The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, -LONDON; SATURDAY EVENING; FEBRUARY 4, 1860.

out -venturing to predict what will be the course of events
in the next year, I may say that the present aspect of affairs
is favourable; nor is there any reason to suppose that
France is making the military preparations my hon. friend
has referred to. With regard to the naval arsenals of
France and the great activity described as prevailing in
them, we all know that a great change has taken place in
tho character of naval warfare. (Hear, hear.) It is made
a matter of speculation in books and pamphlets what the
character of the next naval war will be. The Government
of the late King of the French, Louis Philippe, drew up a
plan for increasing the strength of the French navy; every
ruler of France for nearly the last 100 years has endeavoured
to increase and strengthen its marine. They have all con-
sidered, naturally enough, that France ought to be a great
maritime Power. Both England and France have endea-
voured to be strong at sea, not with a view to any rivalry,
but from a belief that each nation ought to maintain its an-
cient character. I cannot say, therefore, that the naval pre-
parations of France ought to be a matter of jealousy to us.
If the two nations agreed that there should be no such pre-
parations and no strong navy, we might expect France to
follow our course in that respect ; but, while France deter-
mines to make herself strong at sea, and we like to have a
strong navy also, I do not think it is a reason why the two
nations should have any dispute with each other. In reply
to the question of the hon. and gallant member for Dun-
gannon (Col. Knox), I have to state that the treaty which
he mentions cannot be laid on the table of the house before
Monday next. I may add that the persons who were em-
ployed, and who received full powers to negociate that
treaty, were Lord Cowley and Mr. Cobden. (Cheers.)
DISEMBODIMENT OF THE MILITIA.

Colonel DICKSON rose, pursuant to notice, to call the
attention of the house to this subject, and expressed his re-
gret as a soldier that militia regiments, which had cost so
much time and trouble to bring them to their present pitch
of efficiency, were upon a sudden to be disembodied. A suffi-
cient reason upon such a step was, he might be told, to be
found in the fact that a certain number of regiments of the
line were about to return from India; but it should be
borne in mind that those regiments were but mere skele-
tons,. and would, as a consequence, by no means supply the
deficiency which the proposed disembodiment of militia would
create. He might add that the proceeding was one which was
in his opinion uncalled for, and which would, owing. to its
suddenness, inflict great hardship, especiallyupon the junior
officers and sergeants, who had nobly come forward at the
call of their country, and who had for some four or five years
past been leading a life which, more or less, rendered them
unfit for other occupations. But altogether independent
of that consideration, he should beg the right hon. gentle-
Man the Secretary for
War not to lose sight of the fact
that, although we were now at peace with France, and
although the French Emperor had shown himself to be a
loyal ally, yet that he was but the creature of circum-
stances, and that we might at any moment stand in need
of the force with which the right hon. gentlemanwas about
to dispense. He (Col. Dickson) did not, of course mean to
contend that the militia should be made a permanent insti-
tution of the country, but he was at the same time prepared
to maintain that the various regiments of which it was com-
posed ought not to be disbanded without sufficient notice.
The subject was therefore one which he hoped the right hon
gentleman would take into his consideration.
JERSEY COMMISSION. -
Mr. HADFIELD, in whose name a notice stood upon
the paper relative to the delay which had occurred in the
progress of the inquiry into the operation of the laws of
Jersey, which a commission had last session been appointed
to institute, complained that the commissioners had ceased
ever since August last to pursue the investigation, and that
great inconvenience had in consequence been occasioned.
He might add, that when they adjourned they had arrived
at a point of the inquiry which was of great interpret to the
inhabitants of Jersey—the law connected with the tenure
land—and that they could diseover no good reason why
they should have allowed a period of more than five months
to elapse without resuming the duties which they had been
appointed to discharge. It was of great importance to the
district that this commission should be speedily executed,
and two royal commissions, involving much more labour
than this, had, since it was issued completed their inquiries
and made their reports. In these circumstances he had felt
it his duty, at the request of the inhabitants of Jersey, to
call the attention of the Home Secretary to the delay which
had taken place, and, to ask why the commissioners had
not completed their inquiries, and when their report might
be expected ? •
Sir G. C. LEWIS—A commission was issued last spring
to inquire into the laws of Jersey. The commissioners
visited the island in the course of the summer and
autumn ; and in August they left the island, having com-
pleted that portion of their inquiry. They have since been
occupied in the consideration and preparation of their re-
port. lam assured by their secretary that it is in a state
of forwardness, and may be expected to be presented at no
distant period. With regard to the question Of land tenures,
bankruptcy, and insolvency, the commissioners have made
inquiry into those subjects, and are in possession of docu-
mentary evidence relating to them. The hon. gentleman is
doubtless aware that, although he may have a very strong
opinion as to the policy of assimilating the land tenures of
Jersey to those of England, the people of Jersey have a
considerable attachment to the old laws and institutions of
their island. When this commission was appointed there
was an understanding that it should net last for more than
one year, but I am not able to specify the precise time when
their report will be made.
NAVIGATION OF THE GODAVERY.

Mr. J. B. SMITH rose to call the attention of the house
to the importance to the commerce and manufacturers of
this country of opening out the navigation ef the river
Godavery ; and to ask the Secretary ef State for India what
are the intentions of the Government in respect thereof.
The province of India to which his question chiefly re-
ferred contained an area of 130,000 square miles, and was
four times the extent of Ireland. It contained iren and
timber, but what he particularly wished to call attention to
was its produce of flax, hemp, and cotton. The manufac-
tures of this country were increasing so rapidly that the
consumption of the raw material was overtaking the pro-
duction; and it was natural, therefore, that manufacturers
should look to those places which would supply.them with
the raw material, especially when those places happened to
be under the dominion of the British crown. Gentlemen
who were connected with the linen trade in Scotland and
Ireland told them that the progress of that important
manufacture was absolutely stopped for want of an adequate
supply of flax and hemp ; and, as regards cotton, who could
look with unconcern on what was taking place in the
Southern States of America at the present moment, espe-
cially when they considered that eight-tenths of the cotton
consumed by our manufacturers came from those States ?
Some might say this was a Manchester question, and no doubt
it was ; but when they considered that the cotton manu-
facture amounted to upwards of £60,000,000 per annum,
was not this, he asked, a question of great national interest
also ? (Hear, hear.) They had abundant evidence to show
that India could grow all the cotton we requii ed. Dr.
Forbes Royle estimated the amount at double the quantity
produced in the United States. Retaining the great bulk
of their produce for their own people, they had but a small
quantity for exportation. But the reason we received so
small a quantity of cotton from India was the great expense
of conveying it to the port of embarkation. If the Govern-
ment would but give roads, the export of cotton would in-
crease rapidly. The hon. member read an extract from an
Indian correspondent, describing the difficulties and delays
occasioned by the present mode of carriage over almost im -
passable roads. It was difficult to estimate the annual loss
thus arising both to the district and to the country. This
was pretty much the case all over India, with the excep-
tion of some cotton which was grown on the coast. It was
particularly so in the most important part of the eountry of
Berar, where the largest quantity of cotton, and the finest
in quality, was grown. The cost of transit to the Indian
planter was about 101 per cent. To remedy this state of
things they had only to avail themselves of the river Goda-
very. It could be made navigable for a meld about £300,000.
The cotton of Berar could then be brought to the place of
shipment at one-eighth of a penny per pound, and the cot-
ton planters of India and America would bo placed on the
same footing. Captain Haig was so deeply impressed with
the importaw to the commerce and manufactures of this
country of opening the Godavery that he felt it his duty on
hie return to India to address a letter to the Secretary of
State for India on the subject, pointing out not only great
commercial but also military advantages. He showed that
if the river were made navigable the diminished cost of the
transport of troops and stores would of itself pay the interest
of the outlay. They all knew the revenue the Goiernraent
derived from salt—it was a Government monopoly in
India. It was to. be regretted that the necessities

of Indian finance had led to the increase of the tax on salt ;
but if this river were opened out the people of that
district, notwithstanding the increased duty on salt, would
obtain that commodity at less than half its present price.
By the increased consumption of salt the Gouernment
would gain enormously. The increased duty, accord-
ing to the Government, by the opening of the Godavery,
would amount to about £64,000, paying the interest of the
outlay three times over. There was some controversy, in-
deed, a 3 to the practicability and importance of opening the
Godavery. The hon. and gallant member for Aberdeen
held it to be impracticable. Sir C. Trevelyan, the Governor
of Madras, had gone into the district with a board of seen-
tifle men to trsethe value of these opinions, and he had
made a minute, in whieh he stated that these works were
of such great importance that he should feel it his duty, as
long as he remained Governor of that Presidency, to visit
them every year. Sir C. Trevelyan also stated that the
works would open up the most fertile regions of Central
India, and serve to develope a new trade to the extension
of whieh no limits could be assigned. If this river were
rendered navigable a supply of cotton might be obtained
which was capable of indefinite expansion, and which would
go far to preserve us from those accidents to which our
manufacturers were now subject. He wished, therefore, to
ask the Secretary of State for India whether the Govern-
ment intended to open out the Godavery, and, if so, when
tfthhoereeywihtoheryken: to
heardas to be carried into effect. In Sir Charles
Trevelyan's minute there was this rather discouraging re-
mark, that he hoped "the state of the Indian revenue would
enable the Government to proceed with'this work." Were
w aoift
thefora
commencement surplus inthe Indian
the
ofinancespeiug
beout-
of the Godavery ? It had been the policy of the East India
Company to execute their public works out of revenue.
He trusted the Secretary of of State for India would tell
Govern-
ment. The legitimate fundsP
luictyofofwthhiechQutheeense'
them that that was
resource had been resorted tosreproduo
hewere leans ; and until that
on
Inodia had no hope of any bene-
fittive works should be defrayed
being conferred up
dis-
charge its debts until its
pay-
ing their taxes supplied to them through the stimulus
progressed
wos were carried
double the amoutnlil
They
y revenuetherefortehseyosptrpdoroouobe feeblywith them
and fitfully,
of great public, works.
came to
iccordinr, as the means for
honando.ut
Tohf
they might be completed if they were executed for which
uninter-
ruptedly and with vigour.
Mr. S. HERBERT wished to 'answer the questions which
had been put to him in the course of that discussion. With
regard to the disembodiment of the militia regiment which
the hon. and gallant member so worthily and successfully
commanded, he could only say it was always very painful
for the Government to come to a decision that would be dis-
tasteful to individuals; but the intere3ts of the public ser-
vice necessarily overrode all considerations of that kind, and
he had taken the earliest opportunity of communicating to
the gallant officer the conclusion at which they had arrived.
Ele had stated last year, in moving the army estimates, that
in his opinion a large and continuous embodiment of the
militia in time of peace was radically wrong in principle. It
was unwise to anticipate the resources which ought to be
kept in reserve for periods of emergency. Holding that opi-
nion, he followed the course that he. had announced, viz.;

that of gradually disembodying the militia regiments in
proportion as the regular troops were available for taking
their place. This operation was rendered very uncertain,
owing to the requirements of India, and to the demand upon
our regular force caused by the recent unfortunate calamity
in China. With regard to the claims of officers of the Land
Transport Corps, a committee of the house had sat, before
which was brought the case of certain officers who had en-
tered that corps under very peculiar circumstances, and who
at the conclusion of the Crimean war were discharged from
that service. The committee went carefully through the
matter and divided the cases into certain classes, mak-
ing recommendations as to the manner in which
those different classes should be treated by the
Government. The War-office, then presided over
by his predecessor, applied to the Treasury for the funds re•
quisite for carrying out those recommendations ; and after a
good deal of correspondence all the claims were satisfied
which came before that committee. That corps was raised
on the understanding that it was only to be continued dur-
ing the Russian War, and engagements for two years with
very high pay were given in certain instances. On the re-
turn of peace it became necessary to dissolve the corps ; but
the case of those officers to whom a committee of that house
recommended that compensation should be paid differed
from that of those officers of whom the committee took no
notice, and with respect to whom it made no recommenda-
tion. Among others there was the case of men who had
given up situations in the Civil Service which carried the
right to a pension, and who, when they lost their position
in the Land Transport Corps, were left without the expec-
tation either of the pension which their civil situation
would have given them, or of the half-pay which military
employment conferred. There were other cases to which
he need not particularly refer, but the position of those gen-
tlemen was this, that they were appointed " until further
orders." The hon. member had quoted a letter from Col.
Wetherell to show that these gentlemen were to be treated
in the same manner as the others. But in this Colonel
Wetherell was entirely wrong, for the arrangement was
only a provisional one, and he could have no means of
knowing what course the Government would ultimately
take. To illustrate how little claim existed on the part of
the officers in whose favour the committee did not report,
he would mention a single instance. Lieut. Delamere, a
very respectable person, was an ensign in the 21st Regi-
ment of Foot, when he joined the Land Transport Corps,
of which he was made a captain till further orders. He
still remained on the strength of his regiment, so much so
that he actually received promotion in it during the time
he was acting as captain in the Land Transport Corps. He
became a lieutenant and was sent back to his regiment.
He stands in no worse position than anybody else ; be
gained his promotion. But to make him a captain over
the heads of all the other officers, who were constantly
under fire and in the trenches, while he was not, would
surely be very unjust. Tear,. hear.) The House of
Commons, therefore, having given this subject its best
consideration, and the recommendations of the select
committee having been adopted—in carrying out which,
indeed, the Government had gone even further than its own
sense of justice might, perhaps, have induced it to go—he
thought they could not new reopen the question of the
' claims of these officers.

Colonel SYKES, after what had fallen from the hon.
member for Stockport, wished to say that he was a strenu-
ous advocate for the opening of all communication in India,
by land or by water, though he thought that ought
to be done with the means of the country. His
opinion had always been that the opening out of the
Godavery was quite practicable, but that the cost of its exe-
cution would exceed reasonable bounds. The recent mutiny
had deranged Indian finance. The iiterest on the Govern-
ment loan was then 4 per cent. ; but the Government had
immediately to open a 5 per cent. loan. Finding that even
that increase would not take, they were obliged to
offer 5i per cent., with an undertaking not to pay off
for 26 years. They consented also to accept the new loan
half in paper and half in money, thereby raising the pre-
vious loans to 5} per cent. Still, these terms were found
insufficient, and the Government in India were obliged to
write to the home authorities for assistance. Very luckily,
there was a better appreciation of the real capabilities of
India in the money market of this country than in that of
Calcutta ; and the result was that the 5f per cent. loan was
at a discount of 4.per cent. in India, while a few days ago
it was at a premium of 1 per cent. in England. The
finances of India were now paying 5f per cent, for a loan
that could be obtained here at less than 4 per cent. The
Five per Cent. Loan open in Calcutta now stood at 103. All
contributions to it were to the damage of the finances of In-
dia, and he therefore desired to know whether it was the
-intention of the Secretary of State to direct that it should
be immediately closed. He also wished to be informed by
the right hon. gentleman whether the unanimous recom-
mendation of the Governor-General and his Council that
batty should be granted to the troops of the Persian expe-
dition, as had been done in the case of the first Burmah ex-
pedition, of the China expedition, and of the capture of
Delhi and Luck-now, would receive his sanction; and whe-
ther the three officers of the 3d Cavalry who so greatly dis-
tinguished themselves in the charge upon a regiment of
Persian Infantry formed in square would receive the Vic-
toria Cress.

INDIAN AFFAIRS.
In reply to Mr. W. EWART and Mr. BLACK,
Sir CHARLES WOOD, in answer to the questions put
to him respecting India, assured his hon. friend that no
person could be more alive to the importance of opening
out the navigation of the river Godavery than he was.
As to the opening of that navigation, the letter published
at his- (Sir Charles Wood's) request by Captain Hayes,
who surveyed the entire territory, would give every infor-
mation on the subject. Every obstacle which prevented a
free navigation of that river would be removed as soon as
possible, and directions had been given to the Government
of India to remove these obstacles. The river had been al-
ready opened for a distance of 2GO miles, and he need hardly
say that the conclusion of the work was most essential to
the cultivation of cotton in India, and his hon. friend might
depend upon it that every effort wonld be used to accomplish
the work. Piers were in course of erection on the western
coast to give facilities for exporting cotton, and works com-
menced which would unite the Ganges canal with the
river Godavery. He had received a letter from Lord
Elphinstone, which informed him that he exprted the
work would be completed in three years. Then as to the
question put by his hon. and gallant friend the member
for Aberdeen, nothing could be done with. regard to it
until the end of the next financial year ; and as to the
Persian expedition it had been already arranged that
one half the expense should be paid by India, and the
other by this country. The question put by the hon.
member for Dumfries, with respect to introducing into the
Legislative Council of India representatives of the com-
mercial class, was one of great importance and great diffi-
culty, and was now under the consideration of her Ma-
jesty's Government. With regard to the publication of
the financial statement of Indian affairs, no objection
whatever could be offered to it, and, in point of fact, it
had been already done by the Indian Government without
any communication whatever with the Government at
home. As to tho question put by the hon. member whether
the. Government still contemplated legalising the importa-
tion of natives of British India as indentured labourers in
French colonies, all he could say was, that when he came
into offiee he found a treaty had been negotiating with
France to allow coolies to be carried to French colonies in
the same manner as to the British, and was acquiesced in
by the Government, In the hope of putting an end to
slavery on the east coast of Africa, as it was hoped would
be done on the Western coast. In the arraigement that
had been negotiated it would he believed be found with
regard to the terms upon which the importation of coolies
should take place, the interests of the latter had been well
cared for.

BUSINESS OF TUE HOUSE.
Mr. BOUVERIE (in allusion to his rejected motion of
yesterday week) called the attention of the house to the
rambling form assumed by the discussions on Friday even-
ings, owing to the notice of motions having precedence of
the orders of the day. They had had about 20 speeches on
nearly as many different subjects, and had wandered
nearly all over the world. They had commenced by taking
an airing with the hon. member for Marylebone in Hyde
Park—then they travelled with the hon. member for
Stockport to the Godavery river—then to Morocco with
the hon. member for Dungarvan—then they spent a little
time in Jersey with the hon. member for Sheffield, and
at last, after travelling over the greater part of the world,
they had amused themselves by discussing education,
coolies' emicTration, estimates, in all about 13 or 14 subjects.
(Hear, hear') He thought that this was not a system cal-
culated to shed a lustre or dignity over their debates, and
that the present rule operated very inconveniently ; a
stranger coming to the house for the first time on a Friday
would form a very curious notion of their proceedings.
Mr. WILLIAMS suggested that Friday should be given
up altogether to notices of motion, and commence the Com-
mittee of Supply en the Monday without interruption.
PROBATE AND ADMINISTRATION BILL (INDIA).
This bill was read a second time.
PETITIONS OF RIGHT.
This bill was read a second tmae, and ordered to be com-
mitted on Monday week.

NEWSPAPERS, &c., BILL.
On the motion for going into committee on this bill,
Mr. SPOONER objected that it was passing through
the house sub silentio, and that some explanation of its
objects ought to be made, so that the house might be fully
aware what it was about.

Mr. AYRTON said that the bill had been fully explained
and discussed, and, it fact, had passed that house last ses-
sion, but there was not time for it to pass the Lords. It
was now reintroduced, and he had not thought it necessary
again to occupy the time of the house on the subject. The
object of the bill was to repeal certain acts and parts of acts
intended to strengthen the hands of the Executive Govern:
went in times of peculiar difficulty, but the necessity for
which had long since passed away.
The house then went into committee, and having passed
the bill through that stage, it was brought in and ordered
to be read a third time on Monday next.
MINE" AND MINERALS (CORNWALL) BILL.
The SOLICITOR. GENERAL obtained leave to bring
in a hill for the limitation of actions and suits by
his Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall (Prince of
Wales), in relation to real property, and for authorising
certain leases of the Duchy to be made by him.
The business on the paper having been gonethrough,tho
house adjourned at nine o'clock.

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