INDIA. 



373 



Roper Ix-thbridge. then Press Commissioner, n- 

 I regarding the dilliculty uinl.T which na- 

 tive journalists labored in hu\ ing no iiiforiiint inn 

 !iiii,' the acts and policy of tin- (ioveru- 

 iciil, cxccpi such as they gathered at second 

 mud from the Anglo-Indian piv-.-. He recom- 

 mended thai the otlicial fnniiininnjut'x given out 

 to all the Anglo-Indian paper- should also be 

 circulated among thu native editors, Owing to 

 i. 'rations ,,f expense, or to the disinclinu- 

 lion to bridge the gulf lietwccn t he conquering 

 and the subject race in any particular, this rec- 

 ommendation has never I n acted upon. 



l>Vlii:ioiis Hints. In addition to the tumnlts 

 thai occur annually when the Hindus and .Mo- 

 hammedans mob each other in the great centers 

 of population on the occasion of their religious 

 festivals, the British authorities had to contend 

 with a serious riot in 1S!)1 that they provoked 

 themselves by demolishing a Hindu temple in 

 the sacred city of Benares in order to clear the 

 site for water works. The people closed their 

 shops, and the whole population gathered in the 

 streets. A guard of soldiers was posted around 

 all the principal buildings, and troops wore sta- 

 tioned at the points of vantage throughout the 

 district. Yet when the workmen began to raze 

 the shrine, on April 10, the violence of the mob 

 could not be restrained. The telegraph wires 

 were cut and the railroad station sacked, and 

 volunteers hud to be summoned to check the 

 disturbance and arrest the more violent rioters. 

 The Hindus and Buddhists throughout India 

 shared in the indignation against the destruc- 

 tion of this ancient temple. The persons ar- 

 rested for causing the disturbance were sen- 

 tenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment. 



The Legislative Councils Bill. The na- 

 tional congresses, after living down the oppo- 

 sition which naturally attended such a move- 

 ment in India, had in 1889 already extracted 

 from the persons at the head of the Administra- 

 tion a qualified assent to the expansion of the 

 legislative councils and the introduction of the 

 elective principle for the non-official members. 

 The Congress of 1889, under the lead of Charles 

 Bradlaugh, nut back the reform by adopting the 

 more radical scheme of popular representation 

 through electoral colleges. The Government 

 was willing to receive into the councils represen- 

 tatives of boards of commerce, municipal boards, 

 great land owners, and the universities, but set 

 its face against Mr. Bradlaugh's proposition for 

 the indirect representation of all classes, with 

 :iie right to discuss the budget, the right of in- 

 terpellation, the right to call for papers, publi- 

 cation of the proceedings, and other attributes 

 of Parliamentary government. A bill to ap- 

 point some representative members and to per- 

 mit discussion of the budget and interpellation 

 with restrictions was introduced by Lord Cross 

 in Parliament in 1890. but was crowded out. In 

 ]N!U Lord Northbrook brought forward a some- 

 what more liberal measure, giving powers to the 

 Viceroy to nominate from 10 to 10 additional 

 members to the Council instead of from 6 to 12, 

 as at present, and making the non-official mem- 

 bers in Bombay and Madras from S to 20. in- 

 stead of from 4 to 8. In making such nomina- 

 tions, the Governor-General, governors, or lieu- 

 tenant-governore may accept the advice of cor- 



porate or public bodies, and conditions under 

 winch nominations shall be made may In- n-gu- 



i-y an order in < 'oiincil, approved i 

 Secretary of State. The powers of the "addi- 

 tional members of the Viceroy's Council are 

 limited to ili-cu-inu r and voting on the specific 

 measures brought forward for enact mr-nt. 



Manipur. The small native stale of Mani- 

 pur, occupying around depression in the mount- 

 ains of northeastern India between Assam and 

 Upper Burmah, has an extent of 8,000 square 

 miles, and in 1KH1 contained 221,070 (>eople i.f a 

 Mongoloid type with a considerable admixture 

 of Aryan blood. Their habits are barbarous. 

 but not warlike. In the raids which formerly 

 were frequent between the Manijuiris and the 

 Burmese, the Indian (Government interfered 

 two or three times to save the country from 

 being annexed by King Thebaw. The neighbor- 

 ing mountains are inhabited by the fierce Nnga. 

 Suti. Kuki. and Lnshai tribes. The .Maharajah 

 Chandra Kirti Sing, who established his suprem- 

 acy after a dynastic war in 1851, aided the 

 British in the Naga war of 1877, and was made 

 a Knight of the Star of India. Up to I860 he 

 had to contend against various pretenders, mem- 

 bers of the reigning family, who instigated the 

 hill tribes to raid the country. In the last cent- 

 ury, when Manipur was about to be eaten up 

 by the Emperor Akbar, the Maharajah threw 

 himself upon British protection, which he^re- 

 ceived. Then came the first Burmese war, and 

 Manipur again fell into danger. When the first 

 treaty with Burmah was made, the safety of the 

 little state was specifically treated for. When 

 territorial changes on the eastern frontier were 

 made, the Indian Government arranged for a 

 small transfer of the Manipur territory to Bur- 

 mah, and granted to the Maharajah an allow- 

 ance of 50 a month in consideration of the 

 same. About 1830 trouble arose about the suc- 

 cession, and the Queen mother and her infant 

 son found refuge in Britisli territory. The son 

 was later established on the throne, and re- 

 ceived British recognition. Hur Chandra Kirti 

 Sing died in 1885, leading eight sons, who divid- 

 ed into two or three factions. Snr Chandra 

 Sing, the eldest, was installed as Maharajah in 

 1887, and Kula Chandra Dhuja Sing was recog- 

 nized as Jubraj or heir-apparent. The order of 

 succession in Manipur is that the eldest son of a 

 ruler who dies leaving no brother shall succeed 

 him, and that the throne shall descend to his 

 brothers in the order of their age. Since they 

 are usually numerous and born of different 

 mothers, attempts to overturn the reigning 

 Maharajah are frequent. A dispute having 

 arisen between the Senapntty. the second in de- 

 scent from the old Maharajah. Sur Chandra 

 Sing, and a younger brother, the Pueca Sena, 

 and the Maharajah having sided with the lat- 

 ter, the Senapntty, commander of the military 

 forces, numbering about 7,000 men. in Septem- 

 IMT, 1890, seized the palace and the person of 

 the Maharajah. The English political resident. 

 Frank St. C.(! rim wood, acquiesced in theabdica- 

 tion of the Maharajah, and arranged for his safe 

 conveyance to the neighboring British province 

 of Cachar. Mr. Grimwood stood under the 

 orders of the Chief Commissioner for A am. 

 .lames VV. Quinton, who approved of his course 



