COTTON IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. 



CHAP. 3 r a, The Ryotwary 'system.- The Ryotwary system 



is the most important of all, and the one which generally 



prevails in the Madras Presidency. Here the Government 

 does not take' the rent from the Head man of the village, 

 nor from the Zemindar of a number of villages, but direct 

 from the Ryots or village landholders. By this system every 

 registered holder of land is recognised as its actual proprie- 

 tor. He can sub-let his property, or transfer it by gift, sale, 

 or mortgage. So long as he pays his yearly rent, the Govern- 

 ment cannot eject him ; but he can at any time throw off 

 this responsibility to Government, by throwing up all or any 

 part of his land. 



] 4 Advantages of the Ryotwary tenure over the Ze- 

 mindary tenure and the Village joint rent system. 



It may perhaps place a complicated question in a clearer 

 light, if we thus briefly indicate the advantages of the Ryot- 

 war settlement, over the Zemindary tenure or the Village 

 joint rent system. To revert from the Ryotwary to the Ze- 

 mindary tenure would entail four evils. 1st, It would place 

 a middle-man between the Government and the Ryot. 2nd, 

 It would strike off from 1 5 to 33 per cent, of the existing 

 revenue, which would go into the pockets of the middle-man. 

 3rd, It would alienate to the middle-man those waste lands, 

 which the Ryots are being induced to take into cultivation, 

 and which thus gradually increase the revenues of the 

 State, and enable the Government to reduce the rent on 

 the whole. 4th, It would place the Ryots under the power- 

 ful and injurious influence of the Zemindars. Again, to re- 

 vert from the Ryotwar to the village joint rent system 

 would entail two evils. 1st, It would annul individual 

 property in the land. 2nd, It would render the whole of a 

 village community responsible for the short comings of any 

 of its individual members. 



