The Press.
London, England, 1853-07-02 00:00:00

rotteVings artiamtnt.

INDIA BILL.

The debate on the second reading of this bill, which
stood over from last week, was reopened on Monday
night with a long speech from Mr. COBDEN, who ar-
gued strenuously and variously in advocacy of delay for
the present, and an ample measure of reform in the
future. The Government proposed to act, he re-
marked, while the evidence collecting by the parlia-
mentary committees was still incomplete ; and even
what there was of it could not be called trustworthy.
While still assiduously attending on his duties as
member of one of these committees, he had himself
received the unexpected information that Ministers
had already prepared their bill. Thenceforth he had
never attended another meeting of the committee,
feeling that the question had been taken out of their
hands, but would gladly resume the investigation if
the amendment proposed by Lord Stanley should be
carried. Viewing in its practical bearings the present
system of Indian administration, he expressed his
wish to have some reality with which Parliament
and public opinion might deal. As matters stood
they met with nothing but shams. The Board of
Directors was nothing except a screen behind which
the Board of Control issued its ordinances, yet that
screen sufficed to shield the Board from all real
responsibility. If India were governed as it ought to
be—in the name of the Crown—an enlightened pub-
lic opinion could never be diverted from the true
perils of the ease, or be misled by false issues. He
confessed that other colonies, whose government
had been always carried on under the same authority,
had been misgoverned, but still public opinion had
been a check to the evil, and a guide and prompter
of what good had been effected in the colonial
system . . _ .

" If there were any hope for the amelioration of India,
it must come from the same source ; and he wanted the
Indian government to have such a tangible, visible form
that the public opinion of this country might be able to
reach it, and that there might be no mask or screen before
it as now. (Hear.)"

Descending to particulars, Mr. Cobden enlarged upon
the absurdity and injury which grew out of the inter-
ference of the secret committee :

" Ile should like to have the cross-examination of every
member of the house, and to ask them what did they
know of this secret committee. It was composed of three
gentlemen from the Board of Directors to whom all the
communications from the Board of Control were made. It
was in the power of the President of the Board of Control
to set down and pen a despatch to this secret committee.
ordering the annexation of Uinta. And they were bound
to obey, however much they might disapprove of such an
order. (Hear.) They were obliged to send out the order,
and the Court of Directors themselves would know nothing
on the subject till perhaps the public papers brought back
the news from India, for the secret committee were sworn
to secrecy. (Hear, hear.) Mark how this worked in
respect to the government of India. The Court of Di-
rectors were made responsible for not constructing railways
and canals in India. But how could the court carry on
works of public utility if they haul nee power to compel the
commander-in-chief of the arms or the. Government not to'
waste in war the substance and resources which should go
to the construetion of public works ? (Hear, hear.) Suer
pose that some of the twenty-four directors should tot
down. haying the 4,000,0001. surplus which the honourable
member for Guildford spoke of, for the purpose of de-
vising plans of railways and other works for India. Sup-
pose that they had the maps and plans before them, anti
that they had called in the assistance of able engineers,
at that very time a letter might come from the otficeof the
President of' the Board of Control requiring them to send
out an order to Lord Dalhousie to fit out an expedition to
Rangoon for the conquest of Burmah, and, when that was
done, then adieu to the railways and the fabulous 4,000,00U1.
Under such circumstances they did not deserve the name

of a tiovennuent. And what could be the motive for in-
ducing these twentyfour gentlemen to endure being
taunted with the evils of a system where they were held to
be responsible and vet not trusted with power? (hear.)
The reward which they received for submitting to this hu-
miliation was the patronage of India, and this was another
evil arising from the system of double government. As
the Court of Directors were paid by patronage and not by
stipends, they of course disposed of that patronage to
their friends in this country. He wanted to see a larger
number of the natives brought into the employment of the
tioven►ment."

Pursuing the subject of patronage, and collecting
many opinions as to the probable, and many facts as
to the actual, evils arising out of the present system,
Mr. Cobden proceeded to examine the results of the
past Indian administration in a financial point of view.
After declaring these to be highly unsatisfactory, he
remarked that the prospect for the future presented
nothing but heavier defalcations and an increasing
debt yet this very proof of existing incompetency
had been converted into an argument and warning
to Parliament not to meddle rashly with the system
out of which it had sprung. Sir C. Wood, he ob-
served. had contended that the state of the Indian
revenue was not such as to encourage them in as.
sinning possession of it on behalf of the Crown,
and, after dwelling upon the probabilities of matters

JULY 2, 1853.

petting worse through the expected loss of a large
opium revenue in China, the right hon. baronet had
inquired whether the house would take upon them-
selves the responsibility of governing and providing
for the government of India. Mr. Cobden regretted
to see such a tone asstuued in that place :
" Was there ever anything more utterly indefensilole than
such a position as that ? (!Hear, hear ) If they allowed the
right 1 . gentleman to have another lease on the plea that
the finances heel been brought into such a state Hest it was
not desirable for thou to assume the management for
themselves, what inducement did they hold out to him to
do better ill future? (hear, hear.) lie thought that
house must be very shallow indeed, and the country
greatly wanting in that sagac►ty for which they had credit,
it' they allowed themselves to be deluded by such a plea as
that. (Ifear, hear.)"

He noticed an important omission in the bill, in not
remedying the anomaly now existing in the relation-
ship between the Queen's ships and the Indian tio-
vernment. The latter could only ask assistance and
advice, while recent experience in the Rangoon att'air
showed that a naval officer like Captain Lambert
could act at his own discretion, in direct contraven-
tion of the injunctions of a tiovernor-tieneral. Re-
specting the general principles whereon the British
empire in India should be established, Mr. Cobden
denounced the policy of annexation, denied the pos-
sibility of our retaining permanent dominion in that
country, and recommended a speedy settlement of
the English predominance in Hindostan upon its
true basis, as a simply commercial and temporary ar-
rangement :

" They could not leave a more perilons possession to
their children than that which they would leave them in
the comatudly increasing territory of India. ( Ileur, hear.)
The English race eould never beeonte indigenous in
India; they must govern it, if they governed it at all, by
means of a succession of transient visits; and he did not
think it was for the interest of the English people, any
more than of the people of India, that they should govern
permanently 1110 millions of people, 12.01a1 miles oft: He
saw no benefit which could arise to the mass of the Eng-
lish issple from their connecti with India, except (mutt
which might arise from honest trade ; he did not see how
the millions of this country were to share in the patronage
of India, or to derive any advantage from it. except through
the medium of trade. When he saw that this vast territory
was now being govented under a fiction, that the I invent-
meta was not a real one, Intl one which one of the most
able servants of the emptily had declared to be a sham.
he stud—lto not let the people of this country delude theta-
selves with the idea that they can escape the responsibility
by putting the tiovennuent 'behind a screen. Ile wished,
therefore, to look this question fairly in the face. Lit it
no longer be thought that a few gentlemen meeting in Lea-
denhall-street could screen the people of England from the
responsibility with which they had invested themselves
with regard to India. Believing that if this fiction were
destroyed—if this mystery were exterminated—there were
already the germs of a better state of things in reference
to this question, and believing that as yet they were pro-
foundly ignorant of what was wanted for India, he should
vote for the atuendtuent that they should wait fur two
years.,,

Sir J. Gum'Am rejoiced to find that so important a
question was discussed without party spirit. Dilating
upon the difficulties that surrounded the question,
he then examined the objections urged against the
Government measure. It had been criticised for its
indefiniteness and lack of anything like permanence.
But if the provisions it contained were good, and
worked well, they would be found sufficiently per-
manent; if not,, it was right that Parliament should
have power to alter them. He praised Lord Stanley's
speech for its talent and candour, but remarked that
by being candid it had become less vigorous. There
were admissions in it which blunted the effect of its
objections. Detailing the several points whereon
he noticed that Lord Stanley had pronounced some
approbation of the Government bill, Sir. J. Graham
proceeded to remark upon the two subjects on which
the real opposition to the bill was made to turn—
delay, and the double system of administration.
Regarding the former he drew a picture of the im-
mediate perils that beset our Indian empire, with
revolution in China on the one hand, and a war in
Burmah on the other, and cited the recorded
opinions of Hardinge, Ellenborough, Dalhousie, and
other authorities in favour of immediate action.
Besides authority, there were arguments equally
strong in support of that course :

" It must never lie forgotten on how slender a point
was based the tenure of our hold on India. It was mainly
au empire of opinion. If we shook the confidence of the
country in the permanence of our ntle it would be by
throwing a doubt on the steadiness of the Government
and on the firmness of the hand which grasped it.
If we shook confidence we disturbed the f;nu►datiun of
our rule. Was it necessary wantonly to incur such risk ? "
He took credit to the Government for a conscien-
tious performance of duty, in persisting with a
measure which their individual ease and party in
terests would have alike counselled them to postpone.
Upon the second head, that of double government,
Sir J. Graham threw aside the charge that it was
" anomalous," by observing that both in England
and India the system of government was surrounded
by anomalies ; and to the charge of innovation re-
plied that hinmelf and Ma colleagues were not

THE PRESS.

alarmed at it. They had been innovators before, and
were likely to be innovators again. Yet he con-
tended that the supporters of the tunendnwnt, those
at least who wished to have greater changes intro-
duced in the Indian tiovenunent, were the real
innovators, and ought to be prepared with a more
specific detail of their reasons and purposes. That
the present I.ystem was defective he admitted; the
Ministers had seen the defeet and proposed a
limited remedy, not perhaps theoretically perfeet, but
one that was practically demonstrated to be neves_
sary. They took their stand there, and believed
that whoever wanted to go farther was bound to
show the necessity for it. Citing from Lord Stanley's
speech the aphorism that the '• tree should be tried
by its fruits," Sir .1. tiraham went on to exhibit some
of what he termed the fruits of the existing double-
government system; and from the triumphs of Pol-
lock, Nutt, and liardinge, from the successes that
had attended our arms and diplomacy., from the
judgments of well-qualified historians, and from the
fact that so many distinguished individuals to whom
had been entrusted the destinies of 11 vast territory
and the fortunes of millions of people had retired at
last in an honourable state of comparative poverty,he
drew the conclusion that the system could not be
bad which lett to such results and was administered
by such men. Theoretieally he found much to ad-
mire in the double meelianism. It came up almost
to the ideal of government, exhibiting a strong
ecu-
tral power, checked but not controlled by the reason-
ing of an independent hotly :

I do
not IWI
it•V e that any secreta►y of Mato polilieSSVS
more realpower in a motes rllt of enu•rgeury thou alleol the
President of the Board of l'ontrol over our Indian empire,
subject only to the cheek, that, if those well informed upon
linlitut questions oiler well-grounded °Neill •to any
course ho may tel inclined to take, he must urge iulverse
reasons, and his ultimate ►eslsansibility will 100 very
inereastsl by his rejeetion of the reasons tendered to him."
Adverting to some of Mr. Cobden's personal accusa-
tions, he declared that a private intimacy with live
governors-general enabled him to deny the charge
laid against them of indifference to the real pros-
perity of India, and of too great fondness for expen-
sive wars :

It has been my fortune to knot tive governors•geurral,
and toy earliest and valued friend, Issnl William lientinek,
went out determined that his govt.' 'la 411011111 be peace-
ful, and it phrased Providence that he should 101. Clll4liled to
ran•y OM Ilk ret4ulittion. His whole isTioil of liltiee was
'smith.. I have known filur ether gteentoN-general.
haw known lead Allekl3ll4l, I have known Lord Ellen-
borough, I have known Lora Itadiugu•, and I know Lent
Dalhousie—and I ran speak positively of these four go-
vernora•general, that their intentions were MOta decidedly
the same as those of Lord William Itentinck. It was their
finn intention on entering upon the govennuent of India
to avoid the cause of war, and peacefully to ailminister the
affairs of that country. T believe that one and all of these
governurs•geuend took every care to avoid war ; and I ant
equally confident that it was not the home tieventment,
not the Queen's miuisteni, nor the Court of llire•tors, that
urged upon them the poliey ofdepartingfrom their peaceful
intentions. it was out the British policy. but Indian
ne-
eessity, that induced those wars in which they were forced
to engage."
Meeting with a blank denial another charge, that
of depriving the natives of their due proportion of
official appointments, Sir J. tirahain entreated the
house to pass the second reading of the bill, meow
ing them that the Govermnent had every disposition,
when they came to consider its details, to meet. in a
spirit of perfect candour every suggestion fur its
improvement.
Sir H. MAneoes disapproved of partial and imper-
fect legislation, such as the bill presented. There
were many points on whirls it made no provision, and
for which the President of the Boar►( of Control
would henceforth have to exercise his own discretion.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that, having beets
once introduced, the rejection of the measure would
produce a prejudicial effect in India, and he therefore
consented to give it a qualified adoption. At the
same time there were many details, some of which
he specified, that required amendment, and he trusted
to the committee to accomplish something in that way.

Mr. Putt.ramont: refused to take Sir .1. Graham's
"fruits" as the true tests of an administrat. . The
real character of any system of government was to
be traced in the condition of the populat. ; and on
this point he stated a multitude of facts, upon which
he based a heavy charge of maltultninist ration against
the past and present rulers of India. A few plausi-
ble phrases, he remarked, could not counterbalance

the enormous misery which the India Government
had accumulated on its subjects. Parliament should
not be thus satisfied; but, repenting before repent-
ance was too late, do tardy justice to the people at
whose subjection they had so long connived.

Mr. Mo:4:flair!! WINES believed that it was not
the system that ought to be blamed or changed.
The cleverest men had tried to administer the best-
devised schemes of government; and, if they had
failed in producing welfare and happiness among the
people, he Saw in that result no ground for over-
setting the present order of things, but a lesson of
humiliation in the proof it afforded of the futility of
all human entleayoure.

197

BlthillT reduced the question once more to its
practical bearings. Were they to postpone legisla.
non for two years. or go on at once? A few weeks
ago, he reminded them that the house, the public,
the press, and even the tiovennuent themselves,
seemed convced that postponement was advisable.
Nothing since had occurred to produce a change in
that conclusion. The eagerness for immediate legis-
lation he attributed to a conseiousness of the defects
of the existing system, which delay would render
more apparent. Sir J. liogg and his friends said
6e legislate now," because they believed that in two
years they would be finish out, and the double-
government plan would not then be endured 'mother
hour. Previous speaker+ for the bill, instead of de-
fending it on its merits, had diverged into panegyrics
of the Company's administration, and supported a
scheme for the future by finding something to ad
mire in the results of the past. Mr. Bright then
recapitulated the proofs of error in .theory, and the
signs of evil and misery in praetice, which lay at them
door of the existing Indian Goverment. The pub
lie works which had been described so pompously
he depicted as being more showy than useful. no
ironic-roads were military and not commercial in
utility—one of the pmincipal ones running for two
lemmlred miles through a jungle ; while, in the gross
total, a larger sum was contributed by Manchester
alone for loeal impmvements than in the whole Indian
peninsula, whence the directors sucked :17 millions
of 11111111111 rtWellUti. After some strictures on the
thiaenried condition of India, he then proceeded to
examine the bill. Assailing time principle on which
the Indian administration was founded, he urgedthat
the proprietors had no eontrol over the directors, the
latter had none over the secret committee, and that
again had none over the Board of Control, nor had
the press or Parliament any power over the Indian
Government ;'and no bill tending tAm continue the mask
and rillbtATfllge receive anything but the con-
demean:at Ire Ime.,7lllled on the Government and int
the present measure. The Govennuent had certainly
done mum+ to degrade the Court of Directors by
taking patronage from it, and by showing an opinion
that its constituency was unfit to elect all its mem-
bers, but no direct responsibility was created as
regarded a minister in that House, and the President
of the Board of Control would shuttle away from
'lndian questions as heretofore. lie pmnounced his
firm belief in the necessity of conducting the govern-
ment of India in the mute of the Crown, adducing
the example of other eobleies in proof of the control
which WAS thus assigned to the Legislature and public
opinion over the management of their affairs, and
the advantages which had thence sternest. If the
govenunent of India were still allowed to NI carried
on under a mask, and with a merely delusive sent
Mauve of responsibility, Parliament would forfeit its
character, and Englishmen would show that, though
strong enough for conquest, they were not wise
enough tom empire.
Mr. temstme, liked both the double government
and immediate legislation—the former as a bar to
political and parliamentary influences; time hitter,
among other reasons, because it was recommended
by Lord Dalhousie.
Sir .1. Hiroo defended the measure and himself
front many attacks on matters of detail which they
had suffered at the hands ofprevious speakers. Upon
the general principle of the measure be appnwed of
all the changes proposed to be made in India, but
saw no reason for the proposed alterations at home.
As possessing, however, the great reeommendation
of retaining the Kest India Company in its position
of a governing tasty between the Crown and India,
he gave time bill his support.
The debate, which was then adjourned, was re-
sumed on Thursday, when Mr. Ince remarked
upon the mmenmitude of the question, which bed
sprung up into such importance, like a grain of
mustard seed, almost in a night. Sketching the
principles on which India should be governed as
being accessibility to office by all natives, of winatevtr
colour, according to merit, the responsibility of the
Minister of India to the Legislature, and liability to
the debts incurred for the wars in which we engaged,
Mr. Rich regretted to notice the absence of those
principles from the bill, and rectenmended delay in
order to introduce theta properly.
Mr. C. liauce believed that time present time was a
very proper time to legislate for India, and that time
present 1111.11.411 re, which he analysed at much length,
was on the whole a tolerably proper measure.
Mr. MARJOHABANKS defended the Court of Pro-
prietors.

Mr. NArnit, though not prepared to reject the hill
absolutely, showed reasons for asking the house to
suspend itm judgment.

Mr. .1. Msconrooa approved of the bill on the
very ground that the reform% it inaugurated were so
moderate. lie enlarged on the danger of effecting
sweeping changes in the government of a population
of 1541 millions, professing different religions, and
speaking fourteen different languages, with di-
visions of caste and traditional hatreds into the bar-
gain.