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Leader (1850-1860), 2nd July 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 791, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      Including a black act , will be no substitute for the living and working system of English law , founded in the supreme courts and gradually extended throughout the country . ,

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      INDIAN FINANCE . Sir Charles Wood , in his address to the electors of Halifax , on Monday , did not exaggerate the difficulties of his position as Secretary of State for India . "I find , " he said , " an enormous deficit , large loans , the army to be reorganised , society to be reconstructed , confidence to be restored , and financial embarrassments to be retrieved . " Unquestionably immediate legislation on Indian finance is urgently required . It is a domestic question in which every man in this country -who pays taxes is deeply interest ^ , and sooner or later it must . force itself on the attention of Parliament .

      We shall endeavour to state the point as briefly as possible . At 31 st March , 1857 , the termination of the Indian financial year , there was in round numbers a square account between income and expenditure , the debt amounting to about fifty-two millions . The insurrection broke out on the 10 th of May 1 S 57 , and if we include the money required and demanded for the service of the Indian Government to the termination of the current year , tliat debt will , by the end of April next , have increased by about thirty-seven millions , bringing the burden up to eighty-nine millions . But this is not

      Threatened Disturbances at the Cafe . — last Cape mail brings tidings that the Fingoes , tvIio in 1835 were released from the yoke of the Caffres , have become so numerous as to require _ more land , and many whose time has expired have joined those Caflres who recently sought bread in the colony , in their return toKreli ' s country , between Kei and the Bushee , where they are becoming paramount . An offer has been made to join Moshesh in a combined attack on the colony , but that chief has refused . Death bt Hornets . —Syed Abdoollah , a correspondent of the Times writes : —Two gentlemen belonging to the Indian Railway Company- — Messrs , Armstrong and Boddington—were surveying a place

      called Bunder Coode , for the purpose of throwing a bridge across the Nerbudda , the channel of which , being in this place from ten to fifty yards wide , is fathomless , having white marble rocks rising perpendicularly on either side from 100 to 150 ft . high , and beetling fearfully in some parts . Suspended in the recesses of these marble rocks are numerous large hornets' nests * the inmates of which are ready to descend upon any unlucky wight whomay ve nture to disturb their repose . As the boats were passing up the river a cloud of these insects overwhelmed them ;

      the boatmen as well as the two gentlemen jumped overboard , but , Mr . Boddington , who swam and had succeeded in clinging to a marble block , was again attacked , and being unable any longer to resist the assaults of the countless hordes of his infuriated winged foes , threw himself into the depths of the water never to rise again . On the fourth day his corpse was discovered floating on the water , and was interred with every mark of respect . The other gentleman , Mr . Armstrong , and his boatmen , although very severely stung , are out of danger .

      all . In January , 1857 , the European troops in India numbered about 4 G . O 00 and the native troops 230 , 000 ; while in January last , there were , as near as may be , double the number of Europeans in the country , while the number of native troops had actually increased by about 10 , 000 . Incredible as it may appear , notwithstanding the revolt of nearly the whole of the Bengal army , what with new levies raised in the Tunjaub and elsewhere , the number of native soldiers in the pay of the State had , on the suppression of the mutiny , actually increased by about 10 , 000 men .

      We believe it is no exaggeration to say , that this increase in the strength of the European portion of the Indian army entails an additional charge , on account of military expenditure , of from five to six millions a-year ; and if to this we add the interest on the thirty-seven millions recently borrowed—say one and a half millions—we arrive at the conclusion that the Indian empire is being now governed at a loss of about seven millions a-yoar , or W A ( » X- Vt , * K m &V * V / -J - * V A * * W >••* »» rw J ¦**»• »«•••• ¦«»¦ — - — if t

      say six millions , Lord Cunning having some time ago imposed a duty on imports , from which about one million a-yoar will bo realised . We do not at present go into details , but would merely draw attention to what we believe is a simple fact , of supreme interest to every man in England , that there is an annual deficit in the Indian balance-sheet of , at the very lowest computation , six millions sterling , and that nobody has as yet informed us how this deficiency is to be supplied .

      We shall bo told to " reduce the Europeuu army and cut down the high pay of the services . " But it will be dangerous materially to reduce the strength of the European army for a longtime to come , Wo only repent what is in the mouth of every man recently from India , that until the railway system is more completely developed and facilities afforded for mpid concentration of troops on any given point , it will bo risking another insurrection to withdraw

      any largo portion of European soldiers from India ; nor will it bo possiblo to reduce , to any ixiutcriul extont the pay of members of tho Indian civil and military servkoa . There are , indeed , certain civil oflleos , tho remuneration attached to whjcfhwill admit of curtailment , but those who hopo for any retrenchment on this item , important enough materially to afl'eot the deficiency we have indicated , will assuredly bo disappointed . Wo content oursolvos for tho present with this broad statement of tho ease , Next weok wo shall go furthor into particulars , and endeavour to point out certain reforms , the adoption of which would immediately oflbct a considerable saving on account of Indian expenditure .

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      THE REVENUE . The elasticity of our national resources was never more fully illustrated than during the past year , and even within the last quarter . In the face of a Continental crisis , disturbing the trade of the whole of Europe , and in spite of the reduction of the income tax , we have still an increase of £ 220 , 000 on the quarter ; moreover , notwithstanding the fact that . £ 4 , 500 , 000 of taxation have been remitted on the year , the total decrease within that period is not more than £ 1 , 200 , 000 , These results are all the more gratifying when analysed , for they are then traced to those items of the revenue which are special tests of the general prosperity of the nation , Thus we find that in the Customs department there is an increase of nearly £ 230 , 000 , whilst the Excise duties exhibit an advance of £ 300 , 000 . The items which show a decrease are the Income Tax , in which there is a falling off of £ 400 , 000 , attributable to the reduction of the impost , and Stamps to the extent of £ 120 , 000 . Under the head of Miscellaneous Items there is an increase of £ 160 , 000 . When compared with the proceeds of the last financial year , these accounts

      are not the less satisfactory . We then linu that the increase in the Customs on the twelve months is £ 1 , 500 , 000 ; on the Excise duty , £ 270 , 000 ; on the Post Office , £ 210 , 000 ; and on Miscellaneous items , £ 000 , 000 . The whole revenue leaving a decrease on the year of about £ 1 , 200 , 000 . Altogether the returns must be regarded as affording a remarkable instance of the buoyancy of our revenue , and the sound trade and commercial activity of the country ; and they fully bear out the confident expectations of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer .

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      ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY . This company invite subscriptions for the GOO , OOOZ . of preferential 8 per cent , capital , in shares of . 5 / . each , the creation of which was authorised at the last meeting . Tins capital will be entitled , to the whole of the profits up to 8 per cent . The original share capital is then to receive 4 per cent ., and any profits beyond will be equally distributed between the two classes . The points pressed upon the public attention are that on the former occasion the cable , though now known by experience to have , been somewhat too heavy as to it's specific gravity , Avas then a great innovation in the direction of lightness , and was censured on that ground . The company , has

      been managed in the spirit of a great public institution , and not as a jobbing speculation , and no public undertaking of similar novelty and importance has been more rapidly developed ; in the month of June , 1857 , the whole project was an untried and doubtful theorem , whilst hi the month of August , 1858 , it had become an accomplished fact . The failure of the cable may be fairly attributed to the rough handling which it underwent after the first failure , having to be recoiled , stored in tanks , recoiled into the ships , and afterwards subjected to the severest series of gales that have happened in the Atlantic for many years . The directors pledge themselves not to spend any money on another cable till they have consulted the first scientific men of the age . They observe that the Government privileges and the traffic arrangements in America are

      highly valuable in themselves , and will ensure a permanent basis of success when the cable is laid , the guaranteed income * without a shilling from public , mercantile , shipping , or commercial messages , being 34 , 000 Z . a-year , besides the guarantee of 8 per cent , on 600 , 00 01 . Beyond all this , contractors are ready to make , and lay , and work successfully for ' . thirty days after it is laid , a cable such as men of the highest scientific character shall recommend . The contractors will postpone all their profit until after the cable has worked at a defined commercial speed for at least thirty days . Their profit will be reckoned in the form of a commission upon the whole cost as ascertained by a public accountant ; and if they fail in working the cable during thirty days complete , they will forfeit the whole of their large profit , and a further sum of 10 , 000 / . in hard cash .

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      Ko . 484 . July 2 , 1859-1 THE LEADER 791

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      your subjects , the personal tribute of our unwavering attachment to your rule . The completion of the most gigantic work of modern days would afford to your Majesty a fitting occasion to judge of the importance of your province of Canada , while it would assure to its inhabitants the opportunity of uniting in their expressions of loyalty and attachment to tlio throne and empire . We , therefore , most humbly pray that your Majesty will graciously deign to bo present at the opening of tho ViotorJa Bridge , accompanied by your royivl Consort , and suoh roombors of your Majesty ' s august family as it may please your Majesty to solect to attend you on the occasion . "

      in British Americaand to recoivo The Qui : en and the Canadians . —Tho address requesting her Majesty to honour with her presence tho opening of the Victoria , Bridge in I 860 was presented to the Queen on Saturday . The deputation consisted of JLiout .-Colonel Jar vis , the speaker of the Commons of Canada , the Mayor of Quebec , Mr . Cassault , and laeut .-Colonel Kylands . Her Majesty expressed hersolf much pleased , saying , " I am much ploas . et . 1 to reQoiva this address from my Canadian subject ? . " The Canadians soy : — " Wo havo long hoped that your Majesty would bo graciously pleased to honour with your presence

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      SERIALS . Blackwood ' s Edinburgh Magazine No . && Wlliam T ^ Naftotd Review . No . l 7 , July , l&W . Chapman Frier ' s Magazine . No . H 55 , J . W . Parker and Son . ssrswSa & » s «^ *»¦ " - sS ^^«^ -- ^ w - LordBm'onhPovtionl Works , Part 0 . Juhn Murray . nvL rffitarical Mamzine . No . 0 . Trttbuev and Co . Tho Gcflfe XofJvX ? ' . Part 0 . \ V . and R . Chambers . UZStJolVtilffijHttti , No . 50 . J . S . Virtue . The English CycUjjicvdia of Arts and Sciences . Brnd-ThXtnia 'T ' lSo . V . Bradbury and Evans . Tho History of m Great French Revolution . Part 2 . Tho EngUshtoQiMn ' a Journal . No . 17 . Piper , Stephonson arid Co . Tho London Review . No . 24 . Alexander Ww "" . Kingston ' s Magazine for Boys . No . 0 . BoswortU ' Aw Wttehly Magazine . Part 0 . Ward and Lock .

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      BOOKS RECEIVED . ' The Poems of Heine . Longman , Brown and Co . The Worhs of the Rev . Sydney Smith . Long-man , Brown and to . f A Woman ' s Thoughts about Women . Hurst and The Ordeal of Richard Fevercl . By George Meredith . In Three vols . Chapman and Hall . lite Pasha Papers . Sampson Low and Co . Aeadia ; or , a Month with the Blue Hoses . Sampson Low and Co . A Glossarial Index tojthc-Printed English Literature . Bv Hubert Qolericlg-e . Triibner and Co . The National Cyclopiedia Supplemental Volume l < i . Routledge , "WnniL'S nud Co . _ British Novelists and their Styles . By David Masson , M . A . Cambridge : Maemilhin and Co . ¦ . Goethe ' s Faust . By G . G , Zorffe , Ph . Dr . Simpkm , Marshall and Co . ¦ - ,.,. School Perspective . By J . R . Dickaee ; biinpkm , Marshall and Co . . Wild Scenes amount , the Celts . J . H . and J . Parker . Old Styles '* Uy Henry Spleer , lisq . Bosworth and The English in India . By Captuin Evans Bell . John Chapman . The Volunteers' Handbook . Dean and Son . Emihj Morton : a Tale . Chnrlea Weatortoii . , Continental Europe from 1792 to lt * 5 l > . _ Jknlpfht and Travels and I'nivcllers . By Mrs . Tryllojic . Kuitf ht and Son . ~

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 2, 1859, page 791, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2301/page/11/