In doing this act of justice, we waft up our prayers to Almighty for the increase of prosperity to Government, and remain in a grateful remem brance for ever. And we are all, as in duty bound, shall ever pray. Toomargodoo, in the zillah of Guntoor, Signed by 51 Inhabitants. No. 956 of 1853. Forwarded to the Commissioner for the Northern Circars for report, with reference to Extract Minutes of Consultation, dated 2d August 1849, and 6th ultimo, No. 587 of 1853, (By order) (signed) H. C. Montgomery, Chief Secretary. Fort St. George, 1 November 1853. Proceedings, Para. 6. Ext. Mins. Cons. 2 August 1849. Fort St. George, Revenue Consultation of 20th April 1858. No. 20. Read the following Papers: Extract from the Proceedings of the Commissioner for the Northern Circars, dated Vizagapatam, 16th October 1854, No. 141. Read the following Papers: From the Collector of Guntoor, dated 18th August 1847, recorded in Consultation, 27th February 1848. From the Board of Revenue, 3d April 1848. Extract Minutes Consultation, 2d August 1849, in Consultation, 30th August 1849. From the Acting Collector of Guntoor, 30th December 1852, in Consultation, 28th February 1853. From the Acting Collector of Guntoor, 26th February 1853. From (Here enter No. 28.) (Here enter Nos. 31 and 36.) 18th June 1853. (Here enter No. 43.) Para. 1. The subject of the remission of the emoluments of the curnums of the Palnad, alluded to in the above papers, was brought forward by the Collector of Guntoor in his letter of 18th August 1847. He proposed to discontinue the whole of their present privileges now enjoyed, enam lands, fees, &c., and to substitute a remuneration of three rupees per mensem to each officiating individual, with a commission of two per cent. on the collections of the villages for the previous year, to be shared where more than one was appointed to the samevillage. The proposition was submitted by the Board of Revenue to Government, who approved the mode and scale of remuneration recommended by Mr. Stokes, but were of opinion that the enam lands should be continued, and that the profits they were capable of yielding, if cultivated, whether they were so or not, should be deducted from the amount assignable on the above scale. The Government further called for a statement showing the financial results involved. in these and the other arrangements proposed for the reform of the village establishment of the district generally, with the view of its being laid before the Government of India for sanction. 2. Mr. Stokes, in his letter of the 30th December 1852, was of opinion that the principle of the arrangements proposed by him having been approved, there would be no objection to give effect to them provisionally in anticipation of the orders of the Government of India; and farther, that the scale approved by Government for village moonsiffs and mohtads might be carried out similarly in the whole district. 180, 188, 189, 190, 3. The Commissioner did not feel himself at liberty to concur in this view. To Collector, Many of the arrangements had not been brought under the notice of Govern- 26 February 1853. ment at all, and the preparation of a general financial statement of the whole Nos. 166, 167, 179, appeared to be a necessary preliminary to soliciting the confirmation of the scheme. At the same time several petitions received from curnums in the Palnaud, and complaining of the new plan, were transmitted to the Acting · Collector for report. 4. Mr. Purvis stated in reply that his predecessor's orders had been suspended as regarded village moonsiffs of the whole district, that the change made by them in the position of the mohtads was so trifling that it was not necessary to disturb the arrangements in their case, and that the curnums of Palnaud having already been placed on the new footing, and the collection of fees hitherto enjoyed by them abolished by proclamation with reference to former orders, it would be inexpedient to return to the former state of things in their case. 5. The mohtads or watchers of the whole district, who will be noticed more at length in another communication,* and the curnums of Palnad only have thus, it will be seen, been placed on the new footing, and it is against the application of this system to them that the petitions of the latter, forwarded to this office for report, have been addressed to Government. 191, 192, 193, 194, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, and 203 of 1853. Ext. Mins. Cons. 6 December 1847. Ext. Mins. Cons. 20 August 1849. To Government, 19 October 1854. Nos. 956 of 1853, and 937 of 1854. From Government, Note.-Mr. Stokes proposed that the commission should be calculated on the collections. The Government (above, para. 4) use the term revenue, but the Acting Collector has calculated it on the demand, which is an 6. In the second para. of his letter, the Acting Collector describes the mode 2 August 1849, in which the emoluments of the latter had been affected by these changes. The p. 19. number of curnums were reduced from 183 to 173, who were appointed to the 75 villages or groups of villages comprised in the Palnad district. The enam lands were assessed to the full demand, minus the quit-rent; whether cultivated or waste, &c., a deduction of three rupees + two per cent. of the collections of the previous year was made at the jummabundy in the puttahs of each individual. Where the above assessment of the enams exceeded the amount of emoluments fixed by the standard, the difference was carried to the public account, where the same fell short of the standard, it was made up in money. error. The collection of fees was forbidden. Upon the receipt of the Commissioner's 26 February 1853. proceedings, the collection of that portion of the assessment on the enam land which was in excess of the standard of remuneration, was suspended where the lands were waste, and the amount was allowed to stand over as balance. 7. The result of these arrangements is exhibited in the following Abstract Statement: Profits as above From this, it appears that 154 curnums have remained undisturbed in their former villages, though some modification has been made in the shares of office with regard to 102 of them; 15 have been transferred to other villages, 14 have been reduced, and 4 newly appointed. The salary and commission for the whole number of 173 amounted to 10,228 rupees, the estimated proceeds of the enam lands, minus quit-rent, was 7,830 rupees, leaving a deficit of 2,398 rupees as a charge to Government, which, however, was increased to 3,105 rupees by the suspension of the collection of 707 rupees, the assumed income of waste land in excess of the standard as above explained. Deduct estimate on waste lands Quit-rent on waste 1,521 6,310 8. The proportion of the remaining waste land is about one-fifth of the whole, the estimated income from which, .minus quit-rent, has been taken at 1,521 rupees, and this sum, though not realised by the curnums, 7,830 has becu deducted on account of their emoluments, so that their actual remuneration from the land appears to be only 1,88 6,310 rupees instead of 7,830 rupees, as above calculated, and these profits are farther reduced to 4,642 rupees, by Difference between actual and estimated profits 3,188 the quit-rent levied on account of waste lands on which this demand has hitherto been allowed to remain in abeyance, Rs. so that they virtually fell short of the standard by 3,188 6,009 rupees. Thus the deduction of these nominal profits amounts to nearly one-third of the total allowance of 10,228 rupees contemplated by the new rules, the assessed amount From Collector, 18th August 1847, para. 12. ITEMS. 1. 4,642 6,341 Rs. 12,350 of their former income having been 12,350 rupees. 9. The invasion of the merassy right in those villages in which the separate existence of the office has been abolished or otherwise modified, the resumption of the enam lands in excess of the scale and the discontinuance of these fees, could not but prove distasteful to the curnums. Their dissatisfaction has been increased by the orders regarding their waste lands. Hitherto they have been allowed under that contingency to leave the quit-rent in arrears, upon the ground that it was a commutation of "Pootla bedige," or quit-rent in kind payable in proportion to the actual produce. The enforcement of the quit-rent upon the waste enams was considered by them a hardship, but when the estimated profits of their lands was assessed as if they had been under cultivation and deducted from the amount of emoluments allowed by the new scale, thus in reality reducing it by about one-third, as above shown, it is not surprising that a general feeling of discontent should have been called forth. This last measure was approved by the Government in Extract Minutes Consultation, 2d August 1849, but from what has been said it is clear that it must press very hardly upon the holders of enams in many cases. 10. The following statement shows what would be the effect of calculating the profits of the enam upon the income derived from the cultivated lands only. 1. Enams, the profits of which are above the new scale 2. Ditto ditto Ditto below 122 ditto Twenty-six curnums would thus be left in possession of lands yielding more than the standard by a total of 263 rupees, while the profits of the remaining 147 would come short of it by 4,181 rupees, leaving a net deficiency of 3,918 rupees. Full assessment of cultivated enams 11. The Commissioner is of opinion that a modification of the measures above described is required to secure the efficiency of this class of public servants. The Acting Collector is in favour of reverting to Mr. Stokes' original proposition of resuming all the enam lands. This would leave 3,917 rupees as a charge to Government, and the quit-rent on the waste lands would also be relinquished to the amount of 1,668 rupees; but as this has not been hitherto realised, and something would be obtained in lieu of it as pasture rent (poollery), or by extension of cultivation, the latter cannot be reckoned as all loss. The Government, however, did not concur in the proposition of resuming the lands. The deficit is 12. Since the foregoing was drafted, the Acting Collector has submitted pro- From Acting posal for accepting the offer of several curnums and other village officers by whom Collector, arrears of quit-rent are due, to relinquish portions of their lands on being 23 September 1854. relieved from the demand under the considerations specified in Extract Commissioner's Proceedings, 31st July last, para. 22, the result of which is as follows: From this it will be seen, that the proposals of 106 individuals to give up lands liable to an assessment of 3,815 rupees, and bearing an actual quit-rent of 1,977 rupees, are deemed admissible, and those of 37 persons have been rejected. 143. F 3 13. The Nos. 956 of 1853, and 937 of 1854. 13. The portion now relinquished, it will be observed, is somewhat in excess of that shown to be uncultivated in para. 10, and on which the estimated sist is 3,188, the cuttoobady 1,668 rupees, and the nominal profits 1,520 rupees. Before receiving the Collector's last letter, the Commissioner had intended to have recommended that the estimation of the curnums' profits should be confined to those derived from the cultivated portions of their enams. This would have left a deficit of 4,181 rupees to be made up by deductions from the putta sist, without taking into account the sum of 263 rupees, the excess of profits of enams above the scale of emoluments. 14. The arrangements now submitted by the Acting Collector appear to have answered the above object of relieving the curnums of their unprofitable enams, and result in a deduction to be made from the putta sist of 4,274 rupees; and as they seem to be unobjectionable, the Commissioner recommends their adoption, and Mr. Wood has been directed to submit detailed accounts of the arrears for adjustment. 15. These proposals are submitted as temporary measures only. The remuneration of the village establishments will be made the subject of a separate communication, and will be submitted immediately. 16. The petitions received with the endorsements of Government calling for report on this subject are herewith returned. Ordered, that copies of the foregoing proceedings be forwarded to Government and to the Acting Collector of Guntoor. (A true extract.) The enclosed petitions are not printed. Walter Elliot, Commissioner. From Collector, No. 21.-Extract from the Proceedings of the Commissioner for the Northern Read again Extract Minutes Consultation, dated 2d, recorded in Consultation 30th August 1849. Read also letters from the Collector of Guntoor, dated 21 November 1849, recorded in Consultation 13th January 1851, 19th July in Consultation 12th August 1850, and 12th August 1850. (Here enter No. 71.) Para. 1. The subject of the remuneration to be granted to village officers in the Guntoor collectorate, which has formed the subject of the correspondence noted in the margin, was laid before Government by the Board of Revenue in their proceedings of the 3d April 1848, and renewed in Extract Minutes Consultation 2d August 1849. In accordance with the orders therein contained, Mr. Stokes submitted a further report on the 21st November 1849, which has led to the correspondence above recorded. 2. In the orders of the 2d August 1849, the Right Honourable the Governor in Council approved of the adoption of the scale of remuneration for moonsiffs arranged by Sir T. Munro for the Ceded Districts, which, however, was to vary |