INDIA. 



The value of the trade across the land frontiers 



. the foregoing figures. I 



valurl in IWW-1M l Kx 4,08.4<n> for imports 



mn ,j j; -s. While the trade 



with I'andahar and Citbul has declined, and that 



with Nt'|*il *i re shows some falling 



off ther* h* been an increase of imports from 



and the trade with the - '* and 



-mm and western China is growing at a 



Sanitation. There were entered during the 

 year 189&-1M at the ports of India 5,080 vessels, 

 of 8.797.911 tons, of which I.' 1 

 tons: were British: 925, of 184,831 

 British Indian: 1. 506, of 82,789 tons, * 

 and . of 504.074 tons, were foreign. The to- 

 tal number cleared was 4,965, of 8,867,975 tons. 

 Of the vessels entered, 713, of 1,57.~ :< tons 

 and of those cleared, 938. of Urns, 



passed through the Suez Canal. The Dumber 

 of vessels entered coastwise with cargoes was 

 105.7n; the number cleared 



was 96.14"i. of ll.l.V.J.07* tons There were 98 

 vessels, of 8^80 tons, built during the year in 

 India. 

 Railroad*. The Government, owing to its 



;il mhairansinents, has abandoned for the 

 present the |mli-y of Mib>idi/ing railroads and 

 invited private enterprise, but still it will not 

 encourage the building of lines to compete with 

 the guaranteed roads. The existing lines have 



ianned with reference to P.ritish commerce 



than to the commercial needs and popu- 

 loosness of tin- districts served. Bombay, the 

 -ourceof Indian cot ton and wheat for l.nu r 

 land has 1 mile of railway to 8,000 inhabitants, 

 nnd the wheat-growing Punjab, with small com- 

 mercial interests, has 1 mile to 11,000 of popula- 

 Ahile Bengal, with enormous tea produc- 

 tion, with steam textile manufactories, with vast 

 undeveloped coal-fields and prospective metal 

 industries, has only 1 mile to 39.000 of its popu- 

 lation. The Indian network had a total length 

 <56 miles on March :n. isirt. During the 

 previous vear 356 miles were built. There were 

 J..M7 mil.-* under construction or sanctioned. 

 There were in 1894 8.606 miles belonging to the 

 Government but operated by companies, 5,199 

 miles operated by the Government, 2.587 miles 

 operated by guaranteed com pan i. jn:: miles be- 

 longing to assisted companies, 809 miles owned 

 by native states and operated by companies, 838 

 miles owned and operated by native states, and 

 58 miles of foreign lines. Tne gross earn i 

 all the railroads in 1893 were Rx 24,048.2?'.' and 

 theoperating,.xpen<-sl;x 17 I,' 



per cent, of the receipts. The net earnings were 

 Ri 125.777. giving an average return 

 par cent, on the capital. During 1893 there were 

 hanapuiUui 135,530.447 passengers and 38,851,531 

 Ions: ton* of freight In 1894 gross earnings were 

 IUfefiOft356: working expenses, Rx 11,983,930, 

 or 4W8 per cent, of the receipts; and in" 

 ings. Rx 13J&UH6. Thenet profit on the capita] 

 invested was 5-69 per cent., but the (Jo-, ,-rnment 

 Mi<inM a net loss of Rx 1,70.(KK). II 

 rmmont pay* an average rate of 4f per cent, on 

 th captul raised by the guaranteed com: 

 which i increased to over 7 per cent, by the fall 



hange. In the Ganges delta a beginning 

 has been made of railroad construction by pn- 



witli rupee capital and na- 

 odian managers and engineers- and n 

 tire native staff. The first Imeilm- !>uil: 

 length of :H miles. To facilitate the undertak- 

 ing of '"the trunk line- ly attracting 



.pilal. the (iovrnimeiil carried 

 in 1895 empowering companies i,, |,a\ t \\\ 

 out of capital during the eoiist met i< >n < 



The llurnai Kail road, opened in ! 

 COM the Indian (iovernnient millions of pounds, 



hat been abandoned k> -i-iid.-s mak*- the 



rout<- unsafe, and in its place a in w <ldui 

 has been I milt t hnni^h t In i uuret 



Sibi aiid< t urtta. Another -iratei:ic line i> L.-ing 

 built lo connn-i the fortress of (^uett a. which 6 

 already in direct communication with K 

 on the' one side and Lahore on the oth, - 

 Peshawur also. 



I'oxK .in.l I ele-r.iphx. The urn 

 ters and other mail matter carried in 1^ 

 380^0!M7r,. The revenue was l;\ 1,488,8' 

 expend it ure II \ \.~>\^ 



The (iovenillient telegrilpll lines Ol 



1893, had an aggregate length <>f -ll.n:;o mMy 

 with 12d.2"l mil-- of \sin-. The niiuiler of pj| 

 messages wa ::.!i^l.H 1 during tin year : receiM 



and expense- 



junction between the Chinese and the Indianj^H 

 ti in- was effected on the frontier of Upper Bur-i 

 niah on March 16, 1895. 



O|iiuiu < 01 issjun. --iiiniiv-i.in. 



appointed by the l'.riti>h Parliament on Sept. 2. 

 1898, to inquire into the Indian opium traffic, 

 made its report in the spring of 1895. The l-'.n^- 

 lish Society for the Suppression of the opium 

 Trade, of which Sir .Joseph W. Pease was pnflj 

 dent, had called for an in|uiry into the leM 

 method of adjusting the finance- ,,f India to the 

 abolition of the opium tratlic.and Mr. (Jladstone, 

 then Prime Minister, accepted instead the profM 

 sit ion to investigate the conditions of the trapd 

 The first president of the society, the I 

 Shaftesbury, when he was Lord Ashley, 

 a resolution in the Hou-e ..f Cnmmons e..ndeiuii- 

 itii: the opium trad*- a^ produc-ing ill ft-'i 

 tweeii Kngland and China, but withdrew 

 Wilfrid Law.M.n*^ n-solution was lost in 1 



After the society was startiMl 

 1H74 fre()iient motions were made in I'arliaiiM-ii' 

 calling for the gradual extinction ,,f the trlPd 

 or for prohibition of the sale except for m *)wl 

 purposes. The antiopium le>iL'ue condemned 

 primarily the action of the KnglM, (iovcr^^H 

 in coercing ( 'hina by war and menaces to a4HH 

 Indian opium and the position of the hi'ii.r 



-nment in draw: nue from tl 



thus fastened upon the Chinese by treaty 

 terly the society gave its attentjoi. 



.-irising fro'm the spread of the opiu; 

 in India. In that country opium i- 

 crude form, or sometimes drunk in an ini 

 whereas in Cli in preparation is 



in a pipe. In 1891 a vote was carried in 

 house which condemned the opium traffic.excenl 

 for medic-iil purposes, as morally indef. 

 As a sequel to this vote Mr. (iladst-.i 

 merit proposed the opium commie-ion in Jun<> 

 1893. Tne commission was ordered to 

 whether the growth of the poppy and 

 opium should be prohibited, except for r. 



