Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin

by Earl of James Bruce Elgin

On the day after his arrival at Benares he held a Durbar—his first truly Oriental Durbar—which, though not comprising any independent chiefs, was attended by several native gentlemen of high consideration and large possessions. In addressing them, he took the opportunity of dwelling upon the improvement which recent measures had effected in their position, and the consequent increase of their responsibilities:

'It is the desire (he said) of Her Majesty the Queen that the native gentlemen of India should be represented in the Council of the Governor-General, in order that when laws are made for India their opinions, and wishes, and feelings may receive due consideration. It is my intention and duty to do everything in my power to give effect to Her Majesty's gracious intention in this respect. Among the rajahs and gentlemen here to-day are many who have large estates in the neighbourhood and along the line of railway which we travelled over yesterday. The value of those estates will be greatly enhanced by the completion of the important work of which we are about to-day to celebrate the opening. I need hardly remind them that they will owe this advantage to the introduction of British engineering skill and British capital into this country. I trust that the consideration of this fact, and of similar facts which are of daily occurrence, will tend to produce a kindly feeling between the races, by showing them to what an extent they may be mutually useful to each other. Meanwhile, I hope that the gentlemen whom I am addressing will turn these advantages to account by doing their utmost to improve their properties, and to promote the happiness and welfare of their ryots and dependents.'

[Sidenote: Railway dinner.]

In the afternoon of the same day he was present at a dinner given in celebration of the opening of the railway from Jumalpore to Benares. In the course of a speech which he made on that occasion, after referring to the fact that both his predecessors had taken part in similar celebrations, he said:—

In looking over the published report of these proceedings a few days ago, my attention was arrested by an incident which brought forcibly home to my mind one painful circumstance in which my position here to- day contrasts sadly with that which Lord Canning then occupied. At a stage in the proceedings of the evening, corresponding to that at which we have now arrived, he departed from the routine prescribed by the programme, and invited the company to join him in drinking the health of his noble predecessor, the Marquis of Dalhousie, who had, as he justly observed, nursed the East Indian Railway in its infancy, and guided it through its first difficulties. It is not in my power to make any similar proposal to you now. A mysterious dispensation of Providence has removed from this world's stage, where they seemed still destined to play so noble and useful a part, both the proposer of this toast, and its object. The names of both are written in brilliant characters on some of the most eventful pages of the history of India, and both were removed at a time when expectation as to the services which they might still render to India was at its height. I shall not now dwell on the great national loss which we have all sustained in this dispensation; but, perhaps, I may be permitted to say that to me the loss is not only a public one, but a private and personal calamity likewise. Both of these distinguished men were my contemporaries, both, I believe I may without presumption say, my intimate friends. It is a singular coincidence that three successive Governors-General of India should have stood towards each other in this relationship of age and intimacy. One consequence is that the burden of governing India has devolved upon us respectively at different periods of our lives. Lord Dalhousie when named to the Government of India was, I believe, the youngest man who had ever been appointed to a situation of such high responsibility and trust; Lord Canning was in the prime of life; and I, if I am not already on the decline, am at least nearer to the verge of it than either of my contemporaries who have preceded me. Indeed, when I was leaving England for India, Lord Ellenborough, who is now, alas! the only surviving ex-Governor-General of India, said to me, 'You are not a very old man, but depend upon it, you will find yourself by far the oldest man in India.'

Passing from these personal topics, after noticing the good fortune which had placed the formation of the railway system of India in the hands of a man who had in a special manner made that subject his own, he proceeded to speak of the future of Indian Railways, insisting especially on a point about which he felt very strongly, the necessity of their ceasing to depend on a Government guarantee, and adding some practical hints for their development and extension:

[Sidenote: Future of Indian railways.]

But, Gentlemen, however interesting it may be to refer to the past and to dwell upon the present, the most important questions which we have to answer relate to the future, and the most important of all in my opinion is this—to what agency are we henceforward to look if we would desire to extend as widely as possible, to all parts of India, the benefit of this potent instrument of modern civilisation? I have no hesitation in affirming at once, in answer to this question, that we must not look to an indefinite extension of a system of Government guarantees for the accomplishment of this object. In the first place, it would be wholly unjustifiable for any one object, however important, to place such a strain upon our finances as this policy would involve. In the second place, however justifiable and necessary a system of Government guarantees may be in certain circumstances, it is essentially an expensive one, because by securing to shareholders a minimum rate of interest on their capital it weakens in them the motives to economy, and because by dividing the responsibility for expenditure between Government and Railway Officials, it diminishes in the latter the sense of responsibility. Moreover, the indefinite extension of a system of Government guarantees is wholly incompatible with the endeavour to bring private enterprise largely into play for the execution of these works; while there is an unlimited call for capital for works enjoying the protection of a Government guarantee, it is not to be expected that capital will be forthcoming to any extent for similar works which have not that protection. For the accomplishment, therefore, of the great object to which I am referring, we must henceforward, I apprehend, look to private enterprise; not perhaps to private enterprise wholly unaided by the State, but at any rate, to private enterprise not protected by Government guarantee. But if so, what are the conditions which will entitle railway enterprises of this class to the countenance and encouragement of the Government? I lay it down as a fundamental principle, that we ought to look to the eventual establishment of one uniform railway gauge for the whole of India. The experience of England is conclusive as to the inconvenience of a double or conflicting railway gauge. After the expenditure of an untold amount of money in Parliamentary conflicts, the broad gauge of England has been compelled to take the narrow gauge on its back, and the whole capital expended upon the former may be said to have been thrown away. But what does this resolution in favour of an uniform gauge imply? It will, I think, be admitted that the main object of an uniform railway gauge is to enable the several railway lines to exchange their plant in order to avoid transhipment of freight. But if the plant of the subsidiary line is to be transported along the main lines, it must be sufficiently well finished to be fitted to travel in safety at high speed; and if the plant of the main lines is to travel along the subsidiary lines, the latter must have rails sufficiently heavy, and works of construction sufficiently substantial, to support it. Moreover, where streams or rivers are encountered they must be bridged. In short, the subsidiary lines must be built in a manner which would make them nearly as expensive as the main lines; in other words, railways must not be introduced into any part of India where we cannot afford to spend from 13,000_l_. to 15,000_l_. a mile upon them. I am not prepared to accept this conclusion. I have been a good deal in America, and I know that our practical cousins there do not refuse to avail themselves of advantages within their reach, by grasping at those which are beyond it. In 1854, I travelled by railway from New York to Washington. We had several ferries to cross on the way, but we found that the railway with the ferries was much better than no Railway at all. In short, in America where they cannot get a pucka railway, they take a kutcha one instead. This, I think, is what we must do in India. There are many districts where railways costing 3,000_l_. or 4,000_l_. a mile might be introduced with advantage, although they would not justify an expenditure of from 10,000_l_. to 15,000_l_. a mile. We have only to be careful that kutcha lines are not mistaken for pucka ones—that they are not allowed to set up a rival system as against the main lines, or to occupy ground which should be appropriated by the latter.

[Sidenote: Carriage dâk to Allahabad.]

As the railway from Benares to Allahabad was not yet complete, Lord Elgin and his suite performed this part of the journey by carriage dâk. They travelled by night; 'each individual of the party occupying his own separate carriage, and being conveyed along at a hand gallop by a succession of single ponies, relayed at stages of four to five miles in length.' In the letter which describes this, he adds the characteristic remark: