The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-15 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE,

THIS DAY.—Morning, 12h. 12m.—Afternoon, 12h. 36m.
To..xolutow.-Morning, 12h. 59m.—Afternoon, lh. 25m.

tljr1111164:411t N,l

LONDON, FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1863.

Our Parisian contemporaries are beginning to
turn their attention from alternately scanning the
progress now of the Civil War in America, now of
the revolution in Poland—to concentrate it, for an
interval, at least, almost exclusively upon the
coming Elections. Although the remarks articu-
lated by the French journals upon a matter so
vitally affecting the interests of the poli-
tical Constitution of the country, are
rather diffusive and generalized in their
character, they are worthy of some passing
examination, we cannot but think, under
the circumstances. With a wholesome fear of the
Imperial Censor before their eyes, they can yet
articulate in some measure, a few at least among
them, their inner hopes and aspirations. Turning
to this morning's Cunstitutionnel, for instance, we
read there—and how differently the language will
seem to the eyes say of Mr. COBDEN and of Mr.
KINGLAKE—we read there to-day no less exultant
an exordium than the following :—" The electoral
movement," quoth the Constitutionnel, as self-
complacently as the most constitutional pub-
licist on this side of the Channel, " has
commenced, and it is now rapidly de-
veloping itself over the whole surface of the
country—as befits a free people It is with
impd-
cit confidence," adds the writer, " that we await
the verdict about to be pronounced by the ten
million electors who have the privilege of voting
secretly : each of those ten million electors having
no one to whom to render an account of his vote
but his Conscience and his GoD!" So much
for the first utterances to-day of the Con.
stitutzonnel. Its closing paragraph we com-
mend to the sympathy of our earnest friends of
the Ballot Society here in England. Passing on,
however, from Le Constitutionnel of this very morn-
ing to to-day's Siecie we there read, under the head
of " The Electoral movement "—." Ntver has there
been such a multitude of free men in France as to-
day ! Universal Suffrage begins again to hold its
assizes : and each (elector) regards himself as
pledged to keep unspotted from all sins against
liberty, each wishes now to love and to practise only
liberty. . . . This movement" the writer adds
a little further on, " is at once admirable and pecu-
liar." Aad so on—and so on. Le Steele exults, in
fact, over the advance of the age in which it lives
and of which it is one of the organs in France—

exults thus over its age no less than Le Constitu.

tiOnnel exults in its Constitutionalism.
Nationale has for once in a way miscarried this
day in its transit to us through the post, other-

wise we might been obtained next through its
utterances some of its notions, at least as the tenour
and the tendencies of the national opinion, in regard
to this came contemporary movement. Here, how-
ever, is the yet damp copy of Le Pays, under date
this very afternoon, Friday, the loth of May : its
comments (signed MELVIL) upon the great repre-
sentative movement now upon the eve once more of
beginning in genuine earnest, opening with its own
name thus formally ; " The country," says Le I'ayB;
4' is now entering for the third time since the esta-
blishment of the actual ryin-te ha° the electoral
constitutional period. This rjgime has largely
satisfied now for ten years both within and wth-
out, all legitimate aspirations. •Without,—Lwho
by the way, shall deny this ?]--it has reclaimed to
itself its ancient ascendancy by a national
policy which has known how to be power.
ful without being either ambitious or ine-
nseng, and which has had the tact to

rPv;sure Europe by its moderation in triumph a

the very moment when the victorious sword 0:

oursoldiers has restored to the France of Louis XIV,
and of NAPOLEON I. her grandeur and her glory,

Within, it (this national policy) has given to the

country, order, repose, work and prosperity"—and

no on, here also with Le Pay ; as, in other words, as
we have seen and shown, with Le Saele; as we
have previously beheld and demonstrated with

Le Constitutionnel ! Examining the utterances
of the chief among the Paris newspapers—running

cur glance down the columns of the Journal des

_De)ats, down thcse of La Presse, and so forth, red,
blue, green, white, neutral tinted—no matter what
theparty,or sc ction ofa party,any of tht:se organs may
chAuee, upon particular themes, to reprek.ent, how- j

It has often been observed that those advantages
and opportunities most easy of access are the least
valued, and the aphorism is as correct in political
life as in individual experience. We have a very
striking example of this indifference in the con-
duct of our statesmen towards India. We have
had under our government a vast and varied
country, whose climate, it is true, is often insalubri-
ous to Europeans, but which possesses mighty
rivers, large tracts of fertile but uncultured land,
and other advantages lying waiting for the hand
of the enterprising cultivator. The population
are poor but industrious, and the opening of a
fresh source of trade and commerce would be to
them a very great benefit. On the other hand we
have an overcrowded country, where youth and
strength can scarcely find scope for their energies,
and even capital cannot always discover a satisfac-
tory outlet. Under these circumstances it would
appear thatithe:requirements of one country were
exactly fitted to the need of the other, and that
mutual benefit would result from a free interchange
of money, energy, and raw material. When we
remember, too, that for one of our principal manu-
factures we are wholly dependent on a foreign
supply, while India could furnish our needs,
it certainly seems strange that the oppor-
tunity should hitherto have been turned
to so little account. Our Indian Ministers
are generally men who know little of the country
or the people they are called upon to govern. They
are conseauently forced to depend very much upon
the official reports which theyreceive. With their
knowledge of the fierce and uncertain character of
the inhabitants, they are naturally cautious in
making any sudden innovations, and are particularly
chary of invading their rights and privileges'
There are, too, so many old prejudices and interests
to encounter among Europeans that it is on the
whole an easier task to allow matters to take their
ordinary course than to attempt any grand im-
provement or comprehensive scheme.
Until very recently our legislative powers
have been fettered by the chartered interests of
the old company. Lord STANLEY, during
the few months he held authority in Leaden-
hall-street, showed how much could be done by an
Indian Minister who really knew something of
the country he was legislating for, and who was
willing to step beyond the mere routine
of government in his endeavours to improve and
develope the resources of the country. Unfortu-
nately the noble lord's tenure of office was brief,
and on Sir CHARLES WOOD'S assuming the reins of
power the old system returned in full force. The
right hon. baronet on Tuesday evening declared that
the Government had been most anxious to encourage
the growth of cotton, and had, in fact, before any
alarm had been felt in this country about the dearth
of the material, taken steps to make the require-
ments of this country known in India. They had
sent commissioners into the different districts to
communicate with the people on the subject ; they
had offered prizes for the best samples ; they had
distributed seed and advanced money in the shape
of cotton loans. All this was, of course, very well,
but how much better would it have been to have
thrown open the door to European energy and
capital instead of merely communicating with
natives who were probably ignorant of the impor

ance and value of the new trade; who were un-
willing to change their occupation ; and who

were unable to commence such large undertak-
ings without the necessary irrigation, &c. Nay,
even on Sir CUARLES WOOD'S own showing the
matter was left too late. Why leave until 1861 what
might have been done ten years earlier. The
shadows of the coming storm were a:ready

darkening the horizon when the Indian Go-

vernment showed that wonderful foresight which
the right hon. baronet claims for them. Mr. SET-

MOUR tells us that, when he was at the Board of
Control, he was applied to to ask the Indian Govern-
ment to grant a tract of land in perpetuity for the
cultivation of cotton. The only reply was an eva-
sive paragraph in a despatch from the Court of
Directors, which of course left the matter where it
was. The consequences of such perversity have

unfortunately fallen on those who had nothing to
do with the wilful mismanagement of affairs. Mr,

SEYMOUR further said that Lord STANLEY, in his
despatch upon the subject, had stated that many
applications had even then been made for land to
grow cotton ; but, as the hon. member justly re-
marked, What would not have been the case now if
the question of tenure had been satisfactorily set-
tled! The returns given by the Indian Government
the waste lauds are certainly startling.
respecting
The Government of Madras stated that there were
in that presidency alone 13 millions of uncultivated
land, of which two millions were actually irrigated.
Lord STANLEY confirmed the assertions made as to

:ae immense extent of uncultivated land in India

He said there was no calculation to show the

exact extent, but for all practical pur-
poses it might be said to be unlimited. "In
some parts of Bengal, in Oude, in Assam,

alanrdgeonqutahne slitylopoe of h
fs
uncultivated
Himalayas
tivatedland,thiecrfieniis a
tely
greater than any number of settlers for any reason-
able number of years are likely to occupy."
When we hear of one tract of waste land contain.
ing 25,000 square miles in a dis!rict suitable for
the cultivation of cotton, it certainly does seem
as if we had brought the heavy national trouble
from which we are even now suffring upon, our-

selves,

The money which the Government will Irtve
to advance to fled work for the idle ri-,. ill
hands would have been better employed in irri-
gating the vast tracts of land which are lying waste
beneath an Indian sun. The neglect of the canal
system and general water works shown by our Indian
authorities have put another obstacle in the way of
the cotton trade, by depriving the cultivation of a
,heap, easy, and safe mode of trsansit for their goods.
rhei completion of the railways is certainly Very

( ever feebly, or however boldly—all is one for that, in
regard to the Electoral Movement, upon the eve of
entering upon which all France now stands forward
expectantly. There, upon that common ground, the
view taken of the coming movement is in a manner
identical. It is a French view, as a matter of

course—however surprising, and even es one may
say incomprehensible, this may be to the hon. and
learned member for the borough of Bridgewater.
It is, at any rate, not an English view—as ap-
pears quite comprehensible, it to no one else on
this side of the Channel, at any rate to the distin-
guished common sense of that living embodiment of
the Genius of Common Sense, the hon. member
for the borough of Rochdale. And really when we
come to look at what our neighbours would call
the " situation," it is but reasonable that
they should have their own point of view
from which to regard that same situation.
It may just possibly occur, one of these
days, even to Mr. KINGLAKE, that France being
France, and not England, Frenchmen may be al-
lowed to hallo different opinions from his own
in regard to the value of Election by
Universal Suffrage through the ballotting urns—in
regard to the import of the Imperial Constitution
—in regard to the significance of what is pre-
cisely meant by Napoleonism.