INDIA.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 396, 4 January 1909, Page 5

INDIA.

;rivv;v / -X'y-| ; -V^V'-^';^v'^ : : i ■■'V :; v i FUETHE^ : OHARGES'-QE SEDITION. ' ' :f;':t'z:-^-:- Height:arrests, /,-. N ./ ■;. (ST TEKEGEiPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION— CQPYBjaHT^ ':/''■ •) .']■. ■<'-''':'• ■■'.':':'■':. - London, January 1. : ; .■. Increased pay is .to bo' granted to tho men ' . andofiicora of the. Indian; Army.,/'..-. . ■'.■; ",<: : r v; ■>:;.:.'-' v ; Calcutta, January 1./ ■. . ; -The'editor of.the inflammatory neiwspaper /': "Swaraj," pnblisHed : ajj -Allahabad, and sdyoii • other Hin'dus, have beon ; arrested on charges V of: sedition.. /; ; /'V '■■-~'':■. -; : . V:; ;"/ : ; '' ;' HALF A CENTURY^ : :WORKIN : INDIA; "■'. : Saturday's. oablegranis stated that a long list of Indian honours isarinounced in connection ;...- with the comraeinoratibn' of the fiftieth anniver- '.';. sary.of the Croiyn's assumption of the goyern- : . ment of India. ,: The-Crown's.jubilee in India '•;. is}made tho.subject of some 9pp.reeiative comment in the "Independent," which remarks-,— "fit. is just half a oentury sincothe government ... of India was transferred from the India , Office : to the Crown, , and'Viotoria became Empress of .-.' India. -.The. ohanges;for. the better since that '■■' "time.have:been miifvallous;. and, contrary.to . the assertions of • political ■ agitators,. the coadition of the people-has been greatly improved, •:-. .The-accessions"of territory have been.enormous, ..'; includiug Upoer Burma, Baluchistan and the Dooars.' .■ TEe population,'■• now includes 294.500,000, :er a fifth, of the.population of the :",'.- globe.. '.- ;;','•',. : '.'K; v '~;';''-:::■ : ■■.-.■;' : "■.'■■ : . -. ".'-■' ( ( Tifty;y'ears ago"'J,ohn'Bright said there were travelable roads in one English .county. ,/. than'ih'all'lndia,-:Then-there were qoarce-300 . miles 'of-railway; now. th»re' are 30,287 miles of '.-'■• i'ailway., and abOut. 2.00,000 miles, of roads.-,are' : jcnaintained. .Then; , a. million -and vhalf of ooreswere irrigated, by the bompany i now Gov- .,.' ernment irrigates':..nearly.. 23 millions, beeides "'•' 26; millions,irrigated by, private .works.- The ; espojtfin tbjs tinje. ba.veb?en qnadrnpled and ;.'..-'the imports multiplied by nearly eight, Then • thero'was no factory system; now 700,000 per- ■; sons .gre employed, in factories... In 1858 there Wore' few. soholars,: and .the .expenditure for ■■■-. education.was but 1,970,000 dollars; now it is / apmially i8j750,000 dollars, ,, and 4,750,000 males end '623,000 females are in schools. But the number of/.Britisli. soldiers hai fallen from 93,000 to 7G.000,- while the native troops hare • fallen from" 213,000 to-149,000. If British India -, rests bn'-bayonetajthey are"not,.very .liumer- -..' OUS.' : ' "■ -v' ■ / :.-..-':■- ~'-.'■..■.'-"• .i:. ■ : -"The pivil and. "criminal laws have, been oodk fied, the', forests. conserved, and a wonderful eysteni of famine.relief created. Natives have - been broukhf into important positions of power, .'-.'■ end new measures areproposed for further selfgoverriraent.,. ■ Already .there are 700 uraniobali- ' ties;'with'l7,ooo,ooo people, ; which' control their ; own local'iaffairs, besides over 1000 district and local boards. With'all this have grotni political 7 aspirations, unavoidable and sometimes militant.'.' England has taught India, to look outward,'and to seek a large measure of --self::.g6rßrnment.: New reforms are sure to. be »1lowcd aiid are now promised. The next half : : qentury'is sure to-sea a vastly, more intelligent : ■'. and'free India, but there ia-no evidence that . it-: will , sever-itself; from the/.British;- Empire;"