India’s Famine Losses and Relief
LORD CURZON, the Governor-General of India, has been reviewing the situation in that country since the famine. He says that a rough estimate places the annual agricultural production of India and Burmah at between 300 and 400 crores of rupees, a little less than $1,500,000,000. A very cautious estimate places the production of the past year at one-fourth, if not one-third, below the average, indicating a loss of at least $250,000,000. Adding to this the value of the millions of cattle lost, some conception may be formed of the destruction of property. He then pointed out the injury done by cholera, dysentery, and the enfeebled condition of the population. He describes the course taken by the government as one of unprecedented liberality, and affirms that there is no parallel in the history of any country in the world to the total of over 6,000,000 persons who in British India and the native States for weeks in succession were dependent upon the charity of the government. The direct expenditures amounted to over $40,000,000, while a large sum was advanced to landholders and cultivators, besides the loans made to native states.