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England , as well as in Ireland , habitually disregard the wishes of the people ; and because the unenfranchised classes in " free" England , att well as in unhappy Ireland , habitually jrttf uJJ With being disposed of by their " betters . " Bttfc what can we think of the Irish capacity for dd-operation when we see an O'Connell seconding a motion which , at the same time , he Itigmdttees fis " rash" ? No wonder that , with such backing , Mr . Moore ' s motion was lost .
The occasion has offered an opportunity for the members of the Brigade who had joined the Ministry , to recover their position in that body . Messrs . Sadleir and Keogh have resigned their posts ; Mr . Monsell and Sir Thomas Redington are said to have followed their example , on general grounds of dissent from the Irish ecclesiastical policy of the Government .
Lord Lyndhurst has afforded the Peers a locus pcenitentiee ; but the Lords perseveredin impenitence . He proposed to revise the whole subject of the oaths taken by Peers and Members on entering Parliament , which are in form obsolete and absurd . For instance , Jews are called upon to swear " upon the true faith of a Christian ; ' * Protestants are compelled to abjure the Pope , which Catholics are not obliged to do ; and all are obliged to abjure the Pretender and all his line—who are all " dust to dust . " Lord Lyndhurst , however ,
purposely withheld his hand from removing one absurdity , because the House of Lords had so recently resolved that it should not be removedthat phrase in the oath abjuring the Pope which indirectly excludes Jews . Lord Derby feared that the Commons would perfect the bill by removing that absurdity with the rest ; and Lord Ellenborough feared that if they did , the two Houses would fall to squabbling in the dog-days ; and in dread of that contingency , the bold Barons rejected the bill by 84 to 69 .
Mr . Macaulay has restored the freshness of his old repute by a speech in his best manner against an invidious Tory bill , to exclude the Master of the Rolls from theHouse of Commons . The Incometax Bill has made good way through Committee ; and amongst the amended Customs' Duties actually passed is the diminished tea-duty , by favour of which an immense supply , 7 , 000 , 000 pounds ,
is brought into trade ; and , in Dublin , we notice , no doubt also in London , the consumer is already profiting by the reduction . It will be as well , however , to examine the leaves after they have been unfolded by the hot water ; lest , in the excitement of buying " cheap tea , " the good public should be inveigled into buying that which would be dear at the cost of boiling the water .
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THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT . . Pahliament lias been unusually interesting this week . We have had three striking speeches—two in the House of Lords ; and everybody will eagerly welcome Mr . Macinilay back to his old arena . Besides which we have , at last , the statement of the Ministerial measure on THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA . The Ministerial plan lor the Government of India was stated last evening by SirCitAHXEH Wood . There wen ; not many members present , but there wan perfect silence and evident attention as the Minister roso to speak . IIo lii-st . pronounced against tho delay of legislation . Mr . Disraeli had truly said thai the present charter of tho Kant India Company was pawned almost aiuid tho excitement of Iho Jteform agitation ; lot them then remember that next session another reform bill would have to lie discussed . JVo one could foretol what might alter our foreign relations . Theso were arguments for immediate legislation ;
but a stronger argument arose lrom tho injurious agitation that would arise in India did tho people know that Parliament had doubts as to how they should bo governed , and by whom . Such " an impression would certainly woakon the influence of tho Indian authorities ; oa tho rumour of his recall had hindered Lord Ellenborough in hid negotiations . Information on tho nubject of tho Indian Government wo had already ; tho oviJonco g iven before tho committees was before the House . Hut if wo waited until all tho eight " heads" of tho subject wore investigated tho delay would ho so protracted t hat a postponornont of logw-1 ^ Nf' ' l P » . lml 11 Hie" was out of the question . From India ^ i $ im , ' an \ r from pornonn at homo connected with India , ho [ Had collected opinions preferring oven imperfect legislation "'»« onee ftd v uny postponement . Tho Government had . « uaroloj ; o , / dBolvod on unmodiuto legislation , and they aakad ; A
the House—amend 40 filter the bill as they liked—not to obstruct it for the awe merely of delay . He then characterized the Govertttttent bill as " small in compass , " for it jhtferred only td the Government of Ifldla—as managed at ndaie and in tMia itaetf . It left the social and local qilefttic& $ to be delajt with , ft&iher by Indian , administration than byJShglish legislation , " The social ami local matters which gave rise to complaints were Hot to be dealt witn by tho till ; but the Government had nd affection to express its views upon them . With reference to Legislation , til © taw Commission appointed in 1833 had unfortunately not ended in any practical result , but it was " not altogether useless ; " the spirit , if not the letter , of its reports and suggestions had
been embodied in subsequent local legislation . The administration of the Indian courts had been condemned ; but they should recollect that , until very lately , English law itself was a tissue of absurdities . Instances had been quoted of innocent persons in India who had been harassed by procedures , and sometimes sentenced to severe punishment ; but he would venture to say , that equal injustice was committed in England , if we counted all the cases where the Home Secretary had pardoned persons that should have been acquitted . We should remember , also , that while true evidence is the rule in England , it is the exception in India—perjury and subornation of perjury being all but universal ; and we should bear in mind that in India different customs of law had to be administered to different races . The Company's Judges had been attacked : yet , of the appeals made to England from their
decisions , two-thirds had been affirmed . The cultivation of cotton in India , though surrounded with peculiar difficulties , had progressed during the last fifteen years ; the amount cultivated during the last five years was nearly double that grown during the first five years of that period . The roads in India were not , it is true , sufficient to serve for the general conveyance of produce from the interior ; but there were many excellent roads- —lor instance , the great trunk road from Bengal to Lahore , 900 miles of which have been completed , and along which the traveller can pass speedily and safely . Railways had been but lately introduced ; but he promised that the Government would lose no time in affording them every encouragement . Touching irrigation , there had been much misrepresentation ; the Government had made five canals , and other most extensive works . The tenure of land in
India was another " grievance . " In the Madras Presidency , the system used was called the ryotwar system : it made the Government the great landlord , in direct relation with the cultivator . The assessment of rent under it was perhaps too high ; but it was subjected to annual revision . Some persona wished to Change this to the Zemindar system , by which landholders , somewhat like Irish middlemen , stepped in between the Government and the cultivator , and answerable to the Government for the rent only , oppressed the ryot to obtain it . But the ryotwar system is not universall y applied : the village system is recoernised in some provinces , and other systems in
other provinces ; in all cases regard being paid to the customs and wishes of the people . The revenue of India ( about 27 , 000 , 000 I . ) is raised on an accepted principle of political economy , which , advises the levying of taxes chiefly from a few articles ; the only article of popular consumption taxed in India is salt . In the abolition of Slavery , Suttee , Infanticide , and Thuggism , English rulo had been beneficial ; it had instituted the sway of Justice and Order , and had given to India more " serious , earnest , and enlightened legislation , " during the last twenty years than it had experienced during the preceding two centuries .
Having pronounced this unqualified panegyric on the effects of tho present Government of India , Sir Chftrles Wood considered tho machinery of tho system . It certainly was anomalous that 160 , 000 , 000 of people should be governed by ono Englishman at Calcutta , having more absolute and extended power than many monarchs in Europe ; that he should bo directed by twenty-four gentlomen , elected by a body of persona not qualified for the duty by any knowledge of India , and that they should be controlled by a Minister who , in the changes of parties , may havo known nothing of Indian affairs until ho waa placed in office . But our Indian Empire itself is an anomaly as great ; and , with all its imperfections tho system could not have been badly administered when it had brought a great ompire to prosperity and an improving condition . In tho Board of Control waa vested power in all things excepting commerce and patronage ; but in exorcising its power it had the advice of the ^ Directors . This plan had worked well . If tho whole power wero vested in tho Board of Control , that Board being directly responsible to Parliament , Indian affaire would bo in ado questions of party politics , and perverted as hnve been Homo colonial questions of tho day . Ono complaint against tho present Indian Government hnd been its tardiness of action ; hut , in truth , despatch waa not of great importances in Indian administration . For in govorning such a country our practice should ho to appoint local officers in whom wo could have confidence , and who would bo responsible for action . Tho witnesses beforo tho Committees had been almost unanimous in recommending tho continuance of tho double Government , by which tho Minister wan guided by tho ad vice of persons experienced in India . Jt should bo remembered also , that should tho Ministry titko all tho Indian authority to itself , it should first give hack to tho Company its capital and its commercial charter ; and , secondly , undertake tho Indian finarcot )—a change Mr . Gladstone would not like . Tho plan of tho future Government was then staled . The Board of Control ih to bo retained—the only alteration being , that the 1 ' residont is to make an annual statement of Indian affairs to the Houho of Commons . Tho Court of Directors is to be altered . Instead of the present thirty Directors , there are to bo eighteen ; twelve elected by tho proprietors of Ktxat India Stock , and six nominated by tho Crown , from among officers who havo served in India for ton years . ( Tb . 0 change La to bo mado gradually . )
The presM tBirtjf directors are to select from among themselves - fifteen % retain power . The Crown will add three Directors -With the above-stated qualifications ; and the vacanfei <» demurring through the retirement ot elected Directors will bo filled in by the appointment of Crown nomiriee « L until the direction attains its regulated proportion of twelve directors elected by the proprietors , and six nominated by the Crown . Six directors will retire every two tears , and can be immediately re-elected to serve again . By this means each director will serve six years . The directors will receive 500 Z . a year , instead ot 3001 . a year as at present , and the chairman and deputychairman will get 1000 ? . a year each . This increase is given in lieu of some patronage withdrawn from the
directors . The " nomination" of young men to Haueybury are taken out of their hands ; entrance to the college will in future be accorded after public competition—merit , and merit alone , obtaining the prize . And with a view to the improved administration of justice in India the education at the college will have more of training in legal knowledge , and less acquirement of Oriental languages than at present . The same rule will govern appointments to assistant surgeoncies , and to the scientific departments of the army . The hig her appointments now absolutely made by the directors will be subjected to the supervision of the Board of Control . This system of Government , to commence on the second Wednesday of April , 1854 , is not fixed it to last untiliraruam
for any particular time ; Is encsnau otherwise provide . The changes in the Government in India were then detailed . Reform is expected chiefly through local legislation ; but to assist such reform a commission of English lawyers is to frame a code founded on the reports and suggestions of the commission of 1833 . The appointments of the Executive Council is to rest as now with the directors , but subject to the revisal of the Board of Control . The Legislative Council will be nominated by the Governor-General and by the
Lieutenant-Governors of the Presidencies , from persons who have been in the civil service a certain number of years . The Governor-General will have a veto on all legislation . To relieve him in part from his present burthen of administration a Lieutenant-Governor will be appointed in Bengal . The Queen ' s Courts and the Company ' s Courts will be abolished , and a minor Court of Appeal will be established in eaeh Presidency , superseding the Supreme Courfe in Calcutta . The salaries of the inferior native judges will be increased . The negative portion of the scheme was hurried over . The secret committee of the Directors is not abolished .
No provision is made for the education of the natives ; and no regulation for their more extended employment . Referring with great satisfaction to some few cases of cotu version to Christianity , and praising the law which allowed converts to retain their Hindoo rights of property * Sir Charles concluded with a general phrase in praise of " civilization and Christianity . " When he eat down there was general but faint ap ^ plaueo . His speech lasted five hours . The House was thin throughout . Some members were asleep on the side benches , but the majority of those in the House were attentive . The statement was in some parte necessarily dry—in others prolix without necescity ; while the occasional dropping of the speaker ^ voice added to the dulness of portions of the speech .
Mr . Bbight ( who took notes all through the long speech , and once requested Sir Charles to speak up ) rose to criticise the measure . Thore were some " good things" in tho bill : it would be strange indeed if a person making such a long speech did not state something good . The alteration , as to the patronage , was good ; but , in tho covenanted service , the present promotion by seniority should bo replaced by promotion for merit . As to " delay" of legislation , no injury could arise from showing the Indian people that we conisidered this a grove and aohvr . ijOTuestion ; and now was a favourable time ^ > r ic , 4 *~ i&onate consideration . Mr .
Bright then con ' . ' ' - * mSH ^ present system . secrecy and irrespolV usv ^( -. " 3 runsuited to our Parliamentary Govornmon ^ HByjSiU < , system which " obscured responsibility , and deluded public opinion . " Under this system the revenue was squandered , no one knew to what extent , in unnecessary wars . Then look at the condition of the peasantry of India : in Bengal " wretched and degraded , " as Mr . Marshman , a friend of tho Company , had sain . Tho ryotwar revenue collectors' eamo down " like locusts , " testified Mr . Tucker ; and tho consumption Of salt , in Bengal , had diminished by 00 , 000 tons in three years . Throughout India , tho Company ' s courts wore objects of absolute terror to all persons forced to appear in them . Sir Charles Wood had talked of our exportB to India , but India , with its population of 100 , 000 , 000 , took but 8 , 000 , 0002 . of our goods , whilo Brazil , with its population of 7 , 500 , 000 , ( half
Blavos , ) took ox ports worth 2 , 600 , 000 ? . Thus , India consumed at tho rate of Is . Id . per head , whilo , in South America , including tho whole of tho slave population , the consumption was 8 « . 8 d . a hoad . In IB ' Sll natives were declared eligible for superior offices , but , nine © then , not one has obtained any appointment , not obtained by a native boforo that vaunted declaration . We had overthrown tho nativo schools ; and , out of 100 , 000 , 000 of people , wo wero educating 25 , 000 , expending but 00 , 000 ? . in education , out of a revenue , arising from tho people of 2 » , < MX > , < XX > r . Ji- rom 1835 to 1851 , tho Government had ' reived 84
ce A ) , 762 , O 00 / . ; during thoso sixteen years they had expended , on public works , 6 , 000 , 000 / ., and , in paying thoir proprietors' dividends , 10 , 000 , 000 * . ; and had T ) orrowed , during that time , 10 , 000 , 000 * . Thus thnir payments for . improvements , and thoir payments to their constituents , wero borrowed money . Thouo financial difficulties wero ol moment to uh : Sir llobort Pool had justified his Income-tax , by anticipating the probabilit y of our havihe to pay Indian debt and uqw We find that the dobL ia India , is 61 , 0 J > 0 , 00 ( M double what it was in 1825 , ThqimES expenditure , alone , had moroasod from 8 , 000 , 000 r ., pet ftn-
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1 530 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ^
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Leader (1850-1860), June 4, 1853, page 530, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1989/page/2/
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