352 



INDIA. 



native engineer corps, having a total strength of 

 22,678 British and 28,625 native troops. The Ma- 

 dras command comprises 2 British and 3 native 

 cavalry regiments, 10 British and 30 native infantry 

 battalions, 11 British batteries of field and 4 of for- 

 tress artillery, and 9 companies of native engineers, 

 a total strength of 13,940 British and 16,423 native 

 troops. The Bombay command consists of 1 British 

 regiment of cavalry and 8 native regiments, 11 

 British and 25 native battalions, 15 field and 9 for- 

 tress batteries, 2 native mountain batteries, and 2 

 corps of native engineers, the whole numbering 16,- 

 422 British and 29,175 native troops. The native 

 contingents of Hyderabad, Central India, and Raj- 

 putana and the imperial service troops in the other 

 native states number 29,320, making the total 

 strength of the active forces in 1896 under the con- 

 trol of the Indian Government 239,758 men, com- 

 prising 73,668 British soldiers and 166,090 natives. 

 The native reserves have been increased from 7,093 

 to 15,567 men in five years. The imperial service 

 troops in April, 1896, numbered 19,013. The Eu- 

 ropean volunteers numbered 30,000. The Indian 

 army has been rearmed with Lee-Metford magazine 

 rifles for the British infantry, Martini-Henry rifles 

 and carbines for the native troops, and 12-pounder 

 breechloading guns for the horse and field artillery. 

 The system of mixed battalions and regiments that 

 has been followed for the native troops since the 

 mutiny is being changed, and the men are being 

 redistributed into class regiments of Brahmins, Raj- 

 puts, Jats, and Mohammedans, Goorkhas, Sikhs, 

 and Punjabis. The pay of the native infantry has 

 been increased to 2 rupees. 



The Navy. The naval force of the Indian Gov- 

 ernment consists of 2 old ironclad turret ships, 2 

 dispatch vessels, 2 first-class torpedo gunboats, 7 

 first-class torpedo boats, 4 troop ships, and a sub- 

 marine mining flotilla. 



Commerce. The total imports for the year end- 

 ing March 31, 1895, were valued at Rx 83,110,200, 

 against Rx 95,482,688 in 1894; total exports, Rx 

 117,139,850, against Rx 110,603,561. The imports 

 of merchandise from Great Britain in 1895 amount- 

 ed to Rx 51,105,757 ; from British possessions, Rx 

 6,721,417; from foreign countries, Rx 12,340,264; 

 imports of Government stores, Rx 3,361,555; im- 

 ports of precious metals, Rx 9,581,207. The exports 

 of Indian produce to Great Britain were Rx 32,795,- 

 328 ; to British possessions, Rx 20,645,366 ; to for- 

 eign countries, Rx 50,316,744; exports of Govern- 

 ment stores, Rx 98,779 ; exports of foreign mer- 

 chandise, Rx 5,057,561 ; exports of precious metals, 

 Rx 8,226,072. Of the merchandise imports 9'3 per 

 cent, in value consisted of articles of food and 

 drink, 8'3 per cent, of raw materials, and 82*4 per 

 cent, of manufactured products ; of the exports, 40'6 

 per cent, consisted of articles of food and drink, 

 46-9 per cent, of raw materials, and 12'5 per cent, 

 of manufactured articles. 



The imports of cotton cloth in 1895 were Rx 29,- 

 822,000 in value : machinery and rolling stock, Rx 

 4,039,000; iron and steel goods, Rx 4,021,000; sugar, 

 Rx 2,875,000; cotton yarns, Rx 2,851,000; petro- 

 leum, Rx 2,123,000; woolen cloth, Rx 1.542,000; 

 coal, Rx 1,474,000; apparel, etc., Rx 1,304.000; cop- 

 per manufactures. Rx 1,298,000; raw silk, Rx 1,- 

 277,000 ; salt, Rx 842,000 ; spices, Rx 777,000 ; spir- 

 its, Rx 730,000. Among the exports rice stood for 

 Rx 13.807,000; jute, Rx 10,576,000; opium, Rx 

 9,065,000 ; cotton, Rx 8,073,000 ; tea, Rx 7,556,000 ; 

 linseed, Rx 6,746,000; skins, Rx 6,560.000; cotton 

 yarns, Rx 5,672,000; indigo, Rx 4,746,000; jute 

 manufactures, Rx 4,211,000: cereals, Rx 3,250,000; 

 rapeseed, Rx 2,860,000; coffee, Rx 2,122,000; ses- 

 ame, Rx 1,881,000; cotton goods, Rx 1,477,000; 

 wool, Rx 1,377,000; peanuts, Rx 1,303,000. 



The agitation raised in India in 1894 against the 

 exclusion of cotton yarns and fabrics from the im- 

 port tariff schedules resulted in a duty being im- 

 posed on them in December of that year, while to 

 deprive it of any protective character and to satisfy 

 the Lancashire manufacturers a countervailing in- 

 ternal tax was placed upon cotton yarns of all counts 

 above No. 20. The British manufacturers then be- 

 gan to agitate for the repeal of the cotton duties. 

 Early in 1896 the rate of duty on dyed yarns was 

 reduced to of 1 per cent., and when th'is did not 

 appease the Lancashire mill-owners the Government 

 in February, 1896, reduced the import duty on all 

 cotton manufactures from 5 per cent, to 3 per 

 cent, and at the same time placed the same duty 

 of 3 per cent, ad valorem upon all cotton manu- 

 factures produced in Indian mills. This affected 

 severely not only the Indian consumers but the In- 

 dian manufactures, who had not suffered from the 

 duty on fine yarns, of which a comparatively small 

 quantity is spun in India. 



For the year ending March 31. 1896, the total im- 

 ports of merchandise were Rx 69,316,000 in value, 

 against Rx 70,167,000 in 1895. The imports of cot- 

 ton goods fell off nearly Rx 7,000,000, the markets 

 having been oversupplied in anticipation of the 

 duty on cottons. Nearly all other articles, coal and 

 woolen goods being notable exceptions, showed an 

 increase. 



The export trade in 189^ '96 showed large in- 

 creases in most articles of importance, especially 

 cotton, but there was a decline in jute, opium, oil 

 seeds, and wool. The imports of gold were on a 

 scale unknown since 1891. The share of the trade 

 taken by Great Britain was not as great as in 1895 

 in consequence of the decline in cotton imports. 

 Trade with Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bel- 

 gium continued to make great advances, a direct 

 export from India having followed upon a great 

 opening of the Indian market to their goods. The 

 development of the trade with Japan was still more 

 marked and rapid, the demand for Indian cotton 

 for the rapidly expanding Japanese cotton manu- 

 facture being succeeded by a constantly increasing 

 importation of Japanese products and manufac- 

 tures. The exportation of Indian cotton yarns to 

 Japan has decreased greatly since the Japanese 

 have been able to spin their own yarns, but the 

 new trade is enormously greater. The trade with 

 China has recovered from the shock it received con- 

 sequent upon the closure of the Indian mints. The 

 high price of opium in 1896 and the increased de- 

 mand in China for cotton yarns from Bombay 

 made the total value of the trade much greater than 

 in 1894. The trade with Asiatic Russia is expanding 

 rapidly in consequence of the development of the 

 Indian market for Russian petroleum, while the 

 trade with the United States is falling off propor- 

 tionately; the imports of Russian petroleum are 

 now 85 per cent, as great as those of American. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered at 

 the ports during the year 1894-'95 was 5,309, of 

 4.156,386 tons, against 5,030. of 3,797,911 tons, in 

 1893-'94 ; the number cleared was 5,268, of 4,099,- 

 436 tons, against 4,965, of 3,867,975 tons, in the pre- 

 ceding year. The total arrivals comprised 2,209 

 British vessels, of 3,406,546 tons ; 997 British In- 

 dian, of 145,711 tons ; 618 foreign, of 525,233 tons ; 

 and 1,485 native, of 78,896 tons. The departures 

 comprised 2,208 British, of 3.378,303 tons; 996 

 British Indian, of 142,481 tons ; 564 foreign, of 500,- 

 760 tons; and 1,500 native, of 77,892 tons. The 

 number arriving by way of the Suez Canal was 811, 

 of 1,834,009 tons, against 712, of 1,575,836 tons, in 

 1894 : the number cleared for the Suez Canal route 

 was 903, of 1,980,900 tons, against 928, of 1,987,474 

 tons, in 1894. 



