Page:Future of England - Peel.djvu/222

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210
THE FUTURE OF ENGLAND
CH.

even to issue an edition, mutilated, of esteemed correspondents.

Or thirdly, it is suggested that India shall have self-government, but shall remain on very friendly terms with England. She is to have the privilege of independence within, but without, at sea, she is to be protected by our navy, for which she will be grateful, and on her frontier by our armies, for which she will be grateful too. That is really most amicable! But there is one objection to it, and a final one. We are not disposed to answer the advertisement. It is not part of Britannia's future to become the Indian maid-of-all-work on a starvation wage.

If, then, these ideas, which occupy so many earnest men, are to be put aside as impracticable, we must look elsewhere to see the development of the coming time. To begin with, it is necessary to look at the Indian constitution, for beneath the unprepossessing cowl of that constitution we may begin to discern the features of the future.

First, it has been the policy of England to govern with as few of our own civilians as possible, and to build up an executive and judicial service, manned by native public servants. For instance, magisterial work is mainly done by natives, and Indian judges sit in the High Court with English colleagues. In contrast with a tiny body of Englishmen, who retain the highest offices of control, the actual administration, in by far its greatest and most important part, is in the hands