at the disposal of Mr. Hume as a District Officer, the lot of Etawah under his administration would have been indeed a happy one.
These are the lines upon which reform should proceed with regard to local self-government. But while dealing with specific grievances, regard must be had to the larger responsibilities belonging to the new era which has been opened out for the Indian people by Lord Morley's reforms, and by the Delhi declarations of King George. The existing system, under which a few hundred foreign officials govern autocratically a population of 250 millions, is obsolete. A very material change must be made i.. the official fabric ; the edifice requires to be remodelled from the foundations to the roof, from the village organization to the ultimate control by the House of Commons. And a change is also needed in the spirit of the administration : Trust in the people must be substituted for trust in bureaucracy. Public servants must be the servants of the public ; not its masters.
Control in England.
But there will be no security for popular rights unless provision is made for an impartial and effective control in England over the Indian Executive. Mr. Fox's Bill, a hundred and thirty years ago, proposed to effect this by placing the control in the hands of a strong and independent commission appointed by Parliament from among the most trusted public men in England, men unconnected with the Indian administration, and pre- pared to enforce publicly and with judicial impartiality the broad principles of justice and good government. This was the scheme so eloquently supported by Edmund Burke, who *^ desired to regulate the adminis- tration of India upon the principles of a Court of Judicature, and to exclude, as far as human prudence
