— xxxi — 199 



more than one-tenth of the produce. From this it appears that 

 the Government of the day gave up to the proprietors, not the 

 absolute right or ownership oyer the land, hut only the Government 

 right over it, that is, the tax of one-tenth of the produce. As far 

 as I can trace from every enquiry, it appears that along the whole 

 Eastern Coast of the Bay of Bengal from the commencement of the 

 Burmese Territories to Point Romania, the right of the Sovereign 

 is supposed to consist of one-tenth of the produce. * The owner- 

 ship of the land is originally vested in the King, by whom it is 

 made over to subordinate occupants to cultivate and render pro- 

 ductive, on the term of yielding a tenth of the produce of every 

 article. f The object of the late Government in assigning to the 

 persons designated as proprietors the right of levying a tenth, pro- 

 bably was to make it the interest of certain individuals to introduce, 

 encourage and extend the cultivation of the lands. In some deeds 

 those terms are expressly mentioned. How far that object has been 

 attained will best appear by the former report of Mr. Lewis. It 

 appears by that report, that of 1,400 square miles, only acres 5,653 

 are in cultivation. It appears that so far from the persons called 

 proprietors taking any pains to that purpose, they never even 

 visit these estates, that they do not even themselves collect their 

 tenth, but rent it in the mass once a year to a China contractor by 

 public sale, who, having only one year's interest in the country, 

 extracts from it the utmost he can, and it appears not only from 

 the report of Mr. Lewis, but my own enquiries, that an excess is 

 sometimes levied beyond the tenth, moreover that services are re- 

 quired, and labour exacted, from the tenants ; in short they are kept 

 in a state of vassalage and servitude quite inconsistent with the 

 encouragement of cultivation. The right of levying the G-overnment 

 rent carries with it all the rent power of the State. That right vested 

 in the Dutch proprietors, by them transferred in the mass to Chi- 

 nese, has established a power and influence in that class too great 

 even for the Officers of Government to hold in check. The advan- 

 tages, therefore, that would result from the redemption of the rights 

 of Government are too obvious to require further illustration. 

 The present proprietors are stated to he willing to part with their 

 privileges on certain terms and conditions. According to my idea, 



* I exclude that portion of the coast held by the Siamese Government. 

 It is known that the Chief of Ligore takes in kind 40 per cent, of the pro- 

 duce, leaving to the cultivator bate subsistence. 



f Here then we find, as in many parts of India, two distinct rights: — (1) 

 The right to the Government tenth. (2) The right of occupancy vested in the 

 subordinate tenant on their paying the tenth. 



