous and would have 

 indefinitely postponed all chance of introducing regular and 

 orderly government. They were accordingly relegated to 

 the position of mere landholders with no part or lot in the 

 government of the country. The recognition of caste and 

 village assemblies for purposes of administration of justice 

 was likewise impossible, as owing to the innumerable sub- 

 divisions of castes it would have been a matter of extreme 

 difficulty to decide as to the persons over whom the assem- 

 blies had jurisdiction, and moreover this plan would not 

 answer in cases in which the contending litigants belonged to 

 different castes and would have perpetuated the feuds between 

 them. The decision of disputes by punchayets when the liti- 

 gants were willing to abide by their decisions was provided 

 for, but this arrangement was seldom availed of and the law on 

 the subject *was practically a dead letter. The whole work 

 of Government had, therefore, to be conducted by a hierarchy 



