IMPERIAL MUSEUM FOR INDIA AND THE COLONIES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4972, 28 February 1877, Page 3

IMPERIAL MUSEUM FOR INDIA AND THE COLONIES.

We have received a pamphlet by J. Forbes Watson, M.A., &c, director of the India Museum, on the proposal to establish a,n Imperial Museum for India and the colonies. In his opening remarks he says:—"The fact that India and colonial affairs are now at- , tracting great attention, renders the present a favorable time for bringing forward the question of the establishment, in connection with each other, of two museums, one for India and the other for the colonies—to form, as it were, an Imerial Museum, representing the whole of the dominions of the Crown. An India Museum already exists, and its collections are now in the course of arrangement in the old exhibition galleries at South Kensington, which have been leased for a term for that purpose. But the unsuitability of the building and the distance of South Kensington from the centres of public and of business life, render it impossible to give a practical effect to any plan of organisation which would develop the full usefulnesss of this museum as a public institution. After referring to the benefits that have accrued from the establishment of an Indian Museum, he proceeds : " With regard to the colonies no collections yet exist comparable with those of the India Museum and the India Library. The subject of a suitable representation of the colonies in England by means of a Colonial Museum has, however, been for years discussed, and both the colonies and their friends at Home are prepared to take an active interest in the matter, as is evinced by the fact that some of the colonies have already voted moneyfor the establishment of a Colonial Museum in London. A collection of the products of one colony (Queensland) has been for some time exhibited in this country, having occupied a room adjoining the India Museum at South Kensington. This collection has now been sent to Philadelphia, where also all the other colonies are likely to be well represented. If at the close of the Centennial Exhibition some arrangements were made for retaining all these collections in London, they would supply at once a nucleus for a complete Colonial Museum, which no doubt would be subsequently and speedily enriched by many special collections. " The erection of a Colonial Museum would give the opportunity for a concentration of the offices of the various Colonial Agents now dispersed over London. Such a concentration would have several important advantages, and would prove an economical arrangement. Considering that the yearly rents of the various colonial offices amount to upwards of £4OOO, the capital sum representing this yearly expenditure would fall not far short of £IOO,OOO, a sum which would provide not only for the building of the offices, but would go a long way towards paying for the erection of the museum as well. In addition, the work of the Colonial Agents, as also the usefulness of the Colonial Museums, would both gain by it. To the Colonial Agents the existence of a museum and library, containing full information on their respective colonies, would be invaluable in their dealings with commercial men or with intending emigrants. In many instances, where now long explanations would be necessary, they would simply have ta send the inquirers into the museum. And the museum itself would benefit by such an arrangement. Each colonial section would obtain the general supervision of the representative of the colony; whilst the collections and the library, by being constantly referred to on actual business, would have to be kept up to the level of the latest information, and would be constantly tending to become-in-their arrangement more suitable for practical purposes. No better ter plan could be imagined for retaining the individuality of each colonial section. This characteristic should be encouraged above all things, so much so that probably it would be an advantage to express that individuality even in the architectural , treatment of the Colonial Museum. Each section representing one of the great colonies, though communicating with the others, may be more or less independent in its arrangement, and have its own entrance, the ofiices and museum being in immediate juxtaposition. The combined India and Colonial Museums, established according to the above plan, would in every way become a living institution worthily representing the past history and the present resources of the British Empire throughout the world. Such an institution would afford not only exhaustive materials for study and research, but would likewise be suitable for reference by the Indian and colonial authorities, by men of business or of letters, and by officials or emigrants intending to proceed to India or the colonies. Thus it would be instrumental in furthering actual work or business, whether scientific, political, or commercial. At the same time, through its co-operation with the Asiatic Society and the Colonial Institute, through its its lectures and publications, throngh the trade museums and other typical collections distributed all over the country, as well as throughout the most important places in India and the colonies, all the information would be rendered available to the whole Empire. " The public usefulness of such a museum may be measured by the importance of the national interests which it would promote, and by the numbers of people who would be likely to make use of it. Of course great political advantages maybe expected from the existence of any institution which would make the colonies and India better known to England than they are now ; and in so far as such an end enters into the purposes of this institution, it would appeal to the whole country. But independently of this general purpose, the proposed museum would appeal at once to a numerous constituency, the interests of which are already closely linked with India and the colonies, between which and England there exist such multiplied administrative, commercial and social relations, that there are an immense number of people in England who are direct!y interested in obtaining reliable information on India and the colonies. The importance of colonial and Indian questions in the life of the English people, the importance of the colonies. and India as a market for English manufactures, as an outlet for English capital and enterprise, and as a field for colonisation, is likely to increase with every year, and an institution, such as the one described, may well be calculated to have a certain share in advancing these ends. The commerce of England with India and the colonies is alreadyvery great, and it tends to increase at a quicker rate than the commerce of England with other countries. The imports from the colonies and India in the year 1874—the last year for which the returns are complete—amounted to £82,000,000, or 22 per cent, of the whole imports. In the same year the colonies and India took about £72,000,800 of English produce and manufactures, being 30 per cent, of the entire English exports, and more than the united exports of English produce to the three greatest foreign markets, viz., the United States, Germany, and France, which together amounted only to. about £69,000,000. That these large imports of English manufactures are mainly due to the political connection of England with the colonies and India can hardly be doubted, when we compare them with the imports of other countries similarly circumstanced. India finds a complete parallel in China, yet with a smaller and poorer population it absorbs mere than three times the value of English produce, even when including the trade of Hongkong with that of China proper ; the figures for 1874 giving £24,000,000 for India and about £8,000,000 for China and Hongkong. Again, Australia and Canada may be compared with the United States. These latter, with a population exceeding 40,000,000, imported in 1874 a smaller quantity of English manufactures fr n n Australia

I and Canada together, ..though,-,with~a,popula-tion of less than 6,000,000. This fact shows of what vital importance to England is the direction into which the stream of emigration is turned. Each emigrant sent to Canada represents a customer of English goods to the extent of £2 10s. per annum: if sent to Australia, of £8 per annum ; whereas if the same emigrant were settled in the United States, he would not require more than 15s. worth per annum of English manufactures. In fact, not only are there no other markets in the world which in proportion to population consume such large quantities of English manufactures, but there are also no markets which depend so exclusively upon England _ for the supply of ' manufactures as India and the Colonies. And, paradoxical as it' may sound, it is probably the fact that the colonists, relying, as a body, almost entirely on the English and the intercolonial trade for the supply of all their requirements, consume a very much smaller proportion of foreign produce and manufactures, and take a larger share of English manufactures, than do the English themselves. " A museum which would faithfully represent all the productions of the colonies would certainly assist the development of the commercial relations between them and England. Their purchasing power for English manufactures depends largely upon their being able to dispose of their own. produce in England. Throughout the colonies, as well as in India, the necessity is strongly felt, not only for improving the old staples, but also for discovering fresh articles of export. The coffee and the tea trade of India, the now rapidly increasing exports of indiarubber and tobacco from the same country, the wines of the Cape Colony and South Australia, and the attempted cultivation, of tobacco and silk in Australia, are examples in ■ point, and are sufficient to mark the direction in which the commerce between England and the colonies is likely to progress, and which is in the very direction in which a g museum can render the greatest assistance.

India and the colonies are even more important as fields for the investment of English capital. Almost all their great public works have been carried out with English capital. An idea of the railways alone may be gathered from the fact that in two or three years, as soon as those now in course of construction are finished, India and the colonies will a mileage exceeding that of the English railway system. It will then amount to 17,000 miles, of which one half will be in India, and the remainder in the colonies. Even then a great deal will remain to be done, for it can hardly be doubted that in time even the Canadian Pacific- railway will be constructed. It is very difficult to estimate the actual amount of English capital invested in these railways ; especially as in many of the colonies the railways were built with money raised by the respective Governments on their general account. The only complete statistics available are those which refer to Indian railways. The capital invested in them amounted, on the 31st March, 1875, to above £95,000,000. The amount of the public debt of India aud the colonies held in England, is, however, even greater than the investments in railways. The total amount of Indian debt is about £125,000,000, and of that of the colonies about £85,000,000, the bulk of both being held in England.* The number of people in England who thus acquire a personal stake in the welfare of India and the colonies is very considerable, the stock and bondholders of tbe Indian railways alone amounting to about 60,000. There are besides numbers of smaller investments, banks and insurance companies, tea, coffee, indigo, and mining companies, and recently mills and other manufacturing establishments, all likewise supplied with capital from this country. The whole of the English investments in the colonies and India will certainly amount to more than 300,000,000 sterling, of which sum India takes rather less than two-thirds, the rest being divided pretty equally between the different great colonies. These sums are ,-certainly very striking ; and as regards India especially, it may be doubted whether there is any other country which singly affords such a large field for the investment of English capital. India probably surpasses, in this respect even the United States, especially if it be considered what a large proportion of the American securities are in default. On the wholes the English investments in India and the colonies compare very favorably, both as regards amount and as regards security, with those in foreign countries. The whole amount, of English capital invested abroad, including! the colonies and India, has been estimated at 1000 millions ; and the sum total of all the English investments —home and foreign—at 2500 millions. India and the colonies supply, therefore, at least 30 per cent, of the investments abroad, and about 12 per cent, of the total investments of England. This proportion would become even more favorable if, instead of the nominal value of the shares and bonds, the calculation were made on the basis of the actual quotations. With the exception of some Canadian railways, the whole of the Indian and colonial securities are either at par, or at least not far from it, whilst the greater portion of the foreign Btocks is held at discounts, of from 20 to 50, and even more per cent.; and the defaults of Spain, Turkey, Greece,-Mexico, some of the South American Republics, and of some of the North American railways, mines, states and municipalities, show- what a large proportion of English capital invested in foreign countries has been utterly, lost. Considering, therefore, the superior security and the higher market value of Indian and colonial paper, the proportion of English capital invested in India and the colonies must be taken as amounting in actual or marketable value to perhaps 40 per cent., against not much more than 60 per cent, in all the foreign countries put together. These facts prove that the influence of a community of government, laws, and language is as beneficial and as powerful, with respect to the investment of English capital, as it has already been shown to be as regards the development of the commerce. There is no doubt that both the commerce and the profits from the investment of capital are vastly superior to what they would have been without the intimate political connection which now_ subsists between England and her dependencies.