178 POLICY FOE WESTEEN INDIA 



the British Government has never made itself re- 

 sponsible for the evils by encouraging the system 

 that gave rise to them, and if it sinned it was by 

 omission. The British Government faced the right 

 way, whatever were its weaknesses ; the Dutch 

 Government was in itself a wrong." 



The second characteristic of the British land policy 

 in India was that full liberty was left to the land- 

 holder to treat the land in any way that he thought 

 fit, and no compulsion was placed upon him to grow 

 particular crops, to adopt particular methods or to 

 sell his produce to particular people. The system of 

 " forced cultures " in Java has already been referred 

 to (p. 37) as an extreme example of State inter- 

 ference in agricultural matters intended to secure 

 the most efficient methods and the largest pro- 

 duction. There were formerly* many who urged 

 the British Government to adopt a similar system in 

 India in order to achieve rapid material progress ; 

 but no departure of this nature was made. The 

 matter is one of more than historical interest, since 

 suggestions are still frequently made that Government 

 should exercise control over the system of cultivation. 



The third feature of the land policy in western 

 India is that the general principles of land tenure and 

 assessment found in existence were adopted and re- 

 duced to a definite system. Perhaps the two points 

 in this connection that have been most criticised are 



* " Java ; or How to Manage a Colony," by J. W. B. Money (1861). 



