The Express.
London, England, 1866-10-13 00:00:00

THE FAMINE IN INDIA.

Yesterday, in consequence of a telegram having
been received by the Lord Mayor from Calcutta, from the
chairman of the Bengal Famine Belief Fund, and of
another having arrived at the India Board almost simul-
taneously from Sir John Lawrence, the Viceroy of India,
invoking aid from this country by means of a public sub-
scription, a oonference was held at the Mansion-home
between the Lord Mayor and gentlemen in the City, mer-
chants, bankers, and others, connected with the India
trade, who recently had an interview with him on the
subject. The Lord Mayor said—l have thought it to be
my duty to invite you here to-day, in consideration of
certain letters and documents I have received bearing upon

the famine, mince I had the pleasure of communicating
with you on a previous occasion nearly a fortnight ago.
The first is a note which I received on Friday last from
Lord Cranborne, the Secretary of State for India. It is
as follows :—" India-office, Oct. 6, 1866.—My dear Lord,—
Sir John Lawrence has enclosed to me an extract from a
letter of the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal which
I think it will interest you to read.—Believe me,
yours faithfully, CRANBORNZ. The Right Hon. the Lord
Mayor." The enclosure was in these terms :—" Extract
of a letter from the lion. Sr Cecil Beadon. Lieutenant-
Governor of Bengal, dated llarjeling, August, 23, 1866 :
Everything now depends on the outturn of the summer
harvest (called indifferently Ethadovee oust Bulls.). The
general opinion is, that it will not only supply the culti-
c eaters with food till the winter or main crop is ready, but
that, when cut, it will have an immediate effect on prices
generally, and cheapen food from 50 to 100 per cent.
Others think that the price of food will not be materially
affected till the winter crop comes in, or at any rate till its
safety is assured, and that holders will be reluctant to
part with their grain as long as there is any uncertainty on
this point. At any rate the coming crop, which is admitted
to be everywhere a most abundant one, will greatly re-
lieve the existing distress, and dissipate all fears as
to a sufficieney of food to support the population for the
next six months. In ten days or a fortnight we shall be able
to form a bettor judgment, and if the result he that there
is likely to be a necessity for carrying on relief operations
on anything like their present scale, I will at once ask the
assistance of the Calcutta committee in raising subscrip-
tions for general relief both in India, and also if necessary
in England." Idid not consider that those letters, so far
as they went, required any particular notice or attention,
but yesterday morning I received a telegrams from Mr.
Stuart Hogg, chairman of the Bengal and Orissa Famine
Relief Fund, and I must pause before reading it to call
your attention for a moment to what I think the remark-
able fact that that telegram was given in at Calcutta at
11.30 on the morning of the 10th of October, Wednesday
last, and was received in London at 8.25 the following
morning. (Hear, hear.) The telegram from Mr. Stuart
Hogg to me is as follows :—" 10th October. Owing to recent
inundations distress still very severe in Orissa and parts
of Bengal, and likely to continue several months more ;
funds urgently required ; assistance from England
earnestly solicited. Please give credit by telegraph on
' Calcutta as soon as practicable." Mr. Hogg is a son of
Sir James Weir Hogg, and chairman of the Bengal and
°rims Famine Fund. On the receipt of that telegram I
thought it of so much importance that I went immedi-
ately and sought an interview with Lord Cranborne,
which was promptly granted, snd while 1 was there a
telegram arrived from Sir John Lawrence, the Viceroy.
It was as follows :—" The Viceroy to the Secretary of
State. Simla, Oct. 10.—The Bengal government consider
that a subscription in England in aid of the distress in
Orissa is necessary. Much must depend on the crop now
in the ground. If it prove good we shall probably not
require help, otherwise the3distress will become greater,
anal we shall be glad of all the assistance we can get.
I will report again after a little delay." That was the tele-
gram that Lord Cranbome, the Secretary of State, re-
ceived from the Viceroy himself. It then became a question
with Lord Cranborne as to the course it would be desir-
able to take. I took the liberty to request that he would,
if ho could, give me en assurance that the government in
India had the means and the power to do all that was
necessary in the emergency. He assured me that the Vice-
roy had or would have the power to raise money to any
amount he pleased for such a purpose, but that the inun-
dations presented a new feature. My answer was, that if
they' had the funds in the tint emergency, and they were
nut exhausted, they would have the more power to meet
the second. Ho took much the same view, and showed
great interest and acted with great promptitude in the
matter, for, after some consideration, he resolved there
and then to send a telegram to the Viceroy, which he
did in them words :—" Heavier distress reported
to me in Orissa from inundations. Advance
money from government funds freely and imme-
diately ; report to me progress of distress and
prospects of mitigation." I think consequently that all
that can be doue in this matter has been done. I consider
it to be my duty to place these facts before you, gentle-
men, and I do not think it would be right or necessary for
us to invite subscriptions here in England, while the
government in India has power within itself, so far as
money goes, to cope with the distress. It is due to Lord
Cr:who've to say that he guarded himself by stating that
there might not be any necessity to appeal to the British
public uu the occasion, but that there was nu knowing
what course the emergency might take. I said that the
future must be governed by the future ; but that after the
assurance he had given me, I saw no reason at present for
rahang a subscription in England. Considerable discussion
followed, but it seemed to be the general opinion that as
government were doing all that lay in their power fur the
mitigation of the distress, it was not desirable or neces-
sary that anything should be done hare at present in the
way of raising a public subscription.

It is now definitely arranged that the ceremony
of inaugurating the new water-works by her Majesty the
Queen will take place on TtleatLy afternoon at lnvercanuie.
Her Majesty will leave Balmoral about one p.m., posting
to Ballater, where a special train will be waiting. A
private temporary platform will be erected at Inchmarlo—
the nearest point on the railway to the spot where the
ceremony is to take place—and thence her Majesty will be
conveyed in her private carriage to the enslusure around
the reservoir. The ceremony will be brief and
simple. The Lord Provost will present an address—to
which it is expected her Majesty will reply—and, by the
aid of machinery, turn on the water, and declare the
works opened. Her Majesty will leave immediately after
the ceremony, and will nut stay luncheon, as was at first
thought probable. The luncheon, to which about 400 are
invited, will take place immediately after the Queen leaves
for Balmoral. Lord Provost Anderson will preside, and
it is expected that Sir Stafford Northoote, Sir James 11.
Burnett, and some others will be present. About 2,000
persons are to be admitted within the enclosure to wit-
ness the ceremony of inaugurating the works.
THE RIGHT HON. H. A. Bauer., M.P., AND
PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.—The Merthyr Tydvil Reform
League intend holding a large open-air meeting in the
market-place on the 29th instant, and have invited their
representative, the Right Hon. Mr. Bruce, to attend. In
his reply he says : if the Merthyr Reform League be an
association of my constituents combined fur the purpose of
promoting parliamentary reform, it will give me sincere
pleasure to attend their discussion and take part in it.
if, however, the Merthyr Reform League is only a branch
of the London Reform League, I think I shall best ad-
vance the cause of moderate reform. which alone in my
opinion is either practicable or desirable, if I abstain from
attending a meeting and taking part in a • demuustration '
of an association which assumes as the fundaiaental prin-
ciple of action that nothing less than manhood suffrage
can be accepted. It is try intention, under any circum-
stances, very shortly to invite the attendance of my con-
stituents both of Merthyr and Aberdare to our usual
annual meeting, when I hope having the honour of
laying before them a full exposition of my views on per.
liamentary reform, and having the advantage of hearir.
theirs."
PIWKIaINO.—A literary announcement from
Leipsig runs thus : " Our residers will be obliged to us for
drawing their attention to some Sanscrit works which will
shortly appear. We have not read the books ourselves,
but, if their contents are as interesting as their titles, their
perusal must be the acme of delight. The titles are :
' Swap antschakschavimahamantrastotra," TrigunaUniks-
kalik.ustotra," Upangalalitavratodyapana," Sankarchtat-
schaturthivratodyapans, and ' Anantatachaturdarivrata-
katha.'"—Londot Perinc.
ACCIDENT IN THE CITY.—Yesterday afternoon,
at about half-past 1 o'clock, an accident of a serious nature
occurred to a young woman named Eliss Polybbink. It
appears that as she was passing along Threadneedleatreet
a van, laden with wooden crates belonging to the Great
Eastern Railway Company, came oppose
her, when one
of the crates fell, striking her upon the head. She was re-
moved in an insensible state to the office of Mr. John
Payne, in Hatton-court, Threadneedle-street, by whom, it
seems, she was employed, and Dr. Crosby, of Fenchurch-
street, sent for, who found her suffering from a severe
scalp wound, a large portion of the frontal bone being ex-
posed, and her left hand crushed to such a degree that the
soft Braes were reduced to a pulp. It is not anticipated
however, that the results will prove more serious than at
present unless erysipelas should supervene.
ADDITIONAL JUDGER FOR LANCASHIRE.—Tester-
day a deputation from the Law Societies of Manchester and
Liverpool, consisting _of Mr. Stephen Melia and Mr. Baker,
of Manchester ; of Mr. Squarey, Mr. Hull, Mr. Lowndes,
and Mr. Rogerson, of Liverpool, had an interview by ap-
pointment with the Earl of Derby, at Knowsley, for the
purpose of pressing upon his lordship the present unsatis-
factory state of the trial of causes at the assizes in the
County Palatine of Lancaster, and the necessity of the
appointment of additional judges to transact the business
of the county.