THE PRINCE'S PRESENTS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 136, 31 May 1876, Page 4

THE PRINCE'S PRESENTS.

(From the World, March 15.) TJiere is a storm brewing in India over the Prince's visit, The small cloud ,is apparent from the following remarks *• extracted from the Bombay Gazette, of February 18. The natives are openly, remarking upon the enormdus'yalue (half a million, it is said, is wUhin, the mark) of the gifts received by the Prince from Rajahs,' and •. the shabbiness and peculiar nature (chiefly snuff-boxes, small fire-engines, gardenpumpß, and copies of Da Rosslets book on'Kdia) of the gifts made, by him, in return: — We observe with regret a paragraph going the round of the Anglo-Indian newspapers to the effect that the Prince of Wales" will take : away from India presents to tb,e amount of fully half a mililon' sterling. We are aware that in some native journals certain remarks have , been freely made with regard to the^ v cbtffaeter of ! the Prince's toixf through India, and lately the immense riches "which have been thrust upon him have, become,' even in the bazaars, a fruitful and bitter subject of conversation.. When people see such news put into print, they know precisely what it means.. They know that it PQittiß;HQ. the insinuation of a.publio scandal. t They feel that it has been in vented' to injure the character of the British rulers in India for disinterestedness^ and philanthropy. It is a pity ; i that such paragraphs have found, their: way into print; but it is still more to be regretted that the. slightest cause should evOT-'ha ;^.: { bjB < J9n' < 'g^veii to any class of person to believe and say openly that i the JPrihcfc of Wales's tour in India | has been concocted with the deliberate intention of.swelling his private means. Before the Prince arrived in this country,^stories preceded him about the iiUe^ntiotf* to use the liberality of the natives of India to liquidate a bortion of his private" debts. In some quarters not very friendly to the British Government/ these tales have been believed ; apd circulated with all the garniture of 'malice. Sneering enquiries with respect to the value of the presents given ,by his Royal Highness in exchange for the splendid gifts which have ( marked almost every step of his Indian tour are already being made. How can these enquiries be answered ? If answered at all, it can only be admitted frankly that the Prince's return presents, are vastly inferior to those he has received; if they are not answered then, the adverse critics of the Royal progress use the ominous silence as an argument in favor alike of their insinuations and assertions. It is notorious that the 'native Prinoes have been vying with each other in thrusting presents of. great value on the Prince. No list of these presents has been published 1 ;' very probably it never will be. We knovsr^that there is a, reluctance to give ,. any information to the public on the subject. The special correspondent of the Times, who may be regarded as the recipient of all the secrets connected with the Prince's tour, says very little of the presents in his letters. If the English public are guided by these demi-official communi«ltionßj they will think that the Prince h fc a*8 3 b'eeh receiving valuable gifts only' here and there, and that the national grant would be sufficient after all, to enable his !. Royal Highness to cope, as became the dignity of his rank, '■ with ; the generosity of the natives of India. ]^vt A on. this point the letters of the ifmejs correspondent are apt to be; misleading. He writes of the presents; in general terms, and occasionally mentions pne of particular excellence; but he' never enters into details, and never attempts to. give an approximate value of the presents,— not one, but heaps — whictr almost every native chief of any importance, has laid at the Prince's feet. But let it not be understood that the correßpondeotis altogether innocent of the .importance of the part which present giving and taking plays in the Prince's' tour. In a long telegram dated Lahore, January 23rd, he thinks it necessary to explain, that 'there is no foundation for the J statement that any double set of presents has been made, or that some persons have made and received gifts twice over.' T ' This explanation may be correct, so far as the giving of double presents by the Prince is concerned, buVwe doubt whether it is correct in the other particulars. For instance, is it not the fact that, the majority of the chiefs Who were present at the reception of the Prince of Wales in Calcutta.and who were afterwards visited by H.R.Hi in their own territories, presienteid valuable gifts to him not ogly^iri Calcutta,, but subsequently in their own palaces? .: In the case of the Maharajaha of Cashmere and Jeypore, there 'can be no doubt whatever about this. It is perfectly well known by ibis timo that the Maharajah of Cashmere gave the Prince of Wales a vast quantity of exceedingly valuable presents at Jummoo. The room in which the presents were plaoed in the palace overhanging the river Tavee, has already, been : described as filled with with piles of Cashmere shawls upon them, gold and silver salvers, .goblets,-, and solid silver tea and coffee sets, to say nothing of Cashmere shawl lebts with silver supports — all presents of , Wales. The correspondent of the Times himself alludes to the Prince receiving at Jummoo * a sword' at' the 16 west calculation about £10,000. It is studded with precious stones from hilt to 'point.' bo tlat with this sword, the shawls, the gold and silver work;; and the hundred and one other* varieties of • gifts presented

by the Maharajah; the Prince of Wales must have been very richly endowed" indeed in Jummoo. Again, in Jeypore the Prince received a number of valuable presents, one of which was a gold snuff-box covered with diamonds, and the other a palanquin made of gold brocade. It would thus appear as if double sets of presents were after all given ito the Prince by certain Indian potentates. This is what the natives" are saying, wondering why it was done. This is what the Times* correspondent has contradicted, although apparently he;h'Bß unconsciously borne witness to the truth of what he has essayed to deny. "We think that now as the subject of the presents to the Prince has come to be openly talked about in the newspapers and in bazaars, and significant calculations published of the amount sterling he will be able to realise in London from the fruits of his Indian four, it will be obviouß to all who have the love of the British Constitution and the honor of the Royal family at heart, that it is a, thousand times a pity it was, not peremptorily arranged before his Royal Highness set foot in India, that : be should accept no presents except, those which the means at bis disposal would ' enable him to equal in the value of his return: gifts. We do not, of course, believe the absurd stories about the Prince and his debts, but India unfortunately, is a country, where everybody is not of the same opinion, and with those who are fond of creating mischief between the rulerß and the ruled these tales will find ready credence. They will ; be sown broadcast over the face of the country i they will be amplified in their progress , they will eventually have results calculated to injure the character of the permanent remembrances in India of the Prince's visit." This is plain speakicg by one of the mostrespectable Anglo Indian journals. JAs the majority of the great chiefs who have given splendid presents to the Prince have some grievance or other against 'the British Government (S.cindiah, for instance, would move heaven and earth to get back Gwalior Fort, jwhicb is now in charge of European' <troops), it is obviously indiscrete for one occupying the position of the Prince of Wales to accept gifts totally out of proportion to those he is able to return.