A NEEDED REFORM IN INDIAN ADMINISTRATION.
[To rim EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR"] SIE,—It is an axiom, and on the whole a true one, that we rule India more by the force of moral justice than by the force of arms. This being the case, it is of the utmost importance to remove occasions of injustice where they still exist. There is one reform which has been accepted in principle by Government, but which has been delayed year after year with increasingly serious effect. I refer to the separation of the Executive and Judicial Services. To show the magnitude of the present evil, I would mention a recent trial which was anxiously watched all over India. Daily reports of it appeared in every Indian paper. The trial was conducted by a civilian Judge who had received no special legal training. He condemned one Hindu to death by hanging and two others to transportation for life. The Hindu community was roused to a high pitch of excitement in the province, for the case bad a political bearing, and it was felt that injustice had been done. An appeal was made to the High Court. The High Court in delivering judgment declared (1) that the civilian Judge
was ignorant of law ; (2) that the evidence for the prosecution was worthless ; and (3) that the Judge himself had purposely withheld European witnesses who might have given evidence unfavourable to the prosecution. The last point is so serious that I give the Justices' own words:—" We have every reason to believe that Superintendent B— was purposely withhold from appearance at the trial." "The learned Sessions Judge directed an urgent telegram to be sent, 'Don't start till you get orders,' and an urgent telegram was accordingly sent and B— was not examined." " The inference from the withholding of these witnesses is irresistible, that if examined they would not have corroborated M— " (the principal witness for the prosecution). The Statesman, the leading Anglo-Indian Calcutta paper, writes :—" We should not have cared to make this statement on our own' responsibility, for it is tantamount to saying that the Authorities took steps to prevent the disclosure of all the facts. But the charge has been made publicly from the Bench of the High Court."
The example I have given is only one of the very many serious miscarriages of justice which happen year by year through lack of a thoroughly efficient judicature. If, as I understand, the expense of the proposed reform is the chief difficulty, then it should be clearly understood both in England and in India that no expense is too great at the present critical juncture to remove the impression of unfair treatment, and that continual delay can only lead to increased irritation. By far the most alarming symptom of the present unrest has been the moral distrust which has increased among the educated classes. In all matters of reform affecting India,. those should be first undertaken which will tend to restore
moral confidence.—I am, Sir, &a., O. F. ANDREWS. Delhi.
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