INDIA. 



405 



On Aug. 9, 1884, the budget for India for 

 1884-'85 was submitted to the English House 

 of Commons. From the documents accompa- 

 nying the estimate it appears that the actual 

 income during the fiscal year 1883-'84 had been 

 70,548,000, and the outlays 70,200,000. For 

 the fiscal year 1884-'85 the income was esti- 

 mated at 70,560,000 and the outlays at 70,- 

 241,000 ; there would consequently be an ex- 

 cess of revenue of 319,000. The net revenue 

 to be derived during the current fiscal year 

 from the opium monopoly was estimated at 

 6,241,000, being 1,627,000 less than the av- 

 erage of the five years preceding. The abolition 

 of the import duty on cotton goods and the 

 lowering of the salt-tax by the former Minister 

 of Finance, Sir E. Baring, had increased the 

 consumption of both articles so much that the 

 loss of revenue, which had been estimated at 

 2,800,000, in reality did not exceed 2,213,- 

 000. The surplus revenue in 1883-'84 was 

 shown to have arisen mainly from the larger 

 revenue derived from Government railroads. 

 It was believed, however, that the lower value 

 of wheat and lessened export thereof would 

 reduce earnings from railroad freights suffi- 

 ciently to cause them to remain below the es- 

 timate for the current fiscal year. The pend- 

 ing frontier negotiations, it was believed, would 

 also affect the 1884-'85 budget from expenses 

 connected with the establishment of a more 

 efficient service of advanced outposts. These 

 shortcomings would therefore necessitate a 

 new loan in England. The aggregate liabili- 

 ties of the Government in India were stated to 

 be 246,948,000, while ttfe"re were assets in 

 the shape of available funds and money due by 

 county administrations, etc., to the amount of 

 22,000,000, and railroads and other public 

 works worth 160,000,000 bearing 5 per cent, 

 interest. After some debate of no special im- 

 portance bearing on the finances and commerce 

 of India, the budget was passed. 



Silver. The amounts of silver shipped from 

 Europe in two years were : 



Railroads^-On March 31, 1883, there were in 

 operation 10,317 miles of railway, 374 miles 

 having been built during the fiscal year 1882- 

 '83, while 2,338 miles additional were at the 

 time either in course of construction or had 

 been resolved upon to be built as speedily as 

 possible. Without counting the subsidized 

 lines, the capital invested in railways amount- 

 ed, on Dec. 31, 1882, inclusive of the lines 

 then being built, to 140,936,776. 



The East Bengal Eailroad paid the highest 

 dividends, 10 per cent, in 1882, and 9f per 

 cent, in 1881 ; the next highest, the East India 

 Railroad, 8 per cent, and 9f per cent. The 

 rolling stock consisted in 1883 of 2,453 loco- 

 motives, 5,585 passenger and 47,431 freight 

 cars. The number of employes was 169,577 on 

 Sept. 30, 1881, 162,043 of whom were natives, 

 and a year later 185,736, 178,018 of them be- 

 ing natives. 



Without counting the Assam, Jodhpur, and 

 Pondicherry Railway, on March 31, 1884, there 

 were in operation 10,832 miles. The gross 

 earnings in 1883 had been 16,389,381, the 

 expenses 7,961,772, leaving net earnings to 

 the amount of 8,427,610. 



The movement during three years is shown 

 thus: 



In the summer of 1884 the Bombay Cham- 

 ber of Commerce submitted a memorial to the 

 Viceroy, urging that railway extension be pros- 

 ecuted ait the rate of 2,000 or 3,000 miles annu- 

 ally for the next ten years, at a cost of 20,- 

 000,000 per annum. The Chamber, at the same 

 time, recommended that this sum be raised by 

 sterling loans in London at a guaranteed inter- 

 est of 3 per cent, in perpetuity. A committee 

 of the House of Commons, independently of 

 the suggestion coming from Bombay, simulta- 

 neously recommended an advance of about 

 30,000,000 for the same purpose, on condi- 

 tion that private capitalists subscribe an equal 

 amount. 



J. M. Maclean, late proprietor of the Bombay 

 " Gazette," meanwhile read a paper on the 

 " State Monopoly of Railways in India," before 

 the London Society of Arts. He contended 

 that the custom, which Indian financiers found 

 so convenient when they were preparing their 

 annual budgets, of regarding the Indian rail- 

 ways as one great property, and thinking all 

 was well, provided they could show a net sur- 

 plus, led to results that were by no means ad- 

 vantageous or just to the trade of the country. 

 The inherent weakness of the state monopoly 

 became apparent when it was found that this 

 system tempted the Government to cover defi- 

 cits on unprofitable lines, by making illegitimate 

 gains out of excessive rates charged on the traf- 

 fic of productive lines; the commercial lines 

 were forced to bear, not only their own ex- 

 penses, but also a large proportion of the cost 

 of working the lines constructed mainly for 

 political purposes. 



