oolridge.

"There are not many millionaires among the natives, and these smaller coins
are mostly used among them. They are convenient also to the stingy
Englishman when the plate is passed around in church," added his lordship
with a chuckle, which pleased Uncle Moses more than the remark. India has a
public debt of about L200,000,000, contracted for railways, canals, war,
and other purposes. The revenue last year was L84,932,100, and the
expenditures were L84,661,700. Not a large margin; but you must multiply
the pounds by five, or nearly that, to reduce them to dollars.

"The poppy is extensively cultivated in India; and the export tax in
Calcutta amounts to six and a quarter millions, in Bombay, to three and a
half millions, on the manufactured opium. The producer sends his crop to
the government factory, whence it is sold to the exporter; all this to
prevent frauds on the revenue.

"Wages and prices have gone up under British rule. The best class of
laborers get four _annas_ a day, and others not more than two,--six to
twelve cents a day. Grain for food is a penny for two pounds,--a cent a
pound. Women and children earn small wages. The clothing of the poor is
scanty and cheap; fuel costs nothing; and rent for dwellings is hardly
known. The masses in the country, not laborers, live on the land as owners
or lessees. There has never been anything like a poor-law, and ordinarily
there is no need of such.

"It would be quite impossible for me to give the history of India in detail
in the limited time at my command, especially as we are now approaching the
land. Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese navigator, was the first to reach the
East Indies, in 1498; but his countrymen never did much trading here, being
more intent upon securing the rich treasures of the Indies. As early as
1600 the English turned their attention in this direction. Companies were
formed; but being driven by the Dutch from the islands which they still
hold, they began to make settlements on the coast of this peninsula. Madras
dates from 1639, Bombay from 1686, Calcutta from 1686. The Company said,
'Let us make a nation in India;' and they went to work at once to do it.
They accomplished their purpose, fostered by the government, raised and
borrowed money, and in the course of time had an army and a navy, and ruled
the country. They defeated the Grand Mogul, drove the French out of the
peninsula, and were generally very prosperous.

"In 1833 Parliamen