INDIA. 



391 



by flourishes of trumpets and a fanfaron from 

 the massed bands of the different regiments 

 present. A grand march was played, followed 

 by the national anthem. Major Barnes, the 

 chief herald, then read the proclamation, which 

 was followed by a salute of 101 salvoes of ar- 

 tillery of six guns each. 



Previous to the proclamation, during the last 

 week of December, 1876, the Viceroy received 

 in Grand Durbar many of the principal chiefs. 

 One of the most interesting receptions was that 

 of the Khan of Kelat, who, on this occasion, 

 set foot on British India for the first time. 

 The Khan was. quite at his ease, and answered 

 the Viceroy's questions without hesitation. 

 He had seen, he said, in British India, three 

 things which greatly surprised him namely, 

 steamboats, railways, and telegraphs. Lord 

 Lytton replied that he hoped two of them 

 might be shortly introduced into the Khan's 

 dominions, and that the British Government 

 would be glad to assist him in establishing 

 them. The Viceroy then presented the Khan 

 with very valuable presents, when the inter- 

 view came to an end. 



On March 13th, General Strachey, the 

 Finance Minister, laid the budget before the 

 Legislative Council. The statement closed the 

 accounts of 1875-'76. After allowing for the 

 cost of the Behar famine, it shows a sur- 

 plus of 1,658,882 on the ordinary account ; 

 but if. the public works extraordinary are in- 

 cluded, then a deficit of 2,601,747. The regu- 

 lar estimates for 1876-77 show a deficit of 

 2,278,300 on the ordinary account, which is 

 increased to 6,078,300 on the extraordinary 

 account. Here the cost of the famine, which 

 is estimated at 3,100,000, is included in the 

 ordinary account. If it were excluded, this 

 account would show a surplus of 624,800. 

 The following are the budget estimates for 

 1877-'78: revenue, 52,192,700; expenditure, 

 56,442,400, of which 3,628,000 is for public 

 works extraordinary. The deficit, 4,249,700, 

 is reduced to 621,700, if extraordinary works 

 are excluded ; estimated cost of famine, 2,- 

 150,000, making 5,250,000 in two years; 

 surplus, excluding famine, 928,300. 



The decentralization scheme introduced by 

 Lord Mayo was to be extended. The princi- 

 ple is that each province should, as far as pos- 

 sible, have the responsibility of meeting the 

 cost of its own local requirements. This, how- 

 ever, is to be for the present carried out only 

 in Bengal and the northwest. There would 

 be no fresh imperial taxation ; but Bengal was 

 called upon to guarantee 275,000, and the 

 northwest 50,000, being the interest on 

 money spent on local canals and railways. It 

 was proposed to extend the existing system of 

 provincial taxation in Bengal, but not to intro- 

 duce novel taxes in the northwest. A light 

 license tax was to be imposed on trades, and 

 authority given to assign 10 per cent, of the 

 existing local rates for the canals and railways. 



On March 21st. the Legislative Council dis- 



cussed two bills introduced in accordance with 

 Sir Richard Strachey's scheme for extending 

 the decentralization of the finances. The bud- 

 get was generally approved, the decentraliza- 

 tion scheme finding particular favor. On the 

 other hand, the abolition of duties on cotton 

 goods was generally condemned as unwise. 

 Two bills affecting local rates in the north- 

 west, introduced in pursuance of the decentrali- 

 zation policy, were passed by the Council on 

 March 28th. The Viceroy took advantage of 

 the occasion to review the financial and gen- 

 eral policy of the Government. He began by 

 expressing the pleasure he felt to think that 

 in the first year of his administration the Gov- 

 ernment had an opportunity of submitting its 

 whole financial policy for discussion by the 

 Council. The Government, he said, had hon- 

 estly tried to avail itself of that opportunity, 

 and had freely confided its anxieties and hopes 

 to the public. Alluding, first, to the policy of 

 excluding from extraordinary accounts unre- 

 munerative public works which might here- 

 after be undertaken, he said it was decided on 

 by the Secretary of State, while Lord North- 

 brook was Viceroy, though now first announced. 

 He believed that this policy was a step in the 

 right direction ; and it would not be his fault 

 if it did not go much further, for he doubted 

 whether an extraordinary budget was not al- 

 together a mistake. He discussed at some 

 length the cotton duties question, and said he 

 earnestly desired their abolition, but altogether 

 denied that he and those who thought like 

 him were recklessly indifferent to the duty 

 which they owed to Indian interests. He ob- 

 jected to the cotton duties because they ap- 

 peared to him inconsistent with sound finan- 

 cial principles, and, as such, injurious to the 

 interests of India. The Secretary of State had 

 left the Government large, but not unlimited, 

 discretion. That discretion extended only to 

 time, and was most suitable and efficacious for 

 carrying into practical effect principles which 

 were finally determined on. He would not 

 deny that their financial system was not free 

 from other features as vicious as the cotton 

 duties from a purely fiscal point of view ; but 

 he doubted if they were equally objectionable 

 from a social and political standpoint. These 

 all stood on the condemned list, and he hoped 

 the Government would soon be able to deal 

 with the worst of them namely, the inland 

 customs. He spoke strongly in favor of the 

 decentralization scheme, and thought it sur- 

 prising that English statesmanship, generally 

 so free from Continental passion for legislative 

 symmetry, should have persisted in attempting 

 to apply to every part of an empire, vast, vari- 

 ous, and composite, the same form of taxation. 

 He hoped that the measures now before the 

 Council would be prolific of beneficial results. 

 Passing to the depreciation of silver question, 

 he expressed an opinion that experience had 

 fully justified the Government resolution not 

 to tamper prematurely with the standard of 



