The council was charged with the duty of conducting, under the direction of the Secretary of State, the business transacted in the United Kingdom in relation to the government of India and the correspondence with India. The Secretary of State was to be the president of the council, with power to overrule in case of difference of opinion, and to send, without reference to the council, any dispatches which might under the former practice have been sent through the secret committee.1 The officers on the home establishment both of the Company and of the Board of Control were to form the establishment of the new Secretary of State in Council, and a scheme for a permanent establishment was to be submitted. The patronage of the more important appointments in India was vested either in the Crown or in the Secretary of State in Council. Lieutenant-governors were to be appointed by the governor-general subject to the approval of the Crown. As under the Act of 1853, admission to the covenanted civil service was to be open to all natural-born subjects of Her Majesty, and was to be granted in accordance with the results of an examination held under rules to be made by the Secretary of State in Council with the assistance of the Civil Service Commissioners. The patronage to military cadetships was to be divided between the Secretary of State and his council. The property of the Company was transferred to the Crown. The expenditure of the revenues of India was to be under the control of the Secretary of State in Council, but was to be charged with a dividend on the Company's stock and with their debts, and the Indian revenues remitted to Great Britain were to be paid to the Secretary of State in Council and applied for Indian purposes. Provision was made for the appointment of a special auditor of the accounts of the Secretary of State in Council.2 1 Digest, ss. 6-14. 2 Ibid. 22, 30. The Board of Control was formally abolished. With respect to contracts and legal proceedings, the Secretary of State in Council was given a quasi-corporate character for the purpose of enabling him to assert the rights and discharge the liabilities devolving upon him as successor to the East India Company.1 Indian It has been seen that under the authority given by various The Acts the Company raised and maintained separate military Army. forces of their own. The troops belonging to these forces, whilst in India, were governed by a separate Mutiny Act, perpetual in duration, though re-enacted from time to time with amendments.2 The Company also had a small naval force, once known as the Bombay Marine, but after 1829 as the Indian Navy. The Act of 1858 transferred to the service of the Crown all the naval and military forces of the Company, retaining, however, their separate local character, with the same liability to local service and the same pay and privileges as if they were in the service of the Company. Many of the European troops refused to acknowledge the authority of Parliament to make this transfer. They demanded re-engagement and bounty as a condition of the transfer of their services,3 and, failing to get these terms, were offered their discharge. In 1860 the existence of European troops as a separate force was put an end to by an Act (23 & 24 Vict. c. 100) which, after reciting that it is not expedient that a separate European force should be continued for the local service of Her Majesty in India, formally repealed the enactments by which the Secretary of State in Council was authorized to give directions for raising such forces. In 1861 the officers and soldiers formerly belonging to the 1 Digest, s. 35. The first of these Acts was an Act of 1753 (27 Geo. II, c. 9), and the last was an Act of 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c. 66), which was repealed in 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 48). * In 1859 they made a 'demonstration' which, from the small stature of the recruits enlisted during the Indian Mutiny, was sometimes called the Dumpy Mutiny.' Pritchard, Administration of India, i. 36. Legislation of 1861. Indian Civil Service Company's European forces were invited to join, and many of them were transferred to, the regular army under the authority of an Act of that year (24 & 25 Vict. c. 74). Thus the European army of the late East India Company, except a small residue, became merged in the military forces of the Crown.1 The naval force of the East India Company was not amalgamated with the Royal Navy, but came to an end in 1863, when it was decided that the defence of India against serious attack by sea should be undertaken by the Royal Navy, which was also to provide for the performance of the duties in the Persian Gulf which had been previously undertaken by the Indian Navy.2 The change effected by the Government of India Act, 1858, was formally announced in India by the Queen's Proclamation of November 1, 1858. In 1859 the Government of India Act, 1859 (22 & 23 Vict. c. 41), was passed for determining the officers by whom, and the mode in which, contracts on behalf of the Secretary of State in Council were to be executed in India.3 Three Acts of great importance were passed in the year 1861. Under the Charter Act of 1793 rank and promotion in the Company's civil service were strictly regulated by seniority, Act, 1861. and all offices in the civil line' of the Company's service in India under the degree of councillor were strictly reserved to the civil servants of the presidency in which the office was held. But by reason of the exigencies of the public service, numerous civil appointments had been made in 1 Under existing arrangements all the troops sent to India are placed on the Indian establishment, and from that time cease to be voted on the Army Estimates. The number of the forces in the regular army as fixed by the annual Army Act is declared to be exclusive of the number actually serving within Her Majesty's Indian possessions.' As to the constitutionality of employing Indian troops outside India, see above p. 68, note 1. 2 See Sir Charles Wood's letter to the Admiralty of Oct. 20, 1862. India in disregard of these restrictions. The Indian Civil Service Act, 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 54), validated all these irregular appointments in the past, but scheduled a number of appointments which, in the future, were to be reserved to members of the covenanted civil service.1 At the same time it abolished the rule as to seniority and removed all statutory restrictions on appointments to offices not in the schedule. And, even with respect to the reserved offices, it left a power of appointing outsiders under exceptional circumstances. This power can only be exercised where it appears to the authority making the appointment that, under the circumstances of the case, it ought to be made without regard to statutory conditions. The person appointed must have resided for at least seven years in India. If the post is in the Revenue or Judicial Departments, the person appointed must pass the same examinations and tests as are required in the case of the covenanted civil service. The appointment is provisional only, and must be forthwith reported to the Secretary of State in Council with the special reasons for making it, and unless approved within twelve months by the Secretary of State it becomes void.2 The Indian Councils Act, 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 67), modi- Indian Councils fied the constitution of the governor-general's executive Act, 1861. council and remodelled the Indian legislatures. A fifth ordinary member was added to the governorgeneral's council. Of the five ordinary members, three were required to have served for ten years in India under the Company or the Crown, and one was to be a barrister or advocate of five years' standing. Power was retained to appoint the commander-in-chief an extraordinary member.3 Power was given to the governor-general, in case of his absence from headquarters, to appoint a president of the council, with all the powers of the governor-general except those with respect to legislation. And, in such case, the 1 This schedule is still in force. Digest, s. 93. * This provision still exists. Ibid. 8. 95. 3 Ibid. 39, 40. governor-general might invest himself with all the powers exercisable by the Governor-General in Council, except the powers with respect to legislation.1 For purposes of legislation the governor-general's council was reinforced by additional members, not less than six nor more than twelve in number, nominated by the governorgeneral and holding office for two years. Of these additional members, not less than one-half were to be non-official, that is to say, persons not in the civil or military service of the Crown.2 The lieutenant-governor of a province was also to be an additional member whenever the council held a legislative sitting within his province. The Legislative Council established under the Act of 1853 had modelled its procedure on that of Parliament, and had shown what was considered an inconvenient degree of independence by asking questions as to, and discussing the propriety of, measures of the Executive Government.3 The functions of the new Legislative Council were limited strictly to legislation, and it was expressly forbidden to transact any business except the consideration and enactment of legislative measures, or to entertain any motion except a motion for leave to introduce a Bill, or having reference to a Bill actually introduced.4 Measures relating to the public revenue or debt, religion, military or naval matters, or foreign relations, were not to be introduced without the governor-general's sanction. The assent of the governor-general was required to every Act passed by the council, and any such Act might be 1 See Digest, ss. 45, 47. These provisions have been modified by subsequent legislation. See Digest, s. 60. It had, among other things, discussed the propriety of the grant to the Mysore princes. See Proceedings of Legislative Council for 1860, pp. 1343-1402. 4 24 & 25 Vict. c. 67, s. 19. As to the object with which this section was framed, see paragraph 24 of Sir Charles Wood's dispatch of August 9, 1861. The restrictions imposed in 1861 were relaxed in 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. 14, s. 2), and have been further relaxed since. Digest, s. 64. |