The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-09 00:00:00

THE IVEW CALCUTTA BUDGE?.

(From tho Economist.)
It is with pleasure that we observe that the In-
dian authorities, in Mr. Laing's absence, are relin-
quishing the most objectionable portions of his
Policy. When Mr. Laing delivered his budget speech
the License Bill proposed by Mr. Wilson was still
passing through the Legislative Council ; and Mr..
Laing wished to delay it until he should be able to
incorporate it in a new measure, which was like-
wise to supersede Mr. Wilson's income tax. Sir
Bartle Frere now tells us, however, that the Go-
vernment is " pledged to the Income Tax Bill and
the License Bill as they stand." He has, there-
fore, passed the License Bill, and is prepared
to carry out the Income Tax Bill efficiently and
with determination. IVe hope that these decla-
rations of policy will he adhered to consistently.
If everything depended on Sir Bartle Frere him-
self, we should have great confidence in their being
so. He has shown far greater financial intelligence
than any other Indian statesman, and is likewise
remarkable for that vigour and determination for
which Anglo-Indian statesmen wed to he se cele-
brated. But these vicissitudes of financial policy
are deeply to be lamented. We seem to have at
Calcutta the defects of a despotism withont its con-
si3teney, and the vicissitudes of a free government
without its intelligence.
One circumstance, however, vices great confi-
dence in the permanence of the income tax. We
believe that it will be necessary. The opium re-
venue, as we pointed out some weeks since, has
fallen off rapidly :
Mr. Laing estimated from opium.. £6,100,000
Sir Bartle Frere reduces it to .... 4,900,000

£1,200,000
Not only has the price fallen from 1,745 rupees a
chest to 1,400 rupees, but the cost of production has
augmented. The Government in this case does not
levy a duty, but produces a commodity ; every in-
crease, therefore, on the necessary out goings
diminishes the accruing revenue. It has been found
necessary to augment the allowance to the ryots
from four rupees to five rupees per seer, or 25 per
cent. Some " items of expenditure were overlooked"
by Mr. Laing amounting to £348,000. And alto-
gether the shadowy character of Calcutta figures,
on which we have remarked so often, is again pressed
on our attention. Mr. Laing, as our readers will
remember, estimated that there would be a fair sur-
plus in the coming yeat ; Sir Bartle Frere estimates
a deficit of a million and a half. Under these cir-
cumstances, it is not likely that the income-tax will
be relinquished.

As we have to place a permanent reliance upon
the income tax, it is satisfactory to hear that its
yield is likely to be much greater than Mr. Laing
said that it would be. We observed at the time,
that if the tax were vigorously and properly col-
lected, it must yield more. It was only in effec-
tive operation for six months, and even then we
know that it was not collected with any vigour in
very many parts of the country. In those six
months it yielded upwards of £1,000,000. Mr.
Laing's estimate of £1,250,000 for the whole year
is therefore much under the mark. We hope the
unfortuaate observations which have dropped from
him may not have augmented the reluctance of cer-
tain officials to collect the tax, and thereby dimi-
nibhed its productiveness.