cliv 



Government. As, however, B^s salt contains a little over 3 per cent, 

 more of sodium chloride than A's, the purchaser of A.'a salt saves 

 in duty more than he loses in cost price, and, on the whole, gets a 

 better article for a lower price. Under the monopoly system both 

 kinds of salt would be sold at exactly the same price, 3 annas per 

 maund ex- duty, and the person wishing to obtain by legal means 

 the better kind of salt might chance to obtain it as a matter of favour, 

 but could not get it for money. 



5, The rates of kudivaram, that is, the prices paid by Grovernment 

 for salt delivered to it under the monopoly system, are fixed and to a 

 great extent independent of the changes in the rates of wages for 

 labour prevailing in the particular localities. This would not be a 

 great grievance if the ryots were allowed to regulate production each 

 year according to their own calculations as to probable demand, so 

 that they might recoup the losses of one year from the gains of 

 another. It is true that the rates of kudivaram have sometimes been 

 raised, but this is done only after it is demonstrated to the satis- 

 faction of the higher authorities that the ryots could not possibly 

 manufacture and deliver salt at the rates in force. This is not an 

 easy process. Moreover, there is considerable difference between the 

 costs of salt of pans situated near the platforms and of those at a great 

 distance, the cost of carriage in the latter case being higher than in 

 the former. The Government oflBcers cannot take into account all 

 these differences and increase or decrease the kudivaram in the way 

 in which private manufacturers can. I find from the last annual 

 report of the Salt Department that Messrs. Arbuthnot and Company 

 and other firms who have entered into contracts with manufacturers 

 in the Chingleput factories for short periods have agreed to pay in 

 addition to the fixed kudivaram additional sums varying apparently 

 with reference to the increased cost of manufacture in, or of transport 

 of salt from, particular pans. 



6. The selling of salt at a fixed price whether it is good or bad, 

 light or heavy, gives room for the play of individual preferences or 

 partialities and consequent demoralization of the subordinate officers 

 in the factories. An example will make my meaning clear. It is a 

 well known fact that traders prefer to buy light salt as they can 

 make a greater profit out of it than out of heavy salt ; the reason is 

 that people purchase salt by the measure and light salt measures more 



than heavy salt, the difference being 

 * Note.— It appears from the admin- sometimes * as much as 20 per 

 it'Vsqn Q?^?L of *^« Salt Department ^ rpj^ j f j^ . measure- 



tor 1890-91, that eight lactones in the . i i> • i 



Bombay Presidency have made special ment mstead ot weighment IS 

 arrangements for the production of light sometimes erroneously ascribed to 

 salt in order to meet the demand for it ^j^g machinations of traders who 

 m this Presidency. , , r>j i t • • 



seek to earn a profit by deceiving 

 ignorant purchasers and giving them short weight. Traders do, no 

 doubt, sometimes take undue advantage of the ignorance of pur- 

 chasers, but in this instance it seems to me probable that even if 

 they reformed their ways and attempted to sell by weighment, the pur- 

 chasers who have long been accustomed to purchase by measure- 

 ment would imagine that fraud was intended and would not take the 

 salt. However desirable it may be that salt should be retailed by 



