'The views and opinions of Brigadier General John Jacob, CB. Aide-decamp to the Queen; Aide-de-camp to the Governor General of India, &c. &c. &c.; late commanding in chief the British forces in Persia; at present commanding the Sind Irregular Horse, and Political Superintendent of the North-West frontier of Sind.' [‎31] (62/481)

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which has been heedlessly allowed by the local oflicers to
continue since the annexation of Sind.
A monstrous idea seems gradually to have established
itself in the minds of the civil officers, to the effect that
whenever they fancied that more canal work ought to be
done than the sum of money allowed by Government
would pay for, they were at liberty to force the people of
the country to execute such work without remuneration.
But it is evident to me, that however such an idea may
have arisen, the assumption of a right to force men to
labour unpaid is, in this instance, as little supported by
authority as by reason.
The fact of such a barbarous practice having existed
under a rude native government can never suffice to justify
its continuance under British rule; while its ill effects,
which now prove to be absolutely ruinous, must have been
comparatively little felt under the native princes, for the
simple reason that under the native rule the whole revenue
of the country, however drawn from the people, justly or
unjustly, by fair means or by foul, was again expended
among them, and thus capital was to some extent circulat
ed, and though much injustice were done to individuals,
nothing was lost to the whole community.
Under the practice which and myself have been
labouring to put a stop to, the estimates were never
trustworthy; the measurements were untrue; and the
rates of account were not those by which the work was
really executed: the whole arrangement was as faulty
and unsound as its results were evil.
In introducing a more healthy system, with work truly
and fairly performed, accounted for, and paid for, it will
doubtless be necessary at first to raise the estimates
ant) the amount sanctioned for canal-clearances; but it is