1 ( 38 )
2 61. The annual cost of the Punjab Salt Establishment, including
3 Strength and cost of both the Indus and the Sutlej preventive lines,
4 Establishments, and the employés at the mines, amounts to
5 Rupees 2,54,000 or £25,400 per annum, which sum falls at the rate
6 of 13°15 per cent. on the average collections of the two past years. The
7 number of European employés, including Collector, Deputy Collector
8 and Patrols, is 21, and the number of Native Officials is 1,544. The
9 requisite public buildings along both the preventive lines have been
10 erected. <.
11 62. Smuggling across the preventive lines is believed to be slight,
12 ae .. seizures are certainly rare. The illicit manufac-
13 Rarity of smuggling ‘ i i
14 and of illicit manufac. ture of Salt is inconsiderable, though it may
15 ct * increase slightly on account of the growing
16 production of Saltpetre. The Central and Southern Districts, owing to
17 saline efflorescence on the ground, have facilities for making of Salt ; but
18 full advantage can never be taken of this circumstance, as the popu-
19 “lation in those localities is very sparse. An impure Salt is produced in
20 the Native Hill State of Mundee in the Trans-Sutlej States. No duty
21 or prohibition exists in regard to this Salt, as it cannot compete with
22 the Punjab Salt. If unpurified, the Punjab people will not consume
23 it; if purified, it could not bear the duties levied by the Mundee
24 Government.
25 63. The Kohat mines beyond the Indus have been already alluded
26 to. The light British duties of 2 and 4 annas
27 per maund may be more than the nominal duty
28 imposed by the Sikhs on the spot ; but then the other cesses, such
29 as Transit, Market, and Town duties, to which the Salt was liable,
30 have been remitted, so that it is much more lightly taxed now
31 than formerly. The Revenue has much increased: for the last three
32 years the average annual yield has been Rupees 98,300, or nearly
33 £10,000, the establishment for collection costing Rupees 16,650 per
34 annum or 17 per cent. on the average collections of the past three
35 years. A small per-centage on the Revenue is allowed to head-men
36 ef neighboring villages to secure their good will) The wild moun-
37 taineers ere great Salt-carriers, and the British Government derives
38 from the possession of these mines much political influence over the
39 surrounding Tribes,
40 -Trans-Indus Salt Mines.