‘BOMBAY 1923-24. A REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRESIDENCY’ [507r] (217/274)
The record is made up of 1 item (136 folios). It was created in 1925. 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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THE BUDGET FOR 1923-24
H 743-10a
147
some 8 crores of income tax to the Government of India, or 40 per cent,
of the total income tax of all India and receives nothing this year out of all
this vast revenue. We are primarily an industrial province, whereas
other major provinces, such as Madras, United Provinces, and the Punjab
are mainly agricultural.
“Since this new system was first suggested for introduction in 1920,
we have never ceased to protest against the inequity of a system under
which we obtain no benefit from our industrial activities, while we have
to meet the far higher standard of expenditure imposed by industrial
needs. But in the speech which I made in this House on the 19th Febru
ary last year, I had to report the failure of our representations. It is with
the greatest satisfaction, therefore, that I am now able to inform this
House, that, within the last few months, the situation has changed. At a
meeting of Finance Members of all Provinces, which was convened by the
Government of India, at Delhi in the middle of November, it was unani
mously agreed that it was necessary to set on foot a scientific examination
of the sources of public revenue throughout India, and every one will
recognise that this examination of the sources of public revenue must lead
to a revision of the foundations on which the Meston Settlement has
been based.
“ Our case is so clearly founded on justice that I have no fears but that
a scientific examination such as is contemplated, must lead to a redress of
our principal grievance. But it will take time, and it may be impossible
to remedy the mischief already done by the hasty adoption of a doctrinaire
system of a federal finance, which was evolved in 1920, without a parallel
or precedent in any country in the world.”
There was a serious set-back in the year under review under the most
important head of land revenue receipts. The budget estimate for the
year stood at 575
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
land revenue, in addition to 47
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
under irriga
tion, a total of 622
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
. The final accounts of the year showed that the
actual revenue was 509
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
land revenue plus 69
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
for irrigation, or a
total decrease of 44
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
. The revenue under this head is always subject
to heavy fluctuations between a margin of 4} crores and 64 crores owing to
the policy of grant of suspensions and remissions on a liberal scale.
The depression in trade continued during the year under review, as a
result of which the stamp revenue again failed to come up to expectations.
It was hoped to recover 190
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
out of this source of revenue, but the
actual receipts amounted to 180
lakhs
One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
. In 1922 the Government of India
did not allow this Government to increase stamp duty on certain docu
ments, e.g.. Acknowledgment, Cheque, Receipts, Letters of Credit,
Promissoiy Notes, Letters of Allotment of shares, as they considered that
uniformity of taxation throughout India was desirable in respect of those
documents. During the year under review, the Government of India
About this item
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Annual administration report of the Bombay 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. , providing a summary record of the main events and developments in each department of the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. during the financial year 1923-24. The report was printed at the Government Central Press, Bombay [Mumbai], in 1925.
The report is divided into two parts. Part I (ff 405-416) comprises a report ‘GENERAL SUMMARY’, consisting of: [Political]; Finance; Trade and Commerce; Agriculture; Department of Agriculture; Education; Law and Justice; Police and Crime; Bombay City Police; Public Health; Salt; Excise; Forests; the Co-operative Movement; Public Works; Development Department.
PART II (ff 417-527) comprises the following headings, which are further divided into sub-headings:
- CHAPTER I ‘INDIAN STATES.’ (ff 417-424), consisting of: I. North Gujarat; II. South Gujarat; III. North Konkan; IV. South Konkan; V. The Deccan; VI. Kolhapur and Southern Maratha Country States; VII. Sind [Sindh]; VIII. Aden; Condition of the people
- CHAPTER II ‘ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAND.’ (ff 424-429), consisting of: Land Records; Revenue Surveys; the Record of Rights; Remissions of Revenue; System of Land Tenure; Gujarat Talukdars’ Act; Sind Incumbered Estates Act; the Court of Wards Act; Department of Land Records; Routine Measurement Work; Revenue Surveys; City Surveys; Revision Settlements
- CHAPTER III ‘LAW AND JUSTICE.’ (ff 430-436), consisting of: the Budget; Resolutions and Questions; Course of Legislation; Administration of Justice; Civil Justice; Criminal Justice; Registration; Conditions of Trade; Joint Stock Companies
- CHAPTER IV ‘POLICE AND CRIME’ (ff 437-447), consisting of: Mofussil and Sind Police; Bombay City Police; Village Police; Aden Police; Government Male and Female Workhouses; Bombay Jails; Criminal Tribes
- CHAPTER V ‘AGRICULTURE, WEATHER AND CROPS’ (ff 448-466), consisting of: Nature of the Crops; Outturn of the Crops; Condition of the Agricultural Population; Agricultural Research and its Application; Checking of Pests and Blights; Note on the Weather; Prices; Labour and Wages; Famine; Forests; Co-operative Movement; Horticulture
- CHAPTER VI ‘TRADE AND COMMERCE’ (ff 466-483), consisting of: [Industries]; Department of Industries; the Factories Act; Sea-borne Trade; Foreign Trade; Foreign Merchandise; Indian Produce and Manufactures; Trade According to Countries; Shipping; Coasting Trade; Subordinate Ports 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. ; the Trade of Sind; Shipping Offices; Labour Office
- CHAPTER VII ‘PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT’ (ff 484-492), consisting of: Irrigation; Sind; Deccan and Gujarat; Railways
- CHAPTER VIII ‘VITAL STATISTICS AND MEDICAL RELIEF’ (ff 493-499), consisting of: [Births and Deaths]; Epidemic Diseases; Hospitals and Dispensaries; Sanitation; Vaccination; Bombay Bacteriological Laboratory; Veterinary; Chemical Analysers; Wild Animals and Venomous Snakes; Mental [psychiatric] Hospitals; Acworth Leper Asylum [hospital for people affected by leprosy or Hansen’s Disease], Matunga; Emigration and Immigration
- CHAPTER IX ‘LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT’ (ff 500-504), consisting of: District Municipalities; Bombay Municipality; Local Board Administration; Bombay Improvement Trust; Bombay Port Trust; Karachi Port Trust; Aden Port Trust; Working of the Rent Acts
- CHAPTER X ‘COLLECTION OF REVENUE AND FINANCIAL REVIEW’ (ff 505-517), consisting of: the Budget for 1923-24; Loan Accounts; Land Revenue; Public Works Revenue; Customs Administration; Salt Department; Excise; Cotton Duties Act; Stamps; Taxes on Income
- CHAPTER XI ‘INSTRUCTION’ (ff 517-521), consisting of: Education; Yeravda [Yerwada or Yerawada] Reformatory; Books and Publications; Newspapers; Royal Asiatic Society, Bombay; Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay; Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, Bombay; Natural History Section; Victoria Museum, Karachi
- CHAPTER XII ‘ARCHAEOLOGY’ (f 522), consisting of: [Archaeological Survey of India, Western Circle]
- CHAPTER XIII ‘MISCELLANEOUS’ (ff 523-527), consisting of: Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction; the Established Church of England; the Established Church of Scotland; Stationary; Printing; Bombay Development Department; Back Bay Reclamation Scheme; Town Planning Schemes; Industrial Housing; Suburban Schemes; Salsette-Trombay and Kurla-Trombay Railways; Water Supply; Organisation of the Directorate; Sanitary Committee; Military (Indian Auxiliary and Territorial Forces); Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The report includes the following photographs:
- ‘Excavations at Mohinja-daro [Mohenjo-daro] (Sind) where important archæological discoveries have been made.’ (f 404v)
- ‘Kaira [Kheda] District Police. Officers and men who participated in raids against outlaws Namdar Garbad and Kalya Abha.’ (f 439)
- ‘Panch Mahals [or Panchmahal] District– Recovering stolen property buried by dacoits. The men on the left of the picture armed with bows and arrows are the village Police Patil and his two Rhakwaldars.’ (f 439)
- ‘Chair making at Thana [Thane] Special Prison.’ (f 443)
- ‘Karachi Prison: Muhammadan [Muslim] convicts at Id Prayers.’(f 445)
- ‘Karachi Prison: Carpet weaving.’ (f 445)
- ‘A Panchayat amongst the Settlers.’ (f 447)
- ‘Bamboo basket making: Women of Hubli Settlement.’ (f 447)
- ‘The Deccan can grow first class Crops. Crops of oats obtained at Manjri (Poona [Pune] District) by the Agricultural Department.’ (f 449)
- ‘Cotton Crop from N. R. Cotton at Jalgaon.’ (f 451)
- ‘Effect of Dry Farming methods on Jowar [or sorghum]. Left: methods recommended by Agricultural Department. Right: ordinary methods.’ (f 453)
- ‘Loni Agricultural School (Poona District). Lesson in sugar-cane crushing and gul boiling.’ (f 455)
- ‘Exhibit of Bombay Agricultural Department as prepared for Wembley Exhibition.’ (f 457)
- ‘Lloyd Barrage Circle: Left Guide Bank. Pitching in progress. Narrow gauge railway distributing stone. Barrage launch lying off bank.’ (f 485)
- ‘Lloyd Barrage Circle: Machinery Dump outside store shed. Part of 1[and a half]-ton and 10-ton steel derricks in foreground. 10-ton hand crane unloading. 5-ton steam crane and boilers for pile drivers in background.’ (f 487)
- ‘Lloyd Barrage Circle: Quarry 17 Rohri, South face. Removing overburden for use as pitching stone, to clear beds for large cut stone. 2’ 0” gauge railway removing stone.’ (f 489)
- ‘Lake Whiting District. The Lloyd Dam. 4 ft. diam[eter] outlet sluices, Down Stream face.’ (f 491)
- ‘Lloyd Dam showing outlet pipes.’ (f 492)
- ‘Pandharpur Fair: Water supply arrangements at Wakhari showing distribution of water through taps.’ (f 496)
- ‘Pandharpur Fair: Outflow from the Waiting Shed. Women waiting their turn to enter the temple via Women’s Shed.’ (f 498)
- ‘Government Central Distillery, Nasik [or Nashik] Road.’ (f 515)
- ‘Khanapur Distillery: The Fermentation room.’ (f 515).
There are also diagrams showing the following: ‘DISTRIBUTION OF PRINCIPAL HEADS OF REVENUE FOR THE YEAR 1923-24.’ (f 506); ‘DISTRIBUTION OF PRINCIPAL HEADS OF EXPENDITURE MET FROM REVENUE FOR THE YEAR 1923-24.’ (f 508); ‘TOTAL EXPENDITURE CHARGED TO REVENUE FOR THE YEARS 1912-13 TO 1923-24.’ (f 510).
There are appendices on folios 527-530, and an index on folios 531-533. There is a map of the Bombay 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. on folio 534.
A table of contents listing the headings and sub-headings of the report is on folios 402-403. In a small number of instances, there are discrepancies in the phrasing or inclusion of sub-headings between the table of contents and the body of the report. In these cases, the sub-heading as it appears in the body of the report is included above.
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- IOR/V/10/317/3
- Title
- ‘BOMBAY 1923-24. A REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRESIDENCY’
- Pages
- 399r:534r, 534r:534v, 534v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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- Open Government Licence
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