The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-14 00:00:00

PROSPECTUS.

The circumstances under which subscriptions are now
invited by this Company, to a further issue of capital, are
peculiarly favourable for investors, and present the
strongest evidence of the sound and profitable character of
the undertaking, to complete which an additional outlay
is required.
This work, known as "The Orissa Undertaking." con-
sists of a very extensive scheme for irrigatibn and nevi-
nnegth districts, ego: ;snte
enerkmiol
Orissa
andnh e engineer,
r the
ar kn sda
ni having w
ief
tracing an area much larger in extent than England and
navi-
gation
itaii:oentsii_t6 hut
hrtoehu throughout
ei
chief:
fr
fully designed on, behalf of the Cotnpany by Colonel Run-
f
Bengini,
and. the general plan has received the.approval of
Government, Whilst detailed plans of nearly the whole of
the• various sections into which it is divisible have been
_prepared_.
From the entirejscheme there have been selected for first
eonitreetien certain seetions, consisting of head works
(that is, stone 'weirs orateicnts) across the rivers Matta-
nuddy, Beropa,Brahnnoy,aud Coasye, and five navigable
and irrigating canals with their subsidiary channels tra-
versing the country, thereby commanded, viz.,. 1. The
Kendrapara Canal with its branch extending from the
populous city of Cuttack to the harbours of False Point
and Dhamrah in the Bay of Bengal. 2. The Toldundah
Canal, extending from Cuttack to Pooree on the same coast.
3. The High Level Canal from Cuttack to Budruck on the
Salundee 'River, being the first portions of an intended
canal to connect Cuttack with Calcutta. 4. The Midnapore
and Hooghly Canal, extending from the large and important
town of Midnapore to the livoghly River, and connecting
that town with the port and city of Calcutta, and forming
the terminal. portions of the line connecting Cuttack with
Calcutta; anti 5. The tidal canal from the river Roopuarain
to Balagai, a manufacturing town, and bringing the latter
into'communication with Calcutta. When it is knows that
the ports of False Point and Dhamrah have been reported
by qualified officers to be the finest harbours on the whole
of the Indian Coast between Bombay and the llooghly,
and that the Kendrapara Canal will not only connect these
with the city of Cuttack itself, but by means of the Maha-
nuddy River, with the vast and fertile upper districts of
Chuttesgur, &c., the capabilities of which have been lately
most ably and conclusively shown by Sir Richard Temple,
now the Finance Minister of India, to be enormous, the
vast importance of such a main artery for traffic will be
apparent to all. The Midnapore and Hooghly Canal,
bringing into connection with each other, as it will, to such
import ant places of trade and population as Midnapore and
Calcutta, is also manifestly calculated to bs highly profit-
able. In addition, however, to their great value as means
of transit, these two canals are not less promising as main
irrigating channels, regarding which more will be said
presently.
The present state of the works now under construction
is as follows : —The expensive masonry weirs and head
works require but little additional outlay for their com-
pletion, and ultimately their cost will be apporzioned over
the various channels in course of construction, arid. to be
constructed, for the irrigation of the land to be first sup-
plied, and over such additional acreage as may hereafter
be provided for. There is now, or will be immediately,
opened for navigation and supply of irrigation, 1651. miles
of main canal, with 31 more miles in progress towards
completion. There have also been constructed with
masonry works, and capable of supplying wnt r, about 134
miles of main subsidiary chaeuel,, and 791 miles additioual
are drawing closely towards completion. The main works
thus far executed command about 200,000 acre; requiring
only the addition of some of the subsidiary channels to
apply water to the land. There have been opened, suffi-
cient for navigation at stated periods, but not continu-
ously, some portions of the Midnaporo and llooghly Canal:
and the tidal canal, and during last year (1867) the tolls
collected upon them iu their incomplete state, without
locks and with accommodation for traffic during high tide
only, showed signs of gradual and certain increase, the
average of the whole year being over .1.50 per mile gross,
and of the latter months much higher. The locks required
to reader these sections navigable at all times are fast
drawing towards completion, and then it is confidently
estimated that a vast increase of traffic will arise. The
Kendrapara Canal will, the chief engineer reports, bo
opened for navigation to tidal water, and thus to the port
of False Point by the end of this year.
As they are now planned, and being constructed, the
five canals above-named will, when completed according
to the estimates of many engineers most competent to
judge, including Colonel Rundall and the present chief
engineer of the Company, convey water for the Irrigation
of about 700,000 acres.
At the outset the Company, with the sanction of the
Government of India, fixed the rate to be paid fora supply
of its water at three rupees per acre for one crop, or five
rupees per acre for two crops, which charges were ad-
mitted by all to be vary moderate towards the cultivators,
and capable of being increased thereafter; but it was
found, as a measure of policy, advisable that a temporary
reduction should be made, in order that the native culti-
vators might be induced to take the water, and so to be-
come aware of the great benefits which they would inevi-
tably receive from the Irrig Lion of their lead, and which
would, it was known, be such as to render a speedy return
to the original rates a matter of certainty withouticreating
dissatisfaction.

Adopting the reduced rate of charge for irrigation, and
estimating the returns from navigation at the very mode-
rate total of three per cent. upon the outlay (the present
chief engineer has just reported that he estimates the re-
turns upon the Tidal Canal will be at least ten par cent.),
and allowing the high charge of five per cent. for repairs,
maintenance, establishment, &c., the net returns from the
sections now to be
completed would bo altogether twelve
Per cent., which, by the re-establishment of the original
rate of five rupees per acre for irrigation, would be made
up to twenty-one per cent, net.
These are figures the accuracy of which can be easily
demonstrated, and any inquiry made regarding them at
the Company's offices will be at once replied to, and every
information given.

The prospect of an immediate and extensive spread of
irrigation, and therefore of a satisfactory increase upon
the existing returns, is
highly encouraging. For soma
little time the natives, ignorant of the value of irrigation,
and fearing an increase of the Land Assessment, abstained
from taking the Company's
water, but the renewal by
Government of the existing Laud Settlement for a further
period of 30 years, the judicious temporary reduction of
water rate and other measures' such as the employment by
the Company of some of the Zomindars, Jai., have dis-
persed these impediments, and each succeeding recent
nithineir lands ; and by reports
mail has brought intelligence evicidtternecianegdaß
practical
ye ts
te seerteguerre-
e Kendrapara Canal alone, leases month, and dated the
bad then been signed,
3itn.
thoecets
ohs
immediate
tveoltemndae docthehnia:pt
el
let
erlt
appears
sr
iodaf
nob tfoi
etthhe
that
hZea
ft
there
present
connected with th
(prin-
cipally for 3 years) for about 26,000 acres ; that applica-
tions from cultivators of' laud under the same canal were
being received at the rate of from 2,000 to 5,000 acres
daily ; and that the natives were cutting the smaller
channels necessary to convey the water to their fields
with earnestness ; further, that in the vicinity of the high
level canal meetings were being held by the Zemin-
Signs exhibited teat
state off affairs there as
that Connected with the Rendra.para Canal was
a mere matter of a short time, and that before the coming
the same
an d oftehvereeruanbreistakable
season large demands will be made for water. Upon the
Midnapore Canal the effect of the reduction of the water-
rate, Zee., had not, at the end of March, been thoroughly
ascertained, because the irrigating portion of that canal
had been closed for some time previous for construction
purposes, and had then only been reopened, but the chief
engineer of the Companyand the executive engineer in
charge reported that applications for water, in addition to
the 4,000 acres supplied last year, had commenced and
wore confidently expected to be added to largely.
From the foregoing it may fairly be assumed that the
works already constructed have . now entered upon their
stage of revenue, and that they offer to capitalists not only
a safe investment, but one which will, most assuredly, be
very profitable ere long; and here it may be added, as
confirmatory of this almost immediate prospect, that the
tchueteld v, a
tceorn,
w portions of the works now in hand remaining to be exe-
cuted,
ugnisinof channels for the distribution of
necessarily be the easiest of construction, as
well as the most productive, and will add materially to the
percentage of returns on the whole outlay.
It is important to add-here that the profits mentioned in
this prospectus have been estimated upon the whole of the
capital expended and now to be raised by the Company,
although in the event of the entire scheme of works being
hereafter carried out, of which there can be little doubt
seeing its promising character, much of that expenditure
will have to be taken from off the present works and
charged to the other sections when undertaken.
There is also another feature of great importance, which
must not be omitted in the consideration of the fitness of
this undertaking for an investment. By the contract it is
expressly provided that the ilompany shall be paid for the
water supplied for irrigation to the cultivators—not by the
cultivators themselves—but by. the Government of India;'
and that the price to be eo paid by the Government to the

RECOMMENDED by the GOVERNMENT of INDIA,
thus : —" We have long regarded this great scheme (the
BEIIAR UNDERTAKING) as one of all others in
India to which PRIVATE CAPITAL should be IN-
VITED."
The same GOVERNMENT have now AGREED to PAY
for all WATER SUPPLIED by the COMPANY, they
PARTICIPATING in some of the PROFITS REAL-
ISED after TWENTY PER CENT. shall have been
• RECEIVED by the SHAREHOLDERS.
THE. EAST INDIA IRRIGATION AND
CANAL COMPANY.
Incorporated by Sp..cial Act of Parliament, whereby the
liability of each Shareholder is limited to the amount
payable upon his Shares, or the amount of his Stock.
INTENDED SCHEME.
The Construction of Irrigation Works in Behar, to be called
"THE BEHAR USDERTAKING."
AU preliminary investigation having been made, and
plans prepared and approved for immediate construction.
First issue of Capital for the Behar Undertaking
£1,000,000, in Shares of £lO each, and Stock in sums
varying from £lO each upwards.
Deposit upon Shares £1 per Share, with liberty to
pay up the remaining or a loss amount in advance of
Calls.
Deposit upon Stock £lO per cent: upon application, Mod
the remainder within three months of the allotment.
• Interest at Five per Cent. will be paid u ion all Deposits
from the Ist July next, and upon all payments, in advance
of Calls and in payment of Stock, made before that day,
from the same time ; and from the day of payment, if made
after that tine.
In the allotment of Shares and Stock, a preference will
103 given to those who shall have paid in full, or in advance
of Calls.
.Directors and Officers the same as set forth in the Orissa
Undertaking Advertisement.

PROSPECTUS.
This Company was incorporated by special act of Par-
liament in 1861, and under the powers thus granted, and
under a contract made with the Indian Government, it
originally undertook the carrying out of a scheme of works
in Orissa, styled "The Orissa Undertaking ;" and such
has been the rapidity with which the construction of the
first selected sections has been prosecuted that, at this
time, water for the irrigation of at least 200,000 acres can
be supplied, a rate of progress more rapid and more satis-
factory than has ever yet been attained in India. A large
demand for the water has already arisen, and it is clear
that the success of that undertaking is now beyond a doubt.
another The D
conti reertaoors,t w
tit%
n ItBh6B4,sceooreectlaurydedof asrtraatengienm,uaotosnef our,
whereby the Company were authorised to carry out a pro-
ject for applying the waters of the River Soane to the
irrigation of the land lying on its western side as far as
Chunar, and on its eastern side as far as Patna, a general
sketch plan and description whereof has been submitted
to and approved by the Governments of India and Bengal;
and it is for this project subscriptions for capital are now
invited.
This second undertaking of the Company has been
named "The Behar Undertaking." It is based upon most
careful investigations and plans made during several
years, under command from the Uovernmout, by Colonel
Dickens, and has bawl styled " The Soane Canal Project;"
but—and this is very important —the arrangement of the
head works his been greatly improved, and in truth re-
planned, by Colonel Rundall, in accordance with the emi-
nently successful Madras system. By these improvements,
which have received the sanction and approval of Govern-
ment, the prospective profits have been greatly increased.
The greet value and promising nature of " The B •har
Undertaking" have, during the last eight or ten years,
tt hhbeenei.ocu.;
Comp
n‘t.
yl
,sn anddoiffi, favourablyefii.rs,st
and
biiyd at triee
Idkioswcusss eo ed n
by
discussed in
Governmentt, iralnfilyhtt
known,hn
that any statement which the Directors might add upon
the subject wou'd be superfluous ; they, therefore, limit
themselves to au assurance that they are satisfied it pre-
sents a safe, sound, and pr )fitable investment; and, unhe-
sitatingly, solicit subscriptions towards the requisite
capital; at the same time they quote, as confirmatory of
their own judgment, the following; .
Firstly. An extract from a despatch to the Secr3tary of
State in Council, dated 10th March, 1864, recommending
the Soane Canal project should be given -to a private com-
pany, which despatch was signed by the late Lord Can-
ning as Governor-General, and by Sir Henry Bartle Frere
(since Governor of Bombay and now a member of the
Council of India in England), Sir Cecil Beadon (after-
wards Lieut.-Governor of Bengal), General Sir Ribert
Napier (now commanding the forces in Abyssinia), Samuel
Laing, Esq., M.P. (then Finance Member of Council for
India), and the Hun. W. Ritchie, being the whole of the
Governmental Council, viz.:—
" His Honour the Lieu enant-Governor considers that
it (the Soane Canal project) holds out better prospects
than the Orissa scheme, and that it would be good for
both the East India Irrigation Company and for the coun-
try if the Company were to adopt this instead of the
other ; but the projectors prefer that originally selected by
them.

" We have long regarded this scheme as one of all
others in India to which private capital should be invited.
" There is this advantage in Gov run-lent taking the
initiative in planning the great works of the country, that
they are so placed before the public that they can be dis-
cussed in the light of local knowledge and experience.
The only drawback to doing this is the risk of misleading
capitalists and raising mistrust of such investments.
*" In the present instance no such risk need bn appre-
hended, for there is evident throughout Colonel Dickens'
report a most conscientious endeavour to anticipate the
tuaxinytin cost of the work.

" We therefore suggest that such means should be taken
as may seem best to you to make known the outline of
Colonel Dickens' scheme in quarters where it will be con-
sidered with a view to taking up the wdr:r, and that you
should be prepared to inform any capitalists, who may
offer to do so, of the terms upon which the work w uld
be put into their hands."

And secondly. Two paragraphs from a minute recordel
by Sir P. P. Grant when Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal,
viz.:-

" The magnificent province of Behar which would be
admirably watered by Captain Dickens' projected canal
from the Soane. The cost here would certainly bo very
much less (than at Cuttack), and the returns may rea-
sonably be expected to be much more secure, because wo
know, as a fact, the value of irrigation in Behar. The soil
is better and the natural rainfall is less by half on an ave-
rage, and much lass certain in Behar than in Cuttack.
The most valuable crops are not the rain crops in Behar,
and for the most valuable crop 3 there it is found by expe-
rience to be the general case in Orissa.
"I venture to recommend this enterprising Company, in
whose success every person connected with India must
feel deep interest, to consider Captain Dickens' scheme of
irrigation from the Soane, for which complete plans and
estimates are avail:Cole, and nothing is wanted but the
money."
Adding that Sir P. P. Grant's opinions have been con-
firmed by many officers of Government thoroughly well
qualified to judge, and who have stated that the district of
Behar has a population denser and of a more commercial
and enterprising character than that of Orissa, and already
convinced of the value of irrigation, while it possesses a
permanent land settlement.
The Directors forbear to estimate the probable profits to
be derived from " The Behar Undertaking ;" they prefer
to point, as a guide to a fair judgment upon the matter, to
the ascertained results produced by similar undertakings
which have been completed, and to call attention to the
now uncontroverted fact that all similar works in India,
when properly selected, planned, and executed, must in-
evitably yield considerable returns—leaving out of sight
the profits to be derived from navigation—indeed it is diffi-
cult to conceive how the sale of an article so absolutely
essential to agriculture and to life, as water is in India,
can be otherwise than productive of large profits upon ca-
pital expended to create its supply.
It is necessary, however, to state that in the present case
the profits will be derived chiefly from two sources :
Firstly. The sale to the Government of water for irri-
gation, at a price to be fixed, from time to time, by the
mutual consent of the Government and the Company,
or by arbitrators appointed by each, which price, when
so fixed, must, according to the contract, represent the
fair value of the water to the parties using it, and must
be paid by the Government to the Company, a gua-
rantee of great value against loss.
Secondly. Tolls levied upon all boats and vessels using
the navigable water ways of the Company, and rates
and fares for the conveyance of goods and passengers
thereon. _ _

Irrespective of three minor, though, as shown by expe-
rience, promising sources, viz.:-
1. Rent for mills and factories which may be established
on the banks of the various channels, and supplied
with water power therefrom. The water power to
be thus available will be very large.
2.. The cultivation and sale of timber and other produce
raised upon the land of the Company. And,
3. The sopply of %voter to the various villages and towns
within the vicinity of the Company's canals for pri-
vate and public purposes.
By the contract with the Government the Company are
entitled to receive and retain all profits from the sale of
water for irrigation, until the dividends paid to Shareholders
shall exceed 20 per cent. upon the total expenditure made,
after which the balance of such profits is to be divided
equally between the Government and the Company. The
returns from all other sources are to belong to the Com-
pany exclusively.
The scheme of works to be executed has now been
thoroughly investigated and carefully re-planned on behalf
'of the Company, and particulars oubmitted-to and-ap-

THE RESCUE
.tre as fo]

SOCIETY'S HOMES
lows :

For Pallet
28, Church-row, Hamp-
stead.
13, Camden-street, Camden-
town.

Women.
150, New Kent-road.
48, Church-street, Stoke
Newington.
Maize-hill Cottage, Green-
-205, Groat Portland street. I wich.
For Young Girls in Danger.
27, Church-row Hampstead.
9, Henstridge-villas, St. John s-wood.
St. Mary's Lodge, Buckhurst-hill.
Country Home—St. James's-street, Dover.
Temporary Home-85, Queen-street, Cheapside.
The home at Great Portland-street is for young fallen
girls from 10 to 16. The committee ate deeply anxious to
open another house for this pitiable class.
The Society admitted to its homes last year 687 young
women and girls. It was compelled to refuse 524 appli-
cants, whose histories are recorded in the applicant's book.
In addition to the above-named homes, the Committee
have under their charge throe homes for servants of good
character, in which are admitted about 1,000 friendless
servants annually.
The Society's Report(of which a contributor writes, "I
never read a report of any charitable institution which so
entirely commended itself to my mind and awoke my
sympathy") may be had on application.
The Society is under the presidency of the Earl of
Shaftesbury. Its bankers are Messrs. Barclay and Co.
The Committee very earnestly commend its work to the
benevolent. DANL. CODPER Sec.
85, Queen-street, Cheapside.