21 DECEMBER 1872, Page 2

Lord Northbrook has, it appears, finally pronounced against competition as

the method of introducing natives into the public service. The educated baboos wanted local examinations, but the Viceroy considered that success in examinations would not, amongst a race so apt to learn, be a sufficient guarantee for the State. He prefers selection, and considering that the ablest race in India, the race which under a regime of examinations would win every office, is pronounced unfit for the army, most people who know India would agree with him. The native system, we may remark, has always been to trust to natural selection. The strong man either shot down or intrigued clown his rivals, and •then began governing, often very successfully, but never so sueoessf ally as to make the masses patriotic. Else we were not there.