The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-29 00:00:00

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.

Yesterday evening the usual weekly meeting of
this society was held in the great room of Burling-
ton-house ; the president, Sir R. Murchison, in the
chair.

The usual formal business having been gone
through,

The SECRETARY proceeded to read a paper by the
Hon. G. Campbell on a geographical inquiry with
reference to the best site for a capital of India.
After a long and somewhat technical dissertation
on the physical geography of India and its climates
at the various altitudes of its mountain ranges, the
paper went on to say that there were five important
conditions necessary to be considered in the choice
of a new capital if a new one was to be chosen
First, it should as far as possible lie in the centre of
India, geographically and politically ; secondly,
within easy reach of the sea, but not too near, in
case of attack ; thirdly, it should have a moderately
temperate climate, or at least one better suited to
Englishmen than that of Calcutta confessedly was,
and especially should it have room for an European
settlement round it, so as to offer an attraction to im-
migrants, and also be as near as possible to Europe.
Always some of these conditions were to be met
with in the mountain ranges of the Ghauts, the Neil-
gherries, or thellimalayas. The Neilgherries,though
less interesting in a picturesque point of view than
the Himalayas, were better situated, though better
than either was the table-land of the Deccan on the
Western Ghauts, about 150 miles above Bombay.
The line of the Great Indian and Peninsular Rail-
way passed close to a spot which afforded a most
eligible site, and where the climate was so favour-
able to Europeans that among troops stationed in
that district the annual death rate was as low as
between 17 or 18 per cent. All its elements fur
forming a political centre was equally favourable,
and a spot could be found on the banks of the
Godavery near its source, where soil, climate, and
everything seemed to point it out as the site for a
new capital. The water supply on the spot was,
perhaps, not so abundant as might be wished, but
there was a confluence of two rivers within four or
five miles of the place, and water could easily be
brought.

At the conclusion of this paper—which, it must
be said, was chiefly interesting from the discussion
to which it gave rise—several gentlemen of distinc-
tion, and thoroughly acquainted with Indian affairs,
spoke for and against a new capital being chosen.
Mr. HAMILTON, the president of the Great Indian
Peninsular Railway, said that it had been very truly
stated that the capital of India might be changed
with great advantage. To change it to Bombay,
however, he considered to be out of the question.
As regarded the site proposed by Mr. Campbell,
it was, no doubt, eligible in every respect but the
all-important one of a good water supply. While
constructing their railway they had had difficulties
in procuring sufficient water for the locomotives.
Calcutta, however, he thought, was too far removed
from all the other important districts to remain the
capital of the Government of a great country.

Sir R. MONTGOMERY, K.C.8., said he could not
coincide in the reasons allegedfor the removal of the
capital from Calcutta. It was not necessary that
the capital should be central. London, Paris,
Washington were none of them so, and it must be
remembered also that the Viceroy had as much to
do with China as with India, and Calcutta was cer-
tainly nearest to the former country. The great
centre of European society was undoubtedly at
Calcutta, and public opinion there, with the in-
fluence of an excellent press, exercised great weight
on the judgment of the Government. Telegraphs
an
flxindgrati
hhev a
seatys , too,of
Ghoavde
rrnemmeonvte di
in the hae
mn
oe cr es se
central
hp lea c eln
almost
. uhbiisq
uoiptionuiso,natnhde Gov
excepte r n o rd-uGr
iennge 711 1 shoulde
three
or four months while the Legislature was in Ses-
sion at Calcutta, it was his duty to visit the Go-
vernors of the other Presidencies ; for without per-
sonal intercourse it was almost impossible to under-
stand properly their politics.
Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN thought the very essence
of the paper was political. The whole political sys-
tem of India was, as they all knew, a system of
local Governments, to a certain extent controlled
by the.supreme Legislature. The capital ought not
to be on the site of a local Government, which it
would soon overshadow. The Government ought
to be common to all, and so should the public
opinion which controlled it. No doubt, the climate
of Calcutta and Madras was unfavourable to Euro-
peans, but the Council of India had
itamon
deo nnud
ntu
hl reees
st i
ot
tuhar
ets
Governorthe former
tpoloakc e
hisa s they
Councilbest
with could,h
that had been suggested, they would be liable to the
same peril which had been incurred once before,
when the Governor-General, being away in Cal-
cutta, acting without the advice of a Council,
plunged the country into the disastrous Affghan
war.

Sir ERSKINE PERRY said the question was entirely
political, and one which had been agitated during
the last 30 years. The objections to Calcutta as
the seat of Government were obvious, but he
thought they had been much exaggerated. Mr.
Campbell's choice of a new site was a good one as
regarded sanitary reasons, but the scarcity of water
and the high price of food made it otherwise
objectionable.
Sir lIENRYRAWLINSON brought the discussion to
a close by strongly advocating the claims of Poona,
which he thought to be both from a political and
sanitary point of view, admirably adapted for a new
capital if one was to be chosen.
The meeting then adjourned.

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•
THEATRE ROYAL DRURY-LANE.
Sule Lessee and Manager, Mr. F. B. Chatterton.
THIS EVENING, Colman's Comedy of JOHN BULL.
Mr. Phelps ; Messrs. 'l'. Swinbourne, E. Phelps, Barrett ;
blesctames Hermann Yezin, Isabel Adams, 11. Vandenhoff.
To conclude with the Pantomime. entitled NUMBER.
NH' ' • or Harlequin and the Gnome-King of the Giant
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Wright, &c.
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Mo le, Burke, Hill, Sidney, Ac.

Commence at Seven.

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(lIS EVENING. ROUGE Et' NOIR. Mamice D'Arbel
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Anderson, Viv.an, lienuett. and Edward Price ; Wiss ti ea-
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Preceded by THE TWO POLTS. Mr. H. Widdicomb.

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T IS EVENING, DELICATE GROUND. Arr. Vining,
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' Mrs H. Marston, Miss Montagu, Miss Katherine Rodgers ;
Messrs. F. Villiers, J. G.
Shore, Calhaem, H. Forrester, and
Mr... Vining as Badger.

ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE.
New Management.
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T [AS EVENING, LONDON ASSURANCE. Messrs.
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and Mr. Charles Mathews ; Miss Milly Palmer, Miss E.
Farren, and Mrs. Charles Mathews.
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-
dre.
Doors open at half-past Six; commence at Seven.

HOLBORN THEATRE ROYAL.
Sole rroprietor and Manager, Mr. Sefton Parry.
THIS EVENING, a new Farce, MY TURN NEXT. Mr.
Delmore, Miss Foote, miss Lennox.
After which, koucicault's drama of FLYING SCUD.
Messrs. Nevzile, BeLnore, Blake. Garden,Tollaire ; Mesdames
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THEATRE BOYAL ADELPHI.
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THIS EVENING, Jim. 29, at Seven, A SISTER'S
PEINANCE. Miss Kate Terry, Miss Hughes, Miss Emily
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and Stephenson.
To conclude with the New Grand Burlesque of THE
MOUNTAIN DEW; or, THE KNIGHT, THE LADY,
AND THE LAKE. Messrs. J. L. T,,01e. Paul Bedtord,
Ashley, K. Homer, and C. J. Smith ; Mrs. Alfred Mellon,
Miss Furtado, Miss Hughes, amiss Emily Pitt, dr,e.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manageress. Mrs. Swanborough.
THIS EVENING, NEIGHBOURS. Messrs. Porsche,
Belford, and G Murray ; Misse ..-,wanborough. Johnstone,
and Hughes.
After which. will be produced a Grand Burlesque, entitled
GUY FAWKES : Messrs. Thorne. James, Robson, and
Fenton; Mesdames Swanborough, hsynham, J ohnstone,
Hughes, Newton, &o.
To conclude with A.SUIT OF TWEED.
Commence at Seven.

THEATRE ROYAL, ASTLEY'S,
Under the Sole Management of Mr. W. H. C. Nation.

-
SIXTH WEEK of the enormously-successful NATION-
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EVERY EVENING the elegant Comedy, DELICATE
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law.

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