Justice and Crime. The Presidencies of Madras and Bombay, and the Lieutenant-Governorships of Bengal and the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh have each a high court, supreme both in civil and criminal business, but with an ultimate appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England. Of the minor provinces, the Punjab has a chief court, with six judges; the Central Provinces, Oudh and Sind, have each one judicial commissioner. Burma has a judicial commissioner and a chief court. For Assam, the high court at Calcutta is the highest judicial authority, except in the three hill districts, where the chief commissioner of Assam is judge without appeal in civil and criminal cases. In each district the collector-magistrate' is judge both of first instance and appeal. The number of officers exercising civil, criminal, and revenue jurisdiction (jointly or separately) in Provincial Courts (including all courts above chief District courts), in District courts (chief and inferior), and in subordinate courts on December 31, 1902, was as follows: 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 1902, 481 persons were sentenced to death, 1,679 to transportation, and 152,296 to imprisonment. The following table gives the number of convic tions for crime for the years quoted. 1 Professional crime-Theft of cattle by other than 'professional' lifters being merged in 'theft.' 2,413 2,449 2,468 The total police of 1901 were 154,079 in number. Out of this number 49,070 were armed with firearms and 41,974 with swords. In 1902 there were 40 central gaols, 196 district gaols, and 499 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 (172,101), admitted into gaol during 1902, 14,270 had been previously convicted once, and 9,340 more than once. Finance. The subjoined table gives, in rupees, 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, 1893, and 1898-1903. 1 Include Rs. 96,14,312 and Rs. 44,10,548 on account of the revenue and expenditure respectively, of Berar, from October 1, 1902, the date on which Berar was leased in perpetuity from His Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad. For many years the equivalent in sterling money of the rupee was approximately 2s., but since 1873 it has fallen considerably lower, and has been subject to continual variations. Since January, 1898, however, the sterling value of the rupee has been pretty nearly steady at 1s. 4d. Since 1900-01 the budget estimates have been prepared on the basis of Rs. 15=17. The following table shows the items of revenue and expenditure for 19031904 (revised estimate) and 1904-1905 (budget estimate): In addition to the expenditure shown in the above table, a capital expenditure not charged against revenue on State railways and irrigation works, is set down for 1903-1904 at Rs. 7,81,29,000, and for 1904-1905 at Rs. 10,71,54,000 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 1894 and 1899-1904 : 1 Exclusive of Portion of Land Revenue due to Irrigation. 2 The Anty o 7,86,66,000 2 It was reduced from 2 to 2 rupees a maund with effect from March 8,60,41,000 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 United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, the assessment was fixed permanently over one hundred years ago; while it is fixed periodically at intervals of from twelve to thirty years over the rest of Iudia. 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 13 rupee per acre of cultivated land, represents something less than one-half of the actual or estimated rental, and is probably about one-tenth 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 YEAR-Book for 1886, p. 799. See also under AGRICULTURE. The land revenue was contributed in 1902-1903 as follows: In British territory the cultivation of the poppy is only permitted in parts of the provinces of Bengal, and of the United Provinces of Agra 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 Gházipur 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 is at present fixed at Rs. 625 per chest when the pass is granted at Ajmere and at Rs. 600, when it is granted elsewhere. gross annual revenue derived from opium averaged during the ten years 1893-94 to 1902-03 the sum of Rs. 6,66,71,617; the average net receipts during the same period were Rs. 4,37,06,631. The The largest branch of expenditure is that for the army, shown for recent years in the following table : The Budget estimate for the army for 1904-05 is Rs. 28,67,20,000. The following table shows the amount in 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 1894 and 1898-1903 : 1894 1,05,54,60,780 1,62,17,06,880 Rs. 13,69,45,280 Rs. 2,81,41,12,940 3,01, 62, 63, 430 1898 1,11,69,56,340 1,75,91,20,200 14,01,86,890 3,23,30,12,608 16,05,86,295 3,27,71,06,478 17,03,31,452 3,30,03,16,027 1 Converted at 15 Rs. £1. The following table shows the revenue and expenditure of each of the Governments for the year ending March 31, 1903 : 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 1902-1903 for all Indian municipalities, which bank with Government treasuries, was Rs. 4,73,38,136 and the expenditure was Rs. 5,21,02,524. The following table shows the amount for the chief administrations (in thousands of rupees) : : |