The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-12 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, FEB. 18, 1858.

We cannot feel surprised at the resistance offered
by the East India Company to the contemplated
measure for the improved Government of the im-
portant districts over which they have hitherto
exercised partial control, and the vast patronage
whereof was mainly in their hands? No body of
men will willingly assent to a measure which vir-
tually involves their own political annihilation,
and reduces them to mere cyphers, where they
were accustomed to exercise immense influence.
That they should strain every nerve to retain the
position they have so long occupied is but natural,
and that they should receive the support of those
who have accepted favours at their hands, and
who may have a lively sense of no incon-
siderable benefits yet to come follows as
a corollary. Even NEILO had his admirers and
mourners, and it would be strange, indeed, if a
respectable---although not very efficient body--
should not find persons willing to take their part,
and advocate their interests in the discussions
ab iut to take place.

In the elaborate defence of the existing Anglo-
Indian Government, which was brought forward
by Earl GREY last night in the Upper House, vati.
ous pleas were put forward. The dilatory one--
which protested against immediate legislation, and
desired that no change should be introduced, or
even discussed, until British supremacy had been
completely re-established and peace restored
throughout the entire empire—was entirely
thrown overboard by their noble advocate, who
could not agree in the prayer for further inquiry,
and leaving the public mind in India disturbed by
possible changes looming largely in the future. As
theDalce of ARGYLL truly declared, in his temperate
and able speech, " such an inquiry would be pro.
ductive of most injurious effects on the Govern-
ment of that empire. It would lead to an organised
agitation that would completely unsettle the public
mind, and be productive of very untoward results."
We are already in possession of ample information;
and have all the elements necessary for immediate
legislation. Under such circumstances a FABIAN
policy would be the very worst that could possi-
bly be adopted both for England and for India.

_ .
I t would go far to prevent a speedy and satisfac-
tc ,ry arrangement of the great questions at issue,
ai rd would keep up an excitement very injurious
to the restoration of that quietude so essential to
tl le peace .ud tranquillity of our Indian dominions.
The East India Company can now put forward
n .o -valid claim for the continuance of the functions
tl have so long exercised. They have no
p. iary interests at stake—no commercial
speculations that can be compromised by the
surrender of exclusive privileges. All these mat -
ter, were disposed of nearly a quarter of a century
sin* le. They ceased to bs a trading corporation in
1&'33, and in place of being dependent for their
div idends on the profits to be realised by
bus iness transactions, received fixed returns
apt the rate of 10/. 10s. per cent. guaranteed
by the English nation for forty years and then
only, redeemable on payment of 2001. for every
1:001. originally invested. This was by no means
a bad arrangement for the proprietors, who were
certain of receiving their money whether the In-
di-an revenue was productive or not. No matter
whatever the deficiency, they must be paid their
fall demand, which will be liquidated without
deduction or drawback, even during the present
ye ar, when a loan of 10,000,0001., to be raised in
igland for the use of India, is imperatively re.
cu fired.

Surely, then, it is time that the wardship should
octse—that the British Government should cease
to be in statu pupillare. The Company are but
tstees for the Crown, and it is time that It should
r ovulate its own affairs in the manner most advan-
tias;eous for its subjects at home and abroad.
lEredeed, the interests of England and India
tire one and indivisible, and the sooner
they are united in name as well as in
s abstance the better for all parties concerned.
Hitherto there has been a divided allegiance
and a total absence of responsibility. Questions
of -vital importance were bandied about between
Cxnnonsrow and Leadenhall-street, and the
anomalous double Government was made the
exe use for shelving for an indefinite time matters
the t required immediate and attentive considera-
the! a. The Governor-General was the servant of
tvet) masters. He should strive to please the
Loi lia Board and the Court of Directors, as
he might be recalled in a very summary manner
by either. Lord ELLENBOROUGH can speak
feelingly on this point, and the history
of the Hero of Meeanee and Hyderabad
proved that the interests of the Anglo-Indian
Empire could not always prevail over personal
feedings, where the selection of a Commander-in-
Chief was to be decided on. Practically, the
Dir ectors have only acted as a council to the Bri-
tish. Government, and surely the necessary advice
may be received in a better form from parties
selected by the Government. If there is to be
responsibility, there should likewise be the most
perfect freedom of action. We should not force a
body of Councillors on any department, and then
hold it liable for any mistakes that may happen.
The change, too, will produce proper attention
to the affairs of India in Parliament. We shall
no longer witness the apathy and indifference
which produced a beggarly account of empty
benches. Whenever an Indian budget was to be
opened, or an Indian discussion inevitable, we
sball not find the House counted out, and the
whippers-in changing their characters, and
asking Right Honourable and Honourable
Gentlemen to go and amuse themselves for
the evening. A reasonable amount of
knowledge respecting the affairs of India
will be required by every candidate for a seat in
Parliament, and the subject can no longer be
ignored, or treated with contemptuous disdain, by
those who aspire to be the chosen representatives
of the people.
The Duke of ARGYLL was, of course, unable to
forestall his leader by explaining the nature of the
proposed alteratiwas. But, despite that serious
disadvantage, he was enabled to overthrow
the arguments of Earl GREY, although the latter
nobleman is a skilful and practised debater, and
spared no efforts to sustai% the cause which he
had deliberately undertaken.

We have just had placed on our table a
" Memorandum of the Improvements in the Ad-
ministration of India during the last Thirty
Years." It is signed by no one ; published by
no one ; it purports to have some into existence
in London, in the Year of Grace 1858, but not
any printer even witnesses to the legitimacy of
its birth. It is, however, a healthy looking in-
fant, large octavo, contains 101 printed patios, is
of the proper blue complexion, and a glance at a
few pages renders the paternity unquestionable.
The Honourable the Directors of the Est India
Company here tell us what a blessing they have
been to the Indian Empire.

We purpose, then, very briefly to give the pur-
port of this memorandum. The virtuous accused
is now upon his trial. To-night JOHN COMPANY
stands before the representatives of JOHN BOLL,
and " to be or not to be, that is the question."
In a few hours the whole case is to be opened by
the Prime Minister of England, and the rule whici. ,
began with the battle of Plas3ey, and has sub-
sisted and rapidly extended for one hundred years,
is now to vanish in name and form, as it long has
to a great extent in substance. Let us then hear
the statements of "Injured Innocence"—let us do
it frankly, and without the interposition of a
single qualification, of an if or a but, of our own,
let us listen to the pleading of the memorandum
itself. It thus recites the most worthy deeds of
thirty years' administration.
First, then, it says, had not the time been so
short, we would have confined ourselves to what
we have done since our last transformation in
1853 ; but, looking over the lifetime of one
generation, observe what has been accomplished
both for the revenue, and for the natives in relation
to it. We could not alter the CORNWALLIS per,
petual settlement in Bengal, which, badly as it
has worked, and still works, was arranged with
the best intentions ; yet even there we are laying
hold of every opportunity for bettering or super!,
ceding the zemindary system. We have at
length, however, ascertained the system most
natural to the inhabitants, and under which
they l
cu tivate most extensively, and pay a
fair revenue without difficulty. The village (Put-
teedaree)
institution of '
system is the most ancient and rooted
v
o
social and municipal management
in India. We
erexperience ; we
adopted that system most liberally
in the north-west provinces
carried
a s soon
itout
with all. the advantage
as
the Punjaub fell into our hands we are endea-
vouring to modify by it the 3
which disadvantages of
the Ryot war system (that by
each culti-
vator pays directly to the
Government)
ef the
latter system itself we have softened the
worst
asperities, and, in a word, the native
cultivators
everywhere, except where Lord CoaN
, WALLIS has
fettered our action, are paying land -tag
- ax more
easily and regularly than they ever did before.
As the rule, the tenant can renounce his holding
whenever he likes, but the Company cannot turn
him out; while he enjoys the full benefit of all
improvements which he makes—" an assurance
which no private tenant in any country, not even

in Europe, has obtained." Such is the drift and
scope of the land revenue system.
As to opium.), the tax is now paid by foreigners ;
and as to the morality of the affair, wore we to
throw the trade open we should only extend the
practice of opium eating and smoking, by making
it cheaper ; indeed, we might endanger the spread
of indulgence in the use of the drug throughout
India itself. The salt tax we should be glad to
abolish, but the revenue from it cannot now be
dispensed with ; the duty is practically very light,
and it is the only tax paid by the community at
large. The Customs we have reformei, a-A con-
formed them, as far as possible, to the principles
of free trade; and the
.most obnoxious of them,
the transit duties—we have abolished in our own
territories, and are doing all we can to induce
native princes to abolish them too. Sometimes
we have even paid them to do it. Only five per
cent. ad valorem is levied on British goods im-
ported into India, and three per cent. as export
duties. These are, indeed, admitted defects, and
will be dispensed with as soon as possible.
In the Post-office department we have even out-
done England itself, a letter can be conveyed from
Cape Comorin to Peshawur for three farthings,
and the pecuniary results have been satisfactory
too ! the loss to the revenue being only about
32,0001. The general prosperity of the country
also' has, after all that has been said, been satis-
factory. The exports have risen from about
8,000,0001. in the year 1835, to rather more
than 23,000,0001. in 1856 ; being 188 per cent.
in twenty-one years. In the former year the ex-
ports of cotton amounted to 98,320,0001b5., and
in the latter year to 237,180,0001b5., an increase
of 141 per cent. The export of rice has so largely
increased that labour can hardly be found to
transport it to the coast ; and during the same
twenty-one years, the imports into India have
risen 4,261,0001. to 113,447,000/. or upwards of
227 per cent., the great excess of exports above
imports being regularly liquidated in silver.

In regard to judicature and legislation, the
emisting system in the " Regulation provinces,"
was begun when law reform had not commenced
in lingland itself, nevertheless, since the
time of Lord WILLIA3I BENTtNOK there have been
constant and acknowledged improvements. In
the non-" Regulation Provinces," on the testi-
mony of Sir JOHN LAWRENCE; "no effort has
been spared to render justice cheap, quick, sure,
simple, and substantial ; every other consideration
has been rendered subordinate to these cardinal
,points." (Elappy Punjaub ! we must be permitted
to exclaim, on behalf of suitora'in Chancery, in
our Ecclesiastical Courts, and some other Courts
too 0 Prison discipline has been wonderfully im-
proved ; the profit in the 55 gaols of Lower Ben-
.ol amounted in 1856 to 11,0001. The police
much cannot be said for, but its defects are recog-
eised and are in process of amendment ; and, bad
as it is, we have put down Thuggee, almoskput an
nd to Dacoitee (banditti robbery), piracy has
been suppressed in the Arabian Seas ; infanticide,
Suttee, and Meriah (human) sacrifices have also
'seen suppressed ; slavery and Vet Begaree (Forced
Labour) have been abolished, and the civil rights
if religious converts recognised. The re-marriage
~f widows has been made legal, and the connec•
Lion of the Company with the religioufs ceremonies
)f the natives put an end to.
We have been accused of neglecting irrigation
knd other public works ; but the delapidated
tanks and canals were in that condition when the
territories came into our hands ; while we are fast
amptying the vast Ganges Canal, nearly 900 miles
in length, which will ultimately irrigate land of
the value of i',000,000/. In the Punjaub and
Scinde irrigation works are in progress ; and those
iu the Madras Presidency have already yielded a
splendid per oentage. both to Government and the
datives. Roads were unknown under the Mahome-
lan Government. We have constructed the Grand
frunk Road to Delhi, and are carrying it on to
Peshawur : the Great Deccann Road, and the Agra
and Bombay Road, are in progress, and so
are many others. Of railways 4,158 miles have
been sanctioned, and interest guaranteed on
23,000,0001. of capital. Three thousand miles of
electric telegraph lines have also been constructed,
and have proved both remunerative and of invalu-
able service. For education, for the improvement of
(he native states, for the relief and civilization of
the smaller oppressed races, much also has been
clone. In a word, such at least is the testimony
if the memorandum of the East India Company
respecting itself ; the Administration of the
Company has been one of constant and now rapidly
advancing improvement, and if the said Company
be only left alone, say for a quarter of a century,
India, beneath its Government, will become the
ORIENTAL PARADISE.

The Judges of the Land are properly accorded
the greatest latitude before their judicial conduct
, becomes the subject of censure by the public
press ; the almost unfettered liberty of which, and,
when necessary, its unflinching use of that
liberty, tend much to restrain and curb, to the
benefit of Judges themselves, their public beha-
viour. Sometimes, however, though vary rarely,
it happens that a Judge forgets himself, and the
►verlooking eye of the public press, and allows
iris bettor reason to be absorbed in first impres-
sions, which in litigated matters are often
erroneous, because the advocate who has to
open a bad or a weak ease constantly does his best
to win the mind of the judge, by enlarging, by
his rhetoric, to a most extreme extent the hard-
ship on his client, even although that client may
be the person in fault ; a weak judge is thus often
captivated, and unable to throw off the trammels
of the net in which he has allowed his better rea-
son to get entangled.

The foregoing observations are induced by a
case which yesterday occurred before Vice• Cha-
ncellor KINDEBSLEY, than whom a more amiable,
kind-hearted man, or a judge more desirous of
doing what is right, does not exist, but which
virtues make him more easily the prey of a wily
and unscrupulous advocate.

I The case to which we allude was one raising the
simple question, of whether or not a purchaser
of property is entitled, either by himself, his
solicitor, or agent, to sea the conveyance of the
property executed by the vendor, and to require
the vendor to attend personally at the completion
of the purchase, and personally receive the pur-
chase money, which rights the Vice-Chancellor held
that a purchaser has, though admitting that such
was contrary to the almost universal practice, and
also to the convenience of mankind. The terms
of his judgment ware, however, such—and so far
departed from the matters necessary for the deci-
sion of the case—that but for his known and
acknowledged virtues, a necessary inference would
have arisen that he felt great doubt as to the
appaeregozro told l
soundness of his decision, and though in words
saying that it might be appealei from, endeavoured c
to
oerc e
to
ththeevdeneedii
osrona,nadndh iswsolicitor
the intosol i sub-
mittingcitor
ci lien d s
aptf
ture of the
necessary for the
l
strongly
theto judgep feel
ed f that he accepted the
e, inre
m. open
Thecou drt e thatpar_
the
derision would be
judge from hea
acts
decision of the case was doubtless caused by the
the kindness of his
.ad vantage taken of