The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-26 00:00:00

arose from the adoption of that course which could not but be
lamented. At the same time the conduct of the Indian

government was not in any way reprehensible. It was their
duty to hold the scales of justice as impartially as they
could between the planters and ryots, and to see that the
ryots did not suffer from oppression, and the planters from
violence. The planters had lately taken a step which, how-
ever justified by law, was not one which could be approved
when viewed as a mater of prudence. They had of course

a right to raise their rents, but that had been done to an
extent which did not seem to b e wise, considering the excited
state of the population. He regretted to add that that bad
feeling had been aggravated by an occurrence to which his
attention was some time ago called—the circulation, under
an official frank, of a translation of a Bengal play. That
most improper act on the part of the official authorities had
been disclaimed by the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal,
who had written a despatch in which he said that it had
been done without his knowledge, and that when it was

brought to his notice he expressed his strong disapproba-
tion of it. Unfortunately, however, it had given rise
to the unfounded suspicion that the Governme4t had been a

party to the proceeding. As he bad observed already, the
Government should be entirely impartial between planter

and ryot, and he should° be extremely sorry if by word or
act the Government should appear to aggravate the bad
feeling which already existed. The next point was one which
was always of importance to this country, but at the present
moment vitally so—he meant the cultivation of cotton in
India. Different opinions were entertained as to the cepa-

bility of India to produce cotton in quantity and quality
adequate to supply the British manufactures, but he was
convinced, in opposition to a very high authority, that if
preper means were taken India might be made a source of
supply to such an extent as to render this country in a great
measure independent of America. It was probable that the
supply of cotton from India this year would be very much in
excess of what it had ever been before. Upwards of 620,000
bales had already been shipped from India to this country,
and 300,000 or 400,000 more were likely to come in the course
of the year, so that the supply would be 320,000 more than
usual. (Hear.) He trusted that the increase in the price of
cotton would greatly extend its cultivation in India, and that
the natives would improve in the processes of picking and
cleaning which they had hitherto so much neglected. The
Indian Government had gone to great pains and expense
to ascertain if it could be grown in that country, and he did
think it was well worth the attention of those persons in
England who were interested in the effort, to use their ex-
ertions in contributing to its successful result. He was
happy to say that a Mr. Heywood had been deputed by
all parties interested at home in the production of cotton in
India to go out there, and the Government had sanctioned
his being accompanied by Dr. Forbes, the gentleman best
acquainted with the cultivation of cotton in the
different districts of India. He hoped that those
gentlemen would be able to lay the foundation of a system
which would greatly increase the supply of cotton from
India. The duty of the Government was to improve the
communications with the cotton-growing districts, which
at present did not possess easy access to the sea. The prin-
cipal sources of supply, to say nothing of the subordinate
ones in the North-West Provinces, were Dharwar and
Berar. With regard to the first, a road was in course of
construction, which had already advanced as far as the
frontier of the Presidency of Madras. A portion of it would
cross the Ghauts, and the Madras Government had been
requested to expedite its completion as much as possible.
With respect to Berar, two means of communication were
being prepared—one by the East India and Peninsula Rail-
way, and the other by a branch at Nagpoor. The southern
part of the Berar district would be opened by means of the
Godavery. No time had been lost in conducting the works
upon the river. When Capt. Rayne was in this country
he applied for a quantity of machinery to forward opera-
tions along the course of the river, and that machinery was
sent out at once. The work was progressing satisfactorily,
and had been favourably reported upon by Sir W. Denison,
the Governor of Madras. The original difficulty by which
the work was impeded was the want of money, but that had
been got over, me' any necessary amount would now be
forthcoming. The house would be pleased to hear that only
that morning they had determined that orders should be
sent to India to prosecute the opening of the Godavery as fast
as possible, consistently with the proper execution of the
works. (Hear.) He entertained no doubt that the opera-
tion would, in the end, be commercially successful, but that
was a paint which ought not at the present moment to be
looked at too closely. He had nothing more to say with regard
to finance ; but there were some points connected with the
political administration of India upon which he wished to
make a few observations. He believed that Lord Canning's
policy in respect to the native princes and chiefs in India
was sound in principle, and would lay the surest founda-
tion for the maintenance of our power in that country.
(Hear, hear.) In past years the tendency of our rule had
been rather to oppress than to conciliate theso influential
persons, but in late years that line of policy had been en-
tirely reversed. New treaties had been made with several
native princes, and territories have been assigned to them
which, without weakening our empire, had increased their
dignity and honour, and made them feel that their rights
would not be usurped or invaded by the British govern.
meat. The Sikkim war just concluded presented a remark-
able proof of our improved policy in dealing with the native
rulers. The Rajah of Sikkim having carried off some of our
subjects a force was despatched to the frontier, and the rajah
was informed that our object was to obtain reparation, but
not to annex a single acre of territory. In a very short time
a treaty was arranged with the rajah, our subjects were re-
stored, and the whole affair passed off in the most friendly
manner. Not only did our negotiator obtain, but the
rajah engaged to allow a free passage for merchandise
through his territory from India into Thibet, and by an-
other way on the payment of a reduced duty. It had long
been a desideratum to procure the opening of a road from
India to China, and that had at length been satisfactorily
accomplished by the aid of the Rajah of Sikkim. The same
course had been pursued with regard to the upper classes
in our own provinces. The talookdars of 0 ode, who but
lately were in arms against us, had, in consequence of this
new policy, become our friends and supporters. In their
own districts they acted the same part as country gentlemen
in this country, administering the law as magistrates,
collecting the revenue, and exercising other functions.
There was a general tendency, in fact, to raise those per-
sons. Hon. gentlemen could not better understand how
that was being done than by referring to the report by the
Chief Commissioner of Oude. Such was the policy pursued
by the Government in India, and he hoped lee could show
that that of the Home Government also was in the same
direction. The Government were fortunately not without
the means of rewarding remarkable instances of attachment
to the Sovereign on the part of native princes and others.
Her Majesty had been pleased to institute an order of
knighthood which had already been conferred on seven or
eight of the principal chiefs of India, and would, in the
opinion of the Governor-General, be greatly valued by
them, and have an important effect in increasing their good -
will towards this country. The right hon. gentleman then
referred to the three bills relating- to India which had re-
cently passed through that house—viz., the India Council
Bill, the Courts of Judicature Bill, and the Civil Service
Bill—the general object of which was to remove the exclu-
sive character of the government in India, and to admit to
a participation in it both English settlers and natives of
all races. Under their provisions a native would be eligible
for any civil employment, for a seat on the bench, or even
for one in the legislature of the country. It was a sound
policy, and the Government at home and in India would be
animated by the same spirit in carrying it out. The house
would be happy to hear that since the bill passed he had
received a minute from the Governor-General recommend-
ing a course substantially the same as that which they had
adopted. With regard to the other two bills, the first of
them admitted natives to the highest places in the Legis-
lative Council. The other admitted them to the bench, a
step which would improve the administration of justice.
It had been a matter of great satisfaction to him to find a
general concurrence in these measures, and be was con-
vinced they were steps in the right course, a conviction in
which he was supported by those who were connected
with India, and were most competent to form a sound opi-
nion on the subject. He could only hope that these mea-
sures, when brought into operation, would contribute to
the welfare of India, and cement the union between that
country and England. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. H. SEYMOUR said that the right hon. gentleman
had just delivered one of the most important speeches re-
lative to India which had ever been made in that house,
and that it propounded a wise policy, which was calculated
to overcome all our past commercial difficulties with regard
to that country. Mr. Wilson had fallen a sacrifice, but
not until he had laid the foundation of a new policy, which
he was enabled to do by reason of his masterly knowledge
of the subject. It was gratifying to hear that Mr. Laing
had arrived in England in improved health, and that he
would shortly proceed again to the scene of his useful la-
bours. Both Mr. Laing and the right hon. Secretary for
India were in favour of equalising the income and expendi-
ture, and of admitting the natives to a share in the admi-
nistration of Indian affairs. Both gentlemen were giving
the natives an incentive to the practice of economy. The
right hon. gentleman was anticipating a deficit of
£1,000,000 in the present year, but that deficit could be
met by a reduction of military expenditure. There was
an enormous amount of European troops in India. There
was a surplus of 19,000 men there beyond what was
absolutely required, and that number ought to be gra-
dually reduced. Lately 3,000 of the artillery were sent
out, and that seemed a strange proceeding, seeing that
there was a surplus of 19,000 men there already.
An enormous error of £4,000,000 had been made by the
Legislature of Calcutta, and it would have been most desir-
able if the right hon. gentleman had given the house some
explanation on that point. The income- tax had turned out
an apparent failure. Still, it was quite right to persevere in
enforcing it with certain modifications. The probability
was, that at the end of the present year the income and ex-
penditure would balance each other if the estimates could be
depended upon. The cultivation of cotton, and the emi-
gration from India to the West Indies, were subjects of
paramount importance. The famine must have convinced
the right honourable gentleman of the necessity of en-
couraging
public works in India. The statement of
the right hon. gentleman with reference to the indigo dis-
tricts was not perfectly satisfactory, so far as the law of con-
tracts was concerned. If he had prohibited the Legislature
of Calcutta from passing the law of contracts, then what