The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-12 00:00:00

THE FUT. URE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.

(Prom. ae Times.)
In all great discussions upon the affairs of India
the main axgament against the institution of a
simple form of government for that country has
been sought cued found in the dangerous amount of
patronage wit h which a direot administration of so
vast a depend, eucy would invest the Crown and its
servants. In connection, too, with this line cf
reasoning lies another consideration—that of the
course which taus patronage has hitherto taken, and
the channels i nto which it might be diverted. Up
to the pre=ent, time it may certainly be said that
India has been the field of the middle classes
especially, and that the service of the Company
provided this. ;section of society with opportunities
which few but aristocratic familie3 could find in the
service of the Crown. In England the chief offices
of administration and the principal posts in the army
fell mainly to .the favourites of birth or fortune. In
India either the civil or military profession might
be pursued with. encouraging prospects of success,
apart from any hereditary advantage?. Promotion
at home depended very materially on rank and
wealth, whereas in the East it appeared attainable
by merit alone. If, then, the Government of India
is to be so far asslinilatedto that of our other depen-
dencies as to bring the patronage it involves under
the control of the Administration at home, what
is to become of this field, which the middle classes
have so long enjoyed, and in which, it may be
honestly added, they have always displaye I virtues
and energies of the true popular stamp ? The im-
portance
of this question is beyond a doubt, but its
difficulties, we hope, will not be insurmountable.
We do not believe that a mere modification in
the directing or controlling power could ever mate-
rially affect the machinery by which India would
be ultimately governed. The Indian service has
acquired a character more from its own inci-
dents than from the position of the patrons who
dispensed its places. Compared with other
vices, it involved long expatriation, separation from
all home connections, and exposure to a climate
which had really some inconveniences, and was
credited with more. It is true that to a certain
extent these conditions prevailed in other colonies
also, but in our smaller dependencies the more im-
mediate and personal identification of every Euro-
pean with the governing body furnished a little
solace, besides which the duty was only taken for a
short period, the distance from home was not
great, and return comparatively easy. How com-
pletely, indeed, the position of an officer in India
was determined by the character of the service itself
may be seen iu the transformation which a Queen's
Regiment usually underwent when ordered out to
that country. A battalion destined for an Indian
station was no lcnger considered by aristocratic
triflers as offering an p igible resort, and after a year
or two of exchange and retirements its officers
would probably'rephseq niich the same class as
' those of a native fegimeilt. ' A titled idler would
shirk not merely the Indian service, but service in
India, under whatever masters .i and the field was
left open to leirfortunate competitors, not because
a commercial council kept the keys of the preserve,
but because its attractions were not strong enough
La- those who had the privilege of choice. It is
obvious that these conditions must survive any con-
stitutional changes at home, and that they will
1

remain in full force whether the Government of
India is double or single.
Auother question, however, of especial perti-
nence remains to be asked. What is this Indian
patronage, on which arguments are so anxiously
raised. It consisted in times past of a certain
number of appointments in the Civil Service, and
cf a certain number of commissions in the armies
of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay. But the first
appointments in the Civil Service of India are
thrown open to competition, and may therefore
be put out of the question, as removed from the
reach of any patrons whatever, and the power
of promotion will, of course, rest with the local
Governments. As to the military services the

Army of Bengal, which about equalled in magni-
tude those of the other two Presidencies together,
has ceased to exist, our last telegram having just
announced its final annihilation by the mutiny of
the c•nly two regiments hitherto preserving a noun-
nal allegiance. Of the Army of Bombay a portion
has succumbed to the epidemic of treason, the
Madras army alone having remained generally
faithful. The deductions, therefore, already made,
from the aggregate of divisible patronage are enor-
mous, and this bugbear of former times appears
reduced to proportions of comparative insignifi-
cance. True, native regiments must be levied again
and provided again with officers ; but now that the
purely auxiliary functions of such corps are tho-
roughly understood there is no fear of any revival
of a " Bengal Army."
It is not altogether correct to regard the Indiin
service as a purely popular service. It was un-

doubtedly popular in this sense—that it g as mainly
filled from the ranks of the people as distinguish-
able from the circles of the aristocracy, but it was
not a service freely open to all comers. It was just
as close, after its own fashion, as the Queen's ser-
vice. The authorities of Leadenhall- street dispensed
their favours exactly like the authorities of the
Horse Guards. Interest was required in oue case
precisely as in the other. On both sides it was
patronage, pure and simple, the only difference
being that each set of patrons was connected with
its particular set of clients, and that the dealings
of the Directors lay with the middle classes mor.s
especially. There was this great advantage in the
Indian service—that it was a genuine profession ;
fairly remunerated, so that a man might live by his
work, arid administered on principles which offered
a plain recompense for exertion and merit. These
were the features which made it really a middle
class service, and commended it naturally to those
who had neither opulency nor nobility to rely upon
in default of energy and application. When the
career had been once entered the distinctions were
striking enough, but, as far as concern©d a first
introduction, a lad without interest or connection
had not a whit more chance of obtaining a nomi-
nation to Haileybury or a Cornetcy in the Bengal
Cavalry than of getting a clerkship in the Treasury
or a commission in the Grenadier Guards.

The most desirable object in the impending re-
forms would be to popularize both services together,
but, as far as service in India goes, there is no reason
to suppose, whatever may be the constitution or
administration of the Indian Army, that it will be
sought by any other class of men than those whom
its conditions have hitherto naturally attracted.
The sphere will always be remote, the duty iu many
respects arduous, and the obligations considerable.
A roan selecting India as the field of his career must
labour at Indian languages, endure an Indian
climate, and accept an [ndian exile, whatever may
be the form or denomination taken by the Govern-
ment under which he serves. These conditions are
no more likely than formerly to prove agreeable to
young gentlemen with pockets full of money or
pedigrees full of coronets. What distinguished the
Queen's Army from the Company's Army was not
merely the source of patronage, but the scene of
duty, the principle of promotion, and the rate of
pay. Of these incidents the first must remain un-
changeable, and the last two unlikely to be changed,
so that the result, according to all probable calcu-
lations, would be the same as before. Indian
service is too much of a reality to be looked upon
as a pastime, and tasks the labourer too severely to
widhold his hire. These conditions, however, of
fair work and fair wage are exactly such as will
always suit a middle class, and nut snit an
aristocracy.
Such considerations convey a satisfactory assur-
ance that the general administration of India is
not likely to pass into fresh hands, but the recent
crisis has left us with little option as to our course
of proceeding. It is superfluous to inquire who
shall give commissions in the Bengal Army, for
the Bengal array exists no longer. Nobody doubts
that its '74 Regiments furnished occupation for
some 1,500 good officers drawn from the middle
class of the British population ; but, as its men
have deserted in a body, after doing their best
to murder these officers and the;r families, the in-
terests of the middle classes themselves may we:l
be appealed to against the restoration of so destruc-
tive a machine. The question has been decided
altogether irrespectively of patronage. The power
of the sword in India must no longer be committAl
to fanatical IlinclooF. This principle is proved to
be a c'indition not of this or that system of policy,
but of any Government whatever. We must hold
India by our strength and by the good affection of
the people, not by the sufferance of the Sepoy
army. The change may involve an abolition or a
transfer of patronage, but it is one which, with the
alternative before us, cannot be refused.

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