The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1910-11-28

ne government Offices in Whito,.i,
ure supposed to use red time, ,ro,,,
Freely but the supply in Iondon i
no'uine 10 what il is in India Tot.
us outline briefly the true histor, 80
baou Tara Chand, late of tho s,,hn.J,
,i"'e branch of the Indian civil yorr
ice, The story is true
Babu Tara Chand was q donnie on.
assistant clerk in the cutchnrry oe =
ueputy collector in the Swnni,fhacE
ulstrlct of southern Bengal rho r.
4"nu postage rate in India at that
Perlod was three pies, or about I
larthlng' for letters weighing one to,,
one line day when the officials had
concluded the annual or biennial ovor
maui OF the books of the cutcbcrrv /,
was discovered that by some I'M.
heard Of turpitude one stamp of tho
value or three pies 4 farthinp, had
oeen unaccountel for The stomn
could be Clearly traced T. tha dosi,
and control Of Babu Tara Cbnnd
Thence it had disappe red.
Babu Tara ChanG was not summo.
rIly dismissed; ipither was no mazda
the target ola criminal prosecution In,
slead lie to- eived lengthy letter ON
p'ur tooI'-ap paper, pointing out In
ue'ah 40" certain property of her
'uoHt gracious majesty the queen en-.
PTess-tc wit, one Indian postage stomn
OF the value of three pies-had been
committed TO his care on certain
date and that up to the date of writ.
Ing no adequate explanation had been
forthcoming of said postage STAMP.
The communication fell unon tho
Iuckless Tara Chand like a bolt from
the blue. 1t left but three courses
open to him-viz:
a. Resign from the service.
10y Explain the disappearance of the
farthing postage stamp in a manner
deemed satisfactory by the auditor.
(c) Recoup the farthing.
VI these three courses 1t will he
obvious to any person with the shall
lowest knowledge of the Bengal char
acter that the third one (c) was from
the outset beyond the pale of con.
sideration. The first (al was also too
terrible to contemplate Therefore
Babu Tara Chand sat down and COM
posed letter which was masterpiece
in its way and in which he requested
to be relieved from routine service for
a period Of four weeks to enable him
to make such search among the rec
ords of the department, etc, as might
enable him to trace the missing stamp.
This reasonable request was readily
granted.
Four weeks later Babu Tara Chand
applied for further term of two
weeks wherein to draw UP a report
upon the results of his investigations
In pursuit Of the Grant postage stamp
This, having passed through the eight
zen or nineteen different hands neces-
ANry for such an application. was in
tn I duly granted. and at the end of
the fortnight Tara Chand submitted a
report of PIG foolscap pages. explain
ing that, despite the most diligeut eff
forts and inquiries On his part, he had
been unable to secure the slightest
clew to the cause Of the deficiency.
When the department of audits and
accounts had fully digested this docu
ment and presented report of the
same in official precis to the auditor
general the auditor general through
the secretary of the assistant auditor
general Of the presidency of Bengal
notified Babu Tara Chand that 1t was
not wholly satisfactory and that the
circumstances bearing upon the loss of
the stamp would have to be definitely
explained and proved or the deficit of
three pies would have to be made good
Rabu Tara Chand stuck to his guns
an wrote again. He wrote many
tlt res. AS often as he wrote his ex'
plantations the auditor general wrote
signifying his official dissatisfaction
with the same.
Eventually. one fine day about nine
Months subsequent to tue discovery Of
re loss anu SUM- wv SNb'S '"DN
Huent to its alleged perpetration' the
auditor geueral-his interest IN the
matter of n farthing postage stamp be-
ing overwhelmed in Il frontier war
budget-sent an ultimatum to TARA
Chand. The loss of the postage stamp
would have to be definitely explained
or its value the sum of three pies be
duly refunded to the treasurer of the
Swankigabh district.
Then Babu Tara Chand became pos
sessed of an inspiration which even
70 this day is pointed to with pride
ana complacency by even the most clr-
cumlocutory of the red tape depart
mepts within the purview of the gov
eminent of India.
Babu Tara Chand wrote to the anul-
tor general as follows:
sir-In reply to your memo. OF Hh lns''
7 have the honor to state terrible Gonna
sration of my cook house on Stn INST
Bdpelessly annihilating all documents IN
the case of lost postage stamp Oh tnree