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MADKAS IBBIGATIOX COMPANY. One of the mo...
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NOTJ3S OK INDIAN PROGRESS. Several offic...
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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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The "Iieader" And Emigration. In Advocat...
opposing the system of English settlement as the Indian writers in the Englishman , the United Service Journal , the 'Saturday Review , and the Star , wind up by showing that there is in India a wide field for the employment of English capital in enteiv prise , and of the personal assistance of Englishmen , not as labourers , but as the employers and directors of cheap native labour . As one writer p hrases it , " the proper position of the European in India is that of a captain of industry , and as such , how
various are the functions assigned him , how vast ins opportunities of doing good ! ' \ We could do well ¦ with no better encouragement than the writings of our opponents , but the day is not far distant when the hills of the north and centre of India will be filled with our communities , when a hundred thousand Englishmen will hold India , not by the bayonet , but by the power o moral qualities and their title to the gratitude and esteem of their native fellow citizens .
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Madkas Ibbigatiox Company. One Of The Mo...
MADKAS IBBIGATIOX COMPANY . One of the most important steps which have been taken by Lord Stanley and the Council of India has heen the concession of a guarantee to the Madras Irrigation and Canal Company , after a considerable delay and resistance to its proceedings had been « hown by the late Administration and the Government of Madras . The ternis granted are nominall y a guaranteed interest on one million sterling , at the rate of five per cent , per anrium ; Twit , in effect , they amount to a guarantee of almost a perpetuity . For the Indian Government , which may only purchase the rights of the company at intervals of twenty-five years , must clearly , whenever it elects so to do , redeem for money not only the absolute guaranteed annuity , feut also the shareholders' half of the surplus profits . The Madras Government are to collect the waterrents as a part of their taxes , and will pay them over to the company . The Council think so ¦ strongly of the prospects of the undertaking that they have not onl y demanded to participate in the surplus profits , but have refused to allow the company to have the sole possession of the canal dues , as the promoters had endeavoured to provide . Tire arrangement is a liberal one for both Government and the company , . and is likely to work well for both .
There is no hesitation in the minds of competent parties as to the profitable results of operations such as those of the . "Madras Company , for in . India works of irrigation always pay , and the navigation is provided at the same time as the irrigation by regulating the river channels . As irrigation increases the weight of the crops and the value of the produce , soi does it thereby provide traffic for the navigation , and , besides water-rents , generates further revenue in canal dues . On the rivers of Madras , as throughout India , pnssengers , as well as goods , are carried wherever a line of navigation is is
opened , increasing the revenue . Here again ( manifest the eontnbutivc action of single operation to the general good : for mobility of the population , that is , the moans of transporting labour from spot tp spot , is essential , to agricultural prosperity . However populous a district may be ,- — nt certain times of the year , labour must be rapidly -concentrated on each scone of operations : otherwise time is lost , and crops damaged or wasted . To say that water carriago is the cheapest and most effective mode of distributing ; labour , is to repeat a mere truism . As is the languor , sluggishness , and depression of British Indian internal trade , for tho waut of such mobility , so aro the prospects of tho Madras Irrigation . Company ; and profits will aeorne to
shareholders in it as the movement of trade is fostered and promoted by tho stimulants they may provide . The authorities of , the Presidency havo loo long played " the dog in tho manger . " With a sum of no more than 700 , 000 / . applicable within the year for military and civil public works , they would yet havo delayed , and delayed , and dolayod , on every manner of ollioial and routine pretence . Increase of tho revenue , and prosperity of tho natives under their care , scorn to have been loss objeolfc of their fond contemplation than tho exolusion quoctmque inodo of " outsiders . " But tho present chief of tho Indian Counoil has , we are glad to learn , taken heart to out tho Gordian knot , and has sanctioned— -nay , if rumour bo true , hns insistod upon— -tho fair trial by private hands of an experiment of vast imperial and colonial importance , Tho encouragement of private capital to try such an
experiment is a step In . the right direction , which we might have looked for in rain from red-tapists of the old school .
Notj3s Ok Indian Progress. Several Offic...
NOTJ 3 S OK INDIAN PROGRESS . Several officers who had been staying at the Darjeeling convalescent depot , having recovered , are ordered to rejoin their regiments . They are Captain J . M . Smyth , 10 th Foot ; Captain J . J . Dudgeon , 80 th Foot ; and Lieut . J . O . Vandaleur , 35 th Foot . A branch of the Association for Promoting English Settlements in India has been formed at Darjeeling . At Dugshaie , Assistant-Snrgeon J . M ' L . Cameron , of the 27 th , is appointed to take medical charge of the European depot . At Kussowlie European depot , Hospital Surgeon D . Macrae , lias taken charge . For Mussoorie , leave has been granted to Lieut . J . S . Browne , Capt . C . C . Eraser , and Lieut . W . J . Hilkin . For Landour , extended leave has been given to Assistant-Surgeon J . A . M'Munn , Royal Artillery .
For the Dehrah Dhoon and neighbourhood , leave has been granted to Capt . H . Strachey , to Mr . W . M . Alexander , Assistant Magistrate of Mynpoorie . For Murree , leave has been given to Lieut . J . M . Green , Assistant-Surgeon J . T . Deakin , and Paymaster W . F . Kixon . The news from the new town of Matheran is that Lord Elphinstone , the Governor of Bombay , arrived there on the 6 th of November . This will make the fortune of the place . For Mahableshwur , leave has been given to Lieut . "W . H , Maiden , and Capt . G . F . Taylor . There is favourable news from the Neilgherries with regard to the Lawrence Asylum for the children of English soldiers . Although Sir Patrick Grant , the local Commander-in-Chief , has not given it the required assistance , he has allowed the army to be canvassed for assistance . The donations , up to the 9 th of October , were 2002 / . ; yearly subscriptions , 283 / . ; and monthly , 34 / .
Mr . G . H . M . Batten , who is well acquainted with the district , is appointed to officiate as Senior Assistant Commissioner of the hill country of Kumaon during the absence of Mr . B . W . Colvin . Surveys of the following hill districts have been published by Messrs . W . H . Allen and Co ., for the East Indian Government : —Dehra Dhoon ( No . 48 ) , Kumaon and Gurhwal ( STo . GG ) , Himalayas ( Nos . 47 , 65 ) , Assam (] STos . 124 , 129 , 130 , 138 ) , Sylhet ( No . 125 ) , Munnipoor ( No , 131 ) , Mysore ( Nbs . 42 , 59 , 60 ) , Coorg ( No . 43 ) , Neilgherry Hills ( No . 61 ) . From the district of'Kote Kangra , which will in time be one of the most important of the Himalayan hill cnttLmnnis * x-n nf . > . Vl . i / 1 t < - > lojirii thfi s » ir » r » assful Droxrress
of-the tea plantations'of Holta , which was founded in 1852 , with only one European resident . The yield this year is worth 6000 / ., and in 1859 will be 10 , O 0 O / ., provided that in that thinly peopled mountain region labour enough can be got . There is , however , a village of 2000 people within a few miles . The manager of the tea plantation -speaks most favourably of the healthiness of the climate , of its temperature , and of the produce . The mulberry tree grows well , and the culture of the silkworm lias been suggested . If not equal to Cashmere , Kangrn is nevertheless one of the most promising districts for English settlement . the
An interesting illustration of hill trade is given by Lahore * Chronicle . Eight thousand Afghan sheep ( doombahs ) laden with ' gold-lace , ' rubies-, silks , and other merchandise , on their way from Cashgar by Surat to tho English valley of Peshawur , encamped in tho neighbourhood of Siirat , and sent nn application to tho Akhoond , tho chief priest ami ruler of Surat , remonstrating against tho heavy duties which he levied last yoar on their merchandise , and stated that they would take another circuitous route rather than submit to the extortion . The Akhoond . thought better of it , and made a bargain to take only two and a half per cent . This is a specimen of the way such things are managed , and tho impediments to tho trade with Central Asia which havo tp bo overcome . Largo batches of hordes hnd already arrived at Peahawur .
T-nni Upper Assam there is news that our looal Government contemplate another expedition , and oji a more efl'octivo scale , against tho tribo in the Abor hills , which drovo back a smull force on tho last occasion . Tho lust of tho four now steamers for tho Indus having been put together at Kemareo on tho 20 th of October , was launched from tho dockyard and named the Outrani . Tho Mutlah settlement was getting on bat slowly at tho last advices , on account of tho unhoalthiness of tho jungle . Workmen aro not roadily got , and during tho rains masoua and others depart , ao that it is only during the cold season that tho works are proceeded with . Now thftt tho railway has been guaranteed , this state of aft'uiro will bo remedied , as the railway will bring workmen down daily from Calcutta . A large agricultural speculation is proposed in this district .
Captain Hart has proposed a plan for supplying Popnah with water , which it is hoped will receive tho attention of tho Bombay Government . Ho proposes to construct u dam across the river valley near tho village
of Upper Ambeygaun , and then to convey the -water by mains or by an aqueduct to a reservoir near the Poona camp . An aqueduct would be seven miles long , but mains would be only five miles , and there is this facility for the use of mains , that they could be cast in England , conveyed by sea to Bombay , and thence by railway to Poona . The dam wouldbe 1270 feet in length , and be about 60 feet above the bed of the stream . Mr . L . Wray has urged attention to cotton seed for oil , cotton cake for feed of cattle , and cotton soap stuff . Five hundred thousand tons of cake could be made in India yearly .
At Bombay the project of a Gas Company ha 3 made progress , although the Government Municipal Commissioners refused to promise a contract as an encouragement . The capital is 50 , 000 £ , in shares of SI . each It is very pleasing to find that the natives strongly support the undertaking . The vote of the Madras Government for public works , in their budget for 1858-9 , is fixed at 700 , 000 ? ., a sum miserable enough for the wants of so many milions of people ; but this sum is not restricted to civil works but includes military works , of which the fortifications of Fort St . George will alone absorb 140 , 0001 . We axe glad that a considerable sum is to be expended on barracks for English soldiers , which will be the means of saving many lives . It is lucky that railways have been authorised in Madras , and that the Madras Irrigation Company has at length received its guarantee , so that something will be done for works of improvement .
On Wednesday night a discussion took place at the Society of Arts on cotton cultivation , when Mr . Leonard Wray pointed out the importance of irrigation for the cotton plant in India , and supported the Miadraa irrigation plan . We may mention , by-the-by , that it has been strongly urged as an encouragement to the marriage Of English non-commissioned officers and privates , that they should be allowed to purchase commissariat rations for their families at the usual dry batta rate . At Kurrachee , the rate of wages in Sir Charles Napier ' s time was two annas , or threepence a day , and it is now largely increased . In Cachar , in the rice harvest timeas nigh wages are now given as 2 s . a day , but
, this is at present exceptional , although a very gOod proof of the extent to which wages may rise when there is a pressure on the labour market . While native labour is advancing in most districts , it is observed that the rate of remuneration for Englishmen is settling to a lower standard as more candidates are obtained , and instead of the extravagant salaries given to the lucky few ^ moro reasonable rates are accepted . The consequence is small local banks and joint-stock companies , which could not be carried on because they would fcave been eaten wp by the expenses of management , are springing up everywhere , and the aggregate of employment is now much increased . Never were there so many English employed in India , or so many
wanted . - There are complaints throughout India for want of adequate municipal institutions , and the paralysing effect of the centralised administration ; the outlying cities of course come worst of . At Singapove the town-hall has been left to be built by private subscription , and being now only half finished , and the Government wanting a new law court , it was proposed to make over the townhall to the Government on condition that they completed the building . The local engineer officer has raised an objection to this , so that Singapore remains without either town-hall or law court . At Rangoon they complain that though the provinco has a surplus revenue of efficient
200 , 000 / ., the city has no hospital , no dramage , and scarcely a public building . At Bombay the Government authorities prevent the merchants from obtaining the dock accommodation , which is so much required . At Madras the trade of that important centre of commerce is crippled because the Government uro unable to encounter what they believe to be the enormous expense of a breakwater , but which the port dues would provide . A pier is now suggested by the Government authorities as a palliative , but it can easily be seen that this is a useless application of money , as it will speedil y bo swept-away by the sea . 0 ne of the subjects Lord Stanley has to take in hand is a general municipal law for India , something . on the system of the English .
Municipal Corporations Act and Board of Health Act , a gonoral law for district or collectorato boards on the principle of tho English quarter sessions or tho Irish grand jury , and d Public Works Act to be applied in each Presidoncy on the basis of tho Now York General Railway and Publi * Works Acts , so as to give eoopo to local action . . , ,. - .. Tho Cotton Supply Asssociation has momorlalwqa tbo India Board In behalf of various improvements in the Bombay Presidency . „„ ,. « ,, A most gratifying event occurred on the ? 3 rd of ^ October at Ahmodabad , being tho opomng of a school for girls , erected and endowed at the solo expense of ft nSo lady , Nek Nnmdur SukUavuthoo Bahadur Shotanl lIurcQo £ / b « e , bcioff tho flfft to » tanoo 1 0 ? rtSifSSr stance in India . The first stone was laid by Sir RloUmond Shnkosnoavo . The school will accommodate one Ered ond W girls , is oqdowod with 1200 / . ia cash , and cost about 800 / .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 24, 1858, page 23, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24121858/page/23/
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