INDIAN FINANCE.
[To THE EDITOR OF THS SPECTATOR:] &n,—In your article of the 24th inst. on "Indian Finance," you say that the national faith is pledged for the payment of the interest of the Indian Debt, and that failing India, England is bound to discharge the public obligation of India, "as long as the country remains under the absolute control of a de- partment of the State." This certainly ought to be so ; morally, it may be so ; legally, it certainly is not so. For after referring to the liability of India for previous engage- ments, it is enacted (Vic. 21 and 22, c. 106, clause xlii.) that "all expenses, debts, and liabilities of the Government of India, and all payments under the Act, shall be charged and chargeable upon the revenues of India alone, as the same would have been if this Act (i.e., the Act by which our Indian territories were transferred to the direct management of the Crown) had not been passed."
If this country ever means to acknowledge liability of any kind for Indian debts, the sooner this is published the better, as it would enable the Government of India to lower its interest charges.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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