old me, that it was
almost impossible to teach a wild Gond of the hills and jungles the
_occasional_ value of a lie! It is the same with the Tharoos and
Booksas, who are, almost exclusively the cultivators of the Oude
Tarae forest, and with the peasantry of the Himmalaya chain of
mountains, before they have come much in contact with people of the
plains, and become subject to the jurisdiction of our Courts. These
Courts are, everywhere, our _weak point_ in the estimation of our
subjects; and they should be, everywhere, simplified to meet the
wants and wishes of so simple a people.

That the lands, under the settled Government of the Honourable East
India Company, are becoming more and more deteriorated by
overcropping is certain; and an Indian statesman will naturally
inquire, what will be the probable consequence to the people and the
Government? To the people, the consequence must be, a rise in the
price of land produce, proportioned to the increased cost of
producing and bringing to market what is required for consumption.
The price in the market must always be sufficient to cover the cost
of producing, and bringing what is required from the poorest and most
distant lands to which that market is at any time obliged to have
recourse for supply; and as these lands deteriorate in their powers
of fertility, recourse must be had to lands more distant, or more
cost must be incurred in manure, irrigation, &c., to make these,
already had recourse to, to produce the same quantity, or both. The
price in the market must rise to meet the increased outlay required,
or that outlay will not be made; and the market cannot be supplied.

As men have to pay more for the Land produce they require, they will
have less to lay out in other things; and as they cannot do without
the land produce, they must be satisfied with less of other things,
till their incomes increase to meet the necessity for increased
outlay. People will get this increase in proportion as their labour,
services, talents, or acquirements are more or less indispensable to
the society; and the price of other things will diminish, as the cost
of producing and bringing them to market diminishes, with
improvements in manufactures, and in the facilities of transport. No
very serious injury to the people of our territories is, therefore,
to be apprehended from the inevitable deterioration in the natural
powers of the soil, under our settled Government, which gives so much