The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-07 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, DEC. 7, 1857.

Although there will be a comparative lull in
the Pailiamentary arena, in anticipation of the
grand encounters on Thursday and Friday next,
several matters of great interest will be brought
forward in both Houses. The Earl of ELLEN-
BOROUGH, a skilful debater and high authority on
all questions relating to the Anglo-Indian Empire,
may probably administer some sharp hits to Lord
CANNING, while moving for a " copy of the Arms
Act lately passed by the Legislative Council of ,
India ; also a return of all native and European
newspapers licensed under the Act of the Legis-
lative Council of India passed on the 13th of
June last ; and, also, copies of all letters of warn-
ing addressed to the editors of any such native
and European newspapers respectively, and of all
revocations of the licensee, if any, of such news-
papers, and of all correspondence relating to the
restitution thereof." Two very interesting sub-
jectis will thus be introduced, although perhaps
not discussed or decided. It is the material for
future legislation and future contests that will
chiefly be
obtained, so far, at all events, as the
treatment of the Indian Press by the Governor-
General in Council is concerned. We shall ascer-
tain the pretexts on which some tried friends of
British supremacy have been " warned" or "sus-
pended," and be enabled to •
Judge of the alleged
justifications for such extraordinary,
and, we may
add, unwarrantable harshness.
Other topics will also arise of surpassinginterest,
in consequence of interrogatories about to be
bited to Ministers. Mr. SCOTT will inquire into the

system by which the movement of troops is regu_
hated, in the following manner :—" The 69th Regt.
IC. lug quartered at Plymouth, to ask her Majesty's
Government what was the advantage,
and also
the expense,
of moving it from Plymouth to Ports-
mouth by rail, to embark there, in order to return
by sea to Plymouth before departing for the East
Indies; and by whose authority it was done ?"

It seems too ridiculous to be thought possible
that a fine regiment, about to encounter all the
risk and danger of adding the minor inconvenience
of a journey from Plymouth to Portsmouth by
rail in order that they might be brought back
from Portsmouth to Plymouth by sea. There
may be some recondite reason for such a pro-
ceeding, but it can only be discovered by a
thorough-paced red-tapist, and the of roXXot re-
quire information as to its nature. Marchings
and counter-marchings may be all very agreeable
while we are bat " playing at soldiers," and oc-
cupation is required for the troops ; but they
were strangely out of place at such a time as that
referred to. Indeed, it was the scandalous de-
lays that were permitted to occur for which Lord
PAL3fERSTON and his colleagues have deserved the
I heaviest censure.

When we remember the urgent appeals
made by ourselves, in common with a large
proportion of our contemporaries, at the very
first intelligence of the insurrection, to lose
no time in despatching troops by the most speedy
routes, by the overland journey, and by swift
screw steamers ; and remember the flippant and
self-satisfied ignorance of Mr. SMITH, of Cannon-
row, and the arrogant and dogmatic red-
tapism of Sir CHARLES WOOD, when arguing in
favour of sailing vessels rather than steamers, we
lose all patience. Indeed, even Lord PALMERSTON
himself cannot easily answer the serious accusa-
tions that must be preferred against him for his
contumelious neglect of the advantages freely and
voluntarily tendered by the Sultan, the Pasha
of Egypt, the Emperor NAPOLEON, and the Penin-
sular and Oriental Steam-packet Company.

The heart sickens when we think of the evils
that have arisen from this most unwarrantable delay,
of what might have been contrasted with what has
been. It is true that the extraordinary valour
both of officers and men—of the WILSONS, HATE-
LOCKS, NE/LLS, NICHOLSONS, GREATHEDS, and
CHAMBERLAYNES, and a score of others whom it
would be invidious to particularise, have done all
that mortal men could accomplish to repair the
mischief occasioned by this apathy and insouciance.
But still great labour has been endured. Many
valuable lives have been sacrificed, and not
only 017 TRAM and HAVELOCK, but the helpless
and innocent fugitives, whom they made so
many superhuman efforts to rescue, are still
in jeopardy, and the public mind kept in a state
of intense anxiety respecting their ultimate fate.
Should any of our worst apprehensions be rea-
lised, should one of these little ones perish', we
should not envy Lord PALMERSTON his honours, nor
Mr. SMITH the possible coronet uuder which tried
and detected incapacity is too frequently permitted
to hide its shame. We only trust that if he obtain
it, the significant word " Lucknow" may be pro-
minently inscribed on the shield.
Another important question will be ventilated
on Tuesday. Mr. YOUNG intends to ask the
Secretary to the Treasury what steps have been
taken to prevent an interruption of the steam
mail-service with Australia, which is likely to be
occasioned by the accident to the ship Emeu ;
and what provision will be made in future to
prevent delay in this service, in case of accidents
to one of the steam-ships engaged in the trans-
mission of the mails between Australia and Suez ?
This has not been the fault of the Simla. She
made her voyage in due course, and the impor-
tant correspondence which she conveyed would
have ere this been delivered in London ; but the
old proverb respecting " two stools" was again
verified. Neither the Consul-General, nor the
[ Postmaster interfered, the Dans ex Macheria.
In vain was there a telegraph to Suez, no mes-
sage was despatched, no demand preferred for a
special train, and the Vectis, which ought to
have conveyed the mail was permitted to steam off
a few hours before its arrival at the port of debar-
kation. A correspondent of the Daily Neu; whose
communication will be found in another part of
our impression, states that the cost of this train
would be but 501., and this would have saved all the
losses and difficulties arising from the serious delay.
Why one single firm that may be compromised
would pay tenfold the paltry sum to avert the
inconvenience.

These, to say nothing for the present of the
question respecting the court-martial on board
the Juno, by the learned Recorder of Hull, will
give some interesting " nuts to crack " to the
Ministers, and not render their enjoyment of the
winter session Very great.

The question, Who is to pay for the mutiny—
may be a little perplexing for the moment, by the
state of our own money market, and the difficulty
of restoring the regular collection of Revenue, of
arrears especially, through so large a part
of India ; but that India can easily pay, and that
before many years, is certain. Prior to discussion
and fuller information, we are not prepared to
deny that a guarantee for a loan from the home
Government naay not be requisite in order to start
a new system, and to obtain the money on the
lowest terms ; but India is a mine of wealth un-
told, if worked by an honest and vigorous adminis-
tration. We have the whole country under our
paramount authority, we can execute public
works of all kinds where we please, and the most
potent of the remaining native princes dare not
breathe a word of opposition ; indeed, they would
rarely wish to do it. Over a million and a quar-
ter square 'acres, the greater part of it capable of
producing enormous crops of what all the civi-
lized world requires, we are in a position to say,
let the soil bring forth abundantly, and let its
produce be conveyed at an almost nominal cost to
ports whence it may be wafted to all parts of the
world. We are not declaiming, but writing the
words of truth and soberness. India has
hitherto bees but half cultivated, and half
opened to commerce. She needs but a
comparatively few millions to double her
cultivation and to double her exports. And this '
is tantamount to doubling her revenue, and much
more than halving its pressure.

But for this, the first essential, is a thorough
rout out of the Old Direction. "Old Indians, '
says one of the first authorities on Indian
im-
provement, Colonel CorroN, " are the destruc-
tion of India," A few, indeed, are necessary on
account of their knowledge of Indian matters,
but what is wanted is, a great majority of untainted
Englishmen—Englishmen not turned into Asiatics.
India can never make a fair start in the-race of
improvement till Old Indians are in the minority
among the ruling body. What is wanted is,
representatives from different classes in Engla,nd
who will bring their English energy and un.d,f,,r..
standing to the work. They would make mistakes
no doubt, but they would not make the mistake of
ruling India on Indian principles and notions."
These sentences indicate the starting point :to our
Government. It is not that one Board of Direc-
tors has been more vicious than another, or that
any Ministry has been specially corrupt, but in
the general neglect and consequent ignorance of
India, Ministers
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