Asiatic Quarterly Review (Full Title: The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review, and Oriental and Colonial Record): Volume XIII, No. 26 [‎472v] (69/238)

282 Indian Civil Service and the Admission of Natives.
population. I cannot bring myself to believe that it is the
deliberate intention of any body of English gentlemen to
put such an unfair obstacle in the way of the aspiring
native. Not that I object to the competitors having to
come to England. I am most strongly opposed to the
farce of simultaneous examinations in India and England
for many reasons, but especially because the mere journey
is a test of enterprise, which is in itself an invaluable proof
of fitness, and I believe that a few years residence in this
country is almost indispensable for any candidate, if only to
show his superiority to antiquated caste prejudices; but to
make the possession of wealth a sine qua non for admission
into the Civil Service is utterly destructive of the first prin
ciple of open competition. I would therefore do whatever
is possible to make the competition really fair, subject to
the conditions that the examination shall be held only in
London, and that some residence at a University in this
country, either before or after the examination, shall be
insisted on. I do not propose to enter on the question of
the fitness of natives for high office in India, because I
assume that is already taken for granted under the present
system of completely open competition. But before making
any suggestion as to possible reform, I ought, perhaps, to
refer, however briefly, to other proposals that have been
ma( Je—notably, by Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji. Even he, as I
said before, seems to admit—I am not quite sure whether
he does or not—that a certain backing of Europeans is still
indispensable, though, as far as I am aware, he has never
put forth any estimate of the number he would retain.
Clearly, however, he thinks the time has come when the
administration should be practically in the hands of natives,
and he bases his aspirations on two grounds : first, the
repeated pledges of 1833 and 1858, to the effect that,
“ so far as may be, our subjects, of whatever race or creed,
shall be freely and impartially appointed to offices in our
service,” and that “ no one shall be excluded merely by
reason of his religion, place of birth, descent, or any of