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    INDIA AND INDIAN PROGRESS.

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    INDIAN FINANCE . In the last century , when the great French and English economists begun to consider systematically the functions of society , they found every variety of tax in operation in Europe , in the large and small states of which itwas composed . Indeed , the Fif th Book of Adam Smith's " Wealth of Nations , " or about one quarter of his work , is devoted to this subject of" finance . Then it wins that the doctrines of political economy were made to bear upon finance , and that intimate connexion was established between science and statesmanship which is now indissoluble . For nearly a century these doctrines have been under discussion , and for half a century they , have been applied in Europe and America , till we have a very different system of finance in operation from that of the last century . True it is , there are still remains of protective duties , of excises , of monopolies , and gabelles ; but on the whole , the management of the revenue is much simplified , and its sources are more certain and better understood . The public finances are noAV , in each civilised country of the world , brought itnder the dominion of public opinion , and they are no longer a mystery , unless where absolutist Governments , for some purpose of fraud , resort to mystification . What the finance of France or the German empire was then—a subject of perplexity and difficulty-r-Indian finance is now ; for Indian finance is in much the same condition as that of the Western kingdoms in former days . It presents all . the ¦ evils and anomalies which are to be recognised wherever there is a disregard of economical science , taxes weighing upon industry , and taxes rigid and incapable of expansion , to meet the "wants of the Government , a chronic deficit , and a relatively small public debt , made dangerous because the public credit has been tampered with . To find corresponding examples of tins state of affairs in the west now we must refer to countries of the lowest character , to Spain or Portugal , to Buenos Ayres , or New Granada . Here we may seek the mysteries of Indian finance , and find them , ' tor , they are only mysteries to those who choose to disregard facts , for the laws of science lid not alter between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries , they do not alter in their application to Europe and America nor j ^ g they susceptible c-f modification by the climate of the East , for they are immutable , "being the teachings of truth . The English public may be afraid of dealing with the public worship and social institutions of the people of India ; but they need have no fear in forming an opinion on English finance .. * Do we . want an example of any tax , however oppressive , chronicled by Adam Smith , as formerly in existence in India , we shall find it , crushing land taxes , the salt monopoly or gabelle , the poll tax , property taxes , income taxes , the alcabala , license duties of all kinds , import , export , and transit duties , general and local , river diies , octroi , accompanied with every personal and administrative oppression that the brutality of savages , the ingenuity of Arnbs , or the porverseness of doctrinaires can invent . After all Spain , Portugal , Rome , New Granada , and Buenos Ayres cannot afford parallels for the practical operation of the fiscal system , of India , on the zemindar , cnamuar , or ryot ; for , notwithstancling the benevolence nnd g _ ood intentions of the Supremo Government , bad is the condition of . the population , and we must go to Egypt , and sock in the fellah a being ns miserable as tup-Indian ryot . Good intentions we make small account of ; and must prooeed unflinchingly to ascertain the existing evils , and to remedy them by the application , or a reasonable system of finance , ' wnieh will result in the remodelling of tho whole revenue of India , a work . of muny years , attended with heavy deficits , requiring much sacrifice , and a largo . oatlay , while the reins of Government must be firmly held , fortunately , in consequence of the revolt , the double Government has been abolished , and a responsible administration has been established , That is now practicable and safe which before was dangerous . lhe weans of meeting the present and futvu ' o

    deficiency cannot be sought in reduction of expenditure , because the necessities of India require the maintenance of a large European force , and of a large European civil stafiv A large European force must be maintained instead of a native army ; but pending the disbandment of the native army , and the establishment of a European militia in the hills and plains , and the enlistment of the hill tribes , the European field force must still be large , until the great number of rebels lately in arms * and those fostered in our ranks , become absorbed and nullified among the mass of the population . This will be a work often years at least . A large European civil staff , must be maintained to work out the new system of Government which a native establishment cannot effect , for the whole corrupt native staff of revenue officers , law officers , and ^ police has to be abolished , and a new native staff to be reared , educated , and organised , free .-from the traditions , the prejudices , the corruptions , the oppressions , and . the tortures of the old class . The salaries of Europeans niay be redistributed , the enormous endowments of the civil service will be abolished , many Europeans will be employed at very moderate salaries , and many unpaid justices , honorary magistrates , and municipal officers will be supplied by the European residents in aid of the administration ; much of the increased charge will be borne from new municipal taxes ; but with the diminution of centralisation in India , new salaries and new officials will have to be created , new lieutenant-governors , new secretaries , new judges ; and no effective diminution of expenditure can be looked for ; Then there is the demand for the education of two hundred-millions of people , which is a grpwing pne , enormous in its requirements , and which must be met . We cannot , therefore , look for an effective diminution of expenditure , except under the head of military expenditure , by abolishing native corps and reducing the pay of English troops in the bills , but we must look for the means of meeting ^ bhis expenditure by increased revenue ; still ( vheh we come to examine the present sources jf reveniie n India we find them much more ikely to exhibit a decrease than an increase , is they are are present administered . The and tax , which combines all the evils of a : ent and a tax , which has only theoretical advances , and is attended with gr ievous oppression to the taxpayer , is in Bengal fixed by the perpetual settlement , and in the other presidencies is being brought under limited settlements , and must , therefore , oe regarded as practically inelastic . Yet the land-tax is at present the mainstay of the Indian exchequer . The opium monopoly cannot be relied on as a permanent source of revenue , for the opinion of the civilised world is becoming strong in expression against its immorality ; and now that the management of the Indian treasury is transferred to England , the opium monopoly cannot bo very long upheld on the plea that it is no more harmless for tho Government to hold it than to raise a spirit duty , which is a tax on drunkards , and a discouragement of drinking . Moderate men may not be moved by wild zeal against the opium traffic , but moderate men do see that it cannot , be maintained . ^ The salt monopoly is doomed , and the necessities of tho Government alone maintain it in a moderate and restricted form from year to year . Custom duties afford only a paltry roturn , for the import trade of India is restricted by tho deficiencies of internal transit ; though such is tho conditipn of industry , that large quantities of cotton are exported from India ' to England , brought back as cotton twist , and manufactured into cloth in India , mixed with a local weft . When the trade of India oxtends beyond local consumption , which is bo far localised in many districts that it is like sheep feeding off turnips in a field , thep we shall have a customs revenue , —but this has to bo created . The income , property , and succession taxes are looal , and of small amount ; the stamp duties aro already obnoxious and oppressive ; the waste land revenues give no return ; the oxoises are arbitrary and ill adjusted , and yield but little .

    • In fact , industry , the true basis of taxation in India , has to be created' and-fostered , and until this be done , India , as a poor country , which it now is , cannot yield an expansive revenue ; and as private enterprise has not been fostered by the Government , on the Government still rests the burthen of providing for the Avants of India . Private enterprise has to be called into action :, and this is the work of years ; nmnicipal institutions , the handmaidens of a strong central government , have to be created , and this is the work of years . None of these things can bo brought into sudden action by imperial decrees , acts of parliament , or proclamations . The forms of private enterprise and of municipal action are to be seen , but as yet little that is effectual has been done . India requires a large administration , not an administration for Bengal , one for Madras , and one for Bombay , but a whole cabinet , besides the President of the Council . India requires a responsible a « d effective minister of the treasury , ' a minister of war , . a minister of public works , a commissioner of public lands and emigration ,. a president of'the board , of trade , a president , of the board of agriculture ,- and a president of the board of education . True it is there arc 'functionaries of . this ¦ nature in each Presidency , but until a public is formed in India , and a responsible parliamentary Government , the central administration must be formed in England , and not in India , and in India itself local Government must be extended and distributed so as to ensiire real efficiency . One great error in Indian administration has been to place the Government in' the central authorities , leaving the local authorities without power . Where the contrary course . has been followed , as in the Punjab , a strong Government has grown up , and good officials have been trained , while the central . Government has continued to show weakness , because it has gone beyond its functions . Thus the Indian army ha s been an opprobrium , Indian Finance is an opprobrium ; the public works ¦ have been neglected , and English settlement has been discouraged . The functions of the central authorities should be simply consultative and supervising , ' leaving as much liberty of action as possible to the local Governor . In England Indian finance must be reconstructed , the army reorganised , and the administration placed on a new ' basis , but by the Indian officials must the country be governed .

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    NOTES ON" INDIAN PROGRESS . Tins Coramander-in-Chief of Madras , with Colonel A . Cotton , Chief Engineer , and other authorities , proceeded from Dowlaishweram to Bison lull to survey it as a sanitary post . It is stated that Samulcottah will be recommended as a sanitary station for Europeans , adding another station to the resources of the Madras Presidency . It is la tue Yizagapatam district . ' . , Leave has been given for the Neiltfiiornos nnd Bangalore to Mr . Frederick Orme , Registrar ot Madras , to Mr . R . K . Tuekle , nnd Cajjt . a . *?• Herbort ; Capt . W . J . Cooke , 8 th Madras N . L , nnu Lieut . H . A . Graham , 2 nd European L . I . A marriage has taken place at Coonoyr , between Mr . Lo MosuVier ami Miss C . W . West . The wife of Capt . J . Gerrard , died in that town on the Mtn February . , ¦ ; , . ¦ , . nf Lieut . J ; F . Sherer is appointed ¦ Commandant ot the Kooky Levy , and assistant to tho Superintendent of Oftchar . , , , Major J . Drysaale , of tho 42 nd Highlanders , is appointed Commandant of Nynco Tul Convalescent Depot . * Lieut , G . D . Younghusband is appointed t 0 T c ° m " mand the depot of the C 6 th or Goorka Lig ht latantry at Almorah . . At Deyrah , Mr . A . S . Hoatlioote has boon married . to Miss Mory II . Thompson . , , . Lieut . Grove , 32 nd Madras N . I ., is appointed to command the detachment at Ghitadwnrra , wlwon ib Hkoly to become of importance as a sanitary station . Ten thousand pounds is to be . sjjpnt on new barracks at Rawul Pindoo . „ Lord Clyde has gone to Simla , and the commandor-in-Chief of Bombay to Mahabujosliwar , Allahabad , the new capital of tho North-west , a now occupied by all tho public offices except tuo

    India And Indian Progress.

    INDIA AND INDIAN PROGRESS .

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    . 479 ¦ ¦ * ' ¦¦ ¦ ¦ THE IiEAPEB . [ Ho . 472 , April 9 , 185 Q .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 9, 1859, page 472, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2289/page/24/