1 Proceedings of the Hon'ble the Lieutenant-Governur of the Punjab in the Department of Revenue and
2 Agriculture (General), No. 276 S,, dated the agth June 1894.
3 READ—
4 The Report on the Administration of Estates under the Court of Wards in the Punjab for
5 the year ending 30th September 1893.
6 REMARKS.—This: is the first separate report on the Administration of
7 Estates under the Court of Wards in the Punjab, the subject having been previ-
8 ously treated in the Land Revenue Report of the Province. The present Report
9 deals with 64 estates with a total income of Rs. 15,83,452. Of these 6 have
10 an income exceeding Rs. 50,000 per annum. The income of 15 others is
11 between. Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 10,000; of 12 others between Rs. 10,000 and
12 Rs. 5,000; of 23 between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 1,000; and of § between Rs. 1,000
13 and Rs. 500. The income of 2 estates is less than Rs. 500 per annum,
14 while that of 1 estate is not specified in the report. As regards the size
15 of estates, as well as in other respects, the Lieutenant-Governor is, inclined
16 to think that there is a tendency to exercise the power of taking charge of an
17 estate a little too freely. |
18 2. The Lieutenant-Governor agrees with Mr. Ogilvie’s remarks in the
19 end paragraph of the Report, that the statements appended to the Report
20 might in some cases be usefully revised, and proposals for their improvement
21 may be submitted. In this connection Sir Dennis Fitzpa‘rick wishes the Finan-
22 cial Commissioner to consider whether it would not be possible to substitute for
23 columns 10 and 11 in Statement II] columns comparing the land revenue assessed
24 on land cultivated hy tenants with the rents due, and also the rents realized from
25 them on account of the year under report, arrears realized and advance collec-
26 tions made being shown separately. The figures would furnish an indication of
27 the portion of the rental of the land which Government is actually absorbing by
28 its land revenue assessments. Remarks such as those made in the 18th para-
29 graph of the Report might perhaps be more conveniently put into one of the
30 tabular statements.
31 3. The cost of management seems inordinately large in the four large
32 estates mentioned in paragraph 8. One would expect the percentage of manage-
33 ment charges in a large estate to be lower than in a small one, and Sir Dennis
34 Fitzpatrick would like to see a detailed statement for each estate. To compare
35 the cost of management with the income of the particulay year, including debts
36 recovered and such lke, as is done in the last column of Statement IV, is
37 somewhat misleading, as the actual income from year to year may, vary widely
38 owing to a variety of causes. The comparison should be aie with the estimated
39 annually recurring income. The Financial Commissioner should consider this
40 oint in connection with the revision of the present forms alluded to in the
41 ast paragraph.
42 4. The conditions on which the loans referred to in the roth paragraph of
43 the Report were made seem to have been duly carried out. As regards the
44 subject of investments discussed in parapraph 11, the Lieutenant-Governor
45 agrees with the Financial Commissioner that the greatest caution and the closest
46 supervision from superior authority are requisite in cases where it is proposed to
47 make a loan from one Court of Wards’ estate to another, and this 1s a point on
48 which Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick has repeatedly insisted. In such cases the Court
49 of Wards owes “a divided duty,” and the position is one of great delicacy.
50 The general principle which the Lieutenant-Governor understands the Financial
51 Commissioner to lay down seems to him the correct one, v7s., that the interests
52 of the estate from which itis proposed to make the loan constitute the para-
53 mount point for consideration ; for, if the security which the borrowing estate
54 has to offer is really sound, there ought, as a rule, to be no difficulty in obtaining
55 money for it from a bank or money-lender,