The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-04 00:00:00

but, with regard to persons leaving, the examinations are
conducted only by the professors of the college. A great
deal of time, it is believed, is needlessly wasted at that in-
ntitution in the study of the Oriental languages, which, it
would appear, from all the evidence taken before the com-
mittee, could be much more easily and speedily acquired
in India. It is obvious that the time devoted to the acqui-
sition of those languages is necessarily taken away from
subjects which we believe to be of far greater importance
for the education of persons intended for the civil service.
(Hear.) We propose that the examinations at the entrance
of students at Haileybury shall be such as to establish
that, wherever they have been educated—whether at Lon-
don, Dublin, or Edinburgh—they have received a good
education. We propose' also, that there should be a con-
siderable addition made to the legal education at present
given at Haileybury. It was recommended by some of the
witnesses that there should be a distinction made at the
outset between the legal, and what I may call the revenue,
branch of the civil service. One witness proposed that
the judges of India should be chosen at once from the
English bar ; but all the other witnesses were unani-
mous that that was impossible. It clearly appeared
from the evidence of the most competent witnesses that
there was great advantage gained on the subsequent career
of a judge by his having commenced his services in the col.
lector's department, because he was there enabled to ac-
quire that knowledge of the manners, and habits, and dis-
positions of the people of India without which he was
unable adequately to discharge his duty as a judge ; and,
indeed, the fact was, that no inconsiderable part of the
duties of a collector were of a judicial character. Most of
the suits connected with land, for instance, were decided
by the collectors. We propose, then, that at Haileybury
the students shall receive a sound legal education—l do
not mean in the mere technicalities of the profession, but
in the principles of jurisprudence—which will enable them
to administer any law, whether English, Mahomedan, or
Hindoo. (Hear, hear.) We propose that an improved
education of this kind should be conferred upon every
person going to Haileybury. lam in hopes at ',present
that the term of two years will be found sufficient for this
purpose—at least, such is the opinion of the heads of the
college; but if upon experience that period should be found
to be too short, it will be extended, so that no person
going thence out to India shall go without a thorough legal
education. We propose to insure the utmost fairness in
all the examinations—and that the examinations on coming
out of Haileybury, as well as on going in, should be con-
ducted by independent examiners. Ido not mean to say
that any undue favour has hitherto been shown in the
examinations on coming out of the college ; but, at the
same time, I think it only fair that the examinations
should be conducted by independent examiners rather
than by members of the college. I may mention that there
is at present a most severe examination of the civil ser-
vants in India before they are appointed to important
situations. This examination has only been recently intro-
duced, and is of a very stringent character, as the follow-
ing dpcument will show :—" After this apprenticeship of
several years, the assistant to a collector and magistrate is
regarded as a candidate for promotion. He is then
subjected to a further examination, with a view of
testing his knowledge of the languages and the laws
of the country, and his promotion is made dependent
on the success with which he passes the test. Of
twenty civilians who came up in 1852 seven only
were passed. A successful candidate is then deemed
qualified for the office of collector or magistrate," I hope
that the result of these examinations will be, that
all future members of the civil and judicial services will
be found duly qualified for the execution of their duties.
We propose that, after a time, they shall be allowed to
select which branch they will follow ; and that, if they
select the judicial branch, they shall not afterwards be re-
moved into the collecting department. (Hear, hear.) We
propose, also, an improvement of the Superior Court of
India. At present there is the Queen's Court in each of
the presidency towns for the administration of justice to
the English inhabitants ; and there is also the highest
court of the company's officers, called the " Sudder
A dawlut," being substantially the same court for civil and
criminal justice, under different names. We propose to
consolidate these two courts. (Hear, hear.) We believe
that the constitution of both will be improved by the
amalgamation; we believe that the addition of the Queen's
judges will introduce the improved law and knowledge
which they carry from this country into the company's
service, and that the addition of the company's judges
sitting with lawyers from this country will give those
English lawyers what they want,—an acquaintance with
the manners, and habits, and laws of India. (Hear.) We
propose that this court shall be the ultimate court of appeal
in each of the presidencies from all the others, and that
minor courts shall be instituted in each of the towns of the
presidencies, subject to an appeal to the Court of Amal-
gamated Judges. We propose also that in certain cases
this court shall have original jurisdiction, and that the
judges shall be occasionally employed as a special commis-
sion to try causes in any part of the country. We believe
that these reforms will be the moans of introducing an
improved practice and tone into all the courts of the
country ; and in every part of the country there will be
the advantage of trials before judges of the highest court
of judicature. I was exceedingly anxious that this im-
provement should have been embodied in the bill which
I mean to ask leave to introduce, but, after consulting
with members of the late Law Commission of India,
I found that in consequence of the necessary arrange.
ments connected with the forms of procedure it would
be necessary to postpone it till we shall have received
the report of the commission which we propose to
institute, and whose first duty will be to prepare forms of
procedure applicable to the new court. With respect to
the native judges, I do not know that much more can be
done but to continue the progress we have begun. They
are at present subjected to severe examination at every
step of their promotion. We propose, however, that the
salaries of the lower class of judges shall be raised. It
appears from the evidence which we have received that in
every rank above the lowest the salaries of the judges are
quite adequate ; but probably there can be no better mode
of removing the temptation with regard to the old practice
of administering justice by means of indirect influence
than by first improving the moral tone of the judges, and
then increasing their salaries. (Hear, hear.) There aro
other topics of vast importance which I might refer to, and
perhaps there is none of more importance than that of na-
tive education ; but, as we have not entered upon any
inquiry with respect to that subject yet, it would be pre-
mature to address many observations to you upon it. But
I may say that there has been a great improvement in re-
spect to this matter in the course of the last 20 years. We
used to spend considerable sums and to take considerable
trouble in educating a large body of the natives in Oriental
literature, which was of little value to them ; but chiefly
owing, I believe, to the exertions of the right hon. gentle-
man the member for Edinburgh (Mr. Macaulay), European
literature has been substituted for antiquated Sanscrit ;
and if hon. members will take the trouble to refer to the
appendix of the Lords' report they will see abundant
proofs of the proficiency to which the natives have attained
in this respect. Th,e natives have also made great progress
in the science and practice of medicine. They have been
induced to forego their old national prejudice against
touching a dead body ; and the skill with which they use
the scalpel is equal to that of many Europeans. (Hear.) I
won't at present say anything of the Government schools
for the education of the natives, which are hereafter to be
the subject of inquiry. But I may mention that we have
satisfactory accounts of the missionary schools in which
the Bible is ordinarily used with the full knowledge of the
Brahmins. I believe that no great number of the natives
ultimately become Christians ; but we have strong testi-
mony in favour of the improved moral habits which have
followed from their attendance at the schools, and from the
Christian education they receive there. (Hear, hear.)
There is strong testimony, moreover, to this fact, that the
spread of Christianity among the more educated and en-
lightened class of natives is fast sapping the foundations of
their debasing faith. It is notorious that the Government
interfere in no respect with the religion of tie natives, and
no person is more convinced than I am that it is a wise and
beneficial course, because I believe that if we attempted to
de otherwise we should only impede the progress which it
is so desirable to promote. f may not be uninteresting to
the house to know that by the last mail we have accounts
of the baptism of Dhuleep Singh, a descendant of Runjeet
Singh, a prince of high rank, which ceremony, it appears,
took place, not ostentatiously, but privately, and without
the slightest parade. (Hear.) I say that we interfere not,
and I think rightly, in the propagation of our religion
among the natives ; but, on the other hand, I am bound
to express my opinion that I think we have been per-.
fectly right in taking care that the professors of Christianity
shall incur no loss in consequence. (Hear.) Strong opin-
ions have lately been expressed against the passing of the
act which prevents the forfeiture of the property of Hin-
does on their becoming Christians ; but I think that that
act was perfectly right, and that no religion professed in
any part of the Queen's dominions should entail the for-
feiture of property. I quite agree therefore, in the pro-
priety of passing that act. So far, I think that we were
perfectly justified. I think the Government are perfectly
right in abstaining from proselytising among the Hindoos
in favour of Christianity, though, at the same time, I
think we ought to give them every advantage when they
do embrace that faith. I hope and trust that the educa-
tion they are receiving will gradually lead to the reception
of that faith in India ; but that result we must leave in
the hands of Him who will, in His good time, bring about
that which He desires to come to pass. (Hear,
hear.) But I am anxious to say that I differ from
the opinion which was expressed in evidence by a
noble lord, to the effect that the education of the
natives is to be avoided, as tending to diminish our
hold on them. I should be sorry to think that such was
the case. No doubt our empire of India is an anomalous
empire ; but I do not believe that we shall endanger that
empire by educating the natives of India. (Hear, hear.)
I believe, on the contrary, that if the groat body of the
natives were educated and enlightened, and not only edu-
cated and enlightened, but bound to us by the ties of a
common faith, we should increase rather than relax our
hold upo/n the Indian empire. (Hear, hear.) But, be that
as it may, it seems to me that it is our plain duty to im-
prove the condition and to increase the enlightenment of
the people. I believe, as I have said, that by so doing we
shall strengthen our empire there ; but, even if the reverse
should be the case, it seems to me that our path of duty
is equally clear—that, even if the result should be the loss
of that empire, we should occupy a far higher and prouder
position in the history of the world, if, by our agency, we
should succeed in establishing a civilised and Christian
empire in India, than if we continued to rule over a people
debased by ignorance and degraded by superstition. (The
right hon. gentleman resumed his seat about half-past 10,
having spoken exactly five hours.)
Mr. BRIGHT felt considerable difficulty in rising to ad-
dress the house, after having sat five hours in listening to the
speech of the right hon. gentleman. But the question being
one of very first-rate importance, and one to which he had
paid great attention, as well as formed strong opinions about,
he therefore felt unwilling that the bill should be suffered to
be brought in, or that this opportunity should pass, without
briefly commenting on the legislative plan just offered to the
consideration of the house. (Hear, hear.) In his opinion,
there existed great inconsistency in what the right hon. gen-
tleman had said, and what he proposed to do—(hear, hear)—
because if one were to take his speech as a faithful represen-
tation of the condition of India and the past proceedings of
the government, he (Mr. Bright) should say that he had
greatly failed in his plan as regarded the change in the go-
vernment of that country. But if the speech was not a faith-
ful portrait of India, what the right hon. gentleman proposed
to do with regard to the home administration was altogether
insufficient for the present occasion. (Hear, hear.) He (Mr.
Bright) intended to apply his observations mainly to the or-
ganisation of the home administration. Ho was not sur-
prised that her Majesty's Government should have taken an
unsatisfactory course with regard to this measure, because
they did not seem to know what to do from the outset when
this question was brought before them. He did not allude
to all the right hon. gentlemen on the Treasury bench in this
statement, but particularly to the noble lord (J. Russell), be-
cause it was when that noble lord was at the head of the Go-
I vernineut that the question was first proposed. It was well

known that Sir J. C. Hobhouse was not in favour of inquiry
o the past government and present condition of India.
0 noble lord thought with him, but subsequently came to
the conviction that it would be desirable to have a committee
appointed. The committee was appointed, and sat for evi-
dence at the commencement of the present session; and the
noble lord (J. Russell) admitted, in reply to a question put
by him (Mr. Bright), that it was the intention of her
Majesty's Ministers to legislate for India, leaving the home
department of that Government altogether as it at present
stood. From that time to the present various rumours had
been afloat. Some thought there would be no legislation at
all ; the next week the rumour was that there would be legis-
lation, and of a sweeping nature, which he never believed—(a
laugh)—and, again, it was conjectured that the legislation
would be such as they that night had heard. Only so late as
Saturday last it was said that the legislation would be of a
very temporary nature, which he (Mr. Bright) confessed he
believed at the time. A question was put to the noble lord
on the subject some few days since ; the hon. gentleman who
put the question was requested to postpone it to Tuesday
evening ; but when Tuesday evening came, the answer to the
question was that the statement of the right hon. baronet
on Friday evening would fully embrace every proposition.
Well, at length it did come out in the statement of the right
hon. gentleman, which had some good things in it—but a
man could scarcely speak five hours without saying something
good. (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) But, as regarded the
main proposition, he was not at all convinced that her Ma-
jesty's Government had substituted anything better than the
plan at present in existence. (Hear.) It appeared to him
that the right hon. baronet had made a very long speech in
defence of the Indian Government; but from the great ma-
jority of the observations he (Mr. Bright) wholly dissented.
(Hear, hear.) The right hon. baronet had stated that he met
no individual conversant with India whose opinion it was not
that it would be dangerous to postpone legislating for India
beyond the present year. The right hon. gentleman adduced
as proof of that a private letter written by Lord Dalhousie,
which he (Mr. Bright) did not deem conclusive proof at all
upon the matter. (Hear.) That noble lord was mixed up
in the present system, and was so completely surrounded by
parties who were deeply concerned in the existing state of
things, that he could not be regarded as a superior authority
to any man in ten thousand -who never had been Governor-
General of India. (Hear, hear.) Now, in his (Mr. Bright's)
opinion, so far from postpone-anent being felt by the natives
of India as a calamity, he thought no evil whatever would re-
sult from creating in the minds of any number of persons a
feeling that the Government of India was viewed as a great
and solemn question by that house. (Hear.) He thought,
on the contrary, that the feeling, created in their minds would
be one of confidence and hope, and that whatever would be
done in the way of agitation would be more by way of acquir-
ing information, in a friendly and generous spirit, than by
creating an excitement to make legislation difficult. (Hear.)
But coming to the argument on. which the measure was based,
he should say the speech was that of an advocate of the East
India Government as at present constituted. (Hear.) It
seemed as if an order had been sent down from the Board of
Control to the clerks of the Court of Directors, telling
them to do everything so, as to make it appear that the
existing Government was ono worthy of the confidence of
the country. (Hear, hear.) His (Mr. Bright's) views of it
was this—that the Indian Government, composed of two
branches, not to be amalgamated into one, was a govern-
ment of sccresy, and irresponsible to a degree that should not
be tolerated in a country like this, where we bad a Constitu-
tional and Parliamentary Government. (Hear.) He had not
the least idea of bringing forward any charge against the mem-
bers of the Court of Directors, as if they were anxious to mis-
govern India. He thought the twenty-four gentlemen of the
board acted as well as any twenty-four gentlemen similarly
elected would act, surrounded with difficulties, and at the
dictation of the Board of Control. (Hear, hear.) Neither did
he charge the Board of Control with not doing as well as it
could have done ; for almost within every two or three years,
sometimes oftener, the president of that board was changed
according to the succession of new administrations. Then
there was the combination of the Court of Directors, so that
the government altogether was of a description which, in his
mind, never could work wisely or beneficially, taken in com-
parison with the principles they had found to be wise in the
Government of this country. The theory of the old Govern-
ment could not be defended; indeed, it had been admitted to
be ludicrous and childish, and he (Mr. Bright) thought the
present plan no better. (Hear, hear.) In 174 S the old sys-
tem was established, a period when the feuds of faction pre-
vailed. The house, in 1813, resolved to continue this system
for twenty four years longer, a time when this country was
at hostilities with France, and again, in 1833, it was re-
enacted, after the hurricane of reform had swept the country,
and when all circumstacces rendered it difficult for the Go-
vernment to pass the best measure they might for India.
(Hear, hear.) But all these difficulties appeared now to have
vanished, and there never was a question brought before Par-
liament more free from complication, or one in reference to
which they were more at liberty to wisely and fully consider,
than the present. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Campbell stated in his
work on India, that " the division of authority between the
Board of Control and the Court of Directors rendered all deli-
berations slow and difficult, inasmuch as twenty-four direc-
tors sitting in one place, and a Board of Control in another,
were not likely to speedily agree on any point." (Hear,
hear.) Mr. Kaye also condemned the system of double Go-
vernment in the province of Bengal at the period of 1772,
which ho termed " a sham and an imposture, certain to be
demolished at the first blow." Ho characterised' it in his
work—which, by the way, had been circulated at the ex-
pense of the Court of Directors, at least the chairman had
made him (Mr. Bright) a present of a copy—as a system
" calculated to introduce corruption, and whilst it ruined our
finances, it also soiled our character." But that was not all ;
Mr. Kaye further described it as a system which " obscured
responsibility and deluded public opinion." (Hear, hear.)
" The past history of India," it continued, " was a history of
revenue wasted, and domestic improvements ruined by war."
This question of divided and concealed responsibility—or ra-
ther no responsibility—was the pith of the present question ;
and the house should take care and not allow itself to be di-
verted from it. The hon. member for Guildford asked why he
(Mr. Bright) did not produce a plan ? He remembered au lion.
gentleman in that house saying, when a similar question was
put to him, " he would produce his plan when called on."
(Laughter.) But the plan before the house to-night was evi-
dently one concocted between the right hon. President of the
Board of Control and the hon. member for Guildford and his
colleagues. Some persons were disposed to undervalue the
importance of this point, and fancied it did not much matter
what should be the form of government existing here, as the
population of India would always, in the mass, be in a condi-
tion of poverty and suffering, and that whatever was to be
'done should be done in India, this country resolving not to
interfere, even though the question involved affected the go-
vernment of some 100,000,000 of human beings. Mr. Kayo,
who appeared to hold a brief for the company, and had writ-
ten a book for them, had endeavoured to depreciate the cha-
racter of the Mogul princes ; but if they referred to the evi-
dence of Mr. Marchmont, who was examined before the com-
mittee, and who was the editor of the " Friend of India," a
newspaper favourable to the Government, they would find
that in his paper, under the date of April, 1852, ho stated
that the Bengal peasantry were in the most wretched and de-
graded state—they lived in wretched hovels, were clothed in
rags, and rarely had more than a single meal for themselves
and their families. If the real condition of those who raised
the harvest, which produced between three and four millions,
were known, it would make the ears of the hearers tingle.
Now it was said that Bengal was in a better condition than
either Madras or Bombay, but it appeared to be the same
everywhere. He was satisfied that when the people of a
country like India were in such a condition of pauperism and
wretchedness as that, there must be some serious defect in
the Government. (Hear, hear.) In the report of the cotton
commissioners it was stated that the population was in the
most abject state of poverty and degradation, and cc could
cite many other authorities in corroboration of that state-
ment. One authority stated that their British rulers in
India were like nothing but locusts, who devoured every-
thing. The right honourablegentlemeu had referred to the salt
duties, but he would tell them what the " Friend of India's
said upon that point. Although the right hon. gentleman
had endeavoured to persuade them that the consumption was
increasing, the authority he held in his hand, and which could
not be contested, stated that it was rapidly decreasing. In
1849-50, the quantity consumed wa5205,000 tons; in 1850-51,
it was 186,000 tons ; and in 1851-52, it was 146,000 tons—
showing a decrease of 60,000 tons in three years, and at 71.
per ton—a decrease in the revenue of 416,000/. Now, it must
be borne in mind that with their vegetable diet the use of salt
was most essential to health, and must be largely consumed ;
and the large decrease in this prime necessary of life denoted
a declining condition of the population, and that he thought
must ultimately affect very disadvantageously the revenues of
the Indian Government. With regard to the state of crime
and the police system of the district of Bengal, he found a
statement in the " Friend of India," of April last, which de-
tailed the attack of a zemindar and his armed retainers upon
the factory of a European, to which he supposed he had some
claim, no great encouragement to English manufacturers to
settle there. The police officer sat upon the roof of a hut quite
unconcernedly, while the Europeans and the natives fought a
pitched battle. The house might conceive from that what was
the state of society in a presidency which England had had
possession of for centuries, when such a matter was referred
to as being of ordinary occurrence. He thought that formed
rather a contrast to the picture of prosperity and beauty which
the right hon. gentleman had furnished to the house. Much
was said about the construction of great lines of road,and the
rapidity with which the mail was conveyed, averaging, it was
said, ten miles an hour ; but he found that the roads were
everywhere in an almost impassable state, and that on many
of the great lines the rate of travelling was five, four, and in
some cases only three miles an hour. Then look at the perio-
dical famines with which the country was visited. In Madras
the last famine had occasioned a loss of revenue of 1,000,0001.,
the property lost amounting, of course, to many millions more,
while between 200,000 and 300,000 lives were sacrificed. He
hoped the house and the country would not be diverted from
the consideration of these gigantic and incredible evils by the
statements of the right hon. gentleman. In the North-west
Provinces it would appear that the want of irrigation was
severely felt, although no mean authority had stated that
irrigation was a question not of profit, but of actual exist-
ence. He might refer, also, to the great embankment at
Kistna, which would have saved many hundred thousand
lives if it had been completed, but it was stopped because the
money was wanted for other purposes—he supposed for the
Burmese war. (Hear, hear.) Colonel Cotton had remon-
strated against this, and an attempt was actually made to
suppress the order for the stoppage of the improvements and
Colonel Cotton's remonstrances. As regarded the trade of
the country, India actually paid in consequence of the want
of communication, a sum equal to the whole of the taxation.
He would not now detain the house by entering upon the
question of the administration of justice in India ; but it
would appear that there was an absolute terror on the part of
the native population of coming under the jurisdiction of the
European courts. It was altogether hopeless to expect
Englishmen to invest property in India which might be placed
under the control of
.the company's courts of justice. That
was one reason why there had of late years been no increase
in the number of persons settling in India. The law Commis-
sion was to have done great things for India, but their report
had been bandied about for years between India and that
country, and the court of directors actually sneered at the
as
wwd
nrysagoei,tdnoo,trlnaedum
gentleman
disgraceful
cicacebedfourllieetfsvehyieedeairtt
idea of their propositions being carried out, the object evi-
dently being to extinguish the commission altogether. It
17...mpeorerfceocmtlypliterautee,dt,heaxtttrhAoerre.
sTetedmtothsaon
some statistics
titsetrmicseodfthe
tration of justice in India at the present moment. The right
theong
r ap
gl placed eodyelir. n nom then t
expendituret tableupon
psunt
the.l
roads,
s;purposes
was
acdgf
whichmweren yons
years
only
ua :plc a
sehs
sat
hon.
ma
vitbhel
the average
beenat
voe Col. Sykes,
which would doubtless have establishedP his c since,but theyan
the right hon. gentleman. Colonel Sykes stated that for
300,0( 0/. In 1851, the expenditure was above that sum, of
which the North-western Provinces, which
appeared to be the
favourite, got 240,000/. Similar were the proportions in the
estimate for 1852. So that, out of 300,0001., the three pre-
sidencies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras recived only about
00,099/. for internal improvements. (Hear, hear.) it could

be shown that Ole reason why so little was done in India
by Europeans, .was the absence of security for capital.
(Hear, hear.) Yet Engtshmeii were not over prudent
or cautious in investment; of their capital, and often lent
to Governments who made it a rule not to repay. (A
laugh.) It was said, indeed, by the Company some time
ago, that the settlement of Englishmen in India was not
to be encouraged. So far as they were concerned, India was
terra incognita. In each of the three presidencies there
were scarcely 1,600. Indeed, an Englishman was hardly
ever seen except in the shape of a tax-collector. (Hear,
hear.) It was impossible but that if the United States had
been possessors of India, where we had tens they would have
had hundreds settled in India. (Hear, hear.) The right
hon. gentleman had spoken of the increase of trade. It could
not, of course, but be considerable, for it had begun with
nothing. (Hear, hear.) There was little alteration in our
Indian policy or principles from what they were iu the last
century ; and any increase of trade was not owing to that.
Our total exports to India were 8,000,000/., but above
5,000,0001. of that amount were of the cotton trade. Upon
these figures it would appear that the cotton trade had en-
grossed almost all the increase of Indian commerce. But to
bring all the rest of our trade together, the total amount di-
vided among the 150,000,000 of the Indian population was
only 2,500,0001. Whereas Brazil had only a population of
7,500,000, of whom half were slaves, better off, perhaps, than
the people of India, yet the experts to Brazil were 2,500,0001.
If India only took in the proportion of one-half, she would
take five 'Vines as much as she did of our trade. (Hear.) Such
was the result of our rule iu India as respected trade here.
(Hear.) In India the population receive only manufactures
to the amount of ls. Id. a-head per annum, while in Brazil
they took to the amount of Bs. 6d. a-head. (Hear.) The
manufacturers of this country had a deep interest in this
question. (Hear.) The right hon, gentleman referred to the
employment of the natives. This had been made a great
point of in 1833, that natives should be employed without
distinction of colour, caste, or creed, vet it did not appear
that there had been the least change in that respect. (Hear.)
On the contrary, the present measure would leave things just
as they were, or worse than they were, before 1833. (Hear.)
The right hon. gentleman proposed to keep up the exclusive-
ness of the " covenanted " service. The court of directors
had discouraged a native university, and had shown the ut-
most indisposition to qualify the natives for admission to
offices of trust and credit. (Hear.) It was impossible, then,
to accept the highly-varnished statement of the right hon.
gentleman as faithful and true. (Hear, hear.) The right
hon. gentleman bad spoken or education and religion. It
appeared that we had succeeded in overthrowing to a great
degree the native system of education. The !village school-
master had disappeared. And now out of 100,000,000 of
people the Government were only instructing 25,000 children,
and out of 29,000,000/. of revenue, they were expending only
60,000/. on education. (Hear, hear.) In India, then, we
had upset the native system of education, and replaced it
with nothing. (Hear.) As to our ecclesiastical establishment,
there were three bishops with 100,000/. a-year, intended
only for 50,000 Europeans, half of whom were Roman
Catholics. And while the Protestant bishops had
4,000/., with 1,2001. a-year for expenses, the Catholic bishops
had only 250/. a-year. (Hear, hear.) The question of Indian
finance the right hon. gentleman had got over in a very Lame
style. (Hear, and laughter.) Among the defences of the
Indian government, circulated at the expense of the Indian
people—(laughter)—was a book of Mr. Prinsep, who showed
that, for the last 16 years, the revenue raised was
340,000,000/., and the expenditure 341,000,0001.—a million
in excess. The company had borrowed 16,000,000/.; and
out of this aggregate of 356,000,0001., only 5,000,0001. had
been paid for public works, and 10,000,000/. in the way of
dividends. (Hear, hear.) What was the Indian debt,
which must come into the budget some year ? (Hear, hear.)
It was stated by Sir Robert Peel, in 1842, in his great speech
on the state of our finances, when he proposed that tem-
porary income tax which had happened to be permanent—
(laughter)—that though there might appear no direct con-
nection between Indian and English finance, that was a very
superficial view of the case ; for that if the credit of Indian
finance were shaken, that of England must sustain it, or be
shaken too. (Hear.) And the right hon. baronet stated
that the deficit was 4,700,000/., which had been growing ever
since. (Hear.) And though the last year there was an ap-
parent surplus, it was delusive ; and this year there was a de-
ficit again, which must increase, in consequence of the
Burmese war. (Hear, hear.) He wanted to know where
that system was to end. He found that under the present
government of India the debt of that country had been con-
stantly increasing. When the Board of Control had
first been constituted, the debt had amounted' to 8,000,000/. ;
in 1805 it had amounted to 10,000,0001.; in 1849 it had
amounted to 44,000,000/. ; in 1853 it amounted to
47,000,000/. ; and including the bonded debt at home,
it was at present 51,000,000/. The military expenditure
had increased since the period when the last charter act
had been passed from 8,000,000/. to 12,000,000/. Under
the present system of governing India, a feeling must
necessarily have grown up among the population,
that we hold their country for the purpose of extort-
ing taxes from them, and not for the promotion of their wel-
fare. He believed that the sum taken from the people was
equal to the entire rent of the land. (Marks of dissent from
Mr. Mangles.) The hon. member shook his head; but ho
(Mr. Bright) believed he could show that in many parts of the
country the sum paid to the Government was more than the
rent of the laud. Mr. Campbell had set down the gross re-
venue at present raised in India at 27,000,0004 ; and Mr.
Kaye, who was the latest authority upon the subject, and
who, no doubt, wrote in a comfortable room at the India
House, with the best sources of information at his Command,
estimated the gross revenue of India at 29,000,000/. The laud
revenue alone amounted to between 12,000,0001, and
13,000,000/. ; and yet it was not half enough to carry on the
government of the country. And let it be remembered that
29,000,000/. iu India was a very different sum nom 29,000,000/.
in this country, for in India any given amount of money would
purchase four or five times the amount of labour which it
would purchase iu England, In India they raised from a
people without steam-engines, and from a people whose lauds
were cultivated in the rudest manner, an amount of taxation
which imposed a heavier burden, he would venture to say,
than had ever been borne by a people possessing the same
means of bearing it. (Hear.) And yet that taxation was not
sufficient to maintain the public establishments, and during
the last 16 years 16,000,000/, had been borrowed for paying
the dividends of the holders of East India stock in this coun-
try. The right hon. gentleman had alluded to tlia- opium
question. Now he (Mr. Bright) wondered that the right hon.
gentleman had been able to speak of it with his usual com-
posure. It appeared to him that that opium question was one
of the most alarming which they had to consider. (Hear,
hear.) There could not be the slightest doubt that opium
would soon bo very extensively cultivated in China, and then
away went the 3,000,000/. of revenue which the East India
Company at present derived from that article. They had
already a deficit in the finances of India ; they had seen loans
opened in that country during the last 45 years; they had a
Burmese war, involving a considerable new outlay; after hav-
ing annexed a portion of the Burmese territory, they would
have to meet an increased expenditure; and, in addition to all
that, they had a prospect of a loss of 3,000,000/. of revenue,
which might take place next year. (Hear.) He asked the
house to consider how tho people of this country would be
prepared to listen to a proposal for raising a considerable loan,
with a view to maintain our supremacy in India, He asked
them to consider whether it would not be better for them
to see in time whether they could not alter the policy which
tended to those results—whether they could not reduce the
expense of their civil service—whether they could not im-
improve their means of communication, and by that means
diminish their military expenditure, and whether they might
not with advantage receive it as an acknowledged principle
that a Governor-General who returned home from India
without having added one acre to their territory should bo
received with more honour than a Governor-General who re-
turned home after having added to that territory a province
or a kingdom. The plan of the right hon. gentleman appeared
to him (Mr. Bright) to differ very little from the existing
system ; and he confessed he had never seen so great a cry
with so little wool. The proposal of the right hon. gentleman
came to this, that the 30 gentlemen who had hitherto consti-
tuted the East Indian Board were, by process of self-immola-
tion, to be reduced to 13. He thought that would be one of
the most affecting scenes in the history of India—(laughter)—
and he hoped that as the company kept their writers they
would employ a painter to depict that great event. (Renewed
laughter.) The public would then see the hon. member for
Honiton (Sir J. W. Hogg), the hon. member for Guildford
(Mr. Mangles), and their colleagues, like so many men in a
sinking boat, casting lots to see who should go overboard,
whether the young or the old, the fat or the lean. (Continued
laughter.) Fifteen of them should go, and 15 of them would
remain, while three others would be added ; and then,
instead of 33 councillors they would have but' 18. Of those
18 the Government would ultimately have the nomination of
6 ; and let me here observe how the right hon. gentleman
Would carry out his scheme. He wished that six of the direc-
tors should be chosen by the'Crown, from the most eminent
men connected with the service of India, who had passed 10
years in that country. 'But that very arrangement showed
that the right hon. gentleman himself did not approve of the
mode of selecting the other six. There were to bo two ingre-
dients in the composition of the board, the one wholesome
and the other poisonous, and the right hon. gentleman would
give them two grains of poison for one grain of wholesome
nutriment. (Hear, hear.) That was the plan which the right
lion. gentleman sought to palm upon the house as a great
and a comprehensive measure. (ironical cries of hear,
hear.) He (Mr. Bright) would venture to say that there
never had been so great a speech—he meant so great in
length—(a laugh)—as that of the right hon. gentleman,
which told so little of what the house and the country
really wanted to know. (Laughter.) There were to be
twelve members of the board whom the right lion., gentle.

man would degrade, by the very nature of his propol, and
there were six other members who were to be properly
elected, because the twelve others were not elected in a satis-
factory manner—(laughter)—those twelve others consisting
of bankers and brewers, and people of all sorts in the city of
London—(continued laughter)—who found it their interest to
get themselves nominated to the office, no matter through
what kennel they might have to pass on their way to it.
(Laughter.) But those gentlemen were to be twelve in num-
ber, while their better selected, and no doubt better qualified
colleagues, were to be only six in number. (Hear, hear.) He
should certainly have been less disposed to disapprove of the
measure of the right hon. gentleman if he had left out the
twelve altogether, and had confined himself to the six, who
alone could be expected to possess the confidence of the
country. (Azar, hear.) He wished to know whether the
right hon. gentleman meant to have a secret committee as
heretofore (an indication in the affirmative from Sir C. Wood).
The right hon. gentleman, it appeared, was to have that
secret committee, which was to be composed of the chairman,
the deputy-chairman, and himself. But Mr. Kaye, who
quoted Mr. Tucker in confirmation of his opinion, said that
he believed that the secret committee was no better than a
secretary, or even than a seal. Then there was another very
extraordinary arrangement. At present 30 gentlemen under-
went, as it would appear, for the small sum of 3001. a year
each, all the hardship of governing India ; but the right hon.
gentleman was going to raise the wages of his IS directors by
a sum of 2001. a year. (A laugh.) Now, if no private pa-
tronage were to be attached to the office, he (Mr. Bright) had
no hesitation in expressing his belief that the salary would be
too small, and would be inconsistent with a wise economy.
(Hear, hear.) Indeed, it would appear, as if the right hon.
gentleman, finding himself surrounded by all sorts of difficul-
ties, had determined upon adopting a little of everybody's
views except his own—as if lie had tried to please everybody,
_ac if he had
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and had in the end succeeded in pleasing nobody at all. Ho
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(Mr. Bright) honestly declared that if he could make such a
speech as that of the right honourable gentleman, and
believe in its statements, he would have left the Go-
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man, That was a question in which no class in this country
could have any interest distinct from that of any other class;
it was not a question of Manchester against Essex, of demo-
cracy against aristocracy, of Church against non-conformity.
(Hear, hear.) It was a question upon which they had all
the same interest, and upon which their children might have
a still deeper interest. (Cheers.) If they drove the people of
India to an insurrection which would render it necessary for
England to re-conquer them, or to retire from their land for
ever, they would find themselves reduced to a most distress-
ing alternative, and one which he could certainly not wish to
have recorded in the annals of his country. He objected to
that bill mainly upon the ground that it would maintain a
double government of India. Mr. Tucker's description of such