Lord Salisbury las filled up the vacancy in the India
House caused by the retirement of Sir John Kaye through continued ill- health. His office—that of permanent Under-Secretary to the Foreign and Secret Department—is, perhaps, the most important in the House, and requires a rare combination of knowledge of Indian Princes, breadth of view in Indian politics, and habitual secretiveness. The selection haa fallen, therefore,-on Lieutenant- Colonel P.O. Burne, who may be roughly described as having been for four years Lord Mayo's guide in all relations,with the Princes, and one _of the main causes of the success. of his administration. The soldier-political, when he is good/ is Jthe best, as he is the most exceptionatofficial product of India, and Colonel Burne has been soldier-political for all India at once._ A better appointment could not have been made, though, as,in every such case, some one or _other in the ,office must have lost_what-if office rules were all, was a just hope.. Something should ,bealone to -correct the one misfortune of the Indian Home Service, the impossibility of weighing their claims against those of mm-who possess actual experience.
Previous page
