The estimated cost of these works in grain at the present
price, had the labour been paid in kind at the ordinary rate, was
R86,66,043 (866,604 pounds sterling).[7]
The labourer was estimated to be paid at the rate of about two-thirds
the quantity of corn he would get in England if paid in kind, and
corn sells here at about one-third the price it fetches in average
seasons in England. In Europe, therefore, these works, supposing the
labour equally efficient, would have cost at least four times the sum
here estimated; and such works formed by private individuals for the
public good, without any view whatever to return in profits, indicate
a very high degree of _public spirit_.
The whole annual rent of the lands of this district amounts to
R650,000 (65,000 pounds sterling), that is, 500,000 demandable by the
Government, and 150,000 by those who hold the lands at lease
immediately under Government, over and above what may be considered
as the profits of their stock as farmers. These works must,
therefore, have cost about thirteen times the amount of the annual
rent of the whole of the lands of the district, or the whole annual
rent for above thirteen years.
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