INDIA. 



40* 



ways. The remaining 2,840,000 was to be 

 raised in England by the Secretary of State. 

 No loan was to be raised in India, und no fresh 

 t ixation was intended for the year 1876-'77. 

 The cash balances in India at the end of 1875- 

 '76 were estimated at 16,243,214, and at the 

 end of 1876-'77 at 13,552,614. The budget 

 showed all branches of the revenue to be favor- 

 able. The receipts from customs duties havu 

 increased since the iu-\v turilt act came into 

 operation, but the fall in the rate of exchange 

 caused an estimated loss of over 1,000,000. 

 The Government resolved to restrict the ex- 

 penditure on public works as far as possible 

 while exchange continued unfavorable. The 

 drawings of the Secretary of State on the 

 Indian Treasury during the ensuing financial 

 year were to amount to 13,500,000, and the 

 loss by exchange was estimated at 2,300,000. 



In September the Viceroy published a reo- 

 lution in council, the principal points of which 

 are as follows : 



Tbe budget announced that the Secretary of State 

 would borrow '2,640,000 in England. This now 

 appears the estimate of the coat in rupees of (supply- 

 ing the Hum still remaining to be rained by the Coun- 

 cil bills on India, but he expects the entire lout bv 

 exchange to be largely in excess of the budget esti- 

 mate. The adverse rate of exchange has made this 

 insufficient, and the home loan will be 4,000,000. 

 The sum to be supplied to the Home Treasury from 

 India will thus be reduced to 12,800,000, of which 

 3,344,134 has been already obtained. The Govern- 

 ment cannot form an approximate estimate of the 

 unfavorable effect on the customs revenue. The un- 

 precedentedly large opium-crop in Bengal will prob- 

 ably cause the expenditure under the head of 

 "opium" to exceed the estimate by 500,000. The 

 increased amount borrowed will increase the charge 

 for interest. The resolution went on to say that the 

 financial prospects gave cause for very grave anxiety. 



BOMBAY, FROM MALABAR HILL. 





The local governments and heads of departments 

 have been instructed to stop all outlay which is not 

 absolutely necessary, or to which the Government is 

 not committed, or a discontinuance of which would 

 not cause a disproportionate loss. The expenditure 

 on extraordinary public works will be largely re- 

 duced. Municipal corporations, native states, and 

 private persons, are warned not to apply for loans 

 except for purposes which cannot bo postponed. 

 New expenditure will not bo sanctioned unless it is 

 really indispensable. Tho Viceroy invites the ear- 

 nest cooperation of local governments and heads of 

 departments in reducing the threatened deficit by ev- 

 ery possible means ; and the resolution concluded by 

 stating that the present financial disorder is entirely 

 duo to the recent rapid fall in the value of silver in 

 relation to gold. It was considered remarkable that 

 the resolution said nothing regarding any of the 

 many suggestions which hud been made for meeting 

 tho difficulty caused by the diminished value of the 

 rupee. 



On August 19th Lord Lytton, the Viceroy, 

 published thro following proclamation, with re- 

 gard to the assumption of the title " Empress 

 of India " by the Queen of Great Britain and 

 Ireland : 



I hereby publish, for the information of the gov- 

 ernors, administrators, princes, chiefs, nobles, and 

 peoples of this empire, the subjoined act passed by 

 the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and Ire- 

 land, on the 27th of April, 1876, together with a 

 royal proclamation, dated at the court of Windsor, 

 the 28th of April, 1876, in the thirty-ninth year of 

 her Majesty's n-ign, transmitted to this Government 

 by the most Honorable the Secretary of State for 

 India, in his lordship's dispatch No. 70, of the 13th 

 of July, 1876. Moreover, I publicly notify, under this 

 my hand and Peal, that it is my intention to hold, at 

 Delhi, on the 1st of January, 1877, an imperial as- 

 semblage, for the purpose of proclaiming to the 

 Queen's subjects throughout India the gracious 

 sentiments wnich have induced her Majesty t<> make 

 to her sovereign style and titles an addition specially 

 intended to mark her Majesty's interest in this great 

 dependency of her crown, and her royal confidence 

 in the loyalty and affection of the peoples and 

 princes of India. To this assemblage I propose to 

 invite the governors, lieutenant-governors, and heads 

 of administrations from all nans of the Queen's In- 

 dian dominions, as well as those princes, chiefs, and 

 nobles, in whose persons the antiquity of the past in 

 associated with the prosperity of the future, and 

 who so worthily contribute to the splendor and 

 stability of this great empire. I shall forthwith 



