1 ( 26 )
2 ~ poor tracts. Suppose, for instance, a proprietor obtains Rupees 100 in
3 ere of Govern. 2 Year from his little patrimony, out of this he
4 ment demand to gross would pay Rupees 20 to the State. The expenses
5 Diodes of his husbandry would be light (not more than
6 Rupees 20), consisting of the purchase of seed, of implements, the
7 repair of the well, feed of cattle, and the like. He pays nothing for
8 labor, as the labor is that of his own hands, of his sons, and of his wife.
9 Thus the Government demand and the expenses of cultivation might
10 together amount to Rupees 40, leaving 60 Rupees worth of produce,
11 with which he may maintain his household and save a small surplus
12 as capital. A portion of the produce he would convert into money, a
13 portion he would consume at home. But such a man would also have
14 some waste land, whence he obtains many necessary things for nothing,
15 such as grass for thatching, wood, fuel, fodder, and the like. The above
16 General condition of . description may apply to tens of thousands of
17 pncholiee the peasantry. But there are also tens of thou-
18 sands of Yeomen with double and quadruple the above means,- who can
19 afford to have substantial cottages; patches of garden cultivation
20 round their wells; to keep brood mares ; several yokes of plough oxen,
21 and herds of cattle grazing in pasturage; and to spend: occasional
22 sums at marriages, and such like festivities. One-fifth or 20 per
23 cent. upon income may appear a high rate of taxation as compared
24 with European countries, but it is low. as compared with Asiatic coun-
25 tries. It could not safely be reduced much lower, for it must be borne
26 in mind that other sources of taxation besides’ those now existing are
27 not available. Indeed the people themselves would hardly expect any
28 thing more ; they are grateful for that which has been allowed.
29 43. “Indeed the fiscal moderation of the British Government is
30 Fiscal moderation of notorious all over the Punjab, and among all
31 . the British Government. = Glasses, especially among those most conversant
32 with the practice of former times. In 1848 the rebel Sikh Chiefs, in
33 their proclamation of rebellion, laid it to the charge of British Officers,
34 that by their low assessment they had sacrificed the State Revenue.
35 The allegation was true, but though meant to convey blame, it really
36 conveyed praise. The British have advantageously pursued the same
37 policy ever since. One excellent proof is that the feudal Jagheerdars,
38 whose Revenues have been assessed on the same principles as the .