Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/125

REL A 'f O KNDIA 118 ?port upon tho preparation of a Record of Rights in the diderot o! Bakarganj, adjacent to-Faridpur, I h?l occasion to us? this analysis for the purpose of comparison. Bakar- ganj came very well out of the comparison, the net income of the cultivator being equal to that of the Italian culti- vator who lmys six tim? as much in taxes. The writer of the article remarked o! the life in the Italian villas: 'the people are vegetarians, no? from choice but from n?e?ity. They cannot afford to eat meat nor even eggs; they cannot afford to eat wheat bread but eat maize porridge and maize bread, vegetables and fruit,. and what the cow produces.'. This is for all practical purpoaea a descrip- tion of the food of the people of Faridpur withou? the comfortable addition of fish in abundance ?o the daily diet,.. The houses of th? Italian peasants are, no doubt, stronger, bu ? . that is due t.o the greater severity of the el/ma?e; they do not contain as much floor space, although they me much better furnished. The clothes of the peasant are made of better cloth and are far less scanty, but this-again is due to difference of el/mate;... the population has scarcely any money at all for such indulg- ences as jewellery and spends very much less upon marriages and upon similar domestic ceremonies... The Italian land tax was three times as much, the local authority took twice as mueh? and the village council seventeen times as much from the Italian peasant as ?rom the Bakarganj peasant. In other words what the Bengal 12asant spends on marriages and jewellery the l;alian peanut is compelled by his governmen? to spend on roads and lighting, on ?anitation, on a good water supply, on medical attendance and on education." The book is an extremely valuable one and should be in the hands of all ?erious students o! economic conditions in India. I? would be o[ immen? value if every ?ettlement officer were able, with the m?chiuery and s?aff at his disposal, to conduct an investigation upon similar lines into the economic oonditions of his district. T.T. WILLIAMS 15