The Press. — London, England, 1856-03-22 00:00:00

MARCH 22, 1856. regarded with a feeling allied to contempt, a storm burst forth in the East which threat ened the equipoise of European power and the tranquillity of tw• quarters of the globe. Seizing the occasion which no foresight could have predicted, LOUIS NAPOLEON stepped forward as master of the situation, and the wonder of Europe was changed to admiration. Before the splendid effects of his vast resources, energetic will, and irresponsible power, the glory of England grew pale. The last fatal blow to Russia was given by the arms of France. The successful champion of the Pope has in turn become the champion of the Sultan, and in the two oldest seats of European empire his influence is paramount. Wisely, too, has the Emperor of the FRENCH determined that his glory in the field shall be only second to his magnanimity and modera tion in the closet. The first to declare for war, he has also been the first to let fall the words of peace. And the position he has won enables him to dictate both to his allies and his enemies. But one thing was wanting to make full the cup of his greatness ; and that one thing has been vouchsafed him. He had won an Imperial crown; he had proved him self possessed of those qualities which entitle men to be rulers of their kind ; by a successful war he had raised his power to the very highest pitch. That power had now to be consolidated. What he had hitherto done had been done for himself alone ; the house of Bonaparte was yet to be established. At this juncture, in many respects the turning-point of his fortunes, an heir is born to him. The hereditary principle will now lend its aid to the stability of his Government. He can no longer be regarded by any one as an indis pensable, but temporary, dictator. His pre tensions are now less personal than dynastic ; and, humanly speaking, it seems impossible to add aught to the favourable posture of his affairs To this moment opportunity has waited on the French Emperor. Every successive event has happened exactly at the right moment. Had he been possessed of omnipotence, he could not have ordered things better than fortune has ordered them for him. Even his early, and in some respects ridiculous, failures, have been unable to injure him. Were it not a name of ill-omen, we should liken him to the ruler of Samos. We shall not now discuss the prospects of his family. We would merely urge on those to whom the form of his government is dis tasteful, that it is the result of an exhaustive process. Since 1815, every political theory has had its chance. There has never been a more open field for talent than in France during the last forty years. If the old monarchy could govern the country, why did it not? If the new monarchy could govern the country, why did it not ? If a classical republic could govern the country, why did it not? If none of these systems could produce a man—if the Polignacs, Guizots, and Lamartines were all failures—we are bound to give a fair trial to some other aspirant. Theoretically, we should prefer a freer form of Government, but the French have rejected every other. Permitte dtvis cetera. r e g ar atom ened and the no I NAP) situa chanj effect irrem grew given chain the c oldes is pa Wi deter only tion i war, word enabl his ei make one t won self men war high( cons( been Bona junct of hi: here( the a long( pensi tensi and, to ad affair To the I has Had could fortul early, have a Han ruler WE his fi to al tastel proce has b more durin mona it not count could of th( Polig failur some prefer Frew divia IT wa quest India give the A after that f it sui provit after posed Prope nothi he hi tim e , reig n that " tilt( THE ANNEXATION OF OUDE. IT was our intention to resume this week the question connected with the reform of the Indian judicial establishments, but we must give priority to the Indian event of the day, the ANNEXATION OF OUDE. After making treaty after treaty with the successive sovereigns of that State, all of which we have in turn, when it suited our purpose, broken—after taking province after province from them, subsidy after subsidy, loan after loan, the King is de posed, and his country is declared British property, though he has sons who have done nothing to forfeit their inheritance, even if l►e himself be unfit to reign. At the same time, in the proclamation which declares his re►gn at an end, the Governor-General admits , that his race " have ever been faithful and true to the English nation." So summary a THE PRESS. proceeding required some pretence at justifi cation, of course ; and incompetence, vice, and corruption, in the reigning Sovereign and his Government, are held out as a sufficiently valid ground for the seizure of Onde. Deny ing in toto the correctness of the doctrine, might it not, we ask, be as well for the Com pany to see whether it does not equally tell against themselves? Is not their own gross notorious incompetence the theme of every tongue ; and have not incompetent collectors and commissioners been appointed by theta in India by dozens, men who are virtually kings in the districts over which they rule ? Then, as to vice, is that confined to the Court of Onde ? Are excesses unheard of among our own public functionaries in the East? Is the shameless prostitution of their power for the most infamous of purposes unknown ? Are dancing girls never seen in European houses in India? Is licentious revelry un familiar to them, and, more, licentious lan guage unheard? Have Residents at the Courts of native princes never allowed their influence to be conciliated by pandering to their wanton tastes? These are things it would be well to consider when dealing so roughly on such subjects with the dynasty of the King of OUDE. Then, again, have Englishmen in India set no example of pecuniary corruption, that they should be so ready to throw the first stone ? Was HASTINGS such a paragon of purity as to give a high idea of our pecuniary morality to the then Nawab of Oude? Have scandals never been rife regarding the sums taken as bribes by our Residents at the Courts of native princes, and of the almost fabulous amounts that have been thus extorted from successive kings of Oude? Is pecuniary corruption unknown among our other officials generally, especially among the native part? Does not bribery pervade our whole system from top to bottom, sometimes in the shape of money given freely by the native Rajah, and at other times ex torted by torture, as in the case of the ryots at Madras? And if, then, the grossest incom petence, vice, and corruption are exhibited by persons in the Company's own service, with what face can they get up and defend the seizure of a kingdom in violation of a most solemn treaty, on grounds which, if true, are at least equally true of their servants and themselves. Lord DALHOUSIE says, to be sure, that the King of DUDE was bound by treaty " to establish such a system of administration, " to be carried into effect by his own officers, " as should be conducive to the prosperity of " his subjects, and calculated to secure the " lives and properties of the inhabitants," and that he failed to do this. But what model was he to follow, and by whose verdict was he to be judged? If he was to follow the model of the Company, he has clearly not failed, and not, therefore, justly incurred the penalty; for neither have they established such a system themselves, as is by all com petent judges confessed. Then, again, if im partial evidence is to be taken, we have Nltt.L, and WILSON, and HEBER, and Heaven knows how many more, who attest distinctly that the Oude Government is infinitely more popular with the natives than our own. And no won der; for the latter could not well be worse than it is in Bengal, at least, as even the Govern ment organs themselves admit. Indeed, we are quite sure that there is not a Bengal functionary, whether civil or military, that will not confirm our assertion when we say, that the great charge which Lord DALHOUSIE makes against the Oude soldiery is equally true of the police of Bengal. This charge is, that they are left unpaid by the Government, or paid cnly a pittance notoriously inadequate for their expenses ; that the balance is made up by the plunder of the people, and that they are a scourge to the country they are employed to protect. With such facts as these staring us in the face, it is obviously a farce to talk of the wel fare of the Oude people as having the slightest real reference to the case. How little attention is really paid to the feelings of the people of Oude is shown by the mode in which the an nexation is carried out. It is proclaimed, without consulting them, that the country is ours, and that every man who refuses to sub mit to us—or, in other words, who dares to uphold his own and his country's indepen dence—shall be seized as a rebel, and treated as such ; and an overwhelming body of troops is moved up to bear down all opposition by force. Nor was the threat unheeded, for no one can know better than the Governor- General how willingly they would resist, if they had the power. An act which must con sign, sooner or later, to beggary all the upper classes, and all the moneyed interest, and all dependent on them, and which destroys at a blow the title to every acre of land i❑ the kingdom, is not likely to be more popular in Oude than a similar revolution would he in England. The truth is, that Oude has been seized to gratify viceregal ambition, and to satisfy the unceasing Indian appetite for in creasing patronage and place; and the Indian journals, in a matter of this kind, of course support the interests of their subscribers and friends. These classes will profit by the an nexation, but it will profit none else. On the contrary, this barefaced violation of every principle of public faith will render our posi tion in Asia infinitely more difficult than it has been hitherto; and every difficulty in Asia adds to our public debt. As to the in come of Oude, it is now below three-quarters of a million. It will puzzle the Government by any process to double it ; and the civil and military charges, and state pensions, will always far exceed its amount. We flatter our selves that we know at least as much of Indian revenue as Lord DALHOUSIE does ; and we are quite content to have our sagacity tested by the result. U CONSOLIDATION OF THE ,STATUTE LAW. AFTER nine months of silence, the Statute-Law Consolidation Commissioners have issued a Report, valuable for the simplicity and prac tical nature of the recommendations which it embodies. These recommendations resolve themselves into two. First, the appointment of an officer or board to revise and improve current legislation. Second, the classifying of the public general statutes as they are annually printed. The two propositions are independent, and the adoption or rejection of the one has no necessary effect upon the other. For the first reform proposed reasons are assigned satisfactory to all whom experience has rendered familiar with the state of pre sent legislation. The Statute-book, say the Commissioners, is in a " confused and unsatis " factory state." The reasons of this confusion do not lie deep. The language in which Acts of Parliament are drawn is conventional, verbose, and obscure,—faults which custom sanctions, and even renders in some sort imperative. Again, the Member bringing in a Bill is too often unaware of the manner in which pre vious legislation has affected the subject with which he is dealing—whence his measure comes to have a force in repealing and alter ing former statutes of which he himself knows nothing. Thirdly, when some flagrant abuse cries out for a remedy, the common course is to apply the remedial process only to the evil pointed out, to patch the hole with a new act, not asking what fresh inconsistencies or diffi culties may be produced by such summary amendment. And lastly, however harmonious with itself, and complete in all its parts, a measure may be when it goes into committee, very different is usually its state on coming out. Clauses are struck off, other clauses put in; those who make the alterations are not responsible for the general effect; the pro moter, who is responsible, submits rather than fail wholly of his purpose. The Commis sioners, therefore, adopting ajlan proposed two years ago by Mr. GRAHAM WILLMORE in a pamphlet, and of which we believe the origin to be far more remote, recommend the ap pointment of a law officer to Parliament, with a staff of assistants, whose functions shall be to advise on the legal effect of bills referred to them, to point out what statutes are repealed or modified by, or left conflicting with, new legislation, and thus prospectively to indicate and point out the means of obviating such