The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-08 00:00:00

ii ight be produced among the sepoys in our own pay.
It is worthy of remark that the noble earl has treater! t
the act relative to the press as it were a permanent pro.
vision adopted for ever in India, whereas, in the letter
already presented to Parliament and by the act itself, it.
is clearly confined to one year, and is intended merely
to apply to the extraordinary and exceptional circum.. •
stances in which India is now placed. I may state that •
the English press in India, by an order of the noble earl
himself, is now prevented from obtaining that official .
formation which it formerly used to possess. Since the
promulgation of that order everybody connected with the
Government of India has refrained from writing in the
press or giving it intelligence, and hence the absence of
udogfmitesnptoowfeirt.s ma.
The noble earl has
n anyaTg ehrrees cEf
arrirtltyhoeef xEwise and
BI soberooy Ra lot exerciseyuaGn adj_
misapprehended the object and effect of my order. What
I did may be explained in few words. I found gehtlenua
in India who thought that public documents which came
into their hands as servants of the Government were
theirs to dispose of or make public for their own pur-
poses whenever they pleased. I saw such infinite dangers
to the Government in the prevalence of that custont—a
custom which it would be impossible to tolerate in any
country, and which, if it existed here, the noble earl
himself would say ought to be put down—that io clear
and distinct terms I told the public functionaries what
their duty was, and desired them to do it. (Rear.)
Earl GRANVILLE—If the order was confined to
the prevention of the publication of official information
by subordinate servants of the Government, I do not
think there could he any objen;inn to it.

The Rug of ELLENBO- ROUGE-IlThe order was
rendered necessary by the conduct of one of the most
reTen,,ible persons in the country.
Earl GRANVILLE—The effect of it has been thip,
to prevent any public official j mrnal from forming any
connexion with the press.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH—No official has a ,
right to publish public documents.
Earl GR,A.NVILLE—ErectIy. But there is a cliffs-
renete between that and an official making use of the press
as a channel through which to communicate to the public
such news, arguments, or explanations as it ought to
know. There would be nothing wrong, for example, in
a police magistrate, in the event of an accusation being
brought against him, publishing a defence of his conduct
in the newspapers. As the head of the department of
education, I would regard the publication by the officials
of anything calculated to promote the cause for which
the department was instituted as perfectly legitimate,
while I would condemn as criminal and most dishonour-
able the disclosure of matters affecting the general go-
vernment of the country. But, however, that may be,
I wish to direct the attention of your lordships to the
fact that of late years the English press in India, with
few exceptions, has been most violent in its attacks upon •
the Government, holding it up to contempt in every
possible way. The noble earl says it writes fur English-
men alone. I ern told that is not the fact—it is read
extensively by natives acquainted with English ; its
articles are translated in the native journals, and the
evils it has produced in this way have been of a very
grave character. For example, the Bombay papers
stated that the Government had determined to annex the
territory of Baroda.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGLI—When was that
statement made
Earl GRANVILLE—Ido not know the precise date.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH—Was it before or
after the paeeine of the act relative to the press
Earl GRA.NVILLE—Befere it. The Calcutta papers 4
announced that part of the deficiency in the public reve-
nue was to be met by a reduction of the allowances
granted to native princes. Such statements were, of
course, productive of touch mischief, and, besides their
effect upon the natives, I think Lord Canning had reason
to complain of them up in another ground. fie was in
the habit of publishing in the Calcutta papers al the
information which he received of an authentic character,
and yet it was no unusual thing to find in the same
journals, by the side of the official intelligence obtained
from the Government, news of an entirely opposite cha-
racter, for which there was no foundation whatever, and
calculated to cause great detriment to the English cause.
That was conduct that could not be overlooked. (Hear.)
I have heard it said that the Indian Government have
acted with greater rigour towards the English than
towards the native press. The fact is, I believe, that
except in one or two instances, where it has been found
necessary to take an officer into custody, the native press
has submitted itself peaceably to the instructions issued •
by Government, whereas the English press, with that
firmness which characterises us all, has become more
unfriendly than ever. It was absolutely necessary that
the Government should proceed against the English
press, for it would have rna,ie itself a laughing-stock to
the vvheee of India if, after having passed such an act, it
bad refrained from putting it into execution. (Hear.) I
am the more anxious to state the grounds upon which I
think the conduct of the Government quite defensible,
an., indeed, imperatively called for by a sense of public
du,y, because I believe there is no doubt that it to this
act which has caused all the virulent attacks which have
been made by the Indiau press upon Lord Canning since
tt • promulgation of the to erictions. (Hear.) Toe noble
lord said that the Government passed the act to defend
itself. Now, there were no personal attacks upon Lord
Canning in the press previous to the passing of the act,
and therefore there could be no vindictive fe, ling on the
part of the Governor-General. I find in a July Lumber
of one of the leading Calcutta papers, which smarts
under the infliction of a " warning," a statement to the
effect that up to the time of the restrictions every Euro-
pean in India cave net only his support, but his syrn-
pat'q to Lord Canning. That, it seems to me, stands
rather in contradiction to the bitter accu atious which
now proceed from the same quarter; it shows, at all
events, the estimation in which Lord Canning was held
previous to the passing of the act relative to the press.
I believe that Lord Canning, receiving representations—
not from those surrounding him in Calcutta, but from
the highest military and civil authorities in the country,
as to tbe dangerous tendency of much of the writing
b ,th in the English and the native press, was more than
justified in pas- iog a temporary restrictive act at a time
when ail the energy of the Government was required to
defend the English cause. With respect to the closing
remarks of the noble earl nothing. I am sure, could be
more admirable, especially coming from one so well ac-
quaieted with India. I believe that there is no question
of showing mercy to any one man guilty of mutiny, mur-
der, or infanticide; but it is most important that punish-
ment should be administered as a public act, and pre.
served from all character of private vengeance. I was
glad to hear the noble earl affirm so firm and positively
ad the principles of Lord Cunning's policy with regard
to the punis ,meat of the guilty, and tt e showing, I will
not say mercy ,but justice to the innocent. I agree with
the noble earl that the only means of insuring good go-
vernment in India is to produce and encourage confi-
dence between the people and their rulers. If our govern-
ment is to continue, our only object must be the happiness
of those whom we govern. That object is perfectly com-
patible with the best interests of the English nation, and
I believe that when these events are calmly considered,
and at all events when history shall pronounce its verdict,
nothing will so entirely justify Lord Canning as tbe
sedioness and firmness with which he resisted the pres-
sure to which he was subjected to induce him to place
Europeans and natives on a different footing. His oon-
duct in this respect will, when this disastrous mutiny
has been suppressed, enable the Government to resume
its former course, and to be administered without its
being regarded by the natives as a tyrannical and hestPe
power.
This calmness and courage Lord Canniug has
displayed in the highest degree. I have seen lett!rs in
which be has been accused of every compatible and in-
compatible deficiency a man could exhibit under such
circumetances ; but I am bound to say that in some of
these very letters, written before Delhi was taken or
Lucknow reached, I have seen imputations of actual
cowardice cast upon both General Wilson and General
Havelock, the results of whose operations have shown
that not only was every bit of caution which they dis-
played absolutely necessary, but that their objects have
been attained only by the most heroic exertions on their
parts. (Hear, hear.) On the other hand, my lords, I
have seen letters—from young men, it is true, whose
opinions are not worth much, but still showiiigethat the
conversation which they hear is not all on one side—
defeudieg Lord Canning's character and conduct, and
complaining of the unfairness of the attacks to which he
has been subjected. I have also seen letters from some
of the ablest Indian officers, praising in the highest
t earvme s
seenthe
letterscou rag courage
from an d
civilianscoo eswho
of L
their
wholedivas in India, holding exactly the same language,
Lord Canning.
parse
d
have
and stating that the real cause of Lord Canning's un-
popularity among a certain portion of the Calcutta
people is the singular calmness and absence of fidget
with which he has applied all his energies to the work
in hand. Do you wi,h to know what General Mans-
field thinks I General Mansfield said, by the first mail,
that be Could only judge Lord Canning to be one of
the ablest men of business that he had ever met; by
the second mail be wrote that, having bad some
opportunity of ascertaining facts, his belief was
_otha l
Canning'e shoulders, (Hear, hear.) 'Sir Colin
the one calm head in Calcutta was that upon L
thinks that the English in India are fortunate
erfectnga
at their head at this moment so able a chief, so p.
.Cnabmaprbierll
oment when great
d in Calcutta, he was rash
inintrusting him- .
gentleman, and such au admirable man of business as
Lord Canning. I think that, at a m
panic existe
Pelf to troops whose fidelity might be suspected ; but it
was at a time when he felt that, as our dominion in India
depended upon the belief in our self-confidence and cou-
rage, it was of the greatest importance that the head of
the Europeans in that country should not be thought to
be deficient in those qualities. (Hear, hear.) And I '
am quite sure that, among Englishmen even, too great
an indifference to personal danger is not likely very long
to tell against Lord Canning. I have thought it right
to say thus much in justice to Lord Canning. With re-
gard to theme two Acts, I admit that possibly there may .
be defects in their details, but I cannot see the justice of
the accusations which the noble earl has brought against'
them, amid I certainly believe that by the means of_these.
measures the princit:le of conciliating the native tribes
has been carried out, without in the slightest degree en-
dangering the lives or the property of the European resi-
dents. (Hear, bear.)
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH—If I understood.
Lord Canning is more favourable to the liberty of h
tht, noble earl correctly, he expressed the boric: ion that
press than I am. favourable to free discus.
Earl GRA.NVILLE—gore

sion.
Lord ELLENBOROUGH—Free discussion 1 I
thought it was about the press. As to that, Lord Can.
ping,
a Liberal, was the author of this Act. After I had
been in India three days I was subjected to much more
abuse than Lord Canning. I saw the danger arising
from the indiscretion of the puss, and it was not for
want of suggestions from home that I did not adopt
some measure. against it. The Directors, I recollect,
suggested to me that it would be advisable to impute
some restrictions upon the press, and that it would