58 HAPPY INDIA 



pay 50 per cent, on the cost of these railways, look- 

 ing at the matter entirely as a national outlay and 

 national benefit. The cost of carrying 40,000,000 

 tons an average distance of 60 miles by railway 

 would be about 10,000,000. 



There is, of course, another way of providing the 

 fuel, and that is to supply coal to all the villages. 

 There is plenty of coal in India, and a demand for 

 another 20,000,000 tons a year could be fully met 

 in the course of five years, and in every village 

 where there is not a sufficient supply of wood fuel 

 coal might be sent, so that there should be no excuse 

 for continuing the present practice of burning 

 manure. Doubtless it would cost a great deal to 

 convey the coal to some places a long distance from 

 the mine, but even this great cost would be better 

 than burning up the manure. Coal might be con- 

 veyed by railway 1,000 miles at a cost of i a ton, 

 and if the price of the coal was los. at the pit, that 

 would make the cost 305. a ton at the end of the 

 railway journey, so it might be said that the con- 

 sumer would get the coal at a cost of 355. a ton. 

 But the average journey would probably be only 

 about 300 miles, and the cost of conveyance by 

 train, say, los. a ton, so that coal might reach the 

 consumer at a cost of 255. a ton, and one ton of 

 coal would be as good as two tons of wood. 



But whether the fuel be supplied by means of 

 wood brought from long distances by new railways, 

 or by coal brought from long distances, also requiring 

 new railways, it would be a long time before all 



