FiNANCli:
141
addition, reVcmie amoiiuting to Rx. 1,S.JO,000 was susiicndod, find about Rx. 1,. ^70,600 wa.^ lent to cultivator.s for tlio imrchasu of seed, &c. The 13ud;,'et istiniates for 18'JS-l)'J provide for the full amount Hx. l.r.OO.OOO of Hie fHiuine tyrant, namely Rx. l,(i'.i't,20(), under the liea<l • Fauiine Relief and Insurance," antl Rx. 4O0.8UO under ' ;JS State railways,' chargeable to tliat grant, as representing the net charge on account of the liengal-Nagpur and tliu India i Midland Railways.
Ill addition to the expenditure shown in the above table, a capital expen- diture not charged against revenue on railway and irrigation works is set down for 1897-98 at Kx. 4,604,600, and for 1898-99 at Kx. 5,749,300.
The following table exhibits the growth of the three most important ."sources of the public revenue of India, namely land, opium, and .salt, in the rinancial years 1888 and 1893-98 :—
Ifear ended March 31
Landi
Opium
Salt
Rx.
Rx.
Rx.
1888
23,189,292
8,515,462
6,670,728
1893
24,905,328
7,993,180
8,556,104
1894
25,589,609
6,627,571
8,288,876
1895
25,408,272
7,323,757
8,665,749
1896
26,200,955
7,123,922
8,861,845
1897
23,974,489
6,409,238
8,421,705
189S
25,732,000
5,179,700
8,592,400
(Approximate.)
1 Exclusive of Portion of Land Revenue due to IrriKation.
The most important source of public income is the land. The land revenue is levied according to an assessment on estates or holdings. In the greater ])art of Bengal, about one-fourth of Madras and some districts of the North- West Provinces, the assessment was fixed permanently one hundred years ago ; while it is fixed periodically at intervals of from twelve to thirty years over the rest of India. In the permanently settled tracts the land revenue falls at a rate of about two-thirds of a rupee per acre of cultivated land, and represents on an average about one-fifth of the rental, or about one twenty-fourth of the gross value of the produce. In the temporarily settled tracts the land revenue averages about U rupee per acre of cultivated land, represents something less than one-half of the actual or estimated rental, and is probably about one- tenth or one-twelfth of the gross value of the produce. For details as to the nature of the dilferent tenures of land that prevail in India ,vec the Ykau- BooK for 1886, p. 799. Sec also under Agriculture.
The land revenue w'as contributed in 1896-97 as follows : —
Administrations Rx.
India .... 147,471
Central Provinces . 660,493
Burma . , . 2,396,961
Assam . . ' . 606,231
Bengal ... 3,876,838 Nortli-West Provinces
and Oudh . . 4,986,876
Administrations Punjab Madras Bombay
Total
Rx
2,276,630 4,646,065 4,376,924
23,974,489
In British territory the cultivation of the poppy is only permitted in
