414 



INDIA. 



The population of the principal cities was 

 as follows in 1881 : Calcutta, 683,458 (without 

 the suburbs; with which the population, at 

 the former enumeration, was 794,645); Bom- 

 bay, 753,000 ; Madras, 405,948 ; Lucknow, 

 261,485; Benares, 207,570; Agra, 137,908; 

 Allahabad, 150,378 ; Cawnpore, 119,603; Ba- 

 reilly, 101,688 ; Rangoon, 132,004. 



COMMERCE. The total imports of the Indian 

 Empire increased, with considerable fluctua- 

 tions, from 39,913,942 in 1871 to 52,821,- 

 398 in 1880. The fluctuations are mostly in 

 the importation of treasure. In the last five 

 years the specie imports varied between 

 5,000,000 in 1876, 11,000,000 in 1877, 17,- 

 000,000 in 1878, 7,000,000 in 1879, and 11,- 

 000,000 in 1880, the exact figures for the lat- 

 ter year being 11,655,395. The merchandise 

 imports increased in the ten years from 33,- 

 348,246 to 41,166,003. The total exports in- 

 creased from 57,556,951 to 69,247,511. The 

 exports of treasure averaged something over 

 2,000,000 a year. The growth in the mer- 

 chandise export trade was from 55,336,186 

 in 1871 to 67,212,363 in 1880. The imports 

 of bullion and coin in 1880 consisted of 2,- 

 050,393 of gold and 9,605,002 of silver. The 

 exports were 299,889 of gold and 1,735,259 

 of silver ; but in the preceding three years over 

 4,500,000 of gold were exported, being more 

 than the imports and nearly equal to the ex- 

 ports of silver. 



The exports from India to Great Britain 

 in 1880 amounted to 30,117,980, and the 

 imports of British products to 30,451,314. 

 The consumption of British products has in- 

 creased over 50 per cent in ten years; but 

 the exports to England, owing to the de- 

 cline in quantity and price of the cotton ex- 

 ports, have not increased in value. The ex- 

 ports of raw cotton were 3,843,491 cwts. in 

 1871. Cotton is still the largest article of ex- 

 port to Europe, the quantity in 1880 being 

 1,841,059 cwts., valued at 4,781,541. The 

 next most important is jute, of which 4,633,- 

 327 cwts., valued at 4,014,699, were shipped 

 in 1880. The exports of rice were 6,563,849 

 cwts., of the value of 3,134,556; of tea, 

 45,138,111 pounds, value 3,072,922; of hides, 

 463,764 cwts., value 1,616,634. Two thirds 

 of the British imports into India consist of 

 cotton goods, iron being the next largest arti- 

 cle. Next to Great Britain, the countries hav- 

 ing the largest trade with India are China, the 

 Straits Settlements, and Ceylon. 



The total value of imports in 1880-'81 rose to 

 62,114,000, 53,117,000 of which were mer- 

 chandise and 8,997,000 precious metals ; the 

 exports to 75,995,000, of which 74,555,000 

 were merchandise and 1,^40,000 precious 

 metals. The exports of rice, paddy, and ce- 

 reals were 12,335,000; of textile materials, 

 20,295,000; of opium, 13,600,000, against 

 14,323,000 in 1879-'80. 



The number of vessels arriving in the ports 

 of India in 1877-'78 was 6,353, of 2,877,649 



tons, classified as follows: British, 1881, of 

 2,157,155 tons; Indo-British, 1,572, of 219,786 

 tons; foreign, 777, of 393,913 tons; native, 

 2,123, of 106,795 tons. 



KAILROADS. The contracts under which the 

 Indian railroads were built, on the plan insti- 

 tuted by Lord Dalhousie, were exceedingly ad- 

 vantageous to the companies. Under this sys- 

 tem 6,122 miles of road were constructed, for 

 which nearly 100,000,000 was raised. Their 

 net revenue is 6,210,775. During the vice- 

 royalty of Lord Lawrence the system of state 

 lines was inaugurated. On these the narrow 

 gauge of 3 feet 3f inches was adopted, instead 

 of five feet six inches, as on the existing lines. 

 The capital was mostly raised by state loans 

 bearing from 3 to 4f per cent interest. The 

 construction and management have been in- 

 trusted to Government oflicers. As these lines 

 were built purely for the object of developing 

 the country and supplying the people with the 

 means of communication, while all the profit- 

 able routes had been taken up by the compa- 

 nies which had built the first roads under state 

 guarantees, they could not be expected to yield 

 such returns as the guaranteed lines. Their 

 cost, including 1,583 miles not yet constructed, 

 was over 34,000,000, while the net revenue 

 in 1881-'82 was only 741,939. The Govern- 

 ment have recently returned to the policy of 

 having the railroads built by private compa- 

 nies, although they do not grant as valuable 

 privileges as formerly. The railroad network 

 built on the two different plans is very exten- 

 sive. It extends from Peshawer, in the ex- 

 treme northwest, to Assam and the confines 

 of China in the east, and from the foot of the 

 Himalayas to Tutikorin, at the extremity of 

 the peninsula. With the purchase of the East 

 Indian line by the Government, the state rail- 

 roads are equal in length with the guaranteed. 

 Of the total mileage in 1880, aggregating 9,179 

 miles, 4,587 miles belonged to the state, and 

 4,592 miles to the guaranteed companies. The 

 number of passengers carried vastly increased 

 in ten years, being 48,040,940 in 1880, against 

 15,999,633 in 1869, during which period the 

 mileage has about doubled. The gross receipts 

 of all the lines in 1880 amounted to 12,099,- 

 593. The expenses were 51*17 per cent of the 

 receipts. The total mileage in operation July 1, 

 1882, was 9,875 miles. About 500 miles have 

 been laid out by native rulers. A line is un- 

 der construction in Assam from Dibrugarh, on 

 the Brahmapootra, which has steamboat com- 

 munications with Calcutta, to Sadiya, the last 

 British post in the direction of China. With 

 the line from Attock to Peshawer now com- 

 pleted, the only link wanting in railroad com- 

 munication between Calcutta and the north- 

 west frontier is the projected bridge over the 

 Indus, which will be a massive structure with 

 two girder spans of 300 and three of 250 feet. 

 A railroad system has been sanctioned which 

 will open up new districts in the west of India. 



POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS. The number of let- 



