Lord Hartington's Indian Budget on Monday was chiefly remarkable for
its exposure of the wild under-estimate of the cost of the Afghan war. The total war expenditure (including the frontier railways) is no less than £23,412,000, of which £5,000,000 is borne by England, leaving £18,412,000 as the financial burden left upon India for this purely mischievous and disgraceful war. As late as February, 1880, Sir J. Strachey estimated the total expenditure on the war as little over £10,000,000, so astoundingly do the Indian officials minimise the cost of their favourite amusement. Here is the result, in Lord Hartington's own words :—" If there had been no war charge and no construction of frontier railways, and, at the same time, provision of £1,500,000 had been made in each year for the relief of famine, there would have been in each of the years of the war the following surpluses :—In 1878-9, a surplus of £1,523,885 ; in 1879-80, of £3,521,515 ; in 1880-1, of £3,623,174; and in 1881-2, of £855,000; or a surplus during the four years of £9,523,574. Of course, these surpluses, amounting to nine millions and a half, have gone for payment of the war ; the balances of the famine insurance, amounting to £4,035,309, have been appropriated to payment of the war. There were also contributions from the British Treasury, amounting to £5,000,000, towards payment of the war ; and there was taken from cash balances for the same purpose a sum
of £4,513,470. It appears to me that that is an unsatisfactory financial statement." Such is the mode in which the late Govern- ment proposed to strengthen our hold on India.
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