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THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.
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demanded ; that will not reform the administration of the army , and that no cabinet or party can reckon upon with sufficient certainty to make business practicable . It is clear we want a series of enactments that shall have the effect of changing the material of which Parliaments are composed , but with any system of election it may be doubted , whether much good will be done until the sittings are held in broad daylight and in business hours . Next week the House of Commons will have an opportunity of redeeming its errors . It can vote on Monday against Mr . Gladstone ' s proposal to fulfil the conditions oi the French Treaty , by abolishing the penny a pound protection which our paper-makers wrongfully enjoy . By this means it will bring about a dissolution—the greatest service it can perform .
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THE worst fears of those who opposed the transfer of the Indian Government to the Crown are fast being realised . Whilst the Company were the rulers of the country it was governed in India itself , or by men who had spent the best parts of their lives there , who knew the character of the people , and felt a warm interest in their welfare . Now it is governed almost exclusively from England , and by mere trading politicians , who never saw the country , and care very little about it . The whole power is being " gradually concentrated in the hands of the Secretary of State ,-who boldly avows , his
contempt for the advice which the Councillors given him by Act of Parliament may offer . The House of Commons , to whom he is nominally responsible , thinks an Indian discussion a bore , and confidingly sustains him by a great majority against the small minority of members who take an interest in that rich dependency . That such would be th _ e result of the change , was urged at the time , but the public were artfully taught to believe that the mutiny was the -fault of the Company ; whereas , so far ~ as it was attributable to any mismanagement , the Board of Control was really answerable ; icture of the advan
and were besides deluded by a glowing p - tages to beobtained Troni the substitution of a responsible and energetic single Government , for the tardy indecisive double Government . With all its credulity the country would not , however , have wittingly consented to put absolute power into the hands of any one man . It saw in the Council of India a guarantee against wild and experimental legislation , and a provision for the thorough discussion of all schemes which the Secretary might propose , by men fairly representing the intelligence of the Indian services . That guarantee , however , . w ^ a-q ^ r » > rA-sLa . r » 1--- _ Thn _ C ! ouncil has no real power whatever .
has reason to anticipate an adverse opinion . If Sir Wood is sustained by the House of Commons in this defiance of the spirit . of the Act passed two years ago—and there is little reason to hope that he will not be—the Council might just as well be got rid of , their salaries saved , and the principle boldly avowed that the best qualification for governing two hundred millions of men is absolute ignorance of their condition and character , with the corollary , which the European Forces , Bill practically affirms , that Indian affairs ought to be settled directly in the teeth of the Counsel of those persons most competent to form an opinion upon them .
The pertinacity with which this Bill has been pressed , and the falsity of the pretences put forward to induce its adoption , have not unnaturally occasioned the suspicion that a very powerful influence has been exerted upon Ministers in its favour . Warranted as this suspicion would seexn to be by the singular support which the chiefs of the Tory paity—with the remarkable exception of the only one who knows anything about the question—have given the Bill , we prefer at present to ascribe the pertinacity and the false pretences to other reasons . Tito original object of the Bill , and still its main one , was the thto from
acquirement of a va 8 t-amounbof ~ putvonageJiier .-. kiept . the clutches of the Horse Guards and , Parliamentaryjobbers . With all their good qualities the Whigs have always had a weakness for the flesh-pots ; n »< l the chance of getting thorn here was all the greater , that the officers of the Queen ' s army in the House , a formidable body , would bo sure , without distinction of party , to support a scheme for opening to their comrades and connexions the good things of tho Indian army , whilst the votes of the Court Hangers-on were equally assured . Lord Paxmekston and Sir Charles Wood want io got th whole patronage of India into their
own hands . Good reason , other than this , there is none for the change they propose , and hence the necessity of resorting not only to absurd generalities about simplicity and responsibility , but to disgraceful calumnies against the local army . Nor need we wonder at the singular pertinacity with which this Bill , condemned by every one but patronage jobbers and hobby-riding theorists , is pressed ; whilst a Reform Bill , of which the bulk of the people were in favour , and a Bankruptcy Bill , to which , as a whole , no one objected , have been abandoned almost without an effort . It would not bear examination . There is the possibility that repeated
discussions might , at last , draw public attention to the danger ot the change , and make it clear that all the authorities , whoso opinion is worth anything , are against it , and thus the adroit suppression of papers , of which Sir Charles Wood seems entitled to the credit , lose its legitimate reward . Mr . HoESMAuis not a popular man , and there is therefore nothing to be risked by bullying him in , but the fierce retorts which fall lightly tipon such easy , thick-skinned mortals as the Premier , and the rest of the opponents of the measure are a motley group of the independent members of both parties without organisation or coherence . The leaders of the oj > pOsition are booked . Mr . Bright , with whom India is a specially ,
has not thought fit to take part in the resistance to a measure which it is certain he must condemn , and the opposition being thus incarnated in Mr . Hobsmax , who , thanks to the persistent blackening of Ministerial organs , has not only got the most unmerited reputation of being a mereparty declaimer , but the equally undeserved credit of opposing every measure in a mere spirit of contankerous opposition the triumph of Ministers seems assured .
Unless , therefore , tlie House should at last by this brave opposition which Lord Palmerston styles factious , but Which really is inost patriotic , be awakened from its apathy , or the Peers , discharging in this case a legitimate function in which the country would sustain them , reject the Bill , the Indian army will soon cease to exist . It lias had a glorious history , done the work it had to do well , and would have contimied to form the best defence of British rule in India .
Its discipline and eiliciency have been far superior to that of the QuEEN .-5 army when m India ; and the mutiny charged against it-was- provoked by the most disgraceful conduct of the Government . Mutiny , indeed , it could only technically ^ be called . The men had reason and justice on their side . Thanks to the maintenance of this force , we have had great men rise in India , men fitted to rule vast masses of their fellow . ' ? , men whohavesaved their cpuntry in her hour of need In the Indian army ' merit has always been able to make its way ; whilst Havi ; i , ock remained years in obscurity and saw
HfiHTTfo ^ leT rWc ^^ gained in tlie Indian army the opportunity of displaying their talents , and with that- opportunity came the road to fame and rank . The officers , knowing that India was to be the scene of their lives ' work , took a deep interest in the country and its people . They learned its languages , they threw , off that arrogance and inhumanity which too often mark the conduct of the Englishman to coloured and subject races . Knowing ' the ' people , ¦ .-they could govern them when called upon to do so ; and knowing the climate , they could protect themselves against its dangers . des
By amalgating the two armies—in dther words , troying tlie local force—we lose all these advantages . Officers knowing that India is to be the scene of but a few year ' s work will , of course , not devote themselves to studies , an adequate return for which could only be gained by spending their whole working lives in that particular service . They will care nothing about the country or people , their only object will be to pass the time as well as possible until the long expected day comes when they arc relieved . The constant reliefs necessary will add largely to the cost of the military establishments , and whether it fall on the revenues of India or England , such a burden is equally oppressive . The patronago , instead of being vested in those who were interested in tho selection of the best
men , will fall to the Horse Guards and Parliamentary influence . Wo hftvc won , and held India , bocnuso the system allowed the ~ best men to come to the front . r We-urotiiking the . surest means to lose it by changing to one which has always given the noodles tho chief places , and kept poor merit in the back-ground . This is but tho first stop . The turn of the Civil ' ' Service- will come next , and thci > the whole revenues ot India will bo at tho disposal of Downing-stroet and the Horso Guards , so long—no great period in all probability under bucIi a system—as thocoxintry yields any rovouuo , emdEnglancl retains it .
Charles It may record its opinions against any measure which is submitted to its consideration , but the Minister is not , according to the Government interpretation of the . Act , ¦¦ 'bound to submit his measures to it , and will , of coui-se , not do so where he
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7 Q 0 The Saturday Analyst and Leader , [ Aug . 4 , 1860 .
The Government Of India.
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 4, 1860, page 700, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2359/page/4/
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