The Press.
London, England, 1857-12-26 00:00:00

SIR H. LAWRENCE ON THE STATE OF
DUDE.

The following is an extract from Sir Henry Law-
rence's article on Army Reform in the September
(1850) number of the Caleutta Review (only seven
months before the commencement of the mutiny),
which throws considerable light upon the powerful
and obstinate character of the opposition in Oude,
and is interesting as a late expression of the opinion
of this distinguished man on a subject which he so
well understood :

Oude has long been the Alsatia of India. In that
province were to be met, even more than at Hvdrabad or
at Lahore, the Afreedee and Duriikzye of the Khyber, the
lielooch of Khelat, and the Wszeree of the Sulimani range.
There also congregated the idle, the dissipated, and the
disaffected of every native State in India Added to these
were many deserters from the British ranks, yet the con-
tingent of 12,090 men have been almost wholly filled from
the old Oude army. The reason assigned for the different
line of conduct is, that the Punjaub was conquered, but
that Oude fell iu peace. In this there is a fallacy, little
understood, but not the less a fallacy. Proportionally few
of the instigators of opposition at Lahore, and in the Sikh
army, were Sikhs. They were British subjects, many of
them British deserters. The general feeling of the Sikhs
was hardly hostile. Many of the Sikhs were friendly, de-
cidedly so, compared with the Hindostanees in the Pun-
jaub service.
The King of Onde employed 5.9,0n0 soldiers ; his chiefs
and officials at least as many more. Of these vast num-
hers, one-fifth at the utmost have found employment in the
police and irregular corps. Yet these levies, with half a
dozen regular corps, form the whole army of occupation.
This seems a grave mistake. Why not, at least, make a
change? Why not move some of the Punjaub regiments
that have been keeping constant watch and ward on the
Indus for seven years to Oude, and send some of the
King's people to the north-west? The King had some
8,04)0 artillery; of these about 500 may have obtained
employment, the rest, old and young, are on the world.
Surely, if there was danger in employing Sikhs in 1449, it
would be well to remove some portion of the Oude levies
from Oude, where such materials for mischief still remain.
In the province are 246 forts, besides innumerable smaller
strongholds, many of them sheltered within thick jungles.
In these forts are 476 guns. Forts and guns should all be
in the hands of Government, or the forts should be razed.
Many a foolish fellow has been urged on to his own ruin
by the possession of a paltry fort; and many a paltry mud
fort has repulsed British troops The 80,000 or
90,000 disbanded Oude soldiers are the brethren of the
British sepoys
A paragraph in the Delhi Gazelle, announcing that the
Onde authorities are disposed to dispense with the service
of the regular regiments for Lucknow, tempts a few further
words of caution, though we do not altogether credit the
newspaper report. The earliest days of annexation are
not the safest. Be liberal, considerate, and merciful, hut
be prompt, watchful, and even quietly suspicious. Let
not toe loose characters floating on the surface of society,
especially such a society as at Lucknow, be too far tempted
or trusted. Wellington's maxim of " keeping the troops
out of sight" answered for England; it will not answer
for India. There must be trusty bayonets within sight of
the understandings, if not of the eyes, of Inaian subjects
before they will pay willing obedience or any revenue. Of
late years the wheels of Government have been moving
very fast; many native prejudices have been shocked.
Natives are now threatened with the abolition of poly-

gamy. It would not be difficult to twist this into au
attack on Hindooism. At any rate, the faster the vessel
glides, the more need of caution—of watching the weather,
the rocks, and the shoals.
Felix quern faciuut aliena pericula cautum.

1246

PRESIDENT BUCHANAN'S MESSAGE.

THE first Message of Mr. Buchanan was antici-
pated in this country with a considerable and a
very natural degree of expectation. Congress as-
sembled on the oth inst., when the President delivered
his Message. The following are the principal points of
interest .—Mr. Buchanan, alluding first to the great
commercial crash, attributes it to the power en-
joyed by the 1,400 State banks, acting independently
of each other, to regulate their paper issues " almost
exclusively by a regard to the present interest of
their stockholders "—Government exercising the
sovereign power of providing a paper currency, in •
stead of coin, for the country. Mr. Buchanan
declares himself in favour of the convertible note
theory, as the only true touchstone, the only efficient
regulator, of a paper currency, the only one which
can guard the public against over-issues and bank
suspensions. Of the actual position of the banks,
Mr. Buchanan quotes the Treasury Report :

In a recent report made by the Treasury department on
the condition of the banks throughout the different States,
according to returns dated nearest to Jannury, 1857, the
aggregate amount of actual specie in their vaults was
58,349,838 dollars ; of their circulation, 214,778,822
dollars; and of their deposits, 230,351,352 dollars. Thus
it appears that these banks in the aggregate have consider-
ably less than one dollar in seven of gold and silver, com-
pared with their circulation and deposits. It was palpable,
therefore, that the very first pressure must drive them to
suspension, and deprive the people of a convertible cur-
rency, with all its disastrous consequences. It is truly
wonderful that they should have so long continued to pre-
serve their credit, when a demand for the payment of on&
seventh of their immediate liabilities would have driven
them into insolvency. And this is the condition of the
banks, notwithstanding that four hundred millions of
gold from California have flowed in upon us within the
last eight years, and the tide still continues to flow. In-
deed, such has been the extravagance of bank credits that
the banks now nold a considerably less amount of specie,
either in proportion to their capital or to the circulation
and deposits combined, than they did before the discovery
of gold in California.
Deploring the crisis, and acknowledging that it is
the duty of the Government to aid in alleviating the
sufferings of the people, Mr. Buchanan thinks that,
after all, the country must mainly rely " upon the
patriotism and wisdom of the States " for the pre-
vention and redress of the evil, and states as his
opinion that the State 'Legislature must compel the
banks to provide a bullion reserve adequate to meet
its general liabilities :

If they will effort' us a real specie basis for our circula-
tion, by increasing the denomination of bank-notes, first
to twenty and afterwards to fifty dollars ; if they will re-
quire that the banks shall at all times keep on hand at least
one dollar of gold and silver for every three dollars of their
circulation and deposits ; and if they will provide by a self-
executing enactment, which nothing can arrest, that the
moment they suspend they shall go into liquidation, I
believe that such provisions, with weekly publication by
each bank of a statement of its condition, would go far
to secure us against future suspensions of specie payments.
Congress, in my opinion, possesses the power to pass a
uniform bankrupt law, applicable to all banking institu-
tions throughout the United States, and 1 strongly re•
commend its exercise lf experience shall
. . _

prove it to be impossible to enjoy the facilities which well-
regulated banks might afford, without, at the setae time,
suffering the calamities which the excesses of the banks
have hitherto inflicted upon the country, it would then be
far the lesser evil to deprive them altogether of the power
to issue a paper currency and confine them to the functions
of banks of deposit and discount.

Passing, then, to the foreign relations of the United
States, Mr. Buchanan pronounces them to be," upon
the whole," in a " satisfactory condition." Mr.
Buchanan notes the termination of the " diplomatic
difficulties" with England by the appointment of a
British Minister, " who has been cordially received."
At the same time, he remarks that, in spite of this
mutual desire for friendship, "it has been our mis-
fortune almost always to have had some irritating,
if not dangerous, outstanding question with Great
Britain ":
Since the origin of the Government we have been em-
ployed in negotiating treaties with that power, and after.
wards in discussing their true intent and meaning; in this
respect the convention of April the 10th, 1850, commonly
called the Clayton and Bulwer Treaty. has been the most
unfortunate of all, because the two Governments placed
directly opposite and contradictory constructions upon its
first and most important article. While in the United
States we believed that this treaty would place both powers
upon an exact equality, by the full stipulation that neither
will ever " occupy, or fortify, or colonise, or assume or
exercise any dominion" over any part of Central America,
it is contended by the British Government that the true
construetion of this language has left them iu the rightful
possession of all that portion of Central America which.
was in their occupancy at the date of the treaty ; in fact,
that the treaty is a virtual recognition on the part of the
United States of the right of Great Britain, either as
owner or protector, to the whole extensive coast of Central
America, sweeping round from the Rio Honda to the port
and harbour of San Juan de Nicaragua, together with the
adjacent Bay Islands, except the comparatively small poi%
tion of this between the Sarstoon and Cape Honduras.
According to their construction the treaty does no more
than simpl prohibit them from extending their positions