INDIAN FAMINES - Institute for Social and Economic Change

88 FINANCIAL AND OTHER RESULTS
nor do they merely give the numbers inhabiting
the worst tracts ofa famine-stricken country.
The area in column 5, of course, corresponds
with the figures in column 6. I may also add
that the "Census" is 'by no means a timehonoured
custom of the country, and that it is
looked upon with a considerable amount of
suspicion by the natives, who dread it as containing
occult elements of danger. No.7 col­
~mn I have already incidentally explained. No.
8 requires no explanation. No. 9 exhibits the
loss of Government by remissions and suspensions
of land revenue over and above the direct
expenditure of money for relief-works and for
charity. The remissions are of course a dead
loss, and the suspensions, in' some cases, become
permanent losses also. The objection may be
raised that merely these permanent losses
should be shown in this column; but I prefer
the plan adopted, because it indicates the measures
which the Government at the time were
prepared to undertake to mitigate the suffering.
Moreover, it also affords an item common to all
cases, whereas the amount remitted would give
only a partial view of the question. These