STUDIES OF INDIAN LIFE AND SENTIMENT.* WE congratulate Sir Bampfylde
Fuller on having written not only a very useful but a very readable book. It will be specially useful because it is a " cool" book. By this we mean that he does not adopt the Cassandra tone of dreary prophetic declamation as to what will happen to us in India because some of us are for the time inclined to forget the prime duties Studies of Indian Life and Sentiment. By Sir Bampfylde K.C.S.I., C .LE. London : John Murray. Lem. net.1 of government. Nor, again, does he use rhetorical invective about " traitors," and those who tolerate or encourage " traitors " by their folly, their ignorance, or their recklessness. Instead he draws a quiet, unimpassioned picture of India as it is, and describes the tendencies at work in Indian public opinion, and also among the British in India and the British at home. But though Sir Bampfylde Fuller's book is easy and good-tempered, it must not be supposed that it has either the dreaminess or the flabbiness which we sometimes associate with the political philosopher. If it is carefully read, it will be seen not only to be practical in a high degree, but to afford strong support to those who, though not fundamentally pessimistic, are momentarily anxious about the condition of
India, and desire to awaken public opinion here to a better understanding of the problem before them.
Perhaps the most interesting chapter in the whole book, though it is very difficult to summarise it, is the last, entitled " India's Feelings." This chapter deals with one matter to which we should like to draw special attention. Sir Bampfylde Fuller points out how we admit Indians to the higher administrative posts in the Civil Service, " on a system which can hardly fail to damage their self-esteem,
and to withdraw from the concession the grace that recom- mends it." To begin with, those Indian officials who have distinguished themselves in the provincial branch of the Service, and are appointed to posts ordinarily reserved for Europeans, are not permitted to draw the same amount of pay as is received by the European incumbents of such posts.
That is an absurd piece of pedantic economy. The theory, no doubt, is that the native of India, being at home, has not
anything like the amount of expenses incurred by the European official, who is obliged very often to keep up an establishment both in England and in India, and that therefore the native's money will go much further than that of the European. As Sir Bampfylde Fuller points out, how- ever, the distinction cannot fail to be humiliating. It inflicts on an Indian official a sense of inferiority every time he draws his monthly salary. As our readers know, we are most strongly against sharing our control of Indian affairs with any section of the natives, but in the cases where we appoint natives of India to high administrative posts, those appointments should be made ungrudgingly, and without any action which can in any sense be regarded as insulting. If the native of India is good enough to fill a post, he is also good enough to receive its honours and emoluments. Another very useful criticism is contained in the following passage :- " Indians can and do enter the ranks of the imperial branch of the Civil Service through the competitive examinations held in London. But they compete under circumstances of exceptional difficulty and expense, and must feel if they succeed that they have overcome obstacles that were intended to exclude them. Moreover, it is undesirable to offer inducements to young Indians to break with their homes and home influences while still too young to stand alone, and to subject themselves to the ordeals of life in a strange country amongst associations that are apt to be demoralising. We have admitted in principle that Indians should not be excluded from the imperial branch of the service. Many of them have justified their promotion by conspicuous loyalty and efficiency, but it is necessary for political as well as administrative reasons that their numbers should be carefully limited. We should emphasise the race question less annoyingly if we dealt with their claims more directly, if we settled from time to time the proportion of posts in the imperial service which could be committed to them, and filled these posts by recruitment in India, with no invidious distinction in regard to rates of pay. It would follow, of course, that Indians should be debarred from competing at the examinations in London. Such being the case, it would be most politic to effect the recruitment in India by competitive examination also ; but, in order to secure the high standard of character required, candidature should be limited to young men who have already shown their fitness as members of the provincial service. Provincial officers of, say, three years' standing would be permitted to enter themselves for a special examination under such limitations as would safeguard success from becoming a monopoly for certain provinces or classes of the population. The system would generally be similar to that on which officers of the British army are selected for the privileges of the Staff College. The provincial service now attracts the very best of the young Indian talent which does not try its fortune in England, and the arrangement which is suggested is not open to the objection that it would create discontent by adding a speculative value to provincial appointments—by encouraging, that is to say, men to enter that service, not for its own sake, but merely as a stepping- stone to the imperial branch."
The general spirit of this passage seems to us reasonable
and practical in a high degree. We ought to make up our minds what number of offices can properly be
filled by natives of India without endangering our main object,—the welfare of the governed. To these posts Indians should be appointed under conditions which secure the obtaining of the best men. We do not obtain the best men among the natives of India by allowing them to compete here in our competitive examinations. Indeed, we are in considerable danger of securing the least desirable. Taking a wide view of the case, the Indian who comes to England to cram for an examination is in very grave danger of being demoralised by the process. Our only difference in detail from Sir Bampfylde Fuller is in regard to the system under which we would allot the posts in the Civil Service reserved for natives. He would allow all provincial officers of three years' standing to enter themselves for this promotion examination. In our opinion, it would be better to adopt the plan of selecting the officials for the posts in question. We would name the most desirable men, and appoint them provided they were able to pass a reasonable qualifying examination. We fear that under Sir Bampfylde Fuller's plan too much weight would necessarily be given to what is, after all, not the most desirable quality in an administrator,—the power of cramming for an examination which belongs in so marked a degree to the Baba type of Indian. By selecting the men, not by examination, but by nomination, we could be sure of the Mohammedans getting their just share of appointments, and we could enlist under our banner men of position and family, and therefore of local prestige,—a matter which counts for so much in the East. Another very striking passage in the chapter from which we have already quoted is the following :—
"If, however, by neglecting the claims of Indian sentiment we expose it to the overtures of anti-British influences, it is essential to realise that a similar danger is incurred by weakness of administration. Our influence in India rests not so much upon our strength as upon prevailing ideas of our strength ; and if anything occurs to weaken these ideas, the people of the country prepare themselves for a change of rulers. The traditions of a thousand years are not easily forgotten. During this period no dynasty has maintained itself much beyond the limit of a couple of centuries. For this reason a policy of concession, of compromise, is exceedingly dangerous. We must do justice, but because it is justice, and not because we are afraid of consequences. The idea of give and take, which influences so materially the course of English politics, is foreign to Indian notions of government. It does not conciliate our opponents ; it merely strengthens their hold upon the imagination of the people. On the other hand, efficiency of administration is a force that draws popular feeling towards us and weakens the armoury of the anti-British crusade. There is a tendency amongst English politicians to consider that we may overvalue efficiency in our government of India. It should certainly not lead us to vexatious interference with the customs of the people in matters that are not of real importance. But it should never be forgotten that to a philosopher—and every Indian of intelligence is given to philosophise—it is the strenuous benevolence of our administration that justifies our presence in the country—that makes it worth India's while to accept our authority ; and if, by intervening on behalf of the poorer classes, we cause some annoyance to those who might otherwise exploit them, so long as justice is on our side, we command a feeling which few men will repudiate, even though their personal interests may suffer. And if the masses of the people do not show active gratitude for our intervention, they none the less appreciate it in their hearts ; and when invited to condemn our administration, they have something to appeal to for a judgment in favour of it. Strength and efficiency of administration appeal to the imagina- tion, and it is by their display that we retain the allegiance of conservative forces that are disposed actively to assist us—the Indian princes, the commercial community, the Muhammadans and the Indian staff of our public services. Those who have invested money in trade or industry are naturally on the side of constituted authority ; but they will only combine to its assistance wheu they can trust it determinately to check revolutionary propaganda. The Muhammadans are in a minority and look to us for protection : they will expect it, however, only when they receive it. By their religion and their political ideas they are less disposed than the Hindus to dissent from the assumptions which lie at the root of Imperial authority. It is difficult to over- rate the influence of our public services if they remain confident in their loyalty."
We wish that we had space to quote further from Sir Bampfylde Fuller's admirable book, in which we have marked dozens of passages as worthy of special notice. All that we can do, however, is to put up a signpost to a work which can be studied with advantage by all who desire to acquaint themselves with the problem before us. We will conclude with one more quotation, that of a passage in which Sir Bampfylde Fuller deals with the education question as it affects the Mohammedans :-
' "To the dogmatic ideas of the Muhammadan faith, education without religion seemed wholly mischievous, and until recently Muhammadans have been as distrustful of secular schools as the. Catholics of France. Moreover, they viewed with natural sus- picion an educational policy which dethroned in favour of English the Persian which had, for generations, been the official language of the State. They preferred to maintain schools and colleges of their own, in which teaching was given on Oriental lines_ Instruction commenced with the study of the Korth', and, aiming at scholarship rather than science, led its students to the master- pieces of Persian and Arabic literature. It has suffered from the lack of competent teachers, and was doomed to failure by being out of accord with the times. English learning was the qualification that was required for State employ, and by neglecting it the Muhammadans have lost much of their share in the public service. They have for some time past realised this, and Muhammadan students now attend Government high schools and colleges in increasing numbers. Their objections to purely secular education are being met by the establishment of Muhammadan hostels, which do not remove their boarders from religious influences. The Anglo-Muhammadan college at Aligarh, which was founded forty years ago by Sir Syed Ahmad, has led the van in this reformation of ideas."
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