The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-30 00:00:00

CONTIGrUOITS BENEFICES

The Bishop of LONDON brought in a bill for the union
of contig-.7.0us benefices.
The bill was read a first time.
MARRIAGE LAWS.

Lord WODEHOU SE presented petitions from Ashford
and other places, in favour of marriage with a deceased
wife's sister.

PRIVATE BUSINESS.

On the motion of the Marquis of BATH, the Wem end
Bronygarth Road Bill was read a s:Tend time, and the
Torquay Gas Bill was read a third time and passed.
DWELLINGS FOR THE WORKING CLASSES
(IRELAND) BILL.
On the motion for going into committee on the bill,
. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE complained of the
narrow spirit in which this measure had been regarded by
som parties. Ile thought the best way of improving- the
condition of the labouring chisses of Ireland was to improve
. their dwellings. The Fhriners' Club of Westmeath had
petitioned in favour of this bill, which enabled proprietors
to borrow loops to improve the dwellings of their tenants.
The Miuqui: of tVESTMEATII said the petition that
had been referred to as coming from the Farmed' Club of
Westmeath was merely the opinion of a single individual.
He did not oppose the bill going into committee, but he
had very great doubt whether the bill would carry out the
idea of its promoters.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE said he had been origi-
nally- in favour of the object of this measure, but after
having had an interview with Sir R. Griffiths, and making
an examination of certain documents in the possession of
the Government, he thought the subject could best be dealt
with by the Treasury.

Lord REDESDALE said the object of the bill was to
grant permission to landlords to raise money for a new
class of improvements oa their estates. fie thought Par-
liament was just as able to deal with the question as the
Treasury.
After a few words from the Earl of IVIcKLow and Vis-
count DuNGANsox,
The house went into committee. The whole of the
clauses were agreed to, and,the bill was reported without
amendments.

On the motion that the report be received,
Lord REDESDALE moved the insertion of a clause for
the purpose of providing a means of controlling the
expenditure of the loans obtained tinder the bill.

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE objected to the addi-
tional clause.

After a short conversation the house divided, when the
numbers were—
Content
Not content
Majority —2
The clauses were then agreed to, and the bill as amended
passed through committee.

MARRIAGES (EXTRA:PAROCHIAL PLACES)

BILL

On the motion of Lord WENSLEYDALE, this bill was
read a second time.

EXEMPTION OF YEOMANRY CAVALRY FROM

HORSE DUTY.

The Earl of CARNARVON asked whether it was the
intention of the Govern ment to exemptthe yeomanry cavalry
from the payment of this duty during the present year ?
Earl DE GREY and RIPON said he was happy to tell
his noble friend that the Government had decided upon ex-
empting the yeomanry cavalry from the payment of horse
duty. (Hear.) He might also tell his noble friend that the
act of Parliament which exempted them applied also to
those of that force who had joined the volunteer corps. It
only remained for him to add that the duty so taken off
would apply also to the mounted volunteer rifle corps.
INDIAN FINANCE.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH wished to ask the
noble duke opposite whether he was officially in possession
of a speech of Mr. Wilson, in which he gave an exposition
of the financial position of India, and if the Government
were in possession of that document it was desirable it should
be laid on the table. That speech was no doubt one of sin-
gular ability, and undoubtedly explained in a true manner
the former and the present state of the finances of India.
The appendices, however, attached to it were not so com-
plete as they could wish, inasmuch as while giving the ex-
penditure of the country they totally omitted the receipts.
They gave an account of the deficit and surplus, but not the
revenue, and that in his opinion should be supplied. There
ought also to be given an account of the balances in the hands
of the Government in the various treesuries of India. He
was inclined to think that over a considerable number of
balances the Government had no control whatever ; indeed
he knew one, amounting to half a million, paid in under the
head of prize-money. He proposed to move for a return
showing the manner in which this money had been appro-
priated. The amount of revenue and expenditure, as given
by Mr. Wilson—and after deducting all charges—was
£30,000,000. Knowing that was the case, and comparing
that with the condition is which the revenue stood in 1857,
when tir receipts and expenditure were equal, there was
ground for sanguine hopes—especially when the iaterest of
the public debt at home amounted to one-third of the whole,
while in India it was one-sixth. Therefore it would seem
that India was one of the lightest taxed countries in the
world, and thalleast indebted. Nr. "Wilson proposed to
equalise the income and expenditure, and his (Lord Ellen•
borough's) impression had always been that the only true
foundation for the administration of the finances of India
was to be found in the thorough reconciliation between the
Government and the people. He did not, however, think
that any progress had been made towards that result; for,
instead of adopting any novelties of finance, Mr. Wilson
proposed the most antiquated notions en the subject. He
proposed a gradual taxation in the shape of income tax, to
which every artisan in the country was to be subject, and
that was a measure which would not be satisfactory. Then,
again, to render their unpopularity still greater, they put a
duty on tobacco. It was stated that he intended to levy the
income tax on all classes in India. But he felt confident
that was an oversight, and that he had no intention of ap-
plying that tax to the non-commissioned officers and pri-
vates of the army. He admitted that a tax of this kind
would be extremely advantageous, provided there was any
hope of making the people believe that it was thorcughly
honest—and if there existed in that country the means of
making the assessment of the tax and the collection of it
really just. The zassaindars in the settled provinces
would believe that they ought not to be subject to it, and
however much equity and common sense might be on our
side, they would not think that we were acting
justly towards them, and would endeavour to
throw the tax on the under tenants in order to save them-
selves. He was afraid the tax would fail, from the impos-
sibility of finding the requisite machinery in India to carry
it out, and that the result would be a constant conflict be
tween extortion on the ono side and fraud on the other,
whilst there was no trustworthy tribunal to decide between
them. Bat he considered the expressions used by Mr.
Wilson with regard to the army were still more dangerous
than the taxes he imposed. The noble lord here read an
extract from Mr. Wilson's speech, in which he spoke of the
native army of India as being, if not a standing menace, at
least a standing source of apprehension to all their states-
men—a kind of Frankenstein, of which they spoke with
bated breath, but which had now committed suicide. The
local and the European army, he added, were also gone.
Now, at the very time Mr. Wilson used this language, the
real state of the Indian army was this. It was true that
10,000 had taken their discharge, without, he believed, much
previous reflection or consideration. An incautious expres-
sion which fell from the noble lord at the head of the Go-
vernment, to get rid, he believed, of an inconvenient sug-
gestion, was taken advantage of by those soldiers to demand
their discharge ; and unfortunately the Government did
not take any reasonable steps till it was too late to remove
the delusion ander which they laboured., They were told
at first that their claims were inadmissible, till at last,
alarmed, he supposed, by the position in which they found
the army, they yielded those claims. But at the time when
Mr. Wilson said that the army was gone there were 12,000
European troops in India, 6,000 of whom were artillery ;
and every person who was acquainted with India knew that
no artillery in the world was superior to the artillery of
the Indian army. (Hear, hear.) In addition to these
12,000 men, 3,500 others were about to arrive, or had ee-
-1 tually arrived in India ; so that of this army, which was de-
scribed as non-existent, there were over 15,000 in India,
one-half of whom were artillery. Now, as it was upon the
loyalty and bravery of these men that their rule in India
depended, the high authorities in India ought to
be a little better instructed with regard to them. The re-
remarks of Mr. Wilson applied to the whole army. There
was no exception made. The armies of the Madras and
Bombay presidencies, which were " faithful amongst the
faithless found," and who fought by their side in all the
great battles of India, were included in the general censure.
The sepoy army of which Mr. Wilson spoke in such dispa-
ragement were little short of 200,000 men at the very time
he said they were gone. His sweeping censure reflected upon
those 200,000 men who fought by their side,andcontri-
buted to that very tranquillity which, as Mr. Wilson ad-
d ti
hs
ter i bmu et
rnans oof
f theimposing
freshin i ad-
mitted, db,ura fideerndseodn Thee Gp
people.
mTehn
et
of the disbanded regiments showed the real utility of the
sewohifficchersl:l2r7.
sWwilesroenemsepelmoyeeddalintosgiettuhaetriontos
nativedespise. localcf armythe
which had regard to the civil government of the country ;
1.15
in
political and civil situations; 64 in the police force,
58 in the commissariat and staff, and 38 in public works.
There were altogether 372 of these officers employed in offi-
ces of a civil character in Bengal, and in Madras and Bom-
bay the number so employed was probably of an equal
amount ; so that there were about 800 of these officers em-
ployed in the performance of civil duties. He believed that
no persons could be found to whom civil duties in India
could be so advantageously entrusted as the officers of the
native army. They felt that their lot was cast with the
people, and that it was only by good conduct and good ma-
nagement that they could hope to recommend themselves to
the favour of the Government, whereas the officers of her
Majesty considered themselves as strangers in the land, and •
always looked back to this country. If they dispensed
with the local army he believed it would be difficult to
find officers to supply the places of these men. There was
another consideration which weighed very much on his
mind in reflecting upon this subject. In India there
were no persons who looked with jealousy on the army.
There was no resource for the Indian army except in the
army itself ; and on its organisation, and discipline, and
obedience, they must depend, between the Queen's army