309 
[ TRANSLATION, | 
LAND, CAPITAL AND LABOUR IN PORTUGUESE INDIA. 
The Portuguese territory in India comprises 3,806 kilo- 
metres, of which barely a third is regularly cultivated in rice 
and coconut palms, the former being insufficient for local con- 
sumption, and both insufficient to maintain the economic 
equilibrium of the Colony. Other crops are of little import- 
ance, and emigration, calculated at 60 per 1,000 per annum, 
is the result of the excess of population over production. 
Thus, with a population of 530,000 inhabitants in 1909-10, the 
imports of rice were 1,200,000 lb. and the exports did not 
exceed 800,000 lb., representing a deficit of 400,000 lb. 
However, tthe agricultural services receive the greatest con- 
sideration from the Government of the Colony, and are in 
charge of an Inspector of Agriculture and a Bureau of Land 
Survey. 
It is expected that the improvement in the preparation of 
the land by irrigation works, already partly realized, will 
facilitate a larger variety and a greater extent in the crops 
cultivated and protected by capital, which is not abundant in 
the country, though it could not be employed to better purpose. 
The need of an Agricultural Credit Bank is increasing, 
though small similar institutions fulfil, as far as possible, the 
services demanded of them. 
There is no compulsory labour, such a system being quite 
unnecessary, as the supply of labour is far in excess of the 
demand, and it is only recently that owing to emigration it has 
become less abundant. Half the local population is engaged 
in agriculture and industry, the latter including the extraction 
of salt and minerals, and the manufacture of woven fabrics, 
preserves, and spirits. 
The native is temperate in eating and drinking. It appears, 
however, that alcoholism tends to increase, especially in the 
lower ranks of the Christian population. The Hindus and 
Mussulmans, in accordance with their religious precepts, 
abstain from alcohol. 
Poor-law institutions do not exist, neither is there protection 
of native labour. Recently, by a decree of August, 1901, the 
relations of landowners with their colonists or labourers 
residing in the area of country estates have been regulated. 
Penal labour does not exist. Enrolment in the military forces 
is voluntary. 
