December 20, 1900.
F or some t i me past, I have been r e a d i ng the Mysore Standard
w i t h some distress o f m i n d . . . . I d i d n o t, h o w e v e r, t h i nk o f
t r o u b l i ng y o u . B u t w h at has n o w d e t e r m i n ed me to w r i te this
l e t t er to y o u is an a r t i c le in the Hindu, in w h i c h I read w i t h
m u ch r egr et t h at the M y s o re State was d e p a r t i ng f r om the v e ry
essence of the o n ly t r ue p o l i cy of a N a t i ve State, n a m e l y, t h at a
N a t i ve State m u st be a dmi n i s t r a t ed f r om t op to b o t t om by Na t i v es
themselves. E v en t he B r i t i sh G o v e r n m e nt i t s e lf h ad r e cogni z ed
this p r i n c i p le a n d, w h i le the late Maha r a ja was a m i n o r , the
G o v e r n m e nt of I n d ia t o ok special steps to reduce g r a d u a l ly the
f o r e i gn e l eme n t, so t h at w h en the Maha r a ja came to the G a d i,
he should have as nearly as possible a N a t i ve Admi n i s t r a t i o n. . . .
T he employment of Europeans in Mysore w o u ld be a t r i p le
curse: ( i ) Mysore w i l l be subject to an economic " b l e e d i n g"
v e ry mu ch l ike B r i t i sh Indi a. (2) It w i l l prove that Indians are
incapable of gove rning and could n ot do w i t h o ut Europeans,
the severest b l ow that can be inflicted on the Indians. (3) The
Anglo-Indians, w ho have so persistently opposed the Restoration
for more than 30 years, w i ll be o n ly too glad to f i nd the excuse,
that direct B r i t i sh administration w o u ld be the best for Mysore
and Na t i ve States generally.
W i t h regard to the G o ld Mines, or the mine r al resources of
Mysor e, I hope the Mysore State itself, or the Mysore people,
w o u ld w o r k t h em and keep f or themselves the we a l th that
Na ture has given to them, instead of a l l o w i ng a for e ign people
to take it away, leaving o n ly a small r o y a l ty to the State and o n ly
labourer's wages to the people. . . . I go even so far that Mysore
should strain every nerve to prepare her o wn subjects to carry on
the admini s t r a t ion.
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