The Indian Government has published its attitude as regards the fiscal question, and while apparently not quite certain as to the benefits which might or might not accrue, it practically asks that, as regards itself the "status quo" may be maintained, and that its liberty of action may not be interfered with Its chief ground for this reasoning ap pears to be its anxiety that its credit may not be shaken by any controversy with other countries than England. Tf it wore drawn into anything like a tariff war, although in the end it might well hope to be successful, yet in the interval its ereditand commerce might be hampered sufficiently to do considerable harm to a Government which has only of late years been able to show financial stability." This view has apparently been endorsed by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, where the Hon. Mr. Cable stated that India "should hesitate to enter into any scheme which might embroil her with her continental customers." But he added the important qualification that "in case of need she shod be prepared to depart from her traditional principle of refusing to differentiate between the imports of different countries."
The Official Secrets Bill.
All Indian papers are still very full of the Official Secrets Bill and everyone is protesting more and more violently at its getting passed in its present form. The "Statesman" says: "The Government have every right to say to the public You shall not steal our secrets, and if you steal them, or publish them, with the knowledge that they have been stolen, you shall be punished; but they have no right to say:—tYou shall not publish any information regarding affairs the State, however obtained, which we choose to regard as' secret, whether we have told you so or not." It remains to be seen how far Government will hold out against so much protestation, or in how far they will modify the Bill to meet what public opinion seems to regard as the only just and reasonable course. Rangoon has been most unfortunate these last few months. short time ago thera were a series of very bad, and in some cases fatal, carriage and riding xecidents happening almost weekly. Now we are toll of two large fires which broke out on the same day. Pho first fire burnt down something like 60 houses or more, and the damage is put down as about 1! lakhs of rupees. In the second fire about 50 houses were destroyed in Commissioner Road, and the central gaol was at one time in danger. Of course this is a mere nothing to what happens in America, where even fires happen on a gigantic scale and sweep out three or more acres of the business section of a great city, as has just happened at Rochester.
Here are some fairly amusing verses that appeared in the " Madras Mail" of 15th February
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.