The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-22 00:00:00

THE INDIAN BUDGET.

Sir C. WOOD made his annual statement of the finances
of India. He began by observing that the favourable anti-
cipations he had made in past years had been confirmed,
and the hopes he had held out had been more than realised.
The result was that, after an equilibrium of revenue and
expenditure in one year, there has been a considerable sur-
plus in three successive years, £8,313,000 of debt had been
paid off, and there was a balance in the Treasury of upwards
of £19,000,000. There had been a steady increase, he said,
in all the items of revenue, the augmentation of the land
revenue having resulted from the large quantity of land
taken into cultivation. He went over the other sources of
supply to the Indian Exchequer, explaining, as he pro-
cee.led, the nature of each and the modifications they had
undergone, remarking that most of them were derived from
internal taxati,,n, falling upon the people of India. He
then adverted to the expenditure, to the increase in the
pr ce of commodities and in the rate of wages. He entered
very fully into the state of the cotton cultivation, showing
that there had been a progressive increase in the produc-
tion and in the importation of East India cotton, and stated
the measures taken to eheck its adulteration. He read
statements of the augmentation of the exports of other
articles of Indian produce—coffee, indigo, jute, woods, tea,
and chincona bark. He gave details respecting the state of
public works in India, where there was now an excessive
demand and competition for labour; the railroads, tele-
graphs, &c.; and he then, after remarking that tranquillity
prevailed within our own territories in India, traced the
origin of the late operations against the fanatical tribes be-
yond the Punjab frontier, from the time of the Mahomedan
schismatic, Syed Ahmed, to that of the Akhoond of Swat,
their present head, and adverted to the quartet with the
chief of Bo,,tan and his treatment of Mr Eden, indicating
the inexpensive measures to be adopted to bring the chief to
reason, by occupying the passes of his territory, and cutting
off his communications and supplies. In conclusion, he re-
viewed some of the leading measures of the Indian local
Government during the past year, and vindicated the policy
and administration of the home authorities. He concluded
by moving the first of a series of resolutions on the financial
condition of the several Governments of British India,
The resolutions presented the following result
:
TDe total net revenues of the several Presi-

dencies tor the year ended the 30th of April,
1863
The total charges

Surplus of Indian revenue
Interest on debt £3,351,680
Charges defrayed in England 9,015,601

9,867,281

Surplus of Indian income
X 1,527,346

Mr H. SEYMOUR considered the statement, on the
whole, highly satisfactory; suggesting, however, the more
ready sale of waste lands in India in lee-simple by the
Government.

Mr J. B. SMITH complained that the Indian Budget
was not brought before the house at an earlier period of the
session, and that it was not accompanied by the explana •
tions of the Finance Minister in India. Ha complained
likewise tha; so little attention was paid to opening out the
internal navigation in that country. He, however, con-
gratulated the house upon the satisfactory character of the
report given of the finances of India.

Cursory observations upon the various topics touched
upon in the statements of Sir C. Wood were made by Mr
Kinnaird, Mr Vansittart, Mr Crawford, Mr Torrens, Mr
Gregson, and other members, some of whom could not help
animadverting upon the state of the house, and especially
the vacant benches on the Opposition side, during this dis-
cussion.

Sir C. WOOD made a general detailed reply to objec-
tions and inquiries.
The resolutions were then agreed to.
On the order for going into committee on the Consoli-
dated Fund (Appropriation) Bill,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER explained
the financial changes which had affected the balance be.
tween revenue and charges for the year, the result of which
had reduced the surplus, calculated by him in his budget
statement at £238,000, to £85,000.
After some remarks by Sir H. Willoughby, Mr J. White,
and Mr Walpole, upcn the subject of the surplus,
Mr AYRTON ceded attention to 'he balance of power in
Europe, for the maintenance of which the army supplies
ere appropriated, He observed that Prussia, as an indepen-
dent kingdom, apart from the Germanic Confederation, had
been guaranteed in the possession of a portion of Saxony
by the Treaty of Vienna. He contended that Prussia had
departed from that treaty by invading Schleswig and Den-
mark and had broken the peace of Europe, and, in the
name of the people of England, he protested against this
proceeding on her part, and insisted that we were not
bound to adhere to the arrangements of the treaty of 1815
in respect to Saxony.
Sir J. FERGUSSON remarked that if the doctrines now
held were to be maintained, other treaties might be as easily
set aside,
Lord PALMERSTON sad he did not stand up to defend
the conduct of Prussia; but he could not concur with Mr
Ayrtoia in thinking that, because Prussia had made war
upon Denmark, we were relieved from the engagements and
obligations we had contracted, along with other Powers,
under the Treaty of Vienna.
The house tben went into committee upon the bill, the
clauses of which were agreed to atter some discussion.
On the order for the third reading of the Yaw Zealand
(Guarantee of Loan) Bill,
Mr W HALLEY called upon the Government to give
an explicit answer to the question whether Governor Sir
George Grey had not attributed the war in New Zealand
to the machinations of the Roman Catholic priests,
Mr HENNESSY moved to defer the third reading for a
month. He cited testimonies favourable to the character of
the Maories, and denounced the war, which, ho said, com-
promised the honour of the country,
Mr CARDWELL reminded the house that the hostile
natives occupied a very limited part of the colony, and he
GovernorG
wasr e
tyo apsutt od tohwen r
ae ael
oonrsi
pgiirna o f
the
ed
cy
by
al
vsaamr a statementlthei
thobject
i n r iof
yfoGE
of the natives.
Upon a division, the amendment was negatived by 75
to 32.
The bill was then read the third time and passed.
The house then went into committee upon the Fortifica-
tions (Provision for Expenses) Bill, when
The biarquis of HARTINGTON made a short explana-
thr9 statement, in which he described the progress and con-
dition of the works.
ord
The clauses of the bill were agreed to, after considerable
discussion.
adjo The other
Orders eeurned at halt ere
P' "-
past 3 o'
-^ecerled with, and the house
clock.

FECHTER AS CIALTDE MvLNOTTE I.—P; is ru
moured, says a contemporary, that Mr Fechter intends tc•
pronuce "The Lady of Lyons,„ and that he is looking for a
lady to play Pauliue to hie Claude Melnotte, Why not
Mies Kate Terry?

TER SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 22, 1864.

will see his chance and take advantage of it, or
whether Mr. Lincoln will deprive them both of their
opportunity by allowing the laws of the State to take
their course against himself personally,and pleading
military necessity and the Indemnity Act as justifii
cation of his act and a bar against the penalty. In
this latter case no immediate decision will be ob-
tained. The whole matter will have to go before
the Supreme Court. Long before it reaches which
tribunal Mr. Lincoln will either be " Dictator" with
enlarged power, or an obscure lawyer in Sangom.n
County, Illinois—no longer of sufficient political
importance to be worth the trouble of prosecuting.
The supporters of Governor Seymour insist that
he is in earnest; that he will, to the utmost extent
of the means placed by the people at his disposal,
resist the encroachment of the Federal power. They
urge also that his previous moderation, caution,
and forbearance are but so many proofs that he
will act with dignity and determination when cir-
cumstances have provided him with so strong and
unmistakable a case as that whioh General Dix,
acting on Presidental authority, has so opportunely
afforded.

The appeal by the Governor of New York to the
merchants, bankers, and other wealthy citizens, to
advance, by wsy of loan to the State, the sums ne-
cessary to pay in gold the interest upon the debt
held by Englishmen and other foreigners, has had
but little effect. Not above a quarter of the neces-
sary funds has been thus proviued for, and the
whole proposal has fallen to the ground, and been
abandoned by the Chamber of Cemmerce, the body
which first took tp the subject as a matter of public
duty and promised to carry it to completion. It
appears that sone portion of the principal has
already been pair' off in greenbacks, and for that
reaeon the Chamfer has decided that it is of no use
to pay the interest of the remainder in gold—i. 6.,
the debtor havingdone partial injustice, it is better
that he should continue to do injustice than that he
should lay himself open to the accusation of incon-
sistency by suddenly becoming honest. Governor
Seymour, however, may claim the merit of having
seen the right Muse and dared to pursue it, and
may leave to the Legislature the shame of a quasi
repudiation, and to the mercantile community ot this
great city such portion of the disgrace as is implied
in its tacit acq'fescence in that which it knows to
be dishonouraht, and the stigma of which it might

have removed it it had been half as much in love
with the public it-edit as with private moneymaking.
The great Stateof Oaio has had even less shame
than New York and it has repudiated the obliga-

tion of paying
.n gold a debt contracted in gold,
without so muci as a remonstrance from any con•
stituted anthority entitled to speak in its name.
Yesterday week the auditor Secretary of State, and
to -Genets! of Ohio, constituting the Board
oArtFurnneydcommissioners, arrived in this city to pay
the semi-annual interest of the Ohio public debt,
due July 1, a debt amounting to about 13,000,009
dole, for the most part held in England and Ger-
many. They paid in greenbacks, and thus tender

:o the foreign creditor a mere composition, at the

then rate of gold, of 40c on the dollars, or 8s on the
pound sterling. This may not be called either
robbery or repudiation ; but it is marvellously like
the one, and is certainly a very uinsiderable stride
towards the other. At some future day, perhaps,
New York and Ohio may be again in want of funds

to carry out some project of internal improvement
or public utility, and may issue proposals to the
c ,pitalists of Europe to advance them gold on such
security as New York or Ohio can offer. But if,
under the circumEtances, Englishmen and Germans
do not button up their pockets they will deserve to
lose their money, Lnd will merit as little sympathy
as any bumkin at a fair who permits himself to be
swindled by a ring dropper.