The Finances and Public Works of India, 1869-1881

There was hardly a great office of state in India which Sir John Strachey or his brother Sir Richard Strachey had not held. Their combind labours had a strong and lasting influence over the policy and the constitution of the Indian Government in every department of affairs. This book is a joint product of their minds. It describes the economic policies and public works of a Government which they had helped to fashion its policy and administration. It narrates the facts with intimate firsthand knowledge. The subjects of the work are revenue, expenditure, debt, trade, taxation, currency and exchange and various public works including the extension of railways and irrigation works during the period under review. It also goes deep into the causes of the repeated famines which broke out in different parts of India and suggests preventive measures. The work furnishes valuable figures which will help the present research scholars to reconstruct the economic history of India since the last century, which will, in turn, help the progress of the country in various fields.