Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-02

57O,s61, and in 1897, 449, 726, 29S; having
| thus considerably more than trebled in
twenty. years. In 1878 the number OF
miles of telegraph wire in India was
40, oil; in 1887 it was 5000, and in 1897
it was 14s,136, with 1873 telegraph Of
fees, and 50,774,5S4 paid messages,
against 1,357,014 paid messages in 1878.
In 1853 the number of depositors in the
savings banks of India was 203,901; in
1896, 742,215, or nearly four times as
many in 1896 as in 1893, while the
money standing to their credit ut the
end of the year 1893 was 40.059,30
rupees against 10S,S67, 800 rupees in
1895. The Statesman's Year Book in
1899 says that the number OF accounts
by individual depositors in the various
savings banks of India in the year
| 1S96-97 was 663,157 with balance to
the credit of the depositors at the end
lof the year amounting to S9,79s,62O
rupees, while the number OF European
or Urasian depositors was but ROOFS
of 19,o69,290 rupees.
Other Colonies.
! In other communities located
in tropical climates under Brit
1 ish management developments have
been equally rapid and advantage
| GUS to the population. In Ceylon
the development has been re-
] markable. In the Straits Settlements,
in the Bahamas, in Jamaica. in Barba-
does and in the Bermudas the deposits
in savings institutions have shown the
same rapid increase, while in educa-
ton, railways, highways and other
matters of this character the develops
ment has been equally rapid and sat
1 isfactory.
All of the above discussion of condi-
tons and developments has been COM
fined to communities located in trop-
| zeal countries controlled and directed
| by an English-speaking nation situ-
ated in the temperate zone, the pur-
pose being to find as nearly as practi-
cable conditions parallel with those
under consideration with reference to
the islands which the events of the
year have brought into closer relation
Ship with the people of the United
4 States. The statements given are in
!, all cases taken from standard publica-
tons, wherever practicable, from the
official publications of the British gov
eminent and in other cases from the
Statesman's Year Book, published in
London and a generally accepted au-
thority:
Cost Of Colonial Control.
The fact that large sums of money
are expended in the physical and ed
ucational development OF the countries
and people controlled by the colonial
) systems of the British government sug-
: gests the important question of
: whether, or not colonies are a burden
, financially. It has been already shown
I that they are advantageous to the
;, country controlling them in the i'm
creased market which they make for
exports of that country, and the oppor-
tunity given of supplying its home
market with the products of its own
5 people. 1t is interesting, and indeed
/, important, to know whether in the de-.
velopment of the colonies, the con-
struction of highways, railways, tele-
. graphs, harbors and the establishment
: of postal systems, schools and educa-
: tional facilities generally, the expenses
) are borne by the home government.
This subject is discussed in detail in
u letter recently written by S. G. Hob
son, editor of .'The Hardwareman and
Hardware Exporter" of London, in re-
,|sponse to specific inquiries regarding
:. the experiences of the British govern
. ment along these lines. 1t is as fol-
lows:
"In reply to your question concern
+ ing the relations of the mother country
h to the colonies, you ask:
J. /. Whether the home government
e expended any considerable sums of
! money in the earlier history of the coll
e onies. Y
e 2. Whether such expenditures, if
e made, have been refunded by the coll
l. onies.
i 8. Whether the large sums which
Z, have been expended in permanent inn
e Iprovements, such as railways, tele-
= graph lines, public highways, harbors,
: ETC., have been supplied in part by the
II home government, and if SO, in about
II what proportion?
;, 4 Whether the troops in the colonies
u are supported by the home government
or by the revenues of the colonies
d themselves; and,
5. Whether the colonial system is
), generally looked upon by the people of
: the home government as advantageous
- or other wise.
,s The government has not spent any con-
- siderable sum of money in the earlier
!, Il history of the colonies, so that second
ia ly there has been no return of initial
j. outlay by the colonies. 1t is necessary
70 here to carefully discriminate between
u colonial expenditure, pure and simple
is and home government expenditure fol
i defense. Wherever public works have
a been of strategic value, either. from a
lie military or naval poirt of view, the
ic home government always expends .
d. fair share. For example, the harbor
tie of st. Lucie, in the West Indies, was
d, recently put into condition at a cost
a of $4,000 pounds sterling, to which the
r. government contributed $4,000 pound:
re sterling; and, in like manner, many Of
in the harbors throughout our colonies
a. and particularly in South Australian
n waters, have been partially subsidized
us by the home government.
es 'But SO far as colonization is con
r. cerned it has been a natural process