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The Indian Civil Service 1919–1924: Service Discontent and the Response in London and in Delhi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Ann Ewing
Ann Ewing
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Extract

The British controlled their empire in India through the twin instruments of the army and the civil services. But the army was never used much to administer British territories and the day-to-day business of law and order was left to the civil services, headed by the élite corps of covenanted officers, the Indian Civil Service. This corps was the vital link that carried the dictates of the centre to the two hundred and fifty districts that made up British India. Obviously a Service only a thousand or so strong had a presence too thin to achieve what some hagiographers have claimed but it was, nonetheless, a vital part of the structure of British rule. In the years immediately following the first world war, this vital part seemed unable to cope with the galaxy of problems with which it was beset: its own members increasingly questioned the value of their role; Indian politicians attacked what they saw as the remnant of imperial control whilst, on the widest scale, the complex task of governing India seemed to be beyond the creaking, anachronistic and overworked I.C.S.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , February 1984 , pp. 33 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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References

1 Note on Recruitment during the War Period, 1914–24, February 1923, J&P/1006/23 in L/P&J/6/1699, India Office Library and Records [hereafter, IOL&R]. See also, O'Malley, L. S. S., The Indian Civil Service 1601–1930, 2nd edn (London, 1965), pp. 128–9Google Scholar; and Potter, David, ‘Manpower Shortage and the End of Colonialism: The Case of the Indian Civil Service’, Modern Asian Studies, VI, 1 (1973), pp. 47–73CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Letter from Chamberlain to Chelmsford, 24 May 1916, Chelmsford MSS EUR E 264/2, IOL&R.

3 Minute by SirSeton, Malcolm, ‘Indian Civil Service (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1915Google Scholar: Nominations thereunder and the question of its amendment’, 11 January 1919. J&P/5749/18/ in L/P&J/1591/19, IOL&R.

4 J. F. Adams noted, for instance, that ‘Board of Education letters are a record of almost absolute failure to find suitable candidates for Indian educational appointments’, not dated, [December 1921], J&P/7734/21 in L/P&J/6/1699, IOL&R.

5 Letter from L. C. H. Weekes, Civil Service Commission, to Sir Malcolm Seton, India Office, 22 April 1922, J&P/3557/22 in L/P&J/6/1804, IOL&R.

6 Minute from Dumbell, P. H. to SirSeton, Malcolm, 25 September 1923Google Scholar, J&P/530/22 in L/P&J/6/1788, IOL&R.

7 Letter from Elliott to Erch, 6 March 1923, J&P/3557/22 in L/P&J/6/1812, IOL&R.

8 Minute from J. Ferrard to Under Secretary of State, 15 December 1921, J&P/144/22 in L/P&J/6/1786, IOL&R.

9 Letter from Chelmsford to Montagu, 3 June 1920, Chelmsford MSS EUR E 264/12, IOL&R.

10 Minute from SirDuke, William to Secretary of State, 24 February 1922, J&P/2084/22 in L/P&J/6/1800, IOL&R.Google Scholar

11 Letter from Peel to Lytton, governor of Bengal, 22 February 1923, Lytton MSS EUR F 160/7, IOL&R.

12 Letter from ‘Civilian’ [Pearson, J. R., I.C.S., commissioner at Meerut], The Times, 7 October 1921.Google Scholar

13 Table prepared by P&O Shipping Company, 23 June 1923, Home Department (Public Service Commission) [hereafter, HD (PSC)] 8/1924; National Archives of India, Delhi, [hereafter, NAI].

14 Letter from Peel to Reading, 4 March 1923, Reading MSS EUR E 238/6, IOL&R.

15 Letter from Reading to Peel, 4 April 1923, ibid.

16 Appendix III, No. 1, Indian Civil Service Pay, Report of the Royal Commission on the Superior Civil Services in India, Cmd. 2128 of 1924 [hereafter, ‘Lee Report’].

17 Correspondence relating to the pay of superior employees of commercial houses in India, 8–28 August 1923, evidence submitted to the Lee Commission, Q/SCS/2/71, IOL&R.

18 Letter from government of Bombay (Revenue Department), to government of India (Home Department), no. 181-D, 17 September 1921, in ‘Papers concerning measures to remove the block in promotion of members of the I.C.S. in Bombay, 17th September 1921–20th July 1922’, ibid., Q/SCS/183a, IOL&R.

19 Letter from Ronaldshay, governor of Bengal, to Reading, 3 February 1922, Reading MSS EUR E 238/24, IOL&R.

20 ‘Correspondence and memoranda relating to listed appointments, 1 December 1920–27 July 1923, with the reply of Hugh Tempest Reilly, I.C.S. Madras, to the questionnaire on Service grievances, 19th September 1923’, evidence submitted to the Lee Commission, Q/SCS/1/27, IOL&R.

21 Parliamentary questions included two from Joynson-Hicks concerning ‘a series of petitions … from a large percentage of the Indian Civil Service’, Parliamentary Debates, 5th series, 120, 2045–6, 5 May 1920 and ibid., 134, 1153. For press comment see, for example, Morning Post, 3 August 1920 and The Times, 4 July, 6 and 8 September, and 30 November 1921.

22 Letter to Hailey, 4 December 1922, Hailey MSS EUR E 220/5c, IOL&R.

23 Report on Indian Probationers nominated in 1919, prepared by Sir Henry Stone, officer in charge of probationers at Oxford, J&P/7563/21 in L/P&J/6/1780, IOL&R.

24 Letter from Reading to Montagu, 6 October 1921, quoting Hon. Mr Hammond, a member of the I.C.S. Association Deputation received by the Viceroy on 27 September 1921, Reading MSS EUR E 238/3, IOL&R.

25 Letter from Ronaldshay to Reading, 3 February 1922, Reading MSS EUR E 238/4, IOL&R.

26 Letter from Willingdon to Reading, 3 February 1922, Reading MSS EUR E 238/24, IOL&R.

27 Confidential memorandum from Lytton to Reading, 20 September 1923, Reading MSS EUR E 238/25, IOL&R.

28 Letter from Lloyd to Reading, 31 July 1923, Reading MSS EUR E 238/25, IOL&R.

29 Letter from Marris to Reading, 8 September 1924, Reading MSS EUR E 238/26, IOL&R.

30 The senior officer was Mr F. C. Turner, commissioner in the C.P. The motion was carried, 6 March 1922, by 53 votes to 1, the single dissentient being non-official, J&P/3783/22 in L/P&J/6/1815, IOL&R.

31 Letter from Lytton to Peel, 15 March 1923, Lytton MSS EUR F 160/10, IOL&R.

32 Letter from Hirtzel to Hailey, 11 December 1924, Hailey MSS EUR E 220/5c, IOL&R.

33 Letter from Willingdon to Reading, 27 September 1921, Willingdon MSS EUR F 93/5, IOL&R.

34 The Viceroy and Vincent held out against a repressive policy until the Chauri Chaura incident so outraged moderate opinion that the government felt free to move without being unduly provocative, see, Low, D. A., ‘The Government of India and the First Non-cooperation Movement, 1920–1922’, Journal of Asian Studies, XXV, 2 (1966), pp 241–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

35 The U.P. government later complained to the Simon Commission that orders from Delhi during 1921–22 when the non-cooperation movement was at its height ‘were often … indecisive … and district officers found difficulty in interpreting them. The result was that district officers did not know where they stood and … lost faith in government.’ Memorandum submitted by the Government of the United Provinces to the Indian Statutory Commission, IX (1930), para. 50, p. 46.Google Scholar The attack on Mr D. Macpherson, I.C.S. assistant settlement officer at Pabna Bogra, Bengal, by non-cooperators confirmed Service fears that officers were extremely vulnerable to attack and were likely to be made scapegoats, J&P/6885/21 in L/P&J/6/1775, IOL&R.

36 Letter from Willingdon to Montagu, 30 April 1918, Willingdon MSS EUR F 93/2 & 3, IOL&R.

37 Letter from Willingdon to Montagu, 18 February 1922, Willingdon MSS EUR F 93/4, IOL&R, and letter from Montagu to Lloyd, 8 June 1922, Montagu Pps, AS-1–6, Trinity College, Cambridge.

38 Letter from Lloyd to Montagu, 31 March 1922, Montagu Pps, AS-1–6, Trinity College, Cambridge.

39 Brown, Hilton, Dismiss! (London, 1923).Google Scholar The author was an I.C.S. officer in Madras and himself resigned early.

40 Memorandum on the Political Situation, enclosed with letter from Lytton to Montagu, 14 August 1922, Montagu Pps, AS-1–6, Trinity College, Cambridge.

41 Letter from Ronaldshay to Reading, 25 June 1921, HD (POLL) 594/1921, NAI.

42 Minute from Harcourt Butler to district officers in the U.P., 7 September 1920, HD (POLL) 355/1920 (B); and 9 March 1921; HD (POLL) 3 and K.W./July 1919, NAI.

43 Letter from government of the Punjab to government of India, HD. no. 248–S. W., 12 February 1921, HD (POLL) 3 and K.W./July 1919, NAI.

44 Letter from government of Bengal to government of India, HD.D.O. no. 2087-P, 19 February 1921, ibid.

45 Letter from government of Madras to government of India, HD. D.O. no. 59–S, 23 March 1921, ibid.

46 Letter from government of Bihar and Orissa to government of India, HD. D.O. no. 499-C, 15 March 1921, ibid.

47 Order in Council, 4 February 1922, HD (POLL) 418/1922, NAI.

48 Predictably, such questions included a number put down by Joynson-Hicks. In February 1921, he moved a vote of censure on Montagu and his Indian policy accusing the Secretary of State of having ‘broken the heart of the Civil Service’, quoted in Montgomery Hyde, Lord Reading (London, 1967), p. 370.Google Scholar

49 6 May 1920, Parliamentary Debates, 5th series, 128, 1920, 2268.Google Scholar

50 Departmental notes on such questions, HD (ESTS) 34/June 1920/B and HD (ESTS) 199/200/march 1921/B, NAI.

51 Telegram from government of India (HD), to Secretary of State, no. 2771, 29 December 1920, J&P/819/22 in L/P&J/6/1790, IOL&R.

52 Despatch from government of India to the Secretary of State, no. 11, 1 April 1921, HD (ESTS) 370/376/May/1921, NAI.

53 Minute from Sir Malcolm Seton to Sir Claude Hill, 9 September 1926, S&G/344/24/3 in L/S&G/6/5, IOL&R.

54 Note by Haig, 9 June 1927, HD (ESTS) 47/1927, pt B, NAI.

55 Letter from Marris to Seton, 10 March 1924, Seton MSS EUR E 267/12/1, IOL&R.

56 Letter from Sir Findlater Stewart to Seton, 26 January 1924, Seton MSS EUR E 207/12/f, IOL&R.

57 Letter from Haig to Crerar, 2 February 1924, HD (ESTS) 133/1924, NAI.

58 See Tomlinson, J. D., ‘The Rupee/Pound Exchange in the 1920's’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, XV, 2 (1978), pp. 133–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

59 It is interesting to note that the Report of the Committee to Investigate the Disturbances in the Punjab, Cmd 681, 1920, considered inflation to be a major cause of post-war unrest.Google Scholar

60 A good example is provided by the Report of the Bombay Retrenchment Committee (Bombay, 1923), para. 390Google Scholar, which recommended that Indians alone be recruited to the I.C.S. and that pay be fixed at that level necessary to attract competent Indian candidates.

61 Letter from Montagu to Reading, 20 April 1921, Reading MSS EUR E 238/3, IOL&R.

62 Letter from Reading to Peel, 2 November 1922, Reading MSS EUR E 238/5, IOL&R.

63 Letter from Lytton to Peel, 14 December 1922, Lytton MSS EUR F 160/10, IOL&R.

64 Telegram from G/I (HD) to S/S, no. 1, 1 January 1922, HD (ESTS) 420/1922, pt 1, NAI.

65 Note by Vincent, 27 January 1921, HD (POLL) 3 and K.W./July/1919/B, NAI.

66 Telegram from S/S to V., no. 84, 7 January 1922, HD (ESTS) 420/1922, pt 1, NAI.

67 Resolution moved by Mr Jamnadas Dwarkadas, 11 February 1922, J&P/4/22 in L/P&J/6/1783, IOL&R.

68 Letter from G/I to all local governments and administrations, no. 120-ESTS, 30 May 1922, J&P/4/22 in L/P&J/6/1783, IOL&R.

69 Note by Hirtzel, 8 July 1922, ibid.

70 Telegram from V (HD) to S/S, no. 7092, 6 September 1922, ibid.

71 The Times, 12 and 17 August 1922.

72 Despatch from S/S to V, no. 68, 16 November 1922 and telegram from V (HD) to S/S, no. 1005, 12 December 1922. HD (ESTS) 420/1922, pt 1, NAI.

73 Telegram from S/S to V, 25 February 1922, J&P/4/22 in L/P&J/6/1783, IOL&R.

74 Note of a conversation held at 10 Downing Street, between the Prince of Wales, Prime Minister, Secretary of State for India, Winterton, (Parliamentary Secretary for India), Hailey, (member of the Viceroy's Executive Council), Hankey (Cabinet Secretary) and Sir Edward Grigg, 6 July 1922. Secret no. S 51, Hailey MSS EUR E 220/5a, IOL&R.

75 Note from Ferard to Winterton quoting telegram from V to S/S, 24 August 1922, J&P/4679/22 in L/P&J/6/1819, IOL&R.

76 Telegram from V (HD) to S/S, no. 6149, 1 September 1922, ibid.

77 So far apart did the views of the Viceroy and Secretary of State appear that ‘mischievous rumours’ of the latter's imminent resignation gained ground; see extract of letter from Reading to Peel, sent to Baldwin, 28 June 1923, Baldwin Papers, vol. 102, fols, 14–17, Cambridge University Library.

78 Note by B. N. Sarma, 31 August 1924, HD (ESTS) 272/1923, NAI.

79 Note by Hailey, 6 10 1923, HD (ESTS) 404/1923, NAI.

80 Note by O'Donnell, 14 April 1922, telegram from V (HD) to S/S, no. 346, 19 April 1922, HD (ESTS) 640/1922, NAI.

81 Report of the Committee on Recruitment for the Indian Services, unpublished, J&P/2084/22 in L/P&J/6/1800, IOL&R.

82 Peel wanted Austen Chamberlain to be chairman; Clarke, Alan (ed.), A Good Innings: Private Papers of Viscount Lee of Fareham (London, 1974), p. 237.Google Scholar

83 Letter from Reading to Lytton, 7 August 1923, Lytton MSS EUR F 160/2, IOL&R.

84 Telegram from V (HD) to S/S, no. 264, 15 January 1923, J&P/6737/22 in L/P&J/6/1832, IOL&R.

85 Letter from Lytton to Peel, 4 January 1923, Lytton MSS EUR F 160/10, IOL&R.

86 Quoted in letter from Reading to Peel, 4 April 1923, Reading MSS EUR E 238/6, IOL&R.

87 Resolution passed by the 3rd United Provinces Liberal Conference, 23 and 25 August 1923, with covering correspondence dated 6 September–3 October 1923, evidence submitted to the Lee Commission, Q/SCS/5/174, IOL&R.

88 Clarke, (ed.), A Good Innings, pp. 243, 248–9.Google Scholar

89 Telegram from V (HD) to S/S, no. 178/10/24-ESTS, 22 September 1924, S&G Collection 20/28 in L/S&G/7/550, IOL&R.

90 Telegram from S/S to V, no. 2782, 1 October 1924, ibid.

91 Telegram from Reading to Peel, 22 November 1924, repeated to Prime Minister, Baldwin Papers, vol. 93, fol. 200, Cambridge University Library.

92 Letter from Birkenhead to Baldwin, 23 November 1925, Baldwin Papers, vol. 102, fols. 51–54, Cambridge University Library.

93 Minute by Professor Coupland, R., Lee Report, pp. 116–23.Google Scholar

94 Legislative Assembly Debates, IV, Pt 5, pp. 3147–3163, 3363.Google Scholar

95 Clarke, (ed.), A Good Innings, p. 266.Google Scholar

96 See, for example, The Leader, 25 January 1924.