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THE EXT EN SI OH OF 
 
 LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT 
 
 IN BENGAL. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 N<MV that Sir Charles Elliott thinks it desirable to reduce the 
 powers of the Self-Governing institutions in the country, it will, I 
 nm afraid, be crying in the wilderness, to speak of the extension of 
 Local Self-Givernraont in Bengal. However, it m'»y be hoped, His 
 Honor is not so much opposed to the extension of Local Self Govern- 
 ment, as he is anxious to see that the powers entrusted to such bodies 
 be not abused. It was about three years ago, early in 1890, I wrote 
 a pamphlet on the formation of Village Union Committees, when 
 the government of Sir Steuart Bailey contemplated the establishment 
 of these bodies. It seemed to have borne some fruit ; because from 
 the re^iolution of that very year, on the working of the Local Self 
 Government Act, we learned that a scheme for the gradual establish- 
 ment of the Union Committees had been submitted to the 
 Government of India. Sir Charles Elliott is opposed to this scheme, 
 and desires their postponement for an indefinite peiiod. As t believe 
 Sir Charles Elliott to be a sincere well wisher of the country, and as 
 the question is of vital importance, I venture to republish the pam- 
 phlet with some additions, rendered necessary on account of Sir 
 Charles' attitude towards the scheme ; and it is to be hoped His 
 Honor will see the way to follow up the scheme of his predecessor 
 and give effect to the wishes of the government of India, and thus 
 earn the undying gratitude of the poor villagers of this country. 
 
 When I first wrote the pamphlet, there was no n'eed^ of proving 
 the necessity and urgency of establishing these bodies. The govern- 
 ment of Sir Steuart Bailey fully recognised their necessity. There 
 
 4C4221 
 
( ii ) 
 
 were some practical difficuUies to be OYorcom«. The principle was 
 accepted, the difficulty was as to how to carry it into practice. What 
 1 then wrote regarding the formation of these bodies and the best 
 means of their successful working, and about the improvement of 
 the status of Local Boards is perfectly applicable now. The growing 
 insanitary state of our villages, requires all the more urgently the 
 formation of these bodies, I therefore repeat substautialy whiit ' I 
 wrote about three years ago. I shall deal with Sir Charles Elliott's 
 objection in these preliminary pages. I am .however glad to 
 observe, the boards are growing more and more independent of 
 official element, and what is to be more congratulatec^, the 
 officials themselves leave matters more to the independent judgment 
 of the Board than to their own inclination. 
 
 Sir Charles Elliott has recorded in the resolution on the working 
 of Local Self Government Act for 1890-91 that '*lt would be prema- 
 ture to initiate a new administrative departure by establishing union 
 committees, before the relation of District and Local Boards have 
 been finally settled and have stood the teat of several yeara* 
 experience." It is very likely, before r**cording this resolution 
 Sir Charles Elliott has assured himself that the government of 
 India holds his view, otherwise he would not venture to abandon 
 a scheme which his predecessor had so wisely laid before the Govern- 
 ment of India, and as it would amount to want of consideration to 
 the supreme govern met, particularly as the Government of India 
 itself was anxious to see them established. 
 
 The reason assigned for thus almost abandoning the scheme which 
 is of the utmost importance to the country, is so vague, unmean- 
 ing and indefinite that nothing could be made out of it. It is merely 
 a polite way of expressing that His Honor is unwilling to extend 
 Local Self Government in Bengal. His Honor speaks of the adjustment 
 of relations between the District and Local Boards. The Local Boards 
 have no independent source of income ; and they work on the lines 
 laid down for* them by the District Boards. Little discretion is 
 allowed them. During the last six years' working of these institu- 
 tions, no where any difficulty has arisen as to their relationship to one 
 
( iii ) 
 
 another. The Local Boards are generally allowed so little power and 
 placed in such subordinate and insignificant position that its exercise 
 is scarcely felt. From their very constitution as marked by the 
 legislature, they can never prove intractable ; and so there can be no 
 possibility of any di^jEiculty arising out of their mutual relations. 
 Six years, trial is enough, if anything is required to be known or 
 adjusted in this direction. So the true reasons for this backward 
 and false step must be sought for elsewhere. 
 
 From the tenor of Sir Charles Ellioto's policy, and his distrust of 
 Local Self-Gevernment, as is evidenced by the introduction of the 
 Chowkidari Amendment Act and the Municip.il Amendment Act, it 
 can easily be guessed that he does not approve of the principle of 
 extending Local Self-Government in Bengal. Our Lieutenant Go- 
 vernor is however a very cautious and prudent man. In almost all 
 public expressions of his opinions, Sir Charles has always taken up 
 the cause of Local Self Government and has testified to the useful- 
 ness of these bodies. But unfortunately, in his actions he generally 
 attempts to curb, to limit and to restrict tlie powers, already given 
 by law to the people. We earnestly hope this tendency of Sir 
 Charles Elliott's actions proceeds not from his dislike to Local Self- 
 Govcrnment, but from his sincere desire to put a stop to the abuse 
 of the powers given by the law. I would humbly beg to suggest 
 that the best way of checking the abuse of a power is not to restrict 
 or deprive a body of that power, but to create such safe-guards as 
 will prevent its abuse. 
 
 It is much to be regretted that Sir Charles Elliott has not 
 thought it desirable to assign any sensible cause for thus indefinitely- 
 postponing the establishment of Union Committees. So the true 
 reasons which have led him to adopt this step can only be inferred 
 from the general tenor of his policy, which is unfortunately not in 
 I'avor of the principle of the Local Self-Go vernment or its expansion. 
 lie is wise enough not to take his stand on the minor, legal and 
 practical objections which can easily be avoided. When this 
 pamphlet was first written, no question of principle was raised. It 
 was assumed that th':> principle of Local Sulf-Govcrnuient ought to 
 
( i^ ) 
 
 be extended to our villages and that the people are capable of tarning 
 it to their advantage. Sir Charles Elliott's opposition to the principle 
 of the extension of Local Self- Government to our villages has 
 rendered it necessary to say a few words on the subject. 
 
 We do not know the pk'ecise nature of Sir Qharles Elliott's objec- 
 tions ; so we are under the necessity of assuming them. I hope 
 the following arguments will probably exhaust all the objections 
 which may be entertained against the formation of Village Unioa 
 Committes. 
 
 1. The people are too ignorant, apathetic and conservative to 
 deserve such institutions or to make any good use of them. In a 
 word, the people are not fit for them. 
 
 2.' The working of the institutions of this nature has not been 
 such as to make it desirable to further extend it. -. 
 
 3. The people being ignorant, apathetic and conservative will 
 either abuse their power, or will fail to carry out the sanitary and 
 other measures, which require greater knowledge and self-sacrifice, 
 than what they can be credited to possess. 
 
 4. It is unsafe and impolitic to train up a conquered people on 
 principles of political independence, self help and combination. 
 
 Let us see how far the first objection is tenable. Sir Rivers 
 Thompson introduced Local Self- Government in Bengal, and he made 
 provisions for the establishment of Uuion Committees. So it can 
 safely be presumed, that he thought the people fit to be entrusted 
 with the management of their own villages. Sir Steuart Bailey laid 
 before the Government of India a scheme for establishing Union 
 Committees. Both of them were Bengal Civilians and knew Bengal 
 perfectly well. Sir Charles Elliott's experience of Bengal does 
 barely extend to two years. It is really to be wondered, that on the 
 strength of this his short and limited experience of Bengal, he would 
 ^venture to deprive the people of the real boon of Local Self-Govern- 
 ment which two of his predecessors, each with about thirty years* 
 experience of Bengal, were maturing for them. The Government 
 of India has been for the last four years urging on the Government 
 of Bengal to establish such iustitutious tor the sanitary improvement 
 
( y ) 
 
 of our villages. It would not do so, if it were ever convinced, that 
 the people are unfit for them. Then again, high officers who have 
 personal experience of these matters, and who have personal experi- 
 ence of Bengal villages are confident that such self-governing institu- 
 tions will be very useful. I quote here the opinion of Mr. Westmucot, 
 Commissioner of Presidency Division, who is one of the most able 
 and independent of the Bengal Civilians, and who hafr certainly no 
 bias either for Local Self-Goverument or for the people, thus writes 
 on the subject, in his report on the working of Local Self-Government 
 Act for 1890-91. " I believe that Village Union Committees would 
 prove a more efficient agency for carrying out any measures of real 
 
 Local Self-Governmeat, than Sub-Divisional Local Boards." 
 
 ** I do not however think it too late even now to organise village 
 Union Committees, and entrust them with local administration under 
 the existing Boards, and if this is done, I feel confident, Local Self- 
 Government will show a vitality which it has not shown yet," *'If 
 
 Village Union Committees were organised we should have bodies 
 
 directly interested in su])ply ol good drinking water." Mr. Risley 
 in his excellent speech in the Bengal Council on Chowkidari Bill thus 
 testifies to the capabilities of our villagers in this respect. *'The 
 Lidian peasant is no fool. He has his limitations like his class all 
 over the world, but within the range of his knowledge, within the 
 compass of his own village and its immediate surroundings, he is 
 just as shrewd a person as one could wish to meet. Comparing him 
 with the English rustic of the counties he was much inclined to 
 think that the Indian was the sharper of the two." Mr. Cotton, 
 however greatly we may regret his attitude towards the self-governing 
 institutions in the country, has still left in him much of his liberal- 
 views to come forward and say, that the Village Union Committees 
 can safely be formed, and will be very useful bodies. It may humbly 
 be suggested that the opinion of Sir Charles Elliott, based on his 
 two years, experience of Bengal, is of no value against the views held 
 his two predecessors and other high officials of the country. In 
 Madras and Central Provinces these institutions are working very 
 satisfactorily, particularly in reference to village sanitation. In 
 
Bengal wliere the people are more enlightened, they will certainly work 
 Letter. Moreover such institutions are not new in India, Loijal Self- 
 Governnient on a wider basis has certainly not been tried in India, 
 but on a smaller scale, it has been an immemorial practice in India. 
 Our village communities were far more important bodies than the 
 Village Unions can be ever expected to be. 
 
 Even if ^ take the question from an abstract point of view, 
 without the support it has received of high authorities, and the 
 precedent that exists for such institutions in the country, I believe 
 it ought to receive the favourable consideration of all 'right- minded 
 and liberal statesmen. The utility of self-governing institutions is 
 admitted on all hands, unfortunately there is no fixed and ascertained 
 limit to the degree of ignorance, apathy and conservatism that may 
 justify the non-bestowal of these institutions to a people. It does 
 not require much knowledge or activity or liberality of views, to 
 understand one's own interest, either as an individual or as a member 
 of society. A body of men, who have learned to live in society, and 
 have trained themselves to forego those inclinations which prompt 
 men io break the bonds of society, can be entrusted to select men to 
 govern themselves, especially in matters which particularly and 
 immediately concern them. Almost everywhere in the very first 
 stage of society, people selected one or more amongst themselves as 
 their governing body. The principle of governing ourselves by 
 representatives of our own choice is a natural one, and is possible in 
 any stage of social development. 
 
 The second objection that may be raised, is that the work and 
 attendance of the existing bodies under the Local Self-Government 
 Act, have not been satisfactory. Sir Charles thus observes on their 
 working. *'He (the Lieutenant Governor) finds every where a praise- 
 worthy disposition on the parts of the Boards, to attend regularly 
 to their duties, and to pay due regard to tlie wishes of Government 
 and the advice of their Chairman and professional advisers." 
 So he can not urge this as an argument against the establishment of 
 these bodies, although the attendance in a very few Boards has 
 not been such as is desirable. Considering the ditticulties 
 
( vii ) 
 
 of attf^nding a meeting of the Local Board ^ it is to be wondered 
 thfit the attendance has been generally so good. In many cases 
 a member has to walk over a distance of twenty to forty miles 
 to attend a meeting of the Board. Out of 1 06 Boards, the average 
 attendance in 49 was half the number of the members of the Board or 
 more. It was only in four cases, the average attendance fell below the 
 quorum mtrnber. In the case of Union Committees, the attendance 
 will naturally be expected to be most nuni'^rnus of all, because the 
 Union Office will in rare cases be more than two miles distant from 
 the members' ^houses, and the members generally will have more time 
 to spare, there being few officers and professional men in our villages. 
 There is another important matter which more largely contributes to 
 the thinness of attendance at the meetings of Local Boards. The 
 powers given to the Local Boards are so limited, restricted 
 and circumscribed that little interest attaches to their work. They 
 have been reduced to farces. They have no independent income, no 
 real power, but a good deal of worry and botheration. Under these 
 circumstances, how a man can be expected to do his work heartily. 
 The remedy lies in improving the position of the Boards, and in 
 allowing travelling allowance to members coming from distant places. 
 
 Sir Charles Elliott observes, that the ''Success or failure of Local 
 SelfrGovernment depends less upon constitution and legal status of 
 the Boards than on the practical capficity and good sense of the 
 individual members who serve upon them." It is a truism to say law 
 can make men good, but men can not make law good. I have quoted 
 elsewhere an observation of Lord Ripon, showing that succoss 
 depends on their constitution and the help and encouragement they 
 may receive from Government. On matters of Self-Government 
 law ought to hold out an encouragement. If the members of the 
 Local Boards be reduced to the position of mere road sarcars, much 
 can not be expected of them. 
 
 Another objection that can likely be raised, is that the people will 
 abuse their power or fail to make proper use of it. This like the 
 fir.st is a stock objection generally raised by the enemies of Local 
 Self-Government. As Sir Charles Elliott always professes to bo tho 
 
( viii ) 
 
 frientl of Local Self-Govorninent, this certainly is not his viow of 
 case. Snch difficulties, however, if thoy over seriously arise can be 
 met by imposing reasonable restrictions as safe-guards against tho 
 abuse of their powers, provided they do not frustrate the purpose for 
 which they are created. Complaints are sometimes received against our 
 municipalities. But this should not be made much of. They often 
 show that our rate-payers are beginning to take interest inJ their own 
 affairs. The rate-payers are now no longer thought of except at the 
 time of election. They are gradually coming to the front. And 
 whatever defects our municipalities may have, they will 'disappear as 
 the institutions will grow more and more in popular estimation, and 
 with the spread of education. A little party spirit also shows that 
 the members are no longer mere passive instruments in the hands 
 of a powerful clique. Party spirit is often a necessary element 
 in such institutions. I quote here a very learned and apt 
 illustration of the Hon'ble Dr. Mohendra Lai Sarkar in this connec- 
 tion. ''It is the antagonism of opposite polarities which nnder 
 creative superintendence has produce4 aud is maintaining the marvel- 
 lous cosmos of which we are part and parcel." Ic may be urged that 
 sanitary improvements can not be left to poor and ignorant villagers. 
 The nature of sanitary improvements that our villagers may be 
 roquired to undertake ' will not require any scientific training. . To 
 dig a pond, to clear jungles, to open up a local diain, are certainly 
 not works to be entrusted only to learned and scientific men. More- 
 over they will have the Board's engineers and sanitary inspectors 
 to help them. 
 
 The fourth and last objection, that it is unsafe and impolitic to 
 train up a conquered people on principles of political self helf^ 
 combination and independence, is one that need not be much dwelt- 
 upon. Though there are many Anglo-Indians accustomed to the 
 obsequous salaams of their subordinates, and habituated to terrorize 
 over the poor people of the country, who would very much like to 
 follow this policy, yet England has never governed India in this 
 spirit, even in the early days of the Company. How great a follower 
 of the policy of restrictions, prohibitions and reductions, Sir Charles 
 
{ IX ) 
 
 Elliott may be, a statesman of bis experience, can never make this 
 the aim and end of his policy. Apart from the higher and nobler 
 ground of the great duty of a Government to advance the general 
 civilization of those under it, a training of this nature is necessary 
 iu the interest of England's wealth, power and progress. If we had 
 been governed in such a way as to keep us in that stratum of social 
 development, in which we were, when the English first came, we 
 would see nothing of this great expansion of trade and commerce 
 for which England conquered India ; and for which alone she is 
 unwilling to part with her. A civilized and progressive Government 
 can not but civilize Its sijbjects and promote their progress. 
 
 The necessity of establishing such bodies is growing day by day. 
 Now that the Conference for water supply and drainage has deter- 
 mined to raise additional taxes for these purposes, and as the burden 
 of these taxes will fall mostly on the poor and hard-pressed villagers, 
 particularly in case of drainage, greatest care ought to be taken to 
 make the burden as little oppressive as possible. Greatest economy 
 must be practised in carrying out these works, and the co-operation 
 of the villagers ought to be secured for raising the contributions. 
 Union Committees will be just the bodies to do these economically 
 and with less heart-burning. A self-imposed burden is not felt very 
 strongly. When I first wrote this pamphlet, I suggested that the 
 Punchayets may be brought under their control in matters of taxa- 
 tion, and sanitation. Now that the amended Chowkidari Act has 
 reduced them to tax collecting sarkars, and has paved the way for 
 levying the Chowkidari Cess, as causes and pleas will easily be found 
 of their incapacity, ingorance and apathy, I would humbly beg to 
 fcuggest that these bodies may safely be dispensed with, and their 
 powers may be transferred to Union Committes. Sir Charles Elliott 
 is the greatest master of political tactics. His severest blows arc 
 struck after such preparation that you scarcely perceive them, and if 
 you feel them, you are obliged to conceal the pain. Axe has been 
 laid at the root of high education in Bengal, but we are told that we 
 are advanced enough to take care of it ourselves, though unfortunately 
 this advancement of ours, docs not extend to prevent our being 
 
< ' > 
 
 deprived of some powers under the Municipal and Local Self-i 
 Government Acts. The cause of Local Self- Government is gasping i 
 under a severe blow. Belvedere parties, softening speeches, and onci 
 or two mollifying acts are all that Sir Charles can give us by way 
 of compensation. The most inveterate enemies of Indian progress 
 will be satisfied, at the result of His Honor's policy. Death blows 
 have been struck, to two of the most potent factors of human progress 
 and civilization — Education and Self-Government. Sir -Charles Elliott 
 is such a great tactician that these measures have not raised one- 
 hundredth of the opposition, thay would have done, if he had nofe 
 been our Lieutenant Governor. But forturmtely Sir Charles ElUotto 
 has this redeeming feature in his administration that he generally 
 gives something for what he takes away. We therefore raost humbly^ 
 and earnetly pray that His Honor will follow up the scheme of his 
 predecessor for the establishment of Union Committees, and thus 
 partly make up for what he has done to check the progress of Local 
 Self Government in other directions. It is our firm conviction that 
 Sir Charles Elliott does not entertain any dislike towards Local Self 
 Government in this country, and so we haVe ventured to make this 
 pitiyer. 
 

 THE EXTENSION Cf 
 
 LOCAL SELF-GOVEENMENT 
 IN BENGAL. 
 
 1. It was about ten years fxgo, Lord Ripon, that great 
 Governor-General of India, whose name will ever be worshipped 
 with the utmost veneration in the inmost shrine of everj Indian 
 heart, first formulated the noble and wise scheme of Local 
 Self Government for India. It was his fervent desire to see 
 it carried into effect during his regime. But such is the 
 apathy and jealousy with which the grauii of such powers is 
 looked upon by most of our officials, particularly in Bengal, 
 that though ten years is about to elapse^ the scheme has not been 
 yet carried out to half the extent to which is was intended to be 
 done, and with one hundredth of the spirit which actuated 
 its most noble founder. Moreover the scheme, as much of it 
 as has been worked out, is so much distorted that success can 
 not be fairly expected of it. That the institutions under the 
 scheme are working on the whole, satisfactorily, inspite of their 
 constitutional defects and the jealousy of the official body, is 
 a matter of congratulation. 
 
 2. The greatest defect of English rule in India has been 
 the destruction and disorganisation of some of the most useful 
 institutions of the country. The foremost among' them being 
 the destruction of tiie system of village ooramunities, which in 
 the words of Sir Charles Metcalfe were 'Tittle republics" '' the 
 indestructive atoms from which empires were formed." In 
 
( 2 ) 
 
 times of danger or internal commotion, or in all matters in 
 which combined action is necessary, our villagers have now no 
 one to look up to. If Village Union Committees be established 
 tbey will partly, though to a very slight extent, restore our 
 village communities^ and gradually their powers may be extend- 
 ed as far as practicable. For tbe present, by the establishment 
 of these bodies, our villages will be enabled to^ manage their own 
 affairs in matters of village -communication, education, and 
 sanitation under such supervision as the government may deem 
 proper. In times of danger, and difficulties, particularly when 
 widespread combination is necessary to avert a calamity, or for 
 carrying out a great undertaking these bodies will prove a bul- 
 wark of strength to the Government. To the villagers themselves 
 they will prove of inestimable bene fit not only in regard to tlie^ 
 matters with which they will be directly concerned, but also in 
 other respects. Oar villagers will then have a recognised body 
 to look up to in casesAlanger and difficulty. An organisatiou 
 like that of village unions, will be useful in various ways. 
 Tbe great and noble object of Local Self-Government will 
 never be accomplished without the formation of Union 
 Committees. The Unions should be the foundation on which 
 the whole edifice of Local Self Government should rest. I 
 need scarcely observe that the District Boards and Local Boards 
 should merely be the connecting links and controlling agencies. 
 They are to be the main arteries that should infuse life-blood 
 into them. But it is the Union Committees that should bear 
 the burden of the work, as they are the fittest to do it. Let 
 us first take the question of sanitation, on which so much 
 stress is laid both by the Supreme Government and the 
 Secretary of State for India. 
 
 3. In a peaceful country like ours where p->lygamy and 
 child-marriage prevail ; and particularly where it is regarded 
 a religious duty to give birth to a child, and where the people 
 
{ s ) 
 
 are often so improvident, atid where climate favors procreation-, 
 the birth-rate far exceeds death-rate ; and so there is no means 
 of determining whether the percentage of death-rate has in- 
 creased to what it was a generation ago. Bub this much is 
 eer tain,, that in Bengal places which were once regarded as 
 sanitariums have become the den of malaria *, and are regularly 
 ▼isited, sometimestwice a year, by cholera. There are number- 
 less villages in the Districts of Hughley, Nuddea and Burdwan, 
 with deserted houses crumbling down to earth, with pale and 
 sickly people, the chosen victims of death. Whatever other 
 causes there may be of this misfortune to the country, it is 
 now an undisputed fact that the silting up of many river* 
 channels or water passages, and the partial stoppage of the 
 drainage of the country by railway embankments, particularly 
 when running parallel to the course of a river in a low and flat 
 country, are the main causes of malaria. Where the drainage 
 of the country is impeded by railway embankments, the railway 
 author' ties should take steps to remove tlie obstructions. 
 
 The Government will confer a great boon to the people if it 
 will institute a thorough enquiry into the matter, and direct the 
 railway authorities to take proper steps for keeping the drainage 
 of the country free. 
 
 4. These difficulties are, however, confined to a limited 
 area, and are not to be found everywhere. But unfortuuately 
 the sanitation of our villages are more or less defective every- 
 where •, first because the mass of the people do uot understand 
 the laws of sanitation, and secondly because they have little 
 means of giving effect to them, even if they come to know and 
 put any faith in these laws When cholera rages in a village 
 the good villagers instead of taking care to keep the tanks 
 free from cholera poison, would raise a subscriptiojj. not to buy 
 medicine, but to worship the goddess of cholera. Not the least 
 objection will be raised to wash the clothes of a cholera patient 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 in the tank, or even to throw cholera stools into it, oE which the 
 water is used for drinkino^^ but you will be made an out-caste 
 if you object to take part in the feast of the uio^ht of worship, 
 which has often been fonnd to help the g-oddess in her work 
 of destruction. I am sure if a sanitary code had been enforced 
 it would far more effectively prevent the destruction of life and 
 property than the Penal Code will ever do. * 
 
 5. The sanitation of a village consists mainly in these three 
 thino^s : first that it should be kept neat and clean, secondly 
 that it should have good drinking-water and thirdly tlmt the 
 ■village water <vays should have no impediments. Mularia and 
 cholera will lose much of their right over ns, if we would but fol- 
 low iome of the ordinary sanitary laws, as to drink pure water, 
 not to allow rank vegetation to grow around our houses, to see 
 that the compounds of our bouses be well drained, that the 
 floor of oar rooms be not very low, that there be at least some 
 ventilation in our rooms, that the ordinary water passages 
 of the village be not blocked up. and that no one be allowed 
 to deposit any oflfensive matter as dead bodies*, nio^ht-soil 
 and the like, in such a place as may injure the health of other 
 villagers. No amount of sanitary primers, resolutions of the 
 Sanitary Commissioner, or even tlie bve-laws of the District 
 Boards will do these as effectually as a Union Commitee, proper- 
 ly guided, instructed, empowered and assisted to carry oat the 
 necessary sanitary reforms. 
 
 6. The most important question in connection with sani- 
 tation, is the supply ^ good drinking-water ; and it requires 
 serious attention of the Government, Formerly our richmen 
 would dig large tanks from motives of religion. We have 
 grown wise enough to understand that digiring tanks confers no 
 religious benefit ; but unfortunately we have not grown corres- 
 pondingly wise in matters of sanitation to understand that 
 }50od tanks are essentially necessary to good health. Moreover 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 i the price of labor has risen so hig-h. that it is now very difficiilt 
 I for a single individual to dig a large tank. Even the tanks 
 I with pure water, are unfortunately imreli-iMe in times o£ epide- 
 ! mio, as no care is taken to keep the water free fn)ni poisonous 
 matters. S) it has become a matter of absolute necessity that 
 we should h.jve ac least one good tank in a vilhin'e, of which 
 the water should be used only for drinking". A Uniou alone 
 can do it. In a village wliere there is no good tank, if each 
 house-holder will subscribe a rupee or two and the District Board 
 will make a fair contribution, tlien every village will have a 
 respectable public tank which will not only conduee to its health 
 but also to the profit of the Union, which will have it under its 
 management. Now people do not undertake such works there be 
 -ing no corporate body with legal existence, in whom the property 
 in the tank would vest ; and there being nooe to keep it in a state 
 of repair. The Local Governments have now been placed 
 in a position to grant loans to Municipalities for works of public 
 utility. This concession can easily be extended to District 
 Boards, and thence to Unions. Three to four Hundred rupees 
 will be enough to secure for the Union a tank of a moderate size, 
 about a bigha in area, if instead of excavating a new tank, the 
 sum is applied in purchasing and reclaiming an old one Sinkings 
 wells wouM prove far cheaper, though our villagers in Lower 
 Bengal are not accustomed to use the water of a well. As a rule, 
 the Union tanks should be u?ed only for drinking purposes. 
 These tanks will be a source of income to the Unions. 
 
 7. The second great question in cotinection with sanitation 
 is drainage. It will be not very expensive to keep the ordinary 
 water passages of a village open. These passages are generally 
 narrow, and are often used for agricultural purposes, particularly 
 where they lead to broader channels, connected with some 
 river. These broader channels being silted up often causes 
 obstruction to drainage. In some places the smaller rivers 
 
themselves are silted up. It will not be ia the power of » 
 Union to open up these broader channels or smaller rivers. 
 The District Boards must look to them. In many places the ' 
 railway or other embankments caa*»e obitruotion to drainage 
 It is to be hoped the new Sanitary B>ard will devote its 
 special attention to the subject of drainag^e, and the Govera- 
 meiit itself will move in the matter. 
 
 8. As in the case of villaore sanitation, so in the case of 
 village communication, it is the villagers that can do it the 
 best. Almost all our village road« under the Local Boards 
 are unmetaled and their length generally varies from four 
 furlongs to three miles. Village roads of greater length are 
 generally under the District Board, but their number is very 
 limited The grant for repair varies from rupees ten to rupees 
 fifty per road. It is obvious that no great engineering skill 
 is necessary to repair these roads, but thorough sup^ervisiou 
 is absolutely necessary. The District Engineer and his subor- 
 dinates have very little time to supervise these roads properly, as 
 they have to attend to many other more important works. So 
 these village roads prove the very harvest field to the contra* 
 ctor, if he happens to be in the good graces of the supervising 
 officer. It is much to be regretted that the District Engineers 
 do not generally take much interest in regard to these roads. It 
 has often been found more advantageous to entrust some respect- 
 able villager with the repair or construction of the roads in his 
 village than to leave them to the mercy of the pet contractors 
 and the supervising officer. These village roads are now placed 
 under the entire control of tha Local Boards. Tiie District 
 Engineer can not naturally look with favor on a change which 
 deprives him of the disposal of so much money, and he 
 naturally raises the cry that the village roads under the Local 
 Boards are not regularly supervised, although it is his duty 
 as officer of the Board to supervise these roads. The com- 
 
( 1 ) 
 
 plaint oi want of supervision will have no existence wbatsoeVet 
 if the Unions be entrnsted With the repair and coJisti-uctioa 
 of village roads, under the guidflnce of the Engineer of the 
 Board, as the works will be carried on under the very eyes of 
 the menabers of tlie Union. So far as the execution of the 
 works :i re concerned the members of the Board will be very 
 ^lad to leave it entirely to what is called professional scrutiny. 
 Though All tbe district works including these village roads 
 should be under the surveillance of the District Engineers, 
 yet the wisdom of employing a lower subordinate establishment 
 in supervising and carrying out these petty works can not 
 be questioned, as surveys and estimates of works of repair of 
 petty village roads where the amount to be spent generally 
 varies from rupees ten to fifty do not require the services of 
 highly paid engineers. 
 
 In many cases the members of Local Boards have been able 
 to induce the villagers to part with their land free of cost for 
 Aridening or constructing new village roads. Union committees 
 vill do it more successfully and extensively. 
 
 9 The general tendency of the District Boards, particularly 
 >i their oflSeial element, appears to be to allot as small a aura 
 is they could mannge for village roads. The District Engineer 
 is naturally reluctant to spend much money on roads over which 
 he has little control. The District officers and the majority of 
 the members of the District Board have no experience of the 
 villagers, troubles and inconveniences, particularly in the rainy 
 season. Few feel for poor men that can raise up no cry. It ia 
 3nly those members who are themselves villagers, who have 
 actual experience of what it is to wade through knee-deep mud 
 and breast-deep water, that can be expected to take up the 
 cause of the villagers who however bear the burden of the tax 
 out of which the high officials of the Board are paid. But 
 unfortunately such members are rare. The true aim of local Self 
 
( *s ) 
 
 Government is oft'^n trn^trated by electing or nominating meri 
 only with stars, titles and riches without taking care to see whe- 
 ther they possess local knowledge or are ready to sacrifice their 
 own interests for those they represent. Wlien the roadcess was 
 first imposed it was expressly declared that every tax-paver 
 would reap the benefit of the tax which he should have to pay 
 It was expressly stated *' That money will be distributed and 
 spent by local men trusted by the inhabitants who will ||e selected 
 or elected for that purpose. Every tax payer is encouraged 
 and invited to claim that the tax shall ba fairly applied to the 
 village roads and local paths or water channels in which he is 
 interested " This is a very plain statement and leaves no room 
 for those who affirm that the nad-ces^ should be spent only, 
 on the main roads of the district and that as village roads 
 exist for the private convenience of the villagers they themselves 
 should look to those roads. The private convenience of many 
 men becomes public convenience- And it was partly for this 
 private convenience of many men that the road-cess was imposed 
 Recognising the great importance of village roads our go<^d 
 Lieutenant-Governor urged last year that " it is desirable that 
 the allotment (for village roads) should in all cases be\as liberal 
 as the circumstances will permit " The District Boards do not 
 seem to pay much attention to these remarks. In Burdwau 
 only Rs. 2000 out of the balance of the roadcess fund of 
 Rs. 102426, iu Nuddea Rs. 4491 out of Rs. 79043 in Dinage- 
 pur Rs. 18J^2 out of Rs. 75434 in 24 Pergunnas Rs. 13255 out 
 of Rs. 111887, were allotted during the last year. These 
 grants were certainly not at all liberal. At least one fourth 
 of the roadcess fund after deducting the expenditure on collec- 
 tion, should be speut for village improvements. Care should be 
 taken that no part of the grant be misapplied ; and the District 
 Engineer should be responsible for the thorough execution of the 
 works sanctioned by the Boards. 
 
{ 9 ) 
 
 Ko information is given as to the total length of the 
 villaj^e roads in each District. But those who have experience 
 of our villages know how meagrely they are provided with roads 
 The trade of the country often suffer for the want of good 
 village roads fit for cart traffic, as otherwise it becomes very 
 expensive to carry the local produce to the nearest road fit for 
 cart traffic, which in many cases liesat a distance of ten miles or 
 more ; and thence to be taken to the market where it may fiudsale. 
 10. We have seen how useful a Union may prove for 
 village sanitation and communication. It will prove no less 
 useful in promoting primary education in a village. It is well 
 known how large a share of the grant to primary education, 
 particularly lower primary educatioOi is misappropriated by 
 mercenary Gurus, and by got- up season Patshalas. Even 
 the system of payments by results, though objectionable in 
 many cases, could not check designing Gurus from receiviag 
 greater rewards than they deserve by causing boys that do not 
 belong to their patsalas, to appear in the examination for rewards. 
 If frequent and regular inspection were practicable then all these 
 would not happen *, the mercenary gurus would not venture "to 
 present themselves, the season patsalas would disappear, and the 
 same boy would not appear for two or three patsalas, and it 
 would not be necessary to follow the system of payments by 
 results in every case. The greatest defect of the system of pay* 
 ments by results is, that it gives no help and holds out no en« 
 couragemeut where they are most urgently needed and to those 
 for whom the primary education is chiefly intended. It is well 
 known that the childern of our poorer cultivators p:jrticularly the 
 grown-np ones, generally help their fathers or guardiaus during 
 the sowing and the harvest season. These boys generally keep 
 away from patshalas for about half the year. A gurn with 
 such boys can not secure sufficient rewards to induce him to 
 continue long in a patshala. In these villages the Guru should 
 
 2 
 
( y> ) 
 
 be encouraged to coatinae in the same patshala by monthly or 
 yearly stipends on condition of his maintaining the patshala 
 throughouc the year, and showing as good results of his boys 
 as possible under the circumstances. "Where there are more 
 patshalas than one, or where the residents belong to the higher 
 castes, or where the inhabitants are generally in a prosperous 
 condition^ the system of payments by results is the most suitable. 
 Where the people can help themselves the Government should 
 only encourage; but where they can not, the Grovernment should 
 render material assistance. If a Union be established, the pat- 
 shalas will be under the direct supervision of the members 
 of the Union who are expected to know who should be helped- 
 and who should be cHcouraged ; and our Gurus would aot dare 
 to impose upon them. 
 
 11 There are two chief difficulties in the way of establish- 
 ing»j Union Committees ; the one legal, the other practical. The 
 legal difficulty can be easily met by resorting to fresh legisla- 
 tion as His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor intimates in the 
 resolution on the reports of the working of the Local-Self 
 Gjevernment Act; And so long as Sir Steuart Bayley will be 
 at the head of the Bengal Council , we are sure no half-hearted 
 policy will guide the course of legislation. It was the distor- 
 tion of Local Self-Goverument at the Bengal Legislative anvil 
 by ike hammer of suspicion and distrust that has greatly re- 
 tarded its success in Bengal. In this connection it is to be 
 suggested, that the Village Chowkidari Act should be a little 
 iamended so as to bring the pauchayets and village chowkidars 
 udder the Union Committees, so far as village sanitation and the 
 imposition and collection of taxes are concerned. It is a well 
 known fact that no respectable man will be found willing to 
 serve as member of a panehayet, on account of the harassment, 
 they Are often put to, by petty police officers. The result is that 
 neither any system nor any principle is followed in imposing 
 
( ii ) 
 
 and collecting the chowkidari taXj and abuses and oppression 
 are frequent. Moreover the complaint is general that the 
 chowkidar has too much time and too little to do, and what 
 little he has to do he does imperfectly. The reason of all this 
 is that there is no one to see what he does. Over and above his 
 duties as the guardian of peace which he rarely discharg-es faith- 
 fully, he will be the superintendent of sanitation in the village. 
 It will save the Union the cost of employing a peon, and 
 will give some worK to the Chowkidar, 
 
 12- The only serious practical difficulty that has delayed^ 
 the establishment of Union Committees, is that the income of li> 
 Union which ou an average is estimated to be rupees foui^- 
 hundred a year, is quite iusufflcjient for any useful work after 
 meetiug the cost of establishment which will amount to about 
 B.s. 300, as the Union will require, under the existing law, the 
 services of a clerk able to k6ep accounts in English, in order 
 to stibinit them to the Accountant — General. It is much to be 
 wondered that no simple solution of the difficulty did suggest to 
 Any one"; and it shows how greatly our great officials are unac- 
 quainted with the resources of our villages ; and it also shows how 
 matters of the greatest importance to the people of the country, 
 are left in the background for want of adequate consideration 
 and local knowledge. It is to be borne in mind that the accounts 
 to be kept are of Rs. 400 to be spent in a }ear. A day's atten- 
 dance in the week will be enough to keep such accounts, parti- 
 cularly as the works of the Union should be carried out as much 
 as practicable b}' local contractors, having interest in the works. 
 S.) a clerk can keep the accounts of at least fotir Unions, and in 
 that case, if the clerk is paid at Rs, 20' a month, each Uuion will 
 have to pay Rs. 5 a month. As the Uni ou offices will not necessari- 
 ly be at a great distance from each other, one clerk can carry out 
 the works of four Unions without much inconvenience. This is one 
 way of solving this difficulty. Two others may be suggested'. 
 
( J2 ) 
 
 A 
 
 IS, The duties of many village post offices are discharged 
 either by some petty village school-master or by some other 
 ▼illager who has sufl&cient leisure to perform sncK works on the 
 trifling remuneration of Rs. 4 or 5 a month, and sometimes 
 even less. No one will deny that the post-office accounts are 
 far heavier and difficult tlian the Union accounts are likely to 
 be. It may be urged that tlie post office work is undertakea 
 at so small a remuneration by Way of conFerring some iienefifc 
 on one's village. If patriotism should sell so cheap in the case of 
 post offices why should it not do so in the case of Unions ; which 
 will confer far greater benefits on one's villasre. English edu- 
 cation has spread bufficiently to enable u» to find such men in 
 many of our villages. Again a member of a Union might be 
 induced to undertake the work either without any remuneratiou 
 at all or on a trifling honorary allowance. But the best and tlw 
 cheapest practice would be .to keep the accounts in Bengali, ac- 
 cording to whatever form the District Board or the Government 
 may prescribe. The accounts and forms of our ordinary police 
 stations and out-posts are kept in Bengali ; and there is no reason 
 why the accounts and forms and office-books of the Union 
 should not be kept in the same language. If the accounts be 
 kept in Bengali the village Gurus of Patshalas may do it at a 
 very trifling remuneration say of Rs. 2 or 3 a month. As the 
 proceedings of the Uuion Committees will generally be conducted 
 in Bengali, and as many of the members may not know English 
 at all, it is absolutely necessary to keep tlve accounts and book* 
 in Bengali. 
 
 14. The success of the Union Committees will depend on 
 the powers they will be entrusted with. If their actions are 
 fettered on all sides by useless restrictions, they will prove a 
 failure. If they are encumbered with duties without corres- 
 ponding rights we can not expect much of them. What Mr, 
 Smith the Commissioner of the Presidency Division, observes 
 
( IS ) 
 
 regarding District Boards holds equally well reg-arilino- tliese 
 Union Committees. He observes : — " 1 have no doubt tliat the 
 members of the various Sub-Oomiaittees will attend and take 
 an intellii^ent interest in their work, if they feel that they are 
 a real power in the disposal of the work.'' Tlie most important 
 power that a UnioPn can be entrusted with, is the power of 
 raisino^ taxes or levying contributions or making lo;in-* to carry 
 out absolutely necessary sanitary improvements. Tlie Govern- 
 ment has now expressed its willinortiess to lead money to muni- 
 cipalities to carry out important works of ptblic utility, it can 
 empower the District Boards to lend money to Unions for 
 sanitary improvements, as excavatinoj tanks, cutting jun cries 
 and the like. This power should however rest entirely with the 
 Union and it should be exercised with the greatest caution 
 under certain restrictions and limitations that the Government 
 might desire to impose, for guarding against unv abuse or oppres- 
 sion that may be caused ; otherwise the blessings of Local Self 
 Government will be mixed with curses and sighs, and the insti- 
 tution itself will become unpopular, and its progress will be ham- 
 pered. In a poor country like India, imposition of taxes is regarded 
 with the utmost dread. During the first years of its existance 
 a Union should try its best to avoid taxation. Its efforts should 
 better be directed to encourage people to contribute voluntarily 
 to the Union fund for carrying out some particular work of 
 improvement. If it be absolutely necessary to raise any tax 
 the Chowkidari tax may be enhanced instead of raising any tax 
 under a different name. 
 
 15. The Union should be empowered'; to enforce its orders 
 by penalties. On the analogy of municipal benches we may 
 have Union benches. But in the villages the number of edu- 
 cated men is very limited, and the members of the Union 
 Committees will feel disinclined to inflict adequate punishment 
 for fear of losing popularity, particularly as they may have to 
 
( 1* ) 
 
 depend on those very men whom they will now punish, at the 
 next election. The whole committee however may sit in judg*- 
 metit, the power of determining^ the punishment resting with 
 the chairman. As the committee will not in any case consist 
 of more than nine inemhers. this will not <»'ive rise to much 
 inconvenience. It is an immemorial practictfin India to punish 
 the infringements against society hy an assemhly of the elderly 
 memhers of the community. 
 
 16. As in the course of time Unions may he estahlished 
 all over the coui^ry I shall venture to make one suggestion for 
 the consiileration of the Government. It is to create Magis- 
 trates of the fourth class with power of inflicting fines only 
 to the extent of Rs. 50, and investigating and committing 
 ordinary criminal cases. As a rule they should be Honorary 
 Magistrates. They may try all Municipal cases, and the cases 
 referred to them by Union Committees or Local Boards^ Police 
 investigation often means ruin to our poor men. There would 
 be no extortion und oppression, nor any garbling of facts, if res* 
 pectable villagers of proved honesty and independence of charac- 
 ter would investigate these cases. They may be permitted 
 to ejter<jise much of those powers that a justice of the peace 
 exercises in an Enijlish villao^. This will also serve as a reward 
 to those who would take great interest in public matters and who 
 would undertake works of public utility at his own expense or 
 make liberal contributions to such works. With the spread of 
 education such men will be found in almost all our villages 
 Lord Ripon desired that some courtsey titles should be given by 
 way of encouragement to those who will take great interest 
 In matters connected with Local Self-Government. This step 
 will go in some way to fulfil the wishes of the great author 
 of Local Self-Government in India. 
 
 17. The most of the bye-laws that are generally in force 
 in our Municipalities, will prove useful to the Uuion-Coci- 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 tnittees. The sanitary reforms must be slow and cotifortn as 
 much as practicable to tiie existiiii*- practices of tlie pMrticn hu* 
 locality. Ifc is hio^hly desirable that the tanks, of which the 
 water is used for drinkin(r sliould not, be used for l)athing' and 
 washing clothes. But this is so much ai^ainst the usa^-e of ottr 
 villages that it would cause great hardships, if a Union would 
 issue orders imposing penalty to this effect. So at first only 
 the Union tanks and some other tanks, the water of which is 
 largely used by the public for drinking and cooking purposes, 
 should be declared to be used only for those purposes, provided 
 that no private rights be thereby infrinj^ed. But in times of 
 epidemic as during an out-break of cholera, private rights could 
 be infringed to protect public health, as one should not be allow- 
 ed to wash clothes smeared with cholera stools even in his own 
 private tank though nut used by the public for drinking pur- 
 poses. No system of privies is practicable in a village. But 
 no one should be allowed to clear stools on the side of a road or 
 ill such a place as may injure others' health, 
 
 18. One of the most important duties of a Union would 
 be to see that no encroachment be made on any public pathways 
 or public land in the village ; and that no waterways be l)locked 
 or obstructed j and that nothing be done to help the obstruction 
 or stoppage of water-ways. The commons or patitlands are often 
 encroached upon by powerful neighbouring landholders. And 
 as the decrees of our village panchayets have now no legal force, 
 nobody cares what others may say about it ; the pathways parti- 
 cularly the trenches on both sides of it are also often altered or 
 encroached upon. But what causes greater harm both to the 
 agriculture and drainage of the village is the stoppage of water- 
 ways. This is sometimes done directly by helping the natural 
 causes by artificial ones, for getting an accretion to one's 
 land on one or both sides of the channel. Whatever is re- 
 
( le ) 
 
 ^nrded as public property iu a village should bt Vested in the 
 Union. Opeu spaces often serve many useful purposes. 
 No one should be allowed to do anything as may obstruct 
 or teud to obstruct the waterways of the village. 
 
 18. The usefulness of a Union will depend on the fund 
 at its disposal. As it will have to carry out works of 
 different character it should be provided with separ tte funds 
 for each kind of work. It should have grants for repairing 
 village roads,, for maintaining Pathshalas, for carrying out 
 Sanitary improvemeatsj and for any other works it may be 
 entrusted with. The Government probably makes no grants 
 to District Boards for sanitary improvements from Pro- 
 vincial Hevenues ; unlesn this is done the District Boards will 
 not be in a position to make grants for sanitation except at 
 the detriment of other works. It is the duty of the state to see 
 that its subjects do not perish on account of the insanitary 
 condition of the country. But it financial difficulty does not 
 enable the Government to make grants for sanitary purposes, it 
 is desirable that the sanitaiy wants of the District should be 
 supplied before the Boards Would undertake any other work of 
 public utility. If the Government will make a grant of about 
 four lakhs rupees a year from the provincial revenues the Dis- 
 trict Boards will be much relieved of their burdens in this 
 connection. As a" part of this sum will be spent iu remunera- 
 tive works, there will be some return for the money spent on 
 digging or reclaiming tanks and the like works. 
 
 So far as the constitution of the Union Committees is con- 
 cerned the members should be selected partly by election and 
 partly by nomination. But the greatest care should be taken 
 to appoint only those who would take active interest in the 
 works. In India our fire fathers were and we still are accus- 
 tomed to the assembly of elders who decided and still decide 
 many disputes among the villagers. The assembly is made up 
 
( n ) 
 
 of self-nominated members. Every one has voice. But the 
 Voice of the elder members carries greater weight, la a purely 
 Hindu or Mahomedaa village where the several sections of the 
 community are equally balanced, election would be preferable 
 to nomination. 
 
 19. Oae of the most important questions in connection 
 with the formation of Union Committees is the supervision and 
 control over these bodies. As in a district there will be no less 
 than two hundred Uuions, on an average, it will be very diffi- 
 cult for the District Board to manage them and to look after 
 their requirements aud grievances. The Local Boards under the 
 direction of the District Boards may do this more effectu- 
 ally. The law has made the Local Boards agents of the Dis- 
 trict Boards ; but the District Boards have made them little 
 better than their petty road sarcars. Generally the members 
 of the District Boards take greater interests in their works than 
 the members of the Local Boards. The reason is not far to 
 seek. The members of the Local Boards have no real power 
 in many cases they have been turned into mere shadows. The 
 District Board or to speak more correctly the Chairman, the 
 Vice-Chairman and the District Engineer whopractically consti- 
 tute the District Board, wishes to keep all the powers in their 
 hands. The Local Boards in a district do not spend even the 
 one-twentieth part of the income of the District Board. 
 Unfortunately many of the members of the District Boards, 
 both elected and nominated, particularly the latter ones, are 
 more ornamental than useful. We can count among them 
 Princes, Knights, Maharajas, Rajas, Nawabs, not to speak of 
 the Bahadoors, and Zemindars. But only a very few of 
 them take practical interest in the works before them, and possess 
 or care to possess that amonnt of local and practical knowledge 
 which would be useful to them in discharirinor their duties. Men 
 with stars, titles and riches are certainly very able men. It is 
 
 3 
 
( 18 ) 
 
 *our earnest prayer, they would add local knowledge and sym- 
 pathy with the people, to the ability and influence they possess. 
 If they take practical interest in the questions before them, 
 their words will carry greater weight than those of the District 
 Authorities. In their anxiety to get men with titles and riches, 
 the District Aut*iorities forget to recommend for nomination, 
 such men as engineers and doctors whose professional knowledge 
 would be invaluable to them for testing the accuracy of the 
 estimates and statements of the officers of the Board *, and for 
 advising in all matters requiring professional knowledge. 
 
 It is a great misfortune to India that the true, high and, 
 noble principles that often actuate the Supreme Government^ 
 to confer new or greater powers, on the people of this 
 country, are often not appreciated, or are regarded as inapplic- 
 able by the subordinate oflScers of the Government, on 
 whom^ however, depends the practical working-out of those prin- 
 ciples^, The result is that they never receive full play and are 
 hindered at every step. In his famous resolution on Local 
 Self Government, Lord Ripon with the insight of a true 
 statesman made this obssrvation regarding the partial success of 
 muuicipul institutions "It may be suspected, therefore, that the 
 cause of comparative failure in the efiforts hitherto made is to be 
 found rather in the character of t^ose eflforts than in the 
 nature of the object pursued." There are good reasons to fear 
 that many District Officers will speak against the establishment 
 of Union Committees, not simply because some of them are 
 ao'ainst the introduction of Local Self- Government in India, but 
 because they themselves know little about the conditions, resour- 
 ces and requirements of our villages. Many of them will not care 
 to receive information on the subject from independent, edu- 
 cated and respectable villagers who alone can give reliable opi- 
 nions on the subject. It is a very bad practice of our officials 
 tp depend on thair immediate suboriiuatss for aay iafjroi.Ui'ju 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 or opinion they require on a subject- In India independent 
 gentlemen of proved ability are rarely consulted on questions 
 of public importance. The immediate subordinates often find 
 it safe and advantageous to conform their own views to the 
 known views oE their immediate superi-ors ; and moreover they 
 themselves may not have any experience of actual villagte- 
 life and may not possess any adequate amount of Imowledge 
 of the resources and requirements of a village. 
 
 20. If Union Committees be established the Local Boards 
 will comparatively rise into importance. They will distribute 
 the amount at their disposal among the several Union Com- 
 mittees under them. They will issue instructions to Union 
 Comn?ittees, look over their accounts, decide any dispute that 
 may arise among the members themselves or among- two Union 
 Committees, and point out their mistakes. There may be villages 
 where it may be found inexpedient to establish Unions. These 
 places should be under the direct management of the Local 
 Boards. When the people will see the advantages of having 
 Unions in their villages, they themselves will come forward to 
 request the Government to give them Unions, as they now pray 
 to the Government for opening a post office or establishing a 
 municipality. The Engineer of the Local Board will supervise 
 the roads under the management of the Unions. The primary 
 schools under a Union will be supervised by the Sub-Inspector 
 of schools. It is to be hoped the new Sanitary Board will 
 appoint sanitary inspectors to superintend the sanitation of 
 our villai^es. Tlie mombers of the Local Board will also 
 have the power of supervision over these Unions. These officers 
 the engineer, the sub-inspector of schools ? nd the sanitary 
 inspector will act as advisers to the Unions. Their recommen- 
 dations should be followed as munh as practicable. Let the 
 Union Committees be at first experimental. But in order to 
 make an experiment successful the antecedent conditions must- 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 all be favorable to the experimeufc. So in order to make a 
 Union successful, we must carefully and tenderly nourish it 
 during the first years of its existence, correcting without 
 rebuking, watching without suspecting and helping without 
 grumbling. 
 
 In introducing Local Self-Gevernment in India, it was the 
 chief aim of its great author to make it an instmmentof popu- 
 lar and political education. This object will remain absolutely un- 
 fulfilled if Union Committees be not formed. The members 
 of the District and the Local Boards are generally well educated 
 men and have some experience of political life, and many of 
 them are generally residents of towns and live under municipali- 
 ties. In villages there are few men who know any thing of 
 political life. If Union Committees be not established, no 
 opportunity for self-help and political training will be offered to 
 our villagers. They will not know, what it is to unite in a sys- 
 tematic manner for common good. The Union Committees will 
 revive our ancient village communities under the shining garb of 
 western civilization. I have confined myself only in stating the 
 facts as I have observed them and in making bare suggestions 
 the adoption of which, I think would be useful. I do not wish 
 to increase the butk of this letter by appealing to those prin- 
 ciples and sentiments on which they depend. I only touch the 
 several points connected with this suoject. 
 
 21. But whatever the Government may do to ensure the 
 successful working of the Union Committees they shall fail if 
 we take no interest in them. Whatever the Government may 
 give us let us accept it thankfully. And let us first prove our- 
 selves worthy of what the Government may give us. Local 
 Self-Go vernment is a privilege, given to us by our well-meaning 
 though sometimes erring Government. It is a privilege rarely 
 given to a subject nation. There is no denying the fact that 
 it is the British Government that has made us what we are, and 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 that we shall not he what we are, if the British Government 
 goes away. There is nothing extraordinary in the fact, that a 
 foreign people with rig^ht of conqnest would look to their own 
 safety and profit before any thing* else and make mistakes in 
 governing a country which fortune has thrown into their 
 arms- The best way of seeing, that they do not secure their 
 safety by crushing out all independence from the people, that 
 they do not make profit by causing our ruin, and that they make 
 no such mistakes as may lead to injustice and oppression, is by 
 re^peatedly and persistently pointing out to them, in every 
 instance, the errors they commit, in^language that will carry 
 conviction without producing bitterness. Strong language 
 sometimes has its value. But in our case it does only harm. The 
 world has not as yet reached that stage of development when 
 all difference between man and man will be forgotten. To use 
 the language of philosophy, let us, therefore, contribute our 
 proper share to the harmonious adjustment of heterogeneous ele- 
 ments that now envelope the world on all sides of us ; and which 
 will ultimately lead to that happy equilibrium which always 
 floats on philosophers' dreams of universal felicity. A generation 
 ago we were far behindhand to Englishmen in culture and 
 civilization, and it is owing to the civilizing influence of British 
 Government; and its noble policy of educition, that we are now 
 fast approaching Englishmen in education and enlightenment. 
 But as happens in all cases of rapid growth what we have gained 
 in length we have lost in solidity. Our enlightenment and 
 education do not rest on solid pillars of patient growth and on 
 fii*m foundation of mature experience. And what is more unfor- 
 tunate in our case, is that our enlightenment is confined to 
 a very limited circle and has not reached the great mass of 
 the people. The difference between our peasant in the field 
 and our Bachelor of Arts in the lecture-hall is far greater than 
 the difference between an English peasant and an English 
 
( 22 ) i 
 
 \ 
 
 graduate. No fal?e growth will bear the test of', time. It 
 on^ht to be therefore our first endeavour to be carefdl in secur- 
 ing' what we have got, otherwise we may lose it. 
 
 22. It is very desirable that the press and the public as- 
 sociations should take greater -interest in these matters. The es- 
 tablishment o£ village Unions and their successful working will 
 do great good to the country. Here will be the germ, the rudi- 
 ments of political training. Here we shall learn our duties 
 to public and how to discharge them. It is therefore our 
 earnest prayer to our country men, that they should leave aside 
 their lethargies of age% ; and devote their heart and soul to 
 make these institutions successful. Every one thinks better of 
 himself, and we may not like the restrictions put upon us. 
 But it lies in us to get these restrictions removed, when we can 
 show that we were mi^adged or that the causes wliich led to the 
 imposition of the restrictions, do no longer exist. When we 
 make good use of what is given to us, we can hope for 
 more. There are enthusiastic men amongst us wha 
 carried away by the spur of the moment forget everything. 
 Instead of spending all our efforts in a paroxysm^rief or abuse, 
 as we sometimes do. let us show our worth by patient and silent 
 work and by steady and persevering industry. We have, as a 
 nation, not yet learned what it is to take interest in public 
 matters. If we did, Mr. Hume would not have to complain 
 of want of funds to carry out the agitation in England 
 for Self-Government, in a higher sphere, in India. Mr. Hume 
 is the living example of that self-sacrifice which sends forth 
 its rays of love and benevolence to cheer and to give hopes to 
 the drooping spirits all over the world. The Hindus were once 
 famous for love, charity and self-sacrifice. But we are unworthy 
 sons of worthy fathers- Our public spirit is more to be found 
 in our speeches and writings than in our acts. There is no 
 doubt that England from* the very beginning has been trying 
 
'•'(''^•i' )* ■•' 
 
 to rule India with justice and fairness, nay I may almosb 
 say, sometimes with indulgence. The spirit of Burke still 
 pervades many English hearts. If we can but show ourselves 
 worthy, we shall get everything we aspire to. The best 
 way of getting our grievances remedied, is not to give them 
 out to the world with all the bitterness of our spirit^ 
 but to show ourselves by our conduct, to be above all false 
 pleas and insinuations of incapacity that our decriers may 
 put forth against us. We have proved ourselves worthy 
 in many things, but we have still to prove our capabilities 
 for persistent and continued efforts, patient and silent work 
 and a determination to do or dij in whatever we under- 
 take. Failure must not discourage us, dangers must not 
 dishearten us, and above all abuse must not embitter our 
 spirit. If you have true and sterling merits, they will 
 consume, like the ill-snppres<«ed fire, everything heaped upon 
 them, and shine with redoubled brilliancy. 
 
 It is sometimes expedient to begin at the top, but it is 
 always expedient to begin at the beginning. These Union 
 Committees will be the beginning of our political independ- 
 ence. They will partially restore to us under the shining, garb 
 of Western Civilizution, our well-tried and time-honored 
 system of Village Communities. It is now premature to hope 
 that at one time they may even be empowered to try petty- 
 civil and criminal cases. And we hope we shall not be wanting 
 in our efforts to make it a complete success. Witl^ a reformed 
 Legislative Council in the centre, and a net-work of self- 
 governing institutions spread all around, India will receive 
 the sacrament of liberty ; and emerging fresh, pure and holy 
 out of her thraldom of ages, and imbibing whatever is good 
 and great and noble in the Civilization of the West, she 
 will march on her way to progress and prosperity ; and 
 will again set ft) example of love, truth and charity to the 
 
world, as she did in lier halcyon days of the old. She will 
 again recover her supremacy, parlicnlarl}^, in intellectual 
 culture and spiritual activity under the protecting arms of the 
 British Lion. 
 
GENERAL LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY 
 
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