The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-12-03
DURBAR At DELHI
A Little Coronation Time" of Glory
and Importance for the In
dian Princes. ~~.
It May Cost $500, 900, but Is Said to
Be Worth the Price to the
Government.

London, Dec. S.-The Daily Mail says
that much ignorance, not wholly indirect
cd by the prejudice Of the Little England
er, exists with respect to the durbar that
Will greet the new year at Delhi. Fabulous
with lurid description of the added, misery
of plague stricken, famine ridden ma tive
population, who have the burden added to
an already grievous load of taxation.
A durbar Is a state levee or audience
held by the governor general of India.
The last durbar held in Delhi on Jan. l,
1877, involved net cost to India of $780,
600. The further-reaching and more mag
nificent pageant planned for Jan. 1, 1908,
will probably involve maximum net
charge upon the revenues Of India of
100000. Care has been taken that
every penny of expenditure shall go into
the pockets of Indian artisans and their
employers. The impetus given to ma
tive industry Is enormous. For months
past the cotton mills of Lahore, Jubbul-
pore and Cawnpore have been working full
time making tents. The native fac
tories where harness and saddlery are
wrought. the furniture makers engaged
on camp eduipage, the carriage build
ers. the carpet factories where durries
and rugs woven, are working
overtime. In every town or village where
native art industry exists, the copper
smiths and silversmiths, the carvers in
wood, in ivory, and stone, the enamellers,
the painters. the lacquerers, are all hard
at work. THUS over countless native
homes the durbar already sheds the light
Of prosperity.
There IS further more direct, credit
side to the state account in connection
with the durbar. In India the railways
are for the most part government prop
erty. Whether worked directly or leased,
considerable proportion of profits flows
into the government chest. The increased
traffic receipts through the months of
December. January and February may
safely be counted upon to yield consider
aole revenue. The same impetus will be
given to the postal and telegraph SER
vices. which are, Of course. sorces of
government revenue. In addition, there
WI be an appreciable influx Of foreign
money flowing from the purses of the
crowd Of British and European guests al
ready preparing for flight to India
In the spiteful and il-informed asper-
slons glanced at. it Is stated that in adj
dlt1on to salary of 925,O 900 a year. the
Vlceroy Will, on account Of the durbar.
receive a special sumptuary allowance of
s240oo. In the first place, the vicerov's
salary Is not s25,OOO, but e16,6OO The
sumptuary allowance is pure fiction. not
a single anna being advanced to the vice.
roy on account Of extra personal expenses
arising out Of the durbar. These will be
conslderable. since Lord Curzon meets out
entertaining
the distinguished guests who will at his
bidding be present at the pageant
Ih!s is, perhaps, sordid wav Of con-
sloer1ng a spectacle that will be worthy
the record OF the storied east and the
tame OF the empire in whose crown India
IS a choice jewel. But the facts are in
teresting as testifying to the solicitudo
with which expenditure has been orr
tailed: Their simple statement will be
useful as correcting sedulously spread
misrepresentation. harmful at home and
stu more undesirable to be chartered
about In the bazaars in India.
Iak1ng broader view, and for the mo-
ment excluding notice Of the delight the
spectacle will give to countless popula-
ton whose simple pleasures are few. the
durham Is fraught with political social
ana, as we have seen, commercial benefit
Lord Curzon discerns the weak SPOT in
India In what he calls it's water-tjeht
compartment system. Each province
each native state, is more or less shut off
from it's neighbors by bulkheads either
natural or artificial. The population of
each lives all to itself. having only vague
IDEAS or the existence of peoples beyond
their own boundary
Even princes dwelling in the south rare
~ II ever. see or visit the states Of the
horth. Inc north makes no attempt to
redress the balance by makins, occasional
holiday in the south. There arc MANY
men In Madras who have never looked On
the Punjab, while to the native popula-
tlon OF Bombay Bengal is but a name.
The durbar will afford opportunity, ex-
tended over three weeks, of soldiers and
civilians from all parts of the vast con-
tlnent to meet and make each others ac-
qua1ntance under the aegis of the en-
peror-king, comparing notes and exchange
ing ideas.
Another desirable purpose the durbar
Will serve will be that of a kind of con-
ISOLATION stakes for chieftains who desired
to be present at the coronation cere-
mony in London. but We're, for various
reasons, prevented from undertaking the
Journey. Out of several hundreds who
forwarded to the viceroy intimation Of
their desire to be present, only five were
invited. For. the rest, and for others,
the Delhi durbar, with the viceroy deputed
to act for the sovereign, whose public
duties precludes his presence, but who
sends his brother to represent the royal
FAMILY, will serve as splendid substitute.
Even in this matter the paternal care of
the Indian government is manifested. Spe-
clal reports were invited from all local
governments and political officers as to
the cnancial conditio Of the various
states. Invitations We're issued only to
those chiefs who were reported as being
financially able and personally anxious to
attend.