The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-24
THE DELHI DURDAR.

Curxon ON the Coronation Fete
which VIII Take Place Next jan
nary.
Speaking in the Indian Legislative
Council on Sept. 8, Lord Curzon made
a long statement in regard to the coro-
nation Durbar. to be held at Delhi in
January next. The Viceroy said:
1.-THE occasion would be made both
more solemn and more historic IL the
King Emperor were able to be pres
ent in person and could place the
crown of all India upon his own brow.
Long ago, when we were first formu-
lating our plans, / ventured to present
this aspect of the case to his majesty.
The idea was most agreeable to him,
and he would have greatly rejoiced TO
have been able to carry It out, as his
love for this country has always been
great, and venture to affirm that he
is as proud to be the first Emperor
of all India as the late Queen Victoria
was to be its first Empress. But the
duties of state are too absorbing to
permit his majesty to be absent from
England for so many weeks as would
have been required, and he was COM
PEELED to desist from gratifying wish
that would otherwise have had for him
the greatest attractions.
I'm these circumstances the news
will be received with delight that his
majesty has deputed his brother. the
Duke of Connaught, to represent the
royal family at the approaching Dur
bar. The presence of the Duke and
Duchess, who have already spent so
many happy years in this country, and
who are so universally loved by all
classes of the people, will lend to our
proceedings a distinction that they
would otherwise have lacked, and will
bring home more directly to all India
the vivid personal interest of the SOW
ereign. We shall feel that the King
is in certain sense with us in the
person of his brother, and that as 1t
was not in his power either to attend
himself or to depute the heir appar-
ent, whom we all hope to welcome at
later date, his majesty has taken
the best means of testifying to India
his profound sympathy and regard.
There is another point Of view from
which think such a gathering as that
which will take place at Delhi will
be of value"
Referring to the estimated cost of
the Durbar, Lord Curzon said:
I'm the budget of last March we pro-
vlded for an outlay of 261k lakhs upon
the Durbar: this is the sum that in
the fertile imagination of some writer's
has been magnified to one crore and
even to two millions sterling. / do not
include in this outlay the sum of 4
lakhs which have been devoted to the
Arts Exhibition, because / do not sup
pose that any one will be found to
argue that that is an expenditure of
public money upon the coronation. The
greater part of 1t will be recovered, and
in any year, coronation or otherwise,
1t would have been prudent and re-
munerative expenditure OF the public
money. Neither do / take the 81 lalxhs
provided for the troops, for we should
not, of course. have expended that
sum in bringing so large number of
troops to Delhi for the Durbar alone.
1t is being expended In the main upon
the great military maneuvers that are
an inseparable feature OF modern mill
tary training, and that will
take place during the month
preceding the Durbar in the same way
as the maneuvers held by Lord
Dufferin in the same neighborhood,
Independently either of a Durbar or of
a coronation. in the year 1886. There
remain, then. the 261k 1akhs. supple
mented by such local expenditures as
may be imposed upon local govern
nents by their preparations, and Of the
total sum, as I have pointed out, the
greater part will most certainly be re-
imbursed. The actual net cost of the
proceedings at Delhi 1t is of course inn
possible at this date to calculate or
forecast, but hope have said enough
to show that 1t will be immeasurably
less than the dimensions which too
tropical imagination has allowed It to
assume, and that a great state ceremo-
NAL Will never have been conducted
in India upon more economical lirfes.
Il cannot help thinking that the
constituencies about the expenditure
here, which / hope that 1 may have
succeeded in allaying. has been to some
extent fomented by the impression that
prevailed till a little while ago, that
India might also be called upon to
pay for a portion of the entertainment
of the Indian visitors and the military
contingent who recently proceeded to
England to take part in the coronation
festivities there. This was a subject
upon which the government of India
placed itself some time ago in commu-
nication with the home government.
and as a sequel 70 this exchange Of
opinion II was with pleasure that we
heard that the Secretary of State had
persuaded the Imperial Exchequer to
assume the entire cost Of all charges
that had been incurred in England in