ranks of the public service.

A Change of System Needed.

Those were Gokhale's tests, and Indians can supply the results of their
knowledge and experience to answer them. But before dealing with the
failure to meet these tests, it is necessary to state here that it is
not a question of blaming men, or of substituting Indians for
Englishmen, but of changing the system itself. It is a commonplace that
the best men become corrupted by the possession of irresponsible power.
As Bernard Houghton says: "The possession of unchecked power corrupts
some of the finer qualities." Officials quite honestly come to believe
that those who try to change the system are undermining the security of
the State. They identify the State with themselves, so that criticism of
them is seen as treason to the State. The phenomenon is well known in
history, and it is only repeating itself in India. The same writer--I
prefer to use his words rather than my own, for he expresses exactly my
own views, and will not be considered to be prejudiced as I am thought
to be--cogently remarks:

He (the official) has become an expert in reports and returns
and matters of routine through many years of practice. They are
the very woof and warp of his brain. He has no ideas, only
reflexes. He views with acrid disfavour untried conceptions.
From being constantly preoccupied with the manipulation of the
machine he regards its smooth working, the ordered and
harmonious regulation of glittering pieces of machinery, as the
highest service he can render to the country of his adoption.
He determines that his particular cog-wheel at least shall be
bright, smooth, silent, and with absolutely no back-lash. Not
unnaturally in course of time he comes to envisage the world
through the strait embrasure of an office window. When perforce
he must report on new proposals he will place in the forefront,
not their influence on the life and progress of the people, but
their convenience to the official hierarchy and the manner in
which they affect its authority. Like the monks of old, or the
squire in the typical English village, he cherishes a
benevolent interest in the commonalty, and is quite willing,
even eager, to take a general interest in their welfare, if
only they do not display initiative or assert themselves in
opposition to himself or his order. There is much in this