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    32 THE LEADER. [SmObha*^ i ¦¦—¦¦ ^^—-^——...

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    RAILWAY COLLISION: EIGHT KILLED! There h...

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    Abstract Of The Bombay Association's Pet...

    historian . Notice is not taken of Mr . Melvillo ' a evidence given last session . Pars . 8 to 10 suggest the formation of an " Indian Council , " partly , at least , elective ; directly responsible to Parliament ; a Minister of the Crown to be President ; members to be well paid , so that the services of " the most able men of the day may be secured : " excepting for that of President , a previous residence in India to be an indispensable qualification for office , and the body to elect these members for the Indian Council to be " composed of persons having a real and substantial interest in the good government of the country . " Par . 11 says of the " Local Governments , " that " they are conducted under the existing system with a despotism and a secrecy which , however justifiable and necessary in the early days of the British rule , are not at all called for in the present day ; and , on the contrary , are most injurious to the character and best interests of the Government itself , and most unsatisfactory to the governed . "

    In par . 12 the petitioners complain of the' efficiency of the local Governments of Madras and Bombay being very much impaired , and business being considerably retarded ! ry the necessity , under the present law , of submitting questions for the decision of the Supreme Government—a power " with no local knowledge to guide its decisions . " In par . 13 they quote the petition of the East India Company , presented during the discussions regarding the present Charter , against placing " an excessive power in the hands of the Governor-General" calculated to " prejudicially diminish the power and influence of the Governments of Madras and Bombay , a prediction , "—which , say the petitioners , " the experience of the last eighteen years has completely verified . " Par . 11 is directed against the unnecessarily heavy " cost of administration in India , " which might be greatly reduced "by abolishing sinecure offices , and retrenching the exorbitant salaries of many highly-paid offices , " the duties of which entail " little labour or responsibility , that they might with advantage be amalgamated with other offices , " or be paid for at a rate " commensurate with the nature of the duties to be performed . " —One case is given , in par . 26 , in partial support of these

    . Par . 15 relates to the claims of natives to " a much larger Bhare than they have hitherto had in the administration of the affairs of their country , " and to the admission of n speetable and intelligent men from among them into the Councils of the local governments , so that their experience may be brought to bear m the discussion of matters of general interest to the country . Par . 16 quotes from Lord Glenelg ' s letter of 6 th March , 1832 , in favour of the selection of Natives for the offices of Justices of the Peace and Grand Jurors ; also , from Sir Erskine Perry ' s speech of 9 th February last , in favour of Native Judicial Officers in the interior , and upon this testimony , as well as upon the satisfactory conduct of two natives at Calcutta , one as a Judge in the Small Cause Court , the other as a Stipendiary Magistrate , the petitioners rest the claims put forward in their fifteenth paragraph .

    Par . 17 draws attention to the 87 th Clause of the Charter Act , which declares that no native of India , or natural-born subject therein , shall be disqualified for office by reason only of religion , place of birth , descent , or colour , and solicits from Parliament " due provision for the more extensive employment of Natives of India , suitably qualified for the Government service , and for their elevation to the highest offices of the State . " Pars . 18 and 19 advert to nearly all important posts in the civil administrations of India being exclusively in the hands of the " Covenanted Civil Service of the East India Company , " the members of which , both the competent and the incompetent educated at Hiiyloybury , have equally tho parliamentary right " to supply tho vacancies in the civil establishments in India . " Par . 20 urges that while tho education given at Huyleybury is manifestly insufficient to enable a young man to administer the law , civil and criminal , Hindoo and Mahomcdau , to a whole district , yet no other provision is made to confer competency for judicial duties on civil officers , nor are they required to qualify themselves .

    Par 21 states dial in llii . s service the members rise b y seniority , are often transferred from revenue , financial , or political duties , 1 o tlio . se of the judicial kind , and are practically irresponsible ; they further say that the local governments are debarred from availing ( heniHclveM of the services of more competent persons , wlio happen not to be of the privileged order . Par 22 avers that , through Ibis exclusive nynl em of employ , the Courts of Justice arc handed over to I hose least qualified to collect the revenue ; and thai , in consequence , decisions are un-Hal isliiclory , appeals numerous , proceedings costly , and tile final result- very long delayed . 1 ' ar . 2 . 'f , accordingly , prays that , if Die exclusive service be continued , each of its members should be conlined to one of ils departments , Ilia ! promo ! ion by seniority lie abolished , and thai . " a high standard of qualification should be exacted from all who arc appointed ( o judicial offices in India . " I ' ars 21 i and 25 complain of the eosl , of the Indian Civil Service , the salarie . i averaging . ( J 17 M ) per annum each , and they refer ( o recent , evidence before the Select , Committee of the

    Mouse of Commons as to Ihe able services of Native IJncoveiianled Servants , " at , n . mere , fraction < if l . he charge of Covenanted Servants , " mid the propriety , therefore , of using that agency more extensively . I ' ar . W > points to the 1 ' onl , Office , as one of many which ought to be thrown open lo the lincovenanled Service , observing that , " within the Ins ! ten years , there have been eight , dillerent , postmasters at this presidency , drawing between 2 IHMM . and liOOOi . u year , while the . work lias been cliicfly performed by a deputy receiving 7 < Htf . per annum , " and that , through waul of proper training of those placed as heads of the department ,, " th <> l ' ost < ( dice , us a system , is believed to be infinitely below what it would have been liad a , qualified person been Hont out lrom I ' -nglaml lo take permanent charge of it . "

    I ' ur . 27 . Finally , upon tho question of public servants , the petitioners recommend to I he grave consideration of Parliament , i he petition of Ihe Kiist'lndia Company to Parliament in 1 H : {;{ , wherein they pledge t hcinselvcs as follows : "Throughout , the correspondence which has passed with Mis Majest y ' s Ministers , your petitioners have declared upon this point , that tho arrangoineiif which shall most eUcetually provide the menus of giving Government , servants lothe Indian Kmpire , is t hut , which shall assuredly meet the views of the Court , whatever ils effects may ho on their put roniign ; and it is because your petitioners are deliberately convinced Mint efficiency will be more likely lo lie obtained in / i general system of education , brought to the standard ofit liigli test ofojiiiinimilion , than in ini . y exclusive system , thai the Court confident ly ash your Honourable House to abolish I he College . "

    1 ' iirs . 'J , H and ' / 1 » are devoted to considering the deficient menus of iiilorniil communication ; "this want , " say the lMiliti is , ' discourages increase of production , by shut-1-ing out , the producers from miy remunerative market , mid iireventu , in periods of distress , I fin scarcity of one district . beia |; initi alled l , y ( he plenty in another . lnn ! nncoM urn recorded wherein Mi ,- supplies designed to relievo famine in ii district were , in | | lr e , , ,., „ , ,, f | ninsil , consumed before they reached then- dcMtiiuil ion . Were llii . 'i ol > ill ruction to the industry mill r .-Mouives of I he ounl ry t . iiken off , by the construction o ( railways , roiidn , piers , uhiirvos , and other useful workrt , largo tracts of hind now lyii ,,, naiilo , more particularly in the cotton iLatnctti , would ho nut uudvr uuUivwtiou , imd tUu supply

    \ f this most important article of export to Great Britain would be increased at least tenfold . " In conohoration of these views , tho petitioners take the following quotation from a memorial from the leading merchants and bankers of Bombay , in 1850 , to the address of the present Governor-General , to wit : — oo miserably inadequate are the means of communication in the interior , that many valuable articles of produce are , for want ot carriage and a market , often left tb perish in the field , while the cost of those which do find their way to this port is * enormously enhanced , to the extent , sometimes , of 200 per cent . Considerable quantities never reach their destination at all , and the quality of the remainder is almost universally deteriorated . ' They also refer to several able letters in the London Times in November and December , 1850 , and September , 1851 , "by a distinguished Engineer officer of the Bombay Army , " which

    " clearly point out the deficiency of the present means of" communication in the interior , and particularly in Gujerat . " The petitioners " suggest that five per cent , of the amount of Land Revenue-should be annually expended in the District whence it is levied , in making roads , bridges , tanks , and other works of similar utility . " And they observe , further , that " all such expenditure would be speedily repaid in the increased revenue arising from the impulse given to production , by opening up new markets for the sale of produce . " In fine , say they , " your petitioners observe that this most important recommendation has been made repeatedly to the Local and Supreme Governments here , by some of its eminent and most experienced officers , but . they have learnt with deep regret that it has been as frequently . set aside by the Home authorities . " Par . 30 shows that out of a net land revenue of 1 , 028 , 285 ? . the

    Government devotes only 12 , 500 Z ., or less than one and a quarter per cent ., for educational purposes , and they conclude this subject in the following words : — "Your petitioners beg to draw the special attention of your Honourable House to this subject , and believe that all the reforms and all the improvements sought for , or in the power of your Honourable House to make , are but secondary in importance compared with the necessity of introducing a complete system of education for the masses of the people . That such expenditure would eventually increase the revenues of the country , both by teaching the people new and better modes of production , as well as habits of economy and prudence , cannot be doubted ; and your petitioners would suggest the propriety of establishing in each Presidency an University , after Mr . Cameron ' s plan , for the purpose of qualifying persons to practise of the various professions , and rendering them eligible for Government employment . "

    Par . 31 closes the petition , and prays Parliament to embody in any measure of legislation , which may come before it for tho future government of India , the principles Jereinbefore set forth , and that tho 9 e august bodies " will not rest content , but adjourn the final settlement of the plan of the Indian Governmewt until" all available information from trustworthy , competent , and disinterested sources , " has been laid before it ; and the petitioners venture to hope that Parliament " will limit the period of existence for any future Government of India to ten years , in order that the interests of so many millions of British subjects may be more frequently brought under its consideration . "

    HARD TIMES AT " MODERN TIMES . " [ Many will remember previous communications which we have inserted from the pen of an intelligent traveller in America , relating to the " Trial Village" of the new " Equitable Commerce" System—the veryopposite pole of Communism . We are now enabled to add a further report of this experiment , which will help to keep the reader acquainted with both sides of the Industrial problem . ] Brooklyn , 1852 . Mv dear Iojt , —Having-, at length , some little leisure , I take up my pen to communicate to you what I saw and heard , and thought , on a recent visit to " Modern Times . "

    It was evident the moment I left the railway train at the station , some mile or so from the sturdy young village , that great progress had been made in twelvemonths . Houses of various sixes and styles of architecture , from the rude , log cabin to tho neat and almost elegant cottage residence , were ! doffed hen ; and thore where a year ago I left dismal stunicd pines and tough oak brushwood—a stubborn foe to fho clearer of land that 1 never saw till I came to this country . As I approached nearer I found gardens that seemed struggling into existence amid tho piles of lumber , lime , sand , mortar , bricks , and all the materials and implementh of the . builder ' s art which wero lying everywhere around .

    After calling upon an old friend in the outskirts of the new village , 1 made the best of my way , past , a certain aero de-voted , as soon as flics tirno whall conic , to a unitary ri ' -shlmc . ' .:, to tho college that is to bo , and found a plain building of soino extent ,, of which the foundations were being laid when I left , last Augunl ,, occupied for the present by tho small village store , and some three or four families , as their temporary residence until their own houses can bo built . The utore docs little at prenenl , but illustrate to some

    extent tho principles of Kquitnbln Commerce . IiihIcikI of being , from early morning till lain at night a sort ol lounging-plaeo for a lazy storekeeper , lying in wait for customers behind or before his counter , like n . spider for the unwary fly , and a rendezvous for all the tippling loafers of the vicinity , the store is Himply u store . It is open for one hour in tho day only that being the extent of the demand . All the goods in il , nro Hold for what , they cost ; the time of tho storekeeper being at present paid for in money at ho much porjniiiule for all the time taken up by flu- customer .

    Among the residents in this building I found Mr . ( Jeorgo Slearus , a gentleman from Lowell , the Kpindlo-city of Massachusetts who emigrated tlienco hint Mny , bringing with him an excellent little monthly paper , culled 'I' / hi Art of liivhnf , which had then reached its 17 th number . It wan worth a visit to Modern 'I'iiiicfl to be made acquainted with the proprietor . I had not time to obtain any exact statistics , but I think the population of the village must now amount in all to some fifty or nixty Holds . Thoro will be a considerable nddition before the summer is over .

    Nearly nil flic men arc engaged in building . The demand lur houses by persons ilenirou . s of cumin / ' - to swell this little bund of nociid i- egenerntorti is very brink . Six more have to be erected before winter , and this does not meet tho demand . 1 waa atr uck by tho great impru vciucnt iu tho ntylo oil

    building . One single-story cottage now beinff finished i « a perfect littlo bijou of a village residence . The fact w , the first builders were but amateurs , the master builder and architect having been a cabinet maker ly trade , and his most efficient assistant a machine maker ( a valuable citizen at Modern Times ) , who being a Y ^ w of the pure breed , could of course turn his hand pretty efficiently to carpentering . Now , however , there is a regular carpenter , as well as a mason , a painter , and a tuwaan--the latter important here , where tin roofs are much H » vogue , and deservedly so , as far as I can judge , for their cheapness , efficiency , and durability . A glimpse of the working of the principles may be obtained from the operations of this troup of builders . If I were to apply to the master-builder to put up a house , unnnnsuur that in the exercise of his sovereignty as an work lor

    individual he were inclined to undertake meno would proceed to build according to order . For his own time and trouble in working and superintending tho work of others , he would make a specific charge per hour , and would charge me with all that he paid others for labour and the nett cost of the materials , but with no cent of profit . Everr one would work in Ms own way , and at ni 8 own price , for the individual is supreme , and Labour , not " Commerce , " is king . . . But nowif some one whose labour is in demand at

    , Modern Times , as , for instance , a mechanic in any of the building trades , went there , he would be able to procure all the labour required for the erection of his house in return for his labour notes , —d . e ., on the credit of his future labour : and probably a house which would cost me 1 OOO dollars if I took only haid cash—glittering Cahfornian or Australian gold—could be procured by him with less than half that amount of money . Very comfortable houses have been put up for people with only some 100 dollars in cash . Several houses are , I understand , now

    being erected thus . Last winter was very severe , and some of the poorer ot the first pioneers had a sharp trial of their zeal . " Modern Times" proved for them worthy of the nickname which a friend of mine , who does not like the movement , has bestowed upon it : " Hard Times . For , there being no association , the first leaders cherishing a horror of Fraternity-Sentimentalism , every one had to shift for himself as he best could . In the coming winter , they will be at least better provided with habitations . Work will perhaps run shortwhen building operations can be no longer carried tinman is

    on ; but they have more chances now . The a stove-maker also , and may push his trade ; the carpenter may find in-door work for other hands than his own in preparing doors and windows for the houses to be built next spring ; and if arrangements could be made to do the work , a considerable quantity of stereotyping would be put in their way by an ardent social reformer of my acquaintance ; so that I hope to have only good news to tell you of this movement , which certainly does inspire its votaries here , however few their numbers , with a confidenco and zeal that cannot bo surpassed , and have , perhaps , seldom been equalled . IE . E .

    32 The Leader. [Smobha*^ I ¦¦—¦¦ ^^—-^——...

    32 THE LEADER . [ SmObha *^ i ¦¦—¦¦ ^^— - ^——¦—~ MMW ^

    Railway Collision: Eight Killed! There H...

    RAILWAY COLLISION : EIGHT KILLED ! There has been a fatal kind of jousting , ( I F onf ranee , as they formerly said , on the North-western Railway , near Oxford . Eight persons were killed in the process ; that is more than General Godwin has lost from the shot of the enemy in all the Burmese campaign ; and if as many were killed in an encounter with the Kafirs we should consider it calamitous , jterhiips dishonourable .

    I here is a lint ! runningout of Oxford northwards , called the Buckinghamshire Railway ; it joins tho North-western , and indeed belongs to that proprietary . For some time past , owing to a land slip in tho Wolvercot tunnel , about a mile from Oxford , only one , tho upline , has been kept clear for the ordinary traffic , which has been worked between that place and Lslip by means of signals . On Monday evening , a passenger train of three carriages—one third , another second , and the last first class—was prepared to start from Oxford ut 5 . 30 on Monday evening . Mr . Blott , the

    stationmaster , appears to have given instructions to the driver of this train , named Tarry , Ihe guard Winch , nutl his fireman , that , it was to await the arrival of a coal train , due at , tho station at , 5 . ' > 0 , and which had been telegraphed as on itn way from [ slip , the next station . JIO Mien went to his office , and in the meantime a ballast train engine , without any train behind it , oairte on the down-line to the ticket platform , showing a white light , on its buffer beam , and not : igreen light , as would have been the case with flic mil train . As soon fis flic bidlast , engine arrived , without waiting to notice ) whether it was the conl-frain or nut ,, and totally disregarding tin * signals , the driver of I he passenger-train H | lir | - eMl ifc nd told af

    a we are M ., he net off « j | . | , m . usnal H , MH ., i contrary to thn regulation ,, of the company , which <¦" . )<»•< MmilH , shall start will , great < , „ ,. observing that he has the whole of I ,, * ( ,,, ;„ before he goes beyond the hniits of the „„ . ! i ( m . Wlin , ,, „ , t ()(|; „ the ticket-collect ,,,-, in vain culled lo Tarry to stop , and Mr . Molt , Miit stafion-niasler , m ., 1 flu- Hc ' rvantH of tli « company , ran along with the same object , but of coumj to no purpose . Am Mu-y passed the ballast-engine , Kinch , the < miiu- < I , observing that it was not tho conl-( rani which was expected , nnd anticipating what would bappen , put on the breaks luml , and disphiyod tho ufluul llag-aignal to atop , but no notico wm tukwn of it

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 8, 1853, page 32, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08011853/page/8/