'REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1907-1908' [‎14v] (27/137)

XVI
BOMBAY ADMINISTRATION REPORT.
[1907-1908.
jowari woro from 6 to 33 por cent., of wheat from 12 to 30 per ceut. and of
rice from 5 to 20 per cent, higher than last year. The advance in prices was
partly attributable to the unfavourable monsoon. But except in a few districts,
e. g., the Panch Mahals and Ahmednagar, this Tfas clearly not the sole or even
the principal cause. The faot that there has been a progressive increase during
the last few years—for though prices fell somewhat last year they were still in
most cases higher than normal—and the fact that the Konkan, which never
suffers from famine, is affected in the same way as the rest of the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. ,
show clearly that other economic causes are at work. One is no doubt the
decline in production owing to the displacement of food-grains by other crops*
Another, still more important, is the steady expansion of exports, to which a
special stimulus was given this year by the demand from the famine-stricken
provinces of Northern India. Even the Deccan, in spite of a poor harvest and
low stocks, sent heavy consignments of grain to Delhi. So also in Sind, the high
prices were due more to the enhanced export trade than to the low inundation.
It is significant of the forces at work that even in Jacobabad the grain-
dealers receive daily quotations by wire from Karachi and prices are no longer
regulated by local supply and demand. In three districts in the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. ,
Sholapur, Bijapur and Dharwar, the high rates of wages prevailing last year
were not maintained. But elsewhere there was no sign of the reduction which
the pressure of an unsatisfactory season might have been expected to produce.
On the contrary, in parts of Gujarat and the Konkan, in Khdndesh and in most
of Sind, the. standard of wages rose still further, doubtless owing to the
relations of supply and demand. The commercial and industrial expansion of
the cities, especially Bombay and Karachi; the increasing number of cotton
mills and presses in Gujarat and elsewhere; the steady growth of the mining
industry and the rffore extended operations of the Public Works and other
Government Departments, offered a field of employment both for skilled
and unskilled labour which grows wider every year. With an increasing
number finding employment in other channels, the supply of agricultural
labourers, in a population depleted by scarcity and sickness, hardly met the
demand and those who were willing to work w r ere able to command relatively
high wages.
35. There was a total increase of about 44 square miles in the area of
Deserved Porests. In Sind, while over ^5 square miles were lost by erosion,
over 19 square miles were gained by alluvial accretion. In the Bijapur
Division 123 square miles of Pasture Deserve were transferred from the Devenue
to the Porest Department. Pore.4 offences show a general decline after the
increase last year; in the Central Circle the number of prosecutions was less
by over 50 per cent. Except in Sind, where the damaged area increased nearly
tenfold, there was a gratifying improvement in the protection of forests from
fire. Natural reproduction was unsatisfactory in Sind, owing to the poor
inundation. The experiments with rubber in North Thana were also a failure.
The financial position is again eminently satisfactory, though receipts fell off
slightly in the Central and Southern Circles. In the Northern Circle the
surplus has increased by over 5 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees in the last two years.
Manufactures
and Industries.
So. In the industrial sphere the year was characterised by prosperity and
steady progress, but by no remarkable new developments. The cotton industry,
still of paramount importance, continued to make great strides, though a poor
crop and low prices somewhat reduced the profits. Mills and factories multiply
rapidly, notably m Ahmedabad, where as many as 9 were started during the
vear. Experiments are in progress in various band-weaving centres for testing