1 REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE NORTHERN INDIA
2 REVIEW BYSECTIONS: being prevented from entering the markets duty free. Saltpe-
3 INTERNAL BRANCH. tre refiners are at liberty to dispose of their salt just as they
4 Sitta passed out of refin-
5 eries for industrial purs
6 poses.
7 Refunds of duty on salt
8 used for industrial pure
9 poses,
10 may choose, either by excising or destroying it.
11 A quantity of maunds 9,151 of sitta was passed out of
12 saltpetre refineries in the upper districts of the North-Western
13 Provinces and in the ‘Punjab on payment of a fee of eight
14 annas a maund. Comparative issues were as follows:—
15 1895-96, 1896.97.
16 Mds, Mads.
17 North-Western Provinces tee ie eee 8,530 3,194
18 Punjab oe a - ve 7,800 5,957
19 Total we =—«- 11.830 9,151
20 A decrease is apparent in both areas. Sitta is used for
21 industrial purposes, principally in curing hides for local con-
22 sumption and in salting goat-skins for export to the Madras
23 Presidency. Last year 1 remarked that it was also coming
24 into use for salting beef for export to Burma. That trade
25 has been very slack during the year under report, and the
26 quantity of sitta used in it has diminished,
27 65. The following is an account of the refunds of salt
28 duty allowed to the North-West Soap Company at Meerut on
29 the salt used in the manufacture of soap during the past
30 four years :—
31 Salt consumed in the manufacture of soap. Refund of duty.
32 uantit a dl :
33 : aaibaes Total |Quantity , Closing Quantity anenue
34 + stock of | of salt | balance of
35 “| salt. | utilized. | of salt. ch agit: duty.
36 Quantity | Opening
37 Year. of soap | balance
38 produced. | of salt.
39 ——
40 Mads. sr. |Mds, sr. |Mds. sr. Mds. sr. |Mds. sr. |Sds, sr. |BMds. sr. Rs. a.
41 1893-94 ... | 8,800 27 | 63 18 | 657 26 | 721 4) 64919); 71 25} 659 2] 1,647 10
42 1894-95 ... | 10,299 10 | 71 25 | 599 13 } 670 38 | 670 38 eee 645 30 | 1,614 6
43 1895.96 ... | 12,858 25 aes 770 7|770 71770 7 ove 765 6} 3,012 14
44 1896-97 ... {12,225 29 tes 966 6 { 966 6 | 829 ui eae 20 774, 0 | 1,935 0
45 Compared with 1895-96 there was a decrease during the
46 past year of maunds 633 in the quantity of soap produced,
47 and an increase of maunds 59 in the amount of salt utilized
48 in the manufacture. The proportion of salt to soap amounted to
49 6°78 per cent. compared with 5:99 per cent. during 1895-96,
50 It is said that the quantity of salt required is dependent in
51 some degree onthe quality of the soap manufactured. A
52 refund of duty amounting to Rs. 1,935, was made on maunds
53 774 of salt during the year. These items are very slightly
54 in excess of the figures of 1895-96. The soap factory was-
55 frequently visited by inspecting officers during the year.
56 The Company’s arrangements for the safe custody of the salt
57 continue to be satisfactory, and the Departmental rulesare all
58 properly observed.
59 In my last annual report I mentioned that from the 1st
60 of April 1896 the firm of Messrs. Schroeder, Smidt and Co.,
61 hide merchants, were being allowed a refund of duty on the
62 salt used in their factories at Cawnpur and Dinapore in salt-
63 ing hides and skins for export to Europe. This concession was
64 not taken advantage of in the Dinapur factory during the
65 year; but it came into force in the factory at Cawnpur. The
66 ( 64 )