The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-12-26
ASIA.
A French View of Rritlah India.

ment OF some little interest To those VINO Ike 10
the general views taken by well instructed and iD
partial foreigners OF important chapters IN the
affairs OF our empire. 1t is "Iseport on British
Commerce and Public Works by M. jacques Sies-
fried, OF Mulhouse." The writer dates from Co.
lombo in Ceylon; but from passage in the report
we presume him to be connected with the highly re-
spectacle house OF Jules Siegfried Co. at Bombay
the only French establishment Of any note In that
M. slegfried is almost enthusiastic in hts general
views OF the present position and prospects OF India
In material point OF view and his appreciation OF
the part which the British government and still
more the British nation and public opinion, have
complimentary. .The English" he says, shave APP
piled to the government OF their colonies land that
which Is very remarkable. treating as secondary
those ideas which were once all powerful OF absolute
domination exclusivism. ami even TO some extent
that OF religious propagandlsm Also they now APP
pear especially preoccuped with the material inter-
ess OF their possessions Their leading object seems
to be that OF increasing the WELT eng OF the pOpula
lions and introducing them TO civilization through
the method, little circuitous perhaps, but which
appears TO me the surest, ofconmerce and exchange
OF productsu He proceeds to justify this statement,
SO far as 1t regards India, by statistical summary
Of what has been done Of iate years.
the most dicuit task for man
IS IT. This
l Ss % e fs U '1 or o
B;h India these last few has gone through on What
deceive myself when predict for il the most magnificent
He proceeds to point out, nevertheless what he
calls the shadows in the great pictlre, and the dim
culies which it is the task OF English wisdom" to-
subdue II possible. The first which he mentions is
that OF a climate unsuited-as all experience up to
this time has shown-to European colonization.
The second ls that ut Is the fault OF the English not
to mix enough with the native population, and the
danger which results from this defect can only in.
crease more and more in measure as the develop
ment OF education increases among the native
Indians the desire for share In public employ
ments.3
NJ. Siegfried then proceeds to contrast and COM
pare In q few able Paragraphs, the commercial po-
sition and character OF Bombay and Calcutta, the
two great outlets and nlets OF Indian foreign trade.
His estimates OF their respective commerce Will
reduce from his French into English money. They
framed, not by merely taking official figures,
but by process OF calculation which he explains.
He sets down Bombay for G240000 900 OF exports, OF
ports si2 600 900 OF manuactured goods sio 900
precious metals The future OF Bombay he adds,
appears more brilliant even than Its recent advance.
I'VE own that we quote these words with some re-
greet, considering the manner In which the Bombay
mercantile community has recently msused its all
its eventual prosperity Is to be found in the fact that
It must profit more than any other place by
tem OF which it will be the natural terminus in the
direction Of Europe. In the commerce Of bombay,
share BY the side OF the English Among FOREIGNERS
Germans, Swiss and Greeks participate IN 1t 10
extent while France, he regrets to Say, is repre-
sented only by a single commercial house.
The trade OF Calcutta he summarizes as follows
with details which we omit:-Exports, e., 900 w
OF which f10000 900 opium less than f3,G00,000 Cot
ton. Imports, s16000.000 Of manufactures, suc OF
which cottons reach what he Justly calls ,e amor
e. 1000 The imported manufactured SrricIes are
almost wholly British. France sends .,y the value
OF 100000. The distinction between the sources OF
the commercial prosperity OF Bor16 Gay and Calcutta
lies In ths:Bombay mainly relreseGts or viii repre-
sent the transactions OF ln&ia IN general with the
western World; Calcutta supplies the wants and
exports the produce q Che valley OF the tanges by
far the wealthlest and most popuous regions Of
India ITSELF Except In regard to opium--whicn IL q
good deal N the hands OF naeye ana Armenian
merchants-the trade Of Calcutta Ia exclusively M
British hands, with few Germans and Swiss
Here again France, he thinks. lags far behind In
the race OF enterprise. :" need not say that we
quire at Calcutta not one FreAcn house Of business
but many.r
NJ. seigfried proceeds to draw similar picture Of
the inferior but stu important commerce OF the
Presidency OF Madras, which, unlike those OF Ca-
cutta and Bombay, IL transacted not at one port.
but az several; and gives also concise summary
or the present condition and prospects Of
cotton cultivation in India. The moral of his tale
and that which no doubt has secured II publicity In
the pages OF the Monite,T-is an earnest exhorfa-
ton TO his c0untrymen to take more active share
In the commerce or India, which, "a he truly says,
lis open to all nations; insomuch that every trader.
whatever his nationality may establish himself side
by side with enc English and enjoy the advan-
tages before the law The French he says, are
fortunately far from having arrived at this point
that
They do transact in India half the bushes. of
their country. We only 20 buy second hand In
the markets Of London and Liverpool part Of the pro
duce OF which our industry stands In need but also adj
des TO swSs q English for part q
sxy millions worthsof produce which india annually
We nave noticed this publication In the Moni,e,t
partly as proof OF the interest taken IN our colo
NAL aiairs by a government so active In collecting
and utilizing Information as that OF the Emperor
partly, as we have said account OF the spirit OF
compact generalization and analysis which II pre-
sents. These qualities, unhappily in which tho
French are much more apt 10 distinguish themselves
than IN commercial enterprise on the great scale