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

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

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 :
(From, the Bombay Times of Sept. 12.)

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 works, that two millions sterling
were to be spent on the improvement of the country
—a notification was published in the Gazetite 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 represented 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,
four per cent. or, at the very outside,
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, so 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 Stock 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 concerti her. There can be
no greater insanity than that of entangling our-
selves in any way whatever with the affairs of Cen-
tral Asia. The Affghans and Persians are equally
perfidious, equally ungrateful and rapacious,
equally incapable of pursuing any consistent line
of policy or 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 fir a bribe. When
Kainran 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 kis purse ; and Gho-
rian, one great cause of our interference in his
favour, almost as soon as secured to him, was
handed over to his old enemy, as if in scorn of the
English friends on whom he had Leen preying. If
we will make treaties we must see them enforced,
by this moans in such cases as the present, involv-
ing ourselves needlessly, beyond the mountains
which form an impenetrable fortrees for our demi-
) pions, in wars always equally inglorious, expensive,
) and fruitless. Those whom the catastrophe of Calm]
• could not teach wisdom, must be incapable of
benefitting hy 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 beng 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 16'3. at the
highest, thus imposing a loss on Government of
' 2,0001. a 'mirth. At present we are paying 10,0001.
monthly for ships which we sincerely trust will
never be employed ; and the preparations ri'ow
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
natthesle
topies are comprised all the tidings
olf
supplied.—Our
importance the past fortnight hassu7
ppanid though
rainy season has very nearly
over closed,Central and Upper
still
India, in Bombay we are
rain has been plentiful all
our customary supples.
hsaoymeewjuhsatt short
recoivoodf
i
accounts inundation at Cabul, in which
great
e Military
done to lands and property,
h
in its corporate capacity,
rdamage of
an
h a
Board,
been
has been abolished at the Presidency, and the
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
for the charges incurred by Mr. Conybeare, under
sanction of the Court of Directors, in excess ofth
ul
quarter of a million sterling, originally agreed
upon, to obtain water from the VeharrViaglhletys.hTavhee
`''•-home bungling will very probably bring the
ulti-
mate charge to close on half a million.
The import market is improving ; freights
advanced ; and the money market is unsteady,