Bengal, the Supreme Court, S. R. 4,32,337; justices | Account of the Quantity of Salt sold, the Gross Proceeds, of the peace and diet of the prisoners at Calcutta, 2,51,693; Court of Requests, 98,605; Sudder Dewanny and Nizamut Adawlut, 6,38,869; Provincial Courts of Appeal and Zillah Adawluts, 62,69,040; provincial police, 17,89,377; extra and contingent charges, 3,70,318; pensions, 38,445; total, S. R. 9,89,91,694, or sterling 1,147,436l. In Madras, Supreme Court, S. R. 3,08,700; police charges in town of Madras, 1,33,040; Court of Sudder and Fouzdary Adawlut, 2,53,557; Provincial Courts, 25,97,490; pensions, &c. 7,342; total, S. R. 33,00, 129, or 377,1587. In Bombay, Supreme Court, S. R. 3,68,400; police charges at Bombay Presidency, 1,27,540; Court of Sudder and Fouzdary Adawlut, 2,62,891; provincial Courts, 19,39,774; buildings, &c. 76,701 ; total, S. R. 27,75,306, or 312,2221. The grand total for the three Presidencies being 1,836,8167. sterling. Salt. The next main item of revenue in Bengal is derived from the manufacture and sale of salt by Government, the average annual produce of which is about 1,800,000l. a year. It is in evidence before Parliament that the people are abundantly supplied with salt, and the tax is less than four farthings a month on each individual. Efforts have been made to authorize the Cheshire salt makers to furnish the Bengalese with salt; when the English Parliament remits or even lessens the duty levied on the Hindoos sugar being imported into Great Britain, then the Hindoos may receive English salt. Upper Bengal is supplied with salt partly from the Lower Province, and partly from salt mines in Western India. Madras exports salt to Bengal prepared by solar evaporation in exchange for rice and other provisions, and Bombay roakes salt enough for its own use; the revenue in Bombay and Madras is trifling in amount compared with Bengal, being in the latter about 300,0007. and in the former not 20,000l. a year. Mr. St. George Tucker, lately Chairman of the E. I. Company, thus details the salt revenue for 1827, which he states to be a fair year for judging of the average revenue:— Population of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, computed at 30,000,000; quantity of salt consumed by this population, supplied from our sales, 4,500,000 maunds; gross sale, at about 390 rupees per 100 maunds, 1,75,00,000 S. rupees; deduct cost and charges, which constitute no part of the tax, 50,00,000 S. rupees; net revenue or monopoly profit, 1,25,00,000 rupees, at 28. per sicca rupee, 1,250,000l. sterling. Medium consumption of each individual, per annum, 6 seers =12lbs.; rate of contribution or poll-tax, yearly, 10d. The population is now upwards of 40,000,000, which would of course decrease the amount of the tax paid by each individual. Net Profit, and Average of the Net Profit, from 1803-4, in the Territories under the Bengal Government subject to the Salt Monopoly. 619 4 Maunds. S. Rs. S. Rs. S. Rs. 0 11 Average price per Maund. 415 357 375 417 401 376 369 Opium.--The revenue derived from opium, which is only second in importance to salt, is obtained in Bengal by Government receiving the prepared juice direct from the cultivators, and offering it for sale at public auction to the exporter (no opium is allowed to be grown in Bengal but by the cultivators, who are under engagements and advances with Government); and in Bombay a transit duty is charged on the shipment of the drug to China, the opium being grown and prepared in allied states, Malwa, for instance. Under the head of commerce, further particulars will be found; it is here sufficient to say that the incidence of this tax is difficult of ascertainment: at first view it appears to fall on the consumers in China, or other foreigners in the E. Archipelago; but on a second view of the question it is evident that if the British Government did not levy the tax, the The charges on the salt revenue amounted in Ben-Bengal producer of the opium would be at liberty to gal, in 1828 to S. R., 71,21,183, or 826,0571. viz. advances to manufacturers, S. R., 42,91,768; convention with the French government to prevent any interference with the E. I. Company's revenue. 4,00,000; ditto with the Danish government, 15,000; salaries, commission to agents on manufacture, rent, establishments and contingencies, 22,61,527; buildings, &c., 1,52,888. At Madras the charge on the salt revenue for the same year was 85,4951. or S. R. 7,52,321; of which the manufacturers' share was S. R. 2,50,542; the advances, 1,00,843; the compensations, 25,842; and Moyen Zabitah and other charges, 3,74,794. The year 1836-37, in the following table, shews the proceeds derived from the salt sales in Bengal under the new system of selling at any time, and not periodically by auction. realize if possible the present price, and pocket himself the difference which now goes into the Indian treasury. The charge in Bengal on the opium revenue for 1827-28, the latest year laid before Parliament, was 658,2547., or S. R. 56,74,605; of which the manufacturers receive in advance, S. R. 38,79,974; and the salaries, agency establishments and contingencies were 7,26,024; and there was also a compensation to purchasers of inferior Bahar opium in 1824-25 of S. R. 10,68,608. It may here be observed that a chest or bale of the E. I. Company's opium is instantly purchased by a Chinese customer without any other examination than that of the Company's mark. The total number of chests of India opium imported into China (vide Commerce section) was in 1833, 23,692 chests, the value of which was Sp. dol. 15,352,429. An official document laid before the Revenue Sub-committee of Parliament in June, 1822, | the return, it will be perceived, differs in the latter gives the following detail to 1827; the subsequent years, when the Malwa cultivation or purchase was years I have filled up at the India House, the form of abandoned for a transit duty. These average prices, of which the maximum was rupees 2s. 2d., were reported to the Bengal Government, in the year 1822, as having been given to the cultivators of opium at the respective periods. In 1823 the Government fixed the maximum of recompense to the cultivator at 3 rupees per seer. Net receipts. + Gross receipts. § This is the averaging price per chest. [For further details relative to the Opium Trade see section on Commerce.] Customs, whether derived by transit or other duties on land, or from goods exported or imported by sea, form the next item, and are yearly increasing. The collection of inland or turnpike-like duties is in course of final abolition (in Bombay totally abrogated); and the duties levied on sea goods are light in amount, and unaccompanied by vexatious restrictions. Stamps are an increasing source of revenue since their establishment in Bengal in 1797, and in Calcutta city in 1828. The instruments liable to the duty in Bengal are, contracts, deeds, conveyances, leases, powers of attorney, policies of insurance, promissory notes, receipts, bail bonds, and legal proceeding generally (bills of exchange under 25 rupees, and receipts under 50 rupees, are alone exempt). In Madras stamped paper was first introduced in 1808, chiefly on legal proceedings; and in 1816 the duties were | Civil and Miltary Administration and Charges of Briextended to bonds, deeds, leases, mortgages, bills of tish India, exclusive of Home Establishments, or of Penang, Malacca, Singapore, &c. :— exchange, and receipts. In Bombay the tax was first introduced in 1815. Delhi and some other territories are not yet subjected to this duty, from the operation of which the small dealer and poor farmer is exempt, while the large capitalist or inveterate litigist is made to pay a portion of the Government expenses, the most productive stamps in India being those on moneydealing and miscellaneous law-papers. The charge on stamps for 1827-8, was in Bengal, 71,4311., or S. R. 6,15,782, viz. fees to native commissioners in Mofussil courts, S. R. 2,27,370; purchase of paper, 48,704; commission, salary, establishment, and contingency, 3,39,708. For Madras the total charge was 9,4371. The sayer and abkaree taxes include a variety of items, in some places being irregular collections by provincial officers; in others licenses on professions or on manufactures, such as the distillation of spirits, which latter is collected by a still-head duty, manufactured after the English fashion, at the rate of six anas, or six sixteenths of a rupee per gallon, London proof. There is a tobacco monopoly in some places, and extra cesses in others; but these and other unstatesman-like sources of revenue are all in course of abolition. The Mint revenue is collected by a seignorage for coining of two per cent. on the produce, after allowing for the difference of standard and deducting the charges of refining when such are chargeable; that is, when the silver is below the dollar standard, which is five or six times worse than the present rupee. Copper coinage also yields to the Government a large profit, the copper money being issued at the rate of 64 (weighing 6,400 grains) for the rupee, which is about 100 per cent. above the value of the copper. charges on the Mint revenue of Bengal was, in 1827, 43,8381., or S. R. 3,77,867, viz. salaries, establishments and contingencies, 2,01,080; loss of weight in melting the precious metals, 1,76,787; for Madras, 20,406., and Bombay, 3,6371. The The Post-office tax is light in amount, and increasing as fast as can be expected from a post conveyed by runners on foot. The charges under this head of revenue were for Bengal, salaries and establishments, S. R. 1,25,594; Dawk establishment, 6,42,293; total, S. R. 7,67,887, or 89,075. Madras, salaries and establishments, &c. S. R. 64,973; Tappal establishment, 1,91,744.; total, S. R. 2,56,717, or 29,3391. Bombay, 18,1481. The charges for transmission of letters through the Government post-offices of British India are In Bengal, a letter is forwarded 1,000 miles for 12 anas, or 1s. 6d. ; in Bombay, ditto 1,000 ditto for 15 ditto, or 1s. 104d.; in Madras, ditto 1,000 ditto for 17 ditto, or 2s. 14d. The Marine revenue arises from port and anchorage dues, &c., in order to keep up the useful establishments at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, in particular at the former port. The foregoing items are the principal, if not the sole, sources of the Government revenue of 18 to 20,000,000l. a-year. The expenditure may, in the aggregate, be thus stated, under distinct heads. 38225 .. 20 E. .. £. £. 7136 E. .. 215 7728 32506618 N. 12000 37 1055 36628 186693 1921 153265 131532 155185 249161 8567691 9326811 350213 18273715 18839422 2007614 27938 47715 1660422 1714095 199324 3573841 2232605 12000 N. B. The changes occasioned by the new charter, and the yet unascertained establishment of the new Presidency at Agra, leaves this table incomplete. By the new charter, the salary of the Governor general is, Sicca Rupees 240,000, and that of each of the four Ordinary Members of Council, S. R. 96,000; that of the Governor of each Presidency, S. R. 120,000, and that of each Member of their Council, S. R. 60,000. The salary of the Bishop of Calcutta is, S. R. 50,000, and of each Bishop of Madras and Bombay, S. R. 24,000. Nos. and Expense of the Anglo-Indian Army at each Presidency, independent of Prince of Wales' Island, St. Helena, &c., from 1813, was Note. From 1828-9, the conversion of the Indian money into sterling in the above account, has been made according to the bullion value of the rupee, which causes an apparent diminution in the military charges, as compared with the charges in the years preceding 1828-9, of 16 per cent. The Expenditure since 1833 has not undergone any material change. The Annual Charge of the Army in 1830. Corps. Hon. Company's Engineers (European Horse Artillery. Native Horse Cavalry. Infantry. Staff... 24022 35883 83874 Ditto Foot.... Medical Dapartment Pioneer Corps 245204 12980 12528 270712 Commissariat Department.. 382499 207346 933769 724816 520302 2178887 and allowances of ditto, 115,2331.; allowances to field officers, &c. 4,8367.; agency, 1,409.; clothing, 12,860.; total for 365 days, 134,3381. Infantry, officers, No. 1,020; non-commissioned ditto and drummers, No. 1,200; rank and file, No. 14,780 ; of all ranks, 17,000; pay & allowance, 495,2837.; allowances to field officers, &c. 7,9281.; agency, 5,0217.; clothing, 46,499.; total, for 365 days, 554,7301. Aggregate annual charges for cavalry and infantry (including 2,8351. for depôts at Maidstone and Chatham), 691,9041. Of staff officers belonging to the British army, there are in India 24 colonels (charge 16,000l.); 48 lieutenant-colonels (16,2487.); and 48 majors (14,970.) In addition to the statements given under the section on Religion, the following data will demonstrate the extent of Ecclesiastical charges for the maintenance of Christian Establishments. Return to an order of the honourable the House of Commons, dated 5th July 1836; - a return of the number of persons on the Ecclesiastical Establishment of the Church of England, and of the Presbyterian Church, and other religious denominations, in the Territories of the East India Company; stating the rank of each, where stationed, the expenses of fixed salary and allowances of each, and the total exIn the army estimates for 1835-36, the charge for, penses of each Presidency and Dependency for such and numbers of four regiments of dragoons and 20 establishments, in rupees and in sterling money, for battalions of infantry is thus specified:- Cavalry, the last year the account can be made up, so as to horses, number 2,804; officers, number 188; non-exhibit the whole amount paid from the revenues of commissioned ditto and trumpeters, number 268; India for the support of religion of every denominarank and file, 2,700; total of all ranks, 3,156; pay tion. A return of the Ecclesiastical Establishment of the Church of England, and of the Presbyterian Church, also of allowances to Roman Catholic Priests, in the Territories of the East India Company, in the year 1834 (the latest accounts received); showing the station of each Minister, and the amount of his salary and allowances; together with the total expense of each Presidency, and the aggregate amount of the whole. Salary and Allowances of the Lord Bishop and Clergy, and Allowances and Contingencies of the Subordinate Establishments of Bengal. Rupees. | Rupees. 17,241 Domestic Chaplain to the Bishop 8,621 10,800 The Venerable the Archdeacon Senior Presidency Chaplain 14,993 Junior ditto Junior ditto 12,931 12,310 Chaplain at Black Town Chaplain at Nusseerabad 10,345 355 Vepery Agra the Garrison " Bareilly. St. Thomas's Mount 8,643 1,650 7,875 1,470 Kurnaul 8,559 543 Barrackpore Trichinopoly 10,345 10,345 } 2,100 Ootacamund 10,345 Bellary 7,875 588 10,345 Vizagapatam 8,127 459 ་་ Futtehgur Cannanore. 7,875 861 10,345 80 1st "Bangalore 8,559 Neemuch 10,345 138 2d " 66 7,875 639 . Secunderabad 10,061 1,808 Officiating Minister at Black Town 1,050 420 Senior Chaplain at the old Establishment at Sadras and 462 Chaplain at St. James's Ch. ditto Dinagepore and Gazeepore 8,621 815 Expense of the Church Establish Benares. ment at Madras 8,621 689 Church " Cuttack 8,621 270 8,621 Officiating Minister at Howrah 1,200 " Lucknow Chunar. 150 Expense of the Scotch Church at 762 Madras Rupeess, 20,685 Allowance to a Roman Catholic Priest at the Gar494 rison, 420 rs.; ditto at St. Thomas's Mount, 1,050; ditto at Poonamallee, 360; ditto at Cuddalore, 420; ditto at Trichinopoly, 360; ditto at Masulipatam, 600; ditto at Bellary, 360; ditto at Vizagapatam, 240; ditto at Cannanore, 756; ditto at Bangalore, 756; ditto at Secunderabad, 600; total ditto at Madras, 5,922 rs.; total Madras rupees, 2,33,169; or sicca rupees, 2,18,938; at 28. each, 21,8941. 4,00,409 48,084 Travelling allowances to Archdeacon and Chaplains, and other expenses, 8,623 Sa. Rs.; Expense of the Church Establishment in Bengal, 4,57,116; Senior Minister of the Scotch Church, 12,931; Junior ditto ditto, 9,483; Expense of the Scotch Church in Bengal, 22,414 Sa. Rs. Allowance to a Roman Catholic Priest at the Presidency and Dum Dum, 2,400 Sa. Rs.; ditto ditto Cawnpore, 600; ditto ditto Dinapore, 600; ditto ditto Berhampore, 600; ditto ditto Meerut, 600; allowances to Roman Catholic Priests in Bengal, 4,800; Total expense, 4,84,330 Sa. Rs. At 28. the Sicca Rupee, 48,4331. |