744 REPORT — 1891. 



England, with correspondinp: advantages to the industries of that country. The 

 patenting of not only home but also foreign inventions is thereby encouraged, and 

 an inventor having obtained a patent is induced to push his invention, and to make 

 further improvements in it. The success of an invention means the improvement 

 or creation of some new industry, and hence the country shares with the patentee 

 in the profits of the invention. 



Looliing to the report of the Comptroller-General of Patents in this country 

 for the year 1889, it appears that the total income from fees on patents was 

 151,794/. 4s. 4(Z., of which sum 93,205/. was paid by way of -renewal fees. The 

 surplus profit of the Office was a little more than this sum, namely, 93,5.'!4^. 8s. 9(/., 

 and this went to the Treasury, and was used for the general purposes of govern- 

 ment. It follows that if the annual taxes were abolished the Patent Office could 

 still pay its way. This surplus profit is, therefore, a direct tax upon the inventors. 



The taxation of inventors through the medium of ' renewal fees ' is a remnant 

 of the old demands and perquisites incident to the passing of letters patent under 

 the Great Seal. It is entirely inequitable in principle, it works great injustice and 

 hardship in practice, and, by damaging the value of property in inventions, acts as 

 a drag upon the inventive genius of the nation, and thereby injuriously affects all 

 the industries of the countr3\ 



MOjXBAY, august 24. 



The following Papers and Report were read : — 



1. On Recent Progress in Indian Agriculture. By C. L. Tupper, Chief 

 Secretary to the Fuvjaub Government. — See Reports, p. 532. 



2. Bailivay Communications of India. By W. C. Furnivall, M.Inst.C.E. 



The paper gave at the outset a short history of railways in India since their 

 commencement about forty years ago, and stated the reasons for the introduction of 

 the metre gauge in 1871. Up to the beginning of this year (1801) 16,277 miles 

 were open to public traffic, at a cost of 2,128 millions of rupees ; two-thirds of the 

 length have been built on the standard gauge of 5 ft. 6 in., and the remainder on 

 the narrower gauge of one metre. The cost of these lines, according to the 

 records, has been — standard gauge about 170,000 rupees, and narrow gauge 

 75,000 rupees per mile. But in this calculation no allowance has been made in tbe 

 capital account for the fluctuating value of the rupee. The gold loan from 

 England has been debited to India at the Exchange rates of the dates of transac- 

 tions, and as the sterling value of the rupee has ranged between 2s. 2d. and some- 

 thing under Is. 6d. during the last forty years, the obligations of the Government of 

 India for gold interest, calculated in rupees, are heavy. On the capital outlay, 

 estimated in rupees, the railways paid over 4^ per cent, last year. It is advanced 

 as worthy of remark that the narrow gauge gave almost a similar return to that 

 of the broad gauge on an expenditure per mile of less than one-half, but the broad 

 gauge has been adopted for all frontier railways which are at present unremunera- 

 tive. The author contended that — 1. Indian railways have been well laid out^ 

 and are well built, but the introduction of a break of gauge must be viewed as a 

 misfortune. 2. Passenger fares and goods rates are sufficiently low to attract 

 traffic and promote trade with England, especially that of a supply of wheat. 

 3. The demands of Indian railways on England for iron and steel equalled about 

 one-tenth of the whole English exports of last year. 



A comparison is made between the rate of development of railways in the 

 United States and India per unit of population. The census for this year gave 

 286 millions in India, and the expenditure was, therefore, rupees 7'44 per head, or 

 11 shillings. In like manner the length of the line finished was computed at 3^ 



