17 AUGUST 1861, Page 3

Ssbia.—The latest accounts from India announce a heavy fall in

the price of opium. Mr. Laing estimated the probable price at 1740 rupees a chest, but it has fallen to 1400 rupees, leaving a de- ficit on his calculation of 1,200,0001. A new bill, however, combin- ing the license and the income tax was about to be introduced into the legislative council, and was expected to produce some additional revenue. We hear from private sources, however, that this measure is not to begin to operate till next year, and that the reductions have almost stopped since Mr. Laing's departure. There never was the smallest probability of their being cafried out on the promised scale. The Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal has recommended that Govern- ment should establish a factory in the Rookie Hills for buying cotton from the savages, not to increase the supply of cotton, but to civilize the tribes.