The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-13 00:00:00

TAP. IVIAIL,

We have received, by extraordinary express, in
anticipation of the Overland Mail, our despatches
from Calcutta of Sept. 8, and from Bombay, of
Sept. 12. We subjoin extracts

(Pl'om, the _Bombay Times of Sept. 121

Summary.—Two days after the despatch of last
mail, and just as the bag reached from home, in
contradiction to the Government order here stop-
ping all public 1-vor-;, that tWo millions sterling
were to be spent on the improvement of the country
—a notification was published in the Gazette that a
four and a half per cent. loan was to be opened,
of indefinite amount, and guaranteed for a period
of ten years at least. In 1854, when the old
five per cent. was closed, and the Treasury
of India repreßented to be full to overflow-
ing, Government, had it known,its own wants,
could have obtained any amount of money
at three and a half, or, at the very outside,
four per cent. With that blindness in financier-
ship
for which India is proverbial, they began to
pay off their debts when they could not anything
like make the two ends meet ; and the year
was barely out when a new five per cent.
loan required to be opened, on the pretence that
public works had been pushed on more rapidly
than the state could afford. No war of moment
or other unforeseeable calamity had occurred mean-
while, but just as we were pinched to the uttermost
for means waste seemed the order of the day,
wherever money could be thrown away on matters
sufficiently worthless. Private enterprise, which
had meanwhile offered to step in for the purpose
of improving the country, was checked on the
pretence that the terms conceded by the Bom-
bay Government were too liberal. We from time
to time warned our readers, that in the midst
of our boasted prosperity we were on the verge
of a fresh loan ; and Sunday the 31st of
August verified our vaticinations. The five per
cents., which ought to have gone up to ten
premium, to be at par with the four-and-a-half,
have scarcely at all advanced, and none of the new
stock, igo far as we can learn, has yet been taken up.
If in India Government cannot raise money at pre-
sent under 5 per cent., any amount that might be
required could be raised at home at 3 ; and the
London authorities, were the common principle of
financiership recognised in Cannon-row and Leaden-
hall-street, could raise in the Suck Exchange the
three millions required to be sent home annually,
instead of drawing on India at the most capricious
rates of exchange, compelling us to borrow at ex-
travagant terms of interest, to the utter con-
fusion of the money market. The loan had
scarcely been gazetted when we were stunned by a
call for transports to accompany an expedition to
the Persian Gulf, to chastise the Shah for captur-
ing Herat in violation of the treaty of 1853, an
arrangement partially foreshadowed in our last
commercial report. It must be remembered that
the treaty and the war are both purely English—
the Government of the East India Company hold
no political relations with Persia, and feel no
concern in its affairs. The intimation that
mischief was brewing was put into the mouth
of the Chairman of the Board of Control,
apparently that it might escape criticism
at home. Had the Secretary for Foreign
Affairs, in place of Mr. V. Smith, intimated
that troops would be on their way to Persia
—an adventure about as wild as that of the Affghan
war before the last of our ships had quitted the
shores of the Crimea, there would have been no
great danger of the House of Commons being
counted out on the occasion. We trust Sir Henry
Willock will renew or republish his admirable pro-
test of 1839, against India being saddled with
charges that in no way concern her. There can be
no greater insanity than that of entangling our-
selves n any way whatever with the affairs of Cen-
tral Asia. The Affghans and Persians are equally
perfidious, equally ungrateful and rapacious,
equallyincapable of pursuing any consistent line
of policy o.r looking into the future. To us it is
perfectly immaterial who occupies Herat. The
one power is just as incapable as the other of main-
taining it against European troops—both equally
ready to
.surrender it, and with it to make over
their services to any party for a bribe. When
iamran Shah had been enabled to maintain it
through British influence alone for ten months
against Persia, he threw us overboard and dis-
missed our ambassador with insult the moment we
ceased to pour money into his purse ; and Gho-
rian, one great cause of our interference in his
favour, almost as soon as secured to him, was
banded over to his old enemy, as if in scorn of the
English friends on whom he had been preying. If
we will make treaties we must see them enforced,
by this means in such cases as the present, involv-
' ing ourselves needlessly, beyond the mountains
which form an impenetrable f•rtress for our demi-
' nions, in wars always equally inglorious, expensive,
and fruitless. Those whom the catastrophe of Cabul
• could not teach wisdom, must be incapable of
benefitting by experience. Eleven transports of
an aggregate burden of ten thousand tons, en-
gaged at the rate of one pound per ton a
month, are meanwhile being prepared to receive
ten or fifteen thousand men and a thousand

horses on board. As if to begin with bungling, a
circular requiring freight was sent round at the
outset to four houses out of 25 that had ships to be
disposed of, and the result was that 11. was paid
for freight when the market price was 16s. at the
highest, thus imposing a loss on Government of
2,0001. a month. At present we are paying 10,0001.
monthly for ships which we sincerely trust will
never be employed ; and the preparations now
being made will, within the next six weeks, pro-
bably cost half a million sterling if not a man
should ever quit our shores for the Gulf. in these
topics are comprised all the tidings of material
importance the past fortnight has supplied.—Our
rainy season has very nearly closed, and though
rain has been plentiful all over Central and Upper
India, in Bombay we are still somewhat short
of
our customary supplies. We have just t
received
accounts of an inundation at Cabal, in which
—rr
great
h damagei
Board,bee been dietleorate capacity,
its corporate to landsp and property.
has been abolished at the Presidency, and the
tary has
much more desirable expedient resorted to of
placing each of its constituent members at the
head of an independent department.—The
municipality of Bombay, are about, it is under_
stood, to protest against their being made liable
the charges incurred by Mr. Conybeare, under
sanction of the Court of Directors, in excess of the
quarter of a million sterling, originally agreed
upon, to obtain water from th Vehar Valley. The
home bungling will very probably bring the ulti-
mate charge to close on half a million.
The import market is improving;
- - 11aFe
advanced ; and the money market is unsteady.

CALCUTTA.
The Government on the 30th August opened a
new loan. The rate offered is 4i- per cent., and
the loan is not to be paid off till 18N. The terms
offered, however, are not sufficient to tempt dealers.
The old Pours are at 12 per cont. discount, and no
one therefore will subscribe to the new loan. Up
to yesterday less than a thousand pounds had been
paid in. Exchange on London may be quoted
2s. 11d. for first-class paper, and 2s. lid. for
document bills.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
THE STATE OF THE BOMBAY- MARKET,
FROM AUG. 29 to SEPT. 11.
Our money market for, the past fortnight has been
rather unsettled, in consequence of the government hav-
ing issued a notification to the effect that they were pre-
pared to receive tenders for a 4 per cent. loan, and we
are given to understand that tenders for a considerable
amount were sent into government at 90, but the ten-
derers were informed that no tenders could be entertain-
ed under par. Local stocks remain much about former
quotations.
Since the date of our last report considerable activity
has sprung up in the Import Market, and from all parts
of the presidency the most favourable reports continue
to be received of the state of the weather and the
than
crops,
a condition of matters which cannot do otherwise
promise well for the future prospect of the busy season.
Just as the mail was closing on the 29th ult., a very
active demand sprung up for all descriptions
of cotton
piece goods, which we are glad to sayhas steadily con-
tinued, prices having risen on nearly all the staple
goods.

EXCHANGE.—The China mail having brought on a
very large supply of bills, the rate opened with small
sales at 2s. 10, and upward tendency, but on two of
the local banks coming in as buyers of local credits
and documents at 2s. Id. 7-16 d., the rate became
firmer, and 2s. ld. 5 16d. wa3 obtained for China
Bank.
6 months' sight, 2s. 15d., for credit
Exchanges on London at 6 months' sight, 2s. ,
for document bills ;
0%; at sight,, ta.
hills. On Calcutta at GO days' sight, m 994 ; at sight
110000..
00.11
China
araast at6o 3doayd:.yssigshgt,htr,s.
227 to rs. 228.