A Civil Servant in Burma

by Sir Herbert Thirkell White

Burma fared badly in this unequal contest, where the decision rested solely with the Supreme Government. The situation may be described in popular terms. Apart from local funds, revenue and expenditure in India are divided into Imperial and Provincial. All the revenue is raised in the Provinces, the Government of India having no separate estate. Imperial expenditure, including the cost of the Central Government, the army, and Home charges, has to be met by contributions from the Provinces. Certain heads of revenue are Imperial, others provincial; others are divided between the two. It is right and fair that Burma as well as other Provinces should contribute to Imperial needs. Only very foolish people believe that the Government of India depends upon Burma for its livelihood, so to speak. The poor old milch-cow has been trotted out too often, and has become a wearisome, time-worn beast. In fact, the contribution paid by Burma is actually less than that paid by the richer Provinces. At the same time it is true that the contribution from Burma is greater in proportion to its population than that of any other Province, and that from Burma alone the annual subvention tends to increase. It may be admitted, as is perhaps the case, that the settlement with Burma was made on the same lines as those of other Provinces, that the proportion of its revenues taken by India is much the same as the proportion taken elsewhere. What people in Burma feel is that this is unfair. When our settlement was made we were still in a backward state, ill-equipped with roads and buildings, with many needs as yet unsupplied. Other Provinces were far more advanced, and had less necessary expenditure to incur. Moreover, the cost of public works in Burma is twice as high as in other parts of India. If, therefore, we are to be treated like other Provinces, we ought to have more liberal terms. So much is taken from Burma that not enough is left for public works and other expenditure necessary to our expansion. We also believe that this is a shortsighted policy, and that liberal expenditure in Burma would benefit Imperial and Provincial revenues alike. Stated in few words, this is the case for Burma, based on facts available to the public, without reference to unpublished records.

Another disadvantage under which Burma labours is the application of Indian principles and precedents. While Burma is part of India, no doubt the system of administration and the main lines of policy must be the same as in other Provinces. But in details, in matters where our conditions differ essentially from those of India, it is unreasonable that we should be bound by Indian rules. A Member of Council who has never seen Burma thinks nothing of overruling[264] the Local Government on points of purely local concern. Again, general orders framed after consideration of the circumstances of Indian Provinces are applied to Burma, where conditions are totally unlike. In this way much needless labour and waste of valuable time are caused. I remember one Commission which contained no representative from Burma, and which never came near the Province. It issued an elaborate and extremely valuable Report. For years afterwards poured forth a flood of Resolutions on the Commission’s recommendations which we were required to consider and discuss, though none of them could possibly apply to our local conditions. No real harm was done, but time and labour were spent in vain. As Burma differs essentially from India, and as it is impossible that Burma should be adequately represented in all departments of the Government of India, the natural conclusion is that the Local Government should be allowed a much freer hand, and should be trusted to know what is best in matters of local concern.

While on the subject of disadvantages I may mention a real grievance. It may seem mainly to affect the Civil Service; really it is of vital importance to the Province. I refer to the very small share which Burma has in appointments under the Imperial Government. As I myself obtained in my service more than I could have expected, I shall not be thought to speak from any personal feeling. In the fifty years since Burma has been a Province she has supplied to India one Member of Council, two Deputy-Secretaries, one Agricultural Adviser (for a short term), and two or three Under-Secretaries, all within the last seven years. No civilian from Burma has ever been chosen to administer another Province. It does not seem likely that of civilians in Burma, chosen in the same way as other civilians, none has been fit for such an appointment. It is needless to conjecture reasons for this apparent neglect. I suggest that Burma should receive a fair share of high offices, so that service in Burma may cease to be unpopular, and that her needs and conditions may be properly appreciated by the Supreme Government.

During my term of office the Royal Commission on Decentralization came to us. Needless to say, Burma had no representative among its members. That could hardly be expected. Bombay had two members, Madras and Bengal one each. The Punjab and the United Provinces were omitted. Except Mr. Dutt, a Bengali civilian who served in the regular line and seems to have attained no special distinction, the Commission included no one who had any acquaintance with the system of government by Lieutenant-Governors, and only one, Sir F. P. Lely, who had served in a non-regulation Province. The constitution of the Commission was clearly reflected in the Report which regarded all India as administered under the Presidency system, and therefore in the hands of Secretaries and Members of Executive Councils. The Commission learnt little of Burma during its somewhat hasty visit. Nor was it likely that permanent benefit would result from the labours of a body which set out to investigate and reform the whole administrative system of India in the course of a cold-weather tour.

The reforms of Councils devised by Lord Morley or Lord Minto were discussed and carried into effect during these years. These reforms were not needed in Burma; there was no popular demand for them; they were entirely unsuited to the Province. But Burma must lie on the procrustean bed. I am thankful to say, that for a time at least, the Province was saved from popular elections. In a country where, after thirty years, it is rare to find Europeans or Burmans of position willing to take an interest even in municipal elections, that would be the last straw. But the Council had to be enlarged, a non-official majority secured, and the elective system introduced at least to the extent of enabling one body, the Burma Chamber of Commerce, to elect[265] its member. And all the detailed rules of procedure, of Budget discussions, of interpellations, and the like, framed for other Provinces, have been applied to Burma. It may safely be said that no one in Burma is a penny the better for these innovations, and that the great heart of the people remains unmoved. The net result is some waste of time and public money owing to the appointment of more official members, worthy gentlemen who have to spend hours in Council when they should be doing their work. We were quite as well off under the old Council and the old rules. The situation would be ludicrous if it were not pathetic.

The objects which I regarded as most important, and which, to the best of my ability, I pursued, were the encouragement of efficiency in the Services, insistence on the principle of selection to which the Government of India often drew attention, and the improvement of the position and prospects of officers of various departments, particularly but not exclusively, those manned by people of the country. I had the pleasure of making the first appointment of a Burman as a District Judge, my old friend Maung Aung Zan,[266] K.S.M., being the officer selected. Two posts of Deputy Commissioner were obtained for the Provincial Service, the first Burman to hold that office being Maung Myat Tun Aung, C.I.E., K.S.M., T.D.M. Later I appointed the first two Burman Superintendents of Police, Maung Tun Min,[267] T.D.M., and Maung Shwe Tha,[267] I.S.O., K.S.M., A.T.M. These appointments enabled us to solve a long-standing problem, the officering of Kyauk-pyu. This district was notoriously unhealthy for any but natives of the locality, so that it was difficult to keep European officers there for any length of time. With one Arakanese as Deputy Commissioner and another as Superintendent of Police, both accustomed to the climate, it was possible to have the district efficiently administered without sacrificing anyone’s health. For some time Kyauk-pyu was administered solely by native officers. The experiment seems to have been successful; both the Deputy Commissioner and the Police Superintendent having recently been decorated. I take the opportunity of reminding my Burmese friends, who justly cite me as desirous of seeing them placed in higher offices, that one essential condition is that by character and ability they should prove their fitness for advancement. I am the last man in the world to wish Burmans promoted merely because they are Burmans, without regard to their qualifications. “After these things do the Gentiles seek.”

A successful effort was made to equalize the pay and prospects of the higher ranks of the Judicial Service, so as to attract men of at least average ability and ambition to that branch. The Provincial Judicial Service was organized on a proper basis, so that officers who chose or were posted to it might receive the same pay as those on the Executive side. The important Land Records Department was reorganized and placed on a proper basis as regards pay, and a system of recruitment and training was devised. To my lot, assisted by Colonel S. C. F. Peile, C.I.E., the experienced Inspector-General, fell the task of introducing most of the changes following the Report of the Police Commission. In this matter I think we might have been allowed more liberty to consult local conditions. After all, the Report was not verbally inspired.

I had much at heart the enactment of legislation for restraining the alienation of land and for the protection of tenants. I was unsuccessful in effecting either of these objects before my retirement. I have no doubt that gradually but surely the Burman is being squeezed off the land, and that if, as seems likely, the proposed legislation is abandoned, the land will fall into the hands of non-agriculturists and natives of India. Free trade in land as in other things may be good. From an economic point of view the position is probably sound. More rice will be grown for export; more land revenue and customs duty will be garnered. But there are other considerations. The standard of living will be lowered. The deterioration of the Burmese race which will inevitably accompany their divorce from the land will be a subject for regret when it is irremediable. Similarly, tenants in Burma are rapidly increasing in numbers. There, as elsewhere, they need protection. The solace of my disappointment was the progress of the co-operative credit movement under the fostering care of Mr. A. E. English, C.I.E. This movement will afford a great deal of help to the Burman cultivator. If it spreads to a sufficient extent, it may even obviate the need of agrarian legislation.

Among the pleasantest as well as the most beneficial duties of the Lieutenant-Governor is the making of tours in all parts of the Province. These journeys bring the head of the local Government into touch with officers of all grades and departments, as well as with the people. Not the least charming incidents associated with them are the receptions at every halting-place of importance, where the townsfolk offer a hearty welcome in their own fashion, and tender loyal addresses. Some of these receptions were elaborately and magnificently staged, with presentation of flowers, with dance and music, with triumphal arches, with decorated streets. Without meaning to be invidious, I think receptions at Mandalay, Pegu, Akyab, and Bassein, where I was charmed to meet many old friends, stand out in my memory as conspicuous. The addresses presented on these occasions were often gracefully worded. Besides a profusion of loyal sentiments and good wishes, they usually stated matters of local interest for which the benevolent attention of Government was sought, the need of a new school, waterworks, sanitation, as the case might be. In one address my wife was gratified by being styled my “august consort.”[268] Except the Chin Hills, the Hill districts of Northern Arakan and Salween, and, I am ashamed to say, Tharrawaddy, which was unaccountably neglected, I visited all the districts as well as the Northern and Southern Shan States. Kyaingtôn (Kēngtūng), across the Salween, was an object of unfulfilled desire, and a projected ride to Namkham was not realized.

To Mogôk I went for the purpose of investing the young Sawbwa of Möñgmit with the administration of his State. At a very early age the young Chief was taken in hand, and placed in charge of the Rev. J. N. Cushing,[269] the venerable head of the Baptist Mission in Rangoon, and one of the first of Shan scholars. Dr. Cushing received him into his own house, and treated him as a son. When of suitable years, the future Sawbwa was sent to a district for training in judicial and executive work. Not till he was of ripe age, and had given evidence of steadiness of character, was he allowed to assume charge of his State. He received his Sanad in full Durbar, and with it much good advice. With an experienced Burman officer as his principal Assistant, and under the effective supervision of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr. E. C. S. George, the young Chief has done well, and has shown zeal and intelligence in the management of his State. I think the impressions of his early years have not faded. At the time of his investiture his marriage was celebrated—a pleasing ceremony which I was privileged to attend. At Mogôk the usual strenuous round of duty and pleasure, incident to the inspection of a district headquarters with a vigorous Deputy Commissioner, filled days and nights. Up at six to ride round and visit local institutions, business occupied the day; at about five in the evening amusements began, and lasted till the small hours. Carrying very pleasant memories, a tired party reached Mainglôn, on the march back to May-my̆o. Most of the route lay along a well-graded hill-road, aligned and made by the Public Works Officer of Thibaw, a very intelligent Shan. At each halting-place comfortable encampments of mat and bamboo had been built by direction of Mr. Stirling,[270] Superintendent, and the Chief, my good friend Saw Hkè.[271]