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INDIA AND INDIAN PROGRESS.
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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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THE LAND REGULATIONS . There are two measures of Lord Stanley -which have-already excited enthusiasm in India— -the land regulations and the appointment of Sir Charles Trevelyan to the Governorship of Madras . With regard to the latter , it has well been said , that he hat raised such" expectations as to be deemed forr tunate if he satisfies them , instead of being exposed to disappointment . ' ¦ Af ter , the assertions we formerly heard in Parliament , and from the best authorities , that there is no land at thedisposal of the Government , or available for colonisation , it is now gratifying to leam the acknowledgment , that there are millions of acres in the hill districts
available for English settlement . The new regulations are anxiously looked forward to , for ^ on them will depend the welfare of many a hill region , and in the hUl towns enterprise in tea and coffee planting is checked until the regulations are defined . To a place like Darjeeling it makes all the- difference , whether land can be had on moderate terms , on a fee simple tenure , or whether the settler is to accept land on conditions at present advantageous , but which instead of giving his children an . assured inheritance will place them _ at the mercy of the Indian Exchequer , an institution of legitimate Government , genealogy with the morals of a corporate capacity , and destitute of bowels of compassion . '' ¦ ¦ ' , . ;
It is well for defenders of the late Indian Government . in Parliament to talk about the liberality of the-free grants to settlers , and about the land of India being the . property of' the natives , but the public are beginning to learn that this is altogether a delusion , and that no man can rely upon transmitting a sure inheritance , or of reaping what he '' has sown . If the taxes or rent are not paid in hard silver before sundown at the periodical terms ,
the zemihdary or other estate is sold , and all the leasehold and customary tenures forfeited ; nor can the purchaser feel certain that he has got a good title , even from the Government itself . Nor are those who pay no rent or tax better offj for there is not an cnamdar or jugheerdar who does not'tremble'lest his property shall be resumed by the arbitrary Government of India and its corrupt and tyrannical dependants . Asiatics in d for
are , some degree ,, prepare Asiatic vicissitudes of life , but the English officer or . trader who has retired to the-hills of Diirjeeling , or the Shcvaroj-s , in hopes that in those beautiful climates he shall b \ iild up a home for his old age , and in which his children shall dwell , is struck with horror when he reflects that in a few years his lands , now free and yielding tlia returns of his capital and industry , will become liable to full assessment , and that the children growing up around him will be exposed to the despotism of the revenue courts . Therefore , as the settlements
have flown from the few cottages of visitors , sportsmen and tourists , to towns , farmsteads , and plantations , a strong feelinghas sprung up in favour of English tenures and English rights . In the south these are stimulated by special circumstances , for in t he Neilgherries the control over the land is claimed for the pastoral rights of a few miserable savages , the Todoclis ; and in Wy no ad , and other districts , those who occupied wild lands for ooffee planting are exposed to two dangers , first , that claimants spring up and set up titles to the lands they have reclaimed , and next , that the Government collector claims rent on cultivations he
never encouraged . The concession of the principle of a freehold tenure was , therefore , only just in time , for tho Association of Wynaad p lanters ' , the Darjeeling Association , and the Neilgherry people , " among others , were prepared to agitate for it , and they would undoubtedly have pro vailed , for there is nothing in India which renders it unable to assimilate its institutions to Ceylon , and nothing in fact to make it needful to deprive Englishmen of tho like rights they hftvo in Canada or other of our oolcmies . Perhaps to be reckoned among the good things for India ; is the now tariff , whioh fastening iipon the comforts and luxuries of English officers and residents as ready viotitns'W the necessities of tho
treasury , will thereby prepare the way for justice to India . That is taxing the wealthy merchants and landowners . It is good , top , that Englishmen should be marked put ~ for taxation , for they are better enabled . to . remind the Government that they too have claims for consideration . The land tenure is one of these claims . The hills and tablelands of India have been acquired by Englishmen for England . They are no inheritance , no monopoly , no right even of Bengallee or Seikh , and the least thing that the Government of India can do is to afford to Englishmen the same facilities as they have in
notably of the metropolitan natives , and such claims are paramount over the local claims of the Indian , presidential , or provincial Governments . The wild lands of Canada and South Africa , until granted to the provincial Governments , were held to belong to the Imperial Government , and have been surrendered to the provincial Governments in trust for the promoters of emigration . In the United States it is held that all such extensions of territory belong to the Imperial -Government , and thus the waste lands of California , Oregon , Washington , Utah , and Arizona , are administered by and for the general Government , and not for the state or provincial Governments .
It is of the greatest importance to national interests that the Imperial claims should be settled at an early date , so that the lands of India may be administered for Imperial and not for provincial purposes . We should be sorry even if the lands were appropriated to the future Governments of Simla , Darjeeling * Sikki'm , and the southern ^ hills , as they have been to other colonies . We think it of the greater necessity that the lands should be administered for Imperial purposes ; because then the proceeds can be applied for promoting local improvements , and more particularly emigration ,
as in New South Wales , Queensland , Victoria , South Australia , Tasmania , Western Australia , the several provinces of New Zealand , the Cape , Natal , ^ Canada , Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , and the Falklands . There must be a distinct appropriation for emigration , either by the bounty system or by free passages . In this way the value of the land would be enhanced , the sales be promoted , and the settlements be strengthened . With the railways opened the passage to most of the settlements of India will not be niore than to the Australian or New Zealand settlements .
Canada , in the newly constituted colony of Columbia , or in that last ci-eation of Queensland or Moreton Bay . Strange is it that while colonies are springing up ' around us ; while populations so insignificant as those of the Falklands for instance , are treated as colonies , and have the benefit of English institutions , as yet not one colony has been constituted in India , but the settlers remain under the jurisdiction of magistrates constituted over blackamoors , under black law , and in some cases under native magistrates . Were it not that Lord ;
Clyde is exceptionally protected , he would be at the mercy of Indian law and its officials in Simla ; for though Simla has been created and " constituted as an English town , it is lef t under black institutions .. Not even in New Zealand were our settlers placed under Maori law , nor in Hong Kong under Chinese law , ' but there is a spirit among the officials of India , which seeks to disgrace and degrade their fellow-countrymen , to deprive them of the rights of citizenship and place them under slave law . This is a matter little understood as
yet in England , but which is one of the most crying grievances of our fellow citizens , who now , except in the presidential towns , are deprived of all share in the Government , for they can no longer serve as magistrates , the honorary magistracies being abolished , and the highest . functions they hold are those of serving on road boards or the so-called municipal commissions . Juries they have none , Such being the disposition which animates the Government , it is a serious matter of anxiety lest the new land regulations , instead of being framed at the Colonial " Office in tho spirit of those of
Canada or South Africa , should be concocted by some of the functionaries of the late Government in the spirit of restriction , envy , and jealousy , which has marked their conduct towards ^ English settlers , with but few honourable exceptions . It is natural that men having such great power as the civil servants should view , with jealousy the approach of rivals to their thrones . We know such has been their fcelihg" " w . ith regard to the military and the uncoyenanted . On the other hand , the credit that is claimed for promoting English settlement aud . enterprise has to be shared with the military and uncovenanted . Indeed , the greater p art of the settlements arc administered , not by the civil service , but by members of the outer world .
If tho spirit of Lord Stanley's promises be observed , there will be little ground of complaint , —first , a tenure in fee simple , and next an upset price , which he proposed as six shillings per acre . Of course , Indian land will b . o subject to taxation in various ways for local improvements and general revenue . In Canada the county boards and the provincial Government assess even wild land , but as all lands are improved in value , from tho application of tho proceeds of this taxation , there is no ad which
complaint respecting it . A ro opens a new market for produoo pays itself , and the taxation becomes only tho adjustment of contribution or subscription for such purpose . A question arises as to the application of the land sales fund arising from tho upset prioo of wild Jand , and tho Indian treasury puts in a claim , as if entitled to it for compensation ; but as tho Indian Government never received a halfpenny from those lands it has no claim for compensation , neithor oan tho Indian Government be the solo claimant . Tho extension , oftomtory has been obtainqd . by tho power and exertion of tho empire at large , and more
India And Indian Progress.
INDIA AND INDIAN PROGRESS .
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Ho . 476 , Mat 7- 1859 . 1 THE LEADE R _^ g 7 _
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LATEST INDIAN INTELLIGENCE . At the India Office , on Thursday , the following important telegram was received of movements in Central India . " On the 2 nd of April , the columns under Colonels Salis and Rich , in combined movement , overtook the rebels in the Seronge jungles , and killed 500 . The rebel leaders—Raho Sahib , Feroze Shah , and Tantja Topee—were present . British loss trifling . Maun Singh surrendered to Mnjor Reed the sauie day . Intelligence just received from Mahomedna , 8 th of April , states that Tantia Topoe was captured by Colonel Meade ' s detachment on the previous nigltt , with the assistance of Maun Singh . "
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Subjects ioii Illustration .- — A Now York letter says : — " The moans that have been . taken to concentrate on tho tragedy , | and for Sickles ' s special benefit , all the morbid curiosity of tho whole Union , furnish a curious illustration of the sort of entertainment which a certain class is found to relish most . In this department the illustrated papers of this city have outdone themselves . Soon after the occurrence appeared in one of them a picture of tho Hon . , Daniel E , SLqkles in his cell , iu- which that distinguished individual was represented flinging his body across a table , his legs'remaining , on his bed , his hands clasped and his eyes turned towards the ceiling with a most demoniacal expression . ISToxt came portraits of tho whole trio , Mr . and Mrs . Sickles and Mr . Key . These pictures of tno scene of tho tragedy givon from every possililo point of view , containing in tlio foreground ono long-IcggoU man shooting anothorlong-loggcd man , whil _ o a * ' «*« stood at a little distance with his arms folded . Then tho coat worn by Phillip « . Ivoy on tho melancholy occasion , showing tho buUot-liplo , &c .: then tho waistcoat , ditto , ditto ; then tho trousers , showing the stains of blood ; then tho . Derringer pistol from which tho flwfc bullob came ; then the opera-glass which Koy throw ; then tlio bandkor . chiof which ho waved . ' This week we have portraits of every man , from tho judgo to tho court crier , connected olthor directly or indirectly with tho trial , including tho twelve jurymen > and ono enterprising journal has outdone ita competitors > v Hiving portraits of mnny . of the talesmen , distinguishing those who wore challenged poremporlly from those who woro ohaUengod for cause .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 7, 1859, page 597, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2293/page/21/
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