The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 7, 1861.

BANK OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.-
Incorporated by Royal Charter.
TheCOURT OF DIRECTORS HEREBY GIVE NOTICE,
That a HALF-YEARLY DIVIDEND, at the rate of Six per
Cent. per annum (free of Income-tax) on the Capital of the
Bank, will be payable to the Proprietors of Shares registered
in this country on and after the sth day of July next, at the
office of the Corporation, No. 7, St. Helen's-place, Bishopsgate-
street, between the hours of Ten and Four.
No Transfer can be made between the 15th instant and the
sth proximo, as the Books must be closed during that period.
By order of the Court.
C. 3PNAB, Secretary.
No. 7, St. Helen's-place, London, Juno 4, 1801.

ROYAL EXCHANGE ASSURANCE OFFICE,
Royal Exchange, London, .
22d May, 1861.
The Court of Directors of the Corporation of the Royal
Exchange Assurance do Hereby give Notice, that their
Transfer-Books will be shut from TUESDAY, the 11th of
June next, to THURSDAY, the 4th of July following ; and
that a General Court of the said Corporation will be holden
at their Office at the Royal Exchange, on WEDNESDAY, the
19th of June, at Twelve o'clock at noon, to consider of a
Dividend.
ROBERT P. STEELE, Secretary.

The real cost should have been about £12,000,000 in India,
and £1,500,000 in England. In 1858 59, owing to the mu-
tiny, this cost rose to £21,000,000 in India, and £3,750,000
in England, showing a total increase of £11,000,000 on the
expenditure of 1856-57, to which should be added an in-
crease of £1,000,000 for military police. This was the
maximum point, at which reductions began. In 1859-60`-
the military expenditure in India was reduced to £17,750,000
and in England to £2:750.000, making a total reduction of
£4,250,000. In 1860-61 the expenditure in India was
£15,279,000, in England £2,750,009, showing a further
saving of £2,500,000, which, as I explained just now, has
been swallowed up by the increase of interest on the debt
and other charges, and which still left the cost of the army
of India £5,250,000 more in 1860-61 than it was in the
year before the mutiny. This army consisted in 1859, ac-
cording to a return of the Military Finance Department,
which I hold in my hand, of 284,529 men, exclusive of
69,254 military police—or in all of 353,783 armed natives.
We had,itherefore, at the comtnencement of 1860, 60,000
more armed natives in our pay than in 1857, in addition to
the increased European force, and the increased cost of our
army was £5,250,000 a. year. Now, how has the Govern-
ment dealt with this state of things F In the first place,.they
have decided that there shall be no hybrid corps like mili-
tary police, which really swell the native army without ap-
pearing on its roll. At least 50,000 men of military police
and miscellaneouslocal levios b.ave been disbanded, or are
in course of disbandment, and, with the exception of about
8000 military police in Bengal who have been retained for
the present for special reasons Connected a ith the organisa-
tion of &constabulary in that Presidency, you may say that
nothing of this sort remains in India. When we say army'
we mean army, and when we say police' we meal" police
—constables with batons under civil authority, anchaot se-
poy regiments under a new-name. - Next, we have reduced
all native regiments to a uniform force of 600 privates, or
712 natives of all ranks per regiment. Finally, we have
broken up and .disbanded regiments. Upon this point I
think the Government of India 11..,s hardly done itself jus-
tice in not, making public some comprehensive view of the
extent of reductions effected. In Bengal there were, in
1857, 146 regiments of njitive infantry, in 1869 the number
was 93; in 1860 it was reduced to 91; and of these 8 are
under orders for disbandment, and an order far reducing 11
more has been passed and will appear in a few days in the
Gazette, bringing the number to 72 regiments, or less than
half the number before the mutiny. Madras before the mu-
tiny had in all 65 regiments of native infantry, including
2 of veterans and 1 Pegu batta'ion. The number was raised
in 1859 to 62 regiments—it is now 53 regiments. Bombay
had 34 regiments before the mutiny. In 1859 there were 40.
Of these 6 have been disbanded, and orders passed to dis-
band 4 more. As regards native cavalry, 'Bengal had, in
1857, 50 regiments. In 1859 there were 66 regiments. At
present there were 43, and orders have just passed for
disbanding 11, leaving the total number 32. This in-
cludes all native cavalry of the Punjaub, Central India,
and elsewhere, as well as those under the Commander-in-
Chief. Madras had 8 regiments of native cavalry in 1867; the
number has been reduced to 4. Bombay had 9 regiments
in 1857. These were recently converted into 14 regiments
of reduced strength on the Irregular footing, which will be
reduced to 9 or lower. I say nothing of native artillery, for
no such thing exists, except a few mountain batteries at un-
healthy posts on the frontier. The result is, therefore, that
77 native regiments are broken up since 1859—viz., 44 of
infantry and 33 of cavalry. Of these 24 regiments of in-
fantry and 20 regiments of cavalry are the result of the re-
ductions now ordered or enforced withinthe last few months.
The effect of these reductions is to lower the strength of the
native army from 284,000, at which it stood in 1859, to about
140,000 men. Including military police, the reduction of
native armed force since 1859 will be very nearly 200,300
men, of whom upwards of 100,000_ men have been reduced
within the last few months. I should mention that in effect-
ing these reductions it has been thought right to make some
addition to the pay of the irregular native cavalry, who find
their own horses and provisions. Prices have risen so much
that it is difficult for them to keep out of debt on their old
pay, and soldiers in dett are always dangerous. But I place
it on higher grounds. It is the duty of the State to treat
liberally men who are ready to shed their blood for us in case
of danger, be they Hindoo or Mussulman, English or native
—here at least the maxim should apply that the labourer
while found faithful is worthy of his hire. I spoke of the
above reductions as carried out, because they are so in a
great measure ; and what remains is distinctly ordered in a
ead heat
which admits of no discussion. Madras has taken
the lead in reductions, but Bombay is well up, and Bengal,
asy a
wdillseee is coming with a rush, and will perhaps
make at of it on the post. The Military Finance
Department, who are constituted as a permanent departmmit
of the Supreme Government, to see to the enforcement of all
that relates to estimates and military finance, give us means
like those which the Treasury and War-office in England
possess, of insuring the observance of estimates and check-
ing expenditure. So much for our native army. In our Eu.
ropean force no material change is proposed on that now
existing. Concurrently with these reductions of force, we
have made corresponding reductions in the Commissariat.
Ordnance, and other military departments, and in the ex-
penditure on barracks. The general result ie that our mili-
tary expenditure of all sorts, including military buildings,
will be reduced from last year by £3,220,000. Our estimate
of military expenditure in India for the year 1861-62, which
has been revised with great care by the Military Finance
Department, is £12,800,000, or £2,479,000 lower than in
1860-61. But this does not show the whole amount of per-
manent saving, as the reductions cannot all be carried out
by the Ist of May, and native troops cannot bo distended
without gratuities. The estimates of this Military Finance
Department is £12,199,242 as the cost for a year of the esta-
blishment now decided upon for permanent adoption, and
£600,760 as the temporary cost of this year in gratuities,
bounty, pay, and other expenses, before the reductions are
fully carried out. It is right to state, however, that for
£500,000 or £600,000 of this reduction we are indebted to a
suspension of the usual demands for stores, owing to the
vast accumulations of recent years. I am sanguine, how-
ever, that when the new police is fully organised, and atter
another year or two of peace and tranquillity, the native
army may be still further reduced, and the total expendi-
ture in the army kept at £12,250,000 or even brought down
to £12,000,000 in India, and £2,000,000 in England. In
the meantime our actual reduction for the ensuing year is
£3.220,000, but of this £409,000 is in military buildings,
of which we give the benefit to civil public works. In this
estimate of military expenditure I have only allowed fo a
small decrease on the home charges, proportionate to what
we know of the actual diminution of numbers in depot—
viz., from £2,772,610 in 1860-61 to £2,500,000 in 1861-62.
But I hope and believe the reduction will be much larger.
It is perfectly manifest that the officers and men belong-
ing to Indian regiments in depot at home are as much a
reserve for England as for India. In the event of any
sudden and serious danger threatening England there
is no doubt that these troops would be available there,
and it is not fair that India should pay the full cost
of the reserve establishments in England under such
circumstances. The day is past when England can consider
India a sort of milch-cow on whom to draw fora little
here and a little there, in order to round an English budet
or ease an English estimate. Strict and impartial justice
must be the rule in all money matters between England
and India, if England v, ishes to get a return for her capital,
which will soon amount to £100,000,000, invested in Indian
securities and railways, and if she wishes to see India be-
come every day more and more the best source of supply
for her raw produce and the best market in the world for
her staple manufactures. I know that arrangements are
pending at home by which we hope to commute all charges
for depots or otherwise for a fixed sum per head for every
soldier in India; and if a fair settlement is made I look for
a considerable further reduction on the military estimates.
In reducing the expense of the army we have not been
unmindful of the sister service. The Indian Navy cost
nearly £1,000,000 a year, and what was there to show for
it ? It is no disparagemet to the well known courage of
our gallant Indian Navy to say that the whole fleet could
not stand a single broadside from a man-of-war of modern
construction and armament. In the event of a naval war
we must trust to Britannia to rule the seas, and really, in
these hard times, India cannot afford to go on paying
£1,000,000 a year for the honour and glory of having a
navy of her own, which is no real protection. Nor does it
seem the wisest of policies to run Government steamers on
our rivers, competing with railways and steamers of com-
panies on whose capital we are guaranteeing 5 per cent.
Accordingly the axe has been laid to the root of that tree,
and our budget of 1861-62 shows, by way of commence-
ment, a reduction of naval and marine charges £536,000,
from £856,070, as it was last year, and £1,000,000, as it
would have been with no reductions, now that our steamers
have returned from China. This reduction will, I hope,
be carried still further when arrangements now pending
are completed, by which a small but efficient force of the
Royal navy shall be constantly stationed in the Indian
Seas, which will give us much more security against any
possible hostile attack than we have ever hitherto had.
Nor have we been unmindful of economy in our civil ex-
penditure. The first four heads of the abstract of the
Budget Estimates, which I hold in my hand, comprise the
cost and charges of collecting the revenue, civil and politi-
cal establishments, law and justice, and police, which in-
clude the whole cost of civil administration in India, except
for public works. The aggregate of these four heads is
£14,864,000 in 1861-62 against £14,876,389 in 1860.61,
showing a decrease of £12,385, instead of the large increase
which has been steadily going on of late years. But this
gives a very inadequate view of the real saving in civil ad-
ministration, for the charge in 1861-62 includes £350,000
more than in 1860-61 for the increased cost of opium, salt,
and income-tax, and £150,000 for contingencies connected
with the famine, for none of which is civil administration
there-
fore,have been £500,000 more in 1861-62 than in 1860-61,
proper at all responsible. The total charge would,
hadthe cost of civil administration remained the same. But
it is £12,385 less, so that the saving in civil administration
ac-
tion in civil expenditure we are much indebted to the Civil
cannot be taken at less than £500,000. For this large red tic-
Finance Commission, who have aided us in reducing outlay,
rooting out abuses and revising estimates with the mostme-
ritorious zeal. A portion of this has been effected in the
police, which, under the old system, was both costly and
inefficient; and here the assistance f the Police Commis-
sion has b-en of the greatest value. But there has also been
a saving in a variety of minor departments, which, although
small in individual cases, amount up to a large sum in the
aggregate. The system of budget estimates has already
afforded us valuable means of checking this sort of expendi-
ture in detail, and I haven() doubt that it will he found every
year more and more an efficient instrument for checking
extravagance and enforcing a wise economy—an economy
which, let me observe in passing, is only to be attained in
conjunction with efficiency, and is wide as the poles apart
useagn earenafdl I stinginess.yte-dayw respected,
ill meA.eu an
iGetonvbeeer Govern-
ment,
here, that the estimates of which
dm fromo a n ts,
sharp
rypbt ehainnwelldg
sl skreeer vws
ieh sadahnbadonbe
saving
hundredfold discredit on the mor-
a mean and illiberal act, or, de-
pend
rpwl
ue
wnt
ohd.
wtuleg
give
tenfold
dtt
h,e stehwge
expenseeenlpaltryleobserve
results are all taken from the de •
tailed estimates settled under the new system, of which
such portions as may be useful for public information will
Governments. The next head of expensduiethurmermaintitemsr
be presented and printed as soon as time pe't , so as to
enable those who take an interest in
details of expenditure under different heads and in different
sy t
Budgeto trace
shows an increase, not a reduction, but I think you will
,anthdethwehao
pardon this when I say that it is for civil public works.
The Imperial assignment for civil public works is
£3,121,129 in 1861-62, against £2,897,671 in 1860-61, or
£223,458, in addition to which £230,000 more will be spent
nextqur yeared fo r than
repairst h
is smaller,
sfmroaniller, so localthat fands
on
rootlet re
ex-
penditure on new works of improvement will be about
£500,000 more in 1861-62 than in 1860-61. Of this a large
portion will go in Making wads, which I believe to ke, as

general rule, the most advantageous way of spending money
in most parts'of India. We shall especially urge on the con-
struction of good roads in the principal cotton districts, so as
to be pre eared,to bring the resources of India into play to sup-
ply the threatened deficiency of cotton from America. Im-
mense interests are at state on this question, not only ma-
terial—for who can measure the extension of commerce, and
the mutual benefit to England and to India which would
result from a transfer of the chief supply of cotton from
America to the East ?—but moral also, for the issue for
which Wilberforce contended, and for which England has
sacrificed her West Indian colonies and poured forth her
millions like water,—the issue of slavery or freedom, is
staked mainly on the question whether America's danger
is to be India's opportunity. If cotton produced by free
labour can undersell cotton the produce of slavery, then
and not till then, the cause of freedom is finally gained.
Private enterprise, and private enterprise alone, can
decide
.this great issue, but the Government have cer-
tain duties to perform, and they will not perform them
negligently.' To press on the construction of roads and com-
munications; to pass just laws for the enforcement of con-
tracts; to provide ready tribunals for dispensing justice; to
impress on all connected with them the importance of en-
couraging independent English enterprise by every means
consistent with justice, and with the equal rights of our
native subjects—these are within the legitimate functions
of Government, and you may depend upon it, sir, that it
shall not be said of us that slavery triumphed and India
missed its opportunity because its Government was too
blind to discern, or too weak to carry out, the policy which
at a great crisis,:Providence had clearly pointed out to us.
In addition to roads, we shall spend more money on canals,
and especially in developing those works of irrigation in
connexion with our great panels which have proved of such
infinite value in averting the consequences of tae famine.
Colonel Cotton has truly said that water is gold in India. It
is morethan gold—it is life ; and among the most lament-
able consequences of our financial embarrassments
.has been
the necessity of starving works, which convert famine into
plenty. I have now gone through all the principal heads of
expenditure except for railways. I shall have to pay about
£lOO,OOO more than last year for guaranteed interest, after
deducting net traffic receipts, the increase of traffic not
having kept pace with the increase of capital paid in by the
companies. But I shall save the £473,331 set down last
year for loss by exchange on railway capital, for as nearly
as I can estimate the interest due by railway companies on
advances made by Government will balance any loss by ex-
change from further payments under existing contracts, and
I take it for granted that the Home Government, on whose
attention it has been urged, will not think of extending a
single contract with this most objectionable clause. The in-
terest on debt has increased by £313,299 owing to the recent
loan in England and a full year being payable in the whole
of the 51 per cent, loan in India. I thus arrive at the gene-
ral result of a total expenditure for 1861-62 of £41,554,699
as compared with £45,154,449 in 1860-61, showing a reduc-
tion of £3,599,750. I proceed now to the other side of the ac-
count to show what my revenue will be:to mee tehis expen-
diture. Land Revenue—The total revenue for 1861-62 is
£18,951,156 against £18,762,447 in 1860-61. This increase
has arisen, notwithstandinga loss of £360,000 in the North-
west and Punjab, owing to the famine, in consequence of
sales of lapsed estates in Bengal, and of a general slight in-
crease in districts unaffected by the famine. Including the
loss of land revenue, the grants for relief, and the cost of
extra works in the suffering districts the total loss by famine
in this budget may be taken at about £600,000. Income-
tax—The estimated receipt for 1861-62 is £1,948,094, but
this is not a fair representation of the produce of the tax for
a year, as it includes a large amount of arrears from the
previous year. The gross annual produce of the income-tax
may be taken at about X 1,750,000, from which must be de-
ducted the cost of collection, say 10 per cent., and the loss
on the moturpha and trade taxes in the Punjab and Oude,
which are partially superseded by the income-tax, amount-
ing to £186,827, leaving £1,389,000, or say in round num-
bers £1,400,000 as the net annual produce of the tax. Cus-
toms—An allowance of 1;200,000 has been made for a falling
off in the import duties on British manufactures at Cal-
cutta and Bombay, owing to the dullness of trade, but this
is made up by the increase of the salt duty and the buoy-
ancy of various minor receipts from Customs, especially on
the inland lines. A further allowance of £40,000 is made
for a reduction of the duty on imported twist and yarn from
10 to 5 per cent. The duty was raised last year by Mr.
Wilson, who estimated the gain to the revenue at £67,000,
but it has only amounted to about half that figure, and no
one 'can doubt that it is a duty which ought not to be
maintained at a rate which might stimulate the growth of a
protected interest. The principle of free trade is to im-
pose taxes for purposes of revenue only, and if yarn
be a fit subject for taxation there ought to be an Excise on
the native manufacture equal to the Customs duty on
the imported article, unless the latter be so small in
amount that it would be palpably not worth while to
establish a c >untervailing system of Excise. With a
5 per cent, import duty this might be the case, but at any
higher rate untaxed native yarn would manifestly b ea pro'
tected article, and any interest which might grow up would
infallibly share the fate of other protected interests, and find
itself at some early day left to struggle with foreign compe-
tition. I wish I could at once reduce the duty on piece goods
and other manufactures from 10 to 5 per cent., but, unfortu-
nately, the amount of revenue is too large to enable me to
propose it without imprudence. Looking at the precarious..
ness of the present high price of opium and the possible con-
tingencies of the famine, I should not be justified in parting
with £400,000 of revenue without seeing very clearly how I
could replace it. But that is no reason why I should not at
once deal with yarn where the amount is small, the failure
of the high duty palpable, and the case urgent, because par-
ties are actually building mills and importing machinery on
the strength of the high duty. If, upon equal terms, those
parties can compete with Manchester, by all means let them
do so, but it would be unfair to induce them to invest capi-
tal on the faith of a protective duty, which certainly could
not be maintained for a couple of years. Salt will show a
large increase, viz., from £3,391,630 in 1860-61 to £3,980,000
in 1861-62. In 1859 the rates of duty on salt were as follows:
Bengal, 2r. 8a per maund; Madras, 14a. ditto; Bombay,
12a. ditto; North West, 2r. ditto; Punjab, 2r. ditto ; Oude,
2r. ditto. The Government then proposed to raise the
duty generally by Ba. per maund, but after some correspon-
dence with the local Governments the following rates were
adopted:
Rate Increase on
adopted. old rate.
R. A. P. R. A. P.
Bengal 3 0 0 0 8 0
North-West and Oude
Madras 1 0 0 0 2 0
Bombay
Punjab 2 2 0 0 2 0
The expectation of increased revenue has been fully rea-
lised. The produce of the salt duties (exclusive of imported
salt) rose from £2,602,000 in 1858-59, the last year of the
old duties, to £3,391,000 in 1860-61, showing an increase of
£789,000, to which must be added about £lOO,OOO for the
increase of duty on imported salt levied thraugh the Cus-
toms. The slight increase of duty, therefore, imposed in
1859, and which I believe no one has felt, has produced
nearly £1,000,000, or two-thirds as much as the income-tax.
The fact is, the increase of duty had no effect whatever in
checking consumption. The amount per head, or for each
family, paid for salt is, as Mr. Plowden conclusively showed
in 1855, very slight, and the general rise of wages
and increase of prosperity have made this slight amount
comparatively still slighter; so that a large increase
of consumption has gone on concurrently with an advance
of duty. In Madras the returns show an average
consumption of 480,000 maunds a month for the sixteen
months since the duty was raised, as against 456,000
maunds per month for the corresponding period under the
old duty. In fact a rise of duty of 121 per cent. coincided
with an increase of consumption of 5 per cent. and the
revenue gained 15 per cent. In Bombay an increase of 33
per cent. on the duty raised the revenue 36 per cent.,
showing here also an increase of consumption. In
Bengal the result was still more favourable, and
in the North-West the result was extraordinary,
showing an increase of no less than 30 per cent. in con-
sumption, coincident with a rise of 25 per cent. in duty.
In the face of facts like these there could be no reasonable
doubt that a further slight increase may be borne without
oppressing the people or checking consumption, especially
as the approaehing opening of the railways will, in many
cases, cheapen the price of salt in the interior. It would
not, however, have been wise to hazard the results already
obtained by too large an advance so soon after that lately
made. Accordingly, after consultation with the local Go-
vernments, the following additions have been made, viz:—
la Bengal, Bombay, and Madras 4 annas per maund, rais-
ing the duty to 3r. 4a. in Bengal, and Ir. 4a, in Madras and
Bombay. :In the North-West and Oude Ba., raising the
duty to 3r., and doing away with the preventive line
at Allahabad. In the Punjaub lr., assimilating the
duty on this side of the Indus to that on the North-
West. In Nagpore lr. Ba., and in Scinde lr. per maund
will be imposed where no duty Row exists. A coerespond-
ing increase is made in the Customs' duties on imported
salt. The effect of these additions of duty, estimated on the
actual rate of consumption, with some allowance for a pos-
sible falling off, though I see no reason to anticipate any,
gives me an additional revenue of £598,370. Bengal opium
has only been taken at the same figure as last year, though
the actual market price is 600 r. per chest higher, which
would warrant an increased estimate of fully £1,500,000.
An increase on Bombay opium is taken of £468,000, owing
partly to the increased duty of 100 r. per chest, to take effect
effect from October, and partly to the increased number of
passes over last year's estimate, ythich. are expected from
the pi esent crop, and will be realised either before the Ist
of May, or soon afterwards. As there is no prospect of any
material increase of the supply of Bengal opium in the com •
ing year I see no reason why the present high prices may
not continue for some time, and, if so, Nye shall unquestion-
ably realise a much larger sum from opium than is put down
in this estimate. The estimate for stamps for 1861-62 is
£1,216,010, which is £383,370 more than last year, and
£557,052 more than 1859-60, which was the last complete
year of the old duties. This increase is very satisfactory,
and in fact the additions made to the salt and stamp duties
last year have yielded alarger revenue than the income-tax.
The different heads of miscellaneous receipts show a falling
off from last year of £750,000. This arises from certain
windfalls in 1860-61 not being repeated. For instance,
£340,000 was received in one sum last year from the Rajah
of Putteala on account of certain ceded districts, which of
course does not recur. The other heads of revenue are as
nearly as possible the same as in 1860-61. The general
result is, that the revenue of 1861.62 will amount to
£11,294,595 as compared with £39,285,731 in 1860-61,
showing an increase of £2,008,864. My expenditure was
£40,254,699 without railway interest, or £41,554,699 with
it; so that in the former case I should have a surplus of
£1,039,896, in the latter a deficit of £250,104. In 1860-61
the deficit, exclusive of railways, was £4,176,544,
and with railways £5,868,718. On the strictest principles a
large portion of the difference between £1,800,000 paid for
guaranteed interest and the £550,000 of net receipts from
opened railways, is chargeable to capital. It might even be
contended that a portion of the large expenditure on canals
and other reproductive works is so chargeable, but as re-
gards at least £1,000,000 of the charge for railway interest,
there can be no doubt that it is as much a charge against
capital as the cost of making the line. This will properly
be shown in the accounts, but, on the whole, I think it more
prudent for the present to provide for it as current expendi-
ture. The charge is likely to continue for several Yeti in_
least, the money must be paid, and I think it extremely
portant to show that we have no arrears, and that hencefor •
wa
rd our receipts for the year will honestly
expenditure. think itspecially impor.tant.focr°
often worse
the
ing reason. The fear of the new taxation is
than the reality of new taxes. In all ,
countries and more
especially in a country like India, it is most undesirable_ to
*keep the minds a the people cowitantly harmed by AA .

PRICE 41). STAMPED, SD•

definite apprehension of fiscal changes. Now, there is no
guarantee that a Government can hold out against new
taxes as long as it has a deficit. The money it must have
to pay its way, and as it cannot borrow for ever, new taxes
must be tried if the old ones do not suffice. But if the old
taxes do suffice, no sane Government will risk unpopularity
by resorting to new ones, and the nation may rely confi-
dently, that, if any cbanee be proposed, it will be in the
pleasant form of reduction. Now, if we fairly extinguish
our deficit while we are about it, including the railway in-
terest, I think we may say that we shall be in this position.
It is true that the hi ghprice of opium is precarious, andtha t
I hope
and Customs' duties are in some cases too high. But
and believe that further reduction. especially irnmtiielarhtairey.
expenditure on the native army, will be found Pee
our land revenue would at once improve on the cessation of
famine ; the salt, the Customs, the Excise, the Stamps, and
other branches of revenue, cannot fail to increase with
the opening of railways and with the increased trade
and prosperity of the country. On the whole, apart from
wars, of which I cannot see any present prospect, or from
some sudden calamity, like a great famine, which is in the
hands of Providence, I may truly say that, as far as I can
see, if we honestly extinguish our deficit now, no Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer need ever be sent again from England
to India to devise new taxes. That part, at least, of his
mission will be gone. and, with Prospero, he may bury his
magic wand certain fathoms deep and renounce his art. Do
you then go with me in saying that, after having for so
many, and I fear such weary rounds, with this huge bully
Deficit, we shall not let him claim a cross, or call it a drawn
battle ? If so in the language of the ring, let us go in and
finish. Or, if you prefer an Indian simile, as this tremen-
dous tiger has given ns such a fight, let us pour a parting
shot into his carcass to finish him off effectually, and make
assurance doubly sure. The means are ready to my hand
in the licence tax, which has been so long announced and
so nearly passed into a law that nothing remains but to read
the bill a third time. Every one, I believe, expects it, and
has long looked upon it as part of the financial scheme an-
nounced by the Government, but I must confess that I feel
great reluctance 'to proceed with it until I can combine it
with an amendment of the income tax, so as make the
united measure one of relief and satisfaction to India rather
than of oppression and burden. I have told you frankly
that, financially speaking, 1 think the income tax has been
a failure. It lays down a great and just principle that the
capital and trade of India, as well as her land, shall contri-
bute in a fair proportion towards the support of the State.
From that principle I believe no Government of India will
ever recede, and as regards incomes which are fixed and
certain, and can be ascertained without prying into people's
private affairs, there is no fairer mode of applying it than by
a percentage on the amount of income. But when you
come to trading or professiodal incomes, or incomes which
cannot be ascertained without calling for complicated
returns and instituting private inquiries, I believe that
some fixed scale of assessment under a graduated
license tax is a better mode of applying the principle.
I would almost lay this down universallo, for I think it is a
fatal objection to a tax, that it conduces to extensive demo-
ralisation by holding out a premium to fraud, and that its
inevitable tendency is to embark the Government in a con-
stant warfare with a large section of its subjects—a warfare
carried on by vexatious petty interference and inquisition
on the one hand, and by evasion andchicanery on the other.
Certain I am that India, at any rate, is no place for such a
tax on incomes going as low as £2O a-year, and that the
Government would be wanting in their duty if they did not
address themselves to the task of endeavouring so to amend
this portion of the income tax as to raise the necessary re-
venue in a manner less open to objection. Such an amend-
mend could not be introduced as part of theillpresent budget,
for obvious reasons ; but I hope, before long, to be in a po-
sition to mature a measure, and until that is the case, I am
anxious, as I before stated, to keep the licence-tax in reserve
and not impose it in a crude form as a separate measure,
without compensation or equivalent. To raise even
£600,000 by the license-tax, we must send the taxgatherer
to four million doors, or, in other words, must afect 20
million of our population. That is a serious matter, and,
although I should not shrink from it in case of necessity,
I confess that I should prefer making the license-tax part
of a general scheme for mitigating the income-tax, and
moulding the two together into a system more simple, sa-
tisfactory, and congenial to native habits and wishes. Well,
then, I hear you say, ' How about the deficit ? Is it to be
a drawn battle after all, or a stalemate, when we thought
the next move would win the game ?' By no means. I
have a move in reserve, which I think will effectually
checkmate him. I invite your particular attention to this,
which I hope is the concluding part of my statement, for I
consider it to be the most interesting, as it is the most novel
feature of the financial scheme of the Government. I
want about £500,000 fairly to weather my deficit, and
get into smooth water with a small surplus. The ob-
vious resource would be to dock it from public
works. The Government, as I have already shown,
have been so far liberal to public works of a useful nature as
to propose to give them £500,000 or upwards more than last
year. But if we have not got the money we cannot give it,
and therefore we should be very reluctantly driven to cur-
tail roads, canals, and other useful works of this descrip-
tion, to the allotment on which they have been carried on,
or rather I should say starved since the mutiny. Now, this
would really be most lamentable. It is heart hreaking to
hear of districts barren for want of water, where water is
to be had ; of roads half finished and abandoned, or finished
but useless for want of some bridge which has tumbled
down. India has two great wants—irrigation and commu-
nication. I do not mean grand schemes only which strike
the imagination, so much as village roads and village tanks
and water cuts, which enable every rood of ground to grow
its crop and send it to market. Such works we are most
anxious to encourage, and accordingly, instead of simply
curtailing the Imperial allotment to local governments, we
say to them—' Take what we are able to give you, and for
the residue take certain powers of local taxation and raise it
yourselves.' There are certain subjects which cau be dealt
with far better by local than by Imperial taxation. For
instance, tobacco. The discussion on this subject last year,
and the returns from the various local governments, prove
distinctly that there is no scheme of uniform and Imperial
taxation applicable alike to all India short of a Government
monopoly, to which there are grave objections, under which
we could hope to obtain any considerable revenue. In one
province the system of land tenure makes an acreage tax
difficult; in another, the vicinity of a native State throws
impediments in the way of an Excise; in a third, the gene-
ral cottage cultivation makes licenses at anything beyond a
nominal race almost impracticable. But many of these pro-
vinces could raise a considerable revenue, without sensible
pressure, from tobacco, if left to deal with it in their own way,
and under a system which might vary in case of need, so as
to suit the peculiar circumstances of each district. Well,
we say to them, Take tobacco and make what you can of
it for your local roads and canals, instead of the allotment
which we wished to give you, but could not afford from the
Imperial Budget.' The same principle applies to other sub-
jects of taxation. We place no limit upon it, except this,
that every proposal for local taxation shall be subject to the
sanction of the Governor-Gene, al in Council, and of the
Legislative Council when a law is required, in order to see
that it is not inconsistent with Imperial taxation or with
Imperial policy. For instance, suppose a certain town,
being anxious to get a road made, proposes to have an
octroi, and the local Government adopts the application.
The Supreme Government examines the scheme to see that
there is no transit duty on general trade, which would be
contrary to public policy and injurious to other parts of the
empire. But if it is a mere octrai, and the question is simply
whether the inhabitants of a given town shall for a time
pay a little more for their eggs and poultry in order to get
a road, that is their affair ; and we sanction the tax. This
is only one illustration, but there will be many such cases,
as people will regard with very different eyes a temporary
local tax levied for some object of undoubted advantage in
their own district, and a general tax, which goes into the
remote and unfathomed gulf of the Imperial Exchequer.
'We have already received from several local Gevernments
the most satisfactory assurances of their ability and readi-
ness to raise considerable sums by small and comparatively
unfelt local taxes for local objects. I think, therefore, that
by this means not only will the Imperial Budget obtain
the requisite relief, but more money will, on the whole, be
raised and expended on useful locarworks. This, however,
by no means comprises the whole scope and object of the
measure. By enacting local budgets, the Government
hope not merely to meet a temporary difficulty, but to
inaugurate a permanent improvement. It has long been a
standing complaint with other presidencies and provinces
that they were deprived of their fair share of self-govern-
ment, and kept in a state of galling and humiliating depen-
dence on the bureaux of Calcutta. Well, Sir, the power
of the purse is the ultimate power, and as long as local
Governments are absolutely subservient to Calcutta in
financial matters it is evident that they can have no real in-
dependence. But if, without sacrificing in any way the
unity of the Empire and Imperial control in Imperial mat-
ters, we give them local budgets, their position is altered.
We propose to give them not only powers of local taxation,
but possibly to credit them with a liberal share of reduc •
tions of expenditure, which they may be able to make on
the estimates of the general Budget. Each Government
will therefore have a direct interest in economy, in order to
increase the fund applicable to local works, and I cannot
fancy that Madras, for instancefwill long continue to spend
£160,000 a-year in public works establishments to look
after £460,000 a-year of expenditure upon actual works,
where it is apparent that every I extra spent on establish-
ments means LI more to raise by local taxes, or £1 less to
spend on roads and canals. It is obvious that such a system
of local budgets would harmonise extremely well with what
I hope soon to see adopted,—viz., Local Legislative Councils
at the Presidencies. It would at once give them an appro-
priate and dignified position, and I can imagine nothing
more useful than that the details of a local budget, such as
that of Madras or Bombay, should be submitted to the in-
telligent scrutiny of a council comprising both experienced
officials and picked representatives of the mercantile and
native communities. I think also the scheme would greatly
foster the growth of municipal institutions, and of what is
still more important, of the spirit of local self-help and self-
guidance, which is at the bottom of a nation's greatness.
India is not altogether devoid of that spirit of self-govern-
ment which characterises the Anglo-Saxon. In her vil-
lage communities and her punchayets we find traces which
r
may remind us that Hindoo, as well as Englishnian
Teuton, are descended from a common stock of
by climate,
an-
cestors. But the Hindoo has been enervated
t isolated
harassed by wars, oppressed by bad government, isolated
oe
morally by by caste, and physically by
been wanotst extinguished.
tion, until these germs havenever within the period
The consequence is that India has
nan Arlan
aggregate of vari-
ous history been a nation. It has been
and duppeintttyo
edpehspernoteisrmalso
owhichus
communities,
with the
the accident of the hour,
d enturer, and the degeneracy
im-
portance or decayed with
success of some military_a
toe theln
thtehaottvhi e other,
n i'y
'be ours to found of
hope
ed
to show that as our power issoninoew-
aeLe leastctuionsnigh:the shadorw,
toofbae rilevxaelrefised tfihrml
histwh iitnhhgoeuimrt heir. Let
rival,
or
o:rn and from the rra'veraodnldy
over whom
Providence
Hima-
layas to
dus, it isand
athe
wisely for good
millionstphoewe
in authory I h
has placedofthe aye a vision of an India—
where the science
communication—where the eeasequent increase of trade
has diffused material prosperity—.where English ener
every
and capital stimulate improvement in
district , and
where the native population, with •
expanding ideas and im-
proving intelligence, are taught by the educatlone. f schools
and of events, of books, and railways, to know us, and to
know one another ; and are gradually trained in the ma-
nagement of their own local affairs for those of a wider der area;
so that India may at length have what it has never yet
had—a political life—and at length be—what it has never
yet been—a nation. You may say that this is a vision, and
this much is certain, sir, that neither you nor I will AT°

1 to see it fully realised; but I reply that it is something for
a Government to have a policy, a high and distinct though -
distant aim, and I think I may safely say that this is an
aim in which every enlightened Hindoo and Mussulman,
las well as every enlightened Englishman, may cordially
unite with us, and join us in praying, in the words of the
inspired Psalmist, " that our works may be so done in
truth and equity as to stand fast for ever and ever." If, six',
we have succeeded even tolerably in restoring our finances
and conjuring away that spectre deficit which rode upon us ".
like the grim nightmare hag of the old Norse Saga, I le.
joice in it, not so much for the immediate relief; as because
, I hope and believe that it is an earnest of further imrove-
, ment. If six months have sufficed to get rid of £6,000,000
of deficit, I see nothing of which the Government of
India need despair, with energy and decision; with
prudence and clear insight. Success, like failure; is
contagious, and in politics, as in war, the moral
causes are to the physical, as the great Napoleon said, as 10
to 1. Therefore, sir, in addressing ourselves to further
reform the word ' impossible' shall be banished from our
vocabulary, and we shall succeed, because we have succeeded
already, and because we are determined to succeed again.
And now, sir, nothing remains but to thank you and the
Council for the patience with which you have listened to
me, and to sum up in two words the result which I had
laid before you. The deficit was £5,868,718. We have
met £3,599,750 of it by reductions, £2,008,861 by
improved revenue, and £500,000 by transfer to local
budgets. Therefore, I have a clear surplus of £239,896 of •
income over expenditure, including in my expenditure
£1,300,000 on account of railway interest, which is properly
chargeable to capital. My cash balance in India on the Ist
of May next will be £12,850,000, which is higher than was
expected, partly because the receipts from opium have been
large, and partly because recent reductions of expenditure
are beginning to tell. After allowing for the payment of
£950,000 of prize money, and for an expenditure of £500,000
per month, or £6,000,000 in the course of :the year, upon
railways, it is estimated that we shall arrive at the Ist of
May, 1862, with a cash balance of £14,264,302. I shall want
no loan, therefore, as far as I can see at present, unless
something altogether unexpected should occur, which I
have no reason to anticipate. There is no danger of
' the railways now in progress being suspended, though
str
icts
feacro naosmpyo
smust bine
oepnefno
irnc egd
aidnd i t
imaon
ak iln g
miles the
ofm orlely.
way, and not in costly works or ornamental stations.
These
mainly by
blyet have been ob-
tainedOn the continued •
enforcement of that economy the future welfare of India
enforcing_ esmoonroemryerat,
mainly depends. I have been eareful, as far as possible, to
adopt no figure in my builgetwhich was not based on posi-
tive facts, and on the estimates' of the responsible authori-
ties. As regards the Military,Estiraates, which are the
most important, Colonel Btilfo* and his colleagues in the
Military Finance Departntentgone through them in
minute detail, and pledge themselves for their sufficiency,
provided the orders already passed bt. the Government are
properly carried out. That is our affair and you may de-
pend upon it that, with the welfare of India and our own
credit at stake, we shall take good care that we are promptly
obeyed. I anticipate no difficulty, for I have always heard
that in the ranks of the Indian service, as in those of the
army, there is a noble spirit which makes men obey distinct
orders punctually—nay, cheerfully, even in cases when the
orders may have been contrary to their own judgment ; but
in this case I believe there is not a man in India whose
judgment does not go with us, and who does not feel that
in largely reducing the Native Army we are following the
path not only of financial reform but of political prudence.
With this conviction the eye of Government will be on
every officer who has anything to do with the realisation of
these, our first properly framed and duly considered Budget
Estimates, and he will find us prompt to recognise merit,
not prompt to accept excuses or to admit of failure. I have
nothing more to add. As I said at the commencement, I
say now, there is no eloquence on such an occasion as this
but that of facts. An oratorical triumph Ido not seek, I
am not an orator by nature, and if I were I should disdain,
in presence of such great interests, to resort to artifice, or to
appeal to anything but reason. But there are my facts.
Take them, sift them, scrutinize them, for it is my convic-
tion that they axe solid and substantial facts and not shams.
It is not for me to anticipate the verdict of public opinion
on the policy of the Government of which I am a member,
but this I will say, that I await it with confidence. I may
be mistaken, but my belief is that impartial men who un-
derstand Indian affairs will, both here and in England,
accept the results submitted to you to-day as, on the whole,
not discreditable to Lord Canning's Government, and not
discouraging as regards the prospects of this great Eastern
Empire, which is,—or ought to be, and by the blessing of
God shall be—the brightest jewel in the Crown of our be-.
loved Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria.