70. It must, however, be clearly understood, that no positive rights of any nature will be infringed by this settlement. Every claim to property in land must be freely heard, and fully inquired into, by the collectors; and it is necessary, in doubtful cases, to submit the claim for the decision of the Honourable the Lieutenant-Governor.

71. There have been, it is known, in many parts of the country, grants from the sovereign of lands in perpetuity, which are regularly inheritable, and relative to which the original documents still exist. Of these some have been made for religious purposes, others as rewards or provision for relatives or the higher nobility. These alienations, as far as it was justly in the power of the sovereign to make them, will certainly not be set aside. Equity and good faith forbid it; but they equally enjoin, that the extent of these alienations be clearly defined, and that the rights of others be not compromised by them. The government share, where granted away, will not be claimed, for this affects the government alone. But there are certain other rights, those of the cultivators, which cannot be admitted to have been in the slightest degree affected by such grants; and in the enjoyment of them, therefore, they must be duly protected by the government. Such proprietors of revenue, as they may be termed, shall in short be allowed to act, with regard to the cultivators, only as government themselves act toward theirs; that is, receiving a fixed share of the produce: but whilst that is delivered, neither exacting more, nor removing any individual from his land.

72. On these subjects it will become the duty of the collector to be particularly careful and circumspect; to hear all claims, but to admit none lightly, giving to each the fullest investigation prior to acknowledging their validity.

73. When the collector shall have thoroughly acquainted himself with the actual state and resource of each village, he shall proceed, as quickly as he can, to the assessment of the land revenue, to be realized, not from the village generally, but from each individual cultivator inhabiting it.

74. The head of the village shall be considered as the officer of government to be employed in the collection of the revenue; for which a certain portion of land shall be allowed to him. In consideration of this, and possessing, as he will, due powers for its realization, he shall be considered as responsible for its whole amount. By this means, every advantage of the general village settlement will be obtained, without any of its evils.

75. It must be observed, that all allotments of land, whether as pensions or salaries, are to be made only provisionally; and in such grants the government share will be all that is to be affected by them.

76. One lease shall be made for the whole village, according to the form laid down in the enclosure F.

77. This will give to each individual a full knowledge of his rights, and of what are the only dues to be expected from him by government. No extortion or injustice can then exist, without being liable to instant detection and punishment. To attain still further this end, it is ordered, that a copy of this lease be lodged with the officer of division, and another be kept for public inspection in the village office.

78. The head of the village shall also give to each renter an exact account, according to the form in enclosure G.

79. By this the renter will know exactly the state of his affairs, and the examination of these lesser papers will at once discover any fraud on the part of the village officer; for he most, on each receipt of money or kind, mark it in their accounts.