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University
Library
INDIAN RAILWAYS
AKD
THEIR PROBABLE RESULTS,
WITH HATS AHB
CONTAÍNING STATISTICS OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL
COMMERCE OF INDIA,
BY
AN OLD INDIAN POSTMASTER,
VNiUiCMAW
THIRD EDITION.
" It is to India, that the chief enterprise of British commerce and civilisation
should be directed by an intelligent legislature.—Blackwood's Magazine.
LONDON:
T. C. NEWBY; P. RICHARDSON, COBNHILL;
EDiNBUBQit, OLIVER ik BOYD ; LIYEBFOOL, DEIGHTON.
1848
í ra."
;ï-
'* Looking to our Indian empire, we cannot but be struck witb the
singular facilities which—in climate, soil, and population—it presents
to the commerce of Great Britain/*—
" The actual expense incurred in the transit of the cotton (of Central
India to the Coast) can hardly be less on the average of the year than Id.
per lb. upon an article of which the first cost in the market did not pro¬
bably exceed 1^ per lb/*—Beport of GovernmeM Commission on
the Cultivation of Cotton in India,
The duty which Government owes to the millions of its subjects who
would experience from the completion of these projects (railways) an in¬
crease of happiness almost beyond the conception of Englishmen, is not
only gladdened by the prospect of simultaneous profit, but is lightened
by the extraordinary facilities awaiting its performance/'
** The guarantee of a minimum dividend is nothing, in fact, but raising
a loan at a given rate of interest for the purpose of some beneficial and
lucrative undertaking, and amongst the many millions which we h.ave
raised, it would be very difiScult to find on0 of which the purpose was so
promising as this/*—Article Times.*'
TO THE HONOURAHLE
THE COURT OF DIRECTORS
OF
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY,
As ike guardians of the British Empire in the East,
this brochure on the political^ military^ and commercial im*
portance of railway communication, as affecting the present
position, and future prospects ofthat Empire, is appropriately
and with much deference dedicated,
By their most ohedient, humble servant,
THE AUTHOR.
January, 1848.
4^0112
CONTENTS.
Page.
Introduotory -1
Political ajsd militaby impobtanob op bailways ïs
british india 8
The social à commercial advantages of railways
in british india 26
General policy, management, and terms of con¬
cession 52
Cost op construction, àc . . . . . 63
Classification of passengers, &c . • • . 71
Suggestions as to the mode of introducing the
railway system into india (wiTH map) . . 80
Presidency of bengal, or lower india . . . 84
Presidency of agra, N. W. provinces, or upper india 94
Pbesídency of madras 105
Report upon the madras railroad by Mr. Simms
C. E. Director rail. dept. . . . . 112
Presidency op bombay . . . , . .119
Report upon the bombay railroad by Mr. Robert
Stephenson, C. E. . . . . . . 137
Conclusion 142
APPENDIX.
Page.
A. Cleaeing house system as apelieb to eailways i
B. pnice of labour, anb materials in inbia . . vi
C. Price op labour, anb materials in englanb . viii
D. Transverse strength op inbian woobs as com-
pareb with norway beal, anb american ash x
E. Mobes of travelling in inbia, anb fares . xü
G. Traffic at confluence of ganges anb jumna ;
ANB ON GRANB TRUNK ROAB EIGHTY MILES ABOVE
THE CONFLUENCE . Xvi
G. i. Traffic between Calcutta anb belhi, from
OFFICIALLY AUTHENTICATEB GOVERNMENT RETURNS XVÜÍ
G. ii. Table of average bpeeb anb cost of present
mobes of conveying. passengers anb goobs
in bengal anb N. W. provinces . . . . XXÜ
H. Tabular view of (tonnage) anb value of
EXTERNAL COMMERCE OF INBIA COMPILEB BY PER¬
MISSION OF THE AUTHORITIES FROM OFFICIAL BOOU-
MENTS IN THE INBIA HOUSE BY THE AUTHOR . XXiU
I. Table of quantity anb value op tropical pro-
BUCTION^ IMPORTER INTO ENGLANB , , . XXIV
PREFACE.
to
THE THIRD EDITION.
Since the second edition of this brochure was given to
the public, nearly twelve months have elapsed, and the
altered aspect of affairs has of necessity led to a cor¬
responding alteration in the arrangement of the subject
matter of the following pages.
The diflference between the present edition and its
predecessors, may be stated in a few words ; the intro¬
ductory sections have been altered by leaving out what
was deemed superfluous, and substituting several im¬
portant additions to the text. The entire arrangement
of the other sections has been simplified, by excluding
what related to abortive schemes,* so that instead of
* " The Direct Bombay and Madras," the " Northern and
Eastern "
h
« •
II
the comparative merits of rival projects, the wants and
capabilities of the different presidencies are now briefly
described—^. the sections devoted to the ^*East Indian
line " the Great Western of Bengal" and to ^^sug¬
gestions as to the proper mode of introducing the rail¬
way system into India " are now arranged under the
last named head, " Bengal Proper" and the N. W.
Provinces." The original text is greatly abridged in all
these, and nothing is added to it, but copious notes
are appended, corroborative of the views formerly en¬
unciated. In like manner the sections appropriated to
the Madras Kaihvay " and the " Great Indian Penin¬
sula " are now headed respectively " Madras " and
" Bombay " the text of the former is unaltered, and
that of the latter is slightly compressed ; but the Re¬
port of Mr, Simms is added to the former, that of
Mr, Robert Stephenson, and other important matter
to the latter : additions have been made to the appen¬
dix, and altogether the little work has undergone a
thorough and careful revision. The writer gives, what
he conceives to be, a fair and compx*ehensive digest of
Indian Railways and their probable results, with the
rei^pective merits and claims of Bengal, Madras, and
Bombay, the two latter being allowed to state their case
more " in extenso the published Report of the Rail¬
way Commission, and the recent public meetings,
having brought the merits of the chief presidency more
generally into notice.*
* Those desirous of further information are referred to the
Reports of the Railway Companies, and the Reports and Let¬
ters upon Proposed Railways in India, ordered, by the House
of Commons, to be printed löth. Feb. and 5th, March 1847.
♦ I »
111
Much additional light has been thrown on the introduc¬
tion of railroads into India by the publication of luminous
reports and other documents emanating from the promo¬
ters of the more legitimate projects. In fact, suspense and
conjecture have been gradually giving way before a
brightening obscurity, and what was deemed, a short
while ago, the dream of the enthusiast, may now be re¬
garded as un fait accompli^ so far as reliance is to be placed,
in thedictum of science and in the matured and deliberate
conclusions of the authorities. Yet the obscurity is only
brightening, the subject being still shrouded under
the veil of ignorance, prejudice and timidity. The
apathetic ignorance regarding India so general as to
be all but universal, and so much to be deplored, is in¬
cidentally alluded to in the following extract from the
leading article of the Times^ of the 14th of J une last.
—It is well known that a line between any two towns
in Great Britain, selected with common judgment, and
constructed with common skill, will yield a certain
and infallible profit, over and above any honest and
legitimate expenses. It is not well known that such
results will follow in India. It is very true, that any
person acquainted, through study or service, with the
history and statistics of that empire, must be convinced
that all the financial and social improvements conse¬
quent upon railways at home, would be multiplied ten¬
fold on their introduction into Hindostán ; but how
far or wide is such information diíFused ? Six years
ago, one of our most accomplished writers and speakers,
at this moment a iiieuiber of Her Majesty's Cabinet,
avowed his conviction, that not one in ten oí our most
iv
highly educated gentlemen had the faintest conception
of those incidents of British Indian history, which
would correspond with the victories of Alfred or the
landing of the Conqueror in our domestic annals.
But for ten of euch persons who may be acquainted
with the deeds of SiR Hfctor Munro, or who might
haply track the territorial history of the Subahdarree
of Bengal, or sketch the dynastical fortunes of Oude,
could one be found who could describe the plans or the
objects of the great Ganges canal, the country to be
traversed between Monghir and Mirzapoor, the rela¬
tive fertilities oí the Circars and Candeish, the capabi¬
lities of the Cavery, or the wants of the Deccan !
Nor can imagination here supply the place of know¬
ledge. Though India is too remote to be appreciated,
it is too familiar to be dazzling. It is not a newly-found
El Dorado. The old fables of gold and rubies have van¬
ished under the scrutiny and experience of a century, and
the realities of unbounded resources and prodigious pro¬
ductiveness, have not yet supplied the void. There may
be no diamonds at Golconda, but there is the worth of
a ship-load of diamonds, in the cotton fields of the
Deccan."
The feelings of prejudice and timidity, result inevi¬
tably from unacquaintauce with the greatest and most
magnificent of our imperial dependencies, her history,
her people, and her resources. Hence it becomes the
duty of all who would uphold England in her com¬
mercial and manufacturing pre-eminence, and would
act with enlightened justice to India, to contribute
their quota to the lamp of knowledge, before whoso
V
peiietrating beam the mistj veil will dissolve, the views
enunciated by men of science, experience and research
will be listened toi, and the facts, demonstrating re¬
sources (of inestimable value to this country,) so vast as
to be almost incredible, will be believed.
There is little desire in the writer; to base any of his
propositions on presumptious, or to attach undue import¬
ance to any opinion or pTeconceived notion of his own,
although he can speak from considerable personal ac¬
quaintance with the country; on the contrary, it has been
his desire to place facts before the public, drawn either
fromoflScial documents, published or unpublished, or from
disinterested and unprejudiced parties, where practicable
in their own words : and when he speaks of his own know¬
ledge and observation, corroborative evidence has been
addedi especially in this edition, so that the reader may
judge if the inference drawn be borne out by the data
presented for consideration ; and it is most gratifying
to him to observe that, although last year he was termed
an enthusiastic advocate for railways in India '• that
this year, he is in a position to prove from oflScial state¬
ments, put forth by those with whom he had no con¬
nexion, that his enthusiasm was of so moderate a cha¬
racter, that he has in many instances understated the
merits of his case, and in no instance, that he is aware
of, exaggerated those merits. He was also rallied by
a respectable paper connected with India as indulging
in views, of Oriental magnificence," because he advo-
catedin June, 1846, in his first edition, that the Govern¬
ment should give a guarantee of 5 per cent. The same
paper now sees nothing more in a 5 per cent, guarantee
vi
" than what might bave been expected from a liberal
and enlightened government," Those who from their
connexion with India, ought to have given some degree
of attention to a subject of euch gravity, found fault
with the peculiarities of his views, because in the first
instance he desired, as he still desires, to use the means of
transit which Providence has provided for the country
in connexion with railroads. For example he desired
to see railroads commenced where the traffic was great,
where, for several hundred miles, no physical obstacle
presented itself, and where the river transit was either
altogether wanting, or extremely imperfect and dan¬
gerous, while he desired to postpone the solution of
engineering problems which, from their very novelty,
might cast a stumbling-block of difficulty, or doubt on
the general merits of the question at issue. The in¬
considerate reply to this was talk of break of gauge,
here would be delays and transhipments, we must have
the railway, the whole railway, and nothing but the
railway, and that immediately ! "* This would be all
* " In regard to the great line to connect the seat of Govern¬
ment with the extreme North-West, the author's opinions are
peculiar. He would construct the Northern part of the line
before the Southern, arguing that the Ganges, as far as it is
navigable, supplies the means of communication, and that it
is where this accommodation ceases that a railroad is more
especially wanted. If we were to have only half the line, this
mode of reasoning would be worth something, but as we mean
to have the whole, and very speedily, we cannot but regard
Calcutta as the most convenient point of commencement.*'
Indian Mail August 13th. 1846.
"Wo have little doubt that the preference given to tlie Mir-
zapore lino by the Railway Commissioners, will be confirmed
by the Supreme Government and the Court of Directors ; for
• •
vu
very well for an Aladin and his wonderful lamp, but
we can scarcely imagine that those bodies will participate in
the " Old'Postmaster s "* weakness in favour of the intermediate
river trip from Rajmahal to Allahabad on the way from the
Presidency to the North Western frontier."—Morning Herald^
November 14th. 1846.
The " Old Postmaster's " weakness was, and is, in favour of
the Eailway System being commenced in connection with river
transit, but those parties who last year thought him wrong, be¬
cause he differed from authorities, mùII this year by a parity of
reasoning think him right, if it be found that his suggestions
have been approved of, as shewn by the following extracts
placed in juxta-position :—
An epitome of his views as
expressed in a letter hy the
" Old Indian Postmaster " to
the Editor of the Morning
Herald under date lOiÄ. Ho-
vernier 1846.
" Should the line you sayl advo¬
cate be postponed, viz, that to
Rajmahl, and the concession of two
sections of the East Indian trunk line
be accorded, one in Lower India,
commencing at Calcutta, and the
other in Upper India, commencing
at Allahabad, leaving the interme¬
diate portion,which comprises all the
difficulties, for re-survey, I shall in
a great measure have achieved ray
object, i.e, to have the railway
system commenced where the pre¬
sent means of transit are most de¬
fective, where there is a great ex¬
isting traffic, a dense population and
few physical obstacles to surmount.*'
Mot* Herald Nov* 14, 1846.
What has finally been sanc¬
tioned hy the India House is
proved hy the following ex¬
tract from the concession re¬
cently granted*
" The East Indian Railway
Company is to undertake to con¬
struct in the first instance, and to
keep up and work when constructed,
two sections of their proposed line
of railway between Calcutta and the
North-Westeiu provinces of India.
One section in Upper and the other
in Lower India." (Commencing,
no doubt, at Allahabad & and Cal'
cutta respectively.)
Report of the Directors
of the East Indian Railway
Company as given in the
Morning Herald and other
papers of August 1th* 1847.
■** One word of explanation to the English reader, regarding the office
ot Postmaster in India may not be out of place. Immediately under the
Postmaster General there are Deputy Post Masters to divisions, or districts
of Country having subordinate Postmasters at all the towns, and stations
» • »
VIH
money and skilled labour in these days, even in the
East, are hard to be got realities.
" In England, when we discussed the gauge question^
we had been accustomed to travel at the rate of
twenty-five miles an hour by railway, and a break of
gauge promised us nothing but discomfort and delay,
without any equivalent; but let it be borné in mind,
that any means which will enable people or goods to
travel at a better rate than ten miles per diem, would
k
be a step in advance in India.
"Railroads in India, where the rivers cease to be navi¬
gable, assisted by steamers where the rivers are always
open, and the broad rivers crossed by floating bridges,*
+ The Portsmouth Floating Bridge is 70 feet in length
and 60 feet in breadth : and will hold on each side, besides
passengers, two rows of carriages, 7 0 feet long. She is im¬
pelled by two engines, twenty-horse power each ; the cylinders
being 18 inches in diameter, and the length of the stroke 3
feet. The average rate of the engines will be about 30
strokes per minute j and the average speed about 350 feet
per minute, so that she will perform the passage (2,200 feet)
in about seven minutes. She only draws, with all her ma¬
chinery on board, 2 feet 9 inches ; and 50 tons additional
weight will only sink her 4 inches.—See Rand-Book of Art
for 1842.
subject to their jurisdiction. These latter attend to the receipt and trans¬
mission of the mails, the dispatch and distribution of letters and parcel
traffic, the Government Dák or posting establishments, and forwarding ex¬
presses, reporting monthly to the Deputy Postmaster of the District, who
again makes his report to the Postmaster General, and to whom alone he
is amenable. The Deputy Postmaster is almost always a military or civil
servant of Government. The writer held the office as an extra appoint¬
ment both in Lower and in Upper India ; in the latter the chief judge
of the district preceded him, and in the adjoining districts a Deputy
Adjutant General of Division, and a Major of Brigade respectively per¬
formed the duties. The Deputy Postmaster generally contracts with
Government for carrying the mails through his district, he has the power of
franking on the public service all over India, and appoints and removes
all the Postmasters in his district.
ix
would be a prodigious improvement in travelling in
that country, so far as speed, safety, economy, and
comfort are concerned."^
The introduction of any measure, however benefi¬
cent, involving so many fundamental changes in the
distribution of labour and capital, new to the people,
and so unlike anything that they have been accustomed
to, must, if success, at once safe and rapid, be desider¬
ated, however paradoxical it may appear, be introduced
in a cautious, well organized, and systematic manner, let¬
ting the future progress of the measure have a reference
to the results obtained, or to the encouragement held
out ; besides this, and the impolicy of raising suddenly so
large an amount of capital, it is of obvious importance
to educate the natives of the country for the several
kinds of labour and the working of machinery, both
of which are of necessity new to them.
As to what may be achieved by native workmen, the
gorgeous Mausoleurasf and Palaces, the numerous Cara¬
vanserais, Forts and other public monuments of ingen-
* Second Edition of a Letter hy the Author of Indian
Railways''—Smith, Elder, k Co.
T The Taj Muhal at Agra is famed alike for beauty of ma¬
terial and design. It is of large size and built entirely of white
marble. The Central Hall, or principal apartment, in which
are the Cenotaphs, is of noble proportions and lined
throughout with pure white marble, which is either most
beautifully^arved in bold relief, or inlaid with precious stones
in the pietra dura style for which Florence is so famous, and
which the writer has not seen surpassed, if equalled, in Italy.
This latter portion of their work an Italian taught the natives,
but in other respects, both as to general design and detail, the
building is their own.
X
uity and skilly sufficiently demonstrate that the native
artisan of India only requires to be trained to enable
him to effect whatever has been accomplished by his
European brethren. These works were executed before
we assumed the government of the country, and under
our own auspices they have made roads, built bridges,
raised collosal embankments, cut canals, and erected
magnificent buildings,* In the European style to the
entire satisfaction of our Engineers and the authorities.
Of their aptitude in accommodating themselves to en¬
tirely new labour, and acquiring the requisite knowledge
of machinery, we have ample proof in the capacity and
expertness of the native engineers in the Calcutta Mint,
where they have been for years employed in working the
* To select one out of many examples :—the Palace of the
Newab at Moorshedabad, erected ten years ago from the design
and under the immediate superintendence of Major General
Me Leod. It is an oblong and lofty parallelogram of the Grecian
Doric order about 450 feet in length by 200 in breadth, contain¬
ing three tiers of apartments enclosing two square courts. There
are two fronts each having a noble portico, one of these is ap¬
proached by a lofty flight of steps leading to the state apart¬
ments, and underneath there is a carriage-way to a private
entrance. In the interior of the building there is a circular
hall, adorned by a singularly handsome dome. The quality of
the materials, the strength of the building, and the beauty, and
finish of its external and internal ornaments, are well known to
all sojourners in the East. The building cost about £80,000, and
would have required in this country about £300,000. With the
exception of General Mc Leod, no European either planned or
executed any portion of the work. A large and beautiful model
of the palace, also made by natives, was presented to the Crown
by the distingifished Architect, andmaynow be seenatHampton
Court.
XI
SteamMachiaery of that most magnificent establishment
in those attached to the several steam engines in the
Burdwan coal district,* and in other instances which
might be adduced.!
* " There are on the dliferent estates six steam-engines,
aggregating seventy-horse power, with winding and pumping
machinery complete ; also workshops and implements for the
engineering establishments, working coal from twenty different
shafts, and running at present at the rate of twenty-three lacs
of maunds per annum=8o,18o tons 3 cwt. ; and capable, if re¬
quired, of producing double that quantity.
" The coal-beds of the Company, extend over a space of 30
miles ; the vein at present worked, is from 70 to 100 feet below
the surface, varying in thickness from 9 to II feet, and the
means of supply are believed to be almost inexhaustible. The
quantity of coal hitherto raised under separate managements,
although in a great degree regulated by the demand, has al¬
ways been in excess of it, and it has been ascertained by ex¬
perience, that forty lacs of maunds^ 148,148 tons 1 cwt., can
easily be raised from the shafts now in operation ; while the
supply can be carried to any extent by sinking new ones if
necessary.
" The Bengal Coal Company expect to bring to Calcutta,
eighteen lacs of maunds—66,666 tons 6 cwt. of coal, at a
much smaller cost than has ever before been done, owing to
the great saving effected by the junction of the concerns—the
prevention of litigation, and the reduction of establishments.
They have contracts from Government and private individuals
for nearly twelve lacs of maunds= 44,444 tons 9 cwt., about
thrée Iacs=ll,lll tons Icwt. more are taken by brick burners,
while the surplus will supply occasional purchases. The con¬
sumption of all kinds of coal in Calcutta has hitherto been
about eighteen lacs of maunds=66,666 tons 6 cwt., a year ;
and there can be no doubt that the rapid extension of the use
t Mr. A. S. Ayrton, of Bombay, in a letter to the Chair¬
man of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company, men¬
tions that one of the Steam-boats plying between Bombay
and Surat is managed by one English engineer only, at a
Salary of 150 rupees (^15) per mensem, with the assistance
of the natives of the country.
« •
xii
But it ought to be borne in mind that experience
proves, both in this country and elsewhere, that the
amount of expenditure is always materially affected by,
and bears a relation to, the amount of pressure applied
to hasten the execution of works of a novel charactere
An attempt was made to affix the stigma of partizan-
ship to the author of Indian Kailways " but as he had
no connection, and has not now, with the project indi¬
cated, no greater compliment could have been paid to
his impartiality. The last assailant who stepped for¬
ward to do his devoir, having views of his own, appealed
to maps and compasses, forgetting that a map of India
only indicating its larger rivers, and from which hills—
loftier than Cadir Idris—are excluded is somewhat in¬
ferior as a guide to personal acquaintance with the
country; but the assailant encountering no physical
obstacle proved himself right to his own satisfaction,
and the Old Indian Postmaster" wrong by authority.
Since the above was written the Calcutta Review for
June 1847 has been perused, the pleasantry of the re¬
viewer on making the discovery that an estimate given
in one part of this book for one line, did not correspond
of steam in this country, whether applied to navigation or
manufactures, must in a very short time increase the quantity
of coal required, to double the present amount."
" Mr. Williams, the mining geologist, employed by the Ben¬
gal Government to survey the Burdwan district, discovered a
deposit of coal, which he reported as equal in quality to the
best found in the coal basins of this country. It afterwards
appeared, that this valuable deposit was on the property of tho
Bengal Coal Company."*
* Second Edition of a Letter hy the Author of " Indian
Mailways "—Smith, Elder, é Co.
« • «
Xlll
with an estimate given in another part for another line,
is reciprocated, and would have been enjoyed sub silentio
had not the same paragraph been disfigured with rather
a serious mis-statement.
A reputed competent authority, a Military Engineer,
had in 1843 estimated the cost of a railway from Calcutta
to Raj mahl at £4,400 per mile, (exclusive of several
items *) which Mr. Simms, in his last and still unpub¬
lished Report, objects to in a very elaborate manner: To
take," says the Reviewer, so much trouble to refute so
absurd an estimate,f we should have pronounced supere-
* Vide page 70 of this work.
t Not a bit more absurd than the still more recent estimates
for the East Indian, Great Indian Peninsula and others, as
may. be seen by referring to page 67, all of which were just as
much adopted by the Old Indian Postmaster " as the £4,400
per mile was by the author of the " Letter to the shareholders."
In both instances as might have been seen they are mere quota¬
tions. The Military Engineer officer published his report in the
Calcutta papers so far back as March 1843, and gave his estimate,
of £4,400 per mile for aline from Calcutta to Rajmahl, and up
the Gange tic valley, evidently in an incomplete state, from a
number of items having been omitted, indeed in para. 19 of
his report the Military Engineer says, " allowing for contin¬
gencies (fee. Rs. 50,000 a mile." And if the Reviewer had
read that report he would have seen that it contained the im¬
portant suggestion of making the large bridges of the railroad
broad enough to give accommodation to the common traffic of
the country, the whole credit of which he gives, in a preced¬
ing portion of the article, to the Railway Commission ; but
there is no originality in the idea, except the application of it
to India. To have railway bridges with common roadways
has been for years adopted in the Government lines in Belgium,
which the writer has traversed ; for instance :—The Val-Benoit
bridge over the Meuse from the Val-Benoit to the Bac-in-Pot
shore, on which a toll is levied for Government—the bridge
over the Ourthe at Chénée, and a Viaduct which joins the
bridge have each a roadway for carriage and foot-passengers.
xiv
rogatory, but both the Old Indian Posimaster,'' as
Mr. Simms probably was aware, and the author of the
" Letter to the Shareholders," dwell on the estimate
alluded to, the latter literally adopting it;* the former
quoting it as good, as far as it goes, but adding £2^100
The two latter were commenced in 1840,*—besides other ex¬
amples which might be named. The Military Engineer is
a perfect stranger to the " Old Indian Postmaster," except by
name. The undisguised asperity of the Calcutta Review can
do no harm in India. It is but fair, however, to let it be
known here, how the gentleman in question stands in the esti¬
mation of those really able to say whether he is a " competent
authority " in his profession or not. The following is an ex¬
tract from a Calcutta paper of March, 1843 :—■
" REPORT ON THE APPLICATION OF RAILWAY
COMMUNICATION IN INDIA."
"We gladly take advantage of the interest which Railways for
India have excited to lay before our readers, a plan for a rail¬
road which was recently submitted to the Court of Directors,
by a young and zealous officer in their service on this establish¬
ment, whose talents were so highly appreciated by Col. Paisly,
that when on a recent occasion the Senate of Hamburgh ap¬
plied to him for an Engineer to blow up a vessel which ob¬
structed the navigation of the Elbe, the author of this plan
was selected for that employment. Just at that time, however,
the news of our disaster in Affghanistan, reached England,
and every officer on furlough was hurried to India, to prevent
the sack of Calcutta by Ahbar Khan and his mountaineers.
He was thus deprived of the opportunity of distinguishing
himself."
Captain Western, the officer alluded to, was subsequently
selected, by the Government of India, to form the Railway
Commission, in conjunction with Captain Boileau and Mr.
Simms.—O.I. P.
Yide ''Railways in Belgium'' hyEdwardDobsonA.I.C.E,,
John Weale High Holhorn,
* This is quite incorrect as may be seen at page 12 of the
" Letter to the Shareholders,"
XV
per mile for items assumed not to be included in it ; and
concluding ^thus,—^ total £6^500 : allowing an ample
margin for contingencies, say per mile £8,000.' It is
pleasant to compare these different authorities with one
another. While the Bengal Military Engineer officer
says 4,400/. per mile, the Old Postmaster swears by
him, yet swells the sum first to 6,500/. then to 8,000/.
having only two pages before made in a note the following
statement :*—^ The line from Calcutta to Mirzapore, if.
executed in the manner proposed by the Railway Com¬
missioners, may be estimated at 20,000/. per mile ; from
Allahabad to Delhi 8,000/; Calcutta to the Sutledge,
it would be an average from 12,000/. to 15,000/.^ " Oh,
it depends on the manner in which the works are exe¬
cuted?" By no means, it depends on the estimates
having been made for different lines ! The author of
the " Letter to the Shareholders " did not adopt the
estimate of 4,400/. per mile for the Rajmahl line. On
the contrary in page 12 of the letter in both editions
he gives his own estimate of 8,000/. per mile, in these
words : " an estimated capital of one million and a half,
which might be required for the purpose of uniting
Rajmahl with Calcutta," (the distance being under 200
miles), having previously recommended that the
broad rivers should be crossed by floating bridges, and
in a foot note he merely quotes the opinion of another
party that the cost of construction of a certain portion of
the work would be about 4,400/. per mile. That the
* When speaking of another Line !
xvi
Old Indian Postmaster did not swear by the Bengal
Military Engineer is twice proved by the Eeviewer
himself. 1st. by bis adding 3,600/. per mile to com¬
plete the Military Engineer's estimate for the Eajmahl
line. 2nd. by adventuring an independent estimate of
his own for the Mirzapore line. Had the Eeviewer
said that the author of the Letter to the Share¬
holders " swore by the Old Indian Postmaster " there
might have been something in it from their family re¬
semblance which appears to have escaped the literary
acumen of the sharp-sighted Eeviewer. That the " Old
Indian Postmaster's " estimate for the Mirzapore line
should be borne out so far by the authority of Mr. Simms,
as mentioned in a preceding page of the article in question,
is gratifying, but as to there being any necessity for
estimates for lines of entirely different character and
locality being precisely similar is not to the writer an
obvious sequitur. On this point, and possibly on
some others, the logic of the Calcutta Eeviewer ap¬
pears to require revision ; he occasionally indulges,
with a happy dexterity, in knocking himself down
instead of his opponent; and therefore those who
might be disposed to impugn his candour can only ad¬
mire the ambidexterous ingenuity which enables him,
with his weapon pointed to the enemy, to demolish
himself.
With few exceptions, the public press gave the
writer credit for propounding sound views, with¬
out any undue bias in favour of one project over
another," praising and censuring equally from convic¬
tion, and thuse who differed from him in opinion
xvii
promptly and liberally opened tbeir columns for his
replies to their observations. This was matter of peculiar
gratification, the great object he had in view being to
promote to the best of his ability the free and full dis¬
cussion of one of the most momentous questions of mo¬
dern times.
The fourcompanies whose projects he believed deserved
public confidence and support were the East Indian,
the Great Western of Bengal, the Madras, and the
Great Indian Peninsula; for instance in Bengal, the
line from Calcutta to Bajmahl, and that portion of
the Grand Trunk Line from Allahabad to the North
West Frontier; in Madras, the line from Madras
to Wallajanuggur and Arcot; and in Bombay the
comprehensive scheme of the Great Indian Peninsula
Railway Company. How have they passed the ordeal
of public opinion and ofiScial and scientific investiga¬
tion? The two first named, their intentions having
been sanctioned and approved by the Bail way Commis¬
sion in India, were severally invited by the Court of
Directors of the Hon. East India Company to tender
for a concession for the formation of two sections, one
in Upper and one in Lower India, to be made simulta¬
neously. Soon after this, the East Indian, and Great
Western of Bengal, wLich we have been referring
to, amalgamated at the instance of the authorities,
to facilitate the adjustment of a great public mea¬
sure by removing any rival interest that might
exist or arise, being the only two companies in¬
vited by the India House to propose for any portion
of their respective projects. The consolidated Com-
d
xviii
pany has since formally arranged the concession with
the authorities for the two sections, and the vir¬
tual monopoly of the Bengal Presidency,—the terms
shall be particularized immediately. The Madras line
has been, as may be seen by referring to 112 of the
following pages, favourably reported on, and recom¬
mended by Mr. Simms ; and the Bombay scheme has
gained the sanction and approbation of Mr. Robert
Stephenson, tlie eminent engineer, in his Report
thereon—page 137 of this brochure.
That Madras and Bombay, should have been excluded
for a time from the eagerly coveted advantages of im¬
proved intercommunication, unblessed as they are with
navigable rivers, is greatly to be regretted, but, if there
was to be a choice surely there can be no question as
to which of the three Presidencies was entitled to the
preference, whether we regard the greatness of the
existing traffic,* the relative amount of population per
Tons per annum.
♦ Traffic existing on Bengal line .... 2,226,359.
(Vide 1st. Report of Directors East
Indian Railway and note towards
the end of this preface.)
Traffic existing on Madras line .... 30,000.
(Vide p. p. 110 and 116 of this
work, and papers relating to Ma¬
dras Railway p. 6.)
Traffic existing on Bombay line . , . 180 000.
(Vide p. p. 131 and 140, of this work
and Report and papers of Great
Indian Peninsula Railway p. p. 9
and31.)
xix
square inilcj or in the aggregate,*—the number and
maornitude of the inland seats of trade and ii.anu-
facture—the geographical position and political and
commercial relations.f The pre-emiaent importance
of commencing the railroad system in Bengal, was
strongly and emphatically urged by the Chairman of
the Honourable East India Company at the court of
Proprietors in June last,^ and while Mr. Sullivan advo¬
cated the claims of the Madras railway, of which he was
a Director, and another gentleman, a Director of the
* Presidency, Area. Population. Population,
i-quare JVliles. per Square j51ile.
Bengal. " 2U,112. " 60,000,000. " 280.
Agra.» " 88,900. " 20,000,000. " 226.
Madras. " 141,923. " 15,508,535. " 109.
Bombay. " 64,938. " 6,2öl,546.t " 91.
+ For the External Commerce of the three Presidencies
Appendix (h) may be consulted. It was compiled by the
Author from Official Returns in the India House, to the most
recent date those documents admitted of.
J The C11AIT131AN said that the Directors were deeply im¬
pressed with the necessity of commencing railways in India
as soon as they could. It was a great national, a great mili¬
tary, and political object, to establish those modes of con¬
veyance, and it would economise many branches of their
disbursement. And as to cotton, in Bengal it was more im¬
portant to have railways for that article than in any other
part of India, because the cotton produced in the Nerbudda,
lost 12 months from the time it was gathered until it was ex¬
ported. It was liable during that period to great deterioration,
to charge for warehousing and transport.it should
be in the recollection of the Court, that they had other objects
of paramount importance in view. A connexion between
the western provinces and the seat of Government was pre¬
eminently necessary, and this they proposed commencing as
soon as they could."—Morning Chronicle June 24:th. 1847.
* Upper IiKÜa or iV, W, Provinces, f *^'€6 map iu c mjianyiug the ( ot-
ton Trade of India" by Major General l)riipi;LS F.ll.S, Tiie reader is also
XX
Peninsula line, was equally earnest in urging the claims
of Bombay to the consideration of the Court, they both
admitted that the line for connecting the Metropolis of
British India with the N". W. Frontier possessed para¬
mount claims ; instead of detracting from its great and
acknowledged merits ; and if all who are interested in
this great movement, were equally judicious, their more
immediate object would certainly not be retarded, but
might be facilitated by an unity of action, elicited by
a reciprocity of good offices; instead of which, the
organs for the lesser, and for the present disappointed.
Presidencies,* now talk of the swamps of Bengal, as if
the people were amphibious, or as if the indigo plan¬
ters were obliged to fly in the rainy season for safety
and solace, to the tops of their indigo vats, from the tu¬
multuous flood. To allay the apprehensions of these
somewhat injudicious friends to the general introduc¬
tion of the railroad system into India, they are referred
to the Report of the Railway Commission, the Report
of the Damúda Commission on embankments, and other
published official documenta^
The prosperity of the subject Presidencies, is identi¬
fied with, and dependant upon that of Bengal, for the
revenue of merely a portion of this Presidency, viz.,
that of Bengal Proper and Behar, is nearly equal to
that drawn from Upper India and the whole of Madras
and Bombay put together ;*|" it alone supplies the sinews
* See note page xxiii. t See page 50.
referred to pages 50 and 51 of this work. The discrepancies observable
are owing to the different dates of the official documents from which the
calculations were made; for instance the table p-ige 50 is more recent than
that of General Briggs, and only applies to a portion of the Presidencey,
while the oth'^r appears d'^i^cd from Ic^s recent data.
xxi
of war> makes good the short comings of the less fertile
provinces—^pays the dividend of 10|- psr cent, to India
Stock proprietors^ supports the establishments of the
Board of Control and India House, and many other
items—besides enabling us to defend, consolidate, and
improve other portions of our widely extended territory,
naturally more exposed and less productive.
It now becomes necessary to advert to the extent,
and nature of the privileges granted in the concession
for the Bengal Presidency, and the prospects of the
Company, destined to commence that magnificent system
of intercommunication which is hereafter to pervade
the British empire in the East.
The East Indian Railway Company is to undertake
to construct in the first instance, and to keep up and
work when constructed, two sections of their proposed
line of railway between Calcutta and the North-Western
Provinces of India—one section in Upper, and the other
in Lower India—and to expend thereon the sum of
3,000,000/. sterling. The Railway Company is to carry
the government mails free of cost, and the troops and
military stores at the lowest fares charged to passengers
and goods.
" In consideration whereof the East India Company
is to guarantee a minimum dividend of 5 per cent, per
annum upon sums, which in the course of three years
from the date of the railway company signing the first
contract with the East India Company, shall be paid into
the East India Company's treasury by the Railway Com¬
pany, to an extent not exceeding 3,000,000/. sterling.
This guarantee is to continue for a period of 25
xxii
yôars, and the payment of the interest is to commence
so soon as the payment into the East India Company's
treasury shall amount to lOO^OOOZ.^ and is to be made
in London half-yearly.
The East India Company is to provide and lease to
the railway company, without charge or expense, for
99 years, all the land required for the railway ; the
land remaining the property of the government.
When the profits of the railway exceed 5 per cent.,
the excess is to be divided between the East India Corn-
any and the Railway Company, until the amount which
may have been advanced by the East India Company
shall have been repaid : thus, supposing the line to pay
10 per cent., the proprietary would receive?^ per cent.,
and the government 2^, until the advances should be
repaid, when the whole of the profits would revert to
the proprietors.
Your directors beg to state their unanimous opinion,
that these terms are such as they can most fully recom¬
mend the proprietors to adopt ; they offer advantages
superior to those enjoyed by any railway company at
home or on the Continent.
" The guarantee establishes the railway payments up
to 3,000,000/, sterling, on the basis of a government
five per cent, stock, and offers a safe and eligible in¬
vestment for money at a fair rate of interest, payable
half-yearly in London, for twenty-five years.
In addition to this certainty, the proprietors may
reasonably indulge the hope of an early participation
in the profits of the railway, which have been shown,
by the data laid before them in April last, to promise
• t t
XXlll
a large additional compensation to the persons who may
be disposed to embark their capital in the undertaking '
and the proprietors will recollect, that for every pay¬
ment made, they will receive from the East India Com¬
pany an interest of 5 per cent, payable half-yearly in
London.
Your directors will receive payment in anticipation
of calls, so as to allow parties to avail themselves of the
East India Company's guarantee at once ; they are pre¬
pared, to take the responsibility of receiving 15Z. per
share."
All future calls, will be strictly regulated upon the
principle of affording every facility to those who desire
to convert their calls into a fixed stock, and rendering
the calls as light as possible to those parties, to whom
such an investment may not be at all times con¬
venient."*
The guaranteed interest of five per cent, per annum
will accrue from the 21st. day of October 1847. A
warrant for the amount of the half-yearly interest will
be passed from the treasury of the Honourable East
India Company, and the dividends will be paid to the
Shareholders at the offices of the East Indian Railway
Company, t
* Vide Report of the Directors of the East Indian Railway
Company as giren in the Morning Herald and other papers
of Aug. 7, 1847.
t Vide East Indian Rail, Go, Circular of Sept, 11, 1847.
The writer is happy in being able to state from authority
that the Great Indian Peninsula Kailway Company, has also
obtained a concession on similar terms, although to a smaller
xxiv
The above being an abstract of the terms of the
concession granted to the ïiast Indian Railway Com¬
pany, let us now, in a financial point of view, briefly
examine the proposition of railways in India tbeir
applicability, and the security, and return offered for
capital invested, under the following heads :—
1st. The applicability of Railways to India.
2nd. Safety of investment as a 5 per cent. Govern¬
ment Stock.
3rd. The probable returns from the railway when
opened, based upon the cost of construction and the
extent and nature of the existing traffic as proved by
official documents.
1st. The applicability of Railways to India. This
is an essential element in any calculation as to the
ultimate probable return from the railway. That
the difficulties arising from excessive inundations,
violent rains and other influences of a tropical
climate, quoted as likely to prove injurious to the
stability of a railway can be eifectually provided
against, the successful working of the Jamaica Rail-
extent, to those granted to the East Indian Eailway Company.
Five per cent, is guaranteed on ¿0000,000 for 25 years, to be
paid vithin three years, and to commence when ¿030,000 is
paid into the India House. The first section opened, is to be
from Bombay to Callyan 35 miles in length.
This is an important indication of the dawn of a better day
for the cotton growing Ryots of Western India, and for
the cotton spinning Operatives of Lancashire. The ability and
zeal of the Promoters of the Bombay Railway Company, and
the goodness of their cause well deserved the consideration of
the authorities. Much is also due to the Noble Chairman of
the Company Lord WharncIifFe.
XXV
way may be mentioned, and thç business-like promp¬
titude, with which the Colonial Office lately
brought to definite conclusions the negotiations with
various Companies for the introduction of railroads
into Ceylon, Demerara and Trinidad, after due investi¬
gation had been instituted, would form a strong pre¬
sumption in favour of the climate and soil of India
being equally safe and appropriate : but the perfect
practicability of making and maintaining railroads in
either of the three presidencies of our Indian empire,
appears to be demonstrated by the present state of the
roads and embankments of that country, and that this is
a fair inference is proved by the surveys and reports of
Engineer officers in the Indian service at Madras so far
back as the year 1838, recently favourably reported upon
by Mr. Simms at the desire of the government of India,
by the elaborate surveys of the Engineers of the Great
Indian Peninsula Railway Company approved and veri¬
fied by Mr. Robert Stephenson, by the surveys, plans
and sections of the country from Calcutta to Delhi 900
miles in length, examined and approved by Messrs.
Rendel and Beardmore, and by the Report of the RaiL
way Commission in India printed by order of the House
of Commons. Captain Western of the Bengal En¬
gineers, and a member of the late Railway Commission
in India, published a Report in the Calcutta papers in
1843, on the application of railway communication in
India commenting on the singular adaptation of the
country for this mode of transit.
It should, however, be mentioned that there are
advantages as well as objections to be found in the pe-
e
xxvi
culiarity of the climate, and that it offers capabilities, if
properly availed of, for the construction of more substan¬
tial and permanent roads than elsewhere. There are the
three important elements of a powerful sun, a free and
unimpeded current of air, and the great rapidity of
growth of plants and shrubs for binding the earth.
These are valuable auxiliaries, and to ensure stability
only require the provision of sufficient water ways, at
more frequent intervals, than have hitherto been allowed
and especial attention to the original formation of the
road under well qualified supervision."
" The unusual inundation which occurred at the
period of the rains last year (1845), has been of advantage
to the objects of the survey, as shewing the highest
rise of the waters under extreme circumstances, and
as affording valuable data for regulating the construc¬
tion of that portion of the works, which comes within
the influence of, or can be at all affected by it."*
Suppose to set the matter at rest we select Bengal
and that portion of the Province of all others most
liable to the influence of periodical rains and inunda¬
tions.
With regard to the two first, viz^ :—Periodical
rains and inundation, and the continual action of
violent winds and influences of a vertical eun, I have
to remark, that they certainly do at first sight appear
of a formidable character ; but experience has proved
the practicability of forming works of this description,
by what has already been accomplished, in formation
* Report of the Managing Director, East Indian Rail» Co*
xxvii
of a road constructed in the face of difficulties ap¬
parently insurmountable ; the work I allude to is the
road from Cluîtaotonii to Comillah, a distance of 130
o c*
miles, which was constructed about the year 1795, by
Mr. Elliot, the Magistrate of Tipperah ; consequently
it has stood the test of fifty years.
When we consider that the country, through
which this road passes, is more exposed to inundation
than any other part of Bengal, besides the violent
action of the tide, which rushes through the numerous
creeks intersecting the roads, we feel constrained to
admire the public spirit of the individual who at¬
tempted such a work, in the face of such formidable ob¬
stacles, and his energy, intelligence and judgment in
bringing it to a successful issue ; the road in question
bears a strong resemblance to a Railway, in its high
embankments, elevated in some places above the sur¬
rounding country t> the height of 20 and 30 feet, and
its surface is a perfect level throughout its course."*
The duty which Government owes to the millions
of its subjects who would experience from the com¬
pletion of these projects an increase of happiness al¬
most beyond the conception of Englishmen, is not only
gladdened by the prospect of simultaneous profit, but
is lightened by the extraordinary facilities awaiting its
performance."!
It will be shown hereafter that, judging from
* Letters from Major C. A. Monro, late Bengal A rmij^ in
Appendix to the Report of Managing Director, East India,n
Rail Company,
t Leading Article, Timesf June ÍJ, 1847.
xxviii
analogy, the natives will quickly be alive to the ad-
vantages of a railroad, and that, if this mode of transit
is applicable to their country, it is so in a still more
especial manner to its valuable but perishable products.
2. Safety of investment as a 5 per cent. Government
Stock.—This head one would imagine scarcely required
any elucidation or discussion, and might be replied to
at once by asking the simple question, are India Bonds
safe, or is India Stock a very fluctuating or speculative
investment ? The characteristic of these is safety, and
so is that of the East India Railway so far as safety is
presumable from the credit, the resources, and the
stability of Government, the territorial revenues of
India being answerable alike for all, whether the
charter be renewed in 1854 or not. The financial ar¬
rangements of the Hon. East India Company are all
entered into with the knowledge and sanction of the
Royal Government and should it assume at any time
the government of India without the intervention of
the India House authorities, it must, by an express
provision of the Charter or act of Parliament,* take the
country subject to all the debts and liabilities to which
the territorial revenue has become liable.
India Bonds are too like Exchequer Bills to suit for
a comparison being ineligible for permanent invest¬
ment, from the rate of interest they bear rising or fall-
* Entitled^ Act for effecting an arrangement with the
East India Company, and for the better government of his
Majesty8 India Territories, till the 30th day of April, one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four I—23th August, 1833.
xxix
in^ according to the abundance or scarcity of money»
India Stock on the contrary is guaranteed by the
Charter or Act of Parliament an interest of lOj per
cent per annum on the original £100 which at the
price of £240 or £140 premium yields to the
investor 4|- per cent per annum for twenty seven
years with the prospect of losing at the end of that
period £40 of the capital invested or whatever the
sum may be in excess of 200/. paid for 100/. original
stock the said dividend being subject to redemp¬
tion by parliament upon or after the 30ih. April 1874
on payment to the Coiupany of two hundred pounds
sterling fur every one hundred pounds of the said Capital
Stock, being the amount to be paid out of the security
fund, as provided for in the Charter for better secur¬
ing to the said Company the redemption of their said
dividend." The guaranteeing party being the same
and the security proffered being precisely similar,
priority of claim excepted, what is the difference
between an investment in the Indian Kailway and
East India Stock? In the former there is 6 per
cent, per annum for 25 years guaranteed by the State
with the entire of the surplus profits (after the
amount which may have been advanced by the East
India Company shall have been repaid) of the Kail-
road during that period, the capital invested instead of
being returnable after a short period of years, less by
20 per cent, than its actual value when invested (which
we have seen is the position of India Stock i. e. what
now costs 240/,, will when redeemed be exactly 200/.)
merges in the enterprise of a private Company, but so
XXX
intimately connected with and controlled by Govern-'
ment that it can never cease being identified with it^
thus imparting a solidity and a permanency to its ob¬
jects and results, and an integrity to its management
which must be highly beneficial both to the shareholder-
and public, so that the safety of the two modes of invest¬
ment may be assumed as equal although their designa¬
tions be dissimilar. There is much however in a name,
but there is little propriety and less sense in the
conclusion, that because the bubble of the ignorant
and designing in 1845 proved something worse than
a delusion, or a dream, that an enterprise which
has secured the immediate co-operation and guarantee
of the goverment, after the most minute and careful
scrutiny, should be placed in the same category because
they both happen to be Railways !*
* " It was with very great satisfaction that we reported on
Wednesday the completion of the arrangements necessary to
secure the actual commencement of the works of the East
Indian Eailway during the ensuing winter. The superin¬
tendence of the operations and of the general affairs of the
company in India have been committed to a board of three
experienced gentlemen, and on the 20th of next month these
commissioners will sail for the scene of their enterprise with
a full executive staff of surveyors and engineers. Before the
termination, therefore, of the next cold season, the beginning,
which in this good fight is even more than half the battle,
will have been made, and interest and policy will speedily
insure a triumphant conclusion. None of our readers can
have forgotten the earnestness with which we have continually
advocated the claims of this undertaking. On previous
occasions, however, our duty has been rather to urge upon
Indian authorities the title of the enterprise to immediate
and efficient patronage, and to represent to a direction and a
constituency never blind to the interests of their subjects or
xxxi
That very scrutiny which hiis postponeJ for a season
averse to even costly measures of improvement, but essen¬
tially and venially circumspect in their decisions, that a benefit
was really offered to their dominions far greater than any of
those for the sake of which they have hitherto consented to
a sacrifice or hazarded an experiment. But now that the
charter and sanction of Government have been at length
obtained, it becomes expedient to direct general attention to the
prospects and character of the enterprise in hand, lest an un¬
dertaking calculated to conjer such infinite blessings on so
many millions of people should suffer from the discredit
which reckless speculation has thrown upon schemes at home,
and public support be wanting to the furtherance of a work
which official patronage has at length so liberally set on foot.
Looking at the affair, first, as a matter of business, it cannot
be denied that the directors of the infant company have
succeeded in securing fair and reasonable terms for the remu¬
neration of those who may aid in the enterprise. The Indian
Government has guaranteed a minimum dividend of 5 per
cent, to commence immediately, and to continue for 25 years,
or for 17 years after the completed line shall have been opened
for traffic. A free lease of 99 years of all the land required
has also been granted by the same authorities. There will
be no compensation to landholders, no competition either now
or hereafter with any rival applicants, and no Parliamentary
expenses. The cheerful and undivided energies of a Govern¬
ment, which, for such a purpose, may be termed despotic, will
be at the ready service of the adventurers. The average cost
of construction throughout the line, even estimated after
European fashion, will be but moderate, the portion below the
midway station of Mirzapore being rather above, and that
beyond it rather below the ordinary standard of expense.
But it must be recollected on this head, that labour will be
abundantly and cheaply supplied, and that the requisite
materials are furnished by the productions of the country
in most serviceable profusion. Means do not exist for cal¬
culating the probable traffic in this case with that imposing
show of statistical exactitude which amongst ourselves ushers
in a prospectus for connecting two deserted villages by a
railroad of a dozen miles, but it is not difficult to conceive
the available purposes of a line which will thread a popula-
xxxii
the electric impulse of steam before whose breath the
tion of 30,000,000, and connect the seat of a mighty Go¬
vernment with its most exposed and most important fron¬
tiers, in a country where means of communication are more
urgently called for and more miserably supplied than in any
other in the world. No example could be brought of any
projected line oí which the advantages, the cost, and the
bearings have been subjected to such critical scrutiny as in
the present case was employed, but the tedious caution of the
sanctioning body, if it has somewhat delayed the happiness
of Hindostán, should at least be instrumental in satisfying
the doubts of England.
" It would be impossible for even the most speculative and
sanguine observer to portray all the possible results of the
establishment of railway communication in the Indian Pen¬
insula. But the certain and visible consequences are so mo¬
mentous that their bare enumeration ought to stimulate the
hopes or the exertions of every philanthropist in the kingdom.
There will be an end to famines. Those teriible visitations
which have been recorded and accepted as the natural and
irremediable scourges of this devoted country will be termin¬
ated at once. For India is not like Ireland, where the total
failure of a precarious and but half-human staple of food is a
contingency that might in any season occur. There was ne¬
ver a year when the Peninsula did not produce food enough
for its contented and penurious inhabitants. The droughts
and scarcities were local. Canals and tanks would have
neutralized the one, and a good highway the other. If the
rich produce of the plains of Bengal could be interchanged
with the crops of the table land of the Deccan, or the luxu¬
riant abundance of Candeish and Tanjore be made recipro¬
cally available for the ryots of either province, the desolating
plagues of past years would be seen no more. There will be
a check to sickness. By the means of these communications the
malaria of a locality or a season may be cheaply and summa¬
rily exchanged for a climate more salubrious than Cumberland
and more genial than Maderia, and the appliances of skill and
the aids of nature may be brought home to every man's door.
There will be new impulses and opportunities for civilization.
The simple or suspicious native of the interior will be brought
into easy communication with the seats of our power, and will
xxxiii
hoary institutions of Brahma must totter and fall, is an
additional source of confidence and safety to the Eng¬
lish shareholder.
But it may be urged that the Indian Railway
although equally secure with India Stock is inferior
in this respect to the funded debt of England, the
interest of the one being secured by the Imperial
revenues, while the security of the other, is the revenue
of a distant Dependency, which may possibly be lost
by foreign conquest, or raise itself, as other distant
Dependencies have done, into a great and indépendant
Empire.
appreciate more readily and deeply the creed and character of
a people who are now nearly the oldest as well as the mightiest
amongst the rulers in his land. The commercial results of the
enterprise would be equally extensive. The value of every pro¬
vince in India would be multiplied tenfold, and the wealth of
that land of fable, which was so glowingly depicted and so seldom
discovered in early days, would now really flow in full streams
to our harbours. The cotton of Berar and Bejapoor, which
now perishes on the ground, or is frittered to dust on the
road, would supply work and bread to thousands of our in¬
dustrious countrymen, and the produce of every loom and
plough from the Jumna to the Cauvery would be trebled in
its worth both to the laborious native and to the people with
whose exports he could provide himself in exchange. But
these benefits, great as they are, are exceeded by the inex¬
pressible accession to the general welfare of the poor Hindoos.
There is a class of our readers, in whose eyes philanthropy
outweighs every other consideration, and to their notice we
recommend this enterprise, for if the well-being of others is
to command the co-operation of men, we do most boldly as¬
sert that no mission ever sailed fraught with more momentous
interests to a vast population, than that which is to depart
from our shores on the 20th of next September." Leading
Article^ "Times," 27 Aug. 1847.
/
xxxiv
With our present imperfect means of transit we have
already humbled the pride and broken the strength
of the fiercest soldiers in Asia, and it will be admitted
that the repose of our rule by the invasion of an Euro¬
pean power is now less likely to be disturbed than ever ;
as to the latter alternative, that a native hand should
again grasp the sceptre, it is not only not probable, but not
possible, to erect an indépendant power out of such discor¬
dant materials, there is, although much local attachment,
no patriotism beyond the bounds of a village, no sentiment
pervading the masses, but that which Hindoo and Mus¬
sulman feel in common—the instinctive and abiding con¬
viction of the power, the beneficence and the permanency
of our rule. This was demonstrated when the Govern¬
ment could raise money in loans during emergencies
which appeared critical at five per cent. ; while the most
respectable merchants were paying ten. But supposing
either or both of the contingencies adverted to were not
only possible but probable—a railroad would be the very
best means of repelling aggression from without, or crush¬
ing in the bud, disloyalty within,—a railroad would be
its own protector and the best guarantee to its share¬
holders.
In brief, the interests of India and England are one ;
so intimate is the connection of the two countries, so
great the commercial relations,* so vast the stream of
The cotton imported in 1846 into this country from the
United States was worth £13,000,000- The value of the
cotton manufactures exported to America was only £1,056,000.
But in the same year although the cotton imported from India
was worth little more than £1,000,000, this country exported
XXXV
wealth which flows annually from India to this country^
whether as the proceeds of trade, or the private fortunes
of the Anglo-Indians which are constantly being added
to the general wealth, the noble and expansive field
which India presents to our youth, instead of being
driven from the amenities of civilized life, to the
backwoods of our colonies, with no hope to sun the
germ of greatness, no feeling to elevate but that of wild
independence, many privations, little to solace, much to
vulgarise and debase. In India, even in the secluded
vales and lofty ridges of the far distant Himalayahs,
the refinements, the elegancies, the enjoyments which
render the homes of England so attractive and dear,
have taken root and flourish, while a useful, honourable,
and brilliant career is open to all.
Yet there are those who know not the difference be¬
tween British India and British Colonies. One or two ob¬
servations will suffice to mark this difference. The latter
in the aggregate, so defective are their resources, that they
are said to cost the Imperial Treasury the yearly sum of
3,000,000/., while India pays directly to the India Stock
proprietor lO^ per cent, per annum, has a revenue of
20,000,000/., a maritime trade valued at 30,000,000/.,
and supports an army of 260,000 men. These brave and
devoted soldiers, have not only fought the battles of Eng¬
land in India, and Central Asia, but to uphold the power
cotton manufactures to the East Indies and Ceylon, of which
the value was ¿£4,500,000, being about one fifth of the cotton
goods, and yarn exported, or one eleventh of the value of the
whole of the exports of this country.
xxxvi
and dignity of her name the sepoy of Bengal and Madras
Crossed bayonets with the French in Java and the
Mauritius, while the swarthy sons of Bombay marched
with Sir David Baird to oppose the same enemy in
Egypt.
Should Great Britain be engaged in war with any
European power, and particularly with France, there
can be no doubt that every attempt would be made by
our enemies to interrupt our communications with India
through Egypt. All Europe regards this interruption
as one of ike severest tooimds, that the enemies of England
can inßict on her power.
On the other hand, in case our enemies should prove
sufficiently powerful to press us hard either in Europe
or Asia, it would be a matter, of inestimable importance
to have it in our power to transport our military forces
from Europe to Asia, and from Asia to Europe, with
the greatest possible celerity, as the exigences of war
may demand. A rapid means of communicating be¬
tween India and Malta, both by means of the Red Sea
and of the Persian Gulf, through Egypt and through
Syria, would multiply tenfold the resources of Britain,
and secure the defences of our possessions from Canada
to Hong Kong. Indeed England, with her small standing
army, with her population, not trained and disciplined
to defend their own territory against invaders, and with
Ministers who neglect her Navy, can never be duly
secured against the sudden attacks of her rivals and
enemies, until she can impose some restraint on their
xxxvii
ambition by haviao- it in her power to array the sepoy
on the shores of the Mediterranean, and the Highlander
of Scotland and the gallant sons of Erin, on the banks
of the Indus and the Ganges, with a degree of speed
which no other power can equal. The small amount
of our military force, in comparison with the enormous
extent of our empire, must be counterbalanced by
abundant means of communication, and extraordinary
rapidity oí transport."*
India is an integral member of the British Empire,
and could not be severed from the system without such
a shock as would shake not only the constitution of
society to its core in this country ; but the whole of
Europe would be convulsed, other sceptres would trem¬
ble and crowns become less glorious, public credit and
private confidence would be paralyzed—havinglost India
—^the glory—the power—the strength of England would
be destroyed—her invincible and veteran armies would
be scattered and broken—her magnificent and costly
fleets would be captured or sunk—her banner dared not
be unfurled by land or by sea—her wondrous commerce
would be annihilated—the -prestige of her arms and the
credit of her name would be laughed at—the interests
of India and England are one and indivisible ! When
the India Stock holder, saw his property carried away
* Extract from an interesting pamphlet " On the Commu¬
nication between Europe and India through Egypt " by George
Finlayy Esg.y Smith, Elder, k Co.
xxxviii
by one fell swoop, it would be high time for the
English fund holder to put his house in order.*
♦ COMPARATIVE STATEMENT—No. II.
Showing the Income to he obtained hy the Investment of <£1,000,
in ready Money^ in—
The 3 per Cent. Consols.
E. I. Rail. Govern. Stock.
A
£. 8* d*
£1,000. in Cash, if in¬
vested in Consols, at
87, will purchase
£1,149, 8s, 6d. of
Stock, and give an
Annual Income of . 34 9 8
Being at the rate of
£3. 9s. per cent, on
the original Purchase
Money,
B
£. s. d,
£1,000 Cash, if invested
in the purchase of
East Indian Railway
Shares, at par, i. e.
5s, per Share, by pur¬
chasing a moderate
number,—say 60 or
70,—and paying up
the balance of the
;£1,000, in anticipa¬
tion of Calls, per¬
mitted to the extent of
£15 per Share, will
produce an Annual
Income, guaranteed
by the Government
for 25 years, of , . 50 0 0
Being at the rate of
£5. per cent, on
the original Pur¬
chase Money.
A comparison, exhibiting a difference in favour of the East
Indian Railway Governmentótock, of £1. 11^, for every £100.
of Purchase Money ; or, in other words, an addition to the
purchaser's income of about 45 per cent., or nearly one half.
Vide—An Enquiry into the absolute and comparative value of the
Government Guaranteed Railway Stock of the East Indian
Railway Co,—hy an Accountant—page 12.
xxxix
The guarantee of a minimum dividend is nothing, in
fact, but raising a loan at a given rate of interest for
the purpose of some beneficial and lucrative undertak¬
ing, and amongst the many millions which we have
raised, it would be very difficult to find one of which the
purpose was so promising as this."*
Having shown the safety of a guarantee of the Hon.
East India Compy., approved and confirmed by Her
Majesty's Ministers, a few words will suffice for the
only remaining point proposed to be discussed.
3rd. The probable returns from the Railway when
opened, based upon the cost of construction, and the
extent and nature of the existing traffic as proved by
official documents.
Any one may form a pretty close approximation, to
the probable cost of that portion of the Grand Trunk
Line from Allahabad to the N. W. Frontier, for (in a
distance of seven or eight hundred miles) there will be
no works of any magnitude, if we except a bridge or
two, no tunnel, heavy cutting, or embankment, so
that with provision for water way there would be little
to do but to lay down the rails. The present great trunk
road from Calcutta to Benares, 3 feet high and 32 feet
wide, partially metalled, including culverts, but ex¬
clusive of large bridges, and engineer officers salary
cost 250Z. per mile. This, with allowance for ad¬
ditional culverts, will give the English reader some idea
of the expense prior to laying down the permanent
* Leading Article, " Times," June 14, 1847.
xl
way. The cost of the permanent way varies from
3^000/. to 7,000/. per mile for a double line of rail. The
eminent engineers, Messrs. Rendel and Beardmore,
estimate the cost of the line from Allahabad to Delhi
at 15,000/. per mile, making the outlay for the easiest line
in the world, without land compensation or parliamentary
expenses to amount to half the average cost of construction
of English railways. Mr. Robert Stephenson, in his ad¬
mirable Report on the Bombay line, estimates the cost
including fixed engines, several miles of open gallery and
tunnel at 15,000/ per mile, and Mr. Simms in his Re¬
port on the Madras line for a single rail about 8,500/.
per mile.* "Judging," he says, "from what I have
seen of works in Bengal, and knowing the cost of
rails, engines and machinery, which I expect must be
nearly all brought from England," but taking the out¬
lay at the highest, i. e 15,000/. per mile, and allowing
that the traffic returns received from government offi¬
cers are correct,! then after every deduction, and
without any increase in the existing commerce of the
country there would be, at 2d per ton per mile, (not
one half the average price oí land carriage in India,!)
a yearly dividend of more than 20 per cent.
That the natives would gladly avail themselves of the
railway there cannot be a doubt, for although there were
no diminution in the charge of transit, an immense sav¬
ing would accrue in the transmission of perishable arti¬
cles, exposed as they now are from a variety of causes
* Vide p. 63 for expense of Continental and other lines,
t Vide Appendix (G.I). J Vide p. 43.
xli
whether oq the roads or rivers, to loss and deteriora¬
tion. The unexpected advent of the Monsoon, one of
many evils, always most unpropitious to commerce in
general, renders cotton, the great staple of the coun¬
try, unsaleable for the foreign market, and profitless
for home consumption, if indeed it escape complete
destruction.
Thus the wretchedly defective means of transit pre¬
vailing in India is alike inimical to the agriculture and
commerce of that country, and calculated to impede
and fetter the manufacturing progress of England.
The pack bullock sinking prostrate under his load, and
the disabled hackery sticking in the mud, are facts
that ought not to speak more convincingly, of bad
roads in India, to the statesman, the philanthrophist,
the mill-owner, and the operative of England, than the
closed factories and silent looms in Lancashire. The
Blackburn operatives did well to petition their mas"
ters to reserve the little cotton they had in store till
the winter, but they should turn their eyes to the
banks of the Nerbudda and the elevated plains of
the Decean, for, from thence is their permanent
employment and relief destined to come. The
dawn of a new era is already breaking in the East,
when the blessing of a superabundant harvest
will cease to be a curse, oppressing the farmer with
products, the very luxuriance of which depreciates
their value at home, while the want of intercommunica¬
tion renders their barter or sale elsewhere impossible.
With railways not only cotton, silk, and the bril¬
liant dyes of India, but sugar, spices, and the many
9
xlii
cereal and other products of the fertile fields of that
Vtist and most productive region will at once not only
supply our home population with labour but with
wholesome and cheap food to sweeten that labour,
creating at the same time new outlets for the products
of our manufacturing science and skill. The cause of
the poor but contented E.yot of India ought to be
identified in the minds of all, with the distressed, but
orderly cotton spinner of England.
Certain parties, from timidity or unacquaintance
with the growing spirit of enterprise exhibited by the
natives of India, say, that their religious prejudices
would prevent them travelling by a railroad; and
their habitual apathy, and their ignorance of the
value of time, would stand in the way of their adopt¬
ing any innovation, however it might promote their
interests ;—an appeal to facts will at once prove the
absurdity of such statements. The Bengal and Agra
Gazetteer for 1842, tells us how they appreciate the
innovation of a good road:—The Moguls and other
merchants who carried woollen cloths, piece goods,
and other less bulky and lighter articles, to the Upper
Provinces, have in great measure given up the more
tedious voyage up the river, and now take those goods
to Benares and Cawnpore by carts. The greater ex¬
pense by this mode—a cart costing about fifty rupees
(5Z.) from Burdwan to Benares, and sixty more rupees
to Cawnpore—is more than made up by the time saved*
The carts go in one month and a half, while four and
six months were consumed in the voyage by boats."*
* The population of Calcutta, with its enormous suburbs
xliii
Steam on the Ganges, as the precursor of steam by
may be fairly estimated at 300,000. The total value of its
imports and exports by sea for the year 1843-44 amounted tor
near £15,000,000 ;* and the inland trade between Calcutta
and the N. W. for 1844-45 exceeded 2,000,000 tons.t The
principal portion of the above traffic passes through Calcutta
to or from the interior of the country, by the Hooghly
and Ganges rivers, by a dangerous, tedious, and expen¬
sive mode of transit, for although the river craft convey
goods on the Hooghly and Ganges at little more than \d. per
ton per mile, yet, against this apparently low rate, the high
charges of the steamers compete successfully, for the follow¬
ing reasons : the insurance from Calcutta to Rajmahal (dis¬
tance 200 miles) is as high as from London to Calcutta ; the
loss of interest by delay and uncertainty of arrival ; the in¬
jury done by damp and prolonged partial exposure to the
weather—this, as in cotton, sugar, and salt, frequently occa¬
sions enormous loss ; the loss from pilfering and waste, so
great as 20 per cent, in some articles; and also the robbery
of the boats by gangs of river pirates. From these causes,
the native merchants, where roads are available, prefer pay¬
ing Te?, per ton per mile. This is the price of land-carriage
in India, as stated in an extract of the JDelki Overland Ga¬
zette, published in the Morning Herald of 4th December,
1846
" The average cost for conveyance of goods by land car¬
riage in India maybe estimated at 30 rupees per ton (27^
maunds) every 100 miles. By a Kailway,at the ordinary rate
of 2.88¿. per ton per mile, at the average velocity, it would
be 13 rupees per ton, per 100 miles. Here, then, there would
be an actual saving, in the mere cost of conveyance, of nearly
200 per cent., and this saving in addition to the other un¬
numbered advantages which increased speed affords."
Bengal.
In the year 1833, the late Mr. Bell, an able statistical
reporter, was calléd on to investigate the condition of the
inknd communication of Bengal, and he writes as follows :—•
* Vide Appendix (H.) ; compiled by the author from oiEcial returns
in the India House. ^ Vide Appendix (G I.)
xliv
land, has already prepared the native mind for the
" The internal trade of Bengal by land is chiefly dependant
on bullock carriage, which is exceedingly tedious and incon¬
venient. It is true that Bengal is intersected by many na¬
vigable streams that fall into the Ganges, and afford great
facility to water carriage ; but there are at present so many
drawbacks to river navigation, that the importance of open¬
ing the resources of the country by good roads, must force
itself upon the attention of every one who has taken the
trouble to give the subject consideration."
Within the last seven or eight years," says General Briggs,
(in 1840), " a good road between Jubalpore and Mirzapore has
been formed; and it is satisfactory to know that, although 400
carts only passed over it in the year after it was built, no fewer
than 6,000 went along it in 1838, and this number will daily
increase. '
Madras.
A Collector of Hevenue in this Presidency reports (in an
official letter now deposited at the Board of Control) that a
pack-bullock track (not a cart road) in his district, which was
so steep in one portion as to compel the loaded animals to
slide down upon their haunches, being levelled to an extent
that enabled the bullocks to walk down the incline, tho
traffic on the path or track was quintupled in a year.
Bombay.
"Asa proof on this new line of the effect of improving
roads, I may mention the instance of the Bhore Ghaut :—
" When this pass was first made practicable to wheeled
carriages, about the year 1828, the tolls realized between
<£400 and <£500 a year. Twelve years ago a speculator was
ruined by farming them from Government for ¿61,000. They
now annually let at between £3,000 or £4,000 per annum,
so that in four years, besides providing for the expense of
annual repairs, the toll now more than covers the original
cost of constructing the road.
"Asfar as my experience in India goes, no road has ever
been constructed without an immediate and almost magical
effect."—Two Leiters, addressed to Lord W/iarncliffe by S.
WiLLíAMsoN, Esq., late Revenue Commissi/'^ver.
xlv
benefits to be derived from the latter. So eagerly did
native merchants take advantage of the steamers, soon
after they were established for the conveyance of their
goods, although the charge was very high, that the
tonnage was frequently put up to auction, or conceded
as a matter of favour; and the tonnage of the steamers
(although greatly increased), is generally bespoke for
many weeks.
The native community look forward to the introduc¬
tion of railroads with a deepening interest. Last
year, at a great meeting of the Brahmins, held at
Calcutta, it was decreed, that when going on pilgri¬
mage, it would be as meritorious to travel by railroad
as in any other way. But the most interesting and
important proof of the anxiety of the natives for im¬
proved intercommunication, is contained in the follow¬
ing extract from an Indian paper: —
THE BENARES STEAMER.
We hear that a public meeting, which was at¬
tended by many of the most influential and wealthy
natives of the place, was held last week at Benares,
for the purpose of forming a company for the esta¬
blishment of a regular passenger steamer between
Benares and Mirzapore. The two cities are well si¬
tuated for the experiment, and we hope that it will be
attended with success. The connexion and intercourse
require some speedy communication, which the pro¬
posed company is designed to supply. All these efforts
must be looked upon as precursors to the future and
further development of the resources of the country.
xîvi
and we are gîad to find the native community not in¬
sensible to the advantages to be derived.
" The united population of Benares and Mirzapore
can be very little short of half a million, and the dis¬
tance between the stations cannot exceed forty-five
miles. The voyage may therefore be made easily in
one day.
The first steamer,* which is to be named the ^ Ka-
seejee^ has been in progress since July 1846, and will
be in the country in about a twelvemonth. She is to
be 100 feet in length, 16 feet beam, and to draw not
more than 2\ feet, with minimum speed of ten miles
an hour,
" From the eager desire evinced by the most influ¬
ential and intelligent members of the native commu¬
nity to co-operate in the establishment of this (to them)
novel mode of conveyance, it is argued that the ^ Ka-
seejee ' will be only the first of many boats of a similar
description hereafter to be required on the Upper
Ganges, "t
In Appendix (^G.L) the reader will find an ab¬
stract of the existing traíBc, compiled from oflScial do¬
cuments, and which taken in conjunction with the
smallness of the cost of construction form good
grounds for believing that the returns from the rail¬
way will be larger than those derived from any similar
undertaking in any part of the world. Should the pre-
♦ Now building in London.
T Mofiissussilite^ Sept. 15, 1816. See "p. 615 of the
" Friend of India^^^
xlvii
limiüary sections be completed for a sum not greatly
exceeding the estimated outlay, the Government it is
understood will be prepared to give a fresh guarantee,
on additional capital, to enable the Company to execute
other sections of the Trunk Line, without waiting for
returns from those opened.
But the dividend of the Shareholders must be ma¬
terially increased by exclusive attention being paid to
one section i. e., either by the completion of the line
from Calcutta to Eajmahl without a section in Upper
India, or by the opening of a large section in the latter
without breaking ground in Lower India.
In the first edition of Indian Eailways " the follow¬
ing passages occur in different sections of the work,
strenuously urging that the East Indian line should
for various reasons, as the best mode of fulfilling its
ambitious hopes of being, as the Ganges is now, the
great highway of India, break ground at Mirzapore,
(or rather at Allahabad) instead of Calcutta, and proceed
by Cawnpore to Agra and Delhi."
" On the whole, then, it is our conviction that the
Great Western of Bengal (from Calcutta to Rajmahl)
and the line from Allahabad to Delhi, co-operating with
fleets of river steamers, from Eajmahl to Allahabad,
would at once be not only the most judicious, the easiest,
the least costly, the soonest constructed, and in every
other point of view the most advantageous mode of tn-
troducing the railway system into India."
The above suggestions are again respectfully recom¬
mended to the consideration of the authorities with the
following explanation ;—
xlviii
In June 1846, when the writer advocated as above,
that a line should be made in Upper India simultane¬
ously with one in Lower India,* it was under the im pres¬
sion that a minimum rate of interest on 5,000,000/. would
have been guaranteed, which would have sufficed for
completing the line from Calcutta to Rajmahl and a
large section in Upper India ; but as 3,000,000/., the
sum actually guaranteed is declared inadequate for these
purposes, the impolicy is apparent of burthening the,
certain to be productive. Upper section with a fragment
of a section in Lower India leading, comparatively
speaking, to nothing. No assistance could be given
to the Government, or general commerce of India by
opening a portion of the Rajmahl line, unless that por¬
tion from Rajmahl to Mirzapore on the Hooghly 120
miles in length, and which is the exact line of Colonel
Forbes' celebrated canal. But if the Railway is to
commence at Calcutta, or rather, as the writer wishes,
at Howrah on the opposite side (where wet docks could
also be made), and connected with Calcutta by a steam
bridge, then in that case no great purpose could be an¬
swered until the Railway debouches on ' the main
Ganges and thus supersede the present tedious, un¬
certain and dangerous channels of commerce, the
Nuddea rivers and Sund er bunds, which convey to and
♦ When he stated afterwards in a morning paper that, by
the concession of two sections of the East Indian Trunk Line,
one in Lower India commencing at Calcutta, and the other in
Upper India commencing at Allahabad, he would in a great
degree have achieved his object, it was in the belief that
another Company would in that case have been allowed, by a
subsequent concession, to connect the lower section of the
Trunk with the Ganges by a branch to Kajmahl.
xlix
from Calcutta and the main Granges upwards of 2,000,000
tons annually.* When the Railway from Calcutta to
Rajmahl, relieved the inland trade from these various
impediments, the necessity would no longer exist, for the
steamers having their machinery in one vessel and their
passengers and goods in another, and the native cargo-
boats would no longer, for nine months in the year, be
confined to the alternative of either subdividing their
freights amongst a number of small frail craft to pass the
Nuddea rivers, or to go by the Sunderbundes an extra
distance of 320 miles. Rajmahl would thus become
the head-quarters of the inland trade, and a railway
from it to Calcutta would, by bringing the vast descending
trade of the Ganges into contact with the ships of all
nations anchored off Calcutta, supply in the most ef¬
fectual manner the only link wanting in the chain
between the internal and external commerce of the
country.t By making a portion of the Rajmahl line.
* The commerce of the Ganges, as given in the former
editions and in page 46 of the present is now proved to have
been greatly understated.
t Existing traffic on line proposed by
East Indian Rail. Co. according to " Offi¬
cially authenticated Government re¬
turns" for—1844-5—was . . . 2,226,359 tons.
(Vide Appendix G.I.)
The value and tonnage of imports and
exports of Calcutta by sea for the same
year was—¿£18,024,420—and . . 531,262 tons.
(Vide Calcutta Review No. 14.)
Showing an increase in imports and ex¬
ports over the previous year—in value—
^3,305,205—in tonnage . . , 4 939 tons.
(Vide Appendix H.)
h
1
nothing would be achieved—by connecting Calcutta
with Rajniahl by means of a railway—a new impetus
would be given to the commercial prosperity of India.*
The mode of introducing the Railway System into
India^ has been referred to the Grovernor General in
Councib and that this enlightened nobleman will neglect
the interests of Commerce is not to be believed. Lord
Dalhousie is reported to have said that he went to
India not to elevate England by foreign conquest, but
to elevate and enrich both England and India by send'
ing home cotton; it were a solecism of power to
think to command the end, and yet not to endure the
means,"t to accomplish this great object he must have rail¬
roads;! —^.nd not till then—will the supply of the
* It is gratifying to the writer to find that his views are
corroborated by the authority of the Governor of Bengal.
" A railroad from Calcutta to Bogwangola or Raj mahl, will
not answer the purpose for which it is undertaken till it is
complete, so as to connect the termini with one another ; for
both these projects contemplate as their main objects the com
veyance of merchandise from the river Ganges, at the points
of their northern termini, to Calcutta."
" Between Calcutta and Mirzapore there could be no useful
division in the line."
" Above Allahabad the line might be divided from that place
to^Cawnpore, from Cawnpore to Mynpooree or AUyghur,
from either of those places to Agra, and from Agra to Delhi,
and each of these divisions would form a valuable communi¬
cation between the places named."— Vide Minute hy the Hon,
jSir F, Müddoch ordered^ hy the House of Commons^ to he
printed 15 February 1847.
t Bacons Essays of Empire,
X Vide Economist^ Aug. 28, 1847 ; and Report of Com¬
missioners on the cultivation of Cotton in India.
Ii
raw material of the greatest of the staple manufactures
of this country be placed upon a firm basis, and the
energy and skill of Europe come fairly into contact with
the inexhaustible resources of a soil which has for ages,
repaid, with three harvests in the year, the most rude
and inefficient husbandry.* Then will our commercial
and manufacturing greatness be placed beyond the
caprice of a jealous rival, himself dependant on the
labour of his slaves ; but even with America well
affected, and the reverence of the lash unimpaired,
the premature advent of a frost or the visitation of a
grub to the cotton fields of New Orleans might at any
moment be fatal to us !
Were the philanthropic and enlightened mind of
this country consistent with itself, the poor but free
and loyal labourer of the East would then have what
he has never had—hope ! and we should rivet no more
* " The farmer merely scatters the seed among the mud at
the commencement of the fair weather, and is at no other
trouble with his crop, until he comes to reap it.
" There are reckoned three harvests annually, viz. Bliadai,
reaped in the rainy season, including broadcast rice, maruya,
maize, (fee. ; Khurifj reaped in the cold season, including
transplanted rice, janera, <fec. ; and Rabi, reaped in spring,
including wheat, barley, linseed, peas, (fee."—Vide the History^
Antiquities^ Topography^ and Statistics, of Eastern India ;
compiled from the oßcial reports of Dr, Francis Buchanan
deposited in the India House, Edited by Mr, Montgomery
Martin, London 1837.
" Although thus unaided by the ingenuity of man ; fields
have been certainly in unremitting cultivation for generations,
and beyond the memory of any man living."— Vide The Ben¬
gal and Agra- Annual Guide and Gazetteer for 1842. Wil¬
liarn Rushton é Co, Calcutta,
Iii
with our gold the chains of the negro of the West»
** The severest blow ever yet struck at slavery will
have been accomplished, that, namely, of proving in a
practical manner to the world, that the labour of the
free man can effectually compete in the market with that
of the slave."
When England does her duty to India, her depen¬
dence on America will cease, for then will be poured
into her bosom a boundless supply of both cotton and
corn from her own magnificent possessions in the East.
Then, under the guidance of England, will India arise
rejoicing in every variety of climate, soil, and product
necessary or agreeable to man, to revolutionize and en¬
rich the commerce of the world.
London^ Dec* 1847.
liii
SiifCE the foregoing pages were in print it has become
evident that the suicidal policy of England towards India
is being felt by certain parties in a way not to be mistaken,
and will speedily receive some share of the attention of
Parliament.
On the 10th instant a short preliminary discussion
took place in the House of Commons regarding Rail¬
ways in India between Lord Jocelyn, Sir R. Peel, Mr.
Bright, and Mr. G. C. Lewis, Secretary to the Board
of Control.
Mr. Bright, who had given notice of his intention to
put a question with reference to the steps that had been
taken for the promotion of railways in India, parti¬
cularly in those districts in which cotton is chiefly
grown, remarked that Lancashire, in this one year, had
paid as much, owing to the failure of the crop in
America, as would have made one of the most impor¬
tant of the lines recommended in the following pages,
and gave notice that immediately after the recess he
should move for all papers and correspondence on the
subject—The subject was of the first importance to
Lancashire."*^
The productive power of India as regards cotton is
unquestioned. The quality of the staple may be judged
of by the price of cotton in the Liverpool market;
3rd Sep. East Indian 6/¿d. Orleans 6/Jd. to 6/|d, perlb.
3rd Dec. Surats 3d. to 4/fd.—Orleans 3/|d to 7d .perlb.
Manchester Guardian, Sept, 4, Dec, 4, 1847.
See also report of meeting at Manchester on the
cotton question in same paper—Dee, 15, 1847,
liv
The following extracta as they convey the sentiments
of the press in general both in this country and in India,
regarding the arrangement which has been entered into
with the Governent may not prove unacceptable to the
reader:—
A recent number of the Friend of India " states
that—The terms which have now been offered, will
enable the railway company to raise funds to any extent
in this country (India). As soon as the present five per
cant, loan is closed, its notes will begin to bear a premium
of two, or three, perhaps, of six or seven per cent. ; and
there will, therefore, be the strongest inducement to sub¬
scribe for railway shares, which will soon obtain the same
credit in the market as the Government promissory notes.
The whole sum of fifteen millions required for the Cal¬
cutta and Delhi rail may be obtained in this country on
these terms, with almost as much ease as in England.
" There is therefore no obstacle to the immediate com-
mencement of the undertaking ; and as it is left to the
local authorities in India, to regulate the direction which
the rail will take, no time should be lost in directing
Mr. Simms to report definitively on the most eligible
line for the first stage from Calcutta. It is greatly to
be desired that the ceremony of commencing this under¬
taking should if possible be included in the calendar of
the present year. It will be a very pleasing circum¬
stance, that the first sod of the first Indian Railway
should be turned up by the nobleman who has com¬
pleted the conquest of India, and placed us, for the
first time, in a position to devote the resources of the
country to the pursuits of peace. If there be any truth
Iv
in the report given in the Englishman — that Lord Dal-
housie has the best chance of being appointed to succeed
Lord Hardinge, we may expect that the cause of Indian
rails will receive the greatest encouragement from the
advent of a statesman, whose first introduction to public
honours was in connection with the railway department
of the Board of Trade, in which he exhibited those
talents for business which have contributed so speedily
to raise him to the post of the highest responsibility in
the British Empire."*
The " Times has the following:—
" A pamphlet has been published in connexion with
the East Indian Railway, showing the absolute and
comparative value of its shares.! These, as it is known,
bear a guarantee of the East India Company for 5 per
cent, for 25 years, the other prominent conditions of
the undertaking being that the India Company shall
grant the land required free of all charge, and that
the line shall revert to the Government at the end of
99 years. The calculations now made show that the
sale of 1,000/. Consols, and an investment of the pro¬
ceeds in the Indian Railway at par, would give a clear
additional income of 12/. 15«., and also, that the dif¬
ference between the investment of 1,000/. cash in
Consols or in the railway would amount to 15/. lOi.
4d per annum^ or 1/. lis. of income in favour of the
* Vide also Indian NewSy Nov. 5, 1847.
t An Enquiry into the Absolute and Comparative value of
the Government Guaranteed Railway Stock of the East Indian
Railway Co, By an Accountant.
Ivi
latter for every lOOl of purchase money. Against this fa¬
vourable contrast, it is urged, the only points to be
considered are-r-l. The possible loss of our Indian
empire; 2. The possible diminution of the existing
traflSic of the country after the introdution of railways ;
and, 3. The possible omission on the part of the di¬
rectors of the railway to make the usual reserve fund
for the replacement at the end of 99 years of the capi¬
tal laid out. The first of these points—the loss of our
Indian empire—is of course a contingency upon the
possibility of which it is hardly necessary to calculate ;
the second—that the tendency to locomotion may de¬
crease with an increase of facilities—is also not likely
to be entertained ; and the third—^the neglect of mak¬
ing a reserve fund—is an evil that could not arise
without the concurrence of the shareholders themselves,
while it is also one which, looking at the small annual
appropriation that would be required for the purpose,
there would be no temptation to sanction ; the contin¬
gency, moreover, under any circumstances, being too re¬
mote to affect in any very material degree the present cal¬
culations. In conceding the existence of the inducements
alleged, it is necessary, however, to point out that in no
case can a stock of this description ever become as
marketable as Consols, and that a considerable difference
in value, although, of course, nothing like that which
now exists, must in consequence always be found in
favour of the latter. The contingency of the line not
paying 5 per cent, at the end of 25 years, when it will
be left to its own resources, it must likewise be re¬
marked, depends not merely on the question whether
Ivii
the existing traffic will continue (of which there could
not well be any doubt), but whether the present esti¬
mates of the company have been safely formed. On
this point we entertain no misgivings which are not
more than counterbalanced by anticipations of the enor¬
mous increase which a quarter of a century would de-
velope in the industrial pursuits of the population ; but
still it is one which introduces an element of speculation
that should be plainly recognized by all intending pur¬
chasers. On the other hand, it should be understood
that, although half the profits beyond 5 per cent, after
the expiration of 25 years will go to re-imburse the
Government for any previous advances that may have
been called for under their guarantee, the remainder
will be divided amongst the shareholders—a prospect
which, viewing the matter as a speculation, certainly
causes the chances to preponderate on the favourable
side. It must also be added, that the mere accumula¬
tion of the surplus which would be received annually
from this investment, as compared with what would be
received from Consols during 25 years, would, if regu¬
larly laid out, bring back more than 55 per cent, of the
original sum ; so that, supposing the railway after that
time to pay no more than 2 per cent., the holder would
still be in as good a position as if his purchase at the
outset had been in the English funds.
In pointing out these circumstances we are relieved
from the sense of injury to be inflicted on the country
that would in all other cases attend the publication of
facts likely to increase the flow of capital to railway
undertakings, since there can be no question that the
i
Iviii
consolidation of our power aud the welfare of millions
in the East depend so much upon a speedy introduction
of this means of communication as to render all ordinary
considerations inapplicable ; the amount required is,
moreover, comparatively small, and we have, besides,
the possibility that this really vital aim may attract and
rescue a portion of that capital which is otherwise des-
tined to be wasted in some of the many delusive and
unecessary projects which still threaten in this couhtry
to be commenced and pushed forward to cirx^pletion.*
* Money Anide " Times" 10 Sept. 1847.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
The Directors of the Honourable East India Company
having deputed Mr. Sims^ an eminent engineer, to investi¬
gate the circumstances of railway communication, as appli^
cable to India, in conjunction with a commission in that coun¬
try, under the orders of the Governor-General in council,
and his Report having recently arrived, important results may
immediately be expected ; and as it is understood that, both
that Report and the recommendation of the Commission
generally are most favourable, it is hoped that the following
pages may not be deemed inopportune.
The arrival of the Governor-General's dispatch on this sub¬
ject is fully expected by the next mail.
On the receipt of which the court will at once have this
important and interesting subject brought fully and officially
before them, and be enabled to determine, in conjunction
with her Majesty's Ministers, the particular lines to be adopted,
and the terms on which concessions or grants shall be accorded,
for developing this system of intercommunication which is
destined to be a new and important element of our power in
B
t •
11
India, whether for the defence and consolidation of our em¬
pire, the opening of its inexhaustible treasures, or the elevat¬
ing in the scale of humanity its multitudinous people.
This great engine of strength, wealth, and civilization, will
speedily arouse the attention of all in Europe who have sym¬
pathy with the advance of nations, the dissemination of riches,
and the just performance of high and sacred duties, to a dis¬
tant and subject people.
The successful solution of this problem, will be one of the
most mighty achievements of modern times.
From having bestowed some attention on the mode of
introducing an improved communication in India, and having
a considerable knowledge of the country, the writer has been
induced, in compliance with the wishes of those, whose
opinions he respects, to throw the few following observations
together, and if they are found useful by such as have no per¬
sonal acquaintance with India, his object is attained.
London, July, 1846.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
When the first impression of " Indian Railways"
was on the eve of publication, the despatch of the
Bengal Government, regarding the introduction of
Railway Communication into British India, was re¬
ceived at the India House, and more recently, the
report of the Commissioners appointed by the
Supreme Government, to enquire generally into the
merits of the question, has been published by order
of the Honourable the House of Commons.
That some of the views enunciated in the latter
official document, are but little in accordance with
those adventured in this pamphlet, was to be ex¬
pected, and it is a matter of satisfaction to the
author, that any of his opinions should be sanctioned
and supported by those of the Railway Commission
and he sees no reason why he should relinquish in
this Edition, anything advanced in the first.
There is much additional matter introduced in
4 9
11
PREFACE.
this impression, in connection with the statistics of
India and other subjects having reference to the re¬
quirements of that country, for improved internal
communication, or to its capabilities of emancipating
itself from its primitive, rude, and most inefficient
roads and conveyances, achieving by one mighty
bound, what other nations have taken centuries to
accomplish ; and, profiting by the experience of
Europe, selecting what has worked well in the
several modes of railway administration, such a
controlling power might be easily placed in the hands
of the Government, without deadening the impulse
which private enterprise alone can impart, and
effectually prevent the springing up in India of an
" Imperium in imperio," as has resulted in this
country from the laxity or want of foresight on the
part of the legislature, and the encroaching audacity
of successful enterprise, placing the roads of this
great country—the arteries of her vital energy and
strength—^in the hands of private individuals, with
power to tax their fellow subjects, without appeal,
to an amount equal to the revenues of a mighty
Empire.'^
♦ Should the Honourable East India Company grant a
guarantee, upon giving a concession, the relation of private
enterprise, and the executive of the government, would of
necessity be approximated.
This is not the place to enter into particulars, but it may
be stated, that one shilling and eleven-pence paid into the in-
PREFACE,
• • •
m
In compliance with the wishes of various cor¬
respondents, more detailed information regarding
particular projects is supplied. This has been given
the more willingly, as the spurious and ridiculous
emanations of the ignorant and designing, are
brought, by a system of gambling, to rank, apparently,
as high in public estimation, as the most feasible and
legitimate undertakings sanctioned by scientific and
local knowledge.
Severity of comment has been pointed out in the
following pages, but those who made this allegation
were silent as to injustice. What language can be
too harsh, or animadversion too pungent, for those
who would palm upon the public the howling wilder¬
ness, sullen in primeval solitude, for fields teeming
with herds and flocks and rich in husbandry ;
wretched, isolated villages, as opulent cities, rejoicing
in extensive commercial relations.
In one Prospectus, in addition to a number of
imaginary towns, a small fort, on the top of a hill
3,G00 feet high, is impudently put forth as a popu¬
lous, flourishing, and accessible city, while in fact, it
is a mere habitable speck in the jungle, and its
population, a sergeant's guard !
dia House Treasury, would frequently be an equivalent for a
four per-cent guarantee, and prevent the necessity of throw¬
ing open the Calcutta treasury, by making an advance upon
goods.
iv
PREFACE.
There are those who advocate as the grand de¬
sideratum for India, the connecting of the three
seats of Government, in utter ignorance of the vast
regions which intervene, the extent and nature of
the present intercourse, and the little political ad¬
vantage that would result from such an arrangement
with the exception of uniting Calcutta and Bom¬
bay.
There are also individuals who love to stand still
like ancient land marks, while the world is advancing
around them ; they laugh at everything they do not
understand, and their grasp of mind, only enabling
them to comprehend, or to believe, what is patent
to their senses, their risible faculties are frequently
excited. The idea of introducing railways into
India, was with them a palpable absurdity, on ac¬
count of physical obstacles ; the present roads and
embankments of the country, and finally the report
of the Railway Commission were appealed to, and
set the matter at rest ; they now say, although the
railways are made, the people won't travel by them ;
as they are all pilgrims, and the longer time they
take in going from one holy place to another, so
much the better, the merits of this devotional act
consisting in the delays and difficulties to be en¬
dured and surmounted. As if the few poor wretches
of low caste, who crawl for some hundreds of miles
on their stomachs to Juggernauth to gain a pro-
PREFACE
V
fitable reputation for sanctity were to be taken as
typifying, by their habits, the distinct castes, classes,
and sects of the whole native community. As
well might these stationary gentlemen term us a
nation of fanatics, because we happen to have a
few wild enthusiasts among us ; or say, that in
England we refuse to travel by railroad because
certain ancient dames still sigh for the " slow coach"
of their youth : nothing can be more ignorant or
unfounded than such assumption. Pilgrimages in
the East are generally combined with business and
other worldly avocations,and those who can afford
it travel on horseback, or in carriages, and the con¬
veyance of pilgrims in India, has been reckoned as
no inconsiderable part of the traflSc for railways,
both by Europeans and natives. Col. Ouseley,
Political Agent at Chota Nagpore, remarks, that,
" The natives can appreciate well, and better in
some cases, as we can, the advantages of rapidity of
transit and an enlightened, native gentleman, a
merchant in Calcutta, expresses himself as follows :
" The growing class of intelligent natives would
* An annual fair, ia held at Hurdwar in the month of
April, at a certain spot on which Krishna stood, at the time
Bagirut brought the Ganges stream into existence. The fair
disperses immediately after the time appointed for the last
purification, and the pilgrims carry with them to their homes,
the sacred water of the Ganges.
yi
PREFACE.
freelj resort to it, (the railway) and lastly the re¬
ligious connection between the Hindoos and the
holy cities of Benares, Gyah, Allahabad, and others,
would alone fill the trains with hundreds of the
better class of Pilgrims." These are the sentiments
of those acquainted with India and her people.
Notwithstanding the present gloom which hangs
over railway property, its gradual development is
best proved by the returns, which shew a yearly
increase of more than one million sterling to the
national income, from one thousand eight hundred
miles of railway. When this fact is kept in view
and the large sums that are lost in foreign loans,
and home and foreign mines,all who are interested
* The Quarterly Keview in one of its admirable articles
on railways, gives the following summary :—
" The British capital invested in railroads—expensive if you
will—but solid, enduring, vivifyingworks, is about <£60,000,000.
The capital risked, we fear, we might say lost, in foreign
loans, is computed at not less than <£121,000,000, whereas
the <£60,000,000 invested in our railroads, are not only re¬
presented by solid works, a substantial property, but pay on
the average five per cent, that is, two per-cent more than
the public securities of the state ; to which may be added
£6,484,000 of British capital, paid up on foreign mining
speculations, described in Spackman's Statistical Tables,
(p, 158), as being, with one or two exceptions, utterly worth¬
less, and an entire loss of the capital embarked in them, and
also a £4,500,000 paid up in capital on British Mining Com¬
panies, designated by the same authority, as not only com¬
plete failures, but memorable proofs of the folly and cupidity
of British capitalists, on one hand, and of the knavery of
their projectors on the other, (ib. p. 153) making a total of
capital, nearly unproductive, where not entirely lost, of up¬
wards of £130,000,000."
PREFACE.
0 •
VU
in India, cannot but be anxious to see some portion
of our superfluous wealth, which is squandered with
a prodigal hand both at home and abroad, directed
to her shores, to commence a system of transit in
that magnificent country, famed through all time for
its inexhaustible riches, regarding which, the Times"
of the 25th of September, in its leading article,
says—" The wonderful progress of production, and
commerce in that country (India) encourages us to
hope, for almost any result. ^ With re¬
gard to our East India trade, rashness consists rather
in leaving things as they are, than attempting to
develop its unequalled, and immeasurable resources,"
with a density of population in the Lower Provinces
of Bengal and Behar, exceeding that of any country
in Europe.
The introduction of that mighty engine of im¬
provement, to which England is herself so much
indebted, would cause the slumberiug .spirit of India,
to awake from the sleep of ages, the sleep of
apathy, superstition, and prejudice, to the know¬
ledge of the value of time, and to assume among
the nations, an aspect of renovated power. " Her
(India) value will then shine forth, and those who
consult her interests, must rejoice."
To the authorities in ihe India House, the author's
best acknowledgments are due, for the uniform
courtesy he has experienced ; the liberal access af-
c
vni
PREFACE
forded Iiim to valuable official records, has enabled
him to place, in a condensed form, much that must
be interesting, regarding the resources of our Empire
in the East.
He has also, to express to many distinguished
individuals connected with India, his sincere thanks,
for valuable suggestions, and that encouragement,
which has induced him to bestow additional pains
on the edition now offered to the public, which he
trusts, will be found more deserving of approbation
than the preceding one.
London, October, 1846.
INTEODÚCTORY REMARKS.
Wheu we reflect on the pre-eminence we have at¬
tained, as a nation, both for political sagacity and
an enlarged philanthropy, the neglect with which
we have treated, in some respects, our Indian do¬
minions and subjects, cannot but be matter of
surprise, if not of indignation ; and this surprise
is by no means lessened when England is regarded
as the great centre of the world's commerce ; her
sons, wise, brave, and humane, yet ever in the van
of commercial enterprise, with an energy of purpose
which secures to them success, whether they pant
and toil in the luxuriant fields of a tropical clime,
or patiently, as fishermen, pursue a precarious com¬
merce in the frozen regions of the north, where the
womb of nature is for ever sealed.
We are, emphatically, a money-making and com¬
mercial people, and in this character, as merchants
2
trading to the east, with our invoices and bills of
lading of our wares, did we first, with anxiety and
care, plant our foot on Indian soil, esteeming our¬
selves happy, if we received permission from the
native governments to pursue our thrifty avocations
in peace.
Without pausing to note the various phases in
our career, till the character of merchant was merged
in that of sovereign ; we shall merely remark, that
for many years our Indian policy has been—if we
may be allowed a paradox—that of passive
and involuntary aggression, extending only our
dominion when we could not avoid doing so, and
advancing our frontier as a means of defence. We
thus, from the force of circumstances, have had a
character thrust upon us, not our own ; gradually
laying aside our peaceful and profitable pursuits,
and allowing our philanthropy to slumber, v/e have
acted in the eyes of those, little observant of our
peculiar political relations in the east, as if we lusted
with an insatiable desire for territorial aggrandize¬
ment and military renown, but although now our
empire is approaching with rapid strides (and,
from the portents in the political horizon, will soon
attain its natural and obvious boundary,) towards the
north-west, to be defined, defended, and circum¬
scribed by the Indus and Hymalaya, yet the British
empire in the east, appears far from having ascended
3
to its zenith ; and the time has now arrived to awake
to new and other glories, more consonant to our
genius as a people, the peaceful triumphs of com¬
merce, from improved intercourse, bringing in its
train the arts, the sciences, the literature, the civili¬
zation, and religion of the west, causing the barren
waste to be fruitful, and the wilderness to blossom
as the rose, the sound of the hammer to ring in the
solitude, and the gospel of peace, to be proclaimed
in the darkest recesses of that benighted land.
That the mighty engine of improved intercourse has
not received that degree of attention, from the liberal
and enlightened rulers of India, which it demands,
is to be attributed, in a great degree, to the expen¬
sive wars which have been forced upon them—the
delicate political relations with numerous states—
the vastness of the territory to govern, and the com¬
parative unacquaintance with some of the provinces,
both as to their inhabitants and resources, and many
other affairs claiming their immediate regards. By
some it is injuriously urged, that the East India
Company, acting as trustees for the crown, and from
their charter expiring in 1854, they have no wish to
invest capital in a country which it is possible, al¬
though not probable, they may be called upon to
relinquish—and as their dividend is limited to 10|
per cent, they can derive no advantage from
developing the resources of British India—that this
4
aspersion is unjust, we feel assured—for, although
there is much that is anomalous in their anthority
and constitution, taking their administration as a
whole, and making due allowance for the distance of
the country governed, its vastness and difßculties,
nothing could be more wise and generally beneficent.
If India has had much to complain of—of positive
injustice, superadded to neglect, the odium of this
injustice rests with us as a people, or rather with our
representatives ; for have they not, by legislative en¬
actments, treated India more as foreign country but
little favoured, than as the most magnificent and
dazzling jewel of the imperial crown. In times of
peace, India and its affairs have been too often
treated with an apathy not to be accounted for, till
some new victory—some new nation, little heard of
before, or if heard of, not known, has bent its
unwilling neck to our yoke ; when the national
vanity is flattered, its curiosity excited, and the
Prime Minister of England declares, at once, the
Sovereign's and the nation's voice in applauding
and rewarding the victors. But whenever our
connexion with India, was not adorned with a re¬
markable achivement, our ministers and legislators,
unmindful of the tide of wealth which flowed from
India to our shores, crushed the energies, and re¬
doubled the labours of her sons, by unwise and un¬
justly exorbitant duties, on the fruits of those
5
labours, and this gloriously free country held back
with all the freezing rigour of despotism, the advance
of a mighty nation, in whose hands an all-wise Provi¬
dence had placed its destinies, in the career of social
improvement, and suspended the development of the
inexhaustible riches of its soil, by refusing to open
its ports, excepting on the most cruel terms, to its
valuable products. While so little reciprocating the
nature of our dealings with India—when thus re¬
fusing its products—our own manufactures were
poured into it, under a small and nearly nominal
duty, to the annihilation of the native cotton fabrics
once so celebrated, and the total disappearance at
last, of all local manufacture.*
Kestraining, with one hand, the free labourer, of
the East, they encouraged, with the other, the slave
owner of the West.
The old sugar duties, must be in the recollection
of every one. Jamaica sugar, although of superior
* Note to 3rd. Edition—The Author is gratified to learn
that influential parties connected with India, haye had their
attention directed to a hand-power loom recently patented in
Great Britain by the Chev. P. Claussen, whereby the native
weaver will be enabled unerringly to return to his employer,
his produce equal in quantity to that of the Power-loom, and
of a quality more even in texture than that resulting from
Hand-loom labour. This in India, where labour is so cheap,
raw material so abundant, and steam-machinery so expensive,
will afford a favourable opportunity for resuscitating the an¬
cient manufactures of that country.
6
quality, and produced so much nearer England, paid
a moderate duty ; while that from India, naturally
less rich in quality and coming from so great a
distance, was charged with a duty almost prohibitory.
These errors are now partially repaired ; but time
presses onward, and much is still to be achieved by
the most enlightened, the most moral and religious
government in Europe, to elevate, in the scale of
nations, the people of India.
Let the liberality and energy of the future, in peace
as in war, make amends for the past. A mighty
element of civilization is now coming to our aid—the
railway system of communication—the due develop¬
ment of which, in India is, at once, the most gigantic,
interesting, and important problem, which the genius
of the age has propounded to the world.
Its pressing and paramount importance cannot
be over-estimated, whether in reference to a great
and increasing commerce, or to the consolidation
and protection of our dominions and the many
blessings which would flow to the people from im¬
proved intercourse ; so that now, when our sword
is sheathed, and the roar of our cannon has ceased
to make our enemies tremble on their thrones, the
eyes of the soldier, the statesman, the merchant,
and the philanthropist, will be alike turned to¬
wards the gloomy recesses of Leadenhall Street,
where it is hoped that this subject will be discussed
7
with the consideration and promptitude it de
mands.
For the sake of brevity and distinctness, we now
proceed to embody our remarks under separate heads >
supporting our own views and assertions by testi¬
mony drawn from the best authorities, whether in
India or in this country.
n
s
POLITICAL AND MILITARY IMPORTANCE
OF
RAILWAYS IN BRITISH INDIA.
The imperious necessity of rapid intercommunica¬
tion in reference to our Indian possessions, in a
political and military point of view, is so obvious,
that it would be matter of surprise, were it not for
the still more pressing claims on their attention
formerly alluded to, that the authorities have not,
long ere this, prosecuted the subject, with the assidu¬
ous and careful energy, which they have only recently
begun to evince ; but the insult offered to our arms,
by the invasion of the Sikhs, and the delay which
9
took place before that insult could be avenged, must
have effectually demonstrated to all, the impolicy,
the impossibility of further procrastination, in sum¬
moning science to our aid, to take advantage of the
natural facilities of the country—to bring what is
distant near—the weak outpost, under the imme¬
diate protection of the great station, with its troops
and military stores in its rear. During the late
campaign against the Sikhs, nothing could be more
apparent, than that our vast resources were for weeks
unavailing, from the want of rapid transit ; power¬
less to hurl back aggression, we were compelled to
suffer, for more than a month, the presence of an
enemy within our border, too formidable to be dis¬
lodged. It is true, that this indignity, offered to the
majesty of the British name, is now almost lost in the
completeness of the subsequent triumph ; but, while
we rested on our arms, waiting the arrival of heavy
artillery, stores, and reinforcements ; what might not
the enemy have achieved, had he but possessed con¬
duct and enterprise equal to his power. How
wonderful the infatuation that he did not, with the
first blow he struck, overwhelm Sir John Littler, and
then attack, in detail, our wearied detachments as
they came up under the Governor-General and Lord
Gough, instead of reserving his strength, till it suited
us to become the assailants in those memorable
struggles.
10
A recent Indian periodical* states that, " where
it takes three months now, it will take only as many
days, to bring distant consignments to market, and
the same capital, consequently, which, at present,
can be returned only three or four times a year, may
be returned, probably, twenty. A railroad will
operate in the same manner, increasing the effective
strength of the army, by saving the time employed
in marches. In the annual relief, infantry regi¬
ments are often moved from one end of India to the
other, at an average of ten and a half miles per day,
halting six days in the month, so that it takes about
six weeks to move from this presidency (Calcutta)
to Benares. Hence arises the necessity of the con¬
centration at all times, of a large force in the
neighbourhood of an enemy. There are not the
means existing of concentrating troops on a sudden
emergency. This was strikingly exemplified in
various ways, on occasion of the recent war on the
north-west frontier. When it broke out, all oflScers,
whose regiments were in the field, were ordered to
join the army. About one hundred, we believe, in
the different services—Engineers, Artillery, Infantry,
and Medical—required to go from this Presidency.
They were sent at the public expence, and with the
* Calcutta Review for March, 1846.
11
greatest despatch. How many do our readers sup¬
pose the Post-Master-General was able to send daily 1
Three !—and as the journey took, sixteen days tra¬
velling, night and day, few arrived before the war
was over. Even this, could not have been accom¬
plished at any other period of the year.
" Under the order, now countermanded, for the
establishment of depots, the Regiments stationed in
the presidency division were ordered to supply about
six hundred men to the depot, intended to be formed
at Benares. The utmost despatch was desired by
Government ; bullock hackeries, the only kind of
carriage ever available here, were put in requisition
in the usual manner ; but the garriwdns* had taken
alarm at the rumour, industriously and perhaps ma¬
liciously circulated, that they were to go to the seat
of war. They were consequently obtained with
difficulty. Many ran away, and from these causes
several days were lost before the march could com¬
mence, and a halt of some days more became
necessary at the end of the first day's journey. Is
this a predicament proper for the Government to be
placed in, within a few miles of a great political and
commercial capital ? Is it just, to the great interests
involved in the stability of British power, that the
* Drivers.
12
movement of troops should depend on native opinion,
or on the caprice of the drivers, or owners of bullock
hackeries 1
" The chief magazine for the supply of military
stores, for the forces employed in the Lower and
Upper provinces, is and must be at Fort William for
a century to come. Nowhere else can the vast
munitions of war, required on occasions of hostili¬
ties, be safely deposited. Their safety is itself a
cause of strength, in the impression which the
knowledge of it makes on the natives of India. But
their use depends on their transport, which, though
more easily accomplished by water, than the trans¬
port of troops, could be effected with incomparably
superior advantages by a railway. The magazines
of Allahabad, Cawnpore, Agra and Delhi, from which
a great part of the Bengal army is supplied, receive
all their stores from Calcutta : those of Ajmir, Fero-
zepore, and Saugor, are so chiefly supplied from
this presidency.
" Not only is transport by railroad the quickest,
but if the saving of time is taken into account, it
is the cheapest mode of conveying troops.
" Sir James Willoughby Gordon, Quarter-Master-
General, was examined on this point, and gave his
evidence as follows ;—
" 1994. Then, in consequence of the saving of time
which is effected, the total cost of the transport
13
of troops is actually less to Government, than their
expenses on the road, when they go on foot —
Exactly, perhaps the better way would be, to state
one case, which is as good as a thousand. We will
take the distance from London to Birmingham ; the
expenses for marching for one man, being nine
marches and one halt, is 10s. lOJ. ; by railroad he
would cost IDs. *Jd. ; therefore, in that distance^
there is a saving of 2d, on each man."
1995, Lord G. Somerset.—" You are now speak¬
ing of cavalry 1—îîo, infantry. Cavalry I have
moved by railroad under particular circumstances,
which, if necessary, I shall state ; but, so far as re¬
gards expense, the horse marching costs nothing ;
he eats the same as he does in the barrack-stable ;
but when a soldier marches, he costs the public, in
addition, Is. Id. per day, of which 10c?. goes to the
publican, and 3c?. to himself. Then, I should say,
that this mode of railway conveyance has enabled
the army (comparatively to the demands made upon
it, a very small one,) to do the work of a very large
one ; you send a battalion of one thousand men
from London to Manchester in nine hours ; that
same battalion marching, would take seventeen days,
and they arrive at the end of nine hours just as
fresh, or nearly so, as when they started, by moving
the troops to and fro, by that mode of conveyance—
you could not have done one tenth part of the work
14
that it was required of the troops to do, and ne¬
cessarily to do, in the year 1842.
1996.—•' In the case you have mentioned, for the
sake of example, of the conveyance of so many
soldiers from London to Birmingham, it is obvious
—is it not—that, besides the small difference be¬
tween 10s. lOd. and lOs. Id., the soldier was avail¬
able for nine days' service in this case, which ho
spent in travelling in the other 1" " Yes."
1997.—" And over and above, that there is the
power of concentration at particular points, the im¬
portance of which is hardly to be estimated 1" " Yes ;
it facilitates military operations, to an extent beyond
my power to describe to the committee."
Regarding the superior safety of railroad travel¬
ling, as compared with all other modes of con¬
veyance, the same witness made the following
statement :—
" For the last two years, ending December 31st. I
have moved by railroad 130,174 persons, and of
those persons a very large number were women and
children, and they were moved without any reported
accident whatever, which is a degree of security I do
not think attached to any other mode of conveyance
that has come under my observation, neither by
canal, nor by sea, nor by waggon, nor by coach.*
"rmm I - ■ I I I ... ■ ■ I ■ . ^ - I 1.1 I I
* Vide--'*Keportsof a Select Committee of the House of
Commons on Kailways."
15
In the month of November last this officer gave
similar testimony, before the Gauge Commission, as
to the economy, safety, and adaptation of railroads
to military purposes.
He stated that during the three years and a
half, ending the 30th of June 1845, 212,000 people
were moved by railway, of • which 9,600 were
women, and above 1,100 children, beside 378
horses, without any reported accident.
The horses came out of the horse boxes, after
a movement of 100 miles, just as fresh as when
they went into them.
" 6325. Do you imagine in the event of
this country being at war with France, the
railways of this kingdom could be advantageously
used in the National defence 1"
" Certainly. The effect of rapid communication
by railway, speaking militarily, is, that it enables
you to do with a small army the work of a large
one."
After adverting to the great inconvenience and
expense of having large bodies of troops quartered
in different parts of the coast, as was the case at
the breaking out of the last war, he adds—" Now
it would not be necessary to do that ; you would
probably concentrate them in some central place
and move them from thence by railway."
s
16
" 6337. You mean that they would not be
concentrated upon any point of the coast f
" No. At the breaking out of the last war, you
had a large division of the army in Essex ; you had
another in Norfolk ; you had another in Northamp¬
tonshire, and so on Northward. You had a very
large one in Kent ; you had another in Sussex ;
you had another in Hampshire ; and you had one
in Devonshire ; all of which were separate and
distinct corps, and could not be removed but at
great expense of time and labour. Now in the
event of similar circuumstances of hostility with
France, it would be much better to concentrate all
those troops in some central point, such a central
point as might be thought best, and from thence
they might be conveyed by railway, to any part of
the coast where their services were most required, to
and fro, with very great rapidity and certainty."
•' 6338. Taking the great lines as radii from
that focus."
"Yes ; the focus might be wherever it might be
thought best. You might consider which was best,
with a view to ammunition, with a view to proximity
to an arsenal, with a view to provision, and with
a view to the troops being quartered ; they would
go backwards and forwards without difiiculty."
The military evidence of Major General Sir John
Fox Burgoyne, K.C.B., Inspector-general of fortifi-
17
cations---lately chief commissioner of public works
in Ireland, and also one of the railway commis¬
sioners for that country, given before the gauge com¬
missioner contains the following passages,
" 6346, You are probably of opinion that the
facility of moving artillery, cavalry and infantry,
by railway, might be, in case of war, essentially
conducive to the national defence T
" Ho doubt of it, of very great importance.
I look upon the whole safety of the kingdom to de¬
pend upon railways. The whole question of war de¬
pends upon the General who can concentrate his
troops with the greatest rapidity, and in the greatest
numbers, upon a given point of importance ; and
if you can get down your men from the North faster
than the enemy can land them on the coast, of course
you have every advantage,"
" There is another very great facility that rail¬
ways give, with regard to military operations, which
is in carrying camp equipage. In case of war, camp
equipage is of the greatest importance, and the
carriage of it by ordinary means is very difficult
but by railway you would carry it with the troops
very easily, and you would form an encampaient
very easily in a very short time,"
" Then there is another great advantage in the
railways in defensive warfare, which is, that the
parties who are defending themselves, who are re-
18
sisting invasion, have the use of the railways to the
last ; whereas, if the enemy gets possession of it,
it is of no use whatever to him. Now in the case
of ordinary roads, when an enemy got possession of
a road, it was of great service to him ; he im¬
mediately ran along it till he got to the next point
of opposition. But when he gets possession of a
railway, it is of no use to him at all ; he has no
carriages, and no locomotives ; but you have the
use of them, on the contrary, till the last moment.
I look upon railways, to be important mainly for
defence, and I think steam generally, is chiefly of
advantage in favour of defensive power.
" I should expect all the reserves to be a long
way in the rear, always having the facility of that
rapid communication to various points. I would
never trust in the front, more than what were neces-
sarv for immediate defence.
" The great reserves would all be in the interior.
"Along the outer circumference, troops attempting
to assemble, might be met by the enemy and opposed
in detail, whereas, from the interior, they have the
advantage of concentration on their side, and may
direct their masses on inferior forces.
" 6336. Does anything further occur to you in
respect to this question ? I think that the point
that Sir Willoughby Gordon mentioned about the
security of railways in case of insurrection, is of
19
Very great importance. It is one that has always
struck me with reference to the danger of having
the railways broken up. If you had any apprehen*
sion of anything of the kind, you would have a
flying corps upon the railway, which would run
from one place to another ; and anybody that at¬
tempted it would get into a great scrape ; for you
would be upon them before they could be aware of
it. They might do partial mischief for a short
time, but they could not keep any permanent hold
of the thing, or do any such mischief, that your own
people would not be able to repair in a short time."
That the important advantages of railways for
the security and defence of this country, so forcibly
pointed out by these two distinguished officers
would result from the introduction of this mode of
transit in India, must be evident to all, when the
greatness of territory, the extent and nature of its
frontier, and the numerical disproportion of the
army to the population are considered, but only those
who are practically acquainted with the country, its
people and climate, its roads and conveyances can
duly estimate the expense, delay, and annoyances
which so frequently accompany the movement of
even a single regiment in its line of march, and
this too, in times of peace, but when forced marches
become necessary, the carriage seized and retained
by authority, even if adequate for the conveyance
20
of camp equipage, is soon thrown so far in the rear
as not to be available. The men and officers are
consequently when making two days' march in one,
constantly exposed, when in an exhausted state,
from the want of their tents, to great heat during
the day, and intense cold at night, and such ex¬
posure at the very opening of the campaign, de¬
prives the ranks of many an efficient soldier. Kail-
roads would entirely obviate or greatly diminish
these difficulties, there would be no fatigue ex¬
perienced, and but little exposure. The same train
that would convey the soldier, would also convey his
arms,his tent, and refreshment, so that an encampment
of well supplied and efficient troops, might be formed
in an incredibly short time, at any point where
their services might seem to be required.
The following paragraph we subjoin is from a
German Paper. " The late affair at Cracow, has
afforded an instance of the benefits of railways for
the speedy transport of troops and warlike stores to
the scene of operation ; an Austrian corps of 921
men having been transported on the 3rd instant,
from Prague to Almutz, about 160 miles, in fourteen
hours and a half ; and on the 5 th, a body of cavalry
of 1500 men, with horses and baggage, made the
same journey in twelve hours, thus saving from
eight to nine days."
Colonel Warren, C.B., Town Major, Fort William,
21
regarding railways in India, expresses himself as
follows :—
" There cannot be two opinions upon the subject.
For my own part, I regard their introduction as
likely to effect such a change throughout the whole
country, and to confer such incalculable benefits,
both upon the government and the public, that no
cost (within reasonable limits) could be too great to
accomplish the object.
" The importance of the undertaking, in a com¬
mercial point of view, I presume to be great ; but
I am unable to give an opinion : but of its advan¬
tages, in a military and political point of view, I
have no hesitation in stating, that the advantages
are infinitely beyond what, upon a cursory examina¬
tion of the subject, might be supposed, and would
be cheaply purchased at almost any price.
" The practicability of receiving intelligence from
distant parts of the country, in as many hours, as at
present it requires days, and even wee^, to accom¬
plish, and of sending instructions, with troops and
stores, in the same brief period, are considerations
which cannot be too highly estimated. Troops
could be kept at more distant and healthier stations
than at present, and much loss of life from sickness
would be by this means spared. Stores, would not
to the same extent be required as the various depots,
and the loss by decay, and the destruction
22
incidental to the climate, which now attains, would
also be avoided."]*
Many other ofiScers in India, both in the Engineers
and other arms of the service, coincide with the
opinion of Col. Warren ; but we confine ourselves
to a short extract from the letter of Captain Good-
wyn, Garrison Engineer, and Civil Architect of Fort
William.
[To the Government, in the conveyance of mili¬
tary stores, troops, officers, and mails, the benefits
are really so numerous, and of such magnitude, that
the merits of each individual case requires more
detail than is here necessary. Suffice it to say, that
the estimated gains have been entered into, and are
enormous, both in a financial and military view ;
whilst the statistical returns of the number of pas¬
sengers, and of the traffic on the line between
Calcutta and Allahabad, of which, I believe, you
have the particulars, sufficiently confirm what I
have advanced on that head.]
^ In addition to the facts and opinons which have
been stated, drawn from the evidence of the Quarter-
* The aboye extract, is from the phamphlet of Mr. R M,
Stephenson, and in all cases where we have availed ourselves
of the information contained in the same, the extracts are
marked by bracked, as above.
23
Master-General of the Army before a select committee
of the House of Commons, the more recent testimony
of that officer and General Burgoyne before the Gauge
Commission, the Calcutta Review, and officers in
the service of the Honourable East India Company,
we close these extracts on the political and military
importance of railways in India, by transferring to
our pages the following corroborative testimony of
Mr. Williamson, late Revenue Commissioner, Bom¬
bay, contained in a printed letter recently addressed
to Lord Wharncliffe, as chairman of the Great In¬
dian Peninsular Railway Company.
" In Europe the importance of a railway as a
military work, is limited to the speed and comfort
with which large bodies of troops may be conveyed
to their destination ; but in India its value is en¬
hanced, by the mode in which it would spare the
health and save the lives of European troops.
" The saving of human life and the increase of
efficiency, in the men, would of themselves be a
suffieient argument in favour of such a mode of
transit ; but setting aside all considerations of
humanity, the mere pecuniary saving would be very
great. It is well known, that every recruit landed
in India costs the Company one hundred and ten
pounds, which sum is considerably increased before
he is dismissed from drill and fit for service, so
F
24
that the saving of every single life, becomes a matter
of considerable financial importance/'"^
The cogency of Mr. Williamson^s remarks regard¬
ing the pecuniary advantage which would accrue to
tlîe state by the safe conveyance of troops, must be
strikingly apparent to all acquainted with the tedi¬
ous and dangerous navigation of the Ganges.
Three years ago, one hundred Europeans perished
in this river during a gale, entailing a loss upon the
government of upwards of ten thousand pounds.
It will have been seen in a preceding page, that
the expense, delay and uncertainty of moving troops
by land carriage on any sudden emergency, were
strikingly exemplified duriïig the last war.
Leaving these facts to the consideration of those
interested in the stability of the British dominion
in the East, and merely alluding to the great facili¬
ties which the government would derive from safe
and rapid transit of their treasure and despatches, the
comparative ease with which the present necessarily
cumbrous machinery of government might be
wielded or reformed, both for the administration of
justice, and the collection of revenue in the more
distant provinces, the stimulus that would be felt
immediately in every department of the public ser-
* Pages 11 and 14 of the letter by T. Williamson, Esq.,
C. S., on the advantages of railway communication in India.
25
vice, by being brought almost iuto contact with
the seat of supreme authority ; the active- and effi¬
cient supervision of which, would elicit more fully
the highest and best qualities of their servants, im¬
prove the revenue, and be a blessing to the people.
Provided with this additional source of energy
and strength, should an enemy again be rash enough
to threaten our territory, he would find that terri¬
tory surrounded, as with a wall of iron, bristling
with British bayonets, our munitions of war at hand,
and our guns in position.
Works so formidable to our enemies, so useful
to ourselves, how calculated to impress surrounding
nations with the intelligence, the resources, and the
power of the paramount authority in India J
26
THE SOCIAL & COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES
OF
RAILWAYS IN BRITISH INDIA.
" There be three things," says Lord Bacon, " which
make a nation great and prosperous, a fertile soil,
busy workshops, and easy conveyance for men and
commodities from one place to another."
" Railways are, assuredly, next to the invention
of printing, the most powerful instrument of civi¬
lization that the ingenuity of man has ever devised.
It is diflScult, if not impossible, to foresee and de¬
fine the results which they must, of necessity, at
some period produce on the fate of nations."'®^
The knowledge of the value of time, the commer¬
cial benefits and social amelioration which flow from
improved intercommunication, are now becoming
generally known and justly appreciated, and it will
♦ Address to the Chamber of Deputies by the French
Minister of public works.
27
not have escaped the observation of the attentive
reader of history, that the march of nations in gene¬
ral improvement, enterprise, and the acquisition of
riches, has been accelerated, or retarded, in a nearly
exact ratio, with the means afforded them of ex¬
changing ideas and commodities within their own
territory, and extending their relations with neigh¬
bouring and more remote countries.
The means of transit, besides constituting a chief
element in collecting data on which to base a true
estimate of the progress of society, operate alter¬
nately as the cause and effect of civilization and
prosperity. The formation of roads invariably tends
to improve the most barbarous district, to evolve
its resources and ameliorate the condition of its
inhabitants, while the converse is alike certain in
result. A country rich in agricultural, manufactur¬
ing or mineral wealth, with a people whose energies
are awakened to the incalculable benefits which
accrue to commerce, from the easy and rapid inter¬
change of commodities, demands increased facilities
of transit, taxing to the utmost, science, experience,
and skill, to keep pace with its requirements.
The state of internal communication of a country
then, bears a direct relation to, and is co-equal with,
the progress of i^s people in general improvement,
good roads and other means of transit being the in¬
fallible signs—because the certain consequences—
28
of cilvilization—as their absence or imperfection
proves the reverse in a greater or less degree. "Let
us travel/^ says the Abbe Raynal, " over all the
countries of the earth, and wherever we find no
facility of travelling from a city to a town, or from
a village to a hamlet, we may pronounce the people
to be barbarians/^ Sir Henry Parneíl, in his ad¬
mirable " Treatise on the formation &c., of Roads/'
makes the following forcible remark—" The making
of roads, in point of fact, is fundamentally essential,
to bring about the first change that every rude
country must undergo, in emerging from a condition
of poverty and barbarism/'
" By this means the village and the city are
brought close together in effect, and yet retain all
the advantages of their local separation ; the port
and the manufactory are only separated by the
distance, in time, of a few hours, while such dis¬
tance in space affords room for all the various oc¬
cupations which contribute to the perfection of
either.''^^' A writer on this subject remarks that—•
" Next to the genial influence of the seasons, upon
which the regular supply oí our wants, and a great
portion of our comfort so much depends, there is
perhaps no circumstance, more interesting to men in
a civilized state, than the perfection of the means
of interior communication "
* M. S. Lectures on the " Rise and progress of internal com¬
munication," by an Eminent Civil Engineer.
29
Vast, and beyond the calculation of the most
sanguine as have been the benefits conferred on
this country by railway communication, the intro¬
duction of this system of transit into India, must
lead to results of still greater magnitude and im¬
portance. In England, this was only a question
of degree ; applied to India, it will be one of kind,
or a new and vivifying element of social and com¬
mercial progression, acting on a population exceeding
one hundred millions/"^ Capital and enterprize,
directed by science, have for ages stimulated the
industral energies of our people, and the latent
resources of our soil ; whilst the extensive and fer¬
tile plains of India, teeming with the richest agri¬
cultural and mineral products which—when remote
from river traffic, from the want of roads—remain
to rot on the ground which nourished them, or lie
dormant beneath its surface, benumbing the energies
and debasing the moral capacities of the inhabitants.f
" Great merit is due to the late Lord William
Bentinck, for having established, a few steam boats
* The entire population of India may be fairly estimated
at 150,000,000.
t " If we had only a Railroad to distribute our produce we
should do well ; as we have none, an abundant harvest and
plenty are almost as embarrassing and ruinous to the farmer
as a dearth ; produce, cannot be disposed of readily, and is
parted with, at a very un remunerating rate to satisfy the
demands of rent."—From the Indian correspondent of the
Times, December 30th, 1846.
30
on the river, "and to the Home authorities, for having
maintained them. It is ascertained, these boats
afford a very profitable return ; but their number,
not exceeding six or eight, so farfrom being adequate
to the conveyance of the traffic up and down the
Ganges, are scarcely sufficient for the transport of
the public stores, and troops proceeding to the
interior.*
" A reference to the map of India shows that the
cotton growing districts, on the Nerbudda, and those
of Nagpoor and Amrowty, in Berar, are remote from
Mirzapore, the entrepôt, on the Ganges, lying be¬
tween Benares and Allahabad ; and the mode of
conveyance may be thus described :—
" The cotton is brought on oxen, carrying 160
pounds each, at the extreme rate, in fair weather,
of seven miles a day for a continuance, and at a
price of about five shillings for each 100 miles.
If we take the average distance to Mirzapore at 500
miles, each pound of cotton costs in transit, above
twopence-halfpenny. It has thence to be borne by
water carriage nearly 800 miles further on to Cal¬
cutta, from which port the exportation of such
t Since the above was written, several fleets of steamers for
inland navigation have been established by private enterprise
and with abundant success.—0. /. Postmaster.
31
cotton to England as a profit must be looked for in
vain. Within the last seven or eight years, a good
road, between Jubalpore and Mirzapore, has been
formed ; and it is satisfactory to know, that although
400 carts only passed over in the year after it was
built, no fewer than 6,000 went along it in 1838 ;
and this number will daily increase. The misfortune
of this road, however, as regards the cotton trade, is
that it only commences half way between the cotton
districts and the entrepôt. The article, therefore,
has necessarily to travel 250 miles on osen^s backs,
and the contract for conveyance extends to the whole
distance ; so that, in fact, for all beneficial purposes
to the cotton trade in that quarter, this excellent
road is almost useless. In order to render it avail¬
able, it should be completed to Nagpoor and
Amrowty. Were this affected, and the transport
by carts substituted, as we may be sure it would be,
it would diminish the expense of conveyance alone,
from twopence-halfpenny to less than a farthing a
pound. The calculation is simple. An ox carries
160 pounds at the rate of seven miles a day, in fair
weather only, for a continuons journey of one or
two months. In the absence of a defined and
good road, a drove of several hundred head of
cattle requires to be constantly watched, and pre¬
vented from straying on the march ; and this leads
to the necessity of travelling by day in the hot
G
32
weather, when the thermometer is seldom less than
lOOo, and frequently 130o Fahrenheit. These
droves are never so few as a 100, and often
exceed 1,000, Every morning, after daylight, each
ox has to be laden ; and before the operation is
over, the sun is already high above the horizon.
The cattle have then to proceed at the slow rate
of two miles an hour ; and seldom perform a journey
of more than eight or nine miles per day. The
horde generally halts one day in the seven. (Troops
in marching on service, are required to halt once on
every third day.'^^) If the caravan is overtaken by
rain, the cotton, becoming saturated with moisture,
is so heavy as to prevent its transport on the cattle,
and the roads, if lying through the cotton ground,
are so deep that men even, sink above their ankles
at every step, and cattle to their knees. It may
easily be supposed that under such a calamity, the
merchant and the carrier are both ruined.f
Since General Brigg's pamphlet was written, the
means of internal communication have been extended
and improved, but still much remains to be done, for
developing this essential element of prosperity and
civilization.
* In Bengal, in the annual relief, infantry regiments march
on the average ten miles and a half per diem, halting six
days in a month.—0, I. Postmaster.
t " The Cotton Trade of India," by Major General Briggs
F.R.S. 1840.
33
That the British merchants resident in India, as
well as the wealthy and intelligent members of the
native community, are alive to the commercial and
social benefits derivable from railroads in India, will
be evident from the subjoined extracts,
[The great risk of our rivers in our country boats
—the length of the voyage—the want of water a
great portion of the year—the strength of the
current in the rains, and the periodical monsoons
would all be thrown into the scale in favour of rail¬
roads, independent of the incalculable benefits the
people of India would derive by a rapid and free
intercourse all the year round, uninterrupted by
causes which impede inland navigation, even when
propelled by steam."—Allan Deffell & Co.
" There can be no doubt, that, as regards the
commercial interests of Bengal, and those of the
public, any line of railway will be of advantage,
and we believe that these are lines the advantage
of which would be very great. For instance, from
Raj mahl to Calcutta certainly, and probably the
longer line between Calcutta and Mirzapore."—
CoCKERELL & Co.
" Were we to express our views as fully as we feel
upon this subject, we should probably exceed the
limits of sober calculation. That it will benefit the
country by developing her hidden and partially-
opened resources—that it will infuse a spirit of
34
enterprise hitherto unknown to her merchants—and
that it will increase the consumption of British and
other goods where they are known, and create a
demand for them where they are not—are inferences
which even the cautious must admit."—Kelsall and
Ghose.]
Regarding the probable return to the shareholders
on the capital invested, our Calcutta friends are
equally sanguine,
[^Notwithstanding the difficulty and delay of land
carriage, from 19,000 to 22,000 tons of merchandize
pass along the military road (per annum 1) It has
been ascertained, that the expense of conveyance by
land is equal to between three-pence and four-pence
per ton per mile.
" By water the official returns from the Jungy-
pore toll-house show, that 1,81,000 tons of merchan¬
dize pass annually between Calcutta and Benares,
and the districts above that point.
" The expense of the river route, including insur¬
ance and interest during the time occupied in transit
amount to about two-pence per ton, per mile on
goods of the value of £40 per ton, or somewhat
more than the minimum charge on a railway.*
* The minimum charge of a railway may be for coals and
such rough goods, one penny and even three-farthings per ton
per mile
35
" It appears, also, that 435,000 foot passengers
pass annually along the military road, and between
30,000 and 40,000 by conveyances of various kinds.
" By the river route the number of passengers in
1840-41 was 58,378, occupying 14,591 boats,
" These returns show a larger traffic, and a greater
number of passengers, than were to be found on any
of the great thoroughfares of Europe, previous to
the introduction of railways ; and the inference,
therefore, without going into details which are be¬
yond my present limits, is, that such works would
answer better there than they have elsewhere, es¬
pecially if they can be constructed, as I believe, for
£5,000 per mile, instead of from three to four times
that sum as in Europe,
" I am satisfied, indeed, after very careful enquiry
and minute attention to the subject, that no country
in the world has ever offered so tempting a field for
the investment of capital in railways, as the valley
of the Ganges, from one extremity to the other,
" The physical impediments are much less than
those upon the line of any large railways I have ever
examined.—G. Ashburker. (Firm of Maclvtyre
and Go.)
Rate per mile for total charges for conveying of coal by.
d.
York and North Midland per ton per mile . . . |.
Great North of England
36
" If au industrious and thriving population, num¬
bering about 100,000,000—a large, active, and
daily expanding internal traffic—cheap land and
labour, with most of the necessary materials for
construction on the spot, at prices equally low—^and
perfect security for person and property, are ele¬
ments that will command success, then it is certain
that a more promising field than Bengal for the in¬
vestment of railway capital, could not be found.
" I speak exclusively in a commercial sense. The
military question, so intimately connected with this
subject, I am unable to offer an opinion upon. The
revenue that would arise from the conveyance of
troops and stores, however, I should think would be
very large.
" In fact, the more I look at this subject, the
more satisfied do I feel that the introduction of a
well-organised system of railway communication
into Bengal, would prove not only highly advantage¬
ous to the presidency itself, but also to the share¬
holders, by yielding them a liberal and steady return
for capital.
" The above is my deliberate opinion, formed
after much eareful consideration of the question."—
MuTTY Loll Seal.]
The following sentiments and anticipations re¬
garding the moral influence of improved intercourse
on the people, emanating as they do, from an
37
intelligent and enterprising native merchant of Cal¬
cutta, Baboo Ram Gbopaul Ghose, cannot but be
interesting.
[" We are aware that the people of this country
are generally poor—that the natives of Bengal are
not a travelling people, and that the religious pre¬
judices would interfere to some extent to prevent
the Hindoos resorting to these conveyances. While
we admit that the majority of the people cannot
afford to travel in a railway train, we maintain that
the number of those who can, are by no means
small. The social relations between the Upper and
the Lower Provinces is almost nil, but the mercan¬
tile relations are extensive and extending ; and so
far as mercantile pursuits are concerned, the up-
country people are noted travellers.
" The growing class of intelligent natives would
freely resort to it ; and, lastly, the religious con¬
nexion between the Hindoos and the holy city of
Benares, Gyah, Allahabad, and others, would alone
fill the trains with hundreds of the better class
pilgrims. This brings us to consider the extent of
religious prejudices. As a native of the land, the
writer feels some confidence in stating his opinion,
that he believes they may be overcome by a few
simple arrangements. Let there be three divisions
of the people—namely, Mahomedans and high and
low Caste Hindoos. If any female passengers offer.
38
let them be accommodated in separate carriages.
And do not let the travellers be required to make a
run of more than twelve hours at a time (which, of
course, would never be necessary).
"We feel sure with these easily effected arrange¬
ments, railway travelling would be generally and
eagerly availed of by all classes of men—except,
perhaps, by a few, a very few, old, antiquated Hin¬
doos, who look upon every innovation with feelings
of horror. The only serious objection would be on
the part of the females ; but even this stronghold
of native prejudice, we hope to see successfully un¬
dermined by the civilizing influence of steam."—
KeksaIiL and Ghose.]
The above opinions and hopes coincide with our
own, although they are not those generally enter¬
tained. It must be allowed that there are many
native gentlemen of considerable fortune resident in
Calcutta, Moorshedabad, Patna, Benares, Delhi, &c.,
and a numerous and increasing class of mahajuns''^
in those cities, Mirzapore, and elsewhere, who would
soon find it to be for their convenience and interest
to travel by railroad, whether in the pursuit of
business or pleasure, and the natives of the Upper
Provinces, naturally given to travel, would speedily
adopt the new system, were their prejudices duly
consulted.
* Merchanta.
39
The introduction of railroads may be easily made
to sub-serve agricultural purposes, by the formation
of tanks where ground is required for embankments,
and by the conveyance of water along the different
lines ; thus irrigation, the sine qua non of farming
in the East, might be greatly extended, and those
frequently recurring famines, in particular districts
arising from the want of water, would be either
averted, or much alleviated.
Besides annihilating the hopes of the farmer, the
deprivation or diminution in the supply of this
necessary of life, in the scorching climate of India
is the frequent and immediate cause of dreadful
misery and mortality.
Thus, in addition to promoting the march of civi¬
lization, the agricultural, and commercial prosperity
of the country, the philanthropist regards the intro¬
duction of the railway system into India as, under
Providence, the only means of saving the lives of
thousands who fall victims to " the most primitive
and most fearful of earth's scourges " and its con¬
comitant pestilence, the horrors of which are
greatly aggravated by the want of internal commii-
+ The author has to thank Mr. Williamson, for a copy of
his letter on this subject, and the courteous note which accom¬
panied it.
For further information, see letter on irrigation, by T.
Williamson, Esq., late revenue commissioner, Bombay, ad¬
dressed to Lord Wharncliffe.
11
40
nication ; one portion of our widely extended empire
in its period of desolation, supplicating in vain for
assistance from the more favoured regions around,
multitudes perishing miserably by famine almost
in sight of fields yielding an abundant harvest.*^''
Prior to the introduction of locomotives on
railways in this country, opinions were entertained
precisely similar to those generally expressed, regard¬
ing the relative value of passengers and goods' traffic
on Indian railways : the principal portion of the
estimated profit being grounded on the latter.
" The unexpected and extraordinary increase in
the numbers of passengers, however produced by the
+ Some years ago, when the writer was in Upper India, a
famine prevailed in the province of Bundlecnnd. The in¬
habitants, men, women, and children fled in hundreds from
their homes ; many of these hapless creatures arrived daily at
the great military station of Cawnpore, some to die of hun¬
ger as soon as they saw food, others in the first eflbrt to swal¬
low the coveted morsel. A camel-shed was given by the
authorities for their reception ; a subscription was set on foot
by " The Good Samaritan," the superintending surgeon of
the Division, and with his own hand this kind-hearted man
fed two or three hundred of these poor famishing creatures
every morning. By this visitation, many children were left
without a single relative ; several were seized by the rich
natives and made slaves of ; but the military chaplain rescued
about sixty orphan girls, whom he sheltered under his roof.
These were afterwards educated, and formed an interesting
and impressive group, all arrayed in pure white, on the day
they received the sacrament of Baptism. They were after¬
wards to become teachers, for the conversion of the secluded
nmates of the Zenana.
41
economy oí time and money, rendered the passenger'
traffic more immediately and evidently profitable ;
hence, it naturally engrossed the attention of the
managers, whose entire energies were engrossed to
provide greater accommodation, combined with speed,
safety, and regularity.
" Of late, the old established lines have increased
the facilities for the carriage of goods, and provided
accommodation apparently more commensurate with
the demand. So far as the experiment has been
carried, it has shown generally, that the net revenue
from the goods' traffic, has been encreasing in a
quicker ratio than the net revenue from passengers
" Late arrangements made by the South Eastern
Counties for the more economical and regular carriage
of goods, have caused an increase of revenue from
that source of upwards of 100 per cent."
" But the most important field of all, because the
most exhaustless, remains to this time almost un¬
occupied. I refer to the conveyance of agricultural
produce and bulky materials, which are either con¬
veyed by canals or common roads, or too frequently
remain confined in districts where their value cannot
be turned to the best public or private advantages.""^
* The Principle of Kailway Management, by J. Butler
William, Esq., F.S.S., F.G.S., read before the Statistical So¬
ciety of London 16th. March 1846.
42
The concluding paragraph of the above extract is
in an especial degree applicable to India ; and we
now close this section with a few remarks on the
general traffic of the country.
[The enormous traffic already existing, and
constantly on the increase, the almost incredible
number of passengers of all descriptions, who now
travel by the tedious and insecure means of hackeries
and bullock carriages, and who would most assuredly
avail themselves of the security, rapidity, and com¬
parative economy, with which they would be con¬
veyed by railway/"' The planter and merchant in
Central and Upper India, whose goods are now con¬
signed to the dangerous, crazy boats, which navi¬
gate the rivers, at enormous risk and decided uncer¬
tainty of their arrival at their destination in a
marketable condition, would hail with joy the means
of transporting their indigo and cotton, with the
certainty of obtaining the price of the day, and the
A Calcutta merchant, desirous of visiting Benares, dis¬
tant 428 miles, incurs an expenditure of forty pounds and
loses more than a month on the journey, there and back
if he goes by steam vessels ; and if he goes by Dâk (post)
the amount will be fifty pounds, and he will have eight or
ten days incessant travelling ; by railway the time occupied,
to and fro, would be under twenty-six hours, the cost ten
pounds, seven pounds, four pounds ten shillings, or so, accord¬
ing to the class or train selected.—0. 1. rostmastcr.
43
security afforded to the merchandize by the rapidity
of the conveyance."
H. Goodvvyn,
Garrision Engineer.]
The official records at the India House prove that
the annual exports and imports of Calcutta by sea
amounted in the year 1843-44 to near £15,000,000
sterling.'^'' The chief portion of this great and still
augmenting traffic is either received from, or con¬
veyed to, the interior, by a most vexatiously slow
and expensive mode of transit.f Without adverting
^ -- ... ■ ■ ■■ .
* Vide Appendix H.
t By river craft moving, at the rate of twelve miles per
diem, the charge is two-pence per ton, per mile, for goods of
the value of ¿£40 per ton, including insurance and interests
By land, moving at about the same rate, four-pence per ton,
per mile ; this is nearly double the average charge for heavy
and bulky goods on the principal lines in England, and great
reductions are still in progress.
Note to 3rd. Edition. The above are the usual-rates in
Bengal. The steamers are more expensive, particularly for
short distances.
The Madras rate for conveying Government stores by cart,
is 5^. per ton per mile.
The Bombay estimate for general merchandize by pack bul¬
locks is from 4^. to 11 per ton per mile varying with the
season of the year and locality.
" The insurance from Calcutta to Eajmahal (distance 200
miles) is as high as from London to Calcutta ; the loss of in¬
terest by delay and uncertainty of arrival ; the injury done by
damp and prolonged partial exposure to the weather—this, as
in cotton, sugar, and salt, frequently occasions enormous
loss—the loss from pilfering -and waste, so great as 20 per
44
to other products of the soil, (eighteen million acres
being under cultivation in the north-west provinces)
we may mention that to the north-west of Calcutta
there are upwards of half a million acres devoted to
the cultivation of the sugar cane, and in the year
1844, there were received in Calcutta from the in¬
terior, nearly 140,000 tons of sugar, which exceeds
the estimated import for the current year, from the
whole of our West India possessions, by 15,000
tons.'^
cent, in some articles ; and also the robbery of the boats by
gangs of river pirates. From these causes, the native mer¬
chants, where roads are available, prefer paying 7 d. per ton,
per mile. This is the price of land-carriage in India, as statéd
in an extract of the Delhi Overland Gazette, published, in the
Morning Herald of the 4th instant (December 18Í6).
" The average cost for conveyance of goods by land-carriage
in India may be estimated at 30 rupees per ton (27¿ maunds)
every 100 miles. By a Eailway, at the ordinary rate of 2,88g?,
per ton per mile, at the average velocity, it would be 13 rupees
per ton per 100 miles. Here, then, there would be an actual
saving, in the mere cost of conveyance, of nearly 200 per
cent., and this saving in addition to the other unnumbered
advantages which increased speed affords." Letter by a share¬
holder, Smith Elder k Co.
* " The estimate 1 (Lord John Eussell) now hold in my hand,
I consider extreme, and by no means likely to be realized.
It first states the amount of Colonial and free labour sucrar
O
in the warehouse :—
Colonial and free labour sugar in the warehouse, Tons.
April 5th 1846. 40,000.
Estimated import fiom April 5th 1846 to April
5th 1847 (Customs' letter) ;
West Indies, 125,000.
Mauritius, 50,000.
East Indies, 80,000. 255,000
45
The general commerce of the Ganges is estimated
Calculated amôunt of free labour sugar admitted
from foreign countries, 20,000
Making in the whole, 315,000
Probable stock April 5th 1847, stock being
notoriously low 45,000
Available for consumption, . 270,000
(Lord G. Bentinck) His noble friend (Lord J. Eussell)
had also calculated the importations from the East Indies
during the year 1846-47, at no more than 80,000 tons. Now
he (Lord G. Bentinck) had reason to believe, from enquiries
he had instituted, that importations to the amount of 109,000
tons might be expected, during the year from Bengal alone,
independently of the importations from Madras. The ex¬
portations from Madras for the first three months of the
last year, did not exceed 600 tons ; but the exportations from
that presidency during the first three months of the present
year had amounted to 3,500 tons. He believed there was
every reason to anticipate an importation of 15,000 tons
of sugar from Madras this year ; and if this were the case
the defalcation in the supply occasioned by the drought in
the West Indies, would be amply compensated by the increased
supply from our East Indian colonies. The Right Hon.
Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. C. Wood)
seemed somewhat incredulous ; but he would only direct that
Right Hon. Gentleman's attention to the enormous increase
in the production of East India sugar which had taken place
within the last few years. In 1836 or 1837 the differential
duty which had previously been maintained between East and
West India Sugar was removed, and the duty on sugar pro¬
duced in those colonies, was equalized. In 1836-37 the
production of sugar in the East Indies for importation to
this country did not exceed 13,000 or 14,000 tons. Ten
years of protection had, however, so far encouraged the
growth of sugar in the East Indies, that he believed our im¬
portations of that article from Bengal alone, during the
present year, would amount to 100,000 tons."—" The Times'
July 21st 1846,
46
at from one million, to one million two hundred thou¬
sand tons per annum ; and supposing that one
half of this should be taken up by a railway at
Rajraahl, it would, at one penny per ton, per mile
with the usual deduction of forty per cent for work¬
ing charges, give a net return of twelve and a half
per cent, on an estimated capital of one million and
a half, which might be required for the purpose of
uniting Rajmahl with Calcutta, exclusive of pas¬
sengers, troops, treasure, government stores, and the
conveying of the mails.
That the commercial traffic of India is susceptible
of great expansion, is demonstrated by the following
statement contained in the Bengal and Agra Guide
and Gazetteer for 1842.
" It may be remarked that the inland trade in
general, has received a new impetus from the abolition
of the transit duties in 1836. The tolls collected
on boats at Jungypore, previous to that year,
amounted to fifty thousand rupees ; the year follow¬
ing, the amount was one hundred and thirty thousand
rupees. This branch of the service has progres¬
sively increased."
During the last year the Accountant General of
Bengal, has been publishing, in the Calcutta Gazette,
a comparative register of the receipts and charges
47
of the Bengal Government for several years preceding
1844-45.
Receipts.
1839-40 Rs. 7,19,41,586.
1842-43. 8,75,84,546.
1844-45. 9,52,21,640.
Expenditure. Surplus.
Rs. 2,19,56,352.
2,62,75,151.
2,79,42,677.
Rs. 4,99,85,231.
6,13,09,395.
6,72,78,963.
The above has reference to the finances of the
lower division only of the Bengal presidency, and
by the authority of state papers, we have thus a net
revenue, after deducting the charges of the col¬
lection, the cost of production, the maintenance of
public establishments, of more than six millions
sterling.
This account, however, does not include the ex¬
pense of the troops stationed in Bengal and Behar
and other important items. If we estimate these
charges at two millions, there will remain a surplus
of income over expenditure, of more than four
millions sterling.^
* In the charges of this presidency, there is one small item
of 18 lacs of rupees or £183,000 put down as Nezamut
charges, and we are anxious to fix attention on this sum as
the origin of that extraordinary prosperity which the revenues
of these provinces now exhibit. " This is the sum paid ann¬
ually to the family of the Nizam of Moorshedahad, the former
Viceroy of Bengal and Behar. Those who are conversant
with the history of British India will remember that Lord
Clive, on his last visit to Bengal, conquered those provinces
from the Mahomedans, but left the administration of the
I
48
The exposition of the state of tlie revenue in
some of the provinces in the Bengal Presidency, con¬
tained in the money article of the Times of the 12th
of May last is as follows —
" Some very copious information respecting the
finances of the lower division of the Bengal pre¬
sidency, has been furnished by the last arrival from
India. The great sources of revenue in the Lower
Provinces, which embrace the Soobahs of Bengal, and
Behar, and the districts of Cuttack, are six in
number—namely, the land revenue, the excise on
spirits, the stamps, the salt, the opium monopoly,
and the customs : the receipts for the land revenue,
in the financial year 1844-45, are stated at
3,71,00,000 rupees. The amount in the year
1841-42, was about the same, but more than an
eighth of it, consisted of the arrears of former years.
For the last four years, the income from this source
has varied very little, and the permanent rent-roll
is assumed to be about 3,70,00,000 rupees, which is
revenues and of justice, with the Nabob whom he had set up.
On his second advent, he was induced, by a viev/ of the mis¬
chief of the double government, to simplify and improve the
administration, by taking it out of the hands of the Moor-
shedabad Durbar.
" The result of this system we may sum up in a single sentence :
under the ablest of the Mahomedan Viceroys, the revenues
of these provinces never exceeded two millions and a half."
" The Friend of IndiaT
49
about £500,000 sterling more than it was sixteen
years ago. At the same time the expenses in col¬
lecting this revenue, have been greatly diminished.
The excise on spirits, commonly called the ' abkaree'
was more productive in the last three years, than
during any previous period, having risen to 23,69,000
rupees from 21,70,000 rupees, the amount in
1841-42 ; the cost of collection having been also
diminished. Stamps have not fluctuated, but the
salt revenue, from some unaccountable cause, has
steadily and progressively decreased. The proflts of
the opium monopoly, on the other hand, have
steadily and progressively advanced from the year
when Commissioner Lin accomplished his celebrated
work of confiscation and destruction, which has
resulted in giving the Chinese a keener appetite for
the drug. In 1837-38, two years before that bold
«
act, the profits had risen to the sum of 143 lacs of
rupees, or nearly £1,500,000 sterling. The Chinese
Commissioner at once reduced the receipts from this
branch of revenue to £1,000,000 sterling, but since
the settlement of the Chinese affair, a re-action has
commenced, and last year the amount of revenue
was above £1,750,000 sterling. The customs'
revenue gradually increases. In the year 1836-37,
the first since the abolition of the transit duties, the
reeeipts were 36,04,000 rupees, and in 1844-45
they were 66,41,000 rupees, with less cost of col-
50
lection. The receipts generally 1844-45 amount
to 9,77,86,119 rupees, and the expenditure to
3,59,80,958 rupees."
If we assume two millions sterling, as the amount
chargeable on the revenue for troops home depart¬
ment, &c., &c., there will remain, as formerly stated»
a surplus of income over expenditure, of four millions
sterling, derivable from the provinces under- the
Governor of Bengal. This portion of our territory
is the most opulent and productive, as well as the
most densely peopled'^"'' it yields we have seen a gross
revenue of 9,522,164 sterling which nearly equals
that drawn from upper India, and the two presiden¬
cies of Madras and Bombay, or the whole of the
rest of the British Empire in the East.
So that, whether we desire the maintenance of a
magnificent army, to uphold the power and dignity
of our rule, or whether we are intent on cultivating
the peaceful arts, by magnificent and Colossal monu¬
ments of our science and civilization, such as the
* Population of Bengal and Behar.
Year
Area
in sqr. miles
Population
Population
per sqr. mile
1793
1843
144,762
ff
24,000,000
48,007,061
165
336.
^ Rate of increase per cent. 196.
Population of Great Britain by last census, per sqr, mile, 240.
51
Ganges Canal now ordered to be completed, and the
Great Bunds on the Godaverey River, by which a
vast, arid, and unhospitable desert, will be clothed
with verdure, and fruitful fields ; the resources of
war, and the materials for building the Temple of
Peace, are alike drawn from the two provinces of
Bengal and Behar.
Hence the necessity is apparent, for guarding and
cherishing the revenues of these two provinces, if
we would extend, or defend, consolidate or improve
our Eastern dominions.
The Bengal presidency, therefore, from the vast-
ness of its territory, the superior richness of its pro¬
ducts, the greatness of its commerce, the density of
its population, surpassing that of any country in
Europe, its pre-eminence in political and military
importance, as the seat of the supreme authority,
whether civil or military of the state, and the
knowledge, that it was selected as the field, for the
first essay of steam communication in the East,
have naturally led us, to dwell more at length, upon
what relates to it,—the chief presidency—than, to
the Subordinate Governments of Madras, and Bombay
Population of the three Presidencies, extracted from Parli-
mentary returns.
Bengal (including N.W. Provinces) . t . 69,710,071.
Madras (including Tributary states) . . . 18,314,605^
Bombay 6,940,277.
94,964,953.
52
GENERAL POL IC Y, M A NAGE M E NT,
AND
TERMS OF CONCESSION.
Three propositions suggest themselves as to the
policy to be adopted, and agencies to be employed
in the formation of railways in a new country.
1st. That they be, with certain restrictions and
provisions, left to unfettered, and unaided private
enterprise, as has been hitherto the case in this
country.
2nd. That the government itself should project
and define a great and comprehensive system, as well
as execute and work the lines, most apparently con¬
ducive to the common weal, as in Belgium.
3rd. That the government should grant conces¬
sions or leases of various sections, or particular pro¬
jects, to private companies, on such terms as might
be mutually advantageous : the latter to have the
execution of the works, and the management of the
traffic of the lines, under the direct supervision and
control of officers appointed by the government, as
53
has been practised in France, and more recently in
Belgium.
Judging from the confusion which has arisen in
this country, by giving the reins to speculative enter¬
prise, the crude and angular manner, in which rail¬
ways were commenced in France, and the harmonious
and beneficent manner in which the Belgium system
has resulted, there appears to be little doubt, but that
it is the most eflfective and rapid mode of introduo-
m-
ing railways into a country. We would, however,
from financial considerations, deviate so far from this
example, as to give, after defining the line, the con¬
cession to a private company, for Belgium had to
borrow money at five per cent, to make railroads,
which did not, till very lately, yield more than two
and a half per cent, and Pensylvania, which in 1824
was bitten with the improvement mania, " believed,
and truly, that a system of inland communication
by means of canals and railroads, would tend to in¬
crease her prosperity. She believed that the annual
income of these public works, would not only pay
the interest on the first cost, but would leave a
liberal overplus for public purposes." What was the
result % The state, after having spent millions,
wisely gave away the works in an unfinished con¬
dition, to companies of private individuals, on con¬
dition, that they would finish them. In addition to
this, the favouritism and speculation, inseparable from
54
government patronage and expenditure, served to
swell the costs of these works to a most disastrous
extent. The consequence was, that in 1841 or 1842,
the state was forty millions in debt. State lines
can neither be worked with the same economy, nor
can they have imparted to them, that impulse which
the spirit of private enterprise alone can give.
Regarding the management of the different com¬
panies, it has been suggested that an amalgamation
of the lines would be recommended or enjoined by
authority. An amalgamation of interests we think
essential, so as to remove all fear of competition,
which would, at present, be both premature and
injurious, and by allotting to each of the companies,
(their priority and claims to public confidence being
duly considered) a certain portion of the several
approved projects, all tending to produce an uniform
and harmonious system, they would mutually co¬
operate and stimulate each other, to bring their
respective tasks to a speedy anff satisfactory con¬
clusion and when concluded, the different man¬
agements, would be a check upon each other, and a
mutual aid by their several experiences ; by a
friendly rivalry, they Avould endeavour to meet the re¬
quirements of government, the accommodation of
* The Great Western of Bengal, might be required to com¬
plete the line from Calcutta to Rajmahl, and the East Indian,
to proceed with that from Allahabad to Delhi and the Sutlej.
55
the public, and the interests of their shareholders.
While the different boards could, by acting in con¬
cert, either by exchanging Directors, or amicable
adjustment, establish a uniform tariff for passengers
and goods, so essential to the working of a continu¬
ous line of railway. The proceedings of all the
boards, being under the supervision and controlling
power of officers appointed by the Indian govern¬
ment.
It is now generally admitted, that although
theoretically, unity is strength, yet, that the practi¬
cal effect of amalgamation, carried beyond a certain
point, is rather detrimental than otherwise, to the
management of working railroads, and that all the
benefits derivable from unity of action, are secured
to the public by the clearing house system of the
bankers of Lombardy, transplanted to this country
and elsewhere, and now applied with as perfect suc¬
cess to the interchange and re-adjustment of railroad
carriages and trucks, as to bank notes and cheques.''^
Should it, however, be considered that the traffic in
India, so simple in its nature, and likely to continue
so for many years, would be in any degree retarded
or encumbered by having several boards of Directors,
it must certainly be conceded that there ought to be
* Vid« Appendix A.
K
5G
both in London and in India, a separate management
for each presidency, but all acting under a common
code of laws and regulations, to be settled by
authority, and when the three distinct systems of
Bengal, Madras and Bombay, begin to approximate
and interlace, then the exchange of Directors or the
formation of a sub-committee, composed of the
chairmen of the three companies, would answer the
purpose of imparting a uniformity of action
to all The latter mode, would facilitate and
simplify the necessary correspondence with the
authorities, or officers appointed by them to super¬
vise the proceedings of the several railway Com¬
panies.
That the Boards in London should consist of
those acquainted, and in some degree identified,
with the particular Presidency they propose to
traverse with railroads, is evidently most desirable,
and that they should receive the active co-operation
of capitalists and merchants of acknowledged status
and business habits, is equally apparent. On this
point Mr. Arbuthnot makes the following judicious
observations. " It appeared farther to those parties
who took an interest in the subject here, that the
conduct of associations for introducing railways into
the different localities required in India, would be
much more efficiently discharged, were they to be
undertaken by parties personally conversant with
57
the different localities, aided by the co-operation of
gentlemen in this country, more conversant with
English modes of transacting business, than gentle¬
men who have passed a great part of their lives in
India, can be expected to be."*^
The local knowledge of the one, would guard
against an injudicious selection of a line, and the
known wealth and business habits of the other,
would impart to the association, strength and
efficiency ; with such a combination, the English
shareholder would feel assured, that his capital was
judiciously and safely embarked, and turned to the
best account that the circumstances of the under¬
taking admitted of.
That the energies of capitalists, require the
guidance of local knowledge, is very apparent, from
the appearance of an association, formed for the
purpose of making a railroad, to a shifting village,
which, every now and then transplants itself to the
extent of some miles, according to the caprice of
the river. This scheme (the Northern and Eastern)
has been formally condemned by the Railway Com¬
mission, in Para. 19 of the report, nevertheless the
prospectus has been published in Calcutta, and we
* Letter of T. A. Arbuthnot, Esq., chairman of Madras
Railway Company, to the chairman and committee of the
Chamber of Commerce, Madras,
58
are informed that the promoters are only biding
their time to take English -capitalists by storm."^^
The representatives in India of the different
companies having a deputed authority, should al¬
ways remain subordinate to, and removeable by the
London Boards. The propriety of this, is universally
admitted in India ; the organization of its society,
its state of transition, and the experience of the
past, appear to render such an arrangement indis¬
pensably necessary. On this point the Calcutta
Review of March last remarks, "We regard it as a
principle, universally applicable to all proprietory
institutions, that those who supply the Capital,
should have either the management, or an effectual
voice in the management, and this principle has
generally been acted upon ; even Indian Companies
scarce-ly possess an exception. The affairs of the
* All the objects, as appears to us, of the Northern and
Eastern are, or may be, comprised in the larger views of the
Great Western Company. And probably it (The Northern
and Eastern( will have to alter its plan as respects its Upper
terminus (Bhagwangola), as the course of the river here¬
abouts is so uncertain that one year the company might find
itself, rails and godowns (warehouses), in the bed of the river,
another year, some miles distant from the channel where the
craft would have to unship their cargoes."—Calcutta Review
for March 1846:
" The great mart at Bhagwangola is of so unfixed a
character, from the extensive and continued changing of the
bed of the Ganges, that unless its continuation Northward
69
East India Company itself, when it was merely a
commercial body, were exclusively managed by the
Directors in England. The Oriental and Peninsula
steam company, one of the most successful concerns
connected with India, manages the Indian branch
of its great business by means of an agent selected
on the ground of personal confidence in him, and
he is strictly governed by the orders or instructions
of directors in England."
It remains to say a few words on the conditions
and stipulations, which, in justice to the government
and the shareholders of the successful companies,
ought to be observed in the concession.
The successful company will be incorporated by a
charter, granted by the supreme government, and
the Court of Directors will concur in applying for a
similar charter from the crown, conferring on the
railway company the requisite powers.
It is to be expected that the government will
include in the concession, or grant, all the land neces¬
sary for the railway, and afford the necessary pro¬
tection to the works till their Completion.
and Eastward be considered desirable, it would appear that
a branch to Bhagwangola, simplyto accommodate the trade that
now passes along the Ganges to Calcutta by the Sunderbundes
route, will not be found to answer as a commercial speculation
■—" Report of Railway Commission.
60
The proceedings of the company ought at all
times to be open for the inspection of government.
That the government should have the use of the
line, on payment of an equitable remuneration, and
induce companies to have a large stock of trucks»
platforms, wheels and axles, which in case of
emergency, any common carpenter could raise a
superstructure upon, and thus place many additional
carriages adapted for the conveyance of troops at
the disposal of government.
The general rates of conveyance, to be fixed by
mutual agreement between tlie government and the
company. Of course, there will be other clauses
beyond these just hinted at, touching penalties for
non fulfilment of contracts, and as to whether or
not the line should, on settled terms, become event¬
ually the property of the state. These and such like
stipulations, demand serious consideration both from
the government and railway companies.
We take it for granted, that no company would
be rash enough to undertake a work of such magni¬
tude, and at so great a distance, as a railroad in
India, without such a guarantee from the government,
as would enable the Directors to call up their capital
without difficulty or hesitation, on the part of the
shareholders, the majority of whom, being in Eng¬
land, are necessarily but imperfectly acquainted with
India and its resources; indeed were the Directors
61
of a company disposed to act otherwise, they would
soon discover, that the entire change which has taken
place in the public mind, regarding speculative en¬
terprise, would render such attempt abortive, irres¬
pective of the merits of the undertaking, and thus
nullify the wishes and the hopes of the government
and the people of India.
In considering the amount of the minimum rate
of interest to be guaranteed on the expended, or
paid up capital of a company, some regard ought to
be had to the prevailing rates in India, both as to
government securities and private investments, as
well as those ruling in this country. By recent
accounts from Calcutta, the banks paid 6 per cent on
deposits for three months, and charged 10 per cent
on loans of short date, although secured by deposits
of government paper ; and the bazaar rates ranged
considerably higher. In England, the capitalist
can command at present 5 per cent from railway
companies in actual operation, and to this amount
the opinions of bankers and merchants in the City,
whom we have consulted, converge as the proper
amount for a minimum guaranteed rate of interest
for Indian railways.*"' This would be merely a
g - - - .. ■
* Should there be no stipulation as to the number of miles
of railway to be executed for the capital guaranteed, or no
clause in the concession involving forfeiture to the state of part
or whole of the capital actually expended, in the event of non-
completion of the contract on the part of the railroad company,
62
nominal guarantee, so far as government is concerned,
if the lines be properly selected, as the statistical
data, show a good's traffic, more than twice the
amount and if the principle of low charges de¬
duced from the practical working of English lines,
be applied to India, the return would, we feel as¬
sured, be enormous.
But we would rather appeal to the wise and bene¬
ficent government of India, on other and more gene¬
rous grounds, and take leave of this topic in the
words of The Irish commission, men alike distin¬
guished for learning, ability and enlarged patriotism.
'' Thus, although a railway itself, as a mercantile
speculation, might not, at once, fulfil the sanguine
expectations of the projectors, it would be an in¬
valuable source of general wealth and prosperity."
of course a smaller per centage would suffice, even for the first
project to be completed, tlie guarantee of the East India Com¬
pany being equivalent to that of the Royal Government, and
given with the sanction of the latter. Should the charter not
in 1854, the territories of the Company lapse to the crown,
be renewed subject to their debts and liabilities.
Note to 3d. Edition...Since the above was published a loan
at 5 per. cent has been opened in India,
* The Raj mahl Canal Committee prove, from the existing
traffic of the country, that, " the total amount of tonnage
daily passing through it (the canal) would not fall short of
3,000 tons, on which a toll of 6d. per ton would give an an¬
nual income of upwards of 58,G00¿., which would be a return
of 14^ per cent, on the estimated outlay. Asa government
work, the boats conveying troops, government stores, salt,
and opium were not considered.
63
COST OF CONSTRUCTION, &c.
According to the Report of the Railway Commission
in India, the country generally presents, from the
evenness of its surface, remarkable facilities for the
ample development of the new system of inter-com¬
munication ; from this circumstance, and the abun¬
dance, and cheapness of labour and materials, the
cost of construction will be much less, than in our
most favoured lines in England and besides, the
government having the power of taking at a small
valuation, the land necessary for public roads, there
will be no refractory land-owners to deal with, nor
any protracted and expensive parliamentary contest,
to fritter away the funds of Companies.f This
♦ Vide Appendix (B) & (C).
+ The expenses of English railways may be divided into
Parliamentary—Land and compensation—Works—Permanent
way—Engineering—Law charges—Land valuers—Stamps for
debentures—Office expenses, &c. Applied to India, one half of
these items may be struck out.
C4
arrangement, besides, its economical effect, ^viIl have
others of a highly beneficial nature ; the natives
would be generally impressed in favour of an under¬
taking thus sanctioned, and supported by the gov¬
ernment whose mandates they revere.
The two physical difficulties which have weighed
most, with those acquainted with India, and which
are peculiar to the country, are, we helieve, now
entirely set at rest : viz, the periodical inundations
and ravages of the white ant.
As to the former, their effects have been expe¬
rienced and provided against, there can be ^no
ground for apprehension on that head.
Regarding the destructive ravages of the white
ant, the injury to be apprehended has been much
exaggerated, we do not anticipate any bad effect
from this insect, further than attacking temporary
wooden sheds, or buildings ; we have no recollection
of the white ant making an impression on anything
which was liable to motion, concussion, or vibration.
The insect, protecting itself under a covered way,
of earthy matter, which it throws out as it advances,
we imagine that the disturbing, tremulous motion
given to the sleepers, by the advance of a heavy
train, would effectually deter its attack, or, if not,
speedily dislodge the enemy, by destroying his
covered way ; besides stone or, Reynolds' cast iron
sleepers, might be used for sleepers instead of wood,
65
of the latter might be fortified, by means of one of
those recent patent inventions, which have been
found successful in imparting to timber, preternatural
hardness and durability."^
Timber of excellent quality, is plentifully distri¬
buted over the country, and may be had at a cheap
rate ; in some places, almost for the expense of cut¬
ting. Teak, Saul, Sissoo, Soondree, and Babool,
(a species of Mimosa), from their resisting the white
ant, their durability, and their abundance, will pro¬
bably be selected for sleepers.f
The soil being admirably adapted for making
bricks, they may be commanded to almost any ex¬
tent, in almost any locality.
Coal and iron ofexcellent quality, abound in many
parts of India, and also stone well adapted for
building purposes.
A reference to Appendix (B) will show the cheap¬
ness of labour and materials.
* Sir William Burnett's invention preserves wood against
rot and the ravages of insects.
+ Teak is well known for its solidity, hardness and dura¬
bility, as the most valuable timber of almost any country—^
but it is expensive ; lëissoo also commands a high price in Cal¬
cutta, and has, although not so frequently as teak, been used
for ship building. It is dark, coarse grained, and possessed
of great tenacity.
Saul is less expensive in Calcutta than the former, is coarse
grained, a degree less hard and tenacious than Sissoo, but
bears exposure rather better. It is very abundant in the
06
ÎÎie average cost of railways has been,
In England.
In Scotland
In Ireland.
Per mile,
about £31,000.
. . 22,000.
. . 22,000.
(Vide Porter's " Traffic Returns" statistical jour¬
nal, vol. vii. p. 176.)
In Belgium, .... about £18,000.*
(Vide " Report of Statistical Bureau," Delaveleye,
Brussels, 1844.
In France, about £41,000.f
broad belt of forest at the base of the Himalayah, and in the
hilly regions in other parts of the country, where it may be
obtained for almost a nominal price.
Soondree is peculiar to the Sunderbundes and the Upland
district, to the west of Calcutta, and excels all the forest
trees of India in the density of its fibre, in toughness, in
durability when exposed, in strength or resisting power,* and
its acidity gives it a perfect immunity from the ravages of
insects. It never attains a great size and is occasionally con¬
torted, but sticks adapted for railways sleepers, i. e. of 8 or 9
inches scantling are to be had in any quantity at a cheap rate, it
makes good buggy shafts, but English workmen object to it
as it turns the edge of their tools. A large quantity of this
wood may be seen at the London Docks, or a specimen at
Messrs. Roberts and Millitchell's, Old Jewry Chambers.
Note to 3rd. Edition. The iron-wood of Arracun, strongly
recommended for sleepers in the Report of the Railway Com¬
mission, abounds in the forests of that region.
* " The cost of the West Flanders lines will not amount to
one half of the average cost of the state lines per mile."
Second half yearly report of the Directors of the West
Flanders Railways, July 3rd. 1846.
t This we believe to be a typographical error, the cost per
mile being £21,000 instead of £41,000.
* Vide Appendix D.
67
(Vide Claudel's " Aide Mémoire des Ingénieurs,"
J). 455. Average of five metropolitan lines.)''^
In Germany, according to Legoyt, £10,940.
In America, . . from £1600 to 9,400.
Average for the rougher sort, including stations
for a single line of Rails, . . . £2,812.f
Estimates for India, average expense according to
Vignoles, £7,500 to 10,250.^
" Captain Goodwyn, for the Mirzapore line ex¬
clusive of plant, £3,000.
" Captain Western, for the Raj mahl
line 4,400.
Estimates for Great Indian Peninsular
(exclusive of plant) on American plan, £3,000.
Present estimates for a quality equal to the best
English lines, £11,000.
Original estimates for the East Indian
line (Calcutta to Mirzapore) . . £8,000.
* Principles of railway management by J. Butler Williams,
Esq., F. S. S., F. G. S.
t For the mode of constructing railways in America. See
" Weale's Ensamples of Bail ways."
t The line from Calcutta to Mirzapore, if executed in the
manner proposed, by the Railway Commissioners, may be
estimated at ¿£20,000 per mile.
From Allahabad to Delhi, 8,000.
From Calcutta to the Sutlej it would be an average of
from £12,000 to 15,000.
And would require a capital of, about £18,000,000.
68
JEstimates from actual survey of the line
from Calcutta to Delhi . . , £14,000.
It is stated in the report of the Irish commission
that Railways might be constructed in that country,
at the rate of £10,000 per mile, " The Board of
Trade in their report on the South Western District,
in 1845, states that the lines proposed to be made'
in that part of the country, might be constructed
¥
for about £12,000 per mile ; and the estimated cost
of the mass of new railways projected during the
last two years, ranges, with few exceptions, between
£10,000 and £25,600 per mile.""^^
Mr. Butler Williams declares, that the opinions of
engineers and of statists agree in establishing, that
the lines to be henceforth constructed, will on the
average, approach more nearly to the lower than the
hii^her standard.
It must be borne in mind that no just idea can
be arrived at, of the cost of a railway, from the
gross amount per mile, irrespective of other circum¬
stances. The difference in the value of land and
house property, and the magnificent ideas of our
Engineer, forcing us to make monuments to their
genius and taste in our termini and stations, are
important elements of cost. On the Liverpool and
Defects of tlie English system of railway legislation/'
by James Morrison, Esq., M.P, (Longman, 1816. Pago 13.)
69
Manchester line, thirty miles in length, the buildings
cost £280,000. The Euston extension of the
London and Birmingham Eailway, little exceeding
one mile in length, xost £255,722, the gateway
alone, costing an enormous amount. (£70,000).
The court of Directors have wisely ordered their
railway commission in India, to refer for information
and guidance as to the construction of railways, to
the experience of America, as well as Europe.
We think it highly probable, that by eschewing what
is only ornamental, and improving upon the American
system, we might effect an extensive railway de¬
velopment in India, at much less cost,"^' and better
* Take for example the Rajmahl line wMch has been
minutely surveyed, " the earthwork in the line proposed would
be very little, and I think. *1 may safely say, that the earth¬
work and ballasting for the rails, will be much the same as
the construction of the Grand Trunk road in India, which
consists of an earthen road thirty feet wide, on an average
three feet high, with a portion sixteen feet wide metalled,
the metaUing being one foot deep ; the cost of the trunk road
including the small bridges, but exclusive of the bridges over
the large rivers, and Engineer officers' salaries, is under 2,500
rupees, a mile ; the fencing which must be strong enough to
keep out cattle, will cost 1000 rupees a mile. The large
bridges, will be a heavy item which cannot be estimated with¬
out a proper survey of the line, but if laid down at 2,500 a
mile will, I think, include every large bridge required over
the Ganges, Soane, and all smaller rivers—making altogether
6,000 rupees a mile for works.
" The permanent way, meaning the sleepers and rails, cannot
be estimated to be done cheaper in India than in England.
The sleepers will require to be Kyanised, but if Kyanising is
70
adapted to the rougher work it would be subjected
to—than by attempting to transport a Birmingham
or Great Western, with all their grandeur and com¬
plicated arrangements, into Hindostán.
not found to resist tHe white ants, it will be necessary to use
stone blocks, or perhaps to use Reynolds' cast iron sleepers)
and their cost will be two rupees each, and as 3,520 are re¬
quired in a mile of double line, the cost of these will be
7,040 rupees a mile ; the rails should be of the full weight
of sixty five pounds to the yard, and the cost will be ¿£12 or
120 rupees a ton, making 24,600 rupees a mile j then the
chairs, pins, and wedges for fastening down the rails, and
labour in doing so, about 6000 rupees a mile, making a total
of 37,640 rupees a mile»
" The remaining item of Engineering and surveying would be
very small, and might be put down as 630 rupees a mile, thus
making for the total cost of the railway :
Work 6,000 rupees per mile.
Permanent way .... 37,640 „
Engineering and surveying . . 300 „
Total 44,000 „
Report on the application of railway communication in
India, published in the Calcutta papers by Captain Western.
To complete Capt. Western's estimate per mile, the fol¬
lowing items must be added :
As per Capt. Western's Estimate Rupees 44,000 ¿£4,400
Termini, stations, and buildings, 300
Land and compensation, 100
Working stock, 1,000
Superintendence, &c. for three years 200
Miscellaneous, 500
Total. 6,500
Allowing an ample margin for contingencies,
saj, per mile, . i , . . . 8,000
71
CLASSIFICATION
OF
PASSENGERS, &c.
" It may be interesting to compare in some par¬
ticulars the working of our railways with those of
Belgium, the only country in Europe, besides our
own, in which such works have hitherto been carried
on as a system, and where the results have been
published.
At the end of 1842, there were in operation in
that kingdom, 282 miles of railways, the average
cost of construction of which was £17,120 per mile,
while the average cost in this kingdom has been
£34,360,'^^ or just double the cost in Belgium.
* Those lines principally used for transporting coals and
minerals are not included in this average. 0. 1. P.
M
72
This difference results from a variety of causes. In
the first place, the works being undertaken by the
government ; there were no expensive parliamentary
contests, no opposing interests to be bought off,
no unreasonable compensations to be paid for land ;
and from the nature of the country, there were com¬
paratively few engineering difficulties to be overcome.
Besides these circumstances there has been much
present saving effected in the manner of executing
the works, which have been performed in a less per¬
fect manner than would satisfy the magnificent ideas
of our engineers.
The number of passengers conveyed along the
various lines in Belgium, in 1842, was 2,724,104 or
662 for each 1000 of the population, the proportion
in the united kingdom having been in the year ending
30th of June, 1843, 879 for each 1000 inhabitants,
or 33 per cent., greater than in Belgium.
The proportions using various class carriages
were :—
In Belgium,
1st. class, 9 per cent.
In the United Kingdom.
19 per cent.
2nd. 25.
3rd. 66.
51.
30.
100.
100.
The receipts from passengers during the year, were,
73
in Belgium £187,372 or one shilling and fourpence.
halfpenny per passenger, against two shillings and
twopence three farthings in the United Kingdom.
The proportions in which the receipts were con¬
tributed by the three classes of passengers were :—^
In Belgium.
1st. class, 93.
2nd. 25.
3rd. 52.
In the United Kingdom.
45.
42.
13.
100. 100.-'
It will be seen by the preceding tables that the
majority of travellers in the United Kindom take
the second class, and in Belgium the third class ;
the actual receipts for the third class in Belgium
being more than equal to that drawn from the first
and second classes combined, and we are convinced,
that, although any payment is beyond the means
of the artizan or labourer of India, yet, (as we have
elsewhere stated,) there is a large and thriving popu¬
lation of merchants and smaller traders in the great
* An examination of the returns made by the various rail¬
way companies of the United Kingdom, with respect to their
traffic, during the year ending 30th of June, 1843. By G. R.
Porter, Esq., F. R. S. Treasurer of the Statistical Society of
London, f Journal of the Statistical Society of London^ for
June 1844.^
74
cities of India, that would avail themselves of these
classes of carriage, were even the average English
rates of conveyance adhered to.* Mr. Laing com-
* Note to 3rd. Edition. In addition to the classes men¬
tioned in the text, a considerable income may reasonably be
expected from the more wealthy pilgrims, as mentioned in a
former section ; and besides, it appears probable, that the
native soldiers would gladly avail themselves of railroad com¬
munication, when on furlough, were the fare made sufficiently
modei^ate.
The Report of the Managing Director of the East Indian
Railway Company contains the following interesting and im¬
portant paragraphs illustrative of what wc have advanced
in the above and in preceding sections.
" Communications have been received from Officers in the
service to the effect that among their own Native troops, the
expectation of facilities being afforded by which they could
more frequently obtain leave to visit their families, has be¬
come a subject of constant conversation and interest among
them.
This may, perhaps, be the more readily understood by its
being mentioned that of 160,000 Native troops in the Presi¬
dency, one fifth, or an average of twenty out of each Com¬
pany of one hundred men are always absent on leave—that
this leave averages five to six months— and that on their re¬
turn other twenty men are allowed to leave. One fifth of
150,000 men are thus leaving and returning four times in the
year, viz., one-fifth leave and rejoin in the first six months,
one-fifth more in the next six months, and four several journeys
are therefore made by one-fifth of the whole number annually.
One-fifth of 150,000 = 30,000 4 = 120,000 men, annu¬
ally proceeding to or from their regiments home. Their pay
averages sixteen shillings a month, and during absence thir¬
teen shillings. The average absence at present is five months,
of which three are spent upon the road, and two at home.
Each man loses fifteen shillings by difference of pay, in addi¬
tion to his cost of living while travelling, at least an anna
(l^d) a day, or about eleven shillings—together, twenty-six
shillings.
The travelling arising from Pilgrimages is a source of in¬
come which, although it will at first unavoidably swell the
75
putes the average distance travelled by each pas¬
senger in this country at thirteen and one eighth
miles, for a fare of two shillings and twopence three
farthings, while in Belgium the average distance
travelled, is stated to he, seven and three quarters
leagues, or about nineteen miles, for one shilling and
four pence halfpenny.
Regarding the arrangement ot the different classes,
and the relative fares to be charged, we must be
guided in our calculations by the peculiar state of
society in India—we should have five distinct sets
of carriages, divided, as follows, one, appropriated
to the conveyance of Europeans, the civil and niili-
lary officers of the state—two, that is, a first and a
second class, for the Mahomedans, and the same for
coffers of the Railway Company, will, eventually, it is to be
hoped, give place to a widely different order of things»
The subject is one in which it is not the province of a
public Company to interfere, in any way ; but there can be little
doubt as to the influence which the social changes in contem¬
plation in India will exert over the minds and opinions of all
classes.
At Gyah alone there are about fifteen thousand Priests sup¬
ported by donations, of which one Rajah (Bettiah) is next
year expected to present Forty Thousand Pounds, and to pro¬
ceed in pomp to perform his part in the pageant.
The Riots in the Gyah jail in September last, when forty
out of fifteen hundred prisoners were killed, is one of the many
instances indicative of the urgent importance of being able to
obtain the prompt services of the troops, which, on the occa¬
sion referred to, were not rendered available for some days af¬
terwards, although stationed at a distance of only sixty or
seventy miles."
76
the Hindoo portion of the people, with due provision
for the conveyance of their females, the carriages
suitable for the natives could also be made available
for the conveyance of troops, both European and
native."^^'
With the exception of troops, there would be
scarcely any European travellers, but those going by
the first class carriages, and as they would be public
servants, proceeding or returning on duty, or on leave
of absence, there would be little probability of
reduction in the fares greatly augmenting their
numbers.
The charge should have reference to the expense
of travelling by Dâk (post), by steamers, by Bud-
gerow, and marching, and it is to be borne in mind
that to this class time is in reality money. For
instance the staff, and command allowances of the
staff and regimental oflScer, determine on the day on
which he is relieved of the duties of his office, and
re-commence on the day on which he reports his
arrival at the Head Quarters of his division or regi-
* Although it would be necessary and proper on the first
introduction of a new mode of transit to consult the preju¬
dices of the native community, we are persuaded that the
minute subdivision of the people recommended above would
soon be quite unnecessary, as at present, all castes, classes,
and sects make no scruple to cross the rivers in the same
ferry boat without reference to the caste, status, or religion of
their fellow passengers.
77
ment. Take an every day case of a Lieut. Colonel
or a medical officer, arriving from England, when
his regiment is some 800 miles up the country ; for
every month which he occupies in marching or pro¬
ceeding by water, to join his regiment, he loses,
A Lieut.'Colonel, per mensem Rs. 430 or <£43.
Regimental Surgeon, Rs. 300 or £30.
A daily loss of one pound eight shillings and
eightpence, and one pound respectively.
So that they could afford to pay a very high fare,
and yet be gainers ; and escape exposure to the
climate and fatigue.
The very opposite principles apply to the other
classes. After having made every arrangement for
the safety and comfort of all, we should hold out
by the moderation of the fares, every inducement to
the natives, to abandon their unsafe and tedious
conveyances, for one, offering them every facility,
combined with economy ; making a sufficiently
wide difference, to define j;he distinction between
the native nobleman or rich merchant, and the petty
trader, the fares of these classes, particularly, the
last named, should be made as low as it is practica¬
ble bearing in mind that profits accrue in an
* Note to 3rd. Edition. " It is further believed that
railway passengers will be found as numerous, in proportion to
78
exact ratio to the masses conveyed, whether the
masses be passengers, live stock, minerals or mer¬
chandize, e. g. aline with a traffic 750,000 tons
per annum, (that of Liverpool and Manchester)
could carry goods with as much profit at a penny
per ton per mile, as a line (the Paris and Orleans)
with a traffic of 150,000 tons at three pence per ton
per mile.
the population, in India as anywhere else, if only suitable fares
and regulations be adopted." (Report of Great Indian
Peninsula Railway page 49J,
NOTE
TO THIRD EDITION
From recent demonstrations in India there is no longer
any reason to doubt but that the native community look
forward to the introduction of railroads with a deepening
interest ; the declared sentiments of the most influential
and intelligent members of that community assure us
that they will readily co-operate in the establishment of
this^ fco them, novel mode of transit. In former por¬
tions of this work we have seen the enlarged and busi¬
ness like views of the native merchants, and 18 months
since at a great meeting of the Brahmins, held at Cal¬
cutta, it was decreed, that when going on pilgrimage,
it would be as meritorious to travel by railroad as in any
other way.
For information regarding the present modes of tra¬
velling in India see Appendix E.
79
NOTE
TO THIRD EDITION
Since the former editions of this little work were pub¬
lished^ circumstances have occurred which render
it quite unnecessary that its pages should be encum¬
bered any longer with descriptions of projects only cal¬
culated to benefit their proj ectors ; and most of those having
more solid claims to attention, have had their merits
recently so widely disseminated by means of luminous
reports and speeches, that detailed descriptions of
many projects would be altogether superfluous.
The two leading Companies, the East Indian and the
Great Western of Bengal, having amalgamated on
equitable terms, the latter merging in the former, and a
Concession being granted by the authorities to the
Consolidated Company, the remarks in the following
important sections regarding the introduction of the
Railroad system into the Bengal Presidency have
reference now, solely to the East Indian Railway
Company. They are th^ views originally enunciated
in the first edition of this little work and to which the
writer feels disposed to adhere.* All new original matter,
as well as corroborative testimony from the Report of the
Railway Commission and other documents, is added in
the form of notes.
* Note to 2nd. Edition. The first edition of this little
work, had passed through the press, before the publication of
the report of the Railway commission, and prior to its perusal
by the writer ; and there does not appear to be, after atten¬
tive consideration of that official document, any reason for with¬
drawing or modifying, any opinion expressed or conclusion
arrived at, in those portions of the text, which described the
merits or demerits of particular projects or which had re¬
ference to the proper mode of introducing railroads into India,
with the view ultimately of establishing an efficient and con-
prehensive syst?ra. The report does not apply to the other
sections of this pamphlet.
IS'
80
SUGGESTIONS
AS TO THE MODE OF INTRODUCING
THE RAILWAY SYSTEM INTO INDIA.
It has been stated, we think without due considera¬
tion that "it cannot signify to the government,
(who must derive considerable benefit from the
measure under any circumstances) which line may
be first completed." From this opinion we entirely
dissent, as it is obviously the interest of the Govern¬
ment, as well as that of the people, and the Share¬
holders, that the first line opened, should be the
one of all others, possessing the highest political
and commercial advantages combined with the
greatest facilities for construction, the most moderate
expenditure, and the best adapted for being an
integral portion of a great whole. Railway experi¬
ence and expenditure at home, will point out the
propriety of having, before a single sod is turned, a
general outline of the system which is hereafter to
pervade India, laid out and defined, and thus guard
against the disappointment and confusion which
would necessarily ensue, from the injudicious se-
' ■•ï Orth wefif%«m
"Jniverstty
Library
81
lection of an isolated scheme, having reference only
to a particular locality.
But even when the general outline of this system
has been, after mature deliberation, decided upon,
we repeat, that it is the interest of all parties, that
the first line or section opened, should be the one, of
all others, possessing the most important advantages,
combined with the greatest facilities for construction,
and the most moderate expenditure, for it is obvious»
that according to the success or otherwise of the
first line, so will the general introduction of railway
intercommunication into a new country, be accel-
lerated or retarded. " But besides as a railway is so
superior to all other means of communication, that
it must necessarily supersede them, and confers the
greatest advantages on the localities through which
it passes, it becomes of greater consequence that the
lines of railway should be wisely selected, and that
railway companies should not be suffered, by any
injudicious choice, to inflict injury, either on the
public in general, or on the owners of property.
That these subjects were not at first suflficiently at¬
tended to in this country, can hardly be a matter of
surprise, when we reflect on the ignorance with re¬
spect to the nature of the change about to be ef¬
fected by the new power thus brought into action,
which then generally prevailed."''^
* Railway acts. Second report.
82
Confident, from the successful result of the first
experiment, the government would have no difficulty
in extending its patronage and support to new
undertakings, and capitalists would eagerly contend
for the prize of gain in the vast and magnificent
fields of the East. Instead of losing their money
in foreign loans, or enriching with railroads, Hol¬
land, Belgium, or France, by their superfluous wealth
transmitted to India, under the guarantee of their
native government, they would at once enrich them¬
selves, ameliorate the condition of their distant
fellow subjects, and indirectly, but surely, add to
the dignity and wealth of their own country ;
giving to the mechanic and labourer of India, such
employment as would speedily open up new markets
and outlets for the products of the industrial energies
of our home artizan, and add incalculably to the
security and strength of our Eastern dominions.
Thus the two countries would act and re-act upon
each other to their mutual benefit.
Much depends upon the character of the line
first completed, for the result will be effected by what
it goes through, and not by what it goes to* M.
♦ Note to 2nd. Edition. Mr. Peto states in evidence before
Mr. Morrison's committee that the experience of Belgium fur¬
nishes a striking corroboration of the soundness of these views,
" as it has been pro vedby the report of M. Desart, in whose hands
the Belgium government placed the whole of its railway statis¬
tics, that in a given population, the traffic of the small towns and
83
Desart, Inspector of Belgian State railways, has re¬
duced the rates of traffic to a system, and proves
that the large return expected, from connecting by a
railway two great commercial cities, is not realized
if they are beyond a certain distance ; but is abso¬
lutely certain to be drawn from a line binding to¬
gether a succession of minor towns and villages, and
we have no doubt but that this mode of calculation
will be found of universal application/'^
Unacquainted with India himself, the English
capitalist looks to those placed in authority and
acquainted with the country, to act with a just and
discriminating vigilance in making the first move
in the right direction, and those in authority
will not disappoint this reasonable expectation.
villages along a line is proportionally greater than the traffic
between two large cities at the termini,"—Railway Acts.
Second Report.
* " The statement worked out from the government traffic
returns, established beyond all doubt the following principle,
viz ;—That the number of passengers between two towns
connected by a railway does not depend only on the popula¬
tion or commercial importance of these towns, but most
materially on the distance between them. Thus the number
of passengers will be greater on a line connecting a succession
of small towns and villages, situated as they generally are in
England and Belgium, than on a line of equal length connect¬
ing two large towns." Extract from the half yearly Report of
the Directors of the West Flanders' Railways July Zrd. 1846.
For further information see the work of M. Desart, the gov¬
ernment engineer, and divisional inspector, recently printed.
84
BENGAL PROPER,
or
LOWER INDIA.
The grand object, both for the government and
the merchant to attain is, to connect Calcutta with
the N. W. Frontier, and there can be no great differ¬
ence of opinion as to the direction of the line from
Mirzapore through the Doab to the banks of the
Sutlej, this at once disposes of nearly two thirds of
the entire length of the Grand Trunk Line ; but as
to the best mode of connecting Calcutta with Mirza¬
pore, there are two, if not three, opinions enunciated,
and it is to be borne in mind that this portion of the
line, besides commencing at the metropolis of British
India, traverses the provinces of Bengal and Behar, the
revenues of which we have already shewn nearly equals
those of the whole of the remaining British ter¬
ritories in India,* yielding a surplus of £4,000,000
annually, a portion of which flows from India to our
shores, and the lest enables us to improve, consolidate
* See page 50.
85
and defend other and more remote regions in the
East, naturally less productive.
The line from Calcutta on the Hooghly to Raj-
mahl* on the Ganges appears to possess every requi¬
site claim to immediate selection by governmentf—
the ground has been surveyed with great minuteness
by their own officers, it follows the old and beaten
track of commerce,J through a rich and densely
Rajmahal once the capital of Bengal is situated at the
head of the Delta, " on the rock-bound and unchangeable bank
of the Ganges " and has a population of upwards of 30,000.
In the vicinity there are large and rich deposits of coal and
iron : the amphitheatre of hills in the rear of the town is
covered with a variety of excellent timber : stones fit for
building purposes are also abundant in this locality.
The facilities thus aiforded as far as materials are concerned,
for the formation and working of a railway, from having the
four important elements essential to its construction and effici¬
ency, at one of the termini, need not be dwelt upon. It may,
however, be pointed out that from its position and resources,
especially when connected with Calcutta by a Railway, Raj-
mahl will naturally become the great station for the numerous
fleets of steamers engaged in the inland trade.
Below Rajmahl the Bhaugirruttee and Jellinghi rivers (the
present uncertain and tedious channels of communication be¬
tween the Ganges and Calcutta) run from the Great Ganges
and uniting their streams at Nuddeya constitute the Hooghly
which flows past Calcutta to the bay of Bengal.
+ Note to 3rd. Edition ù e. Were the amount guaranteed
sufficient to complete the Ralmahl line and open an adequate
section in Upper India at the same time.—The authorities
being desirous of having a section made in the Lower and
Upper Provinces simultaneously. A section in the former
beginning at Calcutta would be comparatively useless until
it debouched on the Ganges.
t Note to 2nd. Edition. It has been observed in every age,
86
peopled country, and completely outflanks the Raj-
mahl and Bhaugulpore hills, its upper terminus at
the lowest practicable point on the river, and below
which the navigation is at all seasons either diffi¬
cult or dangerous, and for nine months in the year
most vexatiously circuitous ; the advantages of this
line are fully admitted in the report, and were min¬
utely detailed on a former occasion.^ But in treat¬
ing the subject generally as in this section, it is
important to recollect that when comparing the
merits of different projects, that a railroad having
Calcutta for one terminus and some point on the
Ganges for the other, the traffic will be in an inverse
ratio to the length of the line, that is, the further
a line is carried up, before it debouches upon that
great commercial artery, the less would be the traffic.
By means of the Eajmahl line acting in concert
with the several prosperous and influential steam
navigation companies established on the Ganges,
that when any branch of commerce has got into a certain channel,
although it may be neither the most proper nor the most com¬
modious one, it requires long time, and considerable efforts, to
give it a different direction." Historical disquisition regard'
ing ancient India, hy G. TF. Robertson, J)» J). R. R. S»
" It will be found that all the successful railways in England
are on those lines where communication existed before." Re¬
port on the application of railway communication in India, by
Captain Western, published in 1843. This able officer is now
a member of the railway commission in India.
§ Note to 3rd. Edition. The section above alluded to is
omitted in this Edition.
87
Calcutta will have qiiick and easy access to the
North Western Provinces, through the heart of the
indigo, opium, sugar, rice, cotton and silk districts,
with a saving (for nine months in the year, when
the smaller rivers between the Hooghly and Gauges
are closed) of upwards of 300 miles of distance, by
avoiding the tedious and perilous labyrinth of the
Sunderbundes.
The report of the celebrated Rajmahl canal by
General Macleod, late chief engineer, and Colonel
W. N. Forbes has the following paragraphs.
" Bearing in mind that the Ganges receives in
its course through 1200 miles of the central and
infinitely improvable plains it fertilizes, eleven ri¬
vers, several of them equal to the Rhine, few less
than the Thames, and that when it has reached the
head of the Delta at Rajmahl, its distance from
Calcutta does not exceed 200 miles, and further
having in remembrance, that during a great por¬
tion of the year, the only passable channel for
boats drawing five feet water, between the latter
city (the capital of India) and the station named,
makes a circuit of 528 miles, this chiefly through
the perilous labyrinth of creeks, and wood-encum¬
bered straits, forming the wilderness called the
Sunderbundes, it will readily be acknowledged, that
amongst the good effects of opening a direct line
of permanent navigation between deep water in the
0
88
Hooghly above Calcutta, and the great river at
Eajinahl, there would be the highly important one
of its affording the means of conveying safely,
cheaply, and speedily, to the Ocean outlet, increased
quantities, and ultimately improved qualities of the
agricultural and mineral produce of the entire re¬
gions traversed ; nor this alone, as by inevitable
commercial reciprocation, the same line would im¬
mediately serve for supplying those regions with
augmented amounts of the sea-borne products, or
manufactures of other countries."
The report goes on to state that by means of a
canal, during that portion of the year when the
rivers are full, " most of the time lost in contending
with the then rapid and ever tortuous Bhaugirruttee
would be avoided, as also the risk, in the latter,
annually leading to numerous wrecks and total losses
of large amounts of property." Regarding the traflSc,
after having adverted to circumstances in their for¬
mer reports, the Canal Committee make the following
observations in paragraph 47 :—" And amongst them
the fact that at one time, when kvo of the Nuddeah
Rivers were only passable for dinghees, (or the smallest
description of country boats) and that whilst at
the same period the third was only navigable for
the minor class of cargo boats the annual collections
* The dry season.
89
ill the íorm of toll at the rate of one rupee per one
hundred maunds, on the total tonnage passing
through these channels, amounted to one hundred
and fifty thousand rupees, assuredly prove that if
the comparatively safe and direct line by the canal
were once opened and fairly established, the total
amount of tonnage daily passing through it would
not fall short of 3,000 tons ; which (at twenty-seven
maunds to a ton) would make the total number of
boats passed in a day (each averaging six hundred
maunds burden) one hundred and thirty-five ; and
if (as proposed in our former reports) the toll levied
was at the rate of two rupees per one hundred
maunds, it will be seen that the annual income de¬
rivable from the work would be upwards of five
hundred and eighty thousand rupees."*
" The localities in which, within accessible dis¬
tances, stone or minerals adapted for building, are
to be met with, have been pointed out in our pre¬
vious reports, as have also those of beds of iron ore,
and of coal, (the latter since experimentally brought
in use) which the canal would either intersect or
closely approach."!
* Note to Second Edition. Or 14^ per centum on the ex¬
pended capital. With reference to a railway from Calcutta
to Rajmahl, the traffic has been taken by an eminent Cal¬
cutta merchant and the managing director of an inland
steam navigation company, and estimated to give, after all
deductions, a net return of i2¿ per cent per annum.—O. I. P.
t Report on the Rajmahl Canal, h y General Macleod and
90
The line íi om Calcutta to RajmabI, besides being
unexceptionable, per se, is a line that must be
made, if railroads are to be made in India, either
as the principal trunk, or as the most important
branch that any trunk can possess ; If such a rail
be established, the steamers, instead of starting from
Calcutta, will start from its Northern terminus,
which will thus become in fact the steam-port of
Calcutta. The narrow and often angular streams in
the Sunderbundes, and lower Bengal will thus be
avoided, the necessity of a double vessel will cease,
single vessels of larger dimensions and engines of
greater power may then be employed, by which a
large saving of time and money will be effected.
The advantages of such a line in every point
of view are sufficient to recommend it to public
favour."^"^
Colonel Forhes, Plans occupying fifty large sheets of draw¬
ing paper, exclusive of one hundred and fifty square feet
containing the topograhical survey, accompanied this report,
and are now deposited in the India House.
* Note to 2nd. Edition. Friendoflndia,! 9th of February 1846.
The Friend alludes to the Bogwangolah line, which, on account of
its terminus, being a shifting village, (as stated in the first
edition of this pamphlet) has been reported against, the pre¬
ference being given by the commissioners to Rajmahl, some
miles higher up the river, because it was stationary, and this
being settled by authority, no doubt the Friend will give his
voice also in favour of a fixed port, instead of a migratory
one. Some of the companies have, for their passengers and
goods, a fiat in tow of the steamer, this explains what the
Friend means by a double vessel. In his paper of the l4th of
May last, the Friend informs us, that a splendid new steamer,
the Patna," will make the voyage by the Sunderbundes from
91
" The passage of cargo boats takes between twenty
and thirty days from Raj mahl to Calcutta. The losses
are great, and the insurance as high as from Eng¬
land.*
NOTE TO THIRD EDITION.
The report of the railway Commissioners on this line is
as follows :—
Para, 19.—A permanent point, however, on the
banks of the Ganges, exists at or near Rajmahl, which
might be suitable to receive the great traffic of the River,
and be connected with the Trunk line a little northward
of Bard wan, and be found advantageous to the general
trade of the country, in like manner as the proposed
canal of Lieut. Colonel Forbes would certainly have
done if that important work had been carried into ex¬
ecution. Such a branch railway would in no point be
removed very far to the westward of the projected line
of the canal in question,"
Calcutta to Allahabad in ten days, provided she does not stick
in the Sunderbundes, which would be at the rate of a little
more than a hundred and eighteen miles daily ; the whole
distance being 1,186. The distance from Kajmahl to Alla¬
habad being only five hundred miles, the same steamer tra¬
velling at the same rate, would reach the latter station in four
days and a quarter. The two land journeys being six hun¬
dred miles, would at a very moderate rate of railway speed,
be performed in twenty-four hours—thus allowing nine hours
at each terminus, viz: Rajmahl and Allahabad for the re¬
moval of passengers' luggage and goods, which is surely more
than sufficient for every purpose, the entire distance from
Calcutta to Delhi may be accomplished, according to the
Friend " in six or seven days.—0. 1. P.
* Calcutta Review for March 1846.
92
" 36.—The first branch should be from a point near
Burdwan to Kajmahl, along the district of country se^
lected many years ago by Lieut. Colonel Forbes, for
the Raj mahl canal: such a Railway will, in future,
supersede the necessity for the canal, which, however,
would have conferred great benefit on the trade of the
country, if carried into execution when he first pro¬
posed it ; the fact that such a canal had been for many
years a desideratum, proves the same thing in favour of
the more modern mode of intercommunication.
" 37. Besides the accommodation of the trade of the
Ganges, it will give accommodation to Purneah, Malda,
Dinagepore, Rungpore, and the country in that direc¬
tion through which it may possibly hereafter be found
desirable to extend this refined mode of transit.
" 38. After all that has been stated from time to
time in favour of Lieut. Col. Forbes's important work,
nothing more need be added in favour of a branch
railway in that direction."
It is worthy of remark that although the Rajmahl
line is treated in the report as a mere branch, yet its
intrinsic merits are so great that the possibility is hinted
at of this line becoming the great stem from which
branches will proceed to supply some of the richest
districts in India.
Captain Western of the Bengal Engineers, and a mem¬
ber of the Railway commission, in his " Report on the ap¬
plication of Railway communication in Indiaf published
in the Calcutta papers, in speaking of the Rajmahl line,
says, That this line of country afiFords every facility,
for forming a railway, will, I think, be allowed by every
one acquainted with it. It is only necessary to state
that from Calcutta to Rajmahl, a distance of two hun¬
dred miles, it passes through the Delta of the Ganges,
and that in the survey undertaken under the superin¬
tendence of General Macleod and Major Forbes, with
a view to construct a canal from Rajmahl to the Hooghly
river, it was ascertained that the fall in the distance of
one hundred and twenty-eight miles proposed for the
93
canal was only fifty feet, as will be seen in the report
by those oihcers of the 15th of February 1841 ; and as
there are no difficulties in the way of high lands for the
canal to contend with, none need be anticipated for a
line of railroad."
" The earthwork in the line proposed would be very
little, and I think I may safely say that the earthwork
and ballasting for the rails will be much the same as
the construction of the grand Trunk road in India ;
which consists of an earthen road, 30 feet wide, on an
average 3 feet high, with a portion 16 feet wide me¬
talled, the metalling being 1 foot deep. The cost of
the Trunk road, including the small bridges, but exclu¬
sive of the bridges over the large rivers and Engineer
officers' salaries, is under £250. a mile." He further
states as his opinion, that the total cost of the construc¬
tion of the railway would be about £4,400. per mile.
This estimate is obviously too low, see page 70.
94
N. W. PROVINCES,
OR
UPPER INDIA.
We have visited most of the countries in Europe,
and in Holland, witnessed with much interest the
mode of constructing railways in that kingdom,
which from the nature of its soil and surface re¬
sembles in some respects, the alluvial plains of India.
We have also travelled much in the latter country,
and have proceeded by slow marches from Calcutta
(through the Doab and the Cis-Sutlej States)
to the Hymalayahs, and have seen no large portion
of territory present the like facilities for the intro¬
duction of a railway, as from Allahabad to Delhi.*
There is no natural difficulty of any description, no
river to cross of any magnitude, as the line would
traverse the Doab having the two great rivers one
on either side, the country presenting as nearly as pos¬
sible a level surface, its general inclination in any
portion cannot be more than 3 or 4 feet per mile.
* The distance between these two Cities is 400 miles.
95
and yet it is comparatively free from inundation,
and the soil is in consequence more solid than in the
lower provinces/'^ This line would have no rival, for
the Ganges above Allahabad, from its ledges shallows,
is closed to steamers, and, excepting for a few months
in the year, tlie navigation even for country craft is
very precarious, and the Jumna, from the sharp and
angular rocks which rise from its bed, is still more
dangerous and difficult. The quantity of water
used for irrigating the increasing extent of cultivated
land on the banks of the Jumna is annually dimi¬
nishing the volume of its waters and its capacity for
navigation.f
The river steamers, and ordinary craft, instead oí
competing with the railroad would form a powerful
* The towns of Lahore and Umritser are, according to
Burnes and Gerrard, 900 feet above the level of the sea, and
1,000 miles distant from it, the average slope of the country
along the banks of the Indus may be estimated at less than
11 inches per mile, and on comparing this with the valley of
the Ganges, we infer the general inclination of the country
towards its mouth to be even still more gentle (after making
due allowance for the smaller volume of water in the Ganges
compared with that of the Jumna) from the sluggish nature
of the stream, and the tidal influence extending above Calcutta,
while in the Indus it ceases below Tatta, 25 miles nearer the
sea than the former.
T Note to 3rd. Edition. The great Ganges Canal from Hurd-
war to Allahabad now in progress of construction, for the pur¬
pose of irrigation, will, as it promotes agriculture in the same
ratio, withdraw the means of cheap transit by absorbing the
waters of the rivers. As the products of the soil increase so
will the means of cheap transit diminish.
r
96
basis, and keep up a continuous comnaercial and
general communication between the railway and
Calcutta ; and our great military stations and maga¬
zines at Allahabad, Cawnpore, Agra and Delhi, would
be all in close communication with each other, and
by means of the steamers have a free and rapid ac¬
cess to Calcutta.
This line of all others for testing the railway
system of communication as applicable to India, on
an extended scale, is, in our humble opinion, in¬
comparably the best, and should it solve the
mighty problem, in the solution of which, the
whole civilized world will soon take an enlarged
and deepening interest, in a manner at once satis¬
factory to the government and the proprietors, as
we are confident it must do, beyond their most san¬
guine hopes, it would then be in a position to ad¬
vance to the SutlejV"' or to execute a retrograde move¬
ment towards Calcutta.
While the railway was thus ministering to the
public service, by concentrating the largest and
most important military and civil stations, and the
most populous and magnificent of the native ciiies,
* Note to 3rd. Edition. " Where a terminus might be
established on the highest navigable part of the Sutlej, and
thus connect the great rivers, the Indus and Ganges.*' Para*
52. Report of the Railway Commissioners.
97
in Upper India, there would be ample time
allowed it, to develop and mature its plans ;
and having appropriated to itself the through and
local traffic of that portion of the country, it
would thus have a commerce and basis of its own,
which would at once nourish and support the exten¬
sion of the Grand Trunk Line, or enable it to throw
out tributary feeders, in fact, empower it to ad¬
vance in any direction, the exigencies of the state,
or the claims of commerce might seem to demand.
NOTE
TO THIRD EDITION.
Sir ce the publication of these views in the first
edition of " Indian Railways," the writer has had the
satisfaction to peruse the following corroborative testi¬
mony :—
"We beg to suggest that there is a line in the ISiorth
West Provinces, which would answer admirably as an
experimental line, viz., from Allahabad to Cawnpore."*
" From Allahabad to Agra and Delhi, the country
presents probably fewer engineering difficulties than
are found in almost any other district of equal extent.
The inclination of the country rises gradually from
Allahabad, varying from twelve to thirty six inches
in the mile, with scarcely any perceptible variation."!
* Report of Railway Commission presided over by Mr.
Simms.
t Report of R. M. Stephenson Esq. C. E. Managing Direc¬
tor East Indian Railway Company.
98
" I have marched throughout the Doab of the Ganges
and Jumna in every possible direction, and from per¬
sonal experience and observation, 1 can safely declare,
that no tract of country on the face of the Globe, of
similar extent, presents so few obstacles to Railway
Engineers as the route from Allahabad to Delhee ; it is
as level as Wimbledon Common, without a single river
to cross, and only two insignificant nullahs, the Kallee
Nuddee and Eesan, the former has already an Iron
Bridge over it ; the cost will therefore be less than any
other Railway in existence, with a dense population
throughout the greater part of the distance, and flanked
on one side by the fertile province of Rohilcund; the
expense also of keeping it in repair will be trifling, as
the periodical rains are not to be compared in violence
with the Lower Provinces."*
We have already stated our decided preference
for that plan of commencing improved transit, which
would only supersede the river navigation where it
was most defective, and co-operate with it where
it was always available i. e. a railroad from Calcutta
to deep water in the Ganges at Rajmahal,—from
this point river steamers to Allahabad at the con¬
fluence of the Jumna and the Ganges, where deep
water ceases—a railroad from Allahabad to Delhi
and the Sutlej. This would itself be nearly one
thousand miles of railroad, exclusive of branches,
traversing the easiest, the richest, and most densely
* Extract from letter of Major C. A. Munro, late Bengal
Army, in Appendix to Keport of Managing Director East
Indian Railway Company.
99
peopled portions of our dominions where tlie river
transit is either dangerous or tedious, as bj the
Nuddeah rivers and sunderbundes, or only appli¬
cable to the smaller countrj-craft, and closed en¬
tirely to steamers, as the great rivers are beyond Al¬
lahabad. Above this point it is impossible, by land
or by water, to move military stores or merchandise,
in any quantity, beyond the average rate of twelve
miles per diem.""" No Utopian ideas of a railroad
system starting at once into a complete perfectibility
should divert enterprise and capital from so fair and
inviting a field.
By adopting the river from Rajmahl to Allahabad
the average cost of construction would be reduced
one half, as that portion between Burdwan and Alla¬
habad, which comprises all the difficulties, would
not be included in the general estimate for a com-
* Note to third Edition. At a charge of from fonr-ponce
to eight-pence per ton per mile hy land carriage, and at one-
penny to two pence per ton per mile by water, but the latter
is limited, and precarious for the reasons assigned in the text.
This is more than the minimum charge of an English Railroad.
See pages 34 and 35.
" From enquiries of the numerous parties of Native Mer¬
chants travelling along the road with loaded camels, bullocks,
and hackeries, it appeared that their speed, never exceeding
two and a half miles an hour, had been reduced to less than
one mile per hour, from the state of the roads, and that their
cotton and other merchandise, were constantly damaged in
crossing the rivers. They travel during about ten hours each
day."
Report of Managing Director East Indian Railway Co.
100
píete communication between Calcutta andtheSutlej\
On the whole, then, it is our conviction that the
line from Calcutta to Rajmahl, and that from Alla¬
habad to Delhi, co-operating with fleets of river
steamers, from Rajmahl to Allahabad, would at
once be the most judicious, the easiest, the least
costly, the soonest constructed, and in every other
point of view the most advantageous mode of intro¬
ducing the railway system into India.
After having supplied the regions indicated, the
two lines might gradually approach each other as
circumstances rendered it desirable or necessary.
The subjoined extract from a letter of General
%
Macleod. late Chief EDgineer, Bengal, published
in the Friend of Indiaof March 19th, 1846,
stamps our views with real and solid value.
" I think the line proposed from Calcutta to Raj¬
mahl a vast improvement and a very rational scheme.
The soil is excellent the whole way, and the surveys
of that part of the Country already so minutely
taken as regards levels, and every thing else required,
that they may commence making their plans at once.
" I should certainly take a great interest in the
line, as I do think it is the most eligible that could be
thought of, and one that would form a most important
benefit to the country. The next best line in my
opinion will be that from Allahabad to Delhi.
I do not know that I can afford the Directors
101
any great extent of information, but I shall be glad
to give them all I possess/^
This eminent and experienced engineer officer, is
now chairman of the Great Western of Bengal rail¬
way company, whose project is to connect Calcutta
with Eajmahl.^'^
NOTE
TO THIRD EDITION,
In the concession granted to the East Indian Hallway
Co. the authorities stipulate for two Sections of the
Trunk Line being made simultaneously, one in Upper,
and the other in LoAver India ; and that there are two
Sections so situated, both extremely faA^orable for ex¬
perimental lines, Ave have good authority for asserting.f
The Report of the Raihvay Commission has the fol¬
lowing paragraph : "We beg to suggest that there is a
line in the North West ProAunces Avhich Avould ansAver
admirably as an experimental line, viz. from Allahabad
to Cawnpore ; but if this line be thought too extensive
+ Note to third Edition. In consequence of the arrange¬
ment before alluded to General Macleod has joined the Con¬
solidated Board of the East Indian Railway Company.
t " We highly approve of the proposition for commencing
operation by the construction of Lines from Calcutta in the
direction of Burdwan, and from Allahabad to Cawnpoor. The
execution of these Divisions, which will he within the limits
of the first portion of your proposed expenditure^ involve com¬
paratively few works difficult of construction, even in a country
like India, whilst they will serve to educate the Employées of
the Company, and afford good experience as to the action of a
tropical climate on the Railway works, so necessary for guid¬
ance before the completion of the heavier portions of the
Line.—Report of Messrs, Rendel and Beurdmore, Consult¬
ing Engineers to the East Indian Railway Company.
102
as an experimental one, we believe that a line from Cal¬
cutta to Barrackpore would find no lack of British Capi¬
talists, both able and willing to undertake its immediate
construction." The latter section from Calcutta to Bar¬
rackpore (the Head Quarters of the Presidency Division
of the army) would have no impediment of any descrip¬
tion to contend with, so far as its construction is con¬
cerned, and the metropolis of British India, under
the immediate supervision of the supreme govern¬
ment, might be deemed the most appropriate place
to break ground when about introducing so great and
serious an innovation ; this is plausible, but nothing
more. The distance between the two places is 16
miles, with an admirable communication both by land
and water, the Barrackpore road is notoriously the
best in India ; no important object could be gained by
a section from Calcutta unless it were carried far
enough to débouché on the Main Ganges, and as the
sum guarranteed (3,000,000/) is inadequate to do this
and open a 'sufficiently large section in Upper India,
providing at the same time the requisite plant for both
sections, the attention of all parties ought, we think, to
be directed to the attainment of one object e. g. that
the railway company should either complete the line or
branch from Calcutta to Raj mahl without a section in
Upper India, or confine its attention exclusively to a sec¬
tion in the latter until a fresh sum be guaranteed. The
importance of connecting Calcutta with permanently
deep water in the Ganges, at a point admirably adapted
for a steam port for the inland navigation, cannot, in
any point of view, be over estimated, as it would form
the only link wanting in the chain of communication
between the two great channels of commerce, the Main
Ganges, and Hooghly.* That 3,000.000/ would more
* Note to 3rd. Edition,
As formerly explained, passengers and goods by the
steamers, and large country craft would for nine months in
the year be saved a dangerous voyage of 520 miles, the dis¬
tance by the railroad being only 190 miles. This would lead
103
than suffice for this line, from the reports, plans and
sections before us there is good ground for believing.
Should the amount however be deemed insufficient, or
the completion of this line inexpedient as an experiment,
then let there be no lower section for the present, for
nothing could he attained either for Government or Commerce
until the Railway debouches on the Ganges^ and exclusive
attention should be directed to Upper India ; a portion
of the section from Allahabad to Delhi, for instance,
from Allahabad to Cawnpore 144 miles in length, pos¬
sessing every claim to selection. The Doab is the
best portion of country perhaps in the globe for a rail¬
way. The navigation of the Jumna and the Ganges
above Allahabad, at all times precarious, is gradually
getting worse from the increasing cultivation demand¬
ing a larger supply of water for irrigation, and the
completion of the Doab canal, as formerly mentioned,
will greatly aggravate existing difficulties by withdraw¬
ing a still larger portion of water for cnltivation. The
land carriage is, as everywhere else, expensive and slow ;
the commerce is great, and the population dense,
robust, and given to travel.
The completion of a large section of the Grand Trunk
in the Doab would be of evident importance to the
Government from connecting together many great
depots and military stations, and advancing them all
towards the N. W. Frontier. Three fourths of the
Bengal army are cantooned above Allahabad, and al¬
most all emergent movements, take place above this
point ; and the cotton growing districts on the banks of
the Nerbudda (as recently stated by the Chairman of
to corresponding improvement in the river transit, the neces¬
sity for a double vessel would cease ; i. e. the machinery of
the steamer in one vessel, and the passengers and goods in
another. At present if the merchant object to the above de¬
lay, the only alternative he has is to subdivide his goods into
small quantities, and commit them to the fragile dinghees (the
smallest country boats) which navigate for nine months in the
years the Nuddea rivers.
Q
104
the Eíist India Company at a Court of Proprietors) are
more in want of roads than any region of our Empire
in the East, a whole year being consumed in the tran¬
sit of their cotton to the coast the transmission of which
would at once be cheapened and facilitated to such a degree
as would impart an energy hitherto unknown to the com¬
merce of India, and would speedily pour increased quanti¬
ties of improved quality of this staple into our seats of
commerce and manufacture in England, at such rates,
as would secure to India this important branch of
trade, and ameliorate the condition incalculably of our
home artizan.
By selecting exclusively, either Upper or Lower India
for the scene of the first experiment, there would be
concentration of effort to produce one great and con¬
tinuous result, instead of energy and skill being divided
between two distinct and distant sections, the lower
one in itself, unless carried to the Ganges, compara¬
tively useless, and absorbing a large portion of the pro¬
fit certain to be drawn from the upper. In Upper
India, the Eailway would have to compete with slow,
but comparatively safe land carriage, at rates varying
from 4d to 8d per ton, and in Lower India, with river
transit, which however objectionable we have seen it
to be, is only. Id to 2d per ton, per mile.
In fine, the Kailway Company should have the option,
either to complete the line or branch to Raj mahl, with¬
out a section in Upper India, or only to make a section
of the Trunk Line in Upper India e, g. from Allaha¬
bad to Cawnpore.
The merit of the two modes (the Direct and Gangetic
valley lines) of filling up the interval betAveen the
Eajmahl and Allahabad lines, Avere detailed in the 2nd.
edition of his brochure, but the smallness of the sum
guaranteed, renders this essentially a secondary, instead
of a primary proposition.
105
MADRAS,
The Railway from Madras to Waliajanuggur and
Arcot/^^ more modest in its ambition than the one which
we have just now so freely animadverted upon,t only
* Length of line 70 miles.
Capital (shares £20 each.) £500,000.
The other companies have £50 shares. This latter division
of capital, appears to require revision.
Note to 3rd. Edition. The only company that has obtained,
or is likely to obtain a Concession at present viz : the East
Indian Eailway Company is to reduce its capital to the amount
on which 5 per cent per annum for 25 years is guaranteed i. e.
to £3,000,000, and the shares from £50 to £20. The Directors
have pledged themselves to the former, and an Act of Parlia¬
ment is to secure the latter.
t Note to 3rd. Edition. "Tub Madras and Bombay Direct
Railway."—Annihilating the intervening space, it would bring
into close approximation those widely separated and important
localities. À crude and singularly ill-timed abortion ! The pro¬
moters of this fiction are no doubt honorable men, but are only
remarkable for the entire want of any apparent connection with
the vast and distant region they have selected for the scene of
their labours.
106
cou templates, for the present at least, a line of
seventy miles in length, and which, after careful
and accurate surveys, was approved several years
ago, as of easy and cheap construction.
The Company for the prosecution of this most
legitimate enterprize, is supported both in this
country and in India, by the Civil and Military ser¬
vants of the East India Company, as well as, by
some of the leading members of the commercial
portion oí the community.
" This line has all the requisites for an experi-
They probably propose the railway, from benevolent feelings
towards the government letter carriers, to save them their
tedious and toilsome journeys. Traffic on this route, no one
ever heard of, and for hundreds of miles, there is no made
road, however indifferent, but we suppose that they, if they
make the one, think that providence will send the other, and
no doubt it would come in time.
In the Prospectus, allusion was made to the Sikh invasion,
with much propriety, as showing the necessity for railways to
meet, or repel danger from the north-west frontier, and the
sequitur flows naturally, that for this purpose, Madras and
Bombay should have railway communication, not towards the
frontier, but with each other ! Bombay being distant from
the recent point of attack at Ferozepore, one thousand miles,
and Madras about sixteen hundred miles ! Bombay being
seven hundred and sixty-three miles to the north-west of
Madras.
This railway, should it be able to emerge from the Ghauts,
would lose itself in almost interminable jungle, redolent of
malaria, and replete with noisome reptiles—a land without
inhabitant, and where it would only startle the tiger as he
crouches in his lair !—we have no hesitation in saying, that
the Madras and Bombay Direct, is a direct absurdity !
Note to third Edition. The sections dedicated to the Glen-
muchkins have been omitted in this impression ; the above is
an extract from one of them.
107
mental railroad ; the distance is moderate, not ex¬
ceeding seventy miles, and the country between the
termini, may be taken, for all practical purposes,
as a dead level ; the rise in seventy miles, not ex¬
ceeding six hundred feet ; there is already a sub¬
stantial raised road, for carts upon the line, which
has successfully proved the capability of such a
work, to withstand the peculiar sources of destructive
action enumerated in the Courtis minute, as operating
against the railway system in India. The termini,
are both places of great commercial importance ; a
large traffic in goods, passengers, troops, and military
stores already exists upon the road, and it passes
through a fertile and very populous country.
" The construction of a railroad on the Great
Western line of communication, between Madras and
Bangalore, attracted attention so long ago as the
year 1832 ; in the year 1836 a line in this direc¬
tion, as far as Wallajahnuggur, was surveyed by an
eminent officer in the Madras engineers. The sub¬
ject was subsequently taken up by a member of the
Board of Revenue at Madras, and the construction
of a line, for the sole purpose of the conveyance of
salt from the sea coast, where it is manufactured,,
to Wallajahnuggur, where the greatest part of the
produce of the country westward from Madras, is
brought upon cattle, which take salt, as a return load
into the interior of the country, was pressed upon
108
the attention of the local government for its adop¬
tion. At a later period, more detailed surveys of
this line have been made, and two of them very
recently, by officers of engineers, who were fully
acquainted with all the varieties of construction of
railroads in this country, and in America.
" The surveys and estimates of these officers con¬
tain the minutest details of the cost of construction
of a single line of rails, upon a principle which has
been found to be perfectly efficient in America.
" But it is considered, that, however desirable such
a construction may be, for the feeding lines that
connect the thinly peopled, and less cultivated tracts
of the country, with the main trunk lines, upon
which the largest portion of the traffic must always
pass, a more substantial method of construction,
and one more approaching that found to answer best
in Europe, will be required upon the trunk lines, of
which that from Madras to Bangalore, is the most
important within the Madras territories. The
country from Madras to Arcot, however, is so sin¬
gularly favourable for the construction of a railroad,
that the cost of a single line, with rails of the di¬
mensions generally used in this country, will not ex¬
ceed £5,000 a mile; and by fixing the available
capital at £500,000 ; it is considered, that a suffi¬
cient fund will be provided, to meet all the possible
contingencies that can attend the construction of
the proposed line.
109
" The present population of the territories, in¬
cluded in the Presidency of Madras, exceeds 14,000,
000. The population of Madras itself, the terminus
of the Railway, now exceeds 600,000. The line
which is now proposed, will pass close to the popu¬
lous town of Oonjeveram, at a distance of forty-five
miles from Madras, and through a densely peopled
and fertile country the whole way. The principal
article of traffic, towards the interior will be salt,
for their supplies of which the population inland
is entirely dependant on the sea coast. From Walla-
jahnuggur the line will communicate with the great
CO [ton and indigo district of Cuddapah Bellary, and
the country towards Hyderbad on the North and West ;
it will afford facilities for the transport to the coast
of the produce of Mysore and North Arcot, consisting
of sugar, coffee, betel-nut, lac, potatoes, wheat, oil¬
seeds, grain of various kinds, charcoal and firewood.
Towards the West and South it will facilitate com¬
munication with the cotton districts of Salem, and
Coimbatore : and towards the South with the fertile
countries of Trichinopoly and Tanjore. The best
cotton that is raised in India, is produced in the
Madras territories ; all that is required to enable it
to compete successfully with American cotton is, in¬
creased facilities for bringing it to the shipping port
of Madras,"^ in good condition, and at a moderate rate
* The projected pier of Madras will be a great boon to
Commerce, and can only be duly estimated by those aquainted
110
of transport, which only can be effected by railroad."^
The natural capabilities of the Mysore country, for
the production of the finest sugar and coffee, are
unlimited ; and a cheap and commodious system of
transport, is all that is required to develope its re¬
sources.
" At present there exists a traffic on this line, of
goods alone, amounting to about 30,000 tons a year
and 150,000 passengers in each direction, which
would make a fair return upon the capital. It is im¬
possible to calculate the returns to be expected for
transport of troops, military stores, treasure, and the
conveyance of the mails on account of government, but
the amount must be considerable. The same con¬
sequences, must follow the introduction of railroads
in India, that have followed elsewhere ; and already
the results, in every instance, have far exceeded the
expectations, which the most sanguine speculator
would have ventured to form, before the opening of
the Manchester and Liverpool railway. The system
is now but in its infancy in Europe, and its progres¬
sion hereafter, no one can calculate. The same re¬
sults must follow, in every instance of the introduc-
with the present expense, delay, difficulty, and danger, of
landing and shipping goods, from the violence of the surf—
O. I. P.
* The Madras rate for conveying goverment stores by
carts, is five-pence-halfpenny per ton per mile. The Madras
railway estimate, is two-pence per ton per mile.—0. I. P.
Ill
tion of railways into countries possessing a fertile
soil, a good climate, and a numerous and industrious
population ; and at this moment, there is, probably,
no portion of the globe, where the introduction of
railways will ultimately produce more important
results, than the British possessions in India.
" Should the success of the first line which it is
contemplated to undertake, warrant the extension
of the railroad system throughout the Madras ter¬
ritories, it is the intention of this company, to raise
the additional capital that may be required, to pro¬
ceed in the direction of Cuddapah, Bellary, and
Hyderabad, North; Mysore, Salem, and Trichinopoly,
West and South; and to connect the remote pro¬
vinces with the trunk lines, by branches of less
expensive construction, throughout the Madras
territories.^^^^'
We have no doubt of the ultimate result being
favourable, and dismiss the project wishing it every
success.
* Papers relating to the Madras Railway Company^ printed
August 1846.
Note to 2nd. Edition. Some conception of the resources of
this portion of the " Golden Peninsula/* may be formed from
the military means, which the single state of Mysore was able
to accumulate, under the pressure of a long war. At the
peace, the treasure of Tippoo, was calculated at eighty millions
sterling ; he had six hundred thousand stand of arms, two
thousand cannons, with a regular force of artillery, cavalry,
and infantry, of one hundred thousand men ; besides hordes
of irregular horse.
R
112
There is no other scheme cormected with Madras,
that we are aware of, worthy of notice.
NOTE
TO THIRD EDITION.
Keport upon the proposed Madras and Wallajalinug-
gur Railroad, from F. W. Siniins Esq., Director of the
Railway Department, to G. A. Bushby Esq., Secretary
to the Government of India.
Dated 30th December, 1845.
Sir,
In obedience to the commands of the Supreme
Government, contained in your letter of the 13th instant, I
have the honor of submitting my opinion on the proposed
line of railroad from Madras to Wallajahnuggur, founded
upon an examination of the documents submitted for my
perusal. Before I refer to the immediate subject of this
report, I will take this opportunity of expressing my opinion
(so far as nearly four months' residence and observation in
this country have enabled me to judge) upon several impor¬
tant subjects named by the Honourable the Court of Directors,
in the minutes of the 7th of May last.
1st. As to the periodical rains and inundations. I do not
expect that, with a judiciously selected and well constructed
line, any serious injury to the works may be anticipated, and
from this cause, nothing but what a small annual outlay will
set to rights.
2nd. The continued action of violent winds, and influence
of avertical sun.
Suitable arrangements in the construction of the works
will overcome any difficulty arising from these causes ; as to
the line itself, their effects will be more felt in working the
trains, especially the wind, at high velocities ; no fears need
be entertained upon this subject as to the ultimate result.
113
3rd. The ravages of insects and vermin upon timber and
earthwork.
If the information I have received in India be correct, that
the destructive action of insects upon the Teak and Iron wood of
Arracan amounts to nothing, or next to nothing, that ques¬
tion 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. To the earthwork no
mischief can arise from this cause, if the overseers and la¬
bourers on the line discharge their duties in a proper manner.
4th. The destructive effects of the spontaneous vegeta¬
tion of underwood upon earth and brickwork. To obviate
this evil, nothing more is required than a faithful discharge of
the duties of the overseers and labourers, in rooting up every
germ of such vegetation as, soon as it appears.
5th. The unenclosed and unprotected tracts of country.
A fence, similar to our quick fences in England, would
answer through the open and cultivated parts of the country
which may or may not be employed through the districts
covered with jungle, as circumstances may require. Such
fence, may be formed of the plant called the Beranda, or the
Mysore thorn, or the prickly pear, all of which, and many
others, if kept well trimmed, would make a suitable fence.
6, The difficulty and expense of securing the services of
competent and trustworthy engineers. This difficulty I make
no doubt, will be overcome by a suitable arrangement at an
early period—such I think would be the sending of a few native
or half-caste young men to England, to be trained until some
engineers are ready to be sent to India, upon their return in
charge of such engineers ; and under the superintendence of
one or two English engineers, there would be laid the founda¬
tion for the training of as many native engine drivers as
might be required ; such native youths while in England
should not only be instructed to drive an engine, but to repair
them when out of order.
Such are my present opinions upon the foregoing subjects;
and if any changes shortly take place therein, I shall have an
opportunity of stating them, when referring thereto in the
report that myself and Captains Boileau and Western will
114
have the honor to present to the Government of Bengal, upon
the completion of our present examination of the country, as
tc its capabilities for a line of railway from Calcutta to the
North-west Provinces.
I have thought it necessary to discuss the natural difficulties
that might be expected, to the introduction and working of
railways in India in general, before entering upon the imme¬
diate subject of my report, namely, the proposed railway
from Madras to Wallajahnuggur, which I will now consider
under the following heads :—
1st. Its expediency.
2nd. Its practicability.
3rd. Its bearing upon a general system of railroads in India.
4th. The mode of construction and cost.
6th. The income and probable return.
6th. Terms of and period of concession.
1st. Its expediency. Little need be said on this point : for
after the experience we have had in Europe, in the construction
of common highways and railroads, and of the results of their
working, there can be no doubt that a railroad, is the most
desirable of all modes of communication known at the present
time ; and whenever it appears, that a new highway is required
for a numerous body of people, and of a considerable trade, a
preference should be given to a railroad, although there may be
only a reasonable ground to suppose that the existing traffic will
pay but a small interest on the capital expended, in addition to
the working expenses of the line, for experience shows, that in
most cases, the additional amount of traffic, created by the ex¬
istence of so refined a mode of transit, realzies a remunerative
return ; and from all that I have as yet seen of India, and
learned of its circumstances and condition, I see no reason to
doubt, that there will be a similarity in the result.
2nd. Its practicability. Of this, in the absence of a per¬
sonal survey, I can only judge of the documents laid before
me, and from them I conclude that there can be no doubt
whatever upon the subject. The mode of its construction
and its cost I will presently consider.
3rd. Its bearing upon a general system of railroads for
India.
That is a subject of importance in a new country where
this new mode of transit is to be introduced for the first
time, and whei*e it will be desirable that every line, however
115
short, should have reference to a general system of railways,
of which it will ultimately become a part ; so far as I can
judge from the papers before me, and an examination of a
general map of India, it appears that but little (if any) ob¬
jection can be made to the proposed Railway in this respect,
provided, that the mode of its construction, ¿lc., be consistent
with what may ultimately be adopted for the whole of the
lines.
4th. The mode of construction and cost. This should not
be left to the opinion of any engineers who may chance to
be employed by the Railway Company, as they are too fre¬
quently induced to adopt inexpensive expedients (wise or
unwise) to overcome pecuniary and other difficulties, which
for the time may answer the purposes of the promoters of the
work : because I look upon the Railways of India, as one vast
scheme of the highest importance to the future welfare of this
great empire ; and although at first they will be constructed
and maintained by private companies, yet after a lapse of
years, will fall into the hands of the Government and become
public property, and on this account, as also for the best and
most advantageous mode of working them, it is essential, that
they should be of a permanent and uniform kind, and one
general system be extended to all the lines.
If the above view of the case be acquiesced in by the
Government, I would recommend that the works be con¬
structed of a better character than is proposed in any of the
plans set forth in the documents before me, and therefore
the original expenditure would be greater than therein esti¬
mated ; and when the proper time arrives, I shall be prepared
with a general specification for the works, that should be
binding on the part of all railway companies, or other con¬
tracting parties, to carry out to the satisfaction of Govern¬
ment, which specification should be subject to alteration only
in its unimportant details, and then, not without the sanction
of the representative of Government.
The capital of the Madras Railway Company, for construct¬
ing the line from Madras to Wallajahnuggur, is stated in their
prospectus to be 500,000^ : with this they propose, wisely as
I think, to adopt a more substantial mode of construction
than is suggested in the documents now before me, " and one
more approaching that found to answer best in Europe."
They propose to construct a single line of railway, about
seventy miles in length, at a cost not exceeding 5,000 per
mile, which low rate they state will be owing to the " singu¬
larly favourable country through which it passes.*'
116
AVith the disadvantage of not having surveyed or seen the
ground, and having no detailed plans or maps of the country
around Madras, and of the line, or even a section of the line
itself, I cannot be considered as in a position to state vi^hat
the cost will really be ; but judging of what I have seen of
works in Bengal, and knowing the cost of rails, engines, and
machinery, which I expect must be nearly all brought from
England, I am of opinion that 5,000^ per mile will be insuffi¬
cient for the construction of the line and the purchase of the
plant necessary for working it. It is, however, probable,
that the ivhole of the proposed capital of half a million ster¬
ling, would cover the outlay, provided that the line does not
exceed seventy miles in length, and the expense of manage¬
ment be very economical. An additional 100,000^ (supposing
that all the statements before me are correct), I expect would
make the capital ample for the purposes proposed, and I would
advise that it be increased to that amount.
I should not hesitate in this case to recommend the Govern¬
ment to allow of a single line of railway ; yet their consent
should be subject to the condition, that all bridges and other
works of masonry should be constructed of such dimensions
as to be suitable (without alteration or addition) for a double
line, if such hereafter should be deemed necessary or expe¬
dient, and that the Railway Company should be bound to lay
down such second line, whenever required so to do by the
Government, and also in the construction of the single
line, a sufficient length, or lengths of double line, forming
passing places, be constructed, as well as a sufficient num¬
ber of level crossings, to provide for the present and fu¬
ture wants of the country. They should likewise be bound
to lay their rails with whatever guage may be decided upon
by the Government, as the one for general adoption on the
railways in India. This should be scrupulously adhered to,
for although at present such a restriction may appear to be of
small moment, upon such a line, and in such a situation as
the one under discussion, yet who can say what amount
of inconvenience, and what serious impediments, may ulti¬
mately result fi-om a departure from a general system when¬
ever lines from the north, the west, and the south, intersect
therewith, and with each other.
5th. The income and probable return. Assuming the
number of tons of goods carried annually along the line to
be, as stated; 30,000 tons, and the number of passengers
150,000, the income derivable therefrom ought to be, in
round numbers, at least for goods, £17,500, at twopence
117
per ton per mile j and for passengers, =£32,812, at three
farthings per mile, making a total of £50,312, supposing
them to travel the whole distance.
And I consider the annual expense of working the line,
and maintaining both it and the plant in perfect repair, will
not be less than £20,000 ; that is, putting it on the most
limited scale, and the interest upon £600,000, supposing the
capital to be augmented to that sum, would amount to
£30,000, at five per cent. The income, therefore, in order
to pay that rate of interest, should be £50,000 per annum,
and we have seen above, that it will probably amount to
£50,312 : as the traffic is stated to exist at the present time,
and which will in all probability be greatly increased, there
can be nothing therefore unreasonable in expecting that the
proprietors will realise five per cent, upon their outlay. In
the above statement, I have considered that the plant and
staff is to be of the most limited and economical kind, and
also that the traffic will bear a charge of twopence per ton
per mile on the goods,* and three-farthings per mile for
passengers.
6th. Terms of and period of concession. The terms upon
which the concession may be granted should have a refer¬
ence to the line becoming part of a general system of rail¬
ways intersecting India in all directions, and its ultimately
becoming the property of the Government. With this ob¬
ject, not only should the line be constructed after a special
manner, but the Company should be required to work the
line according to a system to be laid down, in which one
code of signals may be employed upon every railroad in
India, whereby servants passing from one to another, may
not be liable to mistakes in that important particular ; and
so far as possible a duplicate system be introduced in all
the details of the railway, so that an accident happening
on any line, to any engine or train from another line, or
to any part thereof (even to the glass, slides, and burners
of the lamps), may be replaced at the nearest station or
storehouse, as all similar parts should, as much as possible,
be constructed to the same moulds and the same patterns.
Likewise, the Railway Company should be required to furnish
from time to time, whatever returns, statistical or otherwise
that the Government may require ; and the whole working
* Note to 3rd. Edition. The Aladras rate for conveying governing
stores is five-pence per ton per mile. O.I.P.
118
and book-keeping, to be subject to their control and super-
yision.
In settling the lease, it might be equitable, as there is so
much uncertainty as to the returns, to allow the 'period or
term to remain blank until the line shall have been opened
throughout for a space of ten years, when the average earnings
of the last three years might be assumed as a basis upon which
to calculate the duration of the lease, that should yield a fixed
per centage profit upon the capital, and provide for the re¬
demption of the capital itself. At the expiration of the lease,
the whole of the Railway and its appurtenances should become
the property of the Government, without payment, except,
perhaps, for the plant, which might be taken at a valuation.
As a guarantee for the security of the parties, it might
probably be advisable to require at the outset a deposit of ten
or fifteen per cent, upon the whole capital, to be returned, or
applied for the continuance of the works, when one moiety
of the capital shall have been expended thereon.
In conclusion, I must be permitted again to allude to the
fact, that this report is founded entirely upon documentary
evidence, and therefore must be considered as subject to the
influence of any errors these documents may contain.
(Signed.) F. W. Simms. C. E.
Director of the Railway Department.
True Copy.
(Signed.) G. A. Bushbt.
Secretary to the Government of India.
(A True Copy.)
J. F. Thomas.
Chief Secretary.
NOTE
TO THIRD EDITION.
The Madras Railway Company, so well organized and
managed with so much ability and economy, came to
the resolution in the month of June last of dissolving the
Company, in consequence of the monetary pressure
and the want of encouragement from the authorities.
119
BOMBAY.
We now proceed to present to our readers' con¬
sideration the project of the Great Indian Peninsula
Railway Company, the only railway which Western
India boasts of. The presidency of Bombay occu¬
pies a most influential position, whether we view its
political, and military bearings, or estimate its com¬
mercial relations, and it has only been for the sake
of having some regard to the methodical arrangement
of our subject, that we have postponed till this
period, the mention of a railway which has for its
primary object, the accommodating of Bombay and
its subject provinces.
In the magnitude of its ulterior designs, it is second
to none, and is supported both here, and at the Pre¬
sidency, by gentlemen of wealth and consideration.
s
120
However favourably we may be disposed to a
great and interesting undertaking, we see it almost
at the outset beset with obstacles of no common
magnitude. We borrow from Mr. Chapman's'"^
statement the following extracts : —
" Every body knows, that at a small distance
inland from the western coast of the Peninsula of
India, a range of rugged and precipitous mountains,
improperly, but generally called the Ghauts, but¬
tresses and defines the table land, of the Deccan ;
between this range and the sea, is a strip of land,
called the Ooncan, low and flat in the valleys, but
much intersected, and encumbered with transverse
offsets from the great range. The highest points of
the Ghauts, rise to the elevation of above four-
thousand feet, and the face of the range towards the
sea, presents little but precipitous walls, or impracti¬
cable slopes. In a few places, however, the crest is
cleft down to the level of the inland plain, that is,
about two-thousand feet above the sea, and a trans¬
verse spur at the same place, jutting westward into
the Concan, affords the means of ascending to it,
though commonly not without considerable difficulty
and labour.^^
" The ascent of the Ghauts is always spoken of as
the great difiiculty on this line, and the chief objec-
* The Manager of the Company.
121
tion to it. The description of the Malsejee Ghaut"^
just given from official papers, may properly serve to
diminish the force of any fears on the subject ;
nevertheless, the climbing of these celebrated heights
by mechanical means, will still remain a most inte¬
resting practical problem. If it can be accomplished
by means already in use, and suitable to the circum¬
stances of the case, it will be better to do so, than
to incur the cost, risk and delay of new contrivances ;
if, however, such be not at our disposal, I do not
speak by guess in saying, that the requisite devices
will not be wanting."
From the top of the Ghaut to a considerable dis¬
tance, the country is open and level, although as we
proceed, the cultivated fields are displaced by
jungle, and the villages are far apart, and in some
instances deserted.
But the soil is naturally rich and admirably ad¬
apted to the cultivation of cotton, the great staple of
this portion of India, The people are most industri¬
ous, and only want efficient roads to enable them to
send their goods to market, to make the elevated
region of the Deccan vie with the rich plains of
Bengal in productive power. At present this portion
of India, is alike discreditable to the British and the
native rulers. From the feeble, and almost bankrupt
* See jMr. Chapman's printed statement.
122
government of 'the Nizam, only formidable to its
defenceless peasantry, nothing can be expected, but
that its provinces should gradually, from the grind¬
ing exactions of its officials, return to the deadly
and primeval wilderness, and that its deserted villages
should be tenanted by noxious reptiles and beasts of
prey. But the wretched government of the Nizam,
is fast drawing to a close, when the fields will be re¬
generated, and the voice of man heard again in the
villages, under a rule at once strong and beneficent.
This has ever been the case on a transfer from Native
to British authority, with the exception of that por¬
tion of the Deccan already in our possession, and
why we have held back our hand, from extending
the usual blessings of our rule, and opening the
resources of the country, by some attempt, however,
imperfect, at improving the means of communication,
is to be sought for, in the great difficulty of making
roads in the Deccan, from the nature of the soil,
men and horses sinking knee deep, in its black and
slimy loam.
The Bombay government have frequently pro¬
jected roads, hut as the expenditure of this
Presidency falls short of the revenue, the
balance being defrayed from the surplus revenue of
Bengal, the reason is obvious, why beyond protec¬
tion to life and property, we have little at present
to ofl'er the refugees who cross our border. With
123
moderately good roads or a railway, we should re¬
claim fertile fields from the juogle, clothe and feed a
disheartened and most industrious people, reaping in
return, a more prosperous revenue, and additional
security to our possessions. Duty, true policy, bene¬
ficence, and the strongest plea of all we fear, self-
interest, centre for once in one point, and urge upon
us the necessity of improved intercourse in the west
of India. The hardship which the poor people of the
Deccan suffer, in bringing their cotton to market, is
scarcely to be credited, and is graphically described
by Mr. Williamson, late Revenue Commissioner,
Bombay, in his second letter to Lord Wharncliffe.
This letter, and another by the same gentleman, we
strongly recommend to the attentive perusal of all
interested in the welfare of India, confining our¬
selves to an extract or two.
" But there is one mode of promoting internal im¬
provement which has been tried more or less in most
provinces in India, and which I will venture to say
has in no single instance been found to fail—I allude
to the improvement of internal communication. As
far as my experience in India goes, no road has ever
been constructed without an immediate, and almost
magical effect, on the prosperity of the town with
which it communicates, and yet the extent of the
new road annually opened in the whole of the Western
124
Presidency of India, is not beyond what would be
deemed requisite in a single county in England.
" The consequence is, that the cotton which might
travel the whole distance to the sea-coast, on carts
along the made road, at the rate of six bullock loads
on a cart drawn by two bullocks, twelve miles per
diem, now creeps the greater part of the distance,
six loads on six separate pack bullocks, only eight
miles per diem. As a proof on this new line, of the
effect of improving roads, I may mention the instance
of the Bhore Ghaut,
" When this pass was first made practicable to
wheeled carriages about the year 1828, the toll
realised between £400 and £500 a year. Twelve
years ago a speculator was ruined by farming them
from government for £1000. They now annually
let at £3000 or £4000 per annum, so that the four
3^ears, besides providing for the expense of annual
repairs, the toll now more than covers the original
cost of constructing the road.^'
This line is proposed to be made cautiously ac¬
cording to the encouragement held out, and should
it advance so far as Nagpore, 508 miles E.N.E. of
Bombay (close to Kamptee, the most central military
position in India,) it will proceed either to Calcutta,
or what is more probable, join the great East India
trunk line at Mirzapore, which is 890 miles E.N.E.
of Bombav.
125
This latter arrangement would give us our intelli¬
gence from Upper India and Bengal a week earlier
than at present, and in conjunction with the trunk
line from Calcutta to Delhi, would enable the com¬
bined armies of the two presidencies, to concentrate
their powers on almost any point of our dominions
that could, by possibility be threatened. This en-
terprize will, for the present, curb its ambition, till
it has solved the difficult problem of climbing the
Ghauts.* This would of itself be a great achieve¬
ment, and of incalculable advantage to the presi-
dency.i"
* The Americans have ascended the Alleghany mountains,
height of 1398 feet, and at a very moderate cost,^ by means of
fixed engines.
t Note to 2nd. Edition. A letter, under date June 1846,
addressed by the Committee in Bombay to the Governor of
that Presidency, has the following extract from the Engineers'
Report of the actual ascent of the Malsej Ghât.
** The whole plane will be in length 31,000 feet, and its
total descent 1.718 feet : giving an average gradient under
one in nineteen, which average is obtained very nearly
throughout, and never exceeded to a greater extent than one
in fifteen. The plane has two curves, one 7,400, the other
16,900 feet from the summit ; each is in length 800 feet, and
of 5,000 feet radius. The plane, therefore, may be considered
practically as straight. The earthworkss required, will be
chiefly tunnelling and open gallery. It is difficult to draw the
line exactly between the two, but in round numbers it may be
stated, that there will be 10,400 feet of tunnelling in eight
lengths, and 5,100 feet of gallery, passing rather close to, or
within from ten to thirty feet of the face of the slopes. The
excavations are in excess of the embankments, and are con¬
veniently placed for their formation. The lead throughout
126
The Directors of this project will, we have no
doubt, watch over the interests of their shareholders,
and secure to thera, if a concession be obtained, such
a guarantee, as shall preclude the possibility of loss ;
we do not think however, that it will be one of the
first lines authorized to be made, for its success in a
commercial point of view is certainly problematical,
in comparison with the Great Western of Bengal, or
any portion of the great trunk line between Allaha¬
bad and the Sutlej. We, however, heartily recom¬
mend the Great Indian Peninsula, to the protection
of a wise and paternal goverment.
Having passed in review before us, the various
schemes for railway communication in India, and hav¬
ing given our opinion, founded as we conscientiously
believe, on sound data, or upon what we have seen,
or known ourselves—we feel, that we have discharged
the grave and onerous duty which we proposed, and
we now resume for a few moments our general re¬
marks.
will be trifling. The material to be excavated, is either rock
or moorum ; the former is much fissured ; the latter soft and
easily worked. Both, however, there is reason to believe, to
be sufficiently firm to stand in the tunnels without artificial
support. The masonry will be light, and composed almost
wholly of culverts. The quantity of water that will flow
under the line, during each rainy season is considerable ; but
owing to the scarred and broken character of the ground, the
water courses are very numerous, and the force and volume of
any one stream not considerable.*'
127
NOTE
TO THIRD EDITION,
AVe have for some time (says a Bombay paper) been in
possession of a series of Papers illustrative of the pro¬
spects of the Gireat Indian Peninsula Railway Company,
printed for the use of the Company,"—of which it is was
our intention to have attempted an abridgment or an
analysis. The documents embody a very large mass of
most important matter,—carefully got up, and perspicu¬
ously put together ; yet on minute perusal of the whole,
we find ourselves unable to give any better account of their
contents, than that furnished by the letter of the Chair¬
man, Mr. Robert Wigram Crawford, to the Hon'ble
the Governor of Bombay. With the re-publication of
this, our readers will, for the present, rest content,
those who desire entering on details, will find the
whole published in the columns of our esteemed contem¬
porary the Telegraphl^
To the Hon'ble L. B. Eeid, Esq.
Governor, and President in Council, Bombay.
Hon'ble Sib,—On the 22nd of August last I had the honor
of addressing a letter to your Hon'ble Board, intimating
on behalf of the Provisional Committee of the Great
Indian Peninsula Bailvay Company, the advanced state to
which the surveys and preliminary enquiries, having refer¬
ence to their undertaking, in this country, had been brought,
and soliciting information in detail as to the different points
on which Government would require to be satisfied, before
■* See albo Report, Maps and Papers of Great Indian Peninsula Co.
W. Ltivis é Son, Finch Lane Oornhill.
T
128
the Company should be deemed entitled to the necessary
powers for the construction of the Railway.
It would appear, from a communication with which the
Committee had been recently favored by your Hon ble
Board, that no directions can be given regarding Railway
undertakings on this side of India until an intimation of the
views of the Hon'ble the Court of Directors on the subject
shall have been received. The committee, however, having
now before them in a complete form, the statistical documents
framed by Mr. Chapman, the Manager of the Company,
prior to his departure for Europe,—together with the reports,
and plans, and sections, prepared by Messrs. Clark and Cony-
beare, relative to the proposed lines of Railway, the whole
of which papers, taken together, supply abundant evidence
on which to found an application for legislative sanction, are
anxious to submit their entire case for the consideration of the
authorities ; and they have therefore requested me now to
wait upon your Hon'ble Board with the various documents
noted in the margin, and to solicit the favor of your early
attention to them, in order to their being handed up for the
examination of the Supreme Government and the Hon'ble
Court of Directors with the least practicable delay.
Your Honor in Council will perceive, from those papers,
that it is proposed to construct a line of Railway, commenc¬
ing at some appropriate spot near the Fort of Bombay, pass¬
ing across the low lands called the Flats, and reaching Sal-
sette by way of the Sion Marsh—thence skirting the Eastern
side of Salsette, over an easy country—and crossing to the
main land at the village of Chendanee near Tannah. On
entering the Concan, a range of hills presents itself, the
turning of which would involve a considerable circuit ; but
one of these—Godadunghur—is pierced by a tunnel of 1,427
yards, and the line then crosses the plain of Kalian, and is
thence carried, by a tunnel of 1,620 yards, through the
Oombernaut hills, and after traversing the valley of the
Oolassa, and crossing that river and its tributary the Bervee,
passes up the ravine of the last named stream over a band of
broken and rugged country called the Chone Jungles, and
proceeds towards Moorbar. At a distance of fifty-eight miles
from Bombay the line leaves the Bervee, and descends through
the Kholeton tunnels into the valley of the Kala, in which
it generally remains as far as the foot of the Ghaut. The
inclined plane commences at Morosee, nearly seventy-nine
129
miles from Bombay ; it is 10,267 yards in length, the steepest
inclination being one in fifteen, and the average one in eigh¬
teen. The actual mode of ascent has not yet been definitively
fixed , but Mr. Clark has estimated for the employment of
stationary power " in the shape of three pair of engines
working endless ropes,'* a method by which it is certain the
incline can be conveniently and economically worked, though
it is exceedingly probable a better one may hereafter be pro¬
posed. From the summit of the Ghaut the line proceeds to
Koobee, a distance of 3,334 yards ; and from the last named
place takes a course between the Kristnawuttee and the
precipitous range forming the northern boundary of the
Malsej Ghaut valley, until it reaches the Alia Khind, a fur¬
ther distance of 21-27 miles. The next division of the line
is 32-87 miles in length, and extends as far as the Pera, the
Hurreechunder range, and afterwards the Amboreh Khind,
being tunnelled to admit of its passage. The detailed surveys
cease at the Pera, about 108 miles from Bombay ; but Mr.
Connybeare has further examined two routes towards Ougein
and Indore, and a third towards Hoosungabad, and Mr.
Clarke has effected a careful reconnoisance of the country in
the direction of Sholapore, of which latter operation a re¬
port is herein enclosed for the information of your Hon'ble
Board. It is unnecessary in this place to particularise the
various works which will be required by the character of the
lines, or again to institute any comparison with the view of
shewing the advantageous nature of the selection which has
been made, as the Committee have already brought the sub¬
ject so fully under the notice of Government in their letter
of the 6th of June last : suffice it to add, that although the
amount of earth work is exceedingly small, the line, for the
whole distance from Bombay to Alleh, (with the single ex¬
ception of the Ghaut ascent) presents first class curves and
gradients, while that to the north of Alleb, which it was at
first thought would involve numerous difficulties, will come at
least within the second class of Railways, according to the
English category. Detailed information on these points will
be found in the reports of the Engineers ; and I will
therefore quit this part of the subject, and proceed to refer
briefly to the various other facts and computations upon
which the case of the Railway is founded.
The total cost of the line from Bombay to Koobee, is esti¬
mated at X981,027—to Alleh at £1,208,714—and to points
130
near " tlie limits of tlie Gungathuree in one direction and be¬
yond Seroor in the other," at <£1,803,053.* The working ex¬
penses, as computed by Mr. Clark, amount to £74,021 for the
line as far as Alleh, including the Ghaut incline, and it is
proposed to take £22,357 per annum as the probable cost of
working the above branch lines. Thus it is calculated, that
176 miles of Eailway, from Bombay to the Pera and Mhuse,
will cost £1,863,053, and may be worked for £96,378 per
annum. The object of the statistical enquiries that have been
entered into, has been to show, that a traffic now actually ex-
ists'which will suffice to defray this annual expense of working,
and leave a surplus sufficient to yield a fair dividend on the
capital expended in construction.
* Mr. Chaptrian's printed papers, from which thetie calculations are
taken, were compiled before the completion of the estimates for the lines
above the Ghauts, and the cost of these latter was obtained by extending
to them, that of the line across the Concan, as reported upon by Mr,
Clark. The estimates having now been completed, it becomes necessary
to add their actual result, which is as follows (the estimates being for
lines of a quality equal to the best English lines)
Line from Bombay to Koobee, as above . . 981,027
Line from Koobee to Alla^ 21-27 miles
(exclusive of Land compensation and
working stock) according to the esti¬
mates of Mr. Conybeare . . 167,726
Additional working stock required for
21''27 miles (the estimates of Mr. Clark
being sufficient in certain particulars
for the whole line) . • . 19,944
187,670
Branch from Alia to the Pern River, 33-18
miles, exclusive of land compensation
and stock, according to the estimates of
Mr. Conybeare . • . . 341,840
Addition working stock required for this
branch . . . , , 32,198
£1,168,697
374,038
Branch from Alia to Mhuse, 36 miles, as
assumed by Mr. Clark on the average
cost of the line in the Concan, including
additional working stock . . , ♦ . 384,584
Total cost of the proposed lines . • £1,927,319
131
It has been considered advisable, for many reasons, to ex¬
clude from the range of investigation, ail merely speculative or
conjectural points of enquiry ; and to this end no return
whatever from passengers has been calculated on, and the
amount of goods traíRc looked to, has been merely that which
at present exists. But that passengers in considerable num¬
bers will eventually be obtained, and the traffic in merchandise
be greatly augmented, from causes rising out of the establish¬
ment of the Eaihvay, the Committee, I believe, entertain no
doubt whatever. The experience of Eaihvay undertakings in
other countries, must fail us entirely here, if the results just
named do not ensue.
In the paper marked C. and headed General statement of
expected traffic," will be found a series of minute and carefully
compiled Statements, showing the various sources, character,
and amount of the traffic, which it is believed will be accom¬
modated by the Eailway.— Excluding Salt (which is treated
of in a separate paper) we have upwards of 100,000 tons of
merchandise and produce, of which, by far the greater part has
been ascertained, from official data, to pass now to and fro on
or near to the proposed routes, and the remainder (which is but
a small proportion) is estimated on grounds which, if not
guaranteeing the most rigid accuracy, can have led only to
error on the safe side. The details necessary for the verifica¬
tion of the statements now submitted, are in the possession of
the Committee, and can be supplied at any time, if required
by your Honorable Board. Of the actual quantity of salt
conveyed into the interior and consumed by the native inhabi¬
tants, there is no official record ; and, as will be seen on a re¬
ference to the paper D., Mr. Chapman has been compelled, in
consequence, to resort to a method of computation by which
the larger ordei of statistical questions are frequently deter¬
mined. He has taken a certain area of country to be supplied
with Salt from the coast by means of the Eailway ; calculated
the probable amount of population within this area ; and de¬
termined, from the best information extant, the average con¬
sumption per head per annum. The area he has shown to be
about 112,061 square miles, the population 100 per square
mile, and the average consumption IGlbs ; whence a total
annual consumption of 80,043 tons is the result. This, added
to the 100,000 tons of goods and produce, makes up the
180,000 tons, which it is expected will be conveyed annually
by the Eailway.
132
The next point to be established, in order to complete the
data for final calculation, was the rate of charge for carriage
which the Railway Company might safely fix upon ; and be¬
fore determining this question, it was necessary to ascertain,
from a variety of sources, the cost of carriage, in different
places, at different seasons, and under different classes of cir¬
cumstances, at present incurred in the interior. The evidence
collected by Mr. Chapman on this branch of the subject is
most ample and minute, and the inference which he deduces
from it is one in which the Committee think your Honour in
Council will readily concur. It appears that within the range
of the proposed lines, the lowest charge for bullock carriage
is 4^d. per ton per mile, and for conveyance by carts in one
instance only so low as 2|d. The latter rate is at present
taken as one which may be charged by the Railway ; but any
increase of traffic beyond that which has been calculated in
these papers on a very narrow basis, would of course admit of
a considerable reduction in the charge.
The trunk line from Bombay will extend as far as Alleh, at
which point the bifurcation to the Pera in the North-East,
and to Mhuse in the South-West direction, will take place.
For the first 109 miles, therefore, the entire 180,000 tons, at
2f d. per ton per mile, will, it is estimated, be carried ; and
this will produce a revenue of ¿£224,812 per annum. From
Alleh to the Pera, a distance of 31 miles, it is assumed that
half the above quantity, or 90,000 tons, will be conveyed ;
and from the same place to Mhuse (36 miles) the remaining
half of the amount ; so that a revenue of ¿£31,969 and ¿£37,125
respectively, from the two lines beyond the point of bifurca¬
tion, will have to be looked for ; which will make up the total
receipts to ¿£293,906. But as the charge for the six miles of
ascent up the Malsej Ghaut is proposed to be doubled, on ac¬
count of the extra expense of working the incline, an addition
of ¿£8,250 will have to be made to the last-named amount ; and
thus the aggregate revenue for the 176 miles of Railway may
be stated at £302,156.
The annual cost of working, has been estimated at£96,378 ;
and a balance will thus be left of £205,778, which is equivalent
to a dividend at the rate of £11-0-11 per cent on the cost of
construction.* In the paper marked A., being a prefatory
* This will now be reduced by a few sliillings, owing to Mr. Cony-
bcare's estimates having turned out rather higher than was anticij) hed.
133
letter to the Chairman of the Provisional Committee, Mr,
Chapman has clearly pointed out the probable effects of any
supposable crj or ; and in a case where a distrust of estimates
may possibly prevail, it may be useful to direct the attention
of your Honourable Board to the observations adverted to,
A brief outline has now been given of the results of the
surveys and enquiries in which the Officers of the Company
have been engaged, and which results are elaborately detailed
and illustrated in the documents, which form the accompani¬
ment to this communication.
Before concluding, however, I beg permission to offer a few
observations on some points in connection with that part of
the great question of Indian Eailways, which will most peculiarly
commend itself to the attention of your Honourable Board,
namely, the nature, extent, and value, of the advantages
likely to be derived by Government and the public, from the
introduction and maintenance of this improved mode of inter¬
course. To bring fully under the review of your Honour in
Council, all the various benefits—political, social, commercial,
and moral—which might be expected to spring, in a country
like India, from the judicious establishment of Railways, would
require far more space than the limits of the present letter
will allow j but a few leading facts may be concisely pointed
out, which will perhaps prove useful as suggestive of those
more extended considerations into which circumstances do not
now permit me to enter.
The effect of Railways in Europe has been usually to double
or treble, and sometimes quadruple, in the course of a few years
the traffic existing on the original lines of communication. In
England, as is well known, the returns have been, in the great
majority of cases, derived principally from the conveyance of
passengers ; and even in those districts where merchandise
and produce are plentiful—where no canals, or other means of
competition, exist,—and where, consequently, the carriage of
goods has formed a considerable part of the business of the
Railways, the course pursued by the Companies, in reference
to the fixing of their rates of charge, has not been such, as to
afford a fair test of the powers of the Railway system, in aug¬
menting and extending commerce. But in Belgium, where
the charges are low, it is a fact, that in a single year (1844), a
traffic in goods and cattle, of 33,000 tons, was increased to
52,000 tons, and this without any diminution whatever of the
134
Canal traffic, with which the Railway competed. It can hardly
be supposed that when the fertile districts of Western India,
hitherto in a great measure unsupplied with roads, and totally
without river or canal communication, come to be intersected
with lines of Railway, assisted by feeders, which will attract
and accommodate the traffic of the country and furnish the
means of rapid and inexpensive transport to the coast, a less
favourable effect than the above will be found to ensue.
Without dilating upon the probable causes of this expected
improvement, which will doubtless readily suggest themselves
to your Honourable Board, it may be advantageously re¬
marked, that in exact proportion to the increase of traffic will
of course be the gain of Government and of the Native com¬
munity at large. Augmentation of Revenue, as well from
land as from Customs and other dues, to the one, and ameliora¬
tion of moral and social condition, to the other—will be the
clear and undoubted results. Bombay derives its chief im¬
portance from its favourable position as an entrepot of trade,
and any plan whereby the commerce passing through it may
be rapidly transmitted, and increased, seems to have the
strongest claim on all who are interested in the prosperity of
the place.
I have already, in a former part of this letter, had occasion
to refer to that most important branch of our general traffic,
—the trade in Salt ; and I may now be permitted to draw the
attention of your Honourable Board to the interesting fact,
that the marshes and inlets in the neighbourhood of Bombay
may be made to furnish a supply of the above indispensable
article sufficient for the consumption of all India, and that the
intrinsic cost of manufacture is comparatively so small, that
were a Railway made into the interior, with the requisite
branches, as now proposed, the increased consumption of Bom¬
bay Salt—consequent on the reduction of prices—that would
ensue, would lead to a proportionate increase of this important
item of Revenue. The Memorandum by Mr. Ayrton which is
appended to this letter, will show this in a very clear light.
Thus another strong reason presents itself for the prompt and
efficient support of Government.
The facilities afforded by a Railway in time both of peace
and war—but particularly the latter—for the movement of
troops, and the transport of military and commissariat stores,
must be obvious to your Honourable Board ; and if these ad-
vant jes have become apparent, and been formally acknow-
135
iedged, in England, where disturbances calling for the presence
of large bodies of soldiery are little likely to arise, they must
be permitted to be, here, of far greater value ; for within the
expanse of territory over which the Honourable Company's
rule now extends, there will of course not infrequently be
cause for military interference ; and the means of expeditiously
conveying troops and stores to the point where they may
happen to be required, is therefore of the greatest possible
consequence. Government would in this respect gain in two
ways, first by the opportunity which might be afforded it of
reducing the numerical strength of the Army, and secondly
by the saving of time, and diminution in the actual cost of
moving regiments and their followers, baggage, and stores,
from one distant station to another.
Again, as matters at present stand, the Indian Postal ar¬
rangements involve great expense, and most inconvenient
delay, in the transit of letters, papers, and parcels of all
kinds. This evil would be obviated by the Railway (to the
particular advantage of Government), and the system would
be, generally, so far improved, that the existing rates might
be reduced without the least detriment to the Revenue.
Your Honor in Council will readily acknowledge that it is a
point of much importance to the public service to have the
Official despatches intended for transmission to Europe by the
Overland Mails, made up to the same period, within one or
two days, from all parts of India ; and this end, it is clear,
can be secured only by a Railway from Bombay, such as that
now submitted for the consideration of your Hon'ble Board.
In addition to the considerations now briefly adverted to,
there are others of a more general character, as, for example,
the efïects of a Railway in opening channels for personal in¬
tercourse with the natives of the interior—in leading to the
diffusion amongst thena, of the advantages of education—and
in rendering available for their use many of the appliances of
civilised life and agricultural and manufacturing industry, to
which they are at present strangers ; but on these incidental
topics I will not enlarge, feeling satisfied, as I do, that all
such points will receive the best attention on the part of a
Government which has ever displayed so strong a desire to
promote internal improvement, and further the interests of
the people.
It only now remains for me to state that the Committee
are deeply anxious for an early and favorable consideration of
U
136
their project at the hands of the authorities, and that they
will be most happy to supply, whenever required, any addi¬
tional information that may be deemed necessary in subtantia-
tion of the important facts now adduced. They trust, how¬
ever, that their case is of so complete and conclusive a nature,
that your Hon'ble Board will find no difficulty in handing it
up without delay, to the superior authorities, with that
powerful recommendation in its favor ^hich the frequent
strong expressions, on the part of your Honor in Council, of
interest in the progress and success of the undertaking, has
led them so confidently to anticipate. The Hon'ble Court of
Directors having now the subject of Indian Railways under
their consideration, it is of course an important point for the
accompanying papers to be submitted to them without delay,
and I trust, therefore, that your Honor in Council will confer
on us the favor of forwarding to England copies of the various
documents herein enclosed, by the departing Mail.
I have the honor to be, Hon'ble Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
(Signed) R. W. Crawford,
Chairman in Bombay of the
Great Indian Peninsula Pailway Company,
Railway Office, Bombay, 12>th October, 1846.
Whoever examines the above, will most readily admit that
it is a very different document indeed from any which has
hitherto been laid before them on railways in India. The es¬
timate of the.traffic seems, so far as we are able to judge, to
be moderate and reasonable, and on many points considerably
within the limits of what may be expected to be raised : and
if the outlay be not greatly underrated, the return to be
looked for ought to satisfy the most sanguine.
Bombay Times, Nov. \^>th, 1846.
10 >7
NOTE
TO THIRD EDITION.
REPORT OF R. STEPHENSON, ESQ.
To the Directors of The Geeat India^n Peninsula Railway
Company.
Gentlemen,
Having had for some time the various documents
relative to your proposed undertaking under consideration, I
now beg to lay before you such remarks as the perusal and
study of them have suggested.
When I commenced the examination of the various volum-
inousplans and documents, I did so with considerable diffidence,
because I felt that any opinions which I might express, based
on documentary evidence alone, v/ould be likely to mislead
rather than to guide, in the consideration of an undertaking
of such extent, and situated in a country to which I was a
stranger. My difficulty in this respect, however, was almost
entirely removed by the personal communications of Mr.
Chapman ; his intimate knowledge of the country through
which the projected line is to pass, and his clear and detailed
verbal descriptions of the physical features of the surface (which
he has given me at great length), accompanied by sections
furnished by your engineers, Messrs. Clark and Conybeare,
from actual levels, have made me feel so conversant with the
chief objects and characters of the undertaking, that I ven¬
ture to express the opinions I have arrived at, with nearly as
much confidence as if I had myself visited the country.
In an undertaking of this description, the two main points
to be considered are, the commercial wants of the district,
and the engineering facilities for supplying them.
138
In reference to the first, they are succinctly described in ^
letter addressed by Mr. Crawford to the Bombay Government,
6th June, 1846. From this document it appears that the
great commercial object to be obtained is the opening an easy
communication between the rich producing districts of the
interior, called the Deccan, extending in a line nearly due
north and south from Candeish to Sholapoor, with the Pre¬
sidency and Port of Bombay.
A very cursory examination of the map of this part of the
Indian Peninsula is sufficient to show to the engineer that the
principal difficulty to be overcome consists in surmounting the
Syhadree range of mountains, which stretches uninterruptedly
between these two districts. A further study of the map
renders it evident, also, that the insular position of Bombay
imposes another, and very important, condition on the direction
of the line, irrespective of the range of mountains just named,
viz., that it must proceed from Bombay through Salsette to
Tannah, this being the only point where it is feasible to form
a connection by railway between the island and the main land.
Tanneh may be, therefore, regarded as the starting-point ;
consequently, every approach towards the various passes over
the Ghauts must, in a great degree, be governed by it.
For, passing the Syhadree range, your engineers have selected
the Malsej Ghaut ; and, as the passage of this point is the
only one which presents any formidable engineering difficulty
throughout the line, it has had my special attention.
Looking carefully at the map of this part of the range, I
was struck with the circumstance that, in the vicinity of the
Malsej Ghaut, several streams seemed to radiate from it in
different directions as from a focus, which led me to suspect
that the lowest Ghaut had not been selected for passing this
range of mountains. I called Mr. Chapman's attention parti¬
cularly to this point, as one of the utmost importance, since
any material improvement in it might possibly bring the
gradients of this part of the line within the range of locomo¬
tive instead of stationary powèr as at present proposed. Mr.
Chapman had, fortunately, the information at hand both as
regards the principal levels (which are partly given in Lieut.
Col. Sykes' interesting Memoir of the Geology of a part of
the Deccan * and Syhadree range,t and partly from his manus-
* Often written Dukhun,
t The correct name of the Grer.t Western GhaiUi.
139
cript Report of the same district in the possession of the East
Indian Company), and also the characters of the districts and
the difficulties which would present themselves in other parts
of the line, supposing any other Ghaut were adopted.* The
letter which Mr. Chapman addressed me on this is so c^-refully
and clearly drawn up, that I cannot for a moment withhold
the expression of my conviction that the Malsej Ghaut has
been judiciously and properly selected. The other parts of
the line proposed by your engineers do not call for any remark
from me,—their reports give all the necessary details which
appear to have been veiy carefully studied, and, as far as I
am able to judge, have been discreetly carried out.
As designed, therefore, your undertaking may be described
as a line running north and south from the Pera river through
Alleh to Mheuse near Seroor, a distance of about seventy
miles, with a transverse line from Alleh to Tannah and Bom¬
bay, a distance of about 100 miles, without presenting any
serious engineering difficulty, excepting at the Malsej Ghaut,
which is confined to a distance of about eight or nine miles,
where the gradients are such as to require either stationary
engines or locomotive engines, with ropes so adapted as to
work in conjunction. This latter method I think would be
preferable j it is less costly, is better adapted for a fluctuating
traffic, and is more economical for the amount of intercourse
which is calculated upon in your statements of traffic.
With such an arrangement there can be no difficulty in
working the traffic with regularity, dispatch and economy.
The length of this difficult ascent is, no doubt, unusually
great, and the proposed gradients very severe ; but, excepting
in the length, it does not differ from examples which exist in
several mountainous countries where railways are in daily opera¬
tion. Looking, therefore, at the facilities which are reported
by Mr. Clark and Mr, Conybeare to exist throughout the re¬
mainder of the line, I cannot but regard the whole as easy of
execution. The construction of the series of tunnels in the
ascent to the Malsej Ghaut is the only work which require an
unusual time for completion, since the great height of the
ground over the line of tunnels would render shafts in¬
ordinately expensive, if not absolutely impracticable. Several
♦ These facts were obtained chiefly from the letters of Dr, Gibson
Superintendent of the Government Botanical Gardens and Conservator
of the Forests, in Western India ; of Major Liddell, Commandant of
the Police Corps of the Poona Collcctoratc -, and of Mr, Langford, Col¬
lector of Ahmcdnuggur,
140
years would certainly be required for the completion of these
works, but this fact need not, I think, interfere with the im¬
mediate prosecution of that portion of the line oyer the
Concan, extending from Bombay to the western foot of the
Ghauts, a distance of eighty miles.
The next point to which I may direct your attention is that
of cost ; and here I fear that my views and those of your
engineers will not coincide.
Their estimate for a double line does not exceed ¿£12,000
per mile, and in arriving at this they have evidently taken
much pains to collect the prices for which work is now done
in the districts traversed by the proposed railway. I do not
doubt the accuracy of these data, nor that of the calculations
of the amount of work to be performed as described by the
sections ; but experience in this country as well as in tropical
climates, in executing work of a novel character, leads me to
distrust any conclusions arrived at by such methods. I am, of
course, unable to state the precise extent to which my notion
of cost would exceed that calculated upon by your engineers,
but I would certainly not venture upon recommending you to
reckon upon less than 25 per cent, above their estimate, or
say about ¿£15,000 per mile.
In considering the cost of your undertaking, I would also
suggest that you limit your expenditure in the outset to a
single line of rails between Alleh to the Pera river, and from
Alleh to Mheuse. Throughout this distance there appears no
immediate necessity for the formation of double lines ; the
traffic will evidently be divided at the bifurcation near Alleh,
probably into nearly equal parts, and the distance in either
direction from that point within the command of two engines
which naight be worked with perfect safety for the amount of
traffic as shown by the table. In examining the estimates of
the amount of traffic submitted to me by Mr. Chapman, I
have, of course, had the advantage of his verbal explanations ;
indeed, without this privilege I could not have offered an
opinion on the subject, which, under every circumstance, is
so difficult to treat with accuracy j but in this department of
railway calculations it fortunately happens that the amount of
traffic is rarely if ever over-stated when ordinary care is taken
to avoid hypothetical items. In the present instance, Mr.
Chapman appears to me to have been exceedingly scrupulous ;
he has chieñy drawn his data from official documents, which
I take it for granted, are indisputable, and he has, moreover,
avoided reckoning upon any large increase in the existing
141
intercourse : I am inclined, therefore, to believe that the
tonage is rather under than over-stated.
In the statement of net proceeds, the expenses are taken
at about ¿£600 per mile, which I should think ample, since
the price of labour is exceedingly low, and advantage of which
will be felt after the line is opened, and the natives accustomed
to the duties of working and maintaining railways.
This is an advantage that would not be felt in the first con¬
struction of the works, which will explain my reason for re¬
commending an addition to the estimate, whilst I do not
suggest it in reference to the working expenses.
In conclusion, gentlemen, I hope these few observations
will sufficiently explain to you the views which I have taken
of your project, and I trust that they will enable you to decide
upon the proper course to be adopted in carrying out a work,
the importance of which has grown upon me exceedingly
since I commenced the examination of the documents laid
before me. Whether such a gigantic work—in a distant
country, where the resources, both for executing and working
it, are necessarily limited, as compared with European nations,
where railways have been so successfully established—should
be left entirely to private enterprise, is a question I must leave
for those to decide who are intimately acquainted with India
and its people.
In an experiment of this kind, so fraught with benefit to
the country, whatever may be the results to the original pro¬
moters, I cannot help thinking that aid from the Indian
Government is not only desirable, but necessary.
However this may be decided, I am certain, from the in¬
formation which has already been collected, there is no country
where the advantages flowing from the introduction of railways
will be more signal than in India; and I believe that no
country will pai4icipate more promptly in the beneficial con¬
sequences than Britain.
I am, gentlemen,
Your most obedient Servant,
(Signed) Robert Stephenson.
24, Great George Street, Westminster,
20th January, 1847.
" Should an arrangement at any future time be concluded
for the passage of troops through Egypt, the importance of
the Great Indian Peninsula Railway would be vastly increased,
142
CONCLUSION.
" Iii parts vvhere the permanent settlement has
been established, (sajs the Calcutta Review in
allusion to railroads) the revenue will be more
easily collected ; in other parts, the land will
be at an improved rent, as it will necessarily
be improved in value. A railroad in this point
of view will be a more valuable acquisition
than Sindh,'^" or the ceded Sikh provinces. We
believe it impossible to form too high an estimate of
the manner in which it would develop the agricul-
for, as a glance at the map will show, it would then form a
portion of the Steam Communication by which our troops
would be most speedily conveyed from England to almost any
part of India. And even with our present limited means of
transport through Egypt, officers joining their regiments,
might often save many weeks in reaching their destination.
This becomes a point of immense importance in any emer¬
gency, such as has twice occurred vdthin the last four years,
when all officers belonging to the army in India, and absent
on leave in Europe, were by one order required to join their
regiments without delay."
Litters addressed to the Right Hon* Lord Wharncliffe hy
Williamson Esq. C*S* late Revenue Commissioner, Bombay,
+ It is to be hoped so !—0. I. P.
145
tural capabilities of the country. In the Report of
the Ganges Canal, which was intended to run from
Hurdwar to Allahabad, we find a contrast drawn
between the evils which the canal would mitigate or
prevent—such as famine—and the malaria which it
produced, occasioning sickness, and disease in the
contiguous population. No malaria attends a rail¬
road : it pretends not indeed to prevent a failure of
crops, but it does better, it facilitates commerce,
multiplies the power of capital, and pours a supply
wherever there is a demand, and enables charity to
perform its object and mission."
" The natives of India are concerned in it " (rail¬
way communication) " The undoubted effect would
be, in a constantly augmenting ratio, to unfold the
unknown mineral resources of their world-famed land
—vastly to enhance in value the products of its pro¬
lific soil—widely and cheaply to diffuse the objects
of personal comfort, and refined social enjoyment—
and annually to save the lives of thousands that must
otherwise perish from the hazards, the fatigues,
and the exposures of the present rude and semi-bar¬
barous mode of travelling. The merchants of England,
and of every realm within the empire of civilization
are concerned in it.
" Philanthropists of every name are concerned in
it (railway communication). Its tendency would be
to save the time and strength of devoted labourers
X
146
ill visiting different and widely distant spheres of
usefulness—more speedily and economically to con¬
centrate the material means and instrumentalities of
inprovement in favourable localities—and more ra¬
pidly and successful to multiply those radiating
points, whence the light of Science, and Art, and true
Religion may emanate all around."
" The mighty impulse which it would impart to
the development of the exhaustless treasures of so
highly a region favoured, and to the awakening ener¬
gies of so multitudinous a people, could not fail to
make itself felt on the shores of the Baltic and Medi¬
terranean, in the mines of Cornwall, and the Back¬
woods of America, in the dockyards and harbours
alike of the Atlantic and Pacific, and in every seat
of manufacturing industry throughout the commer¬
cial world. The honour the dignity, and the glory
of Imperial Britain are concerned in it. The com¬
plete permeation of these " climes of the sun," by a
magnificent system of Railway communication, would
present a series of public monuments vastly surpas¬
sing, in real grandeur, the aqueducts of Rome, the
pyramids of Egypt, the great wall of China, the
temples, palaces, and mausoleums of the Great Mo¬
guls—monuments not merely of intelligence and
power, but of utility and beneficence, which wo'uld
for ever wipe away the fiercely indignant reproach,
that, " ' were we to be driven out of India this day.
147
nothing would remain to tell that it had been pos¬
sessed, during the inglorious period of our dominion,
by anything better than the ourang-outang, or the
tiger/ A reproach more undeserved we believe was
never heard, and could only have been uttered by
some canting orator, the paid champion of liberty and
equality, and the slave of party,
* The Eastern Sage, Desh-u-Iubun Ocharik, in writing to
one of these hollow declaimers, says :—
" Nothing of good can originate with them ; they (The
East India Company) have erred, you would make out from
their very first illegitimate birth in good Queen Elizabeth's
virgin time, up to the present portentous era of free trade and
pohtical economy. Thus they have blundered and bungled
on, from step to step, into the lamentable, undisturbed
possession of one of the largest and finest Empires in the
Universe ; their very pre-eminence in the East—the quiet
peacefulness of their subjects—the unobstrusive and simple
machinery of their local governments—the silently progressive
amelioration of the population committed to their charge,
and the extensive diffusion of education and useful know¬
ledge—the numerous institutions for the sick, the indigent,
and the uninformed, embracing every class, Hindoo, or Mus¬
sulman—their delicacy towards ourselves (more, I may venture
to say, than they exhibit towards their own European ser¬
vants, civil or military) and scrupulous regard for the pro¬
tection of the lands, religion, ordinances, and feelings, of the
millions they govern. Nay, the very state itself of the
government, which obtains loans from us at half the interest
for which the traders of Calcutta can procure money ;* these
and every other just and honourable characteristic of our
present rulers, are misrepresented, vilified, decried.
"No one aquainted with our ancient history and govern-
■** ** During the Burmese war, the East India Company borrowed
money at five per cent ; while the most respectable merchants and
agents of Calcutta were paying ten,"—Letter of Desh-u-lubun Ocharik
of Calcutta.
148
Were we driven out of India to-morrow, we should
leave behind us glorious monuments of our rule in
the temples reared to the God of the honest, brave
and merciful Feringee—in fields reclaimed from the
wilderness—desolate hearths restored—ruined cities
a:.d towns rebuilt : instead of anarchy, rapine, and
spoil—protection, contentment and peace !
" Inglorious period of our dominion We almost
blush to imprint upon our page so foul a stigma,
while the sands of the Sutlej are still red with the
blood of our enemies, while the voice of Europe de¬
clares that our bravery in the field is only to be
equalled by our generosity to the vanquished ; at
home our victorious chiefs have been equally awarded
the laurel crown and civic bay—we admit, however
that we have left much undone for the people of
India, and in nothing have we been more culpable
and impolitic, than having neglected for so long a
period the means of communication.
ment, can deny, that however many of us may complain of
the loss of dignities and immunities formerly, but precariously,
possessed, the mass of our people have derived many sub¬
stantial advantages from British connection, which has not only
rescued'us from the numerous evils which we suffered, under
our native rule, but has gradually led to our incorporation as
a part of the British Empire, to the diffusion of literature
among us, the introduction and promotion of a knowledge of
the sciences, and the benefit of equal laws, and a distribution
of justice similar to that enjoyed by tlie parent state.'* —Let¬
ter of Desh-U'liihun Ocharik of Calcutta, Smitu, Elujüe, à Co.
149
The Romans of old, like the Czar of the present
day, attended to roads, as an important element of
policy and power ; and the ignorant serf of the
north enjoys under the iron despotism of the black
Eagle of Russia, facilities for trade and intercom¬
munication, which are withheld from the intelligent
subjects of the wise and generous England.
We will not speculate on the momentous results
with which this subject is fraught to millions yet
unborn, how it speaks of a quickening and prevading
civilization, remunerative labour, amelioration to the
many, and the removal of superstition and preju¬
dice ; and what accession will it not bring to us of
riches, power and glory, by developing the resources
of a mighty empire, hitherto almost without roads—
by stimulating the industry of its inhabitants, whose
natural intelligence has been either lost in apathy,
or chilled by the petrifying influence of caste—while,
—^by the easy and rapid concentration of our troops,
our power must become irresistible and the glory
would be ours of having done our duty to the hun¬
dred millions of our brethren committed to our
charge—attaining at once a more assured and con¬
solidated empire—a vastly augmented revenue— with
* A friend of the writer's heard the Governor-general of
India state, that with railways our army woidd at once be
double in eifective force.
150
a more industrious, and therefore, a richer and a
happier people !
While the foregoing sheets were passing through
the press* the despatch of the Bengal Government,
regarding the introduction of railways into British
India, has been received at the India House.
The sentiments of the local government will, we
feel assured, be in accordance with the recommen¬
dation of the railway commission, and will give
those projects,t for connecting the seat of supreme
government with the N. W. Frontier that prominence
and consideration which their pre-eminent political,
and commercial importance, demand.^
* Note to the 2nd. Edition. In the month of July last,
(1846.)
t Great Western of Bengal, (Calcutta to Rajmahl) and
the line from Allahabad to Delhi.
t Note to third Edition. We need not say that this pre¬
diction has been fully verified. The only concession granted
by the authorities being given to the East Indian Railway
Company, whose project is to connect Calcutta with the N.
W. Frontier. The great Western of Bengal participates in
the concession having merged in the East Indian Railway
Company by amalgamation of interests.
APPENDIX.
(A.)
The ultimate effect of the extension of an uniform
railway system, is still more clearly shewn in the
operations of the clearing house.
We are fortunately enabled to furnish an account
of this interesting and valuable institution, from a
pamphlet"' lately printed for private circulation, by
its ingenious author, Mr, B. Morrison.
It appears, that soon after the opening of the
continuous lines of railway between Liverpool and
London, it was found that travellers would not be
content with the mere acceleration of speed, but
required to be carried through at one charge, and if
possible by one conveyance. The same demand was
made for goods. This arrangement was carried into
effect ; but although the public were better served,
the accounts of the companies interchanging fell
* " The origin and results of the clearing system which is
in operation on the r^arrow gauge railways.'*
• é
11
into sad confusion. Each company had charges
against those which ran over its lines, and in like
manner owed money to those lines, giving rise to an
interminable afifair of cross accounts. Then, as
railways increased, some were prosperous and some
were poor. The prosperous were well supplied with
carriages, waggons, trucks and all that comes within
the meaning of ' railway stock,' the poor companies,
had as little as they could help, and made up for the
deficiency, by unacknowledged borrowings ; so that,
altogether, the interests which should, for mutual
and public good, work most harmoniously, clashed
in a manner, that could be pleasing only to the
lawyers of the disputing companies. The solution
of the litigious maze, was found in a plan derived
from that of the City clearing house, which was
carried into effect under the auspices of Mr. Glyn
and Mr. Hudson.
On the 2nd. of January 1842, the system of
the Railway Clearing House came into operation, on
the railways extending from London to Darlington
in one direction, and from Manchester to Hull in
another. Ic was adopted, at subsequent periods, by
the companies whose railways extended from Dar¬
lington to Carlisle, Sunderland, Hartlepool, and
Scarborough ; and from Birmingham to Gloucestei",
Birkenhead, Liverpool, Fleetwood, Lancaster and
Manchester. And in a few months it will be in
• « •
111
force, in all the railways included in the area defined
by a line passing from London through Gloucester,
Liverpool, Fleetwood, and Glasgow, to Edinburgh ;
and returning by Berwick, Newcastle, Scarborough,
Hull, Yarmouth, and Cambridge, to the Metropolis ;
or, in other words, in all the narrow gauge railways
in Great Britain, lying North of the Thames, with the
exception, of the few short lines, which are beyond
the limits of the area just described.
The main principles of the system thus widely
diffused, are first, that passengers shall be booked
through, at all principal stations, and conveyed to
their destination without change of carriage ; that
the horses and cattle, shall likewise be sent through
without change of conveyance, and that goods shall,
in the same way, be carried through without being
either shifted or re-assorted. Secondly, the companies
respectively shall pay a fixed rate per mile, for such
cirriages and waggons, not their own property, as
they may use ; and a further sum per day by way
of fine or demurrage for detention, if kept beyond
a prescribed length of time ; and lastly, that no
direct settlement shall take place between the com¬
panies in respect to any traffic, the accounts of which
have not passed through the railway clearing house.
In order to work out the clearing principle,
there are sent daily from each of the clearing house
stations, (including all the principal booking stations
iv
of every liae, forming a part of the railway union)
1st. A return of the passengers booked
through.
2nd. A return of the horses, private carriages,
and cattle booked through.
3rd. A return of the parcels booked through.
4th. A return of all the carriages, waggons, &c.,
which have arrived, or been discarged, either loaded
or empty.
From these returns the accounts of what is due
to, and owing by, each company, is made out at
the clearing house, and after being examined and
approved by each company. " The final settlement
of the accounts is effected by the railway clearing,
paying, or receiving the balances, as the case may
be, through the hands of the bankers, who act as
agents to the several companies. In this way, all
the transactions of one company, with all other
companies, amounting frequently to many thousand
pounds a week, are cleared weekly by a sum, seldom
exceeding a few hundred pounds. "
The means which the clearing house possesses,
for having each vehicle, from the moment it leaves
the parent line until it returns to it, and the plan
adopted of charging mileage for stock used, and
demurrage for stock detained, have put an end to
the practice before referred to, of borrowing from
V
neighbours, to supply an improper deficiency in
carrying vehicles.
From these returns, for the year 1845 we find
that 517,888 passengers were each conveyed through
an average distance of 146 miles—the average
length of the lines travelled over, being forty one
miles, so that each passenger travelled over four
railways on an average, and must have passed three
junctions or points of conveyance—to accommodate
these passengers, 59,^765 railway carriages and
5,8l3 trucks, carrying private carriages, were sent
through. There were also sent through in the same
year, 7,573 horse boxes, 2,607 post offices, and
180,606 goods waggons, besides waggons conveying
minerals, of which no record is kept at the clearing
house.
" There are other circumstances connected with
the clearing house, which render it a most valuable
institution. The control is vested in a Committee,
composed of all companies, who form part of the
union. Their meetings tend to produce harmony,
and also uniformity, in their respective arrangements,
and to impose a check on the disposition to intro¬
duce diversities- of system, which, for some motive
or other, railway managers have so often evinced.*
* Extracted from the work of Mr, Samuel Sidney on the
evidence before the Guage Commission—See^ also Mr. Morri¬
son's phamphlet on " The origin and results of the clearing
system &c."
(B.)
BENGAL PRICES.
Average amount of wages and prices of materials on the spot.
Masons or bricklayers, per man, per day, • * • . ,
Carpenters, " " ........
Labourers, (able bodied) " (three of whom are equal to one European.)
Ditto. " per month. .
Cost of excavating to an average depth of twenty feet, and removing the earth to a
distance, for every five hundred and seventy-four cubic feet, or twenty-one and three
quarters cubic yards. ......... : .
Cost of one hundred cubic feet of masonry, . . . . . . .
Ditto. Ditto of arched masonry, . ; . . .
MATERIALS.
Bricks—11 inches—per thousand, . . . . . . . . ,
Ditto. " " for arching, .......
Chuñar stone, (Calcutta price) each eighteen inches square and two inches thick, per
score, ........
Tiles, eighteen inches, per hundred, .
Ditto. " " (pan or roof),
Lime, per cart load, (14 cwt.) . :
Sand (washed) per hundred ferrahs,
Timber, (rough) teak per ton.
Saul
Sissoo,
Teak, in plank six inches thick, (Calcutta price) per ton.
Piles per hundred. .........
Cost of conveying materials by land, per ton, per mile, .
Ditto. By water, exclusive of loss of interest and insurance,
C(
(S
(Í
((
£0
0
6.
0
0
6.
0
0
3.
0
5
0.
0
2
0.
1
8
0.
2
0
0.
0
7
0.
0
13
0.
0
16
0.
0
4
0.
0
2
6.
0
4
0.
0
14
0.
3
0
0.
to
0
10 0.
2
0
0.
3
10 0.
1
0
0.
<(
2
10 0.
4
10
0.
«
5
10 0.
1
50
0.
0
0
3.
0
0
1.
Cr-
(B continued).
BRIDGE OF THIRTY FEET. WATERWAY EXCLUSIVE OF TOWING PATH.
From report on Ganges Canal, 1845. Page 56.
\ L \ B \ D 1 No. I Cvh. Cant | Co^. Rs.
Piers, ......
18
6
20
2
4,320
Arch, ......
42
2
18
1
1,512
Counter arch, .....
39
1
18
1
702
Wing walls, .....
36
li
15
4
3,240
Cornice, ......
120
2
1
2
2
240
Parapet, ......
120
1^
■'■4
3
2
900
Pillars,
4
4
6
4
384
Ditto, superstructure.
3
3
3
4
108
Towing path foundations,
30
3
6
2
1,086
Ditto, superstructure,
48
3
6
1
864
Foundation curtains ....
30
3
AL
^2
2
810
Spandrils, .....
12
3
1-i-
-L <)
2
108
Flooring between pier and towing path,
18
3
1~
1
54
Total cubic feet.
14,322
Deduct,
Foundation of pier in rear of towing path.
1 18 1
8 1
4
i
432
Grand total cubic content of
masonry,
13,890,
Of which sa J, 1512 cubic ft. of arched masonry at 20 rupees per 100 cubic feet,
12,378 ditto, plain ditto. 14 rupees per ditto.
<
Total cost of the bridge,
302
1,732
2,035
6
U
5
4
9
1.
£203 10 7i
* • •
VIH
ENGLISH PRICES.
EARTHWORK IN EMBANKMENTS, CUTTINGS, àa
Common excavation, per cubic yard
If basketed .....
If wheeled, .....
Ditto and staged, for every run, viz. 20
yards, add, .....
If carted, or otherwise removed a distance
not exceeding 900 yards, add,
If beyond the distance, add proportionally
Note.— If in tunnels, allowance must be
made for the sinking of shafts and haulage
of excavation in proportion to the depth of
shaft and length of tunnel ; also in excavat¬
ing for bridges or other buildings, allow¬
ance must be made for working room and
sustaining slopes, as well as for any other
contingency that may arise in excavation
or formation and the subsiding of banks.
Unsoiling, per super, yard, without carriage
If wheeled, per run of 20 yards, add
If removed 900 yards, add
If beyond that distance, add proportionally,
Soiling slopes of embankments or cuttings
Forming surface level of road for ballast
Forming face of cuttings and embankments
for soiling .....
Forming drains each side of roads in cut¬
tings, per yard lin.
BRICKWORK.
5. d*
S.
d.
0 5 to
0
8
0
9
0 8"
0
10
0 li
10"
2
6
0
lè"
0
3
0
Of
0
4 "
0
10
0
3
0
11
0
3
0
11 íí
J.2
0
4
0
3 "
0
6
Note.—The following prices are calculated at £14 per rod,
taking the bricks at forty shillings per thousand, delivered to
the works, including profit. For every shilling more or less,
add or deduct per cube yard, fivepence halfpenny.
IX
Brickwork, in mortar, per cube yard . .14 9
Ditto, in Roman cement . . . . 1 10 1
Ditto, if worked camber, per ft., superficial .001
Ditto, if circular . , . . . 0 0 1
Ditto, face pointed, in ash mortar . .002
Ditto, in cement . . . . . 0 0 2^
Brick, on edge coping, in cement, per ft. run .005
1¿ brick ditto. ditto. . 0 0 8
Note,—Cement, asphalte, or hydraulic cement
laid over arches, per yard superficial, from one
shilling and ninepence to . . . .029
Clay, well puddled, and laid over arches 6 inches
thick, per sup, yard . ... 0 2 8
The average price of stone in England, fit for
building purposes, may be estimated at four and
sixpence per cube foot when in the rough state."^^'
* Vide—Engineer's Pocket Book for 1847.
X
TRANSVERSE STRENGTH OF WOODS.
A valuable article has appeared in the military
repository, embodying in a table the results of a
series of experiments performed on this subject,
(tansverse strength of woods) at the gun carriage
agency Kasipur (Cossipore). The woods selected
were Bengal Sundri, (Soon dree) Murany Sal,
(Morung Saul) Gorakpur Sál, (Gorukhpore Saul)
Rangoon Teak, Java Teak, Pegu Teak, Bombay
Teak, Murany Tun, (Morung Toon) Bengal Deal,
Norway Deal, and American Ash. The pieces ex¬
perimented on were each seventy-two inches in length,
two inches square, and sixty inches between the
points of support. Amongst other results it appears
that the Bengal Deal, though unseasoned, was equal
to the Norway, each breaking with seven hundred
and twenty pounds, and a deflection of two and a
half inches. The great range in the strength of
Teak, is one of the most curious and valuable of the
results. The extremes are Rangoon and Bombay
xi
or Malabar 1175 and 591 pounds, giving a ratio of
2:1. Both woods were seasoned. The highest value
of Bombay Teak was 889 pounds,''^ Bengal Súndri
(Soondree) is the strongest wood tried, and required
1384 pounds to break it. Murang Sal (Morung
Saul) is the next 1319. It appears in general, that
the woods are stronger for being seasoned ; in
the case of the Sundri (Soondree) the difference was
remarkable, 1384 and 992 or 75. The greatest
range of Sal Ohaokars (Saul Chowkers), and Daokars
(Dowkurs) was 1319 to 1179, when seasoned; un¬
seasoned it did not go below 1085—Murang Sal
Battis (Morung Saul Batties) gave only 787. Tún
(Toon), not seasoned, 667, and American ash 483.
Extracted from " Gleanings in Science, Calcutta,
March 1829."
* British oak ranks next to Kangoon Teak, in transverse
strength. The iron-wood of Arracan, is approved of by the
Kailway Commission, for sleepers, but little is said as to its
quahties, and nothing as to quantity or price.—O. I. P.
Note to 3d. Edition. The writer has since learnt from the
best authority, that the Iron-wood of Arracan is admirably
adapted for sleepers, and that it is cheap and abundant, it is
frequently found composing forests of several miles in extent.
« •
Xll
(E.)
MODES OF TRAVELLING IN INDIA.
AND FARES.
The natives of the lower provinces, generally go
by water, as there is less fatigue attending this mode
of transit, but the Up-country people generally pre¬
fer travelling on horseback or in carriages.
An European or a wealthy native going by Dâk
(post) from Calcutta to Benares, a distance of 428
miles, will incur an expense of one shilling per mile
besides buckshees (presents) to the bearers about
one shilling per stage, making in all about ¿£25 for
the journey, which he will be five days in accom¬
plishing, (exclusive of halts). If by Palkee with
eight bearers, going 15 miles, per diem he will have
to pay ¿£12 10s. besides ¿£2 10s. for a banghy,''^ and
will consume nearly a month on the road. This
mode of travelling, besides the loss of time, is at¬
tended with danger from robbers. The journey is ac-
* A banghj wallah, or bearer of two light boxes.
• • •
Xlll
complished iu sixteen days on horseback. By ^vater,
by bugderow from ¿£15 to £25—and forcy days are
occupied on the journey, if going up the river.
By Steamer, the fare will be much the same as
above, and the time occupied may be about ten days,
for three months in the year, and nearly twenty, for
the remaining nine months.
By Gharry, (native carriage drawn by oxen), will
cost £10, and travel at the rate of twelve miles per
diem.
Infantry regiments move at the rate of ten and a
half miles per diem, halting six days in the month,
so that it takes about six weeks to move, from Cal¬
cutta to Benares, a single corps.
The cost then of a detachment of 300 men, pro¬
ceeding by water to Allahabad, would be as follows.
Boat allowance to one Field Officer (say a Major)
for two and a half months at 360 Rupees Rs. 900
Boat allowance to three Captains for two and
a half months at 180 Rs. . 1350
Boat allowance, 10 Subaltern at 100 Rs. 2,500
Ditto, ditto. 1 Surgeon at 180 Rs. 450
Twenty-five, 600 maund boats for men 3,375
Rs. 8,575
And if to this is added, the boats for accommo¬
dation of the sick, row boats and store boats, the
amount will be considerablv increased, without
xiv
taking into consideration the extra establishments
proceeding with such a detachment, whereas the
cost of conveying such a detachment by the railway,
at a penny a head per mile, for 600 miles, would only
be £750 or 7,500 rupees.
The cost of extra establishments with European
troops marching, I cannot so accurately state, but it
will be found, I think, to exceed the cost at which
they could be transported by railway/^
* Keport on the application of Eailway Communication in
India, published in the Calcutta papers in March 1843, by
Capillestern.
Note to 3rd. Edition. Since the completion of the Grand
Trunk Road from Calcutta to Meerut, a light Palanquin car¬
riage, capable of conveying one or two persons, is occasionally
substituted for the old Palanquin. Lord Ellenborough when
Governor-General was the first who used a carriage of the
above description. At every stage of ten miles, relays of
twelve men are placed, eight of these are attached in front,
and the remaining four, push the carriage from behind.
Whether from the novelty of this mode of transit, or from
the ease, with which a light conveyance is propelled along a
good and level road, or from both these reasons, it is very
popular with the men (the bearers) who are employed, and
they keep up an average speed of five miles per hour, without
any apparent distress.
The carriage has to be bought at Calcutta, and costs £50
but it is readily resold at the end of the journey. The pay¬
ment to the men is much the same, as that to bearers in the
old system, but in the carriage, two persons may be accommo¬
dated instead of one as in the Palanquin.
From Allahabad to Meerut, there is a sort of stage-carriage,
of the above description in connection with the Post-office
Department drawn by a single Tattoo (Pony) for the convey¬
ance of passengers. Each pony goes a stage of five miles,
XV
Small parties or individuals marching or proceed¬
ing by water move at a quicker rate."®^ (vide p. xxii).
and the rate of trayelling is from 8 to 10 miles per hour, but
this speed is not to be depended on, as the ponies occasionally
become refractory. The expense is about the same as the
usual mode of travelling by Dak.
* Note to Third Edition,—Feom the badness, or
the entire want, of roads and the absence of bridges
across the rivers and nullahs, the rate of travelling of
the loaded camels, bullocks and waggons is frequently
reduced to one mile per hour ; so that a laborious and
painful day's journey is getting over, or rather through 10
miles of country with perhaps several hundred in the
same predicament in prospective.
It is apparent that this state of things must damage
cotton, and other merchandise and too often lead to
^ j
their destruction (especially the cotton) as marketable
goods or commodities.
The cattle also occasionally sink from want of fodder,
or water ; but more frequently drop under their burdens
from the heaviness of the road. Thus entailing a double
hardship on the merchant as he frequently is unable to
supply their loss. The fair and benevolent members of the
Ladies' Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals,
would have an ample field for their sympathies in India
for nowhere do the brute creation suffer more grievously
and nowhere more patiently.
This torpidity of movement is almost universal—the
writer has seen the Regiment, to which he belonged,
when marching in the centre of our territories, consume
a day in crossing a river with its baggage; and when there
has been no river to cross, not even a nullah of large
dimensions, he has seen the officer of the rear-guard
rejoin head quarters late at night, after a march of only
12 or 14 miles, from the baggage-waggons sticking in
the mud I Well might the old Romans style the baggage
of their Armies—impedimenta !
c
(G-)
Total traffic on Jumna downwards, taken at Allahabad Bridge of boats during 25 days of
at
(Í
((
36,024 Bags of salt
52,080 Bales of cotton
828 Bags of saltpetre
2000 Hides
Add for 5 days
13,119 Bags of rice at
2,240 Do. cocoa nuts
2,347 Spices
2,815 Miscellaneous
Add for 5 days
April 1841.
12 Bags per Ton. 3,002.
8 do, « 6,510.
12 do. " 69.
50 do. " 40.
1,924.
Tons.
11,545,
u
tí
it
Jumna traffic upwards.
12 Bags per Ton. 1,193.
12 do. « 170.
12 do. " 195.
12 do. " 234.
358.
2,150. 13,695.
Total traffic on Granges downwards, as taken at Allahabad Bridge of boats, in April 184L
54,700 Pieces of Kurwab cloth at 500piecesper Ton. 109.
1,004 Bags of mustard
6,305 Do. Saltpetre
7,162 Bales of cotton
12,250 Hides
4,450 Miscellaneous
13,700 Horns
it
it
if
ft
ft
it
12
12
S
120
12
120
84.
525.
895.
102.
371.
114.
2,200.
Carried oyer 15,895 tons.
(G continued.)
GaDges traíRc upwards.
Brought forward 15,895 tons.
1,348 Wine chesta at 12 per ton 112.
1,013 Bags of cocoa nuts " 12 84.
7,394 Do. " rice ^'12 " 616.
4,189 Do. " spice " 12 " 349.
4,940 Iron and tin " 10 " 494. 1,655
In addition to this 94 boats containing passengers and goods, not counted, and
may be estimated at 40 tons each. ....... 3,760.
Total amount of traffic on Ganges and Jumna in April 1841. 21,310.
Statement of the amonnt of traffic along the Grand Trunk Road as kept at Futtehpore, under
the superintendence of Conductor Tuceffe, during the month of April 1841.
Futtehpore. 1st. May 1841.
Hackeries.* Bhilies.f Camels. Elephants. Bnllocks. Tattoos.t Mules, Horses Bujrpes. Carriag^es. Palanquins.
West. 536 407 64 23 IOC 162 54 19 8 2 48
East. 441 428 159 189 133 7 19 5 3 55
Day. 1,077 835 223 44 295 295 61 38 13 5 103
Night. 419 113 197 6 50 33 72 19 58
Total 1,496 948 420 50 345 328 61 110 32 5 161
Native carts. f Native carriages. J Ponies
xviïi
(G. i.)
STATEMENT OF THE TEAFFIC
BETWEEN
CALCUTTA AND DELHI,
FPOM
OFFICIALLY AUTHENTICATED GOVERNMENT
RETURNS.*
Goods Traffio between Calcatta and Mirzapoee.
Ganges Teaffic (Goods).
ÎN the year 1844-5, it appears, from the
official statement of the collector of tolls
at Jungypore, on the Bhagarutty River,
that boats passed through that branch
of the river, containing 21,497,750
maunds ; or, taking 27 maunds to the
ton, the tonnage of the laden cargo
boats was 796,213 tons:
To catch the vessels coming through the
rivers of the Sunderhunds, a toll is im¬
posed on the vessels navigating Tolly's
Nullah, and the circular Canal at Cal¬
cutta. The toll is half a rupee for
every hundred maunds of tonnage
(boats of less than a hundred maunds
not being counted), and in 1644-5 it
yielded 177,791 rupees; showing that
35,558,200 maunds of tonnage had
passed through it, which, at the rate of
27 maunds to the ton, gives per
annum 1,316,970 "
Traffic in native boats is therefore 2,113,183 tons.
* Vide—Dif. Report of Directors East Indian Rail, Compv,
xix
Brought forward 2,113,183 tons.
In 1844 5, seven steamers made 39 trips
upwards, and carried 112,765 measure¬
ment feet, and 1,156,909 lbs, weight
of cargo. Reckoning a cubit foot to
weigh 30 lbs,, we have, carried upwards
by steamers
2,027
The number of downward trips, and
goods carried, cannot be precisely ascer¬
tained j but the number of downward
trips must have been about the same as
the number of upward trips ; and, from
the return of several downward tri^s
which are ascertained, the proportion
of goods carried downwards would ap¬
pear to be about one third of the goods
carried upwards. We therefore have,
carried downwards, of measurement
goods 37,588 feet, and 385,636 lbs.
weight of cargo, or
675 "
Total of Goods carried on the Ganges ... 2,115,885 tons.
Traffic on the Mirzapore Road, and Damooda River.
Between Calcutta and Burdwan2,000,000
maunds of coals are carried say
On the road leading through Burdwan,
the yearly traffic is 7,360 hackeries, and
3650 laden bullocks.' A hackery load
is twelve maunds ; but as the whole
number of hackeries would not pro¬
bably be fully laden, we may take
the load at 10 maunds each, which
gives 73,600 maunds as the weight
carried say
Twelve bullocks will carry about a ton ;
there are, therefore, annually carried
by bullocks
74,074 tons.
2,726
304
Carried over
77,104 tons.
XX
Brought forward 77,104 tons.
Besides this, we have carried along the
road—
Of Sugar and Goor.-.maunds 500,000.
Salt 350,000.
Cotton 1,000.
Rice 50,000.
901,000, or 33,370 "
Making a total of goods carried along
Mirzapore Road and Damooda River ... 110,474 tons.
Recapitulation.
Traffic bj native boats 2,113,183 tons.
Ditto in steamers 2,702 "
Ditto along the Road 110,474 "
Total tonnage 2,226,359 tons.
PASSENGER TRAFFIC BETWEEN CACUTTA AND
MIRZAPORE.
By native boats . . about 60,000 passengers per annum.
" Steamers 2,000
Passengers passing
((
over the Annabad
Bridge in various
conveyances, and
on foot .
• • •
about 508,000
it
it
Total 570,000
«
per annum.
xxi
GOODS TRAFFIC BETWEEN MIRZAPORE AND
DELHI.
In the returns obtained, the goods traffic is variously stated,
at 1,051,881 tons ; 1,017,500 tons ; and 900,000 tons ; con¬
sisting of salt, sugar, cotton, and general merchandize.
PASSENGER TRAFFIC BETWEEN MIRZAPORE AND
DELHI.
By Carriages . . about
" Palkees
" Dhoolies
" Elephants
" Camels .....
" Horses
56,804 passengers per annum.
1,959
1,437
1,323
668
38,916
" On foot 334,744
Total 446,851
The average speed and cost of conveyance is given in the
following page.]
Note—The value and tonnage of imports
and exports of Calcutta by sea for
1844.5_18,024,420Z—and 531,262 tons.
(Vide Calcutta Review No. 14.)
Showing an increase in imports and ex¬
ports over the previous year—in value—
3,305,205Z—^in tonnage 4,989 tons.
(Vide Appendix H.)
xxii
(G. ii.)
AVERAGE SPEED AND COST OP THE PRESENT
MODES OF CONVENING PASSENGERS AND
GOODS IN BENGAL AND N. W. PROVINCES.
(One person). Time. Distance, Fare.
By Dâk (post) in 24 hours.—60 miles I5. Od. per mile.
(Vide p. xii.)
Palkee
Gharry * (native carriage)
Steamer " "
Budgerow f " "
Eiver boats I " "
Horse " "
Hackery with goods "
15
12
50
20
25
15
10
((
tc
(C
((
tc
tc
tc
8d.
5d.
Is. Od.
2s* to 6d.
i.
Ud.
lid.
it
ft
it
tc
tc
tc
tt
Goods per mile (very nearly.)
By steamers,II
By river boats.§
By land. IT
2^d* per ton.
l^d. per ton.
4d. per ton.
* Can accommodate 3 or 4 travellers.
+ Is hired for the trip—and if large—can accommodate a
family of five persons.
Î If there are eight passengers the charge for each will be
as above—only natives whose means are very moderate travel
in this way, the wealthy native trader pays a much higher fare.
II A higher rate is charged for short distances:
§ The speed of the cargo boats is much less than that of
those which convey passengers.
IT This is by the common cart of the country—by pack-
bullocks, camels, and ponies it is more expensive.
Travelling by land in Madras and Bombay is much the same
as in Bengal—they have no navigable rivers.
The Madas rate for Government stores by cart, is 5^d. per
ton per mile.
In Bombay the rate is very fluctuating but the average may
be taken at 5d. per ton per mile for the conveyance of cotton
from the interior to the port of Bombay—pack bullocks are
generally used from the want of roads in this presidency.
Vide paras. 77, 78, dh 79 of the Report of the Government
Commission on the cultivation of cotton in India*
(H.)
COMPILED BY PERMISSION OF THE AUTHORITIES, FROM OFFICIAL RETURNS
IN THE INDIA HOUSE.
Statement showing the Number and Tonnage of Vessels resorting to Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, and also Value
of the Imports into, and Exports from, the three Presidencies ; for the Years 1833—4, and 1843—4.
ARRIVALS
CALCUTTA.
MADRAS.
BOMBAY,
1833
—34
1843—44
1833—34
1843—44
1833—34
1843-
-44
ships
tons
ships
tons
ships
tons
ships
tons
ships
tons
ships
tons
under British Colors
330
122,952
494
208,055
3,561
189.999
397
127, 281
144
62,520
360
164,934
„ French
31
10, 771
47
13,673
21
5, 571
28
6,710
9
1,852
3
645
„ Dutch....
2
352
5
1,868
8
917
2
208
1
424
11
1)
„ Portuguese
1
350
5
1,101
129
4. 064
13
1,747
11
3, 520
3
529
„ American
22
7, 342
15
6,893
3
958
4
1,686
1
211
5
1,760
„ Arab
10
4, 386
10
4, 845
130
21,123
195
26, 799
4
1,276
5
824
„ Native
432
36,616
196
17, 584
1,179
95,785
4, 941
210,944
11
11
11
11
„ Burmese
i
400
2
500
it
»»
if
1»
>1
11
11
„ Austrian
>»
»
í»
»*
5»
»1
if
1»
1
305
„ Swedish
1
302
it
»*
ft
»»
tí
f>
11
1
190
Total of Arrivals....
830
183,471
772
254,019 1
5,031
318,417
5, 580
375,375
1 170
69,803
378
169,187
TOTAL VALUE of IMPORTS.
Sicca Rupees
Company's Rupees
Company's Rupees
Company's Rupees
Company's Rupees
Company's Rupees
Of the same Periods
195, 81, 986
493, 25, 807
1, 03, 09, 999
98,
47, 007
266
, 74, 031
476,
06, 865
J — •
At 23. pr. Company's Rup^e.
£ 2,
088, 745
£
4, 932, 580
£ 1,
030, 999
£
984, 700
£
2, 667, 403
£ 4, 760, 686
DEPARTURES
Ships
tons
ships
tons
ships
tons
ships
tons
ships
tons
ships
tons
under British Colors
333
122,845
532
224, 318
4, 225
218,159
610
189,395
173
78, 864
386
178,90
„ French
29
10,416
45
13, 085
23
5, 666
45
10,950
10
3, 066
4
922
„ Dutch i
2
352
4
1,580
10
1, 185
2
208
1
424
1»
11
„ Portuguese .
i
350
3
1,207
146
4, 557
9
1, 429
7
1, 956
3
529
,, American
19
6, 765
18
8,372
3
958
3
1, 307
3
876
5
1, 860
12
5, 221
9
4, 223
183
24,736
296
38,347
5
1,844
7
2, 013
„ Native
432
36, 616
197
IS, 045
970
87, 336
5, 825
237, 410
11
1*
1*
11
„ Austrian
>»
»»
Í»
Ï»
a
11
1)
11
2
610
„ Swedish
1
315
>>
ȕ
>1
it
11
11
11
11
11
„ Spanish
»
>)
3
580
it
»t
»»
11
11
11
11
11
„ Burmese
>»
2
344
j»
11
11
11
11
11
11
Total of Departures
829
182, 880
813
271,754 1
5, 560
342, 597
6, 790
479, 046 I
199
87, 030
407
184, 840
VALUE of EXPORTS.
Of the same Periods
At 2s. pr Company's Rupee.
Sicca Rupees Company's Rupees Company's Rupees Company's Rupees Company's Rupees Company's Rupees
3, 79, 12, 649 9, 78, 66, 356 1. 38, 46, 794 2, 22, 96, 369 4,05, 881135 6, 84, 30, 869
£ 4, 044, 015 £ 9, 786, 635 £ 1, 384, 679 £ 2, 229, 637 £ 4,058,813 £ 6,843, 087
XoTÉ.—The small country craft carrying' the coasting trade, which are separately returned in the Bombay Official state¬
ments and have not been included in the above abstract, are apparently entered in the Madras returns, which will ac¬
count for the disproportionately large tonnage of that Presidency,
In estimating the gross trade of Calcutta—the amount of its imports and exports together, an allowance of about
7 per cent in 1833—4, and above 3 per cent in 1843—4, should be made for imports re-exported.