with me--which is also an essential point--I would propose to have at
least five Presidencies in India, and I would have the governments of
those Presidencies perfectly equal in rank and in salary. The capitals
of those Presidencies would probably be Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Agra,
and Lahore. I will take the Presidency of Madras as an illustration.
Madras has a population of some 20,000,000. We all know its position on
the map, and that it has the advantage of being more compact,
geographically speaking, than the other Presidencies. It has a Governor
and a Council. I would give to it a Governor and a Council still, but
would confine all their duties to the Presidency of Madras, and I would
treat it just as if Madras was the only portion of India connected with
this country. I would have its finance, its taxation, its justice, and
its police departments, as well as its public works and military
departments, precisely the same as if it were a State having no
connection with any other part of India, and recognized only as a
dependency of this country. I would propose that the Government of every
Presidency should correspond with the Secretary for India in England,
and that there should be telegraphic communications between all the
Presidencies in India, as I hope before long to see a telegraphic
communication between the office of the noble Lord (Lord Stanley) and
every Presidency over which he presides. I shall no doubt be told that
there are insuperable difficulties in the way of such an arrangement,
and I shall be sure to hear of the military difficulty. Now, I do not
profess to be an authority on military affairs, but I know that military
men often make great mistakes. I would have the army divided, each
Presidency having its own army, just as now, care being taken to have
them kept distinct; and I see no danger of any confusion or
misunderstanding, when an emergency arose, in having them all brought
together to carry out the views of the Government. There is one question
which it is important to bear in mind, and that is with regard to the