INDIA. 



in Knghmd and on tho army in India. The 

 deli, it I'm- is'.i:; '!M N due mainly to excluuige, 

 Rx 2,229,400, and a reduction of Ux (iuo.unn ,,, 

 tin- opium revenue, while then- is some addition 

 to the unuy expenditure. On the oilier hand, 

 i here is an estimated increaso of Rx 647,700 

 in the ordinary revenue, some improvement ill 

 estimated railroad receipts, and some reduction 

 in estimated expenditure, both in Kngland and 

 in India. The fall in exchange has in two years 

 added Ux 4,142,400 to Indian expenditure. It 

 was expected that the Secretary of State would 

 draw bills during the current year to the amount 

 of 18,700,000. The rupee is reckoned at Is. 

 2}d. 



The cultivation of the poppy in British terri- 

 tory is permitted only in parts of Bengal, the 

 Northwest Provinces, and Oudh, though some 

 opium is produced in the Punjab for local con- 

 sumption. The Government advances funds to 

 the opium grower in tho monopoly districts to 

 enable him to put in the crop, the whole of which 

 he is bound to sell at a fixed price to Govern- 

 ment agents, who transmit it to Patna or Gha- 

 zipur, where the Government factories are lo- 

 cated. The product is then packed in chests and 

 sold in Calcutta, at monthly auction sales, for 

 export to China. Opium is also produced in a 

 number of the native states, which have agreed 

 to conform to the British system. Opium ex- 

 jM>rted from their territories is subject to a heavy 

 duty, and upon exportation from the country 

 must pay to the Indian treasury a duty, recently 

 reduced from 650 to 600 rupees per chest. In 

 1855-'58 the net revenue from opium averaged 

 Rx 4,580,000; while from 1882 to 1891 the aver- 

 age was Rx 6.540,302. 



The consolidated debt on March 31, 1891, was 

 Rx 207,154,763. of which Rx 102.746,555 were 

 payable in India, and Rx 104.408.208 in Eng- 

 land. There was also an unfunded debt in India 

 of Rx 11,271.306, making the total debt Rx218,- 

 426,009. The revenues and expenditures in tens 

 of rupees of each of the governments for the 

 year ending March 31, 1891, are given in the fol- 

 lowing table: 



Abolishing Free Silver. In March, 1892, 

 the Indian Government began a correspondence 

 with the Secretary of State for India, in the 

 course of which it was proposed that, in case it 

 became evident that the Brussels Conference 

 would not arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, 

 and no direct arrangement could be made be- 

 tween India and the United States regarding 

 silver, the mints of India should at once 

 be closed to the free coinage of silver, and ar- 

 rangements be made for tho introduction of a 

 VOL. xxxm. 26 A 



gold standard. The Secretary of Slate referred 

 the whole matter to a committee .f M-\CH inem- 

 . f which Lord Ilcrschcll was chairman. 

 The committee recommended the clu-ing <<f 

 tin- mints iijjain>t, the free coinage of .-ilvcr, 

 accompanied by an announcement that, though 

 closed to the public, they will be Used by the 

 Government for the coinage of rujtees in ex- 

 change for gold at a provisional rat io of l.s. (W. for 

 the rupee, and that at the Government treas- 

 uries gold will be received in satisfaction of pub- 

 lic dues at the same ratio. The committee fur- 

 ther recommended that the time for taking ac- 

 tion should be left discretionary with the Gov- 

 ernment of India, subject to the approval of the 

 Secretary of State. A bill in which for Is. M. 

 was substituted 1.--. !/. as the provisional value 

 of the rupee, was introduced by the Government 

 in the Legislative Council at Simla on June 26, 

 1893, and passed. The Viceroy said it was not 

 proposed to substitute a gold for a silver cur- 

 rency, nor to attempt at present to fix a legal- 

 tender price for gold. The feeling of sat isfact ion 

 with the act abated somewhat when the Secre- 

 tary of State found it necessary to sell his bills 

 on the Indian Council below the provisional 

 price of la. 4d. for the rupee. The exchange 

 value of the rupee fell below I5d. early in Octo- 

 ber, but no bills were sold by the Secretary of 

 State. Sales were made on Oct. 26 at 15$rf., and 

 that continued to be the price through Novem- 

 ber and December, though the sales made were 

 comparatively small. The total sales of bills 

 and telegraphic transfers from April 1 to Dec. 

 19 amounted to 104,625,375 rupees, and produced 

 6,491,985. On Dec. 21 the royal assent was 

 given to an act of Parliament empowering the 

 Secretary of State for India to borrow 10,000,- 

 000, or any part thereof, to meet the expendi- 

 ture of the Indian Government in England. 

 This removed the necessity of further sales of 

 rupee paper to meet immediate requirements, 

 unless a more favorable rate of exchange could be 

 obtained. The imports of uncoined silver into 

 India continued so heavy even after the closing 

 of the mints that the imposition of an import 

 tax upon it was advocated by members of the 

 Indian Government. The Government of India 

 announced in August that, in compensation for 

 the great decline in the value of the rupee. Gov- 

 ernment servants, whether civil or military, 

 would thereafter receive one half of their sala- 

 ries, up to the limit of 1,000, at the rate of 18<f. 

 per rupee. 



Defense. Besides the Britsh army in India, 

 numbering 74,031 men of all ranks, there was, 

 at the beginning of 1893, exclusive of artificers 

 and followers, a native army numbering 144,- 

 7-">5 men of all ranks, making the aggregate 

 strength of the Indian army 218,786 men. The 

 British army in India was made up as follows : 

 Artillery, 419 officers and 12,821 noncommis- 

 sioned offlcen and privates total, 13,312 ; caval- 

 ry, 261 officers ana 5,418 noncommissioned offi- 

 cers and privates tQtal, 5,679 ; engineers, 293 

 officers ; infantry, 1,537 officers and 52.176 non- 

 commissioned officersand privates total, 53,713; 

 invalid and veteran establishment. 11 officers 

 and 24 noncommissioned officers and privates 

 total, 35; staff corps, 841 officers; general list, 

 117 ; unattached officers, 2 ; unemployed general 



