India, has had the effect of throwing them completely into the hands of usurers and money-lenders.3

The rigorous exaction of the Government dues in literal accordance with the requirements of the law, has often driven landowners to obtain loans on the most extortionate terms, which have led eventually to the sale of their properties. Since the abolition of the law against usury, there is no check on the rapacity of moneylenders. Again, the manner in which landed properties are set up to auction in the Moffussil in execution of decrees, without reserved bids, has the effect of knocking down estates of immense value for a mere trifle. The Deccan Ryots' Relief Act, and the measure lately introduced in the Supreme Council for the protection of the proprietors of the Jhansi district, serve to show that the Government is beginning to recognise the emergent character of the difficulties under which the landed interest in India is labouring. The relief, however, in order to be effectual, must not be partial in its nature. Some plan ought to be devised by which the benefits intended for the Jhansi proprietors may be extended to other parts of India. The system of reserved bids might also be introduced in the Moffussil to protect landowners in the sale of their properties in execution of judgment-debts and decrees. The National Mohammedan Association, at Calcutta, submitted a memorial to the Government of India on this subject, but no attention seems to have been paid to its recommendation.

The extreme rigidity of the land revenue system of India deserves the most serious consideration of every Government conscientiously bent upon removing all causes of discontent among a people who have never shown any lack of forbearance or patient endurance. The rigour with which the land tax is exacted all over India, regardless of all questions of droughts or floods (khuski or gharki), bad or good harvests, has conduced to no small extent to the present impoverishment of the country. In those parts where the Permanent Settlement is in force, the rule of law is that in case of a default committed by a Zemindar in the payment of the Jamma or tax by the sunset of a day fixed, his estate is liable to be sold by public auction. The strict enforcement of this peculiarly harsh rule has acquired for it the popular designation of the Sunset Law.' Any one who has ever had to deal with its practical working must be aware of the numberless cases of ruin and beggary which have been occasioned thereby, and the infinite amount of trouble it causes to many. In relaxing its rigour the Government will not only save itself from much odium, but strengthen its hold on the affections of the people. For can it be wondered at that 3 The writer of these lines knows of a case, from his own forensic experience, in which a debt of Rs. 4,000 (4007.) had swelled in ten years to Rs. 30,000 (3,000l.)

Of the hardships to which people are exposed in Behar and many parts of - Bengal, the writer ventures to speak from some personal knowledge. With reference to the other parts, he is, of course, obliged to speak from 'secondary evidence.'

the scions of those houses which have suffered most should look upon the British rule as responsible for their present misery? When it is borne in mind that absenteeism is the general rule in India, that estates are left in the management of the Dewans and Mutsuddis, who alone are charged with the duty of paying punctually the Government dues; and when it is considered how open these men are to all sorts of underhand influences, either to achieve the ruin of their masters, or their own aggrandisement, it may be thought expedient, if not just, to relax to some extent the hard and fast rule which now prevails. Fraud and collusion often lead to the sale of vast estates before the proprietors themselves have the smallest inkling of the fact. The only resource then left to the victims is to move the District Courts to set aside the sales, but as substantial irregularities have to be proved, the chances of a reversal are few indeed. A simple direction from the Board of Revenue to the revenue collectors against the strict enforcement of this law, even if it should be considered advisable to retain it on the Statute Book, may in some degree benefit the people. The collectors should, in cases of default, be required to give notice to the proprietors; and grace of a fortnight or a month should be allowed. A few simple rules to this effect would amply answer the requirements of the case.

A change in the land-laws of the country seems to be engaging the attention of the Indian Government at the present moment. It is to be hoped that the Permanent Settlement will be made applicable to all India. The system of periodical settlement, whatever its advantage from a fiscal point of view, keeps the mind of the people in a state of perpetual ferment. The proprietors never feel secure in the enjoyment of their estates, and their tenants continue in as great a state of unrest as they. The Permanent Settlement, in spite of all that has been said against it, has proved on the whole beneficial to Bengal. In those parts where periodical settlements

The perverseness of English Moffussil judges frequently causes great hardships. People go to court in quest of justice. They are turned back with what untrained administrators call Law. In one case, which occurred only a short time ago in the District of Shahabad, a large family of Rajpoots were sold out of their hearth and home under peculiarly severe circumstances. They had mortgaged their homestead lands to a money-lender, who took out execution on a decree which he obtained against them and which declared that the mortgaged properties were primarily liable for the judgment-debt. At the time of execution, the judgment debtors had in deposit in the Subordinate Judge's Court a large sum of money, and they applied to the District Judge that the decretal amount might be paid out of that sum. They also begged for time to arrange matters with the creditor, who, on his side, was not unwilling to come to terms. But the District Judge was inexorable, his view of the law being that the debt was to be satisfied by the sale of the mortgaged properties in accordance with the terms of the decree. And so the properties were put up to sale, and knocked down for a quarter of their value.

• Should the value of land increase in any part independently of any agency employed by the landlords or tenants, Government can easily share in the accruing advantage by a well-devised system of local taxation.

have been introduced, the condition of the people compares unfavourably with that of Bengal. The extension of the Permanent Settlement over the whole of India would save the people from the continual molestation to which they are now exposed, and probably would prove the greatest boon which could be conferred on a nation. On the other hand, the time seems to have arrived when the Indian Government should make up its mind, in spite of the opposition evinced in certain quarters, to confer transferable rights on the Ryots, bonâ-fide kâshtkârs, holding occupancy tenures. Care should, however, be taken to prevent the peasantry from being bought out or swamped by speculative Vakeels or greedy Bunniahs. Prior to the Act X. of 1859, justly regarded as the Magna Charta of the Ryots, they were more or less at the mercy of the landlords. It is possibly true that the Act of 1859 to some extent affected the Zemindars injuriously; and it may be unreservedly admitted that the Ryots as a rule are not so 'child-like' as they are occasionally represented to be. Child-like Ryots are as difficult to find in India as elsewhere. Considering, however, the enormous advantages possessed by the landlords for the enforcement of their rights, it would hardly be fair to go back, as the desire seems to be, to the old state of things. The landowning interest is strongly represented in the Councils. The Zemindars have easy access to the governing classes; their views are everywhere listened to with consideration. The voice of the Ryot remains unheard and unheeded until he calls attention to his existence by some revolting deed of agrarian violence. It is simply absurd to talk of the mischiefs likely to ensue to the Ryot were he to obtain transferable rights. Human nature and self-interest would in the end assert themselves, and insure his safety from the evils predicted. Whilst affording every facility to the landowners to realise their rents, and insuring them, in every possible way, the enjoyment of their rights, Government should not overlook the interest of the Ryots. Subinfeudation, with the concomitant evil of rack-renting, should be strictly put a stop to. Absenteeism should be discouraged, and the Zemindars should be required to develope greater interest in agricultural pursuits and agricultural improvements. At the same time, a genuine desire should be promoted amongst the Ryots for improving their material condition; and this can be attained only by giving them such an interest in the soil as would be heritable as well as transferable. Some scheme should also, if possible, be devised for rendering assistance by Government loans, or the establishment of agricultural banks, to landowners and Ryots really anxious to improve their lands.

The Vernacular Press Act and the Arms Act-the need of both of which still remains unintelligible to common apprehension-it is to be hoped will soon be repealed. The arguments against the Vernacular Press Act are familiar to the British public. But the

Arms Act requires a brief mention. This measure applies exclusively to the native population. Europeans and Eurasians, are exempted from the operation of the Act. In fact it proceeds upon the general assumption of the disloyalty of the natives of India. A few men here and there are specially exempted from this category, but the spirit of the Act implies a national censure. Whatever may have been the necessity for a measure to prevent arms of precision reaching the frontier tribes, a law which assumes the disloyalty of the nation as a body can hardly fail to create surprise and discontent.

These suggestions are offered in the hope that, at a time when the affairs of India are engaging public attention in England more than at any other period in its history, they might prove of some interest to those statesmen to whom has been entrusted the duty of settling the lines upon which India shall, in future, be governed. The writer has tried in these pages to represent the views of the Indian nation without regard to the interest of any class or creed. He has purposely abstained from touching on those questions which are likely to give rise to controversies leading to no practical result, dealing only with matters on which there is a consensus of opinion among the people of India. Should these remarks prove to be of any use in evoking the sympathy of the British public in behalf of that country, the object of this paper will have been amply achieved.

AMEER ALI.

OUR NATIONAL ART COLLECTIONS AND PROVINCIAL ART MUSEUMS.

THERE are, I think, special reasons why public attention should at this time be turned towards the subject of our National Museums, both imperial or metropolitan and provincial.

No doubt dealing with this question suggests taking into account the expenditure of considerable sums of public money, and it is scarcely necessary to say, that in these early days of emergence from a prolonged period of financial depression and political uncertainty, this particular consideration must be a somewhat unwelcome one.

Every now and then, however, whether the time be convenient or not, periods occur when by the force of circumstances new departures must be taken. The country is committed to the maintenance and development of existing imperial collections, and also to the system of extending these benefits to the great centres of provincial life and culture, and there are unmistakable signs that this latter question will soon take a prominent position amongst the social topics of the day. It must not be forgotten that already the State has founded museums and galleries in Dublin and Edinburgh, and that it has also taken a significant step in the upholding and management of the Bethnal Green Museum; it is in consequence not to be wondered at that many other great provincial centres should also consider themselves entitled to direct pecuniary and other assistance, in the formation and support of art and science collections. In some cases already splendid structures have been erected, at the sole cost of the localities, and long ranges of vacant galleries are awaiting the acquisition of the costly and well-chosen 'specimens, which can alone render these institutions other than a mockery and a snare. Such rare and costly specimens, however, are just what local endeavour finds itself almost powerless to procure. The questions then of how far the State is already committed, and what the country at large expects it to do, in regard to the fostering of provincial museums, are ripe for discussion, and will inevitably force themselves into notice.

In the present inchoate condition of provincial expectation more