The India Office List for 1917

· 1917 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1385

2INDIA.

3took effect. The general rate of 5 per cent, on

4imported articles was raised to yj per cent.,

5special increased duties were levied on arms

6and ammunition, beer, wines and spirits, manu-

7factured tobacco, sugar and other manufactures,

8and the number of articles on the free list was

9considerably curtailed. The position as regards

10cotton remained, in the meantime, unaffected ;

11but, in March of the following j'ear, the import

12duty on cotton goods was raised from 3^ per

13cent, to 7^ per cent., the cotton excise duty

14continuing at 3^ per cent.

15Excise and Custons Revenues . — The total of

16the excise and customs revenue.s on liquors

17and drugs in 1914-15 was in round figures

18£10,000,000. This total gives an average of

19rather more than ninepence a head on the whole

20population of British India as the revenue charge

21on the drink and drugs consumed during the

22year.

23Income Tax. — Fiftj' years ago the trading

24and professional classes contributed little or

25nothing to the national burdens, and the Court

26of Directors reported in 1858 that ‘‘nearly two-

27thirds of the revenue or India consisted of the

28rent of land.” In i860 a tax was introduced on

29trading and professional incomes, and incomes

30derived from investments. Since that time,

31with short inter\'als, during which the impost

32was foregone, an income tax in one sliape or

33another has formed part of the fiscal system of

34India. Underthe present law no incomes below

35Rs, 1,000 a year are taxed, and incomes from

36land or agriculture, being otherwise taxed, are

37exempt; income.s between Rs. 1,000 andRs. 2,000

38a 3’ear paj' four pies in the rupee (about 2 per

39cent.), whilst those of Rs. 2,000 a year and up-

40wards pay from five pies to one anna in the

41rupee, acvordingto a graduated scale. A super-

42tax ranging from one anna to three annas in the

43rupee is levied, in addition, on incomes in e.xcess

44of Rs. 50,000 a 3'ear. The total number of in-

45come-tax a.ssessees in 1914-15 was 332,000, and

46the gross revenue from the tax 036,733. It

47should be remembered that the assets of India

48are mainly agricultural, and that agricultural

49profits are exempt from the tax.

50Stamp Duties. — Stamp duties before 1858

51were levied mainly on litigation and on legal

52documents, and they yielded 111 the year 1859 a

53revenue of le-'S than £750,000. In the year

54i860 the stamp law was revised and placed

55more nearly on the .•-3'stem followed in England.

56Duties were imposed on trading and commercial

57documents. ^S!^ce that year the rate.*’ ofdut3'

58have been penodicallv' revi'^ed, and the original

59scale of duties has been reduced in many

60respects. These duties now vield a net revenue of

61over j^5,ooo,ooo, of which about tvv’o-thirds are

62levied irom litigants in courts of justice and about

63one-third on trading and other documents.

64The judicial stamp revenue may be regarded in

65the light of payment for service rendered b3' the

66costl3' judicial establishment rather than a tax

67in the proper sense of the word.

68Trade and Manufactures. — The exten.sion

69of roads, railwa3-s, and canals, the improvement

70of seaports, the increase of the cultivated area, and

71the abolition of internal and reduction of external

72customs duties have caused a great expansion of

73I Indian trade. The exchange of commodities

74between one province or one district and another

75, has increased vastly, but we have no record of the

76internal trade of India before 1858. In that year

77the Court of Directors reported that the exports

78i and imports of merchandise by sea from and

79, into India were valued at 25^ and 14J millions

80I sterling respectively, or 39^ millions for the total

81foreign trade. T‘he corresponding totals for the

82year 1914-15 were about 123 millions worth of

83exports and 106 millions worth of 'imports,

84making a total sea-borne trade, exclusive of

85Government transactions, of229millionssterling.

86In all parts of the world a large and regularly

87expanding trade is rightly regarded as a sign

88of national prosperit3\ While India’s external

89trade has gone on increasing, there has arisen

90within her borders a great cotton spinning and

91weaving industry, which alread3' competes

92successfully with European manufactures in

93Eastern markets ; there has grown up a great

94and rapidl3’’ increasing production of Indian coal ;

95at the same time, new and valuable agricultural

96staples have been naturalised in the country.

97The next generation may, perhaps, see iron-

98works and the production of machinery con-

99ducted in India on a large scale.

100Inold timesindiawasaself-contained country,

101where ever3’ tract, more or less, made its own

102clothes trom its own cotton, produced its own

103iron and made its own tools, grew and con-

104.sumed its own food. Yarn was spun, cloth was

105' woven, iron was smelted, and tools were made

106on a small scale by individual workmen after

107rude methods. The domestic industries on India

108: such as weaving and spinning, pottery, brass-

109work, iron-work, and art work of many kinds,

110. continue to be practised after ancient methods ail

111f over the continent of India, but even before 1858

112the old order was changing, and the change has

113' been still more rapid since.

114In recent 3’ears there has been much dis-

115' cussion m India regarding the advantages of

116encouraging manufactures for the purpose of

117securing greater diversity of occupation in a

118countr3- that so largel3' depends on agriculture.

119Ihe movement for promoting home industries,

120, known as the swadeshi movement, has, in its

121legitimate forms, received ofiicial support,

122There are standing orders that stores required

123b3' Government shall, as far as practicable, be

124purchased in India. In March, 1909, it was

125ordered that purchasing officers shall in all cases

126give preference to articles manufactured in

127India trom Indian materials (or from imported

128materials), provided that the quality is suffi-

129ciently good and the price not unfavourable.

130Te.vtties . — Indian fabrics, made on a small scale

131by workers at their home.s, have for 3*ears past

132been giving way before the cheaper cotton 3'arn

133and fabrics of British and Indian mills. Mean-

134while without any protection, favour or advan-

135tage, other than is afforded by cheap Indian

136labour, and by the production of raw materials

137in India, an important manufacturing industry

138is growing up, and steam-power factories are

139at work for spinning and weaving cotton, wool,

140and jute. There were at the end of the year

1411913-14, 264 cotton mills at work in India. Of this

142number, 105 were exclusively spinning mills ;