INDIA. 



371 



l ; import* of raw and refined sugar, Hx 



\porlsof Migiir, Hx HI 7.1 7!) : export.-. 



of (iiiil>.-r. Kx MM >,'.'.": .-\p..rts of I,,,-. Kx 



\ports of spires, Kx 464,140; e\p. : 



saltpeter, IJ\ 111. 'JiH; imports of li(|iiors. Kx 



mports of coal. K\ i.::(ex..v.M>; j, n - 



"len goods. l;\ 1,455,285; imports of 



im|ioris of spices. Hx xyj,:;.-,(i. 



'I'll.- duty collected on sal l was j:!,?s'.*,sss rupees. 



The gross amount of the import duties was 81,- 



.. and of the export duty on rice 7,182,821 



The imports that came through the 



Sue/ Canal amounted to .V>:t.77:;.s;i:; rupees; and 



the exports that passed through (lie canal to 



.ini',1 rupees. The overland trade with 



countries lie\,.nd the frontiers in 1890 was val- 



U\ :!,505,300 for imports and Rx 4,930,- 



.Viil for exports. 



The imports of merchandise for the year end- 

 in- .March ::i. 1891, were valued at Rx 71,975,- 

 775, and the exports of domestic produce at Rx 

 liM.-jir.n.")><. The decrease in exports was con- 

 lined chietly to raw materials. The cotton ex- 

 ports fell off over Rx 2,000,000, rape seed nearly as 

 much, and jute over Rx 1,000,000 ; while exports 

 of rice and wheat were much larger than in the 

 previous year. The export of Indian yarn, 

 mainly to China, increased from Rx 5,748,782 to 

 Rx 6,516,088. The exports of cotton piece goods 

 also show a steady increase from year to year. 

 The imports of cotton yarns and piece goods were 

 Rx 31,010,349 in value. Imports of merchandise 

 and of treasure were stimulated, and exports 

 were checked by the sudden rise of the rupee 

 and speculation in silver and silver securities in 

 London. Exchange rose from Is. fid. in the 

 beginning of 1890 to Is. ityd., by the end of 

 August, then fell more rapidly than it had risen, 

 with fluctuations that continued till the end of 

 the financial year, when the rate was 1#. 5$d. 

 The net imports of silver during the year were 

 Rx 14.175,136, and the net imports of gold Rx 

 5,636.000. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at Indian ports during the official year 1889-'90 

 was 5,282. of 3,658,181 tons. Of these. 1.869, of 

 2,960,551 tons, were British; 1.093, of 156,670 

 tons, were British Indian ; 1,612, of 84.254 tons, 

 were native ; and 708. of 456,706 tons, were for- 

 eign. The total number cleared was 5,391 ; to- 

 tal tonnage, 3.657,405. The steamers entered and 

 cleared by way of the Suez Canal numbered 1 .- 

 608, of 3,055,364 tons, against 1,722, of 3,143,957 

 tons, in 1888-'89. 



Com mil iiirjil ions. There were 16,095 miles 

 of railroad open to traffic, on March 31. 1890, an 

 increase in twelve months of 854 miles. The capi- 

 tal expended by the state on railroads was Rx 

 182,949.693. The companies had Rx 82.97JU571 

 invested. The gross receipts for 1889 were Rx 

 20.493,662. The number of passengers was 110,- 

 << 1 1.7-1!) : the quantity of freight, 22,155,164 tons. 

 The net earnings amounted to Kx 10.1 16,262, the 

 working expenses having been Rx 10,377.400, or 

 50'64 per cent, of the gross earnings. The net, 

 profit was 4-93 per cent, on the capital of all the 

 lines, against an average of 5'12 per cent, in the 

 year preceding. 



The numl>er of letters, money orders, and post- 

 al cards delivered through the post-office in 

 1888-'89 was 260,628,110; of newspapers, 22,- 



09fl,87H; of panels. i.7!,7.70.->: of packet*, 8,102,- 

 <i:ir,. 'I'll.- receipts were Hx 1. 2x1,540, and the ex- 

 IMMUNM Rx 1,842,452. 



The (iovernment telegraph linen, exclusive of 

 the Indo-Kuropi-an telegraph culile and hind line 

 rtUining through Persia, had a total length ut the 

 close of the fiscal year I**!) of :;:i.4fi'j miles, with 

 Dii.ii.Vl miles of wires. The number of private 

 messages sent during the year wa- 

 The receipts amounted to Rx 742,148, and the 

 expenses to Hx 701,092. 



Hindu Marrinires. The agitation for the re- 

 form of the marriage lawsof the Hindus resulted 

 in the enactment by the Legislative Council in 

 March, 1891, of a law amending the section of 

 the penal code relating to rape by raising the 

 minimum age of consent from ten to twelve years. 

 The pressure which brought about this change 

 came partly from England. A committee of 

 prominent and influential Englishmen memorial- 

 ized the Indian Government to induce it not only 

 to raise the age of consent, but to declare infant 

 marriages invalid unless they are afterward con- 

 summated, to repeal the law for the restitution 

 of conjugal rights, and to forbid the religions ex- 

 communication and social proscription of widows 

 who remarried. In India the agitation for the 

 protection of child-wives was led by a l'ar-e 

 journalist, Mr. Malabari, who was supported by, 

 the unorthodox Hindus, the section who are im- 

 bued with European ideas and free thought. The 

 Mohammedan community, though pervaded to 

 some extent with the Hindu custom of early mar- 

 riages, stood aloof from the controversy. The 

 orthodox Hindus of Bengal were a unit in com- 

 bating the measure, which contravened the teach- 

 ings of their sacred books. The Bombay and 

 Maratha Brahmans, who follow other commen- 

 tators, found nothing in this proposition con- 

 trary to the religious law, and were divided re- 

 garding its desirability. Hindus everywhere 

 resented the interference of outsiders with their 

 family life and religious customs. The Bengalee 

 expounders, represented in the Governor-Gener- 

 al's Council by Sir Romish Chunder Mitter, de- 

 nounced the measure as a breach of the Queen's 

 proclamation promising to abstain from disturb- 

 ing the religious and social customs of the peo- 

 ple. Many feared that it was an entering wedge 

 that would result in the interference of the Gov- 

 ernment with important precepts of t heir religion, 

 as, for instance, by declaring marriage contracts 

 for infants void unless ratified. The Hindu mar- 

 riage is divided into three stages the betrothal, 

 the wedding, and the gauna or leading home of 

 the bride into the house of the bridegroom or of 

 his parents. The book of Manu prescriU-d twen- 

 ty-four as the right age for a young man to marry. 

 In modern times it is customary to betroth boys 

 of ten or t welve to girls of five or six. It is a sm 

 for a Hindu of the higher castes to neglect to pro- 

 vide husbands for his daughters at an early age, 

 and the practice is copied by those of inferior 

 castes. Religious duty requires the consumma- 

 tion of the marriage as soon as the girl reaches 

 the child-bearing age, for it is the desire of every 

 Hindu to have male offspring, without which he 

 will find no place in heaven. Through a son one 

 attains the future life, through a grandson im- 

 mortality, and through a great-grandson the ce- 

 lestial world. The promoters of the age-of-con- 



