1852.] FINAL DECISION OF MADRAS GOVERNMENT. 211 



Recommends, that as the Farms had proved inju- CHAP. 

 rious, and that as the Agency was no longer neces- v> 

 sary, all Government intervention should bewith- 



OQO 



drawn. Sir Henry Pottinger drew special attention to 

 two admissions made by Dr. Wight : 1st, That so long as 

 the Government Farms were in full operation, no amount of 

 inducement that he could hold out seemed to have any 

 effect in stimulating the Ryots to engage in the cultivation 

 of American Cotton, beyond a very limited extent ; 2nd, 

 That nothing more was wanted to secure the rapid exten- 

 sion of the American plant but a steady market, and moder- 

 ate competition among merchants, to convince Indian 

 growers that the Cotton was really in demand. The Para 2is. 

 Madras Government inferred from the first admission, that Minutes of 



Consulta- 



the further existence of Government Agency was injurious ; *<> eth 

 and from the second admission that it was unnecessary. JJJ- & e ~ 

 Accordingly the Governor in Council recommended that p * 243 - 

 Government should abstain from all further intervention in 

 the matter. 



Dr. Wight's protest against the conclusions of 284 

 the Madras Government. .Dr. Wight protested 

 against the inferences which the Madras Government had 

 drawn from his two admissions on the following grounds. 



turn (1859) 

 p. 243. 



1st, The Government Farms had not proved injuri- 285 

 ous,but the groundless suspicions of the Ryots, The 



true reason why the Ryots had refused to cultivate American 

 Cotton, was not because they were alarmed at the expenditure, 

 but because they believed that it was incurred with theview of 

 raising the rent of the land, so soon as it was ascertained 

 that they could successfully cultivate the New Cotton. This 

 belief was not stated in so many words as here set down ; 

 but it was expressed in terms sufficiently clear not to be 

 misunderstood. The Ryots certainly never had any ground 

 for distrusting the honour and uprightness of our intentions; 



