[The Raj in the 1880s.] Collection of fourteen British parliamentary papers, relating to: transfer of government to Simla, railways, silver, finance (tax, accounts, loans, revenue and expenditure).

The present collection reflects the state of Kipling’s India during the high summer of the Raj. At the end of 1884 Lord Dufferin replaced the Earl of Ripon as Viceroy, and apart from a period of seven months between June of 1885 and January of 1886, when Lord Salisbury and the Conservatives were in power following the death of General Gordon, and Lord Randolph Churchill was Secretary of State, Gladstone and the Liberals were in power. All the items in the present collection are scarce: disregarding electronic reproduction, the only copies on JISC LHD appear to be held by the deposit libraries and UCL. Each item was printed separately, and it would appear from similar cases that the title and contents leaves were specially produced for this collection and a few others, such as that of the Bodleian. Fourteen discrete items (as evidenced by different gradations of fading) in a sturdy rebinding, in buff-coloured buckram, with reinforced hinges, and the original plum leather labels gilt laid down on the spine: ‘ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS / 12’ and ‘VOL 49’. A total number of 782 folio pages, according to a nineteenth-century manuscript pagination. Binding and contents in good condition, although the paper of the items is discoloured and somewhat brittle, with a few closed tears here and there. Two leaves have been specially printed for the collection: one with the title and another with two pages of contents. The title reads: ‘Accounts and papers: thirty-nine volumes. / - (12.) - / East India. / Session 1. - 12 January 1886 -- 25 June 1886. / Session 2. -- 5 August 1886 - 25 September 1886. / Vol. XLIX. / 1886.’ In manuscript on reverse of title: ‘This Book is to be preserved in the Libraries of the Home Office 1886’. ‘WITHDRAWN’ stamp at foot of same page. All but items 3, 10 and 12 have details printed in characteristic fashion at right angles on the reverse of the final leaf. The contents arranges the items under the following headings: Accounts (1); Home Accounts (2), Financial Statement, 1886-87 (3), Income Tax Act (4), Loans raised in England (5 and 6), Loans raised in India (7 and 8), Railways (9), East India (Progress and Condition) (10), Revenue and Expenditure (11), Silver Question (Great Britain and India) (12), Transfer of Government to Simla (13), Statement of Trade (14). The fourteen items are: ONE: ‘[Accounts’] Statement showing the principal Figures in the East India Accounts for 1883-84 and 1884-85, and Estimates for 1885-86 and 1886-87, with Explanations. / India Office, 11 June 1886. / J. A. Godley, / Under Secretary of State for India.’ [By ‘Mr. Stafford Howard’.] Printed 16 June 1886. 17 + [1] pp. TWO: ‘[‘Home Accounts’] Home Accounts of the Government of India. / [list of twelve items] / India Office, 11 May 1886. / J. A. Godley, Under Secretary of State for India.’ Printed 14 May 1886. 57 + [1] pp. THREE: ‘[‘Financial Statement, 1886-87’] Indian Financial Statement for 1886-87. / India Office, 28 May 1886. / J. A. Godley, Under Secretary of State for India.’ [By ‘Lord George Hamilton’.] Printed 31 May 1886.’ 101 pp. FOUR: ‘[‘Income Tax Act’] Return to an Address of the Honourable The House of Commons, dated 31 May 1886; - for, / “Extracts of the Proceedings of the Council of the Governor General of India, assembled for the purpose of making Laws and Regulations, regarding the Act, No. 2, of 1886, for imposing a Tax on Income derived from other sources than Agriculture.” / India Office, 3 June 1886. / J. A. Godley, Under Secretary of State for India.’ [By ‘Lord George Hamilton’.] Printed 4 June 1886. 85 + [1] pp. FIVE: ‘[‘Loans raised in England’] Return of all Loans raised in England, under the Provisions of any Acts of Parliament, chargeable on the Revenues of India, outstanding at the commencement of the Half-year ended on 30th September 1885; with the Rates of Interest and Total Amount payable thereon, and the Date of Termination of each Loan; the Debt incurred during the Half-year; the Moneys raised thereby during the Half-year; the Loans paid off or discharged during the Half-year; and the Loans outstanding at the close of the Half-year; &c. / India Office, 21 January 1886. / J. A. Godley, Under Secretary of State.’ Printed 22 February 1886. 3 + [1] pp. SIX: ‘[‘Loans Raised in England’] Similar Return of all Loans raised in England, chargeable on the Revenues of India, outstanding at the commencement of the Half-year ended on 31st March 1886; &c. / India Office, 6 April 1886. / J. A. Godley, Under Secretary of State.’ Printed 8 April 1886. 3 + [1] pp. SEVEN: ‘[‘Loans Raised in India’] Return of all Loans raised in India, chargeable on the Revenues of India, outstanding at the commencement of the Half-year ended on 30th September 1885, with the Rates of Interest and Total Amount payable thereon, and Date of the Termination of each Loan; Debt incurred during the Half-year; Moneys raised thereby during the Half-year; the Loans paid off or discharged during the Half-year; and the Loans outstanding at the Close of the Half-year. / India Office, 18 February 1886. / J. A. Godley, Under Secretary of State.’ Printed 24 February 1886. 3 + [1] pp. EIGHT: ‘[‘Loans Raised in India’] Similar Return of all Loans raised in India, chargeable on the Revenues of India, outstanding at the commencement of the Half-year ended on the 31st March 1886; &c.’ 3 + [1] pp. NINE: ‘[‘Railways’] Administration Report on the Railways in India for 1885-86, by Colonel F. S. Stanton, R.E., Director General of Railways. / Part I.’ Printed 1886. 109 + [1] pp. TEN: ‘[‘East India (Progress and Condition)’] Statement exhibiting the Moral and Material Progress and Condition of India during the Year 1884-85. / Twenty-first Number.’ Printed 21 June 1886. 90 pp. ELEVEN: ‘[‘Revenue and Expenditure’] Estimate of Revenue and Expenditure of the Government of India / For the Year 1885-86, compared with the Results of 1884-85. / India Office, 11 June 1886. / E. Stafford Howard, Under Secretary of State.’ Printed 16 June 1886. 15 + [1] pp. TWELVE: ‘[‘Silver Question (Great Britain and India)’] Correspondence between the British and Indian Government respecting the Silver Question.’ Printed 1886. 32 pp. THIRTEEN: ‘[‘Transfer of Government to Simla’] Return showing the Annual Dates, since the Transfer of the Government of India to the Crown in 1858, of the Migration of the Government of India at Calcutta to Simla, and the Dates of its return to Calcutta, and, so far as possible, the extra Annual Cost upon the Taxpayers of India in consequence of this Annual Migration of Government. / India Office, 15 June 1885. / J. K. Cross, / Under Secretary of State for India.’ [By ‘Sir John Gorst’.] Printed 26 August 1886. 14 + [1] pp. FOURTEEN: ‘[‘Statement of Trade’] Statement of the Trade of British India with British Possessions and Foreign Countries for the Five Years 1880-81 to 1884-85.’ Printed 1886. 163 + [1] pp.