BUDGET BY SHARED REVENUES 159
The condition of Provincial Finance during this period may be
| summarized in | the following table :— | Col3 | Col4 | Col5 | Col6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provinces | Annual Surpluses and Deficits | ||||
| 1882-3 | 1883-4 | 1884-5 | 1885-6 | 1886-7 | |
| C.P. ... Burma ... Assam ... Bengal ... N.W.P. & Oudh ... Punjab ... Madras ... Bombay ... | £ 33,775 171,207 13,887 539,611 281,222 —110,966 108,421 —149,894 | £ 76,212 —90,030 —5,216 146,027 357,630 —15,765 10,820 —2,585 | £ 18,047 —89,725* —40,577 48,910 —69,276 —41,545 —87,284 6,006 | £ 22,080 † 25,299 26,777 —180,060 42,447 146,692 291,976 | £ 115,656 71,743‡ 28,576 52,911 —12,408 3,106 —78,689 —161,369 |
- No balance left at the close of the year.
† Equilibrium.
‡ Balance obtained by excess of current revenue over current expenditure of the year.
Compiled from the annual Finance and Revenue Accounts of the Government
of India.
The settlements entered into with the Provincial Governments in the year 1882-3 not only differed from the preceding settlements in the replacement of fixed assignments by shares in the Imperial revenues, but they also differed in another important respect, namely, their duration. Though the results of the scheme of provincial Finance have been presented in one Table covering the period 1871-7, it must not be supposed that the settlements with the various Provinces were made for the period of six years. On the other hand, the settlements were only annual and lasted up to 1877 by the process of constant renewals. The results have been presented together for a continuous period not because the setttlements were made for that period, but because the principle on which they were based endured for that period. After 1877 the settlements no doubt were made for a longer period. In two cases they were for five years and for the rest the period ranged between two and three years. The short duration system, like the fixed assignment system, was of immense advantage to the Imperial treasury. The object of these settlements, it will be recalled, was firstly to put a definite limit on the demands of the Provincial Governments on the already too scanty resources of the Imperial Government. Evidently this object would have been better served had the duration of the settlements been longer than it was. But a longer duration would have deprived the Imperial treasury of its right to profit by an early revision of the revenue side of the contract. It was this consideration of not remaining too long out of