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Leader (1850-1860), 24th December 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1423

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      opposing the ' system . of English settlement as the Indian writers in the Englishman , the United Service Jo urnal , the Saturday lieviaio , and the Star , wind up by showing that there is in India a wide field for the employment of English capital in enterprise , 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 nis

      various are the functions assigned him , how vast 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 of moral qualities and their title to the gratitude and esteem of their native fellow citizens .

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      MADRAS IRRIGATION COMPANY . One of the most important' steps which have been taken by Lord Stanley and the Council of India has been the concession of a guarantee to the Madras Irrigation and Canal Company , after a considerable delay and resistance to its proceedings had been shown by the late Administration and the Government of Madras . The terms granted are nominally a guaranteed interest on one million sterling , at the rate of five per cent , per annum ; but , 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 , but 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 , ^ - 'he Council think so strongly of the prospects of the undertaking that they , have not only demanded to participate in thc ' 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 . T Jhe arrangement is a liberal one for both Government and the company , and is likely to work well for both .

      experiment is a step in the right direction , which we might have looked , for in vain from red-tapists of the old school .

      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 , so 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 , passengers , as well as

      goods , are carried wherever a line of navigation is opened , increasing the revenue . Here again _ is manifest tbecontribulivc action of single operation to the general good : for mobility of the population , that is , thq means of transporting labour from spot to spot , is essential to agricultural prosperity . However populous a district may be , — at certain times of the year , labour must be rapidly concentrated on each scene of operations : otherwise timo is lost , and crops damaged or wasted . To say thai ; water carriage is the cheapest and most oilcctivo mode of distributing lubour , is to rcpoat

      a more truism . As ia the languor , sluggishness , and depression of British Indian internal trade , for the waut of such mobility , so arc the prospects of the Madras Irrigation Company ; and profits will accrue to shareholders in it as the movement of trade is fostered and promoted by the stimulants they may provide . Iho authorities of the Presidency have too long played " tho dog in the manger . " With « i sum of no more than 700 , 000 / . applicable within tho year for military and civil public works , they would yet have delayed , and delayed , and delayed , on every manner of oilioiul and routine pretence .

      Increase of tho revenue , and prosperity of tho natives under their euro , seom to have been lesa objoots of their fond contemplation than tho exclusion quooutimte inodo of " outsiders . " But the present ; chief or the Indian Council hns , wo are glad to learn , taken heart to out the Gordian knot , and has sanctioned—nay , if rumour bo' true , has insisted upon—the fair trial by m-iyate hands of an experiment of vast imperial and colonial importance , Tho encouragement of private capital to try such an

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      NOTES OX INDIAN PftOGKESS . . 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-Surgeon J . M'Zi . Cameron , of the 27 th , is appointed to take medical charge of the European depot . At Kussowlie European depot , Hospital Surgeon D . Macrae , has taken charge . For Mussborie , leave has been granted to Lieut . J . S . Browne , Capt . C C . Fraser , and Lieut . W . J . Hilkin . For Landour , extended leave has been given to Assistant-Surgeon J . A . M'Munn , Royal Artillery .

      of Upper Ambeygaunj 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 would be 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 cako for feed of cattle , and cotton soap staff . Five hundred thousand tons of cake could be made in India yearly .

      At Bombay the project of a Gas Company has made progress , although the Government Municipal Commissioners refused to promise a contract as an encouragement . The capital is 50 , 000 ? ., in shares of 51 . 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 ; bat this / sum is not restricted to civil works bat includes military works , of which the fortifications of Fort St . George will alone absorb 140 , 00 Q £ We are 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 Wrav pointed out the importance of irrigation for the cotton plant in India , and supported the Madras irrigation plan . We may mention , by-the-by , thatit 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 ifi is now largely increased . Ia Gachar , in tbe rice barvest time , a s high 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 ou 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 , more reasonable rates are accepted . The consequence is small local banks and joint-stock com ^ panies , which could not be carried on because they would have been eaten up by the expenses of management , are springing up every where , and the aggregate of employment is now much increased . Never were there so many English employed in India , or so many wanted .

      Thereare complaints throughout India' for want of adequate municipal institutions , and the paralysing effect of the centralised administration ; the outlyiug cities of course come worst of . At Singapore the town-hall has been left to be built by private subscription , and being now only half finished , and the Government wanting a now 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-hnll or law court . At Rangoon they complain that though the province has a surplus revenue of 250 , 000 / ., the city has no hospital , no efficient drainage , and scarcely a public building . At Bombay the Government authorities prevent the merchants from

      obtaining tho dock accommodation , which is so much required . At Madras tho trade of that important centre of commerce ia crippled because tho Government are unable to oncountcr what they believe to bo the enormous expense of a breakwater , but which the port dues-would provide . A pier is now suggested by the Government authorities as a palliativo , but it can easily be seen that this is a useless application of monoy , aa it will Bpeedily be swept away by the sea . One 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 general law for district or collectorate boards on tho principle of tho English quarter sessions or tho Irish , grand jury , and a Public Works Act to be applied Lx each Presidency on tho basis of tho Now York Gonoral Railway and Publio Works Acts , so « s to givo scope to

      local action . ... . . Tho Cotton Supply Asssociation has memorialised the India Board in behalf of various improvements In tfce Bombay Presidency . _ A most gratifying ovont occurred on tho 23 rd of Octobor at Alimednlwul , bring tho opening of a school for girls , erootod and endowed at tho solo expense of * native lady , Nek N « mdar Sulcbavutboo Bahadur Shetam Hurcoovorbno , Doing tho first instance of such a clroumstaucq in India . Tho first stone waa laid by Sir Richmond S »« kQ 8 penre , Tho school will accommodate ono hundred and llfty girls , ia endowed with 1200 J . la cash , aucl cost about 800 / .

      For the Dehrah Dhoon and neighbourhood , leave has been granted to Capt . H . Strachey , to Mr . W . 31 . Alexander , Assistant Magistrate of Mynpoorie . For Murree ^ leave has been given to Lieut . J . M . Green , Assistant-Surgeon J . T . DeaMn , and Paymaster W . F . Nixon . 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 Neilghernes 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 / L ; 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 ^ TV " . II . Allen and Co ., for the East Indian Government : —Dehra Dhoon ( No . 48 ) , Kumaort and Gurhwal ( No . 66 ) , Himalayas ( Nos . 47 , 65 ) , Assam ( Nos . 124 , 129 , 130 , 138 ) , Sylhet ( No . 125 ) , Munnipoor ( No . 131 ) , Mysore ( Nos . 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 settlements , we are glad to learn the successful progress 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 , 000 / ., 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 , ami the culture of the silkworm has been suggested . If not equal to Cashmere , Kangra is nevertheless one of the most promising districts for English settlement .

      An interesting illustration of hill trade is given by the Lahore Chronicle . Eight thousand Afghan sheep ( doonibaha ) laden with gold-lace ^ rubies , silks , and other merchandise , on their way from Cashgar by Surat to the English valley of Peahawur , encamped in the neighbourhood of Surat , and sent an application to the Akhoond , the chief priest and ruler of Surat , remonstrating against the heavy duties which ho levied last year on their morchnmliao , and stated that they would take another circuitous route rather than submit to tho . oxtortion . The Akhoond thought better of it , and made a bargain to take only two and a half per cent . This ia a specimen of tho way sucu things are managed , and the impediments to tho trade with Central Asia which have to bo overcome . Largo batches of howes hud alrendy arrived at Posh aw ur .

      From Upper Assam , thoro is iioavs that our local Government contempluto another expedition , and on a more offeotivo scale , against tho tribe in tho Abor hills , which drove back a small force on tho lnst occasion . Tho last of tho four now steamers for tho Indus having been put together at Komaroo on tho 20 th of October , was launohod from tho dockyard and named the Outram . Tho Mutlah settlement wns getting on but slowly at tho last udvicos , on account of the unhoalthinoss of tho

      jungle . Workmen nro not readily got , and during tho rains masons and others depart , so that it is only during tho cold soason that tho works are proceeded with . Now that tho railway has boon guavantooil , this atato of aiTuirs will bo romoiliod , as tho railway will bring workmen down daily from Calcutta . A largo agricultural speculation is proposed in this district . Captain Hurt has proposed a plan for supplying Poonuh with wator , -which it is hoped will receive tho attention of tho Bombay Government . Ho proposes to construct a dam across tho river valley near the village

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      No . 457 , December 24 , 1658 . ) T H E LEA P E B , 1423 ___

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 24, 1858, page 1423, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2274/page/23/