that passive policy which, though it may be carried occasionally too far, is perhaps right in principle.' But while entertaining these views, he by no means agreed with the extreme supporters of the 'masterly inactivity' policy. Writing on this subject little more than a month before his death, he said : 'I have frequently laid down what I believe to be the cardinal points of Anglo-Indian policy. They may be summed up in a few words. We should establish with our frontier states of Khelat, Afghanistan, Yárkand, Nipál, and Burma, intimate relations of friendship; we should make them feel that though we are all-powerful, we desire to support their nationality; that when necessity arises, we might assist them with money, arms, and even perhaps, in certain eventualities, with men. We could thus create in them outworks of our empire, and, assuring them that the days of annexation are past, make them know that they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by endeavouring to deserve our favour and support. Further, we should strenuously oppose any attempt to neutralise those territories in the European sense, or to sanction or invite the interference of any European power in their affairs.'
Another point upon which Lord Mayo felt very strongly was the necessity of checking the tendency to aggression on the part of the Persian government. He considered that 'the establishment by Persia of a frontier conterminous with that of the British empire in India would be an event most deeply to be deplored,' and, with a view to the more effectual prevention of any such designs, he urged in a despatch to the secretary of state, which was drafted just before his death, that the British mission at Teherán should be transferred to the control of the secretary of state for India. It may here be mentioned that the appointment, with the consent of the governments of Persia and Afghanistan, of a commission to delimitate the boundary between Persia and the Afghan province of Seistan, which prevented war between the two countries, was one of the latest of Lord Mayo's acts.
Another question which engaged much of the viceroy's attention was that of punitory expeditions against the savage tribes inhabiting various tracts on the frontier. To such expeditions Lord Mayo was extremely averse, except under circumstances of absolute necessity. The Lushai expedition, which took place in the last year of his government, was rendered necessary by the repeated inroads of the tribe of that name upon the Cachar tea plantations.
With the feudatory states within the borders of India Lord Mayo's relations were of the happiest kind. Scrupulously abstaining from needless interference, but never tolerating oppression or misgovernment, he laboured to convince the princes of India that it was the sincere desire of the British government to enable them to govern their states in such a manner as to secure the prosperity of their people and to maintain their own just rights. With this view he encouraged the establishment of colleges for the education of the sons of the chiefs and nobles in the native states. The Mayo College at Ajmír and the Rájkumár College in Káthiáwár were the result of his efforts. Another measure which he contemplated was the amalgamation, many years before advocated by Sir John Malcolm, of the Central India and Rájputána agencies under a high officer of the crown, with the status of a lieutenant-governor.
When Lord Mayo took charge of the government of India, the condition of the finances was not satisfactory. Lord Mayo dealt vigorously with the situation. By reductions of expenditure on public works and other branches of the civil administration, by increasing the salt duties in Madras and Bombay, and by raising the income-tax in the middle of the financial year, he converted the anticipated deficit into a small surplus, and by other measures he so improved the position, that the three following years presented an aggregate surplus of nearly six millions. Among the measures last referred to were the reduction of the military expenditure by nearly half a million without any diminution in the numerical strength of the army, and the transfer to the local governments of financial responsibility for certain civil departments, with a slightly reduced allotment from imperial funds, and with power to transfer certain items of charge to local taxation. For many years over-centralisation had been one of the difficulties of Indian administration. The relations of the supreme government and some of the local governments were altogether inharmonious, and there was no stimulus to avoid waste or to develope the public revenues in order to increase the local means of improvement. This policy, commonly described as the 'decentralisation policy,' has been thoroughly successful, and has since been extended by Lord Mayo's successors.
Another financial reform suggested by Lawrence, and carried into effect by Mayo, was that of constructing extensions of the railway system by means of funds borrowed by the government, in supersession of the plan of entrusting such works to private
