REFORMED RULE OF BARODA.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 197, 24 September 1914, Page 3

REFORMED RULE OF BARODA.

CAEKWAR HAS REIGNEIT WELL.

Since ill-health has induced the Mali arajaGaekwaf of Baroda —to seek medical advice, rest, and change in England and on the Continent, it is quite .appropriate that a survey should lie made of his. administration, which is responsible for overstraining hi 3 nerves, producing. insomnia and cognate nervous disorders.

His Highness Shri Sir Sayali Rao lII,' Gaekwar, Sena-Khas-Khel, ShamshevBahadur, Farzand-i-Khas r i-I)owlaM-In : glishia, C.C.5.1., G.C.1.E., was installed oh the throne of Baroda in 1875, when &e was just a* shade *under 13 years jof iSfatel was then, estimated to have an area of about 8500 square miles and a population of just a little over 2,000,000. Its administration at the time was a fiasco. Finance and credit were nearly gone; and the people were oppressed by the tax-gatherers and other officials. . , Began Reign at Eighteen. Not until he was 18 was Sayali Rao empowered by the British to administer the affairs of his territory. In the meantime the Indian statesman, Raja' Sir Tanjbre Madhav Row, with the cooperation of a number of Indian colleagues, and with the moral support and guidance, of the British resident, had exerted himself to give a semblance of civilised government to the subjects of Baroda. .However, when on December 28, 1881, the Maharajah took the reins of administration in his own hands, he found chaos hidden-behind a thin veneer of order.

The State revenue, mainly derived i from I lie land, was arbitrarily levied without a scientific survey having been made of,the farms. Only, the holdings of the poor paid taxes,-while the land belonging to the rich and powerful contributed next, to nothing. The npn: agricultural revenue was derived .from a Customs tariff bighly injurious to trade commerce, and from' 3uradr,eds pi petty imports, some levied in this locality, some in that, some due from one caste, some from another. No Code of Law. Of the diviskn of governmental activities, 'into, executive, legislative," and judicial functions, Baroda knew nought. The same officials imposed and gathered taxes/ charged tho#e who failed to pay their demand**, and punished them. They also detected crime, charged offenders, tried them, and looked after them when they had been put into gaol. 'There was not a single code of law in existence in' the State. The Government services were staffed, as a rule, by men of little education, and there was no system of training candidates for even the responsible posts. The State business was conducted in ramshackle buildings. The Administration was doing little to prepare the rising generation for life, there being one, school for over 45 square miles-,' and Jess than 1 per cent, of the population being able to read and write. Modern Government.

During the thirty-three years of his Tule, Sayali Rao has completely changed the conditions of his State. He has organised a Government along modern lines, in which the executive, judicial, and legislative functions are separated one from the other, and in which university graduates, properly trained for their work, hold the higher appointments, while men Of education and character man the lowest grades. Libei*al, salary, permanent ""tenure, promotion, and pension are guaranteed to all employees who work zealously and honestly. Practically all the land lias Ijeen scientifically surveyed, the rich have been taxed, the poor relieved of their burdens, trade * is unhampered, and nil petty imposts but one have been •wiped out. Civil and criminal codes have been prepared in conformity with established custom, including Hindu and a-nd Mohammedan law, and legislation based on the legal principles of the West. The Maharaja has multiplied courts, cut down the cost of litigation, and established, arbitration boards, so that speedy and cheap justice may be obtained by people at their doors. He has also improved the efficiency of the police, and given his State, for the first time in its history, men who are trained iu the detection of crime. 'lndustries Encouraged. Now. well-biiiii: oi'Viees. many of

them costly in design, are dotted all over Baroda State. Large irrigation canals and tanks and hundreds of wells have been constructed by the State to protect the agriculturists against the* moods of the monsoon. Great waterworks have' been built, more than 250 miles of railway, thousands of miles of roads, hundreds of bridges and telephone lines make communication easy. The Maharaja has organised v departments, manned by experts trained abroad, to foster agriculture, forestry, cottage industries, hand and power manufactures, trade and commerce, and' has done much to -revive art industries and;., traditional arts.

Hi* Highness has lavished money upon building schools and colleges, until to-day Baroda spends one-tenth of its income upon education, and there is .practically no village without its school. Primary 'education is compulsory and free, both for boys and girls. Medical 'relief has been organised along linesj fend in a f most*benefice:at spirit, and the Maharaja has checked the waste of State moneys upon lazy Brahmins and other drones.

The Gaekwar. has interpreted his duties as a ruler in the widest sense of the word, therefore, has taken a leading part in reorganising Hindu' society along saner lines, and in purifying the Hindu religion. He has passed laws to check the evil custom of infant marriage, to break down the iniquitous practice of enforcing widowhood, and of making converts to Christianity suffer for the sake of their conscience. To these laws he has added personal exhortation from Press and platform, and the force of his individual example.-r- ---'' Boston Journal. " \