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INDIA AND INDIAN PROGRESS.
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INDIA IN A WAR. The imminent danger of w...
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_ fr vqtttTTST THE PEDAGOGUE bXSsiJiMUN LiSUlA
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Wo intimated a short timo ago that the p...
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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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¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . •; ¦ ¦ ' . - ¦ . . ; ¦ . ¦¦¦¦ •;¦ . . ' ' ;• . . „ - £ ¦ . ¦ ¦ ' . £ * ; - ? -, ; ,. v , . ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦ .. ; . ¦;¦ ¦ ¦ . ; . ¦ ' ' ^ / ' ¦ ¦ ¦ . . „ . ' " ¦ ¦ KTn . 475 . Aprxi . 30 , 1859 . ] * HE LEADER . 569
India And Indian Progress.
INDIA AND INDIAN PROGRESS .
India In A War. The Imminent Danger Of W...
INDIA IN A WAR . The imminent danger of war which has suddenly burst on the community has called the attention of some to what would be the position of India during hostilities with France , and such other powers as might take part with it in assailing the English empire . It now becomes a matter of bitter regret that those measures which were best calculated for the civilisation of India and its defence have been neglected . Had the railway system been carried Out ten years ago , as it might tne
have been , it would equally nave promoteu general advancement of the country , and enabled us to economise our military resources , and to pour down our troops on any part of the coast or frontier assailed . Had the rivers been properly supplied with steamers , means of internal transport would have been augmented . The state of affairs in this respect is lamentable . The Granges is insufficiently navigated ; the navigation of the Indus is but in its beginning ; the Burrampooter and the
Gogra have no longer steamers on them ; the upper rivers of the Indus , af ter being made the subject of experiment , are not worked ; the Nerbuddah and others have yet to undergo the test of experiment . The harbours of the coast are neglected , so tliat * instead of being available for the disembarkation pr landing of troops , they remain unserviceable ; and even of the existing harbours , Madras itself , from the refusal of the Government to provide a breakwater , is most inefficient <
The army of native revolters is kept up in greater numbers than ever , and no efficient measures are taken to supply India with a European force , for the present army is threatened with reduction , and the number of local corps is small ; whereas a . large reserve might have been constituted in the hills , had ordinary prudence been displayed . Connected with this is the inattention to foster the increase of an English population . This has slightly increased through the exertions of private enterprise , and the establishment of ioint-stock companies ; but it is utterly inadequate
interests has been established with the Canadas , which will be extended to Columbia arid Vancouver . Within India it is of paramount importance that public works should be pushed forward , and no financial consideration must be allowed to stand in the way . While time yet remains before the money market is p aralysed and commerce interrupted , the main railways should be completed and branches laid down to the hills . Road ^ harbour , and irrigation works must be carried on with vigour , and everthing be done to increase the internal resources of India , and to mobilise her military
force . Above all , encouragement must at once be given to the colonisation of the hills . Let a charter be granted for the hill districts , assuring Australian land regulations , and English institutions , so that no doubt may remain that the settlers will have the same privileges as in every other colony . The local corps should at once be raised for hill service , as proposed by Sir John Login , the men being enlisted for short terms , so that they should become ultimate colonists , and institute an effectual reserve ;
Our military resources in India are only now beginning to be developed , for we have at length obtained a considerable English force , with a regular system of hill stations and sanitaria , and we have the means of enlisting the ^ hill tribes , so ^ as to be independent of the populations of the plains . The importation of cavalry and artillery horses from the Cape and Australia has been organised . The telegraph system lias been laid down , but this is of little good unless the troops themselves can be readily moved about . The establishment of a European artillery is of great importance , but we regret deeply that the measures for reinforcing the artillery have been interfered with on factious views , for the purpose of obtaining berths for officers attached to local
corps . The situation is a serious one ; but if justice be done to our people England can as well maintain India now , against all the world , as she did in the last century and in the beginning of this , although beset with powerful antagonists .
for the defence of the country . The safety of India during a war depends partly on maintaining the command of the sea , and this is dependent on our alliance with the United States , the only quarter on which we can rely for support in the general illwill of France , Russia , Austria , Prussia , Spain , and Portugal , and the alienation of Holland . For the safety of our commerce and " our coasts , the co-operation of the otlxer naval power , the United States , is imperative j and we ought to have an alliance with Holland , the people of which are disposed to regard their kindred to us , if they do but meet with . the affection of kinsmen . Unless our diplomacy is dictated by great national considerations , instead
of being made subservient to the petty despots of Germany , we shall find ourselves greatly harassed in any war with France and Russia 5 as the French possessions in Bourbon , or Reunion , Coinero , Madagascar , Cochin China , New Caledonia , and Tahiti , which they have been allowed of late years so much to extend , will become , as of old , nests of privateers and pirates ; the possessions of Holland , Spain , and Portugal in Java , Sumatra , Borneo , Celebes , the Philippines , Timar , and Macao will bo made to contribute , with Russian cruisers from Asia and America , to worry our merchantmen and plunder the towns of India , Australia , and South Africa .
The importance of an alliance with our American brethren cannot bo overrated . They are interested with ourselves in the trade of Asia , Africa , and Australia , and in maintaining the supremacy of the English race , in the North Pacific and Central America , and they can effectually restrain llussian ambition to their west . Now that the United States have touched the Pacific their foreign policy has been materially altoi'ed , much wore than by their proximity to Europe and their growing intercourse with it . The Statos and Russia now jostle each other on -the North-West coast , in Hawaii , 'Japan , and China ; and the relations of Russia and the States will bo far other than they wore , more particularly as a community of
_ Fr Vqtttttst The Pedagogue Bxssijimun Lisula
public service . The Madras question included the following :- — From what did England get its name ? Explain the word Heptarchy ? Of what did the Heptarchy consist ? Under whom , and at what date , did the Heptarchy become a single state ? Mention the leading circumstances that have made Alfred ' s reign memorable , giving the date at its commencement and its close ? State what you know about the Witengaemote , the Bretwalda , Adrian ' s Wall , the Tilling , the Danegeld , the Doomsday Book , the Curfew , Peter ' s Pence ? This was followed up worthily in the Punjab quite lately , by a question said to bear a strong family likeness to the offspring of the Madras examiner . We give this , as it is worth bearing in mind : ~— .
" Give a sketch of the history of the Anglo-Saxons from the time of Egbert , a . d . 800 , to the time of William the Conqueror * a . j > . 1066 , military and political , explaining particularly the nature of the courts of jurisdiction called Hallmote , Huridredmote or Folkinote , Tliingmote , and the council of the Witenagemote . " These are but samples of . the whole course of examination , comprehensive in its exactions , and of little practical utility ; for the students are required , in many cases ; , to give opinions upon matters of hypothesis , and which they can only answer of text bookwithout
by quoting the opinion some , any positive knowledge on the subject . What can be the value in India of the memory or imagination of some raw lad upon Anglo-Saxon institutions , the nature of which has not been settled by the most eminent authorities , except to then- own satisfaction , and the bearing of which upon pur present institutions is as ill understood . . It would be idle to examine even ail ordinary English , Irish , or Scotch lad on trial by jury , or any institution , " of which he had no practical acquaintance , and only book knowledge . Such , however , are the outcroDoin < r of defects inherent in the civil
service of India , and with which the uncovenanted service is inoculated . It is the misfortune of India that a young man is sent out as a writer or a cadet without any experience of the duties of citizenship , and thus he is always defective in his political education , as compared with the community at home . Hence that want of sympathy too often found between the Indian civilian , the settler , and the home authorities . His political instruction has not been acquired in a free country , but from the natives . As a civilian he ia virtually
exempt from ordinary jurisdictions , and he is not long enough at the presidency to learn probably the working of the Supreme Court . Blackstone , indeed , has he read , but Blackstone will never make a citizen . The English newspape rs he may look at , but he soon ceases to feel any interest in homo politics or proceedings , except so far as any incident may . whet his curiosity ; and . the contests between freedom and despotism nro to him as the battles between frogs and mice . If he reads them it is with the feeling of a spectator , and not with the keen sympathy of the reader at home , who is an actor . ' The ' cadet is trained in citizenship by the rules and regulations , general orders ,
rcgi-TIIE PEDAGOGUE SYSTEM IN INDIA . Among the plagues afflicting India in consequence of the mandarin system , is naturally pedagogism ; for , as the writers are the offspring of pedagogism , so have" they a deep devotion to its tenets . They are the chosen of examinations , and to them examinations are as the waters of tho Gangesholy . Tims , in connexion with the educational departments , and the educational tests for the public service ,, many most ridiculous and miscluevous arrangements have been made . The natives of India arc quiet enough at word-play— - they have memory enough for anything- —even for learning a dictionary by heart—and the authorities are too apt to foster these propensities—the result being that examinations are a fiction and a delusion . The Colleges of Bombay , which turned out essayists proficient in English literature , have beqn found guileless of teaching English efficiently ; for the public examinations in the civil service at
Calcutta tho papers are , year after year , stolen beforehand , as soon as set , and generally in the colleges and examination-rooms a Jbody of wordjugglers is gathered together , really destitute of tho principles of * civilisation and morality , and who arc converted into the real governors of India to become corruptors , extortioners , and torturers , in whatever capacity they may bo employed , deceiving their superiors by a Russian varnish , of civilisation , and the more effectually oppressing their unhappy countrymen , Thus , in India we find the benevolence and weakness of tho Paraguay Jesuit gentlemen and scholars rendered still worse by the corruption tliat the llussian official class practices and conceals .
. Just now the examination mama is as me in India as if is in England , and the pedagogue is indeed in his glorv . Among other achievements of his are some late Government examinations in Madras and tho Punjaub for candidates for tho
mental orders , an occasional court martial , and above all , by the mess-room . Hence , with all tho sagacity and ability of our statesmen in India , they have been found wanting ; on nil those occasions when they are required to deal with and apply the institutions of a free pooplo ; and although I arliamont may sometimes do harm by interfering witn local details , it will do much more good by bringing the statesmanship of England to boar on the governors of India . -
Wo Intimated A Short Timo Ago That The P...
Wo intimated a short timo ago that the post of Foreign Secretary was vacant by the promotion ol Mr . Edmonstono , and that Mr . Boadon was tnogontloinan who , from ofllcial experience in Indian affairs and qualifications , was the best fittca for tho vacated position . Wo have tho pleasure to be the first journal to announce that Mr . Boadon has bee » appointed to the past of Foreign Secretary .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 30, 1859, page 25, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30041859/page/25/
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