§ COLONEL SYKESsaid, he wished to ask the Secretary of State for India, Whether in future all the services in India will be open to all the Natives of India, without distinction of Caste or Creed? As. his question had reference to 150,000,000 of Her Majesty's subjects in India, it ought to command the best attention of the House. The right hon. Gentleman the Secretary for India was aware that many of the Natives of India were pursuing a course of study in our universities with the view of preparing themselves for passing the competitive examinations required to enable them to enter into the public service. They had been led to do so on the faith of a clause in the Act 3 & 4 Wm. IV., c, 5, which was as follows:—
And be it enacted that no Native of the said territories, nor any natural horn subject of his Majesty residing therein, shall by reason only of his religion, creed, birth, sect, or colour, or any of them, be disabled from holding any place, office, or emolument under the said Company.The rights under that clause, the noble Lord the First Minister of the Crown had declared to remain intact on the assumption of authority by the Queen. In 1858 Her Majesty issued a proclamation in 2098 which she declared it to be her will that all her subjects, of whatever race or creed, should be freely and impartially admitted to offices in her service the duties of which they might be qualified by their education, ability, and integrity duly to discharge. One of the students, however, to whom he had referred having read the answer given by the right hon. Baronet in that House, to the effect that the Natives of India had no right to enter Her Majesty's army, had asked him (Colonel Sykes) his advice, whether he ought, under the circumstances, to give up his status in this country, and go back to India. By the last mail from India, also, he had received a letter from several Native Nobles and Gentlemen of the Deccan, enclosing a petition from the sirdars, jaghiredars, bankers, and others of the Deccan, addressed to the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State for India to the Legislative Council of India, and also to the House of Commons, stating that the Natives of India were precluded from filling various offices in that country, whilst the Natives of Ceylon were permitted to associate with the Europeans in the Government, and praying that the same rights might be extended to the Natives of India. It was idle to say that a person born in India was physically disqualified for service in European climates, and that the health of the Natives would suffer by their appointment to offices in any part of the world where Europeans could serve. There was no foundation for such an assertion; as they were aware, there were hundreds of Native Indians living for years in this kingdom without any injury to their health. If that argument were good it would go to the extent of excluding from offices here the sons of all Europeans born in India. The question was one of great gravity for we could not maintain our position in India but by our amalgamation to a certain extent with the Natives of India, and by respecting their rights and feelings. He hoped the answer he would receive from the right hon. Gentleman would have the effect of removing those doubts and suspicions regarding our treatment of the Indian people which existed in the minds of the Natives. He had no hesitation in saying that if an appeal were made to him of any violation of the Act of Parliament or of Her Majesty's proclamation he should consider it his duty to take the sense of the House whether an Act of the British Parliament was to be treated as a mere mockery and the pro- 2099 clamation of Her Majesty to be of no effect.
§ SIR CHARLES WOODsaid, that with regard to the first question put to him, he could only say he entirely agreed in the principle laid down by the hon. Member for the Tower Hamlets. Although in many cases the proceedings of the Governments in India were exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts of law, the Native Princes were not the less entitled to justice at the hands of the Government. He was glad to find that two hon. Gentlemen on the opposite side of the House approved of the conduct he had pursued in reference to the Mysore Princes. He trusted they only did him justice in saying that the fair and liberal treatment of those princes was an indication of the course he was disposed to pursue in the case of all other princes. That policy had been found fault with in Calcutta and by persons in India. He could only say that he was thoroughly convinced in his own mind that the course he had pursued was just and right, and that he should not be deterred by any attack made upon him from doing that which he considered to be just and equitable. With regard to the property of the late Rajah of Tanjore, the state of the case was this: a recommendation had been sent up by the Governor of Madras—Sir Charles Trevelyan, he believed—very much to the effect of what the hon. Gentleman had stated to the Government of India. It had not, however, as yet come to this country from the Government of India. He did not know why; but it was no fault of his. Last summer he wrote to the Governor General of India desiring that the Report from the Governor of Madras, with the recommendation, should be forwarded to him. It had not, however, as yet come to him in an official form. He believed the recommendation was that the whole of the property should be distributed amongst the relatives of the rajah. The hon. Gentleman had mentioned the marriage of the rajah's daughter. No doubt it would be the duty of the Government to make provision for all persons who had a claim upon the property. The hon. Gentleman had also spoken of a son of the rajah's daughter, the grandson of the rajah, and the son of a person of considerable property in Tanjore. There was no pretension to say that any of those persons were in distressed circumstances. It appeared that that child was only born a few weeks ago, 2100 and long after all the transactions which had been referred to had taken place.
"With regard to the question of the hon. Member for Dumfries (Mr. W. Ewart) as to the existence of famine in a portion of India he (Sir Charles Wood) was sorry to say he was afraid it was too true, and there was every apprehension of much suffering in consequence of the scarcity of provisions. The last accounts from India were, however, of a much more favourable character than the preceding. There was no doubt a great drought last autumn in the North-Western Provinces, but by the last accounts it appeared that rain had fallen. He hoped that the sufferings of the people, though unfortunately very severe, would be confined to a much smaller area than was previously feared, while the Government of India had taken every possible precaution to alleviate these sufferings. It had been truly observed that it was impossible for the Government to deal with the population on a great scale; but large subscriptions had been raised in Calcutta and elsewhere in India for the relief of the sufferers, and he believed that both the Government and the colonists had done everything in their power to mitigate the distress which prevailed in the famine-stricken districts. It happened that the part of the country in which the greatest destitution might be apprehended was that in which the Indian Government had executed the most gigantic work of irrigation that had been undertaken in India for many years. The Ganges Canal passed through the central part of the district, and he was happy to say that the people in its neighbourhood had at last become aware of its value. These works of irrigation were most advantageous to the country and profitable to the Government, and as far as their means would permit, the authorities were prepared to proceed with them. He hoped that before long the easier state in the money-market would enable them to raise the money necessary for these great undertakings.
With regard to the question of the hon. and gallant Member for Aberdeen (Colonel Sykes) he had to say that he had not seen the letter to which he alluded from the sirdars and others of the Deccan. He confessed he did not see the cause of alarm to which his hon. and gallant Friend referred. No alteration had been made in the treatment of the Native Indians since 1833, nor had anything occurred to show that any different system 2101 had been employed. What was true in 1833 was true now. What was considered right then was equally right now. His hon. and gallant Friend, however, must pardon him for observing that some of the questions put, and some of the observations made by himself, had more than anything else tended to create alarm in the minds of the Natives of India.