David Barr

“ Instances have been brought to light of chaotic misrule, grinding exactions, cruelty, and barbarism on the part of ruling Chiefs, borne with patience, almost with apathy, by their people, whose innate feeling of loyalty silenced complaint, and compelled them to endure vicissitudes which in British India would have speedily led to an outburst of popular demonstration. Fortunately, such cases are becoming rare. Chiefs are learning that good administration is one of the conditions on which they hold their States, and that the British Government will not tolerate misrule. ”

“ The old traditions exist, and in some places are cherished; but the general tendency of the native rulers of to-day is to emancipate themselves from the trammels of custom, and, without any severance of the bonds of caste or religion, to come forth as the leaders of thought and opinion in their States, and as the real rulers of their subjects. Great changes have occurred, and a flood of light has been brought into the darkest places by the expansion of education and the civilizing effects of improved communications, not only throughout India, but with the world. ”

“ It was a loss brought to the homes and the hearts of all, from the ruling chief in his palace to the humble tiller of the soil in his field; and even those who knew the people best and loved them most were astounded by the display of general, humble, unpretentious, but nevertheless whole-hearted, sorrow. ”

“ These and many other measures all tend towards unification with the Empire, and emphasize the position of subordinate cooperation, which is the true basis of the welfare—it may be said the existence—of the States of the Empire.
It cannot be doubted that as time goes on the obligations and responsibilities of the rulers will increase, and that the standard of administration will be raised; but it is clearly one of the most important duties of the Government of India to maintain the integrity of the States and to encourage the efforts of the Chiefs towards the attainment of efficiency. ”

“ The future of Native States lies entirely in the hands of their rulers. A retrospect of close upon a century gives remarkable evidence of their capacity for improvement, and of a surrender of many of those old-fashioned ideas which so long impeded progress and development. It must be borne in mind that a new generation of Chiefs has come into existence—men who have received careful education and training, and who have not been slow to profit thereby. ”

“ There is a tendency among visitors to India to regard Native States with a certain amount of curiosity, as places that should be seen, because they differ so much from other parts of India in that they are more picturesque—more 'truly Eastern' as the saying goes—and because, perhaps, they contain more of that barbaric splendour which is fast dying out of the larger towns and districts of British provinces. ”

“ There is hardly a State in India that has not realized the benefits of the extension of railways, telegraphs, and post-offices. Many Chiefs—notably the Nizam, Scindia, Mysore, Baroda, Bhopal, and Holkar—are interested in lines of railway in their own territories, and participate in the profits accruing therefrom. The Imperial telegraph and postal systems traverse every State, irrigation and public works have been generally adopted, and of recent years the Chiefs of India, with but one or two exceptions, have relinquished their right of coinage and nave adopted the currency of British India. ”

“ During his minority Hyderabad was wisely administered by Sir Salar Jung, who initiated a form of government which was most beneficial to his State.
The Maharaja of Mysore is the ruler of a State in southern India of a total area of 80,000 square miles, containing a population of 5,500,000, and yielding a revenue of about £1,500,000. It is an ancient Hindu dynasty which has undergone strange vicissitudes. ”

“ They engage not to enter into relations with any other State, to refer all disputes of an interstatal character to the adjudication of the British Government through their political officers, and to employ no Europeans in their service without the sanction of Government. ”