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1286 THE I/EAD3IR. [No. 4>0K Pecbmsbb 2&...
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AN EPITAPH ON COPPOGK. We can quite unde...
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WEST INDIAN POLITICS. Otr» West Indian l...
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- /llWivrr /fTiM-mi-M CiP-linT UbuUUlU*. *'
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« [IN THIS OttVAItTMENT. AS ALL OPINIONS...
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ALL. THE DIFFERENCE. (7'o tke Editor of ...
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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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British Duty To India. The Public Should...
ceived ample encouragement , estates are frequently held under tenures so doubtful that enterprise is checked , the demands of the revenue upon the cultivators of the soil are frequently excessive , the cost of administration is inordinate . Here is a broad field for tie Reformers ; but wlien dealing with , the revenue legislation of India , it is difficult to introduce changes without treading upon some ancient prejudice . Too much government would be no panacea for Indian , grievances . So far as the regulation . of property is concerned , there is—especially in . the . North-West—a traditional , unwritten . » -. .
common law dear to the people , well known to them , and almost sufficient for their desires . " I have tried everything , * ' said a zealous young magistrate to Fbazer , the Commissioner of Delhi ; " 1 have fined , imprisoned , and taken security from the people of the Eerguunah , but I can't keep them quiet . " "Did you ever try letting them alone ?" J ? kazer asked . The villagers know the history and the value of their land , and appreciate the qualities of the several circles into which it is divided ; and it is essential , when proposing , practical reformations , to remember that'India must he governedto
, a great extent , through Indian customs . Laws , in all ages and countries , must harmonize with manners , or they will remain inoperative . On the other hand , as population increases , ifc becomes the more necessary to define the relations between the proprietary and non-proprietary classes , and to establish , . . tenant rights by law , for nothing else will restrain the Zemindar ; and , as far as possible , to destroy the feudal tyranny of the great landlords British proprietorship , introduced into India , would double the prosperity of the people , wherever the settlers-located themselves .
The land revenue systems of India are three in number ;— -the ^ perpetual settlement , confined to Bengal ; the village partnershipsj prevailing hi the Punjab , Scinde , and some districts of Bombay , and the Jtyotwarry , including the rest of Bombay , and the whole of Madras . Lord Cobnwallis , in 1793 , instituted the perpetual settlement , fixing the annual rent payable by the owners of the soil ; the village partnerships were a formal development of the old village system , and under this law the population has suffered neither from violence , rapacity , nor com
pression . The rent is fixed fora term of thirty years j property rests an a substantial basis , and the results are highly favourable . Byotwarry implies a direct ; holding from the Government , the cultivator paying a yearly rent , and renewing , relinquishing or altering his holding at pleasure . His tenancy is annual , and remains undisturbed by Government so long as he pays at the stipulated rate . Now , of these three systems , that of Bengal is the worst
since it exposes the ryot to be made the slave of the Zemindar . He is taxed , and he must pay ; he must live , and the Zemindar permits him to do no more . If this accursed institution rests upon the acquired rights of a class , it is at variance with . the human , and social rights of forty millions of people . The village system is undoubtedly more equitable and benevolent ; but it contains certain important defects , which discourage enterprise and reader the interest of the cultivator and proprietor inconsistent with the permanent interests of the country . As for Ryotwarry , the practical evil of the -working system is that it leaves the cultivator too small a share in the produce of the land , and
that the Government , while drawing the tax , has comparatively , neglected to promote a more extensive appropriation of the soil to the purposes of industry . The Madras cultivator is-poor , spiritless , and . unconscious that ho iubabits a region , over which commerce , should perpetually be carried in golden . drifts , creating opulence for him and for las Christian masters . It must never be forgotten that the Government gains notldng by the degradation of th « t ryot ; the poverty of Madras impoverishes its administrators . The worst improvidence is a policy of neglect . To neglect , however , must be added jealousy , since , although the restrictions upon
the purchase of ; land have been abolished , the Company's system is one that effectually deters men of sense and foresight from investing their capital in the Residency of Madras . Of course , these remarks must be understood with some limitations . The annicuts on tho Godavery , Kistnah , and Cauvcry axe public improvements of immense importance , and the Bollary , Nolapore , and Poonah Railway will open up large districts ; but the harbours on that coast are inaccessible and inconvenient , and it must be confessed that , up * on the whole , civilization has not fulfilled its duties in Madras or in Bengal . Elsewhere , also , the natives have tho strongest claims , upon English justice ; , and , when a new form
of government is established , it will be for public opinion to do that which it has never yet done superintend the administration of British India .
1286 The I/Ead3ir. [No. 4>0k Pecbmsbb 2&...
1286 THE I / EAD 3 IR . [ No . 4 > 0 K Pecbmsbb 2 & 1 ZM ¦ ^ ¦ ¦ ¦ — ' — ¦ ¦ ' — i — . ¦ )•
An Epitaph On Coppogk. We Can Quite Unde...
AN EPITAPH ON COPPOGK . We can quite understand that the memory of Mr . James Coppock . should be respected by his friends . In private life he bore an unimpeached character . But if he is to be set up in even the remotest niche of party history , lie must be characterized in accordance with the position he filled as a public man . During- the whole of his career as an electoral agent he was sedulously engaged in the trade of parliamentary adulteration . Since the enactment of the Reform Bill , no man ever did so much to bring representative institutions into contempt . We will admit that Mr . Coppock was clever , bold , and zealous . But his talent was for intrigue , his ardour was that of a Whig-paid agent , and his daring was , in a political sense , synonymous with an utter contempt of scruple . Enlightened cynics have been engaged in finding apologies for Mr . Coppock . We are willing to pass him over in silence ; but that does not content the necrologists . They insist upon a funeral oration . Probably , they will not be disap - pointed . We English of the nineteenth century entertain a noble reverence for those who are wise in their generation . Tliese be thy pods , O Israeli Mr . Morrison amassed four millions and—died .
and neerological columns c improved' the occasion of his decease . James Coppock , general dealer in corruption , dies , and he , too , has his columnar testimonials . The miser , to whom bankers bowed , is introduced to posterity as eccentric * ; the science of illegal interference at elections is paraphrased into devotion and pugnacity . This moral nation , however , is Warned—lest unftedged Coppocks should aspire to the agency in Clevelandrow- —that the best friends of the deceased could not always approve of the intrepidity with which'he fought his antagonists with their own weapons . But , then , he was faithful in cases of compromise :
he observed his pledges ; that is to say , he was not a liar or a rogue . Other agents were worse than he ; he did dirty work with dean hands ; his occupation was detestable , but his character stood high ; he debased the electors , but never stooped himself ; he evaded the highest constitutional laws of the realm , but , for all that , he was a man of honour . Rottenness was his stock-in-trade , but though he loved the business he loathed the principle . We hope that this sort of cant will not impose on the public mind . Many persons well remember how Mr . Coppock , warming his legs before a fire , was
accustomed to express his disgust of the venality among electors . But ! to every bargain there are two parties ; in this case there are three : the voter sold himself , the Whigs bought him , and Mr . Coppock was the go-between . The one person shut his eyes ; the other , perhaps , had , morally , no eyes to shut ; the third , Mr . Coppock , was the man who systematically trafficked in the franchise and reduced bribery to a science . But felix etiam ovportunitate mortis . He is gone before a Reform Bill came to take away his vocation . He is gone , and there is no rival to the little barber of
Shrewsbury—the satellite of W . B . Fraii * of Shrewsbury , we learn , is a great man , and the doors of Tory mansions are opened upon bis arrival in town , unreported by the fashionable organs . A Pjbail of larger dimensions and more imposing deportment was Mr . James Coppock . Will this position satisfy his admirers ? If not , forget him ; abolish the calling which 1 h 3 followed , and let his name decently disappear . We would not look upon his like again . If he was audacious , he had his reward ; if he was clever , he applied his abilities to a very bad purpose ; if he
was devoted to his party , so are the servile and the venal . Mr . Coppock was not servile . He opened an agency in Cleveland-row , and the Carlton might probabl y have had him had he not been previously engagea . fortunate for- him was the opportunity of death . The time is coming in which Coppockism will be not only illegal , but impossible , So they say . Wo bury a man and the world writes an epitaph of praise upon the worldly-wise . Shall we be stigmatized as purists if we beg to be allowed to add : — May the system which made him what he was be abolished for ever !
West Indian Politics. Otr» West Indian L...
WEST INDIAN POLITICS . Otr » West Indian letters inform us that the remarks we ventured to put forward ( on tho 31 st of October ) on the subject of ' Yellow Fever at St . Thomas , ' and on . the obvious means of avoiding- it
by transferring the depot from the J > aaish settiT ment to our own Virgin Islands , have been vZ favourably received by our fellow-subjects in thS parts , and that the suggestions are likely , to £ pressed upon the attention of the Colonial OffinP We are reminded , indeed , by one of our corre ' spondents , that the expression ' hundreds of bai » applied to the Virgin Islands , has a certain taint of rhetorical licence , and we are ready to confess that it was a colloquial exaggeration which had better been avoided man argument relying for its strength on geographical and even topographical accuracy 5 statement . ¦ ¦' :-. •> ¦ l
In spite , however , of this pardonable flaw in 'the form , the substance of our proposition remains \ m altered , and it is confirmed by every letter we receive " on the subject . It is , ve believe , the positive onimon of nautical men of the widest experience , tkat except perhaps the harbours , of rather inland seas of Rio Janeiro and Sydney , the Virgin Gorda Souud is the finest m the world ; not excepting even Trmcomalee , so highly prized by Nelson . At Prickly Pear Island ( which forms the north side of the Sound ) there is a place for a coal depot with eight or nine fathoms water within a few yards of the shoreand the
, entrance to the harbour merely requires the lights , which are universally found ia such places ; two buoys would fora * a sufficient fairway guide in the daytime . We cannot doubt that the authorities at the ColoniaVOffice will take these advantages in favour of the Virgin Islands into serious consideration . It is clearly not only not necessary to leave the depot at St . Thomas's , but a danger and a loss in every respect , and a needless injustice to our own dependency into the bargain . Whilst we are referring to our West Indian letters , we may touch for a moment on the Sepoy immigration scheme , which oriffinated in Bristol or
Liverpool some months ago , and was alluded to vq-. cently in the House of Commonsv "It would be . a good measure" ( writes one of our correspondents , entitled to speak with authority ) "if Government would take care of them for us but to turn mutinous soldiers adrift where there are neither police , arms , nor troops , would of course be an infliction . " The growth of cotton in our West India . IslaxvtU io beginning to excite much attention . The one thing needful is labour . Alluding to the experiments initiated by the President ot the Virgin Islands , a correspondent estimates the extent of good cotton land in that dependency alone as from 30 , 000 to 40 , 000 acres . Assuming that every acre properly tilled should turn out at least one anola half or two
aales annually , our estimate ( be writes ) of 20 , 000 bales might he realized within twelve months from the date of sufficient labour being , made available . The cotton-plant gives two or three pickings annually there , and the second or third year ' s growth often proves more productive than the first . It has been found possible to liave Sea Island cotton ready for picking within four months from sowing time .
We may well be anxious for the result of th « se experiments , for upon them will torn , in great measure , the future fate of our West Indian possessions . Sugar will give place to cotton as soon as our ability to grow Sea Island cotton in perfection shall have been established , and capital will not hesitate to follow the announcement ol success . We dare say our intelligent readers , who arc en joying the good things of Christmas , will readily appreciate the importance of these West Indian questions .
- /Llwivrr /Ftim-Mi-M Cip-Lint Ubuuulu*. *'
OOjitn CnnttriL
« [In This Ottvaittment. As All Opinions...
« [ IN THIS OttVAItTMENT . AS ALL OPINIONS , H 0 W 1 VKH KXTKWIK , AM ALLOWED AN ICXIMt KS 8 ION , TUB KlllXOlt NKCKSSAIULV HOLDS IUK-3 BLC KlCSfONaililK FOlt NOHKl ]
All. The Difference. (7'O Tke Editor Of ...
ALL . THE DIFFERENCE . ( 7 ' o tke Editor of the Leader . ') Sin , —Tho sarcastic remarks on the late debate at the India House , contained in your political summary , would probably have been spared , had yott not been misled by a very suspicious omission in tnc Times report . The chairman is there made to remind the proprietors that they were voting away their own money . Ho said , however , quite the reverse . Those are his very words aa taken down at tho time by a short-hand reporter . "It should T > e remembered that it is not our own money that we arc voting away The Directors are as well disposed to ho generous as this Court of Proprietors can bo ; but there must be a limit to tlieao things , " Trusting to your sense of justice for tho correction of this accidental error , I remain , Sir , Your obedient servant , 80 IWTAT 0 B .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 26, 1857, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26121857/page/14/
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