Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/38

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Allan Octavian Hume

usually be four years, it was calculated that by the 1st of January 1871 the first sector would be vacated, and ready to receive the boy criminals belonging to that year. When completed the cost of the whole building would be Rs. 35,000, and maintenance Rs. 1250 per mensem. This scheme was cordially approved by the Government of the North-West Provinces, and forwarded for sanction to the Government of India.

There are other valuable reports on special subjects. For example, there is a long letter on cotton cultivation and supply, dated 24th July i860, in reply to questions from Mr. Haywood, Secretary to the Cotton Supply Association of Manchester. This letter cannot be con- densed or summarized, but it is so full of interesting facts ; it is so perfect a model of what such a report should be ; and the subject is so important at the present day, that it is reproduced in extenso, Appendix I. Again, there is a treatise, dated 1865, covering twenty closely printed pages, on "Canal irrigation in its relation to the Permanent Settlement"; but the subject is very technical, and the examples of his administrative work already given must suffice, as showing the wide scope of his activities, and the infinite patience with which his facts were collected and recorded. It is pleasant to find that his District management again and again received commendation from the higher authorities. As regards the police administration the Lieutenant-Governor congratulated him on "the extinction of the crime of affray in the once turbulent District of Etawah. It is also satisfactory to find that owing to that officer's influence and exertions, the crime of female Infanticide, once so prevalent, is now of rare occurrence in the District, and that no less than 173 outlaws have been apprehended during the year" ; and the Government, in its Order of 13th November i860, recorded as follows its apprecia-