The Sun. — London, England, 1859-02-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 15, 1859. other Roman Catholic dignitary, by the operation of which such salute was rendered to him while carrying or accom panying the Host in public procession ? Sir E. B. LYTTON said that there was no such order as that referred to in existence emanating from this coun try. There certainly was an order from Lord Hill what ; but there was nothing whatever in practic e further than was calculated to afford that protection to the Roman Ca tholic religion which was stipulated for by the treaty under the capitulation of Malta. REPRESENTATION OF SCOTLAND. Sir J. OGILVY asked the Lord Advocate whether he was prepared to bring in a b il l for amending the repre tation of the people of Scotland, and, if so, when ; and if he was prepared to bring in a bill this session for sheriff court accommodation in Scotland. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that a bill on the subject was under the consideration of the Government. (Hear, hear.) DUTY ON FIRE INSURANCE, &c. Mr. HADFIELD asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he intended top ropose measures this session for the reduction of the duty on fire insurances, and for the revi sion and amendment of the stamp acts, and the duties pay able under the same. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER begged the hon. member to postpone his question until he had made his financial statement. (A laugh.) GOVERNMENT ADVERTISEMENTS IN NEWS PAPERS.—THE RECENT APPOINTMENT OF A MASTER IN LUNACY. Mr. G CLIVE—I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Ex chequer whether it is the rule to insert Government adver tisements in those newspapers which enjoy the most exten sive circulation, or, if not, what other rule is adopted ? There is another question which I desire to ask ; and, in order to enable me to state the circumstances ou t of which it arises, it is necessary for me to move the adjournment of the house until Thursday next. We have all heard out of doors that it is proposed to confer the office of a master in lunacy, which has recently b ecome vacant, on a gentleman who is possessed of no legal experience, and who has been, I believe, onlynominally called to the bar. I need not take up the time of the house by comments on the importance of a matter of this kind. I have no wish to make an attack on the hon. gentleman in question, or on the noble and learned lord- - Sir H. WILLOUGIIBY—I rise to order. The hon. gentleman should make his motion for the adjournment of the house. The SPEAKER—The hon. gentleman has intimated his intention of concluding with a motion. Mr. CLIVE--It is, I hope, not necessary for mato disclaim any intention of giving annoyance in any quarter, but the appointment in question is of such a nature that it is neces sary that I should bring forward the subject at the earliest possible moment, in the hope that there will yet be time to have it cancelled. If the appointment of master in lunacyhas been definitely made, it might be more convenient if I defer red my motion on the subject, but I have m entioned it now in the hope that there is yet time to put a sto p to it, an d th at noble and learned lordwill be induced to reconsider the step he has taken. I need not recall to the attention of the house the numerous cases which occur in lunacy, in which persons have been subjected to improper and unjust imprisonment, and how often there have been cases of relations impTeperly dealing with persons suffering from aberration of mind. I myself have had some knowledge of such things as a com missioner in lunacy, and my experience has shown me that it is an office in the exercise of which in a variety of cases you are called not only to visit, but to judge of the state of mind of numerous pe rsons, and that such a duty requires much tact and knowledge of the subject matter with which you have to deal. Legislation on the subject of lunacy has been rife of late years, and that matter has been made the subject of a number of statutes which regulate the systems to be adopted in lunatic asylums, and every point connected with the treatment of lunatics. By the first recent act on the subject two commissioners in binary were appointed with a liberal salary, and on them devolved the duty of in quiry into the cases of alleged lunatics, and presiding when a jury was required. On the introduction of that act Lord Lyndhurst, then Lord Chancellor, obtained the consent of the Legislature to the appointment of the commissioners on the solemn assurance that they would be properly chosen. He said " that the remedy he proposed was the appoint ment of two permanent commissioners whose duties would extend over town and country, and who would be men of learning, ability, and distinction at the bar." (Hear.) I have reason to suppose that the gentlemen appointed to these offices after the passing of that act performed their duties in a manner to justify the statement of the noble and learned lord. By a subsequent act of the present reign the commissioners in lunacy were changed into masters, and on them devolved every duty which had been performed by the commissioners, and many of those that were formerly carried on by the masters in chancery. Their duties were onerous, but they had a salary of £2,000 a-year, with a re tiring pension of £1,200. (Hear.) Their duty consists not only of visiting asylums, but also of conducting inquisitions as to the state of mind of alleged lunatics, often without a jury, and to preside when a jury is put into requisition. It is their duty to moderate the speeches of counsel, and they preside in cases when the most eminent at the bar are employed before them. (Hear, hear.) They have to go through and examine evidence sometimes extend ing over eight or ten years, and to take up the history of a whole life and lay it before the jury —(hear, hear)—and on them often, if not always, depends the question of the free dom or liberty of many persons. In recent cases, such as that of Sir Henry Meux and Mr. Ruck, whose wife endeavoured to prove him a lunatic and failed, the question has been most important and difficult to decide. I will only allude to Mrs. Cumming's case,(in which the present Lord Chancellor held a brief. The question then is what are the qualifications which the men ought to possess in order to fulfil all these duties. What are the qualifications required for such duties, and which such a salary as is attached to the office ought to command. (Hear, hear.) We live in an age of examinations ; in every department of the public service examinations pre vail, and now, even preparatory to a call to the bar, a rigid examination is required. And yet this is the time chosen for the appointment of a gentleman who has been only nominally at the bar, who has never had the education of a lawyer or practised in the profession in his life. hear, and cheers.) We can understand the difficulty in which a person in the high position of the Lord Chancellor is placed. We can suppose a model Lord Chancellor as he appears in the distance to the vulgar mind, exercising all possible care and wisdom, and with a sense of what is due to public justice in his endeavours to fill such an office. Though it does not re quire an examination, we can imagine the Lord Chancellor subjecting the candidate to an examination in his own mind, and applying to him every test of his fitness for the office. He would naturally inquire whether the candidate had any knowledge of the subject matter with which he would have to deal, whether he had had any experience of the manage ment of ,public hospitals or asylums—(hear, hear)—any knowledge of law—(hear, hear)—any familiarit y with the law of evidence—(hear, hear)—and any practice in dealing with juries, so as to enable him to preside effectually over the tribunal to which he was to be appointed. (Hear, hear.) All this might be supposed to pasts through the mind of the Lord Chancellor, and although he might see before him a long row of Queen's counsel of high eminence in their profession, he might well feel it difficult to decide who among them could best fill such an office. What the existing Lord Chancellor has done lam almost afraid to say. The office in question has been conferred upon a gentleman of whom it must be said that unless he derives inspiration from his proximity to the woolsack, I know not what his qualifications are. (Hear, hear, and cheers) I have not the honour of the gentleman's acquaintance, but I am told that he is a most agreeable gentleman, but as a lawyer he is not fitted for such an office. The name of the gentlemanis Mr. William Francis Higgins, a near connection of the Lord Chancellor. The appointment has caused great dissatisfaction in the profes sion and out of doors. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) There may be yet time to cancel it, and I h o p e that will be done. If not, I must leave the house to judge if the appointment is such an one as ought to have been made. I am informed that the gentleman in question has passed his whole life as a clerk in the Colonial-office until September last, when he was appointed a Registrar in Bankruptcy, and not content with that, has now been promoted to the higher office to which I have called the attention of the house. I beg to ask the hon. gentleman, the Secretary for the Home De partment, whether or not Mr. William Francis Higgins has been appointed by the Lord Chancellor a master in lunacy ? (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I beg to move that the house do adjourn to Thursday next. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—The hon. gentleman has put on the paper a question, and by that means I have received notice of it, and I meant to have asked my hon. friend, the Secretary to the Tre asur y , to answer it. I know very little about the rules under which the Government advertisements are inserted in the news- Papers. I have never interfered, except to express an opi nion that a greater sum of the public money was expended n that way than was advisable. (Hear, hear.) My hon. friend has i)romised that he Will give an answer to that question. But the hon. gentleman has put another ques tion to me, of which he had not given notice--(hear)—and although he seems tohave con o s t ide a red that the circumstances e to which it relates are exi g e nt haractr , yet there was nothing to prevent t he e hon. g ge ntleman, if was unable to put a notice on the paper,atlea en st frman, h e a private notice of his intention—(hear)--to me, o e r ni to gi s m m g e friend of the Lord Chancellor, so that there e mi ht an opportunity of obtaining some acquainta nceg have b een e facts to which he has referred. (Hear.) It hasal wit h been the custom in parliament to give notice when que stions wy a r e n to be publicly asked; but when a personal question is raise d , I thought the rule was invariable that gentlemen, to which • ever side of the house they belong, should not m ake quirks of this kind without notice. (Heat.) I can only m in ; that the statement of the hon. gentleman may or may not be accurate ; but I know nothing about it. I know nothing of the gentleman or of the office to which the hon. member refers, but if the hon.. gentleman h a d given m could h ave made inquiries on the su bj ect. I can e only add that having made h is statem ent in an unusual mailer it will no doubt by some means or other—(hear)—reach the ears for which it is intended, and some reply will of course be made to it which I bust will be satisfactory to the hon. gentleman. Sir W. JOLLIFFE—Perhaps the house will allow me to answer the first question put by the hon. gentleman to my right hon. friend, and which I wish to answer publicly, as the matter to which it refers entails a great burthen on the department to which I belong. It is a rule . at the . Treasury to give to newspapers with the larges t . circulation the go- There is an increasing difficulty vernment advertisements. in the Treasury in this matter in consequence of the in creased number of newspapers and the decrease of the are not num- f them ber of those which are stamped. Many n- h stamped, and a still greater number are not remi tted tnreug the post. The rule at the Treasury is to revise the number w of papers on the government list for advertisements, and e have selected what we thought the best fo r the purpose without reference to politics—(hear)—and including several portions of what is called the cheap press. This is the rule, and I am anxious to state it publicly. Mr. CLIVE—I beg to give notice that I shall repeat my question on the subject of the appointment of a master in lunacy to-morrow. The motion for the adjournment of the house was . then withdrawn. HIGHWAYS BTLL. Thin bill was read a G second time, and ordered to be corn rattted. The second S ra g O POISONS BILL. ng of F this O bill was postponed till Fn'day. INDI AN FINANCE : —EAST INDIA LOAN. Lord STANLEY then rose and said—Sir, I have to en treat the patience and forbearance of the house while I lay before it a statement which, however important may be the facts to which it refers --and I believe hardly any facts can be more important with reference to the interests both of India and of England—and however it may be treated, will, I fear, be somewhat long and tedious. Still, of this I can assure hon. gentlemen, that I have endeavoured, and shall endeavour, to compress what I have to say within as nar row a compass as is consistent with the necessitie s o f c l ear an d full explanation. In the first instance, I think I had, better lay before you an outline of the financial state of In dia d ur ing the last two years as compared with the years m uddy preceding. The insurrection began, as we are ail aware, is tho month of May, 1857, At that tS financial year 1856-7 had just closed. What, then, was the condition of the finances of India at that date ? Taking the exchanges at 2s. to the rupee the revenue of 1856-7 was £33,303,000. The expenditure of that same year was £33,482,000; making a deficit of £179,000. B ut it must be noticed of this deficit—and the same remark applies to all the preceding years for some time back—that the :e had been laid out under the— general head of public wc rks a sum of £2,350,006. Now, in India, the term " pub' 'c works" is com prehensive, it includes public buildings, roads, and a great variety of items of expenditure, many of which yield no return in a direct form, but may be compared to that out lay which, in England, a landholder has to make upon his property. It is quite impossible to ascertain by any ac curate analysis how much of the Indian expenditure on public works is an outlay in the strict sense of the word, and how much may be regarded as aninvestment. But assuming on a rough estimate that credit may be taken for one-half as remunerative investments, we shall have for the year 1856.7 an apparent deficit of £179,000, but a real surplus— making the deduction. I have stated—of more than £1,200,000. That state of things, compared with the accounts of the previous years, shows a considerable improvement. Of the ten years preceding the year 1856-57, beginning with 1846- 47, the first three and the last three show a deficit, and only the intermediate four exhibit a surplus. If Ido not make myself intelligible, I hope that hon. gentlemen will ask for any explanation which may be needed. (Hear, hear.) The deficit of the year 1853-4 was £2,100,000 ; that of 1854-55 was £1,700,000; that of 1855-56 was exactly £1,000,000; while the deficit of 1856-57, as I have just stated, was £179,000. We have, therefore, this result, that at the out break of the mutiny the equilibrium between income and expenditure had been very nearly restored ; and that, as I must remind the house, with an average outlay of £2,000,000 per annum on works of improvement. We now come to consider what change has been produced in that state of things by the disturbances of the last two years. The accounts for the year 1857-58 have not yet been re ceived. They will shortly arrive, and will be laid before the house in the month of May next. We have, however, a sketch estimate for that year, 1857-58, which gives the revenue at £31,544,000, and the expenditure in India at £39,120,000, ma king an estimated deficit in India, which we may reckon with sufficient accuracy at £7,600,000. To that deficiency must be added an extra expenditure upon troops and stores in England, which nearly reaches £1,500,000. We have, therefore, for the year 1857-58 a total estimated deficit amounting in round numbers to as nearly as possible £9,000,000. I now proceed to the estimate for 1858-59, the financial year which will close on the 30th of April next. The revenue as estimated for that year is £33,016,000, and the expenditure, including home charges of all descriptions, is £45,629,000, making a deficit of £12,600,000. Add to that the deficit of the previous year, which was £9,000,000, and we have upon the two years since the mutiny began a total defficiency amounting to £21,600,000. The outlay upon public works during those two years was only £3,000,000, instead of £4,000,000, as it should have been according to the average of previous similar periods. The estimate of Indian expenditure for the year 1859-60 has not yet been received, and we have, therefore, only the comparatively small estimate for home charges, with which I shall deal more conveniently in a subsequent part of my statement. In the calculations which I have submitted to the house no ac count is taken of the compensation to be made for losses of private property in the disturbances. There is, as many hon. gentlemen are aware, a commission sitting in India to investigate that subject. I have applied officially to know when it is likely to report, and also, if possible, for an esti mate of the amount that will be required to carry out its recommendations ; but I have not as yet received any reply to that communication. The question is often put to those who are concerned in Indian administration in this coun try, " Upon what principle do you intend to deal with these claims for compensation ?" I wish it were in my power to give to that question a satisfactory reply. It is, however, quite impossible to lay down any general rule for dealing with these claims until their amount and their nature are better known than they are at present. The difficulty of the case is this, that you cannot, with any regard to justice, apply one rule to European claims and another to claims preferred by natives. There are many natives who have been engaged in the service, or who have taken the part of the Government, who have fought with us, and who have suffered loss by plunder in the same manner as Europeans have, and it is quite obvious that, whatever rule we lay down for dealing with those claims, no distinc tion can be drawn between the claims of native sufferers and those of European residents. (Hear, hear.) That is a circumstance which, of course, increases enormously both the amount of these claims and the dif ficulty of dealing with them. I regret that I can offer no explanation upon this subject except in these general terms. Against these claims for compensation there will, however, have to be set a considerable amount which will be derived from the forfeiture of land and pensions by those who have been leaders in the insurrection. lam sure the house will feel that it would be most inexpedient and most impolitic, even in our present financial position, to attempt to press these compensations for the sake of revenue. (Hear.) An amnesty has been declared, and we are bound by the spirit as well as by the letter of that amnesty. (Hear.) All the mercy ought to be shown which is consis tent with the strict demands of justice ; and it must also be borne in mind that, even from the property which may be legitimately placed in our hands, a large portion will pro bably have to be deducted to meet the just claims of our native allies who have stood by us in this emergency. (Hear, hear.) After sparing all who can put forward any reasonable claim to be spared, and recompensing all who can fairly claim recompense, I anticipate that there will remain in the hands of the Indian Government some, perhaps a considerable balance to meet the claims arising out of losses in the course of the mutiny. I propose now to examine as briefly as I can one or two of the principal items from which is derived the revenue of India. I need not tell the house that the chief source of income in India is the land revenue. In the retumfrom which I have taken the figures that I am about to read the land revenue is coupled with two other small taxes—the sayer and the abkara, or spirit duty—and with some small subsidies from native states. lam unable to separate these items, but the deduction to be made on those accounts will be but small. The figures which I shall submit to the house will show that the land revenue, with these small items thrown in, constitutes nearly 60 per cent., or three-fifths, of the whole of the financial resources of India. That land revenue has grown with the growth of our territorial possessions. At the commencement of the present century it amounted to £7,330,000. In the year 1810 it rose to £13,000,000. It then appears to have remained stationary until 1840, when it was £13,580,000. In 1850 it had risen to 17,395,000 ; and is 1856-57, the first year with which I am dealing, and that immediately preceding the mutiny, it had reached the amount of £19,080,000, being the largest amount which it has at any time realised. In 1857-58, the first year of the disturb ances, the land revenue fell to £16,671,000 ; in 1858-59 it rose again to £18,392,000. Now, sir, it must be observed cf this item of revenue, that it is by its very nature sus ceptible of only a slow and gradual rate of increase. In those parts of India, as in Bengal, where a perpetual set tlement exists, where the landowner is guaranteed against being at any future time called upon to pay more to the State than he contributes at present; it is obvious that there can be no increase of revenue from this source except in so far as new lands are brought into cultivation. The same state of things exists, though to a lesser degree, where permanent settlements—that is, settlements for long terms of years—have been introduced. Now, the tendency all over India at the present time is to favour long or per manent settlements, as affording a greater amount of se curity to the purchaser ; and we must, therefore, consider this branch of the revenue as being comparatively inelastic. The increase of which it is capable arises PrillPiPallY from two causes. One cause of increase, which has been very active in times past, but of which we may hope there will be no more just at present, is addition to the British terri tory, and consequent increase of the area over which the tax is levied. The other cause is the taking into cultiva tion of lands hitherto waste. That process is likely consi derably to increase as railways and other means of com munication open up the interior of the country--(hear, hear)—and we have, therefore, in its results, a probable source of great wealth at some future time, but one which no prudent financier can with any approach to certainty calculate upon becoming available within a short time. Next in importance to the land revenue is that derived from opium. The increase in the revenue derived from the opium monopoly is very remarkable. At the beginning of the century the revenue derived from opium was £372,000. In the year 1810 it had amounted to £935,000. In 1830 it was £1,500,000, and it remained in that state until 1840, when it was under £1,500,000. In 1850 it had risen to £3,558,000—an enormous increase, which was attributable to the new trade which had opened with China. In 1857 the opium revenue was £4,696,709. In 1857-8 it had risen to £6,443,706, being an increase of £1,800,000 in a year. In 1858-2 the revenue derived from this source had fallen to £5,195,191. It is obvious that opium is a source of revenue which varies with the season, with the demand that may happen to exist for the article, and with the plentifulness or scarcity of the crop. The house will see how large a revenuewu involved in the continuation of that trade, and financial resources the statements I have made how materally the h of India are affected by this source of revenu e . two separatear.) The house are all aware that the possession of this opium gromids monopoly has been objected to on One argument against it, which I confess I hav e always regarded as devoid of force, has been ou removed by the , n&nelisent made this evening, that it is the intention of th e trade in opium. (Rev.) r Government to legalise the argument against the cul ture of opium can ther e f ore bioitnion comes of th e cu l t i vat i on of op i um s ystem of importation into China,"upon the contraband pasedwpich has so long pre rom those who argue ivna pre vailed. favour. The of a other tota o p b r j o e h c i t in British India. I only mention t hisizo e n e for the thofisaarguGZriment really as considerations of pur pose of saying that, setting aside the opium culture in Bengal tKa l theory ethereypaeresteno twtihmate,tlberedguardty (Cheers.) I own that I have never heard a n favour of the M ' for might ur of ged in a me L aw in note epqruallohibyitiboen England. (Cheers.) Whatever may be the abuse of opium opium being a in India, it can hardly be g reater th an the abuse of s p iri ts is in this country. (Hear, hear.) So far from poison to those who use it, I believe it used habitually but moderately by large classes in India, and probably with out any serious injury to their health. (yet!r, he_ar.) There is, however, consequent upon the legalisation of the opium Chinese Go traffic with China, one consideratio n of which we should not lose sight, and that is the possibi lit y that the introduction of opium into China, may legalise vernment, having now abandoned their objeFtio.ntss toculture - in China itself. (Hear, hear.) In tha t case the revenue arising from opium cannot fail to be affected. (Hoar) I de not participate in the objections to the culture of opium India, but I confess it may be a question how far its culti vation ought to be kept as a monopoly in the hands of the Government. It is impossible to deny that upon a general considerations the principle of that monopoly is open to grave objections, and many of those who have considered this subject would be glad to see their way to the possibility acing away with tho Qom:mut monopol nan d Rubel" tuting for it a system of excise. (Hear.) I have been in with ty t t h h e a t G , a l o v t e h r n o u m g e h n t t h o e f I b n j e d e i t a w o onu d this justify s u b - j eo ec nim t ; rut c l ati m o us n some temporary sacrifice, I do not think it an object of such pressing necessity as to justify any permanent sacrifice of revenue. (Hear.) Taking the land revenue at about 60 per cent. of the whole revenue of India, and taking the large return of 1857-8, from opium, as 20 per cent. of the remaining revenue, we may flans, without any material in accuracy, consider the land revenue and opium as supply ing four-fifths of the whole of our Indian finance. The re venue from other sources I will review more briefly :—The salt duty and Customs taken together, _yielded m 1800, £1,442,000 ; in 1850, £3,538,000 ; in 1806-7, £4,443,798 ; in 1857-8, £3,785,782 ; and in 1858-9, £4,398,960. Miscel laneous items, including all not classed above, give :—ln 1800, £132,000; in 1850, £1,340,000; in 1856-7, £3,000,000; and in 1857-8, £2,966,091. Considering the great va riety of these sources of revenue the house will pardon me if I refer them for a more detailed explanation to the annual accounts for India, in which they will be found at length. (Hear, hear.) What I have said, however, shows in a brief summary what is the real and practical difficulty of Indian finance. First, you have the land revenue, which, except from two causes, an increase of territory and an improvement of culture, is comparatively inelastic compared with our taxes at home. Next you have the opium revenue, which, as I have shown, is somewhat fluctuating and precarious, since it depends not only upon the people and the seasons, but also upon circumstances connected with the Chinese Government, to which I have adverted. These two sources of revenue, as I have said, are nearly four-fifths of the whole. The general result is, that an increase of material prosperity in India does not produce upon the revenue the same immediate result as in England, where so many of your taxes rest upon the con suming power of the people. We all know here that if a tax is taken off the revenue feels the effect in a few months in an increase of the Excise and Customs' returns. In India, as I shall be able to show, although the amount of trade has enormously increased withinthe last 20 years, the effect upon the revenue has been relatively although not abso lutely small. (Hear, hear.) Under the native Governments which preceded ours many taxes existed that have never been abolished. There were taxes on sale and purchase, transit duties, poll taxes, and taxes upon almost every action of a man's life. In a majority of cases these taxes were open to the objection that they were unequal, vexatious, and arbitrary. But they probably had, altogether, an ad vantage that is wanting in our system—namely, that all classes paid more equally than they do at present. (Hear, hear.) Under British administration large classes in India have escaped taxation altogether. The opium revenue is paid by foreigners, the land revenue by the cultivators of the soil. But except the duty on salt, which is in effect a poll-tax, and a few Customs' duties, the mercantile classes in India pay absolutely nothing to the revenue. Various plans have been laid before the Government for imposing new taxes. I need not tell the house that it is a very difficult and delicate matter to attempt to impose a. new tax in England. But it is far more so in India than in England, because there is no doubt that changes in India are attended with danger, whether they are better or worse, and the acts of the Go vernment are viewed, as the acts of a foreign Government necessarily must be, with jealousy and suspicion. What is, perhaps, more important to consider is, that in India you have not the same means of ascertaining what the public feeling really is, and you have not the same facility for drawing back from rash and inconsiderate measures. (Hear.) A large increase of indirect taxes would check that development which we all hope to see in India ; while direct taxes, unless imposed with great care and judgment in a country so vast as India, are very costly to collect and liable to abuse in their collection. Taking these things into consideration, we have not ventured to direct the local Government in India by saying, "You shall lay on this or that new tax." We hOe thought it right rather to confer with them; and I h9le it may be possible, as the result of our deliberations , tb add considerably to our present in come ; but I feel I, cannot hold out the hope that with these additions the amount of Indian revenue will be such as to approach the present rate of expenditure. Perhaps the house will allow me to read upon this subject an extract from a financial despatch addressed to Lord Canning on the 19th of last month : " A graver duty is, however, imposed on your Govern ment by the uncertainty which exists as to the period when the extraordinary military expenditure caused by the mutiny will cease or be materially diminished ; and by the increase, from year to year, of the debt of India, which, if allowed to continue unchecked, cannot fail at an early period to prove injurious to your credit. I see no reason to doubt that the present revenue of India (of about 33 crores) ought, in ordinary times, and by the exercise of a proper and judicious economy in the several departments, civil as well as military, to be ample for all purposes of the Government, including a liberal outlay on works of improvement. But the question of the manner in which to meet the heavy disbursements of an unusual character, which, owing to late events, will have to be defrayed in each year for some years to come, both here and in India, is of a wholly distinct nature. To that question it is now my duty to call your earnest attention. It has often been asserted that the im position of new taxes, a task of difficulty in any country, is impracticable in India, where the revenue is principally derived from the land. Nevertheless, the exigencies of the present time are so emergent that I wish the subject to receive your mature consideration. It is manifestly ruinous to continue a system of loans to meet the general expendi ture of the State. I need hardly say that, in any measure which you may consider practicable, either for augmenting revenue or reducing charge, it is my anxious desire that no unnecessary check should be placed on the works of public improvement which were in progress previously to the late calamitous disturbance, and which, I am gratified to ob serve, the events of the mutiny have only partially sus pended. It should ever be borne in mind that in India, where - the main portion of the revenue is raised from the land, railways, canals, works of irrigation, and other under takings which tend to raise the market value of the produce of the soil, form the best foundation on which to hope for a permanent increase to the income of the State, and that this result can only be obtained by a corresponding improve ment in the condition of the mass of the people. , As no positive instructions as to the exact mode of taxation have yet been sent out, probably the house will not think it expedient that I should now discuss as to the greater or less expediency of one or other plan which may be chosen. (Hear, hear.) But if the state of India be that, with what ever increase of revenue which may be possible, we cannot hope to meet the present rate of expenditure, there is only one other resource to which we can look, and that is:dimi nished outlay. (Hear, hear.) There have appeared more recently greater ground for hopes of reduced expenditure, and I think I can show, by a few figures, that the present deficiency, enorteUus as it is, of £21,500,000, to which I have referred;44;*holly due to the extraordinary charges caused by the insurrection. (Hear.) The military expenses of 18,56-1857, which I take as an average year, as it did not vary very much for years before, were £11,546,000. The military expenses of 1857-1858, which was the first year of the mutiny, were £18,212,000. The military expenses of the year 1858-1859, which was the second year of the mutiny, and the last of which we have any return, were estimated at £22,598,000, thus showing an increase, in round numbers, of nearly £18,000,000 in those two years under the head of military expenses alone. But, in addition to that, there other losses which are distinctly traceable to the insurrection. In 1857-1858 there was a loss of revenue by non-collection of £3,600,000. In 1858-1859 there was a loss of revenue of £775,000, and there was a loss of treasures plundered £1,275,000, making together £5,650,000. I ask the house to listen to these figures because they show that to these two causes, the war expenses and the losses consequent upon the war, we may attribute a loss equal to £23,650,000. The deficit has only reached £21,600,000,and therefore £2,000,000 have been paid out of the ordinary revenue of India towards those extra charges. (Hear, hear.) I do not propose to ask the house to enter into the details of the civil expenses. Ido not believe that the civil ex penses have varied much of late years. They have not un dergone any revision since the chang e of Government, and it must be obvious to the house that whatever may therein be effected that change cannot for the moment be produc tive of any considerable saving. I do, however, look for ward to a considerable future reduction of the civil expendi ture, and it may be operated by a double process. One pro cess is that which for the last 20 years —ever since the estab lishment of the uncovenanted service—has been going on to a certain extent—namely, the substitution of cheap native agency for the comparatively costly agency of Europeans — (hear, hear)—and the other process, which has not been so often adverted to, but nevertheless it is worth while to bear in mind, is that as India is brought every year nearer to Eng land, as the inconveniences of distance and exile tend every year to diminish—we all know how much less they are than they were 30 years ago—probably Europeans will be willing to serve in India at a lower rate of salary than at present. It is often made a subject of complaint that the salaries of the covenanted service are fixed at a very high rate. Ido not think it necessary or possible to deny the fact. I have no doubt that it is one of the best "paid administrative ser vices in the world. (Hear.) Nor do I care to argue that it may or may not bear revision ; but this I do say, and I venture to dwell upon the fact as of some importance, that no one has attempted to deal with this question who has not been struck with the extreme difficulty of getting men of high attainments and `good position at home to under take the official labour in India. (Hear.) Even with ap pointments in this well-paid civil service thrown open for competition there has not been that eagerness to compete which might have been booked for—certainly not the same eagerness which there would have been if the appointments had been of infinitely smaller value at home. (Hear.) In one branch of the service, the medical establishment which is also open to competition, at the last examination the number of candidates hardly exceeded the number of ap pointments, there being, I believe, 39 places and 42 candi dates. lam quite sure, and all those who have anything to do with India will confirm that which I am prepared to lay down as a general rule—namely, that you can hardly get professional men who are doing well in this country to go to India, unless they have the inducement of a double re muneration at least. If a test were wanted of the accuracy of that view I should referto a service entirely unconnected with the Government—the service of the various railway companies established in India. Any one who regards the high civil salaries of India as intentionally extravagant had better look at the rate of remuneration being paid by these railway companies, and it will be found that the difference between the Indian and the English rates of remuneration is fully as great in that as in the Government service. (Hear, hear.) If we can hardly hope for any great augmentation of Indian revenue, nor any large reduction of Indian ex penditure, the problem of Indian finance is reduced to this—how to keep in future years the military expenditure within its former limits. (Hear, hear.) It is quite idle to enter into estimates or prospective cal culations on that subject. No plan can be framed which events occurring in India may not overthrow. But there are some general considerations which encourage in my mind the hope that when peace is again thoroughly re stored we shall be able to do in India with no larger amount of military force than was necessary before the outbreak. In the first place, at no former period has the military as cendancy of England been as complete as at the present time. Within the limits of India there is no Power which will quarrel with us. (Hear, hear.) Whether in India or this country, we have profited sufficiently by the experience of the past few years not to feel inclined to pursue that policy of annexation which has undoubtedly in a great de gree been the cause of the present disaster. (Cheers.) There is another consideration which may lead us to look forward to the prospective reduction of military expenses. The British army in India is now only one portion of the entire a b n ea n r y u o p f on E an ng y land. When telegraphic communication is co bef m o p r l e e:e :H w ea it r h .) th s e ot fa a c g i am li . ti , es m. which steam is giving every day, it is obvious that the distance is lessened, and that our whole military resources are in a position to be ,brought to which a l t ndi advert, Indian disturbance much more rapidly than of railway present is only Indi a itself. T w h ill e sys temgrmeaatshort communication to which I shall in time bring together the entir peninsula , , and the troops there will then be efficient in many quarters almost simul aitanweaoyuss l bo y. rn T e h i e n n, in a l g d ai , n iolo w w e lar hav g e e toapraeli o f m our dominions d a o n m d ini it oisusniont is m composedeconiolidaotfedproanvind incorporated c w o hi rpo ch ra h te a d un veha d rc e ll r y o h ur ad rule. time Within the last 20 years we h ave a dd ed the S • d to beco me co Punjab, cm e, 'egu, Nagore, and Oude, and it is obvious that a province newly acquired by force requires a much larger garrison to defend it than it is likely to require 20 or 30 years after wards. I entertain the hope that the present increase of mili tary expenditure will not be of a permanent character. That hope is founded upon the prospect which we have of peace and tranquillity, upon the greater facility with which we can bring our resources to bear, and upon the reduced amount of forces which will or ought to be required to keep in order those provinces which have become fairly consoli dated into our system of government. But the house will naturally wish to know what, according to the latest returns, is the present strength of our forces in India as compared with a recent year. On the Ist of January, 1857, the European troops in India were 45,522 ; by the last returns they were 91,590. The native troops on the Ist of January, 1857, were 232,224 ; by the last returns they.were 243,956. So that the European forces in India have been doubled, and the native troops, notwithstanding all that has taken place, have been of necessity rather augmented than diminished. But it is necessary to say that many thousands—l am not prepared to state the precise number—who appear as part of the native army are local levies, raised to meet the emer • gency of the moment, and should not be considered as form ing a portion of our permanent force in India. (Hear, hear.) I come now to an important branch of my subject—the present state of the Indian debt. I may mention, for the sake of being intelligible, that when I speak of the Indian debt, I include not only the home debt of India but all debts bearing interest for which the revenues of India are liable. It is common to hear of the rapid increase of the Indian debt, and perhaps the house may not be aware that, however great the increase of that debt absolutely con sidered may be, yet relatively—which is a fair way of test ing it—to the amount of the revenue upon which it is a charge, their has been up to the year 1856-7 no increase what ever since the beginning of the century. That can be shown by a few plain figures. In 1800 the debt was £16,600,000, and the revenue £9,200,000. In 1810 the debt was £29,200,000, and the revenue £16,600,000. In 1820 the debt was £37,000,000, and the revenue £21,300,000. In 1830 the debt was £45,000,000, and the revenue £29,900,000. In 1840 the debt was £33,800,000, and the revenue £19,500,000. That reduction of debt was due to the application of the commer cial assets of the Company. In 1850 the debt was £31,900,000 and the revenue £25,800,000 ; while in 1856-7 the debt was £55,000,000, and the revenue £33,300,000. The house will see that only once in all that series of years has the debt ex ceeded the income of two years. It was below the revenue of two years at the beginning of the century ; it was below it in 1856-7; and only at one period—l think in 1850—it had increased at a greater ratio than the revenue. It is re markable to see, generally speaking, how nearly the pro portions of the two remain the same. Since the late out break the state of affairs has become altered. The funded debt, including every liability of which up to the present time we are aware, is £74,500,000. Of that amount the home debt is £15,000,000, and there has been raised in India £59,500,000: The amount raised in India is held by natives in the proportion of two-fifths to three-fifths held by Euro peans. From the total amount of debt I have omitted a sum of £7,000,000, because, as no claim can be made upon it, we cannot consider it in any sense a charge:upon the revenue. I may advert here to a measure, sanctioned in the course of last year, for allowing the payment in England, by bills upon the Government of India, of the interest of the Indian debt. That measure was adopted at the instance of the Chamber of Commerce in Calcutta, and of mercantile bodies here. It was recommended to us in strong terms by the Government of India, on the ground that it would tend to increase the value of these securities. Now, when that measure is criticised it is common to say that it will have the effect of enabling the natives more readily to get rid of their liabilities, and inducing Europeans to take their place and that thus the Government of India will lose the hold which it at present possesses upon the interest and fidelity of native capitalists. I do not believe that, even as a matter of argument and theory, that criticism is well founded. Whatever brings the competition of Europeans into the native market necessarily has the effect of raising the gene ral credit of the Government, and therefore ofincreasing the value of its securities to the natives who hold them. (Hear, hear.) Nothing will induce natives to lend their money freely to the Government so much as seeing that Englishmen resident in this country have confidence in their own securities, and the contrary opinion would undoubtedly produce distrust in the native mind. (Hear.) But, to turn from theory to what has actually happened, we find that, though the time during which this measure has been in operation has been very limited, the proportion of native subscriptions, so far from diminishing, has rather increased. Between the 2d of June and the 21st of December last, a period of about seven months, the European subscriptions amounted to £3,229,000, and the native to £2,412,000, a good deal more than the general proportion which has hitherto existed— viz., two-fifths for natives to three-fifths for Europeans. (Hear, hear.) I may here mention the total amount of debt incurred by the Government 'of India since the let of May, 1857; in other words, since the out break of the mutiny. There has been raised in India by the 51 per cent. loan £8,712,000, the home bond debt has produced £3,105,000, and the debenture loans £7,997,000, giving a total of £19,814,000. Now, reverting from the pre sent to a period more remote, it is worth notice how mate rially in the course of the present century the credit of the Indian Government has improved. In 'lBOO, upon the comparatively small amount of debt which then existed, the Government had to pay 8i per cent. The average amount now paid upon the whole of the present debt is little more than 41 per cent. (Hear, hear.) It ought to be remembered, when we are considering the question of the future solvency of the Indian Government, that its debt of £74,500,000 has been incurred in what has been little else than one constant series of wars. (Hear, hear.) There have been a Mahratta campaign, a Nepaulese war, and a Burmese war, which alone cost £15,000,000. Then we had the Affghan expedition, wars in Scinde, the Pun jaub campaign, a second Burmese war, and now we have the present insurrection. I shall not go into the question how far all of these wars were inevitable ; but I say that when we compare the amount of liability incurred in India in consequence of that almost uninterrupted suc cession of wars with the financial difficulties of almost any European State, our only wonder will be, not that the In dian debt has reached its present amount, but that it is not a good deal larger. (Hear.) Let me now call attention to a topic which ought to be considered in connexion with this subject, the position of the English Exchequer in regard to Indian debt. lam aware that the uniform policy of the Parliament and the Government of this country has been to decline all responsibility in regard to the debt of India, which has been held to be a charge only on.the Indian Ex chequer. wear, 130.1.ing with tha present state of affairs, I may say at once that I am not going to recommend any change in that policy. (Cheers.) I know well the alarm which any such proposition would create, and I know the refusal which it would inevitably receive. (Hear, hear.) But this is a question which will recur again and again, and which will have to be considered in the future as well as in the present. Observing, then, that I do not speak now with any reference to practical action at present, I would ask the house seriously to consider how far, looking at the fact that more than £50,000,000 has been contributed by English capitalists, it would be morally possible for this country altogether to repudiate the Indian debt without shaking its own credit ? (Hear, hear.) I would likewise ask the house to bear in mind, that if ever the time should come when the established policy in this respect should undergo a change, and when a material guarantee should be given for these liabilities, that guarantee would operate to reduce the interest paid upon the Indian debt by not less than £750,000, or even £1,000,000, which, formed into a sinking fund, would go far to pay off the whole. At present India on the one hand is paying a great deal more in the way of interest than with the assistance of this country she need pay, and we on the other hand are apt to consider that as we have nothing to do with it the a moun t is indifferent to us, though after all it is a matter of doubt whether practically we are so entirely free from all responsibility. I will ask the house now to consider what is the amoun t o f burden to which the people of India and the people of England are subjected by their debts. You may take two tests by which to ascertain that. You may take first—and probably it is the fairest test—the ratio which the: interest paid bears to the total revenue. That interest in India is about £3,500,000 on an income of £33,000,000, or little more than 10 per cent. ; in England the proportion of interest on debt to the gross revenue is neaidv two-fifths, or 40 per cent. This comparison is taken, too, at a most unfavourable time, when England has been enjoying an almost unbroken peace of 45 years, whereas in India there has been nothing but a series of wars. Looking at it in another light—the pressure on the population—whilothe amount per bead on the 130,000,000 of people included in the area of ou r Indian taxation is not more than 14 5., in England it is £2B per head. Ido not mean at all to compare the material resources of the two countries, but looking to the future as well as the pre sent, wherever you have what y ou h ave i n I n di a , a fertile people, I say y ou have there the qt. (Hear, hear.) Therefore, when we are told of the comparative poverty of the Indian materials and riai sf an or in fu d t u ur st e ri p ou ro s speri people, it is a fairquestion to ask whether the continuance of that comparative poverty is necessary. (Hear, hear.) I wish now to show how far at the present time and for some time past the development of the material resources of India has proceeded, and I cannot but think that upon that subject the public mind is not well informed. (Hear, h ea r.) I take the last 20 years, beginning from 1837, and I aggr egate imports and exports f or th a t ti me , I fi n d that in the first period of five years ending divide them into periods of fi ve y ears eac h . T a ki ng the 1842, the aggregate im ports into India were £43,500,000 ; in the next period, end ing 1847, £62,500,000; in the next period, ending 1852, £69,500,00 0 ; and in the last period, ending 1857, £101,500,000. (Hear, hear.) That estimate is taken before the commencement of the insurrection, so that it cannot be affected by the import of increased sup plies for the large reinforcements of European troops which have lately been sent to that country. Taking next the aggregate exports from India, I find that they were in the five years ending 1842, £63,200,000; in the five years end ing 1847, £83,378,000; in the five years ending 1852, £91,000,000; ; and in the five years ending 1857 , £102,700,000. (Hear.) We have, therefore, these plain general results, that withi n the last 20 yearsthe exports from India have nearly doubled, and the imports into India have more than doubled. I have not been able to ascertain as exactly as I could have' wished the compara tive rate of increase in the exports and imports of the va rious European nations, but I believe I am not wrong in saying that the doubling of them in 20 years is a greater ratio than that of any European nation except England and France. (Hea r , h ear .) T a k e another indicati on o f the commercial progress of India—the tonnage of vessels en tered inwards and cleared outwards at the various ports. I find that the aggregate tonnage in the five years ending 1842 was 10,700,000 ; in the five years ending 1847 it was 12,700;000; in the five years ending 1852' it was nearly 16,000,000, and in the five years ending 1857 it was just 19,000,000, showing an increase of 19 to 10, or nearly double in the 20 years. (Hear, hear.) I take another test, not so general and comprehensive in cha racter, but selected because it bears ' upon a ques tion on which a great deal is said at present — the amount of cotton sent from India to England. In the five years ending 1842, the amount was 352,000,000 lb.; in the next five years, 358,000,0001 b. ; in the next five years, 494,000,0001 b. ; and in the five years ending 1857, 863,000,0001 b., showing an increase of export in that very item of cotton about which so many complaints are made — I am not complaining of them, for no doubt their results are very beneficial—of no less than sto 2. Taking a more limited and recent period, the annual average increase of imports in the last five years into the Bengal Presidency has been £956,000, and of exports £445 ; 000. During the last five years the annual average increase • f imports into the Bombay . Presidency has been £959,000; of exports £518,000. Taking the town of Calcutta alone, I find that the imports there were in 1852-3 £6,387,000, and in 1856-7 £13,959,000. The imports into the town of Bombay have increased from £7,000,000 in 1852-3 to £11,632,000 in 1856-7. Summing up this part of the case, and taking all the tests together. I find that the trade of one capital has more than doubled in five years, and that of the other increased by one-half. The cotton supply has increased at a ratio of 5 to 2, the tonnage and the exports have nearly doubled, and the imports have more than doubled. We are justified in saying, therefore, that the producing and mercantile interests of India have not been so entirely neglected as it has been sometimes the custom to assort. (Hear, hear.) From the que stion of p ast increase in trade, I com e now to consider what is to be done forlhe development of the future trade of India, and first of all the extent to whi c h and the system under which pub lie works are being carried ou in India, We are Often asked when we speak of , an average annual expenditure of £2,000,000 upon these works, what result have you to show? In some degree the figures which I have quoted will supply an answer to that question, but with regard to the much larger portion we are in the position of the cultivator at this period of the year—the seed is sown, but the crop is yet to come. The Government has done much itself in this respect, and it has also encouraged private efforts. The works Upon the largest scale, and upon which the largest expenditure has been incurred, are the railways. The length of lines sanctioned is 4,847 miles; the length in course of construc tion is 3,038 miles; and the length opened for traffic is 559 miles. In the course of the year, if our calculations are verified, there will be 747 additional miles opened ; in 1860, 279 miles more ; in 1861, 296 miles more ; that is to say, if these calculations are verified, which I have no reason to doubt, within three years from the present time more than 3,100 miles of railway will be open. I think that this state of things, showing as it does that for every mile, of railway open there are six miles under construction, justifies the statement which I made to the house The other lnight that we are now arrived just at that very point of time when the outlay on these works is the greatest, and the return upon them is the least (Hear, hear.) Now, let us see what is the amount of liability incurred by the Government of India on account of railways. In the first place, the land is given by the Government, and guarantees—usually at the rate of 5 per cent—are also given to companies in almost all cases, the exceptions being very few and to a trifling amount only. The total capital guaran teed is £39,731,000. Of that amount £19,221,000 has been paid up. We may say in round numbers, therefore, that the total amount of our liabilities for these guarantees is £40,000,000, and that one-half has been paid up; that the total amount of interest for which we shall become liable is £2,000,000, and that at present the interest paid is £1,000,000. But I do not believe that those liabilities can be regarded in any sense as burdens upon the Government of India. (Hear.) Setting aside entirely the enormous indirect advantages which will accrue to the Government from opening up the country, I believe it will be found that on the working of the lines themselves there will be rather a gain than otherwise. In this view I am fortified by Lord Dalhousie, the author of the railway system in India . , who has recorded his opinion that when once a line is finished the Government will pro bably not in any case be called upon to pay interest upon I any of these guarantees—that is to say, his estimate is that in every case the profit upon these lines will exceed 5 per cent. I have endeavoured to ascertain what materials we have for forming a conclusion upon the subject from the experience we have. Those materials as yet are very scant. In the Bengal Presidency 121 miles of railway, which are open from Calcutta to Raneegunge, pay 7 per cent. By the last returns the traffic upon that line has nearly doubled since 1856, and taking that into consideration—although no doubt it is a good deal due to the conveyance of troops and military stores—it bears out the opinion to which I have re ferred. In Bombay, upon 88 miles of railway which have been opened, the returns are 4t per cent. With respect to the Presidency of Madras I do not know what the returns are; but it is fair to bear in mind that we are not at present in a position to judge of what the receipts may ultimately be, because when only a small section of a line is finished, and it ends abruptly, perhaps in a jungle instead of having an im portant town for its terminus, we cannot expect that the traffic will be anything like what it will become when the line is finished from end to end and great inland markets are by its means connected with the coast. On the East In dian lines the cost of constructionlhas averaged £11,500 per mile, which is about one-third of the English average ; but then the land has cost them nothing. When this system of railway communication which is now being carried out shall be completed, we shall have four great arterial lines of rail way, opening up the whole of India. One from Kurrachee to Hyderabad will connect the Indus with the sea, opening up the Punjab and Central Asia to trade. Another will descend from Lahore, through the North-West Provinces, down to Calcutta, and on eastward to Dacca. A third, tra versing the centre of the continent, will link Calcutta with Bombay ; and a fourth will unite Madras and Bombay, and thus open up the entire south. (Hear, hear.) It is said that it is more important for the Governmentof India to complete the undertakings which they have commenced than to em bark in new ones. But upon new works something, though not much, has been done. Last July a branch line was sanctioned, connecting Bangalore with Madras. Bangalore is an important military station ; it stands on high table land ; the climate is healthy, and it opens large and attrac tive tracts to settlers. In November also a guarantee was given for the formation of a line from Calcutta to Matlah, a distance of only 25 miles, which will give to Calcutta a new port, and will effect a considerable saving in time in getting to the sea. Surveys also are being commenced for trunk lines through Oude and Rohilcund by the Oude Railway Company. A line from Coringa to Berar also has been projected, and is referred to the Government of India. It will open up the cotton districts, and the only objections to it are that it will be a competing line with the navigation of the Godavery, and that the district will be opened to the Bombay side by another line. I mention these because they are the principal works which have been brought under the consideration of the Government for some time back, and to show that what could .be done has been done to facilitate the advance of works already in pro gress. But any difficulty that there may be in that respect does not rest, I apprehend, with the Government, but with the companies, who do not always find it easy to obtain the necessary funds for carrying on their works. With regard to other public works, not railways, I will mention the most important lately sanctioned :—First, the Madras Irrigation Company has received a guarantee of 5 per cent. upon £1,000,000 ; second, at Madras a pier has been ordered at a cost of £103,000, which is to be completed in two and a half years • third, at Kurrachee works costing £140,000 are sanctioned for improving harbours, the period for complet ing which is spread over three or more years; fourth, plans have been directed to be prepared for improving the harbour of Sedashevaghur, south of Goa, and connecting it with the country inland ; fifth, a plan for rendering the Godavery navigable for a distance of 300 miles is referred to Madras ; and ; sixth, there has been a considerable outlay upon small steam cargo-barges and tugs for the navigation of the Ganges and Indus-15 miles in all. (Hear.) I do not mention smaller undertakings, which, though of local importance, are of no general interest ; but there are two plans which have been taken in hand by the Government which are of so im portant a character that I am bound to call attention to them. One is the establishment of telegraphic communica tion between this country' and India. After the failure of the experiment with the Atlantic cable it was impossible not to feel that the undertaking presented a greater amount of difficulty and a greater risk of failure than had been at first anticipated. But, whatever the difficulty or the risk of failure, still the object appeared to the Government to be one of so much importance, and the saving that would be effected in every way so great, that we thought it to be our duty to incur that expenditure. A guarantee of 4f per cent. upon a capital of £BOO,OOO was accordingly given, and operations were begun at once. lam told that the cable is nearly ready, and the promoters anti cipate that they will be able to lay it as far as Aden by June next. Beyond Aden, where the line touches the southern coast of Arabia, which is inhabited by wild tribes, there is more risk, and the difficulties are considered greater. We have, however, communicated with the Bom bay Government, and directed them to offer all the assist ance in their power. But we do not rely upon a single line. The Turkish Government have initiated a line of their own from Constantinople to Bussaret, and the Indian Govern ment on its own account, or some private company, will undertake the completion of that line on. to Kurrachee. In this way the risk of interruption will be less. The other scheme to which I have referred, and which has received the sanction of the Government, relates to the supply of civil engineers for the East India - service. Hitherto civil engineering in India has been carried en exclusively in one of two ways. Either military engineers—themselves not always conversant with civil duties—have been taken from their professional pursuits for that purpose, or engineers have been engaged and sent out from England, arriving in India, for the first time in their lives, and having there, owing to the difference of climate, of the supply of labour, and of material, a great deal to learn. It has been found ne cessary too to pay these gentlemen at exceedingly high rates, because they had to be renumerated both for the work they did and 'for the interruption of their professional career at home. Both these systems having been found defective, I propose new to appoint a special engineering service. The appointments will be competed for by young men of a cer tain age. They will be required to have passed through a certain practical training here, and they will be sent to India on a small salary to acquire further instruction in their duties. They will then be regularly taken into Go vernment employ for life, with pensions at the same rate, probably, as are given to other uncovenanted servants. I believe that the effect of this plan will be to produce a considerable saving of expense, and certainly an increase of efficiency in that corps. There is no doubt we shall be able to find work for them, and •ne advantage of the proposal, which will be shortly laid before the public, is that it will not involve on the part of the Government any permanent outlay ; it will not in volve the establishment of any college or institution, but it can be carried out almost at a moment's notice, without giving any one a ground of complaint or creating any per manent charge. lam not willing entirely to passfrom this subject of public works without alluding, however briefly, to the amount of return which has been obtained from some of a particular class of works—irrigation, which have been already completed in India. (Hear.) " The Coleroon aricah, opened in 1836-7, cost £21,700 ; the average net profit yearly for 16 years was £25,700 — about 120 per cent. The Godavey aricah was opened in 1852-53; cost £203,000; caused increase of revenue by £44,000 ; and in a year of drought saved produce to the value of £400,000." I do not mention the Jumna nor the Ganges Canals, which have been opened about a year and a half, the amount of profits from which is very great, but I am not in a position now to state it exactly. Taking the small examples, we have one canal in Scinde, the Fordwak, of eight miles in length, which cost £2,700, andpaid £5,000 in the first year. Another paid 58 per cent. of its cost the first year, and a third, which cost £3,600, produced £5,000 in the five twelve months. (Hear, hear.) Of course, in quoting these in stances, I do not mean to say that all works of irrigation will be equally productive. I have no doubt that in these works money may be thrown away if they are not done in a proper manner ; but these instances show—for they are not necessarily exceptional instances—that if the sites for such works be judiciously selected, and the works themselves be properly executed by engineers who understand the country, there is a possibility ofsome returning so enormous a profit as not only to cover their own cost but to repay the expenses of others which may be less successful. I feel that I am trespassing upon the patience of the house—(cheers)-- but I cannot avoid in a statement such as I am now making touching upon a question which is of hardly less interest and importance than that of public works, and which in an equal degree has a direct effect upon the financial resources of India—l mean the question of the tenure of land in India—(hear, hear) —as applied to colonisation by Euro peans and the occupation of land by natives of India. It is no light matter to attempt to deal, however, slightly, with the customs of more than 130,000,000 of people, those cus toms varying greatly in each . presidency, and often varying to some extent in each district. All those who have any acquaintance with Indian affairs are familiar with the great systems of land tenure which prevail in that country. Thero is the zeniindarysystem in Bengal, under which there is a class of large lanilholders with occupiers under them ; th e system in the North-West Provinces, under which the whole community is responsible to the Government for the tax ; and the ryotwar system in Madras, where the tax is collected from the individual landholders. To attempt to alter any one of these systems, to change one for another, would be, I believe, an impossibility, or at l eas t a f a t a l mis take. Whether they are good or bad, those systems of tenure exist—they are rooted in native habits and ideas, and what we have to do, I apprehend, is taking these tenures as they exist, or rather starting from them, to see what is the utmost amount of security which they admit of. There is one class of lands with which the State has power to deal, and is not hampered by any arrangeinents formerly existing. I mean lands which are unoccupied and are claimed by the Indian Government. I believe the house will feel that it is most important to open these lands to European colonisation. (Hear, hear.) The ex tent of them is more limited, I believe, than is generally supposed,, but in Assam, in the Sunderbuud, in the Neil gherries they do exist. Hitherto the custom of the Govern ment in India has been to give allotments of theso lands upon easy terms for long periods, but those periods have never extended to perpetuity. Who great object of those Europeans who apply for these lands we find to be to obtain the fee simple ; in fact, to possess them for ever. (Hear, hear.) They are willing to pay a sum down, but they wish to be free from future interference with their rights. That subject was considered here, and the desire was considered to 113e:reasonable, and, if the house will allow me, I will read an extract from a despatch which I will layupon the table, dated December 22 : "In such districts, where large tracts of unreclaimed land are to be found absolutely at the disposal of the State, rules have already been promulgated under which settlers can obtain allotments on very easy conditions and for long terms of years ; but in no case, I apprehend, extending to a grant in perpetuity. In such cases I desire that you will take such steps as may seem to you expedient for the pur. pose of permitting grantees to commute the annual pay ments stipulated for under the rules (after a specified period of rent-free occupancy) for a fixed sum per acre, to be paid on possession of the grant. In all other respects, and par ticularly in regard to the conditions which provide for a certain proportion of the land to be cleared and brought under cultivation within specified periods, the rules will of course remain unaltered." That is to say, what we propose is that the tenant, after certain improvements are made, may, upon the payment of a sum of money, become the absolute proprietor of the land. (Hear, hear.) No doubt a new system will require careful watching. There may be difficuties to overcome at first, but I am confident that such a compliance with what is the universal demand of Europeans who desire to settle in India will lead to a great increase in the application of British capital by giving greater permanence to their occu pations. (Hear.) In Bengal there exists a perpetual settle ment by which the landowners are free from all demands except the payment of an annual sum. It such cases it is quite clear that there can be no loss to the revenue of the State if these annual payments are commuted for a sum down, and that sum applied to the extinction of debt. The effect of the commutation will be to give to the landholders possession of the land for ever, free from all future charge. In any arrangement of this kind it will be necessary that existing sub-tenures and rights of all descriptions shall be treated with consideration. We have pointed out, in the despatch from which I have already quoted, to the Indian Government, the advantage of this, process. We have pointed out the policy of giving a feeling and position of ownership to those who are now, in some sense, tenants of the State. We have indicated the wisdom of giving them material interests in our rule, as by so doing we shall give to the native landowners a direct interest in the permanence of our rule—(hear)--because it is clear that where a commutation of this kind has taken place and a perpetual exemption from future taxation been given to the landholder, he cannot reasonably expect that such immu nity so acquired will be respected by any Government but that with which it has taken place. We have not gone so far as to instruct the Government of India to carry into effect this process of commutation, but we have indicated that our views were favourable to it, and invited their re specting it. In those parts where the settlement is not perpetual the difficulties in the way of a commutation of this kind are, although perhaps not insuperable, at least much greater. Where the settlement is perpetual the Government has no power to demand increased payments, and so there will be difficulty in commuting the annual payment ; but where the tenure is for 30 years, at the end of which the State has the power to increase the land-tax, we should, by allowing redemption, preclude ourselves from gaining by ,future improvements. There is one subject that was partially adverted to the other night which deserves mention upon this occasion, because it concerns land revenue—l mean the Enam inquiries going on in India. I need scarcely tell the house what Enam means. The word means bounty, and is a term applied to grants of land, or other exemptions from land-tax, made by our predecessors as acts of favour or rewards for good ser vice. These enams vary much as to the rights they con vey. Some are perpetual and unlimited'; others—the more numerous class—are limited to a family, and sometimes depend upon the performance of certain duties. By these grants a large portion of the land revenue was alienated; but, besides that which was so alienated, there have been many forgeries and frequent disputes of title, and thirty years ago an inquiry was instituted into the subject. At the time this inquiry was commenced much less was known by Europeans, official or unofficial, of the system of land tenures in India than is now known. The execution of the work was often intrusted to officers of no great expe rience, and I do not deny that many harsh and many un wise acts were done. (Hear, hear.) In Bombay, in 1843, a commission was appointed for the purpose of bringing these proceedings into something like a regular form, and of expediting them by special machinery. Charges were made last year before a committee of this house affecting the manner in which the objects of that commission had been carried out. Now, lam not about to enter into a vindica tion of the proceedings of the commission, but as those charges have been publicly-and extensively made against the members of the commission, and have no doubt made some impression on the public mind, I think it only right to state that Colonel Cowper, who is at the head of that commission, denies in the most unqualified terms many of the charges brought against him. He says that not merely in matters of opinion, on which every one, of course, has a right to form an opinion, but that in matters of fact the proceedings of the Bombay Commission have been very -greatly misrepresented. (Hear, hear.) I think it only right, as he is a public officer and has no other means of denying the charges, that this statement should be given to the public. (Hear, hear.) At the same time, I wish to guard myself against pronouncing any opinion on the question. The evidence is not yet before me, and until it be it is im possible that I should do more than make the statement which I have now made. I believe it has been said that steps have been recently taken in this country to revise the proceedings of the Bombay Commission. Now, that is not the case. No instructions have been sent out from home upon that subject, and no report has yet reached us. But I believe it is true that steps are now being taken to arrange something in the nature of a compromise between the Go vernment and the holders of these"enams," by which the title to the lands will be confirmed upon the payment of a moderate yearly sum. I have received this, as I wish the house to receive it, in an unofficial form ; and, therefore, I cannot speak positively upon the matter, but I believe the statement to be true. Now I come to the case of Madras. Complaints were made against the late Court of Directors with respect to the despatch sent out by them to institute an inquiry in the Presidency of Madras, but I submit that for that despateh I am as responsible as the late Court of Directors. I stated to the house the other night that on the appointment of Sir Charles Trevelyan as Governor of Madras the Government thought it right to inform him that the inquirywould be suspended,in order that he might have an opportunity of dealing with the subjects of inquiry as he thought best. I may now mention that I have his authority for saying, that when his appointment took place I offered to him, if ho thought the inquiry was unjust, either to suspend it or to put an end to it altogether. (Hear, hear.) No man in India, I believe, understands better than Sir C. Trevelyan this complex subject of land tenures. (Hear.) He was one of the earliest of those who were engaged in inquiring into the subject. I believe the inquiry can be placed in no better hantls. Sir C. Trevelyan without hesitation and without delay gave his opinion that the inquiry ought to go on, but he said that care must be taken to guard it from the abuses which have oc curred in former cases. He believes that to put an end to it would be a mistake, and that if properly con ducted it would be the means of producing great benefit to the people, and would give additional security to private individuals. (Hear, hear.) I believe that there has been a good deal of misrepresentation of the motives which have led to setting on foot an inquiry of this kind. The popular notion is that the only object is to increase the revenue by seizing the property of any man who happens to have a flaw in his title. Now, the real fact is that the main object of this inquiry is, not to improve the revenue—not to disturb titles, but, on the contrary, to confirm them, whereby the value of the land will be greatly enhanced. Every land owner, as matters now are, is liable to have his title ques tioned upon succession, and the value of his holding is thereby depreciated. Our object is to give him what in this country would be called a Parliamentary title—to give him a title as to which no question or controversy can hereafter arise. Further, a revenue survey and assessment of the whole :presidency is at this 'lament in progress, and until that has baen completed we cannot assess, as we know not which land is free from assessment. What are you to do in such a case ? If you postpone the survey you postpone the period at which fixed assessments are levied. You merely increase the difficulty by that postponement. Of course it is easy to say you ought to confirm all the titles of all the lands which are in" enam;" but obviously to confirm indis criminately every title which anybody might claim as being an " enani" would be to hold out a premium to fraud. I have heard of a paper being brought to a resumption officer in the course of his inquiries by a person who represented that it was a title to land which had been given by the King of Delhi 200 years ago; but on examining that paper it was found that it bore the mark of that very year, and was, in fact, not six months old. (Hear, and laughter.) How many frauds of that kind might be attempted if the suggestion to which I have alluded were adopted. But, if you want to confirm the titles justly and not indiscriminately, you must inquire in some form or another. The real question is what pre cautions should be taken against arbitraryproceedings. That is a question which has been deeply considered, and one of the first objects of the Governor ofeMadras will be to report upon the best manner of dealing with it. I apprehend that the general principle to be adopted should be this—to re spect absolutely undisturbed succession for a certain period of In the next place, not in any case as a rule totally -to resume any " enam," even where the title is found to have been originally acquired by fraud, unless the holder has been a party to that fraud. Of course, where the holder has been a party to that fraud he does not deserve any con sideration, or command any sympathy. Where the title is invalid not by any acts of the holder, that fact would pro bably form the natural basis for a compromise between the holder and the Government. On the condition of a mode rate payment ho could receive what would be in future a title which could not be disturbed. Lastly, there is a ques tion which will have to be considered necessarily rather in India than here. lam told that scarcely any of these "enam" tenures are unconditional holdings. The great majority are limited tenures—that is to say, they are held subject to a contingent remainder to the Government in certain cases, usually in case of failure of heirs male. That ' sort of reversional claim is of very little value to the Go vernment, but at the same time it is a great annoyance and a source of great discontent to the holders. (Hear, hear.) I behave it will be in our power to confer great benefit on the holders of these "enams" if these claims, so comparatively worthless to us, and so annoying to them, can be commuted for money. There is only one other subject on the question of land tenures on which I will touch briefly. The house is possibly aware that great dissatisfaction has been produced in many parts of India by the manner in which estates have been sold in conse quence of decrees of the Civil Court. The process, I believe, is generally this :—An estate is there divided among all the children, or is held jointly by all of them. By that process naturally a poorer class arises. They , aim at keeping up appearances ; they become encum bered, they borrow at an enorm•us rate of interest ; then comes a suit, and the estate is sold. The old proprietors often in such cases become tenants, and thus occupying a subordinate position among the people, they cause discon tent. It frequently happens that the new owner is a stranc , er, who does not command the sympathy of the people. Great disturbances frequently arise on account of the new owner being driven out by the people, who are attached to their old chiefs. In the late disturbances they gave no help to the Government. Now, strictly speaking, there is nothing in this change of proprietors beyond the or dinary process by which lands pass from those who are poor to those who can buy ; but this cannot be regarded entirely as'a question of political economy. There• is no doubt' that large and rapid changes have been extremely un popular, and thereis no doubt that they have weakened the authority of th — e British Government. We have there fore recommended the Government of India to consider whether any restriction can be placed on this process. Two methods have been suggested —one, that of limiting the amount for which sale's should take place, the other of em powering the persons against whom decrees for sale have been made to appeal from the subordinate to a higher court. This is delicate matter to deal with. Can it be said that on principle it is wrong to permit a transfer from an encum bered proprietor to a wealthy purchaser.? But matters of this kind are not entirely questions of strict political eco nomy; we are h9tlAcl to consult also the national feelings and habits of the people, though any moderate check on the practice of encumbering estates, with the result of their being sold Albs likely to be useful. Reverting now to the actual fmandE position of India, it is impossible to conceal from ourselves the fact that for sometime past a large defi cit has existed. In the ordinary state of things we re ceived funds from India by drawing bills thence for the use of the Home Government in England. From that ex pedient we are now cut off. We cannot draw on the Go vernment of India, as it requires all its revenue for its own necesssities. The Indian Government is, in fact, a borrower ; it has a five per cent. loan now open and all disbursements, therefore, must be provided for at home. We do not know whether the process may not be reversed, and whether the 'lndian Government may not draw on us. Indeed, at the end of 1857, the Government of India did draw for £1,000,00 0 , which was shipped from this country in bullion. We have no reason'to expect that this will recur; but, from the un certainty of the state of affairs, it is right to have a margin above actual requirements. Now, what are the disburse ments in England on account of India ? The estimate of their amount from May 1, 1859, to April 30, 1860, is £6,151,680. It has been the practice of late years always to have in hand a cash balance of £1,000,000; the total re quisition, therefore, is £7,154680. The details of this sum are these : —For dividends and interest, £1,278,449 ; Par ments on account of troops and store, postal arrangements , &c., £2,463,671; for civil service annuities, absentee allow ances, furlough and retired pay, and advances to the Pro vident Funds, Civil and Military, £1,439,480 ; for bills of exchange, remittances, and miscellaneous, £263,400 ; for charges of home establishment, civil, military, and marine pensions, • outfits, and recruiting charges, £704,680. To meet these items of expenditure our assets are, a cash balance on the Ist ofMay, 1859, estimated at £78, 961 ; Ex chequer-bills and bonds in hand, £1,598,900; bills of ex change on India, £36,000; remittances from India on ac count of supplies through the Lords of tjie Treasury, £60,000; the balance left deficient is £5,377,819. Con sidering that the deficiency is of this amount, and con sidering also the possibility, though I trust it is only a bare possibility, of our being called on for some time to make good the requirements of the Indian Administration , I hope the Government will not be considsred unreasonable in asking this house to sanction a loan of £7,000,0 00 . (Hear, hear.) In respect to this amount, we propose to follow the precedent of the loan we raised last year. The sum will be raised on bonds or debentures secured on the revenues of India alone. (Hear, hear.) I think that no other than the Indian revenue should be made liable liable for a loan like this ; and I think also, though there has been a deficiency in that revenue for some time pasts that we have reason to hope it will not be necessary to make an application for another similar loan in this country. (Hear, hear.) On the subject of the Indian re venue alone being made the security for the loan I ad dressed a despatch to the Government of India on the 19th of o Tanuary last, a passage from which I will read : " While the extraordinary crisis through which you have passed has fully justified the resort to extraordinary mea sures for raising the requisite funds to meet the emergent military expenses which had suddenly and unexpectedly to be incurred, at a time when the revenue was so suddenly - and 'unexpectedly diminished, I must impress upon your Government the great importance, on the re-settlement of India, of your again, as in time past, depending solely on your local resources for the ways and means required for the conduct of the Indian Government, both he re and in India. Every effort should be made so to provide for the wants of India that the loan for which her Majesty's Go vernment is about to obtain Parliamentary sanction may be the last required to be raised here." I have now endeavoured—l well know how imperfectly -- (cheers)—l know well also at what length—(cheers) — te lay before the house what is the actual state of the Indian finances, and what are the principal sources of Indian revenue ; the Indian debt, past and present ; and the actual condition of Indian trade. I have also attempted to indi cate the means by which that trade may hereafter be de veloped and increased. If I have succeeded in conveyin; to the house the impression that exists in my own mind 2. 1 should say that the present state of India is undoubtedly one that will require the greatest vigilance and activity on the part of its administration; but I do not think that the state of affairs gives any cause for despondency. (Hear, hear) I do not deny that the present embarassments are grave ; will not say that they appear quite ended ; but they are not greater than an interval of peace and good Government may retrieve ; and I think I have succeeded in showing that the permanent burden imposed is really light, compared with the permanent resources which may be developed hereafter. (Hear.) A great deal has been done, and is still doing, to open India to the energy and enterprise of Europe. The distance between them is lessened, and the interest taken at home in Oriental affairs is. increasing. And though it would be too much to ask the house to undertake a con tinuouse and minute supervision of the Indian Administra tion, yet its general supervision will be much greater in degree than it was in former years. That greater attention, I believe, will have a good result ; it will do much to remove existing abuses and to stimulate improvements. I believe the changes effected will impress the minds of Englishmen with the fact that now, more than at any former period, they have the fullest scope for the highest destiny of their race. I believe these changes will call forth more strongly than ever those characteristic qualities of our countrymet their practical sagacity and administrative energy, which through all the records of our national existence have always controlled fortune and commanded success. The noble lord was loudly cheered as he resumed his seat. Al there were some cries of " Move, move," he rose again, ana begged, instead of the motion on the paper, to give notice he should to-morrow (this day) move that the house go into committee, when he would submit resolutions to en able the Secretary of State for India to raise a loan for the service of that Government. Sir C. WOOD suggested that the debate be taken in the committee. Sir E. PERRY asked for certain financial returns, and pointed out a considerable discrepancy which:existed between the noble lord's statement of the revenue for the years 1856-7, and the statement of it in the returns already printed. According to the noble lord, the revenue for the year in question was about 33 million pounds odd, and the expenditure was about the same; whereas, according to the papers on the table, the revenue for that year was only £29,500,000. Lord STANLEY said he had obtained the figures he had quoted from the accounts he found at the India-house. As he had already stated, he had taken the rate of exchange at 2s. the rupee, whereas the papers on the table assumed it to be worth only ls. 101 d. Col. SYKES had no doubt that the noble lord would produce in committee the figures on which he had founded his statement. The discrepancy did not strike him (the gallant colonel) as amounting to much. (Hear, hear.) Mr. KINNAIRD asked whether the financial difficulties of India had prevented those reforms in the police froze being carried out which had been promised, and which would be of so much importance to the well-being of the ryots in Bengal ? Lord STANLEY said that a large scheme of police re form had been sent home, and was under consideration. Mr. V. SMITH . urged the impossibility of discussing Indian finance until the house had before it the documents referred to by the noble lord. Mr. U. J. BAILLIE said the discrepancy which had been mentioned had no doubt arisen partly from the differ ence of the value assigned to the rupee, and partly from the fact that the papers already before the house were merely an estimate. The statement which the noble lord had now made might, however, be relied on as perfectly correct. (Cheers.) Lord J. RUSSELL said that it would be both inconveni ent and difficult to proceed with the discussion until the house was in possession of the documents which had been alluded to. It might, however, be better to allow the bill to be brought in to-morrow, and to take the debate on the second reading. (Hear, hear.) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER had no doubt the discrepancy which had been pointed out would be easily accounted for when they went into the details of the question. He quite agreed with the noble lord that the house ought not to be called upon to come to any sudden decision upon the facts which his noble friend had stated with so much comprehension and lucidity. He should, therefore, propose that the committee should be taken on Friday. It was then resolved that the house should go into com mittee on Friday next. PIERS AND HARBOURS. Mr. PAULL moved for leave to, bring in a bill to encou rage and facilitate the erection of piers and harbours ill Great Britain and Ireland. The hon. gentleman explained that with some alterations and improvements the measure was substantially identical with one he had brought in last session. Lord LOVAINE said he did not intend to offer the bill any objection; but ho thought it right to say that the Government proposed to bring in a measure which would probably answer all the objects that the hon. gentlemen had in view. Leave was given to bring in the bill, and The house adjourned at a quarter to nine. [ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Ointment and Pills.- - 1, Asthma.—No person can w it ness an a tt ac k o f, as th ma , the I` gasping of the invalid, the wheezing, the restlessness, and 01 the painful appearance of immediate suffocation, without feeling strongly th e necess it y o f procur i ng th e sufferer as f speedy relief as possible. In the worst attacks Holloway's remedies, when properly used, never fail in affording relief; but the ointment, diligently rubbed on the chest and back twice a-day, invariably diminishes the frequency of the paroxysms, and ultimately repels them altogether. One asthmatic, in gratitude, called them " Heaven's gifts." It is wonderful to witness the power possessed by Holloway's medicines in relaxing the tightened chest, and giving com posure to the anxious countenance, and bright crimson to the leaden lips. BIRTHS. DACRES.--On the 12th inst., at Bath, the wife of Rear' Admiral Dacres, df a daughter. FiTzßoY.—On the 9th inst., at Stratton Strawless, Nor folk, the wife of Lieut.-Col. H. Fitzßoy, of a daughter. NEWPORT.—On the 12th in.st., at Wilton-crescent, the Viscountess Newport, of a daughter. SUTTIE.—OR the 11th inst., at Maines House, Berwick shire, the Lady Susan Grant Suttie, of a daughter. MARRIAGES of CURTIS—MASTER.-01/ the 10th inst., at the parish - Almondsbury, Wm. Edmund Curtis, Esq., late of tho Royal Dragoons, eldest son of Sir Wm. Curtis, Bart., of Caynham-court, Ludlow, to A r i ana E m i ly, daughter of Col. Master, oflinole-park, Gloucestershire. JETTERsoN—SWAIN.---On the 12th inst., at St. Pancras, Church, William Jefferson, E sq ., o f Jarrow, county 01 Durham, to Elizabeth Charlotte Janetta, daughter of Major W. W. Swain, of Oakley-square, N.W. DEATHS. BINDLEY.—On the 10th inst., at Brighton, at the residence of Sir Thomas B. Lennard, Bart., Charles Bindley, Esq.' aged 63. • BOUROUIER.—On the 12th inst., at Buxton Vicarage, Nor' folk, Lieut.-General James Claud Bourchier, Col. of, the 3d Dragoon Guards, aged 79. , - CALDWELL.—On the 11th inst., suddenly, Chas. Andrew Caldwell, Esq., of Boveridge-park, Cranbourne, Dorset, and 3, Audley-square, London. HICKMAN.—On the 10th inst., Mr. E. Hickman, of 4,York Cottages, Old Brompton, aged 68. MACAULAY.—On the 27th ult., at Toronto, Canada, Geo. Havter Macaulay, second son of the late Colonel the lion. J. Macaulay. MASON.—At Newport, Isle of Wight, Fanny, the wife 0f Henry Blackwood Mason, Esq., of the Custom-hous e, London. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG' of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 112 i Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the coiintY ° Middlesex ) Tuesday, February 150859, The: Ineedl Fi( Wedne sqi Thiirs bal /'/Itltty &qua] E _w. b Iteacili Ach l -- Qettts, 4 OR] tstpd Ja ntug %i ! . n3 01, valgaiti - a Pt ai Ja 11leg Sir Joh ~ Gent], 4e/ v , t qe 70 81 al O a I Asti T o th ] ,