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Subsidiary System and the political system based on it. Conscientious statesmen viewed the corruption and tyranny which the Subsidiary System brought in its wake with concern. Mill from his detached position in the India Office advocated the abolition of States. To unscrupulous political adventurers the system provided a happy hunting ground for exercising "power without responsibility" end playing havoc with public funds. There were others who looked upon the States as a safety valve for the 'ignoble elements' of the Indian population, and tolerated with cynicism this scandalous state of affairs.
The Policy of Annexation
11. The policy of annexation, which was initiated with the annexation of Coorg in 1884, had, as one of its professed objectives, the mitigation of the evils of the Subsidiary System. It was contended that if a scrupulous avoidance of interference in the internal affairs of a host of States was to remain an essential factor in the political system of India then annexation was the only corrective. The new trend found expression in the directive issued by the Directors in 1841: "to persevere in the one clear and direct course of abandoning no just and honourable accession of territory or revenue". The expansion of the Company's dominion in India was sought to be justified not only on the ground of ensuring better Government for the people but also for the protection of the Empire against invasion. Every excuse was now good enough to annex the territories of the States. The accretion of the Punjab and Sind by conquest was sought to be justified by imperial considerations. Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi were annexed by the application of the doctrine of lapse. Coorg and Oudh were annexed by the exercise of the old Moghul right of annexation for gross maladministration. Oudh, "whose wretched Princes were so absolutely loyal that no excuse could ever be imagined for depriving them of their power", was annexed because, in the words of Dalhousie, "the British Government would be guilty in the sight of God and man if it were any longer to aid in sustaining by its countenance an administration fraught with suffering to millions".
12. "Annexation", writes Lee Warner, "was not a mere incident arising from the peculiar views of a single Governor-General or from a temporary reaction against the king-making policy of the previous administration". It was a distinct policy, clearly enunciated and understood by the Court of Directors in England and the Company's agents in India. The policy, of which Dalhousie was the principal exponent, operated towards completing the work of Wellesley and Hastings. Whatever may
