THE IMPERIAL SYSTEM 77
the internal customs; and this was done when, be it remembered, England was prohibiting by high tariff the entry of India-made goods and India-built ships ! But while the import tariff made it easy for the foreigners to compete successfully with Indian manufactures burdened as they heavily were by the weight of the internal customs, Indian goods found it considerably difficult to compete in foreign markets under the incubus of export duties which formed one of the most lamentable features of the Indian tariff and which endured long into the nineteenth century. [1] Thus the customs laws internal and external blockaded trade and smothered industry. The comparatively paltry revenues derived from them is the best proof of their ruinous effects. [2]
When these resources failed the Government resorted to some very questionable means of raising revenue.
On an impartial survey of the revenue system as prevailed under the Imperial regime one is constrained to say that justice in taxation was conspicuous by its absence. It was a cruel satire, or at best an idle maxim, for the lancet was directed not where the blood was thickest but to that part of the body politic which on account of its weakness and poverty most meekly bore the pang. The landlords who passed their lives in conspicuous consumption and vicarious leisure on the earnings of the poor tenants, or the
1 It is difficult to cite references to every statement made above. The tariff history of India is yet unwritten, but ample evidence bearing on the point will be found in the Parliamentary Committee on Trade in 1821 and the Evidence submitted to the Committees appointed by Parliament to investigate into the affairs of the East India Company in 1813 and 1853. Particular attention is invited to the Report and Evidence of the Committee on East India Produce, 1846.
| 2 The followi revenue :— | ing table giv | ves the ratio o | of the Cus | stoms Revenue t | to the total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Ratio | Year | Ratio | Year | Ratio |
| 1792-3 to 1796-7 1797-8 to 1801-2 1802-3 to 1806-7J 1807-8 to 1811-12 1812-13 to 1816-17 | 2.38 3.10 4.16 5.04 6.68 | 1817-8 to 1821-2 1822-3 to 1826-7 1827-8 to 1831-2 1832-3 to 1836-7 1837-8 to 1841-2 | 8.32 7.58 8.12 7.19 6.76 | 1842-3 to 1846-7 1847-8 to 1851-2 1852-3 to 1855-6 Average for 64 years | 6.02 5.40 5.52 6.22 |
Hendricks, op. cit., p. 286.