THE INDIAN MUTINY.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 106, 26 October 1858, Page 3

THE INDIAN MUTINY.

(From.the Times.) We may paint the tone and atmosphere- of Indian life, ahd we may photograph bat ties and sieges, but we cannot at .one stroke stamp upon the English mind an accurate image of what India permanently is. Her griefs and her joys, her resources and her deficiencies,-form a story of multifarious details which the ordinary Englishman. tires over, and which the professed politician is too busy to master. Yet it is only by knowing India that"we can govern India._ There are stars so distant that while their light is travelling to our eye the conditions of their existence might be changed, and yet the ray come on unbroken, bo it is with that far-away land. We find ourselves debating events the importance of which is gone, the substance of which is decomposed, the very existence of which is there forgotten.* Facts of the past may do very well to test the strength of parties in England. A game of chess may be equally well with pieces made of ivory or of wood, or, if the players be veiy skilful, without any pieces or any board. Retrospective reviewing, however, will not do the duty of practical government. We must do something more than criticise the draught of a proclamation, or even debate the constitution of a Council; we must, act instead of talk, and we must provide pro- I spective measures for grave contingencies. The view of India, rife with sepoy massacres, is fast fading, and in place of its dissolving hues we shall see a gradually strengthening outline of India, tranquillised but much exhausted. We shall see the old annual deficit of two millions probably increased to four—a soldiery whom we dare not either arm or disband—a country much infested by robbers and much in need of police—a Government of whom the only good thing that can be said is, that all political parties in England have concurred in condemning it—a population existing in primitive simplicity, but not in patriarchal abundance, upon eighteen pence per week—a slumbering spirit of rebellion in the interior, and a wide-awake wandering spirit of acquisitiveness upon the frontiers. It is quite time to settle in our minds what are the proper defences against these very obvious dangers; History isji mere romance unless it be read as an experience to indicate the future. When we are forced back to the old question, " What were the causes of the Indian mutinies?" let us investigate that question, not to criminate and recriminate, but to note the causes that are dead, and to kill those that survive. It is, we believe, in this spirit, and with this intent, that the correspondent -whose letter we print in another column writes. He deals with a subject which he, if any man, understands, arid his letter is equally remarkable for the views he enforces and for the considerations he omits. That we have trusted too much to the probability that the Sepoy would appreciate the indulgences' he enjoyed in our service, is not to he disputed ; that we were especi- , ally ill-advised in our choice of the class whence those sepoys were recruited is quite as indubitable ; that the native independent Princes have proved faithful is happily a patent truth; but that a reverse before Delhi ivould have changed the allegiance of the majority of them is, we fear, quite as indisputable. That as alien conquerors we should expect to be loved'is evidence only of our good intentions, our simplicity of character, and our honest national conceit; that we gave over guns and stores and fortresses to a soldiery formed from the conquered nation is evidence only ofthe sincerity of ourconfidence and the simplicity of our folly. But we should like to hear from our correspondent some further causes for this wide-spread mutiny. Let him weigh for us the influence which the iniquities ofthe Sudder Court, the local insufficiency ofthe civil service, the tyranny of the native Zemindarti, protected by British law, the exclusion of uncovenanted British enterprise, the insecurity of property in land, and the shortsighted nurturing ofthe prejudices of caste,—let him, as he is well able, give to these causes their due importance, and rank them according to their influence, and his estimate of the causes of this disaster will be more complete and still more valuable to our public. As to future measures of precaution, we are, as far as.he goes, at one with our correspondent; but it appears to us that the most evident and imperious necessity is the disarming of the whole Peninsula. We have taken more cannon in a few short expeditious in Oude and Rohilcund than we took in the whole of the Crimean campaign: and we seem, notwithstanding, to have made scarcely any impression upon the countless stores of these feudal' chiefs. We take cities like Delhi and Lucknow, and are not surprised to find them well provided with guns; biit when■ we advance beyond these strongholds, which ought to he the only fortresses of the plains around, we find that every little village has its little wretched fort, and every little wretched fort has its score of guns. Apart from all considerations of English dominion, this system of castellated plains is inconsistent with any government whatever; in itself it constitutes* a country infested by petty tyrants and powerful robbers. The first step towards civilisation is to j get rid of these dens. We see the ruins of such j things upon the Rhine and the Danube, and a few j of them still moulder here at home,.but they are I all associated with legends of rape and rapine. ; : There 'can be no security for life'or home where such things are. So, also, as we dismantle the fortresses we must disarm the retainers. If we would civilise the predatory races we must take from them the means of pillaging each other. The French found this 'to be necessary in Algeria, and, having recognised and acted upon the necessity, the tribes became quiet, and turned from robbery to husbandry. But the Arab is not more fond of the smell of powder and the flash of steel than is the retainer of the Mussulman or Hindoo chief. We are remitted in Oude and Rohilcund to a state of society such as that which existed three centuries since on the borders of England and Scotland and in the Marches of Wales. Surely we who disarmed Ireland shall not hesitate to dis-' arm India. . That chests of English gold, even although convoyed by strong detachments, , should ever have passed unplundered along the frontiers of such districts as these may now well be looked back upon with surprise. Yet so it was. When the mutiny broke out. in Rohilcund the 29th Native Infantry at Mooradabad found £25,000 in the treasury, and were so disappointed at the amount that they threatened to blow the treasurer away from a gun. What the aniount of treasure at Shahjehanpore «nd Bareilly was we have not seen stated, but it is certain that the mutineers, when they evacuated Rohilcund to inarch into Delhi, took with them 700 carts, laden . with English . treasure. Any one who scans closely the history of these mutinies will find that the acquisition of the treasury of the station was always closely connected with the mutiny of the Sepoys of that station. The 68th Native Infantry pathetically complained at Bareilly that "signs of distrust injured the good name of the regiment," having at the time placed an ambuscade under tlie bridge and told off two companies to surround the house of the commanding officer. Their object was to get the treasure. So in every other case. Regiments that held Company's paper were faithful until they had exchanged it for gold—regi-. ments that had pay in arrears were faithful until the. arrears were paid up^. The Company's gold has never received credit for the part it played in the mutiny. xYet.it had often been pressed upon the authorities at Calcutta that a paper currency would be a'boon-to India. Those who wished for this probably thought little of the'danger of carrying bullion in bullock trunks or palkies through the jungle, or storing it in exposed places; their, object was, in all probability,. the extension of commerce and the development ofthe resources of the country, 'jhie policy of the Company was, is, and ever must be, to discourage all independent enterprise within their territories, and they were consistent iv refusing to listen to any such suggestions. Now, however, when we are commencing a new -era—if, indeed, we are commencing, or are abeut to commence a new era—this, subject must.be reconsidered." There can be no good reason why India should not in monetary facilities be placed ;on a level with England. There is excellent reason i why the troops' should be paid iv paper -ijioney. The absence of the gold, is the absence ,'df a powerful temptation, and the bank note is a guardian of the fidelity of the man in whose pocket it lies.

"' Our correspondent is correct in his anticipation that we shall deny the necessity of supporting a .very large native army in India after the present troubles have ceased. We cannot appreciate it as reasonable, although we are not prepared to deny it as probable, that the traditions of the country will favor the re-organisation of the native army. Of course, we aye prepared to admit that a certain inferior proportionate number,of native troops should be associated with every European detachment ; but, that being conceded, what is the necessity—nay, what is the use, of any considerable native force'? Whom are they, to fight ? There is no enemy. What are they to conquer ? Surely our frontier has at last reached its utmost desirable limits. We assume that the projected railways are not to be abandoned. Perhaps we may go so fin* as to anticipate that under a less jealous system the time is not far distant when these plains, so facile to cheap single lines, may become a network of iron roads. If this be so, we ask again, what do we want of a large native army? If we. cannot rely upon the love ofthe people, we may, while we treat them with justice, rest watchfully upon their apathy. As to the. unhealthy districts, perforate them with a railway and withdraw your troops. It was cruel grinding tyranny beyond the power of creatures to endure, which urged the Santals to rebellion. Their wrongs have been redressed, and they are now as little to be feared as any race in India. On the contrary, they want only the opportunity to become good Christians and loyal subjects. They have at present no caste and no religion. We have great respect for Indian experience, so far as it can produce reasons for its advice, but we strongly, object to be governed by Indian traditions.