Florence Nightingale

“ On the contrary, it would appear that an independent audit is required in justice to the Indian administration itself, as well as in the interest of the peoples of India and the people of England. The agents of our great Indian estate are probably the best agents, the most honest, enlightened, and laborious, that the world has ever seen. But that is no reason why the English nation should keep its eyes closed and neglect a manifest duty as master and trustee. ”

“ But the British public fulfils an important function by sitting in Court, as audience, watching that justice be done, according to the principles approved by the British people and declared in the Queen's Proclamation of 1858—not indeed saying how it is to be done. They cannot try the issues, but they can suggest—indeed, it might almost be said they can demand—that the issues shall be tried. We are in the attitude of the inquiring public, not in that of disposing of the question. ”

“ To quote the words of an important State paper, 'The task of administration is yearly becoming more onerous as the country progresses in civilisation and material prosperity. The annual reports of every Government tell of an ever-increasing burden laid upon the shoulders of the local officers. The cry is everywhere for increased establishments. The universal complaint in all departments is that of overwork. ”

“ Individuals will always be found who follow the golden rule of unselfishness. But ordinary men naturally prefer their own interests to those of others. And he points out that a government of officials, not responsible to the people of India, and practically unsupervised even by their own countrymen at home, would naturally and almost unconsciously establish a system favourable to their own patronage and power, 'a system providing too much for the interests of the governors themselves, and too little for the welfare of the governed.' A presumption of this sort seems not unreasonable. ”

“ We have seen such great men, and men of such different cast of greatness, sitting on the Indian Council, that this question might well be answered in the negative, were it not that every year our position in India is changing. We have ourselves worked great changes, unexpected to ourselves. The undercurrent of feeling or opinion among the natives scarcely finds its way to England—nor even the great bulk of the facts which the comparatively unknown English officials might tell us. ”

“ The India Office cannot rightly, in accordance with English ideas, sit upon itself. These truly great Indian proconsuls and Indian officials who now sit in England, under whom the present system has grown up, who are responsible for the present official routine, the status quo, are hardly constituted by English polity, it is said, to sit in judgment upon their own work, excellent as it is. [The more excellent the work the less they must desire it.] ”

“ If after all our labour the bulk of the Indian population remains so perilously near the verge of subsistence that deaths by starvation can be counted by millions, we must with sorrow confess that we are but unprofitable servants ”

“ As all who understand how actual parties really stand will see, the onslaught of Mr. Seymour Keay's paper, above briefly noticed, is no attack upon the present Viceroy, but an attack upon a system which the present Viceroy is steadily but tentatively resisting, in pursuance of the decisions of Crown, Cabinet, and Commons at home—no complaint against Lord Ripon's Government, but against the evils which he is so manfully struggling to subdue. To prove that this is the case, in a subsequent paper will be noticed some of the leading measures of Lord Ripon's policy. ”

“ Under the local self-government scheme, much of the work now done by highly-paid foreigners and by low-paid corrupt native underlings will for the future be done for little or nothing by the villagers themselves; while by the due employment of natives in official positions great economy in salaries will be effected, and the administration, it is said, will be gradually brought into conformity with the needs and wishes of the various races. ”

“ Even if the management were a simple affair and invariably successful, still an account should be taken; for otherwise the good name of the administration is open to attack not only from genuine complaint, but also from railing accusation. Much more, however, is it necessary, when the estate is so vast and the interests so complex, that absolute success is impossible for poor human efforts. ”

“ The object is not to import a foreign exotic, but to revive and strengthen a plant of home growth, stunted by ill usage and weakened, but firmly rooted in ancient custom and in the habits of the people. Philosophers and historians have always dwelt lovingly on the Indian village community as the natural political unit, and as the best type of rural life ”

“ Under these circumstances it becomes imperatively necessary to look around for some means of relief; and the Governor-General in Council has no hesitation in stating his conviction that the only reasonable plan open to the Government is to induce the people themselves to undertake, as far as may be, the management of their own affairs.' This dilemma has long been admitted. ”

“ Summing up his case he maintains that 'after making full allowance for the not inconsiderable benefits conferred on India by its connection with this country, the balance is still woefully against our Indian Government; that it is still an alien bureaucracy living chiefly for itself, with little or no sympathy with the people; that, while sadly unsuitable to the wants of the people, it is ruinously expensive ”

“ It is chiefly an assembly of the retired officials whose admirable work in India may be called the world's wonder. But, speaking generally, public opinion scarcely sanctions our considering a tribunal quite unprejudiced which sits upon the administration of which they were themselves a distinguished part. ”

“ Accordingly, when complaints were made, strong men were found ready to insist that justice should be done, and the offender was brought to public trial, even though his services were as illustrious as those of Lord Clive, and though he was as highly placed as Warren Hastings. ”

“ Ilbert's Bill is an integral, by no means the most important part of this policy; offices of responsibility cannot be conferred upon natives unless they are at the same time granted the powers required to perform the duties of those offices. ”