THE FILE GAME. T HE file game is played at the
headquarters of govern- ment in Delhi and Simla, and in the provincial secretariats at Allahabad, Calcutta, Madras, Lahore and Bombay. There are, I believe, other centres of minor importance where it is played less imperially. The ball is generally started by a baboo, and the idea is to see how long it can be kept in the air. It must not alight anywhere, least of all in one's own court, as that would mean that one was committed to action of some kind. The Home Member sends it spinning back to the Revenue Member or the Head of the Circumlocution Office, and the Financial Commissioner and Accountant-General are sure to get in their whack. In the morning the secretariat official finds a mountain of files on his table, neatly docketed in folding covers bound with red tape. One by one they are considered, noted upon, and consigned to the growing heap on the floor, generally to be transmitted to another department for ",favour of opinion." In few cases is any decision come to. In any private firm the matter would be settled by a word on the telephone, but in the Circumlocution Department orders are few, whereas opinions, minutes, records, comments, invitations for opinion are innumerable. The odd thing about the authors and promoters of files is the inconsistency between their tenacity to an idea and their indifference as to its translation into fact. The secretariat spends half its time in talking about what it has done and the other half in talking about what it is going to do. The one thing that matters is to get the point at issue on to paper, to write a good note on it. The image is always more important than the substance. It is better to make a real case against the necessity of any medical arrangements in Mesopotamia than to have to spend money on lint and ambulances.
An instance that patly illustrates the system lightened my gloom in a Government office not long ago. It was half-past four and I had called to pick up the Departmental Secretary, who had promised to play tennis with me at a quarter to five. There was one bulky file on the table and a mountain of files of all dimensions, temporarily disposed of, on the floor. The Secretary was on the point of rising from his chair when his eye caught the words " Royal Visit " written on the cover of the file that was left. " Wait a minute," he said ; " I ought to have a glance at this, perhaps it is important." And he sank back in his chair and opened the file in the middle as a grocer samples a cheese. " It's in connexion with the official report on the Royal visit," he said. " Some hare that the Educational Department has started. The idea is that it should be translated into Hindi for the edification of schools. Well, yes, why not ? A little expensive, perhaps Eight rupees a copy, and the work will take at least fourteen months."
The Secretary hesitated. He had a quarter of an hour to get into flannels. " Better send it to the Chancellor of the University for an opinion," he suggested, " or perhaps it should go to the Registrar first." And he began idly to turn over the pages, working backwards, glancing at the landmarks in the volume of comment as he traced the idea to its fertile source. " I see," he remarked, " it has already been published in Urdu for use in schools." I suggested that the publication of the official report of the visit before it had taken place was a little premature.
The Secretary stared at me. Then he stared at the file. " Very odd," he said ; " this is dated 1914." He shut the tome and opened it again at a flag marking an earlier stage in the discussion. " Here is an entry by the D.P.I. dated 1912. Why, yes, of course ! It must be the last Royal visit." " King George," I suggested. " Not so frightfully premature after all" The Secretary scratched his head. He looked at his watch and selected from a tray on his table a red flag with the inscription " Urgent " in black letters, and attached it to the file. " It'll keep till to-morrow morning," he said. " Not bad that," I thought, " for the file-game. Between them they have kept the ball in the air ten years." " Perhaps," the Secretary said as I was driving him to the club, " it would be more topical if— " But here he fell to ruminating. I have often wondered since if it dawned on the signa- tories of the file that the mind of the Indian public was likely to be more occupied with the image of the son and heir of the Imperial visitors of 1911-1912. I believe the publication of the record of both visits in companion volumes was mooted. In any case, one may be quite sure that the ball was started again ; it is probably still in the air. It would be quite in the spirit of the game if the oppor- tunity of being topical and seasonable were denied fruition, as on the last occasion, instil, in the cycle of events, a ngw Imperial visit were forthcoming. EDMUND CANDLER.
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