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Leader (1850-1860), 12th May 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 8

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      Schism In Council.—India. Sir Charles Tr...

      that it is overrated to the extent of more than one half , and will not exceed £ 3 , 000 , 000 .- If that be an approximation to the truth , a large portion of Mr . Wilson Vnew taxes will positively mot be wanted . Then a very important consideration arises , to which we earnestly hope the public and the Parliament will pay attention , and not allow , as Sir C . Wood recommends , the Indian Government to arrange the taxation of India without interference . Governments , we know , are only encouraged m wasteful extravagance by an abundant revenue . Those who are acquainted with our financial history will recollect how the money of the

      people of England was squandered , for example , m 1823 , 4 , 5 , when the Government had a " Godsend , " and an unusual supply of money . It has always been squandered whenever it could be easily obtained . On such a subject no witness can be superior to Sir C . Trevelyan , and he tells us that " official hierarchies never look with favour on reduction of expenditure . « At Calcutta , " as at London , " the favourite remedy has always been increase of taxation , " which the late Sir R . Peel once described as the vulgar expedient , had recourse to on all occatheir hand into the

      sions by feeble Governments , " of putting national pocket . " " Large funds , " says Sir Charles , " suddenly placed at the disposal of a public department are certain to Weaken the restraints of economy . " " Funds procured by . such taxes as are proposed would be wastefuUy raised and wastefully applied" Correctly , we have no doubt , he observes , " tliat the proposed increase of taxation would arrest the course of improvement in the South of India , and prevent the reduction ot the redundancy of ill-paid revenue officers , which is its greatest evil . It would lead to its increase , for the European officers are

      already overtasked . In accordance with these just remarks , Sir Charles zealously and eloquently advocates , as opposed to increased taxation , the reduction of establishments and of expenditures This is the only safe means of dealing with this great subject . " We cannot afford , " he says , " to have a discontented people and a discontented army on our hands at the same time . " He therefore ¦ would , if possible , increase the content of the people , now most favourably disposed towards our rule , who have continued quiet in the midst of mutiny ; and decrease the army , which would give additional hands to industry , and thus increase the national prosperity and the national revenue .

      Our limits forbid us to follow Sir Chahles in all his detailed recommendations for melting down all the heterogeneous elements" of the old military establishment into a good police and a good auxiliary native force ; " to concentrate our military power - at-fl-few- ^^^^^ - p" ^^""^ .-from , which , with our-present facility of transport , every part of the huge empire might be speedily reached and commanded ; to make the civil service more efficient , and to pay . its members better , the present general rise of prices making salaries and wages insufficient for subsistence , and therefore making additional taxation unusually objectionable . We content ourselves with saying , on his authority , " that

      large reductions are making , both in Madras and Bombay , and large corresponding improvements , but that the great field for reduction is Northern India . " He remarks , correctly ,. that there are now no large native armies in . existence , as in Lord Amherst ' s and Lord William Bentinok ' s time , and no necessity , consequently , for us to keep up corresponding armies . The Bengal native army has dissolved itself ; there is , throughout our territory , prosperity and unusual employment for the people . The opportunity , therefore , is excellent for making reductions .

      " The national balance-sheet may be adjusted by reducing expenditure , or by increasing taxation ; " but the Government has no right , Sir Charles justly asserts , to demand additional taxation , unless it be impossible " to reduce expenditure . " His enlightened sentiments and his vigorous denunciation of Mr . Wilson ' s new * tremendous taxes , " are fully subscribed to by Sir Peter Okant , the Hon . W , A . Morehead , and the Hon . B . Maltby , the members of the Madras Council ; and there already prevails , we are told on authority , a " sullen feeling of dissatisfaction wherever Mr . Wilson ' s scheme of taxation has been

      understood . " We are well assured that the contest between the two official gentlemen on such vital questions will not end in mere words . One or other will have to secede from the Government The public , therefore , must lie prepared to take a sid , e , and resolve whether it will stand by Sir Charles Trevelyan , a reduced revenue , and economy } or by Mr . Wilson , new taxes , an enlarged revenue , arid corresponding waste , ending in renewed mutinies nnd ruin . There are indications in the Minute of a strong personal feeling between these two official gentlemen , and it is impossible that both oan remain in high positions in India with advantage to the public service .

      444 The Leader And Saturday Analyst. P^A...

      444 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . P ^ ay ™> ] 86 ° -

      The Parliament And The Press. Th E Publi...

      THE PARLIAMENT AND THE PRESS . TH E public are at last indebted to Mr . Hobsman for an amusing * and instructive episode , that has relieved the weary sameness of parliamentary debates . For a long time Mr . Hobsman has been insTstate of chronic irritability , and if we did not know that the honourable member for Stroud was an old stager in public affairs , we should imagine him to be cutting his political teeth , and exhibiting' tbat'fractiousness which is too well-known in the nursery , and drives suffering parents to " Mrs . Johnson ' s soothing syrup , or some other " real blessing to mothers , " Mr . Hobsman is certainly entitled to the praise of disinterestedness . He disgusts his

      constituents , and flings away his reputation with a spendthrift magnanimity that gives the lie to any accusation of corrupt motives . If any one accused him of self-seeking , he could point triumphantly to his constant practice of self-slaughter , and those who wish him well regret that ho does not manifest the ordinary circumspection of a man who is able to perceive the consequences of his acts . We do not wish to be hard upon Mr . Hobsman , and much prefer the realitv of his querulousness to the sham and pretence of most parliamentary speakers ; and we believe that , without clearly knowing what he was about , he has done more good than nine-tenths of the tiresome gentlemen who have lowered the character of the House of Commons by their six weeks' chatter against Parliamentary

      Reform . Mr . Hobsman was dragged before the assembled wisdom of the nation on Monday as the proprietor of a singular grievance . The Times newspaper had accused our immaculate senators of being influenced by the fear of dissolution and the expense of contested elections , and the chief proprietor of that journal had made a speech on the inconvenience of sending members of Parliament to meet their constituents on the co-tly occasion of an appeal for their votes . In the remarks of the Times Mr . Hobsman's name figured with an ironical allusion that might , with a little squeezing , be interpreted to include him in the category of imperfect patriots , and which induced him to write to Mr . Walteb , complaining of the course his paper had taken , and expressing his intention to notice the matter in the House of Commons . A few letters were exchanged , and the end of it was that Sir . Walter brought the"case forward himself ,

      and emphatically denied any personal responsibility for the opinions expressed by the journal of which he war a ' proprietor . Mr . Hobsman , in reply , complained of the irresponsibility of the Press , and was virtuously indignant about what he called the calumnious attack of the Times upon the House ofCommons . In the course of his speech he read a letter he had addressed to Mr . Wai / tee , and which that gentleman was too modest to read himself . Jn-this epistle he expressed his belief that Mr . Walteb was responsible for the conduct of his paper , and spoke of the calamity of a great ; journal being " true to no principle , constant to no policy , and disdainful of all rules of public justice and morality . " These and similar sentences were loudly cheered as they were read , and a sensation was produced by the following public allusion to circumstances

      well known but rarely referred to : — " I have not time to remark on the personal influences by which the Times is supposed to beaffected . the peculiar influences that draw Mr . Delane to Lord Palmebston , Wd ~ tfre-aiia : malotts ^ o 8 itw ^ Treasury Bench . " Mr . Hobsman seems altogether to mistake the source of the power a newspaper wields . Its editor may dine with Lord Pat-mebston , and one of its Writers may sit on the Treasury Bench , but it can exert little influence if it is not , on the whole , an accurate representation of the thoughts and wishes of its readers or constituents . If the Times did not obtain support from

      that portion-of the public to which it is addressed , its plans would soon be altered , or its circulation and influence would fall . . Not one reader in a thousand cares for its columns of advertisements , and , thanks to competition , all the facts of the day can be obtained elsewhere . It is idle to talk of irresponsibility—the Times Is responsible to its supporters ; and those who habitually buy it or read it would not do so if they felt any horror at its career . The average tone of the morals of the wealthy class does not lead them to brand the conducfr-of a journal that chops and changes with" the varying interests ' . and passions of their order , nor does a connexion of responsibility with such an organ cause any one to be shunned in will when

      the " best society . " The time , no doubt , come playing fast and loose with great public questions will be deemed a crime ; but bo long as members of Parliament buy their seats , and refuse , session after session , to legislate honestly against political corruption , it is-ridiculous for them to complain that somebody besides themselves trades in political principles , and keeps on hand a stock that their business experience leads them to anticipate will sell . The ionrnalism of England is a lo v rig way from perfection , but it is in advance of the public , who will scarcely ever supply anything better than insolvency and ruin for any fearless and consistent advocate of truth . There is not on record an instance of a-high-priced paper that has obtained a large circulation on account of the integrity

      and ' ability of its editorial department , and fewthings are more unsaleable than steady devotion to sound principles and just plans . The anonymous charnotor of leading articles may , perhaps , be modified , but it could not bo advantageously abandoned . Hundreds of the most laborious students and ablest thinkers are not known to the publio , and the systematic appending of their names to their contributions would excite personal antagonisms that now happily do nofc exist . In provincial towns the editor of a paper is always known , nnd many London journals oxerfc a power from tho charaoter of particular persons who edit or contribute to them . In the case of the Times everybody has known that Mr . Delanos was its editor , and Mr . Lows one of its chief ooribei . Thus , then , has existed the

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 12, 1860, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12051860/page/8/