INDIAN FAMINES - Institute for Social and Economic Change

OF PAST FAMINES. 9&
case. The yiew has two arguments in its favour:
1st, that India being unhappily a poor country,
it cannot afford to have the stupendous public
works which it requires, all going on at the
same time-hence it is that some districts may
be said to be at a stand-still in this respect, and
that therefore this constant ratio of increase in
direct relief is necessary; 2d, it may be argued
with some reason that the first relief-works,
remissions, and "tuccavee" advances, were on
an insufficient scale to form a basis of relief.
Famines Nos. I. and II. offer us no field for
debate. The first, notwithstanding that information
concerning it is very tolerably complete, is
of so unique a character that no conclusion of
any value can be deduced from it; it stands out
as a warning simply.
The records of No. III. are too incomplete for
a proper comparison, but it is desirable for the
present to note this famine in connection with
Nos. IV., v., and x., as they all deal with the
same district-the N orth-Western Provincealthough
the total actual areas affected varied
somewhat in each. I may here point out
that the North-Western Province is one of