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" The Duke of Lemster gave us information , that when the Irish , currency was changed from 13 d . Irish , to 12 d . English , it was soon understood by the poor , and no difficulty arose with them . ** Dt . Bowring says that his Chinese servant , and a C hinese boy in his service , by the use of decimal s , ¦ were rapid and accurate calculators . He never knew them to make a mistake ; they were an over-match for him in the use of figures , and he never met a Chinaman who had not those advantages . " The above is merely a glance at the Parliamentary evidence , which is most valuable , and which ought to be read in b ° sufficiently appreciated . The Board of Trade had
previously addressed letters to several persons who , it was though ^ could give information on the subject ; those persons were called before the committee , and there never was more concurring testimony offered in favour of a decimal system than by the witnesses who attended . " It will be perceived that the proposed new mil or farthing is 4 percenfc less than our present farthing , but that with reference to the gold and silver coinage this difference is compensated b y getting 25 mil pieces for a sixpence in place of 24 farthings , and 50 for a shilling in place of 48 farthings , which is a very trifling disturbance , and will be far outweighed by the advantages arising from the adoption of a pure decimal currency .
" Under these circumstances it is hoped that yon will encourage the adoption of the committee ' s report , as pi-esented to Parliament , and that you will suggest to ; the authorities to afford their aid by the expression of their views by petition to Parliament . This , I believe , is all that is wanting to confer a great national benefit , by putting us in a position , by a laboui ' -saying machine ( for such it practically is ) , more easily to meet our foreign rivals in the markets of the world . We know the advantage of labour-saving machines in all our manufacturing towns , and in our improved instruments of husbandry . The saving of labour , by increasing the demand for our industry , requires more hands to carry on the work , and , in every view , is an important benefit . "
A meeting , convened and presided over by the Mayor , Mr . John B . Xloyd , for tlie purpose of affording the inhabitants an opportunity of expressing an opinion on the benefits of a decimal currency , was held on Wednesday , in the Sessions House of Liverpool , and was attended by several of the leading merchants . The first resolution was moved by Mr . William Brown , M . P ., and Chairman of the Select Committee of the House of Commons upon the subject , and seconded by Mr . Thomas Bonch , Vice-Prethe
sident of the Chamber of Commerce , recognising principle and advantages resulting from the ^ system . Another resolution , pointing out the facilities attending upon a decimal coinage to all classes in the community , was proposed by Mr . Thomas B . Horsfall , M . P ., and adopted . Several speeches were made by the mercantile gentlemen present in favour of the adoption of the proposed currency , and the meeting concluded by unanimous votes of thanks to Mr . Brown and the mayor for their exertions in the cause .
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INDIAN REFORM . The Bombay Native Association , formed 26 th of August , 1852 , for the purpose of promoting improvements in the Government of India on the expiration of the Charter Act , rendered its first annual report at a large meeting of native gentlemen of all castes , held at Bombay on the 9 th of November . The following speech of the president , Jugganathjee Sunkersett , Esq ., which was delivered in Gujaratcc , affords a general view of the position and intentions of the society : —
" I trust that the report of our proceedings , submitted this year to you , will appear satisfactory , and will induc e you to lend further assistance to , and to take still greater interest in , the cause of Indian Reform , for which tho association was inaugurated in this very ballon the 20 th of August , 1852 . Our discouragements have boon many ; but we havo surmounted obstacles beyond tho expectations of tho moat sanguine . The attention of tho British public has been drawn to the Btate of India to a greater extent than it was over before . Our proceedings for tho past year have- cleared our ideas , which will enable us to act in future with much better effect ; and wo trust that hereafter we will show redoubled efforts and dispatch for the advancement of tho best intorests of this country . Tho sympathy which wo huvo met
with from tho great mass of our countrymen is no doubt a subject of great satisfaction to the committee ; and this satisfaction wihjstUl further bo enhanced , by the reflection that men of largo views and liberal sentiments in England , havo also regarded with approbation our humblo proceedings , which , wo trust , mny produce bonelicial results .. Wo are glad at tho foresight which originally contemplated tho keeping up of our association , ho long as there was any prospect of accomplishing our object and doing good and buttering tho condition of our countrymen . If you approve of tho recommendation mado by tho manuring committee in their rol'ort , which will bo road to you presently , wo will keep up
mul extend our origunisatioit and incroaao our sphere ol useful ness ; especially aa our prospects aro bright , and aw tho duration of tho India Bill , winch lias recently passed into liw , has not beon limited to any length of time , and it lian been so formed us to present no-obstacles to any itll . ernt . ion , imp rovement , or addition which may bo doomed advisable or necosfiary . Tho committee will bo glad to retiuuio thuir patriotic labours and to inalco fresh appeals to tho British P ublic , to the Imperial Parliament , and lior Majesty ' s . Government , with tho viow of pressing our claims on thoir attention , and obtaining such changes and reforms a . s havo boon overlooked . " _ It seems that tho secretary has boon obliged to rc-B' £ M in consequence of the increasing ju'e / rtfuro of his
professional engagements . This gentleman is Bhawoo Dajee , Esq ., a medical graduate , educated in European science . His successor is Nowrozjee Furdoonjee , fourth interpreter of the Supreme Court , whose book on the " Judicial Administration of the Bombay Presidency" came before the British public a few months ago . „ The report of the committee , too long for insertion entire , presents several points for notice . ¦ After adverting to the constitution of its
committees and working staff , it occupies itself with its petitions to Parliament . Its first and great petition was agreed to at a public meeting , despatched to their agent in England , Mr . John Chapman , and through Sir Edward Ryan , Sir Erskine Perry , and Mr . Cameron , was presented to the Peers by Lord Monteagle , and the Commons by . Mr . Leveson Gower . Thanks are given to all these parties , and special notice is taken of the zealous and efficient advocacy of some portions of the English press .
Several hundred copies of an abstract of the petition ( which could not be published entire , consistently with the courtesy due to Parliament ) were printed , and appeared in the columns of most of the leading journals , with , in many cases , notices highly approving of the tone and contents of the petition . Several of these notices are annexed in Appendix B . This , your committee are happy to state , has greatly contributed towards attracting the attention of the British public to the affairs of India . " The notices of the Bombay , Madras , and Calcutta
petitions , as well as the timely appearance of some able pamphlets on Indian affairs by several eminent and disinterested friends of India , have tended still further to awaken and maintain the spirit of interest in , and inquiry respecting-India , which has lately arisen in England . " We trust the effect thus ; produced will continue to be supported , until such arrangements are made for the government of these vast territories as will conduce to the improvement and happiness of the natives , and reflect honour on the British name .
" To the . British press generally , and to the Times in particular , we feel-deeply indebted for their abb and sustained advocacy of the claims and interests of the natives of India . " The report then proceeds to notice the pamphlet of Mr . Bruce Norton , on the Judicial System of Madras , the applicability of its . statements to that of Bombay also , the institution of the India Reform Society in London , under the presidency of Danby Seymour , Esq .,-M . P ., and the secretaryship of John Dickinson ,
Esq . ; the thanks due to Mr . Bright , Mr . Sullivan , Mr . Hume , and other active and tried friends of India ; and the advantages derived from " the recent and valuable works of Mr . John Dickinson , Mr . Cameron , Mr . Norton , and Mr . Chapman , " by means of their circulation In India as well as in this country . It then states that the association has formed a library of the most valuable works on Indian affairs , to which is added a collection of the published records of the local government .
Adverting , then , to the change in public opinion from apathy to some degree of interest , which has been produced by the efforts of the several Indian Associations - and their European friend , it states that it has remitted no less than 1000 Z . to the India Reform Society of London ; viz ., 400 / . from their own funds , and GOO / ., the produce of a separate subscription ; from which we infer that the London Society has been chiefly supported by . Indian contributionsa most encouraging fact when rightly viewed . Tho second petition is next mentioned ; it was directed against the one-sided character of the evidence then being taken by the Parliamentary Committeesand prayed a remedy .
, ^ Noticing , then , the want of information , in lingland , and consequent apathy of public opinion here , us presenting great difficulties to their undertaking , at its commencement , the report congratulates the people of India on . the defeat of the ori'iiml intention merely to renew tho old act , and on ° tho gain of several important improvements in conformity with the prayer of the Bombay petitioners . They had objected to the anomalous and detrimental construction oi tho Homo Government , and that Government has been altered somewhat for tho better ; they had objected to tho navment of the directors l > y patronage , and that evil
has been diminished ; they luid objected to the exclusive system of supplying members for [ . tho civil service , and tlmt system has been revised , although they still have to complain that it does not put competent natives on a fair footing ; they objected to tlie general condition of the legislative and judicial departments of tho Government , and those departments havo been improved , and measures taken for carrying oa reforms to u useful , although , perhaps , not to u sufficient extent . Ifinnlly , the association asked that tlic opportunity might always remain open for further ameliorations , without being impeded by a grunt of power to the Ksisfc . India Comxmny for a definite term of years , and Parliament was pleased so to
determine . The committee then recommend ronewed and sustained efforts in tho same cause iu these terms : — " Your committee cannot bill , congratulate tho Bombay Association on tho success thai , ban bo far atLoiuled thoir tiffin-In , combined will * tlioso of thoir countrymen nt tho siutcr pmjulencioa ami of thuir friends j « . England . Atf thiti
is only the first instalment of reforms that may be expected to follow ia d ue course , your committee recommend the association to persevere in their efforts , to keep up and extend their organisation and resources , and to work with unabated zeal . Now that the natives of this country have , ia some measure , succe eded in removing the ignorance and dispelling the apathy of the British public , in regard to their actual state , their requirements , and their grievances , and have secured many able and disinterested supporters in and out of Parliament , we may with confidence anticipate complete success .
u Your committee would therefore recommend the Bombay Association to resnme their patriotic labours , and at the next and subsequent sessions to press their just demands on the attention of the Imperial Parliament . " The impression in England is already very general that the new act will prove only a temporary measure . The character and value of further changes will , in a great measure , depend on the wisdom and discretion with which the Native Associations , the representatives of the people of
India , conduct their proceedings . If the natives of this vast empire use vigorously the opportunities afforded them by the new act , the time cannot be far distant when the public feeling of the British people , the claims of the natives of India , " and the mutual interests of both countries , will lead to a liberal and efficient system of administration , to the abandonment of the principle or rather the practice of exclusiveness , and a more general concession to the natives of their-rights-and privileges , and of a more efficient administra tion of Government . "
The remaining public matter ndtieed is the proposal ' . .-by the Association to the Government of the establishment , of Courts of Bequest in the interior , presided over by local native officers , partly chosen by the people ; a subject which the Government said the Sudder Adawlut was considering , and which it was , indeed , known that court had long been considering without effect . We trust , however , that the Indian Law Commission , ¦ which has just commenced its labours , will not deem this one of the least of the reforms it has to achieve . We have only space to add , that of 33 , 519 rupees given , or subscribed to the society , only 16 , 966 have been spent , and to recommend to serious attention the following speech of Bhawoo Dajee , Esq ., delivered to a large meeting of natives , of whom the greater part understood it in the English language : —
" I rise to return , on behalf of the committee , their best thanks to the meeting , for the kind expression of confidence in their proceedings . The Gujaratee not being my vernacular tongue , I crave the indulgence of the meeting iu per * - mitting me to address it in English . I feel the less hesitation in doing so , as I know the great majority of the native gentlemen here assembled understand the English language . " Our countrymen at Calcutta held a monster meeting in the Town Hall on the 29 tli July last , and some admirable speeches were then made commenting on Sir C . Wood's speech , and the new India Bill , aud on some of the evidence given by Messrs . Halliday , Marshman , and others , before the Select Committees of the Houses of Parliament . " Mr . Halliday ' s insinuation that the natives of India
would not be proud of the elevation of their countrymen , was proved to be not founded on fact : wo may , I think with truth , disclaim tho existence of any such feeling in this Presidency—although it cannot fail to bo excited when an incompetent native is placed in a responsible office , the natives being as averse to see their own incompetent countrymen in high posts as incompetent Europeans . " During the last year tho Bombay Association has pro- * scnted to the Imperial Parliament two petitions respecting the wants of this Presidency . They have had tho distinguished eminence of not being contradicted . I purposely do not allude to a reply by the Sudder judges to the statements contained in the twenty-second paragraph of our first petition , as tho committee will in a few days , in an answer
which they have prepared , prove to the impartial public that the roply of tho Sudder is inconclusive and deceptive . Our petitions , in conjunction with those from Bengal and Madras , have drawn tho attention of tho British public to India and its wants . It is well known that before tho arrival of tho petitions , the Ministers intended simply to renew tho bill of 1833 . From the reports of tho committees it appeared that tho act of 178-1 , encumbered with the various deteriorations it has suffered b y each successive enactment , was about to bo extended with little alteration to 1874 . " That for tho next twenty years tho natives of Hindustan wore , as heretofore , to bo in a great measure cxcludod from public employment in their own country , although pronounced by Act of Parliament as equally eligible for this as
Europeans , and proved by tho testimony of tho Duke of Wellington , Lord William Uentinck , the Earl of Ellcnboroueh , Sir George Kussol Olork , Mr . J . Sullivan , Mr . Holt Mackenzie- and all tho ablest ( statesmen of tho age , to bo eminently qualified for oflico . Wo wcro to have till tho close of tho present century , ft constitution , which was framed during tho end of tuo last . Wo wero to havo three separate sots oPtbo Government of India , tho principal function of each of which seems to bo to thwart and retard tho operations <>< " tho oth « rn , —tho I ., cuduiniuU- » trcot division . costing 130 , 000 / . a year , being merely tho ministers of patronage , and placo of record , without ono atom of thinthat of criticisingand
power licyond , suggesting , , obstructing , tho Hoard of Control , costing 250 , 000 / . a . yoar , managed by a President appointed without any necosHary qualification to . tho office , whoso avcrngo teiiuro of oilko has , sinco 1820 , fallen short of two yours , void of all responsibility , endowed with absolute power , governing in secret , aud presenting to Parliament when ankod for information , collections of papers bo infamously curtailed and garbled an to mislead iu pluco of « n ~ liglitoning , and whoso main contributions to tho policy of India during twenty yenrs have been wars , which liavo cost thirty millions Htorling , including amongst them the Soinde infamy and Oabool disaster . Wo We throe Governments in liutta , cowling half a million sterling annually auwngat them ,
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December 31 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 12 S 1
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 31, 1853, page 1251, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2019/page/3/
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