rtitrz to tht Cahn.
THE TWO THINGS NEEDED'', FOR INDIA.
Madras, May 1853. Sm—By the last two mails, which arrived nearly together, we Indian exiles have received intelligence of the great and seasonable stir in England on the subject of the renewal of the Charter. The intelligence has afforded real gratification to all honest men who have any true knowledge of the state of India, and the more so from its being wholly unexpected. We knew that unless the public were roused no effective reform could take place, and that the public could be roused from the torpor and apathy so long prevailing on all Indian questions seemed almost impossible. But at last, the hour, we trust, is come for the huge system of selfish mystification, according to which the government of India is conducted, to receive a mortal blow and perish for ever. Let thepress only do its duty, and the present flood-tide in our affairs can hardly fail to lead on to fortunate results.
There are two main principles for which I venture to say the most strenu- ous battle should be made.
First. Punllerrr in the proceedings of the Government as the rule, and not the exception : at present it is the exception, and so narrow an excep- tion, that nothing which can subject the Government to unfavourable criti- cism is permitted with the consent of the authorities to see the light. The consequence of this state of things is, that we have a free press which is almost ineffective for want of information : it criticizes in the dark, and making of course numberless mistakes, is ridiculed and vilified by the very men who, by maintaining the secret system, are the real authors of the errors and untruths which bring the press into discredit. Now, a free press was granted in this country as the prerogative of Englishmen : such, what- ever might be the formal statements, was the undoubted ground of the con- cession. But is not the pabulum of a free press a prerogative also ? Why should this Government, more than forty other Colonial Governments, con- tinue to enjoy its prescriptive secrecy and mystification ? Is it on account of pretended danger from the Natives ?—as if there were not ten times more danger in a free press dealing with rumours, scraps of information, and mere inventions, than in one possessed of truths. Publicity of the proceedings of the Government should therefore be claimed as an inseparable sequel to a free press : it should also be insisted upon as the only means of exercising a wholesome check upon the Government. From long acquaintance with the characters and habits of men in office in India, I venture to assert that no form of government or system of administration will be productive of real improvement if this check is withheld ; and again, that almost any form would work well, if all the proceedings, except such as are kept secret, for a time at least, in all governments, were under the influence of a constant and searching criticism. Secondly. SUBSTANTIVE PowEn in the Government of Indialo a far greater extent than that which exists at present. The present system is that the Board of Control and the Directors are the Government, and the Governor- General and Governors in India in Council only their deputies. What is re- quired for an efficient administration is, that India shall be placed in matters of government on the same general footing as Canada and other large colo- nies, which manage their own affairs. People will say, how can such a sys- tem be established without the basis of representation ? I answer, by in- quiring what basis of representation is there for the present Home Govern- ment, or could there be for any Government, Home or Indian ? It is simply impossible to find one. Now the present Home Government has substantive power, and that substantive power I would transfer to India ; because it would be just as easy, with the means of rapid communication now existing, (to say nothing of expected improvements,) to attach real responsibility to an Indian Government as to a Home Govern- ment. At present the Indian deputies are responsible to the Home Govern- ment, but the Home Government is virtually irresponsible. Establish strict responsibility to the Imperial authority, and you may then abolish four- fifths of the cumbrous and extravagant home bureaucracy, by depriving it of an immense mass of business, which it is wholly incompetent to deal with, and which would be far better disposed of from first to last in India. There should, however, still be a Home Government with superior authority, and with the right of interference under certain conditions, analogous to the right exercised by the Colonial Minister with respect to the free Colonies. It should also be a court of appeal for all the servants of Government in India, and for others who have grievances which are not of a nature to be judicially investigated. But such a Home Government should not possess the functions of the present Court of Directors ; it should not manage or control the
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general business of India, either in India or Europe. The business in Europe immediately under the eye of the Court is said to be grossly mis- managed by endless jobbing, which would be abolished by permitting the Indian Government to manage its affairs in England by its own agents, who would be punished for misconduct by authorities capable of judging of its quality and degree. Under such a plan as I have rudely sketched, the Indian Government must be constituted on a new footing, and above all, publicity, as I have said, must be the rule, being the essential virtue of good government, what- ever may be the form. I shall not pursue this subject, knowing that you have but little space for the lncubrations of correspondents. If I succeed in drawing to the subject the attention of men of far greater ability than my own to deal with it, I shall have fully performed my task.
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