palm among Indian contractors. A section of the line from Allahabad upwards, about 120 miles in length, has been assigned to Messrs. Norris and Co. We have heard that Messrs. Mackillop, Stewart, and Co. back Mr. Norris with capital, if indeed they do not take an interest in the contract.

Some portion of the upper part of the line remains still undisposed of, but above Allahabad the country is smooth as a bowling-green, and there can be no difficulty in providing for the completion of the works, either by contractors or by the company itself.

On the whole, we think that the company has both displayed judgment and been favoured by good luck in the "placing" of the several portions of its line. On all the worst parts it has men of pith and tried ability. The heavy stone-cutting falls to the share of Messrs. Hunt and Emsley, perhaps the only men in India who would have faced the work. On the portions of the line entrusted to Messrs. Mackintosh and Co. and Messrs. Burn and Co. will be some of the heaviest brick work, to which, as builders in a large way of business, they may be supposed fully equal.

Of the great bridging works, those over the Soane and Jumna, the latter is, we believe, included in Messrs. Hunt and Emsley's contract; but we imagine that the former has not yet been tackled by any contractor.

We believe that a plan for crossing the main rivers by wooden bridges of a temporary character has been suggested to the railway company's engineer, and favourably received. The delay which would be occasioned by waiting for the construction of permanent structures will be thereby avoided, and a considerable expense, which double stations and double rolling stock would have entailed on the company, should it have been resolved to open the line before the completion of all the bridges, will be avoided.

The time limited by all the contracts for the completion of the works is, as the Friend states, the 31st of December, 1856. We must consider this as in some degree a paper date; indeed we know that some of the contractors, while in the very act of signing the tender, having declared the impossibility of being up to time. Nevertheless, we hope in all 1857 or early in 1858 to be able to book through from Calcutta to Delhi. Bengal Hurkaru, June 1.

REVENUE OF THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCES. The 66 'Report by the Sudder Board of Revenue on the Revenue Administration for the official year 1851-52," has just been printed. It is dated 23rd September last, a year and a half after the expiration of the period to which it relates, and the Board, not without reason, regret the delay that had occurred, and which is accounted for by reference to the fact that the returns from all the divisions had not been received till after the 30th June previous. Some of the divisional authorities it would thus appear, required more than a year to complete and send in their separate reports.

The entire demand for land revenue in 1851-52 was Rupees 4,30,81,012, of which Rupees 4,25,84,042 had been collected, leaving a balance to be realised of Rupees 4,96,970, or of 1.13 per cent. on the entire demand. In 1850-51 these outstanding balances amounted only to Rupees 3,06,154, or 0.71 per cent.

The difference is attributed to the nature of the seasons respectively. That of 1850-51 was one of unusual prosperity. The rain, we are told, was not only more abundant than in the following year, but more favourably distributed over the twelve months with reference to the rubbee and kburreef harvests. The average fall of rain throughout all the divisions in 1850-51 was,for the khurreef 26.75 inches, for the rubbee 4.48 inches; total, 31.23 inches. In 1851-52 the fall was,-khurreef 25.37 inches, rubbee 2.74 inches; total, 28.11 inches. A deficiency of even only three inches of rain in a country where the aggregate is so small, may suffice to account for a considerable amount of agricultural difficulty and distress; especially when, as in 1851-52, the want occurs just at the time when rain is most required, i. e. in the months of September and October. Still, the arrears of 1851-52, though in excess of those of the preceding years, were less than those of 1848-49, and 1849-50, which were, the former 1.879, and the latter 1.112 per cent. upon the entire demand.

Coercive measures for the realization of the land revenue were somewhat more extensively resorted to in 1851-52, than in the years preceding, in the different forms of sales, farms, transfers, dustucks, &c. The Board are glad to perceive, however, that the process of transferring defaulting puttees to sharers of the same community, has been used successfully instead of the more extreme measures of sale, farm, &c.

The number of summary suits in the Revenue Courts has increased from 24,152 in 1847-48, to 30,602 in 1851-52, and the decisions from 16,200 to 21,696 in the same period. But the Board observes with regret, that the number of cases adjusted or

withdrawn remains nearly stationary, being 7,319 in 1847-48, and 7,150 in 1851-52. It is suggested as probable, however, that the facility afforded to the landlord on the one hand of obtaining his just dues, and to the cultivator on the other of resisting exaction, by the adjudication of their suits through the tehseeldars who are on the spot, has brought many cases into court, which would not have been worth the trouble and expense of litigation at a distant sudder station.

Changes in the possession of property seem very numerous, and to be gradually and constantly increasing in number. Those registered as affected by the courts or by private transfer, bave extended from 8,930 in 1847-48 to 12,426 in 1851-52. What may be the occasion of these frequent mutations, or what their frequency indicates, we cannot conjecture. It is to be feared, however, that they afford no proof of growing prosperity among the people.

While there has been a falling off in the land revenue there has been an increase in that derived from the abkaree. The entire demand in 1851-52 was Rs. 21,89,640, of which Rs. 21,06,696 was collected; while in the preceding year, of a demand for Rs. 21,16,059, only Rs. 19,86,491 was realised within the twelve months. The difference in favour of 1851-52 is ascribed to good management, but it may possibly be attributed, in part at least, to the fact that a distressed people are more prone to drink than a thriving one. This view is in some degree justified by the report, which shows that those districts which present the greatest deficiency in the value of land revenue exhibit the largest returns under the head of abkarree. Thus we find that, while in Kumaon the land revenue balances were considerably increaced, in consequence, as the report states, of a dreadful visitation of cholera, the abkarree exhibited an improvement, "notwithstanding the epidemic." In Rohilcund again, where an unfavourable season rendered remission of rent necessary, there was no falling off in the abkarree. Thus, too, in Banda, where the results of the year, as regards land revenue, are described as the reverse of favourable, the improvement in the abkarree is especially observable ". and is set down to the exertions of Sirdar Khan, the deputycollector.

The net income from stamps has undergone but little change, having been Rs. 13,90,786 in 1851-52, and Rs. 13,45,680 in the preceding year.-Agra Messenger, June 3.

THE ROOS AND THE COMMANDANT OF THE SCINDE HORSE.

Major John Jacob, of the Bombay presidency and the Scinde irregular horse, appears to be one of those indefatigable, restless, interfering, never let-well-alone sort of personages, who are continually poking their noses into places where those organs are not required, and getting themselves and other people into scrapes which they find it difficult to extricate either from afterwards. Major Jacob's career has been an eventful one. He has had his quarrel with the Napier, and it may be supposed has not, and will not, forget it. Doubtless, he looks back with exultation on the scold, but there are men of rank, equally brave and able as himself, who under any circumstances would have shrunk from unseemly antagonism with the old and gallant general. The major, too, has had his attack upon the army of this presidency. He accused Bengal officers of a laxity of moral feeling-to an extent that would not be tolerated for an instant on this side of India. It would have been easy then, and now, to retort in the same vein, but such a course could not be condescended to, and the animadversions of the commandant of the Scinde horse, were received with that silent and withering contempt they so richly merited. Dissatisfied, perhaps, with the little real notice taken of his attack upon this army, he, intending probably to take all three in turn, next visited his displeasure upon the ariny of his own presidency. However, though full of childish suggestions, and the crudest of military notions, somehow or other, this brochure attracted more notice than that which preceded it. Unluckily for Major John Jacob, it attracted the notice of the Court of Directors. He had at least this time succeeded, in obtaining for himself that notoriety which one would think he regards as the stepping-stone to honour and promotion, and in gagging the armies of India. And now having succeeded in debarring the officers of the Indian army from the expression of any opinions through the public press, it is but right that he should feel the full enormity of his offence.

We have been led into these observations by seeing in the Bombay papers a statement that the errant major, accompanied by another officer and sixteen sowars, had been lately visiting the Khan of Khelat; had been spoken to by its chief, relative to a subsidy from the British Government; and had captured and "bound" some persons pointed out to him by the khan as Russian emissaries.

It may be suspected that, if numerous, the major and his sowars must have found their prisoners a capture entailing no slight inconvenience. We are unable to anticipate how they decided upon their ultimate disposal-whether to send them to Bombay as state prisoners, or suffer them to remain in Khelat in the paid durance of its khan. That they were Russian emissaries at all, and not some unfortunate travellers or merchants, whose goods and chattels had excited the cupidity of the chief, can hardly be believed on his own statement. When it shall suit the court of St. Petersburg to intrigue in that quarter, it will do so in the full possession of the knowledge that the khan himself is so needy as to render unnecessary any indirect method of purchasing at his hands, either the annoyance of our frontier, or his good will towards any force passing through his country bent on the invasion of this.

These frontier chiefs only court British notice and alliance, that they may obtain on false pretences the subsidies our Government has been so often wheedled out of. They have always proved themselves faithless and double dealing; and if they received Company's silver to-morrow, would not be a whit too honest to finger Russian gold, for a directly contrary purpose, the day after. They are powerless in themselves, and for all that they could do in assisting or checking the progress of an invasion, are as little to be dreaded. Should Russia ever determine on the invasion of this country, the place to meet her armies, be they either her own troops or the subsidised forces of the Western Asian chiefs, will be upon the threshold of our own territories; but it is very doubtful, no matter how great the preliminary preparations, that any invading force will ever reach our frontier, of which the available brigades of the Punjab would not be able to give a good account. Our policy should be a strong and well defined frontier and the proud indifference of ready strength to all beyond it; for if the British rule in the East is to fall, it will not be beneath the sword of the foreign invader, though it may tremble before the force of a public opinion, which has already had its birth, already made the first faint efforts of its power felt, and which, if treated with that disregard which the Company's Government would fain evince, may one day become dangerous.-—Englishman, June 9.

THE COURT OF DIRECTORS AND THEIR
EUROPEAN SOLDIERY.

Saturday's Gazette contained some announcements of importance, amongst others, an order intimating that all soldiers of either H.M.'s or theCompany's services, are to be entitled to claim the medal and gratuity given for long service and good conduct, or the medal and annuity for meritorious conduct, without reference to whether their servitude has been passed doing regimental duty, or on staff employ. This is a great boon, or, perhaps, more correctly speaking, the remedy of a great grievance. Heretofore, under the operation of the rules regulating the distribution of these, by far too restricted rewards, none of the Company's army, but soldiers and non-commissioned officers, who had done nearly uninterrupted duty with their corps were entitled to either gratuity or annuity; and the consequence of such a regulation was, that magazine, commissariat, cattle, and barrack sergeants, and a host of others, who, through good conduct and intelligence had been promoted to births on the staff, were debarred from the enjoyment of benefits expressly intended to induce others to follow in their footsteps and emulate their good conduct.

Luckily this great cause of complaint no longer exists; but we believe there is another circumstance connected with these rewards that calls loudly for the attention of those possessing the power of remedying it. We have said that they are far too restricted, and we believe that, upon inquiry, it will be found that the Court of Directors is not above practising with their European troops, the mean subterfuge of publicly tendering to the well conducted amongst them, certain pecuniary donations and annuities, to be given as it were to all really entitled to them, but in reality to be doled out in such proportion as a miserably small and rigidly fixed allotted sum may be sufficient to cover. This is the sheerest deceit dispiriting to men, who are too intelligent not to be aware of it, and disgraceful to the Government, by placing the authorities in the position of those who, under false pretences, achieve a repu tation for good deeds.

The Gazette also mentions the promotion to the rank of Lieutenant on the invalid establishment, of Conductor James Foster, on the grounds "of his long and highly distinguished services in the Burmese War in 1824-25-26, in the Affghan War of 1842-43, and in the Sutlej campaign of 1845-46," a promotion as honourable to the individual on whom it has been conferred, as discreditable to the authorities who-considering such services-so tardily render it; and who (according to the Gazette) even waited to be memorialized before they did so.

Naturally disgusted with so obvious and inexcusable an indiffer

ence to good and true service, and well aware that Lieut. Foster's is not a solitary case, it is with something like pleasure that we notice in the same page an indication that the present authorities in India are by no means indifferent to the comfort and welfare of their European soldiery. The matter to which we alluce is an order directing the issue by the commissariat of cooking utensils for the use of the European troops of this presidency, a most excellent provision, and one that will doubtless be hailed with no small gratitude by those for whose benefit it is intended.

The Gazette likewise publishes some very liberal regulations as to the staff to be allowed to wings of regiments in case of being detached from each other; as well as the retirement from the service of Capt. James Whitefoord, of the artillery, on the pension of major, with some other military announcements, which have already appeared in our columns, and which require no comment. -Englishman, June 12.

THE NEW CIVIL FURLOUGH RULES.

We republish on our outside sheet the despatch of the Court of Directors, containing the new furlough rules for the Indian civil service. Though not perhaps adequate to satisfy an overstrained expectation, they will in general, we imagine, be regarded as a boon. They are decidedly an improvement on the old rules in clearness, simplicity, and adaptation to the circumstances of the hour. With one exception, morcover, the liberality of their provisions is strangely contrasted with that of the rules applied to military officers in civil employ. Whatever is excellent in those rules has been retained, unclogged by the restrictions which have created so universal a feeling of disappointment. The exception, however, is important. No option whatever is allowed between the ancient and the present rules. From the moment of their promulgation they will be absolutely in force, and however long his service or weak his health, the civilian must accept the restrictions imposed, as well as the benefits conferred.

And first with respect to furloughs. It was hoped, and perhaps expected, that in this respect one important innovation would have been permitted. It has frequently occurred that officers have been compelled for personal reasons to take furlough, who are so peculiarly qualified for the offices they hold, that the Government would willingly submit to the inconvenience of an acting appointment. Hitherto no such arrangement has been possible. The civilian may have qualified himself for his post by the labour of a life, he may be the only man absolutle competent to fill it, he may intend to be absent only for six months. But in spite of common sense, his own wishes, and the policy of the Government, his appointment must be resigned. The act of parliament is imperative, and government is driven to a justifiable evasion in the shape of personal pledges. This inconvenience still continues to exist. The Court might have removed it with a word. They had only to authorise the Governor-General in Council to make special exceptions, and it would have disappeared. For the rest, their instructions are sufficiently liberal. The three years' furlough remains at present. The allowances during the period of absence are unchanged. But the civilian may, if he pleases, divide his holiday into two, and relieve the tedium of an Indian residence by taking the two portions at intervals of ten years.

It is with respect to sick leave, that the most important innovations have been introduced. All distinctions of place and climate, European or Indian residence, charter limits, and lines of latitude and longitude are summarily abolished. The sick civilian may go anywhere where he thinks he can get well, to the Cape or Australia, Washington or London, wherever his tastes, his health, or his family connections may incline. The Court of Directors has formally recognised the existence of steam, and the possibility of railroads. Formerly, however, the officer was tempted to proceed to places within Indian limits by the certainty of retaining his appointment for two years. He can now retain it on sick leave even in England, but only for eighteen months. He may stay for three years; after the expiration of a moiety of that period, his appointment must be resigned. The time allowed will, in the majority of cases, be sufficient for restoration to health, and we may for the future regard eighteen months as the orthodox period of an officer's sick leave. The allowances, however, are reduced. Hitherto, the civilian absent at the Cape has forfeited only one-third of his salary. For the future, he forfeits onehalf, nor can he in any case receive during the period of absence more than 1,0007. a year. Thus, under the old rules, a collector at the Cape would have received 1,4407. a year for three years. He will now receive only 1,0007. a year for eighteen months, with, however, the privilege of spending it in England. Should he stay longer than the year and a half, his allowances are reduced to 5007., and after the three years, even should he obtain further leave, he will be compelled to maintain himself from his own resources. Even with these restrictions, however, so great are

the temptations of Europe to an Anglo-Indian, that a severe fit of sickness will in many cases be regarded as a boon. The Courts are well aware of the fact, and their old jealousy of their medical servants, a jealousy which has repeatedly checked the relaxation of the furlough rules, suddenly revives. New and stricter formulas are again to be prepared, and will prove just as inoperative as those which are at present in force. No rules, however stringent, which admit of sick leave at all, can prevent occasional cases of malingering, and the cases which occur even now, are exceedingly infrequent. Englishmen, when once on the sea, relieved from constant work, and emancipated from the daily reek of a crammed cutcherry, rapidly recover. Dinner on board ship is always the event of the day, and the Court, who witness the arrival of healthy, rosy invalids, shake their heads in grave doubt of the fidelity of their surgeons.

There is one paragraph in the Court's Despatch which we must quote entire :

"We entirely concur in the opinion expressed in paras. five and six of your despatch in this department, date May 3, 1850, No. 21, that it is advisable to prescribe, by rule, some period of service after which civil servants shall not be appointed to any new office, nor be permitted to retain office which they may have held for a period of five years and upwards, and we have resolved to establish thirty-five years as the perion of service for the purpose in question. This rule must, as you suggest, be subject to exceptions in special cases which are to be referred for our decision. In such cases your recommendation will not fail to receive our prompt consideration. The above rule may be applied to every civil servant appointed to office after its promulgation, and to the case of every other civil servant to whom it relates, at the close of five years from the date of its promulgation."

This rule, in fact, introduces a most startling innovation. In 1859, every civilian of 1854 and upwards will hold his commission at the pleasure of the Government. Without special permission, he cannot be suffered to remain; and the following list will show how extensive will be the swoop among the patres conscripti of the service--John French, Abercrombie Dick, Charles Du Pre Russell, William Dampier, George Francis Brown, James Hardwicke Patton, Francis Gouldsbury, John Inglis Harvey, Sir Robt. Barlow, Bart.; George Charles Cheap, Thomas Wyatt, William Popham Palmer, Sir Robert N. C. Hamilton, Henry Rickets, The Honorable Joseph Alexander Dorin, Edward Currie, John Dunbar, Richard Walker, James Grant, Henry Stainforth, Charles Bury.

The service generally arrive in India at the age of twenty-three, and it follows that in a few years a civilian of sixty will be as great a prodigy as a lady in some districts of Australia. Despite its apparent harshness, the rule will be considered just by the public, as well as by the juniors of the service. However much our forefathers may have overrated the dangers inherent in an Indian climate, thirty-five years' unbroken residence usual wears out the stamina alike of the intellect and the constitution. Old age is an invidious charge to bring against an officer, whose decay has been accelerated by the fidelity of his service, yet it has occasionally been necessary to compel the departure of a judge guiltless of any more serious offence. From this painful necessity, the Government for the future is happily exempt. The practical effect of the rule must depend greatly upon the manner in which it is observed. The Court, by ordering every case of exception to be referred for their special sanction, have rendered it almost peremptory, and we suspect the Government will find it most expedient to allow it to come universally into operation. In that case, senility, like want of education, and ignorance of the vernaculars, will have been excluded by law from the India civil service.-Friend of India, June 1.

THE DRAINAGE OF CALCUTTA.

The government of Mr. Halliday has opened with a demonstration in the right direction. We hope that it is indicative of what the reign may be throughout,-in itself clean, free from the mire and sewerage of jobbery, and radically given to the sweeping out of all filthy obstructions.

God helps those that help themselves, is the theme of the lieut.governor's first address to the public through his secretary. We perfectly agree with the sentiment, and perhaps there is no city in the world to which the doctrine is susceptible of more practical application than to Calcutta. The people of Calcutta are not altogether to blame for the evil of social indolence and the toleration of civic nuisances. Government must bear its fair share, which share justice compels us to own, is the lion's share. The lieut.-governor very properly instructs the municipal commissioners, that if the town of Calcutta is to be drained, the people of Calcutta must drain it; but unfortunately the said people are very well aware by long experience that the E. I. Company has looked with a reproving eye on any demonstration of an inclination among the ditch citizens to help themselves. Had the lieut.-governor

more strictly accommodated the moral of his discourse to the actual history of events, he would have implied that if Calcutta is inclined to help itself, the Government will no longer be inclined, as it always has heretofore, to hinder its laudable activity.

We look upon the Municipal Commission as trash; it possesses no power, and it lingers among its own sewers in the most abject dependence. Perhaps a more hollow pretence for a civic corporation was never exhibited in any other civilized town. What can this commission do? Nobody regards it because every one knows that it is a sham. We take the liberty, therefore, of expressing to the Government of Bengal our opinion, that it would best become its dignity to invest the town of Calcutta with those powers of internal self-government which a town such as this ought to have. The lieut.-governor cannot think that there should be any great difficulty in raising upon the credit of such a city as Calcutta the funds necessary for effecting a new system of drainage. The sarcasm admits of a rejoinder. The town of Calcutta will give no credit to Government until it finds itself able to deal with its own grievances in its own way. We have not the smallest doubt that ample means would be forthcoming, without any loan from Government, to provide for the complete drainage of the city; but no one feels the slightest care or inclination to busy himself in affairs that are essentially civic, but which Government monopolizes, while it sticks up a ludicrous sham yclept the Municipal Commission.

Official papers are easily constructed. The commissioners may address Mr. Grey, and Mr. Grey may reply in very practical sentences, with here and there a dash of sarcasm that reads spicily. But we beg to state, neither the commissioners, nor the lieutenantgovernor, nor his secretary, are advancing the end in view a single jot. The indifference of the people of Calcutta is the consequence, and not the cause of the existing state of things. Government has made people what they are; and until Government chooses to unmake the evil it has created, the most able documents telling people to help themselves will fall still-born from the hands that pen them. In point of fact, truth does not strictly reside in the moral which the Government of Bengal teaches. As things at present stand, it would be more correct to say, Government will help those that will help the Government. While the authority of Government in this city continues as arbitrary as it is now, every one will perforce feel that whatever may be done is done for its benefit, and not for the benefit of the citizens themselves. The remedy is plain, and we cannot help expressing our conviction that the Government of Bengal is perfectly aware what the remedy is, only it cannot make up its mind to surrender, even remotely, a scintilla of authority. For the 999th time, we will reiterate the remedy to bad drainage, narrow thoroughfares, and all their attendant evils. Let the Government of Bengal use its sweeping-brush in the first instance to the commissioners for the improvement of the town of Calcutta. Sweep away the man of straw-poor-harmless-innocent-emasculated-the chronic incompetent, at which every one laughs, and no one can trouble themselves to despise, it is so helpless and infantile in all its little ways. In the place of this, let Government create a municipal corporation it matters not what name it gives it-invested with power, like the civic authorities in all our great British cities, colonial or otherwise: when this is done, there will be fouud plenty of people ready to interest themselves in the improvement of the town, the complete new drainage, watering, and lighting of the streets; and also there will be found plenty of money-lenders ready to advance the required funds for this and every other such highly necessary purpose. Verb. sap.-Hurkaru.

THE GOVERNMENT SAVING'S BANK.

A general order in the official Gazette announces that, in obedience to the instructions of the Court of Directors, the rate of interest on civil deposits in the Government Savings Banks is from the 26th of November next to be reduced from 4 to 3 per cent. ; that the limit of deposits in regard to depositors of all classes be extended from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,500, and that the interest of 4 per cent. per annum on the deposits of the soldiery is to be reduced to 3 per cent. We do not admire the spirit that dictated this reduction. It is true that, in a financial point of view, it appears anomalous to allow depositors in the Savings Bank 4 per cent., whilst the State loan itself is reduced to 3; but then it must be remembered that the deposits of single individuals were restricted to Rs. 500, and that as soon as any deposit reached that sum, the amount was immediately invested in Government paper, so that the State paid interest at the rate of 4 per cent. only for a limited period, and never on a sum exceeding Rs. 500 belonging to a single depositor. The reduction to 3 per cent. will have the effect of causing considerable contributions to the 34 per cent. loan, because it will be for the interest of depositors to make up as soon as possible a sufficient sum to invest in the loan, which yields a return of one-half per cent. more than the Savings Bank gives. We believe that the amounts on account of the 3 per cent. loan may be tendered for as small sums as Rs. 250. The measure will, however, affect all those who are obliged to have their business transacted through agents; for as the deposit by each depositor is by the new order extended to Rs. 1,500, the Government agent is not bound to invest the deposits until they reach the above sum, and if such be done through any other agent, the commission to be paid will absorb the difference of interest; so that in all likelihood a considerable amount will remain deposited at 3 per cent. Nobody can, however, complain, for there is no bank which

would allow such a rate on floating deposits. Considering, however, the special purpose for which the Government Savings Bank was created, we confess that the reduction in the rate of interest is inconsistent with the spirit of liberality which generally characterises the Indian Government.

The poor soldier is also to be clipped; but, as if the Court of Directors were somewhat conscience-struck, the reduction is only per cent. per annum. This we look upon as exceedingly injudicious, because it is for the interest of the State to encourage economy to the utmost among the soldiers; and instead of clipping the per cent., we think it would have been by far more advisable to increase the rate of interest by one per cent.-Hurkaru.

WANT OF ENCOURAGEMENT OF PRIVATE
ENTERPRISE.

If the Indian Government had carried out every undertaking, which, in the opinion of the public, ought to have been done at the expense of the State, the vaults and coffers of the Treasury might have safely been thrown open for a complete ventilation, without the least fear of inviting the attention of robbers. It is unnecessary to go back to a remote period, for the proposals which have been before the public within the last few years, if carried out, would have swallowed up the whole of the balances. First came the plan of supplying the whole town of Calcutta with water from Pultah. Then we had dry and wet docks. After these came the drainage of Calcutta; the lighting of the town by gas; then a canal and a railroad to Diamond Harbour; all sorts of public buildings were to be erected; a lunatic asylum to be established; then came a bridge across the Hooghly; in fact, there was no end of projects, all of which Government were to carry out at its own expense for the special benefit of the town of Calcutta. It is somewhat strange, that, with the exception of lighting the Indian metropolis with gas, not one of all the other proposals induced private capitalists to form a joint-stock company, though all that time money was almost unprecedently abundant and cheap. If all the above undertakings were to pay Government, surely it might be expected that they would have yielded a still better return to private companies, for there is hardly any doubt that Government management is not the cheapest. To what, then, are we to attribute this reluctance on the part of private capitalists to invest money in enterprises which it is asserted will pay a Landsome dividend? We will not maintain that it is a want of confidence or fear, that following precedents of years gone by, everything would be turned into jobbery; but we will rather ascribe it to the effects of the late commercial crisis, which has produced great caution and circumspection on the part of all those who may have money to invest.

In recording these views, we, however, by no means exonerate Government from all blame; on the contrary, we are of opinion that Government may justly be censured, not only for having done so little for the advancement of works of public utility, but also for the want of encouragement held out to private enterprise. It cannot be denied, that the several proposals which have been submitted from time to time by private parties, have met with no countenance whatever, and that many useless difficulties were thrown in the way, which proved a complete extinguisher of all hopes. We are of opinion that with regard to all works of great public utility, it is desirable that they should be left to private enterprise, because it prevents the creation of a monopoly and opens a fair field for competition, but at the same time no work of more than ordinary extent can be carried out effectually and efficiently unless Government holds out such encouragement as the nature of the undertaking may render necessary. Nowhere is the absence of such encouragement so much felt as in India, where the unsatisfactory state of the revenue system, as well as the defects in the judicial department in the Mofussil, must prove a serious drawback to the investment of capital in similar undertakings. And yet there is no country in which the Government itself is so directly interested in the establishment of those very works as in India, as everything would tend to contribute towards the revenues of the country. Railways, roads, canals, each must lead to a speedier and more extended development of the natural resources of the country.

There is another circumstance, which in India, more than anywhere else, renders the utmost encouragement on the part of Government necessary. We have seen the reluctance on the part of native capitalists to invest money in any undertaking not yielding an immediate and large return. Any funds required must therefore be supplied by European capitalists, and as there are but few who can command large sums, it follows that nearly the whole amount necessary to carry out an undertaking of some magnitude must be drawn from the mother country. To effect this some encouragement on the part of Government is absolutely required, especially as the manner in which English capitalists have been led by the nose with respect to railways is not likely to inspire people with much confidence. Moreover, times in India have greatly changed. The members of the services were once glad to invest their savings with commercial agents; but that period is gone by. Money now flows into the banks, where the returns are quicker and periodical. Those vast sums formerly lodged in agency houses would have been subscribed to any undertaking in which Government would have taken an interest; at present they are withheld even from works guaranteed by the State, such as the

Railway, merely because people think that it is better to get a dividend of 8 per cent. per annum from a Mofussil Bank, than 4 per cent. from the Railway Company. Government cannot undertake to carry out every work of public utility at their own expense without cramping their financial resources, but they have it in their power to hold out such encouragement, as will call forth private enterprise, and induce people at home to invest capital in the undertaking.-Hurkaru.

ADDRESS TO GEO. HILL, ESQ., ON HIS RETIREMENT FROM OFFICE BY THE NATIVE ASSISTANTS IN THE TREASURY.

DEAR SIR,-As you are about to retire from the post of uncovenanted head assistant in the office of the Military Accountant, Fort William in Bengal-an office to which you did both honour and justice during your past incumbency-we, the native assistants of the same office, cannot, with a right sense of our duty towards you, allow the present opportunity to pass, without offering this humble testimony of the sense of gratitude and esteem with which you will be remembered by us as our late superior in office, at whose hands we have met with a just and impartial consideration of our rights and interests.

We are quite assured, that a man so generally and favourably known as yourself will gain little from the praises which we may bestow, but permit us to acquaint you that it is a sincere tribute of respect, such as is due to the character of a man like yourself, that we have this evening met in this hall to offer you thus publicly.

The ability and official integrity which have always marked your long career, have been noticed with approbation by your superiors in office, and need scarcely any mention at our hands on the present occasion. Partiality and favouritism were unknown to you in the discharge of your official functions, and instances without numbers are remembered, that in spite of the strongest recommendations you have given preferment to men whose merits and qualifications deserved them,-a circumstance which in itself does sufficiently indicate the characteristic of a noble mind.

For these reasons and for the experience which you have acquired, your absence from the office will be greatly felt and your loss not readily repaired, but we regret that ill health has rendered it necessary, that you should retire from the cares and toils of a busy life, and we pray God that you may enjoy a long lease of life, a perpetual equanimity of mind unruffled by busy cares and live among your family and children, the patriarch of undivided love and affection.

We request you to accept the accompanying vase as a humble but sincere token of your esteem and regard, and with it our most respectful cordial farewell.

We remain, Sir, yours sincerely, Fort William, Military Accountant's Office, June, 1854. To GEORGE HILL, Esq.,

&c. &c. &c.

EXAMINATION RULES FOR THE UNCOVENANTED. The Board of Revenue seem determined to carry out the new examination rules with a vengeance. They have just issued a circular intimating to all commissioners of revenue, that with reference to the new classification of deputy collectors, no one of these uncovenanted officials can expect gradual advancement until he has passed an examination of the second standard, and that no new officer will be appointed unless he has passed an examination of the first standard within twelve months. We cannot offer any objection to the latter condition, but we strongly apprehend that the first was never contemplated, and that the Board, as they do in almost everything, are carrying out rather the letter than the spirit of the regulations. A deputy collectorship is in the uncovenanted branch almost analogous to that of a collectorship in the covenanted service. It is the highest situation which the generality reach, and that only after a prolonged number of years in the service. What would the collectors think if they were called upon to pass an examination after fifteen years' service in the higher standard, and yet, although the new examination rules make no distinction, the qualifications of the deputy are to be tested again, but those of the covenanted remain unquestioned.

Looking upon these examination rules dispassionately, we cannot help perceiving that they bear uncommonly hard upon the uncovenanted, even if no difference were made in the test. As the object is to secure among the members of both services a thorough knowledge of the vernacular languages, and promotion being guarded by the degree of efficiency attained by the applicants, the apparent effect is that of a sort of commendable competition; but that competition is very different with the covenanted and the uncovenanted servant. The former has only to compete with his fellow brethren in the same service, without having any. thing to fear from outsiders. It is a privileged service into which no degree of proficiency or talent can obtain admittance. With the uncovenanted it is quite different. He has to compete with the natives, and hence his attainments are judged by a standard

it is nowhere stipulated the civilian should reach. But the unfair. ness consists in the circumstance that, whilst the native has to pass only in his own language, no standard is prescribed for his attainments in English. Not that we expect any extraordinary proficiency in that respect of the Anglo-Saxon, still if he be obliged to pass in the vernacular, it is equally important that the native should pass in English. The objections to this latter course are, however, greater than may be anticipated from the circumstance that the result would be far from reflecting creditably upon the system of education pursued in our colleges, as it would show the utter uselessness of the notion to cram the native's mind with learning, for which he will never have any use.

The great reason assigned for this proficiency in the vernaculars is based upon the necessity that he who administers justice should be able to converse perfectly well with those who appear before his tribunal. But as long cases cannot be finally disposed of by native magistrates, &c., it is necessary that the submission of the facts to superior authority should be equally clear and intelligible. It hence follows, that whatever proficiency a man may have attained in the vernacular, it is of equal importance that he should possess also a thorough knowledge of English, or the only alternative left is that the superior authority referred to should understand thoroughly the vernacular. The superior authority is vested in covenanted judges; and hence, if it be necessary to take such stringent measures with uncovenanted deputies, we submit that there exists still stronger reason for exacting the same, if not a superior, standard from covenanted judges.-Hurkaru, June 13.

RUSSIAN VESSELS IN THE EAST.

Nicholas of Russia seems to have contracted an alliance with his namesake, the potentate of the lower regions, and to have been ac. commodated by the latter with the loan of a fleet under the com? mand of Admiral Snarleyow, hoisting his flag on board the wellknown cruiser The Flying Dutchman.

Two Russian line-of-battle ships reported to be at sea, says the telegraph from Europe. Two Russian frigates said to be in the Straits of Rbio is the last news brought by the China steamer. Doubtless these vessels are identical-degrees, latitude, and lon. gitude being unknown quantities in the phantom system of navigation, and are also the same as were reported, some six weeks ago, as in the neighbourhood of Manila, but have not yet made Calcutta experience the horrors of war by cutting off her supply of cheroots.

We feel that we can just now afford to joke at the idea of a Russian fleet making its appearance in the Hooghly and beginning to play its broadsides upon the dome of Government House. If there have been any Russian ships in Pacific waters they were sailing vessels, and the commander, if a wise man, has long before this exchanged the latitudes of opium and tea for those of Australian gold.

But can we rest satisfied that this agreeable sense of security will continue throughout the war upon which we are now entering with an enemy of insatiable ambition, great resources, and no despicable courage and enterprise? Steam is a despiser of geographical distances, and squadrons of observation almost as contemptuous as any commander in his Satanic majesty's service. What would be the sensation on the Course at driving time if, some twelve or eighteen months hence, the telegraphic reports of the morning, ill understood during the day, announcing the arrival at Kedgeree of first one and then another large steamer, should receive their interpretation in the evening in the shape of a brace of Russian war frigates, screwing up the river in defiance of all port regulations, returning with interest a ́salute from the fort, and beginning to knock our much boasted palaces about our ears, in a manner truly gratifying to Messrs. Burn and Co. and Mackintosh, but not perhaps equally pleasant to the Qui-hyes, their occupants, who might not relish baing shelled out by the Russians at night, and having to shell out to the Russians in other fashion in the morning?

We have the least disposition possible to be alarmists. We feel as comfortable as the weather will permit; and sleep o'nights without dreaming of a domiciliary visit from Cossack or Red Russian, making themselves more familiar than welcome with our watch and diamond ring, and perhaps with our wife and daughters. But whiles at shaving time (the birth season of our brightest ideas, or those we fancy such) we do ask ourselves the question'Might it not be as well to be prepared? Better be laughed at for a little over-caution, than have to cry after too much confidence." Then, notwithstanding Punch's culinary efforts upon the warrior of Brook Green, which left that illustrious individual in a state of crackling to which roast pig would be a fool, we cannot for the life of us see that there would be anything so very ridiculous were the European inhabitants of Calcutta to think about enrolling themselves into a corps of volunteers. There are plenty of them

to furnish a very efficient regiment of foot and another of horse, which need not put the Government to the expense of a rupee, except in the matter of drilling. We do not see that the goose step is a bit more absurd than the polka; playing at soldiers would be just as good fun as a stupid evening drive, and then the excuse for wearing moustaches would be absolutely unexceptionable.

Even should the advent of a Russian squadron be considered beyond the bounds of probability, yet the presence of such a corps as we have hinted at, might place at the disposal of Government, in some emergencies more likely to occur, regular troops, which it might otherwise be thought necessary to keep in reserve at the presidency. It is extremely probable that troops from India will be called for in Turkey; and if for no other purpose than to detain such a brigade in this country, the machinations of our wily foe will be directed to the creation of disturbances in central Asia, if not disaffection and conspiracy in the interior of our own Indian empire. We cannot, therefore, but think that a juncture may possibly arise within the next year or two which would make Government not ungrateful for having the task of guarding the capital taken, at any rate, to some extent, off its hands.

We merely throw out a suggestion. Topics for discussion are not over rife; we therefore beg to bring on the tapis that of the Calcutta Volunteers.

We are quite prepared for a round of jeers and raillery from our contemporaries to-morrow morning, but after they shall have sufficiently expended their mirth, let them tell us seriously what they think of our proposition.-Ibid.

THE LONDON MAIL of April 24th arrived at Calcutta June 3rd (per Bombay).

SECRETARY TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. We understand that it is the intention of the Governor-General to confer the post of Secretary to the Legislative Council upon Mr. Wylie, the first Judge of the Court of Small Causes.

THE PATNA AND GYA ROAD.-Government has sanctioned the construction of a metalled road from Doobee, on the grand trunk road to Patna on the Ganges, a distance of about seventy. nine miles, at an estimated expense of about ten lacs of rupees. The importance of this line of communication cannot be over-estimated by the native, and especially the Hindoo, community. Gya is the resort of a larger number of pilgrims than any other place of sanctity in Hindoostan, Benares, and perhaps Juggernauth, excepted. The inconvenience to which these pilgrims were subjected, owing to the dilapidated state of the road leading to the town, both from the Patna and the trunk road side, was very great, and the annual loss of life by sickness and hardship was fearful. The line of road now authorized to be constructed at the public expense also runs through a district of the greatest fertility, and in the highest state of cultivation. The districts of Behar, Patna, Shahabad, and Sarun, through or contiguous to which the road now planned will run, are the principal fields for the production of that useful class of esculents which, under the common name of doll, constitutes, next after rice, the principal food of the Indian population Patna is the place from which all this produce is exported for the consumption of the neighbouring provinces. Hence, whatever facilitates the means of conveyance to that port affords a direct encouragement to the agriculture of that extensive region, and an appreciable relief to the consumers of its produce. How injuriously the want of communication practicable for wheeled carriages tells upon the freedom of export, and distribution of produce, is apparent from the following table, which we have extracted from the last published official statement of Prices Current :Patna. 20 seers.

Urhur Khesarie Mascullye Moorg Mussoor

Dal

Gya. 27 seers

Gram

Rice

Ghee (cow's) Cane-sugar

We have no doubt as to the general accuracy of the returns from which these statements are compiled. Our readers will find in the above table those articles priced higher at Patna than at Gya which are the produce of the district, while imported articles are priced higher in the interior. The difference is on an average a third over the price at which the articles are brought to the first market. Ought this difference to exist between two towns distant only sixty miles from each other?-Hindoo Patriot, May 25.