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historian . Notice is not taken of Mr . Melville ' s evidence given last session . Pars . 8 to 10 suggest the formation of an " Indian Council , " partly , at least , elective ; directly responsible to Parliament ; a Minister of the Crown to be President ; members to be well paid , so that the services of " the most able men of the day may be secured : " excepting for that of President , a previous residence in India to be all indispensable qualification for office , and the body to elect these members for the Indian Council to be " composed of persons having-a real and substantial interest in the good government of the country . " Par . 11 says of the " Local Governments , " that " they are conducted under the existing system with a despotism and a secrecy which , however justifiable and necessary in the early days of the British rule , are not at all called for in the present day ; and , on the contrary , are most injurious to the character and best interests of the Government itself , and most unsatisfactory to the governed . "
In par . 12 the petitioners complain of the efficiency of the local Governments of Madras and Bombay being very much impaired , and business being considerably retarded by the . necessity , under the present law , of submitting questions for the decision oFtho Supreme Government—a power " with no local knowledge to guide its decisions . " In par . 13 they quote the petition of the East India Company , presented during the discussions regarding the present Charter , against placing " an excessive power in the hands of the Governor-General" calculated to " prejudicially diminish the power and influence of the Governments of Madras and Bombay , a
prediction , "' —which , say the petitioners , " the experience of the last eighteen years has completely verified . " Par . 14 is directed against the unnecessarily heavy " cost of administration in India , " which might be greatly reduced " by abolishing sinecure offices , and retrenching the exorbitant salaries of many highly-paid offices , " the duties of which entail " little labour or responsibility , that they might with advantage be amalgamated with other offices , " or be paid for at a rate " commensurate with the nature of the duties to be performed . " —One case ia given , in par . 26 , in partial support of these views .
Par . 15 relates to the claims of natives to " a much larger share than ' they have hitherto had in the administration of the affairs of their country , " and to the admission of r * spectable and intelligent men from among them into the Councils of the local governments , so that their experience may be brought to bear in the discussion of matters of general interest to the country . Par . 16 quotes from Lord Glenelg ' s letter of 6 th March , 1832 , in favour of the selection of Natives for the offices of Justices of the Peace and Grand Jurors ; also , from Sir Erskine Perry ' s speech of 9 th February last , in favour of Native Judicial Officers in the interior , and upon this testimony , as well as upon the satisfactory conduct of two natives at Calcutta , one as a Judge in the Small Cause Court , the other as a Stipendiary Magistrate , the petitioners rest the claims put forward iu their fifteenth paragraph .
Par . 17 draws attention to the 87 th . Clause of the Charter Act , which declares that no native of India , or natural-born subject therein , shall be disqualified for office by reason only of religion , place of birth , descent , or colour , and solicits from . Parliament "due provision for the more extensive employment of Natives of India , suitabl y qualified for the Government service , and for their elevation to the highest offices of the State . " Pars . 18 and 19 advert to nearly all important posts in the civil administrations of India being exclusively in the hands of the " Covenanted Civil Service ol * the East India Company , " the members of which , both the competent and the incompetent educated at lluyleybury , have equally the parliamentary right in India
" to supply the vacancies in tho civil establishments . " Par . 20 urges ihat while the education given at Hayleyburyis manifestly insufficient to enable a young man lo administer the Jaw , civil and criminal , Hindoo and Mahometan , to a whole district , yet no other provision in made to confer competency for judicial duties on civil officers , nor are they required to qualify themselves . Par 21 states that in this service the members rise by seniority , are often transferred from revenue , financial , or political duties , to those of the judicial kind , and are practically irresponsible ; they further Hay that ( lie local governmenth are debarred from availing theniHeiven of the services of more competent persona , who happen not to be of the privileged order .
Par Tl avers thai , through this exclusive system of employ , the Courts of Justice are . handed over to those least qualified to collect , tho revenue ; and that , in consequence , decisions arc uti-Hatiafauitory , appeals nunierouH , proceeding *) costly , and the . fin ; il result very long delayed . Par . 2 : 5 , accordingly , prays Ihat if the exclusive service he continued , each of its members ( should be confined to one of it . H departments , that promotion by seniority bo abolished , and that " a high standard of qualification should bo exacted from all who are appointed to judicial oflii-en in India . " Pars 24 and 25 complain of tbe cost , of the Indian Civil Service , the Hnluric . H averaging £ 1750 per annum eiu : li , and they refer to recent evidence before the Select , Committee of I ho Houhc of ' Coiiiinoim as to the able services of Native IJneovtinanted Servants , " at a mere fraction of tho charge ol Covenanted Servants , " and the propriety , therefore , of using that atrency more extensively .
Par . 2 < f points to Ihc ' l ' ost Offico , as one of many which ought to be thrown open to the Uneoveiiiiuted Service , observing that ,, " within the hint , ten yearn , there have been eight diHereiit postmasters at this presidency , drawing between 2 ( MX )/ .. and ' . \ 000 L a yenr , while the work ban been chiefly performed by n deputy receiving 7 < HW . per annum , " and that , through want of proper training of ' tlione placed as heads of the department , " the Post Office , us a system , is believed to be infinitely below what , it would have been had a qualified person been seiil , out , from Kng-IrimI to take permanent , elinrge of it . " I ' m-. 27 . iNnally , upon the question of public servants , the petitioner rcconinxMid to tbe gni \ e consideration of Parliament irlia lit in t
the petition of the Kiist . India Company f <> P . - IKV ., wherein they pledge themselves as follows : "Throughout the . correspondence which has passed with His Maj .-sty ' s Ministers , your petitioners have declared upon this point , I hat , the arrangement which shall most effectually provide the means of giving Government servants to the Indian Kmpire , is that which nhi ; ll assuredly meet tho views of the Court , whatever its elleef . H may boon their patronage ; and it is because your pel it ioneivi are deliberately convinced that , e ( Iieioney will be more , likely to bo obtained in iv general system of education , brought , to tho nl . ; iii < lai < l of ii hi , rli test , of examination , than in any exclusive system , I hut tho Court confidently ask your Honourable House to nholiHli « he <; ,, ll ,, | <( . . " " "
l ' lim . iH iiiul 2 i > arfl devoted to considering ( lid deficient iiMMiim of internal communication ; " this want , " nay tho pot . ilioiuM-s , " < lincnuriig <> M incrcaso of production , by shutting out , tin , producers from any reniuMorutivo market , Jind piev « -iits , in peviods of < Iit < t rcsn , llio scarcity of ono district being n » it (|; iitc ( l by the plenty in imol . her . Instances arc recorded wherein U , o supplies ' < lesij-uod to relievo famine in a district were , in the eourun ,, | - ( ninsit , consumed before they reached their deMtinution . W ,-,-,. | n j M , jfn | ,-nel ion lo tho industry and lesourccM of ( . 1 ,,, ... n . ntry t .,, keii oil " , by the eonsfmelion ol milwiiyH , roivdn , pi ,-, * , wharves , and other useful woiku , liu-go trnetn of land now lyi ,,,, Wiuit » , m , , particularly In flirt ¦ ootton district , would bo put under cultivation , » nd tho mipply
of this most important article of export to Great Britain Would be increased at least tenfold . " In oorroboration of these views , the petitioners take the following quotation from a memorial from the leading merchants and bankers of Bombay , in 1850 , to the address of the present Governor-General , to wit : — "So miserably inadequate are the means of communication in the interior , that many valuable articles of produce are , for want of carriage and a market , often left to perish in the field , while the cost of those which do find their way to this port is enormously enhanced , to the extent , sometimes , of 200 per cent . Considerable quantities never reach their destination At all , and the quality of the remainder is almost universally deteriorated . " They also refer to several able letters in the London Times in November and December , 1850 , and September , 1851 , "
distinguished Engineer officer of the Bombay Army , " which " clearly point out the deficiency of the present means of communication in the interior , and particularly in Gujerat . " The petitioners " suggest that five per cent , of the amount of Land Revenue should be annually expended in the District whence it is levied , in making roads , bridges , tanks , and other works of similar utility . " And they observe , further , that " all such expenditure would be speedily repaid iu the increased revenue arising from the impulse given to production , by opening wp new markets for the sale of produce . " In fine , say they , " your petitioners observe that this most important recommendation has been made repeatedly to the Local and Supreme Governments here , by some of its eminent and most experienced officers , but they have learnt with deep regret that it has been as frequently set aside by the Home authorities . "
Par . 30 shows that out of a net land revenue of 1 , 028 , 285 ? . the Government devotes only 12 , 500 Z ., or less than one and a quarter per cent ., for educational purposes , and they conclude this subject in the following words : —" Your petitioners beg to draw the special attention of your Honourable House to this subject , and believe that all the reforms and all the improvements sought for , or in the power of your Honourable House to make , are but secondary in importance compared with the necessity of introducing a complete system of education for the masses of the people . That such expenditure would eventually increase the revenues of the country , both by teaching the people new and better modes of production , as well as habits of economy and prudence , cannot be doubted ; and your petitioners would suctrest the propriety of establishing in each Presidency an
University , after Mr . Cameron ' s plan , for the purpose of qualifying persons to practise of the various professions , and rendering them eligible for Government employment . " Par . 31 closes the petition , and prays Parliament to embody in any measure of legislation , which may come before it for the future government of India , the principles hereinbefore set forth , and that those august bodies " will not rest content , but adjourn the final settlement of the plan of the Indian Government until all available information from trustwortlry , competent , and disinterested sources , " has been laid before it ; and the petitioners venture to hope that Parliament " will limit the period of existence for any future Government of India to ten years , in order that the interests of so many millions of British subjects may be more frequently brought under its consideration . "
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HARD TIMES AT " MODERN TIMES . " [ Many will remember previous communications which we have inserted from the pen of an intelligent traveller in America , relating to the " Trial Village" of the new "Equitable Commerce" System—the very opposite pole of Communism . We are now enabled to add a further report of this experiment , which will help to keep the reader acquainted with both sides of the Industrial problem . ] Brooklyn , 1852 . My dear Ion , —Having , at length , some little leisure , I take up my pen to communicate to you what I saw and heard , and thought , on a recent visit to " Modern Times . " It was evident the moment I left the railway train at the station , some mile or so from the sturdy young village , that great progress had been made in twelvemonths . Houses of various sizes and styles of architecture , from the rude log cabin to tho neat and almost elegant cottage residence , were dotted here and then ; where a year ago I left dismal stunted pines and tough oak brushwood—a stubborn foe to the clearer of land that I never saw till I came to this country . Ah I approached nearer I found gardens that seemed struggling into exigence , amid the piles of lumber , lime , Band , mortar , bricks , and nil tho nyitoriulu and implements of tho builder's art which were lying everywhere around . A ft or calling upon an old friend in the outfikirtn of the new village , I made the best ; of my way , past a certain acre devoted , an noon aa tho tiino Hindi como , to a unitary resid ' nei , to the college that in to be ,, mid found a plain building of some extent , of which tho foundations were being laid when I loft last August , occupied for the present by ( , 1 k ; small village store , and some threo or (" our families , as their temporary residence until ( heir own houses can be built .
The store does little at , present but illustrate ( o Rome extent , the principles of Hquit . uhlc Commerce . Instead of being , from early morning till lute at night a sort . oC lounging-plaoe for a lazy storekeeper , lying in wait for customers behind or before bin counter , like a npidor for the unwary fly , and a rendezvous for all the . tippling ; loafers of the vicinity , the store is - simply a store . If , in open for one hour in the day only — ( hut being the extent of the demand . All the goods in it are nold for wlmt , ( bey rost ; the lime of tho storekeeper being at present paid for in money at ho much perjninuto for nil the time taken ut ) by the customer .
Among the residents in this building I found Mr . ( Jeorgc Steams , a , gentleman from Jiowell , tho ni > indle-eity of MuKsaehusets , wild emigrated thence lout May , bringing with him an excellent , little monthly paper , culled Tim Art of lAvivif , which had then reached its 171 , 11 number . It wan worth a visit , to Modern Times ( , o he made acquainted with tbe proprietor . 1 hud not . tiino to obtain any exact statistics , but 1 think the population of the village must , now amount in nil to somci fifty or sixty bouIh . There , will he a considerable addition before the miminer is over . Nearly all ( lie men are engaged in building . Tho demand for houses by persons desirous of coming to swell thin lit fie band of social regenerators in very brisk . Hix morn have to be erected before winter , and this docs not mod , tho demand . I was efcruok by tho great improvement in tho etylo of
building . One single-story cottage now being finished M a perfect little bijou of a village residence . The ««* « » the first builders were but amateurs , the master builder and architect having been a cabinet maker by trade , ana his most efficient assistant a machine maker ( a valuable citizen at Modern Times ) , who being a Yankee of the pure bread , could of course turn his hand pretty efcciently to carpentering . Now , however , there is a regular carpenter , as well as a mason , a painter , and a tinmanythe latter important here , where tin roofs iire much in vogue , and deservedly so , as far as I can judge , for their cheapness , efficiency , and durability . A glimpse of the working of the principles may oe obtained from the operations of this troup of builders . It A were to apply to the master-builder to put up a house , supposing that in the exercise of his sovereignty as att individual he were inclined to undertake work for me , no would nroceed to build according to order . For his own
time and trouble in working and superintending the work of others , he would make a specific charge per hour , and would charge me with all that he paid others for labour , and the nett cost of the materials , but with no cent of profit . Every one would work in his own way , and at bis own price , for the individual is supreme , and Labour , not " Commerce , " is king . . . But now , if some one whose labour is in demand , at Modern Times , as , for instance , a mechanic in any of tho b t
building trades , went there , he would e able o p rocure all the labour required for the erection of his house in return for his labour notes , —L e ., on the credit of his future labour : and probably a house which would cost mo 1 UOO dollars if I took only hard cash—glittering Cahforman or Australian gold—could be procured by him with less than half that amount of money . Very comfortablo houses have been put up for people with only some 100 dollars in cash . Several houses are , I understand , now
being erected thus . Last winter was very severe , and some of the poorer ot the first pioneers had a sharp trial of their zeal . " Modern Times" proved for them worthy of the nickname which a friend of mine , who does not like the movement , has bestowed upon it : " Hard Times . " For , there being no association , the first leaders cherishing a horror of Fraternity- Sentimentalism , every one had to shift for himself as he best could . In the coming winter , they will be at least better provided with habitations . Work will perhaps
run short when building operations can be no longer carried on ; but they have more chances now . The tinman is a stove-maker also , and may push his trade ; the carpenter may find in-door work for other hands than his own in preparing doors and windows for the houses to be built next spring ; and if arrangements could be made to do the work , a considerable quantity of stereotyping would be put in their way by an ardent social reformer of my acquaintance ; so that I hope to have only good news to tell you of this movement , which certainly does inspire its votaries here , however few their numbers , with a confidence and zeal that cannot be surpassed , and have , perhaps , seldom been equalled .
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RAILWAY COLLISION : EIGHT KILLED ! Theke has been a fatal kind of jousting , & I'outrance , as they formerly said , on the North-western Hailway , near Oxford . Eight persons were killed in the process ; that is more thnn General Godwin has lost from the shot of the enemy in all the Burmese campaign ; and if as many were killed in an encounter with the Kafirs we should consider it calamitous , porhnps dishonourable . There is a line running out of Oxford northwards , cnlled the Huekinghuinshire Itailway ; it joins tho North-western , and indeed belongs to that proprietary . For some time past , owing to u land slip in the Wolvereot tunnel , about a mile from Oxford , only one , tho up-line , has lx > en kept clear for the ordinary traffic , which has been worked between that place and Islip by moans of signals . On Monday evening , a passenger train of three carriages—one ( bird , another second , and tin ; last first class- —was prepared to start from Oxford
at 5 . HO on Monday evening . Mr . iilott , tho stationmaster , appears ix > huve given instructions to the driver of this train , named Tarry , the guard Kinch , and hi « fireman , that it was to await , the arrival of a coal train , due ut the station ut 5 . 20 , ami which had boon telographed as on its way from Tslip , tho next station . Ho thvu went to his office , and in the meantime u ballast train engine , without any train behind it , canio on tho down-line to tho ticket platlorm , showing a whif . e light on its buffer beam , and not a green light , us would havo been the case with tho coal train . As soon as tho
ballast engine arrived , without wnitmg to notice whether it was tho coal-train or not , and totally disregarding 1 tho signals , tho driver of ( he piisucngcr-trnin started it , and Wit are told that he set oil" with unustud speed , contrary to tho regulations of l . ho company , which enjoin that bo shall start with great , care , observing that ho has the whole of liin ( rain before he goes boyond the limits of the station . When ho net on " , HuycH ,
the ticket-collector , in vain culled to Tarry to stop , ami Mr . Mlott , tho station-muster , and the servants of tho company , ran along with the sumo object , but of courw ) lo no purpose . As they passed the bill last-engine , Kinch , Ihe ^ uiird , observing Ihat it wns not tho ooaltraln which was expected , and anticipating what would happen , put , on tho breaks hard , and displayed tho umuhI llrttf-Bignol to » tot > , but no notieo wan taken of it
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32 THE LEADER . [ Satpbpay ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 8, 1853, page 32, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1968/page/8/
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