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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. [‎8r] (15/16)

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. .

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(g)
( 11 )
conversation with Colonel Daly, I under
stood him to be inclined to favor it. In
a recent communication from Colonel
Watson, he spontaneously asked me
whether it would not "be possible for
the Government of India to monopolise
all the salt trade of the Peninsular, buying
up the interests of all Native States
therein on condition of their taking the
amount off their transit dues or other
' pernicious imposts ' as Sir Madhava Rao
calls them."
I hope, therefore, that this note may be
taken into consideration. The object aimed
at is, I think, admitted by all to be a
good one, and I see no other feasible
means of attaining it. There is no doubt
that if the different salt sources were
all in British Territory, we should put an
excise duty on the salt at the places of
production instead of letting it escape
free to be caught again hundreds of miles
off by an enormous Customs barrier. Does
the fact that many of these sources are
in the limits of our Native Feudatories
raise an insurmountable obstacle to our
levying the salt duty by a rational and
economical method instead of by the ex
pensive and semi-barbarous contrivance
of an army of preventive officers posted
along a line several hundreds of miles
in length passing through the heart of a
peaceable country the whole of which is
subject to one paramount power ?
G. H. M. BATTEN,
Commissionev, Inland Customs.
30-9-73.

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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.

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English in Latin script
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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. [‎8r] (15/16), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/74, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023252834.0x000010> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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