Recruiting - for the I .0 .S .
It is not surprising to learn that in recent years there has been difficulty in maintaining' the supply of English recruits to the Indian Civil Service. The officers of that service have one of the highest traditions in the world to maintain, and they deserve to be assured, as they are, of security in their pay and their careers ; yet conditions in India have altered so much that the service no longer seems to have the same attraction for young Englishmen of the highest ability. The system of recruitment introduced in 1925 was meant to secure an equal proportion of English and Indian officers, but in fact the supply of English recruits has been insufficient to maintain that. Now a revision of the recruiting system is to be made, which will allow candidates to be accepted by recommendation as well as examination, and will make the Delhi, and not the London, examina- tion the normal method of entrance for Indian can- didates. It is to be hoped that the reform will achieve its object of equalising the numbers of English and Indian recruits and of assuring an adequate number of both. For there was never a time in which it was more necessary for Englishmen and Indians to co-operate in the work of governing India, and in the supreme task of leading India to self-government.
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