LORD ISLINGTON.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1719, 9 April 1913, Page 8

LORD ISLINGTON.

HIS WORK IN INDIA.

SEVERE CRITICISM OP THE COMMISSION. Lord Islington's new post as chairman of the ltoyal Commission which is inquiring into the Public Service of In<lia is j not exactly a hcti of rcsss. Yesterday's English mail brought to Jiunii n leading ( article in the Loudon ' Times" in which , Hi 3 methods of the Commission were sc- j vovely criticised. "Telegrams lrom Jn- ( dm,'" says tin "Times," "hav:; more than j once suggested that the proceedings of tlii! linnan Public Services Commission nru having an unlorunute effect upon pub- . lie feeling in 'the Dependency. We are ( bound to say that tno suggestion finds considerable confirmation in "the reports , of the sittings published in the Indian ' press. An examination of these reports leads to the conclusion that unless the methods of the Commission undergo drastic alteration tho chief outcome of its labours may be a serious increase of racial bitterness.* The terms of reference to the Commission seemed on the surfaco admirable. It was to report upon the methods of recruitment and systems of training; the conditions of service; 'such limitations as still exist in the employment of noil-Europeans'; and generally to consider the requirements of the Public Service. ... in practice it has adopted an extraordinary course. Unless the long newspaper records of Hie sittings do it a grave injustice, it would appear to have devoted a very large proportion of its time 'in Madras and Calcutta to consider whether examinations for the Covenanted Civil Service should bo held simultaneously in England and in India. . . . "The Commission's eagerness about simultaneous examinations invariably leads in one direction. Alter.each witness has been for some time, even the subject of examinations, is dropped, and the witness is assailed with questions Hie purport of which may be tersely summarised thus: 'Do you think the Indian is r.s good a man as tho Englishman! 1 ' Tho ans.ver to three caicstions depends entirely upon tho ra:o of the witness. In any case, the replies given are necessarily expressions of opinion, and not statements of fact. Such public expressions of opinion are essentially mischievous. The witnesses must either disguise their views or aro remorselessly compelled to state them in a form which may give offence. No useful purpose is being served by thifo vague and wounding questions. They have only a limited conncction with the main object for which the Commission was appointed. They lead nowhere, and certainly not to a reform of existing defects. Anything more unfortunate than the spectacle of a Royal Commission perambulating India with furious haste, and asking everybody whether lie considers Englishmen or Indians make the best and most efficient public servants, we cannot well conceive. Wo are not surprised to iind the 'Pioneer' declaring that if the Commission continues in this way it will crcatc 'an amount of bitterness and illfeeling that will take years to eradicate.' ''Wlien the Commission is not engrossed in a far too narrow conception of its objects, it appears very often to go outside them altogether. Thus it lias spent soino time in collccling view.; about the manning of tho judiciary, and has in consequence been drawi into Ijypaths which it should have avoided. Wo have frequently pressed for an inquiry into the working of tho Indian Courts, but have always been careful to add that such an inquiry could only, bo conducted by English Judges of great eminence. No member cf th;i Indian Public Services Commission is qualified to deal with suih issues. . . . Unfortunately tho chairman of th? Commission, Lord Islington, struck a false note at tho outset. In his opening speech at Madras he said that tho Commission hoped to reach 'a reasonable basis of agreement which will givo satisfaction both to the just demands of the services and to the legitimate aspiratibns of i\is Indian.subjects. In that spirit 1113 Commission lias pursued its investigations, and because its spirit is misguided it leaves strife and bitterness wherever it