Inde

réf. 4109 — GANGA SINGH 1880-1943. Singh was the Maharajah of Bikaner an Indian Princely state. He was a politician of British India and also a highly-decorated military commander. TL. 3pgs. February 24 1922. Lallgarh Bikaner Rajputana. A lengthy typed memorandum concerning the economy of British India. It came from Maharajah Gogna Singh of Bikaner but was not signed by him. Addressed to another prince the letter deals with a number of economic issues faced by the Indian Fiscal Commission. “Your Highness In continuation of paragraph 5 of my circular letter No. 16 dated the 6th January 1922 I am forwarding to Your Highness a copy of the Memorandum which has been prepared by the Committee of Ministers appointed to deal with the fiscal question falling within the purview of the Indian Fiscal Commission from the point of view of the Indian States. 2. The consideration of the question as to what action is to be taken with regard to the Memorandum came up for discussion at the Informal Meeting held at Delhi on the 19th February 1922 when it was decided that the Chancellor should be authorised to approach the Government of India on behalf of Their Highnesses with the request that the Chamber of Princes should be consulted before any final action is taken by the Government of India on the report of the Fiscal Commission. It was further the sense of the meeting that it was not desirable that any representation be sent or any witnesses should appear before the Fiscal Commission on behalf of Their Highnesses in their united capacity; but to obviate the Fiscal Commission arriving at conclusions which may be one-sided if none of the States put forward their standpoint it was proposed by His Highness the Maharajah Scindia of Gwalior and agreed to by the Princes present that instead of forwarding the Memorandum on behalf of the Princes jointly it was preferable to ask one or two Ministers of the more senior States to offer themselves as witnesses to be examined by the Fiscal Commission and that those States which agreed in general with the views contained in the memorandum be invited if they so desired and the proposal met with their approval to authorize such witnesses to say that such States were in general agreement with the Ministers’ Memorandum. 3. In accordance with this suggestion Their Highnesses of:-- 1. Gwalior 2. Bikaner 3. Palanput 4. Wankaner and 5. Limbdi. Agreed that Mr. Mannubhai Nandshanker Mehta Chief Minister Baroda and Colonel Kailash Narain Haksar Political Member of Council Gwalior should be authorized on their behalf to express the general approval of the Rulers and Governments concerned to the views embodied in the report of the Ministers. 4. As already made clear it is of course entirely for Your Highness to accept or reject the views contained in the Memorandum or take such other action as Your Highness may consider necessary. The object as stated in para 5 of my circular No. 16 was to offer facilities for the preparation of the case on behalf of your own State should Your Highness desire to represent your case by means of a note or to send a Minister to appear before the Commission. 5. In case Your Highness is in general agreement with the views expressed in the Memorandum and if you deem it advisable I would beg to suggest that Your Highness might also consider the advisability of authorizing Mr. Mannubhai Nandshanker Mehta or Colonel Kailash Narain Haksar by telegram in view of the shortness of time to say that they could inform the Commission that Your Highness’ Government was in general accord with the views expressed in the Ministers’ Memorandum. This would strengthen their hands in putting forward the claim of the Indian States to exemption from sea customs – a point regarding which the interests of almost all the States are identical and which needs no further comment here. 6. As Mr. Mannubhai Nandshanker Mehta and Colonel Haksar are appearing before the Commission before the 6th March I would request that the telegram conveying Your Highness’ assent should if possible reach Mr. Mannubhai or Colonel Haksar not later than the 1st of March should Your Highness be in general agreement with the proposal contained in the Memorandum. 7. The questions of salt opium and coinage which – though not directly before the Fiscal Commission – have an important bearing on the fiscal relations between the Indian States and the Government of India have also been dealt with by the Ministers. As they are however not covered by the scope of the questionnaire circulated by the Fiscal Commission it was decided at the Princes’ Informal Meeting held at Delhi on the 19th February to circulate the Note dealing with these subsidiary questions as a supplement to the Ministers’ Memorandum. Yours very sincerely GANGA SINGH Maharajah of Bikaner Chancellor Chamber of Princes.” Below the main document there is an autograph note dated March 1 1922 and signed likely by the recipient. “Mr Mannubhai N. Mehta having been authorized to state that we are in general accord with the views expressed in the Ministers’ memorandum this will be filed along with the accompaniments.” Mannubhai Nandshanker Mehta was the Dewan or Prime Minister of the Baroda State. The letter is in very good condition with several tears and holes primarily along the margins. unknown books