and charity should be given to those who from age or infirmity or other good causes cannot work is fully recognized; but the principle that a fair day's labour should be given by those who require relief and can work, is merely an act of justice to the taxpayer and a benefit to the people relieved.

97. Plague. At rare intervals a sudden and terrible illness may break out, which, like the "black death" or the "bubonic plague," may threaten to destroy whole cities and bring ruin upon the survivors. On such occasions it is the duty of government to save the people even against their own wills, if the magnitude of the danger is sufficiently great. In 1896 a few cases of plague appeared in the city of Bombay, and before many months had passed half the population had fled in terror, carrying with them to other parts of India the terrible disease which pursued them in their flight. The plague, which might have been confined to a single city, by these means established itself in several centres. No locality suffered more than Kutch, where prompt measures were not taken to separate those who were attacked, or their friends amongst whom they died, from the healthy population. The relatives of the deceased carried the infection to

others, and the mortality was terrible. Far wiser was the treatment of a village in the territory of Gwalior, around which the troops of His Highness the Maharaja Sindhia were at once drawn, and no one was allowed to move from the infected area until the risk of contagion had passed. The effects of leaving a disease like the bubonic plague to go its own way deserve the careful thought of all men. In the first place, infection spreads and destroys human life, as a jungle fire

The

devours all that is before it when steps are not taken to isolate it. In the next place, the most distant nations, severed from India by continents or seas, take alarm, and refuse to buy the products or manufactures of a country infected with the dreaded disease. industry and occupations of hundreds of thousands of healthy people are thus paralyzed, and it takes many years before trade returns to its old course or confidence is re-established. It becomes then the duty of government to intervene where such vital interests are at stake. Whether persons attacked by the plague like it or not, they must be compelled to go to hospital, and their friends and relations who have been living with them must be separated from the rest of the population. The duty which devolves upon government is very painful, but it is quite clear, and the whole empire looks to it to perform its task with resolution and promptitude. There is no civilized country in the world in which the obligation of the State to employ its powers to prevent the spread of plague is not fully recognized. By no other means can lives be saved, and the ruin of industries and trade be averted.

98. Public Markets. An outbreak of plague can only be dealt with by government with all the resources at its back. But there are other bodies, especially municipalities, which can render constant service to health by a judicious use of their powers of self-government. Pure water does much for health, but the purity of food should also not be neglected. To mix impure water with milk, or to expose articles of food in dirty stalls and unwashed markets, are frequently the means of spreading cholera and other diseases. For this reason most municipalities build public market-places,

where traders can sell their goods under proper conditions of cleanliness and free air. It is a convenience to the public to have one place set apart for the purchase of their vegetables and other supplies; but apart from this, a public market can, under proper regulations, be kept tidy and clean, and the opportunity is afforded of inspecting supplies and seeing that unwholesome articles are not exposed for sale. In these and many other directions the British government, while leaving the people free to buy or sell what they please, endeavours to prevent the spread of diseases and to improve the public health. But after all, government can never do as much for the health of the people as they can do for themselves, and it is therefore the duty of every citizen to learn the value of cleanliness, and to practise it not only in his own interests, but in the interests of the families which surround him.

CHAPTER XI.

PUBLIC INCOME AND EXPENDITURE.

99. The Public Purse. The management of a bank or of any large business requires both ability and experience, and it would be no easy task to explain its system to a school-boy. But the difficulty is much increased when one attempts to set before the reader some idea of the financial arrangements of a vast empire, which has an annual income from public revenues of 95 crores. It is, however, very necessary that the citizen of India, who pays taxes and rates, should know what becomes of them. The government of India is constantly publishing for his information in the official gazettes statements of revenue and expenditure, and some attempt ought to be made at school to teach the young what they

mean.

Let us first consider the position of government. It holds the public purse for the country, and receives and spends all income derived from the public property in land or railways, as well as the taxes paid by the people. By means of these supplies it carries on the administration, and if the people, or

any section of them, ask for more schools, more courts, or more public works, then the funds required for the purpose must be provided either by additional taxation, or else by reducing expenditure elsewhere. It must be remembered that the government of India puts into the public purse something more than mere taxes. It is able to do so because it acts in numerous capacities. It owns the land and receives rents or assessments. Some of these rents, called assignments, it collects and passes on to the persons entitled to them. It takes charge of deposits and performs the part of banker for others. It issues notes, and còntracts loans which it generally lays out as capital expenditure in the construction of railways irrigation works. It produces and sells salt and opium, it carries the post and sends messages by telegraph, and it constructs and works railways and canals, from all of which sources the public purse is supplied. It is thus evident that its operations are complicated and extensive, and in order that the taxpayer may know exactly what becomes of the money which is received on his behalf by the State, the information is given to him in the shape of a budget. We must then consider what is meant by a budget.

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100. Budget Estimates and Accounts. government of India reckons its financial year from the 1st of April to the 31st of March following. Before the year begins, it calculates what it expects to receive and what it expects to spend. The calculation is shown in a balance sheet called the budget estimate. As the months of the year roll by, it becomes evident that the receipts expected