'ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1909-1910' [‎143v] (16/148)

BOMBAY ADMINISTRATION REBORT.
[1909-19io.
Central Divisions, which account for the increase of 3J Kkhs in the value of ft
decrees thus dealt with. Creditors in iUimedabad accepted 53 per cent of L
nominal amount in full payment, while in 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. rernis * 9
came to more than one anna in the rupee of the debts. In Sind remissio §
were very small. The price obtained for land sold was, on the avera^T
decidedly higher than in the preceding year. Several Collectors ma ^ e ’
unfavourable remarks on the working of the conciliation system, but there i§
a very general agreement that the Deccan Agriculturists’ Relief Act has proved
advantageous to the cultivator.
Registration ig. The operations of the Registration Department have undergone a
of 1908.° considerable expansion during the year with the result that the number of
documents registered exceeds that of last year by 10 per cent, and is the highest
yet reached. The cause of this high increase is to be found in the resumption
of the Hindu marriage season with the large borr owing that necessarily follows
thereon, as well as in the favourable circumstances of a good season. Amongst
local conditions which have caused fluctuations in the number of registrations
are the operations of the Bombay Improvement Trust which have caused a
decrease in mortgages and sales and an increase in leases in the City ; the activity
of the Co-operative Credit System and increased recourse to tagavi in Dharwar
which have been followed by a fall in the number of registrations in that
district, while in Sind a similar increase is attributed to the ex tension thereto of
sections 54 and 59 of the Transfer of Property Act. That the receipts from
Registration fees have not increased in proportion to the extension of business
is due to the reduction in copying fees which fell from 2-J- annas to 2 annas per
folio. The raising of the pay of all the karkuns has resulted in increased
expenditure, hut the profit of the Department still remains over 3 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees .
Registration ^9. In all the four Deccan districts in which the system of village regis*
under Act XVII -iii j.-t 00
of 1879. tration prevails, there has been a marked decrease amounting m the aggregate
to almost 11 per cent, under the figures of last year. To this reduction in
village registration two causes may be assigned, viz., the abolition of 13 Village
Registration Offices in the stead of which 6 new Sub-Registry Offices were
substituted, and the amendment of the Transfer of Property Act whereby
deeds of sales and mortgages of value less than Rs. 100 are treated
as compulsorily registrable in Sub-Registry Offices. Transactions between
agriculturists and professed money-lenders have suffered a reduction in favour
of transactions between agriculturists and their own class. There has been a
fall in receipts in sympathy with the fall in transactions. Expenditure has
fallen with the reduction of establishment, hut the decrease would have been
greater still but for the general increase of 50 per cent, in the pay of Taluka
Village Registrar’s karkuns.
Joint Stock
Companies.
20. A decrease is again found in the number of new Joint Stock Com
panies registered, but the number of companies going into liquidation was less.
In all, the net increase in the number of companies registered was 28, leaving
at the close of the year 544 companies working with a paid-up capital of
22-f erores compared with 516 companies with a paid-up capital of 21 crores m
the preceding year.
Local Boards. 21. The favourable character of the season was reflected in the increase of
nearly 4 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees in the aggregate income of the Boards in all divisions. This
increase was most noticeable in Sind and the Southern Division. Realizations
of the local fund cess were larger, and in several districts the general prosper! y
^ . * 4- ■cTf
enabled the arrears of past years to be reduced considerably. The receipts