Sir Julius Vogel, in a very sensible letter to Monday's
Times, pointed out how completely inadequate anything like voluntary subscription must be to fight against such a calamity as the Indian famine, and showed, moreover, how publicly the Government of India had accepted the responsibility of fighting it with public resources. And he adds, "if it be indeed the case that India cannot bear the expense, it is to be expected that every part of the Empire will contribute." This seems to us, we confess, the common-sense of the situation. The Imperial Government must find the money, in the first instance. If that means a far too great addition to the debt and taxation of India to be consistent with a Government of progress for the future, let us see what the various components of the Empire can contribute to wards dividing the burden with India, though even then the various Legislatures would have to vote the sums requisite, or they would necessarily be too small, and the burden of them too unequally distributed. A quarter of a million, even if the voluntary sub- scription ultimately reached that amount, would not be more than sixpence in the pound of what is needed, and probably not so much.
