Letter and memorandum by George Henry Maxwell Batten, Commissioner of Inland Customs,concerning the abolition of the customs line between Rajputana [Rājasthān] and the Central Indian States. [3v] (6/16)
The record is made up of 1 file (8 folios). It was created in 30 Sep 1873-09 Jan 1874. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
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( 2 )
The sugar duties on exports across this
portion of the Line amounted to £142,000.
These, it may be said, fell on the con
sumers in the Native States outside the
Customs Line.
Thus the whole revenue was nearly
£1,044,000, from which rather more than
10 per cent, must be deducted for cost of
collection.
It is evident that unless we are prepared
to give up this large amount of revenue,
we must either maintain the Customs Line,
or resort to some other plan for securing
the duty on the salt. I can imagine no
other plan but one, namely, that of excis
ing the salt at the places of its produc
tion. But all the places above mentioned
are situated in the three Native States of
Bhartpur, Jaipur and Jodhpur, and there
are many other places in Rajputana where
salt is produced which would be imme
diately imported into British Territory
if the Customs Line were removed, unless
the production was prohibited or the salt
was excised at the same rate as at the
places above mentioned.
To carry out this measure would there
fore require the consent of all the Native
States in which salt can be produced, and
would involve the taxation of all the sub
jects of the Native States in Rajputana
and Central India consuming such salt.
It has hitherto been assumed,—and, per
haps, correctly, though I am not aware that
the matter has ever been carefully con
sidered or reported on—that such measures
as these have been from political and
other causes practically impossible. The
position of the British Government has re-
centlv been much altered by our getting
•/
hold of the Sambhar Lake, and will be
still more improved when the Lake is
connected by Railway with Agra and
Dehli. When the Railways are com
pleted, it is quite possible that only Sam-
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Letter from George Henry Maxwell Batten, Commissioner of Inland Customs, regarding Lewis Pelly's desire to abolish the customs line between Rajputana [Rājasthān] and the British Territory.
The letter encloses a confidential memo which Batten wrote at Lord Northbrook's request on the feasibility of such a proposal and goes on to detail the only way in which the customs line could be abolished. Batten's proposal is to levy excise duties on salt at their place of production however this subsequently raises the practical difficulties of how to ensure salt is only manufactured for trade at those places the excise duty is being levied.
The enclosed memo, dated 30 September 1873 is titled "Note on the feasibility of abolishing that part of the Inland Customs Line which is on the frontier of Rajputana (including Bhawalpur) and the Native States of Central India".
It outlines details of the customs line including costs, manpower requirements, its purpose and the amount of taxation produced by it and the difficulties that would be encountered in abolishing it. Batten goes on to outline the only way he can see to abolish the line by levying excise duties on salt production and gives considerable detail on the way in which he believes such a proposal could be implemented.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (8 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The file has been foliated in the front top right corner of each folio with a pencil number enclosed in a circle.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Letter and memorandum by George Henry Maxwell Batten, Commissioner of Inland Customs,concerning the abolition of the customs line between Rajputana [Rājasthān] and the Central Indian States. [3v] (6/16), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/74, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023252834.0x000007> [accessed 17 April 2024]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F126/74
- Title
- Letter and memorandum by George Henry Maxwell Batten, Commissioner of Inland Customs,concerning the abolition of the customs line between Rajputana [Rājasthān] and the Central Indian States.
- Pages
- 1r:8v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence