INDIA. 



INDIANA. 



383 



for three years to the Indian Government, 

 having observed " the persistent advance of 

 another great military power toward India," 

 and the financial burdens assumed by the Gov- 

 ernment for the purpose of putting the frontier 

 in a state of defense. He expressed the opin- 

 ion that the Indian princes were deeply con- 

 cerned in the safety of the empire from inva- 

 sion, and promised to stand by the British 

 with his sword in the event of war. Although 

 no reference was made to the vexed question 

 of the Berars, the Viceroy was unwilling to 

 accept his offer, and thus place the Govern- 

 ment under an obligation to him. A commer- 

 cial association called the Deccan Company 

 has recently obtained, for 50,000 rupees per 

 annum, a lease of the Singareni coal-fields, for 

 ninety -nine years, and of any other mines of 

 coal, iron, gold, silver, precious stones, or other 

 metals or minerals that may be discovered 

 within the next three years, during which they 

 have the exclusive right of prospecting. 



Chinese Suzerainty over Indian States. China 

 has for centuries claimed suzerain rights over 

 certain of the border states of India, all of 

 which are now under a nominal, and some 

 under an effective British protectorate. Noth- 

 ing has been done to clear up the question of 

 the Chinese claims, for it was hopeless to ex- 

 pect the Emperor of China to renounce nomi- 

 nal rights of that kind, however shadowy they 

 may be. No practical difficulty arose till 1886, 

 \vlien Mr. Macaulay collected at Darjeeling a 

 commercial mission to Lhassa, that had the ap- 

 pearance and dimensions of an invading army, 

 and was supposed to be one by the Thibetans, 

 who not only blocked all the mountain-passes, 

 but occupied Sikkim, which they declared to 

 be a part of their own territory, carrying off 

 the Rajah to Thibet. In 1887 Mr. Paul went 

 to Darjeeling with a military force for the pur- 

 pose of re-establishing the normal political 

 conditions and clearing Sikkim and the passes 

 of Thibetans by force, if they refused to with- 

 draw peacefully. The British and Indian 

 chambers of commerce petitioned the Govern- 

 ment to carry out the original purpose of send- 

 ing a mission to Thibet with a view of opening 

 up trade with that country. In the treaty 

 with China regarding the annexation of Bur- 

 rnah the Indian Government had pledged itself 

 not to send such a mission, for which the Chi- 

 nese authorities had previously given their per- 

 mission, until the Government at Fekin could 

 exert its influence upon the people of Thibet. 

 After the excitement produced by the Macau- 

 lay mission the Government of the Viceroy 

 considered that an opportune moment for urg- 

 ing the concession had not yet arrived. 



In 1886, in consequence of disorders in Bho- 

 tan, the Chinese residents at Lhassa sent per- 

 emptory orders to the Deb Rajah in connection 

 with the troubles, and dispatched troops to the 

 frontier to enforce their orders. 



In the early part of 1887 a tribute-bearing 

 mission was sent to Pekin by the King of Ne- 



paul. That state, over which the British have 

 not attempted to exercise dominion of any 

 kind in recent years, though it is the home of 

 the Goorkhas, who are the best soldiers in the 

 Indian army, was conquered in the beginning 

 of the century by a Chinese army. The King 

 promised to send tribute to the Chinese Em- 

 peror every five years as an acknowledgement 

 of vassalage. This year the King dispatched 

 an embassy with the full complement of offer- 

 ing*, and with a letter in which he acknowl- 

 edges, in slavish terms, his subjection to the 

 Emperor of China. 



INDIANA. State Government. The following 

 were the State officers during the year: Gov- 

 ernor, Isaac P. Gray, Democrat; Lieutenant- 

 Governor, Robert S. Robertson, Republican ; 

 Secretary of State, Charles L. Griffin, Repub- 

 lican ; Treasurer, Julius A. Lemeke, Republi- 

 can ; Auditor, Bruce Carr, Republican ; At- 

 torney-General, Louis T. Michener, Republi- 

 can; Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

 Harvey M. La Follette; Justices of the Su- 

 preme Court: William E. Niblack, George V. 

 Howk, Allen Zollars, Joseph A. S. Mitchell, 

 and Byron K. Elliott. 



Legislative Session. The meeting of the Legis- 

 lature on Jan. 6, 1887, began one of the most 

 remarkable political contests in the history of 

 the State. Two questions were at issue, one 

 being the selection of a successor to United 

 States Senator Benjamin Harrison, a Republi- 

 can; the other involving the right of Robert 

 S. Robertson to exercise the duties of Lieuten- 

 ant-Governor. Mr. Robertson had been elected 

 at the regular November election, by order of 

 the Governor, to fill a vacancy caused by the 

 resignation of Lieutenant-Governor Munson. 

 The Republicans were successful in this elec- 

 tion, at which all the State officers except the 

 Governor were voted for. After the election 

 it was claimed by the Democrats that the vot- 

 ing, so far as related to the Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor, was illegal and void, no election being 

 possible till 1888. The basis of this claim was 

 the declaration of the statute that the Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor shall be elected for four 

 years beginning at a fixed time, and the ab- 

 sence of any express statute providing for his 

 election for a shorter period. On the other 

 hand, another statute provides that " a general 

 election shall be held on the first Tuesday after 

 the first Monday in November, in the year 

 1882, and biennially thereafter on the same day, 

 at which election all existing vacancies in office 

 shall be filled unless otherwise provided by 

 law." The Democrats insisted, further, that 

 there was no vacancy, relying upon the follow- 

 ing provision: "Whenever the Lieutenant- 

 Governor shall act as Governor, or shall be 

 unable to attend as President of the Senate, 

 the Senate shall elect one of its own members 

 as President for the occasion." They argued 

 that, as there was a President pro tern, of the 

 Senate at the time Munson resigned, that offi- 

 cer became at once the Lieutenant-Governor ; 



