THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3350, 3 January 1879, Page 3

THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA.

(From the Madras Corre-ivondait ofthe Melbourne Argus.) Lord Lytton did well in calling such a trusty councillor to liis side. I only echo what public opinion there is in India when I say that Lord Lytton is not regarded as the man for the position he occupies. Nothing bufc the influence of a powerful Ministry in England keeps him afc fche head of tlie Indian Government. To recall him would be to discredit Lord Beaconsfield's selection, and this the Ministry will nofc do if fchey can possibly avoid ifc. Bufc yefc the Home Government was obliged to put a veto on Lord Lytton's Native Press Act (the most unwise and indefensible measure fchat has been introduced for many a year), and will ultimately have to acknowledge that his lordship's famine polioy was a lamentable failure, so far as the saving of human life waa concerned. Should things nofc go well in Afghanistan, the patience of Lord Lytton's friends at Home will be pretty well exhausted, and they will not hesitate to sacrifice him at«

fche shrine of public opinion. The telegrams passing between Ithe Indian and Home Governments reveal tho fact thafc the Ministry were disappointed thafc Lord Lytton had to delay the advance on Afghanistan, and any evil consequences thafc may arise from fche postponement of fche campaign to the spring are certain to be credited fco his inactivity at fche moment when he ought to have been prepared to strike a vigorous blow. Socially, Lord Lytton is becoming very unpopular, especially at Simla and in Calcutta, where he is best known He has lately given way to a tnskiness that is unbecoming in a man with the destinies of a mighty empire in his hands, and thafc shocks the sense of propriety of orderly, sober-minded people. The scandals at Simla this year are the talk of every European station in the counfcry, as they possibly are of every native bazaar. The Viceroy's lafce military secretary, Colonel Villiers, jusfc distinguished himself by becoming co-respondent in a divorce suit in the High Court afc Lahore, was found guilty of the offence with which he was charged, and mulcted in £2000 damages. The lady in the suit was the wife of a doctor. It is whispered that the colonel and the lady have left for England, while the doctor has been given a staff appointment with the Afghanistan force. One of Lord Lytton's aides-de-camp is in trouble in a similar way, while there are nofc wanting rumours that Lord Lytton himself lias been an object of suspicion. Some of these rumours may be exaggerated, bufc ifc is little creditable to Lord Lytton's regime fchafc they should have any foundation in fact. What is certain is thafc Lord Lytton is getting a new military secretary, Colonel Baker, V.C., ISth Regiment, from England, in place of Colonel Villiers, and that three of bis aides-de-camp have been recently provided with appointments up-country. These scandals have created an unfavourable impression, and the vice-regal courfc is in very bad repute just now. I have before me a letter from a higli official in Calcutta, a man wifch over 20 years' experience of India, and who has himself served on the staff of Governors, wliich gives a striking illustration of fche little estimation in which the Viceroy is held by the official community in fchafc city. " You ask," my correspondent writes, "whafc I think of the Government of India and fche Viceroy. I think tlie former very wpnlr, nnd Sir R. Bti-acliuy the only able man in it. The latter is contemptible, 'and the tone he gives society is disgraceful. Government-house, on all bufc large parties, is a sort of rollicking ale-house. I was much amused afc the article in the World, a very shorfc time back, about * Lord Lytton afc Home.' Ifc is quite the reverse of truth. As to early rising, his Excellency sees some of the secretaries in his bed afc 12 noon, covered wifch a silken coverlet, aud wifch a glass of seltzer and a cheroot— effeminate dissipation personified." You will agree with me tliat this is nofc an encouraging description of the man who occupies the responsible position of GovernorGeneral of India at the present crisis.