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Leader (1850-1860), 18th September 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 975, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      THE PUBLIC WOBKS DEPARTMENT It will be some comfort to many to find that one department ox committee of the new Indian Council has been selected for the promotion of public works , as for some months the progress of public works has been much kept back from the disorganisation df the country and the uncertain state of the home Government . The appointment of Sir IToby Cautley in

      this committee is calculated to give satisfaction , as he has carried to a successful issue one of the grandest public works of India , and the noblest channel for irrigation in the world . He is a man vigorous in intellects , liberal in his disposition , acquainted with the resources of engineering science and the capabilities of the East . Such a man is likely to give confidence to English engineers , because he is looked upon as one of themselves by the

      of the country is a road open to the courier . All this is simply preposterous , for this kind of transport is defective , expensive , and uncertain , and incompetent for conveying the produce of the soil . The evidence of the planters and native merchants is very different . They cannot rely upon sending their produce down , and as there are seasons on the road so are there monsoons on the coast , and the period for shipping is often lost . Where there are no roads and no bridges there are no good waggons , and the transport is carried on by the plough bullocks . Already the advance of the railways in Bengal and Madras is calling attention to the need for branch roadsand the Government has the deepest interest ' ' . . . ___ J | "_„_* 1 * aUa «» ,, « ,-. « A 11

      , in preventing the traffic from growing for want of communications , for the recovery of the guaranteed interest depends on the result of the railway traffic . It will be very desirable if the Public Works Committee can devise some measure by which the branch roads can be placed under the care of the railways , to be constructed by their engineers , and then be placed under the road boards for maintenance . If when a railway is opened the traffic is a day moving from eight to twelve miles , and a week moving fifty miles , tnany branches of traffic will be altogether roads is likewise

      lost . The administration of the very defective , in Madras in particular , for want of adequate superintendence and a large engineering staff . The traffic of a whole region must not be hampered because some one zemindar has an objection to pay a road tax , although the whole neighbourhood demand improvement . The roads must not depend on such influences . They are public improvements imperatively required , and not to be subjected to the caprice of imperfectly civilised people , who are to determine whether they will have roads or not . The road boards must be better

      organised and have more power . Steam navigation is one mode of transport , which in India is as essential as the rest . Railways are not to supersede roads , nor roads steamboats , but all engines of transport are -required in India , as they are possessed by the United States , and as they will be at this rate by the new countries of Australia her fore the old countries of India , The Ganges may be looked upon as having been brought within the domain of public enterprise , the Brahmapootra ^ has steam on it , but the Gogra , and all the up rivers , require encouragement . There are many of these on which steam-tugs , trains , and flats could be worked , and the best way of obtaining them is to

      give a separate premium on each river for the first steam-boat placed upon it , making the premium a charge on the revenues of the collectorate , by which it would soon be reimbursed . The Indus has been to some degree provided -for , but the present companies cannot compass the up rivers as well as the lower channel , and there should be separate premiums and separate companies for each river . So , too , for the Cauvery , the Godavery , and the rivers of the south . Nothing short of a distinct company for each will do the work . The formation of companies with limited liability should be encouraged , and a distinct assurance of the grant of public lands for wharfs and coaling stations , and of a right of occupying for such purposes lands in private possession , under an expropriation process . For the first

      boat . placed on the river a premium should be" given of not less than one-third of her probable cost , and for the second boat of one-fourth . There should be freedom from taxation for a long but limited time , full rights of wooding , and every encouragement that costs the Government nothing and will help the enterprise . If the Indian Government would give a premium for ovory Bteamer in fair condition that is placed in- Indian waters within the next two years , they would give such a stimulus to this branch of enterprise that it would work its own way- A thousand pounds a head for the first twenty steamers of a given power and tonnage , or in proportion to such standard as the . vessel may , be . emaller , and . five hundred pounds a head for the next fifty steamers , would bring a fleet across the ocean which would soon pay back the premiums in increased revenue .

      member a whole branch of the administration ; should be consigned .. . ' . ¦ " , Harbours" are connected -witTi coast _ navigation , and these are one great -want of the peninsula . J ^ *?" rachee and the Mutlah are bxit a poor show- in this branch- of public works , for there is port after port of the south which requires improvementSj and where an advance in the security of the harbour and town dues , on the home system , -would be attended with great advantage . For this purpose , the home administration must be applied . Instead of the whole responsibility resting with one or two officers of the navy or engineers , there must be local trustees and commissioners , employing MA « . T ^ A . *» ¦ » ti « lAkiinnnU ** P-4-liA O /^ TYliTlMr ^ t'Il . ^ lrtTl ¦ rtVlftTllH

      their own engineers , and providing piers , jetties , groins , lighthouses , and dredging machines , and raising their own revenues .- Besides harbour dues ,. the commissioners should have the power of levying improvement rates on the town and district lyingrcn the harbour , and should have the wharfage rights and rents . By giving more latitude to such bodies , the operations of the harbour department would be much facilitated , for the duties of the harbour department would then be strictly limited to superintendence , and the details of management in so many remote places would be properly attended to . How * can it be expected , with the present deficiency of communications and with the railways uncompleted ,

      that the Madras harbour on the Malabar coast can be adequately managed by an officer seated in the city of Madras ? It cannot be done , and the consequence is , the shipment of produce all along that coast is much impeded for want of improvements . Inasmuch as the coasts of India aTe particularly dangerous , and can only be used at seasons , it is Of the greatest importance that every provision be made for their ready use at such times as English or native shipping can enter . With adequate local boards once established , and having an interest

      in the development of the revenue and traffic of their districts , the Government would be able to give them further functions , and place under their direct tion the roads communicating between the hills and the harbours * and the state of which is a great impediment to ready access . As the bad season approaches , it is of importance to pour down the newly-raised produce as fast as possible for shipment , and it may be imagined how ill this can be done when the tracks are carried through mountain passes and over gorges , with the watercourses tinbridged , and subject to sudden freshes . "

      Canals of navigation are needed in many places , and there are river improvements which require urgent attention . There are rocks to be removed , dams and embankments to be raised , and piers to be run out , for in many places the rivers remain in a state of nature , except so far as there may be ruined works of ancient princes , raised for the ostentation of the day , and long since consigned to neglect and destruction . Irrigation is , however , one great want of India , and one great means in combination with the others for increasing its revenues and resources . That this subject , will not be neglected the presence of Sir

      Proby Cautley on the Council and Committee gives evidence , but he must be supported by his brethren in a liberal spirit , though even he cannot compass the whole extent of the subject , forj in fact , it refers to the whole surface of India . There must be a better disposition , too , on the part of the local authorities than that lately displayed towards the Madras Irrigation Company , which , after an existence of two years , is coolly informed that the works are too profitable to be turned over to a company and can only be undertaken by the Government ; and yet not a single measure has up to this day been adopted for their execution .

      The grand principle for the guidance of the council is to develop English enterprise to the greatest extent , so as to provide for the expansion of the resources of the country . If the present condition of Ireland be compared with the past , it will be found that though the Government provided roads and canals , it has been the exertion of private enterprise- — and particularly in the establishment of steamboats and railways- —which has most contributed to the wonderful advance in the oondition and prosperity of that country .

      Const navigation likewise requires encouragement , for although private enterprise hus carried it to a considerable extent , there ia much more to be done . Steamboats and steamboat companies should bo encouraged , lights and piers should be provided , and ovory facility givon for creating a traffic . A vory useful agency of the Indian navy would bo to run stortniors ' for two or three years on linos upon which steam navigation is not provided , and to work them until a course of troillc has been created which will ropftywppi > vate * entopppiflot ""' ¦ ¦

      In tho saino way as railways have boon placed under a distinct administration , there should bo an administration for roade , and one for stQam navigation , and bo for ouch dopnrtmont of Indian public works . Whoever rogarda the immense extent ; of India , and the groat demands that are made for its improvement , will see that the Committee of Public Works will of itsolf want power to comply with tho necessities of tho administration , even though to quo

      evidence of his works , and whether he is a captain or a colonel they care not ; while a ge ntleman with a couple of epaulets on his shoulders , who has spent a life in India , arid never saw a railway at work , is not accepted as an authority on civil engineering , because he belongs to the Bengal or Madras engineers , has drawn high pay , and assumes to control © r interfere with practical men . The Ganges and Jumna canals are works which the Institution of

      Civil Engineers have recorded in their transactions , and which are looked upon as triumphs in the East , as the Victoria Bridge is in the West . In the new sphere in which Sir Proby Cautley is placed he has a heavy responsibility , he has an old reputation which may be jeopardised ; but there are new ' . titles to distinction which he may gain , and to him and his colleagues the public will , <> n the recovery of his health , look for the main labour of the important der partment in which he has taken a share . consideration the

      Foremost in the works under are railways . There are a number of lines which liaye not yet got their guarantee which must obtain it , such as the Oude Railway , the Northern Bengali Railway from Kajmahal to Darjeeling , and the Simla Railway , the prosecution of which on various , grounds is important . Since the first batch of trunk railways has been laid down , a new and most . material feature has arisen in connexion with them , and that is , the connexion of these lines with the new military cantonments in the hills and seats of Government in the hills . Although some objection was made to the Commander-in-Chief taking his station at Simla , and Mr . Halliday , the Deputy Governor of

      Bengal at Darjeeling , yet it is now a recognised practice for the authorites to spend the hot season in the hills . There wore lately to be found the Governor of Bombay at Dapoorie , and the Governor of Madras at Ootakamund , Several of these stations , as Simla , Darjeeling , and the Neilgherries , for instance , are assuming importance as local governments , and at Mount Aboo , the Commissioner for llajpootana has taken his post . It is , therefore , of great importance that a scheme shall now be provided by the Government for embracing these important stations in the system of railway communication , as at present the railway trunks are intended to provide for the plains .

      The Great Indian Peninsular line is doing much good for Bombay by giving ucceas to Malheran and the Poona out-stations of Dapoorie and Kerkee , but it wants communication with Mahabuleshwnr . Tho trunks of this company , north and south , will approaoh several valuable hill countries ; on the north , the Vindhya mountains of the Norbudda valley ; by the Nagpore , line the Puchmurree and other hills ; by the southern line to Madras , the Western Ghauts and the Mysore country- are skirted ; When the Madras line reaches Salem tho Shevarey hills will be approached , and at Coimbatore the Neilgherries . Short branches or tramways will therefore make large districts of hill region available for cantonments and military stations , for tho residencies of officials , and for English settlements .

      Tho promotion of the ( trunk liucs is likewise of urgent necessity . Those arc going on fur too slowly , tho difficulties being chiefly the assuniod deficiency of froight for conveying the rails to India , and the want of contractors and trained assietai ^ . If tho Government will allow the lines to be made , there arc many who will undertake to aond out rails , but 4 » JvIW 3 s « ot 4 . h ©^ iiiivntlty 4 »'' Hmit ) ed ^ to-theniead"lreiBht available in ships going out . Tho want of eupurmtondoneQ is to be remedied by crqating faciiitios for sending out English , immigrants to India , orouting thereby a greater population , which can provide tho required assistance . ltoudB are the socpnu * groat want of India , though It Is a favourite dogma of the old school that Jin India roads are not wunted , as in tho rainy season they cannot be worked , and in . tho dry season a great part

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      NOTES ON INDIAN PBOGKRESS . The contest ia going on for tho railway to tho Mutlan botvoon tho Calcutta and South Ens torn Railway C ° ~ T pftijyWdHCTro ^ E ^ present tho Government has refused a guurauteo , but thoro oan bo little doubt from tho measures of tho Government itsolf that no long period oau pass boforo rt railway to tho Alutlah is adopted . TJio greatest length of railway now oponed Ju Indto is that of the Groat Indian Peninsular *»« W /^"' P " * ana it only amount * tp one hwudrod and thirty aud a ^ jflio ' tefograDh has boon oxtonded as far as tho port of

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      INB . I A . ^ - ^——* ^

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      ¦ ¦ ^;^ : ^ s ^^^ ^ 3 THE tEADE i 975 ¦ ——M^———^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ' ' ¦ ¦

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 18, 1858, page 975, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2260/page/23/