the Secretary of State and passed by Parliament were published in the Gazette of India. (15) The Government of India also made Standing Orders both for the provincial Councils and the Indian Legislature and they have been incorporated in the various Council and Assembly Manuals. (16) The various election Rules were put together in 'Electioneering in India' by Mr. Hammond.. This completes the series of documents, bearing upon (17) the Government of India Act of 1919.

14. Let us now consider the full import of this Announcement of August Announcement. Import of the

1917.

The substance of that announcement has been embodied in the first two paragraphs of the preamble of the Act 1919.

"Whereas it is the declared policy of Parliament to provide for the increasing association of Indians in every branch of Indian administration, and for the gradual development of self-governing institutions, with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in British India as an integral part of the Empire.

"And whereas progress in giving effect to this policy can only be achieved by successive stages, and it is expedient that substantial steps in this direction should now be taken.

It has, as Lord Chelmsford said, three features. (1) The progressive realization of responsible government is given as the key-note and objective of British Policy in India; (2) substantial steps are to be taken in this direction at once; (3) this policy is to be carried out by stages. Or shortly, the gradual transfer of responsibility to Indians. Now the test of responsibility is the power of the Legislature and indirectly of the electorate to replace one executive by another by the power of refusing either legiation or funds for the carrying on of government. It is this

element of responsibility that constitutes the distinguishing feature of the Reforms. Lord Chelmsford thus explained the new principle of advance when the new Indian Legislature was inaugurated. He summarised the constitutional history of India from 1861 to Morley-Minto Reforms, and after showing how the latter were inadequate, he proceeded "British policy in India must seek a new point of departure, a fresh orientation. On the lines of the Morley-Minto Reforms, there could be no further advance. That particular line of developement had been carried to the farthest limit of which it admitted, and the only further stage of which the system was susceptible would have made the legislative and administrative acts of an irremovable executive entirely amenable to elected councils and would have resulted in a disastrous deadlock. The Executive would have remained responsible to the country but would have lacked the power to secure the measures necessary for the discharge of that responsibility. The solution which finally commended itself to us is embodied in principle in the declaration which His Majesty's Government, in full agreement with us, made in August 1917. By that declaration the gradual -development of Self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government was declared to be the goal towards which the policy of His Majesty's Government was to be directed. The increasing association of the people of India with the work of Government had always been the aim of British Government. In that sense a continuous thread of connection links together the Act of 1861 and the declaration of August 1917. In the last analysis the latter is only the most recent and most memorable manifestation of a tendency that has been operative throughout British Rule. But there are changes of degree so great as to be changes of kind and this is one of them. For the first time the principle of

autocracy which had not been wholly discarded in all earlier reforms was definitely abandoned, the conception of the British Government as a benevolent despotism was finally renounced; and in its place was substituted that of a guiding authority whose role it would be to assist the steps of India along the road that in the fulness of time would lead to complete Self-Government within the Empire."

Four Formulae of the Report.

15. Now we can briefly describe the present Indian administration as consisting of the Secretary of State in Council for India controlling the Government of India who in their turn control and guide the various Provincial Governments which are charged with direct administration; and within a province we have Local Self-Government both rural and urban-entrusted to District Boards and Municipalities.

The central and Provincial Governments are "bureaucratic "i.e. they are responsible to a higher authority and not to the people. Now there are three levels at which it is possible to give responsible Government. In the sphere of local bodies, in the Provinces, and in the Government: of India. And it is also obvious, that since no man can serve two masters, in proportion as control by an electorate is admitted at each level, control by superior authority must simultaneously be relaxed. "This process of relaxation cannot go on at the same space on all levels. The Secretary of State's relaxation of control. will be retarded, if for no other reason, by the paramount need of securing Imperial interests; that of the Government of India by their obligation of maintaining the defence of India, and of the Provincial Governments by the securing of law and order. As we go upwards, the importance of the retarding factor increases,

and thus it follows that popular growth must be more rapid and extensive in the lower than in the upper levels." On these general considerations, the Report laid down four formulae.

(1) There should be, as far as possible, complete popular control in local bodies, and the largest possible independence for them of outside control.

(2) The provinces are the domain in which the earlier steps towards the progressive realization of responsible Government should be taken. Some measure of responsibility should be given at once, and our aim is to give complete responsibility as soon as conditions permit. This involves at once giving the provinces the largest measure of independence legislative, administrative, and financial, of the Government of India which is compatible with the due discharge by the latter of its own responsibilities.

· (3) With regard to the Government of India, it must remain wholly responsible to Parliament, and saving such responsibility, its authority in essential matters must remain undisputable, pending experience of the effect of the changes now to be indroduced in the Provinces. In the meantime the Indian Legislative Council should be enlarged and made more representative and its opportunities of influencing Government should be increased.

(4) And finally, in proportion as the foregoing changes. take effect, the control of Parliament and of the Secretary of State over the Government of India and the Provincial Governments must be relaxed."

We shall describe in the following chapters what steps have been taken to give effect to the above formulae, and it is convenient to begin with Local Self-Government.

CHAPTER I.

Local Self-Government.

16. As the Reforms do not practically affect the policy of Local Self-Government, I need not here dwell upon it at any length.

Local Self Government-its

present position.

(a) Mr. Rushbrook Williams thus summaries its present position. Local SelfGovernment is either urban or rural. The former is carried on by Municipalities and the latter by Local Boards. In 1916-17 there were 721 Municipalities in British India containing a total population of more than 17 million people. Eelected members constituted something more than one-half of the total number of members in all Muncipalities taken together. Ex-officio members were 13 per cent, and nominated members 34 per cent. 9c p. c. of members of the Municipalties taken together were Indians. The total expenditure of the Municipalties, excluding that debited to the head 'extraordinary' and 'debt' amounted in 1916-17 to just under 6 million £s. The figures are nearly the same for the following years.

Municipal functions are classified under the heads of public safety, health, convenience, and instruction. In order that these functions may be carried out, various powers are conferred on Municipal Committees by the Municipal Acts and the bye-laws framed under them. About rds of the aggregate Municipal income is derived from taxation and the remainder from Municipal property and powers other than taxation, from contributions, from provincial revenues, and from miscellaneous sources. The principal heads of taxes are: Octroi, a Terminal Tax, taxes on houses and the land; taxes on animals and vehicles, provisions and trades; tolls on roads and ferries; water, lighting, and conservancy rates. Other items of revenue