<JS LAND MORTGAGE BANK 



not watered by canals which suffer severely from water- 

 logging during the monsoon season, thus generally lowering 

 the fertility of the soil. In these districts main drains and 

 feeders passing close to all villages need to be constructed. 

 I think this work ought to be undertaken by a Government 

 department; but interest on the capital outlay may be realiz- 

 ed by a cess collected through the district boards and levied 

 upon those lands so situated that they may benefit by the 

 drains constructed. The initiative should be with Govern- 

 ment, however, and not be left to the district boards, or 

 nothing will be done. In England drainage schemes have 

 been extensively carried out by the larger landlords ; but 

 Government has recognized the importance of stimulating 

 and assisting them, and for this reason considerable sums 

 of money were advanced by Government in the first half of 

 the nineteenth century both to individuals and to groups of 

 landlords and to local authorities. Waste lands in England, 

 tor example, fens and bogs, have been reclaimed by com- 

 panies which carried out drainage schemes, sometimes with 

 Government assistance. In India, besides the drainage 

 schemes which are needed to be carried out by Government, 

 a policy of making loans to the larger zamindars for drainage 

 purposes cannot fail to be advantageous if expert advice be 

 made available for their execution. 



The making of permanent improvements is very largely 

 a matter of finance. A few zamindars possess sufficient 

 free capital of their own for this purpose, if they could 

 be induced to invest it ; but on the other hand, 

 there are many whose estates are already encumbered and 

 who save very little out of their incomes. Government 

 already has arrangements for assisting the finance of improve- 

 ments of many kinds by the advance of loans through the 

 Agricultural Department. It may be questioned, however, 

 whether the time has not arrived to establish what is known 



