START UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY MICROFILMED 1992 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICE BERKELEY, CA 94720 MAY BE COVERED BY COPYRIGHT LAW TITLE 17 U.S. CODE REPRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE THROUGH UC BERKELEY GENERAL LIBRARY INTERLIBRARY LOAN OFFICE AUTHOR : Young, William Richard TITLE : A few words on +he Indian question PLACE : London DATE : I858 VOLUME : CALL M NEG : 90- NO : 3s 0) A417 FILMED AND PROCESSED BY LIBRARY PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY CA 94720 JOBNO. |] 7.9 J rl 22 pe Ces le EN fl fl fs I= ll mn a DATE g 9[2 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS —1963 REDUCTION RATIO 9 DOCU M E N T ee op Veo | EE SOURCE GENERAL LIBRARY UNNUMBERED PAGE LS] Pagination begins on p.L8], PP.L3]-L 7] not designated, pp-C1I-C23 not aceovnted For in the text. FEW WORDS THE INDIAN QUESTION. BY WILLIAM RICHARD YOUNG, LATE OF THE BENGAL CIVIL SERVICE. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO, 65, CORNHILL. 1858. PREFACE. Tue following pages were, for the most part, prepared for the Press before public attention had been pointedly drawn to the subject to which they relate, by a paragraph in the Royal Speech, and by the still more significant semi-official announcement that the Cabinet are prepared, on the re-assembling of Parliament, to introduce a plan for the future government of India, which will wholly dispense with the existing system of Administration. The measure to be proposed by the Ministry, being as yet entirely a matter of conjecture, is not, of course, at present ripe for examination. The author does not pretend to discuss this very important subject in all its bearings, his sole aim being to suggest some points which seem deserving of consideration by those who are about to deal with a most difficult and momentous question. THE INDIAN QUESTION. Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis. Tue events which have occurred in India during the past year must inevitably lead to a searching Parlia- mentary inquiry into the circumstances and condition of our Eastern empire. The causes of the late extraordinary outbreak, the defects in the constitu- tion and working of our native armies, the efficiency of our civil administration, the wisdom of our neutral course in respect to religious matters, the expediency of our annexation policy, the prudence of our financial operations, the soundness of our fiscal system : these, and many other important subjects connected with the maintenance and exercise of the British sove- reignty in India, will necessarily come under close review in the approaching discussions. But the pressing and engrossing question will of course be, In what manner is India to be governed in future ?—Is the East India Company to retain in whole, or in part, its character of Governor, or is the country to be ruled direct from Downing Street? This is the really essential point to which our attention should be directed, and until it shall be settled, the discussion of other matters will be to little purpose. In order to meet this point, it may be well to understand fully, 8 what is the East India Company? We all know well enough what Downing Street is. There are many people in England, even at the present time, so ill informed as to believe, that the East India Company is a powerful body, to which Parliament has made over our Eastern empire to be governed according to the discretion of that Corpora- tion, which, at its pleasure, enacts tyrannical laws, oppresses the people with a rapacious and grinding fiscal system, devises and maintains monopolies and vexatious commercial restrictions, confiscates pro- perties, annexes its neighbours’ lands—all this being done for the especial and private benefit of itself and its servants, subject to mo responsibility but that involved in the necessity of answering some occa- sional question in Parliament by an independent member.” Others, better informed, are aware that the East India Company, though nominally intrusted with the government of British India, is, in reality, only the medium through which the national will and policy are expressed, and that in its political action, it is, in theory, subject not only to responsibility but to con- trol ;—nevertheless, they think that, in practice, too much independent administrative power is left in its hands, and that, as its policy is still strongly imbued with the narrow and illiberal spirit which was its vice as a commercial corporation, it is yet able to obstruct improvement, to damp enterprise, and to act as a drag on the advance of the Indian population in material and intellectual prosperity. Those who understand the real character and posi- tion of the Company, know that it is neither more 9 nor less than a large body of male and female investors, who are the possessors of what is alod India Stock, that stock being the representative of) what was the commercial capital of “the Company of | Merchants trading to the East Indies "—that the said proprietors enjoy a certain fixed annual dividend, the amount of which is settled and guaranteed by Act of Parliament—that they have no greater interest in the condition and prospects of India than the holder of Consols has in the passing of a Railway Act—and that, so far from exercising any influence for good or for evil on the Government of India, they are, for the most part, as ignorant of the geography, the institu- tions, the resources, and the wants of the country, 5 they are of the stratification of the Mandingoes, or o the anatomical structure of the Mastodon. We have now got a tolerably accurate answer to the question, What is the East India Company ? and no doubt it does seem passing strange, that the govern- ment of an immense Empire, with a population of two hundred millions, should be committed to sucha body. But, before allowing ourselves to be altogether gver- whelmed with the force of this apparent reductio ad absurdum, let us cast a quiet glance around us, and soe whether absolute harmony between means and end is the rule of our institutions, or whether we % not rather live in an atmosphere of anomalies and fictions. The Constitution, the Church, and the Law ire fall of them,—in fact, it would seem that no Institution, nothing Established, can get on without professing what it does not practise, and without preferring what is complex and circuitous to what is simple and direct. So intimately is the system of checks, coun- 10 terpoises, and limitations, interwoven with the body politic, that your free-born Briton, if he found an Act of Parliament, a Diplomatic N ote, a Bill in Equity, or a Royal Commission, plain in language and intel- ligible in purpose, would certainly suspect something wrong—probably centralization, which in his esti- mation is the very essence of mischief. Tt is, there- fore, rather unreasonable to expect that a great institution like the East India Company should differ from every other institution in the country, by pre- senting nothing strange or anomalous. There is the Bank of England, for instance, a great Corporation, the composition of which is as faulty, and apparently as ill-suited to supply an executive fit to wield immense powers, as that of the East India Company. Who are the constituents of the men who rule the mone- tary affairs of the country, who, in conjunction with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, conduct all the grand financial operations of the Empire, who manage the National Debt, who control the exchanges, who regulate the circulation, who dictate the rates of discount, and influence the money-market all over the world? Who placed the N ormans, the Hubbards, the Barings, and the numerous other eminent men who have employed their commercial and financial talents in the Bank direction, in their important position ? Why, a constituency, the very counterpart of that whose qualification for the election of Indian Directors is deemed so preposterous—a miscellaneous and fluc- tuating assemblage of respectable moneyed folks, male and female, who concern themselves nothing about any act of their Governors, saving only the declaration of a dividend, and who little dream that they are 11 controlling the finances of the world. If there are Bulls about the India House, there are assuredly Bears in the neighbourhood of the Bank; and if Leaden- hall Street is under the thumb of elderly spinsters and gouty dignitaries of the Church, there can be no doubt but that the “old lady in Threadneedle-street must submit to be snubbed by ancient dowagers and superannuated Common Councilmen. But because the proprietors of Bank stock are not adepts in finance, does any man of authority and experience propose that the Government should at once shut up the Bank, and forthwith betake itself to the business of issuing five-pound notes, discounting bills, Yeceiving deposits, scrutinizing suspicious papers, and atang with fond solicitude the approaching maturity of ¢ our first of exchange ?” : The fact is, that the men who fill the responsible places of Indian Directors and Bank Governors by no means reflect the peculiar composition of their respective proprietaries. Large constituencies seldom select as their representatives persons of their own class and capacity. The ‘longshore men, who are said to exercise a predominant influence at Civic elections, have not yet elevated a Limehouse lighterman to the mayoralty ; and if there were universal suffrage at Manchester, we should not see an operative returned as member. There is always, in the main, amongst electors, especially the well-educated, that amount of judgment and self-respect which will lead them to choose representatives with capacity to de them credit ; and although sinister influences and unworthy combinations will occasionally prevail to the exclusion of ability and to the selection of mediocrity, such 12 cases of perversity are assuredly the rare exceptions to the general rule, that brains will, in the long run, carry the day with all classes. This result will, in an especial manner, be obtained in electoral bodies like the holders of Bank and India stock, where religious and political excitement are little likely to exert a disturbing influence. A mere reference to the names of the many eminent men who have taken a distin- guished part in the administration of both Corpora- tions, would suffice to show that the elective power has not been abused in either body. But it may be said by the enemies to anomalies, ‘“ even admitting that in general the choice made has been creditable, still, at best, that is only saying that a system obviously faulty and absurd, has not done so much mischief as might have been expected. Why continue a state of things which, however adapted to the circumstances of a commercial body, is altogether applicable to the administration of an Empire ?” The most obvious and practical reply to this, is a reference to the results obtained by the system impugned. No doubt the plea that an institution, or a system, has worked well, is no conclusive answer to objections advanced against inherent defects and obvious and acknowledged vices. Nevertheless, no wise statesman nor candid inquirer will discard such a consideration as valueless. In this practical country, we do not like to part with what has done us good service, merely because we are told by ingenious fault-finders that something much better could be substituted for it. We stick to our Established Church, though there is no lack of acute dialectitians ready to prove that it is a compound of rapacity, 13 injustice, and indolence. We hold to our fiscal code, though political economists have established beyond controversy that each individual tax is fraught with inequality and hardship. We adhere to our judicial system in spite of law reformers, who are incessantly engaged in exposing the absurdity of our laws and the defects of our courts. Our representative system, albeit it has of late years sustained some rude shocks, and is threatened with further assaults, is likely to stand its ground, notwithstanding the demonstrations of its rottenness and profligacy addressed to us by it ardent reformers.” And, to descend from great things to little, even that venerable relic of antiquity, Parish- Beadledom, which from time immemorial has supplied rich food for the caricaturist, and has been the favourite butt of the sharpshooters of our light lite- rature, is allowed to repose unmolested on its cherished traditions. We smile at the strange trappings which swell the dignity of the man of office—the cocked hat, the gold lace, and the ponderous staff—but we willingly tolerate the harmless vanities of our friend Marmaduke Magog in consideration of the modicum of service he renders us by intimidating tramps and dispersing mischievous urchins. So, after all, the suggestion that the East India Company has worked well is not without warrant and precedent. But there is a well-known and favourite form of objection ready in cases where the existence of some good cannot be denied. It is said, so runs the formula, “The successful result is obtained not In consequence but in spite of the character of the administration ;” and no doubt persons may be found sufficiently prejudiced to affirm that whatever is defec- 14 tive in the Government of India is to be ascribed to the Company, and whatever is tolerable is to be attri- buted to the corrective influence of the controlling power. With reasoners of this class, if they can be called reasoners, there is no dealing—argument can be opposed only to argument, and facts to facts; but a conflict of assertions can lead to no practical result. No one can affirm that the administration of India by the Company has been free from errors and imper- fections. It will not be difficult to point out many shortcomings, much faulty legislation, many financial blunders, a good deal of dilatory action where promp- titude would have been desirable, and too much per- severance In exploded errors; but after the largest admission of faults and deficiencies has been made, it will remain an indisputable fact, that, as a whole, the Government of British India has for a lengthened series of years commanded general admiration and approval, and has been carried on with an amount of prudence, sagacity, moderation, and success, for which no parallel is to be found in the annals of the world. Can the Mutiny be justly ascribed to the peculiar constitution of the Indian Government? or will it be affirmed by any impartial inquirer, that if the A dminis- tration of India had been in May last conducted by a Secretary of State sitting in Downing Street, there would probably have been greater prescience displayed or better precautions taken? Would the greased cartridges, which were prepared at Woolwich, have proved less obnoxious to the sepoys because the fatty manipulation was superintended by an officer bearing the Queen’s commission, and mot by one serving the Company ? If the possible offence to the religious 15 prejudices of the natives involved in the employmeut - of the greased cartridges was not foreseen and guarded against by men who have passed their lives in India, or in the study of Indian questions and character, is it very probable that the authorities at the Horse Guards or in Whitehall would have displayed greater foresight? Then, again, with respect to the defect in the constitution and discipline of the native army, is there any sufficient ground for coming to the conclusion that a direct rule by the Horse Guards would have obviated such defect? No doubt, now, after the catastrophe has occurred, there are numerous acute critics and proficients in military science ready to point out the vices of the organization of the Indian army, to show that it could not possibly have lasted, and to wonder at the blindness and apathy of those who could not see that a speedy explosion was inevitable. Of all the horrid hideous notes of woe, Sadder than owl songs or the midnight blast, Is that portentous phrase “I told you so,” Uttered by friends, those prophets of the past, Who stead of saying what you now should do, Own they foresaw that you would fall at last. But where were all those far-seeing friends and sagacious advisers before May last? We hear, in- deed, a good deal of vague talk about Sir Charles Napier’s gloomy forebodings, his neglected warnings, and his contemned suggestions, but no one has yet shown that Sir Charles Napier ever placed upon record any definite plan or specific proposals for the re-constitution of the Indian armies. If the defects of our military organization were so glaring and its dangers so imminent as we are now told they were, surely it was Sir Charles Napier’s right, as it was 16 his duty, whilst holding the office of Commander- in-Chief, to set them out in clear and unmistakeable language, and at the same time to point out the remedy which his experience suggested. Did he or did he not do so? If he did, surely the proof of it can be produced. If he did not, but if, instead of propounding a bold and intelligible scheme, unflinch- ingly exposing abuses and showing what reforms were indispensable, he contented himself with offering some casual remarks on laxity of discipline and defects in the system of recruiting, he cannot be absolved from responsibility for that portion of our disaster which is attributable to the vicious constitution of the army. It is no answer to this to say that the relations sub- sisting between Sir C. Napier and Lord Dalhousie were such as to afford little prospect of a fair appre- ciation of the proposals of the Commander-in-Chief. No Governor-General would have dared to disregard the opinions, advice and warnings of a man of Sir C. Napier’s professional eminence, if placed before him with the weight and solemnity of an official paper. They must have commanded the most deliberate and anxious consideration. But the case is different when detached remarks and incidental suggestions on military organization and regimental discipline are interspersed in a report on another subject. The obiter dicta of even an authority so high as Sir C. Napier cannot be expected to carry with them the force of a state paper. Again, there is the question as to the neutral policy in regard to religious observances. Is this the peculiar creation of the prejudices and latitudinarianism of Leadenhall Street? It is called sneeringly or approvingly, according to the bias of the 17 person employing the epithet, the traditional ” policy of the East India Company. But it must not be forgotten that this traditional policy, right or wrong, has received the deliberate sanction and condonation of the British Government on all occasions. It is, therefore, something less than ingenuous to lay the entire odium of the policy objected to at the door of the India House, and to intimate that the East India Company is the only obstruction to the spread of missionary labours, and to the assertion of the Christian character of the British Indian Govern- ment. Does any rational being suppose that a single yard of broad cloth would have been given to the priests of Juggernautt, or that a solitary pound of gunpowder could have been expended in salutes on the occasion of Hindoo festivals, in defiance of the express disapproval of the British nation or the prohi- bition of Her Majesty’s ministers? In India there have been Governors-General and Governors, the dele- gates of their Sovereign, representing religious and political opinions of every shade and complexion, some of them men remarkable for the depth and earnest- ness of their religious convictions, mourning over the idolatries and superstitions with which they were sur- rounded, and panting for the spread of Christianity. But has any one of those pious and zealous men nerved himself to the task of pulling down with a rude hand the structure of tolerance and conciliation which has been reared by the wisdom and experience of his predecessors, or of declaring open war against superstitious observances and idolatrous usages, as incompatible with the sovereignty of Christianity? It is said that the gifts to the priests of Juggernautt B 18 (which, by-the-by, have wholly ceased under the Company’s authority), and the salutes at Hindoo festivals, although in themselves apparently trifles, are really important as impressing the natives with the belief that we are doing homage to Heathenism and are lukewarm in our Christianity. What! The Government which has put down infanticide, abolished Suttee, and passed an Act legalising the marriage of Hindoo widows, which is multiplying churches throughout the country, protecting the labours of the missionary, and promoting to the utmost that spread of education which carries with it certain death to superstition and mental debasement, such a Govern- ment as that the patron of Heathenism and the discourager of Christianity! No; the natives of India are far too acute and sensitive in matters touching their religion and usages to give credit to such fables. They are, moreover, shrewd calculators, and putting on one side of the account the broad cloth and the gunpowder, and on the other side the Suttee and marriage laws and the schools, they will have no difficulty in determining whether the balance is for or against Hindooism. As the firing of salutes at religious festivals in India is often adverted to as a degrading compromise of Christian sincerity, it may be advisable to put the matter in its true light, which may be done by an illustration. If Lord Shaftesbury chanced some of these days to find himself at Rome— the city, not the church—and if he happened to meet in the Corso a religious procession, he would probably do what most sensible Englishmen—men in easy circumstances, who can afford themselves the luxury of keeping a conscience—would, if similarly situated, 19 do, that is, he would remove his hat whilst the procession passed; and in so acting he would be conscious that he compromised nothing of his religious convictions, nor abated one jot of his hostility to Romish teaching and practice, although as a matter of good taste he thought it right to abstain from doing what would be considered a gratuitous outrage to the feelings of those around him. It is difficult to say what might occur in the event of a refusal to comply with this very harmless requirement of courtesy, but it is just possible that in such a contingency Lord Shaftesbury might have occasion to address himself to Lord Palmerston in the character of civis Romanus, and to require the Premier's aid in the assertion of his right to dis- regard the wholesome and common-sense precept, ¢« When at Rome do as Rome does.” The firing of a salute with British powder on the occasion of a Hindoo Pooja has precisely the same significance as the act—it is hoped not rashly ascribed to his lord- ship—committed by Lord Shaftesbury in taking off his hat. Will it be gravely affirmed that, because we pull off our shoes before entering the church of Santa Sofia at Constantinople, we abjure Christianity and pay homage to Mohammed? Those who desire to see this subject treated in a calm and statesmanlike manner, will do well to refer to a minute by the Governor-General, of 1st April, 1837, and to the correspondence thereon with the Court of Directors, to be found in the Parliamentary papers. The offences of the East India Company against Christianity may be thus summed up. First, there is the broad cloth for Juggernautt; second, there 1s { od hela yn 82 Aa 20 the gunpowder for salutes; and third, there is the case of the Duffadar in a native infantry corps, who, having embraced Christianity, was removed from his regiment to another station, without detriment to his rank, pay, or character. Some add a fourth count to the indictment, viz., the closing of the public offices in India on the occurrence of the religious festivals of Hindoos and Mussulmans, which is said to be a timid and unworthy compromise of Christian principles. It 1s scarcely worth while to deal seriously with such a charge, but, for the information of those who have no personal knowledge of the habits and usages of the native population, it may be as well to state that the closing of the public offices, on the occasions referred to, is a matter of convenience, indeed of necessity, for this simple reason, that if they were left open no business would be transacted in them. The vast majority of the subordinate employés is composed of Hindoos and Mohammedans, who are precluded by their religious tenets and usages from carrying on business during those festivals. Those who have been in Calcutta, Bombay, and other large commercial cities, know how rigidly this rule is observed, and how entirely the bustle of the bazar is stilled, and all descriptions of business are suspended at such times. Would the enemies of compromise insist on keeping open the Custom House when the entire population are agreed in refusing to entertain any question about clearances, cockets, drawbacks, or dockets? Would they keep the courts open when neither plaintiffs, defendants, witnesses, nor even the crier could be prevailed upon by any process of compulsion to give their attendance? Or would they have the Governor- 21 General proclaim by beat of tom-tom that Shroffs and Banians must in future carry on their operations in the bazar without regard to festivals? If the gen- tlemen of the Stock Exchange happened to be all members of the Hebrew persuasion, there is little doubt but that Saturday would be kept as a “close holiday” in Capel Court, but there would not, on that account, be any absolute necessity for our all attending Synagogue. The remedy, it may be said, is, to dismiss the native subordinates and to substitute Christians. Anything rather than bow Christianity before Heathen superstition! But there is a certain Act of Parliament which runs thus, “No native of} the British dominions nor any natural born subject of Her Majesty shall, by reason only of his religion, place of birth, descent or colour, be disabled from holding any place, office or employment.” How 1s this to be got over? On the whole it does not seem that the indictment against the Company for malfeasance or misfeasance in regard to Christianity is very heavy. In fact, nothing can be more vague and unprecise than the manner in which this very important matter is usually treated. We are told that we should act as if we were not ashamed of our Christian character, that we should prove the sincerity of our professions by dis- countenancing IHeathenism by every means short of compulsory conversion, and that our toleration should be limited to non-interference with the freedom of conscience, but should not extend to the endurance of observances revolting to Christian feelings. Out of generalities of this kind it is not easy to build up any definite policy. A great deal or a very little may be 22 meant, according to the significance which different people may attach to expressions not in themselves very precise. All sincere professors of our faith will be agreed as to the inestimable benefit which the people of India would derive from the extension to them of the blessings of Christianity with its accom- panying enlightening and humanizing influences,— but the wise, the pious, and the earnest, may differ as to the best mode of accomplishing this most desirable end. The subject is too large and too solemn for discussion in these pages; one only remark is ven- tured, that the momentous questions involved should not be committed solely to the impulses of zeal and enthusiasm. They fall within the legitimate province of the statesman and the legislator. Amongst the other offences imputed to the Company are a niggardly expenditure on public works, and a disposition to starve the educational movement. The conduct of the Indian Government in regard to these matters may be open to grave reproach, or it may find some justification in financial or other considerations, but the advocates of a larger expenditure under these heads must be very sanguine or very simple if they imagine that all their difficulties will be at an end when the administration falls under the immediate direction of Downing Street, and when the Indian Budget comes to be opened by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Those who will take the trouble to refresh their recollection by referring to the annual battles in the Commons on the estimates, the bicker- ings and badgerings which accompany each vote, the emphatic calls for explanation of an excess of a hun- dred pounds in this grant, or the reproaches vented 23 because some conceded reduction has fallen short i a few pounds of the amount promised—may fee assured that the Finance Minister will not be very likely to err on the side of a profuse expenditure, when the entire responsibility of squaring the dis- bursements with a revenue exhibiting an average annual deficit of a couple of millions or so, falls on his shoulders. Let us for a moment indulge in an anticipatory peep into an unwritten colar of Parlia- mentary intelligence, and thus in imagination trans- port ourselves to the House of Commons when the miscellaneous estimates for India are, for the first time, under discussion. The House went into committee on the Miscel- laneous (Indian) Estimates. On the vote of 50,0001. 500,000 rupees] for education. 4 oll : Mr inquired with whom the distribution of the money rested ? : oil The Secretary for India said that a Commission of Education was appointed in India, somewhat analogous to our Committee of the Privy Council, - which controlled the funds. : Mr hoped that the management of the Indian Commission would give more satisfaction to the people there than that of the Educational Committee 1n England does here. 0 O'—— wished to know whether Ireland was represented in the Indian Commission, and whether any Roman Catholic was a member ?—because, if not, there was no security that the Catholic Missionary schools would be treated with justice. J The Secretary for India was not prepared to sta 24 the nationality and religious opinions of each member of the Commission, but he could assure the hon. member that the Commission was composed of most honourable and intelligent gentlemen, in whom implicit confidence might be placed. Mr. —— thought it right to inquire whether the Bible—that is the authorized version—was to be used in the Indian schools. The Secretary for India said that the matter to which the question referred was one of the greatest difficulty and delicacy, and he must decline giving any absolute pledge on the subject. Mr. observed that they were now about to vote 50,0007., for the purpose of educating 200,000,000 of our fellow subjects in India. This most munificent grant will allow the handsome sum of one farthing annually for the education of every four and one- sixth individuals. Is this the kind of education which is to work the wonders which enthusiasts look for? The Chancellor of the Exchequer said that the hon. gentleman in his very ingenious calculation had not made allowance for the expenditure of Missionary and other societies in the promotion of education, which was very considerable. Besides, the whole of the 200,000,000 of India were not British subjects. No doubt the spread of education in India was a most important object, but, unfortunately, even in a matter of this kind, some regard must be had to financial considerations. We do not profess to pro- vide a state education for all the natives of India; all that we can hope is, that, by affording some pecuniary aid and other encouragement, we may assist 25 in the good work of advancing moral and intellectual improvement. Mr. doubied whether we could expect to get much credit for a sincere desire to promote moral and intellectual improvement, so long as we persisted in our iniquitous course of seeking a sordid gain by poisoning and demoralizing the whole Chinese nation ! Of what value will our professions of benevolence and piety be when weighed against the vile example of our practice! Sir, the opium traffic 1s an accursed blot (Oh! Oh! and Question!) The Chairman must remind the hon. member that the question before the Committee is the grant of 50,0000. for education in India. : Mer. was aware that such was the question, but as the Chancellor of the Exchequer had put the matter on financial grounds, he —— (Order! order!) The grant was agreed to. On the question that 250,000. (2,500,000 rupees) be granted for Public Works in India, a Mr. —— asked whether any detailed description of the works to be executed would be laid before the Committee ; also, whether the works would be done by open contract or by Government workmen, and, if by the latter, whether estimates would be prepared. We are in the habit of looking rather closely at expenditure of this kind at home, and there is no reason why our vigilance should be lessened when the disbursements are to be made at a distance where the control of Parliament is comparatively inefficient. (Hear! hear!) : The Secretary for India could assure his hon. friend that due regard would be had to economy 26 and efficiency in the expenditure. The plan of open contracts was not in general use in India, as the class of men who contract for our great works here are not as yet to be found in India. The works are therefore done by executive officers appointed by the Government, who furnish estimates for the approval of a superintending board. Mr. considered the explanation of the right hon. gentleman to be far from satisfactory ; the system pursued appeared to afford ample opportunity for jobbery and mismanagement. Mr. wished to know what portion of the grant would be expended in works of immediate benefit to the people, such as irrigation and improvement of land and water carriage, and if any part would be appropriated to military and defensive objects. The Secretary for India said that works of a purely military character, such as barracks and forti- fications, would be provided for under a separate head—the chief expenditure would be on works of general utility, such as roads, canals, and irrigation. Mr. inquired whether parks and places of recreation for the inhabitants of the large towns were to be provided for out of the grant. The Secretary for India in reply, said that no doubt that important subject would be kept in view. Mr. asked whether a scheme for the drainage of the salt water lake in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, and the application of its site to the formation of model farms, abattoirs, and zoological gardens, had been brought to the notice of the Government. The Secretary for India was not aware whether 27 any such plan had been offered for consideration, but he would make inquiry. Mr. asked whether any part of the grant would be applied to the encouragement of cotton cultivation. The Secretary for India replied, that the object adverted to by the hon. member, although very important, scarcely fell within the scope of a grant for public works. The cultivation of cotton is a very proper undertaking for private enterprise, but it is very doubtful whether the interference of Government in such matters, with bounties or pecuniary aid, ever effects any real good. Mr. —— said that after successive Governments had recklessly squandered millions of the public money on the useless and absurd works at Keyham, Alderney, and Dover, it was impossible not to feel some shame at the proposal of a paltry grant of 250,000/. for the improvement of a vast empire, with an area of 800,000 square miles, and a population of 130,000,000. He feared that the burning reproach of Burke, uttered eighty years ago, might be applied with equal justice to our present rule in India. The Chancellor of the Exchequer must admit that the amount proposed was not large, and that a much more considerable sum might be very beneficially expended on the objects in view; but it must be remembered that this and every other outlay must be provided for by the taxation of the inhabitants of India, who, he could assure his hon. friend, had no greater affection for the tax-gatherer than his hon. friend’s constituents had. (A laugh.) There would be 28 little use in attempting to persuade the agricultural population of India that they will be gainers by sub- mitting to taxation for the construction of roads and works of irrigation. Besides, it should be remem- bered that we are threatened with a motion for the suppression of the opium monopoly; so that an annual revenue of close upon four millions—that is to say, nearly one-seventh of the entire public income of India—is in jeopardy. He feared, therefore, that until the revenue of India became more flourishing, we must be content to postpone many undertakings of unquestionable utility. Mr. asked the Right Hon. Secretary to inform him of the meaning of the words cutcha and pucka, which were of frequent recurrence in the Reports of the Collector of Rajmistreepoor. His right hon. friend must, by virtue of his office, be supposed to be perfectly familiar with Indian nomenclature, but some degree of ignorance in regard to foreign languages had usually been pardoned in country gentlemen. Some amusement was here occasioned by the evident perplexity of the Right Hon. Secretary, who appeared to address some words of inquiry to the hon. member for , who sat behind him, but, seemingly, with little success, as the hon. member shook his head, amidst much laughter. The Secretary for India, who, on rising, was received with laughter and cheers, feared he could not take credit for the Oriental erudition ascribed to him by his hon. friend, and he must frankly confess his inability to interpret the meaning of the words alluded to. But if the hon. gentleman would allow 29 the vote to be taken, he would engage to satisfy his hon. friend’s very reasonable curiosity at a later period. : | After some further conversation, the purport of which did not reach the gallery, the vote was agreed to, and the House resumed. , The only remaining offences imputed to the adus- nistration of the East India Company, are, a jealous and exclusive policy in regard to the settlement of Europeans not in their service, and a cold-shouldered attitude in respect to the encouragement of private enterprise, and the application of capital to the advancement of prosperity in India. It is needless to say much on this head, as the policy complained of, to whatever extent it may have existed at an earlier period, is one of bygone times. The East India Com- pany of the present day has not the power, if it had the inclination, to oppose any obstacles to the entrance and domiciliation in India of any British subject who chooses to settle there, the sole condition being sub- mission to the laws of the country. And as to the direction of private enterprise and capital to the development of the resources of India, there are cer- tainly, at present, no impediments to their freest application, excepting such as the climate and the physical and social peculiarities of the country present. : There remains the great question of annexation to be touched on, and here it may be remarked that nothing is more common than to hear OppOnRIS of the Company attributing to that body an insatiable thirst for territorial aggrandisement, a covetous longing for the possessions of their neighbours, and an over- 30 and quarrel - picking demeanour towards weaker rulers, to whom they are ever ready to appl the apologue of the wolf and the lamb. No an many of our Indian annexations have had a | tinge of rapacity and injustice, defended on that most convenient and elastic of pleas, state expediency ; but whether, as some : they have been the inevitable results and righteous bearing strong and can only be say, : of just wars, mterference with misgovernment and oppression, or whether, as others affirm, they have been simply the application of * the good old rule”— “ That they shall take who have the power, And they shall keep who can,” unaccompanied by any squeamish scruples on the score of right or justice, is really quite immaterial in form. ing an estimate of the merits or demerits of the East India Company’s rule; for it is beyond all doubt that the policy of annexation has been an Imperial polic and that it has been not suggested by, but upon the Company. The merit or obloquy of each separate accession of Indian territory belongs, there- fore, entirely to the Ministers of the Crown for the time being, who inspired their delegate the Goovernor- General. The supposition that the East India Com- pany possessed under their charter the unrestricted power of levying war, invading foreign territories and adding to their Empire immense poovind in only without the concurrence of the Ministry but in defiance of their prohibition, is too absurd require refutation, especially after the recent declaration of Mr. Vernon Smith :—“Tt is true that the President of the Board of Control is responsible for everything done by the Court of Directors.” No Ministry would 31 be craven enough to seek to evade the responsibility attaching to the annexation of Pegu or Oude by referring to the nominal supremacy of the Company ; and if any such unworthy subterfuge were attempted, the nation would know well how to put the saddle on the right horse. Having now taken a brief survey of the charges brought against the East India Company, and having, it is hoped, shown that these charges are, for the most part, based on a misconception of the real power possessed by the Company, and that the assumption by the Crown, which in reality is, and always has been, omnipotent, of the functions now discharged by the Court of Directors, would not be likely at once to correct all abuses, to remedy all defects, and to introduce all the blessings which the sanguine antici- pate from the change,—it may be well to consider for a moment what are the immediate and obvious advan- tages to be obtained by deposing Leadenhall Street and proclaiming Downing Street. Each class of the opponents of the present order of things will, no doubt, see in the change an opportunity for the advancement of its peculiar views; but as the views of different classes will probably often be little in harmony, and sometimes will be in direct antagonism, it will not be easy to deduce from those conflicting estimates a precise statement of expected benefits which will be adopted by all. There are, however, two advantages of the proposed change which seem to be put forward with something like common consent. They are— First : That the existing machinery of government being complex, cumbrous, and circuitous, there would be certain gain in substituting for it the simple and 32 direct instrumentality of Downing Street rule. And Second : That the natives of India would be Meplind with a degree of awe and respect by the use of the Queen's name, which they can never feel whilst the sovereign authority is wielded in the name of the Company. With regard to the first point there is, of course no denying that if the Governor-General, whiners he has a suggestion to offer, a financial arrancement to propose, or a measure of domestic or frdiun pics to originate, were to address himself at once to the President, instead of gaining the ministerial ear through the medium of Leadenhall Street, and if he were to draw his inspirations from home “ the same way, a more direct channel of communication would be established, and it could not well be designated by those opprobrious epithets ¢cumbrous” and ro i But there is an old saying, the offspring of oor. wit, that “the short cut is not always the nearest way,” which is applicable to more things than travel- ling by highways and byeways. We are not altogether without experience of the mode In which this admirable specific of direct cor- respondence worked, under the old colonial regime. Now, indeed, matters go on smoothly enough in the Colonial Department, but why? Because the large colonies govern themselves, and the part played by the Secretary in Downing Street is limited to the not very onerous duty, of signifying her Majesty's gracious approval of this act of the colonial legislature or her desire that the other measure should be farther considered. But this easy jog-trot pace will not do for India, under the new order of things. There are there no Houses of Assembly to debate questions of supply, vote civil lists, and place unpopular ministers in a minority—no vigilant and jealous public, to exert a salutary pressure from without,” to inveigh against extravagance, jobs and class legislation, and to call representatives to a sharp reckoning—no press reflect- ing the opinions, and giving expression to the wants, wishes and grievances of the people. Where such aids and appliances exist in wholesome vitality in a community, all the substantial part of government must be performed on the spot, and the duty of any superintending or controlling imperial authority must be simple and light. But no one dreams of the estab- lishment of such a state of things in India in the present generation; and to find a suitable model for the proposed direct control of Downing Street, we must go back to the good old routine of the Colonial- office, in the times when Australasia and the Canadas were without representative institutions, or a voice in the management of their own affairs. And what was the state of things then? Why, a perpetual and vexatious interference, on the part of the central authority, in the domestic affairs of the colonists, lead- ing to endless disputes, remonstrances, irritation, and discontent, closely bordering on disaffection, one of the fruits of which was the Canadian rebellion, a matter nearly as serious as the Indian mutiny. Those who are well up in their chronology, will have no difficulty in bringing to mind the epoch of the long and vigorous reign of King at the Colonial- office. This active and energetic ruler, though, like other constitutional monarchs, irresponsible, was yet supposed to direct, from his modest station, the entire g 34 colonial policy of the country for many years. Where are we to look, in the present day, for an Atlas with shoulders fit to support the enormous weight of labour and responsibility which the direct and undivided control of an empire like India involves? How many King s must there be on the official staff to aid in so formidable a task? Some will say that the difficulty can be removed by the expedient of invest- ing the local governments with ample discretionary powers to act, without reference for advice or instruc- tions to the controlling authority, excepting in matters of paramount importance. Very good; if a Governor- General is a fit man for his office, he is certainly at least as able to decide what is best for India, as a gentleman sitting in Cannon-row can be. But what becomes then of the stringent and direct control of the Crown, from the efficacy of which we are told to expect so much? It must be either a shadow or a reality. If a shadow, what possible effect can come of the change, but that of deluding simple folks into a belief that they have at hand a minister on whom they can at once fix responsibility for anything that goes amiss in India, when, in reality, no substantial power rests with him? If it is to be a reality, there will be nothing for it but to revert to something like the old colonial system, open a new chapter of kings, confide the weightiest affairs to clever but irrespon- sible subordinates, and teach the people of India to regard each obstruction to their wishes, each obnox- lous impost, each legislative abortion or administra- tive short- coming, as the creature of Cannon-row. A favourite illustration of the vices of what is called the double government, has lately been found 35 in the alleged mismanagement of the Company in the recent transport of troops to India, all attributable, it is said, to the cumbrous forms and circuitous process by which a very simple operation was per- formed. If the Admiralty or the War-office had been the directing authority, how different would have been the result! Now, this is rather too hard on the poor Company. Let any man take the trouble to examine the files of newspapers at the time of the despatch of our troops for the Crimea, and let him note how perfect were all the arrangements, how universal and unalloyed was the satisfaction. No charges of gross ignorance and incompetence—no complaints about delays and demurrages—no diatribes on the employment of tubs as transports, and sieves for the. conveyance of stores—mno pleasant little episodes of cavalry sent to sea without their forage and short of water—mno amusing anecdotes of ur- gently required medical stores carefully stowed vy under an ample covering of 13-inch shells. No! things were managed in a very different manner then, for you may be sure the East India Company had nothing to do with the arrangements! With respect to the second supposed advantage of a direct rule, viz., the impression which the Queen's name in lieu of the Company's as the governing power would make on the native mind, it may be enough to say that few who have resided m India have become acquainted with the ideas and habits 0 thought of the population, will be inclined to ou. much weight to this notion. It may safely be affirme that not one in ten thousand of the natives of India attaches any definite or precise meaning to i name c 36 of the Company. There is, indeed, a legend current that the natives figure to themselves the Company in the shape of a decrepid old woman, but this conceit is of European coinage, for the native mind is not of a figurative bent. The mass of the population knows the ruling power only as “The Sirkar,” and the Sirkar it will ever remain to them, whether the Queens name or the Company’s is employed, impress- ing itself on the native mind as the imposer of taxes the dispenser of justice, and the ruler of a; Whatever reverence or awe they are inspired with in respect to the governing power, springs solely from a conviction that it is able to enforce its will, and that it 1s disposed to do justice, but the impersonation of that power concerns them not. If indeed we could accompany the change of names with a change of things—if we could inaugurate the new era with a large reduction of taxation, a marked improvement in the administration of justice, an extirpation of the abuses and exactions of the corrupt petty functionaries who prey on the vitals of the villagers, an effectual suppression of gang-robbers, and a general amelio- ration of the condition of the people—then, indeed the substitution of the Queen’s for the Congas name would come upon the masses as a beneficent reality, not as an empty form, and would produce a deep and lasting impression. But who expects that any such magical changes are at hand? As to the more educated and intelligent classes, they are per- fectly aware that it is the British nation, not the East India Company, that rules the country, and that the introduction of the Queen’s name would, sub- stantially, make no greater change in the soliisio of 37 Government than would the substitution of Lord Canning for Lord Dalhousie. It remains for us now to cast a glance ahead and endeavour to estimate the difficulties in the way of the subversion of a system of government which has been in operation for nearly three-quarters of a cen- tury. But in approaching this point some perplexity is experienced, because, as yet, no precise or definite scheme has been proposed by those who desire a new order of things. There has indeed been a good deal said at public meetings, and a good deal written in newspapers, about the misdeeds of the East India Company, the vices of the double Government, and the necessity for an immediate and entire change ; but, excepting some rather vague suggestions in favour of a simpler machinery and a more direct control, there is mo tangible plan before the public. Above all, there is, as yet, no ministerial platform up, and we are left in absolute ignorance as to the nature and extent of the changes to be proposed. We know not whether it is intended to disinter the Whig traditions of ’83, and to galvanize the mouldering remains of Fox's India Bill, with its septemvirate of commis- sioners and its curious contrivances for giving effect to the favourite dogma of the party—¢ the influence of the Crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished ;” or whether it is proposed to take the short cut, and to provide for the entire and imme- diate transfer of the powers mow exercised by the Company to a minister of the Crown specially charged with the administration of Indian affairs. It is mot very probable that any attempt will be made to steer a middle course between things as they are and direct 38 Crown control; for that would be to incur all the risks and inconvenience of change without ensuring any reasonable prospect of stability. It may, there- fore, be assumed that if Lord Palmerston intends to propose any important change in the Government of India, that change will be the total extinction of the Company and the centralization of all authority in one responsible Minister. The first difficulty which suggests itself in connec- tion with this scheme is of very old standing, and is one which no statesman, since the time when Pitt's India Bill was passed, has been able successfully to cope with—that is, the disposal of the patronage question. We are, perhaps, now-a-days not quite so constitutionally sensitive in regard to the accumula- tion of what Bentham calls “ the matter of corrup- tion” in the hands of a Minister, as our forefathers were. We place a greater reliance than they did on the power of public opinion to check abuses in the distribution of patronage. Still, it may be doubted whether any statesman, even of the present day, would regard, without some feeling of alarm, the concentration in the hands of one public man of the vast patronage which is now distributed over the country through a multitude of private channels flowing from Leadenhall Street. But, it may be said that the adoption of the competitive system removes all the doubts and diffi- culties which formerly beset the subject, and that a safe and salutary opening is now afforded for the absorption of patronage. It will be well, however, to bear in mind that the competitive system is, as yet, but an experiment— an experiment regarded by some as a failure, by 39 others as partially successful, and by very few ed as having achieved the great Age whie were anticipated from its working. Those who Ras most zealous in the promotion of the system, Soy hopeful of its results, have had reason great z i moderate their expectations of ultimate good. Co parisons are at all times invidious, and they 5 ge cially so when instituted to test the merits d 2 7 % yet in its infancy; but it cannot be conceale : us in the opinion of competent judges, the Sa ye so far as the Indian service 1s a uy 5 been attended with no marked success. ou 3 then be safe, whilst the competitive Tn is 2 yet on its trial, to commit the country to the app i: cation of the entire Indian patronage to the Sipe of a principle which may, in the end, pon ny : ; ticable? Nothing is easier than to resolve g 2 now conferred by nomination shall in fu ag bestowed on successful competitors at open Gi ou tions. But to reverse this operation, and 5 b er i that an office now the rightful prize ” Rs I proves himself the best man, shall herea ter on subject of nomination by a Minister, is by i lean so easy an affair; and however strong Cc am might grow up in the minds of those iy or th the working of the competitive system t 2 tein thing had utterly ha Sy 5 impossible to persuade the pu : tr jobbery, and i i i those who proposed reverting 0 pas ae difficulty which presents 1tse g as nny for it is presumed that a local army 40 the form of government adopted. It is quite clear that if India comes under the direct control of the Crown, all distinctions between Queen’s regiments and Company’s regiments must cease. All the troops employed in India will be her Majesty’s soldiers ; and it would be most invidious, if it were practicable, to attempt to draw any line separating in rank or desig- nation one portion from the other. How is the appa- rently indispensable amalgamation to be accomplished? This is a point, and a knotty one too, for adepts in military organization. The non-combatant portion of the public only knows that the question of the welding of the two bodies into one compact mass, has agitated, and debated by very acute writers, it has baffled the best of them. There may, be giants in these days who can make short such difficulties. been often but as yet however, work of The next subject of embarrassment is to Finance. that relating When the Crown assumes the undivided government of India, the nation must, as a matter of course, take upon itself all the outstanding liabilities of the authority deposed; for, as the legal maxim runs, gui sentit commodum debet et sentire onus. The debt, pensionary engagements, contracts, railway and other guarantees, and, in short, all recognised claims on the defunct Company will become Imperial obliga- tions, and will solicit the attention and regards of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who will also have to provide for the prospective payment of the capital stock of the corporation, or the continuation of the 10 per cent. dividend. The Indian revenues, unhappily, do not now meet the charges, and there is little reason to apprehend that under the new 41 regime a better balance-sheet will be Ca Something, no doubt, may be saved by few clerks at Leadenhall Street, stopping t e sa ries of the directors, and putting down the ney at the Albion, but there must, of ra e a large increase in the establishments of t > or trolling office, which will probably go far or vi counterbalancing the saving expected. The a . part of the transfer will not, perhaps, be fou ; quite so simple and advantageous as is Si : It has been suggested that all purely Td ture should be kept distinct, and made c Ss 5 on the Indian revenues, which should be t e Se security of creditors. Such separation was, : on at least, practicable, whilst the managemen ie Indian finances rested with the wie hon : every one felt that, in reality, the national fai fio pledged for the debt incurred, and the oe i entered into by the power which governed he iy Indian Empire by Act of Parliament. ut or can be no possibility of maintaining any distinc 2 of the sort when the financial affairs of a” esa yy come to be regulated solely by the Crown. wi then be the care of the Minister of Finance to a 2 if he can, into equilibrium, the pan n yun goings ; and if this desirable object cannot be : es by ordinary means, resort must be od to FE the expedients so familiar to the i, a of Chancellors of the Exchequer. If, in ot ’ a% could say to India as we say to Comads, ma ) manage your own money oe — ves, Civil Lists, and all. | - Oe er dots or your deficits, and we won't 42 annoy you with vexatious meddling ;” then, no doubt we might insist on making the Indian Fchoquer answerable for all Indian obligations. But what voice have the tax-payers of India in the disburse- ments, the debts, or the engagements of their rulers ? and what justice is there in requiring them not oul to pay for the necessary expenses of their IW ment, but to bear the load of debts contracted on account of foreign wars carried on by order of the British monarchy? It is the merest delusion to suppose that any separation of Indian from Imperial liabilities can be carried out after England and its gorgeous dependency have been united under one and the same government. There is no use in deceiving ourselves. The revenue of England is and must remain, as thoroughly pledged for the fulfilment of the conditions of Indian loans and Indian pensions as it is for the provision of funds to pay the July dividends, or to liquidate the salaries of the Judges. So much for the three great difficulties in recard to patronage, the army, and finance, which iis be met in limine whilst the country is in its throes giving birth to a new system of Indian my That other perplexities are in store cannot be doubted. The East India Government has hitherto performed the serviceable office of a buffer to deaden the shocks to which her Majesty's Ministers would have been exposed if all the wrongs, remonstrances, and grievances of those who complained of Indian mis- government had been driven, at express speed, into the state carriage. Assuredly the responsible Toad of the new order of things will rest upon no 43 bed of roses. Delegates from Calcutta, memorials from Manchester, deputations from Chambers of Com- merce, remonstrances, representations, warnings from many quarters. A pleasant dalliance with these will be the light recreation of his leisure hours, whilst in the House he will have to buckle on his armour for the more serious work of defending the salt tax, and the opium monopoly; of justifying some sum- mary act of the local legislature; of expounding the intricacies of land tenures in India, and of showing the difficulties in the way of colonizing the sunder- bunds with a race of sturdy English yeomen; of giving good reasons for some questionable appoint- ment; of striving to propitiate Glasgow, to conci- liate the cotton interest, and to satisfy Exeter Hall; of explaining why the education movement limps, and why railways do mot march at railway pace. He will quickly find that the intelligent and enter- prising European community in India, though numerically a small fraction of the population, are by no means deficient in energy and determination. They know full well the value of the maxim, * Union is force,” and they are not at all likely to be backward in giving expression to their opinions when they think that things are going wrong. Backed by their Man- chester and Glasgow friends, they will knock hard at Downing Street—not the feeble hesitating rap of a suppliant, but a sturdy sonorous double-knock, such as becomes a man with a good balance. Here is a specimen of the kind of rat-tat-tat which may be expected frequently to fright Downing Street from its official propriety:— It is the deliberate opinion of your Majesty's petitioners, that all the calamities, 44 the results of the mutiny, are directly attributable to the blindness, weakness, and incapacity of the local Government of India, of which the present Governor- General is the responsible head.” So say ‘the inhabitants of Calcutta and Bengal ;” and who is the ill-starred ruler who falls under this heavy censure ? Why, Lord Canning, the Governor-General sent out by Lord Palmerston, as peculiarly fitted to represent the views, and follow out the policy of his Cabinet! No wonder that the perplexed Premier, nearly at his wits’ end, sent the petition back to be presented “ through the regular channel!” But he little knows his men, if he flatters himself that by this adroit move he has got rid of the matter and fairly shunted it into the siding. It will be back on his hands, probabl with the addition of protesting charges, and i trifling incidental expenses, which usually accompan the progress of returned bills. jo We must expect, on the establishment of the new regime, demands for some kind of representative Institutions, claims for some control over the public expenditure, calls for the extension of English law over the country, and for the extrusion of natives from all judicial offices: all these, and many other requisitions, are looming in the distance, and the must be dealt with. How ? : : ‘The object of the foregoing remarks will he greatly misunderstood, if it is supposed to be that of holding up the government of the East India Company as a model of perfection. It has, beyond doubt, its share of errors and deficiencies, some of which have been already pointed out. But the question in hand, is not whether the Company has always exercised its 45 authority with unerring wisdom, and unfailing vigilance, but whether the substitution of a direct rule by the Crown gives reasonable promise of our obtaining a government free from the vices and defects which are ascribed to the Company’s adminis- tration. The expediency of the change must rest on the existence of a strong presumption that such a result may be expected, for there is certainly primd facie evidence in the duration of a system for a period of nearly three-quarters of a century—a period in which the hand of reform and innovation has been busy with all our institutions—that it cannot be intrinsically and irremediably bad. Few institutions have ever been subjected to the severe tests which have been applied to the Company's government. It has been the battle-field of rival parties, the arena of Parliamen- tary orators and political writers, the ground on which conflicting theories have jostled, and pet hobbies have been paraded. The Indian question has ever been one of England’s greatest embarrassments. Fox attempted to grapple with it, but even the vast genius of that sagacious statesman was unable to cope with the difficulty, and it was left to his great rival and successor to construct a system for the government of India, which, with some important modifications, chiefly in relation to commercial privileges, preserves a vigorous existence at the present day. Since the passing of Pitt's Act, the Charter of the Company has many times come under the consideration of Par- liament. On each occasion of this periodical review, large territorial acquisitions to the British Indian Empire had, in the interval, accrued, and the extent and importance of the Company’s sway had immensely 46 increased. On each occasion the very same objections which are now advanced against the Company’s rule were skilfully and perseveringly urged, and the very same arguments were employed to show the expe- diency and necessity of transferring to the direct rule of the Crown the authority exercised by the Company. On each occasion Parliament resolved, that, although the rule of the East India Company was anomalous, and in many respects objectionable, still, on the whole, the balance of public advantage was in favour of its retention. The conclusions arrived at on these several occasions of deliberate revision were not the conclusions of men of one particular party. They were adopted by the statesmen of every party and of every shade of political faith, from the high Toryism of Pitt, to the Liberalism of the authors of the Reform Bill. Can it be that a system which has been canvassed, criticised, challenged, sifted, and subjected for a period of seventy years to the keenest scrutiny of the wisest statesmen, and has passed the ordeal unharmed, is so utterly worthless as it is now represented to be by its opponents ? Even those who are most desirous of the change of rule admit that the framework of the Indian Govern- ment has proved itself sound and well put together, and that its instruments have been wisely chosen and well adapted to the work to be done. Whatever changes may be made in the supreme authority, it may be taken as certain that few or none will be made in the administrative machinery. The military force may be re-organized on a new and improved plan, but the civil and political administration of the empire will probably remain unaltered. This at least is a 47 testimony to the wisdom of the Company's govern- ment, for in nothing is the highest wisdom more apparent than in the selection of able and intelligent instruments. It would be idle and presumptuous to predict that the experience and sagacity of states- men can devise no scheme of government for India more perfect than that now in existence ; though we know that the powerful intellects which did not hesitate to grapple with Catholic emancipation and Reform, shrank from attempting the Yeconstruetion of the system by which our Eastern Empire has been ruled. But let no man flatter himself that the task will be simple and the difficulties few. Above all, let it not be taken for granted that the correction of an anomaly is necessarily the purification of a system, and that symmetry is always strength. If the days of the Company are really numbered, and if its deposi- tion or abdication is at hand, it will at least have the consolation of closing a long reign without disgrace and not without dignity ; and its successor will indeed deserve well of the country, if, when its day of reckon- ing arrives, its eulogists can bonestly say that it has discharged its duties and fulfilled its obligations as wisely and as well as the much vituperated East India Company. “ After my death I wish no other herald, No other speaker of my living actions To keep mine honour from corruption, But such an honest chronicler as Griffith.” LONDON: PRINTED BY SMITH, ELDER AND Co., LITTLE GREEN ARBOUR COURT. END OF TITLE END OF REEL PLEASE REWIND.