THE SKETCHER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 78

THE SKETCHER.

IMPRESSIONS OF INDIA. — The Case For the Prosecution. — - Sir Henry Craik is a Scotsman, a Conservative, and an old official with a brilliant record behind him. He is therefore just the man to grasp instinctively the official mind and to present in ite most-acceptable form its apologia.' It is, then, 'l to his ! ~ description, 'of officials, of official- Hf c, and" of- the v ~<official attitude in India that I will look in.' his book "Impressions of India?" ' The 'fall, .'in -the _=vglue~of the rupee — whieht .reduces 1 ' the', salaries of the officials very- considerably, -for- these salaries are counted in, rupees-f-has been accompanied by the "rise in " the price of living, thus hitting the poor „pjncial at both ends. Jt is these considerations which justify the picture by Sir Henry Craik of the inner mind and the intimate side of the civil servant's life in India to-day : ( A generation ago the scale of official ■ pay here recompensed those who under- - .took the life, with all its drawbacks, • by an income which • was considerable in .comparison with the average- pro-''-fessional prospects at Home. This is no laager "the' 'Same; "Shd'yet the dfaw- ' backs, are,? there* in. all ; , their > forces B ehindf; v alL£the -happy * camaraderie -one* - sees tbs shallows .that' tell us why thiff v is - "-".the land : - regrets^ ' TheTe * - are the fbrce9' parsings" and vie "long absence^om children, ,for_jirhom, after a 'time,- the climate and the surroundings are unsuitable. .There is the constant - dread of ihe coming of the hot season, ■ when households must perforce be broken up, and wives and nurseries must- fly to the hills, leaving the breadwinner to swelter in the plains. They " are busy from morning to night. They are out early for a ride in the fresh coolness of the morning. They are at > work at ~»n ' hour.-tha-t -weald 'be early iox professional work in London. As soow-a^^ffice Ji -h<mTs r aTe^oyer they gather in the garden, of their friends or of the Montgomery Hall, in a crowd that comprises practically the whole throng of Anglo-Indians, for active exercise. . ' Judges and high officials, military officers and ladies, all keep ennui away by habits of exercise that would put our professional men at^Home to'shame. But,- again/ when ~. Sir Henry Craik comes in ' direct' contact ' with . f-jThe Great Administrative Machine — in, the concrete — that ie to say, when he accompanies one of the commissioners in his round of work — there is a suggestion of a career that has its extraordinary fascinations. I have read twice over the chapters in which oxir author describes the round in which he accompanied the commissioner, and I found it each time more interesting and inspiring. You get, first, such a very fine and eloquent pic- ! ture of rural life in India as is contained in a passage like this. Having premised that whatever other experiences you may have in India, you are never disappointed; the reality always exceeds what you had anticipated of interest and picturesqueness and of strangeness. In it, says Sir Henry, every traveller must feel that he is " face to face with a strange and unfamiliar world " : Its colour, its variety, its dramatic •contrasts, the infinite pathos of the life ! that passes before him, as it were, j in a .silent A-how — all these may produce various impressions on the traveller, but never that of disappointment that the magnitude of the contrast is less than he expected, or that there is lees to be seen and studied than he anticipated. This is the spirit of the scene, and its outward accessories play up co well to the part ! It ie in the jungle districts, away from the bustle of the large towns, that one sees India best. There the teeming population may be watched, in every garb, from the coarse cotton sheet Avhieh clothes the labourer to the rich colours and materials worn by the local magnate, and with all those manifold distinct iorus of rank, fenced in . by a hundred quaint observances, which 1 are bred in the bone, and are as little ] affected by Western notions of equality ; as the vast, arid plains are touched , by the few scattered water-tanks. There is movement and etir enough — the con- . tinual chatter of the camp-followers ; . the indignant snore of the crowd of . baggage camels ; the cooing of pigeons ; the shrill piping of the green parrots restlessly flitting atnony the trees ; the j rumble of ox-waggone, and an occa- J sional outbreak of barking dogs, or, by 1 night, the yelp of jackals. But, fold- j ing it all in, there is a sense of supreme and over-mastering silence and calm, which seems to re*b upon all the j lesser sounds and movements, and only to be made more impressive by their petty inlerruptionis. The spirit of rural India stages iteelf effectively. And then there is the extraordinary multifariotisnesib of the work which tliie ! travelling camp has to perform : The subjects of investigation are infinite in. their variety. He and his subordinates unite in themeelves the duties of supervisors of settlement work, of surveyors of taxes, of remitters of taxation which a bad harvest | makes impossible of payment, of agents j of precautionary measures against the j j)lague, of investigators of titles and 1 the relations between landlord and ! tenant. They dole out loans of ei(ght | rupees^ and upwards, to the amount of j many 'thousands, and have to satisfy 1 themselves that th-e loan is required J and that the security is fair. They j superintend irrigation work, and see > how far it accomplishes its ends. All complaints and grievances are patiently heard, and the measures of defence against famine are carefully provided foi'. The elders •of each villUgo squat round the carpet, where the commisskm?!' frit<s hoforo In.* ofic^ i^n' . am! volubly propound their view*. J-ach

has hie proper place assigned, and if ' anyone possesses the highly-prized i privilege of having a chair at such a co_sere_3e he ..presents his certificate, } and the honour .is duly accorded. It • is easy to see how euch ceremony har- - monises with all the feelings of the group. The business may be various enough. Now a. new rat -trap has to be inspected, and now 1 a scheme to be devised for overcoming some racial prejudice against necessary measures of plague precaution. A dispute about well-water, a jgrievance against a mortgagee, a case of landlord' oppression — each has ite place. Any defect in canal' irrigation, is brought forward, and the .aid of the commission invoked. The scene is not without its humorous inci- • dents. _n excited beggar is clamouring for his share of any loan that is ■going, although he has no interest in crops or seetfs. Without violence or hustling, he is quietly persuaded to stand aside, and submits with a smile, as if he saw the humour of the situation. At times a speaker, who carries no weight with his fellows, interposes, and he is quietly waved to silence by a sweep of his neighbour's arm. The Hindu has no consuming prejudice in favour of truth, and his, politeness tempts him to answer .vaguely, and as he thinks his interlocutor desires, but in presence of his fellow-villagers , he does pot dare to misrepresent the facts in his own interest. All have t-beir hearing, and when matters are settled we paes on amidst profound salaams. — Rural Life. — And, finally., I complete this picture of the travelling commissioner and the rural India he .'rules with the following passage — it is .really a very fine piece of writing, giving an^ intensely vivid and lucid picture : The roads along which we pass are well made, and are refreshing in their i umbrageous coolness and full of end- I less eights, of interest. The green, { parrots are flitting, like leaves, across j our path ; the small, grey-striped squirrels scamper, ceaselessly athwart the road; long trains of female labourers, with their dark-red drapery, meet us; big herds of bullocks stroll listlessly along in- charge of a email, almost , nakea, child, who often ease® his task by lying at full length upon the back of the fathTer of the herd ; strings of camels plod along to market ; and the rumbling bullock-caTt passes ever and 1 again with a whole family and its belonigings.; the monkeys leap from . branch to branch ; and here and theTe j a toothless fakir begs for alms. The , life of rural India is gathered here, and watches the passing of the official equipage and its attending escort with ' a sort of apathetic respect, as if it were a vision from another world. The life j is slow, patient, and monotonous, and ; the spirit of the soil has passed into j their very fibre. The ekv is an unre- j lieved blue ; the evening ligJils. are sav^ passingly beautiful ; but Deyond the leafy avenues that border the road there is no beauty in the aspect of the country. It stretches in an unbroken level as far as the eye can reach, and — especially in this season of exceptional drought — there is nothing to be seen but bare, brown soil, dusty and untidy j mudbanks dividing the fields, dry canal { channels, and here and theTe- unsightly , wells, and a team of hump-backed oxen ! wearily tugging at the well-ropes, j There are no hamlets nestling by village hedgerows, no garden or flowers, nothing but a sad and unrelieved monotony of brown, with an occasional patch ; of green produced by artificial irriga- j tion. " Bleak sunshine vainly shines around," Nature is not smiling, and gives no sign of home-like rest, with all its calm and all its inheritance of patient toil. — Political Agitation. — So far the picture is sympathetic, agreeable, with no suggestion of those uneasy strugglings which are affrighting other parts of India; and I come, somewhat gradually and unwillingly, to that portion of the book. And first one has to realise from the perusal of this book that the movement of unrest which confronts our rulere in India to-day is not an isolated and weak and anarchic thing, but something that is well organised, well financed, and very ably managed by. some , central authorities or inspirations. "Here i in Calcutta, " writes Sir Henry Craik, " and _ Bengal generally, there is, beyond a doubt, the central machinery of political agitation." And then he proceeds to point to the varied, and sometimes even conflicting, interests and prejudices among the natives to which such an agitation can appeal : On th-e Xorth-we£t Frontier it is working near the powder-magazine, of Pathan lawlessness and pronene^s to Mussulman fanaticism. Amongst the ranks of our native army it might easily find suitable soil if we ivere ever to forget, or if we did not, indeed, carefully encourage that feeling of izat, or instinctive self-respect and hiighspirited pride which is the chief guard of their loyalty. In the Punjab it stirs ; the poorer agriculturist by defaming official efforts, by fostering discontent j against the Land Alienation Act, and , by decrying the administration of the canal colonies. In th-e united provinces it can appeal to a class prone in any caee to lawneesncs-s and crime, and it ( may excite ,«ome sympathy amongst the talukdars, or big landlords, who think their rights are bein^ filched away from them in favour of the poor tenant. In Bengal it appeals to religious j antipathy against the Mohammedans. | to fancied interf-eience with landlord | rights, and to a cla^s hard pressed by | economic changes, and it can call to ! its aid a restless, turbulent, pampered ' host of Bengali lads, who aTe stirred , to violence — so one i1;i 1 ; apt to f-uspect — by tho. c -c whose public acts do not bring them within the law. ■ How i& th.fc unrest to be met? Sir

Henry "Craik dismisses very innmn"a*il|» the idea- -that ifc- could be seriously affected- by an .increase- in- the number o^ minor offices open to -th« i; nativea?-aiidfi especially to that typ&^pfc naihre irho" is 1 epitomised in the term? -Bengal Babt. Thiej 1 pleaders who have been.' taught in Eng- ' land are the main figures in this class ;]j and this, is how Sir Henry describes an<i : condemns .their purpose ; ~ - •, No doubt -they v can- * safely say, a&J some of them have assured'' me; that th§ end of British authority -is the fcustf thing that they wieh. It does not fol^ low that they may be- appealing to in£ stinctive longings that go furthery Still lees does it follow that, they under-!; stand British rule as ,we do. If it' iap to be maintained they should- hare ii exploited for their own behoof. By ita* help they are to assume ,a, : position which their fellow-«Oun.trymen would" not for a moment accord to them. They, would have representative institutions^ which their deft management and glil» oratory would capture for themselves&By means of 6uch machinery, and with 1 the isuppoxt of JBritish authority, they, .■would manipulate ''India, and impose on it an -adminiistrative tyranny woise thair any form from which it has suffered in past centuries. Of all the curses, thafr" pursue India, the worst is that of tho subordinate native official, -and it .ii that which the native -chiefly abhorsf The greatest blessing that could come, to ihe country would be the deporting of the whole wretched tribe, down to the humblest red-coated chaprassfe who waits at the Sahib's door, extorts bribed for every admission to "the Presence," grinds his countrymen under his igr noble bullying, and ascribes it all — nd doubt with perfect success — to the orders of the Sahib. He" it is whoi. poisons the fwells of our administration^* and presents it in the' ugliest colours • to the credulous native. And all the time he is growing rich on it, and shows it in tjhat " increased oiliness and obesity which always mark' the pros* peroue native. — Corrupting the Wells. — • And then Sir Henry proceeds to give "an instance of how these .subordinate officials corrupt the wells of British administration, as he pute it. ,•? A deputy-commissioner, convinced 1 that a heavy commission was extort&l by hie own subordinates on account" of all his appointments, contrived a means of outfitting them. At the next horm 4nation of a village lumbadar,- after deciding^- on his man, --he called" to the Babn on the spot for "the formal ficate of appointment, which usually was made out and - delivered the .next day — of course, for a consideration." The paper was not * forthcoming, although his, orders had been clear, and! . this, of 'couTge, owing to- the fault' of the subordinate's subordinate, who-Tvae d-uly rated by his immediate- 'superior; with the usual lurid reflections .'upon the moral character of his progenitors, male and female. At last, - after exa&- v peratittg- r delay, the paper was madeout, and presented to the newly-ap-pointed lumbadar, who received it with' a mixture of wonder .and embarrassment. He protested, pleaded custom*, would be more than satisfied to receive it to-morrow, and would only take if when peremptorily ordered to doiso>arid to go straight home. The, subojjdinatetf were reprimanded and fined, and fr> r^ ceived both fine and reprimand^ as pr,o3£ ing the eminent justice senoe, and as more than 6ji their part. No such delay 58 ! again merit the Sahib's just " lhaigi^r tion. '. „, 'nwi However, the same miserable humbug- was repeated : „ < - - *- Next year the deputy ' returned to the district. On his arrival no pre£ parations were made. There was Ao provender for his camels ; the woodr was damp and would not burn ; milk was not procurable ; and no notice of his coming had been given-. All was due to the wicked lumbadar, who was reported to have met all expostulation; by scornful defiance of the Presence andof all the Sahibs. The lumbadar was summoned, and meekly acknowledged all hie faults, and all the impious reflections which he had made on the Presence. He would make amends, and the like would never occur again. The Sahib's excellent Babus would, be hoped, forgive him. The whole of the little plot was ..only too transparent. But expostulation, • exhortation, assurance of protection, all were in vain. The only pra}*er of tfte poor lumbadar, in the end, was that tpd Pr-esence, who was his father and his mother, would suffer him to come to terms with the Babus. If not, yoree would befall him next year. '--Heavier charges would be brought ' against him, and would be supported by irrefragable evidence, which even the Preee'rice would not disregard, and his ruin 'would be complete. " , ' v ■ — Meeting the Unrest. — /( , Is there no Hvay, then, of meeting .this unrest in -India by concessions to opinion, and by associating native~ininds and aspirations with the Government- of their own country? This is the counsel which Sir Henry makes with regard to tho question : i" give it for what it. is worth : — - - _„ We cannot administer India- on a set of abstract principles, wielded by > bureaucracy. We must attach 'weighM'o the political and social economical-his-tory of the country. Deprive the older families of their legitimate influence, and you will make them the rooted enemies of all modern movements, filled with contempt for ' uDstarts — as _tbey deem them, — who have got a veneer of education : and these upstarts, in their turn, will use agitation as a ready means of eel f -advertisement and ;,of pressing their own influence against that of the native aristocracy, and at tha same time against British rule. Yotl

if HI be driven perforce to depend p more "fid- more on the subordinate native •ffieials, who are the direct oppressors >£\ i/heiri, own countrymen, and, except toiler constant supervision, the most langerouV agents of your own rule. Give ©Hhat natiW' aVistocracy their' heredi-' ary inflnence^and^their just 'rights, and rourwjll hay§ 'a- clasr through whom you an maintain -yotir hold , upon, the vast, narticulate mass" of- native zemindars, vho would be the? medium between the jureaucratic ' administration j ;and the jeoplej and ,wjth -whom the new edu»ted class ,wouldifind it to their interest «.. coalesce. „>„ John Bright was- ridiculed ■or defending the -rights of the Barons ifl Oudh. Perhaps his political instinct [Fas -more -true than the doctrinaire abstractions of those who. sneered at him. &t* all events/ I give nnto t conclusions of my own, -but those of the shrewdest md-_ most- experienced administrators,' when -I state - these views. You have ngw .in operation a vast bureaucratic iystem, based essentially upon Socialistic principles. Do not drive your abItract- principles to the death. How t»adly-you may fare by:, simply pressing Sajfpoeed"— -^popctlar 'li^Jxts -vrbictx are iijften so only in name — may be seen, in the', action -of i.he Municipal Councils. Ehey'ure distrusted' by "all; are kept Erpm , : .mqre - flagrant . errors • only oy official" guidance ; "and, the -fact that they are elected does not give them the conidence of the native in any degree- whatever. _r ' -- - - ich is the case for the prosecution^ as I 11 it. ' On the whole,, this is. a somehi . disquieting, a , somewhat sadning "book. It* tends to augment c's • sense of the overwhelming d almost appalling task which is now id on the .shoulders of the great man (letters whose most recent book has own the world, what it may have lost ben, he exchanged the closet for the riiim.— T.P.s Weekly,