The Case for India by Annie Wood Besant
page 60 of 62 (96%)
page 60 of 62 (96%)
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bureaucrats for British bureaucrats; we want to abolish Bureaucracy,
Government by Civil Servants. The Other Tests Applied. I need not delay over the second, third, and fourth tests, for the answers _sautent aux yeux_. _The second test, Local Self-Government:_ Under Lord Mayo (1869-72) some attempts were made at decentralisation, called by Keene "Home Rule" (!), and his policy was followed on non-financial lines as well by Lord Ripon, who tried to infuse into what Keene calls "the germs of Home Rule" "the breath of life." Now, in 1917, an experimental and limited measure of local Home Rule is to be tried in Bengal. Though the Report of the Decentralisation Committee was published in 1909, we have not yet arrived at the universal election of non-official Chairmen. Decidedly inefficient is the Bureaucracy under test 2. _The third test, Voice in the Councils:_ The part played by Indian elected members in the Legislative Council, Madras, was lately described by a member as "a farce." The Supreme Legislative Council was called by one of its members "a glorified Debating Society." A table of resolutions proposed by Indian elected members, and passed or lost, was lately drawn up, and justified the caustic epithets. With regard to the Minto-Morley reforms, the Bureaucracy showed great efficiency in destroying the benefits intended by the Parliamentary Statute. But the third test shows that in giving Indians a fair voice in the Councils the Bureaucracy was inefficient. _The fourth test, the Admission of Indians to the Public Services:_ This |
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