The Express.
London, England, 1851-07-10 00:00:00

At the commencement of the present session, it
will be remembered, Mr. JAMES WILqON, of the
Board of Control, moved for and obtained a fancy.
sketch of the accounts now actually delivered. In it
the deficit of one million and a half sterling, in
1848-9, was converted, in estimate, into a surplus, in
1849-50, of 77,662/. At that time, we showed the fal •
laciousnesa of Mr. Witco 's imaginative picture ;
seeing that he had taken credit in the year 1849-50 for
about 1,800,0001. from the Punjaub ; 600,0001. of
which consisted, not of ordinary revenue, or even of
probable receipts; but of the estimated value of pro-
perty found in the Lahore Treasury, or belonging
to the Lahore government, " the realisation of
which, however," notified the MICHAEL CASSIO, of
the Board of Control, " during 1849-6'o is very
doubtful." Of that property, it would now
appear, sales have been made to the ex-
tent of about 250,0001. only, and that the net
revenue of the Punjaub does not reach 1,300,0001.
instead of the 1,800,0001. to which it had mounted
in Mr. WILSON'S eager, anxious figures; and that,
taking full credit for the former amounts, the surplus
(" partly estimated") for the year 1849-50 of the
Indian government is 64,8461. year 1819-50 of tho
Indian government Is 64,8461. Ihough, if we deduct
the accidental receipt of the 250,000/. received from
Lahore, and add thereto the contribution of the in-
&sanity stipulated for in the Lahore Treaty of 1816,
but only paid in 1849-50, and GLIOLAB SING H'S sub-
sidy, together nearly one hundred thousand ster-
ling, there will be a deficit, as against the ordinary
sources of Indian revenue, of not less than 325,0001.
The revenue of India for the past year is put
down at 20,221,9891.; the charges at 20,167,143/. ;
the revenue being 1,5624,044/. greater than it was in
1846-7, and the charges more by about half a mil-
lion, At home this increase of revenue would
be accepted as an indication of augmented
prosperity, of greater industrial activity, and of
enlarged means of consumption. It is, how-
ever, hasty at any time to draw the like
inferences from an augmentation of Indian revenue ;
for, in a country where the larger part of the receipts
are derived from what some people call a tax on, or
from, as others say, a rent of land, the increase
may merely prove that the government in the
year during which it occurs, has taken a larger part
of the produce than it did in former years. At all
events, those inferences would be erroneous just now ;
for the increase of revenue is owing; firstly to increase
of territory, and secondly to a good opium
crop ; the receipts from its sale in 1819-50,
exceeding by 700,0001. those of the preceding
year. Satisfactory, then, as the augmenta-
tion of revenue may be and is to the govern-
ment of India, it is no indication of the improved
condition of the country or the people ; it shows that,
apparently, at least, conquests bring revenue, and that
the means of the Indian government to poison the in-
habitants of China were in the year 1849-50 much
greater than they were in the two previous years.
But though, of the revenue of 20,000,0001., some-
where about 1,300,0001. arc derived from the Pun-
jaub, it must not for an instant be supposed that
the annexation of the cis and trans-Indus ter-
ritory is really any pecuniary gain (whatever
political advantage there may be in its
possession) to the Indian government. In the esti-
mate of these accounts, it is indeed made to yield
a surplus of some 700,0001. But that is purely
imaginary ; inasmuch as the military charges of the
new territory, those of its local corps excepted, are not
debited to its expenditure; but are, like those of the
North Western Provinces, included amongst the mili-
tary charges of Bengal. Those charges in Bengal
amount to about 6,000,0001. ; and of that enormous
sou about 800,000/. are put down 28 war charges,
exclusive of the war charges in Seinde ;" and that
sum is probably beneath the real cost to the Indian
government of its armies in and ileyoud the Indus.
If so, the Punjaub is yet a source of expense to
British India, orrather, to Bengal and Madras; for the
Bombay Presidency costs of itself more than it yields.
Of the revenue of India, as it is set down in these
accounts, which therein is less by some millions ster-
ling than the gross amount actually taken from the
people of India, upwards of one-half is spent in main-
taining the enormous armies deemed necessary for the
preservation of our supremacy, and in a little petty
marine establishment, of no real value either to
the government or people of India. The military
expenses of Bengal are about 6,000,000/. ; those of
Madras about 2,250,0001.; and Bombay, 2,000,0001.
Now, if we compare this expenditure, the object of
which is the maintenance of our own power in
India, with the items inserted in these accounts
under the head of public werks, the object of which
is the development of the material prosperity of
India, the contrast is most painfully suggestive.
Amongst the charges of the Bengal Presi-
dency, there is not even any such head as
public works. In the North Western Provinces
the sum debited against " buildings, roads, and other
public works, repairs excepted," is not much more
than 300,0001.; in the Punjaub, it does not reach
2,500/. ; in Madras, some 120,0001. will cover it; in
Bombay, a quarter of a million. In all, not 700,0001.
for public works, in a country, too, whose govern-
ment undertakes to do everything, as against
10,000,0001. for military charges! Well might Lord
HAaaownv lately say, " There must be something
wrong here."
As compared with the year 1848-9, the revenue of
1849-50 exhibits an increase of 1,991,6311. Of that
increase one million sterling is derived from sources
on which the Indian government cannot depend; as,
for instance, 700,000/. increase on the opium sales
dependent on a good crop. 260.000/. from the sale of
Lahore propertv,and another 100,0001. from Onoun
Ststoit, and under the treaty of 1848. So that the
actual improvement from ordinary and dependable
sources of income is only about 000,000/. Whereas,
comparing the two years, the charges of 1849-60 are
greater by 450,000!. than those of 1848-9.
In Bengal, the produce of the custom is greater
by nearly 100,0001. in the last year. In
Madras, there is also a slight improvement ;
as also in Bombay facts which indicate more strongly
in favour of greater European than native consump-
tion. On the other hand, the very slight increase in
the income derived from the monopoly of salt shows
that at least the means of native subsistence are not
decreasing.

On the whole, these accounts will relieve the pub-
lic mind in England of the anxiety produced by an-
nual deficits varying from two millions and a half
sterling to half a million ; and so get rid
of these thoughts of Indian insolvency and em-
barrassment which Sir Itoexar PEEL so em-
phatically warned the House of Commons in his
great budget speech must re-act most injuriously on
the finances and credit of this country. Nevertheless,
they indicate how little our government has done
for India; how much it has done for itself in the
way of patronage ; and how careful parliament ought
to be in renewing upon any terms the tenure of a
Power which, with a revenue of 20,000,0001., only
epends 700,000/. in public weeks.

PIRATES' HELD illosnrE.--Iraitarday Mr. Hume,
M.P., obtained in a parlianastary document, an aoeount
of the espeninure of 128,1300/. as pirates' head money. On
one occasion t 2,42.51. was claimed for 2,950 pirates. There
won 38 gams sad 462 ant is the engagement.