Only under one or other of two conditions could loans from the Cash Balances be important: first, if the proceeds of taxation tended to accumulate in the Government Treasuries in the autumn and winter months so that the balances tended to be above their normal level at the busy season; and second, if the Government were to pursue the foolish policy of habitually keeping more ample balances than they really required. The first of these conditions is not fulfilled to any important extent. The land tax is collected, naturally, _after_ the harvest has been sold, not during it; and at the end of the calendar year the surplus balances are small. The totals of the Indian Balances on August 1 and January 1 of recent years are shown below:— (IN LAKHS OF RUPEES) ┌────────–┬──────────–───────────────┬──────────–───────────────┐ │ │ August 1. │ January 1. │ │ ├──────────–┬──────────────┼──────────–┬──────────────┤ │ │ Reserve │Total Balances│ Reserve │Total Balances│ │ │Treasuries.│ in India. │Treasuries.│ in India. │ ├────────–┼──────────–┼──────────────┼──────────–┼──────────────┤ │1906–1907│ 5,26 │ 17,18 │ 1,60 │ 10,46 │ │1907–1908│ 5,18 │ 17,14 │ 3,20 │ 11,84 │ │1908–1909│ 7,41 │ 19,54 │ ,76 │ 9,33 │ │1909–1910│ 2,22 │ 13,61 │ 1,74 │ 10,16 │ │1910–1911│ 9,49 │ 21,43 │ 2,82 │ 13,18 │ │1911–1912│ 9,62 │ 22,66 │ 3,21 │ 15,18 │ │1912–1913│ 10,96 │ 24,58 │ 10,62 │ 21,99 │ └────────–┴──────────–┴──────────────┴──────────–┴──────────────┘ The total balances include the working balances in the innumerable District Treasuries all over India and the sums already deposited with the Presidency Banks. When, therefore, we are considering to what extent the Government could lend at the height of the busy season, we must chiefly pay attention to the sums in the _Reserve_ Treasuries on January 1. The above figures show conclusively that, as a rule, the Indian Money Market cannot expect substantial assistance from this source at the time of year when it is most needed. Except in 1913,[82] the resources of the Reserve Treasuries on January 1 have been in recent years between £1,000,000 and £2,000,000.