320 MACGREGOR'S SIKHS-POLITICAL AGENCY IN THE EAST.

that an honourable man will act dishonourably. Having proved that any have knowingly and wilfully perverted the truth, or knowingly acted against the right, let us call them by their right names-" Scoundrels." But as we would be judged ourselves so let as judge, and give previous character the weight in doubtful questions that it has in every court of justice.

"It is not by exaggerations, by sophistry or by partizanship that the truth is to be furthered; let it be proved calmly and dispasionately, that as the policy was erroneous and its results unfortunate, so were the actors wicked men led away by their passions and let them be condemned. But if it be only ascertained that, with many wise and many good men, they discerned a great danger impending over India, and that in the steps taken to obviate it, they saw nothing dishonourable, then let them at least rest in their graves as men who, having done their duty according to the light that was in them, fell honourably at their posts in an unsuccessful cause."

Little need be added to this. In the foregoing article we have mainly confined ourselves to the consideration of the military relations of our Political agents. We have scarcely spoken of them at all in their purely civil capacity— but it is in this capacity, after all, that gallant souls, though they be, their services have been most conspicuous-services, to be remembered to all time, as rendered in the great cause of universal humanity. Laden with contribution to the store of a nation's blessings have their services been. To the unfailing benevolence and the untiring energy of such men as Wilkinson, Melville, Pottinger, Sutherland, Sleeman, Ludlow, Macpherson, and others are we indebted for many of those great philanthropic reforms, which it has been our delight to dwell upon in these pages such as the suppression of Thuggee, Suttee, Infanticide, Human Sacrifice and other abominations. And, although Dr. MacGregor seems to think that superior wisdom would have been exhibited by Lord Hardinge if he had entrusted after the victory of Sobraon the future management of affairs in the Punjab to Sir Charles Napier, we may, without much temerity, venture to predict that from the benevolence, the energy, the sagacity of Colonel Lawrence and his associates, now the virtual ministers of Lahore, a rich harvest of blessings to the Sikh nation will, in God's own time, cover the long curse-ridden country of the Five Rivers.

ART. II.-1. Copy of Railway Reports from India. Presented to Parliament by H. M.'s command.

1.-Letter from the Government of India in the Legislative Department, dated 9th May, 1846.

2.-Report by Mr. Simms, and Capts. Boileau and Western, dated 13th March, 1846.

3, 4, 5.-Minutes by the Hon'bles Sir T. H. Maddock, Knt., F. Millett, and C. H. Cameron.

6.-Minute by the Governor-General of India.

2. Report of R. Macdonald Stephenson, Esq., Managing Director, to the Chairman, &c. of the East Indian Railway Company. 3. Report upon the Project upon the Dock and Diamond Harbour Railway Company, by F. W. Simms, Esq., Consulting Engineer to the Government of India, &c.

4. Indian Railways. By an Old Indian Postmaster.

5. Letter to the Shareholders of the East Indian and Great Western of Bengal Railways. By one of themselves.

6. Report on the application of Railway communication in India, by Capt. Western, B. E. from Friend of India, March 23d, 1843. 7. Railways in England and France, by David Salomons, Esq., pp. 77, London 1847.

8. Papers Illustrative of the Prospects of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Company. Bombay, September, 1846.

9. Two Letters on the advantages of Railway Communication in Western India, addressed to Lord Warncliffe, by T. Thos. Williamson, Esq., C. S. pp. 119.

IN our recent article on the subject of Indian Railways, we mentioned our wish to have postponed its consideration, until the publication of the Report of the Railway Commission appointed by Government; but we otherwise determined, in consequence of the number of projected Railways before the public, on which it appeared expedient that we should offer an opinion; and we believe we exercised a wise and popular discretion, and may now be excused remarking that generally our views corresponded with those which afterwards appeared in the Report of the Railway Commission. We impugned the schemes which have been treated by the Commission as either not within their province or as unworthy of consideration. We anticipated the condemnation of the Northern and Eastern. The

Great Western we regarded favorably, precisely in the limited point of view in which it is sanctioned by the Commission, that is, as a branch line; and we supported the paramount claims of the proposed grand trunk line, on account of its political importance, as Lord Hardinge has subsequently done. Thus corroborated in our past views, we proceed to our present task with increased confidence. At the time we are writing there is, we fear, little probability of any of the Indian lines being immediately undertaken. We regret to consider them as put in abeyance, by the embarrassments and solicitudes arising from the extraordinary claims made on capital to provide food and work for the Irish people: yet indulging the hope of better times at no distant period, the subject appears to us of instant and undiminished importance, and we return to it confident that it will still attract a considerable share of attention on the part of the public, and that a general view of what has been written and done since our former article, will be acceptable.

To begin with the Report of the Railway Commission. Its importance would induce as to give it in extenso, as it decides, we apprehend, conclusively several important questions; but the nature of our publication will permit our giving only copious extracts and an abridgement. But first, a few words as to the circumstances which led to the appointment of the Commission. The Court of Directors, called upon to sanction the establishment of Railways in India, found doubts raised on many grounds, chiefly, we believe, among that very statu quo class, the circle of "old Indians," whether, in India, the introduction of a system of railways was practicable. At the same time various lines were competing for precedence, and neither the Court at home, nor the Government here, had the requisite information to decide between them. These circumstances, added to the habit of caution and a constitutional jealousy of innovations, some may say improvements, induced the Court to determine on appointing a Commission, with a Civil Engineer at its head, to investigate and report its opinion on these questions; and it was so fortunate as to engage the service of Mr. F. W. Simms, a gentleman whose eminent qualifications are too well known to need our eulogy, and who, with the distinction of having earned by a life devoted to practical science the confidence of the most eminent members of his own profession in England, enjoys also the respect here of that branch of the public service which would have regarded as anomalous the appointment of a less eminent person. On Mr. Simms's arri

val in India two Officers of the Bengal Engineers were associated with him; and under instructions of a general kind from the Court of Directors, together with other instructions from the local Government, they proceeded on a tour from Calcutta to the Upper Provinces, making such detours as they deemed proper, for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the country, and on their return in March 1846, they made the Report, which we shall now proceed to analyze, and offer some remarks upon.

The Report begins as follows:

"1. We have the honor to submit our report upon the practicability of introducing a system of railways into India, and of their application to the peculiarities and circumstances of the country and climate: to answer the questions relative thereto, as proposed in the minutes of the Honourable the Court of Directors, of the 7th May, 1845, and likewise to make our report from a personal examination of the country, upon the direction of a line to be recommended for a railroad from Calcutta to Mirzapore and the North-West provinces."

Paragraph 2d expresses the opinion of the Commissioners as to the practicability of establishing Railways in India :

"2. We would commence by stating our opinion that railroads are not inapplicable to the peculiarities and circumstances of India, but on the contrary, are not only a great desideratum, but with proper attention can be constructed and maintained as perfectly as in any part of Europe. The great extent of its vast plains, which may in some directions be traversed for hundreds of miles without encountering any serious undulations, the small outlay required for Parliamentary or legislative purposes, the low value of land, cheapness of labour, and the general facilities for procuring building materials, may all be quoted as reasons why the introduction of a system of railroads is applicable to India."

The Report next adverts to the difficulties suggested by the Court as peculiar to the climate and seasons of India. They are -1. Periodical rains and inundations; 2. The contiuued action of violent winds and the influence of a vertical (tropical?) sun: 3. The ravages of insects and vermin upon timber and earthwork: 4. The destructive effects of the spontaneous vegetation of underwood upon earth and brickwork: 5. The uninclosed and unprotected tracts of country through which railroads would pass: 6. The difficulty and expense of securing the services of competent and trustworthy engineers.

These difficulties well and fairly put, are disposed of by the commissioners in a concise, business-like, and, as appears to us, satisfactory manner. 1. As to the periodical rains and inundations they say:—

"We do not expect that, with a judiciously selected and well-constructed line, any serious mischief to the works may be anticipated from this cause, nothing but what a moderate annual outlay will set to rights. The

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practicability of keeping a railway in order is shewn by the existence of bunds and roads, both metalled and unmetalled, in various parts of the country, which are kept in order at a trifling outlay, It must, however, be borne in mind, that, although this opinion is based upon what we have ourselves witnessed as the effect of a season when the floods were unusually high, both in Bengal and the Upper Provinces, yet, in after years, unprecedented inundations may occur, causing serious damage to works which shall have been constructed with a view to resisting only the highest floods hitherto known"

That is, as we understand, a railway in the Lower provinces, where alone this class of dangers exists may be securely constructed upon raised bunds or embankments, and these may be kept up at a moderate annual outlay. But the selection of the line is very important, and of course a line could not be considered as judiciously selected, if from the nature of the country along any part of it, it could not be protected or constructed beyond the reach of danger. This is a circumstance which should make the public very cautious of railway projects in the Lower provinces. 2. As to the continued action of violent winds and a vertical sun, the Report says:—

"Suitable arrangements in the construction of the works will overcome any difficulty arising from these causes as to the line itself. These effects will be more felt in working the trains, especially the wind, at high velocities, but no fears need be entertained upon this subject as to the ultimate result, though, during the prevalence of the hot winds, more than usual attention will be requisite in watching and guarding against the effects of friction of such parts of the engines that may be exposed to the most intense heat."

These difficulties though not felt in Europe, are the common lot of tropical climates: and therefore were they greater than they are, and were they less satisfactorily met by the Report, it appears to us that considered as preliminary objections, they would be sufficiently answered by the fact that in Cuba, the Southern parts of the United States, Jamaica and some other tropical countries, railroads are already constructed or being so. 3. As to the ravages of insects and vermin on timber and earthwork, the Report says:

"If the information we have received be corrcct, that the destructive action of insects upon the teak and iron wood of Arracan amounts to nothing, or next to nothing, that question is at once disposed of; but should further investigation show that such is not the fact, recourse must be had either to the use of stone, or to the employment of one or more of the various preparations for timber now in use in England, which it is probable may also be found desirable on the score of economy to render the timber more durable. This, however, at present is by no means certain. Captain Western, who has been in Arracan, states, that he would not guarantee teak as resisting damp and insects, but iron wood he knows from practical experience to resist both, and has seen a post taken up, after having been in the ground 15 years, as sound as the day it was put in.