The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-05 00:00:00

INDIA.

The following are the chief items of interest from
the Bombay Gazette :
Accounts from all parts of India show that the
financial statement has everywhere made the same
favourable impression as in Bombay. To mark, as
it were, how unobjectionable the changes in taxa-
tion are deemed, the Madras Chamber of Commerce
has addressed a remonstrance to Mr. Wilson, not on
account of anything he proposes to do, but because in
his speech, when refuting opinions he thought un-
sound, he used language which implied that the
merchants of Bombay and Madras had murmured
against the injustice of their being taxed to pay for
the suppression of the mutiny of the Bengal army.
The Madras Chamber indignantly denies that such
unpatriotic sentiments were everpublicly expressed
in that Presidency; and Bombay is equally guilt-
less of such selfishness.

Of the new Currency Bill the following special
telegram, received by us on the 4th instant from
Calcutta, gives a complete outline :

" Calcutta, March 4.
" Mr. Wilson's scheme of a convertible paper currency
for all India was explained by him yesterday to the Legis-
lative Council. A uniform paper currency, payable on de
mand, to be issued by the State solely. The notes to be
legal tender in every case. Notes of differ era denominations
from Rs.s to R 5.1,000 to be issued. Commissioners inde-
pendent of orders of any Government officer to be appointed
in connection with the mints of the three presidencies.
India to be divided into circles, and in centre of each local
branches to be placed under deputy commissioners. Notes
of local treasuries to be payable both at the treasury where
issued and at the presidencies. Commissioners to keep coin
equal to one .third of their issues ; the remainder to be in-
vested in public securities. Gold standard and gold coinage
condemned. Copper coins, value £lOO,OOO, ordered from
England. Arrangements will be made with the presidency
banks as to withdrawal of their issues. Sufficient securities
provided for convertibility of notes and against forgery."
There is no mention in our telegram of the
amount of notes to be issued, and the only informa-
tion we have on this point is contained in a paragraph
of the telegraphic abstract of news from England to
Feb. 18, which states that notes to the value of five
millions sterling will be issued immediately. The
first employment of notes issued at the central and
district treasuries will of course be to release the
cash balances, which our clumsy financial system
has hitherto made it necessary always to keep in
hand.

The news of the commercial treaty with France
is welcome to the merchants of Bombay. They are
not concerned about the wisdom of treaties of reci-
procity ; but it does interest them to know that
cotton will henceforth pass free into France, and
that other European ports, besides London and
Liverpool, are opened to our trade. It is anticipated
that there will now be very large shipments of
cotton to Havre this year.
The success of the plaintiff in the case of " Craven
v. Peninsular and Oriental Company" will be fatal
to the hopes of intending second-class passengers by
the overland route. The "most powerful carrying
in the world has given notice, we are assured, to the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company that no
more second-class passengers can be taken overland,
since they are not content to make the voyage from
Suez to Bombay without any sleeping accommoda-
tion, and in the midst of dirt and discomfort. As the
contract of the Peninsular and Oriental Company
comes on for revision soon, some independent mem-
ber of Parliament may perhaps think it worth while
to call attention to the singular privilege which the
holders of this new and gigantic Indian monopoly
enjoy, of absolutely prohibiting all men to travel by
the overland route to India who will not pay first-class
fare, £lOO, for the voyage. Railway companies are
compelled to run third-class trains at low fares in
England, and it seems a strange anomaly that there
should be no restriction on the power of the Penin-
sular and Oriental Company to do what it likes with
passengers to India.
Lord Elphinstone's health, we regret to say, re-

mains in so precarious a state that his Excellency
will go home as soon as the necessary arrange-
ments can be completed. Letters from the other
side of India mention the probability of Sir James
Outram going to England for a time on sick leave.
It gives us much gratification to learn that Sir
Charles Stuart is likely to succeed Brigadier Shortt
in the command of the Bombay garrison.
We scarcely know whether our readers will be
more pained or relieved to hear that Miss Emily
Wheeler, the daughter of Gen. Wheeler, of

Cawnpore, is still alive. Capt. Harvey, super

intendent of the department for the abolition of
Thuggee, has had communication with the un-
fortunate young lady, who, we understand, is
so utterly broken in spirit that she entreats
her friends not to seek to bring her back again,
but to leave her to her wretched fate ; yet it

were better surely for the poor girl herself thEc

her request should not be complied with. Time may
obliterate the remembrance of even her sorrows,
and it were no real kindness to her to obey what
wild wishes her present morbid nervousness of feel-

ing may suggest. It is necessary, too, that:the Go.

vernment should vindicate its own dignity and jus-
tice by ascertaining the true particulars of this sad
story, and punishing the:guilty parties with relent-
less severity.
The Mofussilite has the following letter from
Lord Clyde's camp :
" There is no mistake about the order regulating the
passing of officers for staff appointments. It will be carried
out to the very letter. Several applications have already
been refused, on the ground of the applicants not having
passed. The order is applicable to every appointment.
A.D.C.'s are not to be exempted. Lord Clyde says he does
not care from how far north of the Tweed a man may come
he will not allow him to be on the staff until he is duly
qualified ; and every one soems to understand that the chief
is in earnest. Captain Charles Mansfield (a brother of Sir
William) has been appointed Military Secretary at Born
bay."

" We hear that two projects for establishing new
cotton mills have been already started by native
merchants. It may be interesting to our English
readers to know what undertakings of this kind are
actually in existence or in progress in Bombay. We
have at present two companies—the Spinning and
Weaving and the Oriental Spinning and Weaving--
whose mills are regularly at work, with what success
may be inferred from the fact that the shares of both
companies stand at from 50 to 70 per cent. premium.
Besides these mills, and irrespective of the specula-
tions alluded to above, a small mill for 2500 throstle
spindles is now, by way of experiment, in course of
construction at Ahmedabad. The machinery and
steam engine, boilers, &c., for the mill were all
shipped in October last from Liverpool on board
the Duke of Wellington, which was unfortunately
destroyed by fire off the coast of Portugal. The
orders were immediately renewed, and the whole
of the machinery left Liverpool on the 15th of
January on board the Lillydale. As soon as the
mill has fairly begun to work, and is found likely
to answer, the intention of the proprietors is to en-
large it either for spinning alone or for spinning
and weaving combined.

The Oriental Spinning and Weaving Company
proposes to enlarge their present works by building
another mill for 12,096 throstle spindles and 1,440
mill spindles, for which they have ample power in
the splendid pair of steam engines now in use,
which far surpass any previously erected in India.
By the last mail in January orders were sent
home by three enterprising Parsee merchants—
Dinshaw Alanockjee, his brother Nusserwanjee
Manoelijee, who is at present chairman of the
Oriental Spinning and Weaving Company, and
Merwanjee Framjee—for the steam engine and
machinery for 10,000 throstle spindles. Land has
been bought for a mill, and contracts have been
entered into for the building; and we understand
that eventually the works will be enlarged to the
extent of 10,000 mule spindles, and 420 looms for
weaving all the yarn.
Orders for 10,000 throstles and 10,000 mill
spindles for another mill are being sent home. This
mill is for a private company, and it will be made
large enough to contain from 18 Ow t
_„,000

spindles, in ease an extension of operations should
seem hereafter desirable.

Our Manchester friends will do well to note that
the capital for all these new enterprises—with the
exception of that required for the extension of the
Oriental Spinning and Weaving Company's mill,
which will probably all be taken up by the present
shareholders—has all been already subscribed.
There can be no doubt that English manufactured
goods will soon have to meet a very sharp competi-
tion in this country, for the natives have every ad-
vantage on their side in so far as regards the prices
of raw material and of labour.

COMMtRCIAL.
BOMBAY, MARCH 12.
Moneycontinues in good demand, at the rates last advised
of 9 per cent. for advance on cash credits with Government
securities, and 10 per cent discount for three months' pri-
vate paper.

We have again to report great languor in the inquiry for
cotton piece goods, chiefly caused by the tightness of money
in the bazaar.

Exchange has not materially varied, and the whole of the
business has been done at or about last rates. We quote
2s. lid. to 2s. lid. for first class, and 2s. lid. for document
paper.

CALCUTTA, MARCH 22.
Government Securities-41 per Cents., 18 to 151 (?) dis.;
5 per Cents., 5 to 51 dis. ; and 51 per Cents., at par.
Exchange—On London for first-class credits, at six
months' sight, 2s. 11d. to 2s: lad. ; on Bombay, 99.
Freights unaltered.

AUSTRALIA.

MELBOURNE.

We extract the following summary from the
Melbourne herald of Feb. 17 :

The past month has been unmarked by any
political incident of an unusual kind. The Nichol-
son Cabinet still keep their places, without any
immediate prospect of their being compelled to
vacate them. The parliamentary session holds on
its course ; the Assembly being still engaged upon
the estimates ; and the Upper House being casually
occupied in dealing with measures which are either
of minor interest, or which will require to be en-
tirely reconsidered in the Assembly. This country,
in point of fact, never seemed further from a poli-
tical " crisis" than it does at present.
To us Australians it is a perpetual source of
amusement to note the ludicrous blunders which
even the best informed people at home sometimes
fall into, when they are speaking or writing of our
affairs. Thus, we find that the Times has been
recently discoursing at large on the political course
•f Victoria, in a style that proves, at all events,
that the clever journalist who penned the article
has never been in Melbourne. He actually com-
mits the gross error of confounding the Legis-
lature of Victoria with that of New South
Wales, as if they were one and the same
body ! He might just as rationally suppose
that Melbourne is in Sydney ; which geo-
graphical anomaly, indeed, appears to be pretty
generally accepted in England ! The Times credits
this colony with having made a patriotic demon-
stration of loyalty to the mother-country, on the
occasion of Dr. Lang's motion for an "amicable
separation" being brought forward. Will the lead-
ing journal, then, be kind enough to take notice
that Dr. Lang is a member of the New South Wales
Assembly, and has no political connection whatso-
ever with Victoria ; and that he never did, there-
fore, propose any such motion to our representatives ?
The differencebetween us and our immediate neigh-
bours amounts to this,—that in Victoria not even
one man could be found foolish enough to propose a
separation from the mother country under any cir-
cumstances.

A proposal to establish a plan of federative unity
of action among these colonies, for purposes of mutual
fiscal advantage, and defence against
.external ag-
gression, has been under consideration here at inter-
vals for the last two or three years. It would long
since have been actually realised but for the selfish
jealousy of the New South Wales Government,
which threw imaginary obstacles in its way. The
project has just been revived in our Legislature ;
and there is good reason to believe that the existing
Administration in the neighbouring colony will
heartily co-operate in furthering it. If so, the Fede-
ration idea may be considered as in a fair way to its
speedy realisation. When accomplished, it will be
at once a mutual bond of friendship between the
colonies themselves, and a pledge of their united
and perpetual loyalty to the British Crown.
In a fit of prodigality the Assembly have, in one
night, voted £50,000 for providing a system of
water supply to the gold fields, and £30,000 for
prospecting. Both votes were carried against
Ministers, through a combination of the mining
members with the ' Corner' and Mr. O'Shanassy's
following.
An effort was made by Mr. O'Shanassy, in the
i Assembly, to obtain a grant of £50,000 this year
in aid of assisted female immigration. We regret
to say the proposition was defeated, partly through
the opposition of the Government, but chiefly
through the selfishness of the ultra-democratic sec-
tion of the house. This party, which affects to be,
par excellence, the guardian of the working man's
rights and interests, was furiously opposed to the
' idea of helping deserving members of the working
classes at home to emigrate to this country. There
was no charity amongst its members even for
females to whom a gratuitous passage, to
a land where easy work and good wages
are courting their acceptance would be
a boon. Yet it is a fact that the males
in our population outnumber the females by no less
than 150,000. Of course, good female servants are
scarce, and in demand, at rates of wages varying
from £3O to £4O a year. The want of a con-
tinuous flow of immigration into our territory is
one of the main causes of those occasional periods
of stagnation in trade and commerce, of which the
mercantile community both here and at home have
reason to complain. It really seems at present to
be hopeless to expect anything like generous,
public spirited and far-sighted legislation from our
Assembly. This is one of the penalties which
must everywhere be sometimes set against the en-
joyment of perfect popular freedom.
The same extreme party in the Assembly has
been making a desperate effort to vote itself pay-
ment for its public services, out of the public trea-
sury. Several acrimonious debates have taken place
on the question, but as yet with a very limited share
of success. It is probable enough that a general
proposition, to remunerate hon. members for their
services, would be affirmed by a large majority
within the house, and be looked upon favourably
by the mass of the people " out of doors." But
public taste and public decency alike revolt against
the naked motion for immediate self-payment.
Hence the ultra•democrats have failedisgighntaolrlyteonf
their object. After a fierce struggle of e
hours the other night they barely succeeded in carry-
ing a resolution, affirming the expediency of indem-
nifying those country representatives who are
obliged, at considerable expense to themselves, to
live in Melbourne during the Parliamentary session.
ye
eager
virtuale
cdteafne at
at
This half proposal is
psopodsiesdtintchtel
that it is generally su
of a Treasury gratuity will withdraw their motion
for the present at least. Certainly, this whole
affair has tended materially to help the reaction
against ultra-democracy which has been steadily
working in the minds of this community ever since
the last general election.
The financial state and prospects of the colony
continue to be of a perfectly satisfactory kind.
Complaints there are of dulness in trade, and there
is also a perceptible decline in the weekly returns
from the gold fields as compared with those of last
year. This is greatly owing to the unusually long
drought, and want of water, as well as to the de-
mand for labour on our public works having called
off large numbers from mining. But these are
evidently only temporary recessions of the tidal
wave of prosperity which set in with the gold disco-
veries. What country is the world free from them?
In any ease, these transient fluctuations of prospe-
rity do not in any way affect the general financial
position of the country. The revenue is always
secure, and is amply sufficient to meet all our
liabilities, including the annual interest
on our allway loan. Even when people
b.
..ie complain roost loudly of stagnation
in trade, and of " bad times" generally, there is

never anything like positive distress to be appre-
hended. Of late, indeed, the number of insolven-
cies (so called) has been very great ; but the truth
is, a vast proportion of those who file their sche
dules are persons who ought never to have got into
debt at all ; and who should not be released from
their trifling liabilities. Others are persons
with fixed or precarious incomes, not at all
engaged in trade, who, through extravagance
or temporary misfortune, have allowed their
expenditure to outrun their income; and
who " take the benefit of the Act," to shield
themselves from the operation of another Act,
which visits debt with imprisonment. It is needless
to add that this amount of such " insolvencies" does
not serve to furnish any fair criterion of the real
state of things, either amongst our mercantile
classes, or amongst the community at large.

We are glad to be able to add here that the Go-
vernment has completed all the preliminaries for
the purchase of the Melbourne and Geelong Rail-
way. As between the colony and the public cre-
ditor, therefore, this old subject of dissension and
distrust may now be regarded as entirely closed.