"Some part of these loans and advances will eventually be repaid. But it is not a new thing for the government of India to relieve its people in times of distress. The frequent famines have been an enormous drain upon the resources of the empire." The following table shows the expenditures for famine relief by the imperial government of India during the last twenty-one years: Five years, 1881-86 $25,573,885 Five years, 1886-91 11,449,190 Five years, 1891-96 21,631,900 1896-1897 8,550,705 1897-1898 19,053,575 1898-1899 5,000,000 1899-1900 10,642,235 1900-1901 20,829,335 1901-1902 5,000,000 ------------ Total (twenty-one years) $127,730,825 Among the principal items chargeable to famine relief, direct and indirect, are the wages paid dependent persons employed during famines in the construction of railways and irrigation works, which, during the last twenty-one years, have been as follows: Direct Construction famine Construction of irrigation relief. of railways. works. Five years, '81-'86 $379,760 $9,113,165 $3,739,790 1886-1891 277,030 666,665 1,384,570 1891-1896 411,065 12,056,505 921,675 1896-1897 6,931,750 156,100 1897-1898 17,752,025 125,055 1898-1899 133,515 2,301,175 38,900 1899-1900 10,375,590 119,650 1900-1901 20,626,150 155,570 1901-1902 2,645,905 353,465 ----------- ----------- ---------- Total (21 years) $59,531,790 $24,137,610 $6,994,775 The chief remedies which the government has been endeavoring to apply are: 1. To extend the cultivated area by building irrigation works and scattering the people over territory that is not now occupied.