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

THE PRESS.

proceeding required some pretence at justifi-
cation, of course ; and incompetence, vice,
and corruption, in the reigning Sovereign and
his Government, are held out as a sufficiently
valid ground for the seizure of Onde. Deny-
ing in toto the correctness of the doctrine,
might it not, we ask, be as well for the Com-
pany to see whether it does not equally tell
against themselves? Is not their own gross
notorious incompetence the theme of every
tongue ; and have not incompetent collectors
and commissioners been appointed by theta
in India by dozens, men who are virtually
kings in the districts over which they rule ?
Then, as to vice, is that confined to the Court
of Onde ? Are excesses unheard of among
our own public functionaries in the East? Is
the shameless prostitution of their power for
the most infamous of purposes unknown ?
Are dancing girls never seen in European
houses in India? Is licentious revelry un-
familiar to them, and, more, licentious lan-
guage unheard? Have Residents at the Courts
of native princes never allowed their influence
to be conciliated by pandering to their wanton
tastes? These are things it would be well to
consider when dealing so roughly on such
subjects with the dynasty of the King of
OUDE.

Then, again, have Englishmen in India set
no example of pecuniary corruption, that they
should be so ready to throw the first stone ?
Was HASTINGS such a paragon of purity as to
give a high idea of our pecuniary morality to
the then Nawab of Oude? Have scandals
never been rife regarding the sums taken as
bribes by our Residents at the Courts of native
princes, and of the almost fabulous amounts that
have been thus extorted from successive kings
of Oude? Is pecuniary corruption unknown
among our other officials generally, especially
among the native part? Does not bribery
pervade our whole system from top to bottom,
sometimes in the shape of money given freely
by the native Rajah, and at other times ex-
torted by torture, as in the case of the ryots
at Madras? And if, then, the grossest incom-
petence, vice, and corruption are exhibited by
persons in the Company's own service, with
what face can they get up and defend the
seizure of a kingdom in violation of a most
solemn treaty, on grounds which, if true, are
at least equally true of their servants and
themselves. Lord DALHOUSIE says, to be sure,
that the King of DUDE was bound by treaty
" to establish such a system of administration,
" to be carried into effect by his own officers,
" as should be conducive to the prosperity of
" his subjects, and calculated to secure the
" lives and properties of the inhabitants,"
and that he failed to do this. But what
model was he to follow, and by whose verdict
was he to be judged? If he was to follow the
model of the Company, he has clearly not
failed, and not, therefore, justly incurred the
penalty; for neither have they established
such a system themselves, as is by all com-
petent judges confessed. Then, again, if im-
partial evidence is to be taken, we have Nltt.L,
and WILSON, and HEBER, and Heaven knows
how many more, who attest distinctly that the
Oude Government is infinitely more popular
with the natives than our own. And no won-
der; for the latter could not well be worse than
it is in Bengal, at least, as even the Govern-
ment organs themselves admit. Indeed, we
are quite sure that there is not a Bengal
functionary, whether civil or military, that
will not confirm our assertion when we say,
that the great charge which Lord DALHOUSIE
makes against the Oude soldiery is equally
true of the police of Bengal. This charge is,
that they are left unpaid by the Government,
or paid cnly a pittance notoriously inadequate
for their expenses ; that the balance is made
up by the plunder of the people, and that they
are a scourge to the country they are employed
to protect.
With such facts as these staring us in the
face, it is obviously a farce to talk of the wel-
fare of the Oude people as having the slightest
real reference to the case. How little attention
is really paid to the feelings of the people of
Oude is shown by the mode in which the an-
nexation is carried out. It is proclaimed,
without consulting them, that the country is
ours, and that every man who refuses to sub-
mit to us—or, in other words, who dares to

uphold his own and his country's indepen-
dence—shall be seized as a rebel, and treated
as such ; and an overwhelming body of troops
is moved up to bear down all opposition by
force. Nor was the threat unheeded, for no
one can know better than the Governor-
General how willingly they would resist, if
they had the power. An act which must con-
sign, sooner or later, to beggary all the upper
classes, and all the moneyed interest, and all
dependent on them, and which destroys at a
blow the title to every acre of land i❑ the
kingdom, is not likely to be more popular in
Oude than a similar revolution would he in
England. The truth is, that Oude has been
seized to gratify viceregal ambition, and to
satisfy the unceasing Indian appetite for in-
creasing patronage and place; and the Indian
journals, in a matter of this kind, of course
support the interests of their subscribers and
friends. These classes will profit by the an-
nexation, but it will profit none else. On the
contrary, this barefaced violation of every
principle of public faith will render our posi-
tion in Asia infinitely more difficult than it
has been hitherto; and every difficulty in
Asia adds to our public debt. As to the in-
come of Oude, it is now below three-quarters
of a million. It will puzzle the Government
by any process to double it ; and the civil and
military charges, and state pensions, will
always far exceed its amount. We flatter our-
selves that we know at least as much of Indian
revenue as Lord DALHOUSIE does ; and we are
quite content to have our sagacity tested by
the result.

U

CONSOLIDATION OF THE
,STATUTE LAW.
AFTER nine months of silence, the Statute-Law
Consolidation Commissioners have issued a
Report, valuable for the simplicity and prac-
tical nature of the recommendations which it
embodies. These recommendations resolve
themselves into two. First, the appointment
of an officer or board to revise and improve
current legislation. Second, the classifying of
the public general statutes as they are
annually printed. The two propositions are
independent, and the adoption or rejection of
the one has no necessary effect upon the
other.

For the first reform proposed reasons are
assigned satisfactory to all whom experience
has rendered familiar with the state of pre-
sent legislation. The Statute-book, say the
Commissioners, is in a " confused and unsatis-
" factory state." The reasons of this confusion
do not lie deep. The language in which Acts of
Parliament are drawn is conventional, verbose,
and obscure,—faults which custom sanctions,
and even renders in some sort imperative.
Again, the Member bringing in a Bill is too
often unaware of the manner in which pre-
vious legislation has affected the subject with
which he is dealing—whence his measure
comes to have a force in repealing and alter-
ing former statutes of which he himself knows
nothing. Thirdly, when some flagrant abuse
cries out for a remedy, the common course is
to apply the remedial process only to the evil
pointed out, to patch the hole with a new act,
not asking what fresh inconsistencies or diffi-
culties may be produced by such summary
amendment. And lastly, however harmonious
with itself, and complete in all its parts, a
measure may be when it goes into committee,
very different is usually its state on coming
out. Clauses are struck off, other clauses put
in; those who make the alterations are not
responsible for the general effect; the pro-
moter, who is responsible, submits rather than
fail wholly of his purpose. The Commis-
sioners, therefore, adopting ajlan proposed
two years ago by Mr. GRAHAM WILLMORE in a
pamphlet, and of which we believe the origin
to be far more remote, recommend the ap-
pointment of a law officer to Parliament, with
a staff of assistants, whose functions shall be
to advise on the legal effect of bills referred to
them, to point out what statutes are repealed
or modified by, or left conflicting with, new
legislation, and thus prospectively to indicate
and point out the means of obviating such

268

inconveniences as now arise. The Commis-
sioners suggest a single officer in preference
to a board, and also that this officer should be
one and the same for both Houses.

The second project set forth in this Report
is that which relates to the classifying of the
statutes. These, as every one knows, are now
ranged merely in order of date. They include
many enactments which are in no strict sense
laws, but only Parliamentary warrants for the
performance of some administrative function.
Such are Appropriation Acts, Loan Acts, and
the like. These may fairly be omitted from a
popular collection of the statutes. So, again,
all acts which, though ranked in the " Public
General " series, are really local or personal,
should be similarly excluded. The rest ought
to be divided, printed in separate parts under
headings, and thus made easily and cheaply
accessible. It is probable that such a classifi
cation as the following might suffice; and be
it noted that if to consolidate lie the first step
towards codifying, classification is itself the
first step towards consolidation :

ACTS OF 1855 CLASSIFIED AS PROPOSED.
1. Army, Navy, Militia
2. Revenue sad Finance 3O „
3. Special and Local
4. Colonies
6. East Indies 2 „
6. General Laws, not included in the

above

To this resume of the Commissioners' labours
we can add nothing, except heartily to com-
mend their proposals as simple, feasible,
economical, and eminently useful.

COLLEGE TESTS.

THE authorities of Exeter College have insti-
tuted certain fresh tests to be applied to the
holders of their scholarships and fellowships,
and for so doing they have been attacked
by writers who deprecate tightening the bonds
of communion between the University and the
Church. The adaptation of Oxford " to the
" necessities of modern society " is said to be
the natural desideratum of statesmen ; but
while we perfectly agree, as we suppose, indeed,
every one else must, with this rather super-
fluous assertion, we must beg to protest
against the doctrine that that adaptation is to
be purchased by the sacrifice of the religious
character of the University. Persons are not
wanting who imagine that the present gene-
ration is mankind, and that the nineteenth
century is history—to fancy they can compre-
hend laws, institutions, and custotns by simply
looking at them—quite oblivious of the fact
that all which makes them what they are was
done centuries and centuries ago, and that it
is absolutely necessary to get behind the wall
which ignorance has erected between our-
selves and the past if we would comprehend
the true bearing of many difficulties which
now perplex us, and especially of that which
is the subject of our present article.
The founders of our colleges belonged to the
Established Church of the day. They knew
but one religion. Their creed was not with
them a matter of preference, but a matter of
course. Catholic was never a distinctive
appellation, but a generic title. It meant
that they were members of the Universal
Apostolic Church. When it was required to
describe a corporation in thraldom to Rome,
another epithet became necessary. We must
not suppose because Oxford was founded
"by Catholics for Catholics," that the
religious system to which it was allied was
identical with that for which Rome would
now claim the exclusive title of Catholic.
Baliol and Merton were founded for Catho-
lics, and Maynooth and Oscott were founded
for Catholics, yet no one could contend that
the purpose of their founders was the same.
The latter were founded for a sect; the former,
we repeat, for the Anglican Church ; and the
whole gist and marrow of the matter lies in
the question whether the present Church of
England is the legitimate representative of
that Church.

Now, in the first place, we all of us very well
know that the Catholic oreed of the fourteenth
century was something very different from the
Beraanist Greed of the nineteenth; that the