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Leader (1850-1860), 7th August 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 23, MADEAS EAILWAT. Railwatts in India begin...

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      The Civil Service Of India. The Familiar...

      a term which , we have heard objected to as vulgar vituperation ; but our readers will sec that there is essential truth iu the term ; it expresses a fact of oreat importance , which fact is founded on a law , and for those who wish the fact and law to he rightly appreciated as well as Inowii , there is no other equally significant designation . It is this monopoly which has made the patronage of the East India Directors so valuable . The Civil Service is a charmed circle , with its appanages and rights , and is liable to no intrusion ; whose good things no others can ever share ; and the only com- ' plaiufc ever heard in the circle is only of more or less favouritism in the distribution , among the privileged themselves , of those good things .

      Our readers will readily believe that such a monopoly as this must , from its nature , in time become a great political evil ; and that time is the preseut . It has been found most inconveniently to tie up the hands of the chiefs of administration . Unmistakable proofs could be collected of their sense of it as an evil . For instance , only a few jnonths ago , Mr . Halliday , the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal—a man invested by his office with the government of forty-millions of peopleselected for one of the highest judicial appointments a man whose life bad been passed iu judicial office ,

      and who had proved his qualifications . The nomination was disallowed by the Court of Directors because the office was a privileged one , and the nominee did not belong to the privileged class . Mr . Halliday must have known the rule . Why , tlien , did 3 ic make a futile and abortive nomination ? He has . at least discredited the rule with , us , whatever may have been his intention . On the disallowance it became necessary to place on that high seat of justice one of the privileged class , and the member selected was one wmvo liaa been recently refused , on the ground of an inferior reputation for ability and talent . Lord Dalhousie also was believed to have

      wished , on more occasions than one , to get rid of the rule . We have said , also , that it affects salaries , malting them absurdly unequal . . " For every effect there must be a cause . That there are glaring , monstrous inequalities in Indian salaries is notorious beyond question . But take the case which we have just mentioned , of the judge ( for'such , he was ) who was prevented taking the promotion which

      six . Halliday assigned to hirn , because he was not a privileged person . The office which he hold as an unprivileged person had a salary of under 1000 / . per ' annum ; the office which he was not permitted to hold for want of privilege , had a salary of nearly 5000 / . per annum . This ¦ ease also illustrates our remaining proposition , that the division of offices is affected by the classification -winch , recognises as a " Civil Service" only one class , section , or caste of public servants .

      No. 437, August 7, 1858.] The Leader, 78...

      No . 437 , August 7 , 1858 . ] THE LEADER , 783

      Mr. Ewart's Committee On The Colonisatio...

      MR . EWART'S COMMITTEE ON THE COLONISATION AND SETTLEMENT Or EUROPEANS IN I ^ DIA . Ik our last notice of the "valuable evidence g iven before this committee , we dwelt emphatically on " the s ! ate necessity" £ as a medical witness justly designated it ) of " having sanitary stations in the lulls Tor the constant location of large reliefs from our European troops hi India . The same evidence further proves that there are places ( it for such stations in every part of India—north and south , east and west—and , consequently , that this " stale necessity" may be amply provided for , it the Government , be brought properly to appreciate it . We will now turn to another brunch of the

      inquiry , " How has it happened that so few Europeans arc to the . present , day settled in tho interior of , India ? " Several European settlers , chiefly lVoin Bengal , were called , and examined on this question . The . first of these was Mr . Theobald , who-appeared « s the agent of the class . Tho question put to him suid his auswer were as follow : — You have mentioned that there is only a small number of Europeans settled in tho interior : how do you account for that fact ?—I believe it is owing to a great

      variety of causes , aomo of which oporato iu ono part , and some ia another part , and some iu all parts of India . Tho people who go to India are capitalists , and of the middlo classes , and tlioy require to bo tolerably secure \ n their persons and property . In some pnrta they ennnot g « t a footing nt all as capitalists , in consequence of the land revenue syetoiu in tl > OBO parts ; tho lnnd revenue system in other parts does not exclude them ; but whore , as in Lower Jiongnl , tho hind revenue system is more favourable for capitalists , and whoro , consequently ,

      Europeans have settled , their position is one of danger and diiiiculty ; danger to their capital from many faults in the revenue system , which still admits of tfaeir settlement ; and danger both to their persons and property in consequence of the bad state of the local administrations generally . Another cause is the want of proper laws , among others , a lex loci for Europeans and East Indians ; and I must add . to those causes the constant apprehension in which , for many years past , they have been kept , of

      being put in a worse condition , by the repeated proposal of measures , such as the late -Affray Bill , such as the Black Acts , and sucli as many parts of Mr . Macaulay's Penal Code , which I think would be much reprobated by all classes in England ; and out position is often made -very disagreeable by the conduct of the ruling branch of the civil service towards us . And lastly , there is the -want of intercommunications , such as roads , railroads , & c , and the want of improvements to facilitate travel and traffic .

      It must he obvious to every reader that this statement was a prepared one ; and is marked . with a degree of gravity and deliberation , which , are well calculated tofixt lie attention ; and if the sequence of causes which it presents is observed , its comprehensiveness is impressive and striking ..- In import , it is tiudoubtedly an indictment of the past Indian administration ; and in that respect it may be regarded under the twofold aspect of facts to be proved and of impressions and opinions . We -will deal prcsentlj with the facts , but must first remark

      that the European settlers generally appear to hold the same opinions . Npt a single one could be brought by cross-examiuation to repudiate or modify Mr . Theobald ' s statement . For the first ' time , then , we have in this evidence some thing like public opinion ; and we ask , how can the Goveraor-General , or any local Governor , be politically strong , with , a high-spirited body of his own country men . so decidedly averse to the established policy and system of tue Government ? It appears to us , from this point of view alone , that some great changes are wanted , and are indispensable in our Indian , policy and administration .

      Lcfc us turn our attention now to the facts . The one great fundamental fact to be explained being the extreme paucity of European settlers , a series of facts are alleged to account for that-one . We will eliminate them from the general statement . Fact No . 1 . Tliat in some parts . Europeans cannot get n footing at all as capitalists in consequence of the land revenue system . Now , it-is clear that in India , Europeans are not wanted , and cannot exist at all , as mere labourers , and , therefore , to say that they cannot get a footing as capitalists is equivalent to saying they are wholly , precluded from settling . The parts referred to in this allegation arc Bombay and Madras , two countries , each large enough ,, for a

      separate kingdom ; and the fact is that there are no European settlers in them , or tkey are so iusignilicantly few as not worth mentioning . This brings us , ilieu , to fact Isfo . 2 : That Europeans arc prevented from settling in those parts by the land revenue system . The system referred to is known by the name of the Ryotwaree settlement , and is entirely of British origin . The East India Compauy has always assumed , wherever it has conquered , tlie claim of the native sovereign to be the lord paramount of the soil . Under this system , it appears to be the immediate proprietor of the soil ; and , in that capacity , ia entitled to receive tho rent from the actual cultivators , bo their

      holdings great or ever so small . To carry out this rchition , it divides the country into counties (^ rc will call them ); in each county it places one Collectora European—and uuder him it employs an agency ( w liich is entirely native ) for the purpose of registering the peasants , measuring their holdings , valuing their lands , and collecting the rents . There arc counties as big as Yorkshire , with a tenantry to be numbered by hundreds of thousands , and a native revenue police consist ing of many thousands . Now , we may safely leave the result of such a system to our reader ' s imagination , if the suljcct is new to him , and if he knows whnt Ireland was thirty years ago , it will very much help him to a just conception . But the Madras Torture Report ., which hi \ s brought to light some of il-s features , is generally known ; and all we need add for our present

      purpose is , that this system , according to tho evidence , prevents Europeans from settling wherever it prevails . First , it ; olfors no kind of proprietary interest -which is suitahlo for them . They require hmded properly to give them a position and in-Uucncc . And , secondly , il , has pauperised til © rural population , and the state of the population ia au obstruct ion to them . It must Ijo confessed that this stale oi things

      raises a very difficult problem for the new Government . It strikes us as not very dissimilar from what existed in Ireland . There is a similarly pauperised tenantry , tlie same want of capital , the same absence of farmers on a large scale ; the rapacious middlemen appear not in that character but in tlie native agency employed by the Government , and the one collector—imbecile and

      heloless , to arrest the evil and to plant the seeds of a new prosperity—may not inaptly be compared to the old Irish proprietor , with his debts , pride , and embarrassments . There was , undoubtedly , the hand of Providence in the Irish regeneration ; but , undoubtedly , also , it was essentially assisted by political wisdom . For the latter we may find hope through , the recent change ; and though the problem , is a difficult one , we canuot despair even , of Indian , regeneration .

      Madeas Eailwat. Railwatts In India Begin...

      MADEAS EAILWAT . Railwatts in India begin to show marked progress , although that progress is far too slow for her wants . The Madras Railway is now opened for nearly a hundred miles , which enables it to be useful , and that i 3 something after the many years of probation under the experimental system- We may remind our readers that it i 3 now above twelve years since the Madras Railway was planned by the late Mr- Heath , one of the most zealous friends of India . Heath was one of that distinguished body , the Madras Civil Service , and being in office in Coimbatare , he took active measures ia tbe beginning of this century for the promotion of the cotton cultivation , in which he received the support of the Government . In

      the course of his active career , his attention was turnad to the rich iron ores of Southern India , and he like-wise induced the Government to take measures for extending their manufacture . It is indeed half a century ago since Heath laid the groundwork of those measures , still of slow progress , for the establishment of the Indian iron manufacture , and the present Indian Iron Company is in possession of the works founded through Heath's recommendations by the Madras Government . Heath was not content with projecting : he devoted his time and bis scientific powers to the establishment of the undertaking , and finding that the persons employed in India , and the English ironmasters consulted , did not succeed ia the process of smelting , he applied himself to the task , and came Iiome to England to prosecute his researches . He

      not only succeeded in making Indian smelting practicable , by determining the right mode of treating the ores , bat unfortunately for hinv he discovered an important improvement in the manufacture of cast steel , and became one of the greatest national benefactors , and a man of ruined fortunes , for the steel manufacturers who adopted his process combined against him , and lie had to sustain a litigation iu defence of his patent rights , which is an opprobium to that branch of the administration of the law , for his own discoveries were allowed to be played off against himself , the judges divided into factions , and though his representatives are still before the courts , ll « ath himself died long since broken-hearted . In hi a later years the Madras Kail way was one of . the undertakings on which his energies were employed .

      The Madras Railway was as urgently called for in 1848 as in 1858 , but it has never yet met with tliat full measure of Government support that it deserves , for although it lias a Government guarantee , its operations are not sufficiently extended to enable it to embrace the large district which it traverses , and its traffic arrangements have Lecn seriously impeded by Government interfcronce . Nevertheless , the energetic efforts of its directors have surmounted many obstacles , and it is beginning a career of succ & ss . Since the end of 1857 fifteen miles more have been opened for traffic , so that tho continuous line from Madras to Goriattum is

      niuetyscven miles , aud tho consequence w the goods traffic novv begins to come on the line , although not to the full extent , as produce brought within such a distance of Madras is apt to be continued in the hands of the same carriers . The goods traffic in the last half-yearn of 185 & and 1 . 857 were severally 15 , 720 tons and 19 , 780 tons , and tho receipts 38351 . and ( iO 72 l . ; but the quarters ending 31 st March , 1857 and 1853 , were severally 5322 tons and 9157 tons , and the receipts 1 GD 47 . aud & 019 £ . Upon these figures the opening to Goriattum will exorcise a . further favourable influence . At tho two periods the mileage ) was 65 miles and 81 miles .

      We are glad to loam that tho opening of tho lino from coast to coast will now bo effected by tho 1 st May , 1860 , tho works having been delayed by the bridges andl the bursting of some tanks on tho lino between Madras andArcet . In consequence of tho latter caauiilty a better provision has been made , l > y increasing tlio culverts aud bridges , for carrying on" land floods . Among the important measures which the directors huva under their consideration aro tho moans of improving the harbour of Doypoor mid forming a junction with , tho port of Cochin . Tho railway companies will be the ine-aiia of doing for India what tho Government haa

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 7, 1858, page 23, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07081858/page/23/