THE FUTURE OF THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE.
-NATE congratulate Lord Lee and his colleagues on their Report. They have done their work promptly, and their proposals are in themselves reasonable and practical. For the first time in the administrative history of India a mixed Commission of Englishmen and natives of India have produced a unanimous Report. They have proved that a compromise which has a good chance of practical success can be reached by men whose abstract ideals are opposed, as no doubt are-those Of the two sides of the Commission. The agreement, in fact, shows that mixed government is a possibility if it is approached from the standpoint of good will, honesty, and statesman- ship.
The Report gives an example of what may be regarded as just terms for British aid in the government of India.
The principles adopted for the government of India at the close of the War postulated two things. We were to give the natives of India, both in matters of legislation and of administration, a greater and a growing share of power ; but during the period of transition the existing system of administration was to be maintained. This, translated into action as regards legislation, and also as regards a great part of the Provincial administration, has meant that strange system known as the Diarchy—the system now on trial—which so far has proved workable only through the use of the auto- cratic powers of the Viceroy in financial affairs. In the case of the Indian Civil Service, a body of adminis- trators whose record taken as a whole is probably the best that the world has ever seen, the revolution in the political status—for a revolution it has been—has had results of a very disturbing kind. The Service has been shaken to its foundation. This was no doubt inevit- able, but unfortunately the changes came at a time when the position of the European Civil Servants was through other circumstances gravely impaired. The immense rise in the cost of living, coupled with the serious depreciation in the exchange value of the rupee, and - further coupled with a sense of insecurity and of less happy prospects of rising, have brought about eonditions which have injured the efficiency of the Service. Not only have -a considerable number of the best men in the Service sought positions else- -where, but there has been an alarming falling off both -in the quantity and quality of the persons seeking admission to what was once regarded as the best opening possible for a youth of brains and character. In a word, recruitment has become a serious difficulty.
Lord Lee's Commission, on which sat four distinguished natives of India and four experienced Englishmen with Lord Lee as Chairman, was entrusted with the duty of suggesting a method of restoring eonditions which would once more give the Indian Civil Service the pick of the young men leaving Oxford, Cambridge and other Univer- sities. But this was not all. At the same time the Commission was in effect required to observe the principles of hidianization and Provincialization. Inclianization was to be accomplished in two ways : (1) By introducing more natives of India into the Indian Civil Service, and (2) by transferring, without undue delay, some of the duties and functions now performed by Services responsible to the Central Government to the Provincial Services.
The best way of expressing the general effect of the Report is to point out that if it is applied a greater number of important posts will in the future be held by natives of India, and therefore fewer by Europeans. At the 'same time, however, the individual Europeans will be in A better position than- they are inflow, and will be 'relieved of a considerable part of the terrible financial anxiety and difficulty from' which they are now suffering. In a word, arrangements are made which, while lessening the quantity, should unquestionably improve the quality of the recruitment from England.
And now comes in a practical pointof great importance. The Commission have wisely looked ahead, but not too far. They •have laid down principles which - will result in the case of the Higher Civil Service in producing fifteen years from the application of the Report—say seventeen years from now—an equal- division of the Service between the natives of India and persons of British birth and race. -In the case of the Police, parity will --not be reached for a longer period— that is, say, twenty-five years—from the period at which the'Report comes into operation. There are similar arrangements in regard to the minor Services in which Europeans are now largely employed.
We now come to the question -of the reformed con- ditions of service. For the - details we must refer our readers to the Report ; but we may say that what the Commission have done, and 'wisely done; is not as a 'rule to raise the pay of the official but to improve his position in the matter of pension and of remittances to England, from 'which cause, owing to the condition' of the exchange, he now suffers greatly, if and while his ' dependents are in England. Further, it is proposed -greatly to reduce the burden of the journeys of himself and his family to England, i.e., the cost of that maintenance European conditions of life which is so -imptaltant in order to preserve his status, physical and psychological. Finally; his status is improved by putting 'him in a position of contractual agreement with the Indian Government, i.e., of a covenant which ran be enforced in a Court of Law. There are, in addition, minor ameliorations in such matters as house-rent and medical attendance. We may note here that, though the basic pay of the Services is not as a rule inereased, in the case of the Indian Police Service and the Indian Service of Engineers there is an increase in this respect. Without question, the position of the European Civil Servant will be improved, and improved in the right way. That is, the Civil Servant will be relieved of a great deal of the anxiety which now oppresses him owing to the extreme difficulty of making .provision for old age and for the needs of his wife and family should they, as is so often- the case, be obliged to live for a good deal of the official's time of service in Europe. The native of India in high officlial positions -is not exposed to these heavy drains upon his purse, and it is therefore perfectly fair that this relief should not be given to him.
And now comes a matter of prime importance. We regard it as essential that the' specific recommendations should not be materially altered before the Report is put into operation. We can best express the reason for this in the words of the final clause :— " 108. Finally, in submitting this our Report we wish to emphasize that we regard its main proposals as vitally inter- dependent, and that, unless all are given effect to, violence -will be done, not merely to the spirit of compromise which has inspired our agreed conclusions, but to the whole structure of our recommendations."
Let no one suppose that this. recommendation is made, merely because the Commissioners are proud of their work. It is made because the Report is the outcome of a very nicely adjusted balance. If that balance is upset, the moral basis of the Report is destroyed.
For ourselves, let us say in conclusion that the Report fits in with that Federal solution of the Indian problem which we have already described in the Spectator and to which. we now look forward. If _the Report is adopted the prospects of the Indian Civil Service will become brighter. Once more it will, be possible for men to advise their sons to enter their fathers' profession. Once more will it be _ possible for the Educational Authorities . of this country to recommend their ablest students, as they used to advise them in; the past, to enter the Indian Civil Service. To say this , is not to approve the Diarehy. It is, however, the part of statesmanship not to sulk or despair, but to make the best of a bad job.
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