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913 THE LEAD Eli; _ [No. 441, September ...
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THE FUTtTRE OF THE REVENUES OF rNDIA. Fk...
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311erraittxle artfc Cnimuttcin 11 —?-— '...
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THE VALUE OF OUR TRADE. The recent publi...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Gexeeaii Tremenheeee's Plan. Gexeral Tue...
fortless life in the lowland garrisons of Indi a , would be in a more hopeful and cheerful state whe n on service ; They would have the hope before them of rejoining their * families at the end of a campaign , thev would have a home to go to in the hills if sick or wounded ; the unmarried soldiers , ill or-wounded , ¦ w ould have brothers , sisters , relatives , and friends in the hills to whom to resort ; and the feelings of home would be enjoyed in a home near at hand
without too much yearning for the old home beyond the wide sea . The proposition of General Tremenheere includes so much that it truly sound and practical in a military point of view , so much that is truly advantageous in a national point of view , and it would achieve such great ' moral results , that we do sincerely hope it may meet with careful and favourable consideration .
913 The Lead Eli; _ [No. 441, September ...
913 THE LEAD Eli ; _ [ No . 441 , September 4 , 1858 .
The Futttre Of The Revenues Of Rndia. Fk...
THE FUTtTRE OF THE REVENUES OF rNDIA . Fkom time to time of late years the condition of Indian finance , -with its frequent deficiencies and rare surpluses , has been the subject of discussion , and occasionally even of late , uneasiness has been expressed that the revenues of India , apart from political disturbances , would be Found sufficient to meet the railway guarantees , or even the yearly charge for the dividends of the East India proprietors . Looking at the slow progress made by the revenues of India , -which it is considered only grow by the annexation of provinces , and bear with them with an increase of charges tending to augment the deficit , there are those who look rather gloomily on the future of Indian finance .
There are three aspects under which Indian finance inay be regarded . First , in reference to ordinary tech r meal considerations ; with regard to the mode in which revenue can be . nursed by reduction and commutation of taxes i with a view to the relief of the population , and the gradual growth of revenue . There is , next * , the consideration hovv . far the judicious outlay of capital on railways , canals of irrigation , and other public works , and in the encouragement of English settlers , will tend to increase the permanent resources of the country . There is , ho weveri a farther subject for consideration , and which it may be said has met with very little attention , except a reference to it in one publication , and a casual mention before the Statistical Society , and that is the influence which in India will be exerted on prices by the certain progress
of the country . Having regard to the peculiar nature of the gross revenues of India , derived as they are to so great an extent from charges on land , which though , according to eminent authorities , they are governed by the theory of rent , but which in practice are found to constitute , in too many cases , a prohibiting taxation , grinding down the tenantry to pauperism , and enforced by the most odious oppressions—having regard to the dependence of the Indian Exchequer on laud revenues , on which remissions are rather to be looked for than augmentations
—it 13 very difficult for the ordinary application of financial expedients to be attended with any great results . There are , besides , other revenues of objectionable bosia and precarious duration , the opium revenue and the salt-tax , and all the shifting , and changing , and financing will only succeed in finding substitutes to make good the deficiency which the suppression of these may involve . But of a . gross revenue of 80 , 00 . 0 , 000 a , 17 , 000 , 000 ? . are raised from the land revenue , 5 ^ , 000 / . from the opium revenue , 2 , 600 , 000 / . from the salt-tax , that is to say , 25 , 000 , 0001 . from heads of taxation which do not admit of increase . The cubtoins duties only produce 2 , 000 , 000 / ., the property and income-tax have been abolished , the excise duties are trifling , and the stamp duties only amount to about half a million .
For the collection of these revenues no less than six millions are disbursed , exclusive of civil , judicial , police , and military charges , which aro strictly caused by the peculiar character of the land tenures of the country , and without reckoning tbo exactions inflicted on the population by the corrupt native officials . For anything thaUs . know 4 ^ ftkpr , caqn t ., UiA ^ al ^^ department is much more likely to bo eight millions than six millions , and may very possibly bo ton millions . What the 17 , 000 , 000 / . of land revenue really costs the tenants and peasantry of India in coin and in kind , in suffering and privation , it . is quite impossible to tell . The able administrators of India have folt called upon to exert themselves'to obtain remissions for the tax payers , who , while seemingly assessed at low rates , aro found to be in a condition of actual beggary . There is room , undoubtedly , for great Improvement in
for that the country is a natural road for six months of the year , but the real test is the cost of the brinjarry , moved by a miserable bullock-team , and conveying half a ton four or six miles per day , at prices higher than some of the worst parts of Ireland . There are whole regions of India where it is a week ' s work , in the favourable season , to convey produce fifty miles . Under such circumstances much of the produce must rot , and there is a positive discouragement to production . Even coffee , grown by the English settlers , cannot be got to the coast at the right season for shipment .
Indian financial administration , which will be effecte d when the European staff and population are largely increased , but a great dependence for the maintenance of the revenue on a footing of stability must be placed on the results of a very extensive outlay on public works . Remissions of taxation will do small good for the ryots of India in proportion to what will be effected by increasing the produce of their lands by the application of water , and by improving the money price of the produce by creating means of conveyance to market . It is well for collectors to say that their districts want no roads ,
When the railway system , branch roads , and steamtrains come into play , the certain results will be to obtain better prices for the produce of the country , to stimulate production , and to stimulate consumption . AH articles of'local consumption will have a wider area of market , and all exportable articles will have means of reaching the shipping ports . If we consider how many of the producing countries of India are a thousand miles from their seaports , we must be convinced how great is the influence exercised on the price of commodities by the cost of transport , and how important it is , with a ' view to production , to provide facilities of transport . This provision , as yet on a limited scale , but certain to be extended , will , as we have said f do more for
the real relief of the ryot than all that the new assessment in Bombay and Madras has yet effected , and without loss to the public service . As the matter has hitherto been considered , it has beeii held certain that at each survey and reassessment further remissions must take place , " in order to place the cultivator in a condition to obtain a decent livelihood , but where new communications have been opened , and new markets created , the necessity for these remissions will cease . Thus , in the long run , the land-tax or land-rent , whatever people like to call it , will be preserved at something like its nominal amount . We may go further , for looking at the condition of the zemindar of Bengal , as Mr , Hendriks has done in his admirable memoir on the Statistics of Indian
Revenue and Taxation , we may consider how far the zemindar should be made to bear the brunt of taxation by means of property , and income-. tax . Taking the taxable income of this class in the zemindar districts at ten millions , three per cent , will give 300 , 000 / ., and five per cent . 500 , 000 / ., and should there be another commotion ,, our own war rate of ten per cent , would give 1 , 000 , 000 / . from classes who can well afford it . The resources of India in the future arc good for maintaining the land-tax , and for compensating the opium revenue and the salt-tax by nri increase of customs , stamps , and property-tax . While the nominal rates of these are raised there will be a real relief by an increased rate of production throughout the country ,
and by the certain result of a rise in prices . Tins is a result which has taken place in every part of Europe by the improvement and extension of markets , and notably as a , consequence of the railway system . Thus , throughout the greater part of Europe , wngos are advancing and the prices of many commodities ; and to tho careful observer the same influence is to be recognised in India . In Assam , Tennnserim , Pegu , Darjeeling , the Neilgherries , the coffee districts , there is a relative scarcity of labour and a considerable rise in wages , and although at the present moment the Madras and other
emigrant coolies partially supply the labour market , yet the new settlements cannot go on demanding and absorbing labour without affecting tho populous and depressed districts , This result , considered local and temporary ,, is beginning , tQ , attract the , notice of the settler and the journalist ; and on the railways , and in districts such as Dacca an advanced rate of wages—it may be said a double rate of wages—^ has been established , which is by some set down to tho advanced price of provisions—one whichwill not recede—being only another expression of the same operation .
As prices rise to the level of those districts in which there is the greatest enterprise and'the greatest demand for labour , the proportional incidence of taxation will be Ie 8 a felt , and at the same time the money rate and money return of taxation will bo increased , because prices will bo affected . Thus the weight of tho debt will be loss fdt , tho costs of collection will bo diminished , Dub ^ la . credit , vyill , 1 > q gie , qtcr T Jhft m ^ tory Qjit ^ Utftmont less extensive , but in all departments of tho Government service a higher rate of pay will prevail correspondent to the alteration of prlcoa . Thus in the future of Indian finance wo must look forward to a great and salutary influence by ( he . vast expansion' of the resources « of' the country , und tho establishment of a rate of prices more favourable to tho cultivator and producer in India , and thereby more favourable to the manufacturing interests in this country .
311erraittxle Artfc Cnimuttcin 11 —?-— '...
311 erraittxle artfc Cnimuttcin 11 —? - — ' ¦
The Value Of Our Trade. The Recent Publi...
THE VALUE OF OUR TRADE . The recent publication of the computed value of our imports and the declared value of our exports for the first six months of 1858 is a favourable occasion for stating the actual ambunt of our trade . In 1854 the value of our imports was first computed ; till then , notwithstanding our multiplied statistics , there was only an old official scale of assumed prices , which gave a clue to the quantities but not to the real value of our imports . Over the increasing value of our exports there was , on the old theory that nations get rich by what they send away , continual exultation , and no notice was taken of the increasing value of what came in , which , alone could add to our wealth . The following table gives an account of the computed value of our imports and the declared value of our exports for the last four and a half years .: — ¦ VALUE OF OUR TRADE . Impokts . 1851 . I " ~ 1855 . ~~ 1 S 56 . ~~ ' 1857 . £ I £ £ £ Totnlcorap . value 152 , 389 , 053 143 , 542 . 850 172 , 544 . 154 187 . C 4 ii . S 3 , > Re-exported , i 8 . 03 G , 3 t ><> 21 . . 215 j 23 , 393 , 405 23 . 8 iV 5 . 76 . -, Retained . .. ..... .. 133 , 752 , CS 7 l 22 , 539 t 635 ! l 49 , l 50 , 749 . ' lC 4 , 2 tiJ o 70 EXPOETS . Dec . vat . Brit . > 97 > 18 i 7 . 2 o 95 . . 0 S 5 115 , 826 , 048 122 , 155 , 237 produce .-... ) j ' ¦ For . and CoL do ., 18 , 836 , 300 21 , 003 , 215 23 , 393 , 405 2 . 3 , 3 . . V « , 765 Total ........... 115 , 821 , 002 1 10 , 60 1 , 300 130 , 220 . 353 115 , 5 o ;« , 002 Aggregate of "y | I retained ^ hn- . 249 , 573 , 779 239 , 236 , 930 288 , 371 , 102 300 , 801 , 572 portfa Jiiici cx ~ i ¦ ¦ I' ' ' ¦ ports . J Excess ; val . of > 17 > 931 < 59 r , 5 . . 333 9 , 930 , 306 18 , 7 n ? , " 8 ln / ip- o \ cr ex p . j j ¦ ., . Kquiy . to p . cent . 15 ' 5 5 7 l' < " 1 S 5 S . —FIRST SIX 3 IONTUS . Impokts . Exports . . ¦ £ . . ¦ ~ Tota ] comp . value . . 69 , 677 . 15 ! Dec . val . J ? rit . prod .... r > : { , M ; 7 . *< i 4 Re-exported .. . 7 . 7 S 4 . 5 S 8 . Foreign & Colonial .-7 , 7 s t , o !> S Retained 01 , 892 , 503 Totalexports 01 ,-2 * Vi , o ' . ' 2 Apgregate retained imports and exports JB 123 , 154 . ' . | j 5 Excess value of imports over exports ! .. ¦¦ £ < i '> ' -V } From these figures we learn that the yearly average value " of our imports and exports combined in the . last four years has been , exclusive of bullion , 271 millions . This is an enormous amount of property . It is all circulating and floating , as contradistinguished from land , which is emphatically I'lxcd or real property , and every farthing of it is the fruit of industry . On the average of the four years , the value of the imports , it will be noticed , was above that of the exports 13 millions , equivalent to 10 per cent ., an indication , but not a correct measure , of the great amount of profit derived from trade in these years . Nor is the relation altered by including the precious metals . In the beginning of 1 S 51 , the Bank had l ( 3 , 000 , 000 A bullion ; at present it has 17 , 000 , 000 / . In all other countries similar phenomena occur , and the greater value of imports than of exports in each and every country is a measure of the pecuniary advantages of trade to t lie world . It will be seen , however , that in the first half of the present ; year tho excess of imports is exceedingly small . The figures arc not , indeed , strictly correct . The official account of the value of tlio foreign and colonial products exported is not vet supp lied , and tho figures given in the table under this head arc assumed , and arc one-third of the tutiu value of the foroign and colonial produce exported in 1857 . As the quantities generally of imports re-exported in the first' six months or 1 S 58 cquul the quantities re-exported in 1 , 857 , the assumption of only one-third falls below the actual value of the foreign produce exported . Iu fact , we believe t hat tho value of the exports in tho first half of tins year lms exceeded the valuo of tho imports , and 'lie approximation to facts shows nn alteration in our trade which is undoubtedly creator and more significant than is expressed in the table . The average of tho total imports for tho four years was 101 millions , and of the exports of British produce 1 W millions . As KM is to 107 so is 09 to 45 , wherena ¦ thc _ vahift nf British prpduoq qxpqrf , e , 4 ju tho btx months is 53 millions , or 8 millions above Uio proportion of the four years , clearly demonstrating iho change iu the relative valuo of "imports to exports in 1858 . It diflfors from tho four previous years * , m wbioh the value of tho imports was groatci tlum that of tho exports . . At the same 'time , tho real course of trado is not muoh altered . Similar articles in not vory dissimiiai quantities aro importod and exported in lSji > " 9
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 4, 1858, page 24, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04091858/page/24/
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