are any addition to the burdens of India. It is true that the interest on the capital borrowed in England has to be remitted, and therefore adds to the excess of exports from India, which some persons consider to be a drain on her resources and a tribute paid to England. So far, at least, as the interest on the railway capital is concerned, no argument should be needed to show that it is merely payment for value received, and is only a small fraction of the profits accruing to the country from the cheapening of carriage and the opening up of markets, and the hundred ways in which railways, directly or indirectly, contribute to comfort and wealth.
Next to the railways may be ranked the great irrigation works which have done so much to enrich the country, more especially the northern provinces and the Madras Presidency. Up to the end of 1904-1905 the capital expenditure on productive irrigation works, which are expected to pay at least the interest on the capital outlay, was, in round numbers, £24,000,000. The interest on that sum at 4 per cent. is £960,000. After paying that interest and all working expenses, the net profit on these canals in 1908-1904 was £975,800. To the end of 1908-1904 there had been constructed 8,790 miles of main canals and 26,286 miles of distributaries, commanding and protecting 29,000,000 acres of culturable land. The direct net return to the public revenues amounted to 7·99 per cent. on the capital outlay. The profits to the peasantry who cultivate the irrigated land and to the country generally are very great. Take, as a notable example, the Chenab Canal, which cost something under £2,000,000. The value of the crops raised annually by irrigation from this canal is estimated at more than £3,000,000, almost the whole of which is directly due to the canal, for the land previously was of very poor quality and used mostly for grazing goats and camels . The Irrigation Commission has recommended a large outlay on new works. Three grand projects in the Punjab, which will cost about £5,500,000, have already been
