The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-22 00:00:00

THE StN, LOADON, MONDAY EVENI_NG, APRIL 23, 1867

Assam and Bengal. The deputation complained
with justice of the past neglect as regards roads,
ferries, and other means of communication, a neglect
that has already sacrificed hundreds of lives and
a vast amount of property in India. Sir JOHN
LAWRENCE, who received the deputation with his
usual straightforward frankness and courtesy, made
many promises for the future with respect to the
roads and ferries. A journey from Calcutta to
Assam is as long and far more formidable than
a trip to Europe under these circumstances.
It is no great wonder that business suffers, more
especially as the manner in which Assam is cut off
from the rest of the Indian world, and the nature
of the transit necessitates the active interference of
Government in the treatment of the coolies. The
planters with this interference to cease ; they wish
to be free to import as many coolies as they like,
when, where, and how they like, and they ask why
should Assam alone be the subject of exceptional
legislation between capital and labour ? The
Government have a very sufficient answer for
this, which the public generally will approve,
whether or no the planters admit its force.
The coolies, they say, need protection, and, how-
ever well disposed the majority of their employers
may be, there is no denying that some years ago,
when emigration was unchecked, there were great
abuses. It is therefore thought necessary to govern
the importation of coolies to Assam by the same
rules which are applied to their exportation to the
colonies. The absence of easy communication with
Assam cut the coolies off so completely from their
homes and associations that they are very much at
the mercy of their emp'oyers. If there were
ready and available means of access there would
be no need for these formidable depots and pro-
cesses of enlistment and all the ceremonies now
necessary before a coolie can reach the scene of his
labours. A good road from Bengal to Assam will
alter the whole state of affairs, as a ready means of
communicating with the outer world will render the
emigration of coolies to the tea plantations as simple
a matter as it is to other parts of India. As it is,
even with all precautions, the coolies suffer very
much from the overcrowding, the drawbacks of the
restraints of the passage, and from malaria gene-
rally. In the spring months, when cholera pre-
vails, the mortality during the voyage rises
as high as 10i per cent. ; at other times
it is very much less, but still heavy, so much so that
it has been thought necessary to appoint a commis-
sion of inquiry. Various suggestions have been
made to improve the sanitary regulations of the
passage, and we may hope that a change of system
may produce a modification of the bills of mortality.
Assam has no inconsiderable trade. Even last
year the manufacture of tea was estimated at
6,000,0001b5., but there are complaints of inefficient
administration. It is no great wonder that Sir
CECIL BEADON, who found Bengal itself more than
he could manage, has failed to give satisfaction to
the residents in Assam, but in fact the province re-
quires a separate establishment of its own. Mr.
MoßicE, who has been appointed by the Ceylon
Government Commissioner to the Indian tea dis-
tricts, has summed up the causes of the present dis-
tress in Assam under seven heads. 1. The abuse
of the limited liability principle which caused the
establishment of more gardens than could be pro-
perly cared for. 2. Tha increased expense of pro-
curing labourers. 3. The inferior quality and
greater mortality of the labourers imported. 4.
The depreciation of the quality of the tea which
induced a fall of price in England. 5. The loss
caused by supplying rice at a rupee 'a maund
(the maximum price fixed by Government)
when it was at famime. prices. 6. Deficient
capital. 7. The money panic in England. These
causes are certainly comprehensible enough, and we
may see that some of them owe their origin to the
brilliant prospects of the trade a little while ago.
The too great eagerness with which all parties
rushed into the speculation without understanding
the difficulties of the locality led, as excessive
speculation invariably does, to failure and
reaction. The scarcity of efficient labour led
to the neglect of many gardens—a neglect
which, in a tropical climate, produces most
rapid deterioration. The rapidity with which,
after a great rainfall, a garden becomes a jungle,
can, says Mr. Mo RICE, only be understood by being
seen. Again, the lack of good and experienced
managers produced its effects on the tea, whose
inferior quality naturally induced a fall in the
price, while the famine in Orissa and the panic in
England, through causes quite beyond the control of
the As.. tea planters, weighed heavily upon their
energies. No doubt the tea trade of Assam will
soon rise from its present condition. It has too
sound a basis to be likely to suffer from
prolonged depression. Where nature favours so
profitable and popular a cultivation, it is not likely
that Anglo-Indian energy and capital will fail to
remove all temporary obstacles to success. The
great want of the district is a good road in waiting
for the more
I
tardyet is an
andcostlyproces of
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ingdwoul a radundertakingprocess
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speedily pay itself, and would be a wise investment,
whoever undertakes it. This would get rid of the
greater part of the coolie difficulty, the interference
of the Government, and the scarcity of
bill has been introduced into the Bengal Council to
modify the present acts, and the rate of wages and
the price of rice will no longer be fixed by authority.
No doubt the present distress will tend eventually
to the good of Assam trade and enterprise by
bringing home the grievances and difficulties of the
planters to the Government, by teaching the
planters themselves by the experience of their own
mistakes, and by convincing the Home Government
that it would be well to provide some system of ad-
ministration for Assam more worthy of its size, its
capabilities, and its importance.

The news from Madrid is highly satisfactory, and
redounds to the credit of Lord STANLEY'S diplomacy.
The firm, and yet temperate attitude assumed
by the noble lord has produced the desired effect
upon the Spanish Government, who are not rash or
reckless enough to embroil themselves with
England for so trifling and unworthy a cause.
A telegram received at the Foreign Office
announces that the Spanish Government have
agreed to restore the Queen Victoria and her
cargo, or their value, to idemnify the owners for
their losses, and to punish those officers who
may have been in fault in seizing the Queen
Victoria, or in any offence to the British flag, thus
conceding all reasonable demands. The termina-
tion of the affair will be welcomed by all parties.
The affront to our national honour, the insult to t,ur
flag, and the injury to our commerce, were such as
could not have been passed over with impunity, and
the case might have formed a dangerous precedent
for the enemies of a commercial nation. The
Spanish Government has shown a wise discretion in
conceding Lord STANEY'S just and reasonable de-
mands ; and we trust this may indicate the inaugu-
ration of a more decided though less contumacious
policy than has of late years regulated our foreign
affairs.

MINISTERIAL BULLETIN.—The answer of the
latest inquiry at the Honie office is, that Mr. Walpole is
doing as well as he can La expected to do, but is still suf-
fering from a Tovmer.—Punch.