labour  is  paid  proportionately  to  this  rate,  the  average  for  all  classes  in
India  being  probably  not  more  than  Us.  1,  or  32  cents  a  day),  the  purchasing
power  is  naturally  very  much  limited,  and  if  in  America  low  rates  have  been
found  to  be  necessary  to  ensure  a  proper  development  of  business,  they  would
seem  to  be  much  more  necessary  in  India  to  secure  the  same  results,  where
not  only  the  margin,  but  the  whole  sum  available  for  expenditure  by  the
multitude,  is  so  small.
148.  A  great  portion  of  the  grain  traffic  moved  in  India  is,  however,  for
export,    the   cost   of    the   transportation    of   which   falls   on    the    foreign
consumer.    He  may  be  able  to  bear  the  rate,  but  India  is  not  the  only  source
of  supply.     While  I  was  in  America,  the  rate  for  grain  was  reduced  from
Buffalo  to  New  York  (and  correspondingly  to  all  other  ports)  from  4|  to  3g
cents,  per  bushel  of  60  Ibs.,  as  the  traffic  could  not  be  moved  at  the  former
rate.     This  reduction  of  1/120  fchs  of  a  penny  per  pound  in  the  cost  of  rail
transportation   could  not  possibly  have  affected  in  any  way  the  price  of  a
penny  loaf,  yet  without  it,  the  traffic  was  at  a  standstill,  and   with  it,  some
other  market  was  shut  out.
In  India,  little  attention  is  paid  to  the  effect  of  rates  on  foreign  markets,
and  I  think  I  am  right  in  saying  that  the  grain  rates  from  Delhi  to  the
ports  have  not  been  changed  for  the  past  15  years.  The  effect  of  this
may  be  seen  in  the  violent  fluctuations  which  take  place  in  the  Indian  wheat
trade.
