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

other law of contracts had he told them to adopt ? With

reference to the export of cotton from India, he thought a
railway, or at all events a tram railway, ought to be made
between Madras and Calcutta. Nothing had been done to

advance railways in the southern part of India; and un-
doubtedly this was a subject which required immediate at-
tention. lie was delighted that the Government were at
length adopting an enlightened policy with regard to the

native chiefs, a policy which, if adopted some years ago, would
have prevented the mutiny, and been productive of the most
beneficial results. Ho was glad, too that the order of the star
had been inaugurated as the crowning point of this policy of

conciliation. The natives would feel deeply grateful to her

Majesty for this special mark of her favour. Every educated
native was a friend to England, and the more education was
diffused among the natives, the greater would be the ad-
vantages we should gain at home-. He concluded by again
thanking the right hon. gentleman for the very able state-
ment he had made.

Sir 11. WILLOUGHBY reminded the house that
£4,000,000 had been added to the Indian debt, and that that
debt now amounted to £103,000,000. This was rather an
alarming state of things. The observations of th 3 right hon.
Secretary for India were exceedingly sparing as regarded

Indian finance. lie (Sir H. Willoughby) feared that the

public purse would be still further called upon to supply
the additional deficiencies in the income of India. These

reductions of the Indian Army went, no doubt, with benefit
to the Exchequer, but he questioned the value of them in
some cases, especially when they reduced the force by
thousands and tens of thousands, in the wholesale discharge

of the Sepoys. He thought that was carrying matters to
dangerous extremes. He knew that the expenditure of the

Indian Army was last year £ls,9oo,ooo—and that was a

very large sum—but he trusted the Secretary of State for
India, in Council, would defend the Indian Exchequer for
their outlay. The question was, what was the limit of the
expenditure on Indian railways ? He would like to know

the extreme amount, and the obligations we were likely to
incur on this head. He understood £30,000,000 would be
advanced by the companies and the remainder by the Go-
vernment. He wanted to know how it was going to be done ?
Were they to go on borrowing £17,000,000, £18,000,000, or
£20,000,000 for the next two years ? He should like to know
that the expenditure would be strictly limited. It was of
very great importance that the house should know what the
expenditure was to be so as to limit it. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. KINNAIRD said it would be the object of the In-
dian Government to throw the burden of the outlay upon
the Indian finances, and he trusted the house would
watch narrowly the expenditure connected with these
finances. (Hear, hear.) He agreed with the honourable
baronet in the line of policy that had been pursued to-
wards the Indian princes, although it was carrying the idea
too far to say that that policy had been adopted in conse-
quence of the mutiny. The fact was it was the assistance
rendered by the Indian princes during the mutiny that had
entitled them to so much consideration, and they wereonly
receiving the reward of their fidelity. (Hear.) There was one
point upon which much stress had been laid in the economy
of governing India, that was retrenchment. He did not
think retrenchment would effect everything; he believed a
judicious expenditure on public works would be far more
beneficial, and he hoped the Government would adopt that
course. He would place those works under men of ability
and distinction to carry out, and he was sure of a satisfac-
tory result. The hon. gentleman then concluded by point-
ing out the adaptability of the country for cotton growing.
Mr. VANSITTART deprecated the practice of asking
for loans in the way proposed by the right hon. the Secretary
of State for India. He wished for a comprehensive scheme
and recommended that the fifteeen Indian railway com-
panies should be moulded into one, and presided over by a
Government Cabinet. The expenses of so many chairmen,
secretaries, &c., would then be got rid of. He instanced
the mode of making some of the lines—one as straight as a
needle, and so laid out that it missed nearly every town
and village for 450 miles. The income was only £7,000 in
six months for an outlay of millions.
Mr. CRAWFORD contended that the fusion of the
companies in the way proposed would never answer. He
advocated the sale of the waste lands and bringing them
into cultivation as a source of great revenue to the State.
Mr. VANSITTART said he was not actuated in the
opinions which he had formed by any stock which he held
in the Madras Railway.
Mr. FORSTER said that he had no doubt the revenues
derived from salt would be greatly increased in the future
from the increased supplies which would be provided of that
article, consequent upon the completion of the railways and
improving the communication of the country. The state-
ment of the right hon. baronet with respect to the probabi-
lity of the increased supply of cotton, would, he thought,
afford great satisfaction to the manufacturers of the country.
The great cause of the prosperity of America was due not
merely to the production of cotton, but to the money which
had been expended in improving the navigation of the
country. The expenditure of a few hundred thousands on
the Mississippi had made New Orleans one of the most pros-
perous ports in the world ; and the improvement in the na-
vigation of the Indies would also make Kurrachee a port
scarcely second in importance to New Orleans. The open-
ing up of the navigation of the Godavery would be equiva-
lent to the establishment of a new branch of trade and in-
dustry in India. There was in India more land fit to grow
cotton than in any ether country in the world, and it was a
crying shame that our manufacturers should be in this state
of things, and dependent on a foreign country for the sup-
ply of the raw material. (Hear.)
Col. SYKES said that the flattering tale told by Mr.
Laing in his budget speech in India had not been realised
and plenty of figures had been given, but very few facts.
He contended that so far from there being a surplus, there
would be a very great deficiency of revenue, and analysed
at some length the figures and statements bearing on the
finance of India. The reduction in the numbers of the army
was, no doubt, very great, but it was an extraordinary fact
that notwithstanding this reduction of 200,000 native troops,
the expenditure for the army of 1860 61 was greater than
it was when the army was at its full strength. This was
owing to the fact that so large a proportion of the army was
composed of Europeans, the cost of one of whom was equal
to five native soldiers. At the same time he concurred with
the right hon. baronet the Secretary of State for India
that the future prospects of India were of a very
satisfactory character, and even with the addition
that had recently been made to the debt, it was not now
more than equal to two and a half year's revenue, and in
that respect the position of India was not more favourable
than this country or of any other nation in Europe. The
expenditure upon railways and canals in India he looked
upon as of a most productive character, and the Government
could not push forward works of that character too rapidly,
but he thought that there was still plenty of room to carry
out greater economy than had yet been attempted. He sug-
gested that the payment of the income tax in India should
be limited to incomes of £5O or £lOO a year. (Hear.)
Mr. EWART concurred heartily in the opinions which
the right hon. baronet had expressed with respect to the
position and prospects of India. He hoped that the attention
of the Government would be directed to the best means of
encouraging European settlers, and of improving the law
relating to contracts in India. He congratulated the right
hon. Secretary for India on the admirable address he had
delivered, which, with some few slight exceptions, on which
further information might have been desirable, was most
satisfactory.
Mr. ADAM also expressed the gratification with which he
heard the statement of the right hon. gentleman, but it
should be remembered that Indian estimates were not to be
relied upon. He trusted that under the new system now to
be inaugurated greater reliance might be placed upon the
figures reaching us from India. Mr. Laing's speech was
an excellent one in very many respects, but there were
points even in that address which might be questioned.
He (Mr. Adam) hoped to see the licence tax and the income
tax adapted to the views of the natives. He believed the
greatest curse of India was its centralisytion, and therefore
he was glad to learn that portion of the statement te-night,
from which it appeared that the local legislative councils
would have an influential voice in the government of the
country. He was in favour of allowing the ryots the privi-
lege of redeeming the land tax. He regretted that these
Indian bills had been all thrown upon the table of the house
at a period of the session when hon. members had not had
sufficient time to consider them.
Mr. GREGSON thought it unwise to allow India to be
coming to this country for loans, because she was taxed to
a far less extent than England was, notwithstanding her
enormous extent and population. At the same time, no
money could be better employed than in making roads
through that country. He thanked the right hon. gentle-
man for his excellent speech.
Mr. BAZ LEY also congratulated the right hon. gentle-
man on the enlightened policy which he had that evening
enunciated. It was imperative on the part of her Majesty's
Government to promote the cultivation of cotton in India,
and all the British dependencies. He believed that the
growth of cotton in India might be greatly increased, that
the fibres might be lengthened to the extent that they were
in the United States, and that in this way the ryots might
be benefited by receiving additional wages. Our paper
manufacturers are craving for waste cotton. In India it
was very abundant ; indeed there was more cotton growing
there than in all the world beside. It was only needed to
develop the resources of the country to place us perfectly in-
dependent of American slave-grown produce, and bring us
a large increase of wealth and prosperity.
Mr. HADFIELD rose amid cries of " divide," and
claimed that trustees of money should have something better
to invest their funds in than the 3 per Cents. He recom-
mended the opening up of our Indian empire.
Sir C. WOOD replied. He severally answered the ob-
jections urged against the scheme of the loan, adding that
it would tend to keep the finances of the country within
bounds, His scheme was very simple. The railroads
would cost fifty-six millions of money, and he proposed, if
the companies could not raise the sum, t) do it for them.
There was a guarantee already existing, and until the rail-
ways were completed there would be a loss going on to the
country.
The resolution was then agreed to without .a divison, and
the house resumed.
Mr. DILLWYN, in the absence of Mr. Barnes, asked
the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if his at-
tention had been drawn to the state in which the town of
Accrington had been placed by the vicar of Whalley seisingonera
th e household goods and other property of poor par'
and selling the same by auction, to cage° the PaYl4loilt