BETWEEN-TWO FIRES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1741, 5 May 1913, Page 3

BETWEEN-TWO FIRES.

INDIAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION. RADICAL PRESS VIEW. Some little lime ago extracts were printed iu The .Dominion from an. article in tho London "Time:," severely criticising tho lino of inrjiiir.v adopted by tho Royal Commission, winch, under the. chairmanship of Lord Islington, is invtsligatni},' tlio state of tho .I'ubhc Service in India. Another view of (lie work of the Commission is given in the tollowing letter liom the Calcutta correspondent of tho "Daily News and Lender," in a mcsxigo published recently:—

There is an impression among AngloIndians all over India 'that, the Public Services Commission was appointed chiefly in order to shelve, (ho demand of Hie Indians for a large measure of self-govern-ment, ami also to rid Ministers of tiresome hccklcrs in the llouso o) Commons. Whether this is so or not, tlio Comniis-, sion lias not been long in proving itself t'j be the very opposite of a mero dummy inquiry. On the contrary, the evidence it. has taken, anil the spirit in which if investigations are canvassed throughout the country, indicate that the opposing forces of progress and reaction are arraying themselves for a life and death struggle over its body. The passions of the opposing parties are at fever heat, and bell-, of tliciu are convinced that the Commission will lake sides with the oUic. If the question they have been putting to tho witnesses, ollieial and non-ofiieial, who have been appearing before (htm, had gono less directly to the root of the political, social, administrative racial, ond economic troubles of India—they arc ail mixed up together—the Commission would probably have been voted a very successful picnic by its members, and ail nmiable band of personally-conducted tourists by tho public. But, intentionally or unintentionally, they have managed, at the very outset, to revive all the antagonisms that have ever separated the European from the Indian. They have revealed tlic European, whether odicial or non-official, as the fierce upholder of racial supremacy, on the plea that only thus can efficiency in Government be secured. They have revealed the liuiian as chafing angrily at tho restrictions which hedge him in, and demanding greate." scope as a natural right, and almost to tho condition of liis futuro contentment. „ Two 'Points of View. The two views are crystallised ill the ovidenco which iias been given on the subject of simultaneous examinations in India and in England for admission to the Indian Civial Service. The English witness declare, and unquestionably believe firmly, that this proposal, if carried, will be the beginning of the end of British rule. They maintain that the Indians, although intellectually acute, are lacking ill character, and are consequently not able to exercise authority. Simultaneous examinations would have the effect of flooding the Civil Service with Indians, who could easily pass the stifl'est examination, but would be unable to ctpu with the practical problems of administration. Inefficient, administration would lead to chaos, and the wholesale loss of British capital—that is the end of 'the argument. The Indian Civil Service niuft bo predominantly British—even more so than it is at present. The present openings by which Indians enter it must bo narrowed, if | not closed altogether. In; other words, tlio hands of the clock n ust be set back.

Tho Indians, on the other hand, complain most bitterly of the manner in which they are headed off from all tho higher appointments. Only n landfill of tliem, to b'fgin with, nro able tj nvet tho expenses entailed by the long residence in England which must under present eruditions precede any atlempt to compete for the Indian Civil Service; and even when they pass,'thev represent that tliev are given tho worst districts, receive a I< wor rate of remuneration, and arc reminded of their racial "inferiority."

The Indian and the "Sahib." The demand that tho doors of the Indian Civil Service shall be thrown wide open to them by means of an., examination to be held in India as well as in England, so that Indians who cannot afford to go to England to-sit for tho examination may have an equal chance with tho.-e who can. They admit, by the way—no one is readier to admit the enormous advanfcWs of residence in England and contact with English people than Indians who have made tho experiment—that after the examination ordeal in India has been safely weathered it will be ncccssarv to send the budding civilian to England for A year or two in order that he may become imbued with English ideas ami principles. But they insist that tho expenses of the trip should bo borne by the Government, so that poverty need not bar an able Indian, any more fhan it now bars an able Englishman from entering the public service. The unbridgeable gulf "which yawns between these two sots of witnesses is widened by the demand of a number of Europeans that the Indian Civil Service shall be rendered more select, even as regards its British personnel, by a careful restriction of those who may compete for it. They have the utmost contempt for the "board school" boy, however able. What they want is a gentleman, a "sahib," as wc say out h«rc. They firmly believe that the capacity for administration is confined to the hereditary aristocracy and a wellselected group of families belonging to tho upper middle class. A "White Mutiny." Should the commission recommend simultaneous examinations, and should tho Government of the day attempt to carry out the proposal, we must be prepared for a "white mutiny" in India of tho kind which wrecked /the Ilbert Bill thirty years ago. The Europeans here are practically in the same stato of crystallised political >in which they existed then. They have watched with »iooinv act|iiie=conca the enlargement of the councils and the other reforms of recent years, and lliey have told each other over their "pegs" that the countrv is going to the dogs with a sincerity untroubled by auv recollection of their growing bank balances. These reforms, distasteful as they were, have not, in short, proven led the European capitalist in India from growing richer and richer. But simultaneous examinations are lileo the proposal that Indians should be empowered to try Europeans—they ■would touch the white man's pocket. That, is why ho will kick, should they bo introduced into tho administrative, system. I have come to learn, liowever, during the last few days, that there is very little chance of the commission putting forward any sucli recommendation. It is more likelv to vote for an increase in the pay and pensions of the European members. This would be a case of tho frv-ing-pan versus the fire. The Indians already resent the pay and pension enjoyed by the members of what is .-.till, despite its many detractors within the service. the most distinguished body of officials ill tlm world. Distinguished as the Indian Civil Service is, they regard it as an expensive luxury, which India can ill afTord. Any proposal to render it morn expensive will be bitterly resented, and may even sensibly aggravate I lie unrest.