Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-05
A BLESSING TO INDIA
Beneficent f fleets of the Rule
of the British.
LORD CURZ0N'S POLICY
AIMS TO EXTEND HOME RULE AS
MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
Yet Tight Reign is Kept Upon the
Rajas, Maharajas and Rayputs-
College for Princes Only.
LORD CURzoN'S POLICY
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.


Chicago Record Herald.
JEYPORE, India February H. 1904
No one n visit this country. no one can
read its history or study Its statistics with
out admitting the success and recognizing
the blessings Of British occupation. The
government has had its ups and downs.
There have been terrible blunders and GRIM
inal mistakes, which we are in danger of
repeating in the = hilippine Islands, but the
record of British rule in India during the
last half century-since the Sepoy mutiny
which tar~ht a valuable lesson at an awful
cost-has been an almost uninterrupted and
unbroken chapter Of peace, progress and
good government. Until then the whole of
India never submitted to a single ruler.
For nearly thousand years it was a per-
petual battle field, and not since the inva-
sion of Alexander the Great have the peo-
pie enjoyed such liberty or tranquility.
Three-eighths of the country still remains
under the authority Of hereditary native
rI.ers. with various degrees of independ-
ence, as explained to you yesterday. For
eigners have very little conception of the
extent and the power of the native govern
ments in India. We generally have an i'm
preston that the rajah Is a sensu0us, in
dolent, extravagant sybarite, given to polo,
diamonds and dancing girls. and amputa ties
the heads of his subjects at pleasure; but
this is very far from the truth.
Many of the princes in the list gave you
yesterday are men of high character, cul-
ture and integrity, Who exercise q wise, just
and patriarchal authority over their SUBJ
Jects. Seventeen OF the rajputs (rashpootes,
1t is pronounced) represent the purest and
bluest Hindoo blood. for they are descended
from Rama, the hero of the Ramayama,
the great Hindu poem, who Is generally
wOrshiped-aS an incarnation of the god
Vishnu, and their subjects are all their
kinsmen. descended from the same ances-
tors, members of the same family. Other
rajahs have a relationship equally clannish
and close. and most of them are the de-
scendants of long lines of ancestors, who
have occupied the same throne and exer-
cised the same power over the same peo-
pie from the beginning history. None of
the royal families of Europe can compare
with them in length of pedigree or the d.
mansions of their family trees. and while
there have been pad men as well as good
men in the lists of native rulers-while the
people have been crushed by tyranny.
ruined by extravaganza and tortured by
India have averaged quite as high as the
feudal lords of Germany or the dukes and
earis of England in ability and morality.
Lord Curzon's Policy.
1t has been the policy of Lord Curzon
sinceShe has been viceroy to extend the
power and increase the responsibility of the
native princes as much as possible. and to
give India the largest measure of home rule
that circumstances and conditions will
allow. Not long ago, at the investiture of
the Nawab of Bahawalpur, who had sue
ceeded to the throne of his father. the vice.
roy gave distinct definition of the rela-
tionship between the native princes and the
British crown. ~ -s4-s.-
1T is scarcely possible" he said 'to i'm
agine circumstances more different than
those of the Indian CHIEFS now and what
they were at the time Queen Victoria came
to the throne Now their sympathies have
expanded with their knowledge and their
sense of responsibility with the degree of
confidence reposed in them They recog-
nize their obligations to their own states
and their duty to the imperial throne. The
British crown is no longer an impersonai
abstraction, but concrete and inspiring
force.
THE political system of India is neither
feudalism nor federation. 1t Is embodied
In no constitutions; it does not rest upon
treaty, and it bears no resemblance to
league. 1t represents a series Of relation
ships that have grown up between the
crown and Indian princes under widely dif-
ferent historical conditions, but which in
process of time have gradually conformed
to a single type. The sovereignty of the
crown Is everywhere unchallenged Con-
versely. the duties and the services OF the
state are implicitly recognized, and, as a
rule faithfully discharged 1t Is this hap
by blend of authority with Iree VIII, OF
sentiment with self-interest, Of duties with
rights, that distinguishes the Indian en-
pire under the British crown from any
other dominion of which we read in history.
1.-THE princes have gained prestige instead
of losing it. Their rank Is not diminished,
and their privileges have become more Sc
cure. They have to do more for the pro-
lection they enjoy. but they also derive
more from it; for they are no longer oe-
tached appendages of empire. but its par
ticipators and instruments. They nave
ceased to be architectural adornments or
the imperial edifice. and have become the
pillars that help to sustain the main FOOT.
q tight rein upon the rajahs and mahara.
iahs lest they forget the authority that
Stands behind them. He does not allow them
to spend the taxes OF the Reopae n5 loI bas The
right to uepose any Of them for crime. dis
loyalty, mfsgovernment or any other cause
he deems sufficient. The supreme au.hoi
fty of the British government mas become
a ct which no native state or ruler would
for a moment think of disputing or doubt
ing. There Is no native chief who does not
understand that his conduct Is under scIut-
inv and that If he committed crime
he would be tried and banished by the
courts as promptly and as fmpartiaiiy as
the humblest of his subjects. At the same
time they feel secure In their authority
and in the exercise of their religion. and
when a native prince has no direct heir
he has the right to select his successor by
adoption. He may choose as heir appar-
emit any child or young man among his
subjects, and If the person selected Is or
sound mind and respectable character the
choice is promptly ratified by the central
government. There is no interference with
the exercise Of authority or the transac-
ton of business unless the welfare Of the
people plainly requires 1t. and In such
cases the Intervention has been swift and
sure.
Deposition Of Brutal Prince.
During the Ave years that he has been
viceroy Lord Curzon has deposed two ma
tive rulers One Of them was the Rajah
of Bhartpur. state well known in the
history of India by its long successful re-
sistance of the British authority. In 1903
the native prince, man Of Incorporate
habits and violent passions. beat to death
one of his personal servants who -angered
him by failing to obey orders to his salts
faction. It was not the first offense, but
it was the most fragrant and the only one
that was ever brought officially to the at
tention of the government. His behavior
had been the subject Of comment and the
cause of scandal for several years, and
he had received frequent warnings. Hence
when the brutal murder of his servant was
reported at the government house, Lord
Curzon Immediately ordered his arrest and
trial. He was convicted, sentenced to Inn
prisonment for life, deprived of all titles
and authority and his infant son was Sc
lected as his successor. During the mi
Aff he 81