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Andrew Clarke, in his able Minute of 1879 on Indian Harbours, says that
"Mangalore undoubtedly admits of being converted into a useful harbour,"
though he adds that "the project may lie over until the prospects of a
railway connecting it with the interior are better than at present." As
the immediate prospects of a line being made are quite secure, it is of
great importance to call attention to this matter now, as it is to the
manifest interest of both Governments that the harbour of Mangalore should
be improved as soon as possible.

After having done so much to contend against famine-producing causes, it
may seem that the Dewan might rest and be thankful; but it must be
considered that, though railways will undoubtedly enable the State to save
life, it will have to pay a ruinously heavy charge whenever a widespread
and serious drought occurs, and, sooner or later, it seems inevitable that
such a drought must occur. And it is therefore perfectly evident, that
without the extension of deep wells the province cannot be placed in a
thoroughly sound financial position. It is, then, of obvious importance to
remove at once the great obstacle that stands in the way of the rapid
addition to the number of deep wells. That obstacle, and a most formidable
obstacle it is, as I shall fully show, lies in the fact that the present
form of land tenure in Mysore (under which also about four-fifths of the
land of British India are held) does not provide a sufficient security for
investors in landed improvements. By the existing tenure the land is held
by the occupier from the State at a rental which is fixed for thirty
years, and after that it is liable to augmentation. The Government, it is
true, has declared that it will not tax improvements, and that, for
instance, if a man digs a well no augmentation of rent will be demanded
for the productive power thus added to the land, but it has reserved to
itself wide powers of enhancing the rent on general grounds, such as a
rise in prices, improved communication, etc., and to what amount the
enhancement may go the ryot cannot tell. And hence we find that the
representatives in the Mysore Assembly have repeatedly argued that it is
owing to the uncertainty as to what the rise of rent may be at the close
of each thirty years' period that improvements are not more largely made,
and have therefore prayed for a permanently fixed assessment. Now I am not
prepared to say that, for the present at any