were honorary, exercised jurisdiction. There were 1,720 civil judges under the superior courts. Nearly all the civil judges, and the great majority of the magistrates, in the courts of original jurisdiction are natives of India; while in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, the proportion of natives sitting in the appellate courts is considerable.

The following table gives (in thousands) the number of persons under trial and of those convicted in criminal cases for the years quoted :

In 1896, 440 persons were sentenced to death, 1,554 to transportation, and 165,980 to imprisonment. There were 1,004 convictions for the crime of murder, 9,539 for cattle-theft, 52, 604 for ordinary theft, and 24,365 for lurking house trespass and housebreaking.

The total police of that year were 142,600 in number. Out of this number 53,207 were armed with firearms and 45,862 with swords.

In 1896 there were 40 central gaols, 191 district gaols, and 495 subordinate gaols and lock-ups. The following table gives the number of prisoners in gaol at the end of the years quoted :

Of the total number of convicts (181,984), admitted into gaol during 1896, 16,435 had been previously convicted once, 4,927 twice, and 3,956 more than twice.

Finance.

The subjoined table gives, in tens of rupees (Rx.), the total gross amount of the actual revenue and expenditure of India, excluding capital expenditure on public works, and distinguishing Indian and home expenditure, in each of the financial years ending March 31, 1887, and 1892--97.

For many years the equivalent in sterling money of the rupee was approximately 28., but since 1873 the equivalent has fallen considerably lower, and has been subject to continual variations. In December, 1896, the sterling value of the rupee was under 18. 4d. In the budget estimate for 1898-99 the rate of exchange is taken at 18. 3-84d.

The following table shows the items of revenue and expen'diture for 1897-98 (revised estimate) and 1898-99 (budget estimate):

Total expenditure)"

-705,700 -116,800.

1

Total revenue 96,561,500 99,085,400 charged against 101,844, 600 98, 194,000

revenue.

The large deficit (Rx. 5,283,100) in 1897-98 is due to widespread famine and scarcity, and to military operations on the N. W. frontier. The amount spent on famine relief in 1896-97 and 1897-98 was Rx. 7,470,000, the number of units relieved being 830 millions. (A unit is one person relieved for one day.) Including Rx. 7,470,000 spent directly on famine relief, the cost of the famine in actual outlay and loss of revenue was about Rx. 14,240,000, and, in

addition, revenue amounting to Rx. 1,850,000 was suspended, and about Rx. 1,370,000 was lent to cultivators for the purchase of seed, &c. The Budget estimates for 1898-99 provide for the full amount Rx. 1,500,000 of the famine grant, namely Rx. 1,099, 200, under the head Famine Relief and Insurance,' and Rx. 400,800 under 38 State railways,' chargeable to that grant, as representing the net charge on account of the Bengal-Nagpur and the India: Midland Railways.

In addition to the expenditure shown in the above table, a capital expenditure not charged against revenue on railway and irrigation works is set down for 1897-98 at Rx. 4,604,600, and for 1898-99 at Rx. 5,749,300.

The following table exhibits the growth of the three most important sources of the public revenue of India, namely land, opium, and salt, in the financial years 1888 and 1893-98 :

1 Exclusive of Portion of Land Revenue due to Irrigation.

The most important source of public income is the land. The land revenue is levied according to an assessment on estates or holdings. In the greater part of Bengal, about one-fourth of Madras and some districts of the NorthWest Provinces, the assessment was fixed permanently one hundred years ago; while it is fixed periodically at intervals of from twelve to thirty years over the rest of India. In the permanently settled tracts the land revenue falls at a rate of about two-thirds of a rupee per acre of cultivated land, and represents on an average about one-fifth of the rental, or about one twenty-fourth of the gross value of the produce. In the temporarily settled tracts the land revenue averages about 1 rupee per acre of cultivated land, represents something less than one-half of the actual or estimated rental, and is probably about onetenth or one-twelfth of the gross value of the produce. For details as to the nature of the different tenures of land that prevail in India see the YEARBook for 1886, p. 799. See also under AGRICULTURE.

The land revenue was contributed in 1896-97 as follows:

In British territory the cultivation of the poppy is only permitted in

parts of the provinces of Bengal, the North-West Provinces and Oudh. A few thousand acres of opium are grown in the Punjab for local consumption. In the monopoly districts, the cultivator receives advances from Government to enable him to prepare the land for the crop, and he is bound to sell the whole of the produce at a fixed price to Government agents, by whom it is despatched to the Government factories at Patná and Gházípur to be prepared for the market. The chests of manufactured opium are sold by auction in Calcutta at monthly sales for export to China. A reserve is kept in hand to supply the deficiencies of bad seasons, and a small quantity is used by the Indian excise departments. Opium is also grown in many of the Native States of Rajputána and Central India. These Native States have agreed to conform to the British system. They levy heavy duties on opium exported from their territories for the China market, and such opium pays the Indian Treasury a duty which has been recently fixed at Rx. 52.5 per chest when the pass is granted at Ajmere and at Rx. 50, when it is granted elsewhere. The gross annual revenue derived from opium averaged during each of the ten years 1888 to 1899 the sum of Rx. 7,703,007, and the average net receipts during the same period, Rx. 5,670,903. In 1855-58 the net opium revenue averaged only Rx. 4,580,000.

The largest branch of expenditure is that for the army, which cost Rx. 13,000,000 in the year before the great mutiny; and 28,086,495 (including Rx. 11,368,489 for Afghánistán) in 1880-81. For recent years the army expenditure is shown in the following table :—

The Budget estimate for 1898-99 is Rx. 25,055,900.

The following table shows the amount (in tens of rupees) of the debt of British India, both bearing and not bearing interest, distinguishing the debt in India and in Great Britain, in each of the financial years 1888 and 1891-97 :

The following table shows the revenues and expenditures of each of the Governments for the year ending March 31, 1897

The municipal revenues in India are derived mainly from octroi, taxes on houses, lands, vehicles, and animals, tolls, and assessed taxes. The amount of income for 1896-97 for all Indian municipalities, which bank with Government treasuries, was Rx. 3,771,840, and the expenditure was Rx. 4,166,081. The following table shows the amount for the chief administrations (in thousands of rupees) :

The following table gives the established strength of the European and Native army in British India—exclusive of native artificers and followers :