Report of the British Economic Mission to Australia

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 179824683X

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-182286

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report of the British Economic Mission to Australia

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Majesty's Stationery Office

Year of publication:: 7th January 1929

Scope:: 63 S.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Part III. Summary of conclusions and recommendations

Collection:: Economics Books

ANTECEDENTS 9 on lines of which there is no precise record, but probably by agreement or by dictation, as circumstances might permit, while each Chief decided for himself in what way he should collect the State’s share from his peasants; his tenure depended on his loyalty, which meant primarily the punctual payment of tribute; and here we meet the idea, which is, perhaps, not yet wholly obsolete in India, that default and disloyalty are the same thing. The consequence of default was ordinarily a punitive expedition; and, if it was successful, the Chief might either be dis- possessed, or else reinstated on new terms. Representatives.—During large portions of the Moslem period the amount to be paid by a village for the King’s share was commonly settled, season by season, or year by year, between the official assessor and the headmen acting on behalf of the peasants. The area sown, or expected to be sown, was taken into account, along with other cir- cumstances, but the assessment was a lump sum, which the headmen subsequently distributed among the peasants. This method, which I shall describe as Group-assessment, might approximate closely to the system of assessment through Chiefs, in cases where a Chief's authority” was limited to a single village, and the approximation might be still closer if a Group-assessment was made for a whole pargana with the Chaudhri or pargana headman; but there was usually a distinction in point of duration. The Group- assessment was made for a season or a year only, while the Chief's payment was fixed, not in the sense that it was unalterable, but until the authorities decided to alter it. Assignees.—The general idea indicated by this word Is that, instead of paying cash, the State provided for future pecuniary claims by assigning to the claimant the King's share of the produce of a specified area, the assignment carrying with it the grant of executive authority sufficient, at any rate, to enable the assignee to assess and collect the amount due. This institution is the most prominent feature of the Moslem agrarian system. The area might be an entire province, or a single village: the claim to be satisfied might represent the cost of maintaining troops, or salaries for civil or military service; and in normal times the bulk of

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