Nothing would be more unwise than to underrate the difficulties which will have to be encountered by any Government that is determined to effect such reductions in Indian expenditure as those which have here been indicated. It will only too certainly be found that it is impossible to advance a single step in the path of economy without an attempt being made to bar the way by those who wish to maintain the particular item of expenditure which it is proposed to touch. If the Government should give proof that they are determined to pursue a policy of rigorous retrenchment with unflinching courage, they have a right to expect that they shall be generously and cordially supported by every one who is interested in the future of India. The work cannot be done by the Government alone. It will be necessary that they shall be aided both by Parliament and by public opinion in this country. Hitherto it has unfortunately too frequently happened that the influence of the House of Commons has, with regard to the expenditure of Indian money, been on the side of extravagance.

But Parliament reflects the opinion of the constituencies, and the humblest elector may help on the work which is to be done, if, awakening to the responsibility which every Englishman owes to the great dependency we have to govern, he makes it clear that it is his wish that no charge which ought in justice to be borne by England should be thrown upon India, and that the spending of Indian money should be watched with at least as much care as the spending of English money. It was once well said that in politics as in other affairs the difficulty of doing a particular thing is not unfrequently the measure of the good which its accomplishment will secure. This is certainly true with regard to the reform of the finances of India. Few tasks can be more difficult, but no labour will yield a richer harvest of results. Two paths are now before the Indian Government: the one will lead to augmented indebtedness, increased taxation, and growing discontent; the other, if resolutely followed, will enable debt to be diminished, taxation to be reduced, and will cause our rule in India to rest on its only sure foundation - the contentment and happiness of the people.

If three or four millions in the annual expenditure of India can be saved, the licence tax could be repealed, the salt duty reduced to a uniform rate of two rupees per maund, and many useful works which have now to be suspended could be resumed without incurring fresh indebtedness. When it is remembered that such results as these may be effected by a policy of retrenchment, we may with confidence indulge the hope that the work, having been undertaken, will not be abandoned until it has been accomplished.