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5q2 THE LEADER. E**o. 473, Ap ril 16, 1S...
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INDIA AND INDIAN PROGRESS.
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INDIAN FINANCE. A lajige proportion of t...
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NOTES ON INDIAN PROGRESS. One of the mos...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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5q2 The Leader. E**O. 473, Ap Ril 16, 1s...
5 q 2 THE LEADER . E ** o . 473 , Ap ril 16 , 1 S 5 Q .
India And Indian Progress.
INDIA AND INDIAN PROGRESS .
Indian Finance. A Lajige Proportion Of T...
INDIAN FINANCE . A lajige proportion of the Indian revenue , or about 17 , 000 , 000 / . out of 30 , 000 , 000 / . —following Mr . P . Hendriks'figures in his paper on Indian Revenue and Taxation—4 s derived from the land revenue ; and of this above 10 , OOQ , OOOZ . is drawn from the northern Presidencies of Bengal , the North-West , and the Punjab . A great many calculations have been put forward to show that this land revenue , rent , or tax , is so light in money value , and in proportion to the gross produce of the land , that it cannot be regarded as a burthen on the population . Into these
property and succession duties , and the expansion ofr the Customs revenue . At the same time the existing debt will be paid off , the yearly deficit be provided for , and the country , being in a healthier moral condition , the military and extra police force would be reduced , and , thereby , the expenses of the general government . If such a financial operation were carried out in connexion with the imperial exchequer the imperial credit might be made available in the early stages of the process , and the imperial revenues be made participators in the ultimate proceeds . India would profit by the higher credit of the imperial government—would have the requisite funds
India , because large machinery cannot be transported , and for common tools no one is wealthy enough to pay . True , we are told of an ancient civilisation which exists there , more ancient than our own and widely developed , when our English forefathers grazed their herds in Jutland , and when the 13 ritislx were painted savages ; but the commentary on this declamation is the nearly naked Hindoo scratching the ground" with his wooden plough , and carting his crop on a truck with solid timber wheels dragged by buffaloes . Such men , indeed , want clothing- and the necessary implements , but they have not wherewithal to pay for them .
readily raised for internal improvements , and would be able to contribute for the military , naval , and diplomatic protection afforded by the empire at large . There is no doctrine so fallacious and so mischievous as the favorite one of the civil service , that the revenues of India should be solely disbtirsed on India . India is at this period profiting by the introduction of our civilisation , and she should pay for it ; she has the protection of external and internal peace by the strength of the empire ; she is saved from , invasion by great powers , which would allow no development of independence or of free institutions , aiid she should pay for this protection .
The liberation of the soil of India from the thraldom of the Indian exchequer and its myrmidons will assist the reclamation of the . waste lands in the hills and in the plains , and thereby create further resources for the Government . In conseqvience of the present defective administration wild land is in some districts sought because it can be had tax-free , and the collectors have to keep a watchful eye lest old land should be abandoned in favour of new land . Thus further restrictions are devised ; but under a reasonable system the value of reclaimed land will gradually rise , and a greater demand for old land be created , and thus , either as wild land or as old settled land , the iec-sunple will be sold by the Government , and the price be realised . The suni which is to be received from the sale
of the wild lands of India will be enormous , and will afford another fund for public improvements , and for imperial purposes . There is no more reason why the produce of the uncultivated lands of the Punjab or the NorthAVest should be appropriated to the Bengalees , Canarese , or Sattarese , than there is for consigning to them the land revenues of Australia , or , indeed , for making a present of any part of the revenues of India to the Hessians or the Turks . The Punjab has been annexed by England , the empire has been built up by England , and the fruits England has the right
to dispose of . If England desire / 3 to give' a share to Bengal , to the Madras callectoratesj or the Bombay collectorates , it is a favor emanating from England —a right to be conceded by England , and not to be demanded . What are the rig hts of Bengal , JBaliar , Orissa , or any other district , it would indeed be difficult to tell ; the right of sharing in the prosperity of t ] ie empire is" certainly ample compensartion for any former rights , or rather disabilities . What right can Oudo , Sattara ,. or Nagpore , newly annexed , have in Bengal ; what right can Bengal have in the countries now named , and yqt wo . hearth © cry , India for the Hindoos , and we and a policy advocated which forbids Englishmen to have any share with Bengalees or Madrassoes in India P Upon tho development of agriculture , grossing ,
forest produots , and mining in India , must depend tho Customs revenue of India . Funds must be supplied to enable Indian produce to bo consumed in India , and to bo shipped to Europe and America , and tho railways , roads , rivers , and canals so opened will let in manufactured produce into India . How , indeed , can it be expected that English goods shall bo consumed in India , when then ? are many regions of that country , whore , in onao of famine , tho produce of India itself cannot ho distributed P How , too , can the miserable ryot of India , or its miserable , avtizan atford to pay for prppor tools and implements at tho present rate of remuneration P The cheap tools and inaohinory of England nnd tho United States , which can be sent to . all parts of tho world , are denied to
calcul ations it is needless to enter ; it matters not what is the fractional sum per head , per acre , per beegah , on rubbee or other crops ; the real test is the condition of the population , and this proves , without denial , that the land tax of the Indian Government is more oppressive than the burthens imposed in European countries , as in England and France for instance , where rent , land tax or Jbncier , local rates , tithes , and all other charges , leave the population in a better condition than the lightlytaxed natives of India . Many of the tests and calculations put forward are fallacious , as they do not show what remains to the cultivator for his
subsistence . In England , or in any country where labour is effectually economisedin agriculture , there is a greater surplus after the subsistence of the cultivator has been provided for than in a country , in a low economical state like India , where the . ¦ mechanical appliances are less effective , and where more labor is employed , and consequently a larger provision must be made for . the ¦¦ consumption oi " -the cultivator .
The Indian land tax system , when tested , is found to press on the subsistence and comforts of the population , and the more severely because it represses industry . Thus cultivation is effectually retarded , and the improvement of agriculture dis--couraged ; for though we find new lands cleared , and taken under cultivation in some districts , and a wider surface irrigated , still , whenever assessments in Bombay , Madras , or the North-West come to be re-surveyed , the cultivator is found to be oppressed , and the assessments have to be reduced . The remedy for this is one which will
strike at the whole basis of the present finance—-the 17 , 000 , 000 / . of taxation out of 30 , 000 , 000 * . — -which must be got rid of , so far as its present operation is concerned . If the tinkering system of re-Survey . is gone on with , successive abatements will be made , which will tend to reduce the revenue in the older districts as fast as new revenue is created by new cultivation , and no resource therefore remains but to sweep away the Indian exchequer system by the sale of the land rent , giving thereby a freehold title or title in fee simple . True it is , some zemindars will obtain very good
• bargains , and for a time ryots will be as much oppressed as heretofore , but throughout India there will bo a clear title to land , and any man will be able to undertake operations without fear of the ¦ collector depriving him of his property . Twenty-five years' purchase for 17 , 000 , 000 / . constitutes a sum of 425 , 000 , OOCWf-Ta sum so enormous that it appeal's monstrous to suppose that such a sum . can bo Contributed by poor India , but it would not cpnsj ; itute a positi . vp contribution of gold or silver to such amount , but a mere transfer of figures , and which a few years would effect . Tho test of the operation is very simple . Could the whole landed property of a country bo sold
within twenty-five years ? Could a national debt to the extent of five hundred millions bo lent to a ( Government within fifteen years , from 1800 to 1815 , for instance P Those are economical operations , which have been carried out , and which we know to he practicable 5 and thoy are practicable in India , jjf correct principles of government are allowed to be applied . The result of such an operation would bo to leave India free for tho exertions of industry , to afford large means for reproductive works , greatly to extendproduotion , to afford means for supplying local taxation and local wants , as police , education , roads ' , bridges , poor relief , & o ., and to constitute a new taxable baeia for the imposition of income ,
Notes On Indian Progress. One Of The Mos...
NOTES ON INDIAN PROGRESS . One of the most important events among the many which we have had lately to chronicle , is the further introduction of English as the language of law ; This has been successfully tried in some of the small nonregulation districts , and lias now been applied by the Government of the Punjaub . Some of the Indian papers call this a bold experiment , though there is little boldness , and no danger in it , and itwill confer great advantages on the suitors . The plan was tried in the Punjaub for three months as an experiment , and was confined to civil suits under JO ? , and to petty criminal cases , but it has now been introduced into all the courts .
One great benefit of this measure is that justice will berendered directly to the suitors , without that complication of papers which now attends every process , and without that opportunity for theamlahto acquire influence and cultivate bribery . We hope soon to hear of the establishment of a supreme court in the Punjaub , and the appointment of English and native recorders , chairmen of quarter sessions , coroners , and justices of the peace , so as to extend the local administration of justice .
In Murree and the other hill stations it is imperative that these functionaries should be at once appointed , and that-English citizens should be protected by trial by jury . A very high authority in India , who has done much for the exploration of the districts suitable for English occupation , has said truly that without the jury , and English Jaw , English settlement cannot rapidly extend in India , and it is desirable the attention of Government should early be directed to this Landour
subject . In Darjeeling , Simla , Mussoorie , , Dehra , Nynee Tal , Murree , Dhurmsala , Mount Aboo , Matheran , Mahabuleshwar , the Ncilghernes , Bangalore , Wynaad , Mysore , and Coorg , there are now quite enough English to supply magistrates and jurors , and there is no ground for our iellow countrymen being deprived of that protection wlnctt they enjoy elsewhere throughout tho empire , except in a portion of the territories of the Hudson s liay Company . „ „_ _ , but two falls of
At Mussoorie they have had snow up to the Uth of February - In January they ima more summer days than cloudy days . J-I'O ,, ""* of Capt . Chilcott , on tho roivcl leading to Kajpore , was , on tho 2 nd of February , set fire to and ^ destroyed , in consequence of lightning Imving strucK it ' ' Simla expects to be very gay , on nocofn ' ^ S arrival of Lord Clyde and his staff . He will be able to get up some of his paper work in this agreeable and congenial climatoi ' . t Leave for the Noijghorries lias boon given to Brevet-Major li . JI . Miles , to Major 11 . J- / f . ^ "V " son , and to Lieut . W . M . D . Wright , of tho Artillery . Capt . Brydon , H , M / s 74 th , has resigned the command of Jaokatalla depot . ' , Capt . G . F . Taylor had his loavo extondod tor Mahabule ^ hwur . , nnHia ' Major J . Denton , 1 st N . V . B . liatt fifteen months leave to Bangaloro and nf /
Mysore . _ „ , ,. „ 1 CUV « 'iiu jluhibimuhj umu . »¦>» . » v > . ~ . .. 11 , Ainin nf Tho-lie v . II . II . Broroton is appointed cliaplft " 01 TheRov . E . N . Dickonson is nPP , ointc f ° ! f , ffi , r ofDapooloo and Rutuaghorry , roaidlng at "' 0 ' * " 0 : place Wing tho monsSon . Tho hill stations arc a great roliof to tho clergy . ,,. .. „ ,, nf At Roorkeo thoro has boon a wodillng -tiiaii w . Mr . Alexander H . ¦ Bromley , Into J 3 . N . I ., to baran , daughter of Sir William O'Shauylmossy . Tho Darjeollng people aro lu groat cpoctation tho Northorn Bengal Railway bolng now u » . J"J conaidqration of the Govornrawit o ( India , . W '" ft . for an early and favourable decision , fur t ; ° " "" . 3 able country ia , as it weru , shut out ironi tl » o \ vanu , ana tho largo English population ol Calcutta
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 16, 1859, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16041859/page/22/
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