The Press.
London, England, 1855-12-22 00:00:00

PEGU.

Os the occasion of our last quarrel with
Burmah there were three sufficient modes
open to us of obtaining redress ; one the
blockade of Rangoon, another the bombard-
ment of it, and the third the seizure and re-
tention of it until our demands on the Bur-
mese Court had been fully satisfied. Any one
of these three methods would have answered
our purpose as vindicating the national honour
and insuring a prompt compliance with our
behests. It suited the Indian Government,
however, to act otherwise. Pegu was sup-
posed to be a rich, and fertile, and thickly
peopled country, and the possession of it
was thought calculated to bring us enormous
wealth. There were not wanting men at the
time who exposed the fallacy, but the vision
was an agreeable one, and the conquest of the
province was forthwith made. The value of
the teak forests was descanted on ; rice, it
was said, might be grown in sufficient abun-
dance to supply the wants of every nation ,
and, finally, Rangoon was to be a vast centre

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of commerce for the Eastern world. Expe-
rience has shown how baseless was the fabric
of these dreams. The teak forests are
neglected, as leaving no profit after paying
for the transport of the wood, the cutting, &c. ;
the rice-fields that were to be are still in their
original state of uncultivated swamps ; instead
of exporting rice from Pegu, we are obliged to
import it in large quantities for the use of our
troops, and to prevent an actual famine in the
land ; and the commerce of the port of Rangoon
is even still more limited, if the supplies for our
army be left out of account, than it was under
the Burmese rule before the war began. The
revenues of the province are insufficient even
to pay what may be called the Civil charges,
and the whole naval and military cost of the
occupation goes to swell our annual deficit and
increase the public debt.
The Indian organ of the Government, in
accounting for these results, lays the blame
on the want of population in Pegu, and pro-
poses a method by which the occupation of
the province may in future be ma le remunera-
tive. The population of the province was, it
appears, estimated in the outset at above four
millions, but a census lately made by us fixes
it at twelve hundred thousand souls. Either
then, it is said, the estimate was absurdly
exaggerated by our officials in the first in-
stance, or three millions of people have died
since the commencement of the occupation,
or emigrated from the districts under us into
those still in the possession of the Burmese
King. In any case, the possible causes thus
assigned by the official journal for this extra-
ordinary decrease afford a sufficient oom,
mentary on the supposed sagacity of our
officers, the excellence of our administration,
and the popular character of our rule. To
which of the three the deficiency in the popu-
lation is really ascribable, it does not pretend
to determine ; but the remedy it proposes is
an importation of labouring families from
Bengal on an enormous scale. Bengal. it is
said, overflows with people, while in Pegu the
numbers are deficient. The Government,
therefore, it tells us, has only to transport
three millions of the inhabitants of the former
country to the latter, when the swamps will
he changed into rice-fields, and the annual
deficit removed. Those who are not aware of
the sanguine views, the mania, one may call it,
of the present Indian Government, in respect
to the riches derivable from annexations of
every kind, may suppose that in making this
statement we are perpetrating an indifferent
joke at that Government's expense ; but the
fact is as we give it, and the importation of
three millions of our subjects from Bengal is
to the official mind the remedy for the now
admitted poverty of Pegu.
Of course it were needless for us to combat
a plan which must bear impossibility on the
face of it to the eye of every practical man.
Supposing that three million Bengalees were
willing to go to Pegu, we should have to find
transport for them, which, at the lowest esti-
mate, would be twelve million tons. This
would require twelve thousand ships of a
thousand tons burden to supply it, or twenty
thousand of such as ordinarily navigate the
Eastern seas. Twelve millions sterling would
be the lowest sum that would have to be paid
as freight, and, reckoning five pounds a head
for inland conveyance to and from the ports of
embarkation and landing, and for outfit, the
cost under this head would be fifteen millions
more. An equal sum would have to be given
to supply food for the first year in the new
locality till the time of the harvest came round,
and the coat for bullocks, seed, and agricul-
tural implements would come to very nearly
the same amount, it being perfectly clear that
the immigrants could do little for the agrieul
ture of Pegu without these aids. Fifty-seven
millions sterling is, therefore, about the sum
that would be required, according to this new
Government theory, to be laid out upon Per
in order to procure the realisation of its
original dreams! The philosopher of Laputa
had a plan for extracting sunbeams out of
cucumbers. Why not reverse the project. get
cucumbers out of sunbeams, and so turn to
golden account the ever-burning rays of our
Indian sun ? The plan may not at first sight
appear a very promising one for arriving at
national wealth ; but we can assure the Indian

1105

Government that it is likely to prove equally
successful with that laid down by its organ in
India for obtaining a remunerative revenue
from tho swamps and jungles of Pegu.

ENGLISH WARS.

WAh has its littleness as well as its greatness

—its dirty side as well as its bright one ; and
with this inequality between them—that its
virtues are of necessity confined to the sub-
ordinate actors, and its vices to those in autho-

rity. Hence it is that the gallantry of soldiers
and generals has been so often rendered use-
less by the selfishness of statesmen and the
infatuation of kings. As the struggle pro-
ceeds, new designs are grafted upon old ones,
Ad fresh views of conquest continually

adopted, till its original features become nearly
invisible. National animosities are sharpened ;

particular interests become inwoven with
general ; lust of territory is engendered; and
unattainable aggrandisements float before the
eyes of the victors. Of this truth our old
continental wars will furnish many striking

examples. Begun very frequently from the
best. of motives, and prosecuted sometimes
with remarkable vigour, in their results they
were commonly failures; and this, simply be-
cause, like raw gamesters, we never knew
when to leave off, and either could not or would
not remember that while the scope of the
contest was thus indefinitely enlarged, our
means of sustaining it remained exactly the

came.
The war of the Grand Alliance was under-
taken to prevent the union of the Crowns of
France and Spain, and to secure the latter to
the Archduke CHARLES of Austria ; and this ou
the simple and intelligible ground that the
junction of those two powerful kingdoms would
endanger the liberties of Europe. But mark
the course of events. The Allies were at first
victorious everywhere, and the results were
soeedily conspicuous in the proposals for peace
submitted by Louis to their consideration as
early as 1706. They were rejected, and again
proposed, at the well known congress of
.Gertruydenberg, in 1709. Louis consented
to resign Spain, the Indies, and the Nether-
lands, on condition that PHILIP should possess
the Crown of either Na:;les or Sardinia. At
this time we must remember that PHILIPS an-
tagonist, the Archduke, had become heir pre-
sumptive to the empire, and that the Emperor
was in failing health. Even MARLBOROUGH
himself admitted that such terms were accep-
table; but they were again rejected. In 1711
JOSEPFI I. died, and CHARLES became Emperor,
yet the war was still continued, though no
shadow of an excuse remained. And now the
Allies began to experience the evil results of
their late obstinacy. Far from renouncing his
&aim to the Spanish Crown, the new Emperor
clung to it with more tenacity than ever.
England and Holland were in a hopeless di-
lemma. If they gave their support to the only
other eligible candidate, the Duke of SAVOY,
they arrayed against themselves the united
forces of Spain, France, and Austria. If they
continued in the interest of the latter, they
were stultifying their own conduct, by per-
mitting the uniGn oftwo first-class Powers, and
protracting the war for the sake of the very
object it had been undertaken to prevent.
Yet, this is what they actually did,—England,
indeed, for a shorter period than the rest,
though, dating from the Congress of Creamy-
denberg, for more than two years; but the
Austrians and Dutch for nearly five. With what
result ? CHARLES lost the Crown which five
years before lie might have worn, and Louis
regained many of the advantages which five
years before ho had lost. Yet Englishmen
have been blamed for wishing to terminate this
ridiculous contest. As long as the war had
been confined to its original object, this coun-
try had been the life and soul of it; but as
loon as it was changed to a war of extermina
tion against Louis, the case became totally
different, and the scheme, as we have called
it, ridiculous—the expulsion of one prince
Whom it was useless to expel by the conquest
of another whom it was impossible to conquer.

THE PRESS.

The war of the Austrian Succession was
undoubtedly necessitated by our previous en-
gagements with that Power. Yet there is every
reason to suppose that its object might have
been gained in much less time, and at a much
less sacrifice. Lord CHESTERFIELD, who had
been induced to join the Ministry on the dis-
tinct understanding that their intentions were
pacific, seeing early to have perceived that
peace was procurable had his colleagues been
honest. On the refusal of the distinct pro-
posals transmitted through Sir JOHN LIGONIER,
CHESTERFIELD resigned, warning his Majesty
at the same time that he would soon have to
accept worse• His prediction was verified in
less than a twelvemonth: we ourselves, indeed,
lost nothing by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
beyond the expenses of a superfluous cam-
paign. but our Allies were disgusted Both
the Empress and the King of SARDINIA
fared worse than they would have done a year
or two sooner ; the former lost Silesia, the
latter• Placentia and Finale. The reason of
this is notorious. The Duke of NEWCASTLE
hated CHESTERFIELD, and the Duke of CUMBER-
LAND loved military command ; and to the pri-
vate interests of these two men we are indebted
for the most inglorious appearance or, the conti-
nent of Europe the country has ever made.
We have been irduced to recal these cir-
cumstances to the attention of our readers,
lesi for the sake of what they prove than of
what they suggest. We do not assert that
they contain any exact parallel to present
events ; but they do show most clearly, first,
the tendency of war to enlarge itself, to escape
from the limits of its original intention, and
to flood the world with useless bloodshed ;
secondly, the proneness of men in power to
convert it into an instrument for their own
purposes ; and, thirdly, that the two most
accomOished statesmen of their age, and
without comparison the best acquaintel with
foreign affairs, BOLINGBROKE and CHESTER-
FIELD, pronounced against wars which lost
sight of their original objects, or were con-
tinued mainly for the advancement of party

purposes.
The war with Russia is yet in its earlier
stages, and if judiciously managed need never
overflow the channel in which it has hitherto
rolled. War to prevent the dismemberment
of Turkey is a definite thing. War against
the constituted Governments of Europe is a
definite thing too. But anything between
these is a vague and intangible dream. If we
go on indulgltig in absurd declamations about
dragging down Russia and defying despots,
we shall find ourselves drifting into a limitless
and purposeless contest, which we shall dis-
cover too late we have not the means to con-
tinue with effect, nor the power to recede from
with honour.

GENERAL CANROBERT, when in Copenhagen, one
evening returned somewhat earlier than usual to his
apartments in the Hotel d'Angleterre, and found a
strange man standing at his secretaire, which had
been broken open, or opened with a false key, and so
busily occupied in examining his papers that he did
not observe the general's entrance. In high indig
nation, the general seized a candlestick or some sharp-
cutting object, and tiung it at the thiet's head, who,
turning round, either received a severe wound in the
eye or had his eye knocked out. The object of the
thief, it is believed in Copenhagen, was purely of
a political nature.
THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT have levied a new tax
upon Poland of twenty centimes, or an equivalent,
upon every peasant, as a voluntary contribution for
the benefit of the defenders of Sebastopol._

BARON IVERTHER, Prussian Minister at St. Peters-
burg, is said, in a conversation with Count
Nesselrode, to have spoken strongly in favour of
peace, and to have pointed out to the Russian Chan-
cellor the possibility of a change in the policy of
Germany should the terms of peace be refused by
Russia. Count Nesselrode is reported to have re-
turned but one reply to all Baron Werther's repre
sentations,—" Russia will never treat while there is
a single foreign soldier on ber territory."
EICOUNT SCHWERIN and the Liberal party in the
P-russian Chambers have given notice of a motion
which will bring before the Chambers the question of
Government interference in elections. The motion
declares that in the recent elections the liberty of
the electors wa. seriously interfered with, and the law
demands a thorough investigation.
TETE BAVARIAN LEGATION at SL Petersburg has
lately taken upon itself to represent the interests of
Sardinian as well as French subjects in Russia.

SATURDAY,

arttsponbturt.

THE NAWAB OF I'HE CARNATIC.
TO THE EDITOR OF "THE PRESS."
Sir,—Certain papers having, in reference to the
decease of the late Nawab of the Carnatic, asserted
that he was the last of his race, I, as a relation of
his Highness, beg to observe that such assertion
is at variance with fact, as his Highness the Prince
Azeem Jah Bahadoor, paternal uncle of the late
Nawab, is still living and has male issues, and the
title of this Prince to the succession of the Carnatie
Musnud was formally recognised by the Honourable
the Court of Directors, in their general letter, dated
14th January, 1829, as follows :
Para. 10.—We disapprove of the principle of this
arrangement, but under the peculiar circumstances of the
case, the Nawab being an infant, and in delicate health,
and the Naib-i braokhiar being next his heir in ease of his
demise, the appointment of Dr. Scott admits of justification.
The title of Prince Azeem Jah Bahatloor as
successor to the Carnatic Musnud was further recog-
nised by the Madras Government, in a Minute
of Consultation dated 29th September, 1843, as
follows :
• -

The Most Noble the Governor in Council is of
opinion that the individuals named in the margin
have no claim to the privilege of exemption from
the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and accord-
ingly directs that their names be struck out of the
lists received with the foregoing communication, Gholam
Moortaza Khan, and Syel Curreemood Dean. His Lord-
ship in Council observes that his Highness the Prince
Azeem Jah Ilahadoor (the late Naih-i•Mookhtar) does not
hold that place in the list to which he is entitled in consi-
deration of the position he has lately occupied in commu-
nication with the British Government, and of that which
he still holds in relation to his Highness the Nawab, and
to his sueesaion to the Musnud, &c.
May I crave a place in your valuable and indepen-
dent journal for this communication.—Your 1 usable
servant, HAFIZ SUDROOL ISLAM KHAN.
London, Dec. 18, 1855.

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