to matters to be decided according to the creed of the parties, inheritance, family arrangements, disposition of property, contracts, sales, and mortgages. The succeeding five, on agency, bailment, partnership, bills of exchange, debts, interest, mesne profits, and insolvency, contain an attempt to supply the great Indian want, a code of commercial law. We have nothing approaching to it, and outside of the precincts of the Supreme Court, no man can tell how a case, involving anything more complicated than a simple contract, may be decided. The last three contain a law of libel, some fundamental rules regarding proprietorship, and some principles to be observed with regard to the decision of caste disputes. We may remark that in all these cases, though the provisions of the code are confined chiefly to principles, they are occasionally accompanied by absolute limitations, which, in a Regulation province, would require the very highest legislative authority. Thus it is ordered that no Court shall compel unwilling persons to complete a marriage. There is the Hindoo idea of the validity of betrothal upset at once. Every person who purchases anything is protected for four-and-twenty hours by an implied warranty. If within that period he discovers a defect, the seller is compelled to take back the property. Here is a Mohammedan principle, radically just, it is true, applied to the entire population, of whatever creed. The principles of partnership laid down, create throughout the Punjab the system denominated en commandité, each partner being liable only to the extent of the share of which he has publicly notified himself possessed. In spite, however, of these occasional assumptions of a high legislative power, the general character of the code may be thus summed up. It is an adaptation of the laws reverenced by men of the different creeds, and the local customs recognised in the Punjab, with the addition of certain arbitrary rules on questions where no certain or just law appears to apply. The scheme adopted to ascertain these customs will be fairly understood from the subjoined sentence. It is from the commentary upon the law of exchanges.

"The method by which this section has been prepared, was briefly as follows:-The main principles of the English law on bills of exchange were first collated, and explained to the chief mercantile men of Lahore, and thus the fundamental differences between that system and the custom of these provinces were elicited. At length a vernacular draft was prepared which might be fitted for the consideration of the commercial authorities at Umritsur, whither it was accordingly sent. The leading merchants of that city then carefully examined each clause of the proposed draft, making such emendations, corrections, or additions, as they thought proper, and appended a comment on the whole. Several of them have also been consulted verbally. The amended rules have now been drawn up in English. It may be believed, then, that this section represents the opinions of the first commercial authorities in the Punjab, of men whose prosperity may mainly depend on the practical working and local adaptibility of the rules in question. They had every motive to give good advice, and that they are competent to do so, cannot be doubted. It is hoped, therefore, that the principles embodied in these rules may be received with some confidence, although in many respects they differ from the law and practice in England."

Thus far the code satisfies all the requirements of the public for which it is intended. There remains one more department, the system of procedure. In India, this is of infinitely greater importance than the code itself. There are few laws to which a native will not speedily adjust himself, which he will not at once understand, and out of which he will not discover some easy loophole. It is the procedure, the manner of taking evidence, the authority of the amlah, and, above all, the causes of delay which specially affect his comfort. And in this respect the civil code of the Punjab is far less perfect than we had hoped it would be found. There is a loophole left for the monster evil of delay. It is true that a variety of precautions have been taken to ensure speed. Plaintiff and defendant are brought face to face. The trial is fixed for a particular day, and on that day it must take place. If the plaintiff does not appear, a decree may still be given. A deed of compromise is as valid as a decree. Technical flaws are to be disregarded. But the two monster evils of the Regulation Courts, the record and the power of appeal, are retained in the Punjab. The evidence is to be taken down in writing, and may be sent up in appeal, and there is an end of any hope of celerity of justice. It is useless to repeat arguments which we employed a fortnight since in relation to the Small Cause Courts. The process will be the same in Bengal and the Punjab, though the evil may be diminished in the latter province. The people are less litigious and more truthful. The judicial officers are more absolute, and there is a code. Many sources of delay which must exist in Bengal, do not exist in the Punjab. But the primary source, the "record," remains; and we cannot but fear that when the administration has become older, when the incessant watchfulness is relaxed, when the courts are infested by the scoundrels who fatten on all Indian tribunals, and when a long period of peace has produced a

taste for the excitement of litigation, the retention of the record will be found to have impaired the efficiency of the code.

We have two more remarks to make. Mr. Montgomery has laid down a law of libel and a law of usury. Both are delicate and doubtful questions. In both he appears to us fully to have succeeded. The code admits justification as a defence in an action for libel, but not in every instance. The libeller must prove that his assertion was not only true, but necessary, and not dictated simply by a malicious impulse. With all our prejudice in favour of uns licensed printing, we are compelled to regard this as the true law of libel. If a journalist asserts that a judge has taken bribes, and proves his assertion, he is a public benefactor. When he asserts that the judge is too fond of port wine, and proves his assertion, his veracity is unimpeachable, but he is not the less a public nuisance. Similarly with regard to the usury laws. Mr. Montgomery has simply abolished them. A man in the Punjab may sell money as freely as oil. If he asks too much, the purchaser is free to make his bargain with some other dealer. The bargain in all cases is to be kept, unless fraud is proved, a rule the wisdom of which will one day be acknowledged even by a Parliament of territorial magnates.-Friend of India.

THE REPORTED DEFICIENCY OF SALT IN BENGAL. SOME alarm has of late been felt at the prospect of a deficiency of salt in Bengal. The cessation of imports from England, and a diminution of the stock below the usual average, have rendered it necessary to take unusual measures for procuring a new supply. Abandoned manufactories have been reopened, large supplies have been ordered from Madras, and advances to an unusual extent have been made to the Molunghees constantly in employ. Measures, dictated only by a wise precaution, have been misinterpreted as provisions against a foreseen necessity. The alarm has spread, and has been increased by two other circumstances. Firstly. The possibility of a deficiency of salt in Bengal is a contingency so terrible, that men ordinarily of cool judgment, become excited by the mere speculation. Secondly, owing to arrangements in which we cannot but think we detect traces of mismanagement, it occasionally happens that the best and whitest descriptions of salt come into the market at the cheapest rates. This salt will bear great adulteration; and on its appearance is purchased, though it is not removed, by a few powerful firms. The ordinary dealers cannot obtain this profitable salt, and the public, seeing that lakhs of maunds are sold at once, jumps at the conclusion that the native dealers, aware of an impending scarcity, have combined to monopolise the existing supply. We propose to demonstrate that these fears are practically without foundation. The amount of the sales and imports in any one year by no means indicates the amount of consumption. When speculation is active and money easy, the deliveries speedily become large. They decrease when the capital is required for more profitable purposes. The average deliveries of three years, however, may, we believe, be taken to represent very nearly the average of consumption. For the last three years it has been

It may be necessary to explain that this item of private importation is not a guess. The supply from England has diminished, but in this, the worst year of all, it still reached 3,93,823 maunds. A ship laden with salt for Calcutta has since been heard of at Melbourne. Moreover, salt is imported from other places. The Arabs and the Singhalese, the people of Coromandel and Malabar, are not affected either by the European war or the Australian gold. They will send salt still, and last year they despatched more than five lacs of maunds. This account shows that there will be, on 30th April, 1855, a balance of sixteen lacs in the golahs. By that time three-fourths of the new salt, the manufacture of which commences in November and ends in May, will be in store, and the supply will be abundant, and this without such a previous exhaustion of the golahs as would enable the merchants to monopolise the reserve.

There exists in reality no danger whatever. The war, coming behind the drain of freight for Australia, might have embarrassed the Government for a time. The contingency was happily foreseen. Madras, in Mr. Plowden's opinion, could supply the universe with salt, and a twelvemonth's notice would bring out the whole resources of that presidency. The rumour, however, has been spread, it is supported by facts which may deceive the inexperienced, and we have no slight pleasure in giving it this unequivocal contradiction.-Friend of India.

THE COLEHAN.

A few weeks since we noticed the efforts which have been made to evangelize some of the savage races, which still prowl through some of the Indian jungles. These tribes, the relics of the aborigines, occupy the place which in the ancient world belonged to the prædial slaves, and in modern Europe, to the lowest section of the urban populations. Savages in the midst of civilization, the improvement of all around them seems but to drive them still further from the ranks of the community. Such a tribe, as savage as the Australian aborigines, exists within a day's journey of the Indian metropolis, and we are assured offers one of the most promising fields for missionary effort.

Between Midnapore and Chybassa, in the district of Singbhoom, stretches a district covering about 1,500 square miles, and called the Colehan. It is inhabited by a tribe who style themselves the Turka Coles. They have no connection either in lineage or in language with the tribes of the same name, the Ooraon or Dhungar Coles, who flock down every year from the hills round Chota Nagpore to the plains, and who are, to the workmen of Bengal, what the Irish interlopers are to the reapers of the west of England. They are about 75,000 in number, and are probably the most degraded of all the tribes included within the limits of India Proper. They have no caste, being divided merely into families or clans, no creed, no deities, no hope and no fear of a future state of being. Their sole religious impulse is an inordinate terror of evil spirits, or of witchcraft, which hurries them on to the commission of the crimes most abhorrent to orientals. Men have been known to murder their own parents, and their own children, on the bare suspicion of a knowledge of witchcraft. Those who, from the possession of a few cattle, are accounted rich, reduce themselves when attacked by sickness to beggary, by sacrifices to avert the wrath of the evil spirits, and even steal to fulfil the incessant demands upon their herds. The people, naturally lazy, cultivate only when they cannot rob, and confine their cultivation to the rice necessary for their immediate subsistence. each village there is a weaver or two, who furnish the infinitesimal quantity of cloth required by a people with whom there is little distinction between full dress and nudity, a single maker of earthen vessels, and a few herdsmen to watch the cattle. This is the only approach to a class of artisans and tradesmen. The remainder of the population are agriculturists and idlers, remarkable only for their laziness and excessive irascibility. The slightest provocation appears to irritate a Cole almost to insanity. Like Hatto, whose crimes have recently excited such attention in England, the most trivial neglect appears to madden these untrained spirits. If they cannot obtain immediate vengeance, they commit suicide. The presence of a government officer in their midst has restrained their violence, and increased to a lamentable extent the number of suicides. The pestilence, for it is a sort of moral contagion, is particularly observable among the females.

In

Nevertheless, this race, thus degraded, passionate, and cruel, is in many respects a hopeful one. The Coles are content to work, and work hard, in their own way, for an adequate inducement, and their bodily strength and hardihood render them admirable artisans. They excel more particularly in blacksmiths' work and carpentry. They are fond of learning, though at present almost entirely without the means of instruction. In 1837, Government sanctioned the establishment of a school, in which English and Hindee were taught. Not only did the boys crowd to acquire the latter, but grown and old men might be seen gravely conning over the Hindee alphabet. Unfortunately, the master of the school was a true disciple of Sir Charles Trevelyan. Careless alike of time and place, of the capacity of the people, and the wishes of his pupils, he persisted in teaching English. The Coles wanted English as much as a London cadger is interested in Syriac, and at last finding they could obtain nothing else, abandoned the school in disgust. Then the Government made, as it fancied, an immense step in advance. It established three vernacular schools, and thought the end secured. Unfortunately, it made one mistake. It omitted to inquire what was the vernacular of the Colehan. It fixed upon Bengalee, with which the Coles have as much concern as the slaves of Travancore. Their own language is an aboriginal dialect, and the language around them is Hindee, and this only will they attempt to acquire. The three schools, we believe, still drag on an existence useless for the people for whom they are intended.

It is in this district that missionaries are at the present moment urgently required. The people are numerous enough to reward exertion. They have nothing to unlearn, and no caste from which to be released. They are passionately anxious for a particular form of instruction, and have shown, under favourable circumstances, an aptitude for civilization. If schools were established, the Government would assist in rendering them permanent, and a race as low as the South Sea Islanders would be raised at least one step in the scale of civilization. Is the experiment to remain untried?-Friend of India.

CRIME IN THE LAHORE DISTRICT.

In civilized countries, the great preventive of crime is certainty of punishment. So completely has this axiom been accepted by the most acute observers, that many have proposed to abolish altogether the prerogative of pardon. They would invest the law with something of the majesty of a Greek fate, a power which cannot be turned aside, and from the operation of which it is hopeless to escape. The ruffian, they say, who would quail at the certainty of death, will risk his chance of a merciful judge, and an over-lenient Home Secretary. Whatever may be the case in Europe, it is clear that in India certainty is not the one thing needful. It is speed which is required, A native is not cowed by a punishment, which is to affect him some twelve months after the commission of his crime. One of the strangest of his psychological peculiarities is his incapability of remorse. To use his own expression, he "sits and waits" with the imperturbable apathy, with which, if fate and the sudder are against him, he will subsequently mount the gallows. It is speedy justice that he dreads, which deprives him of all hope from perjury, and leaves him without time for the exercise of his boundless ingenuity in evasion. We question whether the majority of natives do not consider a breach of the salt laws more dangerous than forgery, and this simply because the smaller punishment is summarily administered. Wherever in India the law moves swiftly, heinous crime diminishes, and it appears to move swiftly in the Lahore division.

That division is under the charge of Mr. C. Raikes, the opponent of female infanticide, and his report on the operations of the past year, is crowded with facts of the greatest importance to the Indian statesman. It is not by any means as easy to govern as an English county. Most of the districts, Lahore itself more especially, are crowded with the human vermin, who rise in revolutions to the surface of society. A good digestion and a bad heart, were the requisites for success, when Paris obeyed Louis the Magnificent. A bold heart and a bad conscience have for fourteen years been the primary requisites at Lahore. Since the annexation, the scoundrels that formerly sought to rise by atrocious crime, continue their practice for subsistence, and until they have been purchased, transported, or hung, the internal administration of Lahore will demand incessant anxiety and care. The populace, too, have that fierceness of character, which is so frequently apparent in London criminals, while the universal idea of natives that they have a right to maltreat the females of the family, shows itself in diabolical outrages. Nevertheless, judgment is speedy, and violent crime has diminished. In 1852, eleven cases of murder were reported in Lahore; in 1853, only six; and homicide, rape, and theft by drugging have diminished in an equal or greater proportion.

The cause of the diminution is obvious. Out of 3,805 cases tried during the past year, thirty-seven only remained undisposed of at its close, and thirteen of these were committed within the last month. The average duration of every case investigated by the police, was only eleven days; and of those examined in any method, only a week. We doubt, if London is taken out of the account, whether justice in England is much more rapid. This fact, however, does not show the real celerity attained. In Bengal, the people dread appearing as witnesses, nearly as much as appearing at the bar. Trials are so protracted, and stations so distant, that it is necessary to employ a certain degree of coercion to keep the witnesses together. The consequence is patent to all. The witnesses, if possible, keep out of the way, no one dreams of offering voluntary evidence, and respectable testimony is not to be obtained. This evil does not exist in the Punjab. In the number of cases we have mentioned, 4,276 witnesses were concerned, Of these were dismissed :

The "one day" probably means from half an hour to three hours, a time which even in England must be devoted to attendance on a court. Let no one object that this is the record of crime in a great city, where the elements of distance does not enter into the account. It is the same in the country districts. In Goordaspoor, seventy-eight per cent. of the witnesses were dismissed at once, and not one remained beyond the sixth day. In Goojranwala not one was detained more than six days, and in Sealkote, only seven were kept for four days, and not one beyond that time. In the whole division, out of 18,070 witnesses, eightythree per cent. were dismissed at once. We put it to any magistrate in Bengal, whether such a system would not tend to decrease the number of acquittals, and the average of crime.

Athough, however, the heinous crimes of the country have diminished, the lesser offences appear to have increased. The number of burglaries, which in 1852 was 874, had risen to 1,066 in 1853, while the number of simple thefts had almost doubled; cattle stealing had been increased by 6 per cent., and the legal crime of counterfeiting coin by 20 per cent. By far the larger portion of this increase is attributable to greater activity, and experience on the 'part of the police, and possibly to an increased willingness on the part of prosecutors. There remains a percentage of real increase, which is attributed to the drought, but which we suspect is owing, at least in part, to the supplanting of a native by a civilised rule. Under every system and in every country there will always exist a class of "have-nots," who are determined to "have," without working. Under a government like that of Runjeet they attain their object by force; under British rule, they descend from depredators into pickpockets, lurk on the highway, or enter houses at the dead of night. Moreover, the British rule, severe as it may be towards the greater crimes, is comparatively indulgent to all offences, but one, against property. The Mahommedan hewed off the thief's right hand. The Sikh was probably as cruel. The Englishman simply condemns him to inaction within four walls for a limited space of time. The change, which though lenient, is perhaps just, acts as an encouragement to meaner criminals, and theft flourishes accordingly.

It remains only to point out the descriptions of crime common in this division of the Punjab. They differ greatly from those, against which the magistracy of Bengal are striving to contend. There are no affrays, with armed regiments on each side, for no one is permitted to carry arms; affray attended with homicide is a capital offence, and a "lathee" is a lethal weapon. There are no dacoities, for the dacoits must be unarmed, and a Punjabee householder differs greatly from a Bengalee. There are very few cases of embezzlement, forgery, or perjury, for these are the vices of the weaker oriental races. Cattle stealing is as prevalent as sheep stealing in Cumberland, but this, like smuggling, is one of the offences which do not necessarily indicate any great propensity to crime. The highlander who reived his neighbour's steers, was by no means so depraved as the London pickpocket. For the rest, this division presents much the appearance of an English county. The crimes are nearly the same, both in extent and character, Thuggee being almost the sole exceptional offence. We submit that after making every allowance for difference in the people, the rough justice of the Punjab protects life and property, better than the misnamed "Regulation system."-Friend of India.

THE MUTLAH RIVER.

IN alluding to the Mutlah river, the Chamber of Commerce very truly observes that there is one consideration connected with that inquiry, which will before long command the earnest attention, not only of the mercantile body, but of all classes connected with Calcutta. They mean the transfer of the trade of the port to the right bank of the river, which will slowly, perhaps, but surely follow the completion of the line of railway from Howrah to the Upper Provinces, unless both banks are made to participate equally in the advantages of the railway. We pointed out these probable consequences many months ago, and therefore advocated the proposed plan of bridging the Hooghly. By this means the anticipated evil would be partly counteracted, partly only, because even a bridge would not prevent the greater part of our import trade, as far as it relates to the consumption in the provinces, flowing into Howrah. The Chamber of Commerce, however, suggest a dif. ferent plan. They are of opinion that the best mode of securing an equal participation in the benefits of the railway, would be to have a short branch line from Calcutta to join the main line from Howrah, crossing the river by a bridge, a little below Pultah Ghat, and to leave the communication between the two banks here to be kept up by means of efficient steam ferries.

The idea is not bad, though not original, being, we believe, a part of Mr. Sim's scheme. This, no doubt, would prove a most effectual means of securing a continuation of the greater portion of the inland trade to the town of Calcutta ; but if to be carried out, we apprehend that the work will have to be done entirely at the expense of those chiefly interested in the undertaking. It is extremely unlikely that the railway company would be found ready to construct the line in question, because it would render that from Howrah comparatively useless, and because it would be an open avowal that, in selecting Howrah as a terminus, the railway company had committed a most egregious mistake. There can, however, be no question of the suggested line being most desirable in any respect. First, it would prevent the anticipated great depreciation of landed property at Calcutta, and secondly, it would be sure of extensive patronage, not only by the mercantile, but every other class of the community which is likely to avail itself of a railway. Consignees would of course land their goods on this side of the river, and when once here, it is extremely improbable that any of the inland traders would go to the expense of sending the goods across the water for transmission by the rail, when they could despatch them from Calcutta itself. As for passengers, they would certainly rather start from this side than take the trouble of crossing over to Howrah. The rail, therefore, if carried out, has most excellent prospects, as far as regards the undertaking as a speculation, but, as before stated, it must be carried out entirely by private enterprise, to guard against monopoly. The total cost of the line, including a bridge at Pultah, would not exceed twenty lacs, and that amount could be raised, without the least difficulty, by any joint-stock company. To carry out the undertaking, however, two things are most essential, encouragement and aid on the part of Government, and arrangement with the railway company. Of the former we almost despair, and the latter appears to us to be likely to involve endless difficulties. However, let the Chamber of Commerce try and see what can be done. The subject is of such importance that it is well worthy of the most earnest attention of those interested in the commerce and landed property of this city.-Hurkaru.

MEETING OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CIVIL

SERVICE.

A meeting of the members of the Civil Service is to be held at noon this day at the Town Hall for the purpose of considering the provisions of the "New Furlough Rules," which, though not yet officially promulgated by the Supreme Government, have been published at Madras, and are believed to be authentic. It has been pointed out to us, ourselves not among the "privileged," and therefore not much understanding the points at issue,-that the new rules require considerable elucidation, revision, and amendment; and that between the two, the new and old rules, the latter must be taken for choice; inasmuch as they at least are intelligible in all their provisions-an advantage the new rules in many of their clauses do not possess. It has been said, we are told, that the collective wisdom of the Government of India is already at fault in the application of the rules to submitted cases. The provisions in regard to sick leave appear, we understand, to limit the period to be counted as service to eighteen months on the whole twenty-five years of service. If this be the true interpretation, the difference in this respect between the new rules and the old must be considered to be of the last importance. As remarked in a brochure we have seen; by the rules, still actually in force, such (sick) leave can "be taken again and again after intervals of

three years' service, so that if necessary a sick man might be absent on sick leave for ten years during the full period of service." No improper advantage has, however, been taken of this indulgence. It would seem, moreover, that the operative effect of the limit of the period of service in all cases to thirty-five years will go far to prevent any of the present middle-men in the service obtaining their annuity till that period has been passed. A commentator on the proposed rules makes it out that a servant whose service commenced in 1831, and who would therefore be entitled to an annuity in 1856, is likely to find himself in that year in the position of having 110 seniors to be first provided with pensions, which 110, at the average annual rate of appropriation, may be absorbed in the succeeding nine years. The meeting, no doubt, will duly take note of these eventualities.-Hurkaru, July 5.

The meeting of the Civil Service for the purpose of discussing the new furlough rules, which took place yesterday at noon, was very numerously attended-the following gentlemen being present: Mr. Dick, Sir R. Barlow, Messrs. Ricketts, Dunbar, C. Allen, Plowden, Edmonstone, Bidwell, Torrens, Adams, Bracken, Crawford, Elliot, Alexander, Riddell, Colvin, A. Young, Mills, Waterfield, Drummond, Lillie, Couper, Pearson, Cockburn, Campbell, G. Young, Loch, Dalrymple, Harrington, Harvey, F. Lushington, Hobhouse, Devereux, Fergusson, Wigram, Cockerell, H. Cockerell, V. Palmer, Barnard Buckland, and Raikes. Several resolutions were passed, embodying the changes desired by the service; and a committee, consisting of Messrs. Colvin, Plowden, Harrington, Hon. E. Drummond, H. B. Riddell, and J. W. Dalrymple, was appointed for the purpose of preparing a memorial on the part of the meeting for submission to the Most Noble the Governor General. A further report of the proceedings and of the resolutions adopted will be furnished hereafter.-Ibid. July 6.

THE SUB-MARINE TELEGRAPH.

Before the year is over England will, it is said, in point of intelligence, be brought five days nearer to India, and we shall be able to receive London intelligence in Calcutta within twenty-five days. The sub-marine telegraph, which is to connect Italy with Egypt, is no longer a chimera; its realization is rapidly approaching. The first portion of the great Mediterranean cable, the largest ever made, and also the largest with regard to circumference, has been completed in the yard near Greenwich, and is ready for shipment. We had written thus far when we received the Bombay Times of the 29th ultimo, containing an article touching upon the above subject, and the equally interesting one of a direct railway communication between Calcutta and the shores of the British Channel.

As regards the former, the Times says:-" The wire is now being laid down to the southernmost point of Sardinia, and preparations will be made immediately for carrying it across the Mediterranean. Within six months of its touching the African shore it will of course be at Suez." We hope our contemporary may be right, but we fear he is a little sanguine, although we must admit that what he anticipates is within the bounds of possibility, if not of probability. After what has been done in India, there is nothing to prevent his expectations being fulfilled if an O'Shaughnessy can be found to carry out the work, but we must have something more to put the telegraph in working order. We must have an establishment of efficient signallers, which we have not yet in India, and are not likely to have for some time, although measures are to be taken to procure such, as will be seen by reference to an advertisement which appears elsewhere in our columns, and from which it will also be observed that the Indian telegraph will be opened for the use of the public in November next.

Our contemporary goes on to express his hopes of the communication being continued from Suez to Aden, and again from Aden to Bombay by means of "submarine lines, which have now become so simple and well understood that the telegraph people rather prefer carrying their lines under water." This once accomplished, we should be within talking distance of London; but, considering the countries through which the line must pass between Algeria and Egypt, we are free to confess that we apprehend considerable difficulty and delay in completing the communication between London and Suez. This, we feel no doubt, will be done sooner or later, and once accomplished, we shall be brought within about twelve days of London. That, however, everything that can be done will be done we may rest assured when such a man as Professor Wheatstone is the originator of these speculations on paper.

The subject of a direct railway communication between England and India is an idea of Mr. Stephenson's, who states that "Constantinople will be connected by railway with the British Channel in the course of the next two years, unless the matter be put off by

the war, and at all events its completion will take place within eighteen months of the conclusion of peace." Our readers have heard of the Greek kalends. If Mr. Stephenson is to wait for the completion of the European line of railway until the war upon which we are just entering is finished, we fear that few of us will ever see the iron horse in the City of the Sultan.

"In three years more he feels confident that the line will be completed through Asia Minor, &c., into Scinde, thence crossing to join the Goozerat line wherever this by the year 1860 may lead, and doubtless by this time Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras, will be united by rail." We wish we could consider Mr. Stephenson as a prophet. We have little, very little hope of seeing the Bombay and Calcutta railway completed by the year 1860, unless the railway Companies put on considerably more steam than they have hitherto done. We have our doubts if the year 1870 will dawn upon us before the journey from Calcutta to the capital of Western India can be accomplished by railway transit. As for a line from the shores of the Bosphorus to Goozerat, through countries none of which have an extensive commerce, while others are actual deserts, we regard it as little better than an hullucination, even though the project has the sanction of so high an authority as Mr. Stephenson.

A canal uniting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea is, we think, a more feasible undertaking, and one which will so greatly facilitate the communication between Europe and Asia as to bring back the trade of the East to the channel through which it flowed before the passage round the Cape was discovered. It would also prevent the risk of the communication between England and many parts of Asia being transferred to the route across the Isthmus of Panama, of which by late accounts there appears to be considerable danger.

We have no doubt that the period occupied in the passage from India to England will be rapidly diminished every year, and that the electric telegraph will in due time be continuous between the two countries; but even though supported by such high authorities, we cannot share in the anticipations of our Bombay contemporary that either the one or the other of the proposed undertakings will be completed in even double the period that those upon whose opinions he pins his faith so sanguinely expect.—Hurkaru.

THE EXTERNAL COMMERCE OF BENGAL FOR 1853-54.

Mr. Campbell has once more enabled us to present our annual review of the progress of the trade of Calcutta. It appears to have improved but little during the past year. The effect of the discovery of gold, and the consequent diversion of shipping to Australia, has not yet passed away, and the European campaign will scarcely increase the tonnage in the ports of Southern Asia. Nevertheless, the imports have increased, as compared with the returns of the previous year. The value of the merchandize imported in 1853-54 was Rs. 5,58,98,251, against Rs. 4,86,90,452 in 1852-53. This increase is owing entirely to the revival of the trade with Great Britain, which last year, partly from glutted markets, and partly from the Australian mania, sunk at once upwards of a million sterling. It has risen to the extent of Rs. 74,39,445, and now amounts to Rs. 4,50,64,721 for merchandize alone. The increase, as usual, is chiefly in Manchester goods, Sheffield ware, machinery, and drinkables. From almost all other countries,-from the United States and Singapore, from Australia and the Gulfs, the imports have declined, France, China, and Holland alone showing figures of any consequence on the other side. The imports from Pegu, it is true, have been doubled since the annexation, but the total amount is only six and a half lacs. Notwithstanding the great total increase of imports, the tonnage of the ships which conveyed them has been scarcely enlarged, and is still greatly below the statement for 1851-52.

It is, therefore, obviously impossible to speak of our import trade as expauding; and, although many causes may be assigned to account for the stoppage, we incline to think we have for the present nearly reached the limit of demand.

The export trade has positively declined. The gross amount of exports, excluding specie, was in 1852-53 Rs. 11,18,36,891, and last year only Rs. 10,67,70,907, a decrease of Rs. 50,65,000. Of this amount, however, thirty-two lacs must be set down to the diminished price of opium. During 1853-54, the increased production did not pay. The 36,178 chests offered for sale in the previous year were purchased for Rs. 4,02,00,944, while the 40,787 chests of 1853-54 fetched only Rs. 3,69,02,087. How far this result is attributable to the increase in quantity, and how

far to the disturbances in China, we leave to the decision of the Revenue Board. We may, however, remark that the disturbances are likely to diminish the quantity purchased, rather than the price offered. The export of indigo has increased by 17 lacs, of saltpetre by 64 lacs, of rice by 14, of silk by 134, of hides by Rs, 3,86,192, and of jute by Rs. 4,27,805. The export of all our remaining staples has declined, that of cotton having fallen by Rs. 20,77,380, sugar by 70 lacs of rupees, gunny cloth by 6 lacs, and linseed by nearly 5. In spite, therefore, of some symptoms of recovery, we cannot consider the present state of the trade of Calcutta thoroughly satisfactory.

It is worthy of notice that the total revenue raised from the commerce of Bengal is only Rs. 78,73,618 a year, or less on the average than 4 per cent. ad valorem. Even this amount, it is proposed, and we think wisely, to decrease. The total proceeds of the export duties are only Rs. 13,25,231, and the Chamber of Commerce has pointed out that of this sum nearly eleven lacs are raised from some fourteen articles. Upwards of sixty articles remain liable to a duty, which produces in all scarcely two lacs of rupees a year. Furthermore, these duties are altogether irregular. All country produce, as a general rule, is subject to an ad valorem duty of three per cent. Cotton wool, however, is taxed at 8 annas a maund, grain at an anna per bag, indigo at Rs. 3 per maund, silk at Rs. 3 per seer, and tobacco at 4 annas per maund. Moreover, if the goods are exported in foreign bottoms, the duties are all doubled, and thus a direct bounty is extracted from the pockets of British merchants, to pay to British shipowners. Sugar carried in English bottoms is free, an exemption which can be defended only on the ground, that the competition with slave-grown sugar is so severe, that the article will not bear the duty. That argument, however, is true of every article, the production of which is not confined to specific localities. It is time that all this were swept away. Export duties are always objectionable, if only because they limit the extent of production. They can be defended only on the ground of the necessity of raising revenue, and when that necessity ceases, they ought to be abolished. If a substitute is absolutely required, it might be found among the imports. It is not, however, required, and the indirect return is absolutely certain. The greatest danger to which our land revenue is exposed, is the over-production of a single cereal, which by creating a perpetual glut in the market, renders the payment of a specie revenue a matter of yearly increasing difficulty. In Bengal, as in the Punjab, to obviate the evil we must encourage new cultivations, and to place an export duty on indigo and sugar (in foreign bottoms), on silk and tobacco, is not a very appreciable form of encouragement.-Friend of India.

The LONDON MAIL of May 24th arrived at Calcutta, on June 30th (per Bengal). The Mail of June 8th arrived at Calcutta on July 13 (per Bentinck).

THE FRENCH EXHIBITION.-A letter from Nusseerabad mentions that one of the Rajpootana princes has presented to our Government a set of jewellery valued at one lac of rupees, which he desires may be transmitted to the French Exhibition. This is liberality indeed, especially if the prince be one of those who contributed to the London Exhibition of 1851, and obtained in return for his valuable presents a copy of the Illustrated London Exhibition.-Bengal Hurkaru, July 5.

THE GAS COMPANY.-We are glad to hear that the applications for shares in the Gas Company already exceed the number allotted to Calcutta. This speaks well for the community, and shows that the spirit of enterprise which formerly characterized this metropolis has not altogether died away.

DR. O'SHAUGHNESSY.-We are authorized to state that there is no truth whatever in a report which has been circulated, to the effect that Dr. O'Shaughnessy is about to return to England. He will not quit his post until the telegraph lines and offices are in a perfectly efficient state.-Delhi Gazette, June 24.

RAJA OF PATEEALA.-We have heard a rumour that the Raja of Pateeala is about to visit England, but for what purpose we have as yet no information. He probably has his grievance, and, as he is a Sikh, will care little for shipboard inconveniences. -Lahore Chronicle, June 28.

THE OPIUM SALE.-The seventh opium sale of the season took place at the Exchange Rooms yesterday. The following was the result:

MR. GILLESPIE, late Quarter Master of H. M.'s 98th Regiment, arrived at the Presidency yesterday, July 6, under Military escort, and was made over to the Civil power, and lodged in the Great Jail, pending his being sent to a penal settlement to undergo his sentence of transportation.

REV. A MORGAN.-It would seem that in these days of alliances, the bonds between the communities of Madras and Calcutta are becoming more firmly drawn. We have a recent evidence of this in the visit of the Rev. A. Morgan, of the Parental Academic Institution, and in the results which it has called forth to the people there, in the establishment of a similar seminary, and to himself, in enlarging his sphere of observation, and increasing his zeal in the cause of education. It has further resulted in the sensible manifestation of gratitude on their part by sending to him, what there was not time to bestow in his presence, an elegant silver vase, with an appropriate inscription. The workmanship does credit to that city which has of late in our own circles gained no little reputation from its School of Industrial Art. Its design is no less elegant than appropriate. In the form of the old Greek urn-vases, it is seen supported by a succession of leaves in frosted silver, which fall over it and contrast well with the rest of the vase. Surmounting the usual handles at the side, and forming part of them are two boys with opened volume before them, pointing symbolically, we presume, to the parent and infant institutions. The whole is completed by an elegant cover, which with a flower of frosted silver for its handle sets off a perfect gem of Art, equally by few things of the same nature which we have seen in Calcutta. Its inscription is as follows: Presented by the Committee of the Madras Parental Academic Institution and Doveton College, to the Rev. Andrew Morgan, Principal of the Calcutta Parental Academic Institution and Doveton College, on the occasion of his visit to Madras as a token of their esteem and regard, 16th May, 1854." We need not further notice this, as we believe it is the intention of the Madras Committee to record the matter in the Illustrated London News, where with an engraving of the vase, our readers will probably see it in due time.-Hurkaru, July 5.

ABSURD PRACTICE OF CONFIRMATION. The GovernorGeneral has determined upon doing away with the absurd practice of rendering it incumbent upon officers issuing station orders to send the same up for confirmation to the Commander-in-Chief. The practice was not calculated to protect the interests of the the State in any way, because if such orders were based upon the regulations prescribed by the Pay Code, the Commander-in-Chief had not the power of withholding confirmation; whereas, on the other hand, an order once confirmed by His Excellency could no more be withheld audit, even if the expense it involved was directly opposed to the rules of the Pay and Audit Code. On the whole, we are inclined to think that the practice has done more harm than good, because it is hardly to be expected that the Commander-inChief's staff is so competent to exercise a check upon station orders as an office of audit. The Governor-General has therefore caused intimation to be sent to the Adjutant-General of the Army, that henceforth His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief will no longer be troubled with these sort of confirmations, and that the bills for expenditure incurred under such orders are to be submitted through the usual channels of Audit. The Military Auditor-General and the Auditor of Commissariat Accounts will receive instructions accordingly.

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THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS.-The Morning Chronicle revives the report that an augmentation is to be made to the corps of Engineers, and asserts that the orders for a fifth Battalion will appear almost immediately. Our contemporary, who is usually correct in military matters, commits a strange oversight with regard to the promotion which this augmentation will cause. stead of only advancing the senior of each grade to the next superior grade, it will promote 1 Lieutenant Colonel, 2 Majors, 3 Captains, 9 1st Lieutenants and 19 2nd Lieutenants. Who these will be it is needless for us to particularise, as doubtless all those interested in the matter have an Army List to which to refer. The increase of the Engineers is required as a measure of state convenience, and it will serve to save the officers of the corps from supersession by those of other branches of the service, and which would have arisen from the unjust system which has long prevailed of having many supernumerary 2nd Lieutenants in India, and unposted Cadets in addition at Chatham. These will all be absorbed by the intended augmentation, and we hope that henceforward the Company's Engineer Officers will receive their proper rank, and be posted to the corps as soon as they leave Addiscombe. It is an anomaly to allow them to count the time spent at Chatham as service, and not to place their names on the roster of the corps until they come to India. By this increase all the Cadets of 1841 with two exceptions will be promoted to Companies, while the 2nd Lieutenants down to W. S. Trevor, the last Cadet of 1849, will be advanced to the superior grade.