The Press. — 1857-10-24 (London, England)

PRE SS, OCTOBER 24,1857.  ago that the Government in India admitted the truth of the statements in a memorial presented to them, which alleged that the rural population of Bengal, many millions of people, were suffering from a native magistracy who were corrupt, oppressive, and incompetent, who encou raged the concealment and commission of crime, while the people were reduced to beggary and pitiable servitude. The time had not come, nor was this the place, for discussing our future Indian policy; but the light was now bursting in, and the people of England would not permit its fair fame to be tarnished by the continuance of a policy which bore no better fruits than these. We must have due precedence given in our Indian empire to English ideas, language, and religion, not intolerant of the religion of others so long as it was not offensive to morals, but giving no public countenance or encouragement to idolatry, and selecting for special reward in the service of the State those, whether natives or English, who best approved themselves our friends by similarity of religion, language, and spirit. He begged to offer one word in conclusion on the vengeance to be taken on the ruthless murderers of English women and children. There was surely no need to encourage such a spirit. Tt might be safely left in the hands of those who were on the spot, who could best appreciate the crime and mete out its punish. ment. He had no fear but that the generous and merciful character of the English soldier would at the proper time temper justice with mercy. An interesting discussion followed, in which the chairman, Mr. Norman, and Mr. Caird, M.P., took part, on the relative expense of farm labour in England and Scotland, and the condition of the agricultural labourer in the two countries. Mr. Norman, who had lately visited a border county and had specially investigated this subject, contended that the lower wages of labour in Scotland and the mode in which they were paid in kind enabled the farmer, at the expense of the labourer, to pay a higher rent for his land. He deprecated such a system, and should not wish to see it introduced into this country. Mr. Caird, on the other hand, showed, by taking Mr. Norman's figures, that at the prices of the last three years the payment of the Scotch labourer in kind gave him a much greater supply of the comforts and necessaries of life than could be procured by the money wages of the English labourer, who had to pay out of his wages a weekly house rent, while the Scotch farm labourer lived rent free. He also pointed to the fact that such a thing as an agricultural labourer seeking parish relief was unknown in Scotland, while here they gave prizes to the labourer who could bring up his family without parish aid. He agreed with Mr. Norman that a certain expenditure on labour was more productive on a Scotch than an English farm, and thus left a larger balance for rent. But that arose from the individual labourer being better fed, better educated, and thus more intelligent, while his labour was more economically and effectively applied on farms laid out with a special referenze to the production of crops.