D a d a b h ai t h en s u b m i t t ed t he cor r e spondence w h i c h he h ad
c a r r i ed on w i t h the W a r Of f i ce a nd the A d m i r a l t y , r e spe c t ive ly,
on t he admi s s ion of Indi ans to C o m m i s s i o ns in the B r i t i sh A r m y
a nd to C o m m i s s i o ns in the R o y al N a v y . T he gist of the a r g u m e nt
in this cor r e spondence was t h at by e x c l u d i ng Indi ans f r o m
C o m m i s s i o ns in t he B r i t i sh A r m y a nd N a v y the a u t h o r i t i es h ad
l a id d o w n a r u le incons i s t ent w i t h the A c t of 1833 a nd the
P r o c l a m a t i on of 1858. H is n i n t h a nd f i n al n o te f u r n i s h ed a t able
s h o w i ng e x p e n d i t u re on wa rs b e y o nd the I n d i an f r o n t i e rs a nd
c o n t a i n i n g, so to say, t he o f f i c i al confession of the cost of the
F o r w a rd P o l i cy to t he p e o p le of I n d i a.
D a d a b h ai was n o t c o n t e nt w i t h m e r e ly p l a c i ng his statements
b e f o re the C o m m i s s i o n. T h e y m i g h t or m i g h t n o t be t a k en i n t o
a c c o u nt in c o m p i l i n g t he r e p o r t. I f , h o w e v e r , he appeared b e f o re
t he C o m m i s s i on as a wi tne ss a nd u r g ed t he issues raised by h i m in
those notes, t he C o m m i s s i on w o u l d , he t h o u g h t, be c o m p e l l ed to
de al w i t h those issues. In t h at h o pe he subj e c t ed h i m s e l f v o l u n -
t a r i ly to t he f i re of c r o s s - e x a m i n a t i on as a wi tne s s.
T h e re w e re several passages-at-arms b e t w e en t he C h a i r m an a nd
t he wi t n e s s. To c i te o ne ins t anc e.
The Cha i rman asked: " W h at is it that y ou want? Do y ou
wi sh to sweep away the wh o le Engl i sh scheme ?"
"Yes, as it i s ," was Dadabhai's r eply.
"I wa nt to k n ow whether y ou wi sh to get r id of it b o d i l y ?"
"The re y ou misunderstand m e ."
" W h at p r o p o r t i on w o u ld y ou keep ?"
"The re is no p r o p o r t i on there. Y o u must serve the double
purpose b o th of ma int a ining the supremacy in a v e ry remarkable
and a v e ry efficient mariner and at the same t ime the people must
feel that they are governed by themselves."
"I me r e ly w i sh to ask y ou whether y ou propose to retain any
part of C i v il Service—the European Service?"
" O n l y the highest p o r t i on such as the Vi c e r o y, the Governors,
the Commande r - in-Chi e f. Let us have the wh o le C i v il Service,
leaving alone the h i gh level of the Europeans as the c o n t r o l l i ng
p o w e r ."
" T h en y ou w o u ld have the Vi c e r o y, etc. ?"
"These c e r t a inly."
" N o Englishmen beneath them ?"
"I do n ot see any necessity for others."
" A n d by degrees y ou w o u ld evict t h em all ?"
" We may go gradually higher u p ."
" B ut the hi s tory of India is that the people have been c o nt i n u a l ly slaughtering each o t h e r ?"
" W h at have y ou done here? W h at is the history of Europe?
We do n ot w a nt to go back, because we have learnt as y o u
have l e a rnt ."
"Is y o ur recipe for r e v i v i ng the prosperity of I n d ia to let loose
the Pindaris ?"
" N o t necessarily. Those days are gone. . . . "
" Do y ou remember wh at Sir Madhava Rao, Pr ime Mini s t er of
Baroda, said to L o rd Roberts on the subject of India for the
Indians?"
" W h at d id he say?"
" He said it w o u ld be l i ke loosing the bars of the cages of the
Z o o l o g i c al Gardens and l e t t ing out the animals, that ve ry soon
they w o u ld all be dead except the tiger—the tiger was, I believe,
the wa r - l i ke people of N o r t h e rn I n d i a ."
"Is this the result of 150 years of B r i t i sh rule that we are not
c ivi l i z ed enough to observe l aw and o r d e r ?"
It was, on t he w h o l e, a b r i l l i a nt p e r f o r m a n c e. T he s e v e r i ty of
t he c r o s s - e x ami n a t i on gave h i m t he o p p o r t u n i t y of d r i v i n g h o me
a ll his p o i n ts
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