Young India (1916)/Appendix 3
III
FACTS AND FIGURES
Plague, Deaths from. Plague[1] deaths from 1897-1913: 7,251,257.
Death Rate. Death rate was: 34.28 for the year 1907-11; 32 for the year 1911, and 29.71 for the year 1912.
Rural from 41.8 to 23.5.
Urban from 47.6 to 22.7.
Indian Finance. The budget figures of the government of India for 1914-15 show the total estimated income for the year to be slightly over 85 millions sterling, of which more than 17 millions are given out as railway receipts and about 4½ millions for irrigation work, thus leaving the pure revenue to be about 63 millions.
Land Tax. The principal source of revenue is the land tax, which alone furnishes a little over 21 millions of pounds, of which, if we deduct 9 millions shown as the “direct demand on the revenues” only 12½ millions are left for general purposes.
The military expenses alone are estimated at about 22 millions, which is even in excess of the gross total receipts from the land tax, and is more than one-third of the total revenues from all sources.
The figures for income are a little misleading, because out of a total of about 17 millions (17 millions and 33 thousand) shown as railway receipts about 13 millions (13,409,000) shown as paid for interest and other miscellaneous charges on the expenditure side, should be deducted. Similarly about 4½ millions are shown as receipts under the head of irrigation, and over 3½ millions are shown against that head as expenditure.
Among the other heads of income, excise brings slightly over 9 millions. Income tax is included under “Other Heads,” which show a total figure of slightly over 5 millions.
Income Tax. The income tax, which is levied on incomes other than those derived from agriculture, is only 6½d. in a pound on incomes of £133 or more, a year, and almost 5d. a pound on incomes below that figure. The minimum taxable income is £66 a year, which shows that all incomes of between 5-6 pounds a month, or between 25-30 dollars a month, are taxed. The large fortunes made by Europeans and Indians by trade, speculation, manufacture, and unearned increments of valuation, are thus easily let off. The principle burden of taxation falls on the poor ryot.
Income from agriculture is supposed to be taxed at the rate of 50 per cent, of the net income of the landlord, or at the rate of 20 per cent, of the gross produce of the ryot, under the ryotwari system. In some cases it exceeds these proportions and is as high as 65 per cent. (See Lord Morley's reply to C. T. O’Donnell.)
Customs. Customs, which furnish the principal source of revenue in the United States and Germany, in India only yield about less than 7½ millions. The imports are charged ad valorem duty of 5 per cent. with special conditions as to textiles, and “a large free list.” The textile woven goods pay a duty of 3½ per cent, and Lancashire is protected by a corresponding excise duty on textile goods produced in the country. Iron and steel pay only a nominal duty of one per cent.
The other principal source of revenue is the drink traffic, from which the government of India makes an income of about nine millions sterling. How much loss in morals it inflicts thereby on the country may better be imagined. That however is another story.
TRADE FIGURES FOR 1913 to 1914
| Imports (manufactured articles forming 80 per cent. of the total): | £127 millions |
| Treasure: | 29 millions |
| £156 millions | |
| Exports (chiefly raw produce and articles of food): | £163 millions |
The shipping is entirely in European hands and it would be interesting to enquire how much does India pay for the shipping of its imports and exports, and how much do the foreigners make by way of insurance and other charges. The exact gain to Great Britain and other European countries from Indian trade is simply incalculable. The great bulk of the foreign trade on both sides is in the hands of foreigners.
PERSONNEL OF THE GOVERNMENT
Secretary of State and all Under Secretaries, as well as Assistant Under Secretaries:
| Council: | British | British Indians | Total |
| 8 | 2 | 10 |
All Office Establishment and Secretaries: British.
All salaries and other expenses paid by India.
Governor General and Council and staff (i.e., the British Indian Cabinet).
Members of the Executive Council: British 7; one only is an Indian.
Revenue and Agriculture Department: All Secretaries down to the Superintendent of the Office: British. (Total strength, 7.)
Finance Department: 21; all British except that one Assistant Secretary is an Indian, and one Superintendent is an Indian.
Foreign Department: 6; all British except that one Attaché is an Indian.
Education Department: 8; one Assistant Secretary is an Indian.
Legislative Department: 7; only one Legal Assistant an Indian.
Army Department: 10; one Office Superintendent an Indian.
Public Works: 15; no Indian.
Commerce and Industry: 11; 3 Office Superintendents are Indians.
Railway Board: 4, no Indian.
Post Office and Telegraph Department: no Indian
Indo-European Trade Department: no Indian.
Geological Survey: 5; no Indian.
Botanical Department: 5; no Indian.
Archæological Survey: 9; one Indian.
Miscellaneous Appointments: 39; one Indian.
The Indian Legislative Council: —
Total strength 67, out of which 35, besides the Governor General are always officials, only one of which is an Indian; of the remaining 32, 28 are Indian members, including 3 nominated by the Government, i.e., a total of 20 out of 67.
Provincial Government: All Governors, Lieutenant Governors, and Chief Commissioners of Provinces are British.
In Provinces having Executive Councils of three or more, one is an Indian.
Secretaries and Heads of Departments are all Britishers. Of the large army of Under Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries, perhaps one in each Province is an Indian.
Services:
Army: No Indian is eligible to a commissioned rank.
Indian Civil Service: (on the first of April, 1913) out of a total cadre of 1318, only 46 were Indians. Indian Medical Service: Little over 5 per cent. are Indians.
In Provincial Legislative Councils having very restricted powers of legislation, the elected Indians are in a minority everywhere.
FIGURES ABOUT EDUCATION AND LITERACY:
| Area, 1,773,168 square miles. | |
| Population, 315,132,537. | |
| Universities in British India, 6. | |
| Number of High Schools for males | 1273 |
| Number of High Schools for females | 144 |
| Primary schools for males | 113,955 |
| i.e., not even 1 for every 10 miles. | |
| Primary schools for females. | 13,694 |
| Literally. | |
| Males, 106 per 1000, i.e., about 10½ per cent. | |
| Females, only 10 per 1000, i.e., about 1 per cent. | |
| All these figures are taken from the Indian Year Book, published by the Times of India Press, Bombay, for the years 1914 and 1915. | |
IV
THE FLOGGING OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
(An extract from New India, a paper edited by Mrs. Annie Besant.)
The tragedy of Mr. Ramcharan Lal, the ex-editor of the Swaraj, continues. Mr. Macleod, the city magistrate of Nagpur, has sentenced him to an additional six months of rigorous imprisonment after his sentence has expired for 'refusing to work.' Our readers will remember the case. This unfortunate political prisoner — whose analogues in foreign countries have been welcomed and protected on British soil — under-going a sentence of imprisonment, was so brutally flogged for refusing to do work, which he says was more than he could do, that the prison doctor admits that he would have been unable to work for four days after the flogging, and six weeks after it the skin was still discoloured and two serious scars remained. Now he has a heavy sentence of six months’ additional imprisonment. Is this British treatment of a political prisoner? Why did Britons protest against the use of the knout on political prisoners in Russia? Is there no one in the House of Commons who will ask a question on this case, and demand an enquiry into the treatment of political prisoners in India?
- ↑ We do not mean to say that British Rule in India is responsible for the plague, but with better management of resources, i.e., better sanitation, the plague could have been prevented or eradicated sooner than has been attempted.