A L I FE O F TH E EA R L OF M AY O ,

F O UR TH VI C E R O Y O F I N DI A .

B Y w W
. . H U NTER ,

cs mm
'

M A J ES T v s B E NG A L c x m
'
. su x u c

S E CO A D E D I TI O N
'

VO LU ME I I .

S M I T H, E L D E R , CO .
, L ONDON , 1 8 76 ,
 CO NT E NTS O F VO L UM E I I .

C H A P TE R VI .

LO R D M AY O S
’
I DIN A N A D M N STR AT O N — I I I FI N AN C E .

[E L 4 7 5 0 , -
1 869

Ma yo s R v — Th I d i
M e t ho d of VVo rk —Th e I n d i a n
’
e e nu e e n an

Bu s l su s
d ge t — Th e D i c o r e of 1 869 — E xp d i t u duc d en re re e

T ax atio i c s d — D sp t ch of S p t mb
n n re a e 8 69 — L d e a e e er 2 0, 1 or

M y o s L tt
a
’
t Loc l Gov e m t s — S p ch i
er o Co u ci l a e rn en ee n n

S ys t m of A cco u t s
e o g i d — I mm d i t R sul t s of Lo d
n re r an z e e a e e r

M y o s R fo ms— Pow s of Loc l Gov

a
’
e r m t s — F i x d A ss i g
er a e rn en e n

m en ts t P ov i c i l B u d g t s — N t u of t h M su
o r n a st t d e a re e ea re as a e

by Lo d M y o— Loc l d I mp i l T x t i o — H i s t o y of t h
r a a an er a a a n r e

Q u s t i o
e — Lo d M y o s D c l
n t i o — Th I d i
r I co m T
a
’
e ara n e n an n e ax

H i s t o y of t h T — Lo d M y o s V i w s
r e th T
ax — Th S l t r a
’
e on e ax e a

D u t y d F o i Cus t oms — Lo d M y o s P s o l L t t s
an r n t er r a
’
er na e er on

F i c i l M t t s — R sul t s of h i M su s
nan a a er P g s e 6 s ea re a e 1-10

C H A P TE R VI I .

I I
M L TAR Y R E F O R M S— [ E L 47 - 5 0, 1 8 69

Pr e -
e xi st i g o — R e t en ch me n t o d e re d by t h e S e c r e t a y of
n Si t u a t i n r r r

S t t e— Lo d M a y o s M i l i t ar y A d v i s e s — Two Li e s of A pp r o a ch
’
a r r n

R e t en ch me t of E s t abl i s h me t s a n d N umeri c a l D e c e s e of
r n n , r a

t h e Tr oo ps N ot on e B i t i s h S o l d i e r t oo ma y i n I n d i a — R e
r n

d ct i o s i n E u r o p e n A my— I n R o y a l A r t i ll e y — I n t h e Th r e e
u n a r r

N t i v e A mi e s — Th e i r C o c e n t a t i o n p r o p o s e d— Lo d Sa n d h u rst s
a r n r r
’

P la n — Lo d M a y o s S ch e me of R et en ch men t— R e fo rms a c t u ally

r
’
r

e ffe c t e d — Lo r d M a y o s o wn V i e w s —A my I mp r ov e me t s d u i n g
’
r n r

h i s Vi c e o y a l t y r P a g e s 1 07 1 42 -
 C ON TE N TS .

C H APTE R VI II .

E I
L G SLAT ON I U N DE R L O R D M AY O : BY J . FI TZJ A M E S ST P E H EN , Q . C .

4 7 5 0,
-
1 8 69

d
Th e I n i a n Le gi a t sl u — S ou c s of i t Au ho i y— Co st i t ut i o of i t
re r e s t r t n n s

Pow s
e r — Le i g sl t i v D p m t— H i s t o y of a A — C y of
e e ar t en r an ct r

O v l g i sl t i o x mi d— Ci v i l i J l o usy f L w— P s o l
er- e a n e a ne an ea o a er na

Gov m t e rn L w — Wh t L w m
en 71 . s — G o wt h f P i v t
a a a ean r o r a e

R i gh t s— R i g of L w— I t B fit s t I d i — Subj c t s of I d i
e n a s en e o n a e n an

L g i sl t i o — W i t t
e a d U w i tt
n L w— T h I d i
r en D i st i ct
an n r en a e n an r

J u d g — S o u c s f I d i L w— A c t s of P l i m t — Th R gu
e r e o n an a ar a en e e

l i
a t on s — A c t s of Gov o G l i C o u c i l— A lys i s of I d
e rn r- e n e ra n n na n i an

L g i sl t i o
e Co st i uti o
a n l A c t s — M i g L w s C o di fy i g
n t na a rr a e a n

A c s — P oc d u
t C o d s — L d R v u A c t s — M i s c ll
r e re o us
e an e en e e an e

Act s L o d M y o s L g i sl t i o Co s ol i d t i g A c t s N w
’
r a e a n n a n e

P j ab C o d — J u d i c i l P oc d u Ac t s— G
an e l A dmi i s t t i v
a r e re en era n ra e

A c t s — Lo d M y o s P s o l W o k d Ch c t ’
r a er na r an ar a er

P g s 43 — 6 a e 1 22

C H A P TE R IX .

LO R I NTE
M AY O S DM I I
’
I — [ E i 4 7 5 8 69
R N AL A N STR A T O N l -
0, 1

Lo d M y o s P s o l I fl — To u s — Th I d i D i s t i c t O ffi c
’
r a er na n u e n ce r e n an r er

L o d M y o s S p o t — Tu f d H o s Supply— U s s of P s o l
’
r a r r an r e e er na

Gov m t i I d i — Lo d M y o
e rn en P so l I fl
n n —H i
a r a on er na n u e n ce s

C su en of M ch i c l XV k— H i P i s of Goo d W o k— H i
re e an a or s ra e r s

D sp o s l of P t o g — H i I d of Gov m t — St i c t Fi
i a a r na e s ea e rn en r n an

i l S u p v i s i o — Th
c a P bl i c W o ks D p t m t — I t F o m
er n e u r e ar en s r er

W st ful ss— Lo d M y o t mp t s i t R o g i i o — R fo m
a e ne r a at e s e r an z at n e r

i M i l i t y W o ks — N w C l ss of E g i
n ar s — F mi P v t i v
r e a n n e er a ne re en e

W ks— I d i R i l w ys— Lo d M y o s V i w s
or n an th i
a C a r a
’
e on e r on

s t u c t i o — O t h i M g m t — N ow G u g f I d i
r n n e r an a e en a rr a e or n an

S R i l w ys— I i g t i o W o ks— Lo d M y o s C l C ss f
tate a a rr a n r r a
’
an a e or

th P j i b— H i
e F i c i l P o p o s ls g d i g R p o d u ct i v
an z s nan a r a re ar n e r e

N V k — P i m y I s t uc t i o i B
or s r g l—R fo ms of S i G o g
ar n r n n en a e r r e r e

C mpb H— M u h mm d
a e s i B g l — Th i D i s ff c t i oa a an n en a e r a e n

s t mp d t— E d u c i o p ov i d d f t h m—Th H om O ffic
a e ou at n r e or e e e e

d i v i d d— A D p t m t of K o wl d g — A D p t m t of A g i
e e ar en n e e e ar en r

c l t u — Lo d M y o
u re A g i c ul t u ri I d i — Th a F o st on r re n n a e re
 C N O TE N TS . vii

D p e a rt me n t — M i n era l R s o u c s of I d i
e r e n a —A D p e a rt me n t of
o
C mme r c e— An I n d i n Bo a d of T a d e — D eve l o p me t of M u n i
a r r n

c i p ali t i e s—Lo d M a y o o n G a o l D i s c i pl i e — O u E d u c t i o n of t h e
r n a

Poo W h i t e —M i s c ell n e o us M e a su e s — Lo d M a y o s A d v i s e s i n
r a r r
’
r

t h e H o me O ffice — Lo r d M a y o s V i e w s o n P i v a t e E t e r p r i s e
’
r n

O n t h e P o p e r Fu n c t i o s of t h e S t t e i n d e v e l o p i n g t h e R e s o u r c e s
r n a

of I d i a— Li mi t s of t h e s e Fu c t i o n s — H i s Vi e ws e g d i g I d i a
n n r ar n n

as F i el d for E n gl i s h C p i t a l—Th e T u e I t e e s t of M a n ch e s t er
a a r n r

S oc i l a n d C e e mo i l A sp e c t s of Lo d M a y o s V i c e o y l t y
’
a r n a r r a

H i s H o sp i t a l i t i e s t h e D ul e of E d bu gh s V s i t— Lo d ’
c in r i r

M a y o s I fl e c e on M e n Pa g e s 2 2 7 —3 4 5
’

n u n

C H A PTE R X .

C O NC L U I S O N.

An d a sl d s— F i s t C o v i c t Co l o y 7 8 9— S co d Co v i c t
ma n I an r n n ,
1 e n n

C o l o y 8 5 8— I
n D i ffic ul t i s su mo u t d — A bs c of D i s c i pl i
,
1 ts e r n e en e ne

Lo d M y o s R o g i tio of t h S t l m t — To u I
’
-
r a e r an z a n e et e en r O

J u y 8 7 — I sp c t i o of h A d m — P c u t i o s b
an ar 1 2 n e n t e n a ans re a n 0

s v d — A s c of M o t H i — D s c of M o u t H i t
er e en t un a ri et e en t n a rr e

Th E d e n P g s 3 46 3 6 7 a e -

IN DE X P age s 3 69 -
374
 A L I FE O F L O R D M A Y O .

VOLUM E I I .

C H A P T E R V I .

L ORD ’
M Av o s F I NAN CI AL AD M I N I STRATI ON .

’
H E financia l history of L ord M ayo s V icero y alty
divides itself into two parts T he first narrates
.

the reso l ute stand which at the o utset of his a d mi n i

,

s t ra t i o n he found h imself compelled to make against

,

deficit The second records the measures by which

.
,

after grappling with the immediate crisis he e n ,

d eav o u re d to reform certain defects in the fi nancial

system and to bring about a permanent equilibrium
,

between the revenue and the expenditure of I ndia .

I n my narrative of those measures there are several ,

omissions which the E arl of M ayo would have deemed

unj ust T he y refer not to what he himself did or
.

laboured to accomplish but to the assistance which

,

he derived from others With a very fe w exceptions

.
,

however his coadj utors still hold high O ffice in I ndia

, ,

and there would be a certain impropriety in a member

of the same service dilating upon their merits This .

book is not written in praise or disprais e of living

V O L. I I . A
2 Z OR D M A YO S
’
M E THOD OF WOR K VET . .
4 7 5 0,
-

men Y e t at almost every page I have felt that I

. , ,

am doing the central figure of it a wrong by isolating

him from his surroun d ings H e was essentially a
.

man who went throu gh life girt about with frien d s ,

a nd a memoir which fails to develope that side of his

character leaves half his story untold This however .

, ,

is one of the conditions under which a contemporary

biography ought to be written ; and no on e can feel
the air of ungraciousness which it imparts to the
work especially to the I ndian sections of it more
, ,

keenly than the writer himself .

But while I feel that in t h e following chapter th e

E arl of M ayo stands out more prominently from
among those who shared his labours than he himself
would have deemed right his method of working
,

renders the injustice l ess than it might be in some

other cases H e had a remarkable faculty for listen
.

ing to everything that could be said on a subj ect and ,

then shaping from many diverse counsels a course

that was d istinctively his own N 0 one could tempt
.

him into the error of being led to state his own con
clu s i o n s first and then havi n g to ask his interlocutors
’

opinion about them H e ha d the art of making every

.

one feel that he followed with a personal interest their

exposition of a case ; but at the same time that his
interest was that of a j udge not of a partisan I n
, .

I ndia the Provincial Administrations an d H eads of

D epartments represent the initiative the S ecretariats ,

the critical element in the Gove rnment A H ead of .

a Department is almost ex afi czo a man who has

'

something to propose A nd his plans of improve

.
 [ OE D M A YO S M E THOD OF WOR K
’
1 8 69 .

ment however admirable in themse l ves and however

, ,

economical they may purport to be at the outset mean ,

an eventual increase of expenditure Th e function of .

the S ecretariat is to pull such schemes to pieces to ,

expose their weak points and to put down the drag

,

upon every proposal that sooner o r later will cost

money A strong Viceroy acts as arbiter between
.

the two sets of forces thus constantly in motion .

What struck those who had to do business with Lord

M ayo was h is happy combination of qual ities required
for this diffi cult part of his offi ce H e was adored by
.

the more ardent administrators for the interest with

which h e listened to their plans E very one f elt sure
.

of a fair hearing But those who misinterpreted his

.

cou rteous sympathy into official approval found by a ,

very brief experience of his metho d of working that ,

they were mistaken F or between this initial stage

.

and ultimate action lay an ordea l of inquiry and e riti

ci s m a process of trying which h e sometimes renewed
,

afresh in his own mind even after his responsible

,

advisers had been convinced of the expediency of the

proposed measure H e insisted that each question
.

should b e thoroughly fought out by his subordinates ,

sending it if necessary back and back till every dis ,

uted point was absolutely disposed of before he

p ,

allowed himself to express his own views ; nor did

h e ever commit himself to a line o f action until the
chances had been exhausted of his having to alter it ,

in consequence of new evidence coming to light H e .

had the art of bringing to a focus whatever was sound

i n th e advi c e of conflictin g counse ll ors and al l parties
,
4 [ OE D M A y o s M E
’
THOD 01 ? WOR K .
VET 4 7
-
.
5 0,

felt that their strongest arguments had entered into ,

and were fairly represented by the conclusion at which ,

he arrived But they also felt that that conclusion was

.

his own and that he would adhere to it This open

,
.

ness to suggestions and plans of administrative i m

provement followed by an unusually protracted period
,

of criticism and scrutiny and backed by stedfastness ,

in the practical action which consummated it forms the ,

’
secret of the E arl o f M ayo s success as an I ndian
Viceroy .

The strong individuality which marked his measures

produced a correspon d ing sense of personal responsi
b i lit y in his own mind Amid the difficulties and .

trials to be presently narrated this feeling sometimes

, ,

pressed upon him with a weight under which even his

’
robust nature winced I t is a hard task he wrote .
‘
,

to a frie n d during the first dark months o f his

,

grapple with deficit ; but I am determined to go ‘

through with it though I fear bitter opposition ,

where I least expected it I have put my hand .

to the work and I am not going to turn back ; and

,

I will kill before I die some of the abuses of I ndian

, ,

’ 1
Administration .

When Lord M ayo received charge of the country ,

the fi nancial position stood thus The conquests and .

accretions of a century had left on our hands a sub ject

population of close on 2 00 millions with 5 0 millions ,

of f eudatories ; a yearly revenue of 4 6 millions stg ; .

and a deb t n o w aggregating 2 0 8 millions This debt .

2

1
D t d 8 th N
a e 1 8 69 ov . 1 .

2
He r e, a n d e ls wh
e e re t h o u gho u t t h i s ch a p t er
r ,
u l ss wh sp c i lly
n e en e a
1 8 69 TH E I N D I A N R E VE N UE .
5

represents th e permanent c ost of estab l i sh i ng t he

British Power i n I ndia O f the whole debt about .
,

7 0 millions ma y b e taken as th e charges of conquest ,

and about half as much m ore o r 3 5 mil l ions as th e , ,

price of reconquering and reorganizing the E mpire

after the M utiny of 1 8 5 7 T he remaining 1 0 3 .

millions stg have been spent on guaranteed rail .

1
ways canals and similar great pub l ic works
, T hey
, .

represent the cost of covering th e country with roads ,

constructing m ore than si x thousand miles of railway ,

defending great tracts from famine by canals and ,

b uilding the court houses pub l ic offices barracks -

, , ,

gaols hospitals and schools which form the material

, , ,

framework of a civilised Government T hat frame .

work th e E nglish i n I ndia have had to construct

entire l y afresh T he total capital is therefore nearl y .

equally divided into 1 0 5 mi ll ions l aid out in acquiring

and regaining B ritish I ndia and about 1 0 3 i n i m ,

proving the vast inheritance T he gross reven ue .

derived from the investment amounts in round ,

numbers to 5 00 mi ll ions of rupees or 4 6 mi l lion s

, ,

men t i o n ed , I ta k e l v lu of
th e r dup Th p o p ul
ee a t its re a a e 15 re e ar

mt ho d f co v t i g I d i su ms i t o s t l i g by ssu mi g t h up
. .

e o n er n n an n er n ,
a n e r ee

a t z s. ,i co v i t f
s n o u gh c l c ul t i o s b t d o s t co sp o d w i t h
en e n or r a a n , u e no rr e n

th e ac t u l f c t s W h my s t t m t s of v u
a a . en xp d i t u s m a e en re en e or e en re ee

t o d i ff f o m t ho s i c t i of t h B lu Books t h xp l t i o usu lly

er r e n er a n e e , e e ana n a

co s i s t s i t h i s c i c u ms t c
n n r an e.

Th c l c ul t i o
e a ki d ly p p d f m b y t h S c t y t t h
a n, as n re ar e or e e e r e ar o e

F i c i l D p t m t t who m my o bl ig t i o s wi ll b p s t ly c k ow
n an a e ar en ,
o a n e re e n a n

l dg d i
e e ,
f o ll ow s
s as To t l d bt 8 m ll i o s
. co s t of g u t d
a e , 20 i n a r an ee

ra i l w ys a d c t c ls 96 mi ll i o s ; co s t of co qu s t d c t i
an re en an a ,
n n e an er a n

p u bl i c wo k s 7 mill i o s th M ut i y d i t co s qu c s 4 mi ll i o s
r ,
2 n e n an s n e en e ,
0 n .

Th c l ss i fic t i o i t h t xt p oc d s
e a a n nth s m b si s b t
e ed vo u s r ee on e a e a , u en ea r

t s p
o e t th
ara e c t u l d d i t i o s t d bt i t h M u t i y cco u t s
e a a a n o e n e n a n .
6 TH E I N L A N D E E VE N UE .
VET 4 7 5 0,
.
-

1
sterling per annum O f this sum only 3 3 5 millions .
,

sterling are taken from the people The remaining .

1 2
% millions consist of the duty on opium paid by
th e Chinese departmental recoveries and other , ,

receipts not taxation E ven of the 3 3 5 millions .

of taxation 2 1 millions are furnished by the land

,

revenue forests and tributes and represent the

, , ,

value of the proprietary right which the governing

power i n I ndia has from time immemorial reserved
in the soil Whether this should b e considered as
.

revenue at all or merely as rental is a question on , ,

which economists are not agreed ; but after deducting

it the net balance of a little over 1 2 millions sterling
,

remains as the actual taxation in the ordinary ,

E urop ean sense of the word levied from a population ,

of close on 2 00 millions of souls I ncluding the land .

revenue the incidence of the 3 3 5 millions of taxation

,

in British I ndia amounts to about 3 8 4d per head ; ex . .

cluding lan d revenue the individual incidence is about ,

I S 4 d per annum
. . The average incidence of imperial .

taxation in Great Britain and I reland in 1 8 7 3 — 7 4 was

4 8 5 3 d exclusive
. of.local
,
and municipal rates .

1
Lan d ev u fo s t s
r en e, re ,
an d t ri but es,

S alt ,
C us omst ,

S t mps
a and mi n t ,
E x ci s e,

O pi um d p , e a rt men t al r e cov er i e s, an d o t h er r e c ei p t s n ot

t x ti o
a a n,
I S6 9 DE FI CI TS FR OM 1 814 TO 1 8 69 .

W hether regard be had to the amount of the public

debt of British I ndia or to the burden of taxation ,

upon th e peop l e the fi nances of that country com

,

pare favourably w ith those of almost any S tate in the

world But a nearer examination discloses another
.

aspect S mall as are the demands of the treasury

.

upon the people i t has been found di ffi cult and almost

,

perilous to augment th em to the level required for

the maintenance of efficient administration T he half .

’
century which preceded Lord M ayo s arrival in I ndia
had presented a long series of fi nancial shortcomings .

O f th e fift y fiv e years beginning with 1 8 1 4 —1 5 an d

-

ending with 1 8 6 8 6 9 only sixteen had shown a surplus

—
, ,

while thirty nine had been years of deficit T he tota l

-
.

of th e su rplus amounted to only 1 2 5 millions stg ; th e .

1
deficits exceeded 7 5 5 m illions of pounds The M utiny -
.

of 1 8 5 7 had alone increased the public debt by over

3 0 mil l ions within fo ur years The period imme .

’
d i a t e ly preceding Lord M ayo s arrival was if pos ,

sible even more discouraging T he last three years

, .
,

1 8 66 —6 9 l eft behind deficits aggregating 5 % m illions

,

sterl ing during a period of profound internal peace

, .

N o r was the inadequacy of the revenue the gravest

source of disquietude T h e estimates although .
,

framed with th e most accurate prevision wh ich the

material s at the disposal of the F inancial D epartment
p ermitted had constantly proved to be not in ac c ord
,

1
In c a l c ul a t i o n of t h i s s o r t wh i ch sp re a d s ov e a l o n g s e i e s of
a , r r

y ear s i t i s p o ss i bl e t o g i v e t h e mo u t i n s t e l i g w it h o nly a p p o i
,
a n r n n a r x

ma t e d e gr ee of a cc u ra c y s n o s i gl e v a lu e th a t ca b e t a k e f o t h e
,
a n n n r

r up ee a ppl i e s t o t h e e t i e p e i o d n r Th e a b ov e fi g u re s r e p resen t t h e
r .

r e sul t o f M r B a r c l a y Ch a p ma n s co mp u t a t i o n s
’
. .
8 M A TE RI ALS FOR THI S CH A P TE R .
PE T 4 7 - 5 0,
.

with the actual facts T hus the original estimate of .

1 8 6 6 —6 7 was for a small deficit of the results

of th e year showed a deficit of Again ,

the original estimate for 1 8 6 7— 6 8 was for a surplus of

the actual results showed a deficit of
or 2 5 millions less than the B udget esti
mate for the year T he events of 1 8 6 9 ( towards
8 6 — .

the close of which Lor d Mayo received charge of the

country) were equally alarming T he B udget estimates .

were for a surplus of 3 5 0 8 ; th e amended esti ,

mates a t the end of the year revealed a defi cit of

the actual results when all the accounts ,

1
were made up showed a deficit of , ; or 45
millions stg on the wrong side as compared with th e
.
,

Budget estimates T he three years preceding Lord .

M ayo s first Budget therefore left an aggregate deficit

’

, ,

of I ; and the estimates as compared with the ,

results had proved wrong to the extent of

,
1 .

’
This was for ordinary expenditure alone and exclu ,

s ive of the o utlay on extraordina ry ( or r e p r o d u c ‘ ’

tive ) public works which amounted during the last ,

t wo of these years to another 5 5 millions ; bringing

th e total excess of expenditure over revenue to the

almost incredible sum of in the three
2 ’
years preceding Lord M ayo s rule .

I n narrating the measures by which Lord Mayo

1
Or at th e n up ; Si Ro mi n a l x ch g of
e an e 25 . for t h e r ee r .

T mpl s S t m t of A p i l l Fi c i l St t m s
’
e e ta e 87 i th A
en r 2, 1 0, n e n nu a n an a a e en t
f o m 8 6 —6 t 8 7 3 7 4 p g 3 4 l i 8 O ffic of S u p i t d t of
r 1 0 1 o 1 -
,
a e 0 ,
ne e er n en en

Gov m t P i i g C l c t
e rn en 87 3
r nt n Th i s i t h offic i l d i t i o
, a u d
ta, 1 . s e a e n , an

I i t t h o u gho u t h p s t ch p t
u se r t e re en a er .

Th i s i
2
t th t of I s
s a o d p up
e ra e A xh i b i t d i t h O ffi c i l
. 1 . er r ee . se e n e a
1 8 69 L ORD M A YO S ’
FI N A N CI A L M I I VUTE S .
9

substituted a per i od of steady surp l us for this state of

chronic deficit I wou l d express m y obligat i ons for
,

materials an d assistance of many kinds to those who

laboured with him in the work S ir Richard Temple . ,

as F inance Minister had charge of th e reforms ; ,

and I have to thank him for several papers of great

value particularly one on th e I ndian Cash Balances
, ,

which (were it more publicly available ) would remove

that subj ect from the obscurity in which it is popularly
s upposed to b e enveloped S ir J ohn S trachey while .
,

acting for S ir Richard T emple had the immediate ,

task of i nitiating some of th e most important mea

’
sures and to his writings during Lord M ayo s life and
,

since his death I owe many facts and ideas repro

d u ce d in this book B ut my largest debt as regards
.
,

the pages which immediately follow is to M r Robert , .

B arclay Chapman the S ecretary to the Govern ment

,

of I ndia i n the F inance D epartment T his gentleman .

devoted one of those hard won breathing spaces which - -

’
happen in an I ndian civilian s care er to drawing u p
'

for me a narrative of Lord Mayo s financial measures

and I only regret that the condition which he has i m
,

posed o n m e of not reproducing the paper under his

name and in his own words prevents m e fro m print
i ng it in full H e thinks this prohibition due to the
.

office he holds and that there might be a risk of the

,

s
S t a t emen t , t h e t o t a ldfi
e ci t i s up )
gi v en at ( at z s. p er r ee .

s ld
I t ho u b d xpl t i o s f l g p t of
b e r e me m e r e t h a t e b ov
an a n or a ar e ar t he a e
d us ch g of p o l i c y h d t k pl c
e fic i t w e r e fo r t hco mi n g ; th a an e a a en a e,
wh by t h co st of c t i mi l it y wo ks t h
ere e er a nd s t i ll i co u s of
ar r en an n r e

co s t u c t i o w t sf d f o m t h x t o d i y t t h o d i y
n r n, as ra n e rr e r e e ra r n ar o e r n ar

A cco u t n .
I o L ORD M A YO S
’
FI N A N CI A L MI N UTE S [E31
.
4 7 5 0,
-

reader not accurately distinguishing between his

personal views and those which it may be his
official duty to give to the public as S ecretary to the
Government of I ndia I f my sketch shoul d b e found
.

in any d egree worthy of the subj ect with which it deals ,

the cre d it largely belongs to him .

’
But Lord M ayo s fi nancial measures were essentially
his own While therefore I owe much to the eminent
.
, ,

men who helped him to carry them out this chapter , ,

like all the rest of the book will be chiefly based upon
,

his o w n utterances I n some cases my duty will b e

.

c onfined to merely reproducing his own words B ut .

a financial reform operating over a great empire is of

, ,

slow growth and the proposals have to b e patiently

,

threshed out b efore any action is taken The process .

consists in the first place of an exhaustive corre

, ,

s p o n d e n ce with ten or twelve separate Local Govern

ments ; in the second place of a general reconside ra ,

tion of the question by the Government of I ndia ,

after th e collective sense of the Provincial A d mi n i

s t ra t i o n s has been thus gathered All this is gon e .

through by the Viceroy and his E xecutive Councillors

before the measure reaches the Legislature By the .

time that an administrative change arrives at i ts final

stage as a legislative enactment it has been writte n ,

about by every conceivable person capable of throwing

any light upon it and m inuted on over and over again
,

by the V iceroy himself A ny attempt to reproduce in

.

full all that Lord Mayo wrote and offi cially uttered with
regard to any one of his great financial reforms would
swell this chapter to a larger space than I have
1 2 B UD GE T OF 1 8 6 9—70 .
VET 4 7 5 0,
.
-

’
battle T he bully of M r Laing s time is in these days
. .

up in arms again F or the two past years deficits

.

have reappeared and in the current year I shall again

,

’
have to tell the old tale .

The I ndian Budget is a statement made before the

Legislative Council or published in th e G a z elle i n
, ,

spring shortly before the end of the financial year I t

, .

consists of three parts T he first exhibits the finally

.

ascertained results of the previous complete year tech ,

n i ca lly termed the A ctuals The second part known .

,

as the Regular E stimate gives the results for the ,

current year then at its close as far as they can be

, ,

made up in anticipation of the final adj ustment of the

I ndian accounts and H ome charges about eight months ,

afterwards Th e third or B udget E stimate consists

.
, ,

of a careful forecast of the revenue and expenditure of

the year about to begin S ir Richard Temple s first .
’

B udget delivered ( M arch 1 8 6 9 ) less than two months

,

after Lord Mayo assumed the Viceroyalty dealt there , ,

fore with the Actu als of 1 8 6 7 —6 8 the Regular E stimate

, ,

of 1 8 6 8 6 9 and the Budget E stimate of 1 8 6 9 — 70 The

-
, .

Actua s ofl 8 6 —6 8 disclosed a deficit of

1 7
or a shortcoming of more than 2 5 millions compared
with the origin al Budget E stimate for that year T he .

Regular E stimate for 1 8 6 8 —6 9 showed a deficit o f

instead of a surplus of as had
’
been calculated on in the year s B udget being again ,

a difference of 2 2 millions Warned by these short

7 .

comings i n the preceding years S ir Richard Temple ,

endeavoured to frame a very cautious B udget for

—
1 8 6 9 7 0 and estimated for a smal l surplus of
, 3 .
I 8 69 TH E DI S CL OS URE S OE 1 8 69 . 1 3

I t soo n appeared that even these statements were

more favourable than the financial situation warranted .

T he first symptom that caused Lord M ayo alarm was

the discovery that the cash balances in the treasuries
proved lower than had been estimated by more than
1
5 millions sterling at th e en d of the financia l year .

Lord M ayo s anxiety increased as the actual facts of

’

the past financia l year 1 8 6 8 —6 9 became finally known .

I tem after item turned out worse than had been

expected until the deficit of , as estimated i n
M arch grew to the vast sum of g 2
, as a sce r ,

t a i n e d from the completed accounts a fe w months later .

N o r di d the disastrous discrepancy appear only in the

A ctuals of 1 8 6 8 — 6 9 Circumstances occurred to raise
.

’
a suspicion in L ord M ayo s mind that the same fate
might be in store for the finances of the current
year . H is personal inquiries led him to order a
resuscitation of the whole Budget estimates an d ,

th e n o w ascertained facts of 1 8 6 8—6 9 disclosed an

inevitab l e deficit of for the current year
1 8 6 9 70 -
in place of the surplus of
,
as
announced i n the B udget of the 6 t h M arch Lord .

’
M ayo s perplexities were increased by the circumstance
that S ir Richard Temple after duly del ivering the ,

B udget had found himself compelled to proceed to

,

’
E ngland on six months leave S ir Richard s ex .
’

e r i e nce and knowledge were not therefore avai l able

p
at the moment when the V iceroy in his first months ,

of office found a n e w abyss of deficit suddenly open

,

under his feet F ortunately he had the aid of M n

.
,

n o w S ir J ohn S trachey who was carrying on the

, ,
 DI S CL OS URE S OF — 0,
1 4 TH E 1 869 .
[E li 47 5

duties of F inance M inister during S ir Richard s

absence .

T he disclosures which the last paragraph speaks of

with smooth certitude revealed themselves in 1 8 6 9 ,

only glimpse by glimpse and amid a wide divergence ,

of opinion among the responsibl e advisers of the

Government I t required the most resolute exercise
.

of his individual will to enable the n e w Viceroy to

tear the truth out of the conflicting accounts and to ,

get at the whole facts of the situation I am begin .

ning to find he wrote to a frien d as early as M ay

,
’

1 8 69 that our fi nances are not in as comfortable a

,
‘

state as they ought to be T he enormous distances .

,

the number of treasuries and the complicity of

accounts as between each render accurate forecasts ,

and rapid information almost insurmountably difficult .

T he waste of public money is great and I have been ,

obliged to take strong measures and say some very ,

’ 1
har d things about it .

E ach week found the Viceroy poring with a deeper

anxiety and a graver face over the accounts As h e .

probed into their hollo w places he found one estimate ,

after another break down beneath his scrutiny I t .

seemed as if he was never to get at the whole bitter

truth H is letters and papers during that summer
.

disclose scene by scene an d with a painful tension of

, ,

personal responsibility the slowly developing drama ,

of deficit ; but throughout every line breathes a firm

resolve that cost him what it might in ease or p op u
,

lari t y he would establ ish and maintain equilibrium in

,

1
Th e E ar l of Ma yo t o S i r S t a frord N o rthco t e , 1 6th M ay 1 869 .
1 8 69 TH E DI S CL OS URE S OF 1 8 69 . 1 5

the finances of I ndia Three months after the letter .

1
above quoted he wrote to S ir H enry D urand : , I ‘

have j ust received information which l eads me to '

believe that in two items of revenue a lOne we may ,

look for a decrease of half a million in the fi rst quarter

8 6 —
of 1 9 7 0 N o w it is our clear duty to do all that
.

we can to meet this I a m d eler mzn ea n ot to Act ive

'
’
.

mz ozlzer ‘
even if it l eads to th e diminution of th e
Army the reduction of Civil E stablishments an d the
, ,

stoppage of Public Works T h e longer I look at .

the thing the more I am convinced that our financial

,

position is one of great weakn ess ; and that our

national safety absolutely requires that it should be
dealt with at once and in a very summary manner , .
’

T en days l ater he had arrived at the complete ,

facts and had already shaped in his mind the course

,

by which he meant to encounter them A s will b e .

presently explained his measures eventually com ,

b i n e d retrenchment with additiona l taxation ; but to

the latter expedient he was personally most averse .

’
‘
I do not think h e wrote privately to the D uke of ,

2
A rgyll that increased tax ation is to any extent
,
‘

practicable Reduction of expenditure is our only

.

resource and I do not agree with those wh o say that

,

it is impossible T here are two ways in which it can .

b e effected — F irst by lessening the expense of ,

establishments notab l y the military ,

S econd by .
,

putting on local resources a large portion of the

charges for local obj ects such as roads sanitatio n , ,

education and the like now borne unfa i rly by the

, ,

1 4th Au gus t 1 8 69
1 2 2 t h A u g us t 1 8 6
4 9 . .
1 6 TH E DI S CL OS URE S OF 1 8 69 .
— 0
47 5 ,

I mperial revenue I shoul d be sorry to say how much

.

I feel the hard lot that is n o w cast upon us to recover ,

the finances from a state of deficit But unless we .

’
have a war which Go d forbid we will do it
, , .

The last four words ring with the intense person

ality of the Viceroy T hey will recall to many the
.

invincible energy of will by which he made every one

f eel amid the conflicting counsels of those days that
, ,

the retrieval of the finances was a foregone conclusion

under his rule ; and that the only basis on which he
would discuss each question as it arose was a basis
of absolute solvency in place of deficit H e passed
, .

through those stormy months with a splendid calm

which no surprise could perturb and no opposition
coul d ruffle and which made men know that they had
,

a master among them .

H aving thus exhibited the personal aspects of the

’
situation as they disclosed themselves to Lord Mayo s
own m i nd I n o w proceed to summarize the public
,

measures by wh ich he encountered the crisis .

Lord M ayo resolved to get at the fundamental

causes of the chronic state of deficit into which t he
I ndian finances had fallen The inquiries which he
.

then instituted showed that the financial collapse was

due partly to a failure of the revenue estimates e sp e ci ,

ally o f the opium duty and partly to an un d ue e x p e n

,

d i t u r e on Public W ork s the Army and certain Civil

, ,

D epartments The demands for expenditure on public

.

works in I ndia are unlimited and it had been usual ,

to allot yearly to this ob ject such funds as remained

,

unappropriated after providing for the general admi

1 8 69 E X P E N DI TURE RE D UCE D ,
1 8 69 . 1 7

n i s t ra t i o n . T his pract i ce was financ i ally safe

pro ,

v i d e d always that the estimates were cautious ; b ut ,

practically it acted as a temptation to over sanguine

,
-

forecasts ending i n deficits V iewed retrospectivel y

,
.

by the light of results the utmost that could have ,

been spared under this system for Public Works at ,

that time was from three to four millions sterl ing a

,

year D uring the previous year 1 8 6 8 6 9 5 5 millions

.
,
-
,

’
had been spent on Public Works under the ordinary
head ; and the net grant for the current year 1 8 6 9 —7 0 , ,

was 5 5 millions .

Lord M ayo mapped out for himse l f two distin ct

methods of dealing with th e situation I n the fi rst .

place h e resolved that the c ircumstances were s o

,

grave as to demand immediate measures for meeting

the immediately impending defi cit I n the second .

place he determined to attack the permanent causes

,

which had led to th e deficits and to prevent their ,

recurrence by a systematic readj ustment of the

finances .

The fi rst step taken by Lord Mayo and M r .

J ohn S trachey was to reduce th e overgrown grant

for Public Works by over — a measure

suggested an d carried out with unsparing faithfulness

by Colonel now M aj or General Richard S trachey
,
-
, ,

then S ecretary to the Government of I ndia in the

Public Works D epartment .

A nother great want of the I ndian peopl e is educa

tion and an almost unlimited sum can be usefully
,

spen t on this obj ect I t has accordingly always been

.

difficult for the S upreme Government of I ndia to resist

V O L . 11. B
1 8 E X P E N DI TURE R E D UCE D , 1 8 69 .
[A31 4 7 5 0,
-

the many urgent claims made upon it for that Depart

ment ; and the Local Governments in urging such ,

demands may well be pardoned if they consider less

,

the I mperial finances than the requirements of th e

,

people entrusted to their care The charge upon the .

I ndian revenues for E ducation S cience and Art , ,

had risen from in 1 8 6 1 6 2 to in -

1 8 69 70
-
. I n like manner there is scarcely any pur
,

pose to which the revenue can b e better applied than

to increasing the s ecurity of person and property
throughout I ndia . Besides large additions to the
number of the courts the expenditure on Police alone
,

had grown from in 1 8 6 1 —6 2 to A{ 2 2 7 0 2 00 , ,

in 1 8 6 8 —6 9 O ther D epartments equally important

.
,

and equally clamorous had augmented their e x p e n d i

,

ture at a still more rapid rate I n short the ten years .

,

which had elapsed since the dominions of the Com

pany passed to the Crown had seen the administration
rendered more efficient in many ways ; and the cost of
the improvements however admirable they were in
,

themselves had in th e aggregate become too great

,

for the revenue to bear I n ad d ition to the reduction

.

of for Public Works Lord M ayo found him ,

self compelled to curtail temporarily b y th e

expenditure on E ducation and other Departments
which had received an equally rapid development th e ,

whole amounting to a saving of during

th e current year 1 8 6 9 —7 0 .

I t became apparent however that reductions alone

, ,

would not suffice to produce equilibrium Lord Mayo .

had therefore to decide whether he would permit the

20 DE SP A TCH OF SE P TE M BE R 2 0, 1 8 69 .
VE T 4 7- 5 0 ,
.

latter to the revenue of t he year ; total ,

5
By means of this half million of increased ta x ation -
,

and the g of reduced expenditure Lord ,

Mayo hoped to cover the estimated deficit of the

current year namely 75 , ,

I n a letter to the S ecreta ry of State he reviewed in ,

minute detail each item which had led to the deficit ,

and explained t he policy by which he proposed to

encounter it The first sixty six paragraphs of the
.
-

despatch are devoted to individual heads of account

the remaining twenty deal with the more general
aspects of the crisis .

While the accumulated deficits of the three years

ending with 1 8 6 8 6 9 have amounted to 5 231: millions -
,

the cash balances in our I n d ian treasuries have

fallen from at the close of 1 8 6 5 6 6 to -

£10 ,
at the close of 1 8 6 8 6 9 a n d n o t wi t h -
, ,

standing our recent loan of g are at this ,

moment lower than they have been at this season for

many years D uring the same perio d our debt has
.

been increased by 6 5 millions of which not more than ,

3 millions have been spent on reproductive works

1
.

Y our Grace has reminded us that successive S ecretaries

o f S tate have enjoined us so to frame our estimates

as to show a probabl e surplus of from half a million to

a million sterling We entirely agree with your Grace .

1
P sp t ch t S c t y of S t N 4 d t d th S p t
ar a. 71 of D e a o e re a r at e o. 2 0, a e 20 e .

18 69 . d i c q uo t t i o s f o m t h D sp t ch I l v th figu s
N B — In
. . re t a n r e e a , ea e e re

wh gi v i s l i g t t h o mi l
en en n fter t h
n up Th i s
a e n na rate o 25 . o t e r e e.

ex pl i s pp
a n d i s c p c i s b t w t h D sp t ch d o h p
a ar e n t re an e e ee n e e a an t er al t s

Of h t xt
e te .
1 869 DE S P A TCH OF S EP TE M B E R 2 0, 1 86 9 . 21

in acknowl edging the soundness of this po l icy W e .

have no doubt that e x cluding c harges for E xtraordinary

,

Works prov i ded for by l oan our e x penditure in time ,

of peace ought to b e so adj usted to our income as to

l eave an annual surp l us of not less than one mil l ion .

The necessary conclusion to which we are thus led is ,

that nothing short of a permanent improvement in the

balance n o w subsisting between our annual income
and expenditure of at least three millions sterl ing will
suffi ce to place our finances i n a really satisfactory
condition H ow b y reducing our expenditure and
.
,

i ncreasing our income we can best obtain such a ,

result is the problem that we have now to solve

, .

We are satisfied that there is only one course

‘

which we can properly follow We must no longer .

continue to make good the deficit of each succeeding

year by adding to the public debt A nd we must .

determine whatever be the difficul ty of the task that

, ,

there shall henceforth b e no room for doubt that in ,

time of peace our incom e wi l l always b e in excess o f

,

our ordinary expenditure .

T h is which under all c i rcumstan c es would b e th e

, , ,

duty of our Government is at the present tim e a ,

duty of great and unusua l urgency O ur ordinary .

debt is now more than nin ety millions O ur revenues .

are already liable fo r m eeting the guaranteed interest

o n a rai l way capital of nearl y one hundred millions .

W e are embarking on a system of borrowing for the

construction of I rrigation Works and Railways under ,

the direct management of the Government which will ,

add every year very l arge su ms to our l iabilities

, , .
22 D E S P A TCH OF SE P TE M BE R 2 0, 1 8 69 .
[IE L
’

4 7
—5 0,

We confidently expect that this system by means of ,

which we hope to cover I ndia with a network of rail

ways and canals will add immensely to the national
,

wealth and ultimately to the resources of the Govern

,

ment B ut whatever precautions w e may take to

.

secure economy of construction and the good manage

ment of these works and to ensure th e early develop
,

ment of the revenues which they will yield a long ,

time must n ecessarily elapse during which the pay

ment of the interest on the loans contracted for these
great undertakings will form a heavy and probably ,

an increasing burden on the resources of the S tate

, .

U nder such circumstances nothing could be more

,

injurious to our credit in the money markets of the

world than that we shoul d borrow money to supply
,

our ordinary expenditure in time of peace .

We think it therefore most necessary that th e

public in learning that we have discovered our
,

financial position to b e much less favourable than

we had supposed shall learn also by action that can
, ,

not b e mistaken that we have not lost a moment in

,

adopting measures of so vigorous and unmistakeable

a nature that no room shall remain for doubting that
,

our finances have been placed on a thoroughly and

permanently sound basis N or could anything shor t
.

of an unreserved statement of the truth j ustify the

stringent and unwelcome measures of economy and
of increased taxation which we shall be forced to take .

We have therefore resolved to deal with the case

‘

in a complete and an uncompromising manner and we ,

are confident that your Grace will give to our Govern

1 8 69 DE SP A TCH OF SE P TE M BE R 2 0, 1 8 69 . 23

ment the fullest support and encouragement in carry

ing out the difficult task which we have undertaken .

We sha ll report without delay to your Grace th e ,

measures which we have already adopted or which ,

w e propose for the future A t present it is sufficient

.

to say that we shal l consider that our work has been

incompletely p erformed unless by reduction of ou r ,

expenditure and increase of our income we obtain i n , ,

the ensuing year a substantial and permanent surplus

,

of income over our expenditure .

I n regard to the current year we have had to

‘
,

choose between an immediate reduction of e x p e n d i

ture to the greatest possible extent that may still be
practicable an d an acquiescence in the necessity of
,

meeting the anticipated deficit by borrowing towards

the close of the year .

A s your Grace will readily understand after what

we have said we are extremely unwilling to adopt
,

the latter alternative We have accordingly deter

.

mined to lose no time i n initiating the stringent

measures of economy which we propose to adopt .

We are sanguine that even in the present year they

, ,

will produce considerable effect .

The still more serious and di ffi cul t question

‘

of the propriety of imposing additional taxation in

the course of the current year is also engaging our
’
attention .

Lord M ayo added th e fol l owing paragraphs with

his own pen
’
That with your Grace s ass i stance we shall b e
‘
.
, ,

successfu l i n the task which we have undertaken we ,

24 DE SP A TCH OF SE P TE M BE R 2 0, 1 8 69 .
[E n 4 7 5 0,
-

have no misgivings We are confident that ve ry large

.

re d uctions are feasible in our present expenditure in

many of the chief branches of the administration and ,

that if our proposals are acted upon no long period

, ,

of time will elapse before our finances are restored to

a really healthy state But we must remind your
.

Gr ace that there is one essential condition of success

which it is b eyond our power to command I t is .

possible that serious opposition may be offered to

some of the great measures of economy which it will
b e our duty to propose and especially to those mea
,

sures which will affect the military expenditure o f the

Government Y our Grace has strongly urged upon
.

us in your F inancial despatch N o 5 2 dated 2 6 t h .

,

J anuary 1 8 6 9 the necessity of reducing the present

,

enormous charges for the Army We are fully alive .

to that necessity and we are confident that measures

,

may b e adopted which while they lead to an immense

,

saving of money will not in the least diminish our

,

real military strength S uch measures are however

.
, ,

to a great extent beyond our control and unless we

,

receive th e most complete prompt and vigorous sup, ,

’
port from H er M aj esty s Government in dealing with
this part of the questions n o w at issue we fear that ,

our efforts to restore the equilibrium of our finances

will be ineffectual or at all events that the difficulties
,

which we have to meet will b e enormously increased .

U nder these circumstances we earnestly request that ,

we may receive all th e assistance which it is in your

’
Grace s power to give to us We venture to express .

the confident e x pectation that if we receive this assist ,

1 8 69 L ORD M A YO S S UM M I M G UP
’
. 25

ance we shal l not fai l i n the serious duty which we

,

have before us .

We have described to your Grace the dangers and

difficulties which in our opinion surround our present
, ,

position We must however in conclusion assure

.
, , ,

your Grace that notwithstanding the somewhat gloomy

,

picture we have been obliged to dra w the general ,

aspect of affairs inspires us with the fullest confidence

in th e future prosperity of I ndia .

We entertain no apprehension o f foreign i n

v asi o n or domest i c disturbance F or all purposes .

of defence an d for the preservation of peace our

, ,

M ilitary and Police organizations are strong and

effi cient .

T he splendid revenue of the E mpire is contributed

‘

by a population wh ich compared with that of other ,

countries is lightly taxed

, A s was proved by the .

success of our late loan th e credit of I ndia never ,

stoo d higher .

T h e enriching and civilising effects of the great

‘

Railway and I rrigation Works which have within the

last twenty years been constructed are beginning to ,

be felt throughout the l ength and breadth of the land .

By the blessing of Providence with the seasonable

‘
,

and plentiful rainfall of the l ast fe w weeks all danger ,

of famin e and of th e continuance of the l ate severe

,

distress has passed away

, .

T he steady rise which has taken p l ace in the va l ue

‘

of labour must ere long materially increase the wealth

and contentment of the people .

With u s then i t rests by care ful administration , ,

26 DE S P A TCH OF SE P TE M BE R 2 0, 1 8 69 .
[E n 4 7 5 0,
-

and by a strict adherence to those simple rules of

prudence and economy which in the conduct of the
affairs alike of nations and individuals are indispensabl e
to the attainment of safety and success to use to the ,

utmost extent for the benefit of the people the m ighty

, ,

resources of this great E mpire .

I t is because we believe that a heal thy and per

‘

manent system of finance lies at the very foundation of

real national progress and even safety that we com ,

mend to the most favourable consideration of your

Grace the measures which we shall deem it our duty
immediately to propose for the speedy attainment of
’
the obj ects we have described .

Lord M ayo havi n g devised his remedies pro ,

ce e d e d in a very stringent manner to carry them

out E ven before the whole facts of the situation
.

had disclosed themselves he had fixed his attention

,

on the fi nancial laxity which prevailed among certain

of the local governments ; and barely four months
after he assumed the Viceroyalty he personally ,

—
addressed all Governors Lieutenant Governors and
, ,

Chief Commissioners throughout I ndia on th e subj ect .

The following paragraphs are from a letter which

then issued under his personal signature— a n official
style only resorted to o n subj ects of the first import
ance and urgency
I have the honour to draw your special attention
to a matter which has lately attracted much public
notice and has been on more than one occasion
, , ,

referred to in Parliament .

I t is the difference which has for some time

‘
28 LE TTE R TO L O CA L G O VER N M E N TS .
[ZED 4 7 5 0, -

expenditure and for lessening the cost of any branch

,

or department of the service without diminishing its

effi ciency .

The necessity of strict regard to these principles

must be so clear and the advantage to the public ,

which will arise should they be rigidly adhered to , ,

is so apparent that I rely with confidence on your

,

support and assistance in the efforts that I am making

to ensure that the B udget E stimate of expenditure
for the year 1 8 6 9 7 0 may not in any particular be -

1 ’
exceede d .

This was th e first note of alarm sounded to the

Local Governments and D epartments With t wo .

exceptions the heads of the administration loyally

,

’
accepted Lord M ayo s views and proceeded at once ,

to give effect to them B ut the relaxed state o f .

responsibility in some of the governments made any

appearance of stringency unpopular Certain high .

officials in two provinces and several of the officers of ,

the F inancial Department itself seized the occasion ,

to submit formal remonstrances against even the

insufficient retrenchments which had been originally
made from their demands for the year O ne local .

government had asked for certain services ,

and received or only less than

its demand and a much larger sum than had ever
,

before b een spent on these purposes in that province .

1
F i c i l p oc d i g s N 3 4 3 th M y 8 69 L t t f om h i
n an a r ee n , o. . 1 a 1 : e er r s

E x c ll
e c y t h V i c o y d Gov o G
en e erl of I d i t t h Gov o s
an e rn r- e n e ra n a o e er n r ,

Li u t
e t Gov
e n an -
o s Chi f C o mmi ss i o s t ; l t t h v i o us
e rn r , e n er , e c. a so o e ar

D p t m t s of t h S up m Gov m t
e ar en e re e ern en .
1 8 69 RE B UKE TO TH E R E CA L CI TRA N TS . 2
9

Against this very moderate retrenchment by th e

Supreme Government it contended by arguments ,
covering twelve foolscap pages of small print B ut .
,

i ndeed the whole tone adopted by th e two recalcitrant

,

’
governments in reply to the Viceroy s warning letter
supplies a most curious proof of the financia l l axity
which had crept into the administration I t amounts .

to an almost grotesque exaggeration of th e tendency

among officials in I ndia (a tendency perhaps not
unknown i n E ngland als o) to treat th e F inancial
D epartment as a separate entity distinct from th e ,

General Government inimical to all progress an d

, ,

to be resisted by all means I n 1 8 6 9 and during .

,

several preceding years this tendency had reached a

,

dangerous height I t is scarcely needful to say that

.

that Department is merely the mouthpiece in financial

matters of the V iceroy in Council .

Lord M ayo dealt fi rmly and consistentl y with such

remonstrances H e ordered a letter to issue to the
.

l
recalcitrants i n the sense of th e following w o r d s .

What I am almost tired of asserting m ust be repeated ,

that his E xcellency in Council is determined that ,

as far as l ies in his power the ordinary expenses of

,

the E mpire shall not for the future exceed by a single

rupee the revenu e of th e year ; that if misfortune
occurs and income declines then the cost of every ,

department must b e proportionately reduced ; th at

political and financial considerations of the highest
order are involved in this determination and that I ,

and my Council are determined to adhere to them ;

P so 1
l o t e b y Lo d M y o d t d z t J uly 869
er na n r a
,
a e Is 1 .
30 RE S UL TS OF H I S M E A S URE S .
[E n 4 7 5 0,
-

that the distribution of the B udget grants is based on

a careful investigation of national requirements ; an d
that I am determined come what will that they shall
, ,

be regarded by every department as final and that ,

they shall neith er be exceeded nor r e appropriated -

,

except under circumstances of unusual exigency I t .

may b e added that I expect the cordial support of

every officer of the Government in a course of con
duct which is so essentially a matter of political n e ce s
s i t y and which must commend itself to the j udgment
,

of every man who has given any thought to th e

’
fi nancial position of this great E mpire .

This was written in J uly 1 8 6 9 an d as the inquiries

,

rapidly reveale d the full gravity of the situation Lor d ,

Mayo returned with a still greater feeling of anxiety to

the same subj ect I t is due to the able men who then
.

conducted th e Provincial Governments to add that as ,

soon as the real extent of the danger became known ,

they most loyally and heartily co operated with Lord

-

M ayo in the task of overcoming it I n those days.

of anxious exertion was laid the foundation of a

genuine friendship between the local administrators
and the V iceroy a friendship which was terminated
,
-

only by his death With the tru e E nglish instinct

.

for colonial sway each great offi cial s a w that his

,

own special views weighed as nothing against the

necessity of united and harmonious action The .

success won by their combined efforts will be pre

s e n t ly shown ; but it possessed aspects which cannot

b e exh ibited in figures and with regard to which the

,

b est authority is Lord Mayo himsel f When the .

 8 6 9- 7 2 ] H I S SP E E C H IN C O UN CI L .
31

crisis was over the deficit quenched and equilibrium

, ,

secured the V iceroy thus reviewed the events of th e

,

year to his Legislative Council

After th e very great amount of information which
has been placed before the public both in the ,

F inancial Despatch which we addressed some tim e

ago to the S ecretary of S tate and also in th e clear ,

statements which have been made here to day as to -

,

the reasons and causes which rendered it incumbent

on the Government of I ndia to take the unusual
course which has been adopted with regard to
I mperial F inanc e I have but fe w additional remarks
,

to make N othing has been kept back E verything

. .

has been fully described T he means which we pro .

pose to take to remedy the evils which exist have

been also as far as is possibl e laid with the utmost
, ,

care before the Co uncil A nd it is gratifying to me

.
,

as it must b e to my colleagues in th e E xecutive

Government to know that however much the public
, , ,

i n common with us may regret the necessity of th e

,

course we have taken — however much some of the

details of the proposals we have made may b e cr i t i
c i se d — yet we have received both from the public , ,

as far as we can j udge and certain l y from the Press

, ,

a generous and I may almost say a cordia l approval

, , .

I have littl e doubt that those sentiments which

have been s o generally expressed in I ndia wil l
’
be shared in by H er M aj esty s Government and by
public opinion at home and that eve ry candid man ,

will on careful consideration of the facts of the

,

case come to the con c l usion that th e c o urse we have

,
3 2 H I S R E VI E W OP H I S M E A S UR E S .
[E r 4 7 5 0,
-

followed was th e wisest an d safest that coul d have

been taken under the peculiar circumstances of our
position .

I am quite aware that that course is most unusual ,

but it is not altogether unprecedented I f history .

be examined and inquiry made into occurrences that

,

have taken place in countries where a representative

system of government is in full force it will be found ,

that o n special occasions a s imilar proceeding has

, ,

been adopted .

I have said that its necessity must appear to every

one to b e absolute T here were i n truth only two
.
, ,

courses open to the Government of I ndia E very .

one can form an opinion on the matter for our fin a n ,

c i a l position has been before the public during many

weeks The facts as we have d escribed them in our

.
,

financial despatch being fully known and verified we

, ,

had either to adopt a policy of concealment or of

candour H ad we adopted the first course we must
.
,

have placed ourselves i n this position — w e must have

remained in a state of silence till next M arch with ,

the full knowledge that the public were under a grossly

erroneous impression as to th e true financial state of
the country This was a position in which I think no
.

body of honourable men could for a moment have

thought of placing themselves .

F or though the statements which were made

‘

have been n o w for a considerable time before the

public we have found that the financial credit of
,

the country has not been seriously damaged but that ,

1 8 69 TO TH E LE GLSLA TUR E .
33

the pub l ic know i ng the worst an d feel i ng and a pp r e

, ,

ci a t i n
g the efforts of the Government to deal with the
di fficulty have seen that these difficu l ties can b e sur
,

mounted that there is no rea l danger to the permanent

,

financial p osition of th e E mpire and that administra ,

tive reforms and strict adherence to the ordinary rules

of economy and prudence are al l that is necessary ,

to place our fiscal affairs o n a sound and healthy

basis .

‘
S ome foreboding was certain l y expressed in one
o r t wo quarters I t was sai d that by the prema
.
,

ture disclosure of the real financial state of the E mpire ,

we shoul d run the risk of damaging national credi t

and throwing a general air of d i sco mfit u r e upon the
whole proceedi n gs of the Government .

I in common with my colleagues took a different

, ,

view which I think the result has shown to b e th e

,

right one I must say in j ustice to my colleagues

.
, ,

that th e resolution to take at th e earliest possible ,

m oment the public into th e confidence of the

,

Government was unanimously agreed to ; an d that

, ,

as soon as our financial position was ascertained

beyond a doubt we fel t that it was o ur duty to
,

lay those facts unreservedly before the public and ,

ask for its generous support in the measures which

we deemed it indispensable to propose .

I r ej o i ce therefore that casting aside th e adherence

'

to general routine we adopted this course I am not

, .

at all insensib l e to its disadvantage and its manifold

inconvenience ; it is certainly not a line of action I
should ever desire to repeat and I am strongly of ,

VO L . 1 1 . c
34 H I S R E VI E W OF H I S M E A S URE S [E n 4 7 5 0,
-

opinion that except under the most extraordinary

,

cir c umstances it woul d be quite unj ustifi able

,
.

B ut when we look to the situation of affairs— whe n

we look at the great deficit into which we were for a
—
fourth year about to be plunged when we knew that
means were in our power to avoid the evil — I think ,

the public will agree with me in saying that routine

and ordinary rules of administration were not co u si
derations which ought to have guided or controlled
the Government .

There is no doubt that a great deal of the evil that

has existed for some years has been owing not so ,

m uch to the fault of the administration as to the cir

,

c u mst a n ce that the Government have never been in

possession of the great financial facts of the year at a

sufficiently early period to make real use of them for
the purposes of administration I am quite aware
.

that there are great difficulties in this matter .

When people compare our system with that of a small ,

rich and compact country like E ngland they entirely

, ,

forget the enormous size of this E mpire— the great

distances which exist— the variety and complicated
—
nature of our accounts the amount of adjustment
which is necessarily carried on between various trea
s u ri e s and various accounting bodies They also forget
.

that the system which has been in existence in E ng

land for a very long period has only been recently
introduced into I ndia within I may say half the
, , ,

time of what may b e called the present generation .

T herefore when men blame us for inaccuracy of

,

fore c ast they should at the same time remember

,
36 H I S R E VI E W OP H I S M E A S URE S [E n 47 5 6 ,
-

I find that in
‘
a surplus of 8 —
1 6 7 68

was budgeted for the result being a deficit of on e ,

million .

I n 1 8 6 8 —6 9 I find that a surplus of upwards of

‘
,

two millions was budgeted for but a deficit of two ,

millions occurred I n 1 8 6 9 —7 0 a surplus of .

,

was budgeted for but a defi cit of nearly t wo millions

,

is expected I attach no blame to any one for this

. .

I am fully aware that explanations more or less satis ,

factory may be offered an d that during the periods I

, ,

have mentioned the fiscal policy of the country was

,

more than once changed during t he financial year .

B ut neverthe l ess th e facts I have mentioned are

, ,

incontestable and betoken to my mind a position of

, , ,

danger which ought to terminate I t is a state of .

things at all events which is sufficient to j ustify us

, ,

in using every effort to obtain at the earliest possible ,

moment the actual current facts with regard to our

,

revenue and expenditure Revenue must always fluc .

tuate to a certain extent E xpenditure ma y occasion .

ally exceed the amount budgeted for though it is more ,

under control But it is clear that no administration

.

can b e conducted with safety and with success unless ,

events connected either with revenue or expenditure

are known to the controlling power almost at the time
of their occurrence .

I believe therefore that by invoking the assist

‘
, ,

ance of every department of the Government in

preventing delay in forwarding useful information
th o u gho ut at t h e n o mi l e x ch a n ge o f
r na 23. p er r up ee. For t h ei r e xac t
v a lu e co n v erte d i t o s t e li g se e a te p
n r n , n ,
. 8 .
1 8 69 TO H I S LE GI SLA TI VE C O UN CLL.
37

i n trying a s far a s possib l e to avo i d th e l eaving of

any unequal or unusual disbursement to the end of
the year — i n endeavouring as far as possib l e to
spread th e expenditure over those month s of the y ear
i n which it general l y occurs —I think that by these ,

m eans an d a l so by great efforts o n the part of the

,

Govern ment of I ndia in condensing analyzing an d , ,

bringing to use the information at their disposa l ,

much of what has a l read y o c curred may for the future

b e avoided .

I hope i t w ill not now b e s upposed from the

‘
,

remarks I have made that it is my belief that inac

,

curate information has been supplied to the Govern

ment O n th e contrary I believe t he i nformation
.
,

which has been placed at the disposal of th e Govern

ment is thoroughly accurate a n d compl etely trust
worthy Bu t what I obj ect to is that that information
.
,

i s often given too late and th e detai l s are not

,

availabl e i n su ffi cient time to make them thoroughly

useful for administrative purposes I believe that .
,

considering the great power of this Government and ,

l ooking also to the rare advantages which it p ossesses

i n having in its service s o many able and e x perienced
officers there c an be really no substantial difficulty
, “

i n obtaining at an earlier moment th e vast amount

of information which is every year so carefully
collected and which has generall y been found to b e
,

so thoroughl y trustworthy .

I wish to say that we h ave e mb odied these

‘

O pinions in a despatch to th e S ecretary of State and ,

I have l ittl e doubt that i n the efforts wh i c h we

,
38 H I S R E VI E W OP H I S M E A S URE S [IET .
—
47 5 0 ,

intend to make in this direction we shall receiv e ,

the hearty approval and support of H er Maj esty s ’

Government .

‘
I have merely n o w to add on the part of th e ,

Government of I ndia h ow deeply we feel the general

,

support which has been given both by Local Govern

,

ments and also by the public generally to our pro ,

o s a ls as a wh ole
p .

‘
When the financial position was at first disclosed ,

I received from many quarters the most h earty assur

ance of active assistance F rom Madras whose
.
,

Government was the first to come forward without

invitation or suggestion on our part we received by ,

telegraph an offer saying that if necessary it was , ,

ready to add a considerable amount to the salt tax

in that Presidency .

‘
The proposal was immediately acquiesced i n by
B ombay and I may say that though there may be
, ,

some differences of opinion as to the details of the

reductions we propose we have never received any
,

expression of doubt as to the necessity of the case or ,

as to the duty of the Local Governments to assist

to the utmost of their ability the Government of I ndia
in the difficult and arduous task which we have
undertaken .

‘
We all know there must always be a considerabl e
difference of opinion among men who are e n gaged
in the conduct of great affairs especially if they ,

happen to be E nglishmen Y e t I believe there has

.

never been known an instance in I ndian history of any ,

g reat c ris i s in which the L oca l Governments failed

1 8 69 TO H I S LE GLS LA TLVE C O UN CI L .
39

in their dut y and refused the i r support to the S upreme

Government I can on l y say as has happened
.
,

before s o it has now that th e Government of I ndia

, ,

is most anxious to defer in all matters under discus

sion to those opinions ; but at the same time we must
express our firm determination to arrive at all ,

hazards and in th e shortest time at th e great financia l

, ,

result at which we aim .

‘
We are engaged in great interests and deal ing ,

with enormous s u ms we a r e engaged in an attempt

m

which may be summed up in t wo or three words .

W e have to change the fisca l condition of this country

in such a way as to give at the earliest possibl e ,

moment a financia l advantage of upwards of three

,

millions of money .

‘
I am now speaking not on l y the O pinion of th e
Government of I ndia but a l so that of the S ecretary
,

of S tate when I say that it is d ecided that— looking

,

to the many fluctuating items in the resources of the

country to the risks to which we are liable and th e
, ,

magnitude of th e interests i n v o lv e d u n le s s such a fi

result is obtained it cannot be said that I ndian

,

F inance stands upon a sound and substantial basis .

Although the effect of this great reduction of ex

‘

e n di t u re may be in a few cases somewhat to inj ure

p , ,

individual interests o r what is far more i mportant

, , ,

to postpon e for a short period works of usefulness

i n which we are all deep l y interested ; yet b y making ,

these sacrifices now we shall lay up for ourse l ves a

,

great store of safety and welfare for hereafter F or .

u nless such a course is taken we c annot hop e to ,

46 RE S UL TS OP E TS M E A S URE S .
[E n 47 5 6 ,
-

carry on with suc c ess and finish wi t hin reasonable

,

time those great works of improvement which are

,

so necessary to the life the comfort the health and, , ,

safety of the people and to th e speedy completion

,

of which the honour and the credit of this Govern

’
ment are pledged .

I have mentioned the immediate measures by which

Lord Mayo endeavoured to stay the impending
de ficit B ut he felt that such m easures strained
.

the whole mechanism of th e Government ; that to

stop public works on a sudden involved waste of
material while the increase of taxation during the
,

current year disc losed in a m ost undesirable manner

the shortcomings of our system and might prove a ,

cause of perilous discontent among the I ndian people .

’
‘
We have played o ur las t card he once said in ,

conversation and we have nothing left in our hands

,

to fall back upon except to devise measures which

‘

will prevent the recurrence of a similar crisis here

’
after. H e accordingly resolved to fi nd a permanent
remedy by removing the causes of the fi nancial
,

misfortunes in past years .

H is reforms divide themse l ves into three branches .

F irst improvements in the mechanism of the F inan

,

c i a l D epartment of the S upreme Government itself .

Lord M ayo thought that it would be vain to

ask the Local Governments to set their houses in
order if they coul d point to confusion or want of
,

prevision in his own S econd the more rigid

.
,

enforcement on the Local Governments of econom y

i n framing the i r estimates and of accurac y in keeping ,
1 8 69 TH E PI IVA N CE DEP AR TM E N T" I

within them W h il e thus i ncreas i ng the i r fiscal r e

.

sponsibility Lord M ayo a l so e x tended the i r fi nancial

,

powers Third a systematic and permanent readj ust

.
,

ment of the revenues and the expenditure .

Lord M ayo found that th e F inancial D epartmen t

of th e S upreme Government was susceptib l e of
i mprovement in several respects A s long as th e .

Company governed the country an d for some time ,

afterwards the public accounts retained many m arks

,

of their commercial origin and were kept with th e

,

elaborate detai l appropriate to the affairs of a

mercantile firm O ffi cers exp erienced in this system
.

believe that in theory it was more thorough and

exact than th e on e substituted for it during th e first
’
years of the Q ueen s rul e T here can b e no doubt
.

that it aimed at an accuracy of c l assification not now

attempted B ut whatever its theoretical merits it
.
,

proved i n practice too cumbrous for the p ublic

accounts of the E mpire wh ich the Company had
insensib l y won I ts very merits for a mercanti l e
.

concern became sources of most ser i ous defects when

applied on a vast scale and it was precisely because
it attempted so much that it was unable to a cco m
p li s h the absolutely necessary work within a reasonab l e

period I t failed in the first essential of a system of

.

public accounts I t failed in p u nctualit y ; and th e

.

hopes of attaining to an impracticable perfection

ended i n i mportant parts of the ac c ounts never
being comp l eted i n t i me .

O ne of th e ear l y measures o f H er M aj esty s ’

Government i n I nd i a was t he reorgan i zat i on of t he

42 I N DI A N S YS TE M OF A C CO UN TS [IEL '

47
—
50,

P ublic A ccounts on a more convenient and com

p e n d i ou s system Persons
. unacc u stomed to deal
with such accounts are apt not unnaturally to think
that they should follow the procedure which answers
so well in commercial concerns and b e constructed ,

o n the model of capital account quick and dead stock

,

accounts and the like I ndeed s everal very abl e

, .
,

members of the Committee of the H ouse of Commons

o n E ast I ndian F inance which sat in 1 8 70— 7 2 dis
, ,

closed a j ealousy and disapproval of any departure

from mercantile usage E xperience however proves
.
, ,

that details which are appropriate and even necessary

’
in a merchant s books become positively mischievous
,

in the more complicated finances of a State S im .

p l i ci t y and promptitude are the first requisites of

public accounts These essentials should never b e
.

sacrificed in the pursuit of elaborate classification or

fine distinctions— a pursuit which almost always ends
in confusion and delay ; which often gives rise to con
t r o v e r sy ; and sometimes affords scope for manipula

tions that should b e rigorously excluded I f for .

,

example a distinction b e made between capital an d

,

revenue there will constantly be room for doubt as to

,

whether a particular item should be placed in the one

category or in the other ; and a F inancial M inister may
consult his own convenience in the adjustment ; or
what is nearly as bad h e may be suspected of doing
,

so P ublic confidence in official accounts is sensitive

.
,

easily forfeited and with difficulty regained The

,
.

structure of such accounts should as far as practicable , ,

b e inte l ligib l e to all affording as smal l a c hance as

,
44 I N DI A N S YS TE M OF A CC O UN TS .
[E T 47 56 .
-

must be compiled as separate statements from the

fi nance and revenue accounts — the simplicity of which
is not to be tampered with for any purpose whatever .

Any desired degree of precision may be attained in

such separate statements but the finance and revenue
accounts are designed only to furnish with p ro mp t i
tude and in rough but suffi cient detail the facts and
, ,

figures required for showing the financial out turn o f -

each year and for regulating the ways and means

,

in the next All sums borrowed are recorded in a

.

separate account and are not mixed up with the

,

revenue and expenditure:

U nder this simple system the I ndian accounts o f
the year ( including the distant home charges) are
completed about eight months after its close A .

document is prepared towards the close of each

financial year which as already explained sets forth
, , ,

( )I the completed accounts of the foregoing year ; ( )

2
'

a revised statement styled the Regular E stimates

‘

of the revenue and expendit u re of the current year

then approaching its end ; and ( 3 ) a forecast or
’
Budget E stimate of the receipts and disbursements
of the year about to begin F rom the commence.

ment of this system under the Right H on J ames .

Wilson in 1 8 6 0 to the year of Lord Mayo s death

,
’

1 8 7 2 these statements were annually delivered before

,

the Legislative Council by the F inance M inister a n d ,

there discussed in the presence of the public and o f

the representatives of t he p re ss I f prepared with
.

accuracy they place the Government and the country

,

i n possession of ful l and recent information regardin g

1 8 69 DE FE C TS OF TH E S YS TE M 45

the state of th e finances at t he c l ose of each offi cial

year .

Lord M ayo accordingly set himself to find out the

causes which notwithstanding the excellence of this
,

system had led to a series of fiscal surprises

,
A .

series of able S tate papers and letters record the

-

result of his inquiries H e found that such surprises

.

were due in the first place to unpunctuality in th e

submission of the yearly estimates by the Loca l
Governments and Departments so that the Supreme
,

Government had not sufficient time to examine and

collate them before the season for delivering the
financial statement arrived H e discovered in the
.
,

second place defects in the F inancial Department

,

itself as regards intelligent observation of the pro

gress of the finances during the year The system .

of preparing the Local and Departmental E stimates

was found to require no amendment ; the financial
returns were su fficient for their purposes ; but of the
returns and estimates thus furnished an adequate use ,

had not up to that time been made The truth is .

,

that the proper utilizing of such statistics demands

much experience and special training The F inancial .

D epartment during the period of reorganization from

,

which it was j ust emerging had not found it possibl e

,

to overtake everything While therefore the Local

.
, ,

Governments and various Departments of the public

service throughout I ndia were complaining of the
number and complexity of the statistical returns
required from them the last act in the process which
,

wou l d have rendered these returns fruitful of results ,

46 T
N O S YS E M A I C S T TA TI S TI CS VET . .
—
4 7 5 0,

was l eft unperformed T oo much care and troubl e

.

can hardly be taken to record the facts of the a d mi n i

s t ra t i o n in each Department Without a knowledge
.

of these facts th e Central Government must work in

the dark But it works equally in the dark if it
.

allows these facts to accumulate in undigested

masses unchecked untested and not compared with
, , ,

the corresponding facts of other times and other places .

Without such fi nal collation the gathering of ,

statistics is indeed a thankless task I merely repeat .

th e statement of the M ember of the Government best

qualified to speak on the subj ect when I say that up , ,

'

to Lord M ayo s time no sufficient provision existed

,

for th e intelligent use of the statistical materials which

daily poured in I t did not seem to be understoo d
.

that th e toil expended by scattered Departments upon

the compilation of returns can bear n o fruit unless
they are intelligently studied by the central bureau
for which they are compiled S tatistics as they
.

’
existed in I ndia before Lord Mayo s rule and not ,

withstanding his efforts as they exist i n some Depart

,

ments to the present day are sorrowful memorials of

,

faithful subordinate labour rendered unavailing by

,

the indifference and neglect of higher offi cials M y .

own function may perhaps lead me to take too strong

a view in this matter I therefore conclude my r e
.

marks o n the subj ect with a sentence written by Lord

’
M ayo s F inancial Secretary a sentence which still
,

applies at this day ( J anuary 1 8 7 5 ) F ew reforms

would b e more widely beneficial to the civil administra
tion of I ndia than the introduction of a scientifi c s ystem
1 8 69 L ORD M A YO S
’
R E M E DI E S .
47

of register i ng th e various stat i st i cs n ow co ll ected in ,

such a way that their meaning might b e presently

understood by al l concerned and that they shoul d ,

’
remain i n readiness for immediate use in the future .

M eanwhile what Lord Mayo could do he effected

, , .

I n th e F inancial D epartment h e found t ha t a b e gi n n i ng

had been made in the shape of a volume published
,

during the very month in which h e assumed the

Government T he financial col l apse in 1 8 6 9 forming
.
,

as it did one of a series of similar catastrophes n ow ,

gave a new impetus to such work T he preparation .

of classified statistics was undertaken on a systematic

basis and with an extended scope H aving thus put .

his own house in order Lord M ayo took measures to

,

ensure punctual ity in the submission of the E stimates

by the Local Governments and Departments H e .

also organized or to speak more correctly remodelled

, ,

a system by which the S upreme Government n ow

obtains full information bearing upon the progress of
the finances month by month M r Chapman who
,
. .
,

as head of the D epartment is the officer most com

petent to speak thus writes of the results
,
I t is
not too much to say that it has become impossible for
th e Government to remain long ignorant of any i m
portant fact affecting the finances E xpectation may .

be disappointed mi sfo r t u n e o r mistakes may o ccur ;

,

b ut the Government will at least be prompt l y in formed

of the event and it is difficult to exaggerate the i m
,

portance of promptitude in this respe c t .

’

’
The financ i a l surprises had not however pro
‘
, ,

ce e d e d from tard y materi al s a l one L ord M ay o .

48 L ORD M A YO S ’
RE M E DI E S .
[E T 47 56,
-

having first secured completeness and punctuality in

this respect proceeded to attack the last stronghol d
,

of fiscal miscalculation by arranging fo r more time

,

and greater deliberation being bestowed in the F inancial

Department on the preparation of the E stimates H is .

reforms in this matter are of a technical character ,

not susceptible of being made interesting to the

unofficial reader I t must suffice to say that a full
.

statement is n o w recorded of the grounds upon which

each figure in the E stimates has been proposed by the
o fficers of the F inancial D epartment and that these ,

reasons are carefully considered by the Governor

General in Counci l before any figure is finally allowed
a place in the B udget T he E stimates thus arrived
.

at are compiled primarily from facts supplied from

about 3 00 treasuries scattered over a Continent 1 3 ,

D epartments of the S upreme Government and 1 1 ,

separate Governments or Administrations ; each one

of whom must exercise a certain degree of inde
pendent j udgment i n making th e initial c a lculation .

But the Fi n a n ci a l D epartment now fi nds itself able ,

by a series of stringent and exhaustive tests to de ,

te et errors in the j udgment thus exercised and when ,

a mistake arises to promptly trace it to its source

, .

’
‘
The vicissitudes of climate writes M r Chapman , .
,

the fluctuations of trade and the disturbance of peace

,

in any part of the great I ndian E mpire or even of ,

China may adversely affect the most cautiously

,

founded expectations But what care can effect is

.

n o w done and if failure shou l d o c cur the b l ame will

, ,
’
not rest on the s y stem .
1 8 69 THE I R I M M E DI A TE RE S UL TS ,
1 8 6 9—7 0 .
49

’
Before passing to Lord Mayo s measures for
securing economy i n the Loca l Governments and for ,

placing the re v enues of I ndia in permanent equilibrium

with th e demands o n them it may b e wel l to briefly ,

recapitulate the immediate results of his financia l

measures i n 1 8 6 9 7 0
— I nstead of the impending
.

deficit of the year 1 8 6 —

9 7 0 closed with a
small surplus of This surplus would not ,

however have been obtained but for certain windfalls

, ,

such as the recovery of th e val ue of supplies to

the Abyssinian E xpedition and the adj ustmen t of ,

several other l arge outstanding accounts N o t wi t h .

standing the vigorous measures adopted i n S ep

tember 1 8 6 9 th e cutting down of expenditure th e
, ,

stoppage of certai n Public Works the doubling of the ,

income tax and the increase of the sal t duty during the
,

’
current year it is only right to state that Lord M ayo s
,

efforts would not have obtained a complete success .

T here would still have been a small deficit although ,

a comparatively small one but for the said win d falls ,

and the S eptember measures so far as they failed at ,

all failed on the side of defect rather than of excess

, .

T he truth is that the fi nances were even in a worse

,
‘

’
state than Lord M ayo s fi rst investigations disclosed ;
and his measures instead of being too stringent (as
,

some have supposed ) erred on the side of leniency

, .

’
‘
T hat after all these efforts writes the gentleman ,

who was then and is still F inancial S ecretary to the

Government of I ndia there was not a deficit was
,
‘
,

due only to the unexpected adj ustment in the accounts

of the year of some i mp ortant outstanding items
, .

V O L. 1 1 . D
 THE I R I M II E D I A TE RE S UL TS T 4 7 — 0,
5 0 I ,
1 8 6 9- 7 0 .
VE 5 .

T he deficit that would have accrued in 1 8 6 9 7 0 had —

,

no counteracting measures been taken was n o ,

t

’
therefore over estimated ; in fact that deficit would
,
-
,

have exceeded the disclosed by the

S eptember inquiries The actual result was a small .

surplus of
F rom that time until th e failure of the winter crop
’
in Ti r h u t the year after Lord M ayo s death a series
, ,

of stea d y surpluses replaced th e chronic deficits of the

preceding years The following figures have been .

kindly drawn up for me by the F inancial S ecre tary ;

they represent the revenu e and expen d iture on the
ordinary accou nts and exclusive of Public Works ,

extraordinary

1 8 66 7 ,
-
1 8 6 9 - 7 0, 1 8 7 04 ,

1 8 67 8 ,
-
1 87 1 -
2,

1 868 9,
-
1 87 2 3,-

T ta o l d fic i t of h
e t re e T tao l su pl s f t h
r u or re e
y s d cd
e ar re u e to y s du c d
e ar re e to
St l g
er i n . S li g
t er n .

The last three years embrace Lord M ayo s entire ’

rule ( after he had set the finances in order during his

first months of office) together with the year which ,

was j ust about to commence and for which the fin a n ,

c i a l arrangements had been carefully considered at ,

the time of his death .

5 2 TH E OLD S YS TE M [
/ET 4 7 -
.
5 0,

lapsed at the close of the year to the I mperial Trea

su ry I n short the whole I mperial Revenues of I ndia
. ,

were portioned out by hard and fast lines into a mul

t i t u d e of separate grants and no subsequent transfer ,

from one grant to another was permitted ( except

un d er very special circumstances) during the current
year T his system had b een found during a con
.

s id e ra b le period before Lord M ayo s accession to ,

work badly T he hard and fast restrictions placed o n

.

the Local Governments led to frequent breaches of the

rules by them and involved some of them in a state
,

of chronic controversy with the Governor General in -

Council .

The system also acted i n a manner most unfavour

abl e to economy T he Local Governments were under
.

no compulsion to a dj u st their expenditure to a n y

limited scal e of income and s everal of them fell into
,

th e habit of framing their d emands upon the I mperial

T reasury with an eye rather to what they would like
,

to spend than what was absolutely required Pr a c .

tically writes one who had the o fficial control o f the

,
’

system the more a Government asked the more it

,
‘
,

got ; the relative requirements of the Local Govern

ments being measured by their relative demands .

A ccordingly they asked freely and increasi n gly .

Again knowing that any money saved at the end of

,

th e year was lost to th e provincial administration a ,

Local Government was little anxious to save These .

’

words while representing the facts do not necessarily

, ,

i nvolve a reproach I n I ndia more money can b e .

s pent with advantage on eve r y branch of the a d mi n i

1 8 69 —7 I TS UN SA TI SP A C TOR V WORKI N G .
53

s t ra t i o n than the revenues of th e country will permit .

E ach offi cer in a Province from the Governor down ,

to the youngest civilian in charge of a S ubdivision is ,

struggling to raise his administration to the E uropean

standard of efficiency The problem which every.

where recurs is h o w to place th e courts police gaols

, , , ,

s chools medical charities and means of co mmu n i ca

, ,

tion on a footing that shall satisfy the imported

,

E nglish idea of good government and at the same ,

time not exceed the meagre revenues yielded by

an Asiatic scale of taxation I n short how to a d .
,

m inister as effi ciently i n I ndia at a cost of 3 s 4 d per , . .

head to the population as i n E ngland at a cost of

,

4 8 s .
3 d per.head U nder the.financial system which
Lord M ayo found at work each Local Government ,

had an eye only to its own wants as regards e x p e n d i

ture without sharing in th e responsibility of fairly
,

adj usting those wants to the national I ncome That .

responsibil ity rested with the Governor General in -

Council a l one .

L ord M ayo clearly discerned that in order to secu re ,

th e co operation of the Local Governments in the work

-

of financial reform he must invest those Governments

,

with a share of the financial responsibil ity M ore .

than on e of his predecessors had arrived at a similar

concl u sion and indeed one school of I ndian statesmen
,

had gone so far as to advocate the almost comp l ete

fi nancial indep endence of the Local Governments .

T his schoo l would surrender to each separate a d mi n i

s t r a t i o n the revenue raised within its territories on ,

the singl e c ondition of a rateabl e contribution for the

54 R E M E DI E S P R OP OSE D .
[E n 4 7 5 0,
-

expenditure common to the E mpire such as the A rmy ,

and the P ublic D ebt Their scheme however had

.
, ,

not been found capable of adoption Lord Mayo was .

himself opposed to anything like a disintegration of

th e E mpire and expressed himself strongly as to the
,

importance of maintaining its unity intact At th e .

same time he was convinced of the necessity for some

,

change and he proceeded to practically effect it The

, .

reform in his hands took the shape of a carefully

guarded concession to the Local Governments After .

an exhaustive preliminary correspondence with each

separate administration he issued a resolution on the
,

1 4 th D ecember 1 8 7 0 which may be called th e Charter

,

of the Provincial Governments By this document .

,

which in due time received the approval of the S ecre

tary of S tate a fixed yearly consolidated grant was
,

made to each Government to enable it to defray th e ,

cost of its principal services exclusive of the Army , ,

but including Public Works The grants thus made .

are final being liable to reduct i on only in case of

,

severe financial distress Th ey belong absolutely to .

the respective Local Governments N 0 savings from .

any one of them revert to the I mperial Treasury .

T heir distribution is left to the free d iscretion o f the

Local Governments without any interference on the
,

part of the Governor General in Council I n fact

-
.
,

th e only conditions imposed are those necessary to

restrict the powers o f the Local Governments within
the limits assigned by Parliament and H er M aj esty s ’

S ecretary of S tate to the powers of the S upreme

Government of I ndia itself ; and to prevent a Local
 1 8 69- 7 a ] RE S OL UTI ON S OF DE CE M BE R 1 4, 1 8 70 .
55

Government from embarrass i ng its neighbours by

l
capricious or inj udicious innovations .

The constitution of the 1 4 th D ecember 1 8 7 0 still

remains the Charter of th e Local Governments N 0 .

fresh principles have been introduced and the only ,

modification i t has undergone has been the transfer of

certain additional services to the Provincial Govern
ment with corresponding additions to their grants
, .

The constitution as framed by Lord M ayo has

developed but otherwise has remained unchanged , .

The magnitude and exact bearing of this reform

1 Th e c i a l co t o l wh i ch i s t h us e n t us t e d t o t h e Loc l Gov e n
fi n an n r r a r

me t s i s t b e e e c i s e d subj e c t t o t h e f llo wmg co d t i o n s

n o x r o n i

I W t ho u t t h e p e v i o us s
. i c ti o o f t h e Gov e me t of I d i a
r an n rn n n ,

N o pp o i t me t i s t o b e c e t e d w i t h
a n s l y of mo e t h a n
n r a a a ar r

Rs 2 5 0 a mo t h d o a dd i t i o i s t o b e ma d e t o t h e p y d ll o w
. n ,
an n n a an a

a ce s of
n y o ffic e r i f t h ey e x c e e d o w o ul d a ft e t h e a dd i t i o
an e x c e ed ,
r r n

Rs 2 50 mo t h
,

. a n .

N 0 c l a ss o r g d e of offic e s i s t o b e c e a t e d or a b o l i s h e d
ra d r r ,
an

t h e p y of n o c l ss o g d e of o ffic e s i t o b e
a a i se d
r ra r s ra .

N dd i t i o i t b e ma d e t t h e p y o a ll owa c e s of a y i d i
o a n s o o a r n n n

v i d u a l o c l a ss of offic e s t h t wo ul d l e a d t o i c e s e i t h e e mo l me t s
,
r r ,
a n r a n u n

o f a y publ i c s e v
n t s d oi g d ut y i t h e s me P ov i c e who s e p a y
r an n d n a r n , an

a ll owa c e s ar e ch ge d t o t h e I mp e i a l r e v e u e s Th e Gov e me t of
n ar r n . rn n

I d i a r e s e v e s t o i t s e l f t h e r i gh t t o fo b i d l t e a t i o s i n
n r t e s of p y o r a r n ra a r

a ll ow c e s wh i ch i n i t s o p i n i o wo ul d p o d u c e i co n v e n i e c e i n o th e
an ,
n
,
r n n r

p ov i c e s
r n .

N o mo e ys a r e t o b e emov e d f o m t h e publ i c t r e a su e s f
n r r ri or

i n v e s t me t n .

N o s e v i c e s ow r e d e re d t o o t h e D e p a tmen t s a t t h e ch g e
r n n r r ar

of t h e D e p a t me t s n ow ma d e ov e r t o t h e co t o l of t h e Loc l Gov e n
r n n r a r

m e t s a e t o b e d i mi i s h e d
n r d s e v i c e s ow e d e e d t o t h e s e
n ,
an no r n r n r

D e p t me n t s a t t h e ch ge of o t h e D e p t me t s e t o b e i c e s e d
ar ar r ar n ar n r a .

I I Th e R u l e s of t h e S up re me Gov e me t i
‘
. e sp e c t t o l e a v e of rn n n r

a bs e n c e d a bs e t ee d e pu t a t i o n a n d s u p er a n n u a t i o n a ll ow a c e s a e
,
an n , n ,
r

t o b e o bs e r v e d .

I I I R e t u n s a cco u t s a n d e s t i ma t e s a re t o b e su b mi t t e d t o t h e
‘
. r ,
n , ,

S up r e me Gov e me t i n su ch fo ms a n d a t su ch t i me s a s ma y b e p e
rn n r , ,
r

s c ri b e d — R e s o lu t i o n of t he Gov e n o r G en era l i n C o un c i l N o 3 3 34
’
. r -
, .
,

d a t e d l4 t h D e c emb er 1 8 7 0 p ar 2 1 , . .
5 6 C HAR TE R TO L O CA L G O VE RN M E N TS .
[E l 4 7 5 0,
-

may be illustrated thus T he ordinary civil e x p e n d i -

ture of British I ndia in 1 8 7 2 3 for example was -

, ,

3 1 5 millions of pounds reduced to sterling Of , .

this sum about 1 1 5 millions went as interest on deb t ,

allowances secured by treaty and pensions leaving ,

1 8
5 millions as the cost of the Civil A dministration ,

including Publ ic Works O f these 1 8 2 millions more .

than 4 7; millions were assigned to the Local Govern

3

’
ments in solidarity under Lord Mayo s resolution of
the 1 4 th D ecemb er I f it be borne in mind
that the remaining 1 4 millions include the whole cost
3
o f collecting the revenues besides nearly 1 7, millions ,

expended i n the purchase of crude opium it will be ,

perceived how largely and h o w fundamentally Lor d

’
M ayo s concessions to the Local Governments affected
the civil administration of the E mpire .

Lord M ayo in fact divided th e administration into

, ,

t w o great sets of services O ne set he thought could .

be most cheaply conducted by the Central Govern

1
Th e gr an t s a s at fi r s t fi xe d i 1 8 7 0 w e re a s fo ll ow s
n

Ou dh ,

C t l P ov i c e s
en ra r n ,

B u rmah ,

Be g ln a ,

N o t h W e s t e n P ov i n c e s
r -
r r ,

P a j ab
n ,

s
M a d ra ,

Bo mb y a , 5

1I

h s o
I n t i N t e an d e ls wh e er e, in qu o t i g fi g s f o m t h R s olut i o
n ur e r e e n

of t h e 1 4t h e em D c b gi v e t h e m a s i n t h t d oc me t t t h e
er 1 8 7 0, I ,
a u n ,
a

r at e of 2 5 t o th e r
. up ee w i t ho u t m ki g t h e e d c t i o t o t s p e s e t
,
a n r u n I r n

s t e l i g v alu e of I s 1 o d C e t i dd i t i o s h av e s i c e b e en m d e d
r n . . r a n a n n a an

t h e a ggr e g a t e of t h e P ov i n c i a l S ervi c e s G r n t i n 1 8 7 2 7 3 e x c e e d e d 4%
,

r a -

mill i o n p o u n d s r ed uced t o s te li g
,
r n .
1 8 69 FI X E D PR O VI N CI A L A SSI GN M E N TS .
57

ment ; for the econom i ca l management of the o ther

h e rendered the Loca l Governments directly r e sp o n
sib l e T h e services thus made over to them incl uded
.

the protection of person and property the education ,

of the people the record of all changes or transfers

,

connected with landed property sanitation Local , ,

P ublic Works and a vast number of minor branches of

,

government F or official purposes they are grouped

.

as follows

J ai l s
.

Registration .

Police .

E ducation .

M edical S ervices ( except ‘

M edical E stab l ish

Printing (an enormous item in I ndia) .

Roads .

Civil Bui ldings an d various Public Works .

M iscellaneous Public I mprovements and ser ,

vices o f many sorts .

E ach Loca l Government now publishes its yearly

estimates in its own Gazette ; together with a financial ‘

’
exposition which should to quote the Resolution of
,

th e 1 4 th December 1 8 7 0 where possible b e made ,

‘
,

b efore th e Local Legislative Councils anal ogous to ,

that annually made in the Legislative Council of

’
th e Governor General I t has become almost
-
.

difficult to realize the preceding state of th ings .

U nder th e then existing system says another para ,

graph o f the Reso l ution these Governments have ,

‘
58 NA TURE OF TH E R E FOR III — 0,
V 47 5
ET .

little l iberty and but fe w motives for economy in

their expenditure T he Local Governments are
.

deeply intereste d in the welfare of the people confided

to their care ; and not knowin g the requirements,

of other parts of the country or of the E mpire as ,

a whole they are l iable in their anxiety for a d mi n i

, ,

s t r a t i v e progress to allo w too littl e weight to fiscal

,

considerations O n the other hand the S upreme

.
,

Government as responsible for the general fi nancial

,

safety is obliged to rej ect many demands in them

,

selves deserving O f all encouragement and is not ,

al w ays able to distribute satisfactorily the resources

actually available Thus it happ ens that the S upreme
.

and Local Governments regard from d ifferent points

of V i e w measures involving expenditure ; and the
division of responsibility b eing ill d e fin e d there -
,

occur conflicts of opinion inj urious to th e public

se rvice . I n order to avoid these conflicts it is ,

expedient that as far as possible the obligation to

, ,

find the funds necessary for administrative improve

m ents should rest upon the authority whose i m
mediate duty i t is to devise such measures .

T he V iceroy deeply realized the responsibility of

the act which he was taking and bestowed upon ,

its elaboration unwearied personal care The .

Resolution of th e 1 4th D ecember his secretary

writes to me was essentially his own work through
,
‘

out a n d the last seven paragraphs were written

,

’
with his o w n hand T hese paragraphs run thus
.

The Governor General in Council is fully aware

-

that this Resol ution will effect a wide change i n

66 L ORD M A YO S VI E ’
W OP I T .
VET 47 5 6 ,
.
-

hitherto taken l ittle or no part in the work of social

and material advancement .

Th e additional powers of financial control which

will n o w b e assumed by the Governments must be
accompanied by a corresponding increase of a d mi n i
st ra t i v e responsibility I t is the desire of th e
.

Governor Gen eral in Council to confine th e inter

-

ference of th e S upreme Government in I ndia i n

“ "
the administration of the Provincial S ervices to
what is necessary for the discharge of that respons i
b i li t y which the Vicer oy in Council owes to the
Q ueen and her responsibl e advisers and for the ,

purpose of securing adherence to the financial con

d i t i o n s n o w prescribed an d to the general p olicy ,

of the Government of I ndia .

T he procedure of the D epartments of Registra

“
" “" "
tion ,
Gaols and Police is to a large extent
,

governed by la w N o la w exists upon the subj ect

.

“ "
of E ducation But the policy of the Government
.

has been declared and prescribed in despatches

from the S ecretary of S tate the authority of which ,
'

and of the Rules sanctioned by the Government of

I ndia regarding Grants i n A id and other matters of - -

general principle is not affected by this Resolution

, .

‘
S ubj ect to these general conditions the Govern ,

m ents will henceforth enj oy full liberty in th e ex

“
e n d i t u r e of the funds appropriated to Provincial
p
"
S ervices . I t must however be u nderstood that
, ,

in thu s divesting himself of control the Governor ,

General in Council divests himself also to a large

extent of his former responsibility I f responsibili t y .
1 8 69 RE S UL TS OF H I S R E FOR III . 61

for exp enditure is retained control cannot b e ,

re

n o u n ce d .
‘
Th e Governor General i n Council delegates to
-

the Local G overnments this large additional share

of administrative power without hesitation or distrust ,

believing that i t will b e exercised with wisdom ,

’
liberality and prudence,
.

M r Chapman after four years experience in

.
,
’

working this measure as chief F inancial S ecretary

to the Government of I ndia writes to me as follows ,

‘
The reform thus introduced has been thoroughly
successful A t the outset some authorities including
.
, ,

the chief officers of the F inancial Department itself ,

were doubtful as to whither the measure would lead .

I t is now generally acknowledged that its effects

have been to promote a good understandi ng between
the S upreme and the Local Governments ; to increase
the interest of th e latter Governments in their
work ; to enlarge their power to do good and to ,

relieve the I mperial E xchequer fro m an old class

of urgent demands T hese results have been o b
.

t a i ne d without any sacrifice of the authority and

dignity of the Government of I ndia and without ,

’
any tendency to financial disintegration A s already .

stated Lord M ayo l ooked upon such a tendency as

,

a source of d a nger to the British Rule in the E ast .

’
The word decentralization was hateful to him
‘

and he obj ected to it b eing uttered either in th e

Council or even i n casual conversation by those
,

about him T he permanent merit of his reform

.

consists in the fact that be en l arged the respons i

 RE WE D S TR A CII E V — 0
62 VI E E V SI R f .
[£ T. 47 5 ,

of the Local A dministration and gave them

b i li t i e s
a n e w incenti v e to economy without diminishing the ,

authority of the Central Government or loosening ,

the unity of the British Power in I ndia .

S ir J ohn S trachey thus s u mmarizes the character

of the reform and its results U nder the system
which Lord Mayo found in force when h e became
V iceroy the Local Governments which practically
, ,

carry on the whole administration of the country ,

had almost no powers of financial control over the

affairs of their respective Provinces and no financial ,

responsibility E verything was rigo r ously centralized

.

in the S upreme Government which took upon i t self ,

in detail th e provision of funds for every branch of

the public service throughout I ndia The business .

of supervising i n a central office all the details of

th e receipts and expenditure of the E mpire had
b ecome so enormous that its proper performance
,

“ "
was impossible I do not think wrote S ir H enry
.
,

“
Maine in 1 8 6 7 that anybody can have observed
,

the recent workings of our system of financial control

without coming to the conclusion that if it be not ,

o n the point of an inevitable collapse it is at all ,

events i n great danger of going to pieces unless

the strai n b e lightened somewhere The rules i m .

posed o n th e Local Governments depend for their

f orce like all laws on the effi cacy of the penalty
, ,

which they threaten i n the event of disobedience .

The penalty is in the present case a reproof from

, ,

the Government of I ndia But if any Local Govern .

—
ment has become whi c h an y L ocal Government
1 8 69 R E VI E IVE D BY SI R ] . S TRA CHE Y . 63

might becom e at any day — entirely callous to th e

rebukes of the Government of I ndia through dis ,

covering— which any Local Government may at any

time discover— that these rebukes lead to n o ulterior
consequences then the Central Government may fin d
,

itself comp elled to condone i nfraction s of its rules ,

and to allow the S hare of its revenues which it has

allotted to a particular Province to be exceeded .
"

F or many years before Lord Mayo became

‘

V iceroy the ordinary fi nancial condition of I ndia

,

had been one of chronic deficit and one of the main ,

causes of this state of affairs was the impossibility

of resisting the constantly increasing demands of the
Local Governments fo r the means of provi d ing many
kinds of i mprovement in the administration of their
respective Provinces Their demands were practically
.

unlimited because there was almost no limit to their

,

legitimate wants The Local Governments had n o

.

means of knowing th e measure by which their annual

demands upon th e Government of I ndia ought to
b e regulated They had a purse to draw upon of
.

unlimited because of unknown depth They saw on

, , .

every s ide the necessity for improvements and their ,

constant and j ustifiable desire w a s to obtain for their

own Provinces and peopl e as large a share as they
could persuade the Government of I ndia to give
them out of the general revenues of the E mpire .

T hey found by experience that the l ess economy

,

they practised and the more importunate their

,

demands th e more likely they were to persuade th e

,

Government of I ndia of the urgenc y of their require

64 R E VI E WE D B Y SI R j S TRA CHE Y .
-
56 ,

ments I n representing those requirements they fel t

.

that they did what was right ; and they left to the
Government of I ndia which had taken the task ,

upon itself the responsibility of refusing to provide

,

the necessary means .

‘
The Government of I ndia had totally failed to
check the constant demands for increased expenditure .

T here was but one remedy : namely to prevent the ,

demands being made ; and this could only b e done by

imposing on the Local Governments a real and an
effectual resp onsibility for maintaining equilibrium i n
their local finances There could be no standard of
.

economy until apparent requirements were made ab s o

lu t e ly dependent upon known available means I t was .

impossibl e for either the S up reme or Local Govern

ments to say what portion of the provincial revenues
was properly applicable to local wants The revenues .

of the whole of I ndia went into a common fund and ,

to determine ho w much of this fund ought fairly

to b e given to one Province and how much to
“
another was impracticable
,
Th e distribution of .

"
the public income Maj or General R S trachey wrote
,
-
.
,

“
degenerates into something like a scramble in ,

which the most V iolent has the advantage A s local .

economy leads to no local advantage the stimulus ,

to avoid waste is reduced to a minimum 5 0 as no .

local growth of the income leads to an increase of

‘

the local means of improvement the interest in ,

developing the public revenues is also brought down

to the lowest level .

The unsatisfactor y condition of the financial re l a

‘
1 8 69 7 2
-
] R E VI E WE D E V SI R S TR A CPI E V . 65

tions between the S upreme and th e Loca l Governments

l ed to still more serious evils Constant di fferences
.

of opinion about p etty details of expenditure and ,

constant interference of th e Government of I ndia

i n matters of trivial importance brought with them , ,

as a necessary consequence frequent conflicts with

,

the Local Governments regarding questions of pro

v i n ci a l administration of which they were the best
j udges and of w hich the Government of I ndia coul d
,

kno w little The relations between the S upreme

.

and Local Governments were altogether i n ha r

mo n i o u s and every attempt to make financial contro l
,

more stringent increased the antagonism .

‘
T o Lord Mayo belongs the honour of applying
the only effectual remedy for these serious evils .

’
‘
We have n ow ( 1 8 7 3 ) had nearly three years
practical experience of the n e w system and are in a ,

position to j udge what the actual results have been .

I t is idle to discuss the subj ect any longer on purely

speculative grounds T he facts are easily available
.
,

and nearly all the highest authorities in I ndia have

given their opinions in regard to the results which
h ave been obtained .

The first class of questions regarding the effect

of the n e w system on the relations between the
I mperial and Local Governments and in regard to ,

economy and efficiency in the admin istration is I , ,

think easy to answer I confidently assert that in

,
.
,

I ndia at least n o difference of opinion remains on

,

the subj ect O bj ections have been made to certain

.

details of the n e w arrangements and imperfections ,

VO L . 1 1. E
66 L O CAL v. I M P E RI A L TAX A TI ON .
[4 32 4 7
-
5 6 ,

have been pointed out F or my own part I have

no doubt that m
.
,

any of these obj ections are well

founded and that there are various changes an d
,

improvements which it will be essential sooner or ,

later to make But in regard to the general success

, .

of the new system so far as it has gone there neither

, ,

has been nor is any difference of opinion

, , .
’

I n one respect however it has not been foun d

, ,

expedient to allow the intentions of Lord M ayo s ’

Government to receive their full development I n .

its first inception the policy of enlarging the powers

,

of the Local A dministrations incl u d ed the ultimate

expansion of l ocal rates and taxes The two projects .

are not essentially connected ; but as a matter of

°

history the question of local taxation proceeded p ew 2

,
/

a r m with the question of provincial assignments

f .

B oth of these great topics had engaged the attention

’
of I ndian S tatesmen be fore L ord M ayo s rule What .

he did was to find a successful sol ution for the first

of them and to place the second i n a train for
,

practical settlement .

The question of Provincial Taxation was by no

means a n e w one A S far back as 1 8 6 1 M r Laing
.
, .
,

when F inancial M ember of the Governor General s -

’

Council had set forth the policy of easing the central

,

E xchequer by Local Rates H e pointe d out that

.
,

however anxious the S upreme Government might

b e to enable the Local Governments to carry on
works of internal improvement it simply d id not ,

p ossess the requisite f unds ; and that the Provincial

Governmen t s must either find what they needed by
68 MR . LA I N GS
’
VI E WS ,
1 861 .
[AER 4 7
-
5 6,

with I mperial Policy We have already received .

from several Local Governments the most satis

factory assurances o f their ability to raise considerable
sums by small and comparatively unfelt local taxes
for local obj ects By this means not only wi ll the
.

Local Budget obtain the requisite relief but more ,

money will on the whole be raised and expended

, ,

1 ’
on useful local works The fact is that the financial ,

diffi culties which followed the M utiny rendered it

clear that adequate provision could not be made
fo r the public service especially in the important ,

D epartments of Public Works and E ducation ,

without calling on the people to bear fresh burdens .

T hese burdens were d istributed i nto t w o forms ,

increased I mperial Taxation and additional Local

Rates T he forme r was laid on in the shape of an I n
.

come Tax and an enhanced S alt D uty a more severe -

,

E xcise and augmented Customs The Local Rates .

were of many sorts and before Lord Mayo s a d mi n i ,

’

s t ra t i o n had become a recognised source of revenue

, .

E ach year saw them develope into a more and more

important element of I ndian finance F or as the .

standard of administrative efficiency advanced under

’
the Queen s rule each Provincial Government became
,

clamorous for more courts more schools more police , ,

men more roads better sanitation increase d safe

, , ,

guards against famine by canals and works f o r the

husbanding of the water supply M r Laing s successor . .
’

T M
1
0 L i g b l o g s t h c d i t f sk t ch i g i t h i s
r. a n e n d otheof re o e n n an er

h i o ffic i l u t t
s c s s v l f t h fi c i l fo ms i c l u d i g t h
a e ra n e , e e ra o e na n a re r , n n e

l g
e n ar men t o f t h e
e fi n an ci al p o w s of h Loc l Gov
er t e a ern me n t s whi ch
,

L or d y
M a o wo r e d k ou t a s p ct i c l m su s t y s l
ra a ea re en ear a ter.
1 8 69 7 2
-
] HI S TOR Y OP TH E Q UE S TI ON ,
1 8 6 1 —7 0 . 69

followed in the direction which he had pointed out .

’
‘
I t is impossible said S ir Charl es Trevelyan in his
,

Budget speech of 7 t h April 1 8 6 4 that all the wants ,

‘

o f this great continent according to the continually ,

rising standard of the public requirements can b e ,

provided for out o f the I mperial Revenue Loca l .

agency and local revenues must be increasingly drawn

upon ; an d the I mperial expenditure must be gradually
confined to such obj ects as are of common interest to
the whole of I ndia I t is time that the people of this
.

country should l earn to raise and spend their own

m oney in maintaining the roads improving the sani ,

tary state of the towns assisting education and pro , ,

mo t i n g every other obj ect of local i nt e r e st l ’

S ir .

Charles concluded by an exhaustive exposition of th e

state of Provincial Taxation at that time S howing ,

the Local F unds estimate for 1 8 6 4— 6 5 at j ust under

t w o millions sterl ing .

H is su ccessor M r M assey insisted on Loca l Taxa

, .
,

tion as th e chief resource in case of a financial crisis .

‘
There are many charges he said in his S peech of ,
’

the 2 4t h March 1 8 6 6 debited to I mperial Revenue

,
‘
,

which might b e transferred to Local F unds I hold .

in my hand a paper S howing that the actual sum

received from Local F u nds in 1 8 6 4— 6 5 was 5
I t is impossible to believe that the capacity of this
country to contribute to local obj ects is measured by
such a su m as 2 5 millions I do not want to quote .

the precedent of E ngland ; but I may j ust remark

that E ngland besides a revenue of ,5
, pays
F i c i l S t t m t s p 1 5 l i s 37 t q ( co de s e d
1
n an a a e en ,
. 0, ne e se . n n
76 L ORD M A YO S ’
DE CLARA TI ON ,
1 8 76 .
[
2 1311 4 7 - 5 6 ,
1

A 1 by voluntary assessment for local obj ects .

I do not say that it is practicable to raise such a sum

as that for local purposes in this country But surely .

the disproportion bet ween these two figures might be

reduced ; and we might fairly expect that on a redis ,

t r ib u t i o n of our burdens we may look to the Local

,

Govern ments to raise by local taxation a sum which

will relieve us to a certain extent from charges which
properly belong to Local Revenue and unfairly fi nd ,

’ 1
their place i n the I mperial accounts .

The financial di ffi culties in which Lord M ayo found

the country involved led him to consider the possi
,
'

b ili ty of giving a practical development to principles

which had thus obtained the assent of each of the
s uccessive F inance M inisters of I ndia during the
’
preceding ten years . E ach Province says his
‘
,

Re solution of 1 4 th D ecember 1 8 7 0 has S pecial wants ,

of its own and may have means for supplying them

,

which could not be appropriated for I mperial purposes .

A tax adapted to th e circumstances of one part o f the

country may be distasteful or inapplicable elsewhere ;
and every where rates may be proper for provincial
or loca l purposes which could not b e taken for the
I mperial Revenue These principles are n o w generally
.

recognised and important steps have been already

,

taken to develope provincial resources The Govern .

ment of B ombay has for some years raised a con

s i d e r ab le revenue for local purposes I mportant .

measures to this intent are under the consideration

of the Legislative Council of M adras The Govern .

1
Fi a c i l St t eme t s p p 208 2 09
n n a a n , .
, .
1 8 69 L ORD MAI
’

O S DE CLARA TI ON
’

,
1 8 70 .
71

ment of B enga l is maturing a scheme in accordance

with th e decision of the S ecretary of S tate for the ,

levy of a rate for local obj ects in the Lower Pr o v mce s

of Bengal I n all the other Provinces of I ndia Pro
.
,

v i n ci a l Revenues have long been raised and measures ,

’
for increasing them are n o w being devised .

These measures threatened to take a trenchant

form A t first Lord Mayo contemplated a plan of
.

making the enlargement of the financial powers of

the Provincial Governments the occasion for trans
ferring a considerable S hare of th e I mperial burdens
to local rates H e keenly realized the strain to
.

which the retrenchments of 1 8 6 9 7 0 had subjected -

the administration and he not less seriously realized

,

the difficulty of retaining th e I mperial Taxation at the

rate which he had found necessary to quench th e chronic
deficit E arly in th e financial year of 1 8 70 7 1 h e
.
-

made up his mind that he coul d not continue the

I ncome T a x at the high rate of 3 5t h per cent and he .
,

thought that an enlarged policy of Provincial Taxa

tion should take its place A t one moment indeed it .
, ,

s eemed that it might b e necessary to call upon the

Provincial Governments to find no less a sum than
t w o millions a year in addition to the loca l rates then

existing B ut happily the worst of his di fficulties

.

had even then been surmounted and the gloomy ,

prospects for the future cleared away At the end of .

the year ( 1 8 7 0 7 1 ) he found that h e cou l d reduce the

-

'

I ncome Tax to one third z e from 3 5t h to I glz t h per

-
, . .

cent and yet have to saddle the Local Governments

.
,

with only instead of t wo mil l ions sterling .

72 L O CA L TA X A TI ON , 1 87 1 .
[ASL 4 7—5 0,

I n fixing the permanent Provincial assignments he ,

therefore deducted from the previous grants of the

Local Governments an aggregate sum of barely one
third of a millio n .

F rom this point of view therefore Lord M ayo s

, ,
’

scheme of enlarging the financial freedom of the Pro

v i n ci a l Governments advanced ew i with the
p p a ss e; /

development of Local Taxation But as a matter of

.

fact the
, which he deducted from the pre
v i o u s I mperial grants fo r Provincial services did not ,

i n itself involve fresh Local Taxation F or under .

,

the old system all balances remaining at the end of

,

the year lapsed to the I mperial E xchequer and ( to ,

quote from a statement which M r Chapman ha s .

kindly prepared for m e ) the s um deducted by Lord

‘

M ayo did not exceed the usual savings from the grants
i n any one year The deduction may therefore i n
.
,

one sense be considered as nominal only and Lord

, ,

M ayo s measure did not actually necessitate the i m

’

’
position o f any n e w rates at all .

B ut whatever th e precise degree of connection

between the t wo schemes of Permanent Provincial
A ssignments and Local Taxation it is the fa ct that ,

substantial additions were at the time in course of

b eing made to the local rates in most o f the Provinces .

Lord M ayo s Government was distinctly in favour of

’

this method o f raising revenue I t is scarcely need fu l

.

to a d d that he was well aware of the necessity fo r

watch ing the develop ment of the powers thus granted
to the Provincial A d mi nistrations I ndeed in his .
,

Resolution of the i 4t h D ecember 1 8 7 0 Lord Mayo ,

1 8 69 L O CA L TA X A TI OI V, 1 871 .
73

distinctl y announced his determination that the ‘

’
demands o n the people for provincial purposes
’
should not b e indefinitely or too rapidly increased
‘
.

I t must never be forgotten that shift the weight as ,

we may the burd en of taxation remains a heavy one

,

upon the people Although the Provincial Govern

.

ments bring a more minute knowledge of local wants

and of local capab ilities to the imposition of a cess they ,

as little represent the real wishes of the people as

does the Central Government T he natives of I ndia .

draw as yet but little distinction between M unicipal ,

Provincial and I mperial Taxation All are equally

, .

attributed to the British Government and all are ,

equally disliked I ndeed some experienced a d mi n i s

.
,

t ra t o r s believe that a tax becomes the more obnoxious

in I ndia as the power from which it emanates is

nearer and more familiar A heavy contribution .

levied arbitrarily by H er M aj esty the Queen fo r

I mperia l purposes and without any reason assigned
, ,

would probably be accepted as a decree of fate ; while

the smallest cess raised by the village authorities fo r
village improvements migh t cause acute irritation .

While therefore Lord Mayo in giving practical

, , ,

effect to a policy which had long been approved of by

the highest authorities in I ndia secured the e qu ili ,

b r i u m of th e finances it should not be forgotten that

,

th e burden was merely readj usted not removed H e , .

attempted no feats of financia l j ugglery but tol d ,

men plainly what he was doing By mobilizing th e .

f ormerly hard and fast grants for provincial services ,

h e created among the Local Governments a new and

74 PR O VI N CI A L TA X A TI ON ,
1 8 6 3 —7 3 .
[IET 4 7 5—
.
5 0,

permanent motive for economy By definitely a o .

c e p t i n g the development of provincial rates as a

means of relief to the I mperial E xchequer he endea ,

v o u red to enlist the best local knowledge in th e

distribution of the inevitable burdens on the people .

The subj ect of Local and M unicipal Taxation forms ,

perhaps the greatest financial problem which lies i n

,

the imme d iate future of I ndian government I t may .

b e well to state precisely the dimensions which it has

at present reached I n 1 8 7 2 3 the whole Local
.
-

Taxation of I ndia as distinguished from the I mperial

,

Revenues amounted to 3 5 m illions sterling O f this

, .

sum only one half or about 1 5 millions were the

, ,

proceeds of rates cesses or any other form of actual

, ,

taxation the remainder being obtained from tolls

, ,

port dues interest public property foundations and

, , , ,

miscellaneous items Ten years previously in 1 8 6 3 4

.
,
-
,

the Local Revenues stood at j ust under t wo millions

sterling ; but I cannot ascertain that the accounts
of th e two years are s o constructed as to allo w
of the figures being fairly compared U n qu e s .

t i o n a b ly however there has b een since 1 8 6 3 6 4 a

, ,
-

real although a comparatively small increase of

, ,

Local Rates in most of the Provinces By far the .

l arger part of this increase took place before Lord

’
M ayo s accession and was perfectly independent of
,

his system of provincial assignments Looking t o .

the expense of municipal and local administration in

other countries it can scarcely be hoped that t h e
,

provincial rates in I ndia will not still further increase .

’
L ord M ayo s system of permanent provincial grants
76 PR O VI N CI AL TA X A TI ON , 1 8 63 - 7 3 .
[IE L 4 7
-
5 0,

’
m e thus describes the results of the late Viceroy s
,

dealings with the Local Governments Lord M ayo s ’

administration will always be remembered for the

introduction of the system of provincial finance .

O thers had talked of such a sy st e m indeed had talked , ,

of it pretty constantly for the past ten years ; Lord

Mayo actually inaugurated it and inaugurated it in
,

opposition to th e officers of the F inancial D epartment .

I ndian statesmen are habitually cautious and although ,

there are authorities of great reputation in favour of

a free development of provincial independence in
financial matters that development is likely to be
,

slo w Lord M ayo himself was [ as I have already

.
’

exp l ained] radically opposed to anything like the

‘

disintegration of the British power in I ndia an d em ,

“ "
phatically disc l aimed the epithet of decentralization
’
as applied to his policy .

’
N o account of Lord M ayo s financial measures
would be complete which passed over the I ncome Tax .

T he suitability of this impost to I ndia has during

fifteen years formed the subj ect of a great conflict of
O pinion among I ndian statesmen Lord M ayo found.

it in operation when h e r eceived charge of the country ,

and he largely resorted to it as a means of substituting

surplus for chronic deficit D uring his Viceroyalty
.

the final battle was fought with regard to its merits as

an engine of I ndian taxation and the struggl e left
,

behind a certain bitterness which has not yet died

away .

O ne of the chief steps taken by the Right H on .

J ames Wilson in 1 8 6 0 with a view to restoring th e

,
1 8 69 TH E I N DI A N I N C OM E TAX .
77

fi nances after the M utiny was the imposition for th e

,

first time i n I ndia of an I ncome Tax T he perils .

from which the country had j ust emerged and th e ,

vast expenditure which the work of r e conquest i n -

volved had prepared the public for sacrifices even

,

more severe than those demanded by M r Wilson ; .

and an I ncome Tax at th e rate of 4 per cent ( 9 2d . .

per A) did not immediately excite opposition But .

no sooner had b e retrieved th e finances than vigorous

controversies arose regarding the instrumentality by
which h e had attained the desired end T he a d v o .

cates of the tax argue that without some such impost

the wealthier c l asses of I ndia the classes who can ,

best afford to pay taxation escape their due share of

,

the public burdens T he eastern policy of levying

.

th e revenue almost entirely from the land was always ,

they maintain faulty in this particular ; and its defects

,

were so patent to eastern rulers that they s u pplemented ,

it by arbitrary exactions from the moneye d and trad

ing classes These exactions which formed a natura l
.
,

compl ement of a revenu e system based chiefly on

the land tax have become impossible under a
,
'

civilised Government such as E ngland has gi v e n t o

,

I n d ia British I ndia abounds i n wealthy bankers

.
,

m erchants professional men and capitalists of many

, ,

sorts who o w e their riches to the peace and order

,

imposed by the B ritish Government but who u m , ,

less they also happen to be landholders contribute ,

nothing like a fair proportion to the cost of that

Gove rnment Persons who think in this way do not
.

deny the strong dislike both of the E uropean and o f

78 AR G UM E N TS P OR TH E TA X .
[E n 47 5 6 ,
-

the native comm unities to an I ncome Tax B ut they “

’
remember Burke s apothegm quoted by M r Wilson , .
,

that it is as d ifficul t to tax and to please as to love

and to be wise A ny form of taxation by an alien
.

Government such as ours in I ndia must be unpo

, ,

pular A nd they hold that it is better to have a j ust

.

and righteous system of taxation even at the expense ,

of a little extra unpopularity than basely to consult ,

our own ease an d win the S ilence of the rich by

,

perpetuating an inj ustice to the poor .

T o the argument from the comparative u n p ro d u c

t i v e n e ss of the tax as hitherto levied such thinkers
, ,

urge our want of experience together with the d i sa d ,

vantages under which the revenue offi cers have been

placed by the i ndecision of the Government and by ,

the policy which has always imposed the tax as a

merely temporary expe d ient I t is not likely they .
,

say that peopl e will quietly accept a tax when the

,

Government thus deliberately holds out a hope to

them that agitation will compass its removal .

The opponents of the I ncome Tax in I ndia do not

dispute i ts theoretical j ustice but denounce it on ,

practical grounds The more moderate among them .

,

while fully admitting the merits of direct taxation ,

believe in th e words of a distinguished Lieutenant

Governor that the diffi culty of applying it in I ndia
,
1 ‘

equally and without the most deplorable oppression

, ,

is in the present state of native soci ety all but i n

, ,

superable They accordingly hold that almost any

.
’ ‘

indirect tax is preferable to a direct one and that , ,

Th H o o bl E D u mmo d 8 th M ch 1 866
e n ura e . r n ,
ar .
1 8 69 A R G UM E N TS A GA I N S T I T .
79

however great may be the obj ection in theory to the

duty o n salt even an addition to this duty would be
,

really a mercy to th e people and would be accepted ,

as such if it saved them from the evils of direct

’
taxation .

I t is seldom however that language so temperate

, ,

is employed E ven well poised minds l ike that of

.
-
,

the late S ir H enry D urand lose th eir habitual air of ,

deliberation wh en denouncing an impost which they

regard in I ndia as a vast instrument for extortion and
O ppression T his eminent administrator declared as
.
,

the result of his mature experience that the amount ,

raised is quite incommensurate with the popular dis

content and ill will which it produces -
D irect taxa .

’
tion h e said in 1 8 6 8 is s o odious that i t proved
, ,
‘

formerly a signal failure I t was utterly hateful and .

offensive to the p eople and did more to demoralize ,

them than all th e Government attempts at education ,

or missionary attempts at the introduction of Christi

A S o fficia l
’
anity could counteract in a century
,
‘

salaries are the only class reached within any degree

of certainty or precision the scheme resolves itself ,

into a very simpl e process of adding to the burdens

of the official classes in a degree very measurable ;
and also of adding in a degree not measurable to the
’
discontent and the unblushing evasions of the natives
in general who bitterl y resent any approach to i n
,
‘

’
u i s i t o r i al valuations of income S ir H enry D urand
q .

su ms up his verdict o n it as a measure most a d mi r

, ,

ably adapted to secure a maximum of irritation with

a minimum of profit .
80 HI S TOR Y OF TH E TA X , 1 8 6 0—7 0 .
[
TE L 4 7 5 0,
-

S ir William M ansfield now Lord S andhurst the , ,

greatest military financier who has held the post of

Commander i n Chief in I ndia declared that the
- -
,

I ncom e Tax caused th e British Government to b e

hated and I believe reviled throughout the land
, , , .
’

I f such are the O pinions of grave statesmen writing or

speaking within the calm precincts of the Council
Chamber it may be well imagined with what rancour
,

the I ncome Tax has been assailed by the outside

community E uropean and native throughout I ndia
, , ,

and by the press .

N or has the history of the impost tended to allay

’
the outcry against it M r Wilson s I ncome Tax was
. .

for five years only and even during that period the
,

Government found it expedient so far to yield to th e

popular clamour as to reduce the rate from 4 per cent .

( 2d in the to per cent ( 5 d in the I ndeed ‘

9 . 2 4 . .
,

a s soon as the tension of public feeling induced by the

M utiny had somewhat relaxed the I ndian Govern ,

ment found a rigid enforcement of the T ax impossible ,

and its strict assessment was early given up Th e .

tax was not renewed at the end of the five years .

B ut the estimate of ways and means for 1 8 6 5 — 6 6

S howed a deficit of and the n e w Viceroy ,

S ir J ohn (n o w Lord) Lawrence who j udged of the ,

public mind by his experience duri ng and j ust s u b s e ,

quent to the M utiny was strongly in favour of reim

, ,

posing the Tax But the adverse opinion of S ir

.

Charles Trevelyan then F inance Minister and of the

, ,

other members of the Government prevailed against ,

the measure S ir J ohn Lawrence gave up the Tax

.
,
1 8 69 B T TUTE S A TTE M P TE D
SU S I ,
1 8 6 7 —6 9 . 81

and fell back upon additional export duties with a ,

l oan for Public Works as an alternative method fo r ,

adj usting the estimated deficit B oth of these e x p e .

’
d i e n t s were disallowed by H er M aj esty s Secretary of
S tate S ir Charles T revelyan shortly a fterward r e
.

signed his offi ce and the Right H on M r M assey

, . .

succeeded him .

T he estimates for 1 8 6 6 brought out a deficit of

N evertheless M r M assey while a n n o u n c , .
,

ing th e intention of Government to recur to an

I ncome Tax if necessary did not think it prudent ,

to immediately impose any fresh burdens on the

people Th e truth is that he hoped to relieve th e
.
,

drain o n the I mperial E xchequer by a development

of Local Taxation and by reductions of various sorts
, .

I n the following year however he found it impossible, ,

to further postpone a recurrence to direct taxation

’
i n some S hape A Licence Tax was imposed for
.
‘

1 8 6 7 —8 followed by a Certificate Tax i n 1 8 6 8 —9 ‘ ’

.
,

’
‘
T hese taxes writes the F inancial S ecretary to
Government were in fact I ncome T axes in every
,

thing but in name roughly assessed upon all incomes

,

except those derive d from lands an d from the public

’
funds The rates averaged about one per cent or
. .
,

2 2d in the
.

T he Government felt at the time that such i m

posts were not strictly defensible and the Council ,

b eing divided against itself showed a broken front ,

to the public opposition I t is impossible for me .

‘
,
’

wrote th e Commander i n Chief i n a protest to the - -

letter which carried home the decision of the

V O L. 1 1 . F
82 THE I R FA I L URE ,
1 8 68 . PET 4 7 —5 0 ,
[
Governor General in Council with my strong con
-
,
‘

v i ct i o n s to sign this d espatch without an earnest

,

’
protest against it .

This protest bears date the 2 4t h O ctober 1 8 6 8 .

O n the 1 2 th J anuary 1 8 6 9 Lord Mayo succeeded,

to the complications which it and other expressions ,

of opinion of greater intensity had left behind , .

The Licence Tax and the Certificate Tax had

strongly agitated the public m ind M uch may be .

said in favour of a tax upon all incomes and some ,

thing i n an O riental country (which levies a heavy

land revenue ) for a tax upon trades professions
-
, ,

and accumulated capital however employed ex cep t

, ,

i n le md But a partial tax of the latter sort which

.
,

goes b eyond its o wn proper limits and yet does ,

not inclu d e the entire area of incomes of every class ,

is liable to the gravest objections The Licence .

Tax was an imposition of this sort and the Certificate ,

Tax was practically the Licence Tax under another

name .

T hey were intended as a sop to the wealthier

and more clamant classes and they excluded from,

their incidence not merely capital invested in land

, ,

but also investments in the funds O n the other .

hand they included the incomes of public servants

,
.

’
Lord Lawrence s Government had felt that such
taxes were not defensible and this fact soon became
,

known . I ts F inancial M ember in introducing the ,

Act into the Legislature for imposing the Certi

fica t e Tax in M arch 1 8 6 8 broadly admitted that
,

‘
if you insist upon strict equity in your assessment ,
84 IN C O ME TAX EN HA N CE D ,
1 8 69 .
[ 43 1
2
4 7 5 0,
-

Mayo after the discove ry of the deficit in 1 8 6 9 it ,

appeared improbable that this sum woul d be realized .

A ccordingly one o f the measures taken by him for

,

redressing the adverse balance was to raise the ,

I ncome Tax from one to 2 5 per cent during the .

latter half of the year .

N otwithstanding the unpopularity of the I ncome

T ax this increase was accepted at first without
,

’
serious opposition Lord M ayo s candid statement
.

of the difficult i es into which the finances had fallen ,

bound together all sections of th e community i n

loyal support of the measures necessary to retrieve
them But the moment that his retrenchments and
.

vigorous reforms had removed the immediate pres

sure o f deficit the outcry broke out again more loudly
,

than ever As in the case of M r J ames Wilson s

. .
’

I ncome Tax it becam e evident that the measure

,

woul d b e acquiesced in only under the compulsion

of a necessity so patent and so urgent as to with
draw the question from the field of ordinary criticism .

The opposition was embittered by the very success

’
of Lord M ayo s measures which quenched the a d ,

verse balance and left room for writers not fully

,

informed of th e fac t s to complain that the increase

of the I ncome Tax during the current year had not
been really required .

U nfortunately the actual state of the finances

,

convinced the E xecutive Government and the Legis

la t u r e alike that the doubling of the I ncom e Tax
,

had not only been necessary in —

1 8 6 9 7 0 but that ,

they would have to still further increase it during

1 8 69 IN C OM E TA X OF 1 8 7 0- 7 1 . 85

the following year Accordingl y an A ct was passed

.
,

by the Legislat u re after full and public discussion

, ,

imposing an I ncome Tax for 1 8 7 0—7 1 at the rate ,

o f 3 5t h per cent (5 an anna in the rupee or 7 5 d

.
,
.

per This rate may not startle th e British tax

payer educated by long hab itude to the I ncome
Tax and it was l ower than M r Wilson s I ncome
, .
’

Ta x ten years before B ut in I ndia it seem ed a h .

s o lu t e ly oppressive A s a matter of fact Lord

.
,

M ayo wou l d himse l f have b een contented with a

l ower rate B ut he was determined above all things
.

f
that su rplus should hence forward take the place o
deficit and the F inancial M ember who was person
,

ally responsibl e for carrying out that policy of

surplus thought that an I ncome Tax even at 3 5t h
,

per cent would be barely adequate to accomplish it

. .

H e resolved as the estimates d uring many years

,

had proved too sangui n e that if they erred at all i n ,

1 8 70 7 1 -
th ey S hould err on the safe S ide
,
S ir .

Richard Temple therefore adopted a lower estimate

for the O pium Revenue and insisted on a higher ,

rate of I ncome Tax than th e Viceroy and certain

other M embers of the Government woul d have
done But he framed his O pium E stimates on
.

'

the advice of the highest authorities among the

commercial community ; and both the Viceroy and
the S ecretary of S tate accepted his high I ncome Tax .

M uch of the u npopularity which resulted fell u m

j ustly o h S ir Richard T empl e Lord M ayo would .

have been th e last man in the worl d to take to himself

the credit of substituting steady s urplus for chronic
 OM E 8 7 0—7 1 — 0
86 IN C TA X ,
1 .
[5 5 1 47 5 ,

deficit a credit t o which he is most honourably e n

,

titled and to have left to his F inance M inister th e

,

odium of the trenchant measures required for effecting

the reform .

Viewe d by the light of after events there seems ,

little doubt that the Viceroy might have adopted a

less stringent course ; but neither his E xecutive
Council nor the Legislative body could at that time
have hoped to produce an assured surplus by less
unpopular means F or years the Government had
.

calculated on the buoyancy of the F inances in framing

its estimates ; and for years the result had been an
’
annual deficit I t wa s within Lord Mayo s province
.

as Viceroy to declare that henceforth such deficits

should cease and to mark out that policy of vigorous
,

finance by which he accomplished his obj ect H is .

F inance M inister had the heavy responsibility o f

carrying out the policy I f he erre d his mistake
.
,

lay in insisting upon more absolute safeguards than ,

as proved by the event were required , .

Lord M ayo hesitated l o ng and anxiously before

he consented to the I ncome Tax at 3 5t h per cent ; .

but with a perfect knowledge of the unpopularity

which the measure would involve he accepted it as ,

necessary to his policy The r e sult proved and

.
,

here I quote the deliberate O pinion of the F inancial

S ecretary four years after wards that an I ncome Tax ,

of two per cent (45 d in the

. would have su fficed
for the wants of 1 8 7 0—7 1 H ad the Government
.

confined itself to that rate and boldly laid it on for

,

a period of five years it is possible that the I ndian

,
1 8 6 9 —7 2 ] [ N C O/WE TA X ,
1 8 7 1 —7 2 . 87

public wou l d have submitted ; the agitation might have

worn itself out ; and a moderate I ncome Tax might
perhaps have n o w form ed a part of the permanent
revenues of the country B ut the Government i m .

posed the tax confessedly as a temporary expedient for

a single year : imposed it at a rate which the people
of I ndia declared with one consent and in a most ,

unmistakeable tone to be excessive ; and th e I ndian

,

I ncome Tax was doomed from that day .

The events of the year 1 8 7 0 7 1 convinced Lord -

M ayo that the solvency of the E mpire wa s secure d .

H e fel t that he had only to pursue his course of

rigid economy in order to prevent a recurrence of
deficit an d in 1 8 7 1 7 2 he reduced the I ncome Tax
,
-

to one third or l g3 t h per cent

-
, The finances still .

continued to sho w an upward tendency and during ,

’
th e last month of Lord M ayo s life he was engaged
in anxiously considering whether h e could not d o
without the I ncome Tax altogether O n the fatal .

voyage across the Bay of Bengal the subj ect was ,

constantly present in his mind and I have the best ,

authority for stating that his final utterances on th e

question pointed to the removal of the tax at the end
of the financial year B efore that time arrived his
.
,

body was being borne to its resti n g place in I reland -

,

and it was left to his successor after a f urther recon ,

sideration to abolish the tax

,
.

I t would ill become a private critic to speak with

anything like dogmatism touching a matter to which
the collective wisdom of the Governm ent of I ndia has
been thus continuously and thus strenuously directed .
88 THRE E A SP E CTS OP TH E TAX VET 4 7- 5 6 ,
.

Three separate schools of thinkers have always

existed an d still exist in I ndia with reference to the
, ,

I ncome Tax O ne of them regards that impost as a

.

resource which the Government may wisely fall back

upon as an exceptional measure in times of financial
pressure I t is th e d ew ex ma efiz n a with which to
’

encounter deficit Another while a d mi t i ng its .

,

abstract merits considers it unsuited to the I ndian

,

people and a most dangerous experiment for an alien

,

Government to attempt The third regards a light .

I ncome Tax continuously and gently enforced as a

, ,

measure safe in itself and capabl e of yielding an ,

increasing although a moderate relief to the finances .

S uch thinkers hold the d ew ex ma c/z i n e theory to be

essentially unsound They argue that so long as the .
,

I ncome Tax continues to b e spasmodically levied ,

the people will al ways look upon it as a measure

which can b e defeated by bringing pressure to bear
on the Government They believe that in imposing a .
1

temporary tax at an excessive rate such as the 3 5 t h ,

per cent in 1 8 7 0 7 1 the Government simply kills the

.
-
,

goose that might lay the golden eggs They point .

out that on each occasion of the I ncome Tax being

imposed afresh the whole series of inquisitorial ,

investigations which cause discontent and which ,

give opportunities for extortion are renewe d All ,

.

1
Th e d i ff c e of t h e fi an c i a l s i t u a t i o
er e n n n g d a d i I nd ia
i n E n la n n n

may b e r e a i z e l d f o m t h e c i c u mst c e t h
r r an ,
t a l t ho u gh t h e E g l i s h I n
a n

co me Ta x i s n i t h e o y s u pp o s e d t o b e of
r t e mp o
a y ch c t i t i s
ra r a ra er,

ne v e rt h el e ss qu i e t ly sub mi t te d t o y ea r a ft er y e ; wh i le i n I d i a th e
ar n

f c t of i t s n ot b e i g r e s o lu t e ly a d o p t e d
a n as p rt of t h e p e man en t re ve u e
a r n ,

a ct s as an e n co u r a g e me n t t o a u i v e s a l n r o pp o s i t i o n .
1 8 69 TI I R E E A SP E C TS OF TH E TA X . 89

admit that the impost if continuously administered , ,

w ould yield a growing source of income ; and every

o fficer practically versed in its collection knows that
once the preliminary inquiries have been made and ,

the special staff required for working the tax fairly

organized oppression practically ceases They a d v o
,
.

cate therefore in the words of S ir J ohn S trachey

, , ,

‘
a light I ncome Tax as a permanent part of ou r
system of taxation They argue with him that it is
.
’

want of knowle d ge and th e temptations to oppression

,

felt by offi cial underlings who kno w that they are

only temporarily employed which render each r e i mp o ,

’
S i t i o n of the tax 5 0 unpopular I am satisfied wrote .
,

S ir J ohn S trachey in a M inute dated the 9 t h O ctober

1 868 that the unpopularity of the I ncome Tax of
,
‘

1 8 6 0 — a n unpopularity which was felt far less by the

I ndian taxpayers than by the E nglish offi cers who

administered the la w— was almost entirely caused by
th e manner in which the tax was first assessed and ,

by the unfortunate machinery with which it was

'

worked The tax was an entirely n e w one Returns

. .

of a very complicated an d unintelligible character

were called for from all classes T he same mis fortune .

i n a modified degree has attached to each reimposition

of the tax The peopl e have al ways associated it
.

with fresh intrusions into that domestic privacy with

regard to which they are so sensitive ; an d they have
al ways felt that the burden was a temporary one ,

whose d uration would be regulated according to th e

vehemence o f their opposition .

B efore leaving the s ubj ect it is right for a biographer

,
96 THRE E A SP E C TS OP TH E TAX [E L 47 5 6 ,
-

’
to state the E arl of M ayo s personal relations to the I n
come Tax O n his arrival i n J anuary 1 8 6 9 Lord M ayo
.
,

had to consi d er t wo Despatches O ne was a Despatch .

from the Government of his predecessor Lord Law ,

rence urging on the S ecretary of S tate the imposition

,

of an I ncome Tax ; or more strictly the conversion of ,

the Certificate Tax into an I ncom e Tax for the year

1 8 6 9 7 0 th e year about to begin
-

,
The other was a .

D espatch from the S ecretary of S tate sanctioning th e

proposal Whatever might have been the E arl of
.

M ayo s own views on the subj ect the imposition of

’

the I ncome Tax was a foregone conclusion before he

arrived ; for no Viceroy during his first t wo months
of office can without grave impropriety an d public
,

scandal reverse a decision deliberately arrived at by

,

his predecessor and formally sanctioned by the S ecre

,

tary of S tate B ut while the responsibility for the

.

I ncome Tax in its inception does not rest with Lord

M ayo the responsibility for its continuance certainly
,

did rest with him I t was a responsibility that he .

’
accepted with deep reluctance I fear he wrote .
,

privately to o n e o f his Lieutenant Governors as early

1 -
,

as August 1 8 7 0 that I must c o me to the conclusion

,
‘

that any a z Veet tax which is collected to a great exten t

’
'

through the agency of native officials must be intensely ,

’ 1
unpopular and a source of oppression i n I ndia
,
I .

’
am quite willing to admit he wrote to another ,

Governor a day or t w o later that the l evy of the ,

‘

tax on incomes below a certain amount say £ 1 00 to ,

£ 1 5 0 is unsuited to I ndia ; not because it is unj ust

,

To S i r Wi ll i a u
m M i r, 4t h A u g us t 1 87 0 .
 TH E S A L T D UTY T 4 7 —5 0 ,
92
-
.
[JE

th eory as a means of reaching the wealthier classes of

native society I have said that on his last fatal
.

j ourney he had come to the private conclusion that

the tax could not b e maintained H ere is his fi nal .

o fficial utterance on the matter written in J anuary ,

1 8 7 2 just before starting for B urmah and after a most

, ,

anxious consideration of the reports which he had

gathered from every Province and District of I ndia
o n the practical incidence of the impost : These ‘

papers throw more light up on the working of the

I ncome Tax than anything I have yet read I cannot .

accept th e deduction that the 1 per cent Licence Tax .

and the 1 per cent I ncome Tax were not unpopular

. .

With regard to the tax at the present [lo w] rate all ,

that is said is that there is a feeling of relief A fter .

such an ex p osé of the hardships that coul d b e inflicted ,

we ought certainly to withhold our consent from any

proposal which might continue the bare chance of
such inj ustice even if it affected a very limited num
,

b er of people I t will rest with those who propose

.

the continuance of th e I ncome Tax i n any shape to

p rove to demonstration that such a state of things can
’
b e effectively guarded against .

Another subj ect of great financial interest in I ndia

to which the E arl of M ayo pai d special and anxious
attention was the Salt D uty A net revenue of about -
.

55 millions sterling is raised from this source I t .

falls chiefly on the masses of the people and has ,

1
formed the subj ect of much controversy I n the .

1
Th e S a t l D u ty i d i s c uss d t co s i d bl l gt h
-
s e a n era e en , as re ga d s
r its
e ffe c t o n the ru l m ss s i my O
ra a e , n vo l i i pp 4 ’

r z r sa , . . . 12 t o 1 63 .
1 8 69 TH E S A L T-D U Y T .
93

fi rst place the duty exceeds by many times th e value

,

of this prime necessary of life ; in the second place ,

the preventive restrictions necessary for the security

of the revenue interfere with the trade and greatly ,

enhance the prim e cost of salt quite apart from the ,

duty Thus O udh under its native Governors manu

.
,

fa c t u r e d its o wn salt and supplied it at a very cheap

,

rate throughout the Province The restrictions i m .

posed for the purpose of our Salt D uty crushed the -

local manufacturers The chief arguments in favour

.

of the tax are derived from the facts that the peopl e ,

are accustomed to i t scarcely conscious of it and

, ,

offer no opposition to it N evertheless the mere fact

.

of popular acquiescence does not satisfy a true e co n o

mist an d Lord M ayo fel t that as the Salt Revenu e
,

could not b e spared no effort should be wanting to

,

reduce its concomitant evils .

I ndia derives her supply of salt from four sources .

F irst from the great salt range in the further Pa nj ai b

'

, ,

which contains i nexhaustible masses of the purest ali

mentary salt S econd from certain salt lakes and
.
,

sal ine deposits in R éj p u t an a and Central I ndia chiefly ,

within native territory Third fro m Cheshire and.

,

other places beyond the sea whence it comes at very ,

lo w rates of freight principally to Bengal

, F ourth .
,

from salt pans along the coast of M adras O rissa , ,

and the edges of the great maritime shallows in th e

north of the Bombay Presidency .

T he duty varies from a rupee on every 40 lbs in .

M adras and Bombay to a rupee on every 2 5 lbs i n

, .

Lower B engal T he differential rates existing in the

.
94 D I PP E R E N TI A L RA TE S OP D UTY .
[ALT 2 47 3 6
-
,

several Provinces prove a source of heavy expenditure

to the S tate of much interference with interprovincial
,

trade and of incessant annoyance to the people

, .

These variations form part of the legacy of misrule

handed down to us fro m the days of the M ughul
E mpire D uring the eighteenth century the central
.
,

power at Delhi fell into so weak a state that each

d istant governor set up for himself and in matters of ,

taxation as in many other respects did what was right

, ,

i n his own eyes We found I ndia split up into a

.

multitude of territorial entities and a wise instinct

,

against too rapi d centralization has shrunk from

obliterating certain of the evil as well as some of the
good features of separate government I n many .

respects the British Power has welded the Provinces

,

of I ndia into one I mperial unit The same great .

codes of j ustice n ow ru n throughout the length an d

breadth of th e land but each Presidency has still its
own Legislative Council (subj ect to the control of the
Governor General ) and each still retains some feature
-
,

of the separate fiscal systems bequeathed to us by the

native governments .

N or is a defence wanted for such distinctions I n .

the case of the S alt D uty the variations of incidence

-
,

have been j ustified by arguments derived from the

comparative local weight of other taxation the com ,

a ra t i v e facilities for evasion of the duty and th e

p ,

greater or less consumption of sal t required by the

staple food or the habits of the people Thus it .

seems a blunder as indefensible as it is cruel to cut

, ,

off the trade between two conterminous Provinces like

 ORD M A YO S P E R S ON A L LE TTE RS [H
’

96 L . R 4 7 -
5 9 ,

had set his heart upon the abolition of the correspond

ing lines which still cut off one I ndian Province from
another But he felt that their abolition would be a
.

work of time and meanwhile he devised such imme

,

d iate mitigations as might be possible H e laboured .

to lighten to the utmost the actual weight of the Salt

Duty on th e people by lessening the p r i me co st of
,

the article and cheapening its carriage To this en d .

,

the workings in the saline range in the Panj ab were

reorganized ; and the cost of transit from the mines to
the centres of consumption was reduced by improved
communications The E arl of M ayo also acquired
.

for the British Government a permanent lease of the

Sambhar S alt Lake by treaty with the M ah a raj a s of
,

J aipur and J odhpur H e took steps for its efficient

.

exploitation and a line was begun which n o w con

, ,

n e ct s the lake with the general railway system of

I ndia both at Delhi and at Agra The reopening
,
.

of the salt works in O udh was sanctioned as an ,

experiment T his experiment has not yielded per

.

’
manent fruits but Lord M ayo s other measures with
a V iew to the mitigation of the S al t D uty have already -

produced valuable results and they develope n e w ,

capabilities every year Th e old cry of a salt famine

.

in N orthern I ndia has ceased and without anywhere

lessening the rates levied by Government Lord ,

M ayo s reforms have in many places decreased the

’

total cost of the article and thus lightened its actual

,

weight on the people .

T his practical alleviation of a burden which he

found himself powerless to wholly rem ove had a t ,
 L ORD M A Y S P E RS ON A L L E TTE R S
’
8 69 .
97
’
tracted Lord M ayo s attention at the outset of his
rule and continued one of the reforms on which his
,

heart was bent at the time of his death I f we get .

’
rid of the internal frontier customs lines he wrote to - -
,

a friend a month after he assumed the Viceroyalty

, ,

‘
cheapen the cost of carriage and equalize the S alt ,

D uty all over I ndia we shall confer a great boon on

,

all develope trade and increase consumption without

, , ,

materially endangering revenue But many interests .

have to be consulted before a general plan can be

’
decided upon H e lived to see the accomplishment
.

of part of this programme ; th e rest he bequeathed in ,

the very last F inancial M inute which issued from his

pen to his successors
, .

I n the foregoing pages I feel how i nadequately ,

’
I have dealt with Lord M ayo s financial work But .

it is impossible to travel over the whole area of his

re forms without devoti ng to them a greater S pace
,

than th e scale of this volume permits Y e t before .

,

leaving the subject I feel that I ought to try to pre

,

sent a summary of his fi nancial policy as it developed

i n his own mind and as he expressed it in his own
,

words I shall confi ne myself to quotations from his

.

private letters — quotations commencing within a fe w

weeks after he received charge of the country and ,

ending within a clay or t w o of his starting on the last

fatal voyage across the Bay of Bengal H is one .

central idea was to establish and to maintain an

u i lib r i u m in the finances and to substitute a state
q ,

of steady surplus for a state of chronic deficit H e .

effected this purpose chiefly by a most searching ,

V O L. 1 1. G
 ORD M A VO S P E RS ON A L LE TTE R S [PET 4 7 5 9 ,
’

98 L .
-

economy in every department small or great of the , ,

public expenditure ; but partly also by increased , ,

taxation .

H e assumed office on the 1 2 th J anuary 1 8 6 9 and , ,

writing to a friend early in April 1 8 6 9 he said : There ,

‘

are two things quite evident i n I ndian F inance .

F irst that the ordinary revenue is not sufficient for

,

the present expenses of the civil and military a d mi n i

s t ra t i o n if we are to d o our duty to the people of
,

I ndia ; and that this ordinary revenue cannot be

much increased S econd that large reproductive
.
,

works are possible wh ich will add materially to our ,

power and wealth and to the prosperity o f the people ;,

but that th e expenses of these works cannot be de

frayed from ordinary revenue These are t wo simple .

facts which lead to t wo conclusions : That we must

,

economize to the utmost for th e first never in time of ,

peace allowing expenditure to exceed income ; and

’ 1
that we must borrow for the second .

‘
I know all the diffi culty and unpop u larity that
’
attaches its elf to such a task he wrote a few months ,

later ; but I am equally convinced of the rectitude

2 ‘

of our course and of the imperative necessity that

,

exists for immense exertions being made at once to

put a stop to a state of things under which a great
’
E mpire is drifting into bankruptcy I ndian finance .
2
‘
,
’

he wrote in a serio comic vein on hearing that cer

,
-
,
‘

tain friends of the se r vices were about to oppose his

1
To M r Ar t . bu h ot 7 th Ap i l 869
n ,
r 1 .

2
To t h e n H o o u bl Si Wi ll i m M u i
ra e r a r ( n ow Fi n an ce M i ni s t of er

In d i a) , l gth Se t p . 1 8 69 .
 ORD M A YO S P E R S ON A L LE TTE R S [
’
1 00 L . TE L 4 7 5 0,
-

necessary I have incurred odium have been greatly

. ,

misrepresented and have been engaged daily in the

,

most disagreeable duty that can fall to the lot of a

public man — namely in an onslaught on extravagance , ,

and an attack on interests unnecessary offices and , ,

useless p eople I t is very probable that I have been

.

over eager and felt disappointed because my views

-
,

have not been accepted i n lolo which perhaps I had ,

’
no right to expect .

’
‘
We must put a stop h e wrote to another friend , ,

"
‘
to Oa VzOO/ex ess i n ou r fi n a n ce B ut he keenly felt .

that there can be no real finality therein as long

‘

O pium forms so l arge a portion of our resources All .

we can say is that we will use the strictest eco nomy

, ,

that we will apportion the expenditure as fairly as

possible among the various public claimants and that ,

we will not get into debt There are many reductions .

of I mperial Taxation still desirable The export .

duties on corn are hampering one of our staple

branches of trade the sugar duties on our [ internal ] ,

customs line are opposed to every sound principle ,

2
and the salt duties require much revision .
’

’
‘
I have tried hard he wrote somewhat sadly , ,

j ust after his third and last B udget in M arch 1 8 7 1 ,

‘
to achieve the task which I began in S eptember
1 8 69 Y o u can have little idea of the labour and
.

anxiety w hi ch I have undergone But the end is

‘
.

not yet F or the smallest relaxation of the severe

.

financial standard which we have adopted woul d ,

1
To L od r N a i er p f E t t i ck h N
o r ,
2 ot ov . 1 8 70 .

2 To M r A r . bu h o t 4 h J u y 8 7
t n ,
t an ar 1 1.
1 8 6 9—7 2
] L ORD I II A YO S P E R S
’
ON A L LE TTE RS . 1 01

bring us to precisely the same results as it did i n

former years and plunge us aga i n i nto a chronic
,

deficit I fail to see that the reductions which we

.

have effected have i mpaired the efficiency of the

publi c service i n a n y particular A great many .

unnecessary works have been stopped or postponed ;

the mania for brick and mortar has been checked and ,

a general feeling in favour of economy seems fo r the

’ 1
moment to prevail .

The necessity for keeping down the expenditure

as the one great source of stability in the fi nances ,

pressed heavily upon hi m during the last weeks of

’

his life What ar e we to do he wrote at the end

.
‘
,

of 1 8 7 1 to keep our finances right ? We have to

,
‘

reduce exp enditure ; we have to r e adj ust our railway -

rates we have to consider the great question of salt ;

we have to try and bring opium to something like
an equab l e source of income over a seri es of years ;
we have to watch our land revenue an d to decide the ,

great question as to [land] S ettlements I ncreased .

taxation is almost impossib l e ; but it is within our

power [by means of economy] to carry on our Public
“f orks without borrowing on the gigantic scale of
’
late years .

’
I am convinced h e wrote j ust before starting on
‘
,

the voyage from which he never returned that i t ,

‘

is our duty to continue our exertions in favour of

reducing with untiring zeal
,
That the st a t u s qua .

as regards our taxation i s one which it i s impossib l e ,

to maintain T hat if by putting down a ll unnecessary

.

1
To t h e s a me , i st h M ar ch 1 8 7 1 .
16 2 L ORD M A YO S P E R S ON A L LE TTE R S
’
.
[IET 4 7- 5 6 ,
.

expenditure we can obtain a surplus in our B udget

for 1 8 7 2 7 3 [on the construction of which he was
-
,

then engaged but which he did not live to com

,

p lete
] we cannot
,
venture to retain the I ncome Tax
without offering substantial relief i n other ways .

That in considering relief the abolition of the salt

,

line or of a great part of it should be our first obj ect ;

, ,

the equalization of the S alt D uty the second ; the -

,

removal of the I ncome Tax the third ; and of the ,

export duty o n grain the fourth That if we deter

, .

mine to continue the I ncome Tax we cannot leave it ,

i n its present S hape ; and unless we deal with it very

effectually we cannot continue it at all
, .
’

I subj oin a brief statement S howing to what extent

the E arl of M ayo carried out his policy of economy
and retrenchment I n a former tabl e ( p 5 0) I have
. .

shown the results of his measures by a comparison of

the three years preceding his accession with th e ,

equilibrium wh ich h e established in his first year an d ,

with the surpluses o f the three succeeding ones T he .

last of th e years then given although its finances were

,

carried out on the basis which he had prepared and

left behind belongs to t he following V iceroyalty I
, .

therefore n ow place side by side the revenue and th e

expenditure of the five years which ended with his
death The first t wo years repres ent the state of
.

things before h e received charge of I ndia ; the third

shows the r esult of the s evere S eptember measures
during his first year of o ffice ; the last t wo cover th e
remainder of his Viceroyalty when his system was ,

in full work The change from deficit to surplus dis

.
 4 RE S UL TS OP L OR D M A YO S M E A S URE S [ 132
’
47 5 6 ,
-
1 6 . 2

as previously shown the totals are reduced to sterling

, ,

while these n o w given are as stated in the offi cial ,

Papers at the nominal exchange of 2 5 to the rupee

,
. .

’
The three years of Lord M ayo s rule left a surplus
of 45 millions (reduced to and nearly redressed
the deficit of 5 5 millions during the three preced
ing years This surplus was derived to a small
.

extent from increased taxation which during his three ,

years averaged 3 against 51

during the prece d ing t wo years ; but chiefly by rigid
economy— th e expenditure of his three years averaging
only against th e pre existing scale of -

T he E arl of M ayo must b e held ,

therefore to have kept his word as regards retrench

,

ment M any of those who most heartily recognise

.

his services to I ndia believe that he would have ,

b etter consulted his reputation and the true interest ,

of that country by contenting himself with equilibrium

,

without aiming at surplus But he had the a u t h o r i t a .

tive and final decision of the Secretary of S tate as to

the necessity of budgeting for a surplus ; and indeed , ,

i n a country like I ndia with a land revenu e at the ,

mercy of a fe w inches more or less of rai nfall and an ,

opium revenue dependent on the chances of a foreign

market to estimate for a surplus is the only safe
,

guard against realizing a deficit I t should also be .

remembered that it is this practice of leaving nothing

to fortune that has given to E nglish Chancellors of

g i n gi ve t h e figu e s at t h e n o mi l e x ch an ge of 2 5 t o t h e rup e e
1
I a a r na .
,

f o t h e co v i e c e o f t h e E n gl i s h r e a d er who may d e s i r e t o v e i fy t h em
r n en n r

fro m t h e offi c i al R et u rn s .
1 8 69 - 7 2 ] NE T RE S UL TS OF HI S WOR K . 1 05

the E xchequer their high reputation among the

’

world s fi nanciers D uring the twe l ve years ending

.

the 3 1 5 t M arch 1 8 7 4 ten have been years of surplus

,

to the British treasury and t w o have been years of ,

deficit The total of the deficit was j ust over 4

.

millions ; the aggregate of the surplus was j ust under

1
3 0 millions I f therefore
. the E,arl of M ayo erred ,

i n placing the I ndian finances on a basis of surplus ,

he had the precept of the S ecretary of S tate and the ,

example of the ablest fi nanciers who m modern E ngland

has produced on h is side H e did not live to enj oy .

the fruits of his labours ; and I cannot conclude this

inadequate sketch of them better than by the sen
t e n ce s in which the F inancial S ecretary to the Govern

ment of I ndia summed them up in a letter written to

me three years after Lord M ayo s death — when his ’

work had been tested by the touc hstone of time and ,

its net value ascertained .

’
Lord M ayo s close personal attention to financial
questions never flagged H e had by decisive .

measures established steady surplus for chronic

deficit ; he had increased the working power of the
Local Governments while checking the growth of ,

their demands upon the I mperial treasury H e had .

established a policy of systematic watchfu l ness and

severe economy T he time was now coming when
.

the results of all his exertions and sacrifices were to

be gathered ; when the V iceroy would be able to
1
I d i v t h s t o t ls f o m t h
er e e e a r e
‘
a c t u al re c e i pt s ’
d du l
for t h e i n i v i a

y s ear , as g i v e n i n t h e S ta t e s ma n s Yea r B OO/z for

’
1 87 5 , w i t ho u t t he
me a n s of v e i fy i n g t h em
r .
1 06 NE T RE S UL TS OF H I S W OR K .
—
4 7 5 0,

gratify his nature by granting relief from the burdens

which he had reluctantly imposed Lord Mayo was .

occupied with such questions on the very j ourney

which ended so fata lly H e had reason to hope that
.

effective remission of taxation would soon be practic

able but he was still uncertain what S hape it ought to
,

take I t S hould never be forgotten that the welcome

.

measures of relief which the Government subsequently

found itself in a position to effect were possible only ,

’
in consequence of Lord M ayo s vigorous policy of
retrenchment and economy H is career was cut o ff
.

j ust when the fruit for which h e had made such sacri
fice s was ripening .

‘
H e found serious deficit and left substantial ,

surplus .H e found estimates habitually untrust

worthy he left them thoroughly worthy of confidence .

H e found accounts in arrear and statistics incomplete ;

,

he left them punctual and full H e found the relation.

between the Local Governments and the S upreme

Government in an unsatisfactory conditio n and the ,

powers of the Local Governments for good hampered

by obsolete financial b onds H e left the Local.

Governments working with cordiality harmony and , ,

freedom under the d irection of the Governor General

,
-

in Council H e found the F inancial D epartment

.

conducted with a general laxity h e left it in vigorous

efficiency And if the sound principles be adhered to
.
,

which Lord M ayo h eld of such importance and ,

which in h is hands proved so thoroughly effective ,

I ndia ought not again to sink into the state from

’
which he delivered her .
 TH E P RE E X I S I N T G TUA TI ON —
1 08 SI .
[IE r 4 7 .
-
5 6 ,

the reduction of the N ative army by nearly on e half -

,

and i n the increas e by about one half of the British -

troop s I n 1 8 6 2 after all apprehens i on of renewed

.
,

hostilities had disappeared an d the armies rested on ,

their n e w peace footing the native force consisted ,

of offi cers and men the E uropean troops ,

of 7 5 3 , U nder the vigorous Government of Lord

Lawrence from 1 8 6 4 to 1 8 6 9 as the c ivil a d mi n i ,

s t r a t i o n grew more effective and th e country settled ,

down into assured internal tranquillity it was found ,

possible to make further reductions which left the ,

N ative army on the I st April 1 8 6 9 at of

all ranks and the E uropean force at
,

D uring the last two years of this period indeed , ,

the question had been more than once raised as to

whether the military expenditure coul d not be stil l
’
further curtailed Lord Lawrence s chief advisers .

were S ir William Mansfield ( no w Lord S andhurst) ,

then Commander i n Chief ; M aj or General S ir H enry - - -

M D urand ; an d Colonel n o w Lieut General S ir

.
,
.
-
,

H enry N orman I n 1 8 6 7 Lord Sandhurst and S ir .

,

H enry D urand came to the conclusion that from ,

the military point of V iew although the Bengal ,

‘

N ative army coul d not be safely diminished yet ,

y P p s sp c i lly i t h R t u E s t I d i ( M i l i t y E p
me n t a r a er , e e a n e e rn , a n a ar x en

d i
) o d d by t h H o us of C o mmo s t b p i
t ore ,
r e re e d 7 t h A u g us t
e n o e r nte 1

I v tu t m k en h i s qu s t
re o I do t fi d th f ct s
a e t g d re e ,
as no n e a re ar

i g t h subj c m t
n e f t h i s ch p t
e t- l w ys p s t d i p c i s ly
at er o a er a a re re e n e n re e

th s m w y i t h d i ff t St t P p s wh i ch my
e a e a n e t iv
er e n i a e a er ,
on n a r ra e s

b sd
a e .

S t i s t i c l A bs t c t
1
ta l t i g t B i t i sh I d i 86 8 7 p s t d
a ra re a n o r n a, 1 2- 1 1, re en e

t b o t h H o us s of P l i m
o et b y co mm d of H M j s y 87 p 4 5
ar a en an er a e t , 1 2, . .
1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] TH E P R E E X I S I N -
T G SI TUA TI ON 1 09

that a certain number of M adras and Bombay regi

’ 1
ments might b e reduced B ut other considerations .

besides those of merely military efficiency had at that

time to be allowed for The rapid changes already .

effected during th e preceding two years rendered it

expedient that both officers and men shoul d have a
breathing space ; and on these groun ds of general
policy Lord Lawrence and his advisers decided
,

against further reductions i n

N ext y ear however his Government returned to
, ,

the subj ect by a nother line of approach S ir H enry .

N orman then S ecretary i n the M ilitary Department

, ,

3
drew up a m emorable report which while passing , ,

over the question of numerical reduction of th e troops ,

showed that a saving might be effected in the Army

S taff charges for the M adras and Bombay Presi
d e n ci e s H is scheme left the fighting strength of
.

these local armies untouched but curtailed certai n ,

unnecessary appointm ents Lord Lawrence with h i s .

,

Council and the Com mander i n Chief ( Lord Sand - -

hurst ) adopted Colonel N orman s proposals a n d

,
’

,
‘

pressed them upon the M adras and B ombay Govern

ments .

T his was the situation when L ord Mayo reached

Calcutta B ut exactly a fortnight after his arrival
.
,

the D uke of A rgyll as S ecretary of S tate for I ndia , ,

5 of D sp t ch f o m t h Gov o G l i C o u c i l t th
1
P ar. e a r e ern r- e ne r a n n o e

S c t y of St t f
e re a r I di N 69 d t d 3 d J u e 8 7 1
a e or n a, o. 1 , a e 2 n 1 .

3
D a te d S i ml a, 2 3 d J uly 1 868 .

4
u t s by
M in e Vi c e o y a d t h e C o mma d er i n C h i ef d t e d
r n n - -
,
a 2 3d an d

24 h J uly 8 6 8
i 1 . Th e who l e of t h e s e p p e s W ll b e fo u d i n
a r i n th e B lu e
Boo k of 8 7 p 1 1, .
3 6 el r eg .
1 1 0 R E TRE N CHM E N T ORDE RE D , 1 869 .
[E 1 — 0
47 5 ,

penned a Despatch which gave a new importance a n d

a quickened vitality to questions of I ndian military
reform H is Grace pointed out that notwithstanding
. ,

th e numerical decrease i n the forces since the M utiny ,

the expenditure on them had increased from 1 2 5

millions sterling in 1 8 5 6 —5 7 to over 1 6 millions in
1 8 68 H e also alluded to the fact that while a ,

new and costly system of police had been organize d ,

the expectations of army retrenchment based upon

it had borne no fruit T h e Despatch concluded with .

a hop e that the V iceroy would devise means to bri n g

down the army military expenditure i n I ndia by a
million and a half sterling .

The facts which Lord Mayo soon after wards elicited

as to th e unsatisfactory state of the I ndian F inances ,

’
give a deep significance to the D uke of A rgyll s i n
s t r u ct i o n s O n its arrival the V iceroy had forwarded
.
,

it in the customary way to the M adras and B ombay

, ,

Governments for consideration D uring the summer .

of 1 8 6 9 he gave his earnest attention to the questions

involved investigating one by one the twenty sepa
,

r ate grants o f the I ndian M ilitary Budget I n S eptem .

ber he brought the subj ect formally before his Council .

H is advisers came to the work with the knowledge

and experience accumulated in similar inquiries during
’
Lord Lawrence s V iceroyalty Lord S andhurst was .

1
P a r 5 el seq
. y of St t s D sp t ch t t h Gov o Ge l
. of S e c r e t ar a e
’
e a o e ern r- n era

in o u c l d d 6th J u y 8 69 Th o u gho u t t h i s ch p t I gi v th
C n i , at e 2 an ar 1 . r a er e e
figu s i p o u d s
re n th y s how i t h B lu Books D sp t ch s
n as e a re n n e e or e a e

wh c t h y t k l v lu i s t l i g t h sums
,

en e T fi d th i
e are a en . o n e r re a a e n er n , e

e xp d d i I d i s ho l d b d u c d by t w l ft h t ho s wh i ch f
en e n n a u e re e on e - e e re er

t th I di
o mi l i t y xp d i t u i E gl d
e n an ar co c t t h y st d
e en re n n an are rre as e an .
1 1 2 L ORD M A YO S M I LI ’
TAR Y AD VI SE R S [IET . .
4 7 5 0,
-

such reductions precluded by considerations of gene ‘

’
ral policy n o w ascertained that those considera
,

tions had lost their former force They found that .

the progress of good government the more efficient ,

police alluded to by the S ecretary of S tate the i m ,

proved weap ons o f the troops and the development ,

of the rail way system would enable them to guard ,

I ndia in 1 8 7 0 with a less costly army ; as th e same

set of influences had enabled them to guard I ndia
1
with a smaller army in 1 8 6 7 than three years before .

The problem before the V iceroy and his advisers

was by combining numerical reduction with economy
,

in army administration to effect a saving in the mili ,

tary expenditure which might approach to the 1 5

millions suggested by the S ecretary of S tate ; with
out impairing the defences o f the E mpire .

I n working out this problem the E arl of M ayo had

the help of as able a group of military advisers as
ever stood around a Governor G e n e r alo f I ndia Lord -
.

S andhurst S ir H enry D uran d S ir H en ry N orman

, , ,

and the chiefs of the Staff were soldiers who had ,

learned the actual requirements of an I ndian army

by the stern teaching of I ndian war and who came to ,

’
the questions no w raised after a ten years training in
the work of military reorganization The scheme of .

’
military reform which Lord M ayo s Government de
v e IO p e d represented th e collective sense of the above

named advisers I t consisted of specific proposals on .

1
In 1 86 4 , B ri t i sh t oo ps of
r ks
all r an ,
v e army
n at i ,

o
t ta l ,
In 1 8 67 , B i t i s h t oo ps
r r ,
at i ve
n my ar ,

t ot a l ,
S t a t zs t z ea
’

l Ab t s t p s
r ac , re en t e d t o P l i ame t b y
ar n co m
man d of H e r M aj e st y ,
1 87 2, p .
45 .
1 8 6 9—7 2 ] T WO LI N E S OF A PP R OA CH .
‘

1 1 3

a large number of heads —

proposal s wh i ch were
embodied in D espatches to the S ecretary of S tate
during th e three fo l lowing y ears but which were n o t ,

( so far as I can fi nd in the m ass of materials before

me ) condensed into any single document I purpose .
,

’
therefore with the aid of Lord M ayo s personal
,

papers kindly supplied to me by his private secretary

, ,

to exhib it th e scheme as a whole a n d as it developed ,

’
itself to the Viceroy s own mind ; and then to give a
very brief narrative of the success or failure of the
individual measures which it involved .

Lord M ayo found as his predecessor had done

, ,

that army retrenchment might be effected by two

distinct lines of approach — b y economy in the military
,

administration and by numerical reduction of the

,

f orces E ach of these subj ects again divided itself

.

into t wo great branches the former into retrenchments

,

i n the S taff and retrench ments in the Army D epart

,

ments ; the latter into reductions in the E uropean

troops and reductions in the N ative army
, He .

ascertained that retrenchments aggregating

were possible without any sacrifice of effi ciency i n the
S taff and the M ilitary Departments ; and he strin
gently carried them out B ut when he came to redu e
.

tions in the E uropean troops and in the N ative army, ,

he found that the questions involved were of a more

complex character ; and as his V iews on these points
have been sometimes misunderstood I shall endea ,

vour to state them in his own words .

A s regards the E uropean troops he be l ieved that ,

he had not one man too man y in I ndia I n a .

VO L . 11 . H
1 1 4 R E D UCTI ON S , E UR OP E A N ARM Y .
-
56 ,
1 ’
private l etter to o ne of H er M aj esty s M inisters ,

after urging his plan of retrenchment he writes thus ,

O ne thing I implore may not b e done and that

, , ,

i s the removal o f a singl e B ritish bayonet or sabre

from I ndia We can I believe reduce our military
. , ,

expen d iture by a million without giving up one of ,

’
the littl e white faced men in red We are strongly
-
.

’
impressed with the belief he wrote in his public , ,

2
D espatch a fe w weeks later that we have not one ,
‘

B ritish soldier too many in this country We should .

most strongly obj ect to any reduction of th eir num

b er because we are convinced that such a step coul d
,

not be taken without endangering and weakening

’
authority on e of the mainstays of British rule
, .

N evertheless he proposed to reduce the charges ,

for th e E uropean troops by half a million sterling .

This too without decreasing their rank and file by

, ,

a man or the pay of either officers or men by a

,

shilling H e proved that one great cause of the i n

.

creased mil itary expenditure o f which the S ecretary ,

of S tate 5 0 j ustly complained arose from the fact ,

that E uropea n regiments in I ndia had gradually de

cli ne d from their full effective strength so that a ,

larger number of separate regiments were required

to give an equal tota l of fighting men H e pro .

posed by strengthening each regiment to keep the

, ,

same total of fighting men and to reduce the number ,

of separa te regiments H e would thus get rid of the .

1
D ate d 9th p
S e t em b er 1 8 69 .

2
Gov e o G e rn r- n e ra lt o Se c r et ar y of St ate, N o 3 49,
. d at e d 4t h O c t o b er
1 8 69 , p a r a . 2 4.
1 1 6 I N TH E BRI TI SH CA VA L R Y
.
[A3
1 —
4 7 5 0,

on their ex i sting basis was T he total ,

strength of the 4 5 regiments on the stronger foot ,

ing proposed by the I ndian Government would have ,

been showing an increase of 9 40 rank and

file with a certain decrease in other grades re p re
,

sented by the o fficers and staff non commissioned - -

officers of the seven regiments dispensed with The .

saving to the I ndian E xchequer would be

1
a year .

As regards B ritish cavalry Lord M ayo found th e ,

I ndian revenues charged with 1 1 regiments having ,

an average strength of 3 7 8 privates or a total of ,

of all grades T he Vi ceroy with the approval

.
,

of his m ilitary advisers proposed to reduce th e ,

number of British cavalry regiments to 7 ; but to

raise each of them to a strength of 5 1 8 privates or ,

a total of of all ranks The difference b e .

tween the seven regiments thus strengthened and ,

the eleven regiments on their pre existing basis -

,

would be a diminution of 8 6 0 cavalry as against ,

the increase in the British infantry above i n dicated , ,

by 9 40 men T he Commander i n Chief and the other

.
- -

military advisers were unanimous that this could b e

done with due regard to the requirements of the
country The eventual saving in th e British cavalry
.

would amount to g 1 per annum .

2

With regard to the third branch of the E uropean

army in I ndia— the Royal A rtillery— the case was
D sp t ch f o m Gov o G e l t S c t y of S t t N 349
1
e a r e rn r- en ra o e re a r a e, o. ,

d t d 4th O c t o b 8 69 p
a e 3 er 1 ,
ara . 1.

Gov o G e l t S c t y of St t N 3 49 4t h O ct o b 869
2
er n r- e n ra o e re a r a e, o. , er 1 ,

p s 26 2 8
ara .
, .
1 8 6 9—7 2 ] R E D UC TI ON S ; R O YA L AR TI LLE R Y . 1 1 7

d ifferent The E arl of Mayo s mil itary advisers b e

.
’

li e v e d that the organization of the Royal Artillery

i n I ndia was not only on a wasteful system but that ,

the system was inherently unsuitable to the country ,

and a source of weakness to our position We are .

‘

’
convinced says a D espatch conveying the de l iberate
, ,

conclusion of his Government that we have an excess ,

‘

of batteries of horse and fi eld artillery and we have ,

th e testimony of every officer of experience that the

1 ’
batteri es themselves are insu ffi ciently manned T his .

conclusio n was backed by elaborate papers by the

Commander i n Chief ( Lord S andhurst) by M aj or
- -
,

General S ir H enry D urand and by the A dj utant ,

Genera l of th e A rmy I t is impossible to read these

.

exhaustiv e documents without a conviction that the

h eads of the I ndian army brought forward their pro
o sa ls with a view to increased m ilitary efficiency
p ,

quite as m uch as with a V iew to decreased military

expenditure They b elieved the existing system to
.

b e not only extravagant but dangerous T hey pro .

posed to remedy it by reducing th e number of under

manned batteries and by raising the strength of each
,

of th e remaining batteries to a sta ndard of absolute

effi ciency .

A s then constituted the Roya l Artillery serving in ,

I ndia was distributed into 1 6 brigades with 9 4 bat ,

t e r i e s manned by 1
,
officers an d men o f all ranks .

T he E arl of M ayo and Lord S andhurst proposed to

reorganize i t on the basis of 1 2 brigades with 8 0 ,

batteries manned by 1 , 5 o f ficers and men of all

1
Th e s m t t h e s me N o 3 6 3 i 8 t h O c t o b
a e o a ,
1 869 p
.
,3 er , ara . .
1 1 8 RE D UC TI ON S ; R O YAL AR TI LLE R Y .
[
T E L 4 7 - 5 0,

ranks T he reorganized for c e would give a smaller

.

total by 4 6 8 of all grades but a decrease in the actua l ,

1
number of gunners and drivers by only 6 men The .

saving effected by the reorganization would be from

2
to a year besides cost of pur ,

chasing horses and stores estimated at per ,

3
annum The total eventual saving by a reduction
.

of the gunners and drivers throughout I ndia from

to ( or 6 men ) would therefore b e to take ,

4
the lowest estimate per annum , .

’
Lord Mayo s Government urged this reorganization
o f the Royal A rtillery serving in I ndia on grounds

of effi ciency as well as on financial considerations .

The Viceroy writing privately to a friend stated the

, ,

case thus I think it is not desirable to keep a large

number of batteries of artillery in an under manned -

state I n vie w of possible war I should b e more

.
,

anxious to make the reductions I have suggested than

I am now because if any augmentations are required
, ,

they should only be made in certain directions ; and

if we are disembarrassed of a number of compara
t i v e ly useless corps we can add to the strength of ,

’ 5
the warlike position of our army without d i fficu lt y .

1
h a t i s t o s ay
T d i v e r s a d g u n e r s u n d e r t h e p r o p o s e d o rg i
,
r n n an

z at i o n, as g i st a a n u d er t h e o l d n .

A cco d i g t h e s ch e me wo k e d o t b y t h e C o mm d er i n Ch i e f r
2 - -
r n as r u an ,
o

t he a lt e a t i v e o e by M ajo
rn G e n e a l Si r H e n y D u a d mi gh t b e
n r- r r r n ,

a cc ep t e d by t h e S e c e t ar y of S t a t e I h a v e t a ke n my figu e s f o m t h e
r . r r

C o mp t r o ller G e n e l s d e t a i l e d E s t i ma t e s ( pp 1 5 3 b o th a s t o t h e
’
-
ra .

s av i g i mo n e y a n d t h e c t u l e d u ct i o i n me
n n a a r n n.
3
Th e A dj u t a n t Ge n e a l s Le t t e r 1 2 1h O c t o b er 1 869 p ara 1 5 p 1 68 of
’
- r . .
, , ,

B lu e Boo k .

4
Fo i t s n u me ri c a l e ffe c t o n t h e b a tt er i e s a n d g u n s see p a t p 1 2 1
r , s , . .

5
D at e d 1 1 th D e ce mb er 1 8 7 0 .
1 20 THE I R P RE CI SE E FFE C T [IET 4 7 - 5 0,
.

guns as being in field battery i n time of peace and ,

the establishment of men and horses are only able

to work and drag 5 0 guns it is clear either that ,

the former must be doubled (which he had j ust shown ’

to be impossible on the breaking out of war) or that [

,
‘

directly we begin to move on account of active ser

vice 5 0 guns must b e returned into store Thos e
, .

conversant with I ndian campaigns who have seen ,

the reduction of batteries from six guns to four in

the face of the enemy and the importation of dragoons ,

into the artillery ranks to enable even the latter

reduced number not to lie idle will be able to make ,

1 ’
t he necessary application for themselves .

The Commander i n Chief therefore insisted on first

- -

ascertaining the actual number of guns required for

I ndia and next on having each one of them effi ciently
,

manned H e laid stress upon th e s ubstitution then

.

2
being introduced of rifled g u ns for smooth bores -
.

Th e conclusion to which he an d the other military

authorities cam e was that they would have a stronger ,

artillery force by maintaining 4 9 horse an d fiel d

batteries with rifled guns thoroughly manned than , ,

they had had from their 6 3 field and horse batteries of

smooth bores inadequately equipped I have S hown
-
.

the reduction in men which the measure involved to ,

enable i t to be placed side by side with the numerical

changes in the cavalry and infantry But the strength .

of artillery is estimated in guns rather than in men ,

M i u t by t h C o mm d i C h i f i I d i
1
n e e an t t ch d t t h
er - n - Gov e n n a, a a e o e er

n orG -
l s D sp t ch 36 3 d t d 8th O c t o b 869
en e r a
’
e a ,
a e 1 er 1 .

I t h e A dj u t t Ge l s Let t e of 7 th O ct o b 869 B lu Book

2 ’
n an -
n era r 1 er 1 . e ,

p 1 67
. .
1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] THE I R P RE CI SE E FFE C T 1 21

and I give this aspect of the proposed reorganization

1
b elow I nstead of having 9 4 batteries insufficiently
.

manned by drivers and gunners there would ,

b e 8 0 batteries efficiently manned by There

woul d be a decrease o f 8 4 guns (from 3 7 8 to
o w ing to th e reduction of horse and field batteries .

B ut the 2 9 4 guns would be rifled instead of smooth ,

bores ; and every one of them would have a full

crew to bring it into the fiel d instead of a third of ,

the guns having to b e left behind as o n the old ,

organization .

Taking the lowest estimate of the artillery retrench

ments (zle the Comman d er i n Chief s a d opted by the
.
- -
’

Viceroy ) the foregoing changes in the British artillery

, ,

cavalry and infantry would yield an aggregate saving

,

of a year to the I ndian E xchequer without ,

any sacrifice in the efficiency of the I ndian d efences .

Th e possibility of reductions in the N ative army

remained I n th e exhaustive discussions which the
.

O ld Pl an .

1
H o rs e A rt i ll yer , 20 B a tt e ri e s . 6 B a t te ri e s . 14 B at te ri e s .

Li F i l d A t ill y
gh t e r er , 43 43 35

G i s o A t i ll y t
arr n r er ,
e c .
, 31 31 31

T tao l of B a t t eri e s , 94 B at t e ri e s . 80 B at t e ri e s .

Un d er t he h e d i g Ga
a n rr i so n Ar t i ll y
er a re in c lu d e d 4 he vy b
a a t te r i e s
an d 2 mo u nt ai n b a t t e ri e s .
1 22 TH E N A TI VE ARM Y ,
1 8 69 .
VET 4 7—5 0, .

E arl of M ayo and his military advisers gave to th i s

question t wo considerations constantly came to the
,

surface F irst that th e len gthy exposed frontier of

.
, ,

N orthern I ndia with the fi erce elements of internal

,

disquiet within it rendered any substantial reductio n ,

of either native cavalry or native infantry in B engal

’
impossible S econd that the separate esp ri t a e (2057 73
.
,
1

of the Madras and the B ombay native armies would

resent reductions which fell exclusively upo n them and ,

left the B engal native army untouched T he Viceroy .

an d the Commander i n Chief were m ost anxious to - -

avoid wounding the a mou r p r am e of any one of the /

three gallant bodies of m en who make up the native

army i n I ndia ; but their paramount duty— a duty
which ranked above all local considerations — was S O
to shape their reductions as not to impair the defences
of British I ndia .

H aving regard to o ur widely extended frontiers -

,

the immense area of th e ( N orthern) Presidency and ,

the demands of Calcutta and th e S eat of Govern

l ’
ment I do not think wrote the Commander i n C hi e f
, ,
- -
,

‘
that we have a sepoy too many in the B engal
command T he M adras Government admitted two
.
,

’
years ago that their army was redundant
,
The .

Commander i n Chief then referred to a S imilar state

- -

ment by the B ombay Government and to the i m ,

proved police organization o f that Presidency I t is .

shown by returns recently prepared in the M ilitary

Department h e continued that the native soldiery
,
’

1
M in ut i C o u c i l by S i
e n n ,
r W. R
. M an sfi l d ( Lo d S dh u s t ) d t d
e r an r ,
a e

1 1 th Se p t mb 869
e er 1 .
1 24 TH E THRE E N A I VE T ARM I E S .
[
TEL 4 7 - 5 0 ,

’
as M ilitary M ember of the Viceroy s Council but ,
‘

o ne Commander i n Chief and that the commands

- -
,

of the M adras and Bombay armies b e merged in

1
that command The M adras and Bombay forces are
.

i n reality not more than each a weak corp s d a x mcfe ’

and in n o other army in the worl d would separate

Commanders i n Chief be assigned to such forces
- -
.

When the difficulties of communication rendered

intercourse b etween the Presi d encies slow and tedious ,

and when th e N ative armies were much stronger than

they are at present th ere was a practical reason for
,

these commands being separate from that of Bengal .

Powerful N ative S tates intervened and there was not ,

that unity of B ritish dominion and coherence of its

parts which n o w have place All this has greatly
.

change d and even with th e addition of the M adras

,

and Bombay armies th e Commander i n Chief at the - -

,

head of or E uropean and N ati v e

troops could move about and inspect and control the
,

whole force far easier than in 1 8 5 7 he could the

which then constituted the B engal force alone .

T he d ifference of about men which would be ,

in excess of the command in 1 8 5 7 is more than com ,

e n sa t e d by the facilities which railways alone afford

p
for th e movements of a Commander i n Chief ; and - -

steam communication has improved as well as rail

ways . I n 1 8 5 7 the M a d ras command was over a
force numbering it is now reduced to
and admits avowedly of still further re d uction T he .

Bombay command was in 1 8 5 7 over a force of , ,

1
M i u t i C o u c i l 3 t h Au g us t 8 69 p
n e n n ,
o s 9 31 1 ,
ara . 2 , .
1 8 6 9—7 2 ] THE I R C ON CE N TRA TI ON PR OP OSE D . 1 25

it is no w reduced to a force of all

told U nder these circumstances I cannot see the
.
,

necessity for maintaining in 1 8 6 9 the same number

of commands i n chief for a total of
- -
men ,

as was kept up in 1 8 5 7 for me n when ,

neither railways nor steam communication presented

the facilities of locomotion they n o w offer I am .

therefore of opinion that without any detriment ,

to th e service a saving of
, can be effected
by the reduction of the Madras and Bombay com
mands —i n chief -
.
’

The E arl of M ayo was resolved above all things

that there shoul d b e no ground for suspecting that
his Government tampered with the efficiency of th e
N ative army for the sake of economy H is F inance .

M inister very appropriately raised the question as

to whether such a concentration of the three com
mands would not impair the value of the local
armies as a counterpoise against each other in case ,

of the mutiny of one or other of them To this .

,

M a jor General S ir H enry Durand replied : I do

-
‘

not think that this proposal involves as supposed ,

by my honourable colleague S ir R Temple a fusion , .

,

of the N ative armies and a loss of their traditions .

T hat result is not a necessary consequence for there ,

i s nothing to prevent the department of th e A dj utant

General having when amalgamated distinct sections
, ,

for the B engal M adras and Bombay N ative armies

, , ,

the recruiting of which should in my opinion be , ,

kept perfectly distinct ; the reliefs of which also should

b e made to circulate within so to speak provincial , ,
1 26 THE I R O
C N CE N TRA TI ON P R OP OSE D [I ET . .
4 7 5 0,
—

l imits I have no doubt that the concentration of

.

three commands under one Commander i n Chief would - -

result in a reduction of the departments of the

A dj utant General and Q uartermaster General i nas
- -
,

much as the substitution o f one headquarters for

three headquarters could not fail to effect som e con
s i d e ra b le reduction of these now distinct establish

ments M anifestly instead of three A dj utant Generals

.
,
-

and three Q uartermaster Generals on e Adj utant -

,

General and one Quartermaster General would suffice -

though three D eputy Adj utant Generals and three -

D eputy Q uartermaster Generals might still be

required for these administrative departments at
first . I say at first because there is no reason
,

why ultimately some further reduction should not b e

possible T he reduction of t wo A djutant Generals
.
-

a n d two Q uartermaster Generals would yield about

-

and the concentration of the establishments

might give a furthe r Altogether therefore , ,

the reduction of the two minor commands i n chief - -

,

and of their appen d ant Adj utant and Q uartermaster

Generals would result in a saving of about £ 3
,

per annum .

‘
I f this were thought too sweeping a change and ,

objectionable on political or administrative grounds ,

then I am strongly of opinion that the commands of

the M adras and Bombay armies might be amalga
mated ; and that the I ndian for ces might then
practically b e un d er one Commander i n Chief having - -
,

under h i m all the troops to the line of the N e rb u d d a ,

and a second Commander i n Chief subordinate to the

- -
,
 A C ] UAL R E D UCTI ON S P R OP OSE D —
1 28 .
[IET.
4 7 5 0,

the I ndian army would inj ure the prospects of a

large and an influential body of officers in I ndia and at
home and raise a tempest of opposition in which all
, ,

hope of reform or retrenchment of any sort would b e

wrecked These schemes were not therefore per
.

mi t t e d to find entrance into the D espatches in which ,

Lord M ayo conveyed to the S ecretary of S tate the

deliberate decision of his Government w i th reference
to the N ative army .

That decision may be stated thus

’
A s regards native artillery Lord Mayo s Govern ,

ment followed out the accepted policy of dispensing

with native gunners and his p r O p o sa ls were readily
,

sanctioned by the S ecretary of S t ate H e abolished .

t w o B engal batteries ( namely the E urasian Battery

.

in Assam and one light field battery of the

,

Panj ab F rontier F orce) ; the N ative Company of

Artille ry in Madras ; and one native company of
artillery in Bombay T otal reductions of N ative
.

artillery four batteries or companies ; annual saving

, ,

Regarding the caval ry and infantry in the Bengal

N ative army the Viceroy came to the conclusion (as
,

demonstrated by his military advisers ) that not a man

could be spared B ut with their consent he found
.

that a considerabl e saving could be effected by

reducing the number of separate regiments and ,

increasing the strength of the remain d er to a more

efficient standard H e proposed therefore a redu e
.
, ,

1
c o n co n v ey e d i n D e sp at ch fr o m S e cr et ary of St at e t o Gov ern o r
S an t i
G en eral N o 2 3 d a t e d 2 7 t h J a n u ary 1 8 7 0 p ara 1 0
,
.
, ,
. .
1 8 69 R E D UC TI ON S I N NA TI VE ARM Y . 1 29

tion of one regiment o f B engal N ative c avalry ,

and one of Bengal N ative i nfantry raising the rank ,

and file in the other regiments so as to maintain the

same total of rank and file in th e Bengal N ative army .

Annual saving a year , .

As regards the M adras N ative army h e acted ,

o n th e decision of th e Governor ( Lord N apier of

E ttrick ) confirmed by the O pinions of the Com
,

mander i n Chief in I ndia ( Lord Sandhurst) and of

- -
,

M aj or General S ir H enry D urand

-
I n the M adras .
‘

’
Presidency its Governor had written it is my
, ,
‘

O pinion that the cost of the army far transcends th e

1 ’
wants of the country I ndeed M adras had for years .
,

sent her redundant troops amounting to one regiment ,

of N ative cavalry and five of infantry to d o duty at ,

Bengal S tations This proved to be a most e x t ra v a .

gant arrangement Thus a regiment of M adras .

cavalry with a strength of only 3 00 privates cost

, ,

a year while a regiment of B engal cavalry ,

2
cost only for a strength of 3 8 4 privates .

The waste was intensifi ed by the family s y stem of ‘ ’

the M adras sepoys who are accompanied by their ,

wives and children — a system which may b e suitable

for a stationary local army but which produces many ,

evils if such corps are moved to other Presidencies .

F or exampl e the Commander i n Chief had lately had

,
- -

to represent the difficulty which would arise w i th a

M adras cavalry regiment if the Benga l plan were ,

M i u t b y t h R i gh t H
1
n e Lo d N p i e ( of E t t i c k) Gov e o of
e on . r a r r , rn r

M d s st h F b 1 8 68
a ra ,
1 e . .

Gov o G e l t Se c et y of S t t e N o 349 d t e d 4t h O ct 869

2
e rn r- e n ra o r ar a , .
, a . 1 ,

p ara . 51 .

V O L. I I .
1 36 R E D UCTI ON S I N N A I VE T A RM Y .
[5 1 .
47 5 6 ,
-

enforced of sending i t out i nto camp in event of an ,

epidemic of cholera T he M adras corps in question .

had only a strength of 2 0 2 fighting men at head

quarters an d were attended by no fewer than 1 2 9 6
,

women children and fo ll owers

, , .

Lord M ayo proposed there fore that henceforth , ,

the M adras regiments shoul d be kept to their own

Presidency This wou l d enable him to reduce five
.

regiments of M adras infantry and one of Madras ,

cavalry then serving at Bengal stations ( or a number

,

equa l to them ) H e also found he could safe l y dis

.

pense with three other regiments of M adras infantry .

A nother separate regiment of Madras cavalry woul d

b e saved by incorporating three into two T otal r e .

duction of the M adras army— cavalry 2 regiments ,

( 1 dispensed with and 1 reduced by incorporating

,

3 into infantry 8 regiments reduced out of 40 , .

A nnual saving £ 1 ,

T he B ombay army proved to be more accurately

adj usted to the actual demands upon it But it was .

found that a small saving of £ 9 9 00 a year might be

safely effected b y reorganizing the S indh horse into
2 regiments of 4 squadrons each in place of 3 regi ,

ments with 3 squadrons each A s regards infantry .

,

even when there were two B ombay regiments i n

China the propriety of reducing t w o regiments had
,

been raised The Governor General in Council

’

-
.
,

having regard to th e return of the regiments from

China the strong police the tranquil state of the
, ,

Presidency its limited extent and population and th e

, ,

1
Ca v a l ry , in fa ntr y ,
o
T ta l ,
1 32 SC HE M E OP R E TR E N CH M E N T .
[E x 47 5 6 ,

effected an eventual saving of clos e on one millio n

s terling Thus .

1. S taff Appointments ,

2. Army Departments and reduction of

’
Governor General s Body Guard
- -

3 . E uropean Troops
Artillery— 6 horse and 8
field batteries ,

Caval ry— 4 regiments .

I nfantry — 7 regiments ,

1
4 . N ative Army
Artille ry— 4 batteries or
companies ,

Cavalry— 4 regiments ,

I nfantry— 1 6 regiments ,

Total Saving , 53

’
I n submitting the above scheme to H er Maj esty s
Government the E arl of Mayo believed that it would
,

tend towards the practical e fficiency of th e I ndia n

army I n this belief h e had the firm support of the
.

Commander i n Ch ief ( Lord S andhurst) and the M ili

- -

tary M ember of C o u n ci l (S i r H enry D urand ) While

'

strenuous for economy in the military administration ,

h e grudged no expenditure required to place or to

Th s fig u s t k f o m t h C o mp t o ll G l s d t il d ’
1
e e re are a en r e r er -
en er a e a e

s t t m t s Th t o t l d u c t i o
a e en . e show i th D sp t ch of t h 4th
a re n, as n n e e a e

O ct ob 869 cco di g t l oc l d i s t i bu t i o i t o P s i de c i s i
er 1 ,
a r n o a r n n re n e , s

1 6
1 8 69 R E P OR M S A C TUALL Y E P PE C TE D . 1 33

maintain the army on a basis of thoro u gh practical

efi fici e n cy I am here stating his own view and that
.

of th e eminent military advisers on whose counsel he

’
acted I have this year wrote Lord M ayo to a
.
‘
,

friend i n 1 8 7 0 without any suggestio n from any

,
‘

quarter pressed upon H er Majesty s Government the

,
’

necessity that exists for immediately arming every

E uropean soldier and volunteer in I ndia with a S nider
rifle I have ever since the beginning of 1 8 6 9 (when
.
,

h e assumed the V iceroyalty ) pointed out the defe e ,

tive state of our artillery force and recommended the ,

i mmediate adoption of rifled guns I n ever there .

,

fore let economic considerations interfere in cases of

,

necessity I have suggested nothing which in my

.
,

opinion is calculated to diminish our military stre ngth

,
.

B ut I do desire to reduce milita ry expenditure by a

very l arge amount I firmly believe that there are .

forces in I ndia which we should be better without ,

and that it is better to keep only those regiments i n

’
arms which would b e useful i n war .

The results of the proposed reforms may b e briefly

stated thus The S ecretary of State sanctione d i n
.

full the first two sets of retrenchments namely i n t h e , ,

I ndian S taff and the Army D epartments B ut he .

did not see his way to adopt in their entirety either

of the other two series of measures namely those , ,

which affected the British regiments serving in I ndia ,

o r the reductions of th e N ative army A s regards .

’
the former H er M aj esty s Government reduced the
,

British cava l ry by two instead of four regiments and ,

the British infantry by two instead of seven regi

1
34 R E P OR M S A C TUA LL Y E P PE C TE D .
[E 11 47 5 6 ,
-

men t s ; On t wi t é oa t t Ee cor r es p an d i ng i n cr ease i n Me

r a nk a nd ffi le o lfie re onma i n i ng
which re
g i men t s,

the I ndian Government had so strongly insisted A s .

regards the native forces the artille r y reductions were

,

sanctioned ; but the S ecreta ry of S tate thought that

the cavalry an d infantry reductions bore too heavily
o n the Madras army H e prop osed an alternative
.

plan which would have broken up t wo regiments of

Bengal cavalry and one in each of the other Presi
,

d e n ci e s ; with six regiments of native infantry t wo i n ,

each Presidency The I ndian Government did not

.

think that the military requirements of N orthern I ndia ,

with its great frontier towards Central Asia permitted ,

of this arrangement being carried out ; and suggested

as a compromise the reduction of 3 regiments of
N ative cavalry ( one in each Presidency) and 8 ,

regiments of N ative infantry ( 2 in Bengal 4 i n ,

M adras and 2 in Bombay) After a careful r e

,
.

consideration and having received the views of Lord

,

N apier of Magdala (who did not o n this point coin

cide with the preceding Commander i n Chief Lord - -
,

’
S andhurst ) H er M aj esty s Government faile d to
,

see their way to accepting the compromise an d ,

suggested a third scheme which would have reduced ,

the rank and file of the N ative army to the extent

of me n equally in the three Presidencies T h e .

Government of I ndia b elieved that such a reduction

would b e unsafe from a m ilitary point of vie w an d ,

returned to the proposals which it had previously

submitted T hus th e question remained at the time
.

’
of L ord M ayo s death .
 LO RD M A YO S O WN WS [
’
1 36 VI E . A222 4 7 - 5 6 ,

the same idea, by plans for getting rid of S uch por

tions of it as i n the opinion of his responsibl e military
,

advisers were not required for the actual work to

,

be done As regards the E uropean troops he de

.
,

sired to have a perfectly equipped har d working -

,
-

force with each regiment fully manned— a force in

,

which the o fficers would have more to do than at

present but which in the opinion of his military
, ,

advisers woul d have been equally serviceable to

,

I ndia and which would cer tainly h ave cost her less
,

money .

I n short h e wanted to get all rou nd an equal

, , ,

amount of efficiency for a smaller amount of money .

E very one who has made a similar effort in his own

affairs knows that considerable obstacles arise in
,

the way of its accomplishment I n the civil a d mi n i .

s t r a t i o n there can now be no question that the Earl

of M ayo succeeded i n this hard task But apart .

from the strong influence which veste d rights loca l ,

interests and service traditions exercise on military

,

questions there is always this great practical difficulty

, ,

that m en of equal experience and whose opinions ,

carry equal weight take widely different views as ,

to the m ilitary requirements of a country T he t est .

of present effi ciency cannot b e applied as in the case

of civil departments ; for the measure of sufficiency
is not th e actual requirements during peace but the ,

possible strain of some future war The hazards

of the contingent and the unknown mar the calcula
tion and men may differ widely yet honestly in , ,

arrangements based on a state of things which has

1 8 6 9—7 a ] EN GLI SH A N D I N D I A I V VI E IV . 1 37

not yet ar i sen an d which they have to imagine for

,

themselves in their own min d s .

T he I ndian authorities felt j eal ous of l ocal i n

fl u e n ce or personal interests i n E ngland b eing
allowed to interfere with plans which their duty
to I ndia compelled them to urge B ut the names .

of the D uke of Argyll then S ecretary of S tate fo r ,

I n d ia and of M r Gladstone th e head of the M inistry

, .
, ,

will satisfy most E nglishmen that such i nfluences

or interests were little likely to exercise u ndue weight .

Lord M ayo keenly realized however as many , ,

Governor Generals have done before him the dif

-
,

ference between the problem of government i n I ndia

and i n E ngl and An E nglish M inister comes to
.

the discussion of economic diffi culties with h is ex

e r i e n ce acquired i n a country which has over 75
p
1
millions sterling of imperial an d 3 8 5 m illions of local , ,

revenues wherewith to govern 3 2 millions of people

,

who are quite willing to be governed T he I ndian .

statesman comes to the same questions with his ideas

of right and wrong framed to suit a country with
4 6 millions sterling of imperial taxation and 3 5 ,

millions of local revenues wherewith to govern a ,

population of 2 00 millions who are not quite willing ,

to b e governed A rrangements w hich an E nglish

.

M inister might deem dictated by a wise and dignified

l iberality may seem to an I ndian statesman u nj u st i
,

fiably extravagant The hard facts hourly pressed

.

’
upo n a Governor General s notice never allow him
-
,

duri n g a s ingl e day of his Viceroyalty to forget ,

A c t u l ec ei p t s f
1
87 4 St t m Y B k 87 5
’
a r or 1 , a es an s ea r - oo ,
1 .
1 38 L ORD M A YO S S UM M I N G UP
’
.
[
215 11 4 7 - 56,

that h e is the ruler of a very poor country H e .

is the paid trustee of a very poor people E very .

couple of rupees missp ent under the shadow of h is

authority exceeds the total revenue derived from
,

1
one of his subj ects during an entire year E very .

sovereign which he disburses represents the whole

earnings of a husbandman and his family toiling bare
backed in the sun or under the pelting tropical rains , ,

d uring five weeks I t would not b e in accordance .

with the facts to say that such considerations enter

into the daily thoughts of E nglish statesmen They .

belong to a rich country of a country proud of its ,

wealth and disdainful of niggardly dealings whether

, ,

private or public .

T h e long battle with deficit forced this comparison

with an almost painful pressure upon the E arl of
’
M ayo s mind B ut he b elieved that in his military
.

policy he repressed the promptings to which the

poverty of his people gave rise and never allowed ,

himself to make a single suggestion which would i m

pair the defences o f the British power i n I ndia All .

his official minutes and letters public and private , ,

breath e this conviction With regard to the meas u res .

which during his lifetime bore the smallest amount

of fruit namely the retrenchments in the N ative
, ,

army he recorded the following words

, I do
not think it necessary to discuss further the a b s o
lute necessity that exists for a very large reduction
of military expenditure in I ndia I will however .
, ,

1
h
T i s i v i f w co s i d
s e en e n er t h e l d
an -
t ax a s re v en u e an d n ot a s r e n t .

For t h e x c t c l cul t i o
e a a a n , s ee a n t e, p 6
. .
1 40 ARM Y I M P R O VE M E N TS LE T 4 7 —5 0 ,
[
annual exigencies of fi nance or the interests of ,

thos e who are employed i n the military service of

the Crown .

‘
E very shilling that is taken fo r unnecessary
military expen d iture is s o much withdrawn from
those vast sums which it is our duty to spend
for the moral and material improvement of the
people I admit to the full that a compl ete and
.

an effi cient military organization is th e base and

foun d ation of our p ower here We are bound to .

see that every offi cer and man is fi t for immediate

service and that every arm an d every military r e
,

u i s i t e is maintained in a state of the utmost e ffici

q
ency I believe that i n the proposals which have
.

been made these principles have been strictly a d

,

’ 1
hered to .

The original M inute from which I extract the fore

going sentences covers five folio pages of small type .

B ut it would not be fair for me to reproduce the

’
V iceroy s arguments for his specifi c proposals without
also detailing the consideratio n s which weighed with
the H om e Authorities in declining them T o attempt .

this would invo l ve a rehearsal of the whole contro

v e rs
y while
, my obj ect is merely to exhibit th e spirit
in which the E arl of Mayo dealt with the question .

A singl e sentence of the last D espatch which he lived

to issue on the subject of army reform will fit ly con
clu d e this branch of my narrative We cannot think .

that it is right to compel the people of this country to

contribute one farthing more to military expenditure
1
M in ut by t h
e e Vi c er o y , 3d O ct ob er 1 8 7 0.
1 8 6 9—72 ] UN DE R L ORD M A YO S R ULE
’
. 1 41

than the safety and defen c e of the country absolutely

1 ’
demand .

The current administration of the army is conducted

b y the Commander i n Chief and to Lord Sandhurst - -
,

and L ord N apier of Magdala belongs the credit of

’
improvements in detail effected during Lord Mayo s
rule But to these i mprovements the Viceroy gave a
.

liberal and strenuous support Lord M ayo says .

‘
,
’

one well qualified to speak on this point hated waste , ,

but kne w that waste follows excessive saving no less

than excessive expenditure H is obj ect was to reduce .

what was superfluous i n the army but not to starve ,

what was essential H e advocated the e co n o mi z

.
’

ing of the health and vigour of the E uropean troops

by a system of sanataria and hill stations and one of -
,

h is latest orders i n the M ilitary D epartment was to

’
this end T o him also i t is mainly due says the
.
‘
,

high authority above cited that the troops in th e ,

‘

hill stations occupy quarters or cottage barracks

-
, ,

which whil e fulfilling every desideratum of health

, ,

comfort and discipline enabl e a whole regiment to

, ,

be housed for a smaller sum than under the old ,

system of imposing but less comfortabl e structures it ,

would have cost to house three companies W he r .

’

ever he went one o f the first things he wished to see

,

was the hospital ; and sanitary requirements were

always sure of his liberal support To the di fficult .

problem of making fit provision for th e children and

orphans of the British soldier in I ndia he devoted ,

1
Th e Gov ern o r G e - n e ra li n C o u n c i l t o th e Sec r e t ar y of St a te d
for I n i a,
No . 1 69 , d at e d 2 3 d J u ne 1 87 1 , p a ra. 31 .
1 42 ARM Y I M P R O VE M E N TS .
[I E'
L 4 7 5 0,
-

much earnest thought ; and among other measures

, ,

appointed a committee with a view to the more

efficient working of the noble bequest of S ir H enry
Lawrence A thick file of papers before me bears
.

witness to his personal interest in the Lawrence

Asylums . Regimental workshops exhibitions and, ,

every devi c e for keeping al ive the mental vitality of

the British soldier under the strain of the I ndian
climate found i n him a constant friend As regar d s
,
.

improvements i n efficienc y it may here be briefly

,

stated that during his rule the I ndian army was

equipped with better weapons the artillery was fur
,

n i she d with the most approved rifled guns and the ,

col d weather camps of exercise which n o w form so

,

importa n t a feature i n th e I ndian military training ,

were inaugurated under his own eye F or these and .

for every other measure with a view to perfecting the

I ndian defences the E arl of Mayo however severe
, ,

might b e the strain of h is financial necessities found ,

the requisite funds H e desired to avoid waste but

.
,

he was resolved ab ove all things to secure efficiency ;

and h e enj oyed a personal popularity with the army ,

both N ative and E uropean such as few Governor

,

General s of I ndia have ever won .

1 44 TH E I N DI A N L E GI SLA T URE .
[A31 4 7 5 0,
-

readers the process by which legislation is conducted

,

in I ndia .

The I mperial Parliament legislates but se l dom an d ,

with great caution for B ritish I ndia Legislative , .

Councils for Bengal M adras and Bombay legislate , ,

for those Provinces respectively ; but the principal

legislative authority for I ndia is the Governor General -

in Council This authority has b een reposed in the

.

Governor General ever since the Charter A ct of

-

1 8 3 4 b efore which time his l egislative functions were

,

limited to making regulations for Bengal similar to

those which were made for Madras and Bombay by
th e Governors in Council of those Presidencies .

S everal changes of great importance have since then

b een introduced into the constitution of the Council
of the Governor General considered as a Legislative
-

body and in order to un d erstand them it is n e ce s

,

sary to be acquainted with i ts constitution as an

E xecutive b o d y .

The Council of th e Governor —General was fi rst

1
constituted in 1 7 7 3 by the Regulating A ct which ,

provided for the establishment of a Governor

General and four Councillors There is som e o b .

s cu r i t y as to th e origin of their power of making

Regulations T o some extent it was probably as
.

sumed as incidental to their position T o som e .

extent it was confirmed or recognised as existing by

2
Act of Parliament But W hatever its origin may .

have been there can b e no doubt at all that the

,

1
1 3 G eo . I I I . ca p . 63, s cse .
7 an d 8 .

2
2 1 G eo . I I I . ca p . 83 , s e c. 2 3 , a n d 3 7 Geo . III . cap . 1 42 , s e c. 8 .
1 869 S O UR CE S OF I TS A UTH OJ U TY . 1 45

Governor General and his Council exercised th e

-

power of legislation on matters of the highest

moment I f the importance of a la w is measured
.

by the number of persons whose whole way of life

it affects Regulation I of 1 7 9 3 which embodies the
, .
,

Permanent S ettlement must b e regarded as one of ,

the most important laws known to history .

T hough the powers of the Governor Genera l i n -

Council were increased in the Constitution of

the Council itself remained u naltered till 1 8 3 4 when ,

it was provided that one of the four ordinary M em

b ers of the Council shoul d be appointed from ‘

amongst persons who shall not be servants of the

’
Company Th e M ember so appointed was to b e
.

present only at meetings for the purpose of maki n g

laws and regulations This was the origin of the .

office w hich was first held by Lord M acaulay an d ,

which I held during the greater part of Lord Mayo s ’

2
term of o ffice Power was also given to the Directors
.

t o appoint the Commander i n Chief to be an extra - -

ordinary member T he Co uncil so constituted was .

empowered to legislate for the whole of I n d ia and ,

upon all subj ects with certain exceptions I n 1 8 5 4

, .
,

the fourth ordinary M ember of Council was em

powered to b e present at all the business trans
acted by the Council ; and a considerable number of
members who were to b e called th e L egislative
,
‘

Councillors were added to the Council The Chief

,
’
.

j ustice and
,
another j udge of the S upreme Court
1
3 3 G eo . I II . ca p . 5 2, se c. 47 .

2
3 4 Wi ll . I V. cap . 85, se c. 40 .

V O L. I I .
1 46 EX TE N SI ON OF I TS P O WE E S .
VET 4 7- 5 0,
.

were to b e two of them and th e rest were to be ,

nominated by the Governors of M adras B ombay , ,

B engal and the N orth West Provinces

,
U nder this -
.
1

Act the meetings of th e Council for legislative pur

,

poses were for the first time held in public and the ,

proceedings were conducted according to the forms

of the H ouse of Com mons .

This arrange ment lasted till 1 8 6 1 when the p re ,

sent system was introduced b y the I ndian Councils

2
A ct By that Act separate Legislative Councils
.

were constituted for B engal M adras and Bombay ; , ,

and it was provided that the Governor Genera l should -

nominate in addition to the O rdinary and E xtra

,

ordinary M embers o f the Council from six to twelve ,

Additional M emb ers who were to b e M embers for ,

the purpose of making Laws and Regulations only .

O ne half of th e Additional Members were to be non

- ~

officials T he Governor General was empowered to

.
-

make rules for the transaction of b usiness and in the

exercise of that power rules of a very much simp l er ,

character than those of the H ouse of Com mons have

b een made T he O rdinary M embers of Council were
.

increased to five A sixth O rdinary M ember of.

Council to preside over the Public Works D epart

ment was added in
,
The Legislative Counci l
is now constituted as follows

1. The V iceroy .

2. The Commander -
in -
Chief who if appointed a
, ,

1
16 17 Vi ct . cap . 95, sec. 2 2 , e t c.
2
24 25 c
Vi t . c ap . 67 .
3
37 3 8 Vi c t . cap . 91 .
1 48 TH E LE GI SLA TI VE C O UN CI L .
[ZET 4 7 - 5 0,
.

has been readjusted by an E x e cu t i v e o r d e r to s uit

, ,
'

the state of things for the t i me being .

F or legislative purposes all the M embers (whether

,

they belong to the E xecutive Council or not ) stan d

legally upo n the same footing A ny one of them .

may intro d uce any measure and take charge of its

,

passage through the Council according to the rules

, .

There is however as wide a distinction between

, ,

I ndian and E nglish legislation as there is between ,

other branches of the Government of I ndia and that

of the U nited K ingdom I n the first place I ndia
.
,

possesses and the U nited K ingdom does not possess

, ,

a Legislative D epartment as well as a Legislature ;

that is to say it possesses an office the fu nction of
,

which is the superintendence of all matters connected

with the enactment and reform of the laws and which ,

is under the charge of a member of the Legislature .

I n the second place the small size of the I ndian

,

Legislature the fact that it consists of only one body

, ,

and the fact that its duties are purely legislative and ,

that it has nothing to d o with E xecutive Government ,

expedite its procee d ings to an extent which it is

difficult for any one accustomed only to E ngland even
to imagine .

I n the third place the comparative fix i t y of tenure

,

of the higher I ndian offi cials who usually hol d their

,

posts for a term of five years and the practice which ,

prevails of carrying on the legislative busin e ss con

t i nu o u sly an d not in separate sessions at the end of
, ,

which every B ill not passed is lost all give a degree ,

of vigour and system to I ndian Legislation unlike

1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] TH E L E GI SLA TI VE DE P AR TM E N T 1 49

anything known i n E ngland and which I hope and ,

believe comp ensate to a considerable e x tent for its

unavoidabl e defects and shortcomings .

S o much for th e Legislative Counci l I wi l l n ow .

shortly describe the Legislative Department .

T ill within the last fe w years the Legislative ,

D epartment was not properly speaking a department

, ,

of the Government of I ndia at all I t was a sub .

division of th e H ome D epartment one of the Assist ,

ant S ecretaries of which was charged with th e duty

of preparing the drafts of any Bills which might be
required if legislation was decided upon I t appeared .
,

’
however to Lord Lawrence s Government that so
,

important a duty ought to be discharged by a distinct

department an d a separate Legislative D epartment
,

was accordingly c onstituted I t was p rpv id e d that

.

proposals for legislation were not to be initiated by

the Legislative D epartment but that it was to b e,

set in motion by other departments of the Govern

m ent as its services might b e required This .

principl e was scrupulously observed both by S ir ,

H enry Maine and myself ; and of the numerous

A cts which were passed whilst w e held office those ,

o nly excepted which repealed consolidated and r e , ,

enacted existing laws I do not think that one origin

,

ated in the Legislative Department I t is important .

to mention this as it shows th e inj ustice of the charge

,

of over legislatio n which was frequently urged both

-

' ’
against Lord Lawrence s and against Lord M ayo s
Government D uring my tenure o f office there was
.
,

no l egislation whatever which increased the bulk of

1 5 0 NA TURE OF I TS W OR K .
[5 1 .
4 7 5 0,
-

the law or which varied it in any important degree

, ,

unless specific experience had shown the necessity for

it in the E xecutive A dministration .

The Legislative D epartment then consiste d of a

single E uropean offi cer with th e title of S ecretary ,

to the Council of the V iceroy for the purpose of

’ 1
making Laws and Regulations H e and the M em .

b er of Council in charge of the department drew

nearly all the Bills which were required though in a ,

very fe w cases Bills were drawn by members who

introduced or had charge of them When the B il l .

had been drawn and introduced into the Council it ,

was circulated for O pinion i n the case of general B ills , ,

to every Local Government in I ndia ; in the case of

Bills restricted in th e ir operation to particular parts of
2
th e country to the Local Governments interested ,
.

T he Lo cal Governments sent copies of th e Bill to the

D istrict O fficers or others in whom they reposed ,

confidence or whom they supp osed to b e specially

,

interested in the working of the Bill when passed I n .

many instances th e D istrict O fficers were directed to ,

obtain the O pinions of private persons natives or , ,

others who would b e directly affected by the measure .

h s o ffi c er h a s n ow d e v el o p e d i n t o a S e c ret ar y t o t h e Gov ern

1
T i
me t of I n d i a i n t h e Le g i sl t i v e D e p a t me t a d i s a ss i s t e d by a
n a r n , n

D e put y Se c t ry ( co e n t e d c i vi l s e va t of sp e c i l l ega l a t ta i n
-
re a a v an r n a

me t s ) — nW W H . . . .

Th e fo ll owi g a r e n o w ( 1 8 7 5 ) t h e Lo cal Gov ernm e t s of I n d i a

2
n n

( 1 ) B g l ( 2 ) M d a s ( 3 ) Bo mb y (4) t h e N o t h W e s t P ov i c e s ( 5 )
en a , a r ,
a ,
r - r n ,

t he P j ab ( 6 ) Ou d h ( 7 ) t h e C e t ra l P ov i n c e s ( 8 ) B u m h ( 9 ) M ys o e
an , , n r ,
r a , r

a d C oo g
n ( I o) A ss a m co n s t i t ut e d s a s e p ar a t e A d mi n i s t t i o i n
r , ,
a ra n

1 874 I c e t i c s e s B i lls a e ls o fo w a d e d t h o u gh t h e F o e i g n
. n r a n a ,
r a r r r r

D e p t me t f o p i i o n t o t h e p o l i t i c a l a g e t s a n d r e s i d e n t s a t N t i v e
ar n or n n a

Co ur t s —W W H . . .
 CR Y OF O VE R L E GI SLA TI ON -

[5 1 .
4 7 5 0,
-

disposed of and finally the motion was put that

, , , ,
‘

’ ’
th e Bill do n o w pass After this the Viceroy s
.
,

consent was necessary and when that was obtained

,

the Bill became la w though it might afterwards be

,

disallowed by the S ecretary of S tate i n Council .

S uch wa s an d is the process of I ndian Legislation .

’
I t was the obj ect both in Lor d M ayo s time and in
,

the time of Lord Lawrence of much hostile criticism ,

.

The great complain t made against it was that there

was too much of it that the Legislative D epartment
,

was over active that too little attention was paid to

-
,

native views and feelings an d that the Legislation ,

was coloured throughout by a desire to introduce

E nglish la w into I ndia and to regulate everything
,

from the E nglish lawyers point of V ie w Again an d ’

.

again I have heard it said that the greatest Legislative

Reform required in I ndia was the abolition of the
Legislative D epartment .

I am convinced that these criticisms were a l to

gether unjust T hey were founded to a very great
.

extent upon mere ignorance ; for although every E uro

pean in I ndia who holds any offi cial situation is of
necessity more or less acquainted with certain parts of
the law fe w had at that time any general knowle d ge
,

of it or had given the subj ect any systematic study

, .

The result was that when they had once obtained a

,

rule of thumb acquaintance with any A ct or set of

Regulations however intricate or ill expressed they
,
-
,

were apt to resent any alteration which gave them

the troubl e of recognising their old knowledge in a
n e w and improved shape When I come to examine .
1 8 69 S UCH C OJII P LA I N TS A N A L YSE D . 1 53

th e particul ars of Lord M ayo s L egislation I shall ’

sh ow in detail the importance of this observation .

A part however from this there are some genera l

, , ,

objections to legislation which have very great i n

fl u e n ce o n th e minds of I n d ian civilians though they ,

are seldom put forward in exact words T hey are .

i ntimately connected together and are as follows , .

I n the fi rst place many persons obj ect not so

, .

m uch to a n y particular laws as to the government ,

o f the country by law at all T hey have an opinion .

which I have in some instances heard very distinctly

expressed by persons of high authority that th e state ,

of things throughout I ndia is such that la w ought in

all cases to be overridden by what is called equity i n ,

the loose popular sense of the word That the Courts .

of J ustice ought to decide not merely whether a

given contract has been made an d broken but ,

w hether it ought to have b een made and whether ,

its breach was not morally justifiable I n short that .

,

there ought to b e n o la w a t all in the country as

‘

far as natives are concerned but that in every ,

instance the D istrict O ffi cers o u gh t to decide accord

ing to their o wn notions subj ect only to correction
,

by their s uperiors .

I n the second p l ace it is a favourite doctrine

,

with persons who hold th is opinion that the Govern ,

ment of I ndia possesses the absolute power of th e

old native States subj ect only to such l imitations
,

as it has chosen to impose u pon its elf by express

la w T hat every n e w l aw is thus a n e w limitation
.

on the general powers o f Government and tends to ,

 OF LA W — 0,
1 54 CI VI L I A N J E A L O US Y .
5

dimin i sh them and that there ought to b e as f e w

,

laws as possible in order that the vigour of the

,

executive power may be maintained at a maximum .

I n the third place the existence and influence

,

of th ese views is e x plained by the relation between

the ol d S uprem e Courts and the Government T he .

S uprem e Courts at Calcutta Madras and B ombay , , ,

were o riginally established for the purpose of acting

as a check upon the powers of the Government ,

especially over E nglish resi d ents in I ndia I t was .

considered and not without reason that by estab

, ,

li shi ng courts independent of the Lo cal Government ,

armed with som ewhat indefinite powers an d a d ,

m i n i steri ng a system of la w of which they were the

only authorized exponents a considerabl e check ,

might b e placed upon any despotic tendencies on

the part of th e Government Th e effect of this .

policy was in th e first place to produce bitter dis

, ,

sensions between the Government and the S upreme

Courts both at Ca l cutta and at B ombay ; and in
,

the next place to set th e S upreme Courts and th e

,

E nglish la w of which they were the administrators

, ,

b efore the eyes of every E uropean in I ndia as the

representatives of a power not only different from ,

but opposed in spirit and principl e to the powers ,

of the Government N othing struck me m ore i n

.

my intercourse with I ndian civilians than the manner ,

i n which the senior members of the service seemed to

l ook instinctively upon lawyers of all kinds as their
natural enemies an d upon la w as a mysterious power
, ,

th e spe c ial function of which was to prevent or at al l ,

1
56 A CA S E I N P OI N T .
( E T. —
47 5 0 ,

murder or theft or of any and what other crime

, ,

altered and if so where and how

, , These questions
were hardly ever answered I generally found that
.

nearly every one when cl osely pressed gave the

, ,

same illustrations as to what he understood by the

stiffness and want of elasticity of the law T hey .

all referred to those sections of th e Code of Criminal

Procedure which require th e officer presiding at th e
trial to take down th e evidence with his own hand ,

and their notion of rendering the Code more el ast i c

was that this requirement should be relaxed .

T hese sections are th e chief guarantee that a

j udge actually does his duty and does not merely,

pretend to do it They are the great security for

.

a fair trial to th e person accused Before they were .

inserted i n the Code it was a common practice for

,

the j udges not to hear the witnesses at all but to allo w ,

four or five native clerks to take down the evidence

of as many witnesses in as many different cases at
the same time ; and then to form his op inion not ,

from hearing the witnesses but from reading or from

, ,

having read over to him the depositions taken by

,

the native clerks I n fact th e elasticity which the

.
,

critics in question really wished for appeared to me ,

o n full examination to be elasticity in the degree

of attention which they were to bestow on the most
important of their own d uties .

A friend of mine whilst inspecting an important

,

frontier district received complaints from the officer in

,

charge of it as to the want of elasticity in the existing

s ystem ; and on asking what he meant was informed ,
1 8 69 TH E CR Y OF US UR Y
‘ ’
. 1 57

that h e had found it imposs i b l e to pun i sh certain

person s whom h e kne w to b e gu il t y of murder .

H is informants would not come forward as wit

nesses for fear of the vengeance of the relations of
the criminals an d the la w di d not permit him to
,

’
m ove without a regular trial T hen replied my ‘
,

friend what you want i s power to put people to

,
‘

death without any trial at all and on secret i n for ,

mation which is satisfactory to your own mind and ,

for which the persons who give it are not to b e

’
responsible T his no doubt was what the officer
.
, ,

i n question did want I t had not occurred to him .

that the impunity of a certain amount of crime was

a less evil than the existence of an arbitrary and
irresponsible power which would practically have to
,

strike in the dark .

Perhaps the strongest an d most important of al l

illustrations of the feelings under consideration is t o
b e found i n the frequency with which the Governmen t
of I ndia is urged to interfere as the phrase goes o n , ,

behalf of the ancient aristocracy of the country against

usurers I do not desire to express any opinion o n
.

this policy but the grounds on which it is advocated

,

afford a curious instance of the grounds o n which

p eople in I ndia frequently attack la w and legisla
tion The commonplaces on the subj ect are of this
.

kind : O ur refined systems of la w are total ly u n

‘

suited to a simple and primitive peop l e who by , ,

their rigid application have in many instances been ,

reduced to the position of cu l tivators o f the land which

was once their own : the sl y vil l age usurer who was ,
1 58 TH E CR Y OF US UR Y .
’

[5 1 .
4 7 5 0,
-

well acquainted with all the subtleties of the law courts ,

having supplanted them in the position of owners .

’

I will not enter into the question whether i t is o r

i s not desirable under th e circumstances that peopl e
, ,

shoul d be made to pay their deb ts and that their land

,

shoul d b e l iable to b e sold to satisfy them T hat is a .

question on which a great deal might be said What .

I wish to notice is the gross fallacy of condemning law

and legislation in general because the provisions of
,

one particular law which allows land to b e sold for

debts may b e O pen to question There is nothing
.

specially refi ned or technical in the law in question .

What is really obj ected to is its stringent simplicity .

A l aw which mediated between the usurer and th e

landowner which tried t o s e cu r e to the one his j ust
,

claims and to the other the enjoyment of what he had

,

been accustomed to regard as his ancestral rights ,

would have to be far more complicated than a law by

’
which a j udgment creditor may sell his debtor s lan d
by auction I n this as in numberless other instances
.
, ,

the commonplaces about simp l e and primitive p op u la

tions and refined systems of law mean merely that
particular laws ought to be altered which is a reason
,

for not against legislation T o wish to put an end

, ,
.

to legislation because some laws are not wise is like ,

wishing to put an end to tailors because some clothes

do not fit T o argue that because some E nglish laws
.
,

are unsuited for som e I ndian popul ations law in gene ,

ral is not th e instrument by which I ndia ought to be

governed is to assume that l aw is not that which a
,

legislator enacts as such but a mysterious something

,
1 60 I S LA W N E CE SSAR Y? VET 4 7 - 5 0,
.

connect themselves with the subj ect of An glo I ndian -

legislation are as follows

1 I s it necessary to govern by law at all or i s i t
.
,

possible to govern without la w and by m ere personal ,

d iscretion
2 To what subj ects should the laws to b e enacted
.

relate ; and in particular ho w far ought they to i nter

, ,

fere with and how far ought they to b e based upon

, ,

the customs and manners of the p eopl e P

3 What is th e m ost convenient form for th e laws
.

which it is necessary to enact

U pon each of thes e questions I will make som e
observations .

1 I s it n ecessary to govern by law at all or is it

. ,

p ossible to govern without la w and by mere personal ,

discretion P
T he theory that government by law is not suitabl e
for I ndia an d that everything ought to be left to the
,

personal discretion of the rulers that is to say of the , ,

D istrict O fficers is one of those theories which many

,

persons hold though no one who regards his own

,

reputation will avow it I n E ngland every one

.
,

will admit in words that popular education is an

admirabl e thing whilst many persons couple the
,

admission with qualifications intelligible only upon

th e supposition ( which is undoubtedly true) that i n
their hearts they b elieve it to be m ischievous In .

I ndia whilst hardly any one will be found to maintain

,

distinctly that the personal discretion of local rulers ,

free from all la w whatever is the true method of ,

g overnment numbers ,
of peopl e qualify their consent
1 8 69 G O VE RN M E N T B Y LA W . 1 61

to the proposition that the country must be governed

by la w by commonplaces l ike those of which I have
,

given specimens and which really mean that unfettered

,

personal discretion would be a much better thing The .

unavowed influence o f this theory acts so powerfu l ly ,

that it wil l be by n o means superfl uous even now to

sho w how baseless and m ischievous it is .

I n doi n g this it is necessary to refer shortly to

commonplaces which are often forgotten because they
,

are so familiar O ften as it has been repeated it is

.
,

not the less true that the main distinction between

,

the government which we have established and the

government which it superseded is that th e one is ,

in th e fullest sense of th e word a government by law ,

and that the other was a government by mere personal

discretion I t is also true that the moral and general
.

results of a government by la w admit of no compari

son a t all with those of a despotism I do not .

believe that the peop l e of E ngland as a whole , ,

woul d take an y sort o f interest in supporti ng a

mere despotism differing from those of the native
,

rulers only in th e fact that it was administered by

E nglishmen .

Government by law is th e only rea l s ecurity either

for life or p roperty and is therefore the indispensable
,

condition of the growth of wealth T his i s n o mere

.

phrase B efore the introduction of law it admitted

.
,

of considerable d i scussion whether property in l and

existed in I ndia at all I t admits of no discussion
.

that the value of l anded property depends entirely

upon the l imitation of th e Government demand an d ,

V O L. 1 1. L
1 62 WH A T LA W M E AN S .
[PEI 4 7 5 0,
-

upon the due adj ustment of the relat i ons b etween

the cultivators and the zamindars .

Laws therefore of some kind there must be ; b ut

, ,

if this is admitted it is impossible to stop short of a

,

complete system of la w providing for all the common

exigencies both of daily life and of government T o .

suppose that la w and despotic power can subsist side

by side i s to show complete ignorance of the very
,

nature of law T he essence of a system by which

.

person and property are secured lies in the genera l ,

principles that no man i s to suffer harm either

in person o r i n property e xcept according to law , .

D espotic power or persona l government which is th e ,

same thing is nothing but a power to compel peopl e

,

i n general to ob ey the o rders of the ruler whatever ,

those orders may be ; but this compulsion can b e

effected only by inflicting or threatening to inflict , ,

harm either o n their persons or their property in case

of disobedience which cannot be if they are not to
,

b e so harmed except by la w Thus the notion of a .

compromise between la w and despotism is like a

compromise between straight and crooked T he two .

ideas exclude each other .

I n no part of the wor l d is th e truth of this theory

more emphatically or m ore frequently illustrated
than in I ndia E ver since the very earliest regula
.

tions of Lord Cornwallis the liability of the Govern

,

m ent of I ndia to b e sued i n its own courts like a

private person has not only been established by law ,

b ut as every I ndian knows though E nglish readers

, ,

may not be aware of it it has been continually carried

,
1 64 GR O WTH OF P RI VA E T RI GHTS .
[ 4131 4 7 5 0,
. -

But one process is going on in every part of I ndia

which would be in itself suffi cient proof of th e a b s o
l ute necessity of governing I n dia by la w and not by ,

personal d iscretion if there were no others T his is

, .

the growth of private rights and particularly of ,

private rights in the land under the protection of our

courts and settlement officers Y our work on O z zssa
'

draws attention to a striking case of this F or many .

centuries I ndia was actually governed as many peop l e ,

think in their hearts it ought still to be governed by ,

the personal discretion of an enormous number o f

despotic rulers possessed of various degrees of power
and importance I n their days indistinct ill under
.
, ,
-

stood and fluctuating customs liable to be modifi ed

, ,

in every sort of way by the individual fancy of i n

numerable rulers occupied the place of definite la w
, .

T he resul t was that society was so to speak worn

, , ,

to the bone I t becam e an enormous aggregate of

.

villages each forming a kind of unit with its own

, ,

ill ascertained customs and isolated interests

-
In .

some cases and particularly in Lower Bengal even

, ,

the villages were to a consi d erable extent broken up ,

and no political organization of any sort survived

except the relations between the landholders and the
in d ividual husbandm en which was little more than
,

th e relation between the oppressor and the oppresse d .

I n less disorganiz ed districts the country became a

mass of village comm u nities presi d ed over by per i,

haps the most inorganic ill d e fin e d ari stocracies and

,
-

monarchies that ever existed .

O wing to a variety of causes considerable interest ,

1 8 69 I N D I AN VI LLA GE C OM M UN I TI E S
. 1 55

has recently been attached to the vi l lage communities

of I ndia T he fact that they have existed for so
.

many centuries and under so many different rulers

, ,

has invested them with interest for many people .

An institution which has endured so much without

being destroyed must it is supposed b e very strong
, , ,
.

M oreover th e institutions of I ndian villages have

,

been described with characteristic clearness and ,

used with characteristic skill to explain interesting ,

h istorical problems by my predecessor S ir H enry ,

M aine .I think there is some da nger l est these

inquiries should b e perverted so as to support infer
e n ce s which I know woul d b e entirely repudiated
by their author Th e historica l interest o f these
institutions and their durability speak for them
selves ; but the merits of an institution are not to be
measured either by its durab ility or by its historical
i nterest T he fact that the institutions of a village
.

co mmunity throw l ight on the institutions of modern

E urope and the fact that village communities have
,

altered but little for many centuries prove o nly that ,

society in I ndia has remained for a great number of

centuries in a stagnant condition unfavourable to the ,

growth of wealth intelligence political experience

, , ,

and the moral and intellectual changes which are

implied in these processes The condition of I ndia .

for centuries past shows what the village communities

are really worth N othing that deserves the name
.

of a political institution at all can b e ruder or less

satis factory in its results T hey are i n fact a crude
.
, ,

form of socialism paral ysing the growth of individual

,
1 66 TH E Y AR E N O W BRE A KI N G UP .
[E n 4 7 5 0,
-

energy and all its consequences The continuation .

of such a state of society is radically inconsistent with

the fundamental principles of our rule both in theory
and in practice I have heard from every part of the
.

country— from Calcutta to the Panj a b — that both t he

j oint H indu families and the village communities are
breaking up in all directions T his was regarded by .

many of my informants as matter of regret partly ,

from general conservat i ve feeling partly because it ,

is of course a serious thing in the eyes of a District

O fficer to watch the decay of any institution which
fulfils however roughly the elementary p urposes of
, ,

society I was led however by their information to

.
, ,

believe that the change is simply one of the natural

results of the discharge of our cardinal duty in I ndia ,

th e preservation of the peace T he condition of .

things which made the village communities possible

was the sovereignty of each village its elders and its ,

customs and the settlement of disputes by violence

, .

I f individual members of the community had in all

cases to submit to the village rulers and if the ,

villages had to guard their property by their own

force or fraud the V illage formed a self contained
,
-

community regulating its own affairs and confining

, ,

th e interests and prospects of the members within

very narrow bounds The zamindar and his supe.

riors whoever they m ight be exercised their powers

, ,

so loosely and were affected by so many other con

,

siderations besides those of l aw or definite c ustom ,

that their authority did not materially alter this state

of things W ith no definite sy stem of l aw nothin g
.
,
1 68 I TS BE N E FI TS TO I N DI A .
VET 4 7 - 5 0,
.

by la w an d not by individual discretion as a meces ~

sary evil though for the reasons I have given its

, , ,

necessity appears to m e to be quite incontestable .

I bel ieve o n the contrary that it is a benefit whic h

, ,

it is impossible to over value T he benefit is two -

.

fold I n the first place laws wisely made are a b s o

.
,

lu t e ly indispensable to really vigorous administration .

T he whol e history of our rule in I ndia might be

brought forward as a proof of this ; but the most
striking of all proofs of it is to be found i n the
government of what used to be called the N o n
Regulation Provinces T he popular notion of a .

N o n Regulation Province used to be that it was a

-
,

Province governed without la w and by personal dis ,

cretion I shall show hereafter that this was a

.

mistake and that in fact the very first step tak e n

, , ,

by the most distinguished administrators of th e

N on Regulation Provinces was to establish in them
-

far better simpler an d more scientific systems of

, ,

law than were then in force in the Regulation Pro

vinces A N on Regulation Province was in fact
.
-
, ,

a Province governed by sensible laws instead of

clumsy ones .

I n the second place the establishment of a ,

system of la w which regulates the most important

part of the daily life of the people constitutes in ,

itself a moral conq u est m ore striking more durable , ,

and far more solid than the physical conquest which ,

renders it possibl e I t exercises an in fluence over .

the minds of the people in many ways comparable

to that of a n e w religion The strongest illustra .
1 8 69 I TS BE N E FI TS TO I N DI A . 69

tions of this are to b e found in the fact that la w

is th e subj ect which attracts more students at the
different universities and colleges established thro u gh
out I ndia than a n y other N early the whole of t he .

education which th e b est instructed class of natives

receive is education in Anglo I ndian law I n order -
.

to appreciate the significance of this fact it is n e ce s ,

sary to remember that both H indus and M u ha m

mada ms throughout I ndia have from the earliest times
been accustomed to regard la w and religion as two
sides o f one and th e same subj ect O ur la w is in .

fact the sum and substance of what we have to

teach them I t is so to speak th e gospel of the
.
, , ,

E nglish and it is a compulsory gospel which admits

,

1
of no dissent and no disobedience .

F or all these reasons I can feel n o h e itat i on ,

s

about answering in th e affirmative the question ,

whether it is necessary to govern I ndia by la w ?

T he question whether it is possible to govern

without la w by mere personal discretion must b e
, ,

answered in the negative with equal decision .

Practically the task is impossible I f the ruler has

, .

no laws provided for him he will have to make them ,

for h imself for no one coul d b e so inconsistent as

,

to decide similar cases in different w ays A steals .

s ho ul d t b fo go t how v t h t
1
It no c us of t h p o p l i t y
e r t en, e er , a one a e e u ar

of t h l w c l ss s i t h I d i u i v s i t s o s f o m t h f c t t h t t h
e a a e n e n an n er ie ar e r e a a e

l w i b y o d ll c o mp i s o t h mo s lu c
a s e n a iv p o f sio f ar tiv n e t ra t e r es n or a n a e

o f I di n d i d d u t i l l t ly t h o ly
a, an n eef Eu op, p f
n a e , e n on e o ou r r ean ro e s

s i o s wh i ch H i d u of goo d c s t co ul d d o p t M d i m d Ci v i l
n a n a e a . e c e an

E gi n i gne er nls o b co mi g cog i s d c

are a s f t h sp c t bl
e n re n e a r ee r or e re e a e

Hi du s n d t h m d i c l c l ss s
,
an we t l ss c ow d d t h
e a th a e a re no no e r e an e

L w L ctu
a —W W H
e re s . . .
1 70 S UBJ E C TS OF I N DI A N L E GI SLA TI ON [5 . 1 .
4 7 5 0,
-

’
B s b ullock and sells i t to C who buys it in goo d ,

faith . I f the ruler restores th e bullock to B he ,

cannot allow F under similar circumstances to retain

, ,

another bullock stolen by D from E I f he did so he .

,

would at once b e subj ect not m erely to th e imputa

tion to bribery but to a strong temptation to accept
,

bribes T here must be a rul e for such cases and

.
,

this is la w I f the Government does not make the

.

laws each officer or each l ittle cliqu e of offi cers will

, , ,

make their own and they will be full of vague

,

ness and confusion Practically they will buy a

.
,

fe w E nglish la w books and apply them in a very

,

unintelligent servile way to th e cases which com e

before them D istinct la w is as necessary to the
.

good administration of j ustice as clear orders and ,

well d e fin e d duties to vigorous executive action

-
.

The second question which I proposed is T o ,

‘

what subj ect should the laws enacted relate and in ,

particular h o w far ought they to interfere with and ,

h o w far ought they to be founded upon the manners ,

and customs of the people

T his is one of the cardinal questions of I ndian
government and the answers given to it have
,

d ivided and probably always will d ivide the rulers

, ,

of the country into parties distinguished from each

other by the extent with which they think it right
to interfere w i th native usages .

I t al w ays appeared to me one of the most interest

ing of the innumerable problems which the I ndian
E mpire must suggest to every attentive observer .

I t is not the less interesting because like all such ,

1 72 I N DI A N I DE A S WR ON G
’

.
[A3 1 3 4 7 —5 0 ,

and for two simple —

I ndi an ideas on
reasons firs t ,

the subj ect of government are wrong They have .

been proved to be wrong by centuries of all sorts

of calamity leading at last to general anarchy and
, ,

to the degradation of a large portion of th e human

race S econ d ly the effect of their prevalence during
.
,

a very long space of time has b een to produce men

and i nstitutions through whom and by which it is
i mpossible to govern I f the E ngl ish Government
.

were to try to act in I n d ia the part of an O riental

despotism it would b e liabl e to all the standing and
,

intolerable plagues of such an institution I will .

mention a fe w of them in a very summary way .

I f we were to try to rule I ndia by O riental methods

and agents we should either make ourselves r e sp o n
,

sible fo r all the oppressions of all our native agents ,

who woul d b e set free by our protection to a great

extent from the o nly check upon them the fear of ,

popular vengeance or we must keep them in order

, ,

which can only b e done by appeal sup erintendence , ,

control — i n fact by la w , .

The curs e of every despotic S tate i s personal

intrigue I f th e whole of I ndia were governed by
.

native rul ers under British supervision falling short

of organized la w the British Government would have
,

to pass its whole time in watching and regulating an

enormous mass of petty p ersonal intrigues which ,

might at any moment break o ut into more or less

important revolt and civil wa r .

I n such a state of things a very large native army

would be necessary ; and if the army came to regard
1 8 69 RA CE DI VI SI ON S . 1 73

itsel f as it p robably would as the ru l ing power in the

, ,

country the Government would continually live under

,

the threat of mutiny I have littl e doubt that this.

state o f feeling did actually exist to a very great

extent before 1 8 5 7 I have in d ee d been led by more
.
, ,

considerations than I have at present time to state to ,

the O pinion that the M utiny of that year ought to be

regar d ed as the break down and explosion of the -

policy which s o many persons are anxious for differ ,

ent reasons to revive under a variety of forms

, .

Again the t wo leading divisions of the native

,

population are the H indus and the M uhammadans .

I f there fore the E nglish Government is to govern on

, ,

native principles it must govern either on H indu

,

or on M uhammadan principles and each course is ,

impossible I t is impossible fo r any one but a

.

M uhammadan to govern M uhammadans except upon ,

principles which directly confl ict with their funda

mental articles o f belief ; and the same is equally tru e
of H indus though the truth may not be so obvious
, .

E very Government has indeed its own moral an d

social standard which gives colour to its legislation
,

and to its institutions .

F or all these reasons it seems to me that the ,

notion that I ndia can be governed through native

agency and on native principles is condemned alike
, ,

by theory and by practical experience I feel n o .

doubt at all that the only course upon the subj ect
,

which it is possible to take is to govern the country

upon E uropean p rinciples .

I nasmuch however as this doctrine is liabl e to

, ,
1 74 LE GI SLA TI ON RE S TRI C TE D [ 1531 . 2
2
4 7 5 0,
-

be misunderstood and as the charge of over l egis

,
-

lation so often made against the Government of

I ndia proceeds to a great extent upon the supposi
tion that they have in fact misunderstood it it is ,

necessary to explain somewhat more fully i n what

sense I understand it and believe it to have been
,

understood by the Government of I ndia When .

I say that I ndia should b e governed on E uropean

principles I mean only that it should b e governed
,

o n those principles which have been shown by th e

experience of E urope to be essential to the attainment
of peace order wealth and progress in the arts and
, , ,

sciences I advisedly pass over the questio n as to

.

the persons by whom these principles should be a p

plied I t would lead me too far to enter in this place
.

upon the question of the division of Governmen t

employments between E uropeans and natives N o .

o ne can feel more distinctly than I the madness of

the smallest unnecessary interference with the social
habits or religious opinions of the country I would .

not touch a single one of them except in cases

of extreme necessity ; but I feel that in the long ,

run the mere introduction of peace law order n u

, , , ,

restricted competition for wealth knowledge and , ,

honours and an education to match will produce a

, ,

social revolution throughout every part of I ndia modi ,

fy i n g eve r y part of the daily life of the natives and ,

changing every article of all their creeds The due .

discharge of the one indispensabl e duty o f keeping

the peace the suppression throughout the E mpire of
,

violent crime and of intestine war wi ll as inevitably ,

1 76 TH E P R OP E R SP HE RE OE L A W .
4 7 5 0,
-

o n considerations of temporal expediency and leaving ,

religious and all other speculative inquiries to fi nd

—
their own level is an indispensable condition of the
,

only kind of benefits which it is i n our power to

confer u pon I ndia .

F or these reasons I woul d answer th e question ,

‘
To what subj ects should the laws to b e enacted
relate ; and in particular h o w far ought they to inter
, ,

fere with and h o w far ought they to be based upon

, ,

the manners and customs of the people ? as follows ’

S o much legislation is not only j usti fiable but meces

sary as is required for the follo wing obj ects — The
fi rm establishment of the British power ; the recog
n i t i o n and if necessary the enforcement of the pri n
, ,

c i le s which it represents ; and the vigorous a d mi n i

p
s t ra t i o n of th e Government S uch legislation ought .

to b e fully carried into effect however much it may ,

b e opposed to native or to E uropean principles or

hab its Legislation not required for these purposes
.

I regard as mischievous and dangerous I think the .

question how far this principle extends can b e

,
‘
,
’

solved only by actual experience N 0 law shoul d be .

made till it is distinctly perceived and felt to b e

necessary N o one can admit more fully or feel more
.

strongly than I the evils and dangers of mere sp e cu

lative legislation in I ndia .

M y o wn opinion is that these genera l principles

,

have been adhered to scrupulously by the Govern

ment of I ndia ; and that if its statute book is carefully
,
-

examined it will b e found that nearly if not quite

,

the who l e of the redundant matter which it contains

1 8 69 WRI TTE N A N D UN WR J TTE N M W . 1 77

is due to faulty legislative style so to speak — to , ,

defective expression and arrangement — and that ,

no Government ever was less j ustly chargeable with

enacting laws merely for th e sake of legislation T he .

proof of this assertion will be found in the develop

ment o f the further assertion that all A nglo I ndian -

legislation may be reduced under three or fou r heads ,

the necessity for each of which may b e shown by

the plainest and broadest arguments ; but before giving
a sketch of them I must say something on the l ast
,

of the three questions proposed .

What is the most convenient form for the l aws

‘

i"
which it is necessary to enact T he obvious answer
to this is that the clearest shortest and most exp l icit
, , ,

form in which the l aws can be put must also be the

m ost convenient T he proper means of producing
.

this result are th e kindred processes of codification

and consolidation .

By codification I understan d the reduction for the

,

fi rst time to a definite writte n form of law which had ,

previously been unwritten or written only in an ,

unauthoritative form such as that of text books and

,
-

reported cases By consolidation I mean the redu e

.
,

tion to a single A ct of all the written law upon any

given subj ect The two processes run into each other,
.

and are not really distinct Almost a ll unwritten law

.

is the subj ect of more or fewer statutory ena c tments

which assume its existence A l most all written l aw
.
,

on the other hand assumes and is founded upon more

,

or l ess unwritten law and is i n its turn the source

,

of a greater or l ess amount of unwritten exposition .

VO L. 1 1. M
1 78 WA N T OF LA W B OOKS .
VET 4 7 - 5 0,
.

T o reduce the law to a c ompact intelligib l e form

‘

must for the most obvious reasons be an obj ect of

, ,

great importance in every part of the world ; but there

are few parts of the world in which it is so impo r tant
as it is in I ndia Law is of far greater relative
.

importance in I ndia than elsewhere E very o ffici a l

'

E uropean in the country is more or l ess concerned

in its administration and th e number of offi cials is
,

so small their duties are so varied and th e due dis

, ,

charge o f those duties is so essentially necessary to

the maintenance of peace and order and of all that ,

depends on them that th e evils of intricacy an d

,

uncertainty in the law make themselves felt at once

by eve ry D istrict O fficer in the country and act with ,

equal distinctness on every question of policy which

comes before the Central Government I n the ques .

tion for instance whether and to what extent j udi

, , , ,

ci a l and executive functions ought to be separated ,

it was always argued that the simplifications of the la w

which had taken place of late years enabled E x e cu
tive O fficers to get through more j udicial work than
formerly I t is however almost superfluous to insist
.
, ,

upon this matter to any one wh o knows on the o n e ,

hand the helplessness of an E nglish lawyer who has

,

no law books to refer to and on the other t he hope

, , ,

less impossibility of providing I ndian D istrict O fficer s

either with law libraries or with the means of carrying
them about or with the time necessary to consult them
, ,

or with the habits o f mind necessary to refer to them .

T he strongest proof of the importanc e of this

matter is to be found in the administration of the
1 80 C ON FLI C I N T G RA CE LA IVS .
PE T 4 7- 5 0,
.

E ngl and has been imported into the three Pres i dency
towns — Calcutta M adras and Bombay E nglish law , , .

would also be regarded as regulating th e relations o f

E uropeans all over the country though the appl ica ,

tion of this principle especially to persons who are ,

not E uropea n British subj ects might in particular ,

instances involve questions of great delicacy Apart .

from this M uhammadan H indu and Parsi law and

, , , ,

all sorts of native customs have al so the force of law ,

as between the mem b ers of thos e creeds Aga i n .

,

cases not provided for otherwise are to b e decided ,

’
by j ustice equity and good conscience
‘
, T hese , .

laws owe th eir validity for th e most part either to the , ,

Regulations by which the Civil Courts were originally (

constituted o r to the Civil Courts Acts by which the

, ,

1
Regulations have in most instances been replaced .

T he effect of this state of things has been to leave to

the I ndian j udges very great latitude of decision in
matters not dealt with by express written la w I do .

not think that this freed their decisions from tech

n i ca li t or established in I ndia any specially rational
y ,

or practica l system of j urisprudence N or ought this .

to be matter of surprise The I ndian Civilian J udges .

1
fo ll ow i n g s e c t i o n of t h e B e n ga l C i v i l C o u rt s A ct i s a i llus t ra
Th e n

t i on : W h e re i n a n y s i t o p oc e e d i g i t i s n e c e ss a y for a y C o t
‘
,
u r r n ,
r n ur

un d e t h i s A ct t o d e c i d e an y qu e s t i o r e g ar d i n g su cc e ssi o n i nh e i t a c e
r n , r n ,

m i ge o c s t e or a y e l i g i o us us a ge o i n s t i t ut i o t h e M h mma
a rr a ,
r a ,
n r r n, u a

d n l w i n c a s e s wh e e t h e p t i e s a r e M u h a mm d
a a r ar s a d t he H i d u a an ,
n n

l w i n c s e s wh e e t h e p t i e s a e H i d us s h a ll fo rm t h e r ul e of
a a r ar r n ,

d e c i s i o e x c e p t s o fa r a s su ch la w h a s by Leg i sl t i ve e c t me n t b e en
n, a na

alte ed r b o l i sh e d I n c s e s ot p ov d e d for by t h e fo mer p t

or a . a n r i r ar

of t h i s s e c t i o n o by y o t h e r l w fo t h e t i me b e i g t h e C o u rt s h ll
,
r an a r n , a

ac t cco d i g t o j us t i c e e qu i t y a d goo d co n s c i en c e —Act V I 1 8 7 1

a r n , ,
n .
’
.
, ,

s e c. 2 4.
1 8 69 TH E I N DI A N D I S TR I C T j UD GE . 1 81

are no t and never were l awyers and the B arrister ,

nd afterwards i n th e H igh
j udges in the S upreme a

Courts have not usually for obvious reasons been , ,

men of very much eminence in their profession though ,

there are no doubt a certai n number of brilliant

exceptions T he practical resu l t o f throwing the
.

reins so to speak o n the neck of the judges has

, , ,

been to introduce a vagu e uncertain feeble system , , ,

which as is general l y the case with systems a d mi n i

,

s t e re d by u nprofessional j udges who nevertheless ,

consider themse l ves bound to administer law com ,

bines th e defects of a weak gra sp of principle w ith

a great deal o f o ccasional subservience to t e chn i
c a li t y E nglish lawyers who make law the profession
.

of their l ives ris e by degrees in favourable cases from

,

precedents and details t o principles and in some ,

instances th ey appear to gras p the principles with

peculiar vigour b ecause they have made their way to ,

them through such a mass of i ncomplete and appar

ently or perhaps really conflicting illustrations The
, , .

unprofessional j udge seldom gets beyond a certain

number of illustrations and rules more or less imper ,

1
fe ct ly understood .

I n former times a s I have been in formed the , ,

T s om
1
o xt t t h i s h b
e e enem d i d s i c M Fi t j me St e p h
as een r e e n e r. z a s en

w i
as I di
n d p t ly t h ough t h i fl u c wh i ch h i v i w s h v
n a, an ar r e n en e s e a e

e x ci s d t h
er e Th D i st i ct J udg s w
er e . e th offic s w i th d w
r e e re en er ra n

d u i g u c t i p i o d f o m t h E x c u t i v fu c t i o s wh i ch fo me d
r n an n er a n er r e e e n n , r

th s t pl of t h i l i f s wo k d who ho p d t t u t h i gh E
e a e e r e
’
r , an e o re rn o er x e

ti
cu p o s t s su ch
ve C o mmi ss i o
, s h i p Th j u d i c i l p t of t h
as a n er . e a ar e ser

ic i
v e w s p
s no t d f o m t h E x cu t i v
e ara e d hr t d i ti o s d h b i t s
e e e, an as ra n an a

of it s o wn . A y o u g ci vi li
n l ct s f th
an li
e e or e on e ne or t he o th e r a ft er
a fe w y s e ar
’
t ra i n i g i th g
n n l d mi i s t t i o
e e n e ra a n ra n , an d is k p t s t e d i ly
e a

t o t he o n e or the o t h d u i g t h s t of h i s v i c
er r n e re s er e —W . W. H .
 O UR CE S OF I N DI A N T 4 7—
1 82 S LA I/V .
VE 5 0, .

resu l t of this state of things was the establish

ment of a system in the highest degree vagu e and
feeble The criminal j uris d iction in particular of
.
, ,

the Company s Courts in which a system prevailed ’

composed of M uhammadan law Regulations and , ,

stray bits of E nglish practice was as I heard , , ,

1
peculiarly unsatisfactory Latterly however the .
, ,

system in force has come to resemble that of E ng

land La w Reports have been established not only at
.
,

the Presidency towns but at Allahabad Lahore and , , , ,

I believe som e other places ; and the result is that

, ,

every part of the unwritten law is now conveyed to

students in the shap e of innum erable imperfect illus
t ra t i o n s o ccurring at haphazard of detached applica
, ,

tions of unexpressed principles A n I ndian law library .

is already an exceedingly expensive luxury which ,

grows at the rate of several volumes a year and must ,

b e kept up if at all at the expense of g 2 0 to 3 0

, ,

annually I n short all the faults of the E nglish

.
,

system are rapidly reproducing themselves in I ndia .

2

A s for the written law of I ndia it consists of the ,

following elements — 1 A cts of Parliament relati ng .

to I ndia 2 Regulations of the Governor General

. .
-

in Council and of the Governors in Council for

,

Bengal M adras and Bombay respectively passed

, , ,

1
T ihs ppl i s sp c i lly t B g l I Bomb y s o m wh t
re mar k a e e e a o en a . n a ,
a e a

ru d p l co d w i fo c l o g b fo t h I d i P l C o d w
e en a e as n r e n e re e n an e na e as

en a ct d d i
e ,
wo k i g g v
an ts mo i llus t
r io of t h f c t t h t
n a e on e re ra t n e a a

al mo s t y d fi i t w i t l w how v c u d d i mp f c t i i fi i t ly
an e n e r t en a ,
e er r e an er e ,
s n n e

b tt th o
e er an n ne .
2
I m h ppy t
a t h t my su cc ss o
a M H o b ho us h
o s ee am d e r, r. e, as a e an

t mp t ( t wh i ch I w i s h
a te o v y su cc ss ) t d l by l g i sl t i o w i t h t h
e er e o ea e a n e
ev ils of x c ss i v mul t i pl i c t i o of l w p o t s
an e e e a n a re r .
1 84 R E C ULA I T ON LA W
.
[5 1 .
4 7 5 0,
-

native usages and their eminently practica l character ,

and I have no doub t that the praise was to a con

s i d e ra b le extent well deserved as regards their sub

stance Their form however is such that they are

. , ,

hardly intelligibl e to any one who does not bring t o

the study of them a degree and kind of knowledge
of I ndian institutions and of the histo ry of I ndian
,

administration which is only to b e acquired by

,

a c tual personal intercourse with the small and rapidly

diminishing class of persons who know the circum
s t ances under which the Regulations were enacted ,

and the state of society of which they assume the

existence M any of the most important of them are
.

prefaced by explanatory preambles which relate to ,

particular circumstances and they are so interwoven

,

with local and personal provisions that it is extreme l y

difficult to understand thei r bearing as general laws .

Th e famous Regulation I of 1 7 9 3 the Permanent .

,

S ettlement and the scarcely less important Regula

,

tion V I I of 1 8 2 2 which formed till within the last

.
, ,

year or two the foundation of the settlement law of

,

the N orth West Provinces are of this character

-
, .

They would no doubt form valuable materials f or a

historian but they are enough to drive a lawyer to
,

despair .

This however is far from being th e only di ffi cu l ty

, ,

connected with the Regulations As the area of the .

E mpire gradually extended and as its character ,

gradually changed from that of the domain of a com

'

pany of merchants to that of an E m pire governed

by a great political body the character and the rela,
1 8 69 I TS I N TRI CA CI E S . 1 85

tive importan c e of the revenue and po l itica l branches

of the service were continually changing and n e w ,

arrangements had to be made as experience a ccu mu,

lated for the discharge of their duties

, .

This was usually done by Regu l ations which pro

v id e d that such and such offi cers shoul d discharge the

duties of such other offi cers ; that a J udge of S ession ,

for instance should have the powers of a Commis

,

s i o n e r of Circuit I n order to understand the effect

.

of provisions o f this sort it i s necessary to know th e

,

whole history of th e j udicial an d fiscal organization of

th e government at every successive period This .

produced a state of things of which the intricacy ma y

b e understood by any o ne wh o has b een accustomed
to try to discover precisely the meaning of old laws in
relation to a n e w state of things N 0 one understood.

the Regulations ; they were p ractically known either

by rul e of thumb or by compendiums and digests
, ,

which were published from time to tim e under the

authority of Government and of which Clark s Regu
,
’

la t i o n s were the latest Complete copies of the

.

Regulations were so rare that I do not think I ever

,

s a w one .

T he strongest instance I can give of their intricacy

and obscurity is to be found in the fact that it wa s
discovered in 1 8 7 1 that nearly every criminal trial
which had taken place in Bengal and the N orth
West Provinces since 1 8 2 9 was irregular no court ,

du ring all that time having had proper jurisdiction to

try the more serious class of offenders I f this had .

been discovered in the progress of some case in which

1 86 A C TS OE G O VE RN OR GE N E RA L
-
.
[5 1 .
47 5 6 ,
. -

the peace of the country was involved and in which ,

political feeling ran high the consequences might ,

have bee n most serious T he Regulations are now .

almost entirely swept away by more modern legis

lation .

3 .The Acts of the Governor Genera l in Council -

form by far the m ost important branch of the I ndian

S tatute Book T hey are in fact the working statute
-
.
, ,

la w of the land Th e great obj ect of legislation

.

’
during Lord Mayo s tenure of office as well as during ,

the tenure of o ffi ce of his predecessors for many years

past but especially since the M utiny has been to
, ,

make the statute book at once as short and as complete

-

as they could so as to have if possible only one Act

, , ,

o n each subj ect and to pass no Acts which were not

,

really required for the government of the country

according to the principles laid down above .

4 The acts of the Legislatures of Bengal Madras

.
, ,

and Bombay are for the most part of compara

,

t i v e ly little importance though this is not true of ,

such of them as relate to Land Revenue and Local

Taxation I need not however dwell upon them as
.
, , ,

their general character differs from that of the A cts of

the Governor General only i n the circumstance that
-

they are generally speaking of less interest I may

, , .

sum up this introductory statement by saying that the ,

most imp ortant part of I ndian legislation is that which

is contained in the Acts o f the Governor General i n -

Council that the obj ects of its authors h ave been to

,

make it at once short simple and complete and that , , ,

the leading idea which has pervaded the whole of

1 88 A N A L YSI S OF I N D I A N L E GI S LA TI ON [IF /r. 4 7 5 0,
-

of the great element s of its extraordinary strength .

This is as true in regard to legislation as in regard

to other subj ects and it would b e as di ffi cult for me
,

to give an account of the legislation which took place

under Lord M ayo without reference to what was ,

done under his predecessors as to separate any other ,

part of his policy from theirs T o me there is .

something impressive in the feeling that the course

of policy of the British Go vernment in I ndia with ,

all the scope which it gives to varieties of individual

character is so chosen an d marked out for it by
,

the course of events that the line taken by one u p ,

right honourable and patriotic man will not differ

, ,

very widely at all events in principle from that which

, ,

will b e taken by his successor I think that any .

man of the proper stamp placed in such a situation ,

must feel that for the time being he is in a sense lifted

—
out of himself that there a nd then and for fault o f ,

a better h e is th e E nglish nation that he speaks

, ,

with its voice and if need be strikes with its arm

, , , .

W ith regard to legislation it will I think he found , , ,

that notwithstanding the great complexity o f the

,

Regu l ations and the extent of th e A cts ( which is

,

considerable though noth ing to be compared to E ng

,

l ish Acts of Parliament) the number of subj ects ,

upon wh ich l egislatio n has taken place i s less con

s i d e ra ble t han it looks T he A cts or at all events
.
,

those which are of any practical importance may ,

be arranged under the following heads

1 . Acts which embody the fundamenta l genera l
principles of the British Government .
1 8 69 C OLVS TI T UTI ON A L A C TS . 1 89

2.Acts which cod i fy parts of th e unwr i tten la w .

3 Acts relating to j udicial pro c edure

. c i vil or ,

criminal .

4 Acts re l ating to t h e R evenue espec i al l y th e

.
,

Land Revenue .

5 M iscellaneous Acts
. .

O f these A cts thos e which fal l under the 3 d and

,

4 t h heads are so very much the most numerous that ,

it woul d not b e very far from the truth to say that

the great bulk of I ndian legislatio n re l ates to j udicial
procedure criminal o r civil o r to the subj ect of the
, ,

land revenue and these are subj ects on which it

,

would be impossible not to legislate F or the reasons .

already mentioned and in particu l ar on account o f ,

th e gradual changes in the circumstances of th e

E mpire the increase in its extent and the gradual
, ,

accumulation of experience as to the best modes of

procedure th e process of legis l ation has been ex
,

t r e me ly complicated and the wh ole system has s o , ,

to speak been r e enacted more than once The final

,
-
.

result however (at least the result which at present

,

may b e called final for the time being) is as I shall , ,

show immediately s ingularly short and clear I will

, .

n o w proceed shortly to sketch the d ifferent c lasses

of laws to which I have referred .

I A cts which embody the fundamental pr i nc i ples

.

of the B ritish Government .

I put these A cts though they a re very fe w in ,

number in the fi rst class both on account of their

, ,

general interest and beca u se they constitute the only

,

cases known to me in which the Government of I ndia

1 90 IN TE RFE RE N CE WI TH C US TOM S .
[
Y
’
Et x 4 7 - 5 0,

has found it necessary distinctl y to interfere with

native practices or principles I have already a d .
"

mi t t e d that the amount of indirect interference with

the whole structure of native society which is involved
in the mere establishment of a regular government ,

and in keeping th e peace is so great as to amount ,

to a revolution T he degree of direct and p o s mv e

.

interference may b e measured by reference to the

following Acts
the b urning o f widows is forbidden by the ,

Bengal Regulations and would also fall under the ,

definition of culpable homicide given in the Penal ,

Code sec 2 9 9 though by the 5 t h e x ception appended

, .
,

to sec 3 00 it would n ot amount to m urder

.
, .

Act V I I I of 1 8 7 0 contains stringent regula

.

tions for the prevention of the murder of female

infants in certain parts of I ndia T his custom pre .

vailed widely in certain tribes and families which ,

were prohibited by their caste rules from marrying

their daughters except into certain families and at a
,

ruinous expense .

T he second part of A ct X X V I I of 1 8 7 1 puts .

eunuchs in the N orth West Provinces the Panj ab -

, ,

and O udh under stringent regulations intended to

, ,

prevent the m from possessing themselves as was ,

their practice of boys who were kept for the vilest

, ,

purposes .

I n each of these three cases t he obj ect of th e ,

Government was the suppression of what according ,

to E uropean ideas and standards of morals were ,

a bominable crimes though the natives regarded sa t z

’

,
1
92 I VA TI VE A N D I N DI A N LA W .
V E T. 4 7 —5 0,

O f the other three A cts X V of authorizes

, . 1 85 6
the r e marriage of H indu widows ; X X I of 1 8 6 6
-
.

enables native converts to Christianity to obtain a

divorce from any wife or husband who withdraws
from their conj ugal society on the ground of their
change i n religion ; A ct I I I of 1 8 7 2 provides a form
.

of marriage for all persons who are neither Christians ,

J ews H indus M uhammadans J ains nor S ikhs

, , , , .

Thes e Acts taken together form much the clearest

, ,

case which can b e cited of Legislative interference

with native habits and principles and of th e co mp u l ,

sory introduction into I ndia of E uropean i deas F or .

this reason I refer to them collectively though one ,

only ( I I I of . strictly speaking belongs to the ,

history of Lord Mayo s A dministration ’

.

A ccording to the ideas of natives whether H indus ,

or M uhammadans la w and religion are so closely

,

connected that they may almost b e regarded as two

names for one and the same thing and the division of ,

the population accordi n g to their creeds has been th e

natural result of this state of things T he legal effect .

of apostasy from either of the establish ed creeds was

of the highest importance involving in some cases
,

the forfeiture of property T his formed the great

.

legal barrier of the native religions and more espe ,

ci a lly of H induism S o long as I ndia was merely a

.

congeri es of contiguous races and sects with a Govern ,

ment which hardly deserved the name such a state ,

of things was natural and probably inevitabl e I t

,
.

constituted a social organization which was long r e

garded as t he type of i mmobi l it y and wh i ch deserved ,
1 8 69 NA TI VE A N D I N DI A N LA W
. 1 95

that reputation although it also possessed a c ur i ous

,

but limited power of assimilating n e w i deas and

practices A s however the E nglish power came to
.
, ,

b e fully established it was impossible not to face the

,

problem whether or not the E nglish people meant

,

to give the force of their la w and their social organi

z at io n to a system of intolerant i dolatry The .

question might b e put in another way th u s : Are ,

Christians H indus and M uhammadans to make a

, ,

treaty together guaranteeing to each creed full do

,

minion over those who may be called their he reditary

members an d visiting with the heaviest pena l ties
,

every deserter from any one of them ? U nder

native rule the la w was so loose exceptions an d
, ,

loopholes were so readily found and s o much de ,

pended upon a thousand individual questions that ,

the O ppression o f such a law wa s infinitely smaller

than it would be if it were administered by E nglish
J udges with E nglish impartialit y A native la w is .

l ike an unfenced track over open country ; an E nglish

la w is like a metalled highway with a stone wall on ,

each side of it passing through an enclosed country

, .

T he direction of the road is obviously a very much

m ore serious matter than the direction of the track .

When absolutely compelled to say definitely W ill ,

o u persecute every H indu who turns Christian the

y
Government coul d make only one answer T hat .

answer was given by A ct X X I of 1 8 5 0 and it was .

,

an answer of momentous importance I t practically .

established freedom of conscience and freedom as to

the profession of reli gion throughout the whole of
V O L. 1 1. N
1 94 C ON VE R S T ’
R E -M ARRI A GE A CT .
[PET 4 7
-
5 0,

I ndia I t was opposed with the utmost vehemence

. .

Petitions against it signed by no less than ,

natives from Calcutta and the neighbourhood were

, ,

presented ; but it passed into la w and the three sub ,

sequent A cts to which I have referred were logically

and inevitably connected with it They were passed .
,

however with great precaution and all excited more

, ,

o r less opposition E ach is an application of the

.

general principle that people are not to b e subj ected

to penalties and in particular to the severest of all
, , ,

penalties those which affect their competency to

,

marr y either in obedience to any religious dogma

,

or as a punishment for having changed their religion .

There was however a considerable difference in

, ,

the degrees of directness with which the principle was

applied I n the case of the r e marriage of H indu
.
-

widows legislation was founded avowedly on a differ

,

ence of religious belief amongst the H indus them

selves T he preamble to Act X V of 1 8 5 6 is charac
. .

t e r i st i c : Whereas it is known that by the law as

‘
,

administered in the Civil Courts established in the ,

terri tor i es ln the possession and under the govern

ment of the E ast I ndia Company H indu widows , ,

with certain exceptions are held to b e by reason of , ,

their having once been married incapable of inherit ,

ing property ; and whereas many H indus believe

’

t ha t t hi s impute d legal incapacity although it is in ,

accordance with established customs is n o t in accord ,

ance with a true interpretation of the precepts of

their religion and d esire that the civil la w a d mi n i
,

s t e r e d by the Courts of J ustice shall no longer prevent

1
96 L ORD M A Y O S M A R R LA GE A C T
’

VET 4 7- 5 6 ,
.

A ct I I I of 1 8 7 2 completes at any rate for the pre

. ,

sent this series o f A cts I t is the only one of the

,
.

series which properly be l ongs to the h istory of Lord

M ayo s A dministration
’
H is very last public act .

at Calcutta was to declare i n the Legislative Council

his firm resolution to cause it to pass into law I t .

was finally passed during the month in which Lord

N apier of M e r chi st o u n filled Lord Mayo s place after ’

very much the warmest discussion that took plac e

during my tenure of offi ce in the Legislative Council .

I had charge of the A ct and was principally r e sp o n ,

s ible for its contents and I stated my v i ews upon the

,

whole subj ect at very great length and with as much ,

care a s I could in t wo speeches in the Legislative

,

Council in which the history and principl es of the

,

measure are fully explained I t is enough to say .

here that the occasion of the Act was a question

,

which arose as to the legal validity of the marriages

of the body known as the Bra hma Sam aj a M r . .

Cowie th e A dvocate General was of opinion that

,
-
,

thes e marriages were void I t was perfectly clear .

,

on the one han d that the Bra hma S a m aj a were e n

‘

titled to an indisputably valid form of marriage I t .

was equally clear on the other that it would be very

, ,

difficult even if it were desirable to deal with their

, ,

case s ingly ; and it appeared very undesirable i n such ,

a country as I ndia and in such a time as our own , ,

to make marriage denominational Religious sects .

are continually springing up in I ndia To have .

given each of them a separate form of marriage ,

would have caused great confusion ; but if such a

1 8 69 RE S UL T OF THE SE A C TS . 1 97

form had been given to one it wou l d have been hard ,

to refuse it to others .

U pon these grounds an d on the strength of M r

,
.

’
Cowie s opinion S ir H enry M aine prepared a mea
,

sure providing a form of monogamous marriage for

all persons who were disposed to adopt it and who ,

declared that they had conscientious obj ections to the

marriage ceremonial s in ordinary use T he opinions .

of th e Local Governments and parties interested in

,

the matter were not received when S ir H M aine

, .

l eft I ndia ; but when received most of them were ,

u nfavourable to it After several attempts to frame

.

a Bill wh ich should provide in an unobj ectionable way

for the B ra hmas only and after a most careful and
,

searching discussion of the whol e subj ect in the

E xecut i ve and Legislative Councils the B ill as it , ,

now stands was adopted I t differs from S ir H en ry

, .

’
M aine s Bill chiefly in the circumstance that before ,

a person can obtain the benefit of it he must ,

declare that h e is neither a Christian a Je w a , ,

H indu a M uhammadan nor a Parsi as each of

, , ,

these religious sects has its own spec i a l form of

marriage .

T he resu l t of the who l e of this l egis l ation may b e

shortly described as follows I t provides that change
.

of religion shall involve no penalties an d it does ,

away ( in connection with the I ndian S uccession A ct ,

to which I shall refer immediately) with what may be

called th e le gal status of an outcaste— the position ,

that is of a man who is deprived of civil rights b e

,

cause he does not belong to some one of the different

1 98 TH E I N DI A N C ODE S .
[
YET 4 7 - 5 0,

religious organizations with in wh ich a l one civil rights

are to be ha d .

N o doubt the practical recognition of this principle

constitutes a serious interference with native ideas ;
b ut the principle itself in the present state of our ,

knowledge and i n reference to the p resent condition

,

1
of I ndia is s o obviously right and is so distinctly
, ,

the real belief of the governing body in I ndia that ,

to shrink from enforcing it whenever facts bring it

forward would in my opinion be and be felt to be an
, , , , ,

act of mere timidity and would have no other effect ,

than that of teaching the natives that we did not

dare to do what on our own principles we coul d not
deny to be j ust .

I I T he second class of A cts to which I have

.

referred are Codifying A cts which reduce to an ,

explicit written shape portions of the unwritten l aw

-
.

T hese A cts are four in number

1 T he I ndian Penal Code Act X LV of 1 8 6 0
.
,
. .

2 The I ndian S uccession Act X of 1 8 6 5

.
, . .

3 T he
. I ndian E vidence Act I of 1 8 7 2 , . .

4 The . I ndian Contract La w I X of 1 8 7 2 , . .

E ach of these four A cts reduces to an explicit form ,

and to a very moderate length part of the unwritten ,

la w to which I have already referred I woul d .

h a r d ly i n t e r e s t the reader if I were to go into any

lengthened description of the contents of these Acts ,

but I may say a fe w words on each of them .

1
I by t h s w o d s t g d mys l f g i s t b i g supp o s d t
me an e e r o u ar e a a n e n e o

d y t h bs c p o ss i b i l i y f s
en e a t ra t f thi gs i wh i ch i t mi gh t b
t o a ta t e o n n e

w ll t fo b i d by l w t h p c i c of
e o r l ig i o
a e ra t e a re n.
2 00 I N DI AN S UCCE SSI ON A CT .
[ZEL
’

4 7 -
5 0,

c onquest and that after the Penal Code was drawn

,

they took a quarter of a century to consider whether

it shoul d be passed into la w or not .

T he I n dian S uccession Act ( X of 1 8 6 5 ) is a remark .

able piece o f legislation I t is due both i n substance .

and form to the I ndian La w Commission which sat

in E ngland I t co d i fie s the law relating to the effect
.

of d eath and marriage upon succession to property ,

and the la w relating to wills As it is confined in its .

operation to persons who are subj ect to no personal

la w that is to say to persons who are nei t her
, ,

E uropeans M uhammadans H indus Parsis nor na

, , , ,

t i v e s whose affairs are regulate d by any other native

custom its immediate practical importance is certainly

,

small but it may by degrees becom e a la w of the very

,

highest and most general importance I f any con .

s id e ra ble number of natives shoul d ever abandon

their old creeds an d marry under the M arriage A ct
of 1 8 7 2 their property would be distributed on
,

their deaths according to the S uccession Act and ,

their testamenta r y powers would b e regulated by its

provisions These t wo Acts indeed taken together
.
, , ,

provide what the F rench call an ela i ci v i /e for all ’

‘

pers o n s who are dissatisfied with the native systems

of personal la w and may thus become in time funda
,

m ental laws regulating the most important interests

of a large par t of the popu l ation Th e S uccession .

Act is in itself no interference with native l aws or

customs but its importance depends u p on the fact
,

that for the reasons which I have already given

, ,

it is obvious that native customs must be ex

1 8 69 C ON TRA C T A C T OF 1 872 .

e ct e d to pass away as E uropean influence extends

p
itself .

T he E vidence A ct ( I of 1 8 7 2 ) compresses into a

.

very short compass the whole of the E nglish and

I ndian la w of evidence I had charge of this Act. ,

and drew it in its present shape though in such a ,

manner as to include the provisions of a bill pre

v i o u sly drawn by the I ndian La w Commissioners .

I t forms a good illustratio n of the j ustice of th e charge

of over l egislation and an undue fondness for E nglish
-
,

la w so often b rought against the Government o f

,

I ndia T he truth is that the E nglish La w of E vi

.
,

dence was inevitably introduced into I ndia to an

uncertain and indefinite extent as soon as E nglish
lawyers began to exercise any influence over th e
administration of j ustice in I ndia N o r was this all . .

I n order to avoid refi nements which woul d have been

most inj urious to I ndia l egislation was necessary ,

which by dec l aring that particular parts of th e

,

E nglish law of evidence shoul d not apply to I ndia ,

give an implied sanction to the rest of it Th e .

general result was that the l aw of evidence before th e

,

E vidence A ct was passed had a sort of dead alive -

existence in I ndia and was the bugbear of civilian

,

j udges who were placed by it much at th e mercy of

,

every E nglish barrister who might appear before

them T he E vidence Act reduced the who l e subject
.

to a p l ain short and explicit form

, ,
.

T he Contract A ct ( I X of 1 8 7 2 ) did for th e law .

relating to contracts very much what the E vidence

Act d id for the law relating to evidence I t reduced .
 I N DI A N P R O CE D URE C ODE S —
2 02 .
VET 4.
7 5 0,

to an explicit written form a great mass of law which

had previously been contained only in text books and -

reports the authority of which i n I ndia depended

,
'

principally on the discretion of the j udges This Act .

was originally drawn by the I ndian Law Commis

s i o ne r s but was considerably altered i n I ndia I
, .

r e drew the whole of th e first part

-
.

I I I A cts relating to j udicial pro c e dure c ivil or

.
,

criminal O f these I may notice

.

1 . T he Code of Civil Procedure V I I I of 1 8 5 9 , . .

2 . T he Code of Criminal Procedure X of 1 8 7 2 , . .

3 The Civil Courts Acts

. .

Procedure is a subj ect on which every one must

admit legislation to be necessary F ew persons how .
,

ever know what a very large proportion of the I ndian

,

statute book is filled by A cts relating to that subj ect

-
.

As the whole system incl uding the constitution of

,

the courts themselves had to b e constructed from

,

the very foundations and as the constant changes in

,

the extent of the E mpire and the constant accumula

tion of experience rendered corresponding mo d i fica
tions i n the system necessary the legislation on both
,

civil and criminal procedure became in the cours e of

time exceedingly compl icated I t was indeed s o .
, ,

complicated that to master the system from th e

,

Regulations and Acts themselves was impossible I t .

could be learnt only by experience and tradition .

The first great improvement and simplification

introduced into this state of things was effected by
the enactment of A ct V I I I of 1 8 5 9 the Code of.
,

Civi l Procedure which reduced to a single intelligible

,
2 04 O
C NS I T TUTI ON OF C O UR TS [E . 12 4 7 5 0,
-

I believe in short that a student who carefully

,

acquainted himself W i th the provisions of this A ct ,

would have a complete theoretical knowledge of all

the more important of the general duties which he
would have to discharge as a D istrict O fficer .

I ndeed any one who had thoroughly mastered the

,

Penal Code the E vidence Act th e Contract Act an d

, , ,

the t wo Codes of Procedure all of which put together ,

do not fill a very large vol ume would have an amount ,

of positive definite knowledge about the i nstitutions

of the country a grasp of legal principles of the very
,

h ighest importance which is not to be attained at all

,

by E nglish law stu dents except as the result of m uch

-

independent study long practic e and investigati on

, ,

of a kind for which fe w people have either leisure or

inclination .

O ne subj ect of first rate importance i n a practical

-
,

point of view is not included in these Acts This

, .

is the constitution of the Courts of Civil J urisdiction .

T h i s ma t t e r is provided for in ten different Civil

.

Courts Acts one for each of the Provinces into which

,

the E mpire is divided B efore the l ast edition of .

the Cod e Of Cr i mi n a l P r oced u r e was passed it was ,

almost impossible to say what the constitution of the

Criminal Courts was T he Regu lations respecting
.

them were fragmentary and intricate to the last

degree ; an d i n at l ea st one most i m portant case ( as
I have already pointed out ) they were incoherent ,

if not inconsistent .

I V A cts relating to Land Revenue

. .

T he l aws relating to l and in I ndia are by far the

1 8 69 LAN D RE VE N UE A C TS . 20 5

m ost important laws in the country and affect more ,

closely than any others the daily life of the people .

I cannot here attempt to give even an outline of their

leading details but I will try to indicate as shortly
,

as I can the position which they hold in th e general

l egal system and the way i n which o ur legislation
,

affects th e landed property of the people at large .

Th e persons interested in th e land in I ndia are

I . T he Government as owners of the Revenue ,

which is u niversally regarded throughout

all I ndia as the first c harge upon the land .

2 . T he collectors of the R evenue who are r e sp o n ,

sible for it to th e Government .

T he cultivators of the land .

These classes of persons were however related , ,

to each other in very different ways i n different parts

of the country T o take first the relation between
.
, ,

the Government and the collectors of revenue o r ,

z amind a rs T he simplest form of this relationship

.

was when the zamind a rs were simply tax collectors ,

theoretically entitled to a certain proportion of the

revenue and practically able to extort much more on
, ,

various grou nds from the cultivators They were also

, .

in many cases grantees of larger or smaller parts of the

revenue Th e commonest and readiest way of com
.

p e n sa t i n
g military or other services was to give a man
a village— that is to say th e land revenue payable by
,

the village Thus the zamind a r was and is i n many

.
,

cases not only th e tax collector but the proprietor

, ,

of a rent charge -
.

O n th e other hand in many parts of the country

, ,
20 6 L A N D SE TTLE M E N TS .
[E n 47 5 6 ,
-

th e villages themselves in their Qu asi corporate ,

capacity undertook to pay th e revenue in which case

, ,

there woul d be no zamind a rs in the sense i n whi c h

the expression is understoo d in B engal .

I n other parts again and particularly i n S outhern

, ,

I ndia there is no middleman at all between the

,

Government and the cultivator T he individual .

landholder is liabl e t o the Government directl y for

the amount of revenu e which is due from the land
which he occupies .

The relation between th e parties interested in th e

land as landlord and tenant though closely connected ,

with their relation to the Government is nevertheless ,

distinct from it T hroughout the whole of N orthern

.

I ndia the native theories and practices as to the

,

ownership and cultivation of the land have been trans

lated by th e British Government into the relation of
landlord and tenant S peaking i n th e broadest pos .

s ib le way the person settl ed with — that is to say

, ,

the person who becomes responsib l e for the l and

revenue of a particular piece of land— is th e l andlord .

Th e reason is that the making of the settlement is

,

a publi c and notorious fact legally recorded and , ,

capable of being ascertained at a n y future time I f .

no record is kept of any other interests than his they ,

are incapabl e of proof and he thus becomes the ,

owner in fee simple subject to a rent charge payable

-
,
-

to the Government I f this re nt cha rge is per

.
s

ma n e n t ly fixed as i n B engal he can grant l eases on

, ,

whatever terms he pleases t o tenants who again can ,

s ub l et
-
u nti l a considerab l e number of midd l emen
,
1 6 8 TH E L A N D LA W .
[
I ET 4 7.
-
.

56,

presumptions based upon the length of time during

which given tenants have held at a fixed rate from ,

which their status as sub proprietors occupancy ,

tenants liabl e to enhancement of rent or tenants at ,

will is to be inferred
,
.

The customs of the country as to descent i nherit ,

ance the distribution of village pro duce the mode

, ,
‘

of using the village waste rights on the part of ,

c o sharers to have the refusal of any share which is

-

to be sold (this is known as the right of pre emption ) -

,

and many other matters form a distinct and very i m,

portant head of I ndian real property la w .

T he only way in which it has been affected at

all by l egislation is that at the settlement of the
,

revenue all such customs are recorded and form a ,

part of what is called the Record of Rights .

T he regulation of the Land Revenue thus em

braces directly or indirectly the reduction of the
, ,

whole of the la w relating to landed property to a

definite shape I n the memorable case of the Per
.

manent S ettlement there can be no doubt at all that

,

this process interfered to an immense extent with the

general constitution of native society whether for the ,

better or the worse I do not inquire I n every other .

part of I ndia there can b e no doubt that one cardinal

,

innovation often referred to was made ; that is to

, ,

say the innovation of substituti ng the force of law for

,

the force of individuals and a regular system of private

,

rights for a drifting mass of variable village customs .

But for at least half a century every effort has been ,

made to do this w i th the utmost possible regard for

1 8 69 M I S CE LLAN E O US A C TS . 26 9

native usages so that our system may differ from th e

,

system wh ich it has superseded as a map well engraved

,

by a skilful artist in due proportion and with a l l

, ,

the lines properly completed and connected together ,

differs from a rough sketch of th e same place i m ,

perfect a t every point an d with every line blurred

, ,

blotted and indicated rather than drawn I believe

,
.

that the blessings which the change has conferred on

the whole country are i ncalculable and that they are ,

n ever questioned till familiarity with the blessings of

law and peace cause forgetfulness of the disorder and
oppressio n which they supersede .

I will not try to give even an outline of the

manner in which the t w o great problems of settlement
legislation and landlord and tenant legislation have
, ,

been dealt with in different parts of the E mpire .

What I have said is suffi cient to indicate in the most

general way the nature and relation of the questions
involved .

V M iscellaneous Acts
. .

I need say very little of th e miscellaneous l egis

l ation of the Government of I ndia ; but I can affirm
with confidence that it contains no A ct which circum
stances did not render either necessary or obviously
desirab l e .

T he only remark which I think it necessary to

make upon these Acts in connection with the charge
of needless legis l ation so frequently urged against
,

the Government of I ndia is that most of those who

,

make the charge i n question appear to me to b e

al together ignorant of the leading principle that ,

VO L. 1 1 . o
210 CRI M I N A L TRI BE S A CI " [
I EL 4 7-
'

5 0,

although a zeal ous D i stri c t O fficer may and ought

to do innumerable things which he is not legally
bound to do and as to which th e l aw is altogether
,

silent he neither can nor ought to interfere with any

,

man s person o r property except in cases in which

’

he is express l y authorized by law to do so A large .

part of the miscellaneous legislation of the Govern

ment of I ndia was intended to arm District O fficers
with powers which were essential for the proper
administration of the country an d which in ma n y ,

cases had been assumed without legal warrant and ,

had been found in practice to be illegal F or instance .

,

the Prisons Act 1 8 7 0 ( X X V I of 1 8 7 0) was enacted

.

because it appeared that no legal power existed by

which gaol officers in the Panj ab could b e punished
for gross misconduct O n looking into the la w o n
.

th e subj ect i t was discovered that it was scattered

,

over six Regulations an d A cts which were very ,

vague in themselves and as to some of which it was

,

very doubtful whether they were in force in the Pan

j a b or not T hey were accordingly consolidated into
.

one genera l A ct and many practical defects in their

,

working were removed by the A ct mentioned I .

have s een this described as a piece of legislative

intrusion upon a matter which o u ght to have been left
to executive action T h e fact was that th e Prisons
.
,

Act made vigorous executive action easier and safer

than it had previously been .

Another illustration is afforded by Act X XV I I .

of 1 8 7 1 — a n A ct for the Registration of Criminal

T rib es A s y stem had been introdu c ed into the
.
21 2 L ORD M A YO S ’
LE GI SLA TI OI V .
VET 4 7 —5 0,
.

universal l y felt to be absolutely essential to the con

struction of the works which form the only security
against famine .

I have th us drawn a sli ght sketch of Angl o I ndian -

legislation in so far as it is contained i n the Acts of

the Governor General in Council F or the reasons
-
.

already given I could not make the part which Lord

,

M ayo and his Government played in the matter

intelligible without giving as it were a rough groun d , ,
'

plan of the edifice which they had to keep in repair

— to enlarge in som e directions and to r e arrange ,
-

and simplify i n others I will now proceed to give

.

you an account of the manner i n which th i s task was

discharged .

Lord M a y o s l eg i slat i on e xtended over th e y ears

’

1 869 ,
1 8 70 1 8 7 1
, and the first quarter of 1 8 7 2 I t
, .

is true that th e m ost important of the A cts which

were prepared in h is time were passed by Lord
N apier in the interval which preceded Lord N orth
brook s arrival but they belong not less to the E arl
’

’
of M ayo s V iceroyalty S ir H enry M aine was lega l
.

M ember of Council during the greater part of 1 8 6 9 .

I he l d th e same office from D ecember 1 8 6 9 till Apri l

1 872 . M r Whitley S tokes held the office of S ecretary
.

to the Legislative D epartment during the whole o f

this period ; but M r Cunningham (now Advocate
.

General of M adras ) acted for him from the spring of

1 8 7 1 to the spring of 1 8 7 2 .

O f the twenty si x A cts which were passed i n the

-

y ear 1 8 6 9 the
,
last year of S ir H enry M aine s tenure
of offi c e a considerable number were of very high
,
1 8 69 M I SCE LLA N E O US A C TS . 1 3

importan c e S ome of them though very valuable

.
,

1
and invo l ving much l abour coul d hard l y be made ,

interesting to general readers ; but some of th e others

were remarkable T hree of them ( Acts . IV .
,

and X X I ) were important members of a class o f

.

laws which I have not yet noticed — l aws which

are required to meet questions arising out of the
residence of E uropeans in I ndia T he most i m .

portant of them is A ct I V which adapts to I ndia .

, ,

and app l ies to the case of the marriages of Christians

there the provisions of the E nglish D ivorce Act of
,

1 858 Act X X I makes prov i s i on for arresting in

. .

I ndia and removing from I ndia all E uropeans who

are reduced to a state of vagrancy and pauperism ,

about as helpless and wretched a class of persons as

is to be found in any country Act I I makes various . .

p rovisions as to the appointment of J ustices of the

Peace the class of M agistrates who alone have j uris
,

dictio n over E uropean British subj ects in I ndia and ,

consolidates into on e short and clear enactment much

that was formerly fragmentary and obscure .

T he legislation which took p l ace in 1 8 7 0 1 8 7 1 , ,

and 1 8 7 2 ranged over most of the different classes

under which I have distributed the A cts of the
Counci l of the Governor General O ne principal -
.

obj ect which was constantly kept i n view an d very ,

nearl y brought to completion was th e consolidation ,

of al l the miscellaneous A cts in such a manner that

1
Su ch A t X VI I I th G
as c l St mp A t ; A t V t h I d i
.
, e e n er a a c c .
, e n an

A t i c l s of W
r e d A t V I I L wh i ch l g ly m d d t h C o d of
ar an c , ar e a en e e e

C i mi l P oc d u
r na of 8 6
r e re 1 1.
21 4 R E P E ALLN G A C TS .
[
A13 1 47 5 9 ,
-

there should be but o ne A ct upon each of the subj ects

to which they refer Preparations had been made .

for this principally in L ord Lawrence s time by A c ts

,
’

which repealed the greater part of the obsolete enact ~

ments and by indexing and collecting the Acts which

,

were not repealed The different Acts relating to .

different subj ects were then r e drawn consolidated -

, ,

and amended in a variety of minor particulars Th e .

effect of this was not only to abbreviate and c l ear

up the law upon a great variety of questions but to ,

set at rest many doubts to incorporate i n th e S tatute ,

La w a great number of j udicial decisions and to reduce ,

a large branch of th e la w to a m uch simpler form

and narrower compass than had previously belonged
1
to i t .

T hese Acts were comparatively simple but others ,

involved great labour The most important of them .

were t wo A cts which were intended to and I hope ,

effectually did clear away a strange mass of confusion ,

as to the laws in force in the Panj ab They were .

intended to be followed and I hope that in due time ,

they will b e followed by similar Acts relating to the ,

Central Provinces and O udh .

T he Pa nj ab O udh the Centra l Provinces an d , , ,

T h fo ll ow i g w
1
e th A c t s p ss d w i t h t h i s v i w — A t XX I I I
n ere e a e e c .

of 1 8 7 g t o C o i ge d t h e M i t ; A ct XX V I of 1 8 7 0 e l t i g
0 , r e la t i n na an n .
,
r a n

t o P isor s ; A ct I of 1 8 7 1 el t i g t o T e sp ss e s by Ca t tl e ; A ct I I I of
n .
,
r a n r a .

1 87 1 , el t i g t
r aP p e C e n c y A ct I V of 1 8 7 1 el t i g t C o o e s
n o a r u rr .
,
r a n o r n r

A ct V o f 1 8 7 1 r e l a t i g t o t h e A pp e h e n s i o n of P i s o e s A t V I I of
.
,
n r r n r c .

1 87 1 ,
re l t i g t o t h e E mi g a t i o
a n of N t i v e L b o u r e s ; A ct V I I I of
r n a a r .

1 87 1 ,
el ti g t o th e Regi st
r a n t i o n of D oc u me t s ; A ct X I I I of 1 8 7 1
ra n .
,

re l a t i g t o C us t o ms D t i e s
n A ct XX I I I of 1 8 7 1 r e l t i g t o P e s i o s
u .
,
a n n n

A ct XX V I f 1 8 7 1 e l t i g t wh t
. o e k o wn a s T k a i A d
,
r a n ce so a ar n a v va n

th t i s a d a ces f
a , a g i c lt u
v n l i mp ov e me t s
or r u ra r n .
21 6 ‘
N OI VRE
-
G ULA TI ON ’
LA W .
[ASL 4 7
-
5 0,

b etween such districts and others in the present day is

that the j udicial proceedings of their magistrates and
commissioners are superintended by the Lieutenant
Governor himself an d not by th e H igh Court ; but
all the more important laws which prevail in the
quietest and most civilised parts of Bengal are equally
in force as amongst the S ant a ls for instance
, .

U pon the annexation of the Panj a b i n 1 8 49 th e ,

question by what la w it was to b e governed i m

mediately suggested itself I t was absolutely meces
.

sary that th e Province shoul d b e governed vigorously ,

and at the same time cheaply and these t wo obj ects ,

were attained by the e stablishment of what was called

the N on Regulation or Panjab system by which all
-
’

the powers both of the J u d icial and of the Revenue

,

branch of the service were put into the hands of a

,

single bo d y of men This board was supposed to

.

apply on a large scale the precedent set by th e pre

v i o u s N o n Regulation D istricts
-
I f such a scheme was
.

to b e carried out in its integrity it was impossible ,

to exten d the Bengal Regulations to th e Panj ab .

They could b e fully administered only by o fficers

who become acquainted by long practice with their
i ntricacies and who were in possession of a great
,

amount of collateral knowledge without wh ich they ,

were unintelligible T he proper remedy for this

.
,

n o doubt would have been to codify the law bu t

, ,

for such an operation there was no time and the ,

course actually taken was to treat the Panj a b as a

Crown Colony to assume that th e Government
,

of I ndia had as the agent of the Queen absolute

, ,
1 8 69 —7 z ]
. GR O WTH OE P A N/AB LA W . 2 1 7

power over i t both l egis l ative and execut i ve and

, ,

to de l egate that absolute power to the Board of

Administration which consisted of Lord Lawrence
, ,

S ir H enry Lawrence and M r M ansel T his policy

, . .

was as prudent as it was bol d ; but its l egality was

doubtful and the consequence was that the a u t ho
,

rity given to the B oard of Administration was by

no means precise or definite I t amounted ho w .
,

ever to an instruction to the B oard to govern the

,

Panj a b as they thought right but as nearly as ,

circumstances permitted o n th e same system as the

N orth West Provinces
-
.

U nder this authority th e Board of A dministration

in th e first instance and Lord Lawrence after w ards
, ,

first as Chief Commissioner and afterwards as ,

Lieutenant Governor not only administered t h e

,

affairs of the Province but provided it with a Code

,

of laws consisting of a Pena l Code a book which

, ,
-

was common l y ca ll ed the P a rij aO Ci v i l Cod e and ,

which was a short statement of some of the most

important branches of civi l law and Codes of civil ,

and criminal procedure A great number of other .

executive orders were issued as occasion required , ,

o n matters of more or less importance all of which ,

were enforced as having the authorit y of l aw I n .

particular revenue settlements were made for every

,

part of th e country T he offi cia l s engaged in per

.

forming this operation were guided i n the main by

the system i n for c e i n the N orth West Provinces ; -

b ut it was alwa y s understood by the parties con

c erned that the orders of the Panj a b Government
21 8 S PE CI A L L O CA L C O DE S .

were the ru l e by which the offi cers were to proceed ,

that the Government had power to modify the N orth

West system as they thought proper and that the ,

Regulations in force i n the N orth W e st Provinces -

were to b e regarded i n the Panj a b only in the ligh t

of patterns T he Panj ab thus formed a Province
.

governed by i ts own laws and legislated for by its ,

own local offi cers .

I n cours e of time great doubts were thrown on th e

legality of these proceedings and in order to s et these ,

doub ts at rest a claus e ( section 2 5 ) was p ut into the

,

I ndian Councils A ct in 1 8 6 1 which gave the force o f ,

la w to all past executive legislation in the N o n Regu -

lation Provinces but in terms which the Government

,

of I ndia has treated as a prohibition of such legislation

for the future .

A somewhat similar s tate of things grew up in

O udh which was annexed in 1 8 5 6
,
T he Centra l .

Provinces were formed into a separate administratio n

i n 1 8 6 1 partly out of native S tates and partly out of
,

N on Regulation districts some of which belonged to

-
,

the N orth West Provinces and others to the B ombay

-
,

Presidency As to B urmah little if any executive

. , , ,

legislation was found necessary there The system .

of land revenue which prevails there differs from that

of I ndia Th e result is that since 1 8 6 1 the N on
.
,

Regulatio n Provinces have been legislated for in th e

same manner as other parts of the country ; but in
each N o n Regulation Province and district a mass of
-

executive orders has been turn ed into law As these .

exe cutive orders were not meant for l aws when

2 20 C ON S O LI DA I T ON E FFE CTE D .
4 7 5 0,
-

there were great doubts a s to whether this had or had

not the force of law .

This confusion had attracted a good deal of atten

tion and in order to put an end to it the Government
, ,

of I ndia had sent out a circular in S ir H enry M aine s ,

’

time directing th e Local Governments of the N on

,

Regulation Provinces and D istricts to make returns

of the E xecutive O rders which had acquired the force
of la w within their Courts under the 2 5 t h section of
the I ndian Councils A ct A return to this circular .

from th e Panj a b Government (which was by very

much the most important of those Pr o v i n ce s) wa s _

receive d in 1 8 7 1 I t consisted of an octavo volume

.

of notes despatches and correspondence never before

, ,

collected which it was supposed had or might b e

,

considered to have acquired the force of l aw under

the provisio n i n question and it also referred to the ,

question whether the s o called Panj a b Civil Code was

-

or was not l aw and whether and ho w far the Regula

,

tions in force in the N orth West Provinces and in -

,

particular those which related to the revenue were ,

or were n o t in force in the Panj ab .

I n order to set all these questions fi nal ly at rest ,

two A cts were drawn and passed one of which , ,

X X X I I I of 1 8 7 1 forms a Code of Land Revenue

.
,

for the Panj ab whilst th e other ( I V of 1 8 7 2 ) consoli

, .

dated and r e enacted all the really important provi

-

sions of the rules upon which the 2 5 t h section of the

I ndian Councils Act had operated or was supposed to
have operated and repealed the rest These two
,
.

measures put an en d to one of the strangest pieces o f

1 869 N E W P ANj AB C ODE . 21

intricacy and confusion to b e met with in I ndian la w .

Th e Panj a b L and Revenue A ct was the only A ct

’
passed during Lord M ayo s A d ministration which
bore upo n the subj ect to which it relates N o pains .
,

however were spared to make it a complete e x p os i

,

tio n of th e la w and principles upon the subj ect which

prevail with modifications throughout the w hole o f
, ,

N orthern I ndia I t was so drawn as to embody th e

.

principles of Regu l ation V I I of 1 8 2 2 together with .

,

the interpretations put upon it by a mass of officia l

writings and the modifications which as a fact had
, , ,

b een introduced whether l egally or not into the

, ,

Panj ab I think it will b e found to give in sixty

.
,

seven sections an account at once c onsecutive full

, , ,

and clear of a matter which was often described as s o

compl icated and special that it could not b e under
stood as a whole an d cou l d only b e l earned b y
,

practice The real di fficult y appeared to arise from

.

the fact that no one had ever undertaken the task of

studying th e matter systematically and describing it ,

in its natural o rder except indeed M r Thomason

, , , .
,

who however wrote not as a law yer but as a practical

, ,

administrator T he system was imperfectly under

.

stood by those who first dealt with i t and was after ,

wards smothered i n the practical details ; b ut that the

matter itself admits of not only being simply stated ,

but of being made interesting mus t be obvious to ,

every reader of M r Tho maso n s directions to S ett l e

.
’

ment O ffi cers .

T hese were the principal consolidation measures

on m i scel l aneous subj ects passed b y L ord M ay o .
222
j UD I CI A L P R O CE D URE A C TS .
[TEL 4
—
7 5 ,
0

They made a very considerable approach to the ideal

of having upon every subj ect a single A ct though ,

several measures of considerable importance which ,

ha d been prepared with great care were left u m ,

finished The most important of these were a Bill

.

which would have defined the local extent of the

d ifferent A cts and Regulations and a Bill wh ich ,

would have done for B engal what the Panj a b Land

Revenue A ct did for the Panj ab A cts for each o f .

these purposes have since been passed .

A cts similar to the t w o Panj ab A cts were also

required for O udh and for the Central Provinces ,

though not I think for B urmah The absence o f

, , .

anything like a legal system of land revenue law in

the Central Provinces appears to m e to be neither
creditabl e nor altogether safe I made many vain .

attempts to discover what la w if any was in force , ,

there on this vital subj ect and I could if it were , ,

proper to do so point out questions on the subj ect

,

which are at present altogether unsettled and which , ,

if raised in courts of la w might give rise to great

,

embarrassment These are the very questions for

.

which legislation ought to provide beforehand .

The legislation relating to J udicial Procedure in Lord

M ayo s time consisted of the following Acts — the
’

Bengal Civil Courts Act V I of 1 8 7 1 the O udh Civil

,
.

Courts A ct X X X I I o f 1 8 7 1 ; the Burmah Civil Courts

, .

A ct V I I of 1 8 7 2 ; the Code of Criminal Procedure Act

,
.
,

X of 1 8 7 2 ; and th e E xtradition A ct X I of 1 8 7 2
.
,
. .

T he Civil Courts Act forms part of a series of Acts ,

each of which provides for the organization of the

2 24 N E CE S SI T Y FOR LE G I SLA TI OI V .
VET 4 7—5 0,.

than to the subject of the reform or improvement of the

l aw The three I ncome Tax A cts of 1 8 7 0 1 8 7 1 and
. , ,

1 8 7 2 and the A cts ( X V I I

,
X V I I I and X X of 1 8 7 1 )
.
, .
, .

for providing for the levy of rates on land in O u d h ,

the N orth West Provinces and the Panj ab r e s p e c

-
,

t i v e ly were no doubt amongst the most important of

,

the laws which were passed during his tenure of office .

Their interest however is rather political than legal

, ,
.

O ne observation only arises upon them in connection

with the special subj ect of this letter I nasmuch as .

they established n e w taxes by la w they were made ,

’
the occasion of an outcry against legislation I ndia .
,

it was said requires rest therefore do not l egislate

,
‘
,

’
about contracts or the la w of evidence I t would be .

about as sensible to sa y to a man who was accused

truly or falsely of over spec ulation Y our income r e
-
,
‘

’
quires rest therefore do not put your papers in order
, .

I t was often said both in E ngland and in I ndia

, ,

that the legislative work done in 1 8 7 1 and 1 8 7 2 was

done too quickly and without due consideration or
,

full opportunity for public discussion N o assertion .

can b e more O pposed to the truth A s to the d egree .

of care bestowed upon the A cts they speak for them ,

selves and are continually subj ect to the most

,

searching of all criticism th e criticism of the Courts ,

of J ustice ; but as to the charge of precipitation it ,

woul d be possible to show if it were wo rth while , ,

that ample time was afforded for the discussion of

every A ct that every sort of criticism was courted
,

and solicited and that to have hesitated longer about

,

passing them would have been mere weakness .

1 8 69 L ORD IlI A Y O S P E R S
’
ON A L WOR K . 22 5

I t is no doubt true that three A cts of the very

fi rst importance the E vidence Act the Contract
, ,

A ct and the Code of Criminal Procedure became

, ,

la w within a very short period of time ; but each of

these A cts had been before the publ ic for years .

T he Evidence A ct was originally introduced in

1 8 6 8 an d the Contract A ct in 1 8 6 7
,
T he E viden c e .

A ct was r e drawn from beginni ng to end in the

-

winter of I t had been before the public

substantially in the form in which i t was enacted
s even or eight months before i t passed .

I do not l ike to conclude without saying a fe w

words as to the interest taken by Lord M ayo
personally in legislation Though h e l eft to me the
.

genera l management o f legislative business and ,

though his other duties made it impossible for him

to occupy himself with the details of particular mea
sures he took the deepest persona l interest i n the
,

different undertakings which I have tried to de

scribe I believe that the principles which I have
.

stated as those on which I ndian legislation ought to

b e carried on were h is as much as mine ; and I
know that whenever any diffi culty arose in their
application he gave m e the warmest most cordial
, , ,

and most effective support U pon all such matters .

I was surprised to find him so much interested as

h e was Q uestions of considerable delicacy arose
.

b etween the Government of I ndia and the I ndian

La w Commissioners i n E ngland before Lord Mayo
came to I ndia and these difficulties suspended the
,

enactment of very i mp o r t a n t me a su res for sev eral

o

V O L. 11. P
 L ORD M A YO S PE R S ON A L WOR K T 4 7—
[
’
226 . IE .
5 o,

years That the Government of I ndia was abl e to

.

pass in 1 8 7 2 the three great Acts to which I have

already referred was principally due to Lord M ayo
personally I f he p ersonally had cared less about
.

legislation and had ta ken a less vigorous line about

,

it it would have been impossib l e to pass any one of

,

those Acts .

T hough Lord M ayo did m e the honour to leave

a very wide discretion in my hands he kept a watch ,

ful eye on the proceedings of the Legislative D epart

ment as o n those of every other department of the
,

Government I n eve r y matter which b e regarded

.

as sufficiently important he was sure to interpose

,

with equal promptness and decision The who l e .

scheme and principle of the M arriage Act for i n ,

stance was most carefully considered by him and

, ,

the result finally attained was due to a great e x tent

to his careful consideration of the matter .

I d o not like to trespass on what is your peculiar

province in telling the story of Lord M ayo s life ’
.

But I cannot leave the subj ect without saying that ,

of t h e many public men whom it has been my

fortune to meet in various capacities at home and in
I ndia I never met one to whom I felt disposed to
,

give such heartfelt affection and honour I hope .

you will succeed in making people understand ho w

good and kind h o w wise and honest and brave h e
,

was and what freshness vigour and flexibility of

, , ,

mind he brought to bear upon a vast number o f

new and difficult subj ects — S incerely yours ,

J F S TE PH EN . . .
2 28 TH E I N I TI A TI VE .
-
56 ,

I n the F oreign F inancial and M ilitary D epart

, ,

ments the responsibility of the initiative rests in a

,

large measure with the V i ceroy With regard to .

the great lines of F oreign Policy indeed i t rests , ,

almost entirely with him ; and Lord M ayo as his ,

own F oreign M inister fully accepted this fact I n, .

fiscal measures the burden is shared by the F inance

M inister ; yet the odium of unwise taxation the ,

discredit of recurring deficits or the praise due to ,

vigilant economy and foresight clings to the Go v ernor ,

Genera l himsel f I n M ilita ry affairs the Commander

.
,

i n Chief divides the responsibility to a still larger

-

extent and is practically supreme in all matters of

,

efficiency discipline and distribution ; but the great

, ,

i ssues of war an d peace rest with the head of the

Government I have acco rdingly dealt with these
.

three Departments first and in the order now i ndi ,

ca t e d
. As regards the internal managemen t of the
country the duties of the Government of I ndia and
,

of the Viceroy partake l ess of the initiative A .

Governor General may have his own proj ects of i n

-

ternal government and he may do much to impres s

,

his general views on the local administrators but his

chief function in the H ome D epartment is to watch
other men s work not to invent work h imself I t
’

, .

is the Provincial Governments with their district ,

officers who devise and execute ; th e business of the

,

Government of I n d ia with the Viceroy at its head is

, ,

to criticise rather than to proj ect .

The E arl of M ayo very distinctly realized this fact .

Th e following pages will show that on many large

1 8 69 7 2
-
] L ORD M A YO S P E RS ON A L [ N FL UEN CE
’
. 229

subjects — such as railways i rrigation education and

, , ,

important questions affecting th e rura l masses of

I ndia — Lord M ayo had well d e fin e d views of his -

own and tried with a fair degree of success to give

, , ,

effect to them B ut to those who worked near him

. ,

h is merit as a Viceroy seemed to lie not so much in

this conspicuous class of measures which won the
public praise as in the sober breadth of view keen
, ,

insight and prompt exactitude which he brought to

,

b ear on the unnoticed daily labour of the administra

tion .H e was full of origina l views but he never ,

allowed his originality to attempt flights in the initia

tive of measures which properl y be l onged to the Local
Governments The trained administrators of I ndia
.

l earn early i n their careers to despise state craft -

.

Plain dealing is the only way out of the practical

difficulties which they encounter every day of their
l ives T he prob l em before a V iceroy i s to respect
.

the independence of his Provincial Governors and ,

at the same tim e to influence their po l icy without ,

resorting to finesse or any stratagem of management .

T he materials from which the present chapter is

written show how Lord M ayo so l ved this problem
by becoming the friend and personal confidant of his
great lieutenants a referee and adviser to whom they
,

gladly resorted before giving their po l icy officia l

shape ; by reconsidering and if needful by retarding
, , ,

or disal l owing measures of which he did not approve ;

and by expediting and bringing th e whole financial
and mora l support of th e Government of I ndia to
bear on lines of action which he deeme d right .
230 HIS S YS TE M OF TO URS .
VET 4 7 —5 0,
.

H e l ooked upon a personal acquaintance with th e

Local A dministrators as an essential instrument of
I ndian government This acquaintance he made
.

partly by unfailing hospitality towards all men of

mark wh o came within his reac h ; but chiefly by a
carefully planned system of tours
-
The M ughul .

Government in its b est days was a peripatetic one ;

i ts camp was its capital and the abandonment of this
,

method marks the commencement of that false cen

t ra li z a t i o n which led on to the disintegration an d

downfall of the Delhi E mpire The most eminent o f .

’
the E nglish rulers of I ndia Lord Mayo s immediate
—

predecessor conspicuous among them in this as i n

o ther respects — were men who insisted o n seeing the
different systems of their different Provinces with
their own eyes I have already quoted an eminent
.

civilian S ir J oh n S trachey with reference to the inter

, ,

re t a t i o n which the E ar l of M ayo gave to this duty

p .

A soldier who has rise n by his gallantry in the fiel d

and talent for administration to high o ffi ce writes t o ,

m e thus : I n his tours Lord M ayo learnt more of

‘
,

I ndia during his short V iceroyalty than many of u s

have learnt in a lifetime H e was accessibl e to all ;
.

ready to l isten slow to condemn H e sought out

,
.

men and he won the hearts of all with whom he cam e

,

in conta ct by the practical qualities of his mind his ,

firm common sense and the mingled lm o w le d ge and

,

interest which he brought to bear on I ndian subj ects .

I have more than once heard an o fficer exclaim after ,

Lord M ayo had left his jurisdiction that the Viceroy ,

knew things about his District which he had not know n

2
32 TH E I N DI A N DI S TRI C T OFFI CE R .
[IE L 4 7
-
5 ,
0
'

roy ever had abler or more strenuous offic i als around

him than Lord Mayo ; but no Viceroy more cl early
realized that they were his channe l s of communication
with the actual governing body not the governing ,

’
body itself We all labour hard in I ndia he said
.
‘
,

in one of his public speeches and no one knows ,

‘

better than I the intensity with which the H eads of

D epartments and the members of the S ecretariat
work B ut we can i n reality effect nothing unless
. ,

our efforts are seconded and our suggestions carried

o ut by the D istrict O fficers Wherever I have gone
.

it is all the same U nder the snows of the H im a

.

layas in feverish j ungles on burning plains I have

, , ,

always found the same class of men doing the same

good work I believe that i n history no S overeign
.

was ever served by a body of men engaged in more

arduous more useful and more successful work than
, , ,

’
are the servants of the Queen in I ndia I n the .

largest Province of I ndia Lower Bengal the L ocal

, ,

’
Government during Lord Mayo s Viceroyalty deemed
, ,

it right to strengthen t he position and to increase the

authority of the District O fficers T hese measures .

had his cordial concurrence an d support .

’
Another secret of the E arl of M ayo s success with
the local admin istrators was the genuine and outspoken
pleasure which he took in their sports A good shot .

and a hard rider he shrank from neither exposure nor

,

fatigue and the end of a l ong day left him the freshest
,

of his party N otwithstanding I am governing t wo

.

’
hundred millions of people he wrote to a friend I , ,
‘

occasionally get an hour or two for a gallop after a

1 8 69 — ] ORD M A YO S SP OR T
’

72 L . 233

i
p g . I t is th e only sport in the country which is con
genial to the feelings of an old fox hunter and is real -
,

business Y o u have to ride hard over very rough

.

ground or some young civilian or subaltern will not

,

give you a chance of a first spear There is no favour .

show n and th e Bengal pig sticker would as soon ride

,
-

over the V iceroy as an O xford boy over the Speaker

of the H ouse of Commons or the Bishop of Win
’
chester .T he etiquette in most of the T ent Clubs -
,

although Lord M ayo was kept unaware of i t i s to try ,

to let the V iceroy when he is their guest get the first

, ,

spear But if severa l boars break cover at the same

.

moment as sometimes happens it is difficult to carry

, ,

out this rule and after the first spear every one is equal
, ,

as Lord M ayo describes H is diary contains realistic .

l itt l e sketches of I n dian sport The usual way o f .

‘

’
shooting is this h e writes of April tiger hunting i n
,
-

N orthern I ndia : The country being very dry the

‘
,

t igers are all found close to the water T he water is .

general l y bordered on each side with a margin of

reeds varying from fifteen to three hundred yards in
,

width and as the streams wind a good deal the ,

beating of these waterco urses is a very slow process .

E very thick bunch of reeds has to be carefully

searched by the pad elephants lest a tiger should be -
,

left behind T he ground is often very swampy and

.
,

the elephants have considerable difficulty i n getting

through what th e natives call f a si n — simply a soft ,

’ ’
deep and stinking mud
,
T o day s bag : 1 tiger 2 .
-
,

tigresses 1 7 para 2 chital (leopard) 5 hares 4 black

, , , ,

and 1 swamp partridge 2 pig 1 pea fowl ; total 3 , ,

-
,
234 L ORD M A YO S SP OR T: ’

[IEL 4 7 5 0,
- ’

’
also 1 civet cat
, A nother day the bag is 5 0 and the
.
,

dimensions of the tigers are always scrupulously noted .

The best way of showing how the E arl of Mayo

made himself the companion of the D istrict O ffi cers
will be to quote a few entries from his diary omitting ,

any official matters and extracting only passages ,

which refer to h is sport Lord M ayo O ften got .

’
his shooting at the very beginning of a long day s
offi cial work or on his way from one camp to another
, .

I n April 1 8 7 1 however he made a short tour in

, ,

’
the N orth Western Provinces an d had a few days
-
,

sport with the Commissioner of the D ivision and his

party O ne afternoon after beating the dry bed of a
.
,

river with fair success a certain aborigina l Mar a ,

‘

undertook to show us the way to another watercourse

some distance off where he said there were t wo tigers
, .

We marched for about three hours and the aboriginal ,

having lost his way we were obliged to give u p o u r

,
‘

search for the place The 24222 22 was greatly cast .

2

down and seemed very much ashamed of himsel f

, .

T hen we marched through a fine a t " forest but saw ,

nothing When we arrived in camp we found that

.

our things had all gone another way and it was a n ,

n o u n ce d that we had very little chance of getting any

dinner H owever in t w o hours the servants arrive d

.
, ,

and as usual in the wonderful manner in which

, ,

natives manage these things we got a ve ry good ,

’
dinner about nine o clock N ext morning as it ’
. ,
‘

never ceased ra i n i ng all night and the ground we had ,

encamped upon was now black swampy and stinking , , ,

M r D [ the Com missioner] ordered a move T his

. . .
 TI GE R SHO O TI N G T 4 7—
236 -
.
VE .
5 0,

three men o n a pad elephant in the stream who were -

,

for a moment in great danger as the tiger was rush ,

ing about on the bank exactly on a level with their ,

heads H owever [brother] E ddy gave him a bullet

.
,

in the ribs which stop p ed him and he was soon dis

, ,

’
posed of .

Another day : F ormed two l ines of elephants I ‘

.

went with t he Commissioner an d as we b egan to ,

beat a native ran up and told us that a tiger had

,

killed his cow W e turned the line in the direction

.

pointed out crossed a swamp and found the cow

, ,

with hundreds of vultures already at it We then .

formed a small line as the place was narrow and in a ,

fe w minutes out came a fine tiger We ran him into .

the swamp where h e crossed a small but very deep

, .

river which we coul d not get the elephants over 5 0

,
.

we had to wait nearly an hour while we sent a portion

of the line round T hey beat up opposite to where .

we were standing and o n putting a pad elephant close ,

-

to the edge of the stream out j umped the tiger with ,

a roar recrossed the river an d came right under the

, ,

Commissioner s and my elephant We fired together

’
.
,

and dropp ed him with a single shot but could not ,

tell which of us had done the business We then .

beat another part of the stream and had nearly a ,

’
bad accident Whil e the Commissioner s huntsman
.

who wa s in the howdah behind him was ,

throwing fire bombs into some thick reeds into which

his elephant could not go a spark fell into the howdah ,

and exploded a powder horn containing half a pound -

,

at the Commissioner s feet F ortunately no one was ’

.
1 86 9 TH E TURE AND HOR S E S UP P L Y . 25 7

hurt ; but the cloth es caught fire H e i m .

mediately j umped to the ground from a height of

thirteen feet ran into th e reeds and rolled himself in
,

the wet mud H e was very slightly burnt in the leg

.

and arm We then beat up another small water

.

course and near the upper part of it we found the

,

other line which had been waiting for us drawn up

, ,

across it They had no idea that there wa s a tiger

.

near but when the line advanced ther e was a loud

,

growl from a tigress who showed herself and was ,

i mmediately brought down T o the surprise of every .

one tfir ee other tigers appeared in different d irections

, .

T hey were soon killed and for th e first time in the ,

experience of the oldest tiger hunter present four -

,

dead tigers were lying on the ground together W e .

padded them all and went hom e in triumph with fiv e , ,

’
tigers for the day s work A t night the N aw a b o f .

R a mpur s players appeared and a cted severa l satirica l

’ '

dramas representing a magistrate in h i s court a

, ,

native wed d ing recruiting for the M ut i ny and other

, ,

’
pieces T he E arl of Mayo got but a fe w such days
.

of pure sport during his I ndian career but when he ,

did get one he made the most of it .

A well directed l iberality in turf matters ,

’
strengthened the popularity which Lord Mayo s
genial address and love of fiel d sports wo n for him
a mong the D istrict O f ficers I n I ndia it should be .
,

remembered that almos t the whole horse supply has

to be imported and that costly stud establishments ,

form a regular charge o n the revenues I n such a .

state o f things racing acquires a very different signi fi

,
238 TH E TURF A N D HORSE S UP P L Y .
[E n 4 7 5 0,
-

cance from what it now has in E ngl an d I t i s a work .

o f political importance to encourage the production of

a decent quality of horse and to induce the native

,

l andholders to keep well bred stallions or to form

-

s mall studs .Lord M ayo realized this and his diary ,

attests th e interest and knowledge which he bro u ght

to bear on the subj ect T h e S tud D epartment was sub
.

e ct e d to formal investigation and stringent fi nancia l

j
reform ; and the private criticisms in his j ournal are as
unfavourable as were h is officially recorded views I .

shall only quote one of the most colourless of them .

’
‘
After visiting th e Botanical Gardens he j ots down ,

i n his diary at Sah a ranpur we went to see th e

,
‘

Government S tud T here are a very l arge number

.

of fillies kept here also some stallions : the metho d

,

of procedure b eing that the stallions are sent through

the country an d placed in the charge of the land
holders who likewise receive a certain number of the
,

fillies for breeding purposes T he Government .

reserves a right to purchase the produce at a certain

price I thought the stallions very poor A fe w of
. .

the fil l ies selected for breeding purposes were pretty

good although not nearly so perfect as they ought to
,

have b een considering that they were the forty

,

animals selected out of upwards of two hundred that

’ ’
come in every year Lord Mayo s efforts to reform
.

the S tud D epartment belong to his public policy .

I n his private capacity he did what he could by cups

and donations to the Turf Clubs and by encouraging ,

horse sho w s At first he ran a fe w race horses of his

.
-

own and thro u ghout his I ndian career his persona l

,
2 40 ,
USE S OF P E RS ON A L G O VE R N IlI E N T .
[ 2 1 4 7—
2
5 0,

the Ganges he at once rej ected S o far from his tours

,
.

being periods of rest from offi cial work post bags and ,
-

telegrams followed him by his o w n order at every

stage I t was a matter of daily occurrence that rising
.
,

at 5 A M spending the whole day in travelling

. .
, ,

receiving offi cials and inspecting public works Lord

, ,

M ayo still sat up half the night transacting b usiness

with his F oreign or Private or M ilitary S ecretary
b usiness which had com e in during the day from th e
distant D epartments of the Government and which ,

was often of weighty importance O ne of his most .

experienced secretaries thus writes to m e with regard

to the results of these tours : T hey did more to ‘

strengthen the bonds of union between chief and

subordinate to bring to light the strong and the
,

weak points of the administration to encourage th e ,

good and to expose the bad than a lifetime of office ,

’
work .

I t may b e asked what is the use of the personal

,

element in the Government of I ndia and what right ,

have the D istrict O fficers Commissioners and Local, ,

A dministrators to exercise their private discretion or ,

to travel beyond the strict letter of the law ? T he

answer is simply this I ndian la w by no means pro
.

vides for the whole circumstances and contingenc i es

with which an I ndian District O fficer daily finds him
self su rrounded U ntil within the last fifteen years the
.
,

la w was not only indeterminate in form but on m any ,

large subj ects it was opposed in fact to the Custom s ,

habits and positive rights of the people M r F itz

,
. .

j ames S tephen has well described the great Codes

1 86 9 USE S OF P E R S ON A L G O VE RN M E N T . 241

which now form the body of I nd i an l aw N or has h e . .

in any way exaggerated their importance But it .

m ust b e remembered that these Codes are without a ,

single exception th e product of the last few years

, ,

that is to say since the Government passed from the

Company to the Crown and that both the Crim i nal
,

and Civil Procedure Codes have even during this short

period been i n a state of flux and revision D uring .

’
the whole of the Company s administration for a ,

full century before S ir H enry S umner M aine and

M r Fi t z j a me s S tephen came to I ndia the simp l est
. ,

questions of evidence or procedure were a j ungle

through which each officer had to thread his way as
’
best he m ight T he result of these two gentl emen s
.

labours may be estimated by the fact that while th e ,

best of the old school of I ndian o ffic i als were those

who trusted most to what they were pleased to call
their equity and goo d conscience it is now a sign of
,

rashness and want of knowledge for a Distric t O fficer

to speak of his individua l discretion with regard to
any matter of j udicial procedure .

B ut the defects of the system of law under

which the I ndian D istrict O fficer hardened and
set into an administrative type were by no means,

confined to i mperfections of form O n some of the

'

m ost important questions the questions with which

,

a D istrict O fficer has to deal every day of his life ,

and on the satisfactory management of which the

peace of his District depends our I ndian laws were
,

i n patent opposition to the actual facts of the country

and to the dai l y e x ercised rights of large classes of
V OL. 11. Q
2 42 USE S OF P E RS ON AL G O VE RN M E N T [IET .
4 7 5 o,
-

the peopl e T hus to take the most important of all

. ,

I ndian enactments the Regulations of 1 7 9 3 which

,

formed until 1 8 5 9 th e Land Law of Bengal T he

, , .

framers of that Lan d Code found a vast number of ill

d e fin e d and sometimes conflicting rights in the soil .

They selected the most conspicuous class of these

rights namely those of th e superior ho l der and
, , ,

defined them with a fair amount of precision Th e .

subordinate ri ghts were acknowledged to exist in a

general way and reserved but they were not defined , .

While therefore the landholder or superior tenure

, ,

holder entered our courts with clearly ascertained

rights and a legislative sanction for getting them
enforced the vast multitude of under tenants and
,

cultivators could point to no ascertained rights nor

to any legislative defi nition of them A uniform e n .

forcement o f so amorphous and incompl ete a measure

was impossible Practically the D istrict O fficer cut
.
,

the knot by settling in his executive capacity such

cases as threatened the tranquillity of his people an d ,

trusted to his personal influence to get his decisions

accepted and carried out T he cases which came .

before him in his j udicial capacity produced a mass of

conflicting decisions which when the subj ect was ,

seriously taken up by the Legislature at the commence

’
ment of the Queen s rule the best lawyers in I ndia , ,

after years of labour fail e d to unravel E ven after

, .

the Land La w of 1 8 5 9 had supplemented the Regu

la t i o n s of 1 7 9 3 by defining the rights of the cultiva
tors and subor d inate tenure holders the subject was -
,

so involved that no class of the agriculturists kne w

2 44 USE S OF P E RS ON A L G O VE RN M E N T [PET .
47
—
50,

legislative acquirements I t is not too much to say

.

that th e singl e question as to whether there is more

land than the inhabitants can till or whether there ,

are more inhabitants than can find land determines ,

their views o n fundamental points of right and wrong

as applied to real property Th e answer to this .

question s ettles the character of their tenures and ,

produces a growth of local usages an d rights which ,

if we are to keep peace among them we must act ,

upon I t woul d be easy to point out rebellions such

. ,

as that of the S anta ls which arose solely from not

,

recognising the local facts an d from attempting to ,

force what was a wise and j us t law or procedure in

one part of the country o n another part i n which it
,

was neither j ust nor wise S uch rebellions were .

easily enough suppressed B ut they brought misery .

into thousands of househo l ds whose one crime was

that they di d not fi nd it possible to continue to l ive
under the n e w conditions thrust u pon them O ur .

suppression of an insurrection was often but th e first

step as in the case of the Sant a ls to a readj ustment
, ,

of our administrative system with a view to suit the ,

actual facts of the people I f risi n gs of this sort have

“

cease d and they have happily ceased under th e

,

British Rule it is because the necessity of studying

,

the peopl e has become more fully realized and the ,

nec e ssity for legislating according to the individual

requirements of each Province is more swiftly and
more surely acted upon B ut before any usage can
.

b e stereotyped into a la w a considerable period o f ,

inquiry and discussion must elapse ; masses of con

1 8 69- 7 2 ] USE S OP P E RS ON AL G O VE R N M E N T 2 45

fl i ct i n g
evi dence have to b e s i fted and it is often ,

doubtfu l whether a custom or right although actually ,

existing possesses suffi cient elements of vitality o r

,

permanence to j ustify its legislative recognition I n .

this as i n a hundred other matters the D istrict

, ,

O ffi cer has still a wide area for his private discretion .

N o conclave of lawyers sitting in Calcutta or S imla , ,

h owever great their ability or their zeal can foresee ,

and provide for the circumstances which daily arise

amid two hundred m illions of peopl e of many rel i
gions and tongues an d representing every type of
,

human advancement from the leaf wearing tribes of,

-

O rissa who a few years ago were persuaded for the

,

fi rst tim e to gird their women with cotton c l oths to ,

the landholders of the H ugli Valley not a hundred

miles distant whose sons read Theodore Parker and
, ,

who employ every resource of wealth and intelligence

to enforce and to extend their rights .

M r S tephen has spoken of the interest prompt

.
,

n ess and decision which Lord M ayo brought to bear

,

o n the work of l egislation The truth is that n o one .

,

can b e so deeply impressed with the need of legisla

tive activity or so fully appreciate the labours of the
,

eminent la w makers whom E ngland has sent to I ndia

s inc e the Government passed to the Queen as one ,

who has studied the facts of an I ndian District and ,

has in this way become practically acquainted with

, ,

the wide area which still remains for the private

discretion of its ru l er Let the laws be ever so per.

fe ct and th e more perfect they are made the better

,

for the D istr i ct O fficer there wil l sti ll remain in I ndia

,
2 46 L ORD M A YO —
4 7 5 0,

a vast scope for persona l influe nce in the government -

of men N o one who has seen the facts with his

.

own eyes is likely to underrate the need of such

influence at th e present time I ndeed the danger .
,

for the moment is that in the well founded but new

,
-

born appreciatio n O f law men are apt to think that,

they can use what is in I ndia an imperfect although ,

a valuable weapon as the sol e instrument of govern

, ,

ment Any one who watches the decisions of the

.

S uperior Cour t s in appeal or who has done a fe w ,

months work in the I n d ian S ecretariat cannot have

’

failed to notice that bad District work now proceeds

as often from an ignorantly mechanical administration
of the la w as either from unacquaintance with its
,

provisions or from disrespect to its authority .

S everal cases of this blundering mechanical govern

ment came before Lord M ayo during his Viceroyalty ,

and he spoke out his mind plainly about them I n .

a private letter to an esteemed friend h e gave a

humorous illustration of his views I n th e present .
‘

state of I ndia whether his l ot b e cast in a Regulation

,

or N o n Regulation Province an officer who disdains

-
,

or considers it wrong to use the persona l influence

which is placed within his reach over the people com
mi t t e d to his care neglects the very first and most
,

important part of his duty I t is not to l egality in .

the abstract that I am opposed but to legality as I

believe it works in many D istricts i n I ndia when I ,

“
say , O h legality what oppressions are committed
, ,

"
in thy name " I do not denounce the reign of law ,

b ut the neglect of personal influence carelessness i n ,

 L ORD M A YO S CE N S URE S [E
’
2 48
-
n 4 7 5 0,
‘

after t he e x p la nat i o n and advice that I have g i ven ,

you say that in this E ngland of ours there exists one

la w for the poor and one for the rich you will be ,

guilty of libelling the constitution of your country .

A nd your sentence is that you b e imprisoned for this

,

day only during the sitting of the Court Mr . .

F i t z j a me s S tephen s anecdote of the high civil

’

administrator to whom it was quite a n e w idea that

the law can be anything but a check to the executive
’
power reveals the follies and imperfections of I ndian
,

l egislation in time past with an emphasis scarcely less

,

bitter than that of the E nglish j udge .

N otwithstanding the legislative activity to which

Lord Mayo lent his earnest support and which forms ,

so marked a feature o f his V iceroyalty h e perfectly ,

realized the necessity of personal influence and a wise

use of private discretion on the part of the local
administrators H e learned by contact with the local
.
,

facts that the I ndian Statute B ook is not yet co

,

extensive with the customs and usages throughout

I ndia which have and which according to our
, , ,

solemn pledge of conserving native rights ought to ,

have the force of la w H e found even in matters of

, .
,

procedure the department of I ndian legislation in

,

which the greatest advance to completeness has been

made that some of our provisions are as unsuitable
,

to backward or outlying parts of the c ountry as was

the E nglish form of arrest on mesne process to the
Provinces of Bengal in th e time of Warren H astings .

’
M y whole desire he said on one of his tours and
, ,
‘

that of those w ith whom I am associated in th e rule

1 8 69 ON M E C HA N I CA L G O VE RN M E N T 2 49

of this great E mpire is to make the government suit

,

’
able to the wants of the people .

H e did not think that this cou l d be affected by a

m echanical enforcement of general principles i rr e sp e c ,

’
tive of the local facts I have long been of opinion
.
‘
,

he wrote with regard to the frontier on which his

p olicy obtai ned its most conspicuous success that ,
‘

the settled forms of la w are still unsuited to certain

D istricts of I ndia and it is mere pedantry to attempt
,

to rule by ordinary legal pro cedure people who are

, ,

’
b eyond its influence H e had to deal with more
.

than one case in which grievous calamities resulted

from the want of personal influence on the part of a
’
local officer I can come to no other conclusion
.
‘
,

h e wrote in a Viceregal m inute but that the u n fo r ,

‘

t u na t e occurrence at and the assassination of

som e of our soldiers are the direct consequence of
,

erro rs i n administration and defects of system The .

defects in the system are clearly set forth in the

p apers and my recent visit to th e frontier has enabled
,

’
m e to corroborate them Lord M ayo goes on to .

describe the errors in administration as arising from

want of an adequate knowledge of the character of
the people ignorance of their language a needless
, ,

routine of paper work and from the British function ,

aries spending their time in the sec l usion of their

offi ces instead of receiving conversing with and
, , ,

i nfluencing the chiefs and the people

, I am i n ‘

’
hopes he concludes that a number of the defects
, ,
‘

i n the system may be cured but no rea l improvement ,

will b e effected until we can restore to the frontier

2
50 L ORD M A YO S ’

[PET 4 7- 5 0,

that c l ass of o ffi cers by whom its wild districts were

fi rst bro ught into subj ection— men who by constant ,

association with the people perfect accessibility and , ,

a thorough knowledge of the language will be able to ,

establish friendly communications with the inhabit

ants ; me n who will know when to punish and when
to forgive and will be abl e to teach these people that
, ,

while the British Government will aid them in any

effort they may make to sustain themselves by peace
ful industry it will exact sudden and severe r e t r i bu
,

’
tion for flagrant and unprovoked crime .

I n a matter which came up from another Province ,

where the District administration had got out of hand ,

Lord M ayo wrote : I think that a strong letter ‘

should be written on this case I am inclined to .

believe that it is not want of money but want of ,

efficiency and proper administration that occasions ,

this lamentable increase and non detection o f crime -

.

I am also inclined to think that the next experiment

which it would be desirabl e to try would be a change ,

of o fficers This however need not be said at

.
, ,

’
present .

’
I f Lord M ayo s acquaintance with the facts of th e
Local Administration and with the degree of e fficiency
,

which he had a right to expect from it in each

Province sometimes led him to make severe strictures
, ,

it also enabled him to know when good work was

"

being done Cases constantly come up to the

.

Government of I ndia in which the Provincial Gover

nors desire the retention of some individual officer in
a post beyond the perio d allotted to him by the
25 2 H I S P RA I SE OF G O OD WOR R .
[IET 4 7- 5 6 ,
.

canals that he had made with little or no professional

assistance— when riding through the D istrict I sa w
, ,

everywhere symptoms of the affection and admiratio n

with which he is regarded— I am not overstating t h e
case when I say that as it at present exists the i n
, ,

fl u e n ce and authority exercised by in is t h e

greatest living insta nce of what personal rule can d o
i n I ndia N o one but himself coul d continue pre
.

c i se ly the system which h e has carried out with s o

much success and it appears to m e that it would b e

,

unwise to allo w any rules or regulations howeve r ,

good to shorten by a single year the state of things

,

which his j udgment courage and energy have estab

, ,

li sh e d i n these hills
’
Th e advanced age of t he
.

offi cer i n question having been obj ected to Lord .

M ayo continued : I walked and rode with him fo r

‘

many miles last year and I believe that at presen t ,

there are ve r y fe w men in I ndia who could keep u p

with him either on foot or on horseback I kno w .

that his influence instead of waning is graduall y

, ,

extending itself and the fruits of his good work wil l

,

b e much more felt by the children of the presen t

generation than it is n o w I would therefore b e .

inclined to say that as long as enj oys health a n d

,

strength and wishes to remain it is the duty 0

, ,

Government to keep him ; nay m ore to offer him , ,

’
every i nducement to stay .

People have sometimes wondered why the E arl o f

M ayo was so beloved by I ndian administrators The .

above minute written in the secrecy of the Viceregal

,

Cab inet and never intended at the moment for any

,
1 8 69 HI S DI SP OSA L OF P A TR ON A GE . 253

eye but that of th e M ember of Council who had i m

mediate charge of the case suggests the explanat i on , .

The truth is that Lord M ayo bestowed the same

,

earnest thought on the personal aspects of his internal

administration as he did on the more conspicuous
paper side of it H e looked upon the local a d mi n i
.

s t ra t o r s as honoured instruments an d n o t mere tools

, .

H e took the troub l e to study them in the concrete t o ,

understand their views an d to conciliate their a ffe c

,

tions I t fell to his lot to carr y out a great series of

.

retrenchments which darkened the prospects of many

,

I ndian offi cers N o Viceroy ever subj ected his p er

.

sonal popularity to so severe a strain both among the ,

civil and the military servants of Government by ,

rigidly enforcing financial reforms A nd no V iceroy .

has left behind him a memory more respected and

cherished by I ndian administrators .

At the same time he most carefully avoided any

,

thing like favouritism in th e disposal of patronage .

H e made men his friends and companions bu t n ever ,

his co n fid a n t s N o ruler has ever kept his private

.

likings and his public duty more clearly distinct A .

large proportion of th e appointments within his gift h e

left to b e settled in the departme nt through which the
correspondence takes place ; in others the nomination
comes direct from the Provincial Government and th e ,

function of the Governor General i s merely to accord

-

his approval ; in a third and most important class ,

namely the appointment of Lieutenant Governors

,
-
,

the Viceroy must demi o ffici a lly ascertain the vie ws

-

of the S ecretary of S tate prior to appointment ; in a

254 HI S DI SP OS A L OF P A TR ON A GE .
VET 4
.
7 5 0, -

fourth as i n th e case of members of h is E xecutive

,

Council the Viceroy recommends demi o ffici ally while

,
-

the S ecretary of S tate appoints I n almost all the .

,

V iceroy carefully consulted with the M ember o f

Council in charge or th e head of the D epartment
,

concerned . Lord M ayo insisted on knowing the

exact procedure to be followed i n each case S hortly .

after h e came to I ndia h e ordered a confidential

schedul e to be prepared showing every appoi n tment
,

within his gift and the D epartmental or Provinc ial

,

Chiefs wh o ought to b e cons ulted I n appointing he .

,

rigidly went through each one of the official steps

thus indicated T he D epartment to which the a p
.

pointment belonged was responsible for stating the

claims of the offi cers fitted for it These statements .

were then examined by the Private or M ilitary S ecre

tary to the Viceroy When their completeness had
.

b een ascertained the V iceroy considered them gene

, ,

rally i n consultation with the M ember of Council o r

the responsible S ecretary to the Government of I ndia
in th e D epartment concerned H is personal acquaint
.

ance or u nacquaintance with a man never entered

into his calculations i n arbitrating between the claims
thus authoritatively drawn up H e was sensitively .

alive to the danger of letting h is private attachments

interfere with the rights of men personally unknown
to h im H is obj ect was to get the best man for each
.

post within his gift T o this end he a d dresse d a

.

l etter to Chief Commissioners and the principal admi

n i st ra t o r s in the F oreign D epartment directing them ,

’
to furnish statements of their subordinate o ffice rs
2
5 6 H I S I DE A OE G O VE R N M E N T .
[5 1 .
— 6,
47 5

tions were calculated to defeat their obj ect If .

‘

Capta in behaves well and is favourably reported

,

on he wrote in reply to an application of this sort

,
’

‘
he is very likely to get his promotion before long .

But h e has got six or seven peopl e to write for him ,

which is the only thing I know against him A nother ’

.

officer fancied that to come to S imla and hang about

Government H ouse would bring him into notice .

Lord M ayo took occasion through a third pa rty to, ,

recommen d his young friend to return to his own

sphere of duty and to wo rk quietly within it H e
, .

’
sted fastly refused to hear of any one s merits except
from those whose proper business i t was to know them .

I n o w pass from the personal aspects of Lord

’
M ayo s internal administration to the great m e asures
which m ark h is career .

’
I have only one obj ect in al l I do he wrote to a
‘
,

friend I believe we have not done our duty to the

.

peopl e of this land M illions have been sp ent on the

.

conquering race which might have been spen t in

,

enriching and in elevating the children of th e soil .

We have done m uch but we can do a great deal ,

more I t is however impossible unless we spend

.
,

"
l ess on the interests and more on the people In .
’

th e consideration of all these matters he said on ,

’

another o ccasion we must first take into account

,
‘

the inhabitants of this countr y The welfare of the .

p eople of I ndia is our primary obj ect I f we are not .

’
here fo r their good we ought not to b e here at all
, .

T hese words form the key to his internal policy .

H e thought that his Government should do more for

1 8 69 H I S I DE A OP G O VE R N M E N T . 2
57

the advancement of the people and that it ought ,

to find funds for administrative improvements not ,

by increasing the revenues but by a more rigid ,

economy in spending them I have shown how his .

schemes of military reform simply resolved them

selves into an effort to get an equal amount of
efficiency in the army for a smaller outlay H is .

endeavours in the internal administration were th e

converse of this namely to get a greater degree of
, ,

efficiency for the same amount of money H e thought .

we shoul d provide more courts more schools more , ,

roads more railways more canals and a better system

, , ,

of husbanding the water supply ; a n d that we shoul d

pay for all these improvements by cutting down every
r u pee of expenditure not absolutely required for the
purposes of effi cient administration I t is needless to .

say that starting from such princip l es he condemned

, ,

i n unsparing terms anything like p e rsonal discourtesy

towards th e natives by the governing race or infringe ,

ments u pon their rights I must take this o p p o r .

‘

’
tunity runs one of his minutes of expressing my
, ,
‘

opinion as to the abominable practice of striking

natives I t is a cowardly and detestable crime an d
.
,

ought i n my opinio n to be visited with the most

, ,

severe censure and punishment But indeed he .

’

, ,

never lost an opportunity of inculcating both by ,

example and precept the duty of kindness towards ,

native servants or to the lower c l asses with whom he

,

came in contact and of marked courtesy on the part

,

of all E nglish officers to native chiefs and gentle men .

W ith regard to more serious infringements of native

V OL. 1 1 . R
2
5 8 HI S S C HE M E OE I N TE RN A L P OLI C Y [5 . 1 47 5 9
-

rights h e wrote in another minute

,
I have come to
the conclusion that in many respects we are going too
fast That with the best intentions we are intro
. , ,

d u ci ng institutions among the peopl e which however ,

suitable they may be to som e future time have the ,

present effect of setti n g whole populations of the

remoter Provinces against us and raising up feelings ,

of enmit y towards us as their rulers I have lately .

observed this for example as the direct consequence

, ,

of the action of the F orest D epartment upon some of

the aboriginal tribes of the t a r ai and among the ,

’
inhabitants of certain hill tracts .

While therefore th e E arl of M ayo bel ieved that

, ,

many administrative improvements had become i n

cumbent on th e E nglish rulers of I ndia he set his ,

face against the merely mechanical imp ortat i on of

E nglish ideas or institutions and the forcing of them
,

upon the people H is internal policy divides itself

.

into four great branches H e first took up the

.

task of finding the funds for his improvements by a

more rigid economy in the administration co n sp i cu ,

o u sly of the great D epartment of Public Works .

H aving thus provided himself with the sinews of war ,

he directed his earnest attention in the second place , ,

to the more efficient protection of the p eople against

the physical calamities which afflict a tropical country .

T hese calamities arise for th e most part from the

want of means for husbanding and utilizing the w ater
supply and from the absence of any adequate system
,

of internal communications for distributi n g the r e

sources o i the country and thus rendering the super
,
 TRI C T FI N A N CI A L S UP E R VI SI ON T 4 7—
2 60 S VE 5 ,
0.

in checking it O ne of his minutes may serve as a

.

’
specimen I do not see h e wrote with regard to
.
‘
,

the sums required by the several Provinces on account

of the I nternational E xhibition of 1 8 7 1 why is , ,

as usual to spen d double as much as Calcutta and

, ,

four times as much as M adras I should like to .

know whether it is supposed that will exhibit

twice as much as B engal or four times as many things ,

as M adras I think unless pro per care is taken the

.
, ,

power of purchasing articles for this E xhibition is on e

’
that is very likely to be abused I n the expenditure .

immediately connecte d with the Viceregal O ffice he ,

set a great e x ample of economy to the Governors

throughout I ndia H e reduced his body guard and.
-
,

more than once gave up S tate ceremonials in order to

save their cost I n this matter he was parsimonious
.

of the public revenues and prodigal of his private

income The heavy deficit which occurred in
.

writes his Private S ecretary to me strengthened ,

‘

Lord M ayo s desire (which a local scarcity in N orthern

’

I ndia had awakened) to forego the splendour and

expense of a gathering at Agra and to receive ,

H R H the D uke of E dinburgh in Calcutta where

. . .
,

the expenses woul d fall on his own purse He .

’

carried out this resolution and on the Council s u bse ,

quently proposing through one of its members to

share in the outlay thus incurred the Viceroy wrote ,

‘
I thank you and my honourable colleagues of the
Council for the very kind and thoughtful r e comme n
dation contained in your letter of to day and fully -
,

appreciate the motives which have prompted you to

1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] TH E P UB LI C WORKS DE P AR TM E N T . 261

recommend that or such other sum a s may

be deemed expedient should be added to the Darb ar ,

F und ( the annual grant to the Viceroy for S tate

’

Ceremonials ) for the entertainment and reception o r ‘

H R H th e D uke of E dinburgh
. . . I have come to .

the conclusion that I ought no t to allo w any a d dition

to be made to th e Darb a r F und o r to my personal ,

salary on this occasion What is done n o w need not .

i n any way bind my successors who must take their ,

o w n view of public duty B ut you must allow me to .

take my own course in this matter as I can assure ,

you that if by any act o f mine ,

reception ,

is made a source of pleasure to my friends and fellow

’
subj ects in I ndia I shall feel more than rewarded .

H is fixed resolve to free th e revenues from every

charge not absolute l y required for efficient administra
tion made itself felt i n all Departments The net .

result was that while the average expenditure of the

,

3
t wo years preceding his rul e exceeded 5 1 71 millions ,

a year the average expenditure during th e two con

,

cluding years of his rule was u nder 4 8 5 millions H e .

found th e expenditure in 1 8 6 8 6 9 a t j u st under 5 41 mil -

lions he left i t in 1 8 7 1 7 2 at just under 4 6 millions an d

,
-

the aggregate surplus of millions saved during the

three years of his administration very nearly redressed
the deficits of 5 71} millions which had steadily a ccu mu
5 1
,

lated in the three years which preceded it .

T he Department which I select to illustrate his

1
I h e e g i v e t h e fig u re s at
r the n o mi n al e x c h g of
an e 25 . t o t he ru p ee .

Fo r t h e d p 3 Th y
e t ai ls ,
8 6 8—69 w
s e e a n t e,xc ptio l
. 10 . e ear 1 as an e e na

ow i g t ch g s of p ol i c y sp c i lly w i t h f c t t h t s f of
o n e, n o an e , e e a re e r en e o e ra n er

c t i M i l i t y W o k s f o m t h E x t o d i y t t h O d i y A cco u
er a n ar r r e ra r na r o e r na r nt .
2 62 TH E P UBLI C WORKS DE P AR TM EN T VET .
—
4 7 5 0,

economy in the details of administrati on is that of

Public Works This Department has an importanc e
.

i n I ndia which the vigour of private enterprise happily

renders unknown in E ngland The Government of .

I ndia is an improving proprietor o n an enormous

scale . I t s u cceeded to an inheritance which had
sunk into an almost hopeless state of decay and
neglect and one of its most important tasks has been
,

to put its estates in order D uring the two years pre

.

ceding Lord M ayo s accession ( 1 8 6 7 6 8 and 1 8 6 8 6 9 )

’
- -

it had expended fo urteen millions sterling upon Public

Works O f this vast sum twelve millions were for
.

ordinary works and were supposed to come o ut of the

,

current revenue while two millions were on enterprises

,

of a more permanent an d reproductive character .

Lord M ayo earl y cam e t o t he conclusio n that some

parts of this expenditure were not j ustified by the
financial facts of the country whil e others were waste
,

’
fully conducted Y o u can hardly conceive he wrote
.
,

to a friend during his fi rs t months of office th e ,

‘

extent to which the M ilitar y Works are being carried ,

and the palaces that are being built all over th e

country I am for giving eve rything that can secure
.

health and comfort to the soldiers b ut I am inclined ,

’
to believe that we are overdoing it in our barracks .

’
T he truth is that a palatia l pattern barrack excel
, ,

le n t ly su i t e d to certain par t s of Bengal had been

’

adopted for the whole country without reference to ,

the loca l necessity for so costly a model Lord M ayo .

pointed out that the same expensive accommodation

was provided for t h e healthiest s tation in the far
2 64 I TS FORM E R WA S TE FULN E SS .
VET 4 7- 5 3 ,
.

that I am now only speaking of the Department as it

came within the notice of a District M agistrate T he .

first class was comp osed of commissioned officers of

the army many of whom although not always belong
, ,

ing to the scientific corps had an excellent acquaint,

ance with military engineering The second class .

was drawn chiefly from the private and non com -

missioned ranks — men wh o had picked up a smatter

,

ing of knowledge and many of whom lived well and

,

made large fortunes out of an overseer s pay of t w o ’

to three hundred a year O ne seldom came across a

.

regularly trained civil engineer in executive charge of

-

the works of a D istrict ; an d the professional civil

engineers whom private enterprise had brought to
,

I ndia for example on the O rissa Canals were full of

, ,

amusing anecdotes concerning their military brethren .

T he District O fficer did what he could to reduce the

waste by keeping his D istrict Works and roads as much
as possibl e in his own hands T he result was that .
,

t w o sets of prices existed for almost every class of engi

neering labour in the District The M agistrate pai d .

one rate per thousand cubic feet of earthwork the ,

Public Works Department granted a higher The .

same difference existed with regard to the cost of

masonry lime timb er bricks the metalling of roads
, , , , ,

and every other outlay on D istrict Works .

I f this was th e experience of individual District

O fficers it may be well imagined h ow discouraging
,

and distasteful was th e task in which Lord M ayo soon

found himself enga ged H e surrounded himself
.
,

however with able and zealous men who were quite

,
1 8 6 9—7 2 ] L ORD M A YO A TTE M P TS [ TS RE FORM . 2 65

as determined to put down waste and to punish

incomp etence as he was himself and wh o took care ,

that th e facts of each case should be thoro u ghly sifted

and placed before him The result is a long series of
.

rebukes from his pen on ext ravagance and blunders

of many sorts There is scarcely a fault runs one
.
‘
,
’

of his minutes which could have been committed in

,
‘

the construction of a great work which has not been ,

committed here E stimates a hundred per cent

. .

wrong —design fau l ty— foundations commenced with

out the necessary examination o f substratum — no
inquiry into the excess of cost over estimates during
’
progress I n another case : I have read with great
.
‘

sorro w this deplorable history of negligence incapa ,

city and corruption ; negligence in the conduct of

,

every superior o fficer who was connected with the

construction of these buildings from the beginning ;
incapacity to a greater or lesser extent o n the part of
almost every subordinate concerned ; corruption on
’

the part of the contractors .

All walls built by the Department however did , ,

not fal l down within a few weeks after they were

put up But i n nearly every case the cost of works
.
,

was wont to exceed the estimate Lord Mayo r e .

so l ved to put a stop to this not only by enforcing ,

greater vigilance in framing the estimates but by a ,

most stringent inquiry into each item i n which they

were exceeded E very day demands came up to
.

him for further grants in excess of the estimates ,

for works i n progress O ne of his m i nutes on such

.

a n application runs thus : T his is one of the most ‘

2 66 L ORD IlI A YO A TTE M P TS I TS RE FORM VET .
—
4 7 5 0,

flagrant and depressing cases that I have read for a

long time I fear there is no help but to agree to the
.

expenditure but it is little short of who l esale robbery

, ,

and most discreditable to every one co ncerned N 0 .

word is strong enough to condemn the utter reckless

ness of the whole proceeding The building has
.

leaped from an original rough estimate of to

an actual expenditure which will probably amount to
“

75
or E ven criticism of this sort
failed for a time to make some of th e officers engaged
on public works understand that the Viceroy was i n
earnest and that they had found their master
,
.

Reports came up to him from I nsp ecting O fficers ,

narrating in smooth offi cial phrase the most disgraceful

blunders and suggesting censure of the euphemistic
,

’
sort for the s ubordinates concerned I wish writes
. ,

the much tried Viceroy i n another minute that the

-
,
‘

“
D epartment woul d drop the term not free from r e
sponsibility and use the proper one which in my ,

opinion ought to have been used long ago viz that ,

.

s o and so has been utterly unfit to carry out th e

construction of such buildings as those i n which h e

has been engaged at a grievous pecuniary l oss to
’
Government and to the disgrace of the D epartment
,
.

I n another case : I t is difficult to find any specimen

‘

of this description of building constructed within the

last few years by the D epartment which is free from
,

conspicuous and inexcusable faults — Allah ab a d S a gar , ,

J abalpur N a s i rabad the Calcutta H igh Court th e

, , ,

M urshid ab a d Palace th e Cawnpur Tannery the ag

, ,

pur Bridge T hese are onl y from memory— a memor y

.
2 68 L ORD M A YO A TT E MP T S I TS RE FORM — 0,
V 47 5
ET .

blame I n the fi rst p l ace he found that the brain

. ,

power of the D epartment was overworked In .

specting O fficers were held responsible for a larger

area than they cou l d give adequate attention to
result ; want of supervision I n the second place a .
,

series of vast works were scattered at one and the

same moment over th e whol e country without corre
sp o n d i n additions to the staff— too great haste I n
g .

the third place engineers were placed in executive

,

charge of wide tracts while th e amount of correspond

,

ence and purely office work glued them to their chairs

indoors and precluded them from themselves over
,

looking what was going on outside no personal—

’
management Lord M ayo s visits to certain railway
.

works under construction by private contractors and ,

about the same time to a building being erected by

th e P ublic Works D epartment forced this last defect ,

of th e system strongly on his mind A t th e private .

’
contractors works he s a w three E uropean gentlemen ,

umbrella in hand an d their heads roofed over by

enormous pith hats standing out in the hottest sun
, ,

and watching with their own eyes the n ative work

men as they set brick upon brick I n the building .

under erection by the Public Works h e fou n d only

the coolies and bricklayers without supervision of ,

any sort O n inquiry the engineer in charge pleaded

.
,

office d u ties the subordinate engineer pleaded th e

,

impossibility of looking after a great many works at

the same time throughout a considerable District ; and
the net result was that Government had to put up
,

with loss of money and bad masonry H e exclaimed .

1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] A N D [ TS RE OR GA N I ZA TI ON . 2 69

‘
I see what we want— good sup erv i sion and one
’
thing at a time .

H e fi rst attacked the abuses in the M ilitary W orks .

O ne distinguished authority in that branch had pooh

poohed a proposal to break the uniformity of the ‘

( palatial ) barrack plan for the object of saving one

’
third of a million I f it were a matter of
.

instead of wrote Lord M ayo it would ,

‘

be our duty to carefully consider whether with ,

out i mpairing efficiency and interfering with th e

obj ects for which that plan was adopted a saving ,

’
could not b e effected By degrees however h e
.
, ,

developed a scheme of reform much wider than that

of mere economy in design A resolution written .

during his third year of office 1 8 7 1 runs thus , ,

T he Governor General in Council has had under

‘ -

notice several circumstances which render it desirable

to reconsider the system under which the construction
and repairs of military works within the Presidency of
B engal is n ow administered .

I n th e first place severa l discreditable failures in

,

the construction of the n e w barracks have occurred .

H is E xcellency in Council is disposed to believe that ,

had the design a n d construction of these works b een

entrusted to a selected staff of experienced engineers ,

these failures would not have occurred With the .

extensive operations undertaken in 1 8 6 4 —5 and since ,

carried out more or less to completion it woul d hardly ,

have been possible or at l east there would n o doubt

,

have been difficulty in carrying on works only by

means of selected o fficers B ut now that the press o f .
2 76 R EP OR M S [ N M [ L[ TA R Y WORKS .
VET 4.
7 5 6 ,

work is done H is E xcellency in Council believes that

,

s uch a selection can and ought to b e made in view to

, ,

the construction of the few important military proj ects

which remain .

‘
The recent investigations that were made as to
the extent of existing barrack accommodation in th e
plains and the determination of the Government to
,

place an additional number of E uropean regiments in

the H ills have led H is E xcellency in Council to believe
,

that it will not b e necessary to commence any n e w

barracks in the plains upon th e standard plan Thus .
,

as the erection of n e w buildings is not contemplated ,

th e labours of the Public Works Department in regard

to building in the plains will for the present b e
, ,

devoted to the completion of the works already i n

progress and to their subsi d iary buildings
,
.

I t is considered undesirable that a number of firs t

class M ilitary Works shoul d be carried on in different
parts of the country at one an d the same time .

Rapidity of work has not been secured by this system ,

and it is considered b etter to place a full and highly

qualified staff in superintendence of a fe w important
M ilitary Works press them rapidly to completion and
, ,

then transfer the staff to whatever undertaking may

stan d next in order of importance .

The remaining military projects occur under

several different Local A dministratio n s I t will b e .

convenient therefore that the whole of the staff

, ,

employed on such proj ects should be under one

’
authority .

T he reorganization of the Department which h e

2 72 S E CRE T OF H I S S UCCE S S .
[PET 4 7 —5 0,

'

fi
’
ae from the year s outlay before embarking on them .

After taking the Department into his own hands in

1 8 6 9 his first act was to issue a series of or d ers on
,

the subj ect of framing proper estimates and for th e ,

abolition of every useless appointment T hese orders .

were as unpopular as they were necessary H is .

second act w a s to reduce the P ublic Works Grant

by half a million sterling for 1 8 6 9 7 0 H is third act
- - — .

was still further to cut down this reduce d grant by

thus finally leavi n g it for the first year of
his administration ( 1 8 6 9 —7 0) at less than
for the previous year I n th e next year of his Vice
.

royalty he enforced further reductions amounting to

,

in the grant for 1 8 7 0 7 1 — making a total

—

reduction in this branch of expen d iture of nearly t w o

millions as compared with the average annual grants
,

which he found at the time of his accession I have .

not the means o f checking these figures individually ,

but I give them as they have been furnished to me by

the officer best able to speak on the subj ect ; and the
published Bu d get S tatements exhibit similar results
on a larger scale .

I t should be remembered that the E arl of M ayo s ’

retrenchments and reforms in the Public Works D e

a r t me n t throw no d iscredit on h is immediate prede
p
ce ss o rs The transfer of the country to the Crown
.
,

an d t he more minute administration which it brought

about ha d disclosed th e necessity for vast ad d itions
,

to the material fram ework of our Government This .

necessity had been keenly realized by the precedin g

V iceroys and th ey embarked on Public Works with
,
1 8 69 N E W CLA SS OE E N GI NE E RS . 2 73

a vigour which gradually overstepped the revenue

y ielding power of the country What L ord M ayo .

did was not to deny th e need of such undertakings ,

but to rigidly insist on their being carried out o n a

s cale consistent with the solvency of the I ndian
E mpire H is predecessors had found it imp ossible
.

’
to create o n a moment s notice a body of skilled
engineers equa l to the great series of works that were
forced on their hands T he o l d offi cial dislike to
.

E ngl ish settlers which had once formed a political

,

’
feature o f the Company s rule stil l l ived o n as a ,

powerful tradition during so me years after the country

passed to th e Crown T here was n o local s ource
.

which the I ndian Government could draw upon for

its civil engineers and during some time it sh rank from
,

the experiment of throwing open I ndian engineering

to the profession in E ngland I t had therefore to .

make the most of such skill and knowledge as could

b e spared from th e scientifi c corps of th e army Th e .

d isasters which resulted formed part of the lo n g bill

of costs that the I ndian Government has had to pay
’
for the word interloper as applied to non o ffici a l
‘
,
-

E nglishmen i n I ndia and for the traditions which that

,

word left behind While Lord M ayo was severely

.

visiting individual incapacity negligence and acts of , ,

waste in I ndia a new generation o f engineers specially

,

trained for th e country was growing up under the

auspices of the I ndian Government at home .

H avi ng curtailed the expenditure in every detail

compatible with good work the E arl of M ayo ,

directed his earn e st attention to the more efficient

V O L. 11 . s
2 74 RA M [ N E P R E VE N T[ VE WOR KS .
( 431 .
4 7 5 o,

protection of the peopl e against the calamities inci

1
d ent to a tropical country I n other books I have .

delineated the perennial warfare which the I ndian

peasant has to wage with flood and drought I have .

also shown how the want of means of internal com

mu n i ca t i o n rendered the distribution of th e general
food supply impossible and forced each part of the ,

country to depend upon its own harvest cutting it off ,

from help in times of scarcity and reducing it to th e ,

state of a ship at sea without provisions I n certain .

Provinces each generation goes through l ife i n peril

of death by starvation T he E arl of M ayo found .

that his predecessor had done much to remedy this

s tate of things A nd he himself was resolved to do
.

more H e b elieved that famine in I ndia is not to b e

.

dealt with spasmodically but ought to form a subj ect ,

of continuous and effective m easures o n the part of

th e Government D uring his Viceroyalty a great
.

many proposals came up to him on this head Cer .

tain Commissioners for example suggested some , ,

thing very like a poor la w whereby funds might be -

,

raised by loca l taxation to afford relief during famine .

’
Lord M ayo s note o n this scheme runs as follows
‘
H aving been engaged all my life in the administra
tion of a poor law in one of th e poorest countries i n
-

E urope I may s ay that though it is well adapted to

, ,

deal with chronic pauperism it has always broken

'

d own when called upon to contend against a great

national calamity I n three years we borrowed eight
.

1
A n n a ls Of R n r a l B eng a l, pp . 26 —5 6 ; st h Ed . O r i ssa , vo l . ii . pp .

I 74 1 99
-
1
.
2 76 TH E [ N D[ AN R A[ L WA Y S YS TE M [4 3 1 47 5 6 ,
-

crime against good government if with the full know ,

ledge that certain Provinces lay in chronic peril of

starvation and with ascertained m e ans of securing
,

them against it he did not place them in safety

, .

T he wayworn phra s e the development of the ,

‘

’
country had therefore to him a meanin g consider
, , ,

ably more distinct than it usually carries H e was .

anxious to do everything that he could to promote

commerce and to supply the material facilities such
, ,

as roads railways and harbours which commerce

, , ,

requires H e perfectly realized also that a network

. , ,

of railways is a military necessity of our position i n

I ndia B ut his paramount duty seemed to him to
.

b e to th e I ndian peasant I n the consideration of .

‘

’
all these matters h e s aid at the O pening of the
, ,

K hang a on Railway i n words which I have already ,

quoted but which recur so constantly in one form or

,

another throughout his speeches and writings that I ,

may repeat the m here we must fi rst take into ,

‘

account the inhabitants o f this country Th e welfare .

of the people of I ndia is our primary obj ect I f we .

are not here for their good we ought not to be here ,

’
at all The three weapons by which L ord M ayo
.

came to th e aid of the I ndian population i n its

struggle against th e physical calamities of nature ,

were roads rail ways and canals D uring his rule

, , .
,

roa d making was pushed fo rward with the utmos t

-

energy throughout I ndia But the same may b e said .

of almost every preceding Governor Generalship and -

,

the credit of such works belongs to the D istrict

O fficers or the Provincia l Governments not to the ,
1 8 69 L ORD LA WR E N CE ’
S MI N UTE . 2 77

V iceroy I shall therefore confine my survey o f

.

’
Lord Mayo s policy o f interna l deve l opment to its .

t wo other great branches rai l ways and irrigation ,

works .

’
O n the E arl of M ayo s a r r i val in Calcutta h e found ,

awaiting him an elaborate M inute which Lord Law

rence had lately placed on record regarding the past
history and the future extension of I ndian railways .

T he narrative wh ich the great c ivilian Viceroy thus

l eft for his successor was full of encouragement but by ,

n o means on e for u nmingled self co mplacency F ro m -

.

the end of 1 8 5 3 when we had 2 1 5 miles of rai l way in

,

I ndia until the beginning of 1 8 6 9 when Lord Law

, ,

rence left th e country about f our thousand miles of ,

railway had been opened The engineering i mp os s i .

b i li t i e s which had threatened the existence of the

,

enterprise had one by one succumbed to the persistent

,

energy of individual E n glishmen A permanent way .

had been built over a vast de l ta yearly s ubject to ,

devastating floods Rivers never before controlled .

, ,

had been bridged ; and every difficulty arising from

the extremes of heat and from the corroding tooth of ,

fl uvial action had been mastered N evertheless Lord

, .
,

Lawrence recorded his conviction that the system

under which these triumphs had been won could n o
l onger b e retained The essential feature of that
.

system was that it made over the construction of the

,

I ndian railways to private Companies with a guaran ,

teed interest o f five per cent on the capital they .

might expend L ord L awrence came to the con

.

e lusion that this s y stem a c ted in a wastefu l manner ,

 ORD M A YO S VI E WS T 4 7 —5 0,
V
’
278 L E .

and that it tended to land the Government of I ndia

in grave financial disasters H e showed that it .

would b e not only more economical but that it would ,

also tend to the more satisfactory working of the rail

ways i f the Government raised the fund requisite for
,

making them by loan at the marke t rate and secured ,

the full value of it by a more direct control over their

construction H e believed th a t i n this wa y a l one
.

would it b e possib l e to carry ou t the five or six

thousand additional m iles which then remain ed to
complete the railway system of I ndia .

T his was the basis from which the E arl of M ayo

started . H e found t hat the a v e rage cost of the ,

I ndian railways under t he gu aranteed system had

, ,

been about a mile and that the total debt

,

with which the six thousand miles to be done under

that system would saddle the country would exceed ,

,5 T he loss which the Government had

yearly to make good i n t he shape of guaranteed
i nterest already came to about 1 2 millions F urther ,
.

inquiries revealed to Lo rd M ayo in a still clearer ,

l ight both the evils of the system and the difficulty

,

of supplanting it H e found in the first place that

.
, , ,

while bearing the j ustl y honoured title of private ‘

’
enterprise i t possessed none of the great essentia l
,

advantages of a private undertaking There was n o .

ince ntive to economy in outlay under a m ethod which

guaranteed five per cent to the public o n the same
.
,

security on which that public was willing to l end at

under 412 per cent F or both in its railway loans and
.
,

in its p ub l i c deb t the security was the s o l venc y of t he

,
2 80 L ORD M A YO S VI E ’
WS VET 4 7 - 5 0,
.

and who l ooked to the Rai l way Company as their

master O n the other hand there was a costly super
.
,

vising staff and an enormous Railway D epartment ,

chiefly consisting of military officers who represented ,

’
the interests of the S tate The theory seems to have .

been that the interests of th e Government cou l d not

,

be identical with the interests of the Rai l way Com

p anies and
, that t w o sets of establishments were
’

therefore required to watch each other The I ndian .

taxpayer paid for the whole .

I t was not however m erely a question of expense

, , .

T h e responsibility was divided and when a break ,

down took place nobody was to bla me Lord M ayo .

got o n well with practical men of whatever sort , .

T here was never a Viceroy who has had a more

genuine regard for the railway staff in I ndia or wh o ,

was repai d by them with so much personal popularity .

B ut h e found the double system of management a

s ource of many sorrows Mr he says in one
. .

of his minutes admits that the Railway Company s

,
‘ ’

“
agency is not competent to ensure rapidity of de
s a t ch an d absolute punctuality in delivering con
p
s i n me n t s thus enabling merchants to engage freight
g ,

before ordering down consignments and so to save ,

the heavy cost of carriage into Calcutta and warehouse

"
charges there All that I can say is that if the
.
,

agen cy cannot effect this the first obj ect of railway

,

management and which has been fully carried out o n

,

every well managed railway in the world the question

-
,

will arise whether they are fi t for their places A t all .

events t h e Government of I ndia are not going to

,
1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] ON R A I L IVA Y IlI A N A G E IlI E N T 281

impose taxes upon the people of th is country because

the agency of the Railway Company are unable to
ensure rapidity of despatch and punctua l ity in their
transactions Perhaps if they consulted M r
. .

[ the efficient head of another of the many depart

ments] he might show them h o w these fi rst requisites
,
‘

of railway management might be secured .

’

O ne gentleman indeed had discovered that it , ,

would be dangerous to allow the railways to becom e

really efficient lest they should discourage river traffic
, .

O n this Lord M ayo remarked : Colonel is mis ‘

taken if he supposes that the Government of I ndia is

going to manage th ese great affairs upon any other
than commercial principles We intend to attract as .

much traffic as we can to our railways When he .

says that we are to tax th e peopl e of I ndia by keeping

down traffic returns b ecause we may dread the rail ,

way leaving u s without the alternative of carriage by

water in certain military contingencies he seems to ,

adopt principles which are incompatible with railway

extension in any country I t almost sounds like a
‘

reproduction of the arguments which were used

against the railways forty years ago and which are ,

well described in the life of George S tephenson who ,

had much difficulty in overcoming the friends of the

’
foot posts mail coaches and canal boats
, , .

I n some but happily not i n many cases th e mi s

, ,

management penetrated deeper down and outside ,

complaint had proved unavailing I wish for S .

7

’
O pinion h e wrote in such a case upon the grave ‘
, ,

i nstances of obstinacy corruption an d neglect of all , ,

2 82 L ORD M A Y O S VI E WS
’

VE T 47- 5 6 ,
.

local O pinion and suggestions that are to be found in ,

these papers Th e dishonesty of the subordinates

.
,

their ignorance of the language their contempt for ,

the comforts an d habits of the people are things ,

which are n o w placed beyond a doubt I intend to .

’
check them if I can I n another case the public
.
,

having long complained of the absence of mechanica l

appliances for reducing the danger of railway travel
ling i n the hot weather a ri d certain well considered ,
-

suggestions having b een d isregarded Lord Mayo ,

wrote : I have no hesitation in saying that I think

‘

the authorities have shown a disregard to th e

interests of humanity and a great want of that ,

ingenuity and engineering resource which might have

been expected in so accomplished and so experienced
’
a body of men D raft a letter and let me see it
.
, .

H e also went into the complaints of the native

—
passengers complaints which a certain officer had
,

dismissed with the remark that the natives were a s

well protected from the su n in a railway carriage as
trudging along under their umbrellas or when travel ,

ling by the rude coaches o r boxes upon wheels known ,

as a eté gfietr i s
’
I am not at all satisfied writes Lord
.
,
’

M ayo that the comforts of the third class and native

,
-

passengers are properly attended to and the remarks

of in this respect with regard to umbrellas and
to travelling by a aé gfiar i s are quite unsuitable
’
.

N atives seldom travel in the hot weather during the

day except by train T hey are packed much more
'

, .

closely in third class carriages than in t heir ordinary

-

modes of c onveyance ; and because a man i s broiled

2 84 L ORD M A YO S
’
RA I L WA Y S YS TE III .
VET 4 7
-
.
5 0,

T he Earl of Mayo set himself therefore to p ra ct i , ,

c ally carry out that change in the railway policy of

I ndia which Lord Lawrence had sketched I n this .

great work both the V iceroys had as their chief

adviser General Richard S trachey and to him more , ,

than to any other single man the reform is due , .

U nder the old system to use the words of the D uke ,

of Argy ll the money was raised on th e credit and

,
‘

authority of the S tate under an absolute guarantee of ,

five per cent involving no risk to the shareholders

.
, ,

and sacrificing o n th e part of Government every

’
chance of profit while taking e very chance of loss , .

U nder the n e w system the Government n o w borrows ,

its railway capital at four per cent and thus makes .

,

an initial saving of a year on every ten

millions U nder the former system there was a
.

doubl e management and the cost of construction ,

averaged about per mile U nder the new .

system there is a single firm control the Government ,

gets its work done by contract at the lowest market

rates and the cost of construction on the narrow
,

gauge S tate Lines is less than £ 6 00 0 p er mile T he .

work actually done under the n e w system may be

briefly stated thus z— Excepting a fe w isolated short ,

’
sections the S tate Railways date from Lord M ayo s
,

V iceroyalty and indeed their active prosecution was

,

not commenced u ntil the later years of his rule By .

the end of 1 8 7 1 nine hundred miles of S tate Railways

,

had been put in hand ; a nearly equal length has since

been started making about eighteen hundred miles in
,

all O f these close on seven hundred miles had been

.
,
1 8 69 [ N D[ AN S TA TE R A [ L WA YS . 28
5

opened for traffic in a l ittle over three years from th e ,

end of 1 8 7 1 to the beg i nn i ng of 1 8 7 5 T he general .

’
progress of I ndian railways u nder Lord M ayo s rule
may be gathered from the fact that while the sixtee n ,

preceding years had left a total of 3 9 46 miles open at

the end of 1 8 6 8 the end of 1 8 7 1 l eft an actual mi l e
,

1
age o f 5 0 7 3 77; miles The m ileage of I ndian railways
.

increased by more than twenty fiv e per cent during -

.

his three years o f office While therefore the E arl

.
, ,

of M ayo inaugurated a n e w system of railways for

I ndia he vigorously carried forward the schemes
,

which he had inherited from his predecessors .

The comparison between the cost of Guaranteed

and of S tate Railways as ab ove given is not however , ,

quite a fair one F or although it accu r at ely states

.

the expense of the t wo systems to the I ndi an Govern

ment it compares l ines of different intrinsic value
, .

T he Guaranteed Railways were made on the 5 feet 6

i nch gauge or nearly a foot broader than that of th e
,

E nglish lines S everal of the S tate Railways have

.

b een made on a narrower gauge of 3 feet 3 inches .

T heir permanent way is less solid their rails and their ,

rolling stock lighter ; and a large part of the saving

is du e to these causes irrespective of their more
,

economical construction T he change thus effected

.

i n I ndia from the old 5 feet 6 inch gauge of the

,

Guaranteed Railways to the n e w 3 feet 3 inch gauge of

the State Railways has been very fully discussed by
,

engineers and others better qualified to speak of i t

than I am I therefore do not venture on any remarks
.

of m y own but mere l y reproduce as briefl y as possib l e

,
286 L ORD M A YO S VI E WS
’

V 4 7 5 0,
ET -
.

’
Lord Mayo s personal v i ew of the subj ect I t shou l d .

b e remembered in the first place that I ndian tra ffic

, ,

is of a much lighter character than E nglish traffi c ,

and that the facilities of water transit afforded by the

rivers will compel the railways to carry at low rates .

I n the second place that the lightness of the narrow

,

gauge railways is believed by I ndian engineers to be

adapted to the lightness of the produce to b e carried ;
and that their comparative cheapness of construction
will enable them to carry it at lo w rates .

’
‘
I have no doubt wrote Lord M ayo to a friend
, ,

‘
that our decision on the gauge will be very much
attacked T he alternative as regards I ndia is this
.
,

ekea r a i lway s or n on e ; and I would rather do with

p ,

out railways altogether than incur the future risk of

that annual increase of expenditure and consequently ,

of taxation which I have stopped and which is o ur

, ,

only real danger in I ndia .

‘
I t is tr u e that the people are lightly taxed and s o ,

they ought to be We are an alien power ruling at

.

enormous disadvantages principally by the force of ,

character and by administrative skill As long as the .

natives of H industan believe that whatever power

might follow us N ative or E uropean will tax them
, ,

m ore heavily than we do we are safe S hould the ,

other feeling prevail we shall lose our hol d on the

,

co unt ry There is no real patriotism in I ndia The

. .

great mass of th e H indus have always been accus

t o me d to be ruled by a F oreign Power I f the .

F oreign Power is j ust and wise it is the form of ,

government that suits them be st I n our circum .

2 88 TH E N AR R O I/V GA UGE AD OP TE D VET .
— 0
47 5 ,

coal and salt the inconvenience will b e small and

, , ,

th e expense of transhipment will hardly exceed the

cost o f twelve miles of haulage F or the carriage of .

soldiers and horses there will b e no diffi culty as after ,

l o n g railway j ourneys they must eat and rest which ,

they can always do at the change T here will u n .

d oubtedly b e some diffi culty as to munitions of war

and all military stores but it wo u ld b e absurd to
,

suggest that we shoul d spend two millions of m oney

for this obj ect only What we shoul d a i m at is th e
.

provision of such railway communication as will pro

vide for present wants with a power of such an ,

increase as will give facility for considerable a u gme n

t a t i o n if it is hereafter found necessary T his I .
,

b elieve we have done and more th an this we ought

, ,

’
not to do .

N othing that I coul d say would throw any addi

t i o n a l light on the merits of the question But in th e .

elaborate d iscussions which have since taken place

among professional engineers i n E ngland I s ome ,

’
times observe that Lord M ayo s views have been
misunderstood S everal of the d isputants speak as if
.

the Viceroy had proposed to make isolated sections

of narrow gau ge lines running in connection with the
-
,

broa d gauge railways S uch a system woul d have

.

i nvolved transhipment at every j unction and no one ,

was m ore sensibl e of its impolicy than the E arl 01

M ayo himself We are not incli n e d he wrote to
.
‘
,
’

the S ecretary of S tate to acquiesce in the expediency

,

of constructing short l engths of railways on a gauge

d ifferent from that in common use I f narrow —gauge .
1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] P OR [ N D[ AN S TA TE R A [ L WA YS . 28
9

lines are to have a fair field they must be given a ,

sufficient develop ment to render the cost of shifting

goods from their waggons to those of adj oining broad
gauge lines unimportant i n relation to the freight fo r
the average distances over which the goods are
’
carried .H is schem e was to form a distinct s ystem
of narrow gauge lines working in connection with
-
,

each other and penetrating th e great u ntapped Pro

,

v inces within the trilateral formed by the broad gauge -

railways That trilateral had its three extremities at

.

Bombay Cal cutta and Lahore Lord M ayo pro

, , .

posed that his less expensive narrow gauge lines -

should form a subsidiary railway system for the com

a r a t i v e ly poor tracts of R aj put a n a and Central I ndia
p
thus enclose d — a system complete in itself but touch ,

ing the external triangle formed by the broad gauge -

lines at convenient points .

T h e genera l plan thus briefly sketched has to a ,

large extent b een carried Ou t I n the important line

, .

w hich ascends the I ndus valley military considera ,

tions have since been foun d to weigh heavily a gainst

a break of gauge and the railway which forms the
,

north western side of th e trilateral and connects the

-
,

Panj ab with the sea is being constructed o n the

,

b road gauge B ut the l ines required for the internal

.

subsidiary system within the great railway trilateral

are n ow rapid l y going forward on the narrower gauge .

A very important one connecting the heart of R aj p u

,

1 6 11 2 with th e external railway system at Agra and

D e lhi w as opened at the beginning of the present

'

year 1 8 7 T he net resu l t is that of the 1 8 00 miles ,

V O L . 11. T
2
9 0 P AM I N E P RE VE N TI VE WORKS [ E T . Y 47
—
50 ,

of S tate Railways now in progress 8 00 adhere to th e ,

broad gauge while 1 000 miles form the nucleus of

,

the n e w system of narrow gauge S tate Railways .

The other great branch of reproductive Public

Works in I ndia are those which deal with the hus
banding and diffusion of the water supply And as .

in his railway policy so als o with regard to irrigation

, ,

the E arl of M ayo found carefully considered plans

bequeathed to him by his predecessor The O rissa .

famine of 1 8 6 6 had forced the duty of preventive

works upon the conscience of the I n d ian Govern
ment Lord Lawrence had de voted much attention
.

to this subject during the last years of his Viceroyalty ,

and Lord M ayo vigorously carried out such p r o t e c

tive measures to their full development There .
‘

’
never was a Governor General writes one of th e
-
,

present rulers of N orthern I ndia who devoted ,

‘

greater attention to this subj ect and there never was ,

a time in which more was done than during his

’
administration H e foun d himself surrounded by
.

Provinces in want of water Even where the rain .

o

fall was itself sufficient no mechanism existed for

,

husbanding the supply and the precious fluid which

,

might have secured fertility throughout the twelve

months rushed off to the sea in a fortnight s d e st ru c
,
’

tive floods .

A bare list of the works which he inau gurated ,

advance d or carried out would weary the reader

, , .

The Ganges Canal was extended and after seventeen ,

years of d eficit took its place as a work no longer

b urdensome to the State A new irrigation system.
,
292 I RRI GA TI ON WOR KS .
[ [ E T 4 7 - 5 0,
.

All this cost money The irrigation proj ects in .

N orth ern I n d ia alone will involve a further e x p e n d i

ture of more than twenty millions sterling U pon the .

single item of canals for O rissa the Government ,

from D ecember 1 8 6 8 to D ecember 1 8 7 1 laid out a ,

sum equal to the total revenue derived during th e

’
same perio d from that Province I n another work .

I have discussed the dangers in which such pro

ct s are apt to l and the finances of I ndia T hus
j e .
,

i n O rissa the cost of protecting the people fro m

,

famine will amount to about two millions sterling ,

representing at four per cent an annual charge

,
.
,

of ,f or half the entire land revenue of that

Province I t is clear that unless such works
.
,

can themselves b e made to pay the interest on

their cost of construction they will serio usly i m ,

peril the solvency o f the I ndian E mpire Past .

experience however holds out but little hope of

, ,

their being immediately remunerative M any years .

elapse before the people learn to take the water .

T he strong conservatism of the I ndian peasant and ,

his obstinate clinging to the ways of th e past give a n ,

innovation no chance M oreover before being able .

,

to profitably use the canal water he has sometimes to ,

execute a number of petty fie ld irrigation works so as -

,

to adj ust the levels of his ground E ven after the .

can al is made he goes on therefore trusting to the

, , ,

chances of the rainfall until suddenly a f amine comes , .

T hen indee d a rush is made upon the canals and

‘

, , ,

I he re p o d u c t h f c t s gi v t g t l gt h i ch p t
re r e e a en a rea e r en n a er v i i i . of
my Or i ssa , vo l i i w i t ho u t b i g c ful t l t t h wo d s
. .
,
e n ar e o a er e r .
1 8 69 FI N A N CI A L DI FFI C UL TI E S I N V L VE D O . 2 93

thousands of acres are permanent l y i rrigated from

them M eanwh ile during the long intervening years
.
, ,

the neglect of the husbandmen to use the water has

disabled the canal s from yielding a return o n the
capital invested in their construction and forced the ,

Government to levy the annual interest together with ,

the cost of keeping up the works by some unpopular ,

impost o n the general taxpayer .

The case stands thus Protective works o n a gre a t

scal e are admitted i n I ndia to be an absolute necessity
to save the people from famine ; and until they are
constructed the British Government goes in yearly
,

peril of being called to witness the extermination of

its subj ects After they have been constructed the
.
,

peasantry l ong delay to mak e use of them and ,

m eanwhile their cost both of construction and main

,

t e n a n ce has to b e borne by the Central E xch equer

, .

T his was the di fficulty for which the E arl of M ayo

had to fin d a practical solution N 0 I ndian ruler
.

will hereafter b e permitted to stand by and see his

people starving by hundreds of thousands to death .

Y e t in the present state of rura l I ndia the Govern

, ,

ment cannot construct the requisite protective works

without the risk of future insolvency Lord M ayo .

thought he had found a so l ution for this problem in a

compulsory water rate H e and several of th e great
-
.
,

adminis trative chiefs who surrounded him he l d that a

l ocal community for whose local protect i on a cana l
,

has been found absolutely necessary and has b een

m ade sh oul d not b e al l owed to shift its cost to
,

the shou l ders of the ta x pay ers i n distant Provinces ,

2 94 L ORD M A YO S ’
S OL UTI ON FOR TH E IlI .
VET 4 7 - 5 0,
.

who derive no benefit from it That if the local

.

community delays to take the water it should never ,

t he le ss be compelled to pay the yearly interest on

what is in the strictest sense of the term a local

, ,

public work S uch a provision they maintain i n

.
, ,

volves no more hardship than the liabil ity of every

householder in a town to pay the municipal water
rate whether he takes the water or not A co mp u l
, .

sory rate of any sort is open to obj ections ; but Lord

Mayo endeavoured to ren d er inj ustice to individuals
impossible by a careful a djustment of the burden
,

between the o wners and occupiers and by stringent ,

l egislative restrictions placed o n the collection of

a canal cess H e p rovided tha t it should not b e
.

levied from the husbandme n until they had neglected

to take the water during five complete years after it
had been brought to their fi elds and only in places ,

’
where it could be proved that the cultivator s net
profi ts would be increased by the canal af t er p ay i ng ,

t fie i r r iga t i on r a t es H e insisted that there shoul d be

.

a clear gain to the husbandmen fro m taking the water ,

b efore the Government should be p ermitted to charge

h im for it S o liberal a condition was never attached
.

to a similar work intended for the local protection of

a town against natural calamities S cience can only .

r esu me a benefit to the general body of citizens from

p
water works drainage schemes or other sanitary
-
, ,

me asures for which municipal rates are charged ; b u t

,

b efore Lord M ayo would give the Government power

to levy a canal rate at all he insisted t hat the benefit
,

to each individual should be absolutely a scer ta i n ed .

2 96 H TS E[ N AN C[ A L P R OP OS A LS [5 1 .
47 5 6 ,
-

b e made l iable for improvements of a limited and

local character not only would the expenditure on
,

these works have been most extravagant but that th e ,

charge thrown upon the general revenues would have

become so enormous that the construction of all such
’
works woul d long ago have been arrested .

Th e vast accumulation of debt requisite for the

protection of the people from famine weighed so
’
heavily upon Lord Mayo s mind that he resolved to
,

deal with such undertakings as an entirely distinct

’
branch of I ndian finance I believe he once said
.
, ,

that u nless the whole of our loans for reproductive

Public Works ( that is to say th e whole debt incurred
,

for improvements of a remunerative character such as ,

canals or railways ) is removed from the ordina ry

finance you will fi nd it impossible to continue these
,

most necessary works on a scale commensurate with

the requirements of the country When we see that
.

the cost of the ordinary administration is such that i t

can hardly b e defrayed out of ordinary revenue it is ,

plain that we cannot add indefinitely to the interest

on our debt for reproductive works without danger
o u sly crippling ourselves in respect to our military

defences th e administration of j ustice the spread of

, ,

education and many other obj ects essential to the

,

’
safety and progress of the country Lord Mayo
.

desi red therefore that the whole charge of such

, ,

works should be kept apart and that the whole profits

,

derived from them should b e applied to discharge the

debt thus incurred H e laid it down as a funda
.

mental principle o f th e policy which he desired to

1 8 69 RE GARDI N G RE P R OD UC TI VE IVOR KS . 2 97

introdu ce that unt il th e entire debt upon all such

,
‘

works had been cleared off th e income received from

,

them should not be considered as part of the resources

’
of the year or applied to reducing taxation A letter
, .
,

which Still remained in draft at the time of his death ,

advocated a definite public statement that we shall ,

‘

borrow mo n ey for a sp ecial class of works on the

security of the revenues b ut on the understanding
,

that the loan shall b e repaid from th e fi rst earnings of

those works . H e believed that the only possible
’ ‘

’
security against indefinite and disastrous accumula
tions of loans for such works is the absolute h y p o t he
,
‘

’
cation of the incom e to discharge th e capital debt .

’
T o carry out this determination writes one who was ,

in constant consultation with the V iceroy on the sub

j e ct ,
Lord M ayo desired to constitute a special body
of Commissioners at least one of whom should not
,

b e an officer of th e Government whose duty it would ,

“
b e to certify as an independent Board of Audit with
, ,

"
the public as witnesses that the sum raised for the
,

construction of Public Works had really been applied ,

and repaid in strict accordance with th e conditions

’
u nder which the loans were made .

I t was obj ected that such a policy would fetter the

future action of Government in regard to the income ,

derived from such undertakings F or my own part .

,
’

wrote Lord M ayo to a friend shortly before h is death ,

‘
I say frank l y that I do desire to fetter the discretion
of Government in deal ing hereafter with receipts from
reproductive works I b elieve that the whole of the
.

returns from these works shoul d be kept apart from

2 98 R E S UL TS OF H I S P OLI C Y
.
VET 4 7 5 0,
.
-

the ordinary resources of the country and [ after ,

’

defraying th e interest th e loans shoul d be ] spent ‘

on provi d ing for n e w works and so avoid borrowing ,

as far as possible T he whole of the returns woul d

.

appear in the annual receipts of the State as they do ,

n o w but the sums obtained in return for these works

,

should go solely in aid of the loan expenditure of the

year an d t h e Budget should be constructed accord
,

i ngly .I have no hope of this ever being done unless

a separate body is constituted such as I have always
advocated armed with powers entrusted to them by
,

either the Government or the Legislature ; and u ntil

such a course is taken I cannot think that we shal l
,

be safe from the recurrence of those evils which ,

in respect to the cost of constr u ction of thes e great

’
works have constantly arisen
, .

I n his irrigation policy as with regard to his rail

,

way schemes and indeed as in every department of

, , ,

’
his administration Lord M ayo s sudden death left
,

many of his plans unfulfilled H e lived long enough .

to carry out a certain numbe r of individual measures ,

but not long enough to conso lidate th e carefully

devised systems of which they formed parts into
, ,

permanent administrative facts O f his irrigation .

schemes it may be briefly said that the local under

takings to which he had given so much earnest atten
tion h ave been vigorously carried o ut ; that the com
p u lsor y canal cess although passed
,
into la w by the

I ndian Legislature was disallowed by the S ecretary

,

of S tate ; and that the diffi cult problem of an entirely

separate system of finance for reproductive works ,
3 00 P UBL I C I NS TR UC TI ON IN BE N GA L VE . T. —
4 7 5 0,

against a sustained conspiracy o n the part of his i n

numerable tenants to withhold their rent S uch com .

b i n a t i o n s although occasionally threatened are i n

, ,

practice exceedingly rare I n the ordinary course of .

rural life o ur system of regular j ustice has immensely

,

strengthened the hands of the educated and wealthy

classes i n the struggl e which goes on in a densely
populated country between the rich and the poor A t .

the same time our system of p ublic instruction had ,

in some parts of I ndia supplied an excellent educa

,

tion to the opulent and upper m iddle classes at the

cost of t h e State and made scarcely any provision for
,

the education of the masses .

The E arl of M ayo soon after his arrival was

, ,

struck by th e differences between the various Pro

vinces of I n d ia in this respect I n Bombay for .
,

example he found schools sown broadcast over the

,

country and publ ic instruction planted on a wide

,

and popular basis S o to o in the N orth Western

.
, ,
-

Provinces he s a w the indigenous hamlet schools

,
-

( lza lé d éa n d i
) carefully conserved and proving their ,

vitality under the exact administration of S ir William

,

M uir by a healthy development in the character of

,

their teaching I n Lower Bengal he found quite a

.

different system pursued H igh class education .

-

flourished T he Calcutta U niversity with its central

. ,

knot of able and distinguished professors set the

‘

fashion t o the whole schools of Bengal and practically ,

prescribed th e teaching in a large propo rtion of them .

T he wealthier section of the community had educa

t i o n al facilities lavished upon them such as no other
1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] HI GH CLA S S -
v. P R I IlI AR Y S C HO OLS .
3 0 1

Province of I ndia enj oyed an d such as fe w market ,

( I had almost said county ) towns in E n gland at that

time possessed Th e S tate tried zealously to dis

.

charge its duty i n i nstructing the people and it inter ,

r e t e d this duty to mean a high class education for a

p
-

small section of them I t devoted a very large pro

.

portion of its E ducation Grant to this obj ect and it o h ,

t a i n e d a striking and brilliant success The Bengal i .

B abu has become th e recognised type of the educated

’

native of N orthern I ndia But the Bengal system.

of public instruction effected this triumph at the cost

of the primary education of the masses I ts D istrict .

and upper class schools rose on the ruins o f the ol d

indigenous hamlet schools (p d tsalcts) I f the parents
-
.

of a youth were well off and coul d afford to pay for ,

his education the S tate stepped forward to save them

,

the trouble B ut the indigenous agency of primary

.

instruction received no encouragement Th e village .

teacher (gn r n mafid say ) who from generation to gene ,

ration had gathered the children o f the hamlet into

,

his mat hut and taught them to trace their letters o n

,

the mud floor found h imsel f deserted by his paying

,

pupils H e and his fathers had been accustomed to

.

teach their littl e stock o f knowledge to all comers of

decent caste and to live by the offerings of a fe w of
,

their wealthier disciples They had looked u pon the .

instruction of youth as a religious duty and regarded ,

their o ffice as a priestly one B ut their faith was .

sorely tried under a system which swep t off the well

,

to do youth o f the village to the Government school

-
,

and l eft onl y those who cou l d afford to pa y nothi n g

3 02 TH E ‘
FI L TRA TI ON TH E OR Y VET
’
. .
—
4 7 5 0,

on their hands Ten years ago the indigenous rural

.

schools in Bengal were b eing crushed out and ,

although a stan d was even th en bei n g made on their

behalf the system of public instruction of Bengal still
,

sacrificed th e teaching of the masses to high class -

education when Lord Mayo arrived in I ndia

, .

S ome of his earliest private letters deal with this

subj ect T he B engal auth orities had not adopted
.

their system without mature consideration and they ,

were perfectly prepared to defend it o n logical and

political grounds Their basis was of course the
.
, ,

’
‘
filtration theory of education With 6 7 millions of .

people to educate and an E ducation Grant of 1 ,

or {j 2 1 5 s 6 d per thousand of the population any

, , . .
,

attempt at th e primary instruction of the masses

would swallow up the entire allowance and leave ,

results utterly insignificant They preferred there .

,

fore to concentrate their efforts on middle and espe

, ,
‘

ci a lly on upper class schools and so secure a sound ,

education to a small but an important section of the

people T he effect of this system would not they
.
,

maintained be confined to the classes immediately

,

’
benefited I t woul d filtrate downwards and in the
.
‘
, ,

meanwhile they had a tangible result to show for

,

the money spent I t was much to b e regretted that

.

the peasantry of B engal should sink into a sort of

serfdom of ignorance and that the ancient mechanism ,

of rural education should fall into ruin while the pro

cess was going on The practical result of the system
.

was to arm the rich and the powerful with a n e w

weapon — knowle d ge ; and to burden the poor with
 E D UCA TI OI VA L RE FORM S —
3 04 .
V E T. 4 7 5 0,

politica l and financial suppor t which th e S upreme

Government of I ndia wields Lord M ayo did th is .
,

and he d exterously op ened the way for S ir George

’
Campbell s educational energies at the very outset
of his administration Th e preceding Lieutenant
.

Governor although not perfectly satisfied with th e

,

existing system had not seen his way to making any

,

radical changes in it O ne of his last acts therefore

.
, ,

was to reply to certain inquiries of the Governor

General in Council by a letter which practically main
t a i n e d the s t a t u s gn o T he rej oinder to this despatch
.

was postponed until the n e w Lieutenant Governor -

’
should assume th e reins I t was Lord M ayo s i n
.

variabl e practice to bring to bear upon every large

subj ect the special knowledge which any member of
his Government whether old or young Councillor
, , ,

S ecretary or U nder S ecretary might have acquired

,
-
,

during the cours e of his previous career while e n ,

gaged i n the work of practical administration In .

this case one of the U nder S ecretaries in the H ome

,
-

D epartment of the Government of I ndia wh o had ,

formerly seen something of the actual results of public

instruction in Bengal as an inspector of schools was ,

set to work The who l e system was analysed and

.
,

its deficiencies pointed out A mild letter was then .

drawn u p requesting a further reconsideration of

,

cert a in points by th e B engal Government and ex ,

pressing a solicitude to receive the new Lieutenant

Governor s v iews o n th e question
’
I n I ndia n o .

V iceroy or Provincial Governor ever changes the

’
policy of his predecessor ; he onl y developes it ‘
.
1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] E D UCA I T ON A L RE FORM S .
3 05

The reforms wh i ch followed mark a new era i n th e

history of the Province I t would be impossib l e for .

m e to enter on them here T heir n e t resu l t how .

,

ever may be briefly stated I n 1 8 7 0 —7 1 the D epart

, .

m ent of Public I nstructio n was educating

children in Lo wer Bengal at a cost of to
1
the S tate I n 1 8 7 4 when S ir George Campbell l aid
.
,

down the L ieutenant Governorship he left -

,

children being educated at a cost to Government of

H e had in the interval covered Benga l , ,

with primary schools pieced together and resuscitated

the old indigenous mechanism of rural instruction ,

and without in any essential feature curtailing high

,

class education created a Oon d fi d e system of public ,

instruction for the people of the country .

U p to that period the missionaries had stood

foremost and for long alon e among E nglishmen as
, ,

popular educators i n Bengal T his remark applies to .

missionaries of whatever denomination o r nationality ,

E uropean or A merican — Anglican Presbyterian , ,

Bapti st Wesleyan Roman Catholic o r by whatever

, , ,

n ame they may be known in Christe n dom Lord .

M ayo early realized this fact and had given his ,

earnest sympathy to those engaged in the work .

B efore his short rule closed h e was able i n recording , ,

his v iews on a missionary memorial to state that the ,

educationa l policy of th e Government had i n this

resp ect become in accord with their own I have .
‘

1
R po t by
e r th e
:

D i e c t o of P ub l i c
r r I n tr s u cti o n, LP . . for 1 87 0 7 1 ,
-

PP " 2, 3
2
A d mi i s t n ra t i ve R p o t of B g l
e r en a for 1 873—74 S t at i sti c l R tu s
a e rn ,

cx i .
-
c xi ii .

V O L. I I .
3 06 TH E M UHA M M ADA N S OE BE N GAL VE . T. 47 5 6 ,
-

’
reason to hope runs one of his personal notes that
, ,
‘

the desire which I expressed when I first came to

I ndia namely that no very l ong time would elapse
, ,

before a serious and decided commencement would

b e made in the great work of educating the masses
’
of Bengal will now be realized
, .

I have only space to touch on a single other point

’
of Lord M ayo s educational policy T hat policy .
,

while as above shown founded on a basis co exte n

, ,
-

sive with the educational requirements of the whole

people left the special wants of no section of th e
,

community disregarded H e found for example .

, ,

that th e M uhammadans of B engal stood aloo f from

our system of public instruction and were rapidly ,

dropping out from among the educated classes A s .

a natural consequence they fell behind in the race of

,

life and were being practically excluded from Govern

,

ment employ and the more lucrative professions by ,

the H indus H e also found that the M uhammadans

.

were intensely dissatisfied with this state of things ,

and that their d iscontent assumed in Bengal the

form of active disaffection A fanatical camp on the .

N orth Western border of I ndia was fed by recruits

-
,

and remittances from the Lower Provinces of Bengal .

This camp stood as a permanent menace to our

frontier and ha d more than once involved costly
,

expeditions against it Lord M ayo was the last man

.

i n the worl d to palter with rebellion and he went ,

sternly to the root of disaffection wherever he found

it
. By substituting a provident knowledge of the
facts for the old mixed system of la i ssez f a i r e and
3 08 E D UCA TI ON P R O VI DE D FOR THE M VET 4 7 - 5 0,
.

madan pupils in our schools throughout the various

Provinces of I ndia H e pointed out that in Bengal
.
,

the chief seat of M usalm a n disaffection there were ,

only M uhammadan scholars against

H indus T hat is to say while the M u salman s form
.
,

about one third of the population of the Lieutenant

-

Governorship of Bengal the M uhammadan pupils ,

formed less than one seventh of the attendance at our

-

schools A fter commenting on the lamentable d e fi

.
‘

ci e n cy in the ed u cat i on of a large mass of what was ,

’
not very long ago the most powerful race i n I ndia
, ,

he resumes
Assuming then that after the experience of years
, ,

we have failed to attract the mass of the M uhammadan

peopl e to our system of education and have more , ,

over created a cause of disaffection inasmuch as they ,

fi nd themselves unabl e to participate in the material

advantages which Government education has con
ferred on the H indus it remains to b e seen what
,

remedy can be applied .

‘
All that M r .and others have said confirms ,

the V iew set forth in the S ecretariat M emorandum and ,

shows F irst that a M uhammadan is not a gentle

, ,

man until he has acquired a certain amount of Arabic

and U rdu learning S econd that he will not come
.
,

to a H indu school to be taught by a H ind u teacher .

T hird that we must therefore give way somewhat to

,

their national prej udices and allow to A rabic Persian , , ,

and U rdu a more prominent place in many of our

,

schools and examination tests : That we should aid

U rdu schools as we do B engali schools open out
.
,
 L ORD M A YO S P R OP OS A LS
’
1 8 69 .
3 09

c l asses an d scho l arships in our co l leges for M uha m

ma d a n s and i n eve ry way give them a more equal
,

chance o f filling those lucrative posit i ons whi c h are

n o w almost monopolized by H indus .

‘
A very small change in ed u ca t i on a l t ests w ill I ,

bel ieve effect m uch of the desired obj ect

, .

‘
I think a R esolution brief and carefully worded , ,

might with safety issue I t woul d b e scarcely prudent.

to enter into details or to found the R esolution as

, ,

suggested by my honourable colleague on the fi rst six ,

pages of the S ecretariat N ote able and excellent as ,

it is I wou l d rather substitute somethi n g like the

.

following
“
The condition of the M uhammadan popu l at i on as
‘

regards education has of l ate been frequently pressed

upon the attention of the Government of I ndia F rom .

statistics r e ce n t lv submitted it is evident that in no Pro ,

vince except perhaps in th e N orth W estern Provinces

,
-

and the Panj ab do the M uhammadans adequately o r

, ,

in proportion to the rest of the community avail them ,

selves o f th e educationa l advantages that the Govern

ment offers I t is much to b e regretted that so large
.

and important a class p ossessing a classical literature

,

replete with works of profoun d learning and great

value and counting among its members a section
,

especially devoted to the acquisition and diffusion of

knowledge shoul d stand aloof from active co operation
,
-

with our educational system and should lose the ,

advantages both materia l an d social which others

, ,

enj oy H is E xcellency i n Counci l believes that

.

secondary and higher edu c at i on c onve y ed in the ver

 ORD MA YO S PR OP OSA LS T 4 7—
V
’

3 10 L . E .
5 0,

n a cu la rs ,and rendered more accessibl e than heretofore ,

coupled with a more systematic recognition of A rabic

an d Persian literature woul d b e not only acceptabl e ,

to the M uhammadan community but would enlist the ,

sympathies of the more earnest and enlightened of its

members on the side of education .

“
The Governor General in Counc il is desirous that
‘
-

further encouragement shoul d be given to the classical

a n d vernacular languages of the M uhammada n s in all

Government schools or institutions This need not .

involve any alterations in the subj ects but only in the ,

mode of instruction I n avowedly E nglish schools .

established i n M uhammadan Districts the appoint ,

ment of qualified M uhammadan E nglish teachers

might with advantage be encouraged As in ver .

macular schools so i n this class also assistance might

, ,

j ustly be given to M uhammadans by grants i n aid to - -

create schools of their own .

H is E xcellency in Council desires to call the

attention of local Governments and administrations to
this subj ect and he directs that this resolution b e
,

communicated to them and to the three U niversities

of B engal the N orth Western Provinces and the
,
-
,

Panj a b with a view to eliciting their opi nions as to

,

whether without in fringing the fundamental principles

,

of our educational system some general measures in ,

regard to M uhammadan education might not be i n

a u u ra t e d and whether more encouragement might
g ,

not be given in the U niversity course to Arabic and

"
Persian literature .

A resolution of th is kind would be j ustified by t he

‘
5 12 P R E VI O US A TTE M P TS TO R E M E D Y I T .
VET 4 7 5 0,
.

are redressed from the sup e rflu i t i e s of another r e ,

mained unknown factors in administrative calculations

of the most important practical sort T he E ast I ndia .

Company had again and again endeavoured to obtain

a n a ccu ra t e
. knowledge of the territories which its
servants had won I ndividua l administrators had
.

laboured in some cases with a large measure of suc

,

cess to collect such information

, T he first S ettle
.

ment O perations in various parts of I ndia formed a

vast storehouse of rural facts ; and the later efforts
of S ir Richard T emple in the Central Provinces had
set the example of making the ebb and flow of inter
provincial trade a subj ect of serious study B ut no .

organization existed in the Government of I ndia for

working up the results thus obtained or for extending ,

such local efforts on a uniform system over the whol e

country A n accurate statistical knowledge of a Pro
.

vince or even of a D istrict was a speciality n ot u n

, ,

frequently th e exclusive possession of a single officer ,

and which sometimes died with him F or example .

,

in a country in which a few inches more or l ess of

rainfall determine the yearly question of abundance
or famine for millions of people nothing dese r ving
,

the name of organized study had been devoted to the

meteorology of the most imperilled Districts The .

absence of systematic investigation of the resources of

I ndia had from time to time been urged against the
Government alike by eminent thinkers and by practical
men in E ngland and it had from time to time landed
,
’
that Government in disastr ous surprises .

D uring the twent y y ears preceding the Earl of

1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] IVH E R E THE Y FA I LE D .
313

M ayo s Viceroya l ty much had b een done to meet this

’

j ust reproach A geological department had been

.

organized the topographical survey and grand tri

,

angulation of I ndia had been pushed on th e S ettle ,

ment operations had been skilfully utilized officers ,

wh o displayed a zeal i n studying the facts of th e

peopl e had generally received early promotion and ,

an adequate liberality had been displayed towards

private researches in the s ame direction But no .

corresponding change ha d taken p l ace in the organiza

tio n of th e Central Government When the country .

passed to the Crown th e Calcutta H ome O ffice — a

,

vast overgrown D epartment — still supervised the

,

whol e administration of B ritish I ndia I t had grown .

with the growth of the Company and its history ,

forms a nob l e memorial of the development of the

sens e of responsibility in th e ruling race Chan ges . ,

to be presently alluded to partially re l ieved th e H ome

,

D epartment under the first three Viceroys and what

ever aid i t coul d derive from a methodical distribution
’
of work it had obtained during Lord Lawrence s
,

administration When th e E arl of M ayo succeeded

.
,

he found it o ffice re d by a strong and an experienced

staff presided over by two U nder S ecretaries a Chief
,
-
,

S ecretary and two M embers of Council Practically

, .
,

i t was divided into two branches each with an U nder

,

S ecretary an d M ember of Council ; while th e Chief

S ecretary stoo d as i t were between th e cross fir e of -

work which daily poured up from th e two U nder

S ecretaries through hi m to the two M embers of
Council an d the V i cero y T he tenden cy of such an
.
 1
3 4 TH E HOM E OFFI CE D I VI D E D .
VET 4 7—
.
5 0,

arrangement was to allow no leisure for the vast

growth of n e w questions which are daily springing
up around t h e Government of I ndia or to leave their ,

stu d y to a larger extent than might otherwise have

,

been permitted in the hands of the U nder S ecretaries

,
-
.

O ne man cannot permanently do the work of t wo .

The utmost devotion and capacity for labour on the

part of a Chief S ecretary could not remove the funda
-

mental difficulties o f his position ; and as one who ,

served for a time as U nder S ecretary I may be -

,

permitted to record the admiration which every one

in the Department felt for the statesman who under
Lord Lawrence and Lord M ayo filled this arduous
office The Earl of M ayo resolved to give f ormal
.

recognition to what had for some time back been an

actual fact and to erect the two branches of th e
,

H O me O ffice into t wo separate Departments each with ,

a proportionate part of the old staff and an U nder ,

S ecretary S e cr e t a r y } a n d M ember of Council of its own

,
.

I n so doing he gave to a proc ess which had been

going on since I ndia passed to the Crown its logical ,

and final developme nt During even the short S pace .

of a generation of I ndian officials seve ral great De ,

a r t me n t s had almost grown out of the H ome O ffice

p .

The Public Works D epartment the Legislative and ,

the F inancial had attained to entirely n e w proportions

,

from this cause T hus to take the one last named

.
, ,

the management of the Customs the Salt D uty and ,

-
,

1
As wi ll be p s tly m t i o d Lo d M y o s fi s t p o p o s l w t
re e n en ne , r a
’
r r a as o

pl c
a e the n ew D p tm t u d
e ar en D i cto G n l i s t d of
er a re r- en er a , n ea a

Se c r e t ar y t Gov
o e rn me n t .
5 6
1 TH E N E W DE P AR TM E N T .
[2E1 .

T here was however a s econd leading principle

, ,

which guided Lord M ayo in his redistribution of the

work of internal government and which should per ,

haps have h eld t he first place in this recital of his

‘

motives Lord M ayo keenly realized as more than

.
,

one of his predecessors had felt be fore him that the ,

foreign rulers of I ndia had fallen short of their duty

in the study of the country and its people H e saw .

that the chief source of their errors i n the past and of ,

their peril i n the future is want of knowle d ge S ince

, .

their first short period of unrighteous rule in the last

century the one desire of every great I ndian a d mi n i
,

s t ra t o r
,
and the permanent policy of the controlling
body in E ngland has been to govern j ustly Where
, .

they have failed they have failed from ignorance

, .

T he same fault wo ul d b e predicable of any other

foreign administrators who tried to rule in the inte
rests o f the people ; but unhappily for the world the
, ,

E nglish in I n d ia are the first historical example of an

a lien conqueri n g race struggling to govern in this
sense T he E arl of Mayo resolved to accomplish
.

what the most eminent of his predecessors had looked

forward to and longed after— the practical organization
of a great Department of K nowledge I n r e d i s t ri b u t
.

ing the work of internal administration he co nce n ,

t ra t e d under th e n e w D epartment every branch of

.

inquiry into the country and its people T he trigo .

n o me t r i ca l measurement of I ndia the topographical

,

mapping of its Pro v i n ize s the revenue survey of its

,

D istricts th e explorations of its coasts and seas the

, ,

g eologica l s c rutin y into its mineral wea l th the observa ,

 DE P AR TM E N T OE R N O WLE D G E
'

1 8 69 A .
517

tion an d record of its meteorological phenomena th e ,

exploitation of its agricultural products a nd its com

me rci a l capabilities the minute researches of the
,

S ettlement O ffi cers into th e details of rural life— all

these and other isolated branches of inquiry h e
gathere d up into a firmly concentrated whole .

Where he found the search after knowledge already

going on he systematized it and he endeavoured to
, ,

complete th e missing limbs by organizing a statistical

survey of each D istrict of I ndia A single one of the .

pieces of work executed under the n e w Department

’
before its founder s death may b e briefly stated as the
,

first census ever taken of the people of I ndia Papers .

of the utmost importance have been from tim e to time

prepared by it and given to the p ublic on that large , ,

class of I ndian pro ducts which possess commercial

capabilities not yet fully developed — such as the
rhea fibre destined to change the textile industries of
th e world silk tobacco lac etc I n agriculture h e
, , , , .

believed that th e rulers had something to teach bu t ,

still more to learn I n developing the trade and ex

.

p lo r i n g th e products an d capabilities of the country ,

he held that the duty of the Government ceased when

it had by practical experiments pointed out the way
and removed the obstacles from it F or the fruits o f .

his efforts whether in agriculture or commerce he

, ,

looked to Private enterprise B ut h e held that it was

.

a p roper function of Government situated as the ,

I ndian Government is to supply the initial knowle d ge

,

without which Private enterprise in I ndia does not

come i nto p l a y ,
3 8
1 A DE P AR TM E N T OF KN O WLE D GE .
[E T —
47 5 0 ,

The foregoing paragraphs endeavour to give a

’
general statement of Lord M ayo s views put together ,

from his speeches i n p ublic and private his Viceregal ,

notes offi cial despatches and such of his personal

, ,

letters as have come into my hands Those views .

were the growth of several years They began to .

form themselves in his mind during the first months

of his Viceroyalty and the process of development
,

was visibly going on a fe w weeks before his death .

A lasting administrative reform seldom leaps fort h in

full panoply from any single brain The E arl of .

’
M ayo s reforms certainly di d not They grew with 1
.

the growth of his knowledge E ven after h e laid his

.

plans officially before the S ecretary of S tate in the

second year of his Viceroyalty his views received ,

important modifications ; and as already menti oned in

,

a footnote the n e w D epartment instead of being a

, ,

D irector Generalship as Lord Mayo first proposed

-
, ,

was formed into an independent S ecretariat of the

Government of I ndia .

H is conception of th e duties of such a department

sprang primarily from the necessity which the I n d ian
Government felt for a more accurat e knowledge re
garding the agriculture and the commerce of the
country Manchester was demanding a larger supply
.

of cotton with a longer staple and some sort of

, ,

s ecurity that the bales exported did not consist largely

“
of broken bricks The tea planters on the N orth
.

E astern frontier had grown into a great interest with ,

many wants to be satisfied and a most d ifficult labour

,

problem to get adj usted J ute and oil seeds were

.
5 29 A DE P AR TM E N T OE A GR [ C UL TURE VET. .
47 5 6 ,
-

Agriculture on which every o n e here depends is

, ,

almost entirely neglected by the Government I .

have seen enough already in my wanderings to kno w

that there is an enormous field not exactly for the ,

reform but for the investigation of husbandry in

,

’
I n d ia .
’
Every day runs a letter to another friend
‘
, ,

later in the year the want of a D epartment for ,

‘

agricul t ure and trade is more keenly felt and I b e ,

lieve that the establishment of a separate Department

of the Government for this obj ect would be one of
the most useful measures which coul d at present b e
taken i nt o co n si d e ra t i o n At the same time the E arl ’
'

of M ayo determined in his own mind the limits , ,

within which such a D epartment could profitably act .

O ne of the innumerabl e proposals of the improved

pump and steam plough orde r had been for the S tate
’
to commend an ammoniac manure to th e I ndian ‘

’
h usbandman I do not know wrote Lord M ayo
.
‘
, ,

"
‘
what is precisely meant by ammoniac manure If .

it means guano superphosphate or any artificial pro

, ,

duct of that kind we might as well ask the people of

,

’
I ndia to manure their ground with champagne In .

another of his V iceregal notes he puts the case thus

‘
I n connection with agriculture we must be careful
of two things F irst we must not ostentatiously tell
.
,

native husbandmen to do things which they have

been doing for centuries S econd we must not tell .
,

’
them to do things which they can t do and have n o ,

means of doing I n either case they will laugh at us

. ,

and they will learn to disregard really useful advice

’
when it is given .
1 8 6 9—7 2] H I S C ON CE P TI ON OP [ TS D UTI E S .
5 2 1

H e did not i nfer h owever that nothing could b e

, ,

’
done . F or generations to come runs one of his
‘
,

officia l Despatches the progress of I ndia i n weal th

,
‘

and c ivilisation must be directly dependent on her

progress in agriculture Agricultural p roducts must .

l ong continue the most important part of her exports ;

and th e future development of I n dian commerce will
mainly depend upon the improvement in the quantity
and quality of existing agricultural staples or on the ,

introduction of n e w products which shall serve as ,

materials for manufacture and for use in the indus

trial arts The efforts o f the Government of I ndia
.

and of E nglish enterprise have doubtless been bene , ,

fici a l Thus important progress has been made in

.
,

regard to cotton L arge sums of money were spent

.

in form er years in attempts to improve its cultivation ,

b ut with little result owing to the mistaken system

,

under which they were made I t has become mani .

’
fest that its improvement by the i ntroduction of ,
‘

exotic seed can only b e secured by careful and pro

,

longed experimental c ultivation Renewed attention .

has been more recently given to this subj ect with

much better effect The success of our tea coffee
.
, ,

and cincho na plantations shows what has been and ,

may b e done in introducing into I ndia n e w and valu

able products J ute which not long ago was hardly
.
,

u sed has become an article of firs t rate commercial

,
-

interest T he world derives from I ndia nearly the

.

who l e of its supply of indigo — a staple which was ,

’

promot ed by th e Company s example i n the last

’

century as the Calcutta manuscript records abun

,

V O L. 11 . x
 D E SP A TCH ON T 4 7—
3 22
VE .
5 0,

d a n t ly
attest W e have within the l ast fe w months
.
‘

taken special measures for improv i ng and fa c ilitating

the preparation of rhea fibre .
’ 1

There is perhaps no country in the worl d in which

‘
, ,

the State has so immediate and direct an interest in

such questions T h e Government of I ndia is not .

only a Government but the chief landlord The land , .

revenue which yields twenty millions sterling of h e r

,

annual income is derived from that proportion of th e

,

rent which belongs to the S tate and not to individual ,

proprietors T hroughout the greater part of I ndia

.
,

every measure for the improvement of the land

enhances the value of the property of the S tate The .

duties which in E ngland are performed by a goo d

landlord fal l in I ndia in a great measure upon the
, , ,

Government Speaking generally the only I ndian

.
,

landlord who can command the requisite knowledge

and capital is the S tate .

The Government has always at least by its legis ,

lation recognised this duty The system of givi n g

, .

a d vances of public money called mean has prevailed , ,

more or less since 1 7 9 3 up to the present time The .

security is complete ; the land is responsible for the

repayment This system is identical with that which
.

has been carried out in E ngland and I reland by means

of the Land I mprovement Acts We are satisfied .

that the principle may receive a wider development

than has hitherto been given to it .

A dvances of money should b e usually made for

‘

1
co n d e
I n s e th e D sp t ch b y t h o mi ss i o
e a e n of d
i n t erme i a t e c l a us e s o r
p ar ag ph s
ra .
5 24 A C R [ C UL TURA L [ M P R O VE M E N TS .
VET 4 7 5 o,
.

attention has recently been directed to the fisheries of

I ndia This is a subj ect which has hitherto been
.

little cared for b ut which appears likely to prove of

,

’
considerable economic importance .

A s far back as 1 8 5 4 the Court of D irectors quot

, ,

ing the words of a distinguished educational authority

in Bengal had declared there was no single advantage
,
‘

that coul d be afforded to th e rural population of I ndia ,

which would equal the introduction of an improved

’
system of agriculture Lord M ayo more than once
.

had to point out the very serious practical an d

economic difficulties which lay in the way of i n t ro d u c
ing any such change from above B ut while fully .

realizing those difficulties he believed that something

,

might b e done by the Government setting the example

in small model farms and proving quite silently but
,

visibly to the cultivators the value of improvements

by the result of actual experiments I n E urope he .
,
’

said progress in this direction has been mainly based

,

on private effort and by the application of the i n t e lli

,

gence of the agri cultural classes themselves to the

ends in view I n almost all civilised countries how
.
,

ever i n which unl ike E ngland the form of Govern

, , ,

ment is cen t r a li z ed the efforts of the p eople are

,

powerfully aided by the co O p eration of a S tate -

,

Department of Agriculture which works i n p a r t ,

directly th rough its own agency and in part through ,

agricultural and other societies E ven in I ndia such .

,

societies have been extremely useful and they might ,

properly receive more encouragement from the

G overnment than has hitherto been given to them .
. 1 8 69 TH E A GR TC UL T UR AL DE P AR TM E N T: 5 25

But we cannot expect to obtain in th i s way any great

results T he w ork that is performed by the great
.

A gricultural S ocieties of E urope must be performed

’
i n I ndia by the Government or not at all .

\Vith the practical exhibition of the results of such

experiments Lord M ayo held that the direct efforts
,

of the State towards the improvement of I ndian

husbandry should cease E xcepting in these cases . ,

h e declared that the Government cannot with a d v a n ‘

tage attempt to carry on any of the operations of

agriculture I n regard to this as to other branches
.
,

of industry th e S tate may do m uch to foster and

,

encourage the efforts of private individuals but it can ,

do comparatively l ittle through the direct agency of

its own servants N evertheless the exceptions to
.
,

this rule will in this country b e important ; and we

, ,

believe that it may often b e the duty of the Go v ern

m ent to act as the pioneer to private enterprise I t .

has done this to some extent already T hus for .

,

example the introduction of tea and cinchona cultiva

,

tion into I ndia has been mainly due to th e Govern

’
ment .

T he Government of I ndia had not however chiefly , ,

to teach the natives h o w to improve their husbandry ;

it had to learn h o w to conduct its own Th e ruling .

power is a great forest proprietor and it had not up ,

to that time been a very successful one The forests .

had been handed over to the Public Works Depart

m ent in th e absence of any special branch of the
,
‘

’
administration to superv ise them Lord Mayo re .

solved that their efficient management should be one

5 26 L ORD M A YO D E ETN E S [ TS D UTI E S VET
. .
47 5 6 ,
-

of th e distinct duties of his n e w D epartment T he .

forest tracts are in many parts of I ndia inhabited by

wild tribes who still cling to the nomadic stage of
husbandry — burning down a spot here and there in
,

the j ungle and after exhausting it with a rapid succes

,

sion of crops deserting it at the e n d of three years

,

for fresh clearings This form of cultivation is a.

wasteful one and has often wounded the economical

,

susceptibilities of the British D istrict O fficer B ut it .

i s a natural stage in the progress of agriculture an d ,

where virgin soil is abundant and the population

sparse it rests not only on deeply rooted tribal tra d i
,

tions but on economic grounds A ny rough inter

,
.

ference with it causes discontent and misery ; and as ,

already stated Lord Mayo had more than once t o

,

criticise the zeal of the F orest Administration in this

respect S imilar effects had sometimes resulted from
.

other improvements E ven irrigation itself occa

.

s i o nally displaced a population and in several parts of ,

I ndia created a safeguard against dearth only at the

c ost of desolating the villages by malaria The Earl .

of M ayo held that the n e w D epartment should be

responsible for seeing not only that work was well ,

done but that it was done without sacrificing the

,

pre existing interests of the people I n the single

-
.

instance of serious mismanagement of this sort which

came to his notice he recorded his o p i n on in u n mi s
,

takeable terms .

’
Last year he said in one of his Viceregal N otes
, , ,

s report was placed in my hands declaring

’
when ,

that the mOst palpable result of opening up of com

3 28 R E B UKE D , A N D S TOP PE D .
[E T 4 7 5 0,
-

i ngly unhealthy F ifty per cent of th e population of

. .

( which is exceeding sparse givi n g only an ave ,

rage of 2 8 souls to the square mile) is composed of the

wildest tribes T he great majority of the agriculturists
.

appear to be of restless habits T hey do not settle .

down and generally move from one spot to another

,

in every three or four years .

I n such a District and i n such a peopl e as this

‘
,

we have evidently been endeavouring to establish

our complicated and highly organized administrative
system .

There is a sort of cultivat i on which however

‘
,

barbarous and destructive is the only one known to

,

this people We have prohibited it over nine tenths

.
-

O f t he District We have taxed the tree which grows

.

wild throughout their forests and gives them food and

,

’
drink We have permitted th e native landholder s
.

agent to levy th e rent of those who emigrated from

the remainder who stayed behind We have per .

mi t t e d the subordinates of the trigonometrical survey

to ill treat the people We have made the people
-
.

pay dues for grazing their cattle in the Government

wastes .

A nd all this is administered by a small body of

‘

E uropean and native officers not one of whom can ,

speak the only language wh ich the people understand .

I w ish to point out all this to my colleagues and

‘
,

particularly to S ir Richard Temple who knows the ,

country well ; and to ask them whether they think

the remedies proposed by are sufficient .

I t is our duty to take steps to extend to this w ild

1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] M [ N E R AL RE S O UR CE S OP [ N D[ A .
5 29

and semi populated D i strict a system of administra

-

tion more suitable to the people and more creditable

’
to our rule .

T he I ndian Government besides being th e chief ,

landholder 15 also a great minera l proprietor Lord

, .

M ayo devoted close attention to the labours of the

Geological S urvey and supplemented them by special ,

researches conducted with a view to ascertaining the

,

marketable value and the commercial capabilities of

the ores and coal fie ld s I ndia at this moment is o n
-
.

th e verge of a n e w future The dense population .

,

which has hitherto been crushed down upon the soil ,

and forced to live by the one I ndian industry tillage , ,

will within the next generation have vast new outlets

opened to them by th e development of the minera l
resources Lord M ayo sa w that we have in I ndia
.

i nexhaustibl e stores of the three elements of mineral

enterprise coal iron and lime B ut h e also saw that
, , , .

such enterprise in I ndia i s surrounded by a set of

problems unknown i n E ngland and which had deterred ,

A nglo I ndian capitalists from entering the field F or

-
.

example while we have coal iron and lime in plenty

, , , ,

they do not occur as in E ngland near to each other , ,

in sufficient quantities as to j ustify the establishment

of smelting furnaces o n a great scale -
T he iron .

manufacture of I ndia is with a fe w exceptions sti l l , ,

in the hands of the semi aborigina l j ungle tribes -

,

w h o scratch about for their ore get their flux in ,

handfuls of nodules from the river beds and make -

,

their fuel by turning patches of the forest into char

coal L ord M a y o perceived that the first problem
.
5 5 6 OB S TACLE S TO THE [ R D E VE L OP M E N T [E T .
47 5 6 ,

which I n d ian mineral enterprise on a large scale has

to solve is that of carriage for instance how to bring ,

the limestone of the S on ( S oane) valley to the coal

and iron ores o f R é mga nj I t must be remembered
'

that it is the return freight to E ngland which pays

for an I ndian voyage so that metals come out from
,

Liverpool at low rates The E nglish ironmaster

.

enters the I ndian market as lightly weighted with r e

gard to carriage as an I ndian iron smelter would have
,

found himself a fe w years ago b efore he got his ore

,

and flux into his furnace Lord Mayo therefore

.

applied himself to the development of mineral lines ,

roads and canals and insisted on th e railway mineral

, ,

rates being fixed on th e lowest possible scale .

A nother d ifficulty arises from the difference in the

chemical structure of the E nglish and the I ndian
coals English coals yield on an average under 4
.
, ,

per cent of ash ; the I n dian coals give over 1 5 per

.

cent This not only increases the cost of carriage

.
,

but it raises a n e w set 0 1 difficulties with regard to

th e use of I ndian coals for the uniform and continuous
high temperature required in smelting English .

capital in I ndia wisely shrinks from the perils inci

dent to wholly unexplored industries T he element .

of the unknown had in this way acted as a deterrent

to mineral enterprise Lord M ayo believed it to be
.

a prop er function of Government to do something

towards supplying the initial data which such enter
prise requires and h e laid this down as one of th e
,

duties of his n e w D epartment U n der its auspices

. ,

reports have been communicated to the public in the

55 2 TH E DE P AR TM E N T OE C OM M E R CE .
[E L 47 5 6 ,

from the I ndian coal measures and efforts are being

-

made by private capitalists in Bengal to commercially

solve the problem of iron manufacture on a large
scale .

F rom the first L ord M ayo insisted on his n e w

,

Department being a D epartment of Commerce as

’
well as of agriculture The Company s old monopoly
.

left behind it a j ealousy of the private merchant and

an indifference to h is interests Long before Lord .

’
M ayo s V iceroyalty this j ealousy had dwindled from
,

a political influence into a social tradition But it had .

suffi ced to retard the adoption of the enlightened

measures with regard to the supervision of commerce ,

which in E ngland centres in the Board of Trade .

’
I ndia at the time of Lord M ayo s accession had no
, ,

B oard of Trade nor anything corresponding to it

,
.

H e determined in forming his n e w Department to

, ,

create a nucleus of such a Board H is original pro .

posal was that its head shoul d bear the title of

Director General of th e D epartment of Agriculture
-

’ ’
and Commerce We are convinced he said that
.
‘
, ,
‘

if there had b een a D epartment the special business ,

of which was to make itself thoroughly acquainted

with all facts of importance regarding the commercial
transactions of I ndia to observe intelligentl y th e
,

operations of external and internal trade and to ,

watch the effect produced on th e commerce of the

count ry by our fiscal system our legislation would ,

have been very different from what it has actually

been I f such a Department had existed we doubt
.
,

whether th e export duties which we now levy o n

1 86 9—7 2 ] A B OARD OF TRADE .
3 33

som e o f th e main staples of a gricu l tura l produce ,

and even on articl es of I ndian manufacture woul d ,

have been imposed or maintained I f such a D epart .

ment had existed it woul d never have tolerated the

,

continuance of duties such as those which are stil l

levied on sugar from the N orth Western Provinces -

across th e I nland Customs line These duties are .

transit duties of the worst d escription levied on one ,

of the most important articles of agricultural produce

in N orthern I ndia .

’
S uch a D epartment he continued wou l d not
‘
, ,
‘

on l y deal with questions of commercial taxation but ,

with all branches of the statistics of trade both ex ,

ternal an d internal ; the developm ent of our growi n g

branches of manufacturing industry the la w of patents , ,

the mineral resources of the country questions relating ,

to th e census and to emigration and all other kindred ,

subj ects connected with the development of the mate

’
rial resources o f I ndia I t would also do something
.
,

h e hoped towards th e establishment of a suitable

,
‘

’
system of industrial education by the encouragement ,

of popular treatises in the vernaculars on industrial ‘

subj ects and their disseminatio n among the artisan

,

’
classes H e pointed out that the area dealt with by
.

the Board of Trade in E ngland had hitherto received

no adequate attention in I n d ia The experience of .
‘

’
the E nglish B oard of Trade he concludes would , ,
‘

supply information for placing the O perations of an

I ndian Commercial D epartment on a satisfactory
’
footing .

T he primary functions of the new D epartment

55 4 D E VE L OP M E N T OE M VET 47 56 ,
.

were therefore to b e : F irst those discharged by th e ,

D epartments of Agriculture in A merica in F rance , ,

and generally speaking in all E uropean cou n t r 1e s

, ,

having like I ndia a centralized form of Government

, , .

S econd those discharged in E ngland by the Board of

,

T rade T o these were added in th e third place the

.
, ,

administration of certain branches of taxation such as ,

opium salt inland customs and other sources of the

, , ,

national income which in I ndia are technically called

’
‘
S eparate Revenue The central mechanism thus
.

created Lor d M ayo proposed to utilize as a D epart

,

ment of S tatistics and K nowledge T he n e w S ecre .

tariat was constructed at a very small ad d ition to the

public expenditure by th e redistribution of the work
,

and of the staff of the H ome F inancial and Public , ,

Works D epartments I t n o w b ears the style of the.

D epartment of Revenue Agriculture and Commerce , , .

I have devoted so m uch space to the four great

’
lines of the E arl of M ayo s internal government to ,

h is searching retrenchments his development of rail ,

ways and canals his education policy and the formal

, ,

creation of a n e w Department charged with the super

vision of agriculture commerce and the study of the
, ,

people that a few paragraphs must suffi ce for his

,

miscellaneous measures Their variety and number .

would in any case compel the utmost brevity D uring .

’
Lord Mayo s V iceroyalty municipal institutions r e ,

c e i v e d a marked development th r oughout I ndia The .

E arl of M ayo fully realized h o w slow a growth muni

c i a l rights and municipal responsibilities had been i n
p
E urope H e did not expect to teach the great lesson
.
336 L ORD M A YO ON G A 0L VET 4.
7
-
5 6,

diaries are full of observations noted down after

inspecting the local gaols ; and during his V iceroyalty
h e saw many changes for the better introduced into
their management A mong other points he made up
.
,

his mind that E uropean convicts should cease to b e

the formidabl e difficulty they had hitherto proved ;
and that a sentence by an I n d ian co u rt should not be
a device for obtain ing a comfortable j ourney home .

’
‘
Th e whole question he writes in one of his personal
,

notes turns upon this Can you provide in I ndia a

,
‘
.

place where E uropean convicts can undergo penal

servitude with as much rigour and with as little risk ,

to health as in E ngland ?
, H e had to deal with ’

the O pposite extremes of severity and of leniency

’

’
Y o u have no right he said to inflict a punishment
, ,

of death up o n a prisoner who has only been sentenced

’
for a term of years or for life by keeping him in a ,

disease stricken gaol

-
O n the other hand you must
.
,

not release a E uropean because he is merely in as

delicate a state of health in gaol as h e would probably
’
have been had he been free I n I ndia a chronic .

battl e had gone on between th e D istrict O fficer who

was determined that prison should b e a distinctly
unc omfortable place for the criminal classes within his
j urisdiction and the M edical O fficer who was equally
,

determined to show a lo w death rate in his gaol and -

,

to dismiss every convict at the end of his sentence

weighing a good many pounds heavier than when he
entered th e prison gates M uch was done during .

’
Lord M ayo s V iceroyalty to bring this long strife to a
reasonable conclusion .
1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] M [ S CE LLA N E O US M E A S UR E S .
557

The Earl of M ayo perce i ved that th e Poor White

had become a grave administrative problem in I ndia .

F or the fallen E urop ean he provided by a Vagrancy

A ct and he laboured to keep down the numbers of
,

this unhappy class by fostering schools and asylums

for the poorer E nglish and E urasian children S uch .

institutions had up to that time received scant aid

from the S tate and Lord M ayo did not live to carry
,

out their improvement Th e truth is our whole

.
,

system of S tate instruction in I ndia has been designed ,

and rightly designed for the natives The poorer

, .

classes of the E uropean community are still i made

u at e l provided f o r by the Government Lord
q y .

M ayo thought that the fi rst thing to be done was to

place the existing schools for E uropean children on a
sound and effi cient basis before building new ones .

I have already alluded to the Commission of inqui r y

and reform which he appointed for the Lawrence
A sylums I n the Presidency towns he exerted his
.

influence to use his own words to increase the

, ,
‘

m eans of instruction for th e Christian poor and espe ,

’
c i a lly of the class immediately above the poorest .

A mong the administrative improvements carr i ed

out during his Viceroyal ty the following may be
,

briefly summarized T he great question of emigra

.

tion was reconsidered and placed on its present basis ;

,

th e emigrants being protected by l egislative enact

ments against private cupidity or mismanagement
during their voyage over seas I n like manner a .

series of stringent provisions put an end to the over

crowding i n pilgrim ships and native passenger
VO L. 1 1. Y
3 38 M [ S CE LLAN E O US M E A S URE S .
[E T 47 5 6
-
.

vesse l s which had yearly cost so many lives T he

, .

innumerable and very perplexing varieties of weights

and measures throughout I ndia were investigated ;
and an Act passed after long and careful discussion
, ,

fixing the metre and kilogramm e as the uniform units

of measure and weight E ach Province received i n
.

turn the attention of Lord M ayo and his counsellors .

I n the N orth Western Provinces of Bengal protection

-

to person and property were secured by the Village

Police A ct— a measure which although brought to ,

its last stage after Lord M ayo s accession b elongs ’

more properly to the preceding V iceroyalty T he .

ancient nobility of O udh had not yet emerged from

the ruin and confusion in which native misrule and
the M utiny of 1 8 5 7 had left them By a co mp r e he n .

sive measure of the nature of a very mild E u cum

,

bered E states A ct L ord M ayo provided for the

,

settlement of their debts and the efficient manage ,

ment of their property during the process of liquida

tion Throughout all N orthern I ndia in O udh i n
.
, ,

the N orth Western Provinces and in the Panj ab h e

-
, ,

organized on a legislative basis a system of local

, ,

rates for the construction of roads the maintenance o f ,

t he rural police and district post ; the building and

,

repair of schoolhouses hospitals dispensaries lunatic

, , ,

asylums markets wells and tanks The series o f

, , , .

measures by which h e effected this a r e fraught with

importance to millions o f m en B ut I must here .

close a narrative already too long and which any ,

attempt at a complete enumeration of the acts of his

Government would extend to an intolerable length .
 ORD MA YO S AD VI SE R S —
[E
’

3 40 L . T 4 7 5 0,

’
regenerating the Company s services S ir Barrow .

Ellis experience la y in the high functions of govern

’

ment H e had for many years held the most i m

.

portant place i n the direction of the Bombay Presi

den e y and he knew h ow to manage the Local Govern
,

ments and to gauge t he effect which an order of

,

th e Viceroy i n Council would have upon their very

various systems with a certitude which contributed
,

’
largely to Lord Mayo 5 success I n like manner the .
,

Chief S ecretary i n t h e H om e Department M r , .

E dward Clive Bayley represented the highest

,

result of long experienc e in the central direction of

affairs and has since attained to one of the highest
,

posts ; while M r All a n O ctavian H ume C B .

, . .
,

brought as Chief S ecretary in the D epartment of

,

Revenue Agricu l ture a n d Commerce an exact know

, , ,

ledge o f local facts and D istrict requirements to the

n e w duties which the Government of I ndia had take n

up As if to give emphasis to their different types

.
,

while the former is the mos t eminent O rientalist the ,

latter is the most distinguished n aturalist at presen t

in the Bengal Civil Service This combination of .

D istrict experience with the talent for large affairs ,

alike in his t wo H ome M iniste r s and their Chief

’
S ecretaries greatly strengthened the V iceroy s hands
,

and did much to produce that practical knowledge of

detail tempered with calm breadth of view which
, ,

formed so marked a feature of L ord Mayo s I nternal ’

Administration .

Lor d M ayo was a thorough believer in private

enterprise H e had denoun c ed protection in his
.
‘ ’
1 8 69- 7 2 ] VI E WS T
ON P RI VA E E N E RP R I SE T .
3 41

first youthful book an d he brought t he same convi e

,

tions to his final task of governing an empire H e .

grudged neither toil nor public money in helping to

develope the resources of I ndia ; but he rigidly marked
out th e limits of such aid H e maintained that i n .
,

ordinary cases G overnment had done its duty when

,

it supplied the i nitial knowledge without which private

enterprise in I ndia does not come i n to play ; together
with the material facilities such as roads o r harbours
, ,

without which it cannot work I n the rarer instances .

i n which the introduction of a n e w staple depends

upon costly experim ents which in I ndia have to be
,

made by Government or not at all such as the first ,

cultivation of tea and cinchona or th e utilizing of the ,

rhea fibre he held that the function of the S tate was

,

to initiate an d withdra w H e believed that the safe

.

increase of the I ndian populat i on and the possibility ,

of raising the I ndian revenues to the level required

for e ffi cient govern ment depended o n the extension
,

of private enterprise especially of undertakings con

,

ducted by E nglish capital H is V iceroyalty witnessed

.

the fi nal breakwater established between any lingering

’
traditio n of officia l j ealousy of the interloper and the ,

free opening of I ndia to Br itish enterprise under the

Crown .

H is bel ief in the need of such enterprise however , ,

made him the more hostile to spurious imitations of it

and woul d have rendered him the more resolute to do
j ustice in any conflict between I ndian an d E nglish
interests H e thought that the system of Guaranteed
.

R ailwa y s among other bad features fa l sel y bore the

, ,
3 42 I N DI A A S A FI E LD [E T 4 7 5 0,
-

name of private enterprise and was no t its reality , ,

but its s ham H e believed that the cheap labour

.

of I ndia instead of being a danger to the British

,

manufacturer would prove a new field for his energy

, .

H e looked forward to the day when the true interest

of Manchester will be understood ; and when the
’
j ealous manipulation of a powerless D ependency s
ta riff will seem an incredible episode in the history
,

of a City which taught the language of free trade to -

the world The E nglish cotton spinners are at this

.
-

moment learning the lesson wh ich the E nglish landed

classes have practised M anufacturers almost alone
.
,

among E nglishmen have hitherto been able when

, ,

they pleased to keep their children around them and

, ,

to settle them one after another in their own line

and near their own homes I n going about S cot .

land nothing strikes one more than the sight n o t

, ,

uncommon in even small manufacturing towns of as ,

many as three handsome separate mansions each ,

almost a country seat built for the sons of a single

,

family in one generation and constructed and main ,

t a i n e d out of the profits of neighbouring mills .

A t no distant date manufacturers will accept the

,

necessity of sending out their sons to the British D e

pendency where a small ca pital guided by previous
, ,

training goes furthest in their own i ndustry ; precisely

,

as the E nglish squire and th e English farmer in their ,

different lines have accepted this necessity and i n

, ,

other colonies acted upon it As well might the .

Cheviot laird l ook askance at the sheep runs of -

Australi a or t he L othian agriculturist fe el j ealous

,
5 44 L ORD M A Y O S H OSP [ TAL[ T1 E S
’
.
[H 2 4 7- 5 6 ,

th e people and princes of I ndia H is Royal H ighness .

’
the D uke of E dinburgh s progress touched chords
in the oriental imagination which had lain mute since
th e overthrow of the D ehli throne and called forth ,

an outburst of loyalty such as had never before been

awakened in the history of our rule I t was th e seal .

of peace ; an act of oblivion for the struggle which

placed I ndia under the Crown and for the painful ,

memories which that struggl e left behind I t has .

proved th e harbinger of a visit more stately an d

more august and destined to produce a still deeper
,

effect on the I ndian heart .

I n his ceremonial as in his official duties the ,

E arl of Mayo h ad t he ease of conscious strength .

H is nobl e courtesies the splendour of his hospitality

, ,

and his magnificence o f life seemed in him only a ,

natural complement o f rare administrative power .

The most charming of I ndian novels } in touching

off the ideal of the head of I ndia n society u n co n ,

s ci o u s ly delineates Lord M ayo B ut indeed it would

.

be almost impossible to draw a great I ndian Viceroy

in his social aspects without the sketch i n sensibly
growing into his portrait Alike i n the cabinet and
.

the drawing room there was th e same calm kindness

-

and completeness E ach chief of the Government

.

from whom I have received materials for this book ,

writes of him as if he had taken a special interest

in and possessed a special knowledge of his parti
, ,

cu la r department M r Fi t z j a me s S tephen not given

. .
,

to h e ro worship the Councillor in whose department

-
,

1
D u sty/p or e, b y H S C
. . .
1 8 6 9- 7 2 ] H I S I N FL UE N CE ON IVE IV .
3 45
’

Lord M ayo s influence was less intense l y personal

than i n any other has said : I never met one to
,
‘

whom I felt disposed to give such heartfelt affection

and honour "
N o soldier went over the plan of an
expedition or th e map of a line of defences with
t he V iceroy without discovering as he rode home from ,

Government H ouse that h e had got valuable p ra c

,

tical hints N o diplomatist brought him a draft

.

treaty without feeling certain that any fault in scope

woul d be hit and any deficiency in foresight remedied
, .

E ach H ead of a Department found t hat Lord M ayo

had personally weighed his proposals an d had dis ,

covered for himself where they were sound and where

they were wanting T he whole body of secretaries
.
,

men whose funct i on i n life it is never to give

way to enthusiasm woul d have toiled their souls
,

out for him I t was impossible to work near him

.

without l oving him he had a tender considerateness ,

and a noble trustfulness and a genial strength , ,

which p l ucked al le giance from the hearts of men .

1
A n te
, p
. . 2 2 6.
 A N DA M A N I SLA N D S —
3 46 TH E .
[E T 4 9 5 0,

CHAPTE R X .

C o N c L U S I O N. —1 8 1 -72.
7

A RTof the daily routine of the Government of

I ndia is to scrutinize the printed Proceedings
of the Local A dministrations These volumes or .

fasciculi of greater or less thickness consist of brief

, ,

entries showing every case which has come before

,

the Local Governments during the month and th e ,

orders issued upon it A ll the larger questions should .

have previously formed the subj ect of separate co rn

mu n i cat i o n with the Government of I ndia ; and the
du t y of its U nder S ecreta ry in reading over the Pro -
,

ce e d i n s
g is to see that
,
the Governor General has -

been adequately informed of each important case ; or

if h e has not to call for further details This scrutiny
,
.
,

together with not i ng upon the reports from the ‘

Local Governments on par t icular questions forms the ,

mechanical process by which the S ecretariat brings

the facts of the actual administration before the
}
Viceroy and M embers of Council
I n the spring of 1 8 7 1 it came in this way to Lord ,

M ayo s notice that a cruel and mysterious murder had

’

1
I de sc ib r e the p oc ss
r e as I wa s fami l i ar w i t h i t fi ve y s
e ar ago b ut I
b l i v e i t co
e e n t in u s subst
e an t i a lly t h s
e a me .
3 48 S E C ON D C N VI C O T C OL OIVY, 1 85 8 .
[E T 4 9 5 0,
-

left by the M utiny le d to th e establishment of the

present Convict Colony in 1 8 5 8 .

Th e settlement had again a hard st ruggle for life .

The Arab geographers describe the Andamanese as

‘
savages who eat men alive ; black with woolly hair ; ,

in their eyes and countenances something frightful ;

who go naked and have no boats i f they had they
,
-
,

’
woul d devour all who pass near T hese stories and .
,

’
Marco Polo s legend of them as dog faced anthropo -

phagi gave place to ste m realities The Convict

, .

S ettlement found itself surrounded by savages of a

lo w and ferocious type who decorated themselves ,

with red earth mourned in a sui t of ol ive coloured

,
-

mud used cry i ng to express the emotions of friend

,

ship o r j oy bore only names of common gender which

,

they received before birth and whose sol e approach ,

to th e conception of a God was that of an evil spirit

w ho spread disease F or five years they continued
.

bitter enemies of th e Colony repulsing all approaches ,

‘

with treachery or by showers of arrows murdering

,

eve ry one who stra yed into the woods ; and plotting
robberies and arsons of a merciless sort By d egrees .
,

however the British officers persuaded them to a

,

better m ind by stern re prisals on the guilty and by

, ,

building homes near the settlement for the less hostile

—sheds where they might be protected from the
tropical rains and receive food and medicines such as
,

they had never known in their wild state Latterly .

an orphanage was established for their children under

the care of E uropean ma t r o n s l
.

I g i v e t h e b ov e d t ils
1
a th u tho i t y of Co lo el H Yule
e a on e a r n . .
1 87 1 [ TS D I FFI C UL T1 E S S ORM O UN TE D .
5 49

B ut the natives were the least terrible of the ene

mies of the Colony The islands were buried under
.

j ungle to the water s edge ; pestilent mangrove

swamps fringed the creeks ; evergreen fol iage and a
l ush growth of cl imbing plants thatched out the fresh
air from the forest and allowed malaria to gather ,

its deadliest force belo w The Colony in the last .

century had been practically exterminated by fever ;

and for ten years after its r e establishment in 1 8 5 8 -
,

the settlers were exactly decimated each twelve

months I n 1 8 6 7 the mortality was returned at over
.

1 0 1 per thousand ; in only one previous year had the

d eaths fallen below that rate ; i n many they had e x

ce e d e d it The malaria smitten gangs depended on
.
-

the distant mainland for their food A small pig a .

,

rat with spiny hair and a fruit eating bat had been
,
-

found o n the islands ; a wild cat also was reported b ut ,

doubted F ish and roots were the immemorial foo d

.

of th e inhabitants E ven t h e coco palms so plentiful

.
-
,

on the N icobars did not exist I n the daily battle

, .

against disease and death the British offi cers found ,

their hands burdened by a convict popu l ation conser ,

v a t i v e beyond any people on the earth as to what

they eat and depending for each meal on supplies

,

brought seven hundred miles across the sea .

T hese were the conditions with which the first

S uperintendents of the Colony had to deal The pro .

blem before them was not one of penal discipline but ,

h o w to keep themselves and the convicts alive from

monsoon to monsoon Before the end of L ord Law .

’
ren e e s Vi c ero y al t y the y had solved that prob l em
, .
3 50 A B SE N CE OF DI S CI P LI N E .
[YET 5 0,

The y cut down the jungle reclaimed swamps and by , ,

clearings on a great scale not only opened up a source ,

of food supply but gave the prisoners a new interest

,

i n life . Cattle were brought over from the mainland ;

vegetables grains and f ruit trees introduced ; and
, ,
-

handicrafts encouraged The clearings told also on.

the death rate -

As the rank vegetation was cut
.

down malaria re l axed its hol d on the Colony and in

, ,

1 8 7 0 the mortality among the convicts had fallen as

low as ten per thousand .

The struggle for existence had ended but it left ,

behind a laxity of discipline product i ve of scandalous

results A fe w E nglish offi cials with a handful of
.

soldiers were holding down in an isolated island ,

group the eight thousand worst criminals of N orthern

,

I ndia . M any of them came of the fierce frontier

races ; most of them were life prisoners reckless -
, ,

with no future on this earth The security of such .

a settlement depends on clear regulations exact ,

subordination among the officials and strict discipline ,

among the convicts The inquiries conducte d under

.
’

Lord Mayo s orders in 1 8 7 1 d i s close d t he absence of

’

every one o f these essentials of safety H e found .

dissension and disobedience among the authorities ;

and a state of discipline that allowed a convict to
accumulate a practically unl imited store of liquor ,

with which to madden himself and his comrades to

further crime I t was a murder committed after a
.

general debauch of this sort that led the Viceroy to

reconsider the constitution o f the S ettlement .

’
The work occup i ed Lord M ayo s thoughts at S im l a
55 2 OP TH E SE TTLE M E N T .
[H 1 56 ,

The charge which M aj or General is about to —

assume wrote Lord M ayo in a Viceregal N ote } is

,
’ ‘

one of great responsibility I n fact I scarcely kno w .

,

of any charge under the Government of I ndia which

will afford greater scope for ability and energy or ,

where a greater public service can be performed I .

fully expect that under h is management the A nda

mans N icobars and their dependencies instead of
, , ,

being a heavy drain upon the Government may at no ,

distant period become self supporting The charge -

.

of the Colony to the I ndian E xchequer has averaged

a year ; each transported felon costs the
country more than £ 1 1 2 5 a month [the average , .
’

monthly cost in B engal gaols be i ng 1 1 s 5 d per . .

Lord M ayo then points out in detail the means by

which he hoped this change would be effected : by a ‘

proper system of rice and pulse cultivation ; by ’

breeding goats and a more economical meat supply ;,

by the adoption of gaol manufactured clothing and the -

,

growth of cotton and flax ; by using the timber ‘

grown o n the islands instead of imported timber ; ’

’
‘
by substituting N ative Troops for free police and ,

’
by more economical steam communication with the
‘

mainland The immediate saving fr om these mea

.

sures was estimated by the proper authority at

‘

,5
a year The Viceroy next comments
. on
the recent reports that there is no system of super ‘

’
vision o r discipline H e then sets forth in a well .
,

D t d ot h J u 1 8 7 1
1
a e I ne .

Rs 6 8
2
. op p,
um ; i clu d i g m i t e c c l o t h i g
1 1 a. 1 . er an n n n a n n an e, n ,

gu d s g o l b i l d i g s d v y o t h ch ge i 87 R p o t by I
ar ,
a - u n ,
an e er er ar n 1 1. e r n

sp ct o G
e r- en er a l of G a o ls ,
L. P for . 1 87 2 , p ar . 1 45 .
1 87 1 72]
- L ORD IlI A YO
’
S NE W C ON S I T TUTI ON 35 3

considered summary the points to be attended to in

,

this important branch of the ordering of a convict

co l ony .

The Draft Regu latio n s although approved of in ,

’
the main seemed to him rather too detailed and
,
‘
,

requiring a more exact adj ustment to the actual fac t s

of the S ettlement than could be accomplished at
S imla t wo thousand miles o ff H e therefore desired
,
.

the n e w S uperintendent to take them down with ‘

him and r e examine them carefu l ly by the light of

,
-

’
experience H is design was to divide the Regula
.

tions into t wo codes O ne of these was to embody .

th e fundamental constitution and discipline of the

S ettlement and not to b e susceptible of change by
,

any authority less than that from which it emanated

— the Governor General in Council The other was
-
.

to be a subsidiary code of bye laws in which it ‘

-
,

would be within the power of the S uper i ntendent

from time to time to make alterations reporting such ,

alterations to the Government of I ndia Lord .

’

M ayo concluded by concentrating the whole local

authority in the S uperintendent Whether he is a .
‘

’
civilian or a military man h e wrote in reply to a ,

M ember of Council who had proposed a division of

power the S uperintendent should be sole com
,
‘

mandant and from his decision there should be no

,

appea l within the island I think that this is essen .

tial for the safety Of the S ettlement and for the ,

maintenance of the authority indispensable in such a

’
place .

The new S uper i ntendent soon found n ot wi t hst an d ,

V O L. 1 1. z
354 TO UR OF j A N UAR Y 1 8 72 .
[E T 56 ,

ing the full powers which he brought that a heavy ,

ta sk had been laid upon him The carrying out of .

Lor d Mayo s scheme involved both a material and a

’

moral reformation of the S ettlement The problem .

was h ow to articulate the sodden masses of convicts

,

into an organized human society at the same time ,

increasing the punitive discipline ; and h o w to make

the islands support a large sullen population accus ,

t o me d to l ive on external supplies for which they had ,

neither sown nor ploughed The S uperintendent s ’

reports although encouraging disclosed the magni

, ,

tude of the work ; and a proposal to visit the islands ,

which had been spoken of some time before gradually ,

shaped itself into a fixed resolve in Lord Mayo s ’

mind H is cold weather tour would take him to

.

Burmah and the A n d a ma n s lay on his way across

,

the Bay of Bengal Progress has been made the

.
‘
,
’

’
S uperintendent wrote to the Viceroy s Private S ecre
tary but I am anxious that Lord Mayo should
,
‘

himself see what has been done before we commence ,

the clearing N o one can thoroughly understan d this

.

place until he has seen it I look to the Governor .

’ ‘

General s visit he again wrote in the midst of his

’

,
’

difficulties to set all these matters straight

, .
’

O n the 2 4t h J anuary 1 8 7 2 the E arl of M ayo left ,

Calcutta on his col d weather tour H is purpose was .

first to visit Burmah next to call at the A n d a ma n s

,

on the return passage across the Bay of Bengal and ,

then to inspect the Province of O rissa I n each of .

these three places weighty questions of internal

,

policy demanded his presence The Viceroy took .

5 56 [ N SRB C T[ ON OE TH E A N D A M A N S .
[E T 56,

so to get off again with as little detention as possible .

This wish however was evaded ; and o n the Super

, ,

i n t e n d e n t presently coming on board the Private ,

Secretary drew him aside to ascertain that the pre

cautions taken for the security of the V iceroy through
out the day were complete T he S uperintendent .

explained that as previously arranged the convicts

, ,

were to be kept at their regular work so that the ,

Viceroy might see the S ettlem ent a s it really was ;

and that the warders had strict orders to allow no
prisoner to quit his place A detachment of free .

police armed with muskets was to move with the

, ,

Governor General s party in front flank and rear ;

-
’

, ,

and on V iper and Ross I slands where the worst ,

characters are quartered detachments of native ,

infantry had been detailed in supp ort of the police .

O n t hes e islands the only ones where any danger

,

was apprehended the whol e troops were under arms

, .

The police had strict orders to prevent any o n e

approaching the Viceroy Lord M ayo on being tol d
.
,

of these arrangements said they were more than

,

enough and in high spirits lande d after breakfast

,

with a party of his guests .

The forenoon passed in a careful inspection of

Ross I sland ; its E uropean barracks convict lines , ,

headquarter establishments and all matters con ,

n e ct e d with the daily life of the S ettlement T he .

V iceroy hit o n several points which he thought

capable of improvement ; an d in his earnestness to
see everything for himself a n d to get at the exact
,

fa c ts of each question he once or twice expressed

,
1 8 72] I N SP E C IT ON OF TH E A N D AIlI A N S .
35 7

impatience at th e c l oseness w i th wh i ch th e guards

hampered his movements A fter three busy hours .
,

the party returned on board to luncheon ; the Viceroy

apologizing with smiling Oon lzomi e to the ship s ’

officers for their having to turn out to receive him

at the gangway and hoping that they wo u ld not have
,

the trouble a gain I n his eage rness to get back to

.

his work he hurried over luncheon and immediately

, ,

afterwards started on the inspection of Viper I sland ,

where the worst characters are quartered This was .

carefully and minute l y performed— the Superintendent

walking as throughout the whole day at Lord M ayo s
, ,
’

right hand ; the Private S ecretary close to his left ;

several of th e aides de camp always within touching
- -

distance ; the guards with loaded guns in front flank , ,

and rear T he danger was n o w over and an

.
,

inspection of th e s a w mills and works on Chatham

-

’
I sland brought the hot day s work to an end The .

party moved down wearied with the glare and heat

, ,

but with a certain sense of relief to the boats The ,

.

’
S uperintendent s precau tions had proved as Lord ,

’
M ayo said more than enough
,
O ne or two .

prisoners who wished to present petitions had

, ,

handed them to an officer in attendance without

coming near th e V iceroy ; and the general feeling
among the convicts was one of sel f interested satis -

faction in the hope of indulgences and pardons in

,

honour of the visit;

M any months had e l apsed since in far off S imla ,
-
,

the authorities re c eived hints that the Viceroy s life ’

was in danger— a warning to which the assassination

5 58 P RE CA UT[ ON S OB SE R VE D .
[
[ E1 .
56 ,

of the Chief J ustice of Bengal gave a terrible

-

significance Lord M ayo had sternly trampled out

.

the Wah abi d isaffection and in so doing made bitter

,

enemies of a small fanat i cal gang O ne of them .

struck down the Chief J ustice who had given decision

-

in appeal against their ringleaders ; but Lord M ayo s

immense personal popularity among the natives
of all ranks and cree d s led to timely warnings being
sent to thos e who were responsible for his safety .

D uring the following months a heavy responsi

’

b i li t y devolved on Lord M ayo s staff They had .

strengthened th e guards round Government H ouse ;

’
dexterously managed the relays o n th e V iceroy s ,

progress through the H ill S tates so as to prevent ,

him changing horses in any village ; altered his route

at the last moment and without his knowledge
, ,

through the thronged streets of the northern cities ,

where the danger was supposed to l ie All this had .

somewhat annoyed Lord M ayo an utterly fearless ,

man with a spirit and courage as infectious to those

,

about him as his untiring energy in work or his happy

laugh H e al ways maintained that such precautions
.

were of small use As a matter of fact they had

.
,

proved ample against whatever perils threatened him

i n I ndia from the traitors and fanatics whose wrath
he had personally directed to hi mself by his stern
scattering of their leaders O n l y a couple of days
.

before reaching the A n d a ma ns he had sai d in con , ,

’
n e ct i o n with the Chief J ustice s murder that these ‘
-
,

things when done at all are done : in a moment an d

, , ,

’
no number of guards would stop one resolute man s
3 60 DE S CE N T OF M O UN T HARRI E T [E T 5 0,

Viceroy found gay groups of his guests enj oying the

cool of the d ay and had a smile and a kind word for
,

’
each as he passed D o come up he said to on e
.
‘
,

’ ’
lady you ll have such a sunset " But it was a stiff
,
‘

climb through the j ungle and only one recruit j oined ,

him H is own party was dead tired ; they h a d been

.

on their feet for six blazing hours and Lord Mayo as , ,

usual the freshest after a hard day begged some of ,

them to rest till he re turned O f course no one liked .

to give in and the party dived into the j ungle When

, .

they came to the foot of the hill the Viceroy turned ,

round to his aide de camp who was visibly fatigued

- -
,

’
n o w that th e strain of the day s anxiety had relaxed ,

and almost ordere d him to sit down The S u p e ri n .

tendent had sent on the one availabl e pony but Lord ,

Mayo at first obj ected to riding while the rest were on

’
foot When half way up he stopped and said : I t s
.
,

’
my turn to walk n o w ; one of you get on At the top .

he carefully surveyed the capabilities of the hill as a

S anatarium H e thought he saw his way to improve
.

the health of the S ettlement and with the stern task ,

of reorganization to make a work of humanity go

’
hand in hand Plenty of room here he cried looking
.
, ,

round on the island group to settle t w o millions of ,

‘

men Presently he sat down and gazed s ilently

.
’
,

across the sea to the sunset O nce or twice he said .

quietly H ow beautiful ,
Then he drank some water .

After another long look to the westward he exclaimed ,

’
to his Private S ecretary : I t s the loveliest thing I
think I ever saw and came away .

T he descent was made in close order for it was ,

1 8 72] ON TH E P I E R .
361

no w dark About three quarters of the way down

.
-
,

torch bearers from H opetown met the V iceroy an d

-

his attendant group of officials and guards Two of .

his party who had hurried forward to the pier saw

the intermittent gleam of the torches threading their ’

way through the j ungle ; then the whole b o d y o f lights

’
i ssued by the bridle path from the woods a minute s -
,

walk from the j etty The G la sgow frigate lay out on

.

the left with her long line of lights low on the water ;
the S cot i a and D a cca also lit up beyond her ; another , ,

steamer the N emesi s was coaling nearer to H ope

, ,

’
town o n the right The ships bells had j ust run g
, .

seven T he launch with steam up was whizzing at

.

the j etty stairs ; a group of her seamen were chatting

o n the pier end I t was n ow quite dark and the black
-
.
,

’
line of the j ung l e seemed to touch the water s edge .

’
T he Viceroy s party passed some large loose stones
to the left at the head of the pier and advanced along ,

the j etty ; two torch bearers in front the l ight shining

-
,

strongly o n the tall form of Lord M ayo in a grey ,

tussa silk coat close between his Private S ecretary

-
,

and the S uperintendent ; the F lag Lieutenant of the -

G la sgow and a C ol one l of E ngineers a fe w paces

behind on left and right ; the armed pol ice between
,

them but a l ittle nearer the Viceroy The S u p e r i n

, .

’
tendent turned aside with Lord M ayo s l eave to give , ,

an order about the m orning s programme and the ’

Viceroy stepped quickly forward before the rest to

descend the stairs to the l aunch The next moment .

the peop l e in the rear heard a noise as of the rush ‘

’
of some animal from behind the l oose stones : one or
3 62 DE AD .
VET 5 0, .

two saw a hand and knife suddenly descen d in the

torch —light The Private S ecretary heard a t hud and
.
,

instantly turning round found a man fastene d like a ,

‘

tiger on the back of the Viceroy

"
.

I n a second twelve men were on the assassin ; an

E nglish officer was pulling them off and with his sword ,

hilt keepi n g back the native guards who would have ,

killed the assailant on the spot T he torches ha d .

gone out ; but the V iceroy who had staggered over ,

the pier side was d imly seen rising up in the knee

,

deep water an d clearing the hair off his brow with

,

h is hand as if recovering himsel f H is Private .

S ecretary was instantly at his side helping him up ,

’ ’
the bank Burne he said quietly they ve hit me
.
, ,
‘ ’
.

T hen in a louder voice which was heard on the pier

, , ,

’ ’
I t s all right I don t think I m much hurt or words
’

,
’

to that effect I n a n other minute he was sitting under

.

the smoky glare of the r e lit torches on a rude native -

,

cart at the side of the j etty his legs hanging loosely ,

down Then they lifted him bo d ily on to the cart

. ,

and saw a great dark patch on the back of his light

coat The blood came streaming out and men tried
.
,

to stanch it with their handkerchiefs F or a moment .

or two he sat up on the cart then he fell heavily

backwards Lift up my head he said faintly : and
.
‘
,

said no more .

T hey carried him down into the steam launch some ,

silently believing h 1m dead O thers angry with ,

themselves for the bare s urmise cut open his coat ,

and vest and stopped the wound with hastily torn strips
,

I e hi w wo d s 1
us s o n r .
3 64 TH E A SSA SSI N [E T 5 0,

and solemn i ndustry was going on The chief officers .

of the Government of I ndia on board assembled to ’

adopt steps for the devolution of the Viceroyalty The .

trial of the murderer took place And in a few hours .

,

while the doctors were still engaged on their sad

secret task one steamer had hurried north with the
,

M ember of Council to B engal another was plo u ghing ,

its way with the F oreign S ecretary to M adras to ,

bring up Lord N apier of E ttrick to Calcutta as , ,

acting Governor General UN o A V UL SO N ON D EFI CI T

-
.
,

A L TE R The frigate lay si l ent and alone At half

. .

past n ine that night the partially embalmed body was ,

placed in its temporary coffin on the quarter deck and -

,

covered with the U nion J ack .

The assassin received th e usual trial and the usual

punishment for his crime S hortly after he had been .

brought on board in the launch which carried his ,

victim the F oreign S ecretary asked him why he had

,

done this thing H e only replied By th e order of

.
,

2 ’
God To the question whether he had any asso
.
,

ciates in his act he answered A mong men I have, ,

3 ’
no accomplice ; Go d is my partner N ext morning .
,

at the usual preliminary inquiry before the local

magistrate when called to plead he said Y e s I did
, , ,
‘
,

it.
’
The evidence of the eye witnesses was recorded
4 -
,

and the prisoner committed for murder to the S es

sions Court T he S u perintendent sitting as ch ie f
-
.
,

1
B arr ow H E lli s ( M emb er of C o u n c i l) p re s i d i g w i t h
Si r . n , Mr C U
. . .

A i t ch i s o F o e i g S e c e t ary n d o t h e s
n, r n r ,
a r .

2
Kli n d d n e Iz zi km d zy d .

M er ci slz a r zE Roi d a mz n a/ mer ci slza r i k Efina a li a i

’ ’ ’ ’ ’
’
3 zzn .

4
H ci n , ma i n n e Riy d .
1 8 72] TH E A SSA SSI N 3 65

j udge in the S ettl ement conducted the tria l in the

,

afternoon T he accused simply pleaded N o t guilty

. .
’

E ach fact was established by those present when the

deed was done ; the prisoner had been dragged off
the back of the bleeding Viceroy with the reddened
knife i n his hand The sentence was to suffer death
.

by hanging The proceedings were forwarded in the

.

regular way to the H igh Court at Calcutta for review .

O n the 2 o t h F ebruary this tribunal confirmed the

sentence ; and o n the l 1 t h March the assassin was
taken to the usual place of execution on Viper I s l and ,

and hanged .

T he man was a highlander from beyond our N orth

Western frontier who had taken service in the Panj a b
,

M ounted Police and been condemned to death at

,

Pesh awar for slaying his enemy on British soil The .

evide n ce being chiefly circumstantial his sentence ,

was commuted to transportation for life to the Anda

mans I n his d ying con fession years afterwards he
.
, ,

stated that although he had not struck the b l ow he ,

had conspired to do the murder But the slaying of .

a hereditary foe in cold blood was no crime in his

eyes and ever since his conviction in 1 8 6 9 he said
, ,

he had made up his mind to revenge himself by

’
killing some E uropean of high rank
‘
H e therefore .

established his character as a silent doggedly well ,

behaved man and i n due time was set at large as a

barber among the ticket of leave convi c ts at H ope
- -

town D uring three years he waited sul l enly for

.

some worthy prey O n the morning of the 8 t h

.

F ebruary when he heard the royal sa l ute he fe l t that

, ,
3 66 [E T 5 0,

his time had come and sharpened a knife H e r e

, .

solved to kill both the S uperintendent an d the Viceroy .

All through the day the close surveillance gave him

no chance of getting to the islands which Lord M ayo
visited E vening came and his victim landed u n e x
.
,

p e ct e d ly at his very door H e slipped into the .

woods crept up M ount H arriet through the j ungl e

,

side by side with the Viceroy ; t h e n dogged the party

down again in the dark : but still got no chance At .

the foot he almost gave up hope and resolved to ,

wait fo r the morrow But as the Viceroy stepped

.

quickly forward on the j etty his grey suite d shoul d ers ,

-

towering conspicuous in the torch light an impulse -

,

of despair thrilled through the assassin H e gave up .

all idea of life rushed round th e guards an d in a

, ,

moment was on his victim s back H e was a hillman ’

.

of immense personal strength ; an d when heavily

fettered i n the condemned cell overturned th e lamp ,

with his chained ankle bore d own the English sentry

,

by brute strength of bo d y and wrenched away his ,

bayonet with his manacle d han d s H e made no pre .

tence of penitence and was chil d ishly vain of being

,

photographe d (for police inquiries in N orthern I ndia)

as the mur d erer of a Viceroy I ndeed some of t h e .
,

above details were only got out of him by a n ative

officer who cunningly begge d him for materials for
an ode on his deed to be sung by his countrymen
, .

N either his name nor that of his village or tribe will

, ,

fin d record in this book T he last words spoken to .

him on earth were a message from the family whom

he had stricken God forgive you as we do
‘
, .
’
 I N DEX .

B c ks I d h t eir co s u c i on tr t n

M yo s
A a rra in n i a,
ws 1 1. 2 6 2 -2 7 1
'

L o rd
cs Id g sl u p ss d i B g l Lo d M y o s o ms
a n e ,
.

A t o f t h e n i a n Le i a t re in t e re f r h
’

a e n

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,

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, . ,
, ,

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, ,

5 6 1 62
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1 -
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'

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, , ,
’
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2 5 6 2 62 6
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m t, in e ti n

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e nt i s vi si r

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V O L. I I . 2 A
3 70 I N DE X .

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.

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1.

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e
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ho 46 ,
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11 . 1 1 47 . '

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t he e of A r
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t h e re r an i at i n of t h e
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,

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1 40 .
11 . 1 1 9, 12 1 27
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a a , . 1 .
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37 2 I N DE X .

K ld o u y Lo d M y o s h m C
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pub l s h s S P
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lc dM f C
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11 . 1 42
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.
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ati in
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.

l g sl v u ho y o gi
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f ov
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l g sl o 5
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.
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.

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.

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P ck ou y I d
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s xp c s I d
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i 2 7 2 9 30 ;
b g
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M o s co w i
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5 55
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n er t e
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t
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i 68
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, .

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i i tar re f
my D p m
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no r an a rt ent
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t his ini n of th e
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r n e ax ; in t ii 6
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3
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v my i M l y
.

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M yo Id F c i 5
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a t er o i n s, or a as, m en t , 9 ; h i s ref r
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.
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 I N DE X .
3 73

d uc io i B g l 3 at up o h i m i 3 4- 5 9 ; a f ter wa r
n h is ds o wn

M u h mm d duc o 6 ho co pl c
2 90-2 99 on e n n en a , 11 00 ,
.

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3 ; on a a an e n, 30 , .
a e,
; h i s e ta f en t a rt 1. 1 1 0- 1 1 1 .

Ag c ul u d C o mm c P j ab T Lo d M y o s p o l ic y o w d s
3 1 1 i o a e

m
'

e nt of an he t
bo d s f
ri t re a n e r e , 11 . r a ar
buk f u l m m
,

sl
,

; hi s t he i the , 8 ;
g h 93 6 sys m L w
an r e re r t
co u g m
is o
3 5
1 4-
3 2 re e o r ra
5 3 23 2 a
-
.

m e n t, 2 6-3 2 9 ; hi s ent ra n e in t te of
Lo d M y o s
a ge en ra e e , 11. ;
mu c p l s I d 3 35
3 9 a
-

of hi s i n t he , i i . 1 78
'

a i tie
V ws g o l d s c p l 3 5 3
ni i 3 4, 3 in n ia, -
1 7 9 2 1 0- 2 2 2 r a
l C ss
,

3 , 36 ; h is C ana t he 11 2 9 - 2 9 8
m s c ll o us m su s 3 3
e in

P s Lo d M y o s s y boy i i
ie on a i i i ne , 5 , . .

h
'

7 338 ; is a ri r ta
Id i
i e a ne ea re a as a n,

p v p s Vs
, , , .

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b e h e i n ri a t e e n t e r ri e 3 40-3 4 is 303 h h w y
1 is i t on to
ho sp l y 3 3 h u c
, , i is a n i a, .

i ta i t i s i nfl en e on 1 2 8-1

m
34
og z o f
44 ;
3 44 3 4 , 11 15 re r a n i a t i n o t h e
, ,

a tr na
30
P o g Lo d M y o s d i sp o s l f h '

co v c co l o y d m sl d s
e, r a
en 5 a o i s,
-
,

n i t i n t he An a an 1 1. 2
5 2 5 6.

ou f j
an i 3
P s Lo d M y o s p o l i c y o w d s i
n ,
-

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3 hi s t a n u a ry 1 8 7 2
5 er i a , r a t
35 350- r o 3 4 ar
Vs
, ,
, .

m
3 5 ; h i s i i t t o t h e A n d a a n s a nd 2 8 4- 2 9
5
sp c o Po C g d M a l h R l w y s ch m
5 .

s l m 35
,

e ti n o f the et t e ent rt t a ai
sc f M ou H
in 5 357 ; ,
-
a nn i n an a e e,
h ent o nt a r r i e t 3 5 8 -3 6 0 ; i

mu d
31 1 1 2.
3
flu c Lo d M y o s
is a .

ly
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P
'
hi s r e r, 3 6 1 t h e e n d 3 6 2 -3 6 7 ra e d

x d I d 33
. in en e on r a e ar
M su s lf 3
,

re a n dw g e 1 hts fi e 8 38
M k a f o Lo d P ss c c s ms Lo d M y o s pp i
ea i n n i a 11 . . i e, i .
7
f P
, , .

Th
’
ri t i
°
nt ier re o nt
V c oy l y
on
M yo s p c fc o f
e r n r o e r 5 1a , e r i r a a
m
'

f h o h cy or t ti i a ti ent t o t he a t i
P ss I d Qu s o o ffic i l
a e re n o , 1. i er , . 1 04- 1 09 .
2 8 6- 2 89 f ti
og
re in n

y fo ms f Lo d M y o h
i a. e n o an a
M l
.

i i t ar t p re r a n , 1. 1 2 6 .

xs gS u o ch m ml G ov m s f I d
re r o r a e

ti n it ati re t re n Pro v Th ent

p ss d by h D uk f A gy ll
c e rn
Lo d M y o s l
e i n , 1 1 . 1 07 - 1 0 9 o n i a, e,
m e nt t s h
'

e t ter to , o n the ta t e o f t
p o pos l f du c o s F cs i sys m fix d
re e e e o r , 11 . r a e
ti i n t he 2 6 -3 0 ; hi s te of
my D p ss g m s B u dg s f 5
1 09 - 1 1 1 r a o r re n i nan e i e
s
.
,

S ff ta and m Ar a rt e nt ent t o the et 76

Pub l c Wo ks D p m
a

Eu o p oo ps I d Lo d
e , 11 . 1 1 1 ; i n o , 1 1. 1 -
.

i n the tr 6 ; a rt en t i n
M yo s o ms
in i r e
Roy l
3 r ean 11 1 1 -
1 1 n i a, r
l y
.
,
'

t he A rt i l e r 6- 1 2 1 ; t he re f r 8-2 7
P u Lo d M y o s V s
in a i n, i i

o ms
a 11 1 1 3 . 25 .

N v A my
.
,
'

ati re f na , i 5 it to, 6 68
Py m d s T h Lo d M y o s x c u s i o
r a

c u ll y ff c d i
e r 11. 1 2 1-1 1 r i 1
3 1 -
, . .
'

a t te 1 33 1 ra i e, r a n
K l d Lo d M y o p
a e e i .
-
42 . , e r
M l
,

i itia,T he i a re , r a 3 . ca t o, 1. 1 3 7 - 1 3 9 .
i 3
t a i n i n,
l w l h f I d i Th 3 4
. .

M ea t
Mo h f Lo d M y o Th
i n e ra o n a, e , 11 . 2 9-3 32
R
.

t h fl
c i h m ly
er o r a , e : er i n u

M u h mm d s
en e n t 5
I d Th h i d
e fa i , i . 2 2-2 .
l s o Si H y h i c v s i o
R aw i n n, s on e r a t
W h Lo d M y o
r e nr n
s fC
,
t e r e
c o p o mo d by Lo d M y o
a a an in n i a, e : u
it h ff r a on t e a ai r o en
ati n r te r a , 1 1 1.
l As d P s i 3 4 ; h
t ra
o p o s h subj c 44
ia an er i a , . 1 2 , 12 is
6
i I d
3 0 3
-
11 .
wr i t t e n t e t , 1. 2

( oo o ) 5 5 9
i ni n on e
M p h i
u ni C i a 3 3 4 3 45 t es n n i a , 11 . -
.
f t n te
R co d s L o d M y o s i s i h
, 2 , 2 1 .
'

n t e re t t
co s v o
e r , r a n ei r
n er a t i n a n d u se , 1 . 1 2 8 - 1
R gu l o i I d Th o l d sys m f 3 0.

d E i c k) c iv d Lo d
N a p i e r Lo r (o f t tr re e
e

6
at i n n n i a, e te o ,

yo d s
e r 8 8
R gu l o R gu l i
ii 3 1 -
1
V ws
, , . .

Ma a t M a ra h 76 ; d N P
duc o f h M d s N v
1. 1 7 2- 1 is ie at i a t on
V cs
, e n an o n- e ro
o n t he r
e ti n o t e a ra at i e 68
5 ii. 1 222.

R l g o us d v l o p m f Lo d M y o i
in e 21
my
-
, ,

Ar
L o d ( f M gd l ) acco mp
11 . 1 2 9 . e i i e ent o r a
e
N p i s
, .
,

Lo d M y o ou y I d i
a i e r, r o a a a an e

f I di Th L d
, 2 7 -2
9
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.

hi s y to 6 h
y fo m
r a on rne n i a,
; t
L w s ff c g
e en e o n a, e an 11 . e
h V ws M l
.
,

1 8
3 17
-
1 ; is ie on i i t ar re r ti n
4
Lo d M y o s ou y ou g
, a a e , 1 1. 2 0 -
2 09 .

R
'

I d h du c o s i
11 1 34
-
1 41 t
pub l s h s o p o s
u 5 5 1a , r a r as a n
N v my
.

ati e Ar in n i a, t e re ti n n, m i 4 1 - ; he his
5
h som l s
an,

5 5 5 h pol c y
. i e i ni n
11 . 1 2 1 1
31 f i 4
-
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c dv c C l
.
e a ,
-
; is i

in r e fe re n e t o t he a an e in e n t ra
0 A ia s o f, 1 . 2 66 - 2 8 3 .

O ri a I g i o wo ks i
ss rr i at
l g sl o Id , n r n, i i 291 , 2 92 .

O i e r- e Ci y o f,
S
m d
i ati n in n i a, ex a

5
i ne7 1 1. 1 2-1

I d i Lo d M y s V i ws 7
l Du y
, .

Sa t in
'
t
up o
-
n a, r a o e
n t he , i i 9 2 -9 7
S c y I l d C h f Lo d M y o
. .

re t a r fo r
P l m s o w h co u y ho us f L d
e

h ms m d i
re a n , ie , r a
er t n, t ntr re e t i te 69 7 0 7 7 82 ;
M yo s g u cl K ld o d h fli l d P h m y wo k
a e e o or t e appo , .
, , ,
'

r e at - L e nt ar
M yo s l y vi s s d h fl u c
a n e in i a re , r is o c1a an ar a r as,
'

a i 6 94
e ar it , an t eir i n en e 7
-
3 74 I N DE X .

S h o d M y o s p o l i c y o w d s Sw i z l d L d M y s u
Ali , L
'

t
'

cp o
er t er a n
r a b y ar , , or a o to r as a o
and ti i n o f, i 2 47 - 2 6 2 .

o L d M yo s
re e n, i . 1, 2.
3 3
Si s a f P s
.

'
t n fr nt i er o er i a, or a
s lm et t e i e nt of, 2 8 8 - 2 90 .
S old s I d L d M yo s i s
.

T
'
in n t e re t
h B sh
i er n ia, or a
in t ri t i
o g o c x i o i I d i u d Lo d M y o
e ii. 1 41 , 1 42
v l
, .

S ( S ) T i rri ati ii a at n n n a n er r
S p ch s Lo d M y o
on ane ri er n a na 291 a i i.

s
, . .
,

of f t he 1 8 - 2 0, 8 3 9 7
ch d F i c M s
ta te o
I l d i h H o us f C ommo s
-
ee e r a on
T mp l S
.

t e e, ir Ri i ni t er ,
B u dg s m s i
re a n n e e o n , ap ar , as nan e
en d i x to F v o l. 1 . h t o the eu d a ii 9 ; is et ta t e ent
p
o y Ch s f I d 3 35
op o f m l y o g 31 3
-
: .
, i . 1 1 -
12,

t h i ef mi D 5 h t e AJ 8 ; i i t ar
o
r o n ia in r ar is i ni n o re r a ni z a
b ar i h s f 5 t t at e the t i n, ii 1 2
F c s h L g s l iv C o u c l i gh i I l d L d M yo s
, . 2 07 -
2 09 ; on e o . .

T
'
i n an t at e n an t r t n re a n or
op g f h K a
e in e e
d
i e n i ii. a
V ws A pp
,

x
,

3 1 -
40 ; at the i 63 eni n o t e h ang oii ie o n, 62 7 3 7 9,
-
en i to
lw y
.
, ,

Ra i l
2 7 6.
3 vo i
I d Lo d M y o s j o ym Thom s o M h k owl dg f P j b
2 0-3 2 4 .

Spo
a , 11 . . .

in is n
'
rt n i a, r a en ent a n, r. , e e o an a
f v u Lw Re ii 221

M F j m l g l m mb f To u s v l s f Lo d M y o
o en e a
S ph
11. 2 3 2 - 2 7
,
3 . , . .

te tz a and t ra e t he
Co boy
en, r o
Cou c Lo d M yo s m
r . i e s, e a e er o r a : on

m n t i ne n t , a s a
'

n i l 111 ti has i 3 0 - 4 ; t o R u ss ,
bu d h ch p L g sl o y ou g m i Id
r 3 a e, co n ,

t ri te
V c oy i
t 5 t er at i as a n an ,

u d Lo d M y o
e a on e 4 4 ; i n n i a, a s
1 -
i n
i er 63 88,
S Ch l s h o pp o s
n er i 1
44 5 5
P ck Lo d M y o p m d
r a 11 1 -
2 -
1 i 2 2 9 -2 3 9
T v ly
. .
, . . , .

S t. a t ri te i t i on to
K gh i h I co m T
, r a ap o a re e an , ir ar e , is

t of, t e 8 0, 8 1
l f T y C o ll g D ub l Lo d M y o k s
ni n e ax
P sbu g d M o s co w
. 1 27. , i i . .

S
’
t. eter tit e o ri ni t ta
h d g
e e,

b oo k pub l sh d by Lo d M y o wh
r an ,
i n, r a e
is e re e a t , i
you g m ou i T I d T h Lo d M y o s i s
3 4
i e r a en a .

uss
,
’
n h an , on is R i an t r, .
u rf i n n i a, e, r a n t e re t
55 5 i n , i i . 2 3 7 -2 3 9 .
St ra
4
ch y Si J oh ss i s c L o d h is t an to
M yo Fm l D p m
e , r n, a e r
the art e n t , 11.
H om D p m
a in a n eta e

9, 13 14 ; t he art en t , ii
I com T
in e e
h v ws
, .

ie on the
3
Id i
3 9 3 40 ;
c g G ov o W l s o M J h i i mp o s i i o f h
, is n e ax
i 89 ti n n, t t In
co m T I d
in n i a, i r. s n o e
Lo d M y o s d h h
. a e rn r .

l
,

G
’
ia 7 6 78
su l s f Lo d M y o s W y ll M J W
e n er a on r a ea t ; is e ax ia n 1 1. -

m u ss ys qu s
, .

h his
'
in t e on t t
o s I d F o g Po l c y i
i e, r.

Fo g p ol c y
e re o r a . ., e a on e
i of re i
3 06 the ti 2 1 6,
F l p ol cy
re i

5 (foo o )
n i n n i an n i
, .
, 3 07 ; on re , .

s u lt s o f his 5 ii 6 2 - 66 2 17, 2 6 tn te
c vs h K g f im
i n a n Ci a 9 i , .
, 4, 2 , 2 7 .

re ei t in S ii 87
S uds Id G ov Lo d
e e o a , . 1 .

t in m t he
M yo s c c sms
n i a, ern en t , r

Y
’

a ti i
S u cc ss o I d Th
ri o n , 11 2 37 -2
3 .
39 3 2 , .

e i n A ct i n ii
l Th V s d sp c d by Y kub Kh a i Afgh a i s a i 6 63
n i a, e, 2 00 .
Su z C
.

e i te an d i n t n,
o d M y o 4 5 h o p i o s Y kub K ush b g f k d o d
an a , e, i e te a n n n . 2 2, 2 .

L r a i 1 1-1 3 ; is Y ar L
M y o s p o l c y ow d s i 9 3 5
, . in n a e i o an r
i
'
on , 5 55 . 1 3
-
1 . a i t ar , . 2 6- 0 .

E R R AT UM .

Vo l . II p . . 1 2 9, l i ne 2 , for on e r e a d /ou r .
 By M e sa me A u t h or ,

A VOCABULARY OF THE NON ARYAN LANGUAGES -

OF I NDI A AND HI GH ASI A

B E I N G A G O SSA Y O F LAN G U A GES B S E D U PO N T H L R 1 39 A E
H O D GS O N P P E S O F F I C I A L R ECO D S A N D M S S
,

A R , R , .

V VI T H A D I S S E R TA T IO N .

Q UA R TO . TW O G U I N EA S .

( Tlz e A a t /z or w z t /z d r a ws so me of t h e L i ngu i st i c I n d uct z of zs ) .

We h h i s b oo k ll b h s g m
tr ust t at w ft I d mp i Wi e t e tarti n po t ia n
h — co u s co mm d d i ll mm d l y g g o I d
-
i n a ne e ra o r ou r n e re,

an d t at t h e r e re en e n it Wi i e i ate en a e t h e at te n t i n o f o ur n i an
s smtate m Ai/
p i m v N A y p o pu l o f I d h s l do m b subj c f
en . z ezz e u .

T ‘
he it i e h r at i n o t t
Eu o p s ch T g o c f h h b s d V ws bly b gs o h
r o n- an n ia as e ee n e e o
he i t it i ne vi ta f rt

d l g w h h m d h d o c s h ch o c ho s l y B sh
r ean re e a r n ra n e o ei r a an ie ri n

ms k s
.

ta e it t t it t ra e t ti it to t he ri t i

p ow l g m su h s s o u c H d s cl o s s m s f pu g
i in ea i n e , an e e r eir r ni
to t t he tt i n an e n d to
h s u h ppy s h gs u l iz i g b s s old s cl m s h
er i n a ar e ea re i r e. e i e ean or
t f t at e o f t in a nd ti t h e t ri a nd ai of t
B s d s h s v y p c c l i m M H u s D c o y ll b g h i mp o
i n a , or n e as i er re er e
'

1 t i ti a a r. nter ti nar Wi t
h o l og c l —qu s o s wh ch h p o p o u d d i h D ss i o
5 01 . e i e er ra , i ri n e r

t an t et ti he e rt a t to a
d fi s ol u o
n i a e n i as r n e n is i n n e are r
m
'
nite C ti t r z rc/ erz t r a lbla t t .

M Hu p fix d b od y wo k D i ss i o wh i h i i wi h i
e n. e z es

h nt er t o the of hi s e rt a t t t
comp c pp c h ch w u h s gl y p o ou c co
r as re e r a n c s n o ur

et en to f h
i at e, a n d w e i tat i n to ntai n t
mo s mp o g l z o s f o m s s pp ly s o l d f c s v co bu d
e a re i e n r n n e o ne o e
t i r t ant ati of a a re n t i ate t nt ri te
I d hsoy h s [N y ] m ss s B s h G ov
e ne ra i n r a er i e a e er
to b w t It is et t o n - Ar and t he ri t i
h M H u ho p s by h b oo k s b l s h l s g l k d wh v h
n i an i r . een e e an a e e rn

m ent t at n t er to e ta tin ate t

su l h l g s c l b o u s h s l bo u f m cy h su cc d d
r. e is i a a in ; an er e

t of w b l v
ti t ha s
g sho d w h s m s f om H du s l s
re is in ui a r in i o ne a r o er e e e ie e, ee e .

A y s ll
, ,

N Wi f n ot a be t t he t of tat e ent in e tt er
h l ds h b —d h m dow u d I d w fd b o
on- r an ai n o n on ai r

wh fi s s z
,

r t t and t t t he la o t , i nt a

s fdo m l l mov d f o m sl v y Sp
o ei e ei r an , en in e n, n er n i an e
'

i t t e re ect a t or

p o l c l v l u f M H u s w b oo k h i s h h b fo h pub l c
er e r a er . .
'

T he i ti a n t er is t t at ha s p ut t
su ch V w f ch c cpc s
a e o r ne e e re e i

y
.
, ,

fii ‘
ffi
Ci al a n d n o n N
Ci a l, the t er a n d itie of t he o n -Ar an

g o ss m s m g m f h m p s h wh h
o -
o a ie o a ra a a
bs d f
t ri en t t in the a t, t at no one , et er t h e

G ov m Ch s C h u ch ll d hho l d f o m h m
e , an o ou r r i an a e o e
ent t he ri ti an Wi t o Wi t t t h e e i V i h sa t i o n
wh ch l co v l s lv m ll i o s f k u h fu l d us i o us c s i o
e rn or r , a re r e
Wi l ert at ea t t we fra n tr t tr ra e nt t he
mo s l o y l f subj c s gg ss good ch c k g su ch H d u i sm d
i n e i n o , , in

t t i v e for a nd e V i l as in an

M u h mm d s m s o p l u ll y b g fo h F i d f
a o o ur e , a re , e in

an i enti f rin rt
’ — ln a z a
’

s gu l good o u bo g l b s f I di h v d d o h
a a . r en o .

It is in f rt fo r t h e a t ri to e r i ft e i nt t e

f vo u s o b ll d s o cco mp l s h d s cho l Th co c o w h M
a ar ne ri i na e o n a a
r of w i an t a ri t e r a n nne ti n it r.

Hu w f ho s cc d s i h s o y wh i ch mo h f g
a ri a i e a ar . ei r
n ter as o n e o tv s e a i en t n i t r a re t h e t er o r ea t e e nt .

H m d u P a t r i ot .

THE I NDI A N M U SA LMA N S .

O N E VO L . 85 .

A ma t e r s l y E ss y a .
— D a z l N ews
y .

FAMI NE ASPE CTS OF BE NGAL DI STRI CTS .

O NE VOL .
75 . 6d .

o k wh i ch d s v s
A w e er to be Wi d l y k ow n and c fu ll y co si d d by v y Wh o
sh s u d s d h p G ov Id i l o h m
r e e n are n e re e er one
me n t
'
Wi e to n er tan t e o h cy o f th e e rn of n ia n re ati n to t e fa i ne .

P a ll Ala ] " G a z et t e .

LMM E D I A TE L / F OR TH C OM I N G I .

O N E VO L . 1 45 .

ESSAYS ON THE EXTE RNAL POLI CY OF I NDIA .

BY THE LATE J . W . S . WYLLIE M A , . .

,

Of H er M aj es ty s
’
I n d i a C i v i l S e r v i ce , so me t i m e A ct i ng Fo r e i gn S e cr e t a ry 10 t he
G ov e r n m e n t of I n d i a

Ed t i e d , Wi t h a Life and N te o s by W W H U N TE R, . . , B A . ., LL D . .