A CRITIQUE OF THE CHANGE 289
footing. The Provinces proposed an increase in their resources by revising the financial arrangements made by the Reforms Act. On the other hand, the Secretary of State as a mouthpiece of the Government of India urged that
“Equilibrium can only be achieved by reduction of expenditure and the adoption of measures which will lead to an increase of revenue.” [1]
The Provinces were not, however, unanimous in the suggestions they made for the revison of the arrangements effected by the Act. Some like the Government of Bombay suggested a return to the system of “divided heads” while others were opposed to it. But the majority was for securing relief through the abolition of contributions. This attitude of the Provinces towards the new financial arrangements is on the face of it a very unreasonable attitude. They are opposed both to the system of divided heads and the system of contributions as well. This is to have things both ways, and they could certainly have had it if the existing resources of the country had been properly husbanded. Inadequacy of finance is not always the result of a paucity of revenue resources. National prosperity may be great and growing and the increase of national wealth may be proceeding unchecked. If under such circumstances enough revenue is not obtained the fault does not lie with the social income. Rather it is a fault of the government which must be said to have failed to organize and marshal the national resources for fiscal purposes. The same is to some extent true of the Indian Government.
Surveying the national resources of the country, it becomes evident that there are two sources which the Government has not been able to marshal properly. One is the land revenue. It is notorious that land revenue has been the biggest resource to the Government of India. In the collection of the land revenue every landholder is laid under contribution, but the rate of assessment is not periodically enhanced for every one of them. On the other hand, in Bengal and in other parts of India the rate of assessment is permanently settled. Consequently in such parts of india which by the long period of settled government enjoyed by them, and by the consequent influx of capital, have
1 The despatch of the Secretary of State, supra, p. 257.