The Washington times., 1901-09-10
FOREIGN TOPICS.

| Englands Indian Budget, which has just
( been prepared. shows the great depen-
! dency to be in very prosperous condi-
! ton In spite of a famine which has cost
the people 950.o0O.0Oo and the treasury
Al5,liO,oJO In three years, the surplus for
the past year amounted to E1.670.o00 In
salt, excise. customs, postoffice, and tele
graphs there has been a substantial in
crease. and in railways a gain of $780,
I 600 The alteration OF the currency stan
dard has been great success. the profit
to the treasury being e5.b0D 900. which is
set apart to form the nucleus of a gold
fund. and a reserve in gold has been ac-
cumulated of nearly e7O00.OOo Nor has
the result been attained by plumber of
the people. Their average income has
risen from IS rupees to 20, the cultivated
area has increased from 19i.000000 acres
TO 2lI,OO0,oo0. while the yield of food crops.
which in 1850 was $50 pounds an acre,
was in 1909 $40 pounds. In twenty years
! the railway mileage has advanced from
o5oO 10 2o.G0, yielding profit to the State
though not so rapidly pushed on, has still
advanced. India, in short, a continent.
Is prosperous, though about II per cent of
the people are still excessively poor.
and content DO not always go
together. the people being less desirous of
comfort. still the result is thoroughly
creditable to the British capacity for adj
ministration. and British caution in in
terfering with local officials.
1t costs $4,000 to kill a French customs
official. NJ. Maurice de Viileroye, a well
known society man, has paid that sum to
the widow of Lisient, an employe, whom
he ran over and killed while automobiliHS
from his Dieppe villa to his Burgundy
chateau. 1t remains to be seen whether
the Criminal Court will let the chauffeur
off from prison.
Comte de Harvey was driving a fine bay
horse the other afternoon up the Champs
ElYsees when a friend hailed him. He left
the horse and carriage to shake hands. A
noise caused him to look round, and he
saw his carriage vanishing, driven by an
audacious thief
But there was an automobile standing
near by. The comte explained to the
chauffeur what happened. and both set off
In the horseless carriage at full speed.
The thief was overhauled in quick time
and got bad mauing from the irate
owner and afterward from the crowd.
The latest scheme proposed by Russia
is deep-water canal from St Peters
burg to the White Sea- 1t is now learned
that it is the intention of the Russian
Ministry of Ways of Communication to
make Rostoff on the Don a port of con-
siderable Importance by the construction
OF deep-water canal from that town to
the Sea of Azoff. The idea of establish
Ing navigable waterway for vessels of
average draft to Rostoff is not new,
but the idea of making a deep-waterway
there is new, the scheme owing its incep
tion 10 the bon River Commission, whose
project has just received the approval of
Prince khilkoff, of the Department of
Ways of Communication.
In the course of his recent inspection of
the waterways of southern Russia, Prince
Khiikoff spent some time in Rostoff,
where he discussed the project at length
with the Don River Commission. The
scheme provides fora canal with a mini
mum depth of eighteen feet, which the
promoters consider sufficient to allow
even large vessels to come up to Roston /
ana leave with at least a two-thirds
cargo. The assumption Is that the ma
1ority Of outgoing vessels would adopt
the practice followed by steamships using
the - feet inches waterway to Niko-
laieH, and call at Odessa or other Black
sea ports for Complementary cargo. The
promoters assert that, If the transaction
pays in the case of vessels leaving Niko-
laien, 1t should pay in the case of vessels
leaving Rostoff. The cost of carrying out
the scheme as ii stands is roughly esti-
mated at 100000 rubles,~ practically the
whole of which would be spent in dredg-
ing operations. Prince khilkoff has ex-
pressed himself in thorough accord with
the project, and has promised TO exert
his influence in ST Petersburg in its
favor, which is considered by those in
terested to be tantamount 10 an unofficial
statement that the canal will be con-
structed.
A great cross, sixty feet high. has been
unveiled on the summit of Monte Capreo.
near Carpineto. the birthplace of Pope
.an in osN
NELL and clergy. the Pecei family. and
large assemblage of worshippers. The Pope
sent telegram to the local organizing
committee. praying that the symbol of
the redemption just unveiled might serve
as a pledge of protection and prosperity
for his native place. His Holiness has
composed a set of Latin verses in cele-
bratioH of the event.
The cross at Carpineto is by no means
the most interesting memento of him to
be found there. The father of Leo XIII, |
Count Pecci, occupied in Italy very much
the same position as that of a rather |
simple country gentleman in England;
and ii may be a surprise to some
readers to learn that the future Pontin |
entered the Church with a good deal of |
that professional ardor which is often set !
down as special characteristic of the |
English squire's younger son entering or |
ders in those days. No one. looking back, |
viii doubt the validity of the young Pee |
els vocation; but some of the letters still |
preserved in the family house at Carpi- |
neto from the clerical student in Rome |
show how anxious he was to make a ca |
reer and to cease to be of any further |
cost to his family. He aimed at diplo- |
macy; he sought patrons; and he antici- |
pated promotion-but never to the Pa |
pacy.
VIII another Kimberley ever be dis |
covered in Australia? On this point those |
best entitled TO form an opinion are some |
what at variance. Thousands of diamonds |
have been obtained. but their small size |
and extreme hardness render them, com
rnercially, of limited value. There are |
some who contend that these diamonds |
have been carried a considerable distance |
from their actual source, and that as this |
is approached they will increase in size. |
In an interesting work on The Mineral !
Resources of New South Wales" pub |
lshed by the State Department of Mines, |
Mr. Edward F. Pittman. the State Geolo
gfst states that in nearly every instance
the discovery of diamonds in the State !
has been made by miners engaged In the |
washing Of atluVial graVelS Tor gold The /
stones are found in various parts of the |
State principally in the north, where sew
eral diamond mining companies are in ac-
tive operation, those In the invereii dis
t.ict being among the most successful. In |
the Boggy Camp field tie output for 1899
was y. $50 carats Of diamonds, and 20 tons
IS cwt. of stream tin, the total production
from June. 1897, TO the middle Of 1890
when mining operations Were suspended,
being 81 400 carats of diamonds and IS
tons- of stream tin. There are no official |
returns of the quantity or value of the |
diamonds obtained in the state. but the
lowest estimate-One admittedly under
statpd-IS 90 III carats, value nearly ESQ