The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-13 00:00:00

(Cr 1
e§PHatt

NOON, THURSDAY. DECEMBER 13, 1849.

We earnestly invite the attention of the British
public to a communication from RUNGO BAPOJEE,
which will b 3 found in another part of this day's
impression. It has been elicited by the unprovoked
and unwarranted attacks that appeared in a morning
Contemporary u; :on the course which he was
promp'gd to pursue by the loyalty and devotion of
his nature, and the feeling of despair entertained by
himself, " a foreigner in a strange land, in the midst
of difficulties." We haVe already alluded to the article
referred to by our correspondent ; it smacks toe
strongly of Leadenhall-street to permit it to be
mistaken even for a moment for the calm and
, deliherat expression cf the opinions of a disinterested
and impartial judge. The writer must have been
long accustomed to Asiatic subservience and oriental
despotism. lie appears to have forgotten English
usages and habits, and to believe that the well-
founded complaints of a long suffering and deeply
injured man can be suppressed with the strong hand,
that qualities which Englishmen have ever been ac-
customed to regard with respect and admiration can
be sneered at and despised with impunity,
,and their enthusiastic possessor made an object
of contempt and ridicule, a laughing-stock for
the witlings of the Honourable Board of Directors.
ItinNoo BAPOJEB'S vindication of his own conduct is
so full and complete, so satisfactory in every parti-
cular, as to require but little argument on our parts to
sustain it. We have already explained the position
of that zealous and faithful adherent to an oppressed
and persecuted Sovereign, and the circumstances
under which he has been induced to appeal, not to
British mercy or British compassion, but to British
honour and to British justice. Deputed to bring
the wrongs of the unfortunate and deeply 'injured
I'ERTAUB SINGS under the notice of the British
nation, for " ten long years of respectful
prayer, and earnest solicitation for justice,"
he has preferred his suit, with " bated breath
arid deep humility," to the Hon. the Court of Di-
rectors, to the Board of Control, and finally to the
chosen representatives of the people of Great Britain.
" The head and front of his offending hath this ex-
tent, no more"—that when " ill-used, spurned, con-
temned, despised," by the Indian authorities, he
beheld his illustrious friend, revered master, and
rightful Sovereign, perish broken-hearted in his exile,
a victim to the cruel persecutions he had endured—
when he beheld the adopted child and rightful heir
of that deeply-injured Prince excluded from the throne
of -his ancestors, his wide spread and fertile dominions
confiscated and absorbed into the Company's territory,
and himself left a beggar, without station or fortune,
the private property of his adoptive father being also
absorbed in the public treasury; and when, finally, the
faithful Vakeel despaired of obtaining redress for
these manifold grievances, he directed his warning
voice to his compatriots, the native princes and chiefs
of India, recommending that they should " look into
their own treatise and immediately address the
Governor-General, to know if they are to un-
derstand whether by the treaty, according
to which their heirs are entitled to sue-
coed, they are to be permitted to ex-
ercise the right of adoption, in conformity with the
law and cusi.orn of the Hindoos, or whether such law
is to be violated and henceforward set at naught ?"

This is an important and highly pertinent, but at
the same time a most inconvenient inquiry to the
11)Tagnates of Leadenhall•street. If it should be
ffrfnative —if subterfuge and_
.dis-
guisi should be cast aside, and that they should
boldly avqw their secret resolution to abrogate the
moat sacred custom of the IlindoO law, which has been
znuOtimied and recognized from time immemorial, long
before the Winn sail wai pres.f,l by the footstep of the

atiAvvert,i

A

Saxon—a would be excited. that Would
shake the British empire in liindostan to its very
fouridatieni. A war of extermination—a sanguinary

and desperate conflict—would arise, that could only
terminate ;in the total destruction of ona of the Belli•

g.-rent parties. There could be no peace until either I
the invaders were expelled from the Eastern clime, or
they ruled without dispute over a depopulated territory,
the very sources of their wealth and power being in-
volved in the general destruction. They might, indeed,
possibly " make a desert and call it peace," but would
that answer. their purposes ? Would it meet the
wishes of even the,niost grasping director ? We be-
lieve not. The process of " absorption" must be
gradual. The resources of the Company, enormous
as they are, would not be adequate to so bold and
unscrupulous a line of policy. And if the interroga-
tions suggested by Iturioo BAPOJEB be pressed, the
answers must necessarily be in the negative, and the
supposed intention solemnly and emphatically denied.
Butif this should be the case, will it not deprive them
of many opportunities of aggrandizement, and will
it not exhibit their conduct to the unfortunate Tam-
BULTEE RAJA in the most invidious light ? If they
are prepared to avow their intention of not recognizing
any " act of adoption," the consequences will indeed
be of the most fearful character. If, on the other
hand, they declare their determination to adhere to
treaties, and to acknowledge the hitherto unquestioned
privilege of the native princes and chiefs, how can
they justify their exclusion of TRIMBURJEE RAJA?
They are thus tossed on the horns of a very unplea-
sant dilemma, from which they cannot escape under
any circumstances. They must either acknowledge
their past injustice, and repair the grievous wrongs
they have inflicted, or brave results at which even the
boldest may shudder. The difficulty is manifest—
palpable even to the meanest capacity. Hence the
indignation at the audacious attempt of the indefa-
tigable Vakeel, which has armed him with a new
weapon which even the most " cunning of fence"
among them can scarcely resist. Hence the attempt
to meet reason and argument with contumely and
reproach, and to silence a formidable opponent
by the combined force of ridicule and of threats. All,
however, is in vain ; there is no escape or subterfuge
open, they must submit to one of the alternatives,
and either will be equally distasteful to the potentates
of Leadenhall-street.

We can easily understand the anxiety of the Court
of Directors to cushion all inquiry into the case of
the late Raja of SAT FARA. There are, perhaps, no
principles more deeply implanted in English hearts
than the love
,of equity and justice, the hatred of
tyranny :and oppression in any form and under any
pretext whatever. The " trial by jury" is justly
regarded as the palladium of our liberties. Un-
der that glorious institution the humblest citi-
zen cannot be condemned, or in any manner
injured either in person or in property, without
having been confronted face to face with his
accusers—without hearing all that could be alleged
against him, and being fully heard in his own
defence. The privilege of which we are so justly
jealous ourselves we should be prepared to accord
to all who may be brought into connexion with
us. The mission of B,ureao BAPOJEE is to implore
—to demand—that we should not be forgetful of
the Divine precept, which ordains that we should
" do unto others as we would they should do unto
us." He has a double duty imposed on him—to vindicate
the memory of the departed, and to reinstate the living
in his unquestionable rights. All he asks for or
would accept is a stringent and searching investiga-
tion before an unprejudiced tribunal. He asserts the
total groundlessness of the frivolous and absurd
charges that were preferred against his deceased
master; he loudly proclaims the infamous means by
which the trumpery accusations were sustained before
the mock tribunal assembled for the trial of a sove-
reign Prince. He declares the motive by which the
Company were actuated, " that it was for the purpose
of taking the RANA'S country," and he demurs to
a jurisdiction in which the same persons fill the
somewhat anomalous positions of judges, prosecutors
and parties to profit by the conviction of the accused.,
The British nation will, when the case is fairly
brought before them, acknowledge the justice and
propriety of the demand. The voice of public opinion
will at length be heard in its irresistible force. The
patronage of Leadenhall- street cannot be permitted
to impede the course of national justice, which must
continue clear and unpolluted.

If the Members of the present Parliament remain
insensible to the prayers of the oppressed, their sue.
cessors may happily prove less obdurate. They
must again appeal, and at no distant period, to
their respective constituencies, and questions may be
addressed to them during their canvass and on the
hustings which it will be difficult, indeed, to answer.
The Directors will then learn that their authority,
although great, is not altogether despotic ; that there
is a tribunal which, even in the plenitude of their
power, they must respect; that they are but the trus-
tees of the British nation, and that they must act
with justice and moderation towards all, so as to
consolidate the British strength in India, and toregain
the good opinion of the natives which they had for-
merly merited, but which they have greatly impaired,
if not altogether forfeited, by recent transactions,
more especially by their conduct towards the cruelly
per,ecuted and deeply injured Baja of SATTARA.

Mr. MATTHEW Somsar, whose letter appeared
in our impression of Saturday last, along with the
admirable communication of Archdeacon KEATING,
has given a very interesting sketch of the rise and
progress of the savings'-bank system in this country,
and an accurate view of the existing state of the law
on the subject. It is exceedingly desirable that no
mistake should be suffered to exist on a point of such
vital importance to the working classes—that they
should clearly and distinctly understand the nature of
' the security on which they are about to invest the
savings of their hardly-earned wages, to form a pro-
vision for their declining years. This knowledge is
the more essential, as it will not only prevent the
disastrous consequences of any undue panic among
the depositors of the several branch establishments
throughout the kingdom, by which a run might be
occasioned, but will at the same time point out exist.
ing defects, and indicate the nature of the remedy
that must be provided with the least possible delay.
It is true, then, as our esteemed correspondent
states, that depositors possess the security of Govern-
ment in a certain sense, that is to say, for all such
sums 'as may be invested with the Commissioners"
for the Reduction of the National Debt, pursuant to
the several statutes in such case made and provided.
As all sums lodged in the several branch banks
should be so invested, a small balance only being
retained in hand to answer any unexpected demand,
it is obvious that, so long as the national faith remains
inviolate the great body of the capital of the savings'.
banks, vested in the public funds, must be per-
fectly safe. But the nation is only responsible
for the money actually invested, and is in
no degree liable for any losses that may
be sustained by the fraud or defalcation of any officer
or party connected with the management of the local
establishments ; the only risk incurred by the depo-
sitor is in the transmission of his money from the
clerk of the savings' bank, to whom he pays it,
through the treasurer and trustees, to the Bank of
England, and also in the application of the sums that
may be drawn out of the public funds by the trustees.
If the affairs of each branch be judiciously conducted,
and that a stringent investigation into the state of the
assets and liabiliti es should take place periodically,
little, if any, danger can arise of loss to the parties
interested. It is only when a blind and implicit
confidence is reposed in some actuary, manager, or
other officer connected with the institution, and the
ordinary precautions are dispensed with, in his
favour, that fraud to any considerable extent can take
place. There must, in fact, be gross and
culpable negligence on the part of the trustees,
and according to every principle of justice
and equity the parties who voluntarily under-
take important duties, in the proper and efficient
discharge of which so large a body of their fellow-
subjects are deeply interested without any intention
of giving themselves any trouble, should be respon-
sible for the untoward results of their own lathes and
want of caution. And such, in fact, Was the state of
-the law up to the year 1844, when an Act was
brought in by Mr. GOULUURN, the then Chancellor of
the Exchequer (7 and 8 Victoria, C. 83), by which,
among other things, it was provided—
" That no trustee or manager of any savings' bank
shall be liable to make good any deficiency which may ,
hereafter arise in the funds of any savings' 1
bank unless such persons shall have respectively
declared, under their hands, and deposited with

the Corarnis)ioners for the Reduction of tha Nationd
Debt,that they- Reductionare Ming' s to be ansr.erable, and it shall
be lawful for each of such prr-oas, or for such perzons
collectively, to limit his or their re,pousibility to such
sum as shall be apt cid,,tl in snv Ouch instrument, pro-
vided always that the trus!:.; .and manager of any such
institution than he, and hot by declared to be per-
responsible, and liable ior all moneys actually
received by him, on account of, or to, and for the use of
such institution, and not paid over or disposed of in the
manner directed by the rues of the said institution."
By this most unwise and improvident enactment
every trustee, was freed from all responsibility, except
for such sums as may have actuallly " been received by
himself in person for the use of the institution,"
and not paid over and disposed of according to its
rules; and it is impossible to fasten any trustee with
personal liability, no matter how gross, or how wilful
might be his neglect of duty ; nay, although he had
certified under Ms hand accounts to be true, the most
trifling examination of which must have convinced
him of their inaccuracy. This, then, is the great
danger to be guarded against. The enormous frauds
carried on at Rochdale through a long series of
years—frauds that were never brought to light until
after the death of the delinquent—and also at Kil-
kenny and Tralee, in which latter case the criminal
was most justly convicted and sentenced to trans-
portation for fourteen years, were the natural results
of the absence of responsibility on the part of the
trustees, and their consequent carelessness.
In case that there should be a swindling
officer the unfortunate depositors are wholly at his
mercy, and they are dependent on the honour of
the trustees to protect them from the total loss of
the accumulations of their lives.
In the cases that have already occurred in this
country, at St. Albans and Northampton, the
trustees acted in a manner worthy of English gentle-
men, of men of honour and integrity. They made up
the deficiencies from their private funds, and no de-
positor was permitted to lose a single shilling. We
trust that the gentlemen of Rochdale will behave in
a similar manner. Had the trustees adopted the
mere ordinary precautions that every man would teke
with respect to his own private affairs, the frauds
could not have remained so long undiscovered, or have
been carried to so grievous an extent. It is
said that the defalcations amount to no less
than from 45,0001. to 70,001. sterling, that
they have been spread over many years, and
that they were concealed by means of a double set of
books, in one of which he entered the sums which he
banded over to the treasurer, and in the other those
which he appropriated to his own private use. how
loose must have been the system of business under
which such a course could have been pursued for at
least ten consecutive years without detection ! What
comparison of assets and liabilities could have taken
place during that period ? Did any searching
inquiry, of any, and what nature er kind, take
place? The depositors and the public gene-
rally—all who are interested in the continu-
ance of the system, are entitled to full and
satisfactory answers. The question uinaot be
evaded, and we doubt not that it will appear that
the trustees are at least morally liable for the conse-
quences of their own fatal negligence and over-
weening confidence in the integrity of Mr. GEORGE
llAworrrn. If such be the case, they will of course
act as honest men, and save the innocent depositors
harmless. Under any circumstances, the Act of 1844
must be modified, and trustees of savings' banks must
be rendered responsible (as all other men are by law)
for the consequences of their own wilful neglect and
default.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
At the sitting of the Assembly on Tuesday, M.
BAum moved an order of the day motive, censuring
the Minister of War for issuing his recent circular
to the officers of the Gendarmerie. General D'HAUT-
rota, defended himself, and said a circular of a simi-
lar character had been issued by General LAMO•
HICIERZ, when he was Minister of War under General
CAYAIGNAC. This observation brought General CA
YAIGNAC to the tribune, who said, "I do not approve
of the circular which is at present under discussion,
and which calls upon the Gendarmerie to exercise a
surveillance over the Functionaires. The circular

of General LAmoniciEue which has been read to Sou
•ontains no such recommendation, and it is on account
of this difference that I accept the responsibility of
the circular of General LAMORICIERE, and that I

blame the circular which is now under discussion."
An animated debate follos% ed, at the conclusion of
which the order of the day, pure and simple, was
voted, in preference to the order of the day motia,
by a majority of 378 to 202. The question of the
circular having been disposed of, M. FouLD, the
Minister of Finance, proposed the adoption of the law
re-establishing the duty on potable liquors, for the
year 1850. He said that he had already, in the
financial statement which he had with perfect good
faith laid before the House, showed the renewal of
this tax to be indispensable. If they did not reim-
pose this tax, he begged to ask what others could
they find in its place ? They could not have recourse
to an income-tax, which had been repudiated by the
Assembly and the country. The present tax had not
met with the same objections. There had been no
outcry against it. There was no agitation anywhere.
The renewal of the tax had been recommended by 58
of the Departmental Councils. In order to show that
the tax on potable liquors was not any hindrance to
the production of wine, or to the home and foreign
consumption, he must be allowed to point out some
results drawn from official documents. In 1788 there
were 1,555,400 hectares of vineyards in cultivation;
in 1830 there were 1,993.000 hectares; and at the
present time 2,137,000. The quantity of wines thus
offered to foreign consumption showed a constantly
progressive increase from 1,144,000 hectolitres to
1,550,000 hectolitres, and from 44 millions to 54i
millions—that is to say, of 33 per cent, on the quantity,
and of 18 per cent. on the value. The home consumption
had followed the same rate of increase, and it was im-
portant to state that the Revolution of July had done
what that of February had not done, although the
circumstances were vite as serious; thus, in 1848,
far from the consumption and the receipts stopping
as they did in 1830, they reached the quantity of 10
million hectolitres, which they had never before
attained. The increase in spirits was not less
remarkable. The quantity exported had risen
between the years 1831 and 1848, in the proportion
of three to five.—(l-lear.) Tne difference was still
greater on brandy. He would now point out the
consequences of the step the Assembly was about to
take. It would be impossible to carry on the
Government, if, while the expenses increased, the
taxes were diminished. That was the path that had
been followed for the last two years. Since 1843,
155 millions had been added to the budget of expenses
for public assistance,. and that at the time when the
disturbances of the country had decreased the receipts
by an equal amount. The abolition of stamp duty
on journals had cost the country 4 millions ; the
postal reform 12 millions ; and the reduction of

the duty on salt 40 millions. It was necessary to stop
on that fatal declivity. If the tax on potable liquors
were to be abolished, a fatal blow would be aimed at
the finances of the country; confidence would be
arrested, and the country would fall into a crisis of
which it was impossible to foresee the end. The first
effect of the abolition of the tax would be the sus-
pension of labour, and the working classes would be
exposed to sufferings for which they might justly
reproach the Assembly. The finances of the State
would not only be disorganised, but the communes
would be prevented from receiving the octroi duties,
and they would be deprived of the resource of the
additional centimes. " Happily (said the Minister in
conclusion) I feel not the slightest fear of the result
in an Assembly so enlightened. We reject all the
amendments, which are nothing more than an
encroachment on the Parliamentary inquiry which
we propose."—(Hear, hear.)
After a long speech from M. ANTHONY THOURET
in opposition to the measure, and one from M.
DEFASSE in support of it, the debate was adjourned.