CHAPTER X 



Indian landowners exempted from income tax ; take major portion 

 of rent If production increased, labourers will get better pay 

 This book does not deal with controversial political problems 

 All governments are necessarily bad, but some are worse 

 than others Scope in India for all the energy of the people 

 in combating natural difficulties of soil and climate and 

 utilising enormous natural resources. 



IF the Indian people should acquire wealth in the 

 way that I have pointed out, the next question 

 that arises is, how is that wealth to be shared ? 

 At the present moment there are in India a great 

 number of people who take rent and do not do any 

 corresponding work in return. This is particularly the 

 case in Bengal, where under the permanent settlement 

 the revenue remains much the same as a hundred 

 years ago, but the rents are now four-fold what they 

 were then. We have created a class of landowners. 

 Now, some of these landowners make a good use 

 of their money, and help on the agriculturalist : they 

 erect buildings, banks, post offices, and do other 

 work of great value, for which they get a return, 

 but there are others who do not do these things. 



What seems so extraordinary to an Englishman 

 who comes to India and studies the financial situa- 

 tion is that the Government, which is always short 



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