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Leader (1850-1860), 11th June 1853, Edition 1 of 1, Page 554

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      incapable of possessing freedom ; a doctrine which looks plausible ou the surface , but is , in fact , nothing else than political popery . Against Lord John ' s arrogant doctrine the Liberal Irish may point to the fact that education and freedom of opinion do make progress in Ireland . However , the avowal of such an op inion in a Minister was enough to make Irish members resign ; and they

      did so . Lord Aberdeen expressed great concern at their resolve , and avowed that Lord John ' s opinion was not shared by many of the present Cabinet . The avowal does credit to the Cabinet , and to Lord John as part of it , since he is wise enough to let an abstract opinion of his own give way before a more practical feeling in the Cabinet . The Irish members of the Ministry do not press

      their resignation . Probably it is fortunate that no such handle was left for those extreme- Catholics who are trying to arouse an agitation , if not a rebellion in Ireland , against Mr . Chambers ' s Bill to secure inspection of convents as a precaution against the compulsory detention of nuns . As it is , we believe that the movement will end in smoke .

      The other principal act of business in Parliament has been the passing of the Income-tax Bill in the Commons . The debates in the Lords cannot be so protracted , since the Peers have not the power to alter a money bill ; and they will scarcely venture to throw out this one . The Succession-tax Bill safely got past its second reading in the Commons last night .

      On Tuesday , there was " no House , " and next day , Mr . Cobden laid the blame on the doorkeepers , or the Government whippers-in . He had a motion on Pegu and the Burmese war ; and it has been fairly retorted , that if he and his friends had taken the proper pains to secure him a hearing , he ought not to have been without forty members to " make a House . " The motion to be proposed by Lord Dudley Stuart on the same night was of more interest to us—he was to have moved for a committee of

      inquiry into the management of the metropolitan police , with a view , no doubt , of eliciting facts respecting the employment of the police as auxiliary to that of Austria and other despotic powers , in spying upon the patriot refugees , and defeating their endeavours for the emancipation of Europe . Do not let us disguise the fact to ourselves—of all the present " Liberal" House of Commons , there are not forty men who care to come down to their places and investigate that outrageous malversation of public authority . There is much more interest to share in the

      " mummeries" of the Installation , at Oxford , as they would probably be called by Lord John , with his hatred of vain ceremonial . There was no necessity to luljowju because there was " No House , " on either of the ! set occasions of the festivity ; but Oxford rushed to seize the occasion of proclaiming its political sentiments , its admiration of Derby and his doctors , and everything which is his ; its

      dislike of Louis Napoleon , " Friend Bright , " Lord John ; ita gallantry for " Mrs . Louis Napoleon , " and its roaring enthusiasm for Disraeli . Lord Derby has charmed the Oxonians by speaking in the learned language of the natives , and by condescendingly adapting himself to their strange customs . Altogether , he seems in his element as the Lord of Misrule in that illustrious established anachronism . Contrasted . with the celebration of Oxford antiquities , is the Mansion-house feast to the mayors , and the conference at the Society of Arts to promote practical / nit Among the population at large . Imagine a conference of English mayors at the Munsion-house to promote Art ! But really , the day has gone by when u thick waist , u thick skull , and a voracious palate , were regarded as qualiuca-\ p ^ * j ^ f « v municipal promotion . 7 E 3 ^~> A tne ^ » are emulating the Mayors . There S ? f ^ 53 f grCttt gtttlu ' K of " distinguished persons " S ^^ SL da 88 C 8 ' ° Saturdu y > ?<> plan the setting up J ^ Oflffl rochctU > > i line wiWfiBtrian statue of Richard

      Coeur de Lion in some conspicuous part of the metropolis—a decided accession to our public statues . Indeed pleasuring , in one form or other , has been paramount this week . Trade itself , with its large prosperity—an increase of 2 , 310 , 000 / . in the exports for the month ending May 5 !—is a pleasure . The political demonstrations of the Court have been the entertainments for the Duke of Genoa ; and it has been Ascot week—English jockeys contending for " The Emperor ' s Cup , " and Lord Palmerston winning " The Ascot Stakes . "

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      THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT . THE GOVEBNMENT OF INDIA . The debate on India was resumed on Monday by Mr . J . a . Phizumobe , who effectively followed up Mr . Bright ' s indictment of the Company , applying himself especially to the administration of the law . In proportion as Indian law had been enforced the people of India had suffered . The judges were mostly young men : they sometimes were absent from court while evidence was being given , and such an administration of law was a " terror" to Englishmen in India . Sir G . Clerk had disproved the calumny that the Hindoos were unfit to administer justice ; but in impeaching the morality of the Hindoos , might not some one remind us of the origin of our own dominion in the East , and its attendant deceptions and forgeries ? Were there no cases where money had gilded over serious imputations , no cases where rank , genius , power , and station had , without scruple as to the causes of success , bowed down to successful speculation ? Sir Charles Wood , counselled by those who invariably slandered the dominions they had endeavoured to confiscate , had unfairly selected the worst time 3 of India under native rule to compare with its present condition ; but , accepting his selection , was

      not Europe , from the days of the French Eegency to the days of the French Eevolution , as full of crimes and horrors as India at the period selected ? Respecting the land question , the Company acted as iniquitously as an English taxgatherer who should seize all the land : their system had produced in Bengal a dead level of uniform misery ; and in Madras , where one European collector had to settle with 300 , 000 cottier tenants , the ryot was a most degraded being . The wretchedness of the people was proved by the fact , that from 1834 to 1850 , no less than 60 , 000 , 000 ? . rent was remitted ; and 250 , 000 persons had perished from

      famine , caused by the Avant of public works . Mr . Phillimore concluded by demanding the interference of Parliament . When they found that , in spite of the enormous wealth wrung from the excessive toil of tho Hindoo , the government was advancing into debt , and rapidly arriving at bankruptcy—when , in spite of an empire larger than that of Charlemagne , they were engaged in irritating powerful neighbours—when , after having oppressed Oude , seized Sattara , threatened the Nizam , and depopulated whole districts , they had interfered in matters sacred as custom , as national pride , plighted faith , aye , as religion itself , thereby lacerating ,

      where they were most sensible , the loves , feelings , and affections of a largo portion of their subjects , and especially of the feelings of that army upon which the salvation of their empire must depend—when they were doing all these things , were disregarding every rule which the wisest statesmen had laid down to guido their conduct—when "justice" wan but another word for delay and for folly—when " protection" was but another word for servitude and-oppression—when tho terror of falling under tho power of the Company was considered , from ono end to the other of the East , as tho greatest of till ] X ) ssible calamities—was it , or was it not , time- for Parliument to interfere V

      Sir Jamicb Wiuit IIoug made an elaborate defence of the Company , going at lull length into the acts of tho Government and the state of India . He , firstly , characterised Mr . Ih-ight ' s statement as made up of . shreds and patches , hitH of old pamphlets and magazines , and tho evidence of witnesses before former Committeesono report referring to the year IHii ' . i , another to 17 S ) 2 . Every account of the Company was before the House : CoinmitteeH had sut on cotton , steam , the sail-duties , and on India generally , and 'the papers relating to India filled 53 folio volumes ; yet Mr . Bright culled it a " Healed book . "

      Mr . . 'Bri g ht had called th « " double government" a flliuru ; hut in fact the government practically reuUid with tho Crown and tho Court of Directors . Tho . Directors discussed every lueasuro : and if tho President ; of tho Board of Control altered it , ho was obliged to assign Iuh reasons- —and tho result who that not live per con I ,, of the despatches by tho Court were changed . Tho present Hyuteni kept the Indian Government freo from all political bias . Their military patronage had not boon " ubuHotl ;" nearl y one-third of it was given to tho Boris of civil servants , 01 " 088 appointments » inco 1833 , 161 ) wore given to tho

      relations of Director * , 260 to sons of the Campaay s servants , and 269 to the general public . The emolmnenta mm&m forSedthe main consideration . The revenue of India had Weased by 9 , 000 , 000 * . since 1834 , ; bu 2000 , 0001 ., of io / 4 /

      which came from the new territory ( , uxo ««» " -r-Nor had this increase arisen from new or augmented taxes for the transit duties and the export duties on coS and cotton had been abolished and the salt-tax had Sh iS ^^

      GYelt Britain ^ ' increased from 461 , 000 _ cwts to 1 , 390 , 188 cwts . The cotton exported ^ m ladui ™ J been 1 , 460 , 000 ? . worth in 1806 , and in 1814 s was 967 , 652 nieces The British exports of cotton to India had ni-Seased from 109 , 4871 . i £ 1814 , to 4 , 421 , 920 / . in 1850 rthe tonnage of British vessels in the trade had increased from 108 , 870 tons in 1834 , to 252 153 in 1850 ; while the increase in general exports had been from 2 , 682 , 221 * . in 1834 , to 7 , 578 , 980 ? . in 1850 . Respecting t ^ e revenue , the gross amount for the present year was 29 , 228 , 252 ? . ; the charges were 26 , 317 , 526 ? ., showing a surplus of 2 , 910 , 7262 . TVhp the debt of India had increased , ( the great addition

      of 18 , 812 , 000 ? . being , through wars , from 1839 to the present period , ) but the revenue had had more than a proportionate increase during that period . For the Afghan war of 1839 , the chief cause of the recent increase ot the debt , the directors were not responsible ; it was a war carried on for European reasons ; and if the fifteen millions spent in it were repaid by England , " what became ot the Indian debt ? " But even with this fifteen millions , the debt did not amount to more than two years' revenue . ( The present Burmese war had cost as yet 30 , 000 ? . a month ,

      and when more troops were sent , would cost but 60 , 000 ? . a month . ) Mr . Bright had complained that the Company raised all its revenue from the land , but that was the custom in every eastern country , where the Government was always the great landlord . Under the ryotwary system , the ryot had fixed rights , and could not be removed from the soil while he paid rent . This system suited Madras and Bengal , while the plan in the north-west nrovinces was onlv suitable to a primitive state of society .

      Respecting cotton , while English prices for Indian cotton were dependent on the American crop , Indian cotton would not be grown for such an uncertain market ; but if , instead of " agitating , " Manchester men would penetrate into Broach , and other cotton districts , and promise the ryot a specified price , the produce of cotton would spring up exactly as had the growth of indigo . But in comparing American with Indian cotton , they must bear in mind that the Indian plant was annual , and could only be grown once every three years on the same soil , while the American plant was perennial ; it was doubtful , therefore , whether the present area of cotton-growth in India could meet the Manchester demand . Mr . Bright had stated that the

      consumption of salt had declined , but his authority was a paragraph in a newspaper , which in its next number acknowledged the error of its own statistics , the fact being , that while the duty on salt had been diminished , the revenuo had increased , thus proving that tho consumption must have increased . Tho revenue of opium was likely to bo affected by the cultivation in China , but this was a strong reason against transferring India to the Crown , which should then take on itself tho fifty millions of debt in India and tho twelve millions of debt at home . Public works in India had been extensive ; there were 3159 miles of public road , which had cost 2 , 106 , 000 ? . ; of canals , there was one 580 miles long , and the Ganges canal , 510 miles

      in length , which had cost over 1 , 500 , 000 ? . ; and at Madras , navigation had been carried out on tho Godavery , the Cavery , and tho Kishna , whilo the old Mohammedan conquerors had constructed temples , tombs , mausoleums , and palaces , but no works of public convenience . Tho directors had been accused of not employing the natives , but ninety-six per cont . of the administration of justico was conducted by tho natives . They had not been admitted to the " covenanted service , " because that consisted of young men from If ailoybury ; and tho admission to that service oponod tho question of admitting them to command our armies—a difficult question , that had bettor be left to tho Governor-General . Of lato years , much had been

      done towards civilizing tho native tribes ; uuttee , infanticide , and slavery hud been abolished ; the servants of the Company hud penetrated into deadly jungles , labouring in the cause of humanity , not having the fame of men foromost in the field of battle , having no reward but the consciousncHH thai they were discharging their duty to their God and to their country . Regarding education ' , all that ought to have been dorm had not been dono ; but still much had been oil'ected ; tint number of scholars taught was 20 , 000 , and the amount expended ( MS , ( MM )? . —a small sum—but ovon in England only 20 , 000 / . was granted for education in \ HX \ . hi India also they had peculiar diflicultios , arising from different creeds , different races , and different

      languages . In 1 HM tho Directors bud announced that no person , by reason of hirth , creed , or colour , should bo excluded from the Company's service : but ofliciul / einployinentH were not the only means of improving th » pooplo ; by repressing crime , guarding and securing 1 property , und promoting industry , tho welfare of , India would bu beat promoted . The payment to religious establishments in India were at , present 11 ) 7 , 1 ) 00 ? . to the Kstablished Church , « , r > 00 / . _ to the Scotch Church , and 5 , 400 ? . to the llornan Catholic Church . Quoting from a religious publication on India a warm tribute of praiso to the British oflioera in the I ' unjaub , Kir Jauios Hogg brought his long spoech to a close , lie did not complain of arraigning tho acts of tho East India Company . Tho nets of aU public naon and

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      554 THE D EADER JS ^ kpa ^

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 11, 1853, page 554, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1990/page/2/