the fact that the annual outlay upon the indigo
concerns in Bengal alone is about two millions
sterling, the entire of which sum is spent in the
indigo districts.

The lieutenant-governor, himself hostile to the
planters, had a subordinate—a certain magistrate
of Baraset—who but too well carried out
his policy. There is a scandalous story of the
cause of this latter gentleman's hostility which
I will not repeat. Let it suffice to say that,
taking advantage of an equivocally-worded
minute made by the lieutenant-governor, he
caused a proclamation to be issued in his
district, giving the ryots to understand that they
were not bound to perform the contracts which
they had undertaken, and on account of which
they had received large advances, unless it
pleased them to do so, and suggesting to them
the nature of the excuses which they might
make for the repudiation of their engagements.
In England, I fear, there is many a gentleman
who would not trouble himself to pay his tailor's
bill if the law offered him the option of leaving
it unpaid; and there are not many workmen who
would, under similar circumstances, do an hour's
work for money which they had received
beforehand. It is therefore not very wonderful if
the Indian ryots took advantage of the gracious
permission of a paternal government, and
transferred their labour to markets in which they
were not already indebted. The consequence
was, that a large proportion of the crops were
spoiled last year, and the ryots, believing that
it was the wish of the government to turn the
planters out of the country, lent their assistance
in every way towards this object. Riots became
matters of every-day occurrence, and the
whole of Lower Bengal was soon in a state
which it is scarcely exaggeration to call
insurrection.

The late Mr. Wilson saw that strong measures
were necessary, and passed a temporary act (to
endure for six months) for the summary
enforcement of contracts, the only redress hitherto
afforded being by process in the notoriously
corrupt civil courts, to recover the money
advanced, the loss incurred through the breaking
of the agreement not being taken into
consideration, and the proceedings involved being
about as complex as those of our Court of
Chancery. Mr. Wilson's act produced an
immediate effect. The ryots were surprised to
find that the supreme government, at any rate,
did not intend to ruin the planters, and a
tolerable degree of quiet was restored, the crops,
however, being beyond recovery. In the mean
time, the "friends of the people"—missionaries
and others—made the most outrageous charges
against the planters of extortion and oppression,
and in order to examine into these and all the
circumstances attending the disturbances, a
commission, known as the "Indigo Commission,"
was appointed. The members consisted
of two members of the civil service, one
missionary, one native baboo in the employment of
the Bengal government, and one European
merchant. There was a long and elaborate
inquiry. Every scrap of evidence that could
be produced against the planters was
forthcoming, and if ever a case could be made out
to their prejudice this was certainly the time.
But the result of the investigation was, that not
one of the charges was established, while nearly
every one was utterly and entirely disproved.
The fact is, these charges were all old ones—
some of them going so far back as fifty years;
they had all been refuted over and over again,
and whatever amount of fact they might nave
been founded upon, reflected upon a past
generation of men, among whom the black sheep, it
must be said, were not so rare as they are now.

But although the report of the commission
necessarily exonerated the planters, the main
recommendation which it contained was not in
their favour. The commission, as we have
seen, consisted of five members. Of the two
members of the civil service, one was an avowed
anti-planter and "Bengal clique" man, while
the other, who had been reared in the good
school of Sir John Lawrence, and who had
been sent for by Mr. Wilson from the Punjab
to act as financial secretary, was a man of large
views and liberal tendencies, and above local
prejudices. The Bengal civilian recommended
that the act for the enforcement of indigo
contracts should not be renewed, and in this he
was supported by the missionary, inspired by a
strong class hatred of the planter, which would
effectually prevent him from taking any other
course, and by the native baboo, who would be
equally certain to vote whichever way "the
master" pleased. Thus, from the very
constitution of the commission, the Bengal
government had a necessary majority, the minority
being composed of the Punjab civilian and the
European merchant, who were in favour of the
enforcement of contracts by a summary process.
Accordingly, on the expiration of the act, no
renewal took place, except of the insurrection,
which became so violent that it was found
necessary to send large bodies of police and
military to the spot, where they have been obliged
to remain ever since, the ryots in the mean time
having gone so far as to resist the payment of
rents.

The above are the main facts— not too many
for a moderate nutshell, I hope—of this great
controversy, which has been now some two
years in agitation, and which is by no means
settled at the present moment. It should be
remarked, however, that although the commission
acquitted the planters of all the particular
offences charged against them, the opposition
upon general grounds remains as strong as ever.
The system of advances, say the supporters of
the Bengal government, is a vicious one, as it
keeps the ryot at the mercy of the planter, and
compels him to cultivate an unprofitable crop.

With regard to the first of these assertions,
it is true enough that the system of advances
is a bad one, because it makes the ryot
lazy and improvident, and prevents him from
having that heart in his work which he would
have under a more healthy arrangement. But