the Madras 



Govoriiment 



006 MANUAL OF THE NILAGIRI DISTRICT. 



CHAP. XIII, appeared Lord Canning's celebrated Resolution, enunciating 

 PART II. the policy of the Government of India, first, regarding the 

 Revenue ^^^^ ^f unassessed waste ; secondly, regarding the redemp- 

 HisTofiY. tion of the land revenue. The rules laid down were long 

 known as the Fee-simple Rules, though this term does not 

 appear in the Resolution, and although it contains no pro- 

 vision prohibiting the levy of an assessment where the full 

 property was transferred to the purchaser. It defined the 

 tenure of waste lands granted under its terms as ''an heritable 

 and transferable property, held in perpetuity, free from all 

 claims, either of the Government or of third persons, prior to or 

 inconsistent with the grant.'' The rules prescribed among other 

 things that the land might be granted after thirty days' notice ; 

 that it should only be put up to auction in the event of there 

 being more than one applicant, the upset price to be that of 

 an ordinary grant ; that the price of unassessed land (uncleared) 

 should not exceed 2| rupees per acre, of land unencumbered with 

 jungle Rupees 5 per acre ; that possession of unsurveyed lands 

 might be given before survey. The Resolution fixed twenty 

 years' assessment for the redemption of the land-tax. 



—action of The Madras Government submitted draft rules as required, 

 though the draft was opposed to their own views, remarking 

 that the rules already in force in this Presidency provided for 

 sales by auction, and consequently that there was no objection 

 to the extension of the system proposed in the Resolution ; 

 but that lands in Madras so sold were subject to assessment, 

 it was pointed out also that the upset price of Rupees 2^ 

 and Rupees 5 was much too low for coffee and tea lands, and 

 that the price of land was not the true obstacle to the intro- 

 duction of European capital and skill ; it was also urged that the 

 price should bear a fair proportion to the profits derived from the 

 land, and be sufficient to enable Government to perform its 

 obligations. The propriety of selling lands, subject or not 

 subject to a yearly assessment, at the option of the applicant was 

 suggested, but the auction system was insisted on in all cases as 

 fair to all concerned, and as removing all possibility of favour- 

 itism. It was further pointed out that the rules were quite 

 uusuited to the Nilagiris, and the Government subsequently 

 excepted these Hills from the operation of the rules of October 

 1861, the Government of India not objecting. 

 discussions Lord Canning's rules met with much adverse criticism in 

 England, and were brought before the House of Commons by 

 Mr. Smollett in May 1862 (Hansard, No. 166, p. 2136). In 

 the July following Sir C. Wood addressed to the Government 

 of India his celebrated despatch disallowing some of the most 

 important pi'ovisions of the Resolution. He directed that waste 



in Parlia 

 ment 



