British rule would have nothing to justify its presence in such a country as Burma if it did not evidently make for the well-being of the people. In this chapter we have to consider the initiation of those measures that have been adopted with this view, and to ascertain how far they are likely to secure it. Five years is not a period of time from which much can be expected by way of results, but it is long enough for us to form an estimate of the kind of beginning that has been made.
Under Burmese rule no attempt was made at a division of the work of the executive into departments. Each minister of state was considered eligible to take charge of any and every post in the state, whether judicial, revenue, military or what not, just as in England, as Macaulay tells us, until comparatively recent times, any gentleman, if he possessed sufficient interest, might aspire to command a man-of-war, and naval and military commands were more or less interchangeable. But we have got far beyond that now, and our Indian Government is a model of efficiency and business-like working, the officers of some departments being professionally educated for them, and in others, specially trained for the work.
The state of the public revenue is always some test of the industrial and fiscal conditions of a country. Beginning with the first year of the annexation, the income for the five years has steadily and rapidly risen:—
| Rupees. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| In | 1886-87 | the revenue was | 2,200,000 |
| 1887-88 | ” ” | 5,010,000 | |
| 1888-89 | ” ” | 7,683,450 | |
| 1889-90 | ” ” | 8,638,170 | |
| 1890-91 | ” ” | 9,400,000 |
To the amount for the last year a considerable sum might fairly be added on account of the earnings of the new line of railway to Mandalay. Under the Burman king the revenue never exceeded 10,000,000 rupees, and during King Theebaw’s reign it had fallen to 9,000,000, and fully one-third of this amount accrued from monopolies and imposts on trade and industry, that the British Government has very properly abolished; so that, although we took over the country at a very great disadvantage, we have already raised the revenue, by healthy and legitimate means (excepting the excise), to an amount equal to what it ever was before. There can be no doubt that a career of prosperity awaits Upper Burma, and that the steady increase in the revenue indicates that it has already entered upon that career. The testimony of the revenue officers is that it is, as a rule, collected without difficulty, and that the taxation does not fall at all heavily on the people. The chief item is a kind of capitation or household tax, averaging 10 rupees per house per year. This is levied as a lump sum on each village, and the payment is distributed amongst the families of the village, according to their means and circumstances, by a committee of village elders—a method they are accustomed to, and that seems to work well.
The administration of justice is one of the fundamental duties of Government and one of its chief functions. Our Government undertook this duty amid special difficulties and drawbacks; for not only were crime and disorder very general, but there was a great paucity of officials with the necessary experience of the country and knowledge of the language, to fill the subordinate grades of the Civil Service, and to act as magistrates. It must have been no easy task to administer justice at once over an area as large as France. Great progress has been made during the five years, and the various courts of justice have long been in good working order after the methods of India.
The adaptation of a regular system of criminal law, as laid down in the Indian Penal Code, with British principles as regards evidence and procedure, with all our well-known safeguards of the rights of the subject and the dignity and sanctity of law, must be a great improvement on the old haphazard Burmese system, and must afford far greater protection to the innocent, and a greater probability of detecting and punishing the guilty. In point of impartiality and freedom from corruption, too, there must be a great change for the better. Since the country has begun to thoroughly settle down, and the necessity for a speedy and summary decision in criminal cases is no longer felt, a Judicial Commissioner has been appointed for Upper Burma, a trained civilian of high position and experience, whose duty it is to revise the proceedings of the subordinate courts, and, if necessary, alter the findings. This precaution Government takes to ensure that the cases shall have full and mature consideration, and that in the name of justice, justice shall be done.
An illustration of the improved methods of legal procedure, after Western models, introduced under the British administration, is the compulsory registration of deeds relating to immovable property. This measure operates to prevent fraud and secure and simplify titles. The deed being registered, and a copy of it being kept in Government records, forgery and other methods of cheating are made far more difficult. Under the Burman rule deeds were not used, the theory being that all property belonged to the king. It can readily be imagined what confusion of title resulted from that primitive method, and how necessary it was to make enactments that should minimise the risk of fraud, dispute and litigation.
The survey of the whole country has made good progress. Year by year, despite the disturbed state of the country, and the consequent danger of travelling, survey parties have been diligently employed in that important business. Triangulation has been carried over 84,000 square miles, and the whole country has been mapped on a scale of four miles to the inch.