Arrival of Lord Lansdowne 1888
Lord Lansdowne served as Governor General and Viceroy of India from 1888 to 1893. During his tenure, Indo-Afghan border {Durand Line} was demarcated. The Indian Council Act, 1892 was enacted and a system of indirect elections started in India.
Securing India against possible Invasions
Most of his time and energy of Lansdowne was dedicated in solving the border problem. At that time, Russia, France as well as England were following the imperialistic policies to increase number of their colonies. Landowne first occupied Sikkim and some border areas in Chittagong. Some states located at the Eastern front of Burma were also brought under British protection. These were done to avoid any possibility of attack from north / north east or eastern side.
To secure north-west, the Durand Line agreement was signed whereby Afghanistan would receive a mission led by Sir Mortima Durand. British also used this time to improve railroad communication between the frontier and the military base in India. They established strong fortifications of great cantonments. For defense of the Khaibar, Rawalpindi was selected as the base for the defense, thus strong posts at Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Attock defended the Indus.
Indian Councils Act 1892
Indian Councils Act 1892 was the beginning of the parliamentary System in India. This act provided for additional member in central and provincial legislative councils. The members were allowed to ask questions on domestic matters with prior permission of the Governor General. A system of indirect elections was introduced to elect the members of the councils. The universities, district board, municipalities, Zamindars and chambers of commerce were empowered to recommend members to provincial councils. This act became the first step towards the beginning of the representative government in India but such representation was via only indirect elections and there was nothing for a common Indian.
Opium Commission 1893
In 1893 a royal commission was issued to inquire into the results of using opium in India, and the possibility of prohibiting it. This commission examined many witnesses and finally reported in 1895 favouring use of Opium. It said that result of Opium use in India is much less harmful than it was supposed. Opium rarely sends any criminal to the Jails, as Alcohol sends criminals to English Jails as a cause of crime and death in England. It is used by the holy saints of India. Opium is not associated to any disease and it is widely used as a remedy in Malaria and Fever.
The result was that the Government happily accepted the recommendation of this commission and shelved the idea of imposing a ban on Opium.
A similar parliamentary commission was asked to inquire into the impact of Bhang, Ganja and other “desi” drugs and the commissions found that if Bhang and Ganja are prohibited, the consumption of alcohol will increase in India, and that would cause more problems for their subjects in India. At that time, Opium was cultivated by only licensed cultivators and they were required to sell all of the produce to the Government, which used to “export” it. About 90 % of this Opium was sent to China and Government earned two third of the profit. Opium was rarely smoked in India but the people of Burma were used to living in Opium Smoker’s paradise. But the commission’s reports were criticized by some parliamentarians of England like Henry Joseph Wilson, who did not approve the “studies” of the commissioners.
Re-imposition of Income Tax
By this time, the financial reforms and tax reductions by Lord Ripon’s administration had started creating problems for the revenue. The Burma War cost Rs. 40 Lakh, the military campaigns in North West cost Rs. 20 Lakh and the increased army needed an expenditure of Rs. 15 Lakh per annum. Further, the falling prices of silver due to over production led to a difficult financial positing for the government. To tackle the situation, income tax was imposed again in 1886 and the salt duty was enhanced in 1888. A 5% custom duty was imposed in 1894 on imports of cotton goods.
