“ Lord Lansdowne has recently done an exceedingly kindly thing in a characteristically pleasing way. What he has done will stand him in good stead as Viceroy of India. Nowhere in the world does a generous deed meet with so much appreciation as in India. Evidently moved by the many circumstances, pathetic and otherwise connected with the virtual deposition of the Maharaja of Kashmir, Lord Lansdowne, I am informed, has granted permission to the Maharaja to see him. ”

“ I would assign him a liberal income, to be placed at his absolute disposal, and treat him with full honour as titular Chief, but I would exclude him from all real power. He may reign, but not govern. A great danger with the Maharaja is that his notorious weakness of character and purpose render him and easy tool in the hands of an unscrupulous adviser, and therefore it is essential that he should be controlled by some agency upon which the Government of India can place confidence. ”

“ I have before me the difficult task of introducing substantial reforms in the administration of the country, but I believe I have only to look the difficulties boldly in the face and show a determined front, to achieve complete success and earn the reputation of a just and good ruler. ”

“ Without meaning it, and doubtless working, as it considers, with a shingle eye to the maintenance of British supremacy in India, the Indian Foreign Office is frequently guilty of grievous injustice. That office, more than any other department in the Indian Government, is in a position which neither man nor institution is good enough, or free enough from liability to error, to bear. ”

“ In no case, will the British Government be the blind instrument of a Ruler's injustice towards his people and if in spite of friendly warnings, the evil of which the British Government may have just cause to complain be not corrected, a system of direct interference must be resorted to which as Your Highness must be aware would lower the dignity and curtail the independence of the Ruler. ”

“ For the general interests of peace and good order among the Native States, no encouragement should be given to the idea that an eldest son can be set aside at the with of his father; and we hold that in practice nothing but the clearest evidence of actual incapacity to rule should be allowed: to stand in the way of a regular succession by order of primogeniture. Further we are entirely opposed to permitting any partition of the Kashmir State, by will or otherwise, among the three sons of the present Chief. ”

“ Nothing that has happened in the Empire during the past thirty years has so vitally stirred Indians of all races, in every grade of society-this, too, in feudatory States and British districts alike. For the sake of peace and good-will in India and for better government and the increased security of our rule, it is earnestly to be hoped That a return to the status quo in Kashmir is contemplated by Lord Lansdowne and will shortly be arranged. ”

“ Lord Lansdowne, if-with such guarantees as the Maharaja has expressed his willingness to give for the good government of the people of Kashmir - he were to restore Partab Singh to his throne, would do not merely a kindly, but also an eminently wise thing. Notwithstanding what has been publicly said by an-ex India official, who ought to have known better, respecting the character of the Maharaja, His Highness is not 'a drunken debaucher ', nor is he a man of immoral life. He has never been in the habit of taking intoxicating liquors; he is singularly abstemious. ”

“ Informing those views you should remember that the Government of India has no desire to turn Kashmir into the semblance of a British district, or to place all administrative posts in the hands of Panjabi foreigners. The want of good native officials makes it necessary to import some trained men from the outside, but the men so imported should be kept as low as possible, and your object should be to form with their help a class of Kashmiri officials who will be capable hereafter of administering the State themselves. ”

“ There is no one to call it to account, no over-zeal, no one to suggest one to check its (may be inadvertent) that there is, perhaps, another side to a matter than that which has fixed itself in the Foreign Secretary's mind; not a whisper is ever raised, or is likely to be ever raised, by any one possessing power in India, suggesting that the traditions of the office might with advantage be at times broken ”

“ As long as Raja Ram Singh continues to command the State Army there is no hope of any serious-reorganisation; and if Raja Amar Singh were to remain at Jammu, he would not leave a stone unturned to render the Prime Minister's position untenable. A third plan is to continue the existing Council, Making the Resident its temporary head and strengthening it by the addition of two selected Natives. An administration so constituted would probably be strong enough to introduce all needful reforms, and to set the country in order. ”

“ I now warn my officials of all ranks that I have fully made up my mind to put down corruption and intrigue wherever they may be found, and I hope they will do all in their power to help me in making administration a blessing and a source of unmixed good to my people. ”

“ If it be true that Lord Lansdowne intends himself to see Maharaja Partab Singh, and to restore, with guarantees, the ruler of Kashmir to his place of power, His Excellency will do as much to strengthen the Queen-Empress's supremacy in India, as has been done by all the money spent during the past four or five years in strengthening the North-Western Frontier. ”

“ He has never forgotten his father's intentions on his behalf, and the object he is working for is to become Maharaja of Kashmir. Once he gets power into his own hands he will use it without scruple to attain this end. At present the Maharaja is friendly to Raja Amar Singh, because he wishes to Break the bond which unites the two younger brothers and Diwan Lachman Das, but there is no genuine affection or confidence between them ”

“ It will suffice if he occupies, with regard to Jammu and Kashmir, the position and powers ordinarily given to a British Resident in a feudatory State. he British Government are not debarred by any engagement express or tacit, from posting a political Officer permanently in Kashmir; and we see no reason why an arrangement which has been accepted without demur by such a State as Hyderabad should not be adopted in regard to the Kashmir State. If this view is correct, the only question which arises is, whether existing circumstances do not render it desirable to give us the authority we seek. ”

“ Certain simple reforms, such the abolition of obnoxious imports and export dues and the more regular payment of officials, they may effect, but it wills I fear, be hopeless to look for any serious improvement in the administration generality, without constant and heavy pressure, and material interference in details. A probably early source of trouble will be the influence possessed over the new Maharaja by his personal followers. These, who are mostly men of the lowest class, are already beginning to assert themselves, and to offer to help their friends to lucrative employment. ”

“ It surely is politically dangerous to leave the actual administration of this great State in the hands of an individual who may play us false at any moment, without, perhaps appreciatin~ the disaster that would follow, and, I believe, any steps Government may take short of annexation will be right and necessary, and generally approved by the Princes and Chiefs of India. ”

“ In the meanwhile we do not think it desirable formally to announce to the Maharaja that a will affecting the succession could not be recognised, because this course might raise unpleasant discussions. But the Officer on Special Duty will avail himself of any good opportunity for intimating to His Highness that such a will would not be expedient. On the succession of the new Chief, it will not, in our opinion, be proper to postpone any longer representation of our views upon the necessity for introducing substantial reforms into the administration of Kashmir. ”

“ Every large village community in Kashmir comprises a "Zillahdar," or "Harkara," whose business it is to report the misdeeds of his fellows. The Durbar affect to look on these officials as rural police; but as they are occasionally women, and have no powers beyond reporting, spies would be a better name for them. They are paid by a cess of I 1/2 per cent on the gross produce of the land. ”

“ Your Highness is aware of the principle by which the British Government is guided in its treaties with Eastern Princies where cessions of territory are involved that whilst it will scrupulously fulfill all its obligations for the protection of its ally, it never can consent to incur the reproach of becoming indirectly instrument of the oppression of the people committed to the Prince's charge. ”

“ It will not be expedient to bring in a Minister from elsewhere if a sufficiently well qualified local candidate can be found; and as far as possible the Governor-General in Council would wish to leave the Maharaja free to form own Government. Any proposals, therefore, which His Highness may put forward on this subject will be tentatively accepted, unless you should see decided reason to object to them as holding out no prospect of success. ”

“ Lord Dufferin may imagine or plead, as we found him to do in regard to upper Burma, that he is justified by grave political reasons but such repeated acts of high-handdness will, we are afraid, lead to serious and unexpected disasters in the end. The Russian progress towards India may be put forward as an excuse for the present policy in connection with Cashmere, and, in trying to avert or remove danger, immediate peril is courted.
Report on the affairs of the State of Jammu & Kashmir by the Resident of Kashmir. ”

“ This is, first, the immediate removal of the band of incompetent corrupt, and mischievous men who are at the bottom of most: of the intrigues by which this unfortunate State is torn; and, secondly, the appointment of an adequate number of trained. native officials on reasonable salaries who can be trusted, to carry out the orders given to p them. Until the entire Kashmir establishment has been recast, and honest and competent servants substituted for the fraudulent and incapable men now employed, no reforms can be carried out, nor can any mere alteration of the Government be of any use. ”

“ He has led a simple life, and has carefully avoided sensuality. The only fault I have ever heard brought against him by any one acquainted at first-hand with his character is that the rites of the religion he believes in have had more influence over him than on his subjects or his co-religionists think right, but more than certain Europeans Approve, and that his devotions and his contemplation regarding a future life have taken up too much of his time. ”

“ The healthy criticism, the more or less adequate knowledge, and the sense of responsibility to Parliament and the Press, which keep the Foreign, Home, and Colonial Departments in touch with the nation, and which prevent any gross injustice or wide deviation from righteousness are wholly wanting in India. ”

“ The late spring rains caused someloss in the low country and the outer hills, as did the summer floods in Kashmir, but the agricultural out-turn for the last year has everywhere been exceptionally high, and the prospects of the crops now in the ground are excellent. Commerce is shown by the Punjab trade reports to be steadily improving inspite of the vexatious restrictions placed on it. ”

“ But Punnu died six days before Pertab Singh succeeded to the Chiefship, and the people, overjoyed at their deliverance from the man whom they believed their sole tyrant, are probably indifferent to the change of rulers, and will remain quite in confident anticipation of early relief from their burdens. Another fortunate circumstance for the new Chief is the general prosperity of the country, as far as it can be prosperous. ”

“ Besides retaining his rank and dignity, the Maharaja will receive from the revenues of the State an annual sum sufficient to maintain his household in due comfort and to defray any expenditure that may rightly Devolve upon him, but he will have no power of alienating the State revenues, and the sum placed at his disposal though Adequate, will not be extravagantly large. ”

“ Article 1 The British Government transfers and makes over for ever in independent possession to Maharajah Gulab Singh and the heirs male of his body all the hilly or mountainous country with its dependencies situated to the eastward of the River Indus and the westward of the River Ravi including Chamba and excluding Lahol, being part of the territories ceded to the British Government by the Lahore State according to the provisions of Article IV of the Treaty of Lahore, dated 9th March, 1846. ”

“ It is not right that these young men should be given large jagirs which they never visit. It ought to be a condition of the grant that they reside on their property and be personally responsible for its administration. They might pay yearly visits to Jammu just as Moti Singh does. ”

“ Besides all these, a number of other reforms were taken in hand, and it was intended to press them with velour. Unfortunately, matters did not continue so excellently as they were begun, though they have always been fairly well conducted The fault is only a remote degree, if at all, lies with the Maharaja. The Residency system has been the bane of the Kashmir State, as it has been the bane of many another State in India. ”