Mr. Lowe on Monday asked the Under-Secretary for India if
Government were prepared to remedy the grievance of the Bengal Civil Service described elsewhere. Lord G. Hamilton, in reply, stated that the Government admitted a hardship, but not a breach of faith ; that the evil had arisen from causes now at an end, and that the Government proposed to give the civilian a preference in the Non-Regulation Provinces "whenever an office falls vacant for which civilians are eligible, and to which no other officer has his superior claim by reason of seniority, local standing, or special quali- fications." This promise does not compensate the memorialists for the past, or give them much security for the future, and Mr. Lowe intends to move a resolution in Supply. A Governor will always hold that a man whom he wants to promote has "special qualifications." It is a great mistake, apart from the question of faith, on which we think the Civilians right, to confine them to the "Regulation" work, and a greater to pay them so badly as Government appear to be doing in the North-West. Lord Salisbury should look into this matter quickly, for Mr. Lowe has all the public schools, and, indeed, the whole professional class behind him.
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