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Leader (1850-1860), 14th August 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 814, BOMBAY JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES. Amoxo the ...

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      Evidence Keferred To In Page 666-Witness...

      Are indigo planters generally holders of landed property ? -Yes , both as zemindars and as izaralnlars ( leaseholders ) , and as putneedars ( perpetual leaseholders ) ; every sort of interest in the land they acquire ; it gives them a position of safety . The principal object of the indigo planter is security 3 a holding the land "which produces the indigo ?—Of course ; that is his primary object . And that he has not got at present?—Not to the extent desirable . Of course everything that puts capital to hazard , even theoretically , diminishes the value of the security . If you want to borrow money upon your Interest , a lawyer looks at your title ; and if he sees that it is dangerous , although the danger may be very small , yet , owing to the defect of the security , abstractedly it has a diminished value for the capitalist .

      The following cross-examination of the same witness l > y Mr . Mangles relates to the above evidence :- — You said that there is danger to capital from the revenue system in Bengal ; what is the danger ?—In stating that , I also referred , as a proof of it , to Mr . Grant ' s view on that question , and who , in consequence of the view -which the Government has taken , brought in a bill for the purpose of so amending the revenue system as to give proper security for capital . You said that Lord Cornwallis was unjustly charged with having made the permanent statement precipitately ; iaie you aware that Sir John Shore , then the senior member' of Council , afterwards Lord Teignmoutb , earnestly pressed upon Lord . Cornwallis not to make the permanent settlement without more careful inquiry

      ?—There was some difference of opinion in Council , I believe , about it , but Lord Cornwallis -was supported by all the most eminent men of the East India Company ' s service , by the Court of Directors , and I presume also by the Parliamentary statesmen ; and that that was the case I think , is also corroborated by this circumstance , that the next settlement was in the Northern Circuit ; and although that was only a settlement for a term of years , it was made professedly with the object , and under a sort of promise to the parties concerned in . that settlement , that it should be a permanent settlement ; tut it was a mere question of trial as between Lord Cornwallis and any of the Council when it should be made permanent , and I have no doubt Lord Cornwallis took a wise resolution , and that the settlement was a wise one the result has shown .

      Do not you think it was precipitately made ?— -Approving of the measure , I think it was not precipitate . Do not you think that there was a great sacrifice of all subordinate rights to the zemindar ? - —No , 1 think it was the salvation of the country ; for if the Government settlement had not been established there , we should have been under the influence of those opinions ¦ which led to the ryotwarree settlement ; and then Bengal would have been under tie ryotwarree settlement .

      Did not the thirty years settlement in the North-West Provinces result in very beneficial effects ?—Not such beneficial effects as the permanent settlement ; and I rather think that the civil rebellion which has supervened upon the military rebellion is very much to be ascribed to the effects of that revenue settlement . The old talookdars were displaced by that settlement ; they were the persons analogous to the zemindars in Lower Bengal , and they are now returning to their lands , having the affections and r espect of the people , and are resuming the place which they had before we took possession of their provinces .

      814 The Le Aj)Je R ^^^ ¦ _ [No.Jjg, Auot...

      814 THE LE AJ ) JE R ^^^ ¦ _ [ No . Jjg , Auotst 14 , 1858 .

      The Thibet Trade And Tbeaty. Thb Attenti...

      THE THIBET TRADE AND TBEATY . Thb attention of persons in , this country has naturally been much directed to the trade of India by its seaports , but that trade , which is carried on by its long land , frontier , has been far from receiving due notice . Some endeavours have been made to open trade with Tartary , Western Thibet , and Central Asia , by our Punjaub provinces , and with considerable encouragement , though not carried to the required extent . There js some trade ¦ with Nepaul , and from Darjeeling a small trade with Sikkim , Bootan , and Eastern Thibet . The whole line of frontier , however , leads to districts beyond , more or less productive , and tho intercourse with which would , under careful administratio n , bring a great addition to the resources of India .

      We Bay under careful administration , because the obstacles are considerable , and Jt i » by care and by steady action that they are to bo removed . In this country it would be scarcely credited that th ere are many of our towns and ports on our Indian frontier where an English trader and traveller cannot go beyond a few miles , and where the countries even in sight are not allowed to bo trodden by his foot ; the impediments to his access being perhaps some petty hill elan , or the distiuct action of a Chinese mandarin .

      These Impediments , however , are such as to be overcome by steady action , although in some places they nave etood in our way for half a century . They arise either from physical difficulties , from immediate causes , ° ' froin «>™ e distant influence . A small stream , which the local tribes cannot bridge- may be the moans « f

      blocking up an important route , while the expenditure of the requisite sum by the English commissioner would open the route , and repayment of tlie outlay would bo effected , either by a slight transit tax or by increase of the general revenues of the settlement . In many cases the frontier stations have sucli a direct interest in opening up tlie country beyond , that they can afford the outlay in improving the roads beyond their bounds . There must , however , be the authority to effect this , and it is very difficult to obtain it from the supreme Government of India , absorbed in great wars or in . great

      administrative questions ; and yet there are stations where a hundred a year laid out in this way-would materially strengthen English power and the resources of the people and treasury . There are avenues to be cut through jungley mountain-bridges to be carried across ravines , roads to be cut along precipices , tunnels to be made through necks of hills , halting-place 3 to be built in desert passes , and one of these works will perhaps throw open twenty miles of road before tracked only by men , and will enable it to be traversed hy pack beasts , or by ¦ wheel carriages .

      The exactions of mountain tribes , but still worse their animosities , close not only their own districts to traffic , but the iutercourse of very distant countries . It sometimes happens now that there is no provision , and systematically there is no provision , for making the necessary arrangements in such cases . The hill commissioner cr superintendent may not be able to leave his station for years , nor can he perhaps give the time needful to reach the distant chief , nor the weeks to be passed in childish negotiations , and there are few resident commissioners , as there ought to be , in the nature of consuls or assistant commissioners , dispersed among the hill tribes , and sysr tematically placed at station after station on the great routes of trade . The exertions of such assistant commissioners would be directed to form conventions with the hill tribes , and to maintain their execution , to obtain commutation of transit duties , and generally to keep the routes open .

      One constant effort of our Government in its foreign relations should be to throw open the countries , now under the paralysing : influence of" China . This is particularly the case with Eastern Thibet and the neighbouring countries , with which we communicate by way of Darjeeling . This hill town was formed for the sole purpose of being a sanatorium for Bengal invalids , but its situation is so favourable that it has not only become a thriving settlement , but a seat of trade . It was formed on a portion of territory obtained from the petty Rajah of Sikkim , and the territory has since been increased b y that obtained in compensation from the rajah for his imprisonment of Dr . Campbell , superintendent of Darjeeling , and Dr . Hooker , engaged in scientific explorations . The Rajah of Sikkim is now a recognised dependent of England . Sikkim , English and native , runs up from the Bengal Presidency into tlie Himalayas , between Nepaul and Bhotan , and touching Thibet .

      The political position of Sikliim 5 s , therefore , important , not only as commanding an independent route to Bhotan , but by placing a barrier between Nepaul and Bhotan . Our ambitious neighbours in Nepaul , balked for a time in their designs on Bengal , have turned their attention to Bhotan as a field of conquest , and Jung Bahadoor will give any price for permission to march across Sikkim and occupy Bhotan , when we should have a long-frontier of Glioorkas ranging along the north of the Bengal Presidency . The late advance of Ghoorka allies into the Bengal Presidency during the mutiny was an unhappy concession forced on the Governor-General by public opinion in England , and was too well

      calculated to keep up the self-conndencc of the Ghoorkas , and to create a moral impression as to their military prowess among the population of the plains . The Ghoorkas aro now back in the hills of Nepaul , never , tvo hope , to return , and Jung Bahadoor may , perhaps , consider this & suitable time to press for the small favour of demanding honourable satisfaction from Bhotan , but , wo hope , to be refused , as he has been heretofore refused . Before leaving the subject of Ghoorka troops , tvo may observe that any Ghoorka recruits that aro wanted can bo obtained at Darjeeling , where Dr . Campbell enlisted thorn by hundreds in a few days , and where they are obtained from -various hill regions , and aro independent of their allegiance to Nepaul .

      It is as an avenue to Eastern Thibet and to the interior of China that Darjeeling is particularly valuable , but unfortunately Lassa and the whole of that region , formerly open to us , aro now closed . The Rnjah of Sikkim , perhaps , because weak , hns given no cordial assistance in promoting our intercourse with Thibet , but , ^ on the contrary , has impeded our access to his own territories , although always suing for pecuniary aid . The imprisonment of the officials , already referred to , is a notable proof of his indisposition to give freo acceaH to

      our citizens and subjects . Thus , in ordor to obtain the necessary freedom of intercourse with Thibet , wo have first to overcome tlie indisposition of the Sikkim Rajah , and then the indisposition of the Chinese authorities , whoso influenco closes to > us the frontier of Thibet , nlthough within sight and within roach of our own territory at Darjoeling . This matter is so important that Mr . "William Ewart , tho member for Dumfries , brought it before the attention of tho Government in tho Houho of Commons , with the view to make the freo

      communication by land , and the withdrawal of Chihoso *«* """ sions in Thibet , a part of the negotiations of Lordm ? *~ at Pekin . Although no satisfaction was at thatuW * vre have every reason to believe some impression li-. ai ' made on the Government , and that Lord Ekrin wHIm clue notice of the matter . L a * e - It is , however , with the Indian Govemmmt . i chief responsibility rests , and the first tainT ™ ? 0 i * tain a . clear and distinct recognition of * our JL ; tion in Sikkim . It is in the highest deg ree ewEr i that the Rajah should not be allowed tTtriui S * us , but that his promises shall be made effectualI «« that English travellers and traders may enter ttdil tnct freely and reside , a it , and that ear native suliecL may have the same opportunities . We must also obtain the assurance that no difficulties shall be internosciI £ our intercourse with Nepaul , Thibet , and Bhotan it is true that we have routes from our part of Sikkim intn Nepaul and Bhotan , but in many instances it is ' desiriMto pass over the Rajah ' s frontier . ^ suable

      The circumstances of the Siklim Rajah are verv favourable for bringing him to terms , as he i 3 constantly m debt and difficulties , and a small increase of the allowance made to him would obtain such a recognition of his duties as will admit of enforcement . The % -nion of Darjeeling is yearly making progress , and there can be no doubt , from the reports made to the Indian Government , that it is one of the chief countries in . India suitable for European occupation , and on the completion of the railway will be more rapidly settled . " We shall then require greater scope for the energies of our settlers and there can be little doubt every available site iii Sikkira . will be occupied for industrial purposes , and that tlie trade of that district will be greatly expanded by the application of greater capital and enterprise . If it merel

      were y on account of Darjeeling , the negotiations "with Sikkim and Thibet are of importance , but it is on account of Bengal generally that they are more particularl y to be regarded ; for not only may a great trade be created with the interior of Asia , corresponding to that which the Government has fostered in our Western Provinces , but Darjeeling will be strengthened as a barrier against Ghoorka ambition . We press this matter forward , because it is essential it should not be lost sight of , and the bonus Government should at once renew its instructions to Lord Elgin , so as to secure the recognition of our right to free access with China and its dependencies ' on the southern border . However difficult at present the communication is with the south-west countries of China ,. the progress of Darjeeling and Assam is so rapid that it is safe to predict a very material and favourable influence will be exercised on those remote and now little-known , regions of the world , containing the upper valleys of tlie great Indo-Chinese and Chinese rivers . The question is pressed in reference to Darjeeling , because Darjoeling is better known to English officials and travellers , but Assam has , perhaps , a deeper interest , because Bhotan , lying between it and Thibet , and in some cases only the narrow territory of mountain tribes intervening , many of the paths and routes over the mountains debouch on the Assam territory , and will become natural channels of trade , as that by Durrung and Kheguinha to Lassa , for instance ;

      Bombay Joint-Stock Companies. Amoxo The ...

      BOMBAY JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES . Amoxo the means of progress with which India has been endowed by tlie English , not the least important will prove to be the system of joint-stock companies for the aggregation and distribution of cap ital , and for which of late years tho Indian legislature has affonlcil greater facilities . This will be in time an instrument for carrying outmoro extensive enterprises in India than all that the Government -with the resources at its disposal can bo expected to effect . Tlie system is as yet in its infancy , but is rapidly working its -way . In Bengal , besides bunks and railways , partly of home origin , steamboat , coal , and gas companies are in operation . In Bombay thoro is another variety , ami in oach city there is a regular share list , the herald , wo presume , of a future stock exchange The lust list wo have seen of Bombay companies includes several banks , tho railway , various press companios , a land company , and a stciiin navigation company . Most of these undertakings aro at a premium , for cotton-presses have been found very remunerative , and in this way one mcan 3 of promoting the cotton trade haa been effectually established . The Coluba Cotton-press Company is ire shares of 700 / . each . The last quotation was 2 G 50 / . TIio Apollo Press Companyia in shares of 2000 / . each , and its share * aro quoted at 230 Of . Tho Hydraulic Press Company i » in shares of 460 / . each , and the price is 710 / . The Cotton Spinning Company is in 400 / . shares , which tuo quoted at 660 / ., a . nd tho Oriental Weaving and Sp inning Company is in 120 / . shares , quoted at 170 / . The Coluba Land Company is not so flourishing »\* " ° market , for its shares of 1000 / . each nro at SHOf . 'l'' » ° Bombay Stonin Navigation shares aro barely at par , and of tho Great Indian Peninsular Railway shares tho same is to > be remarked . Still tlioro is n local market for stock paying only 5 per cent ., a feature encouraging &* '

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 14, 1858, page 814, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_14081858/page/22/