Mr. L. S. S. O'Malley's thoughtful andinforming history of The
Indian Civil Service, 1601-1930 (Murray, 12s.), deserves a welcome. He describes the gradual development of the picked body.of a thousand higher officials who have done so much for India. He gives many instances of the respect and affection
which the district officers inspired in the old days when they had to supervise everything single-handed. They do not, he insists, form a bureaucracy like our Civil Service, which is, to all intents and purposes, a law unto itself ; the Indian Civil Service is answerable to the courts if and when it goes beyond the letter of the law. Mr. O'Malley reminds us that the Service is rapidly being Indianized ; Indians now fill a third of the higher posts and will soon hold half of them, while the adoption of a new constitution must materially affect the position of the remaining English civilians. The author will have none of the suggestion, put forward by Mr. Baldwin and others, that the English civilians may teach the Indians how to govern well ; they are far too busy, and the Indians do not feel the need of their tuition. Mr. O'Malley's wide experience and good temper are evident in his really valuable book. -
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