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Leader (1850-1860), 1st April 1854, Edition 1 of 1, Page 302, Untitled Article

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      ^ thei * d 5 r % guard 3 j and all their precanaona a ^ unat tbef assaaeia whom they defjr ,, ihwyx&oliwxe&kitrprp lace themaaelvea far- ^ bfeyond liitffe . viQXKjniy / £ iw "vdoiclt shield * move karmlesa md tt ^ uacdfid m en . &om death inflicted ; with-9 a | b faojfcice ^ ' Bob wet aie > told , to ddseourage fchJittaugt responsibility of arbitrary Monarchs , ^ XHb ^ t&e ^ asjsassiii is never successful . How tiwte&sii ^^ e ^^^ and let ua take : & $ * oftise ^ pioesexib example . The cruel and paltry Buka : of Earma , the instrument of wltoae wili lkaa been Ma Yorkshire Prime

      Mxnrfste te ^ l&rim TITard , lia& been , assassinated ; Sailti » IDhiefcess * becoming Begerit during tib « miiiori ^ of her son , acting urtder the &ds | be ^! o £ Lher iMxmstexSy has exiled Saxon ^ IJaurdrfor ever- Beally it seems as if in as-BTwiiiHU , Hiiij-tHo ThThrrfrhft ivrtfrriynTfn-13 SeaBvola iM »?« saa « einatftd the system-

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      says tb » annual drainage of the ; country Above Wheeling on the first-named rjhaer * on an average of ; six years , was only I 4 f inches out of a rain-fall of 36 , or 41 per cent ., the rest being evaporated op ab > sorbed in vegetation . In Bnglandv out of 36 inches of raia and dew , oely \ $ inebeft wese estimated by Daltoa Jo be carried off by , th » : river $ , 23 being evaporated or absorbed . The witnesses before the Sanitary Commission ; assigned a eonatant qtiairtityo £ from IS to 20 inches as evfegraatfed or absorbed ^ axKL deemed the test of the- r » in ^ fali » v * ilkbl % what «* ve » ifc might be at any particular spot , Th ^ se , fftqfcs would not lead us to anticipate more than 4 Q per ceat . of the . rain-fall , or IS incites out of 30 * - as- available , even if the Godavery were in our colder countre .

      But we have yet to remember ttwfcagroat part . erf the ? country through which that rjvec flon , has a , coa *» siderable elevation above the seto , _ and consequently a > diminished , atmospheric pressure , that its tennpera--tare iff high , and that the ram which fall * , in many parts almost entirely in four nrantha of the year is ; left to evaporate during the ; remaining eight . It to perhaps still more- important to remember that % failing monsoon , which gives , Wt half the usual qpiaatity of rain , will gire much leas than , half the usual available s « rphi » , and that w « might find nofc more than a or 4 inehea snulkble in such year * instead , of 121 the exhaustion of , the tanks and streams at a very earlier period of such yearpis a most distressing : £ ac # in support of this probability .

      . Agaija ,, when Colonel Cotton urges tfepe vast losa to [ which India is exposed by delay m the execution of public . works , we can respond most heartily to-almost every word of bis general remark * * reserving- only our dissent from his calculations . ' an A details . But vrhen he blames the Government for that delay we must part company , and show that no . Government or governors in India can ever construct the works which the country needs , and that if € hey could , still higher considerations require that those works should ' not be committed to their-handsi

      Written probably with but an indistinct purpose of publication * and put forth without the , advantage of the author ' s own supervision , ^ Colonel Cotton ' s book is diffuse and irregular in its structure , and does not afford the reader the finality even , of an index . Its principles and its distinguishing assertions are , however * somewhat aa follows :: — Public works ought to be made on . a system ; and they ought to be hi the hands of Government . Eailroadfr on the English plan * which he calls " grand railways , " can never be constructed , rapidly- enough to relieve the country , or carry cheaply enough for the , due development of if » resources- Water in vast quantities may be stored with amazing cheapness . This water may render rivers navigable to the

      extent of 5 OO 0 i miles * . Steam canals may he constructed tor lie * worked even mor < e , advantageously tfean . idvera ,: The stored water ma ^ also ; be employed iri irrigation to the creation of ^ credible wealth Cheap s&rgfe railways ; of a peculiar construction , may beeStafcliBfted where other xoeaaa of transit are ineligibto . Qiv these lino of various kinds transit BOas be effected for , a charge , to , the public of oneeighth of a penny p # r ton ger mile I India with , these means of production wouid maintain a population of tQQ fa a square mile , or four times its present numbervandi produce & revenue- foirt&e- Government of 600 r millions Bterlhi £ get . aonum ; , even , with ito present pouulaJion 160 millions . might be realised .. The more perfect and speedy transit . affi > rded by eailwayy may be had when the country has thus grttwhrichek , - ¦

      •^ BQB 3 Ht £ ) &B £ E £ lSr GW INDrEAj-r-ITS OBSTRUG > Y *< H- : 'ipS ^ p ^; ^ jWEIR JtBMEREE ^ dih'Srt * iJ ' \ ii ^^ c ^^ 1 ^*^ ^ - _ ¦ . l ^^ jnpl ^ jp n ^ - ^^ . ae / : a .. criticiBmof . Colpn QnmSm . J ^ Sr--mMM < & * <> C «« 4 wting oik views of ^ p |^^^ w ^ cn ^ i ^ oum ? ai&nMe , ahct the errors wh * ih Impede , the mareh of Indian progreg * . Bttt , tt ( pii ^^ ji ^^^ iB ^ g « aiace : y . toi e 3 Epres » any din % renoe the ¦

      Mimiltt . * " , ?«^ aP' W * : - qawjie ,, cannot . « B | aLpE % . ^ ei :-1 ^ dencT of what to believd tQ be hjFm ^ takea . We gladly gi ^ c all honour to Colonel ^^ n for h ^ liong and stea * fajt promotion of Indi an ¦| i ||^ ne i ^| m ^ woeks ;> more ^ 'PP&IIP ^^ I ^ ^ m ^^ f ^ SSS ^^ &m ^ f ' ^ Mw ¦ We iiymie , .. thje ^ earnest : tSamWpi i ^< yM ^^^ l '' orit &te credit justly due ^^ S may ^ Wgrea ^ r- effect to Mr erronr fif « anr ^ th « rf tet nrilei * timeiy discuseion . lie inter-? S ^ - ^ VCSr' ^^ "f ' ™ >* ' ¦ ^^ ~ ¦ W - ' —» - —mr — -w *—mm ~ w ^ ,-

      W& ^^ i ^ i & > % -i < - > - ¦ ^ ¦ " ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦> ¦ - ' >' - • • - ¦ " ¦ ¦?* . ;¦ ¦ ¦^ PWii ? ^^^ : ^*^ e ^ <*» p * f clia « acterft of : |^^ P ^ r | . ^ - ^^ , iwiiu $$ spfa ^ . froni his own know-Iw ^ # | ai ?» tf | ie |« P'l&e bes fc'or authorities ; so : long aa B ^ pengaged in actual work * we believe him to be <»*;< Cthe 7 bt « trOf executive oflocers . He begins to ^ illpfe SN ^^ - 'fe ^^ W ^^^ W ^ y ^^ W ^ ' ¥ 9-- m ^ >^« tt gene-: ^ fefe ^^* "" * tet ; to ' ^ eJp ^ tioB ^^ of im earnest Britiah engineer officer , ¦^ m ^ 0 ^ imm ^^ Mm ^ . m omvt&xwaa& B ^^ MM ^ mM ^^ t ^ m ^ t stir

      and ^ K ^ ft ^ m : the social of science an * en-^ rprise ^ he peere as well as lie can , through books , iD ^ idttielaci ^ TO and advancing world far from him . lie ^ a corner » ui rarely—news , to his purpose , more laijeljr still ; smi . while he pursues the duties of the 4 ajf , congenial , to his aspirations or not as may ; Itapp ^ n , he muses on the wants of the- peoples amongst irlban | ilieiUve ^ and feelsr often perhaps but too truly , fti&the ^ esigfis in . which , he would willingly spend * pa beflt / day . a > for their bene&t , can never force their ^ y'tn ^ uifhr tlie remote deacl weight of office above | aSft - W& ' . &m ? gladly give credit to Colonel Cotton tor * M which tlij « implies , and for much more ; but it |« notMtheclefl ^ tcue that such , a situation has its own and of

      tendency to ^ exrprs ; whep a mind energy like mn has been Subjected to its disadvantages , it is doubly necessary to apply due correction to its concliMioiiBV > W © agree most heartily with the author when he attaclbj , aa . one of the greatest hindrances to iuaprovernent ^ the , standing absurdity of making the mere TO > d ^ : of collecting thevrevenue , the great question of Bfidliij . Notning * can show more strikingly how much w * fikf&-been lied astray by our popular exclusion ilK ^ 11 ^ comttry ^ than the mistaken and most miacjiierouji proxninence given to this question in relation tp | t ,: which , at home is justly deemed only one

      ( and not the greatest ) out of many considerations on which onr ^ welfare depends . Our Indian services , like their native predecessors , arc divided into school * , if not into parties ,, on this matter ; and fowaunong them think how necessary a consequence of the waste of time , labour , water , land , and all natural advantages , is that difficulty of realising revenue which neither ryotwarry , mouzawarry , nor zemindary has ever yet overcome . When , however , Colonel Cotton , like many others , goes on to conclude that , because taxes would be more easily collected if India were well supplied with public works , therefore it is the business of the Government to construct and

      manage those works , our concurrence must cease ; and we point to England , where government and taxation have all the advantages to be derived by them from wotIcs which it -was the just province of private enterprise alone to construct . * Public " Works in India ; thoir Importance . With Sugrestionafor ) , hoir Extension and Improvement . Hy lAeut .-Col . Cotton , Chief Engineer , Madras . Allen and Co ., London . 1854 . I

      Trilling , however , as we are to eniter £ ain 4 he mo % f ^ wiDg ; hopes ifor the future of India , and satisfied as we are that such hopes may hive a firm and reasonable basis provided for them * , we are bound to say * that the arguments by which Colonel Cotton endeavours to establish bis ; own system fiufc at almost every step . It will l ) e seen that two classes of subjects are involved in these questions , viz .: those relating to physical and engineering &ct 8 j—and those relating to principles of administrattMiy o £ indostrial economy and , of the- duties- o £ Government . We think , our

      ^ author fails in respect of bath . We take first the physical facts and their appfication ; and since oui space does not permit us to follow Colonel Cotton all over India , from the Tanjore to the < Fumna ^ we shall probably best accomplish the , objects , of this discussion by rendering asf dear , t » the present state of information will permit the one case which most frequently presents itself in this book , that of the Godavery river , and the proposed improvements in the country through which it flaws . Happily the available facts are least incomplete in relation to this case .

      First , Colonel Cotton says that the basin of the Godavery contains 130 , 000 square miles—that the water which annually runs off the land within this area—that is , the surplusage of the rain ? fall beyond evaporation and the absorption by vegetation—is of the average depth of 2 feet , and that this amount , which reaches to 2 , 065 , 066 cubic yards per square mile ,. or 268 , 458 millions of cubic yards for the whole basin , is available for irrigation and transit . Let us inquire , however , first what the amount really is , and then whether it can be made available in the ways Colonel Cotton suggests .

      The Colonel ' s estimate of the area of the basin seems to us about one-seventh too great , but the difference is not material , aud we retain his- measure of L 30 , 000 square miles . The annual fall of rain in ordinary years is , at Secunderabad , from 32 to 44 inches , at Bolarum from 25 to 30 , at Jaulnah 3 » 2 , at Nagpore 31 , and at Kamptee 40 . In the Britiah Collectorates of the Deccan , about the head waters of the Godavery , but not including the Ghauts , Colonel Sykes found ifc on an average of five years

      only 23 J inches . We can hardly , then , take the average at more that 30 inches . The rains on the crest of the Western Ghauts amount often , in this latitude , to 180 inches ; but they < io not extend , in any unusual quantity , more than 30 miles to the eastward : Poonuh is beyond them . About 105 inches is therefore their average depth , if they decrease equably to their limit , and the urea on which they fall , so far as they flow into the Godavery , is about 80 miles from north to south , and 30 from eaat to west . 1 'Yom these elements it follows that the rain

      of the whole basin of tlie Godavery amounts in ordinary years to 351 , 770 millions of cubic yards . This , however , is liable to a reduction of one-half in the case of a scanty monsoon . But of this , hero as everywhere beside , only part is available;—how much ? Mr . Ellet , in his vory valuable Itenort on the Ohio and Missisaipi rivers ,

      Taking , however , ISt inches as the avallahlft 1 snrs plus of the rain-fall , that ; of the wholes basin , of the Godavery cannot ba estimated at mere than 1 AMK )© millions of cubic yards , instead of double that amount assumed by Colonel Cotton—a quantity indeed vastly too much to be wasted ; as . at present , but the troe statement of which seriously affects . the remaining arguments and . the degree © freliance to be ? placecL on ? Colonel Cotton's plans . The available surplus , whatever its amount , our author proposes to employ in two ways , and has * arguments , or rather nis calculations of result ^ require that both should he : practicable at the same , time ; one of theseia the renderingtfee Godavery aad sqixiq of its branches navigable ,, the oiher ; a , universal syar tern of irrigation . 1

      The Godavery has deep water and- a , strongcurrent , from the commencement of the xain& In June until some time after their close in September * £ b * the rest of the year its bed , wide and . sandy m many places , is covered only with a very shallow stream , oc is traversed by separate rffls of wafers Wow ^ -Mfe ; Ellet , in his Report 'i ^ Sare' quoted , % a& proposed to improve the navigation of the Ohio » which « bar at Wheeling , impede ^ by storing water in imq ^ nsa tanks , to be formed in the mountain districts above that place ; which water , retained when it would be useless or injurious as a flood , might be _ let out to raise the river when needful in a . drier time . This

      systeo > y which in suitable' circumstances has great merit , Colonel Cotton , proposes to apply to the Goda-very- Unfortunately the parallel , fails ; and a few facts will show the state of the case . W © take first tfcat part of the Godavery winch lie * between the British ( or late British ;) firontier , in long 75 j degrees east , and a poiat about 3 ^ degrees farther easV a part essential to the whole and more favourable than any other to the application of the proposed plan . Now here the river is rarely so little as- S quarter of a mile wide , oftener near twice , sad sometimes four times that width , facts connected with

      the nature of its bed do not permit us to suppose a fall of much less than one foot per mile . If , with this fall , we suppose a bed of 700 yards wide , a stream of 6 feet deep , and an average of 1 foot depth of water in the channel already , we shall find by ordinary calculations that we should expend about 2 & millions of cubic yards of water per hour , or for eight months , 12 , 780 millions ;; and not merely 300 » millions , which Colonel Cotton deems ample , or even 9000 millions , which , to provide for contingencies * he

      proposes to store . How the whole available surplus on and above this part of the river ( deducting 41 , 000 millions cubic yards from the whole for that of the Whurda ) is only 100 , 000 millions , supposing it rill stored ; "in . failing years certainly not half , probably not- one-fourth of that quantity . So that if only half the surplus were stored , and that reduced again to a half or a fourth by tlieiailure of the rains , giving a stock o f from 12 , 0 © a to 50 , 000 millions , according to the season , the river , requiring 12 , 780 rnillions ^ must either take the water away from the parching bind on whose irrigation the lives of the people had come to depend , or it must be left dry , and so would the carriage of supplies from abroad be cut off .

      From tliis , then , even if there were nothing worse , it is evident that the two objects of universal , irrigation and of n practicable river are here not compatible with each other ; a choice must be made between them , one or the other ; and it can hardly b « doubted a , railway , which no failuro of seasons would disturb , and which left all the water to be-4 Qy » ed to other uses , in which nothing can supply its place , is the true instrument of curriatfo for tho valley of the Godavery . Two other facts strengthen this view of tho case .

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      E bo 1 3 Gft TB LE ADBR . [ Satsjs ^ a ^

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 1, 1854, page 302, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2032/page/14/