The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-07 00:00:00

‘--It. ,-••

HOUSE OF LORDS.—(YESTERDAY.)
REFORMATORY SCHOOLS (SCOTLAND) BILL.
Lord KINNAIRD moved the second reading of this bill,

The Earl of CAMPEPDOWN moved, as an amend-
ment, that the bill be read a second time that day six

months .

The Earl of EGLINTON stated his grounds of objection
to the pleasure.

The Duke of ARGYLL would vote for the bill, because
he did not think its provisions for benefitting Reformatory
Schools were in any way open to objection.
After some further discussion, in the course of which the
Duke of BUCCLEUCH and other noble lords opposed the
bill, their lordships divided, when the motion for the second
reading was negatived by a majority of 49 to 16.
The bill was consequently lost.
The Consolidated Fund (£10,000,000) Bill was read a
third time, after which their lordships adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-YESTERDAY.
THE EAST INDIA COUNCIL, &c., BILL.
Sir C. WOOD then rose to move for leave to introduce
the following bills : bill to amend, in certain respects, the
constitution of the council of the Governor-General of India,
and to authorise making laws and regulations for the presi-
dencies of Fort St. George and Bombay, and for other parts
of her Majesty's Indian territories ; bill for establishing
High Courts of Judicature in India; bill to confirm certain
appointments in India, and to amend the law concerning the
Civil Service. The right hon. gentleman said these measures

were of the greatest possible importance to our Indian em-
pire, and he introduced them with feelings of the deepest
esponsibility. The power of legislating for some 150 millions
of people was a matter of the utmost importance and diffi-
culty. They had to legislate for people of different races, of
different languages, of different religions, and of different
manners and customs, for the bigoted and fierce Mahome-
dan, and for the timid Hindoo, as well as the energetic, en-
terprising, and proud Englishman. The settlement of re-
lations between the more and less highly civilised races of
mankind must always be attended with great difficulty. In
former tames there was no feeling of jealousy or antagonism
existing between the native and the English population of
India, but a feeling of that kind had since spruag up, and it
would be folly to shut our eyes to the difficulty of our posi-
tion arising from it, or to neglect to take the earliest mea-
sures to obviate them. One of the oldest of our Indian ser-
• vents, who for 16 years had been intimately connected with
natives of all classes, only a few months before his death
deplored the difficulty he had had in forming a sufficient
acquaintance with their feelings and opinions ; and yet
it was essential that those feelings and opinions
should be carefully considered. It had formerly been
supposed that the land system which had been estab-
lished in the north-west provinces of the empire was the
most perfect that could be devised, and that system had
been applied to the newly-acquired province of Oude ; but
after the rebellion the Government had reverted to the old
system in force previous to the annexation, and with the
most happy results. At the interview between Lord Can-
ning and the talookdars of that province they expressed
their gratitude for the restoration of the old system, and the
Governor-General expressed his gratification at the tran-
quillity and prosperity of the district. The measure he pro-
posed to introduce would effect a small change in the exe-
cutive government of India. Two years ago the Govern-
ment sent out a distinguished member of this house, Mr.
Wilson, to endeavour to place the finances of India in a
more satisfactory condition. He believed the changes which
Mr. Wilson had the opportunity of inaugurating had con-
vinced the authorities of India of the mistaken way in
which they had proceeded, and had laid the foundation of
a sounder system of finance in future ; and, judging by the I
accounts they had received by the late mail, he thought
they had reason to hope that they had turned the corner,
and were arriving at a more satisfactorystate of things than
had prevailed in that respect for some years. No doubt the
absence from the Council ckf India of any member acquainted
with the principles of jurisprudence had been a serious evil.
The greater portion of the bills submitted for consideration
were necessarily prepared by Government, and they had
been obliged to call on the Advocate-General and others to
assist in the framing of those laws; and hon. gentlemen
would see by the despatches from Lord Canning which
were delivered into the hands of members yesterday that he
pointed out what a great advantage it would be to the exe-
cutive government and the members of the Legislative
Council if a jurist, rather than a mere practising lawyer,
were sent out to India to assist the Government in the pre-
paration of these measures. He proposed, therefore, to take
power to send out an additional member of council. It was
not essential that he should be a lawyer, but the intention
waste send out from this country a lawyer for the purpose
of enabling the Government of India to prepare these mea-
sures for the consideration of the Council. The main
change which he had to propose was, as to the body by
which laws and regulations were enacted. The history of
the legislative power in India was very short, but the house
ought to know it before they considered how it should
be changed. In 1773 the Governor-General in Council was
empowered to make regulations for the government of the
provinces of India. In 1793 those regulations mere collected
into a code by Lord Cornwallis, promulgated and issued;
and it was from that date from which they might say there
was a code of regulations by which India was governed.
From about 1780 to 1801 similar regulations were enacted
for Madras and Bombay, and in 1803 they were applied to
the north-western provinces. Soon after that, Delhi, which
was nominally under the sovereignty of the Emperor of
India, was nevertheless administered by a servant of the
Government of India, and that administration succeeded so
well that when, in 1816, Lord Hastings acquired some new
provinces he determined that they should be administered
in the same way by a committee appointed by the Govern •
ment ; and in subsequent years the same system has been
applied to the various acquisitions which have been made in
India subsequent to that date. For instance, the Punjaub,
Scinde, Pegu and Berar, and Nagpore have been subse-
quently acquired. The laws and regulations under which
they are administered have been either passed by the Go-
vernor-General in Council or the Lieutenant-Governor, or
by the commissioner of the province, as the case might be,
and approved of by the Governor-General ; and that consti-
tutes the distinction which they had often heard in Indian
matters between the regulation provinces and the non-regu-
lation provinces, the regulation provinces being those which
were subject to the old regulations, and the non-regulation
provinces being those which were administered by the
somewhat irregular mode which he had mentioned, and
which dated from 1815. Now, no doubt there was great
question as to the legality of this course, and in many re-
spects the difference did not exist practically. The question
had been raised in the Legislative Council. Sir B. Peacock
had given it as his opinion that even in the non-regulation
provinces the orders of the Governor• General were of no
effect, and that in order to make them legal the interference
of the Legislative Council in India must be called in.
Therefore, in effect, prior to 1833, the Executive Govern-
ment was also the body which passed laws for the regula
Lion of India. In 1833, however, the act passed which
added to the Governor-General's Council a member whose
presence Was necessary on the passing of all legislative
measures, and which put the whole of their territory of
India
under that body. At the same time it withdrew from
Madras and Bombay the power of making regulations for
themselves which they had possessed up to that time. In
fact that act centralised in the GOvemor-lsieneral and his
council in India tt e whole legislative power of India. Since
that time some provinces had. been acquired which were
still considered as non-regulationizhceisc,hdid but it was not
worth while going into minute
ointpro:not affect
the general result. So the matter stood till 18.3 Great
complaints had been made by the other parts of India that
they were all subject to legislation at Bengal. The practice
at that time had not been introduced,which he still thought
had since prevailed with the greatest advantage, of
in the Governor-General's council members from the otherg
parts of India,and the whole tenor of the evidence which was
given before the committee of 1852-3 went to point out that
the executive council, even assisted by the legal members,
was incompetent to the increased duties which were de.
noanded of them in consequence of the great extension of
territory and other matters brought before them. Mr.

31‘Leod, a distinguished member of the civil service of India,

in his evidence, stated that in his opinion the Governor-

General and the four members of council were incompetent,

and that the council ought to be enlarged by the addition of

members from the minor presidencies. Mr. Hill, also a mem•
ber of the civil service in India, who had had opportunities,

both in Madras an] Calcutta, of forming a very sound opi

nion, gave evidence to a like effect. In consequence of the

evidence given at that time he framed the mensure of 1853,

which added to the Governor-General's council when it sat
for the purpose of making laws a member from the different
provinces of and also the Chief Justice and one of the
other judges of the Supreme Court of Bengal He conceived,
and by these means he had obtained a great desideratum,
that of giving to the Governor-General in council, when
sitting for the purpose of making laws, the advantage of
local knowledge of the different parts of India, and of the
legal knowledge of the Chief Justice and of another judge.
Now, certainly his intention was simply to give to the At-
torney. General assistance in passing laws, and not what the
council of the Governor-General had since become, some-
what a debating society and a petty Parliament. He
could not better express that than by quoting a short ex-
tract of a Lett.. which he addressed to Lord Dalhousie at
the time. " I expect that the non-official members of your
Legislative Council will be constantly employed as a com-
mittee of council to be employed in framing laws and regu-
lations." It was a great mistake of the Governor-General
that he established his council, the number of which con-
sisted of not more than 12 members, with all the powers of
a Parliament, the effect of which was to impede business,
to cause delay, and to induce the council, which ought to
have been sitting as a coreeetttee doing the work, to imi-
tate the functions and claim the Pt.--ee.atives of a Parlia-
ment. In one of the letters, however, we.;, among
wa the papers laid on the table of the house, it
that the enlargement of the council
had been tatee
etu d
means of improving the legislation, and that in that
respect the enlargement of the council had been a complete
success. He thonght that was a satisfactory proof that so
far, certainly, as he intended, and as he believed, the legis-
lature of this country intended, the object of the composi-
tion of the Governor- General's Council, when sitting for
legislative purposes, had been most completely fulfilled.
Brat when the Council went beyond that it certainly did not
meet with approval either inlndia or. this country. In en
deavouriiig to constitute itself into a body to redress griev-
ttaces, tamake motioagy and so on, the Council 4- gone ,
h

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. beyond its powers. The Vice-President of the Legislative
Council, in a short memorandum, pointed out exactly what
a Legislative Council ought to be. In that memorandum he
said—" It has no jurisdiction in the nature of those of a
grand inquest of the nation. Its functions are purely legis-
lative, and limited even as a purely legislative body. It is
not an Anglo-Indian House of Parliament to redress griev-
ances and to refuse supplies." That being so, the obvious
objection to this centre of proceeding on the part of the
Council was pointed out by the Government of India last
year, and it had been his intention in the course of last year
to have introduced a measure on this subject. He felt, how-
ever, great difficulty in deciding in what shape the new
measure should be framed. Lord Canning, however, was
very anxious that the measure should be passed, and in-
deed he consented to defer his departure from India in order
that an opportunity might be afforded of passing it during
the present session, and that he, with the advantage of his
long experience in India, might be the first to introduce
the change. The question, of course, arose, in what man-
ner and to what extent an alteration should be made, and
they had to consider the two extreme notions which pre-
vailed in India on the subject. The notion of a native of
India on legislation was that the Sovereign alone should
enact the laws. He had little or no notion of any distinc-
tion between the legislative and the executive power. A
native chief would hear the advice of his council in durbar,
as it was called. He informed himself by that communica-
tion, and then himself determined what should be done.
k Various proposals had been made. One was that the power
S2f legislation should rest entirely with the Executive Go.
vernment, and that there should be a consultative body;
the other was that the Governor-General should assemble
from time to time a considerable number of persons whose
opinions he should hear, but which opinion, however, he
should not be guided by, but that, after having heard those
opinions, he should determine what should be done. He
believed that in the last session of Parliament, Lord Ellen-
borough proposed to the House of Lords some such scheme.
Now, the house would see in the despatches from Lord Can-
ning that it was quite impossible, in the present state of feel-
ing in India, to revert to that state of things in which the
Executive Government alone should legislate for India. The
opposite extreme notion was that which was naturally en-
tertained in this country, and by Englishmen abroad, that
there should be a representative body to aid in passing the
laws. Now, he was quite sure that any one who understood
the condition of India would see that a representative body
in the propersense of the word was utterly unsuited to India.
They could not possibly have a representation of the natives
from all parts of India. They could not have a body who,
in any sense of the word, represented the various classes and
populations of India meeting in any one place. If they
diminished the area over which legislation was to extend,
they would diminish the difficulty. They had in Ceylon a
legislative body consisting partly of Englishmen and partly
of natives, and he did not know that the experiment was, on
the whole, unsuccessful there. But hon. members must
remember that the whole of Ceylon was not larger than a
large collectorate in India, and it might be worked in a
small compass. Then, if they looked at the natives in the
presidency towns, they did not in the slightest degree
represent the population of the other parts of India.
It would be as reasonable to suppose that the highly-
educated people of Landon at the present period would be
represented by a highland chief, or a feudal baron of
six centuries ago. To look, therefore, for a repre-
sentation of the native population was to look for that
which was simply impossible. Then came the question to
what extent should they allow a representation of the Eng-
lish settled there. No doubt that would be possible, so far
as representing their opinions, their views, and their inte-
rests went. But it would not be a body representing India
or the great overwhelming interests of the population of
India, and he must say that of all governing bodies or
legislative bodies, none was so dangerous and so mischiev-
ous as a representative body consisting of a dominant race
ruling over an extensive population. All experience taught
us that the rule of a dominant race was not the mildest of
rules. It had been so, he believed, at all times and in every
part of the world. In Mr. John Stuart Mill's work on re -
presentative government he said, "Now, if there be a fact
to which all experience testifies, it is that when a country
holds another in subjection, the individuals of the ruling
people who resort to that foreign country to make their for-
tune are of all others those who ought to be held in restraint.
They are always one of the chief difficulties of the Govern-
ment. Armed with a prestige and filled with a scornful
disdain of the conquered people, they have every feeling
inspired by absolute power, without the sense of responsi •
bility." He quoted that, not because he agreed in it to the
full extent—he thought it exaggerated, but it did to some
extent represent the position of the English in India. They
must remember that the natives did not distinguish be-
tween the acts of the Government itself and the acts of
those who were in their eye the Government, namely, the
Legislative Council, and Lord Canning pointed out that
evils had arisen from that source. He said as regarded the
English public publicity had been very useful, but as re-
garded the natives injury had arisen. Now, if they (the
Government) did not take away the publicity they must at
least take care that the legislation was not in accordance
with the language used there, tending to excite serious
discontent, fear, and apprehension in the native mind.
He wished to strengthen the hands of the Indian Govern-
ment, and to enable it not only by a veto to prevent the
passing of bills into law, but to negative the very introduc-
tion of measures calculated to produce discontent amongst
the people. The measures which he had introduced in 1553
had been much changed in their way through Parliament,
and they had since seen the mischief of the alterations. He
was anxious, therefore, to avoid, as far as possible, any
misconstruction of the powers which they intended to con-
fer on the Indian Government. If it was found that they
had done too little, it would be easy to go farther ; but, if
they did too much, they would find it difficult to retrace
their steps. The despatches of Lord Canning contained
the scheme with the noble lord recommended, and the pre-
sent bill had been drawn for the purpose of carrying out
that scheme as nearly as might be. He proposed that when
the Governor-General's council met for the purpose of
making laws or regulations, the Governor-General should
summon, in addition to the ordinary number of council-
lors, not less than six nor more than twelve additional
members, of whom one half should not hold office under
the Government, and these additional members might
be either Europeans, or persons of English extraction, or
natives. Lord Canning strongly recommended that the
council should be held at different places from time to time,
in order that the Governor-General might have the advan-
tage of obtaining the assistance of the various native chiefs.
He did not propose to preclude him from summoning one of
the judges, whom he considered useful members of a body,
meeting to discuss the law, but he thought it would be as
inexpedient in India as at home that they should become
members of a body partaking in any measure of a popular
character. He proposed that the persons nominated in the
way he had described should attend for a year only; for it
would be easy for native princes at a distance to come for
one year who might naturally object to attend for two or
three. Hon. members had no doubt seen an account of the
meeting between Lord Canning and the Talookdars, and the
great success which had attended the plan of obtaining the
assistance of native princes. (Hear, hear.) The same thing
had been done in the Punjaub, where executive powers had
been given to the sirdars ; and he believed that still greater
benefit would be derived front allowing them to take part
in the Legislative Council of the Governor •General. They
would no longer feel that they were excluded from all con-
cern in the government of their own country; and nothing,
therefore, would tend so much, in his opinion, to conciliate
the goodwill of the native princes of high rank. (Hear.)
It was not his wish that the council should degenerate at
all into a debating society—he wished it to be essentially a
law-making body, (Hear, hear.) It would have power to
pass laws and regulations for the whole of India, and it
would have supreme and concurrent power with the minor
legislative bodies which he proposed also to establish in the
presidencies and other parts of India. Lord. Canning was
strongly of opinion that though it was beneficial to intro-
duce persons having local knowledge of the affairs of the
north-west provinces, of Madras, and of Bombay into the
Legislative Council yet the ad vantage was not strong enough
to
Inodvieerechout being over •ridden by the Bengal Council; and,
ome, first, the feeling that they had in other parts of
tri theet disadvantagein of
whichh av having persons legislating
secondly,
without any acquaintance with their
ylorceaelidweadn.ts,Hfoorpro:
dif-
ferent districts
posed, therefore, to restoretot the
laws and enactments on
presidencies of Madras
t the g
laonede lßs oumbibeaoyt 8 t. h e
He
power of
proposedoto direct f passing
provinces to nominate a certain nambor f
mem-
bers for their councils, one half of them not
and to be either Europeans or natives. additionalve rßors of the
There
eo hold office,
of
were
subjects which were not local, but with
which the lzn
localany
councils could best deal, but they ought to have the sanction
of the Governor-General before those councils interfered
with them. A similar council would be established in Ben-
gal, and if the Governor-General thought it right he would
be empowered, with the sanction of the Secretary of State,
to establish councils liaewise in the north-west pro-
vinces, in the Punjaub, and in 'other parts of
India where they might be thought desirable.
It had been suggested that the provinces of Pegu might also
have a council. He (Sir C. Wood) somewhat doubted
whether they were yet quite ripe for that purpose ; but
they formed a separate province, and at the proper time
they might with advantage have their own council. He
hoped that by these provisions they would attain a general
uniformity of legislation throughout India, and at the same
time apply that legislation to the peculiar wants of each
province. It was quite clear that the public works would
be better dealt with by local than by general legislation;
while on the other hand the management of the revenue and
of the army must necessarily be left in the hands of the
central Government. It would not now be necessary to go
into the details of the bill. Its earlier clauses were rather
consolidatory than otherwise, while the later ones
were alterative. He proposed to give the Governor-General
eeerer in cases of emergency to issue orders which should
have the tore, ,e taw for six months, unless they were in
the meantime disallowed by an Etc,- af the legislative body.
He proposed also that the senior governor of the prei-
dencies should take upon himself the powers of the
Governor-General in ease of a vacancy occurring before the
appointment of a successor. The bill hai had the en-
tire concurrence of the Government of India, and of almost
all those persons with whom he had conversed on the sub-
ject. Ile submitted it to the house in the hope that it would

tend not only to the better government of India, but to the
happiness and prosperity both of those who went thither
from this country and of the countless myriads of her
Majesty's native subjects in that portion of her empire.
After a few words from several hon. members,
Leave was then given to bring in the bill.
EAST INDIA HIGH COURTS OF JUDICATURE.
Sir C. WOOD moved for leave to bring in a bill for esta-
blishing high courts of judicature. The object of the mea-
sure was the formation of one court instead of the two that
were at present at the head of the different systems of law
administered in India. One of those was presided over by
two Queen's judges, who had jurisdiction in the presidents'
towns over civil matters, and they also exercised criminal
jurisdiction in important matters over Europeans in every
part of India. There was at the same time the Suddur Court
of Appeal, which reviewed decisions from all parts of the
country, and discharged also to some extent the supposed
functions of a minister of justice. A very strong opinion had
been expressed by the commissioners that it would contri-
butekireatly to the better administration of justice in India
if the two courts, the Supreme Court and the Suddur Court,
could be consolidated, combining at once the legal know-
ledge of the lawyers constituting the former with the ac-
quaintance with local habits and customs possessed by
members of the Suddur Court. he (Sir C. Wood) had at first
been very anxious to ask her Majesty's Government to issue
a charter for the purpose of effecting this consolidation, but
it was found impracticable without putting in force cer-
tain new forms of proceeding, which rendered it necessary
that a bill should be introduced for the purpose. The
royal commission which was issued on this question com-
prised the present Master of the Rolls, the late Sir J.
Jervis, Sir Edward Ryan, Mr. Kinnaird, Mr. M'Leod, a
Madras civil servant of great experience; the late Mr. Ellis,
an accomplished reporter of legal cases in this country ; the
right hon. gentleman now the Vice-President of the Board
of Education, and Mr. Hawkins, who had been one of the
judges of the Suddur Court. The results of the labours of this
commission were most important. They had devised forms
of civil and criminal procedure. With regard to the criminal
code, the system which had been drawn up by Lord
Macaulay had been subject to repeated revision, and the
new system would be brought into operation on the Ist
January next, after which date he believed that the natives
of India would possess a system of criminal jurisprudence
unrivalled for simplicity and comprehensiveness. New forms
of civil procedure had also been devised, which were already
in use, and which considerably shortened the time and dimi-
nished the expenses of litigation. A civil code of laws was
not yet prepared, but was under consideration. In the new
court it was proposed that amongst the judges there should
be a certain proportion of barristers and advocates of the
Scottish bar, and also a certain proportion of the civil ser-
vants of the crown, and of barristers practising in the na-
tive courts. It was also proposed to admit natives of India
to the judicial bench; and the omission which had been
male in this respect in the first instance had been since re-
medied. It would also be competent to the Governor-
General to send the judges on circuit; and thus the evil in
every case of a crime committed by an Englishman of
having the prisoner sent to Calcutta—which amounted vir-
tually to a denial of justice—would be avoided, By these
means he trusted that the character of the English nation
for impartiality and justice would be maintained, whilst
the natives of India would be secured the advantages
arising from their own institutions.
Leave was given to introduce the bill.
EAST INDIA (CIVIL SERVICE).
Sir C. WOOD then rose to ask leave to introduce the
third bill of which he had given notice, viz., a bill to con-
firm certain appointments in India, and to amend the law
concerning the civil service there. He thought that the
interests of the civil servants would not be seriously, if at
all, affected by this proposed measure, and that the benefits
it would secure would outweigh all its imaginary evils.
The object of the bill was to legalise certain appointments
which had for 50 years past been made in India contrary to
law, to render such appointments legal for the future, and to
provide that in certain exceptional cases appointments might
be made notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by the old
statute law. In the year 1793 an act was passed, be believed
with. a view to prevent jobbing—(a laugh)—which provided
that all vacancies in the civil service of India should be filled
up and supplied from amongst the civil servants of the Go-
vernment. The Government of India soon found it impos-
sible to adhere to this provision. They had thenceforth for
years, with the sanction of the board of directors, constantly
violated the letter of the law, so that one-third at least of
the civil appointments in India had been filled up by per-
sons who were not (civil servants of the Crown at the time.
According to the law, all civil appointments under the
Government of India could be held by covenanted servants
alone. So that all Englishmen born in India, uncovenanted
civil servants, and natives who held appointments in the
civil service, held them illegally. With regard to military
men and others, the Indian Government never thought
they were bound by this regulation. Perhaps there never
was a more able administrator than Sir Henry Lawrence.
(Hear, hear.) That great authority was of opinion that
justice and expediency demanded that military men of
experience should receive the same amount of salary
when employed upon civil or military duties. It was
held, also, that there should be a sprinkling of military
men among the civilians, especially in the non-regulation
provinces; such appointments being made after the appli-
action of tests as to efficiency. It was contended that such
a fusion would strengthen the Government and improve the
tone of the service. The general way in which the Govern-
ment of India dealt with this question was not by appoint-
ing uncovenanted persons to covenanted places, but by
abolishing covenanted offices and creating new ones which
uncovenanted servants might fill. The restrictive law had
been disregarded to this extent, that there were 316 unco-
venanted servants appointed as deputy-collectors, against
61 covenanted. The judicial appointments were made on
the same principle, a new class of judges having been ap-
pointed who exercised a jurisdiction in many cases larger
than that exercised by the judicial covenanted servants in
former days. He now came to the last case, in which the
Government of India authoritatively and distinctly ap-
pointed uncovenanted men as officers in the presidencies.
The two military secretaries and their assistants were now
uncovenanted servants. In Lord Cornwallis's time the secre-
tary, assistant-secretary, and eight assistants, were all
covenanted. Now, the secretary and assistant-secretary
were covenanted, and the eight assist ants were uncove-
nanted. Undoubtedly all these appointments had been
illegally made, but the necessity of the case justified them.
A short time ago Mr. Halliday, the lord-lieutenant of Ben-
gal, appointed an uncovenanted servant to exercise the
functions of the Sudder judge during the absence of that
functionary, but that appointment was objected to; also, a
short time ago the government of Bombay appointed as col-
lector of land revenue an uncovenanted servant. The ap-
pointment was questioned in Bombay, but it was con-
firmed by the board of directors. Both appointments were
contrary to law but justified by necessity, and the Indian
Government, so far from deserving condemnation, merited
approbation for providing for the administration of justice
by the appointment of these uncovenanted ser-
vants. Lord Elphinstone, Lord Auckland, Lord Dal-
housie, Sir George Clerk, and Lord Hardinge, all per-
sons of great importance and authorities of dis-
tinction, who had governed either the whole or parts of
India, had all arrived at the same conclusion as to the policy
of these appointments, as attracting the native population
to our rule and opening the way to their appointment to
high offices. The present feeling of the government of India
was in favour of the opening of district courts, the judges
of which should be uncovenanted, both European and
native, but such appointments would, strictly speaking, be
illegal. Lord Canning was of opinion that natives who had
held judicial appointments might be appointed to the higher'
judicial offices. What had occurred in the case of an un•
covenanted European f Owing to the serious illness of
European members of his council, Lord Canning required

to fill the place of his Foreign Secretary, and he wrote

home, suggesting that Colonel Durand—a member of his
(Sir C. Wood's) council and a very eminent soldier—should
go out and take that post. Colonel Durand, at great per-
sonal sacrifice to himself, responded to that call, and ex-

pressed his readiness to go ; but the appointment could not
really be made. Lord Canning wrote that there was no

better qualified person in India than Colonel Durand. This
was an exceptional case under special circumstances, and he

thought Lord Canning ought to be invested with power to
_ _ _ _ _

deal with it. This happened within the last fortnight, and

it showed the absolute necessity for the course which he

proposed to pursue. His noble friend who preceded him in
his present office had become aware of the difficulty of the

legal question with which he proposed to deal, and had left

records of his opinion in favour of such a measure as that

which he now asked leave to introduce. The bill would

contain three clauses, the object of the first was to legalise
.. _

all those appointments which had been made within the

last few years, and which were at present contrary to law.
But he proposed to go a step further, and to meet such a
case as that of Colonel Durand. He had no notion of break-
ing down the civil line, and his views were vezy much mis-
apprehended if it were supposed that be contemplated any
thing injurious to the civil service. But of course the unco-
venanted servants felt it as a degradation and a stigma that
they were excluded from the higher offices, and it was
unfair that a man should be called upon to perform respon-
sible duties without the chance of promotion which was
open to others. The permission of native servants to rise
to the higher appointments was recommended upon the
grounds that it would stimulate the exertions of both
classes, and would make the natives more honest, by show-
ing that their honesty was trusted in ; and he believed that
with due precautions against the power being abused, it
would be most beneficial to the public service that such a
privilege should.be conferred. The uncovenanted servants
in their memorial asked only that the supreme and local
governments should have the power to promote uncove-

nanted servants, who had passed through a certain term of
service, to office now open only to covenanted servants.

This was entirely his opinion, and he did not think that

any damage could be done to the service by conferring the
boon for which the petitioners prayed. It was at the present

moment by no means the rule that covenanted servants

re,F,Feksed the qualifications for the very highest posts
in the
. A covenanted servant mentioned to

him the other day tin t a friend of his, an uncovenanted
;
servant, was up to a recent time employed in an office at
year, and that he could not
Calcutta at a salary of Xa a
ne young civilian after another
rose over him; yet, such were his merits, that when the
legally be promoted, so that